2016 Republican Presidential Clown Car Begins!

Discussion in 'Politics' started by joepistole, Jan 30, 2015.

  1. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    Chris Christie

    The undeclared Corrupt Clown just did it again.

    Look, between Marco Rubio's "New American Century" campaign slogan, Bush's five-strikes at the Iraq answer and still standing at the plate, and the Congressional Republican outlook on these issues, one tacit question in the early GOP nomination fight is to wonder why so many Republican candidates are all but explicitly promising an invasive war.

    Normally, the focus is on Daa'ish in Iraq and Syria, or the Iranian regime.

    Not so for Chris Christie.

    He wants a war alright.

    He wants a war with China↱.
    ____________________

    Notes:

    Benen, Steve. "Christie eyes a 'military approach' to China". msnbc. 9 June 2015. msnbc.com. 9 June 2015. http://on.msnbc.com/1f0u4r1
     
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  3. joepistole Deacon Blues Valued Senior Member

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    Rick Santorum, perennial Republican presidential candidate, in responding to the Pope’s increasingly bold calls to address climate change told the world the Pope should leave science to the scientists. Well no one can accuse Republicans of letting science get in the way of their ideological beliefs and policies. Republicans have and continue to eschew science at every opportunity. But at some point facts must matter to policy makers. Ironically, the Pope is a scientist, Santorum is not…oops. Unfortunately, this is what the Republican Party, the once Grand Old Party, has become.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/02/rick-santorum-pope-climat_n_7498768.html
     
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  5. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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  7. Kittamaru Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Adieu, Sciforums. Valued Senior Member

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    Indeed - I was kind of hoping the Pope would tell him to put his comments somewhere... but then, I guess, unfortunately, that wouldn't be "proper" of the papal father huh
     
  8. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    It would be frothy, yes.
     
  9. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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  10. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    Walker Doubles Down on D'oh!

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    Sigh.

    Republicans and London.

    Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), who is expected to formally declare his presidential candidacy in early July, apparently needs a remedial lesson. Following up on his Chatham gaffe↱, dodging a question about evolution and then tweeting a do-over that still amounted to an evasion, Mr. Walker apparently sought to drag Downing Street into the primary preseason:

    Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says British Prime Minister David Cameron confided in him that he was concerned about the direction of American leadership ....

    .... "I heard that from David Cameron back in February earlier when we were over at 10 Downing," Walker said. "I heard it from other leaders around the world. They're looking around realizing this lead from behind mentality just doesn't work. It's just not working."

    Zeke Miller's↱ article for time is strangely framed, burying the Downing Street response in order to give Mr. Walker's sound bite recency. Nonetheless, the ellipsis, please:

    But there's a problem with the Republican's tidy critique of President Barack Obama: Cameron doesn't remember it that way.

    Walker, who has taken several trips overseas in recent months to study up on foreign policy in preparation for an all-but-certain presidential bid, told a roomful of Republican donors Friday that world leaders, including Cameron, are worried about the U.S. stepping back in the world. "The Prime Minister did not say that and does not think that," a Downing Street spokesperson told TIME.

    It is always dangerous to try to drag foreign governments into American electoral politics. Nonetheless, it is unavoidable that we might take a moment to wonder about how this defines Mr. Walker's prospects as president. Not only did he try to drag Downing Street into his undeclared campaign, he did so in such a clumsy manner as to demand direct correction from the Prime Minister's office. And he managed to do this after gaffing up his London trip. As do-overs go, this is even worse than the tweet. Note to the Cowardly Clown: When a foreign head of state is moved to call bullshit, you're doing it wrong.

    Why double down on the D'oh!

    It's Scott Walker: Why not?

    Good luck running the country.

    Oh, and hey, that's the other thing. Governor D'oh! is running second in the early polling. Let this be a reminder that even Republicans aren't really paying attention.

    Oh, wait.

    He's running second to the Serious Clown↑. Governor Doxxy. The Senior Fuckup from Florida.

    Then again, Scott Walker is a lying, union-busting, misogynistic, Christian-supremacist, insensitive, tone-deaf, dumbass. We need not wonder why he's running second.

    Charm factor.

    This is the Republican-brand everyman.
    ____________________

    Notes:

    Miller, Zeke J. "British Leader to Scott Walker: I Never Dissed Obama". Time. 12 June 2015. Time.com. 15 June 2015. http://ti.me/1BdCB4f
     
  11. joepistole Deacon Blues Valued Senior Member

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    Donald Trump says The United States needs him to be POTUS and you know what? Out of the kindness of his heart, he is going to do us a favor and he will be the greatest POTUS ever. Boy aren't we lucky.

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    Last edited: Jun 16, 2015
  12. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    Tripping the Pelican Fantastic

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    Oh, for the love of Grover ....

    While Kansas has become a strictly tragic cautionary tale about what happens when a politician actually tries to govern in line with radical conservative tax dogma, Louisiana is turning into more of a dark comedy. Coming into this year, the state was facing a $1.6 billion budget shortfall. Unfortunately, Gov. Bobby Jindal—America's spirit of hopeless presidential ambition incarnate—had signed Grover Norquist's pledge not to raise any taxes. This left lawmakers in a bit of a bind, since cutting their way to fiscal health would have meant decimating public health or higher education funding.

    Last week, however, legislators ultimately passed a budget that raised hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue, sparing hospitals and colleges. Better yet, Jindal says he'll sign it. So, how'd they square this circle?

    With a mind-numbing budget gimmick, of course ....

    .... Jindal created a fake fee for students, and a fake tax credit to balance it out, which ultimately leads to no money changing hands, but apparently satisfies whatever agreement Jindal struck with Norquist to preserve the illusion that he didn't raise taxes. "It's an embarrassing bill to vote for," one Republican state representative told the New York Times, demonstrating the sort of candor that only becomes possible once your own party's governor has alienated the vast majority of his state and abandoned all pretense of rational policymaking in pursuit of an inevitable also-ran performance in the GOP primary.


    (Weissmann↱)

    The whole situation is an interesting glimpse into Gov. Jindal's approach to governance. Like his fellow explorer in New Jersey, Mr. Jindal prefers to bill his poor numbers among his own constituents as good news for his presidential run, because, you know, Louisianans want him all to themselves.

    Right.

    In truth, this is a different glimpse. Throwback to last week:

    Norquist is an anti-tax crusader who's convinced all kinds of GOP policymakers to sign something known as "the pledge" – in order to get ahead in their party, Republicans agree in writing never to support raising any tax on anyone by any amount for any reason.

    But occasionally, far-right policymakers discover that the mindless, knee-jerk commitment stands in the way of actual governance in the real world. Louisiana's Republican-dominated state government, for example, is facing an enormous budget crisis, caused in part by Gov. Bobby Jindal's (R) tax breaks. Now the state can't get its fiscal house in order, and as TPM reported, it's asking Norquist to give Louisiana a break.

    For months now legislators have accused Jindal of kowtowing to Norquist's "no tax pledge," which stipulates that taxes cannot be raised unless they're offset by spending cuts elsewhere. And this weekend they'd had enough. A group of self-described "conservative" Republican state representatives took their complaints to Norquist himself, asking him to give them some wiggle room on raising taxes and to shoot down some Jindal-backed legislation that they say would set a "dangerous precedent" in how government could mask revenue hikes. […]

    Sunday's letter – signed by Louisiana House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Joel Robideaux (R) and 10 other state Republican representatives – asked Norquist to take into account the previous tax cuts Louisiana has passed in recent years and the effect they will have in the future when assessing whether the state is in compliance with the no tax pledge.

    David Kurtz joked, "With all due respect to Grover Norquist, this is like begging your dealer for permission to go clean."

    And in this case, the dealer said, "No."

    Republican lawmakers in Louisiana are basically looking for permission to raise cigarette taxes and scale back some existing tax credits. Under "the pledge," however, this counts as raising taxes, which means the policies are simply unacceptable.


    Welcome to Grover's world.

    I can't wait to see who votes for this kind of presidency.
    ____________________

    Notes:

    Weissman, Jordan. "Bobby Jindal Found a Mind-Bendingly Stupid Way to Pretend He Isn’t Raising Taxes". Slate. 15 June 2015. Slate.com. 17 June 2015. http://slate.me/1MZGLhe

    Benen, Steve. "Louisiana GOP pleads with Norquist on budget crisis". msnbc. 9 June 2015. msnbc.com. 17 June 2015. http://on.msnbc.com/1f0jyQL
     
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  13. Dr_Toad It's green! Valued Senior Member

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    Sometimes you amaze me. Fucking excellent post, Tiassa, thank you!
     
  14. joepistole Deacon Blues Valued Senior Member

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    It just shows how blatantly subservient Republicans are to lobbyists like Grover Norquist.
     
  15. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    Cowardice

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    "This is the MO of this administration, any time there is an accident like this — the president is clear, he doesn’t like for Americans to have guns and so he uses every opportunity, this being another one, to basically go parrot that message."


    We should simply take the moment to remind that mass murder is not an accident.

    Sharonda Coleman-Singleton. Cynthia Hurd. Susie Jackson. Ethel Lance. Depayne Middleton Doctor. Clementa Pinckney. Tywanza Sanders. Daniel Simmons, Sr. Myra Thompson.

    They have names.

    Their deaths are not an accident.
    ____________________

    Notes:

    Tashman, Brian. "Rick Perry: Charleston Shooting An 'Accident' Due To Drug Use, Manipulated By Obama To Ban Guns". Right Wing Watch. 19 June 2015. RightWingWatch.org. 19 June 2015. http://bit.ly/1SwQ0IX
     
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  16. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    Aid and Comfort

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    Jeb Bush has joined the ranks of Republican presidential candidates giving aid and comfort to mass murder.

    Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush said Friday that he isn't sure what motivated a young white man to walk into a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, Wednesday night and kill nine people.

    “I don't know what was on the mind or the heart of the man who committed these atrocious crimes,” the former Florida governor said at the Faith & Freedom Coalition conference.

    The shooter, 21-year-old Dylann Roof, was crystal clear about his motive: He reportedly announced he was there to kill black people, saying at the church, “You rape our women, and you're taking over the country. And you have to go” ....

    .... Republicans, however, are having a hard time attributing the mass shooting to racism. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) said in a statement on Thursday that “we do know that we'll never understand what motivates anyone to enter one of our places of worship and take the life of another.” And conservative analysts on Fox News floated the theory that Roof was targeting Christians, rather than African-Americans.


    (Bassett and Bobic↱)

    In the manner of Republicans, the Serious Clown needed a do-over, but sent a spokesperson out to explain to the press of course Mr. Bush thinks the attack was motivated by racial animus.

    You know, just like he said ... or didn't ... or ... er ....

    "I don't know what was on the mind or the heart of the man who committed these atrocious crimes."

    You see? Right there in black and white, Jeb Bush said ... um ... ah ... whatever it is he was supposed to say. Of course he did.

    Look, this kind of cynicism is dangerous. Once upon a time, the political question in the face of atrocity was how best to remedy the situation. These days, conservatives have become so cynical that child molestation and mass murder are subject to debate, because, you know, maybe it's not so atrocious.

    This is the world they want.

    Yes, really. This is what they fight for.

    Except it's really hard to look the community in the eye and say, "Yes, of course mass murder is worth it!" So Mark Sanford will go on msnbc to make it about heritage and confusion. Rick Perry↑ will call mass murder an "accident". And Jeb Bush will pretend he doesn't know why the racist who left a note about why he was killing black people in a church killed a bunch of black people in a church, because, you know, of course he knows.

    The problem is that they just don't want to admit this is the kind of people they are. They want the glory, they want the power. But, damn it, they just don't see why they should be held remotely accountable for the results of getting what they want.

    These atrocities are just the price of freedom, you know? So of course they're going to try to convince us it's a great bargain.

    Ladies and gentlemen, your conservative conscience.
    ____________________

    Notes:

    Bassett, Laura and Igor Bobic. "Jeb Bush: 'I Don't Know What Was On The Mind' Of Charleston Shooter". The Huffington Post. 19 June 2015. HuffingtonPost.com. 19 June 2015. http://huff.to/1L8udVG
     
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  17. joepistole Deacon Blues Valued Senior Member

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  18. joepistole Deacon Blues Valued Senior Member

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  19. joepistole Deacon Blues Valued Senior Member

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    In his announcement speech, Trump told Republicans he would get Mexico to build a wall between Mexico and the United States and have Mexico pay for it along with some racially derogatory comments which have now cost him some sponsors. NBC and Univision are dropping his shows.

    Trump got fired!

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    Last edited: Jun 29, 2015
  20. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    Well, here's the thing; I think this is a calculated gamble.

    Let us start with Friday:

    Donald Trump has a message to Univision employees amid his ongoing flap with the network: Stay away from my hotel.

    The real estate magnate and GOP presidential candidate penned a letter to Randy Falco, president of Univision Communications, in which he bans the company’s employees from his Trump National Doral hotel in Miami.

    “Under no circumstances is any officer or representative of Univision allowed to use Trump National Doral, Miami — its golf courses or any of its facilities,” Trump wrote.

    He also called for Univision to cease construction on its Miami headquarters adjacent to Trump’s hotel. He warned that if the construction isn’t stopped and the gate between the two properties is not closed, “we will close it.”

    The letter comes after Univision decided not to air Trump’s Miss Universe pageant because of remarks he made during his presidential announcement speech that the network believes disparaged Mexicans.

    Trump referred to the U.S. as the “dumping ground for everybody else’s problems,” and said that Mexico doesn’t send its “best” people across the border as immigrants.

    “They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people,” Trump said.

    Trump, who also has touted his ability to build a “great wall on our southern border,” further chided Univision in the letter.

    “P.S. Please congratulate your Mexican Government officials for having made such outstanding trade deals with the United States,” he wrote.


    The way it works is simply enough explained:

    • Pick a fight.

    • When the other fights back, retaliate on the pretense that you are somehow a victim.

    • When the consequences crash down, pretend to be a victim.​

    Really, being dumped by NBC↱ only plays to Trump's favor in the primary. NBC is part of a sinful entertainment company, and its news division is home to msnbc, which conservatives for some reason fear as if the cable network actually pulled decent ratings.

    Think of how that's going to play with fundraising. The only real question is who the hell is going to actually give him money. But aside from the fact that he's Donald Trump, being dumped by NBC is the sort of thing any Republican would like to be able to wave in front of primary voters.

    Now, naturally, you're thinking at this point that I must necessarily be insane, because who the hell could possibly be so stupid as to think that kind of crazy investment can pay any decent return that actually moves one closer to the White House.

    And I would simply remind that this is Donald fucking Trump we're discussing.

    No, really, I know I'm discussing an idiotically simplistic gambit with no reasonable projection of a useful return, but, yeah, it's Donald Trump.
    ____________________

    Notes:

    Kamisar, Ben. "Trump bans Univision employees from Miami hotel". The Hill. 26 June 2015. TheHill.com. 29 June 2015. http://bit.ly/1Kq3pRN

    Littleton, Cynthia. "NBC Cutting Ties to Donald Trump Over 'Derogatory' Remarks About Immigrants". Variety. 29 June 2015. Variety.com. 29 June 2015. http://bit.ly/1NrgIjh
     
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  21. origin Heading towards oblivion Valued Senior Member

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    Donald Trump enters the presidential race and comedians around the country cry with glee. The don't even need to write jokes, all they need to do is quote him verbatim to get the laughs. At least Donny is make life easier for the comedians.
     
  22. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    Ted Cruz Wants to Take the Oath Declaring He Will Protect and Preserve the Constitution

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    Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) would like to swear the oath of office to serve as President of the United States. He wishes to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

    Hold that thought.

    For the last several years, Republicans have complained bitterly about President Obama's respect for the rule of law. Every time the president relies on executive actions to implement his policy agenda, GOP officials – even at the highest levels – lash out wildly, accusing Obama of overseeing a lawless, tyrannical presidency.

    He ignores laws and court rulings he doesn't like, Republicans say. He's shredded the Constitution, the argument goes, en route to creating a dictatorship.

    Indeed, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has helped lead the charge, telling Fox News last year that Obama has shown a flagrant disregard for the law and democratic norms. "The pattern we've seen under President Obama, disregarding the law, is really one of the most troubling aspects of this presidency," the far-right senator said. "When he disagrees with the law … he simply refuses to comply with it."

    The GOP apoplexy has never really made any sense, but as of yesterday, the complaints have taken an ironic twist. Politico reported:

    Ted Cruz has some unsolicited advice for the states not specifically named in last week's Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage: Ignore it.

    "Those who are not parties to the suit are not bound by it," the Texas Republican told NPR News' Steve Inskeep in an interview published on Monday. Since only suits against the states of Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan and Kentucky were specifically considered in the Supreme Court's Obergefell v. Hodges decision, which was handed down last Friday, Cruz – a former Supreme Court clerk – believes that other states with gay marriage bans need not comply, absent a judicial order.


    Good one, Ted.
    ____________________

    Notes:

    Benen, Steve. "Cruz urges officials to ignore Supreme Court ruling". msnbc. 30 June 2015. msnbc.com. 30 June 2015. http://on.msnbc.com/1BTE0Nm
     
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  23. Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Valued Senior Member

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    Mike Huckabee Wants to Take the Oath Declaring He Will Protect and Preserve the Constitution

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    Mike Huckabee (R) would like to swear the oath of office to serve as President of the United States. He wishes to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.

    Hold that thought.

    Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's (R) grasp of constitutional law has long been a little fuzzy. In January, the Republican presidential candidate said Supreme Court rulings don't set the law of the land because decisions need to be enshrined by lawmakers through "enabling legislation."

    The problem, of course, was that this was gibberish.

    Huckabee's argument was presented in anticipation of a Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality, which arrived on Friday. Right on cue, the former governor made a similar argument to ABC's George Stephanopoulos yesterday.

    STEPHANOPOULOS: So are you calling for civil disobedience?

    HUCKABEE: I don't think a lot of pastors and Christian schools are going to have a choice. They either are going to follow God, their conscience and what they truly believe is what the scripture teaches them, or they will follow civil law. They will go the path of Dr. Martin Luther King, who in his brilliant essay the letters from a Birmingham jail reminded us, based on what St. Augustine said, that an unjust law is no law at all. And I do think that we're going to see a lot of pastors who will have to make this tough decision.

    He added moments later, "I'm not sure that every governor and every attorney general should just say, well, 'It's the law of the land,' because there's no enabling legislation." When Stephanopoulos asked if he would enforce federal law if elected president, Huckabee said it would depend on Congress passing "enabling legislation."


    Good one, Mike.
    ____________________

    Notes:

    Benen, Steve. "Huckabee sees merits of civil disobedience". msnbc. 29 June 2015. msnbc.com. 30 June 2015. http://on.msnbc.com/1BTE0Nm
     

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