Donald Trump

[Backlighting]

58 minutes ago, merjet said:

OK. Then here is my hypothesis. You bought after THRC stock had already crashed. Your previous conclusion ("Not bad I thought...the company didn't forget its shareholders. This guy understands business.") was a non sequitur. 

P.S. I suggest fixing your previous post. It includes stuff written by Selene that you were not responding to.

No,  I bought before the crash. That I'm certain of. -J

 

[merjet]

25 minutes ago, Backlighting said:

No,  I bought before the crash. That I'm certain of. -J

You have claimed you (1) bought before the crash and (2) sold in 2004, with THCR in bankruptcy, making 25%. The two claims are incoherent, based on this graph. The graph is based on $100 invested in June 1995. If (1) is true, then you didn't sell in 2004. If (2) is true, then you didn't buy before the crash.

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

OMG.

Ted Cruz just stepped in it big time.

Brody File Exclusive: Ted Cruz Says Donald Trump's Voters Have "relatively low information" And Are "not that engaged"

Here's the video just in case anyone want's to hear it. 

Cruz doesn't have Trump's ability to be inconsistent on public statements and grow his public. Do you want to know what the reason is? Trump always insults everyone BUT his supporters. He always talks about how much he loves his supporters and how special they are. He bonds with his supporters.

Cruz just shit on top of folks he wants to vote for him. He just now talked down to them.

The backlash from this is not going to be pretty.

One of the main grievances Trump supporters and people in the producer class have against the elites is that the elites condescend to them and call them stupid (low information, etc.). They are sick and tired of being told to shut up and sit down.

Cruz just told them to shut up and sit down. 

I was going to write that I'm pretty sure it was inadvertent, but when I think about it, I'm not so sure. Cruz is very calculating. I do think he screwed up, but I'm not sure the screw up came from a good place. It almost looks like it was a Freudian slip.

Michael

[william.scherk]

1 hour ago, Selene said:

This is [The Democrats'] real serious problem, they can't stop this type of bleeding...

[  Report: 46,000 Pa. Democrats Become Republicans Due To Trump ]  [...] 

[  'Ditch and switch': Trump may be behind mass Democratic party exodus in Pa., experts say  ]

Hmmmm. "Mass Democratic party exodus in Pennsylvania ..."?

It makes sense on first glance, and reading the second story, you can get an idea of how rigorous or non-partisan its conclusions are. Three things I looked for in the story:  A)  Registered voters in PA; B) registered Democratic voters in PA; C) what percentage of switchers does this represent?

A ..... according to the state's last report, there are:

8,156,743 total registered voters

B ....
4,044,650 Registered Democrats 

C ... 46,000/4,044,650 = 0.01137

Is 0.01% a "Mass Democratic party exodus in Pennsylvania"?

36 minutes ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

There's a kind of curse Trump mentions at times. He never calls it a curse, but he talks about it in a way to keep building his persona legend (the winner thing).

He says when someone goes after him hard, that person falls away.

Curse or no curse, it's true often enough to be real at this point in time. Think Perry, Jindal, Pataki, Graham, Bush, Fiorina, Rubio and probably others.

This curse applies outside the candidates, too. I keep seeing people talk about Glenn Beck's business tanking. I always considered that hype, but I look at my own behavior.

When Beck became a prophet leading the chosen people in the name of the Almighty to successfully complete God's experiment to see if man can govern himself, I started getting worried. When he started attacking Trump nonstop, but it was still semi-rational, I and oodles of others tried to reason with him (at his request in a few cases where he invited comments on social media). When he started making outright dishonest manipulations of his public to sway folks against Trump, I started losing respect. (For an example, months after everybody stopped that boneheaded idea that Trump was a Hillary plant, Beck brought it out as if it were a new idea. Now he's calling Trump a Nazi.) Then he started laying hands on Cruz saying this was God's chosen, the new George Washington, that God took Scalia so people would vote for Cruz, etc., I had enough.

I let my subscription to his online TV service run out. I stopped posting comments on TheBlaze. Now I rarely go to TheBlaze to read the articles.

It occurs to me I might not be alone.

Anyway, there has never been good blood between Beck and Alex Jones. Now the gloves are off for real.

Alex says he has been approached to buy Beck's cable channel. That's probably true. 

Alex says some things at the end of the video below about Beck being blackmailed by the White House. That sounds like his typical conspiracy stuff, but he says he has sources and he is generally solid on sources. (Not so good on at times on interpreting the information, but the information generally exists.)

So, in my view, there probably is some dirt out there that Beck does not want to see made public. I don't doubt the White House would use it if it could, but I don't see Beck as falling prey to blackmail by people he despises. He doesn't need any help to be dishonest when he wants to be. He follows a little voice in his head he believes to be God. I don't think he would ever betray that voice although he will betray you and me if the little voice tells him to.

This is where Alex doesn't grok Beck. Alex's demon to explain Beck's meltdown is not fanatical Christianity and total belief in the Mormon core story (as Beck tells it to himself). It is New World Order creeps channeled through the White House. 

[...]

When Alex Jones thinks you are unhinged, maybe it's time to take a breather and reevaluate.

Or, who knows?

Maybe it's the Death Curse of The Donald.

This is a candidate for Song of the Week, I think. Do you mind if I dramatize it for posterity as Poetry?   Here's the rough read. I want to find a nice Middle-America voice for it. If you want to edit it first, send the redacted piece backstage ...

[Jon Letendre]

11 minutes ago, william.scherk said:

Hmmmm. "Mass Democratic party exodus in Pennsylvania ..."?

It makes sense on first glance, and reading the second story, you can get an idea of how rigorous or non-partisan its conclusions are. Three things I looked for in the story:  A)  Registered voters in PA; B) registered Democratic voters in PA; C) what percentage of switchers does this represent?

A ..... according to the state's last report, there are:

8,156,743 total registered voters

B ....
4,044,650 Registered Democrats 

C ... 46,000/4,044,650 = 0.01137

Is 0.01% a "Mass Democratic party exodus in Pennsylvania"?

No, it's over 1%.

1.137%

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Sarah Palin on Ted Cruz, locked and loaded.

Nay, unloading on him.  

Sarah Palin said:

GOP Majority Voters in Primary are Wayyyyyy Beneath Cruz, So Says Cruz

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/03/10/cruz-says-trump-backers-have-relatively-low-information-not-very-engaged.html 

Calling GOP frontrunner supporters "low information" disengaged voters, Ted Cruz's insinuation reeks of all the reasons America knows "the status quo has got to go." The arrogance of career politicians is something at which the rest of us chuckle, but Cruz's latest dig strays from humorous into downright nasty. Cruz is right, though - independent, America-first, commonsense conservatives supporting Donald Trump ARE "low information" when it comes to having any information on Cruz's ability to expand the conservative movement, beat Hillary Clinton, unify and lead the nation.

* Where's information on any Cruz success whilst in his short, half-term U.S. Senate seat, proving his resume's advantage over another career politicians's lawyerly executive inexperience that includes never having created a single private sector job, but boasting of his constitutional law teacher creds? (Remember America experimented with that resume before; how'd that work out for the country?) 

* Where's info on his reasoning in inviting more illegal aliens to flood our porous borders by enticing families with benefits and literal gifts (like teddy bears and soccer balls)? http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2016/01/17/ted-cruz-visits-texas-border-to-welcome-illegal-alien-families/ 

* Any info on why he won't denounce his highest-profile campaign buddy, despite Glenn Beck's proclamation that he "hates" America's innocent victims of 9/11 and calls the families crybabies? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf33g9ep4YU, nor hold accountable his campaign manager for abhorrent tactics that mirror Alinsky's Politics of Personal Destruction? http://www.mediaite.com/online/ted-cruz-adviser-admits-to-making-ad-that-allegedly-drove-missouri-pol-to-suicide/

* Info on why he continues to stand on stage with that most prominent supporter who slurs millions of patriotic Americans supporting the GOP frontrunner, calling them Nazi "brown shirts"? http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/02/glenn-beck-loses-fans-and-respect-after-repeatedly-comparing-trump-supporters-to-nazi-brownshirts/

* Info on consistency with his big endorsement this week, as Carly tells it like it is so very recently? 
"Ted Cruz is just like any other politician. He says one thing in Manhattan, he says another thing in Iowa. He says whatever he needs to say to get elected, and then he's going to do as he pleases. I think people are tired of a political class that promises much and delivers much of the same." - Carly Fiorina 1/2/16

* Info on his support for his crony capitalists' insistence that he fast-track Obama's unbalanced trade agenda, then lied about it? http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2015/12/11/yes-unfortunately-ted-cruz-did-support-trans-pacific-trade-deal-tpa-with-video/

* Info on why he's fine with increasing U.S. debt? http://truthinmedia.com/cruz-rubio-vote-increase-debt-ceiling-paul-votes-no/

* Info on how it helps make America great again by arrogantly disenfranchising this Primary season's majority voters who are fed-up, inspired, optimistic, and engaged? How does it help unify the party or the nation when that holier-than-thou narcissism manifests itself through negative, biting, deceptive tactics... when he's had so many opportunities to disavow his campaign's shenanigans and apologize for his own? 

The information we've sought is nonexistent, thus "low information voters" comprising the GOP majority support Cruz staying in the Legislative branch, while hopefully gaining understanding of the private sector's need to reduce the big government he's a big part of.

Trump's energized, positive campaign has led to this record setting stat: of all 24 states that have voted so far, ALL smashed previous GOP turnout records! 4,347,317 votes nationwide for Trump already. Now THAT'S "enlarging the tent." Any info, Ted, on where you think that "disengaged" momentum will take us?

I have a feeling this is just the opening warning shot.

Michael

[Selene]

,Rumor is that Ben Carson is going to endorse Trump.

Maybe that is why Trump has scheduled the press conference tomorrow morning at 9 AM.

A...

[william.scherk]

2 hours ago, Jon Letendre said:

No, it's over 1%.

1.137%

Thanks, Jon.

Yes, an exodus it is not -- at least not to these old eyes.  Especially considering the net change of Dems to GOPs is around 20k.

Re my other query, believe it or not -- while searching up an image, I found MSK apparently reading in his own voice. What a great radio voice and accent.   MSK -- what programme did you use to scroll the text, if you remember?

 

[Michael Stuart Kelly]

Let's see if this happens tomorrow morning (from WaPo). If it does, you heard it here first, folks!

Ben Carson plans to endorse Trump

Michael

[Roger Bissell]

2 hours ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Cruz doesn't have Trump's ability to be inconsistent on public statements and grow his public. Do you want to know what the reason is? Trump always insults everyone BUT his supporters. He always talks about how much he loves his supporters and how special they are. He bonds with his supporters.

Cruz just shit on top of folks he wants to vote for him. He just now talked down to them.

The backlash from this is not going to be pretty.

One of the main grievances Trump supporters and people in the producer class have against the elites is that the elites condescend to them and call them stupid (low information, etc.). They are sick and tired of being told to shut up and sit down.

Cruz just told them to shut up and sit down. 

I was going to write that I'm pretty sure it was inadvertent, but when I think about it, I'm not so sure. Cruz is very calculating. I do think he screwed up, but I'm not sure the screw up came from a good place. It almost looks like it was a Freudian slip.

 

Sounds deliberate and rational to me.

On Cruz's premise (which you certainly must disagree with), low-information voters *should* sit down and shut up - and especially not vote. An uninformed electorate is the death knell for a free society's survival. (But duh - how long have we been circling the drain now, and how far has public civic awareness and understanding plummeted during that time?) The politicians who have the most to gain from uninformed voters actually voting are demagogues who want power over us and seek it by pandering to the uninformed. If you don't cotton to the idea of looking around you at Trump supporters in general, then look at Bernie Sanders and how far *he* has gotten by such pandering and how much support he has from young people who know virtually *nothing* about economics or individual rights. Sure, Trump has different targets and punching bags, but it's the same difference. (E.g., the immigration issue, the balance of trade issue, etc.)

Now, as to Cruz's "shitting" on people he wants to vote for him, I think you're missing an obvious alternative. It is a time-honored tactic in politics to realize that you can't win over your opponent's supporters, so instead you try to demoralize them into abandoning their support. In other words, don't bother trying to get their votes - just try to encourage them *not* to vote. Low-information moochers (the Sanders kids) and low-information yahoos (the Trumpies) really are two dumb to make an intelligent choice, and they really *should* sit down, shut up, and not vote. (Present company excepted, of course.) And no, I'm not - and neither was Cruz - trying to say the low-information voters don't have a Constitutional right of assembly or speech or voting. We're just exercising *our* rights to free speech by trying to persuade the low-information voters to learn more so that their votes are *informed* rather than just *anger-driven.*

Elitist? (Who said that? Was it Sally Palin?) No, not elitists. Just not wanting my informed vote to be swamped by hordes of uninformed votes from *either* side. We're already being outvoted by welfare recipients and union folk who want their favors to continue unabated - our property, our incomes, are on the "democratic" chopping block and have been for decades. Now, add to this the millions who not only want their subsidies and privileges intact, but also just want to vote their feelings and not bother to inform themselves about what grows or destroys economies and individual lives? No, thanks. 

If there's any "shitting" on people going on, it's being done by the Establishment who wants to keep us in ever growing serfdom, so that they can remain in ever growing power and wealth. Trump is no better than the lot of them, including his most likely candidate in the fall, Hillary (to whose 2008 candidacy he twice contributed!). And yes, I think Trump will be the GOP nominee. Cruz's attempt/hope to deactivate Trump supporters/voters is a noble but vain attempt to restore sanity to the nominating process. It's as doomed as our country is - and as are certain subcultures within it (speaking mainly of Objectivism and libertarianism).

But my life is happy, and with luck, the final collapse won't occur until I'm long gone. It's the well-meaning younger folks that I worry about.

REB

 

[BaalChatzaf]

11 minutes ago, Roger Bissell said:

 

But my life is happy, and with luck, the final collapse won't occur until I'm long gone. It's the well-meaning younger folks that I worry about.

REB

 

Don't worry.  My children and grandchildren will come up with solutions.  They are a smart lot. 

 

Ba'al Chatzaf 

[Roger Bissell]

4 minutes ago, BaalChatzaf said:

Don't worry.  My children and grandchildren will come up with solutions.  They are a smart lot. 

 

Ba'al Chatzaf 

 

I don't doubt it, considering their pop. :-)

REB

[Backlighting]

3 hours ago, merjet said:

You have claimed you (1) bought before the crash and (2) sold in 2004, with THCR in bankruptcy, making 25%. The two claims are incoherent, based on this graph. The graph is based on $100 invested in June 1995. If (1) is true, then you didn't sell in 2004. If (2) is true, then you didn't buy before the crash.

Whoa, put your graphs and hypothesis to bed. I said about 25%. I can't recall the exact details from over a decade ago. Suffice it to say it turned out to be advantageous.

BTW do you work for the IRS? -J

[william.scherk]

Speaking of the blob term, "low information voters" ... here's a seemingly informed item from a Townhall contributor.  I will give two research hours to the first person who can demonstrate three cognitive biases therein ...

Edited March 11, 2016 by william.scherk
Spelling, sense.

[Backlighting]

2 hours ago, Selene said:

,Rumor is that Ben Carson is going to endorse Trump.

Maybe that is why Trump has scheduled the press conference tomorrow morning at 9 AM.

A...

That's certainly good news for Trump & Co.

Adam, haven't seen the animated graphics from you...I miss them. Is it by choice or a technical issue getting them on the newly overhauled OL. -J

[Marc]

On March 9, 2016 at 8:45 PM, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

 

Marc,

Could you repeat that?

I want to soak it up.

Michael

You sir , deserve it ! 

 

... if/when Trump becomes POTUS

This prediction of your was simply outstanding and I am preparing to eat my crow , I will not yet throw in the towel but I am getting hungry 

[Backlighting]

On 3/9/2016 at 5:44 PM, Selene said:

Yep, and I can confirm that mine were treated viciously by the Irish also.  Throwing rocks at my grandmother.  One of their sons had to literally run a gauntlet through certain Irish "neighborhoods" to get to school.

It is always fascinating to realize that there is a right of passage that all immigrant groups have to prevail through.

One of the reasons that I try not to disrespect someone who is an immigrant. 

Nice to have such good genetics isn't it...lol.

A...

Adam. Where did your grandparents, when they first arrived, settle in? Mine lived on Sullivan St in Manhattan. The movie Gangs of New York comes to mind.-J

[Marc]

On March 9, 2016 at 8:53 PM, Michael Stuart Kelly said:

Marc,

btw - Could you repeat this one, too?

(I've always had a problem with grace...  )

Michael

Listen , I was wrong as wrong could be . 

He is done , I was wrong , serve me some crow.

[Selene]

5 minutes ago, Backlighting said:

That's certainly good news for Trump & Co.

Adam, haven't seen the animated graphics from you...I miss them. Is it by choice or a technical issue getting them on the newly overhauled OL. -J

lol - no - just haven't gotten the opportunity because I have been really busy with work and over focused on this election!

                                                                                

 

 

[merjet]

1 hour ago, Backlighting said:

Whoa, put your graphs and hypothesis to bed. I said about 25%. I can't recall the exact details from over a decade ago. Suffice it to say it turned out to be advantageous.

BTW do you work for the IRS? -J

I'm keeping my hypothesis, which I repeat. You bought after THRC stock had already crashed. Your previous conclusion ("Not bad I thought...the company didn't forget its shareholders. This guy understands business.") was a non sequitur.   

Ha. Yes, when I do our (my and my wife's) Form 1040.  

[Marc]

One last thing before I sit down and eat crow from here until Nov when Trump is POTUS . 

As wrong as I have been with basically all of my mantras and bravado , I have never in my life seen anything like MSK here standing firm on his beliefs , and predictions . I know of no one anywhere who has ever been so right on any topic . 

Pure brilliance . 

Adam and others started to see the light too when I remained stubborn but congrats to everyone here who called this right .

This has been an election year and primary season for the ages !!!

President Trump , 

I said it ! 

Congrats !

He earned it 

[Selene]

24 minutes ago, Backlighting said:

Adam. Where did your grandparents, when they first arrived, settle in? Mine lived on Sullivan St in Manhattan. The movie Gangs of New York comes to mind.-J

Hells Kitchen, and the lower East Side

[william.scherk]

9 minutes ago, Marc said:

President Trump , 

I said it ! 

Congrats !

He earned it 

I fell asleep and woke up on November 9th.  Congratulations, President Trump!

 

[Brant Gaede]

16 minutes ago, Selene said:

Hells Kitchen, and the lower East Side

Gail Wynand must be extra special to you.

--Brant

[Brant Gaede]

19 minutes ago, Selene said:

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