william.scherk Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 (edited) On 2/24/2016 at 11:23 AM, Brant Gaede said: I suspect it's going to be a brokered convention. It is a good idea to be wary of the plans and speculation about a brokered or 'open' convention. The brokering is presumably done among the candidates ... but I don't quite understand all the ins and outs. Here is a story from the Washington Examiner that explores the possibilities. No hard numbers are mentioned, but I guess the bottom-line calculation is that the Magic 1236+1 may not be breached before the convention assembles in July. I don't see it by the arithmetic on my mental board, but I have been wrong enough to not be too confident. Donald Trump’s dominance leaves GOP establishment banking on brokered convention With a few big-name GOP regulars, from moderate New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to conservative stalwart Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, now endorsing the agile Donald Trump, the billionaire businessman continues to flummox his party’s lumbering establishment. The party’s powerful few — and for its own reasons much of the press — have argued for grabbing hold of one or another proposed plan to stop Mr. Trump. Some in the establishment find math getting in the way and already are planning for a brokered convention. “Many Republican political elites out to stop Trump want all but one of his rivals to bail now,” said Dan Schneider, executive director of the American Conservative Union. The one-on-one longing has a last-gasp air about it, said Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a former candidate who upon his exit backed Jeb Bush’s campaign. “There’s this desire, verging on panic, to consolidate the field,” he said recently. [...] “With three viable candidates remaining in the race, and a fourth who could score some delegates in northern states on Super Tuesday March 1 and [on] March 8, when Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi and Hawaii vote, it is still quite possible that Trump will finish first when the primaries conclude, but still be short of the necessary number of committed delegates.” “Therefore, denying Trump a majority and forcing a brokered convention could soon become a conscious strategy for the Rubio and Cruz campaigns to implement,” Mr. Ellis said. The theory behind One-on-One Strategy, Mr. Schneider said, is that it will allow Mr. Rubio — or a John Kasich, as the party establishment’s second choice — to run solo, without other rivals diluting his support, and helping Mr. Rubio get a delegate majority before the July nominating convention in Cleveland. The problem with that idea is that Mr. Trump looks likely to finish far ahead of any of the remaining candidates in all the coming contests. The exception is Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas who is expected to win his home-state primary and a hefty share of its delegates Tuesday, giving him some bounce and incentive beyond mere ego to stay the course. However, Mr. Cruz is second only to Mr. Trump on the party leadership’s hit list. Edited February 29, 2016 by william.scherk Added Lane-Broderick video take-off on The Producers ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KorbenDallas Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 1 hour ago, Michael Stuart Kelly said: Sarah Palin just posted on Facebook a link to the following article: This Donald Trump video “The Snake” is going viral in Europe Here's the Trump video that is going viral in Europe: Wow, nice video Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
william.scherk Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selene Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Don't you love squirrels that chase shiny objects... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 My favorite quote by Trump on the Mussolini thing was with Chuck Todd. Todd tried to nail Trump several times on gotcha and Trump said Mussolini is Mussolini. He gave a "so what?" attitude. And he said the quote was an interesting quote. Then Todd moved in for the nail-the-bastard gotcha: Do you want to be associated with a fascist? Trump: No. I want to be associated with interesting quotes. LOLOLOLOL... Then Trump nailed him. Trump: Hey, it got your attention, didn't it? Here's the video if anyone wants to see it. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
william.scherk Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Wow. Throughout history unsavory or downright evil people have announced their support or endorsements of certain U.S presidential candidates or their ideas. I don't ever remember the press asking previous candidates about those types of endorsements. Only Trump. Middle Eastern Tyrants/Murderers, bloodthirsty communists, and fruitcake racist haters have declared their support for Democratic candidates, and the press was dead-silent. Now all-but-forgotten KKKookball David Duke surfaces to NOT endorse Trump, and suddenly it's vitally important to ask the candidate what he thinks about it? Let's review which candidates Ted Kaczynski has publicly supported, and find out who he supports in this election, and let's see if the media is interested getting responses from his favorites. Shouldn't his endorsement mean that his favorite candidate supports his bombing of people because they share the same positions on some issues? Isn't that the "logic" being employed when it comes to Trump? Whom does Mark David Chapman endorse, or Sirhan Sirhan, and how do their favorite candidates feel about it? I need to know right now how whomever Charles Manson endorses feels about the endorsement! How can I vote responsibly and intelligently if I don't know how a candidate feels about the fact that one nutjob or another sort of supports some of his or her positions? J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
william.scherk Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 A very engaging interactive Delegate Counting page at 538. Click the image to visit ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brant Gaede Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a42541/john-oliver-donald-trump-video/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules Troy Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 A big earthquake with the strength of 8.1 on the Richter scale hits the Middle East. Two million Muslims die and over a million are injured. Iraq, Iran and Syria are totally ruined and the governments don't know where to start with providing help to rebuild. The rest of the world is in shock. Britain is sending troops to help keep the peace. Saudi Arabia is sending oil & monetary assistance. Latin American countries are sending clothing. New Zealand and Australia are sending sheep, cattle and food crops. The Asian countries are sending labor to assist in rebuilding the infrastructure. Canada is sending medical teams and supplies. President Trump, not to be outdone, is sending back two million replacement Muslims. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 TIME photographer Chris Morris decided that he was special and elite and didn't need to follow the rules, or respect the Secret Service's enforcement of them, at a Trump rally in Virginia. Morris tried to step outside of the designated press area, then, after a Secret Service agent bodily blocked him from going further, Morris shouted "Fuck you!" into the agent's face. The agent attempted to gently guide Morris back to where he was supposed to be, but Morris shoved the agent. Then the agent took him down, hard. Here's vid of Morris's shove and the takedown (notice that, although we don't see Morris's hands shove the agent, we see the physical effect on the agent's body): http://giphy.com/gifs/mashable-ouch-trump-xT9DPC6VftJUgNtYmk (The action happens at bottom right.) Here's the story and more video clips: http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2016/02/29/video-reporter-grabs-neck-of-secret-service-at-trump-rally/ When down, Morris kicked at the agent, and then, after being allowed to get up, Morris grabbed at the agent's throat. And, of course, now he's crying that the agent started it all and went way overboard. But also notice in the clips how calm and cool the agent is. No anger on his face. He stopped with a harmless takedown and refrained from delivering any blows. Proportional response. He quickly allowed the idiot to get to his feet, and then handed him over to other authorities. Heh. It's not a bright idea to try to shove your way past a Secret Service agent, to scream "Fuck you" in his face, and then to shove him when being escorted back to where you belong. What a severely stupid asshole. J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules Troy Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Yeah I don't imagine that will be doing wonders for his photography career.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Ya never know! The current majority view online -- the current majority highly emotional reaction -- appears to be that the agent initiated the whole thing. All that most people seem to selectively see is the takedown. That's all that they want to see. They want to be angry and blame Trump. They're outraged and irrationally trying to act as if Trump ordered the agents or inspired them to abuse reporters. This Morris asshole will be a hero to the left. Just like all previous incidents, reality doesn't matter. All that counts is the initial, uninformed, emotional misperception that the media tried to establish. (If you search online now, several presentations of the video that I posted above (as a repeating GIF) have been edited to remove the moment when the agent's body is shoved backward, and now only show his responding takedown. J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 22 hours ago, Selene said: Black Muslims have always been folks that I got, and get, along with because they are situationally accurate a number of racial issues in society. A... Well said , Sir !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selene Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 The altering of reality is part of the "propaganda" that is in common use throughout all cultures. The pamphlet in the 1770's. The radio in the 1930's and 1940's. TV has dominated the last half century... Now comes the techno world of virtual reality... Paging Dr. Huxley... A... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 19 minutes ago, Selene said: The altering of reality is part of the "propaganda" that is in common use throughout all cultures. The pamphlet in the 1770's. The radio in the 1930's and 1940's. TV has dominated the last half century... Now comes the techno world of virtual reality... Paging Dr. Huxley... A... Social media , Mr Adam , social media Regardless if my black swan appears ( Romney , Rubio wins a few states , contested convention , or whatever ) , DT understands social media . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 4 hours ago, Jonathan said: Middle Eastern Tyrants/Murderers, bloodthirsty communists, and fruitcake racist haters have declared their support for Democratic candidates, and the press was dead-silent. Now all-but-forgotten KKKookball David Duke surfaces to NOT endorse Trump, and suddenly it's vitally important to ask the candidate what he thinks about it? Jonathan, This actually has very little to do with David Duke. It is liberal narrative manipulation 101. When all else fails, scream racism. The good thing is all else is failing. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 2 hours ago, Jonathan said: Here's vid of Morris's shove and the takedown (notice that, although we don't see Morris's hands shove the agent, we see the physical effect on the agent's body): Jonathan, That's pretty clear. At first I thought it might be that thing of the photographer provoking a fight to play victim like we see protestors do all the time in race riots. But I saw the Instagram loop over and over and now I think it's just the photographer being an arrogant asshole and making a power play. Man, did he get shown pronto how much power he has to shove the Secret Service around. Big macho tough guy, huh? Flat on his ass before he knew what hit him. It still serves as a victimization narrative so the dishonest press is running with it. If only they knew that running this as a victimization story is better pro-Trump propaganda to get more new voters than anything his own team can dream up. Not only are they dishonest, they are morons. I'm glad the Secret Service is acting like that. There are death threats galore against Trump. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Somebody screwed up at MSNBC and aired the wrong clip of a black Trump supporter during a live broadcast. The reaction of the lefties is a hoot after the black guy said, "Pay David Duke no mind," and "We have to stop all this race baiting." Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selene Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Mother Jones - I never knew who she was until just now and wouldn't you know it, she was a community organizer from Chicago! Quote Mary Harris "Mother" Jones (1837[1][2] – 30 November 1930) was an Irish-American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent labor and community organizer. She helped coordinate major strikes and cofounded the Industrial Workers of the World. Mother Jones magazine, established in 1970, is named for her. Who knew? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Harris_Jones Mother Jones' Board of Directors: http://www.motherjones.com/about/board-directors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KorbenDallas Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Romney entering the race talk around 6:40 in this video: Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com Blah, still think it's nonsense but here it is for the beliebers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrell Hougen Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 I'll get back to answering responses to my earlier post, but I want to discuss something else that has been bothering me about Trump. Donald Trump has a particular way of carrying on a political discourse. Whenever a reporter asks him a question like, "So and so criticized you in such and such fashion. What is your response?" His response is typically to attack the source. Everyone knows that attacking the source of the question is a form of logical fallacy called an ad hominem attack. Democrats use such tactics all the time and that in itself is telling, but I want to focus on the nature of Trump's attacks for a moment. His general response to being questioned is to say that his interlocutor is small or unimportant or, if it is a publication, that it doesn't have many readers or that it is losing readership. That should set off alarm bells right there because Trump obviously thinks little people aren't deserving of respect and that their questions can safely be ignored. But, there is something more troubling about the nature of his attacks. To say that it is safe to ignore little people is essentially to say that little people are wrong and that, conversely, big people are right. In other words, since Trump engages in such tactics all the time, one can only conclude that he deeply believes in the logical fallacy that might makes right. The conclusion that Trump actually does believe that might makes right is born out by his open and apparent admiration for tyrants. For example, here is an Wall Street Journal blog about Trump praising and defending Putin. Quote After Mr. Putin called the New York businessman “colorful and talented” last week, Mr. Trump said he was “honored.” On Sunday, Mr. Trump defended his response. “He’s a strong leader. And I’m not going to be politically correct,” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I think it would be a positive thing if Russia and the United States actually got along.” Mr. Trump also disputed that journalists who challenge Mr. Putin have been murdered. The Committee to Protect Journalists, which tracks and researches deaths of reporters worldwide, said 36 journalists have been murdered in Russia since 1992. “Do you know the names of the reporters that he’s killed?” Mr. Trump asked ABC’s George Stephanopolous. “Nobody has proved that he’s killed anybody. In this respect, Trump hasn't changed in the last quarter century. Here is an excerpt from a 1990 Playboy interview: Quote On the other hand, you were invited to consider building a luxury hotel in Moscow a few years ago. What was your trip to Moscow like? It was not long after the Korean plane was shot down over Russia. There I am up in my plane when my pilot announces, "We are now fly ing over the Soviet Union," and I'm thinking to myself, What the hell am I doing here? Then I look out the window and see two Russian fighter planes . . . I later found out, guiding us in. I had insisted on having two Russian colonels flying with me-I felt safer, and my pilot doesn't speak great Russian, which is putting it mildly, and I didn’t want problems in radio communications. Once you got to Moscow, how did the negotiations go? I told them, "Guys, you have a basic problem. Far as real estate is concerned, it’s impossible to get title to Russian land, since the government owns it all. What kind of financing are you gonna get on a building where the land is owned by the goddamned motherland?” They said, "No problem, Mr. Trump. We will work out lease arrangements.” I said, "I want ownership, not leases.” They came up with a solution: “Mr. Trump, we form a committee with ten people, of which seven are Russian and three are your representatives, and all disputes will be resolved in this manner.” I thought to myself, Shit, seven to three-are we dealing in the world of the make-believe here or what? What were your other impressions of the Soviet Union? I was very unimpressed. Their system is a disaster. What you will see there soon is a revolution; the signs are all there with the demonstrations and picketing. Russia is out of control and the leadership knows it. That's my problem with Gorbachev. Not a firm enough hand. You mean firm hand as in China? When the students poured into Tiananmen Square, the Chinese government almost blew it. Then they were vicious, they were horrible, but they put it down with strength. That shows you the power of strength. Our country is right now perceived as weak ... as being spit on by the rest of the world-- Why is Gorbachev not firm enough? I predict he will be overthrown, because he has shown extraordinary weakness. Suddenly, for the first time ever, there are coal-miner strikes and brush fires everywhere- which will all ultimately lead to a violent revolution. Yet Gorbachev is getting credit for being a wonderful leader and we should continue giving him credit, because he's destroying the Soviet Union. But his giving an inch is going to end up costing him and all his friends what they most cherish-their jobs. Of course, strength in defense of virtue is itself a virtue, but the admiration of strength for the sake of strength is a dangerous character flaw. Darrell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Jesse Ventura was reported the other day as trying to decide between who to endorse, Trump or Sanders. He went with Sanders. But Sanders declined the offer and "kind of blew [Ventura] off." Hahahahaha! http://kstp.com/politics/jesse-ventura-supports-bernie-sanders-donald-trump/4062341/ J P.S. Ventura looks as if he's now about 114, but dresses like a how skateboard punk would dress 5 years ago. Sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 1 hour ago, drhougen said: Donald Trump has a particular way of carrying on a political discourse. Whenever a reporter asks him a question like, "So and so criticized you in such and such fashion. What is your response?" His response is typically to attack the source. Everyone knows that attacking the source of the question is a form of logical fallacy called an ad hominem attack. Darrell, I want to say this kindly because I used to be right where you are at. Then I started studying persuasion, propaganda, etc. Your whole objection is based on an unstated premise: That the questioner is a paragon of logic and objectivity. And boy is that ever a false assumption. Just because a person says and acts like he is logical and objective, that doesn't mean he is. Logic and objectivity in politics NEVER have anything to do with a question by the press. Never. All political questions, even about pets, are front-loaded with so many techniques that once you learn them and can see them, you get irritated just watching it. It's like watching a comedian tell old jokes and dragging them out when you know all the punchlines. The ad hominem attack in this context is not a fallacy. It may be a logical fallacy, but logic is not the standard. Covert persuasion is the standard (image, body language, embedded commands, pattern interrupt, and on and on). In this case, an ad hominem attack is one of the few things that works to neutralize all the garbage under the surface. The reason? It makes the covert attack ostensive. People can see there is a fight. You put the opponent in front of you and call him out rather than allowing him to stab you in the back when nobody is looking. When you do that, you better be good at brawling, but Trump is good at brawling. If you want to see where Donald Trump uses logic and objectivity, look to what he does away from the cameras, not what he says in front of them. Is he a bigot? Well, look at his clubs, hotels, TV shows, etc. Does he discriminate against anyone? The answer is a big fat no. And this is not only enforced with logic and objectivity, he doesn't even allow bigotry to be a thing on his property. Is he unfair regarding immigrants? Well he married one. Actually, he married two. I won't talk about logic and objectivity with spouses , but look at his magnificent family. He raised his kids with logic and objectivity and look what magnificent kids he has. Kids who have an immigrant for a mother (except Tiffany). Is a warmonger? He didn't make his money from war profits. Instead, he built things. Not just any things. Top quality preeminent things recognized and procured the world over. You need a hell of a lot of logic and objectivity to do that and keep doing it. I could go on, but can you see the difference? The media circus (including ALL news outlets) is not about logic and objectivity. It is about persuasion, marketing and propaganda. Conveying information is a means to media folks, not an end. The product they are selling is not information and you are not the buyer. Their product is you. And they are selling you, the audience, to advertisers and government people. That's what they are selling. That's where their money and power comes from. That's why nobody trusts the media anymore. If you use logic and objectivity in the media circus to run an election campaign, you will lose. It's as simple as that. So, if you want to bemoan the lack of logic and objectivity when Trump answers a question in the press, why on earth presume the question was asked in all logic and objectivity to begin with? When you look and know what to look for, it never is. Shall we bemoan that this is the state of American media culture? OK... Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Stuart Kelly Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 The BS has already started and this news is quickly spreading across the Interwebs: Report: Trump Supporters In Texas See Votes Switched To Rubio Thank God the paranoid-leaning folks are riled up enough to keep an eye on voter fraud, especially voting machines. Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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