We all know that Hillary is the Wicked Witch of the West, but my wife recently discovered that Trump is Immortam Joe, the villain in Mad Max: Fury Road. In the movie his face is largely covered by a metal mask, but you can tell he is Trump by the strange color of his hair, the number and appearance of his wives and his bad manners.
The so-called Republican establishment is coming to the painful realization that Texas senator Ted Cruz may be its only hope to block Donald Trump from winning the nomination and Hillary Clinton from winning the White House.
It’s not assured, of course. There are as many theories on how to emerge from this year’s Republican convention with an acceptable nominee as there are interpretations of what was going on in the TV show Lost. But the most plausible path to a Trump-free, Republican-controlled White House is consolidation around Cruz. It’s a difficult conclusion for many people …
… Many believe — correctly in my opinion — that Rubio would be the more competitive challenger to Clinton in the general election. But many also believe that the Hulk would be a great offensive lineman in the NFL. In other words, reality has a way of taking our personal preferences off the menu. If the math isn’t with Rubio, hopes and wishes can’t change that. So that leaves Cruz. …
Cruz will tell you that members of the “Washington cartel” don’t like him because he’s challenged the system and is a threat to K Street and so on. But that’s only part of it. His fellow senators don’t like him because they don’t like him. They say he’s arrogant and condescending, a terrible listener and completely uninterested in actually getting anything done that doesn’t further his own interests.
They see him as a right-wing Arlen Specter — a notoriously difficult and self-absorbed senator.
The truth is probably somewhere in between. There are people who’ve known Cruz for years and hate him, and there are people who’ve known him for years and love him. I’ve found him perfectly pleasant and engaging in conversation. But pretty much everyone respects his intellect. Cruz is simply one of the smartest people in Washington. …
This has been a year where a lot of good and honorable people have had to swallow their pride. The trough isn’t empty yet, and many more may need to belly up for seconds if they want to save the GOP.
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Ok, I will bite. I have been a Carson supporter and admirer from the start. I believe he is a man of integrity. He knows Trump a lot better than I do and if he sees hope there, I will start looking for it. Perhaps Trump has had his eyes opened, we shall see. I am not a Trump supporter but am a Carson supporter.
Well, Trump is still first in line to get the nomination as things stand. Things will probably be clearer after Karen O’s anniversary on Super Tuesday. 🙂
Sent the Cruz link to my boss, a moderate (non-christian) Republican but one who can’t stand what liberals have done to the country. He said: “not there yet. don’t like ideologies of either side.”
Another friend — more politically conservative than I am and a Christian — also still doesn’t like Cruz and says if she feels this way then she can’t expect others who disagree with his positions to be persuaded.
As I’ve said, Cruz has some work to do to bring even his own party on board before heading out to the big, diverse world of a general election.
If I have learned anything over the last few years, it is not to dispute theology with Cheryl. I therefore apologize for the strong term I used to describe Trump and his staff last night. I will try to control my temper if I hear that his staff has assaulted another female reporter.
Someone close to me pointed out that as a businessman, Trump is a major delegator. For that reason, people may be lining up to support him so as to have power in any administration.
For the record, his wife would be the first first lady since Louisa Adams not to have been born on US soil.
I like to remember, “some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God.”
Remnant status, here we come.
Of course in California, we’ve been there a long time so we have practice.
Just talking strategy (sorry, the former poli-sci/journalism major always comes out in me during national elections): Trump may lose some Republicans but is, I think, more likely to attract independents and wayward Democrats in a general election than Cruz ever would be — which is why many of us are dubious of Cruz’s wider appeal as a nominee going into November.
I kept hearing that it was not his fault when Cruz’s team put out false info on Carson. I suppose we are not supposed to hold Trump accountable when his people assault others. When I see the guy canned, I will give Trump some credit.
“When they learn more about Donald Trump’s record, they discover he’s been doing everything they’re angry about. He is Washington. Donald Trump is the system.”
And while there are differences between Rubio and Cruz on some issues, they largely agree on most of them. The difference is more style than substance.
In one of the more surreal moments of the 2016 presidential campaign, former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson endorsed Donald Trump for the GOP nomination Friday morning. …
… At Friday’s press conference, Carson said he and Trump had “buried the hatchet” on past spats.
In recent days, Trump has repeatedly bashed Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for an incident during the Iowa caucuses when Cruz precinct leaders told caucus-goers Carson was dropping out of the race. Cruz apologized for the episode and said campaign workers made a mistake after watching a confusing report on CNN.
Either way, at the time, Carson accused Cruz’s campaign of “dirty tricks,” and said, “By their fruit you will know them.” Trump continues to tell the story during campaign rallies, as Cruz remains less than 100 delegates behind Trump in a nomination contest that’s still plenty competitive.
Meanwhile, it’s unclear what Carson makes of the fruit of Trump’s life. For example, Carson once told a reporter that the only woman he had ever slept with was his wife. Trump, in his book Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life,bragged about his promiscuity and sexual encounters with married women.
Trump’s willingness to use vulgar language in public settings, including campaign rallies, is also a stark contrast to the Proverbs-quoting Carson. The retired surgeon has said one of his favorite Bible verses is Proverbs 22:4: “By humility and fear of the LORD, are riches and honor and life.”
But Carson, who mostly stayed above the fray in a lowbrow political season, said he prayed about the decision to endorse Trump, and that he found more spiritual and philosophical alignment with Trump than he expected.
Time will tell if former Carson backers will throw their support behind Trump, but the real estate mogul told reporters that having Carson’s endorsement “just adds total credence to what I’m trying to do.”….
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… There’s a puzzle in Trump’s success at the polls. He’s winning self-described evangelical voters. And yet, Christians who attend church regularly are overwhelmingly anti-Trump. Part of the explanation is that there’s never been a clear definition of what an “evangelical” is. By its nature, evangelicalism is a decentralized phenomenon, and evangelicals proudly don’t have an institutional church, let alone a pope or a magisterium. Someone who “gave his life to Jesus” at a summer camp when he was 15 but doesn’t go to church and doesn’t read the Bible can still call himself “evangelical” to a pollster.
But that’s only part of the answer. To understand the religious aspect of the rise of Trump, you have to understand the changing landscape of American religion. To do that, there is probably no better book today than Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, by New York Times columnist Ross Douthat. …
That World article reflects what I was thinking when I heard that Carson was endorsing Trump. It sounds lile Carson is actually compromising his values in order to receive some promised future position in the government.
This is an interesting Q&A on World with a conservative radio host (Steve Deace) who says social conservative “movement” people are less and less visible now as younger, more libertarians move into the party structures.
that’s part of the Trump phenomenon, he says, but:
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… I think the No. 1 thing that the Trump phenomenon is a symptom of is, people have just become so fed up with anything conventional. I think you’re watching the culture change. We’re struggling with how to react to it: When to retreat; when to engage. … This event is symbolic of that in that you’re watching more and more social conservatives saying, we’re not welcome here. I think the question then becomes for us, when do you flee? When do you run for the hills? …
Let me tell you about a conversation I had last night at dinner. A young man comes up to me, and he wants to debate me on Donald Trump and why I don’t support him. The first question I asked him, I said, “Show me anything about Donald Trump, at all, that shows he’s credibly conservative about anything.” This gentleman said, “I can’t.” I said, “Then why are you supporting him?” He said to me, “Ideology doesn’t matter anymore.”
If ideology doesn’t matter anymore, then we as Christians have to seriously consider the cost of partisan politics. It caused a lot of division, a lot of enmity. It immediately turns a lot of people off to the larger message of the gospel that we want to communicate.
If we’re not doing this to advance ideology, then really what is the point? Really, what we’re talking about is dueling factions of tribes, dueling cults of personality. That is not a place where a Christian is going to thrive. …
… I’ll say this: There have been nights I’ve woke up in the middle of the night and my heart has been sick. My soul, I’ve been grieved to watch how too many believers have been willing to define down what they believe in order to support a person. It was wrong when people did it for Obama. It’s wrong when people do it for Trump.
The greatness of our system is that the people are empowered to make their leaders rise to the occasion, rise to them, not dumb-down their belief system for the politician. That’s really what cults do. I’ll say this, the worst cult surrounding a politician I’ve seen in my life is Trump. It’s even worse than 2008 with Obama.
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Again, my respect for Walker grows. If Rubio, Cruz and Kasich are defeated by Trump all have committed to support Trump and all will expected to imitate the embarrassing endorsements offered by Chistie and Carson. One may even face the horrible prospect of being asked to be the running mate. Walker may avoid such humiliation by his early withdrawal.
I truly compare an endorsement of Trump with an endorsement of Hitler. Both are personifications of evil. Right now Trump is comical. It will not be funny if he is elected.
Re Tychicus’ article: a lot of the people around here are Dems because their grandfather before them was. People seem to like labels with no regard for what the labels are standing for.
Thank goodness for those great mythological beasts. They sure saved us in the last two elections as well.
Oh wait…… 😆
Rubio’s just the latest “most electable guy”, and like the others Dole, McCain, and Romney, his so called moderate, cross party appeal vanishes come election day. Poof. Gone.
It’s Magic!
And the Dems win again.
I’ll gladly vote Trump before I’ll vote for who the media, polls, and establishment R party tell me to at this point. They’ve been way off on the R side for several cycles now. For the most part, they’re useless, all 3.
So if not Cruz, then Trump it is. Either way, the establishment RINOs, media, and polls won’t like it. And that pleases me. I’m madder at R’s for this whole debacle than anyone. They’ll never learn if we don’t teach them a lesson. Either they stop with the nonsense, or they can keep losing presidential elections. Whether that’s in a primary to Trump, or a Dem in the general matters not to me at this point. I’m so done with it all, and we’ve got like 8 months to go. Yay.
Twitter reports are saying Marco Rubio’s communications director is telling Rubio supporters in Ohio to vote Kasich. Does this mean he’s finally gonna admit the obvious and bow out? And if so, to support Kasich? Makes no sense….
“The University of Missouri (MU) is losing about 1500 students and is facing a huge $32 million budget shortfall four months after it attracted national attention as the site of massive race-based campus protests.
“I am writing to you today to confirm that we project a very significant budget shortfall due to an unexpected sharp decline in first-year enrollments and student retention this coming fall. I wish I had better news,” said MU interim chancellor Hank Foley in a Wednesday letter to school staff that was obtained by Fox Sports.
According to Foley’s letter, MU will have about 1500 fewer students in fall 2016 compared to last year, an unexpected drop that is in turn causing a big dip in the school’s tuition income.
Because of the abrupt and unexpected nature of the shortfall, Foley is taking immediate and severe steps to fix the situation: The school budget is being cut 5 percent across the board, all hiring is being frozen (barring exceptional circumstances), and annual raises have been canceled. He has also announced a new, more intensive effort to recruit potential Mizzou students by phone, email, and even via Skype.”
“Even with all these measures, Foley anticipates MU having a deficit of about $1o million,which he said would be made up using the school’s reserve funds.”
@ 3:13 ” Show me anything about Donald Trump, at all, that shows he’s credibly conservative about anything.” This gentleman said, “I can’t.” I said, “Then why are you supporting him?” He said to me, “Ideology doesn’t matter anymore.”’
QoD. If Ideology doesn’t matter, What does?
To the Clintons, it’s money .and power
to Trump, it’s winning. and power
To Obama it’s destroying this corruption that has enslaved people and stolen their lands.
To Sanders, It’s making everyone equal.
What matters to you?
To me, it is seeing America as a great nation that gives everyone a chance, justice under a righteous law, And an adherence to a set of moral laws based on the Constitution as written.
I would like to see a nation united under Christ, but I realize that that isn’t possible in this world.
“Former Hillary Clinton IT specialist Bryan Pagliano, a key witness in the email probe who struck an immunity deal with the Justice Department, has told the FBI a range of details about how her personal email system was set up, according to an intelligence source close to the case who called him a “devastating witness.”
The source said Pagliano told the FBI who had access to the former secretary of state’s system – as well as when – and what devices were used, amounting to a road map for investigators.
“Bryan Pagliano is a devastating witness and, as the webmaster, knows exactly who had access to [Clinton’s] computer and devices at specific times. His importance to this case cannot be over-emphasized,” the intelligence source said.”
“A source close to Pagliano did not dispute the basic details of what was provided to the FBI, but said the highly skilled former State Department IT specialist had met with the bureau on a “limited basis” and was at best a “peripheral” player in the investigation.”
———————-
Of course he was, because the Obama led investigation isn’t really interested in investigating it. They bare blame for allowing it.
How to (strong) supporters of Cruz envision his general election campaign in terms of how he’ll broaden his appeal and get enough widespread support to win? Among both Republicans and independents who simply are not particularly conservative or liberal.
He may be able to do it, thanks in part to Clinton’s dismal standing. But I’m still seeing his very narrow following so far (along with his not particularly winning personality, let’s be honest) as a hurdle he’ll have to somehow clear.
A re-worked Republican party (if that is what’s ahead) won’t be the same — it likely will be broader in scope as the social conservative movement continues to fade.
A sweet person in our community asked in a letter to the editor today, “why are the servers such a big deal? The Secret Service knew they were there and protected them.”
I can’t imagine why the paper let such a ridiculous letter run, except, of course, they support Clinton’s presidency and we have a lot of people in our community who don’t understand technology. 😦
We get lots of ridiculous letters in our paper. But to the writer, they are an expression of free speech. I like that. A lot of our letters are about the evils of Christianity and in defense of Christianity. I like that as well.
I may be wrong and have to buy AJ something, but it seems to me you have highly partisan factions in the country who identify as liberal and conservative. And in between you have a large group of people who go either way, but mostly are just that — in the middle and simply not highly connected to the ideologies of either the right or left.
According to Gallup, the social conservatives in particular have been declining:
PRINCETON, N.J. — Thirty-one percent of Americans describe their views on social issues as generally liberal, matching the percentage who identify as social conservatives for the first time in Gallup records dating back to 1999. …
,,,Meanwhile, the 53% of Republicans and Republican leaners saying their views on social issues are conservative is the lowest in Gallup’s trend. The drop in Republicans’ self-identified social conservatism has been accompanied by an increase in moderate identification, to 34% …
Overall findings:
* 31% say they are socially liberal, 31% socially conservative
* This is the first time conservatives have not outnumbered liberals
* Conservatives maintain edge on economic issues
_________________________________
So polls are fluid and often wrong — they usually provide more of a “snapshot” of where people are as a whole (the one above was taken in May 2015). But I think we’ve all noticed the trend toward a growing liberal trend both in the size of government and in social issues that have received a general buy-in from the population as a whole.
The bright spots: Obama fatigue; Hillary ( 🙂 ); fiscal conservatism may have a promising future as the country’s economy sinks further; for now, many of the most divisive “culture war” issues seem to be off the table (though they’ll be brought up during the general election and probably to the conservatives’ detriment overall)
There are two completely independent reasons to oppose Trump:
1. He is an amoral, foul-mouthed buffoon who may be mentally unbalanced and has a hair-trigger temper and who should never ever be trusted with the power of the presidency.
2. He is the most liberal candidate to run for the Republican nomination since Nelson Rockefeller.
It is therefore not surprising that his fans are:
1. Republicans who are hostile to Christians and other social conservatives and could care less about his character; and
2. The “low information” voters who don’t care that he is not conservative because they don’t know what conservatism is.
If I can do this, this ought to be Cavuto interviewing Carson on why he chose to endorse Trump. I especially like the last minute but the whole thing is helpful in understanding, if you will listen to what he says and stop calling him a dirtball for supporting Trump. In my view, none of the remaining candidates are outstanding and Carson is saying, if Trump gets in, it is only four to eight years of time, whereas if we don’t get a “Republican” in, the others will be selecting the Supreme Court and that will have decades of impact on our children and grandchildren.
Problem is, I don’t have ANY confidence in Trump’s Supreme Court selections.
He has been apolitical all his life. Just making money anyhow.
Suddenly he knows how to fix the country.
I could tolerate his foul mouth braggadocio if there were some substance behind it.
.
Thanks for posting, Mumsee. That was interesting. It confirmed what I have always thought about Carson. I certainly don’t see him as a “dirtball”. I just don’t think he is particularly bright. To which some of you would say: “The man was a neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins!” That is true, and it is also true that Obama was Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Law Review. I also don’t think Obama is particularly bright. If you look at the differences in average test scores for blacks and whites at elite institutions you will understand the power of affirmative action and understand how blacks can obtain very prestigious degrees without being particularly smart or hardworking.
On the other hand, the liberal Alan Dershowitz raved about Ted Cruz’
intelligence. In fact, Cruz’ problem early on was that he was not only the smartest guy in the room, but he acted like he knew it. Recently, I have seen signs that he is trying to be modest.
On Carson’s point noted by Mumsee, can anyone give me any reason to believe that Trump’s judicial appointments would be more conservative than those of Clinton? I can give you lots of quotes from Trump that would suggest he has no concept of the limited role that the Constitution gives to the federal government. Just this week, he was threatening to abridge freedom of the press.
As Chas said earlier, Trump wants power. He is not committed to conservative judges or conservative economics or conservative regulatory policies. I don’t think Carson is a dirtball. I think he is a dupe. As for concern about our grandchildren, what happens to them when Trump starts a war during a temper tantrum?
Ricky, this isn’t my fight, but I am frankly shocked at your comments about black people getting prestigious degrees without being particularly smart or hardworking. If you mean Carson’s degree in neurosurgery, I know something about surgery. The first surgery I watched during my training was a neurosurgery. After that, I wasn’t allowed in the neurosurgery room, because as a learning scrub nurse, there was way too much I could mess up. The only other place I saw such complicated equipment was in a hip replacement – and the orthopedic surgeon wasn’t using a microscope the way the neurosurgeon was. In order for Carson to become a neurosurgeon, he first had to become an M.D. Then, he had to become a resident for about four years in a hospital and train in each surgical discipline, as well as work in the E.R. and on other hospital floors for very long hours. Then, he would become a surgical fellow in his chosen field and train for about another 3 years. Altogether, it takes about 14 years of training, about 10 of which involve hands on medical work, to become a neurosurgeon. If he wasn’t smart in his field, he wouldn’t have lasted in it – failed operations tend to get noticed and affirmative action doesn’t happen when patients lives are on the line. That Carson has some strange opinions, like his interpretation of the Egyptian pyramids, is not a reflection on his intelligence. As I know from listening to surgeons’ conversations during surgery, one can be very intelligent and still believe strange things. Carson’s idea about the pyramids is more to do with his Seventh Day Adventism, and if we are going to start to judge people’s intelligence by their unusual religious beliefs, let’s start with Mitt Romney’s Mormonism.
A person can be very smart in one area and not so much in others, that is a given. But I have always liked Carson’s policies. Yes, Trump selecting justices could well be problematic. Clinton doing it for sure would be problematic.
Roscuro, Be shocked by the truth. I went to a very prestigious graduate school 40 years ago. I am about the same age as Carson. The vast majority of my black classmates had no business being in that school. It was sad. Many of them were my friends. Most were very nice people. Most went to work for the government. Virtually all struggled to compete in a school to which they were only admitted because of their race.
Roscuro, One other thing. Very few people flunk out of medical school or law school or any graduate school. So if you get into an elite graduate school, you will probably graduate. But if you weren’t prepared, you will likely be near the bottom of your class. Not to worry, if you are the right color or gender or happen to be a pervert, some government job is waiting for you.
Mumsee, I agree that a person can be smart in one area and dumb in another. Carson is not very smart when it comes to politics or public policy, but like my friends in graduate school, I think he is probably a very nice guy.
This i all so sad — not a little scary. I heard Rich Lowry from National Review interviewed and he flatly said it seems as if the political system is just broken. It reminds me of the worst of the late 1960s when I was in high school.
There’s a sense that the republic is irreparably polarized and even the most gifted leader could not bring us anywhere near together again. 😦 😦 Just sad.
We came out of the ’60s intact, but I wonder — in the long view of history — whether this all isn’t just part of the same period leading into ultimate collapse, interspersed by a few years of “calm” in between that gives us a false sense of “everything’s going to be OK after all.”
I agree about Carson, brilliant doctor, maybe not as gifted in public life as a political leader. I consider myself a pretty good journalist, but I couldn’t be a doctor OR a good politician. 🙂
But I appreciated Carson’s remarks tonight on Kelly’s show (and Rubio’s as well, I missed Cruz).
Ricky, if Carson was not a good neurosurgeon, the graveyards would be strewn with his failures. A surgeon cannot hide their failures from the nurses, the anesthetist, and the other surgical assistants in an operating room, much less the family members waiting outside.
Donna, remember when the whole idea of Carson for president began to be talked about, I said a good neurosurgeon would not necessarily make a good president and that Carson’s reputation could well take a hit from running in politics?
Roscuro, If you read what Carson has said about his own abilities, you will see that he has said that the ability that made him a good surgeon was his hand eye coordination. I have never questioned his hand eye coordination.
While I am in a politically incorrect mood, here are all the Republican candidates ranked by intelligence. Please note Texas produced both the Valedictorian and the Dunce.
1. Cruz
2. Jindal
3. Paul
4. Fiorina
5. Christie
6. Walker
7. Trump
8. Kasich
9. Graham
10. Bush
11. Huckabee
12. Carson
13. Rubio
14. Perry
And intelligence isn’t everything. I like Rick Perry. He never made R-rated comments in any speech or debate.
Ricky, it takes a lot more than hand eye coordination. You have to know everything there is to know about the structure of neurons, the structure of the brain, the function of the different areas of the brain, the metabolism of the brain – and you have to know as much about the rest of the body, since whatever you do in the brain will affect the body. Neurosurgery involves having to know all about orthopedic surgery – since you often have to open up the skull or spine and vascular surgery – since the brain is surrounded by an intricate and delicate mesh of blood vessels. You have to be able not only to understand the problem, but also be able to reason out just how to fix it, and that isn’t a matter of memorizing a formula, since every patient will be slightly different. You have to have an immense amount of mental and physical concentration, since the slightest waver in attention could be fatal to your patient or result in permanent brain damage or paralysis. Carson is correct to say that good hand eye coordination is essential, because steady hands are vital, but in saying that, he is only being modest about all the other things he had to know.
“Trump Rally In Chicago Postponed After Hundreds Of Protesters Crash The Rally, Throw Bottles At Police…Update: Four Police Officers Hurt In Clashes With Disruptors…Update: MoveOn, Bernie Sanders Supporters Behind It, Even Bill Ayers Gets In…Update: Bernie Organizers Celebrate Action…Update: More Video From Inside The Venue…
Protesters that went with clear intention to disrupt the event and create chaos, including Black Lives Matter and Rev Com folks.”
Tychicus, then why didn’t Cruz sweep the primaries? He didn’t even win the southern states which he’d focused on. ???
I think arguing that Cruz is liked “just fine” is a bit of an overstatement. Truth is, many voters have had issues with him but he i’s now the last man (other than Trump) standing, so we’re all making peace with that.
donna j: In any other political year, Sen. Cruz probably would have swept the primaries, and the states that he has won make up a pretty good cross-section of the USA.
He has received millions and millions of votes, and the fact that he still is one of the two (out of 17 starting out) who still has a chance to win means that he is, indeed, doing just fine.
When you say that many voters have had issues with him, those issues aren’t really about policy, but rather peripheral things, right?
There’s a continuum of political views within both the left and right. So candidates often aren’t a perfect match, which is OK
But in general I’d say some of us don’t think he’s the best choice we had, but that’s politics and come November I think most Republicans can support him
Cruz is on the far right of that continuum so, yes, some of the issues more center-right voters have are, in fact, about policy.
He also has a — how can I say this — “far right” kind of personality (?). And that reinforces what some perceive as a harshness and “my way or the highway” approach that simply doesn’t go over well with a lot of voters.
I keep thinking, also, that our nation is now in such dire straights that we really do need a conservative figure with exceptional, reagan-esque leadership skills. I see none on the horizon, unfortunately.
So electing either a hard right or hard left candidate with little ability to bring the nation, as a whole — or as much as possible as a whole — on board in more a unified vision, I fear, will do little to move us from where we are currently.
Wandering Views 
We all know that Hillary is the Wicked Witch of the West, but my wife recently discovered that Trump is Immortam Joe, the villain in Mad Max: Fury Road. In the movie his face is largely covered by a metal mask, but you can tell he is Trump by the strange color of his hair, the number and appearance of his wives and his bad manners.
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http://www.nationalreview.com/article/432640/anti-trump-conservatives-support-cruz-swallow-pride
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The so-called Republican establishment is coming to the painful realization that Texas senator Ted Cruz may be its only hope to block Donald Trump from winning the nomination and Hillary Clinton from winning the White House.
It’s not assured, of course. There are as many theories on how to emerge from this year’s Republican convention with an acceptable nominee as there are interpretations of what was going on in the TV show Lost. But the most plausible path to a Trump-free, Republican-controlled White House is consolidation around Cruz. It’s a difficult conclusion for many people …
… Many believe — correctly in my opinion — that Rubio would be the more competitive challenger to Clinton in the general election. But many also believe that the Hulk would be a great offensive lineman in the NFL. In other words, reality has a way of taking our personal preferences off the menu. If the math isn’t with Rubio, hopes and wishes can’t change that. So that leaves Cruz. …
Cruz will tell you that members of the “Washington cartel” don’t like him because he’s challenged the system and is a threat to K Street and so on. But that’s only part of it. His fellow senators don’t like him because they don’t like him. They say he’s arrogant and condescending, a terrible listener and completely uninterested in actually getting anything done that doesn’t further his own interests.
They see him as a right-wing Arlen Specter — a notoriously difficult and self-absorbed senator.
The truth is probably somewhere in between. There are people who’ve known Cruz for years and hate him, and there are people who’ve known him for years and love him. I’ve found him perfectly pleasant and engaging in conversation. But pretty much everyone respects his intellect. Cruz is simply one of the smartest people in Washington. …
This has been a year where a lot of good and honorable people have had to swallow their pride. The trough isn’t empty yet, and many more may need to belly up for seconds if they want to save the GOP.
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Carson endorsement?
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Ok, I will bite. I have been a Carson supporter and admirer from the start. I believe he is a man of integrity. He knows Trump a lot better than I do and if he sees hope there, I will start looking for it. Perhaps Trump has had his eyes opened, we shall see. I am not a Trump supporter but am a Carson supporter.
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Well, Trump is still first in line to get the nomination as things stand. Things will probably be clearer after Karen O’s anniversary on Super Tuesday. 🙂
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Sent the Cruz link to my boss, a moderate (non-christian) Republican but one who can’t stand what liberals have done to the country. He said: “not there yet. don’t like ideologies of either side.”
Another friend — more politically conservative than I am and a Christian — also still doesn’t like Cruz and says if she feels this way then she can’t expect others who disagree with his positions to be persuaded.
As I’ve said, Cruz has some work to do to bring even his own party on board before heading out to the big, diverse world of a general election.
Not that it can’t be done, but …
Again, meanwhile, we still have Trump.
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‘idealogues’ that should have read above
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If I have learned anything over the last few years, it is not to dispute theology with Cheryl. I therefore apologize for the strong term I used to describe Trump and his staff last night. I will try to control my temper if I hear that his staff has assaulted another female reporter.
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Someone close to me pointed out that as a businessman, Trump is a major delegator. For that reason, people may be lining up to support him so as to have power in any administration.
For the record, his wife would be the first first lady since Louisa Adams not to have been born on US soil.
I like to remember, “some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will trust in the name of the Lord our God.”
Remnant status, here we come.
Of course in California, we’ve been there a long time so we have practice.
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Just talking strategy (sorry, the former poli-sci/journalism major always comes out in me during national elections): Trump may lose some Republicans but is, I think, more likely to attract independents and wayward Democrats in a general election than Cruz ever would be — which is why many of us are dubious of Cruz’s wider appeal as a nominee going into November.
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I kept hearing that it was not his fault when Cruz’s team put out false info on Carson. I suppose we are not supposed to hold Trump accountable when his people assault others. When I see the guy canned, I will give Trump some credit.
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“When they learn more about Donald Trump’s record, they discover he’s been doing everything they’re angry about. He is Washington. Donald Trump is the system.”
— Sen. Ted Cruz
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I think this should have been Rubio’s nomination to lose, and he did.
Cruz’ ideas are the best. Maybe,,,
Look up
https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Trump+v+McMahan&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
You may not understand why Trump is popular. I didn’t.
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bobbuckles: Perhaps that should be required viewing for every voter – I imagine that Trump then wouldn’t have an increasing delegate count!
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Bob, you’re right about Rubio, unfortunately.
Oddly, he still beats Hillary & Bernie by the largest percentage points in head-to-head national, overall match-up polls.
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And while there are differences between Rubio and Cruz on some issues, they largely agree on most of them. The difference is more style than substance.
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Here’s the World Magazine article on the Carson endorsement of Trump:
http://www.worldmag.com/2016/03/ballot_boxing_ben_carson_endorses_donald_trump
___________________________________
In one of the more surreal moments of the 2016 presidential campaign, former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson endorsed Donald Trump for the GOP nomination Friday morning. …
… At Friday’s press conference, Carson said he and Trump had “buried the hatchet” on past spats.
In recent days, Trump has repeatedly bashed Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for an incident during the Iowa caucuses when Cruz precinct leaders told caucus-goers Carson was dropping out of the race. Cruz apologized for the episode and said campaign workers made a mistake after watching a confusing report on CNN.
Either way, at the time, Carson accused Cruz’s campaign of “dirty tricks,” and said, “By their fruit you will know them.” Trump continues to tell the story during campaign rallies, as Cruz remains less than 100 delegates behind Trump in a nomination contest that’s still plenty competitive.
Meanwhile, it’s unclear what Carson makes of the fruit of Trump’s life. For example, Carson once told a reporter that the only woman he had ever slept with was his wife. Trump, in his book Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life,bragged about his promiscuity and sexual encounters with married women.
Trump’s willingness to use vulgar language in public settings, including campaign rallies, is also a stark contrast to the Proverbs-quoting Carson. The retired surgeon has said one of his favorite Bible verses is Proverbs 22:4: “By humility and fear of the LORD, are riches and honor and life.”
But Carson, who mostly stayed above the fray in a lowbrow political season, said he prayed about the decision to endorse Trump, and that he found more spiritual and philosophical alignment with Trump than he expected.
Time will tell if former Carson backers will throw their support behind Trump, but the real estate mogul told reporters that having Carson’s endorsement “just adds total credence to what I’m trying to do.”….
_____________________________________
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Trump and evangelicals:
http://theweek.com/articles/611840/how-christianity-explains-trump
________________________________________
… There’s a puzzle in Trump’s success at the polls. He’s winning self-described evangelical voters. And yet, Christians who attend church regularly are overwhelmingly anti-Trump. Part of the explanation is that there’s never been a clear definition of what an “evangelical” is. By its nature, evangelicalism is a decentralized phenomenon, and evangelicals proudly don’t have an institutional church, let alone a pope or a magisterium. Someone who “gave his life to Jesus” at a summer camp when he was 15 but doesn’t go to church and doesn’t read the Bible can still call himself “evangelical” to a pollster.
But that’s only part of the answer. To understand the religious aspect of the rise of Trump, you have to understand the changing landscape of American religion. To do that, there is probably no better book today than Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics, by New York Times columnist Ross Douthat. …
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This is a good, but sad article:
http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2016/03/the_demise_of_the_conservative_movement_.html
My favorite part is where it describes some who are saying (in Pelosi-like fashion) that we must elect Trump so we can find out who he is.
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That World article reflects what I was thinking when I heard that Carson was endorsing Trump. It sounds lile Carson is actually compromising his values in order to receive some promised future position in the government.
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Or if Carson is just a nice guy and expects others to be as well.
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Maybe he’ll be a good influence. 🙂 Hope …
http://www.worldmag.com/2016/03/conservatism_in_the_age_of_trump
This is an interesting Q&A on World with a conservative radio host (Steve Deace) who says social conservative “movement” people are less and less visible now as younger, more libertarians move into the party structures.
that’s part of the Trump phenomenon, he says, but:
________________________________________
… I think the No. 1 thing that the Trump phenomenon is a symptom of is, people have just become so fed up with anything conventional. I think you’re watching the culture change. We’re struggling with how to react to it: When to retreat; when to engage. … This event is symbolic of that in that you’re watching more and more social conservatives saying, we’re not welcome here. I think the question then becomes for us, when do you flee? When do you run for the hills? …
Let me tell you about a conversation I had last night at dinner. A young man comes up to me, and he wants to debate me on Donald Trump and why I don’t support him. The first question I asked him, I said, “Show me anything about Donald Trump, at all, that shows he’s credibly conservative about anything.” This gentleman said, “I can’t.” I said, “Then why are you supporting him?” He said to me, “Ideology doesn’t matter anymore.”
If ideology doesn’t matter anymore, then we as Christians have to seriously consider the cost of partisan politics. It caused a lot of division, a lot of enmity. It immediately turns a lot of people off to the larger message of the gospel that we want to communicate.
If we’re not doing this to advance ideology, then really what is the point? Really, what we’re talking about is dueling factions of tribes, dueling cults of personality. That is not a place where a Christian is going to thrive. …
… I’ll say this: There have been nights I’ve woke up in the middle of the night and my heart has been sick. My soul, I’ve been grieved to watch how too many believers have been willing to define down what they believe in order to support a person. It was wrong when people did it for Obama. It’s wrong when people do it for Trump.
The greatness of our system is that the people are empowered to make their leaders rise to the occasion, rise to them, not dumb-down their belief system for the politician. That’s really what cults do. I’ll say this, the worst cult surrounding a politician I’ve seen in my life is Trump. It’s even worse than 2008 with Obama.
_______________________________________
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Or, as Donna just said, hoping to be a voice of reason in an absolutely depraved country.
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Again, my respect for Walker grows. If Rubio, Cruz and Kasich are defeated by Trump all have committed to support Trump and all will expected to imitate the embarrassing endorsements offered by Chistie and Carson. One may even face the horrible prospect of being asked to be the running mate. Walker may avoid such humiliation by his early withdrawal.
I truly compare an endorsement of Trump with an endorsement of Hitler. Both are personifications of evil. Right now Trump is comical. It will not be funny if he is elected.
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Careful, I was a Walker fan long before I was a Carson fan.
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Re Tychicus’ article: a lot of the people around here are Dems because their grandfather before them was. People seem to like labels with no regard for what the labels are standing for.
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Donna,
AJ here….
Yeah, yeah, “most electable” candidate….
Thank goodness for those great mythological beasts. They sure saved us in the last two elections as well.
Oh wait…… 😆
Rubio’s just the latest “most electable guy”, and like the others Dole, McCain, and Romney, his so called moderate, cross party appeal vanishes come election day. Poof. Gone.
It’s Magic!
And the Dems win again.
I’ll gladly vote Trump before I’ll vote for who the media, polls, and establishment R party tell me to at this point. They’ve been way off on the R side for several cycles now. For the most part, they’re useless, all 3.
So if not Cruz, then Trump it is. Either way, the establishment RINOs, media, and polls won’t like it. And that pleases me. I’m madder at R’s for this whole debacle than anyone. They’ll never learn if we don’t teach them a lesson. Either they stop with the nonsense, or they can keep losing presidential elections. Whether that’s in a primary to Trump, or a Dem in the general matters not to me at this point. I’m so done with it all, and we’ve got like 8 months to go. Yay.
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AJ again….
And as for Carson…..
Well, I guess there are two Ben Carsons as well. Trump has company, and his VP candidate.
But hey, on the bright side, this is bad news for Christie. 🙂
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Twitter reports are saying Marco Rubio’s communications director is telling Rubio supporters in Ohio to vote Kasich. Does this mean he’s finally gonna admit the obvious and bow out? And if so, to support Kasich? Makes no sense….
And the Kasich campaigns response is priceless. 🙂
http://www.weaselzippers.us/261150-breaking-marco-rubio-tells-supporters-to-vote-for-john-kasich-in-ohio/
Or….
Maybe this is yet another dastardly ploy by the Cruz camp. 😆
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This one is somewhat amusing. There are lessons to be learned here, but I doubt they will. Oh well, you know what they say about Karma….
http://dailycaller.com/2016/03/10/shocker-after-caving-to-protests-mizzou-has-huge-budget-gap/
“The University of Missouri (MU) is losing about 1500 students and is facing a huge $32 million budget shortfall four months after it attracted national attention as the site of massive race-based campus protests.
“I am writing to you today to confirm that we project a very significant budget shortfall due to an unexpected sharp decline in first-year enrollments and student retention this coming fall. I wish I had better news,” said MU interim chancellor Hank Foley in a Wednesday letter to school staff that was obtained by Fox Sports.
According to Foley’s letter, MU will have about 1500 fewer students in fall 2016 compared to last year, an unexpected drop that is in turn causing a big dip in the school’s tuition income.
Because of the abrupt and unexpected nature of the shortfall, Foley is taking immediate and severe steps to fix the situation: The school budget is being cut 5 percent across the board, all hiring is being frozen (barring exceptional circumstances), and annual raises have been canceled. He has also announced a new, more intensive effort to recruit potential Mizzou students by phone, email, and even via Skype.”
“Even with all these measures, Foley anticipates MU having a deficit of about $1o million,which he said would be made up using the school’s reserve funds.”
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@ 3:13 ” Show me anything about Donald Trump, at all, that shows he’s credibly conservative about anything.” This gentleman said, “I can’t.” I said, “Then why are you supporting him?” He said to me, “Ideology doesn’t matter anymore.”’
QoD. If Ideology doesn’t matter, What does?
To the Clintons, it’s money .and power
to Trump, it’s winning. and power
To Obama it’s destroying this corruption that has enslaved people and stolen their lands.
To Sanders, It’s making everyone equal.
What matters to you?
To me, it is seeing America as a great nation that gives everyone a chance, justice under a righteous law, And an adherence to a set of moral laws based on the Constitution as written.
I would like to see a nation united under Christ, but I realize that that isn’t possible in this world.
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In the mid fifties, there was a nation that approximated that.
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Is it the gig is up, or the jig is up? Either way, maybe it is.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/03/11/source-clinton-it-specialist-revealing-server-details-to-fbi-devastating-witness.html
“Former Hillary Clinton IT specialist Bryan Pagliano, a key witness in the email probe who struck an immunity deal with the Justice Department, has told the FBI a range of details about how her personal email system was set up, according to an intelligence source close to the case who called him a “devastating witness.”
The source said Pagliano told the FBI who had access to the former secretary of state’s system – as well as when – and what devices were used, amounting to a road map for investigators.
“Bryan Pagliano is a devastating witness and, as the webmaster, knows exactly who had access to [Clinton’s] computer and devices at specific times. His importance to this case cannot be over-emphasized,” the intelligence source said.”
“A source close to Pagliano did not dispute the basic details of what was provided to the FBI, but said the highly skilled former State Department IT specialist had met with the bureau on a “limited basis” and was at best a “peripheral” player in the investigation.”
———————-
Of course he was, because the Obama led investigation isn’t really interested in investigating it. They bare blame for allowing it.
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How to (strong) supporters of Cruz envision his general election campaign in terms of how he’ll broaden his appeal and get enough widespread support to win? Among both Republicans and independents who simply are not particularly conservative or liberal.
He may be able to do it, thanks in part to Clinton’s dismal standing. But I’m still seeing his very narrow following so far (along with his not particularly winning personality, let’s be honest) as a hurdle he’ll have to somehow clear.
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A re-worked Republican party (if that is what’s ahead) won’t be the same — it likely will be broader in scope as the social conservative movement continues to fade.
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Why all the knocks on Sen Cruz’s personality? I like his personality…
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That’s nice, Tychicus. 🙂 It’s an issue that’s beyond anecdotal, though, and has been written about by conservative columnists.
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A sweet person in our community asked in a letter to the editor today, “why are the servers such a big deal? The Secret Service knew they were there and protected them.”
I can’t imagine why the paper let such a ridiculous letter run, except, of course, they support Clinton’s presidency and we have a lot of people in our community who don’t understand technology. 😦
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We get lots of ridiculous letters in our paper. But to the writer, they are an expression of free speech. I like that. A lot of our letters are about the evils of Christianity and in defense of Christianity. I like that as well.
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I may be wrong and have to buy AJ something, but it seems to me you have highly partisan factions in the country who identify as liberal and conservative. And in between you have a large group of people who go either way, but mostly are just that — in the middle and simply not highly connected to the ideologies of either the right or left.
According to Gallup, the social conservatives in particular have been declining:
http://www.gallup.com/poll/183386/social-ideology-left-catches-right.aspx
________________________________
PRINCETON, N.J. — Thirty-one percent of Americans describe their views on social issues as generally liberal, matching the percentage who identify as social conservatives for the first time in Gallup records dating back to 1999. …
,,,Meanwhile, the 53% of Republicans and Republican leaners saying their views on social issues are conservative is the lowest in Gallup’s trend. The drop in Republicans’ self-identified social conservatism has been accompanied by an increase in moderate identification, to 34% …
Overall findings:
* 31% say they are socially liberal, 31% socially conservative
* This is the first time conservatives have not outnumbered liberals
* Conservatives maintain edge on economic issues
_________________________________
So polls are fluid and often wrong — they usually provide more of a “snapshot” of where people are as a whole (the one above was taken in May 2015). But I think we’ve all noticed the trend toward a growing liberal trend both in the size of government and in social issues that have received a general buy-in from the population as a whole.
The bright spots: Obama fatigue; Hillary ( 🙂 ); fiscal conservatism may have a promising future as the country’s economy sinks further; for now, many of the most divisive “culture war” issues seem to be off the table (though they’ll be brought up during the general election and probably to the conservatives’ detriment overall)
Just thinking out loud.
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There are two completely independent reasons to oppose Trump:
1. He is an amoral, foul-mouthed buffoon who may be mentally unbalanced and has a hair-trigger temper and who should never ever be trusted with the power of the presidency.
2. He is the most liberal candidate to run for the Republican nomination since Nelson Rockefeller.
It is therefore not surprising that his fans are:
1. Republicans who are hostile to Christians and other social conservatives and could care less about his character; and
2. The “low information” voters who don’t care that he is not conservative because they don’t know what conservatism is.
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If I can do this, this ought to be Cavuto interviewing Carson on why he chose to endorse Trump. I especially like the last minute but the whole thing is helpful in understanding, if you will listen to what he says and stop calling him a dirtball for supporting Trump. In my view, none of the remaining candidates are outstanding and Carson is saying, if Trump gets in, it is only four to eight years of time, whereas if we don’t get a “Republican” in, the others will be selecting the Supreme Court and that will have decades of impact on our children and grandchildren.
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4797551547001/dr-ben-carson-explains-why-he-is-backing-donald-trump/?intcmp=hpvid1#sp=show-clips
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BREAKING: Anti-Trump protesters force the Republican Presidential candidate to cancel a campaign event in Chicago
Looks like a near riot out there.
😦
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Problem is, I don’t have ANY confidence in Trump’s Supreme Court selections.
He has been apolitical all his life. Just making money anyhow.
Suddenly he knows how to fix the country.
I could tolerate his foul mouth braggadocio if there were some substance behind it.
.
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Thanks for posting, Mumsee. That was interesting. It confirmed what I have always thought about Carson. I certainly don’t see him as a “dirtball”. I just don’t think he is particularly bright. To which some of you would say: “The man was a neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins!” That is true, and it is also true that Obama was Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Law Review. I also don’t think Obama is particularly bright. If you look at the differences in average test scores for blacks and whites at elite institutions you will understand the power of affirmative action and understand how blacks can obtain very prestigious degrees without being particularly smart or hardworking.
On the other hand, the liberal Alan Dershowitz raved about Ted Cruz’
intelligence. In fact, Cruz’ problem early on was that he was not only the smartest guy in the room, but he acted like he knew it. Recently, I have seen signs that he is trying to be modest.
On Carson’s point noted by Mumsee, can anyone give me any reason to believe that Trump’s judicial appointments would be more conservative than those of Clinton? I can give you lots of quotes from Trump that would suggest he has no concept of the limited role that the Constitution gives to the federal government. Just this week, he was threatening to abridge freedom of the press.
As Chas said earlier, Trump wants power. He is not committed to conservative judges or conservative economics or conservative regulatory policies. I don’t think Carson is a dirtball. I think he is a dupe. As for concern about our grandchildren, what happens to them when Trump starts a war during a temper tantrum?
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Gonna be a long hot summer
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Ricky, this isn’t my fight, but I am frankly shocked at your comments about black people getting prestigious degrees without being particularly smart or hardworking. If you mean Carson’s degree in neurosurgery, I know something about surgery. The first surgery I watched during my training was a neurosurgery. After that, I wasn’t allowed in the neurosurgery room, because as a learning scrub nurse, there was way too much I could mess up. The only other place I saw such complicated equipment was in a hip replacement – and the orthopedic surgeon wasn’t using a microscope the way the neurosurgeon was. In order for Carson to become a neurosurgeon, he first had to become an M.D. Then, he had to become a resident for about four years in a hospital and train in each surgical discipline, as well as work in the E.R. and on other hospital floors for very long hours. Then, he would become a surgical fellow in his chosen field and train for about another 3 years. Altogether, it takes about 14 years of training, about 10 of which involve hands on medical work, to become a neurosurgeon. If he wasn’t smart in his field, he wouldn’t have lasted in it – failed operations tend to get noticed and affirmative action doesn’t happen when patients lives are on the line. That Carson has some strange opinions, like his interpretation of the Egyptian pyramids, is not a reflection on his intelligence. As I know from listening to surgeons’ conversations during surgery, one can be very intelligent and still believe strange things. Carson’s idea about the pyramids is more to do with his Seventh Day Adventism, and if we are going to start to judge people’s intelligence by their unusual religious beliefs, let’s start with Mitt Romney’s Mormonism.
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A person can be very smart in one area and not so much in others, that is a given. But I have always liked Carson’s policies. Yes, Trump selecting justices could well be problematic. Clinton doing it for sure would be problematic.
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Donna,
That’s nothin’. Wait until the Occupy/BLM/ACORN/Anarchist crowd get organized by their Democrat handlers.
It’s gonna be a loooong, hot summer. 🙂
Cleveland is not where I’d wanna be come convention time.
Come to think of it, Cleveland is not where I’d wanna be, like ever…. 🙂
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Roscuro, Be shocked by the truth. I went to a very prestigious graduate school 40 years ago. I am about the same age as Carson. The vast majority of my black classmates had no business being in that school. It was sad. Many of them were my friends. Most were very nice people. Most went to work for the government. Virtually all struggled to compete in a school to which they were only admitted because of their race.
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Roscuro, One other thing. Very few people flunk out of medical school or law school or any graduate school. So if you get into an elite graduate school, you will probably graduate. But if you weren’t prepared, you will likely be near the bottom of your class. Not to worry, if you are the right color or gender or happen to be a pervert, some government job is waiting for you.
Mumsee, I agree that a person can be smart in one area and dumb in another. Carson is not very smart when it comes to politics or public policy, but like my friends in graduate school, I think he is probably a very nice guy.
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This i all so sad — not a little scary. I heard Rich Lowry from National Review interviewed and he flatly said it seems as if the political system is just broken. It reminds me of the worst of the late 1960s when I was in high school.
There’s a sense that the republic is irreparably polarized and even the most gifted leader could not bring us anywhere near together again. 😦 😦 Just sad.
We came out of the ’60s intact, but I wonder — in the long view of history — whether this all isn’t just part of the same period leading into ultimate collapse, interspersed by a few years of “calm” in between that gives us a false sense of “everything’s going to be OK after all.”
Time to pray in ernest.
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I agree about Carson, brilliant doctor, maybe not as gifted in public life as a political leader. I consider myself a pretty good journalist, but I couldn’t be a doctor OR a good politician. 🙂
But I appreciated Carson’s remarks tonight on Kelly’s show (and Rubio’s as well, I missed Cruz).
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Ricky, if Carson was not a good neurosurgeon, the graveyards would be strewn with his failures. A surgeon cannot hide their failures from the nurses, the anesthetist, and the other surgical assistants in an operating room, much less the family members waiting outside.
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Donna, remember when the whole idea of Carson for president began to be talked about, I said a good neurosurgeon would not necessarily make a good president and that Carson’s reputation could well take a hit from running in politics?
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Roscuro, If you read what Carson has said about his own abilities, you will see that he has said that the ability that made him a good surgeon was his hand eye coordination. I have never questioned his hand eye coordination.
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While I am in a politically incorrect mood, here are all the Republican candidates ranked by intelligence. Please note Texas produced both the Valedictorian and the Dunce.
1. Cruz
2. Jindal
3. Paul
4. Fiorina
5. Christie
6. Walker
7. Trump
8. Kasich
9. Graham
10. Bush
11. Huckabee
12. Carson
13. Rubio
14. Perry
And intelligence isn’t everything. I like Rick Perry. He never made R-rated comments in any speech or debate.
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Sorry, No Gilmore or Pitaki.
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Ricky, it takes a lot more than hand eye coordination. You have to know everything there is to know about the structure of neurons, the structure of the brain, the function of the different areas of the brain, the metabolism of the brain – and you have to know as much about the rest of the body, since whatever you do in the brain will affect the body. Neurosurgery involves having to know all about orthopedic surgery – since you often have to open up the skull or spine and vascular surgery – since the brain is surrounded by an intricate and delicate mesh of blood vessels. You have to be able not only to understand the problem, but also be able to reason out just how to fix it, and that isn’t a matter of memorizing a formula, since every patient will be slightly different. You have to have an immense amount of mental and physical concentration, since the slightest waver in attention could be fatal to your patient or result in permanent brain damage or paralysis. Carson is correct to say that good hand eye coordination is essential, because steady hands are vital, but in saying that, he is only being modest about all the other things he had to know.
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Yep, a loooong, hot summer.
Here ya’ go, Dems behaving badly. The gangs all here too. We got Move On, BLM, RevCom, even Bill Ayers.
http://www.weaselzippers.us/261238-trump-rally-in-chicago-postponed-after-hundreds-of-protesters-crash-the-rally/
“Trump Rally In Chicago Postponed After Hundreds Of Protesters Crash The Rally, Throw Bottles At Police…Update: Four Police Officers Hurt In Clashes With Disruptors…Update: MoveOn, Bernie Sanders Supporters Behind It, Even Bill Ayers Gets In…Update: Bernie Organizers Celebrate Action…Update: More Video From Inside The Venue…
Protesters that went with clear intention to disrupt the event and create chaos, including Black Lives Matter and Rev Com folks.”
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Roscuro, OK. You convinced me. Move Carson ahead of Huckabee.
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But it take more than intelligence to be a good and inspiring leader.
And that’s the rub.
So far we seem to have no one rising to that level. 😦
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Anonymous, Finally some good news! The old Black Lives Mater bunch is disrupting Yankee rallies instead of painting on our statues.
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Meanwhile, in a move to court conservatives nauseated by Trump, Hillary praises the Reagans and is attacked by a mob of perverts:
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donna j: Some conservative columnists? I’m more interested in what conservative voters think, and they seem to like Ted Cruz just fine.
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I hope this works. It is Ben Carson’s robocall for Trump:
http://newsmachete.com/?news=1536
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Tychicus, then why didn’t Cruz sweep the primaries? He didn’t even win the southern states which he’d focused on. ???
I think arguing that Cruz is liked “just fine” is a bit of an overstatement. Truth is, many voters have had issues with him but he i’s now the last man (other than Trump) standing, so we’re all making peace with that.
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donna j: In any other political year, Sen. Cruz probably would have swept the primaries, and the states that he has won make up a pretty good cross-section of the USA.
He has received millions and millions of votes, and the fact that he still is one of the two (out of 17 starting out) who still has a chance to win means that he is, indeed, doing just fine.
When you say that many voters have had issues with him, those issues aren’t really about policy, but rather peripheral things, right?
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There’s a continuum of political views within both the left and right. So candidates often aren’t a perfect match, which is OK
But in general I’d say some of us don’t think he’s the best choice we had, but that’s politics and come November I think most Republicans can support him
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Cruz is on the far right of that continuum so, yes, some of the issues more center-right voters have are, in fact, about policy.
He also has a — how can I say this — “far right” kind of personality (?). And that reinforces what some perceive as a harshness and “my way or the highway” approach that simply doesn’t go over well with a lot of voters.
I keep thinking, also, that our nation is now in such dire straights that we really do need a conservative figure with exceptional, reagan-esque leadership skills. I see none on the horizon, unfortunately.
So electing either a hard right or hard left candidate with little ability to bring the nation, as a whole — or as much as possible as a whole — on board in more a unified vision, I fear, will do little to move us from where we are currently.
Which is basically at each others’ throats.
😦
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