a clown car full of millionaires: the 2016 presidential primary thread

i'm not saying that they don't have any policy prescriptions in mind, i'm saying that maybe demanding platitudes is not the way to get those prescriptions taken seriously

here I googled something for you

http://blacklivesmatter.com/demands/

obviously the idea is that spreading the phrase "blacklivesmatter" leads to people investigating what it's about and what they're for - guess they failed on that count with you tho

ok shakey

sort of recoiling at this idea that black criminal justice activists just want to hear platitudes and don't have any policy prescriptions in mind or to hand, just wtf really dude

Then why are they choosing the most theatrical, least get-shit-done of all possible events to make their appearance? Come on; it's theater, and they know it. The candidates are there to make a sales pitch, the activists jumped onstage to hijack it, but there is literally nothing but sloganeering going on on all sides. The absolute best you're gonna get is someone saying, "If I'm elected, I will strive to accomplish x," but that assumes that a) the candidate will get elected; b) they won't encounter massive resistance from Congress. Even if you assume a), assuming b) at this point, given the history of the last seven years, is frankly idiotic.

Seems like Hillary has much more to answer for (via Bubba) than Bern. O'Malley was/is Gov of Maryland, right? That makes more sense re: recent events in Baltimore. How has Obama been on BLM demands? I don't know, just curious

iirc O passed something barring local PDs from getting military grade hardware iirc

Then why are they choosing the most theatrical, least get-shit-done of all possible events to make their appearance?

I'm not denying it's theater, it is very early in the campaign, there is nothing BUT theater at this point re: the candidates. But to argue that they are doing nothing but theatrically disrupting campaign events as a PR stunt (which it def is) and NOT anything else like working at the local level (where tbh this shit matters most) or doing grassroots organizing or lobbying congress is presumptuous and I suspect v innacurate.

moving on... I'm surprised GOP base is happy to give a pass to Trump re: McCain comments but I guess a) they really hate McCain and b) all that military/vets talk is mostly lip service that's subsumed by ideology (cf Swift Boating). I still think Trump's self-destruction is inevitable but I'm not sure what's going to drive it at this point.

americans don't hate anyone as much as they hate a loser

haha yes

btw: http://www.kxly.com/news/spokane-news/obama-executive-order-restricts-police-use-of-military-surplus-hardware/33092254

Another quick take: anyone here think Trump will be the nominee?

there's no way. for one thing he won't want to spend that much of his own money.

and evangelicals will never accept him

there is literally a greater chance that obama declares himself dictator and president for life than there is that trump becomes the nominee

(like 25% vs 5% basically)

and a greater chance Reagan will resurrect and lead his GOP zombie army to that shining city on the hill

I thought Trump was gonna be out by now, honestly - I thought having to declare his finances would send him scurrying back to his tower. (You can read through all 92 pages of the disclosure forms, by the way; here's a link.)

i think it's very unlikely he'll be the republican nominee but i think i give it better odds than resurrected zombie reagan. no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.

Another quick take: anyone here think Trump will be the nominee?

― Iago Galdston, Wednesday, July 22, 2015 1:20 PM (28 seconds ago)

I'm at 97% "no way" and 3% "a combo of eejits have finally started a landslide that the RNC can't stop, so, maybe?"

Jesse Ventura was elected governor of my state, so I'll never say crazy shit can't happen, but we're still such a long way from the nominating process, and I have to think the cycle of saying something stupidly inflammatory once a week is bound to burn itself out long before then. Graham says "run for pres, but don't be a jackass" and there's no way Trump can do the latter.

"and evangelicals will never accept him"

3 days ago i would have said the same thing about vets...

there is literally a greater chance that obama declares himself dictator and president for life than there is that trump becomes the nominee

― iatee, Wednesday, July 22, 2015 6:22 PM (17 minutes ago)

i know which universe i want to live in

http://i.imgur.com/i0V6Ry3.png

btw there have been a lot of zombie reagan jokes on ilx so i want to draw everyone's attention to what i thought was a funny episode of China, IL in the first season that seems thematically related:
http://www.adultswim.com/videos/china-il/reagans-time-machine/

this guy is becoming one of my favorite right wing operators

https://twitter.com/johndurant/status/623927289189826560

Lessons from @realDonaldTrump:

- set & hold frame
- attack
- don't apologize
- be overconfident
- develop antifragile persona
- immigration

he does appear to have the nativist PUA bloc locked down for now

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXSFRMJhlgY&feature=youtu.be

John Durant – ‏@johndurant

Obviously the GOP will learn nothing, and just be little liberal manlets about it

"manlets"?

lol @ that Lindsey Graham thing

an omelet made of men

he'd munch on that

an omelet is just an omelet, but a manlet is a meal

"isis would be waswas" is crackin' me up

outic's Trump photo of yesterday reminds me of
http://www.robertmatheu.com/photos/compadres/stooges_08.jpg

I thought having to declare his finances would send him scurrying back to his tower.

The thing with Trump is, the usual dilemma doesn't apply here. Candidates worry about declaring their finances because they don't want people to know how rich they are; Trump is evidently obsessed with making the world think he's richer than he actually is. So I don't think that will be what ultimately chases him out. (But 0% chance anyway.)

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/trump-plummets-in-polls-after-failing-to-insult-kasich

why are you linking to Borowitz

idk anything about borowitz

Thing 1: He's not funny.

~ fin ~

Candidates worry about declaring their finances because they don't want people to know how rich they are; Trump is evidently obsessed with making the world think he's richer than he actually is.

Which is exactly why I thought having to reveal his real net worth (which I'm guessing is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 40-50% of what he says it is) would have been a bridge too far. But apparently not.

I simplified that anyway. Candidates also balk because of shady transactions, so that would presumably give Trump pause. With Hillarly, I'm sure it's the richer-than-you'd-guess problem.

Romney appeared to have both problems.

O'Malley was/is Gov of Maryland, right?

He was mayor of Baltimore before that, so not a timely resume.

Thing is there isn't a whole lotta democracy about the nominating / primary process if you break it down. The party fathers can stop whoever they like without it looking like a coup.

...So the fact that the populace are dumbshits doesn't enter into it all that much.

plz plz plz

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/07/23/donald-trump-threatens-third-party-candidacy/?_r=0

^^^I was thinking this might happen, like some even more batshit updating of Ross Perot.

hence a scenario where a Bernie victory becomes theoretically more plausible