If we nominate the buffoon, most of my family will vote for him. My niece’s husband (an Air Force captain) will vote for Hillary. I have never felt a duty to vote in the Yankee Presidential election, so I just plan on observing the public display of lunacy.
I’m trying to (gently) persuade one of my non-political Republican friends (who can’t stand Trump, or Cruz for that matter) not vote for Hillary come November. … Oy.
Everything is turned upside down this year. Who would have thought??
I keep thinking of those lines from Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming”:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold …
From the AP story on Romney this morning:
_______________________________
The GOP mayhem contrasted sharply with a clearer picture on the Democratic side, where Hillary Clinton was drawing broad support from voters and her party’s leaders. Rival Sen. Bernie Sanders vowed to keep up the fight, though his path to the nomination has become exceedingly narrow.
_______________________________
Although her support remains decidedly unenthusiastic and voter turnout on the Democratic side has been dismal so far.
I am coming around to the thought that a split in the Republican party might now be a bad thing. I will have to stew it over a little more before I can fully explain myself.
Last fall, Saba Ahmed went head to head with a Trump spokeswoman proposing to close mosques.
Now Ahmed is among a minority of Muslims voting for Trump saying Obama’s policies are failing Muslims.
And she’s not alone.
Well, whether good or bad, it’s gone and split. 🙂 The downside, of course, is that 2016 may be lost to the liberals once again.
But beware: I don’t think a newly-formed party will be as conservative as in the past (because, to be honest, I don’t think there are all that many conservatives in the electorate nowadays).
It would be reborn as a more center-right party (as the Dems go headlong leftward, this would provide a place for disaffected centrist Democrats to go).
Not saying any of this is good or bad, just a thought on how things might reconnect after the fall election is all over. Of course, if Trump wins, then he does, like it or not, become the ‘face’ of the GOP. If he loses, the party is up for grabs.
But with the Democrat party now becoming so far left & even openly socialist, it might be an opportunity also …
What? You have a problem with Ben Carson? Is it because he has an open mind and is willing to think outside the box? That bothers a lot of people. Is it because he believes his beliefs influence his life? That bothers a lot of people. Is it because he does not want to be beholden to big money and other such interests? That bothers a lot of people.
Or is it because he elected not to participate in yet another “debate”? Of the people in the running, he is the best choice to represent America and Americans. Instead, Americans are choosing……? What? Never mind. Ben Carson.
Wouldn’t it be something to have a President who not only cared about our country and the opportunities and freedoms it has stood for, but also for the people? No. Too much to ask. Let us pretend he does not exist and put in a …..what? Woman and poverty despising female criminal? Woman and poverty despising male bully? Wow. What a difference between the two parties.
Tychicus, You touched on a sore point. It is bad enough that the Republicans are about to nominate a deranged, rude, liberal New Yorker. However, the Thunder’s fourth quarter execution is completely unacceptable. Both the U.S. and Oklahoma seem to have been cursed by God.
DETROIT — The high-speed unraveling of the Republican Party somehow accelerated further on Thursday, as the party’s last two presidential nominees joined the chorus of establishment voices warning voters not to allow Donald Trump to become the GOP’s standard-bearer.
What they’re struggling to come to grips with is that Trump already is.
In the hours before the GOP debate here Thursday night, Mitt Romney offered his own thorough, pragmatic denouncement of his party’s presidential frontrunner in Salt Lake City, labeling Trump as a “phony” and a “fraud” who might destroy the GOP, and warning that his demagoguery is reminiscent of a “brand of anger that has led other nations into the abyss.”
Hours later, Trump responded in typical fashion — with a crude sex joke. …
… The growing discord and contrasting styles are just the latest illustration of a party at war with itself amid a nomination fight that veered off the rails a long time ago. This rising clamor is the sound of a fragile Republican Party, a coalition held together in recent years by fraying threads between the donor class and the grassroots, breaking apart. …
“Should Christians Vote for the Lesser of Two Evils?” by Russell Moore.
“In the cases when I’ve voted for an independent or written in a candidate, I didn’t necessarily expect that candidate to win—my main objective was to participate in the process without endorsing moral evil. As Christians, we are not responsible for the reality of our two-party system or for the way others exercise their citizenship, but we will give an account for how we delegate our authority. Our primary concern is not the election night victory party, but the Judgment Seat of Christ.
“When Christians face two clearly immoral options, we cannot rationalize a vote for immorality or injustice just because we deem the alternative to be worse. The Bible tells us we will be held accountable not only for the evil deeds we do but also when we “give approval to those who practice them” (Rom. 1:32).”
Very good article, Karen. Thanks for sharing that.
I can’t think of a better election year than now for Christian conservatives to consider the Constitution Party. No party is ever going to put up the perfect candidate, but with the front runners we have in the two major parties, considering voting for the CP candidate (their nominating convention is next month), even if it means having to write in that person’s name if the Constitution Party doesn’t get on the ballot in your state, is, IMO, preferable to not voting, or to voting for a pro-choice Libertarian, or anyone who is a significant distance from upholding the values you hold dear.
Tonight’s Republican presidential debate was not a game-changer. In fact, I’m not sure it will have any impact on the race.
Obviously, this is a bad outcome for those of us who are anti-Trump, so I wish I could report otherwise. But I just didn’t see anything that seems likely to (1) cause Trump to lose support or even (2) cause the considerable anti-Trump sentiment in the party to deepen. …
Donald Trump: He was the Alpha Male once again. He dominated the stage. He was untruthful and nasty, but less nasty than usual. He bragged about his anatomy. …
Marco Rubio: Rubio had some good moments, but I don’t think we saw his “A game” tonight. In the first half of the debate, his attacks on Trump sometimes struck me as “ankle biting,” which feeds into Trump’s “little Marco” put down.
In the second half of the debate, Rubio went mostly positive. He’s always good when he’s positive, but the themes he sounds just haven’t been enough to carry him to the top. I fear they won’t be enough now to save his presidential bid. …
Ted Cruz: He had a very good night, I think. Coming off of Super Tuesday, he seemed energized, whereas Rubio seemed a little tired.
He handled Trump better than Rubio did tonight. Rubio often tried to interrupt Trump, usually unsuccessfully. Cruz handled Trump’s interruptions by telling him to control himself and to “count to ten” or “breathe, breathe.” It worked (for Cruz, not for Trump). …
John Kasich: It was more of the same from the Ohio man tonight. If you’ve seen any of the debates, you know what I mean.
His problem-solving, above-the-fray line hasn’t gotten him to 10 percent in most states, but it has worked fairly well in a few enclaves. It may carry the day in Ohio.
Kasich’s unwillingness to attack Trump may go beyond just trying to look like the adult in the room. I can’t help but suspect he wouldn’t mind being Trump’s running mate. …
… Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem realistic to hope that moments like these will derail, or even slow down appreciably, the Trump express. In my estimation, this debate fell short of the pre-Super Tuesday one as an anti-Trump night.
Perhaps the two debates taken together and coupled with aggressive multi-state advertising will take a big toll on Trump. But I’m not counting on it.
____________________________________________________________
Wandering Views 
If we nominate the buffoon, most of my family will vote for him. My niece’s husband (an Air Force captain) will vote for Hillary. I have never felt a duty to vote in the Yankee Presidential election, so I just plan on observing the public display of lunacy.
LikeLiked by 2 people
rw: I believe that there’s still a path to the nomination for Sen. Cruz.
(P.S. Your Thunder are losing some heartbreakers lately…)
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Wow, Romney is not holding back in his speech about Trump…
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No way this turns out well in 2016 for conservatives, I’m afraid.
The split that has been threatening the party for years has finally split, and in a very big way.
I shudder at the thought of 4 years under Clinton.
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I’m trying to (gently) persuade one of my non-political Republican friends (who can’t stand Trump, or Cruz for that matter) not vote for Hillary come November. … Oy.
Everything is turned upside down this year. Who would have thought??
I keep thinking of those lines from Yeats’ poem “The Second Coming”:
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold …
LikeLiked by 1 person
That and Alice in Wonderland.
😉
LikeLiked by 2 people
From the AP story on Romney this morning:
_______________________________
The GOP mayhem contrasted sharply with a clearer picture on the Democratic side, where Hillary Clinton was drawing broad support from voters and her party’s leaders. Rival Sen. Bernie Sanders vowed to keep up the fight, though his path to the nomination has become exceedingly narrow.
_______________________________
Although her support remains decidedly unenthusiastic and voter turnout on the Democratic side has been dismal so far.
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I am coming around to the thought that a split in the Republican party might now be a bad thing. I will have to stew it over a little more before I can fully explain myself.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I heard this interview on the radio this morning, and I thought you would all be very interested: http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/the-current-for-march-3-2016-1.3473947/7-of-american-muslim-voters-support-trump-survey-suggests-1.3474046
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Romney needs to stay out of this
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I don’t know that the party’s a bad thing, but it is a broken thing — and it won’t be “fixed” before November.
Chas, it’s too late for Romney to stay out of it now. It’s also too late, most likely, for any of what he says to make a difference.
Trump’s candidacy is a run-away populist movement that goes beyond the GOP, surely, but has found in the already-fractured party its perfect “host.”
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh, I misread Kim’s post.
Well, whether good or bad, it’s gone and split. 🙂 The downside, of course, is that 2016 may be lost to the liberals once again.
But beware: I don’t think a newly-formed party will be as conservative as in the past (because, to be honest, I don’t think there are all that many conservatives in the electorate nowadays).
It would be reborn as a more center-right party (as the Dems go headlong leftward, this would provide a place for disaffected centrist Democrats to go).
Not saying any of this is good or bad, just a thought on how things might reconnect after the fall election is all over. Of course, if Trump wins, then he does, like it or not, become the ‘face’ of the GOP. If he loses, the party is up for grabs.
But with the Democrat party now becoming so far left & even openly socialist, it might be an opportunity also …
LikeLiked by 1 person
An abrupt change of subject, but what do you think?
http://wkrg.com/2016/03/02/espn-anchor-tells-south-alabama-students-racism-doesnt-exist-for-them/
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And what conservatives there are left seem split even among themselves for now.
It will (probably) work itself out in time — but not real soon.
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Ben Carson.
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Ah-hem. … um, mumsee? … 🙂
Besides, we’re all too busy fighting among ourselves now. Like we need even MORE factions. 🙄
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By 2020, we’ll all be ready.
Maybe.
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What? You have a problem with Ben Carson? Is it because he has an open mind and is willing to think outside the box? That bothers a lot of people. Is it because he believes his beliefs influence his life? That bothers a lot of people. Is it because he does not want to be beholden to big money and other such interests? That bothers a lot of people.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Or is it because he elected not to participate in yet another “debate”? Of the people in the running, he is the best choice to represent America and Americans. Instead, Americans are choosing……? What? Never mind. Ben Carson.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wouldn’t it be something to have a President who not only cared about our country and the opportunities and freedoms it has stood for, but also for the people? No. Too much to ask. Let us pretend he does not exist and put in a …..what? Woman and poverty despising female criminal? Woman and poverty despising male bully? Wow. What a difference between the two parties.
LikeLiked by 1 person
End of lecture. Go Ben Carson!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Tychicus, You touched on a sore point. It is bad enough that the Republicans are about to nominate a deranged, rude, liberal New Yorker. However, the Thunder’s fourth quarter execution is completely unacceptable. Both the U.S. and Oklahoma seem to have been cursed by God.
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I liked Ben. And a couple of others.
I’m thinking if Trump manages to win a general election it would be the Booby Prize for the Republican Party.
LikeLiked by 1 person
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/donald-trump-mitt-romney-gop-freakout-220208#ixzz41tLeryQW
______________________________
DETROIT — The high-speed unraveling of the Republican Party somehow accelerated further on Thursday, as the party’s last two presidential nominees joined the chorus of establishment voices warning voters not to allow Donald Trump to become the GOP’s standard-bearer.
What they’re struggling to come to grips with is that Trump already is.
In the hours before the GOP debate here Thursday night, Mitt Romney offered his own thorough, pragmatic denouncement of his party’s presidential frontrunner in Salt Lake City, labeling Trump as a “phony” and a “fraud” who might destroy the GOP, and warning that his demagoguery is reminiscent of a “brand of anger that has led other nations into the abyss.”
Hours later, Trump responded in typical fashion — with a crude sex joke. …
… The growing discord and contrasting styles are just the latest illustration of a party at war with itself amid a nomination fight that veered off the rails a long time ago. This rising clamor is the sound of a fragile Republican Party, a coalition held together in recent years by fraying threads between the donor class and the grassroots, breaking apart. …
_______________________________
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Not sure I’d summarize the “split” that way though (donor class vs. grassroots)
And I don’t think there’s much of a so-called “establishment” left.
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http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35702584
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I would characterize the split as follows:
IQ 100 Against Trump
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Popcorn’s just about ready…
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Let’s try that again.
IQ over 100 – Against Trump
IQ below 100 – For Trump
Trump has basically admitted this is true.
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“Should Christians Vote for the Lesser of Two Evils?” by Russell Moore.
“In the cases when I’ve voted for an independent or written in a candidate, I didn’t necessarily expect that candidate to win—my main objective was to participate in the process without endorsing moral evil. As Christians, we are not responsible for the reality of our two-party system or for the way others exercise their citizenship, but we will give an account for how we delegate our authority. Our primary concern is not the election night victory party, but the Judgment Seat of Christ.
“When Christians face two clearly immoral options, we cannot rationalize a vote for immorality or injustice just because we deem the alternative to be worse. The Bible tells us we will be held accountable not only for the evil deeds we do but also when we “give approval to those who practice them” (Rom. 1:32).”
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/march-web-only/should-christians-vote-for-lesser-of-two-evils.html?start=1
LikeLiked by 2 people
Very good article, Karen. Thanks for sharing that.
I can’t think of a better election year than now for Christian conservatives to consider the Constitution Party. No party is ever going to put up the perfect candidate, but with the front runners we have in the two major parties, considering voting for the CP candidate (their nominating convention is next month), even if it means having to write in that person’s name if the Constitution Party doesn’t get on the ballot in your state, is, IMO, preferable to not voting, or to voting for a pro-choice Libertarian, or anyone who is a significant distance from upholding the values you hold dear.
More information here: http://www.constitutionparty.com/our-principles/seven-principles/
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It’s sad.
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Still leaning toward not voting for president this time around (assuming it’s Trump vs. Clinton).
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I watched some of the debate and thought Cruz looked best of the four.
Trump always has a sour frown on his face. It does not look healthy despite the sprayed on tan and sprayed down hair (or is it sprayed up hair?).
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His health is ‘AMAZING’ 🙂
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http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2016/03/a-good-night-for-ted-cruz-a-good-enough-night-for-donald-trump.php
_________________________________________________________
Tonight’s Republican presidential debate was not a game-changer. In fact, I’m not sure it will have any impact on the race.
Obviously, this is a bad outcome for those of us who are anti-Trump, so I wish I could report otherwise. But I just didn’t see anything that seems likely to (1) cause Trump to lose support or even (2) cause the considerable anti-Trump sentiment in the party to deepen. …
Donald Trump: He was the Alpha Male once again. He dominated the stage. He was untruthful and nasty, but less nasty than usual. He bragged about his anatomy. …
Marco Rubio: Rubio had some good moments, but I don’t think we saw his “A game” tonight. In the first half of the debate, his attacks on Trump sometimes struck me as “ankle biting,” which feeds into Trump’s “little Marco” put down.
In the second half of the debate, Rubio went mostly positive. He’s always good when he’s positive, but the themes he sounds just haven’t been enough to carry him to the top. I fear they won’t be enough now to save his presidential bid. …
Ted Cruz: He had a very good night, I think. Coming off of Super Tuesday, he seemed energized, whereas Rubio seemed a little tired.
He handled Trump better than Rubio did tonight. Rubio often tried to interrupt Trump, usually unsuccessfully. Cruz handled Trump’s interruptions by telling him to control himself and to “count to ten” or “breathe, breathe.” It worked (for Cruz, not for Trump). …
John Kasich: It was more of the same from the Ohio man tonight. If you’ve seen any of the debates, you know what I mean.
His problem-solving, above-the-fray line hasn’t gotten him to 10 percent in most states, but it has worked fairly well in a few enclaves. It may carry the day in Ohio.
Kasich’s unwillingness to attack Trump may go beyond just trying to look like the adult in the room. I can’t help but suspect he wouldn’t mind being Trump’s running mate. …
… Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem realistic to hope that moments like these will derail, or even slow down appreciably, the Trump express. In my estimation, this debate fell short of the pre-Super Tuesday one as an anti-Trump night.
Perhaps the two debates taken together and coupled with aggressive multi-state advertising will take a big toll on Trump. But I’m not counting on it.
____________________________________________________________
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