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Commenter candid_observer notes:
I think the deep problem Trump faces is in finding staffers who are both experienced and aligned with his views.
For reasons ever to be mysterious in the future, the notion that America is for Americans has become anathema not only on the left, but across the vast proportion of the right; likewise the idea that truth is more important than political correctness. And virtually no one with professional political experience can understand how a politician might combine genuinely populist economic policies with opposition to immigration and to fruitless wars in distant lands.
As deeply rooted in common sense this set of views might be, they are utterly alien to our current political class.
Trump can either train novice political staffers lacking prejudices against his views to come up to speed, or hire experienced political staffers in the hope they can quickly dispense with their prejudices against his views.
Such, I think, must be the fate of a revolutionary politician.
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If Trump wins he should bring back Corey Lewandowski just to poke ’em in the eye.
Nigel Farage is free now. Maybe he can get a work visa?
Trump could always pay him under the table...
Oh never mind.
I actually don’t think our elites are that mysterious. Our oligarchs support globalization (free trade, mass immigration, etc.) because it’s good for their pocket book. Our political/media class (contrary to the assertions of America being a democracy with a free, independent media) are puppets of the oligarchs.
The “War on Terror” goes on in perpetuity because it’s lucrative. Defense contractors, the military, the intelligence agencies, lobbyists, think tanks, former generals, and many politicians are making a lot of money for themselves. If the war ever ended, the gravy train would come to a stop. That can’t be allowed to happen.
When your country is run by corrupt parasitic elites, you can’t expect sensible policies. Especially when the overwhelming majority of Americans are too lazy, apathetic, brainwashed by teevee, or dumb (usually all 4) to revolt and replace the elites. The U.S. is truly a banana republic and the people have let it become that way.
I'm surprised more people don't understand this. If something is happening that doesn't seem to make sense, follow the money. If it still doesn't make sense, follow the money more closely. I grew up in the Washington DC area though no longer live there. When I visit, the place is totally unrecognizable. And I left in the 90's, to someone who left the area in the 50's it must be mind-boggling. The amount of "wealth" is staggering. The beltway is filled with expensive cars and the neighborhoods with enormous mansions. All on the growth of government and its attendant "consultants" and contractors. It truly has become Imperial Rome. It is naive to expect all those people to support a political direction that will see their trough emptied. Its going to have to be forced on them.
'the overwhelming majority of Americans are too lazy, apathetic, brainwashed by teevee, or dumb (usually all 4) to revolt"
This "Americans are so stupid" meme is on this blog a lot and has grown tiresome. Americans are no more dumb (and in fact likely more intelligent) than citizens of most any other country. They're badly governed. Germans are highly intelligent, and also badly governed. There's a difference between stupidity and having no alternatives. There is virtually nothing the average citizen can do about this problem. Revolt and they'll have their lives and their families lives destroyed. Not choosing to revolt and get killed is highly rational.
Hoppe loosely touches on this in "Democracy: The God that Failed". Mass democracy as the default setting for governance of most countries is barely 100 years old (since roughly the end of WW1). Yes I know some countries have had it for longer, but as recently as 100 or so years ago there were important, civilized countries that were monarchies. No longer.
There isn't enough data to support the oft-cited "Democracy is better than all the others, blah blah". I'm not advocating monarchy, merely making the point that in our form of government, there is nothing to stop venal, corrupt parasites from gravitating to power and once there, rigging the system so they stay there.
We know it will end. I forget who said "something that can't go on forever won't". As to how this all ends, we have no way to know. We've never seen governance like this before. There is no historical example to study.Replies: @Harry Baldwin, @JohnnyWalker123
Trump is far too lazy and unfocused to “staff up”. His delusions of competence prevent him from hiring and delegating to a high end chief of staff who could handle the details he is unqualified to address.
Come election time, it will be obvious that there was no there there. It is indicative of how horrible Hillary is that it is actually possible this empty suit might win. If only the Republicans had had a serious candidate who understood the importance of the immigration issue.
We can now look forward to a supreme court that not only permits but requires affirmative action. A court that favors safe spaces for losers over free speech. Thank you stupid wing of the Republican party.
Virtually every big city has similar policies for its contractors - all with the nodding approval of Uncle Sam.
My experience as a federal contractor is one of the single biggest things that turned me from a liberal to an alt-righter. In the small market for science/engineering services, many of the companies are owned by favored minorities who get preferences through the SBD and 8(a) programs. These are usually Indian or Latino immigrants retired from many years' government service, or false fronts owned by a figurehead minority.
The Republican Party is terrible. Consider that their best rising star from the last 10 years Paul Ryan is basically on board with the SJW world destruction platform but with capital gains tax cuts.
Win lose or draw at least there is a true difference in visions between the parties this election, more than could be said for any other Republican who might conceivably have won.
It would be nice if this also could spur a change in the Repiblican party towards a more European nationalist party model where we get some candidates with gravitas, political experience and principled anti-immigration views.Replies: @snorlax, @S. Anonyia, @FX Enderby
Because the cuckservatives were poised, ready to leap into action and Trump tripped them up?
But what he most needs is a campaign manager \ staff to save him from himself.
For an alpha male who's been a successful businessman, has a passel of beautiful women, has produced a bunch of healthy, smart, articulate kids ... the guy is amazingly ego sensitize. Why was the big man picking fights with a nobody like blond bimbo who's job is to wiggle her T+A on TV? Why is he now--pissing away his post convention prime time--tweeting shit about Ted Cruz who already committed political suicide on national TV?
Trump needs to be talking about nothing now but mass immigration and its affects--jobs, income inequality, jobs for college grads instead of mired in student loan debt, welfare costs, jobs for working class folks not going to college, sky high housing prices, delayed family formation for the young, crappy schools, sprawl, resource depletion, jobs, American jobs for Americans ....
This is it. He either runs on the issue that can actually win--preserving the nation, not turning into Brazil ... then worse--or he loses. What he needs is someone who keeps him talking about that--which Americans care about--rather than having his latest ego battle, which matter to Americans not one whit.
OT: Steve, I noticed something in the Wikileaks stuff, a note from Luis Miranda about getting interns out to supplement protests when allies don’t deliver bodies. I know it’s him because it’s to TJ Helmstetter, who is a media relations hack out of the Working families Party, and I know that circle.
Lin-Manuel’s dad involved in the DNC shenanigans seems pretty newsworthy. I wonder if it will make the news.
https://twitter.com/cernovich/status/756670199584137217Replies: @Ghost of Bull Moose, @MC, @Clyde, @NOTA, @Ivy
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/dnc-names-luis-miranda-as-comms-director/432855/Replies: @Anonymous
Congrats Steve. Your twitter has been linked by Tim Blair at Murdoch’s News Ltd.
Tim is a Never Trumper and an israel firster neocon, so this is a big deal.
http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/motive_unknown1/
The fact that they have permitted mention of a non-person like Mr Steve shows there may be life in the old corpse yet ( referring to the Newspaper, not Mr Steve ! ).Replies: @Lurker
I love Steve's tweets. I just discovered them the other day.
Steve, Did you just start tweeting, or am I just late to the party?Replies: @Steve Sailer
While I think the commenter makes a good point at the end of the day it is moot. Jeb had tons of staff & dollars it didn’t help him much.
GOTV helps on the margins with minorities & young voters. White voters don’t need to be prodded to vote they just need to be inspired to do so. Also with mail in & early voting GOTV really becomes diminished. Best thing for Trump this week VA Supreme Court striking down McAuliffe’s transparent attempt to help Clinton by striking down his felon enfranchisement law. Evidently 1 in 5 blacks in VA can’t vote because they’re felons. https://twitter.com/taniel/status/756611417034326016
Furthermore, there were other opponents with very good ground games and they also lost to Trump.
Trump OTOH has a message that resonates with the white blue collars and middle-class (not so much with government workers and urban professionals) whom the GOP could never get out in any numbers since Reagan.
Look at Trump's rallies, they're massive. His opponents were lucky to have several hundred to a few thousand. I've seen Hillary's rallies where there were more press there than supporters. If you notice the press will never do a pan of a Hillary audience. I don't think her support is anywhere where the MSM says it is.
That said, Trump's main goal IMO at this time is too either have th Bernie voters sit it out or vote for him, both work. Without the Bernie supporters, Hillary is cooked.Replies: @Unladen Swallow
I didn’t make the connection when I saw it:
https://twitter.com/cernovich/status/756670199584137217
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/288928-leaked-email-shows-wasserman-schultz-wanted-7-tickets-to#Replies: @Ghost of Bull Moose
Experience is overrated. Trump should recruit off Twitter. There’s tons of young goys who agree with Trump and are more than smart enough for political staff work.
Yes, that's been my experience as well.
As Sidney Morgenbesser observed:
"Pragmatism is all very well in theory, but it doesn't work in practice."
Experience in politics--that is to say, playing a chattering beta to an alpha, real or perceived--is overrated.
Experience in infrastructure construction or complex surgery is not.
https://twitter.com/cernovich/status/756670199584137217Replies: @Ghost of Bull Moose, @MC, @Clyde, @NOTA, @Ivy
Luis is all over the Wiki email threads, the more I look. The one telling Chuck Todd to call Luis and set up a time to discuss the ‘negative’ coverage, etc.
Many Trump supporters are blind to his glaring flaws. One reason he has trouble attracting experienced staff is that he is an undisciplined man who embarrasses himself and the people who work for him. The day after the convention speech he was *still* defending posting unflattering comparisons of Melania Trump and Heidi Cruz and the insinuation that Cruz’s father was an associate of Oswald. Even if you support secure borders, do you want to spend time defending such irrelevant nonsense?
Trump is an ignorant, arrogant, petty liar who defiles the people around him.
Getting the left to savagely attack over that irrelevant nonsense reveals them for the extremist little twits that they are. But that, of course, completely escapes you.
I'm sorry, where you writing about Trump or Hillary? (e.g. 30k illegal emails on server, which is a felony punishable by maximum yrs in prison, compromised national security, etc).
Trumps strategy has been holding large events, use social media and say “outrages” (according to liberals) things so media have something to write. Right now, Donald Trump has 10.1 million followers on Twitter. Hillary Clinton has 7.6 million followers. In this round Trump has at least some support from at Fox News and the GOP. Trump has also will also have a ton of grassroots working for him. That means that he will be significantly stronger than before. Hillary and her ilk may spend 2 billion dollars. Trump and GOP would do very well with 500 million dollars. He is marketing genius. His positions have been extremely popular among voters and if he just develop and explain his positions in his RNC speech he may end up winning.Replies: @rod1963
Choose between Hitler or Stalin, but choose we must.
Trump is a tactless boor... perhaps that's why he appeals to so many regular folks.
Even if he's shown no ability for diplomatic restraint, there is absolutely zero evidence that he's actually a racist. Calling everybody a racist has to have gotten worse than the McCarthyites calling everybody a communist. There were certainly communists out there in positions of power in the US, as there are doubtless racists still today, but it's gotten to be more a tool to "take-out" rivals than anything else.
What concerns me most about Trump are the following:
1. His much vaunted ability to make deals may be exaggerated
If he can't make a deal with a jerk like Ted Cruz or Ohio Governor John Kasich or so many of the other establishment Republicans, how do we expect him to deal with Iran, Mexico, China or North Korea, much less a bitterly pissed-off opposition in Congress that has all the resources and tricks at its disposal to obstruct any executive leadership or action. Negotiating a deal when you have the capital or the crucial property location is much different than negotiating with a legislature that might not be persuaded by a President without any of those assets.
2. His management skill and ability to make priorities and focus
So much of his business empire is pretty shallow stuff, based more on licensing the gold-plated Trump brand than actual real estate deals, eg all those hotels with his name that aren't actually his. Furthermore I question his ability to focus. If he were such a great real estate entrepreneur, then why did he get distracted by so many unrelated enterprises; mineral water, steaks, neckties, get-rich guru training, reality television. Finally attention to detail is important, but there are limits and great leaders have to be able to delegate the details so they can focus on the big questions that can't be delegated. The story of Trump spending so much time on the design of his trademark "Make America Great Again" hat is emblematic of this. He was said to have been deeply involved in choosing the typeface, the colors, the materials, the styles, etc. If there was ever a case of a project that might have been suitable to delegate to the best people he had hired, then this might be it. Finally the rumors that he offered Governor Kasich the responsibilities and powers of the Presidency to carry out as viceroy Vice President truly are frightening. If this is true, it certainly sounds like he might not actually even be interested in the hard work, attention and responsibilities of the presidency. Sad! Finally it's also very concerning, that whether, either due to disinterest or inability to focus, he's been unable to scale his campaign operation, raise money or start the very important work of planning his organizational transition for when he takes over the White House in January.
3. His integrity and ability to hire the best people and keep them accountable
As a corollary to the notion that managers have to have the ability to delegate and not obsess with the details, managers still have to focus and be able to keep the team accountable. If he gets too lost with certain unimportant details, in areas that matter more his campaign and eventually his administration might be run too distantly from Trump's attention thanks to his hands off approach. I'm concerned that the opposition might end up watching the administration more closely than the Trump in charge and when they discover anything that has a hint of sleaze, no doubt they'll make a big stink about it. Finally I can't believe nobody has ever expressed the concern about the integrity of his business background. I don't think Trump is necessarily a bad guy, but what industries and what regions have the reputation of suffering from the most corruption? Of course real estate development, casinos, New York, New Jersey and Las Vegas.... Now can we really blame the Trump for playing that game that must be played if one wishes to play the game? No. But when it comes out (and if it can be made comprehensible to the dumb public), it'll make a few pissed off vendors and contractors look like he has some overdue library books.
Don't misunderstand, I'm not suggesting Hillary is better. The only things she's ever managed were Arab Spring and Hillarycare. We remember how those turned out. She can't even get to her own speeches in time...
Trump might be a great guy... or not. Of course with many strengths, but probably also some deficits.Replies: @Beliavsky
After seeing how the Trump organisation ran the GOP convention, I am now convinced he is a frickin’ genius. This whole election has been a giant political reality show, and that can be used to great effect in launching the Trump Administration.
To staff up quickly, he will only need to launch a political version of The Apprentice, which, if broadcast, will have the salutary effect of letting the people have a view into what has hitherto been a secret world the absurdities of which we only get a glimpse of in parodies like Veep.
_______
The Kardashians Are No Longer The Most Searched Family …
elitedaily.com20 hours ago
The Kardashians, America's reality television dynasty, has a new superior on Google Trends' charts, and it's the Trump family.
Keeping up with the Trumps: what we learned from …
www.theguardian.com › US News › Donald Trump
This tedious spectacle shows Donald Trump does not speak to his family the way he speaks during debates; if he did they’d have their own Kardashian-style show
https://twitter.com/cernovich/status/756670199584137217Replies: @Ghost of Bull Moose, @MC, @Clyde, @NOTA, @Ivy
Ironically, one of the emails is DWS trying to get tickets to “Hamilton”
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/288928-leaked-email-shows-wasserman-schultz-wanted-7-tickets-to#
Luis is actually at the center of a lot of these exchanges, the more you look: http://www.newyorkace.net/lin-manuels-dad-wikileaks-star/
Trump is an ignorant, arrogant, petty liar who defiles the people around him.Replies: @The Alarmist, @anonymous, @Ozymandias, @Yojimbo/Zatoichi, @AmericanaCON, @Thin-Skinned Masta-Beta, @Charles Erwin Wilson
Just to be clear, Cruz’s father was a Cuban rebel fighter, i.e. one of Castro’s boys, who got asylum in the US based on fear for his life from the Batista government. That he was at the U of T at or around the same time a young marine might have self-radicalised might be a coincidence, but it is not out of the realm of possibility that the elder Cruz was a Cuban mole looking for recruits to the cause.
Even Jeff Sessions, one of the few Republicans with a sane view on immigration has apparently only recently come around to America First trade policies. And he may still be an interventionist.
Most of the GOP staffer rank and file are frankly too stupid to question globalist dogma. To them, Trump is an ignorant protectionist! isolationist! xenophobe! Just take a quick glance at National Review or Red State or whatever for a dose of mind numbing retardation. Including the asinine comment threads – these morons are beyond hopeless.
Peter Brimelow has written some funny stuff about the cluelessness of standard issue conservatism inc. beltway hacks. Trump may have a hard time finding smart America First Buchananite types among the closeted queer Israel first evangelicuck fools on the Hill.
GOTV helps on the margins with minorities & young voters. White voters don't need to be prodded to vote they just need to be inspired to do so. Also with mail in & early voting GOTV really becomes diminished. Best thing for Trump this week VA Supreme Court striking down McAuliffe's transparent attempt to help Clinton by striking down his felon enfranchisement law. Evidently 1 in 5 blacks in VA can't vote because they're felons. https://twitter.com/taniel/status/756611417034326016Replies: @bomag, @rod1963
OT, but when I heard Hillary picked a VP who is going to start his campaign by speaking Spanish and metaphorically waving the Mexican flag, I thought she had picked !Jeb!
Of course to the media such people are racist and their opinions don't matter. Unfortunately for the media though their votes do count.Replies: @Lurker, @Anonym, @iSteveFan
Those of us for whom Trump’s most endearing feature is the revolting prospect of another Clinton presidency tell ourselves things like: OK, he doesn’t know jack squat about the executive branch of the federal government, or any branch of any government, but, so what? He’ll hire people who do. That’s what he’s good at – hiring and firing.
But he hired the guy who wrote Melania’s speech. Not good.
I believe Nigel Farage is to engage in a lecture tour to try and sell the idea of popular referenda and the implications of Brexit. I believe this will either include or entirely be aimed at America. It would be great if Steve or others from this site could go and report back. The Brexit and Trump phenomena are obviously related.
Most of the GOP staffer rank and file are frankly too stupid to question globalist dogma. To them, Trump is an ignorant protectionist! isolationist! xenophobe! Just take a quick glance at National Review or Red State or whatever for a dose of mind numbing retardation. Including the asinine comment threads - these morons are beyond hopeless.
Peter Brimelow has written some funny stuff about the cluelessness of standard issue conservatism inc. beltway hacks. Trump may have a hard time finding smart America First Buchananite types among the closeted queer Israel first evangelicuck fools on the Hill.Replies: @Dick Whitman
It’s good to see that most of the commenters here have come around to Trump. Still a few morons like Ron S above who think the multibillionaire who just blew out a deep field of experienced and well funded politicians is “undisciplined”.
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/288928-leaked-email-shows-wasserman-schultz-wanted-7-tickets-to#Replies: @Ghost of Bull Moose
That was a tip. DWS also told Chuck Todd to contact Luis about setting up a call to ‘discuss’ negative coverage of DWS on Morning Joe.
Luis is actually at the center of a lot of these exchanges, the more you look: http://www.newyorkace.net/lin-manuels-dad-wikileaks-star/
https://twitter.com/cernovich/status/756670199584137217Replies: @Ghost of Bull Moose, @MC, @Clyde, @NOTA, @Ivy
Lin Miranda figures he a big macher now. What a twerp! Obama made him when he had him perform-rap at the White House 2009 https://goo.gl/WwJ9i1
Come election time, it will be obvious that there was no there there. It is indicative of how horrible Hillary is that it is actually possible this empty suit might win. If only the Republicans had had a serious candidate who understood the importance of the immigration issue.
We can now look forward to a supreme court that not only permits but requires affirmative action. A court that favors safe spaces for losers over free speech. Thank you stupid wing of the Republican party.Replies: @Kyle a, @Jean Cocteausten, @Jus' Sayin'..., @415 reasons, @Yojimbo/Zatoichi, @slumber_j, @John Rebel, @Lurker, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @AnotherDad
If your referring to the evanglic and neo cons who have been running the Republican Party the last 50 years your dead on. The stupid wings. We’ve been destroyed by those you favor. Your type is the problem
To staff up quickly, he will only need to launch a political version of The Apprentice, which, if broadcast, will have the salutary effect of letting the people have a view into what has hitherto been a secret world the absurdities of which we only get a glimpse of in parodies like Veep.Replies: @Clyde, @Kevin O'Keeffe
The Trump family is currently getting more google (and bing etc) searches than the Kardashians.
_______
The Kardashians Are No Longer The Most Searched Family …
elitedaily.com20 hours ago
The Kardashians, America’s reality television dynasty, has a new superior on Google Trends’ charts, and it’s the Trump family.
Keeping up with the Trumps: what we learned from …
http://www.theguardian.com › US News › Donald Trump
This tedious spectacle shows Donald Trump does not speak to his family the way he speaks during debates; if he did they’d have their own Kardashian-style show
Trump is an ignorant, arrogant, petty liar who defiles the people around him.Replies: @The Alarmist, @anonymous, @Ozymandias, @Yojimbo/Zatoichi, @AmericanaCON, @Thin-Skinned Masta-Beta, @Charles Erwin Wilson
Who should we vote for? Tell us.
The Kardashians can have a seat in second class: America has turned its attention to a new family.
According to Google Trends, the Trumps have surpassed the Kardashians to become the most searched family in America, off the heels of the 2016 Republican National Convention.
The chart below shows the recent uptick in Google searches for the Trump family.
This trend is not surprising, either. After all, the RNC was more of a showcase for the Trump family than it was for just the Republican nominee himself.
The convention’s first night was marked by Melania Trump delivering her controversial speech. It was book-ended by Ivanka Trump introducing her father with the most notable, and somewhat ironic, speech from a Trump family member.
In between, Donald Trump’s daughter Tiffany spoke, along with his sons Eric and Donald, Jr. The prominence of the family within the program of the convention prompted comparisons to the Kennedy family.
I see a Trump-heavy Cabinet.
Kinda thought that ended with Kennedy.
— ian bremmer (@ianbremmer) July 22, 2016
There’s no doubt, though, out of all the family members, Donald Trump’s speech was still the most important and the most ominous.
http://elitedaily.com/news/trump-family-kardashians-google-search/1561087/
Tim is a Never Trumper and an israel firster neocon, so this is a big deal.
http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/motive_unknown1/Replies: @Verymuchalive, @Anonymous
The fact that his blog with link appears in the Daily Telegraph may also be important. The Telegraph is a shadow of its former self compared to the time 30 odd years ago when they used to let John Derbyshire do book reviews.
The fact that they have permitted mention of a non-person like Mr Steve shows there may be life in the old corpse yet ( referring to the Newspaper, not Mr Steve ! ).
Alexa.com sayeth
Australian DT - global rank: 9,368
British DT - global rank: 304
This is a nice bit of concern trolling, but really it is a fake problem, just like “Trump hasn’t raised enough money” is a fake problem. There are plenty of opportunists in the political class (a la Newt Gingrich and Chris Christie) who will have no problem switching sides in hopes of gaining power with a changing of the guard. In fact, they’ll be tripping over each other in a mad rush. Sure, some will shy away due to the risk, but whatever. Trump rose to popularity because people LOVE his policies. Shouting them from the rooftops while repeating a few memorable slogans regarding Clinton’s many frauds will be more than enough.
I’ve also noticed a new trollish element among the iSteve ranks this week that I can’t help but feel is organized. Paid shills for Hillary?
Trump at the convention made a good impression on this longtime Libertarian voter. Still, he faces enormous obstacles. I’ve written elsewhere:
“FWIW-this election is still Hillary’s. Corporate money, party organization, standard-issue/comfort-food political rhetoric, better GOTV squadristi, the idea that Hillary is Bill’s third term, great ad shop, etc.
Hillary’s late October ads will make Trump a George Wallace/George Lincoln Rockwell sort of dude. Hillary’s own peccadillos, mostly domestic, will seem like small beer, and probably endear her to a lot of folks.”
There were a lot of crossover Democrat-to-Republican voters in my area, but I don’t know how many of those can be counted as mischief or fickle votes cast by people who can be expected to return to the Democrats for the general election.
A.) voters are clamoring for more of the same,
B.) TV ads are still the best way to influence voters, and
C.) being closely associated with Wall St makes people think a candidate is trustworthy and steadfast.
The way I see it, the 2016 election is Hill's to lose!Replies: @JackOH
Has it ever occurred to anyone else that Trump isn’t staffing up with the likes of Steve, Peter B, Ann, even RooshV because…
He doesn’t agree with us?
anyways…
I’m voting Trump, don’t worry. But I’m very worried.
i listened to a data- gotv guy at the start of the cycle , he said the best data ops are worth 5% max. unless trump can convince a lot more women and educated that he isn’t a Buffoon, he isn’t gonna want to waste the money as he is notoriously cheap.
OT
This commercial ran in Denmark to increase fertility and it worked
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/denmark-s-bizarre-series-of-sex-campaigns-lead-to-baby-boom-a7062466.html
Scandinavian culture is isnteresting.
I'd just like to note that this, while presumably inadvertent, is a fantastic blend.
It’s hard finding good staff. You pretty much need to ignore Bush people, and that’s a large chunk.
I’m not certain whether the commenter meant staffing the campaign or staffing an eventual Trump Administration. The former will be difficult enough, but the latter will be exceedingly difficult. There is a book entitled Steering the Elephant, a collection of essays by first-term Reagan Administration officials describing the obstacles that they encountered trying to implement Ronald Reagan’s programs back in the relatively sedate 1980s. It makes for very sobering reading, and the resistance to a Trump Administration will be at least an order of magnitude greater than the writers of those essays encountered. I have a high regard for Donald Trump but turning “the elephant” that is the present national government may be beyond the capabilities of any person at this stage.
Are there any stats on political staffing levels for presidential candidates? What the hierarchy looks like? That might be a clue how many are necessary or useful. Manafort and Stone should give good counsel on the subject. Those guys are having the times of their lives from what I can see. It must be invigorating to be a part of history like that.
Campaign staff or White House staff? If the later I disagree. He’ll hire a capable #2 to do the staff work and continue to go around practicing the “art of the deal”. He won’t be doing that until he has won the general election.
Come election time, it will be obvious that there was no there there. It is indicative of how horrible Hillary is that it is actually possible this empty suit might win. If only the Republicans had had a serious candidate who understood the importance of the immigration issue.
We can now look forward to a supreme court that not only permits but requires affirmative action. A court that favors safe spaces for losers over free speech. Thank you stupid wing of the Republican party.Replies: @Kyle a, @Jean Cocteausten, @Jus' Sayin'..., @415 reasons, @Yojimbo/Zatoichi, @slumber_j, @John Rebel, @Lurker, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @AnotherDad
Dude, that train left the station in 1965. Any company with more than 50 employees and a federal contract exceeding $50K must have a documented affirmative action policy. Dig a few ditches for NASA and you’re in the club.
Virtually every big city has similar policies for its contractors – all with the nodding approval of Uncle Sam.
My experience as a federal contractor is one of the single biggest things that turned me from a liberal to an alt-righter. In the small market for science/engineering services, many of the companies are owned by favored minorities who get preferences through the SBD and 8(a) programs. These are usually Indian or Latino immigrants retired from many years’ government service, or false fronts owned by a figurehead minority.
If Trump actually wanted to staff up on people who want to limit imports and immigrants he would have used the convention to highlight this new ( to the political mainstream ) ideology.
Lol Ron S. Thanks for the laugh.
If a candidate makes a credible promise to stop immigration and stay out of ruinous foreign wars, I don’t think it would matter if his dad turned out to have been Stalin’s right-hand man. Obviously, 99 per cent of the inter-generational drift in politics is to the left, but if a guy goes the opposite way, good for him. Cruz’s problem wasn’t his father.
But personality aside, I thought he was disqualifed by birth ... he was arguably a US citizen by parentage, statute and precedent at birth (jus sanguinis), but he was not a natural born citizen in the sense required by the Constitution (jus solis). McCain was dubious at best given that the Canal Zone was an unincorporated territory. As for Big O, he presented what was accepted as evidence of birth in an incorporated territory, but when I see a Hawaiian birth certificate signed by one Dr. U.K..L. Lee I have to ask if might be a brazen laugh at us.
The other problem with Cruz is that he is literally married to Goldman Sachs, and, to be frank, the Vampire Squid has its tentacles already wrapped around too many levers of power throughout the so-called Free World.Replies: @Ed
“I think the deep problem Trump faces is in finding staffers who are both experienced and aligned with his views.”
-If nothing else, Trump’s ascendancy shows the popularity of his views on immigration and America first among an enormous swath of the American public. Many people have the misguided view (because of the MSM, schools, and the ‘chilling effect’ caused by SJW attacks on people’s livelihoods) that most Americans don’t believe these things- they do, they’re just forced to hide it.
As a result, there’s bound to be quite a few experienced political staffers keeping their true opinions under cover who could work for him. You’ll most likely find them working for more mainstream conservative politicians, who have a more watered down view of the same ideas.
And if Trump is elected president, it will become easier for all to more freely express sane views like criticism of a ‘pathway to citizenship’ for illegals.
Come election time, it will be obvious that there was no there there. It is indicative of how horrible Hillary is that it is actually possible this empty suit might win. If only the Republicans had had a serious candidate who understood the importance of the immigration issue.
We can now look forward to a supreme court that not only permits but requires affirmative action. A court that favors safe spaces for losers over free speech. Thank you stupid wing of the Republican party.Replies: @Kyle a, @Jean Cocteausten, @Jus' Sayin'..., @415 reasons, @Yojimbo/Zatoichi, @slumber_j, @John Rebel, @Lurker, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @AnotherDad
Are you unaware that Trump has had a lifetime of experience managing organizations many of which have comprised thousands of employees? In fact Trump has had a hell of a lot more management experience including delegation of authority than any president since Eisenhower
Consultants and the GOP: http://praxispolitics.com/2016/07/the-republican-industrial-complex-is-at-the-heart-of-conservatisms-failure/
To staff up quickly, he will only need to launch a political version of The Apprentice, which, if broadcast, will have the salutary effect of letting the people have a view into what has hitherto been a secret world the absurdities of which we only get a glimpse of in parodies like Veep.Replies: @Clyde, @Kevin O'Keeffe
The election is in November. There’s no time for crap like that.
Cruz’s problem was indeed not his father. It was partly his personality, including a surfeit of self-righteousness.
But personality aside, I thought he was disqualifed by birth … he was arguably a US citizen by parentage, statute and precedent at birth (jus sanguinis), but he was not a natural born citizen in the sense required by the Constitution (jus solis). McCain was dubious at best given that the Canal Zone was an unincorporated territory. As for Big O, he presented what was accepted as evidence of birth in an incorporated territory, but when I see a Hawaiian birth certificate signed by one Dr. U.K..L. Lee I have to ask if might be a brazen laugh at us.
The other problem with Cruz is that he is literally married to Goldman Sachs, and, to be frank, the Vampire Squid has its tentacles already wrapped around too many levers of power throughout the so-called Free World.
https://twitter.com/cernovich/status/756670199584137217Replies: @Ghost of Bull Moose, @MC, @Clyde, @NOTA, @Ivy
Are there enough Democratic aparatchiks’ interns to make a difference?
I don’t think Trump has a problem with high level staff. In case some missed it, he just ran an almost flawlessly brilliant national primary campaign in the face of stiff, experienced, well-financed, and well-organized opposition. The same people who are now “worried” about his ability to staff a presidential campaign were also, up until a few months ago, avidly predicting his imminent defeat in the GOP primary.
Trump also will have no problem attracting the lower-levels of volunteer and paid staff for his upcoming presidential campaign. The fervent support that many ordinary Americans express for this man guarantees no lack of volunters for campaign grunt work.
Where Trump may have a problem is building up a sufficient mid-level campaign staff. The party usually plays a major role providing these. Unfortunately, Trump must deal with packs of RINOs and establishment hacks who think the only way they can cling to their sad shreds of amour propre is by ensuring that the corrupt and dangerously inept Hillary Rodham Clinton is our next president. These traitorous scum will do everything in their power to sabotage Trump’s presidential campaign.
“And yet, it moves.”
In this case, the movement is the voters, who chose Trump over the cucks. That’s where you hire your mid and low level staff. For the higher-ups, you find people with brains. There’s plenty of talent out there that can either check their ideological baggage at the door, or never really had any in the first place.
Humans are flexible strategists, and most of the ideological devotion to the left is whoring anyway; a mile wide, and an inch deep. Without the globalists’ incentives, few would give their loyalty to globalization, open borders, unfair trade, wars for Israel, etc.
The problem is more people being convinced that Trump is a flash in the pan, than anything ideological; tough to get people to join a coup when they’re convinced it’s going to fail.
Trump better keep on his toes.
“Mexican Stephen Colbert” is taking satirical aim at him:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ad5_1469258303
Most of the non-interventionists are leftists. No problem, hire them for State Department jobs. Most of the law-and-order people are, like Giuliani, cucks on foreign policy. Tom Cotton, for example, has (correctly) said that the incarceration rate is too low. No problem, hire that kind of people for the Justice Department and keep them away from State and Defense. I think that most of the protectionists are on the left.
Bits of sense are scattered across the spectrum, it’s just that few political pros are sensible on several issues at once, like Trump is. And, just to spite us, fate made him a 12-year old clown personality-wise, so we didn’t get the full package with him either. But maybe there’s no need for a single person who’s a full package in any job.
Trump is an ignorant, arrogant, petty liar who defiles the people around him.Replies: @The Alarmist, @anonymous, @Ozymandias, @Yojimbo/Zatoichi, @AmericanaCON, @Thin-Skinned Masta-Beta, @Charles Erwin Wilson
“Even if you support secure borders, do you want to spend time defending such irrelevant nonsense?”
Getting the left to savagely attack over that irrelevant nonsense reveals them for the extremist little twits that they are. But that, of course, completely escapes you.
He can staff up easily enough. There’s always someone eager to take a job that gives them power and influence. The problem is, whenever political outsiders go on a hiring spree, they keep ending up with people who are both amateurish and easy to corrupt. The new president is always taken completely by surprise when his underlings are caught with their hand in the till or taking bribes, and he ends up defending his friends like an idiot until the crooks are ejected from the administration by the long arm of the law. See, Grant, Harding, and Reagan for examples.
But I do think Trump is more cynical and wary than most men about the innate honesty and motives of other people. He’s worked in the New York business field long enough to give him a lot of perspective about the innate goodness of mankind.
Trump’s lack of staff almost cost him the nomination back when Ted Cruz started snarfing up delegates in backroom deals. The general election, ironically, should be a simpler matter as the rules are straightforward: just persuade the people to come out and vote for you.
Staffing will become critical once he’s president. Maybe this’ll be an opportunity to finally abolish those bureaucracies the GOP is forever promising to shut down but never does: the Departments of Education and Energy, the federal mortgage agencies, the EEOC. And turn 75% of the rest to the states.
Steve Sailer says:
This is the kind of thing that makes me wonder about the supposed ideological lockdown being discussed.
Come election time, it will be obvious that there was no there there. It is indicative of how horrible Hillary is that it is actually possible this empty suit might win. If only the Republicans had had a serious candidate who understood the importance of the immigration issue.
We can now look forward to a supreme court that not only permits but requires affirmative action. A court that favors safe spaces for losers over free speech. Thank you stupid wing of the Republican party.Replies: @Kyle a, @Jean Cocteausten, @Jus' Sayin'..., @415 reasons, @Yojimbo/Zatoichi, @slumber_j, @John Rebel, @Lurker, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @AnotherDad
Such as? Cruz was the only other candidate who wasn’t squishy on immigration and he was a total head case and would have been an even bigger shitshow with his dad speaking in tongues at the convention.
The Republican Party is terrible. Consider that their best rising star from the last 10 years Paul Ryan is basically on board with the SJW world destruction platform but with capital gains tax cuts.
Win lose or draw at least there is a true difference in visions between the parties this election, more than could be said for any other Republican who might conceivably have won.
It would be nice if this also could spur a change in the Repiblican party towards a more European nationalist party model where we get some candidates with gravitas, political experience and principled anti-immigration views.
Beautiful.
This has been a problem I’ve been aware of for quite some time.
I think what Trump is relying on is that people in the universe of political staffers are naturally ladder climbers. What I think he’s banking on is that all he has to do is, with the force of his personality and command presence, ordain his particular brand of alt-center civic nationalism, and then he’ll hire people who are close to that way of thinking even if not precisely there, and then they’ll eventually come around to his way of thinking simply because they want to impress him.
I know it’s very possible, people doing political jobs that aren’t in tune with their personal politics, because I can see one on the other side of the mirror. I’m a fringe of the fringe alt-right neoreactionary dark enlightenment ethnonationalist white nationalist, making a living riding herd for various standard issue boilerplate lamestream conservative special interests in state government. If I was a Trump staffer, I’d have mostly the same problem, that I’d be professionally behaving to the left of my personal proclivities.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSSSRx5FiQ8
The "War on Terror" goes on in perpetuity because it's lucrative. Defense contractors, the military, the intelligence agencies, lobbyists, think tanks, former generals, and many politicians are making a lot of money for themselves. If the war ever ended, the gravy train would come to a stop. That can't be allowed to happen.
When your country is run by corrupt parasitic elites, you can't expect sensible policies. Especially when the overwhelming majority of Americans are too lazy, apathetic, brainwashed by teevee, or dumb (usually all 4) to revolt and replace the elites. The U.S. is truly a banana republic and the people have let it become that way.Replies: @William Badwhite, @TomSchmidt
“The “War on Terror” goes on in perpetuity because it’s lucrative…If the war ever ended, the gravy train would come to a stop”
I’m surprised more people don’t understand this. If something is happening that doesn’t seem to make sense, follow the money. If it still doesn’t make sense, follow the money more closely. I grew up in the Washington DC area though no longer live there. When I visit, the place is totally unrecognizable. And I left in the 90’s, to someone who left the area in the 50’s it must be mind-boggling. The amount of “wealth” is staggering. The beltway is filled with expensive cars and the neighborhoods with enormous mansions. All on the growth of government and its attendant “consultants” and contractors. It truly has become Imperial Rome. It is naive to expect all those people to support a political direction that will see their trough emptied. Its going to have to be forced on them.
‘the overwhelming majority of Americans are too lazy, apathetic, brainwashed by teevee, or dumb (usually all 4) to revolt”
This “Americans are so stupid” meme is on this blog a lot and has grown tiresome. Americans are no more dumb (and in fact likely more intelligent) than citizens of most any other country. They’re badly governed. Germans are highly intelligent, and also badly governed. There’s a difference between stupidity and having no alternatives. There is virtually nothing the average citizen can do about this problem. Revolt and they’ll have their lives and their families lives destroyed. Not choosing to revolt and get killed is highly rational.
Hoppe loosely touches on this in “Democracy: The God that Failed”. Mass democracy as the default setting for governance of most countries is barely 100 years old (since roughly the end of WW1). Yes I know some countries have had it for longer, but as recently as 100 or so years ago there were important, civilized countries that were monarchies. No longer.
There isn’t enough data to support the oft-cited “Democracy is better than all the others, blah blah”. I’m not advocating monarchy, merely making the point that in our form of government, there is nothing to stop venal, corrupt parasites from gravitating to power and once there, rigging the system so they stay there.
We know it will end. I forget who said “something that can’t go on forever won’t”. As to how this all ends, we have no way to know. We’ve never seen governance like this before. There is no historical example to study.
Actually, I do think Americans are stupid. The majority of Americans believes Iraq was behind 9/11 and supported the Iraq War. The majority of the American electorate also voted for GWB. Truly embarrassing.
When I use the term stupid, I mean it more sense of being infantile and distracted. Not necessarily referring to IQ.There's some truth to that. Except that Americans were amazingly supportive of the Iraq War and mildly support for 2 terms for GWB. Even when offered alternatives, Americans make the dumber choice.
Historically, Americans have actually had a pretty well-informed and civic-minded citizenry. It's only in the past 15-20 years that we've seen this drift towards apathy/corruption.Replies: @Grandpa Jack, @Harry Baldwin, @William Badwhite
Come election time, it will be obvious that there was no there there. It is indicative of how horrible Hillary is that it is actually possible this empty suit might win. If only the Republicans had had a serious candidate who understood the importance of the immigration issue.
We can now look forward to a supreme court that not only permits but requires affirmative action. A court that favors safe spaces for losers over free speech. Thank you stupid wing of the Republican party.Replies: @Kyle a, @Jean Cocteausten, @Jus' Sayin'..., @415 reasons, @Yojimbo/Zatoichi, @slumber_j, @John Rebel, @Lurker, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @AnotherDad
No, not stupid. Devious. The oligarchs know exactly what they doing by the specific policies they support and thats been the main reason they’ve been vs. Trump from day one.
There are really two separate issues here.
First, can he staff up once he wins the election, and to hit the ground running on January 20th 2017?
I’m not as concerned about that. DC is full of underemployed, hungry would-be GOP appointees, from the policycraft interns up to potential undersecretaries of executive departments. Thankfully, these people are whores. Rest assured that whatever their previously stated disagreementnts with Trump were on immigration and trade, they will have completely turned their coats no later than mid-Wednesday morning after Trump gets to 270 electoral votes. And they will stay bought.
But second, can he staff up for the campaign itself? Not as much for GOTV, but for Big Data wranglers and sophisticated ad buys? That is going to be a lot more challenging.
Trump is an ignorant, arrogant, petty liar who defiles the people around him.Replies: @The Alarmist, @anonymous, @Ozymandias, @Yojimbo/Zatoichi, @AmericanaCON, @Thin-Skinned Masta-Beta, @Charles Erwin Wilson
“Trump is an ignorant, arrogant, petty liar who defiles the people around him.”
I’m sorry, where you writing about Trump or Hillary? (e.g. 30k illegal emails on server, which is a felony punishable by maximum yrs in prison, compromised national security, etc).
Don’t underestimate the number of people, regardless of ideology, who will step up and get the job done if they think they can get a White House job or federal appointment after a Trump win.
Trump may not need as big a staff as past candidates. Trump voters know his name, when the election is, where the polling place is, are already registered, have transportation, are not expecting a payoff for voting. You pointed out Trump is lucky, a supreme court justice starting a twitter feud with you does not happen to other people.
Come election time, it will be obvious that there was no there there. It is indicative of how horrible Hillary is that it is actually possible this empty suit might win. If only the Republicans had had a serious candidate who understood the importance of the immigration issue.
We can now look forward to a supreme court that not only permits but requires affirmative action. A court that favors safe spaces for losers over free speech. Thank you stupid wing of the Republican party.Replies: @Kyle a, @Jean Cocteausten, @Jus' Sayin'..., @415 reasons, @Yojimbo/Zatoichi, @slumber_j, @John Rebel, @Lurker, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @AnotherDad
I dunno: says here that The Trump Organization has more than 22,000 employees. Do you suppose Donald Trump personally oversees every one of them? That strikes me as unlikely.
Also, will Trump be able to compete with Hillary’s obviously seasoned advisors – like the ones that told her to announce her VP pick late on a Friday afternoon?
The bar is pretty low, assuming Hillary’s campaign is the bar Trump needs to hurdle.
Come election time, it will be obvious that there was no there there. It is indicative of how horrible Hillary is that it is actually possible this empty suit might win. If only the Republicans had had a serious candidate who understood the importance of the immigration issue.
We can now look forward to a supreme court that not only permits but requires affirmative action. A court that favors safe spaces for losers over free speech. Thank you stupid wing of the Republican party.Replies: @Kyle a, @Jean Cocteausten, @Jus' Sayin'..., @415 reasons, @Yojimbo/Zatoichi, @slumber_j, @John Rebel, @Lurker, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @AnotherDad
It’s not just a wing of the republican party that is stupid. It’s the entire party.
I agree w Int Jew in that Trump will be positioned to start shutting down some entire agencies. He did not mention this on the campaign trail, so as to not give feds in DC, MD, or N VA the vapors, but as a business person who does not throw away money, surely he looks at agencies like D of Energy and sez what the hell … why do we have these things and tell me again what they are costing the taxpayer? (and then blow his cork). The D of Energy for instance can be done away with. They were supposed to help the US become energy independent; now they piddle away with childish liberal dreams like solar, wind, and biomass. Their budget is gargantuan and they are a massive $$ sink and provide almost zero in return. Same with Education. Same with Labor. Same with HUD. Why does USDA have > 100,000 employees? (A: the better to move taxpayer $$ to corporate agribusiness). A lot of “jobs programs” out there that waste $$ on a breathtaking scale. Oh, and build the wall and stop immigration and begin the deportations. That would all get us moving in the right direction and increase the prosperity for all Americans, except D of Energy bureaucrats (I am guessing they don’t have a huge constituency, though).
GOTV helps on the margins with minorities & young voters. White voters don't need to be prodded to vote they just need to be inspired to do so. Also with mail in & early voting GOTV really becomes diminished. Best thing for Trump this week VA Supreme Court striking down McAuliffe's transparent attempt to help Clinton by striking down his felon enfranchisement law. Evidently 1 in 5 blacks in VA can't vote because they're felons. https://twitter.com/taniel/status/756611417034326016Replies: @bomag, @rod1963
Quite true, Jeb had a massive machine in place across the country and it didn’t help him at all. Why? Because his central message was the dissolution of the U.S. into the NAU where whites would become 2nd class citizens. Staffing can’t fix a bad message and disliked, low energy candidate.
Furthermore, there were other opponents with very good ground games and they also lost to Trump.
Trump OTOH has a message that resonates with the white blue collars and middle-class (not so much with government workers and urban professionals) whom the GOP could never get out in any numbers since Reagan.
Look at Trump’s rallies, they’re massive. His opponents were lucky to have several hundred to a few thousand. I’ve seen Hillary’s rallies where there were more press there than supporters. If you notice the press will never do a pan of a Hillary audience. I don’t think her support is anywhere where the MSM says it is.
That said, Trump’s main goal IMO at this time is too either have th Bernie voters sit it out or vote for him, both work. Without the Bernie supporters, Hillary is cooked.
The morning of the Indiana primary Trump called into one of the morning shows and was asked to comment on some audio from the day before where Cruz Sr. was speaking to some voters and, because he is a smarmy preacher type like his son, told them if you don’t vote Cruz you’re voting for evil. Trump, properly displeased, then brought up the Cruz/Oswald story that was also reported in a Miami paper (not just the National Inquirer) a day or two before. Cruz Sr. was playing hardball for his son and Trump played hardball right back. Trump’s willingness to ‘go there’ is one of the reasons why he is currently the nominee and on a glide path to victory in November.
https://twitter.com/cernovich/status/756670199584137217Replies: @Ghost of Bull Moose, @MC, @Clyde, @NOTA, @Ivy
Interns and others will turn out in Philly to protest, with more unrest than in Cleveland. Expect biased coverage from the MSM, offset by many cell phone videos. The Democrats won’t be able to help themselves, as their coalition has too many demanding a seat at the table or piece of the pie.
The "War on Terror" goes on in perpetuity because it's lucrative. Defense contractors, the military, the intelligence agencies, lobbyists, think tanks, former generals, and many politicians are making a lot of money for themselves. If the war ever ended, the gravy train would come to a stop. That can't be allowed to happen.
When your country is run by corrupt parasitic elites, you can't expect sensible policies. Especially when the overwhelming majority of Americans are too lazy, apathetic, brainwashed by teevee, or dumb (usually all 4) to revolt and replace the elites. The U.S. is truly a banana republic and the people have let it become that way.Replies: @William Badwhite, @TomSchmidt
Don’t confuse learned helplessness for apathy.
From what I've seen, most Americans seem obsessed with entertainment (sports, celebrity gossip, reality tv, social media). They have little (if any interest) in what's happening around them. It's like how Romans were distracted by bread and circuses, while their elites looted the country and allowed the empire to decay.
Americans are immature and infantile. They want the adults to keep the country running, while they spend their downtime updating their Facebook feed and watching Beyoncé videos. In this type of environment, it's pretty easy for parasites to take control of the government.Replies: @Pericles
Furthermore, there were other opponents with very good ground games and they also lost to Trump.
Trump OTOH has a message that resonates with the white blue collars and middle-class (not so much with government workers and urban professionals) whom the GOP could never get out in any numbers since Reagan.
Look at Trump's rallies, they're massive. His opponents were lucky to have several hundred to a few thousand. I've seen Hillary's rallies where there were more press there than supporters. If you notice the press will never do a pan of a Hillary audience. I don't think her support is anywhere where the MSM says it is.
That said, Trump's main goal IMO at this time is too either have th Bernie voters sit it out or vote for him, both work. Without the Bernie supporters, Hillary is cooked.Replies: @Unladen Swallow
Agreed, went to South Carolina during primary week, Trump’s rally dwarfed Cruz, Kasich, and Rubio’s rallies combined.
1. Trump won’t need as many staffers as he’s from the private sector, not the govt. The private sector has a bottom line, remember …
2. Trump already has 20k+ competent people working for him, some of whom can be transferred to DC in a heartbeat.
3. Trump could hire as those in the private sector have always hired — using head hunters and word-of-mouth. This is a glorious chance to get rid of the deadwood in the military and government and replace them with people with a viable work ethic.
4. Trump is retirement age. He probably knows a hundred of competent, experienced and bored ex-CEOs. They’d do far better than anyone in DC.
Tim is a Never Trumper and an israel firster neocon, so this is a big deal.
http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/timblair/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/motive_unknown1/Replies: @Verymuchalive, @Anonymous
Re: Steve’s Twitter account
I love Steve’s tweets. I just discovered them the other day.
Steve, Did you just start tweeting, or am I just late to the party?
Staffing the campaign seems to have been no problem to Trump, given his results.
I think the problem here is that Ron S is far too stupid and lazy to think for himself and simply accepts and regurgitates what the Main Slime Media tells him about Trump.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/23/in-1927-fox-news-service-filmed-benito-mussolini-telling-immigrants-to-make-america-great/?client=safari#
Trump isn’t literally Hitler. He’s literally Mussolini. Filmic evidence from WaPo above.
I think Charles Manson probably once said “How are you doing?”, and Obama probably once said “How are you doing?”, so…
“Trump has flaws”
ZOMG HE’S HUMAN~!!!!!1
trump’s willingness to ‘go there’ is why i think there’s at least a 1 in 5 chance that Hilary refuses to debate Trump because he isn’t a ‘true statesman’, or something. her image can’t withstand direct and irrefutable charges that she’s at the very least a liar, if not an actual traitor, especially from an accuser as unrelenting as trump. he’s at his most persuasive when indignant.
i don’t think betting markets have factored in just how historically bad the debates are going to go for her.
I think he knows how to get competent people.
Trump is an ignorant, arrogant, petty liar who defiles the people around him.Replies: @The Alarmist, @anonymous, @Ozymandias, @Yojimbo/Zatoichi, @AmericanaCON, @Thin-Skinned Masta-Beta, @Charles Erwin Wilson
Donald Trump took out Pataki, Graham, Jindal, Walker, Perry, Gilmore, Santorum, Christie, Fiorina, Huckabee, Paul, Bush, Carson, Rubio, Kasich and Cruz. He did so with about 65 million dollars with 45 million coming from his own pocket. Together the other candidates spent more than 650 million dollars. They had also support from GOP establishment, Democratic establishment, media (including international media), Hollywood, Finance, Academia and Conservative Inc. In GOP race Bush, Cruz, Rubio and Carson spent about 460 million dollars. In 2012 Mitt Romney spent about 77 million dollars on the GOP race. He was backed by everybody and had a much easier ride. Romney spent about 18.5 dollar on every vote. Donald Trump spent 4.5 dollars on every vote.
Trumps strategy has been holding large events, use social media and say “outrages” (according to liberals) things so media have something to write. Right now, Donald Trump has 10.1 million followers on Twitter. Hillary Clinton has 7.6 million followers. In this round Trump has at least some support from at Fox News and the GOP. Trump has also will also have a ton of grassroots working for him. That means that he will be significantly stronger than before. Hillary and her ilk may spend 2 billion dollars. Trump and GOP would do very well with 500 million dollars. He is marketing genius. His positions have been extremely popular among voters and if he just develop and explain his positions in his RNC speech he may end up winning.
In regards to staffing, I'd ignore his naysayers in the political class because they do not have Trump's best interests in mind, not to mention most are total losers to begin with.
And when you add the wikileaks DNC Media Collusion data revlations, it pretty much shows the MSM in Hillary's pocket and their polling unreliable and agenda driven. I mean they totally shafted Bernie and his supporters.
In short criticism from the political class should be taken with a gallon of salt.Replies: @AmericanaCON
There are a lot of us out there. I worked for more than a quarter of a century for an international foundation based in New York that espoused “diversity” in everything except point of view. I kept my head down and no one ever knew what I personally thought about abortion, political correctness, and many other issues. I have a feeling that it would not be too difficult to find a number of good people happy to finally be able to express themselves in a different kind of administration.
But he hired the guy who wrote Melania's speech. Not good.Replies: @Louis Renault, @e, @Kyle a
It was a woman.
It seems like Trump use young communication director Stephen Miller a lot. Miller worked for years for Jeff Sessions and apparently they are close to “best friends”. Miller have only held one job before he started to work for Trump and that was working as an aid for Sessions. He started working for Sessions almost straight out of college. Miller is by all account a right-wing nationalist. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was disclosed that he read Alt-Right webzines. In College, Miller experimented with everything from libertarianism to white nationalism. When I listen to Miller I think about Jason Richwine. Recent interview with Richwine at Stefan Molyneux;
The GOTV effort will be ad hoc, local state GOP/Tea Party efforts coming directly from Trump supporters. This is potentially more powerful than paid bearded hipsters from Park Slope.
My neighborhood in Texas is 99.9% white, and there are Trump signs everywhere (which had to be purchased online). Not one for Hillary but a few for Sanders. The people who filled the American Airlines Center in Dallas and elsewhere will be the energy behind his GOTV effort.
Largely overlooked, Trump is banking tens of millions based on donations of less than $200. Core Americans, who Pauline Kael doesn’t know, are backing him with real enthusiasm.
But he hired the guy who wrote Melania's speech. Not good.Replies: @Louis Renault, @e, @Kyle a
A woman who said she is employed by the Trump Corp. wrote Melania’s speech.
In general, I agree. On the other hand, when it comes time for all the precinct-by-precinct battles over enforcing election law and seeing that ballot boxes don’t get stuffed, you want your people to be familiar with what the tricks are.
"Mexican Stephen Colbert" is taking satirical aim at him:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ad5_1469258303Replies: @Jus' Sayin'...
The ever-less-amusing Mr. Colbert must be desperate if he’s sending out click-bait trolls in vain attempts to boost his ratings.
This is America, who needs work visas?
Trump could always pay him under the table…
Oh never mind.
But he hired the guy who wrote Melania's speech. Not good.Replies: @Louis Renault, @e, @Kyle a
He was a she. Another libertine denying the facts.
What makes you all think Trump’s got your back?
He’s a liar with an attention span of a kindergartener
who’s stumbled upon a racist path to office. When he loses
the blow backs gonna be 10 x worse. If he wins, you’re still
screwed. And the backlash 4 years later is gonna be horrible.
A troll, but it resonates in that outside Cruze and Trump, the other candidates hardly made a pretense of having our back on immigration and citizens first. And I love the open threat that if we don't get in line with proper Progressivism today, we are REALLY going to get it tomorrow; we are all just galley slaves, and if we don't row fast enough to the Left, we will be punished by being forced to row even faster leftward.
He has made it possible to state things like Crooked Clinton and to push back against the bullshit that people like you spew.
That in itself is enough for me, but it is going to get worse for people like you and I am going to enjoy the schadenfreude immensely.Replies: @Hacienda, @NOTA
Right. And there are a lot more career lefties in the civil service who see nothing wrong with using government power to further their progressive agenda. See Lerner, Lois, and the two babes in the Department of Education who are single-handedly causing all the Title IX mischief.
OT:
An article about Trump in Breitbart discusses McCain.
http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/07/23/the-changing-of-the-guard-in-cleveland-what-a-difference-donald-trump-has-made/
Trump really has you worried, I see. You know what? You’re very right to be worried. The Monster Vote is out there.
Does Trump even need a staff? He is more of a viral idea than a political candidate. A majority of Americans have watched in horror for the past four years as Obama’s chaotic world order took root and domestic black terrorists went out of their skulls, egged on by Obama’s Department of Justice. They have watched our elite universities dominated by Chinese and Indian economic migrants and our public schools fill up with a motley assortment of disruptive special needs immigrant kiddies. Change has come so fast that there are plenty of people under 60 who remember America as a much better place even during the black and hippie crime wave of the 60’s/70’s because it didn’t really affect most communities. A large majority of white Americans won’t need much persuasion to vote for Trump at this point. The coalition of fringes is starting to fray as America’s Half Blood Prince fades from the scene, and the weekly drumbeat of black, Muslim, and Hispanic demons committing atrocities is taking its toll on public sympathy for the Hope and Change doctrine. Hillary is now like a restaurant with a two star Yelp Review. The DNC is going to struggle no matter how much money they raise or how many staff they hire.
I propose he reach out to Mickey Kaus and offer him the Secretary of Education position.
Steve, what think you about Sundance’s suggestion in his blog post this morning:
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2016/07/23/clinton-kaine-ticket-holds-first-rally-in-miami-florida/#comments
“In order for a crew of liars to believe a person can be trusted, they generally have to hold an insurance policy. Therefore it is reasonable to assume there is something VERY DARK in the background of Tim Kaine that team Clinton know and can hold against him as insurance for silence. Your gut is already screaming at you what Kaines secret is, you just need to listen to it. (Jesuit all male school)
“Kaine is a shipwreck searching for the hidden rocks. Watch, you’ll see.”
The bar is pretty low, assuming Hillary's campaign is the bar Trump needs to hurdle.Replies: @iSteveFan
That was strange to announce such major news late on Friday. The Clintons are usually masters at using Fridays as dump days for news they wish to be forgotten. But I suppose it shows how successful Trump was on Thursday evening that she felt the need to announce her VP pick on a a Friday just to throw water on Trump’s momentum.
Staffing will become critical once he's president. Maybe this'll be an opportunity to finally abolish those bureaucracies the GOP is forever promising to shut down but never does: the Departments of Education and Energy, the federal mortgage agencies, the EEOC. And turn 75% of the rest to the states.Replies: @Kyle a, @Chrisnonymous
He never added any of the staff you claim almost hurt him against Cruz. All the pundits in everry caucus or primary said he’s ground troops were non existent. Don’t you have a barmitzva you need to attend?
Trump is an ignorant, arrogant, petty liar who defiles the people around him.Replies: @The Alarmist, @anonymous, @Ozymandias, @Yojimbo/Zatoichi, @AmericanaCON, @Thin-Skinned Masta-Beta, @Charles Erwin Wilson
I’m feeling like Finland in the Winter War.
Choose between Hitler or Stalin, but choose we must.
Trump is a tactless boor… perhaps that’s why he appeals to so many regular folks.
Even if he’s shown no ability for diplomatic restraint, there is absolutely zero evidence that he’s actually a racist. Calling everybody a racist has to have gotten worse than the McCarthyites calling everybody a communist. There were certainly communists out there in positions of power in the US, as there are doubtless racists still today, but it’s gotten to be more a tool to “take-out” rivals than anything else.
What concerns me most about Trump are the following:
1. His much vaunted ability to make deals may be exaggerated
If he can’t make a deal with a jerk like Ted Cruz or Ohio Governor John Kasich or so many of the other establishment Republicans, how do we expect him to deal with Iran, Mexico, China or North Korea, much less a bitterly pissed-off opposition in Congress that has all the resources and tricks at its disposal to obstruct any executive leadership or action. Negotiating a deal when you have the capital or the crucial property location is much different than negotiating with a legislature that might not be persuaded by a President without any of those assets.
2. His management skill and ability to make priorities and focus
So much of his business empire is pretty shallow stuff, based more on licensing the gold-plated Trump brand than actual real estate deals, eg all those hotels with his name that aren’t actually his. Furthermore I question his ability to focus. If he were such a great real estate entrepreneur, then why did he get distracted by so many unrelated enterprises; mineral water, steaks, neckties, get-rich guru training, reality television. Finally attention to detail is important, but there are limits and great leaders have to be able to delegate the details so they can focus on the big questions that can’t be delegated. The story of Trump spending so much time on the design of his trademark “Make America Great Again” hat is emblematic of this. He was said to have been deeply involved in choosing the typeface, the colors, the materials, the styles, etc. If there was ever a case of a project that might have been suitable to delegate to the best people he had hired, then this might be it. Finally the rumors that he offered Governor Kasich the responsibilities and powers of the Presidency to carry out as viceroy Vice President truly are frightening. If this is true, it certainly sounds like he might not actually even be interested in the hard work, attention and responsibilities of the presidency. Sad! Finally it’s also very concerning, that whether, either due to disinterest or inability to focus, he’s been unable to scale his campaign operation, raise money or start the very important work of planning his organizational transition for when he takes over the White House in January.
3. His integrity and ability to hire the best people and keep them accountable
As a corollary to the notion that managers have to have the ability to delegate and not obsess with the details, managers still have to focus and be able to keep the team accountable. If he gets too lost with certain unimportant details, in areas that matter more his campaign and eventually his administration might be run too distantly from Trump’s attention thanks to his hands off approach. I’m concerned that the opposition might end up watching the administration more closely than the Trump in charge and when they discover anything that has a hint of sleaze, no doubt they’ll make a big stink about it. Finally I can’t believe nobody has ever expressed the concern about the integrity of his business background. I don’t think Trump is necessarily a bad guy, but what industries and what regions have the reputation of suffering from the most corruption? Of course real estate development, casinos, New York, New Jersey and Las Vegas…. Now can we really blame the Trump for playing that game that must be played if one wishes to play the game? No. But when it comes out (and if it can be made comprehensible to the dumb public), it’ll make a few pissed off vendors and contractors look like he has some overdue library books.
Don’t misunderstand, I’m not suggesting Hillary is better. The only things she’s ever managed were Arab Spring and Hillarycare. We remember how those turned out. She can’t even get to her own speeches in time…
Trump might be a great guy… or not. Of course with many strengths, but probably also some deficits.
Saying that Judge Curiel could not judge him fairly because he's a Mexican was racist. If people judge that Hillary is even worse than Trump, I cannot prove them wrong, but the man disgusts me.Replies: @ben tillman
Once President Trump defines his federal institutional priorities, denizens of the disfavored institutions will scramble like rats from sinking ships and will vie for cross-transfer posts into the favored institutions and initiatives in which they will beaver dutifully at making America First. There is no more craven mercenary than the bureaucrat confronted with loss or diminution of his sinecure and its powers, influence, perks, and privileges. Mr. Trump is a past master of manipulating such mercenaries.
The Republican Party is terrible. Consider that their best rising star from the last 10 years Paul Ryan is basically on board with the SJW world destruction platform but with capital gains tax cuts.
Win lose or draw at least there is a true difference in visions between the parties this election, more than could be said for any other Republican who might conceivably have won.
It would be nice if this also could spur a change in the Repiblican party towards a more European nationalist party model where we get some candidates with gravitas, political experience and principled anti-immigration views.Replies: @snorlax, @S. Anonyia, @FX Enderby
Walker was at least as good as Cruz on immigration. Although really the choices were all pretty terrible. Why can’t we have a Farage? (Not that Farage is even an especially impressive politician by UK standards, but at least he’s competent).
Also he is Koch lackey his immigration stance was not sincere.
I'm surprised more people don't understand this. If something is happening that doesn't seem to make sense, follow the money. If it still doesn't make sense, follow the money more closely. I grew up in the Washington DC area though no longer live there. When I visit, the place is totally unrecognizable. And I left in the 90's, to someone who left the area in the 50's it must be mind-boggling. The amount of "wealth" is staggering. The beltway is filled with expensive cars and the neighborhoods with enormous mansions. All on the growth of government and its attendant "consultants" and contractors. It truly has become Imperial Rome. It is naive to expect all those people to support a political direction that will see their trough emptied. Its going to have to be forced on them.
'the overwhelming majority of Americans are too lazy, apathetic, brainwashed by teevee, or dumb (usually all 4) to revolt"
This "Americans are so stupid" meme is on this blog a lot and has grown tiresome. Americans are no more dumb (and in fact likely more intelligent) than citizens of most any other country. They're badly governed. Germans are highly intelligent, and also badly governed. There's a difference between stupidity and having no alternatives. There is virtually nothing the average citizen can do about this problem. Revolt and they'll have their lives and their families lives destroyed. Not choosing to revolt and get killed is highly rational.
Hoppe loosely touches on this in "Democracy: The God that Failed". Mass democracy as the default setting for governance of most countries is barely 100 years old (since roughly the end of WW1). Yes I know some countries have had it for longer, but as recently as 100 or so years ago there were important, civilized countries that were monarchies. No longer.
There isn't enough data to support the oft-cited "Democracy is better than all the others, blah blah". I'm not advocating monarchy, merely making the point that in our form of government, there is nothing to stop venal, corrupt parasites from gravitating to power and once there, rigging the system so they stay there.
We know it will end. I forget who said "something that can't go on forever won't". As to how this all ends, we have no way to know. We've never seen governance like this before. There is no historical example to study.Replies: @Harry Baldwin, @JohnnyWalker123
Herbert Stein’s Law: “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop,”
If I were Trump, I would shred all the resumes of anyone with “experience”, and hire extremists who don’t care about the media or want careers in politics. The media will badmouth everything anyway. They’ll claim the economy is bad even if he gets full employment. Most of the government doesn’t really do anything. Except for the post office and military, none of the Federal Government actually does anything anyone really cares about. The IRS and EPA are practically domestic terrorist organizations. Closing them down would make him a folk hero. The media can talk tough and complain, but get a guy who hates them into the FCC that threatens their license, and they’ll shut up and cozy up like poodles.
Yes and the media is in swoon mood over it. I guess it never entered the media’s heads that a VP speaking Spanish in his roll out may not play well with everyone. It might just reinforce the notion that the country is changing.
Of course to the media such people are racist and their opinions don’t matter. Unfortunately for the media though their votes do count.
http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/07/23/tim-kaine-addresses-crowd-in-spanish-promises-amnesty-plan-in-the-first-100-days-in-office/
Can the Dimocrats really be so stupid? Under Hillary - yes, they can. Trump's speech was positively viewed by 75% of Americans. Trump soundly defeated "Act of Love" Guac Bowl Merchant. This should be a subtle clue that amnesty is not a winning issue in 2016.
I have had confidence for quite a while now that Trump will win handily, based on the human dynamics. Trump has hardly lost anything in his life. Meanwhile, Clinton has hardly put a foot right as Secretary of State. Between corruption, schoolmarmish PC following, drunkeness on both power and red wine giving a carelessness not before seen in a presidential nominee, this is not a prescription for agile navigation of a course to suit America's best interests. This will play out in how Bill's wife attempts to navigate a path to success in the general election.
We are seeing that now, with a declaration for amnesty at the outset of the campaign. She has drunk the koolaid - the "helpful" advice from the MSM about how to increase the critically important Hispanic vote. But that concern-troll advice is for Republicans, not Democrats. It's a complete waste of time trying to win another 5% of a vote that is already going to be 70% in your camp. So she's alienating everyone bar Hispanics and SJWs - the perfect foil for Trump. Far better to fail to disclose that plan, and appear to be a Bill-like moderate.
For all the talk of a "power couple", Bill's wife reminds me of the meddling, busybody wife of the big man that people are familiar with (and resent) from their own experience, whether it is on a sports team, business, or some other organization.Replies: @Harry Baldwin
But personality aside, I thought he was disqualifed by birth ... he was arguably a US citizen by parentage, statute and precedent at birth (jus sanguinis), but he was not a natural born citizen in the sense required by the Constitution (jus solis). McCain was dubious at best given that the Canal Zone was an unincorporated territory. As for Big O, he presented what was accepted as evidence of birth in an incorporated territory, but when I see a Hawaiian birth certificate signed by one Dr. U.K..L. Lee I have to ask if might be a brazen laugh at us.
The other problem with Cruz is that he is literally married to Goldman Sachs, and, to be frank, the Vampire Squid has its tentacles already wrapped around too many levers of power throughout the so-called Free World.Replies: @Ed
Natural born doesn’t mean you have to be born in the USA. It means that you are entitled to US citizenship at birth. Since Cruz’s mother & both of McCain’s parents are US citizens both men are natural born.
Shame on Republicans for constantly offering up candidates who are Constitutionally unqualified for office. We are supposed to be the Champions of the American people, not globalists puppets.
Walker lacked fortitude to go against the media which is odd considering he survived some brutal elections & recall attempts. He would issue a Trumpian comment, the media would do what it does and the next day he’d either apologize or walk back the statement.
Also he is Koch lackey his immigration stance was not sincere.
True, but as every new movement knows it’s vital to filter out the weirdos before they do something stupid. This is also incredibly difficult.
The Republican Party is terrible. Consider that their best rising star from the last 10 years Paul Ryan is basically on board with the SJW world destruction platform but with capital gains tax cuts.
Win lose or draw at least there is a true difference in visions between the parties this election, more than could be said for any other Republican who might conceivably have won.
It would be nice if this also could spur a change in the Repiblican party towards a more European nationalist party model where we get some candidates with gravitas, political experience and principled anti-immigration views.Replies: @snorlax, @S. Anonyia, @FX Enderby
Not only is Paul Ryan on board with SJWism, he is just plain untalented. Truly pitiful that he was/is considered a star in the party. For a good looking guy, he has NO charisma whatsoever. I doubt his IQ is even 115. He comes across like an earnest but spacey trophy husband.
OT: Breitbart’s been reading Sailer:
[McCain], his motto was, “Invade the world, invite the world.”
http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/07/23/the-changing-of-the-guard-in-cleveland-what-a-difference-donald-trump-has-made/
Come election time, it will be obvious that there was no there there. It is indicative of how horrible Hillary is that it is actually possible this empty suit might win. If only the Republicans had had a serious candidate who understood the importance of the immigration issue.
We can now look forward to a supreme court that not only permits but requires affirmative action. A court that favors safe spaces for losers over free speech. Thank you stupid wing of the Republican party.Replies: @Kyle a, @Jean Cocteausten, @Jus' Sayin'..., @415 reasons, @Yojimbo/Zatoichi, @slumber_j, @John Rebel, @Lurker, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @AnotherDad
Because Clinton won’t do that?
Because the cuckservatives were poised, ready to leap into action and Trump tripped them up?
He stopped by the RNC (when a reporter asked him about how he and Trump differed he said, “He doesn’t smoke and he doesn’t drink”), bu I thought his referenda push was aimed at Europe.
The fact that they have permitted mention of a non-person like Mr Steve shows there may be life in the old corpse yet ( referring to the Newspaper, not Mr Steve ! ).Replies: @Lurker
Paul Walker’s link was to the Australian Daily Telegraph, you’re referring to the British Daily Telegraph. That’s still good news of course but the Aussie DT doesn’t have the global reach of the British DT, even the current emasculated version.
Alexa.com sayeth
Australian DT – global rank: 9,368
British DT – global rank: 304
Our interns march on the Presidential palace!
“You’re fired!” Etc.
“Experience is overrated.”
Yes, that’s been my experience as well.
As Sidney Morgenbesser observed:
“Pragmatism is all very well in theory, but it doesn’t work in practice.”
There is a difference between what you predict and what you want to happen, and if you can’t distinguish between the two, you won’t be much good thinking about the future.
Of course to the media such people are racist and their opinions don't matter. Unfortunately for the media though their votes do count.Replies: @Lurker, @Anonym, @iSteveFan
Earlier a bed wetting liberal on Disqus was explaining that people should like a bilingual VP, it’s a sign of education. Presumably then bilingual hispanics are by that token better educated than the stale plale English speaking Americans.
Staffing will become critical once he's president. Maybe this'll be an opportunity to finally abolish those bureaucracies the GOP is forever promising to shut down but never does: the Departments of Education and Energy, the federal mortgage agencies, the EEOC. And turn 75% of the rest to the states.Replies: @Kyle a, @Chrisnonymous
Yes. I was thinking about abolishing D of Ed when we saw Bob Dole at the convention. When he called for it, I knew he wouldn’t win that election. It’s the kind of thing you can’t say during the campaign, but hopefully (doubtful, stilll..) it’s on Trump’s mind.
Learned helpless sounds like something you’d find in a third world peasant society.
From what I’ve seen, most Americans seem obsessed with entertainment (sports, celebrity gossip, reality tv, social media). They have little (if any interest) in what’s happening around them. It’s like how Romans were distracted by bread and circuses, while their elites looted the country and allowed the empire to decay.
Americans are immature and infantile. They want the adults to keep the country running, while they spend their downtime updating their Facebook feed and watching Beyoncé videos. In this type of environment, it’s pretty easy for parasites to take control of the government.
He could always gamble and hire young, inexperienced polemicists to craft a message that’s more in-touch with the general populace.
Imagine a social media attack campaign against Hillary, orchestrated by the alt-right. It could be quite effective in reaching younger independents, as long as they don’t do (((this))) all the time or call people “cucks” every five seconds.
I guess it’s not THE Luis Miranda. Oh, well. Still, there’s lots of dirty tricks and stuff in these emails, gonna keep reading.
Bits of sense are scattered across the spectrum, it's just that few political pros are sensible on several issues at once, like Trump is. And, just to spite us, fate made him a 12-year old clown personality-wise, so we didn't get the full package with him either. But maybe there's no need for a single person who's a full package in any job.Replies: @FX Enderby
This is correct. The Trump phenomenon came out of left field. Long time patriots can’t believe our luck. We have been given an incredible break. Which is why we are worried that Trump might lose, and it is all just a mirage.
The Republican Party is terrible. Consider that their best rising star from the last 10 years Paul Ryan is basically on board with the SJW world destruction platform but with capital gains tax cuts.
Win lose or draw at least there is a true difference in visions between the parties this election, more than could be said for any other Republican who might conceivably have won.
It would be nice if this also could spur a change in the Repiblican party towards a more European nationalist party model where we get some candidates with gravitas, political experience and principled anti-immigration views.Replies: @snorlax, @S. Anonyia, @FX Enderby
SJW world destruction platform
Beautiful.
I'm surprised more people don't understand this. If something is happening that doesn't seem to make sense, follow the money. If it still doesn't make sense, follow the money more closely. I grew up in the Washington DC area though no longer live there. When I visit, the place is totally unrecognizable. And I left in the 90's, to someone who left the area in the 50's it must be mind-boggling. The amount of "wealth" is staggering. The beltway is filled with expensive cars and the neighborhoods with enormous mansions. All on the growth of government and its attendant "consultants" and contractors. It truly has become Imperial Rome. It is naive to expect all those people to support a political direction that will see their trough emptied. Its going to have to be forced on them.
'the overwhelming majority of Americans are too lazy, apathetic, brainwashed by teevee, or dumb (usually all 4) to revolt"
This "Americans are so stupid" meme is on this blog a lot and has grown tiresome. Americans are no more dumb (and in fact likely more intelligent) than citizens of most any other country. They're badly governed. Germans are highly intelligent, and also badly governed. There's a difference between stupidity and having no alternatives. There is virtually nothing the average citizen can do about this problem. Revolt and they'll have their lives and their families lives destroyed. Not choosing to revolt and get killed is highly rational.
Hoppe loosely touches on this in "Democracy: The God that Failed". Mass democracy as the default setting for governance of most countries is barely 100 years old (since roughly the end of WW1). Yes I know some countries have had it for longer, but as recently as 100 or so years ago there were important, civilized countries that were monarchies. No longer.
There isn't enough data to support the oft-cited "Democracy is better than all the others, blah blah". I'm not advocating monarchy, merely making the point that in our form of government, there is nothing to stop venal, corrupt parasites from gravitating to power and once there, rigging the system so they stay there.
We know it will end. I forget who said "something that can't go on forever won't". As to how this all ends, we have no way to know. We've never seen governance like this before. There is no historical example to study.Replies: @Harry Baldwin, @JohnnyWalker123
I agree with the first part of your post. Disagree with the second part.
Germany was actually relatively well-governed until the refugees started flooding in last year. America has been poorly governed for a while, but it’s lucky enough to have started from a higher peak. Also, Germans tend to be much more social conformist than Americans. With Germans their conformity to govt decree is very much an issue. When people ask how Germany could’ve let Hitler rule them for so many years, I’d point towards their social conformity.
Actually, I do think Americans are stupid. The majority of Americans believes Iraq was behind 9/11 and supported the Iraq War. The majority of the American electorate also voted for GWB. Truly embarrassing.
When I use the term stupid, I mean it more sense of being infantile and distracted. Not necessarily referring to IQ.
There’s some truth to that. Except that Americans were amazingly supportive of the Iraq War and mildly support for 2 terms for GWB. Even when offered alternatives, Americans make the dumber choice.
Historically, Americans have actually had a pretty well-informed and civic-minded citizenry. It’s only in the past 15-20 years that we’ve seen this drift towards apathy/corruption.
I think many Americans felt, after 9/11, that they really didn't give much of a damn what our gov't did to anyone in the Middle East. Plenty were in favor of war. I vividly remember that in comment threads and chat rooms there were plenty of people who wanted to turn desert into glass.Replies: @JohnnyWalker123
I think it has something to do with the lesser-of-two-evils choices we get every four years. It's hard not to feel apathetic when you struggle to decide who is the less bad, e.g., Obama vs McCain. Obama has been bad in many ways, but McCain would have been bad in many of the same ways and even worse in others.
Trump is the first presidential candidate in my life that I'm actually going to vote for with enthusiasm.
To the extent they believe this, it is because that's what they've been told. A remnant of our formerly high-trust culture. There was a time when major news outlets didn't tell outright lies (Duranty at the NYT excepted). There are still quite a few people left in this country that don't understand once respected institutions have been hijacked. That doesn't make them stupid. If they still believe in these institutions in 10 or 20 years...that's kind of stupid.
Regarding GWB, the alternatives were even more sickening.
Your comments about Germany social conformity were interesting not relevant. My point was that being governed badly doesn't necessarily make a population "stupid". The average German (real Germans, not some Afghan that arrived 12 minutes ago) is highly intelligent, yet badly governed.
Regarding Hitler, power abhors a vacuum. Attempting to understand the rise of Hitler without comprehending the mayhem and disorder in Germany (something on the order of 350+ political assassinations - mayors of small towns, newspaper editors, etc in just the two prior years) prior to his coming to power is pointless. People supported Hitler because he promised (and delivered) order. Whether the cure was worse than the disease is a separate question.Replies: @NOTA
It would be rash to underestimate the numbers of talented experienced people, staffers, and underlings who have had to swallow their voices and toe the Globalist party line under the present Invade The World, Invite The World regime big shots. These are the people who will furnish Mr. Trump with ample staff.
Combine that effect with the fact that “the old order is rapidly fading” (see Brexit, aka, “The Worm Has Turned”), and President Trump will not want for competent, devoted staff.
Add to those folks the opportunist rats who will abandon their former loyalties just to hold onto their sinecures, and President Trump’s administration will be a historic triumph.
OT:
Last night’s Wikileaks exposure of Democratic Party hacks’ anti-Sanders/stop-Sanders e-mails on the cusp of the Democrats’ convention may demolish the unity Hillwhorey hoped to showcase. It also adds weight and stink to the charges of corruption that have dogged Hillwhorey.
It also makes Mr. Trump’s mentions in his convention speech of the Sanders’ platform planks against Globalist “free trade” look very, very good, and very, very drive-a-wedge wise indeed.
One thing that’s going to make this election way harder than most to predict–Trump is so reviled in many circles that I suspect polls are going to understate his actual numbers. Anyone know if this happened in the last few primary races? (I’d expect the effect to be bigger in the general.)
Trump’s luck, Gaddafi back in charge of Libya.
Will Gadhafi’s son be Libya’s next leader?
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/07/libya-saif-al-islam-son-gadhafi-release-political-role.html
Of course to the media such people are racist and their opinions don't matter. Unfortunately for the media though their votes do count.Replies: @Lurker, @Anonym, @iSteveFan
Was going to OT this one, now directly on topic.
http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/07/23/tim-kaine-addresses-crowd-in-spanish-promises-amnesty-plan-in-the-first-100-days-in-office/
Can the Dimocrats really be so stupid? Under Hillary – yes, they can. Trump’s speech was positively viewed by 75% of Americans. Trump soundly defeated “Act of Love” Guac Bowl Merchant. This should be a subtle clue that amnesty is not a winning issue in 2016.
I have had confidence for quite a while now that Trump will win handily, based on the human dynamics. Trump has hardly lost anything in his life. Meanwhile, Clinton has hardly put a foot right as Secretary of State. Between corruption, schoolmarmish PC following, drunkeness on both power and red wine giving a carelessness not before seen in a presidential nominee, this is not a prescription for agile navigation of a course to suit America’s best interests. This will play out in how Bill’s wife attempts to navigate a path to success in the general election.
We are seeing that now, with a declaration for amnesty at the outset of the campaign. She has drunk the koolaid – the “helpful” advice from the MSM about how to increase the critically important Hispanic vote. But that concern-troll advice is for Republicans, not Democrats. It’s a complete waste of time trying to win another 5% of a vote that is already going to be 70% in your camp. So she’s alienating everyone bar Hispanics and SJWs – the perfect foil for Trump. Far better to fail to disclose that plan, and appear to be a Bill-like moderate.
For all the talk of a “power couple”, Bill’s wife reminds me of the meddling, busybody wife of the big man that people are familiar with (and resent) from their own experience, whether it is on a sports team, business, or some other organization.
Ron you would be much happier hanging out over at Legal Insurrection and listening 24/7 to Mark Levin, where you will find some fellow Trump haters and you all can have a jolly good time crying in your beverages of choice and venting your spleen. Maybe you all can sit around and scream out loud the Bill of Rights to one another. Might make you feel better.
"FWIW-this election is still Hillary’s. Corporate money, party organization, standard-issue/comfort-food political rhetoric, better GOTV squadristi, the idea that Hillary is Bill’s third term, great ad shop, etc.
Hillary’s late October ads will make Trump a George Wallace/George Lincoln Rockwell sort of dude. Hillary’s own peccadillos, mostly domestic, will seem like small beer, and probably endear her to a lot of folks."
There were a lot of crossover Democrat-to-Republican voters in my area, but I don't know how many of those can be counted as mischief or fickle votes cast by people who can be expected to return to the Democrats for the general election.Replies: @Daniel Williams
Totally. If the primaries taught us anything, it’s that:
A.) voters are clamoring for more of the same,
B.) TV ads are still the best way to influence voters, and
C.) being closely associated with Wall St makes people think a candidate is trustworthy and steadfast.
The way I see it, the 2016 election is Hill’s to lose!
I published locally a short piece favorable to Trump speculating on what his policies might be based on his public statements. The Trump supporters I know were miffed, but they couldn't explain why. That has me thinking Trump support is fairly shallow.
LOL! I always kept on bugging my kids to do well in English when their grades appeared to be declining. One day my son said he wanted to learn Spanish fluently since it was taking over America. I said go ahead, but you’ll be competing for janitorial jobs. He was perplexed and I had to explain to him another fact of life that English is the respected language for making money internationally. The better he spoke, read and understood English then he would have better chances of making excellent money as an adult. I explained to him the world isn’t the U.N. and English is the primary language during international business meetings when there are Japanese, Germans, Chinese (pick any dialect), Indians, Italians, etc… And since he is a gringo, he would never be accepted or trusted by elites in Spanish speaking circles that control the peso. Then I tested his math skills and asked him to convert dollars to any Spanish speaking currency. Years later, he knows some Spanish & German, but his English language skills are impeccable.
I’m going to go with the Madisonian view that place of birth is persuasive evidence of qualification. Cruz was born outsde the United States and its incorporated Territories, so he is presumptively ineligible. One of his parents was an alien who might presumptively be deemed wholly alien to the United States, and the other was expatriate and therefore contemporaneously alien to the United States. Cruz was not born subject to the jurisdiction of the US, and his allegiance at birth is ambiguous at best, as he did not, per Justice Story, “at his birth derive protection from, and, consequently, owe obedience or allegiance to, the sovereign, as such, de facto.”
Shame on Republicans for constantly offering up candidates who are Constitutionally unqualified for office. We are supposed to be the Champions of the American people, not globalists puppets.
Of course to the media such people are racist and their opinions don't matter. Unfortunately for the media though their votes do count.Replies: @Lurker, @Anonym, @iSteveFan
Speaking Spanish did not sell too well for Jeb! But then again the general electorate is not as hard core on this issue as the GOP base. But will the independents be closer to the GOP base on the immivasion, or will they side with the progressives?
No, that’s not right. Natural born and citizen at birth are two different things. But I’m not going to get into this here. Cruz is gone for good and that’s all that matters right now.
“‘Act of Love’ Guac Bowl Merchant”?
Priceless!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Guaca-Bowle-Official-JEB-Bush-2016-Campaign-Guacamole-Bowl-/262516263906?hash=item3d1f304be2:g:D~8AAOSwnNBXX6SI
[McCain], his motto was, “Invade the world, invite the world.”
http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/07/23/the-changing-of-the-guard-in-cleveland-what-a-difference-donald-trump-has-made/Replies: @Dave Pinsen
This is the least shocking thing ever.
I love Steve's tweets. I just discovered them the other day.
Steve, Did you just start tweeting, or am I just late to the party?Replies: @Steve Sailer
I’ve been working at it for awhile to see if it’s a good tool for reaching more people. I’d say the jury is still out.
But Twitter is a big time sink. I want to apologize to my email correspondents for being bad lately about replying to emails. I’ve been investing more time in Twitter and much of that time is coming out of email.
Twitter is a time sink, but it can be a net time saver for you if you shift some of your email correspondence to Twitter.
People I know who get high volumes of emails (venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, etc.) are often more accessible via Twitter direct messages. Even though there's no character limit for DMs, there's an unspoken rule to keep it short. If it warrants follow up, you can ask someone to email you.
Consider swapping your Twitter handle for your email address on your blog. Those you aren't following can still @-message you on Twitter, but they will be limited to 140 characters. And you will too, so it's less of an investment to respond. And if the tweet is just something along the lines of, "Love your blog", then you can just favorite it instead of responding.
Come election time, it will be obvious that there was no there there. It is indicative of how horrible Hillary is that it is actually possible this empty suit might win. If only the Republicans had had a serious candidate who understood the importance of the immigration issue.
We can now look forward to a supreme court that not only permits but requires affirmative action. A court that favors safe spaces for losers over free speech. Thank you stupid wing of the Republican party.Replies: @Kyle a, @Jean Cocteausten, @Jus' Sayin'..., @415 reasons, @Yojimbo/Zatoichi, @slumber_j, @John Rebel, @Lurker, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @AnotherDad
Other than bitching, what have you done to help?
Cuban making some shrewd observations about Trump.
Kids, the wall’s never gonna be built. There will be no mass exodus
of illegals. ISIS won’t be blown away because Trump says so.
International politics is not like collecting rent. Debt defaulting out
of problems. Simple minds want simple solutions. You’re being
demagogued. An unveiling of the fools for the slaughter.
Come election time, it will be obvious that there was no there there. It is indicative of how horrible Hillary is that it is actually possible this empty suit might win. If only the Republicans had had a serious candidate who understood the importance of the immigration issue.
We can now look forward to a supreme court that not only permits but requires affirmative action. A court that favors safe spaces for losers over free speech. Thank you stupid wing of the Republican party.Replies: @Kyle a, @Jean Cocteausten, @Jus' Sayin'..., @415 reasons, @Yojimbo/Zatoichi, @slumber_j, @John Rebel, @Lurker, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @AnotherDad
Oh, and BTW, the rolling fluster cluck that is the ongoing terrorists attacks ensures a Trump victory. Even if the Republican party is the stupid party.
Trump is an ignorant, arrogant, petty liar who defiles the people around him.Replies: @The Alarmist, @anonymous, @Ozymandias, @Yojimbo/Zatoichi, @AmericanaCON, @Thin-Skinned Masta-Beta, @Charles Erwin Wilson
Of course Trump is a bastard. But he is our bastard. Grab the rope and start pulling.
I may be misunderstanding your post, but I’m not worried about Trump…..because I’m a Trump supporter. If I’m worried about anything, it’s that he’ll lose. I think he will lose……but I hope I’m wrong.
Glad to know you are a supporter of his. He will win.Replies: @John Rebel
I think two guys wrote Melania’s speech but it was heavily reworked by Meredith McIver and I suspect, Melania Trump. This is actually a case of Trump being over staffed. Melania just needed to deliver a C+ speech well and everyone would have been satisfied. I suspect the original speech was probably better then Donald’s speech(too long) and certainly better then the version Melania gave. Frankly, there was no need for this to be a last minute thing slapped together. Also, why was I hearing “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” in the closing minutes of the convention? Does anyone check anything on the Trump team?
I did misunderstand your comment. When you said the whole of the GOP was stupid, I assumed you were including the “Trump wing.”
Glad to know you are a supporter of his. He will win.
Cuban making some shrewd observations about Trump.
Kids, the wall's never gonna be built. There will be no mass exodus
of illegals. ISIS won't be blown away because Trump says so.
International politics is not like collecting rent. Debt defaulting out
of problems. Simple minds want simple solutions. You're being
demagogued. An unveiling of the fools for the slaughter.Replies: @Jean Cocteausten, @middle aged vet
Even if he isn’t able to start filling the hole back up, at least he’ll stop digging. If that’s all I can get, I’ll take it.
I wonder whether you will be purged from Twitter, like Milo. It’s the current year – people deserve to have a space that is safe from assault by tactical hatefacts.
Actually, I do think Americans are stupid. The majority of Americans believes Iraq was behind 9/11 and supported the Iraq War. The majority of the American electorate also voted for GWB. Truly embarrassing.
When I use the term stupid, I mean it more sense of being infantile and distracted. Not necessarily referring to IQ.There's some truth to that. Except that Americans were amazingly supportive of the Iraq War and mildly support for 2 terms for GWB. Even when offered alternatives, Americans make the dumber choice.
Historically, Americans have actually had a pretty well-informed and civic-minded citizenry. It's only in the past 15-20 years that we've seen this drift towards apathy/corruption.Replies: @Grandpa Jack, @Harry Baldwin, @William Badwhite
I wouldn’t say most Americans believe that Iraq specifically was behind 9/11. They knew it was Muslims, and they knew that many in the Middle East, including Iraqis did enjoy the fact that 9/11 happened- dancing in the streets, etc. As far as reasons for invading Iraq, Americans were told that Iraqis were breaking weapons inspections agreements, trying to make nuclear devices.
I think many Americans felt, after 9/11, that they really didn’t give much of a damn what our gov’t did to anyone in the Middle East. Plenty were in favor of war. I vividly remember that in comment threads and chat rooms there were plenty of people who wanted to turn desert into glass.
70% of Americans believed Iraq was responsible for 9/11.
Saying "Muslims" were responsible for 9/11 (there wasn't a single hijacker from Iraq) is like saying that Buddhists were responsible for Pearl Harbor. Maybe we should've attacked Nepal during WWII.
Americans supported the Iraq War because they were told that it'd be an important battle in the "War on Terror." Since Americans are generally dumb, they got on board with the most nonsensical war in American history.A lot of Muslims seem to have the same mentality. Every single Westerner is interchangeable. If an American soldier kills an Iraq/Afghan/Yemeni civilian, Muslims seem to hold every Westerner responsible.Replies: @The Alarmist
An article about Trump in Breitbart discusses McCain.http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/07/23/the-changing-of-the-guard-in-cleveland-what-a-difference-donald-trump-has-made/Replies: @Anonym
Saw that. A bit rude not to give Sailer props.
Cuban making some shrewd observations about Trump.
Kids, the wall's never gonna be built. There will be no mass exodus
of illegals. ISIS won't be blown away because Trump says so.
International politics is not like collecting rent. Debt defaulting out
of problems. Simple minds want simple solutions. You're being
demagogued. An unveiling of the fools for the slaughter.Replies: @Jean Cocteausten, @middle aged vet
History moves in cycles, cycles have inflection points. Win or lose, Professor Trump tried to influence an inflection point. Philip K Dick, bless his little pro-life heart, understood that, and he would have been dumbfounded in 1956 (the Russians have a better word for dumbfounded – it roughly translates to “he would have had his helmet knocked off” – ashemelyawni, stress on the aw) if he knew how important it would be for almost every professor of 2016 to think like a latter-day hack version Philip K Dick (except for his pro-life inclinations) if they wanted to keep their jobs, not to mention the entire Democratic party structure, and most of the Republican party structure. For the record, Mark Cuban gets respect for winning a championship in a fixed league that was not fixed in his favor, and for getting a cover on Cigar Aficionado, but that being said, he is not exactly the Froude or Carlyle or Christopher Dawson (Tolkien’s favorite historian) of our day.
Trumps strategy has been holding large events, use social media and say “outrages” (according to liberals) things so media have something to write. Right now, Donald Trump has 10.1 million followers on Twitter. Hillary Clinton has 7.6 million followers. In this round Trump has at least some support from at Fox News and the GOP. Trump has also will also have a ton of grassroots working for him. That means that he will be significantly stronger than before. Hillary and her ilk may spend 2 billion dollars. Trump and GOP would do very well with 500 million dollars. He is marketing genius. His positions have been extremely popular among voters and if he just develop and explain his positions in his RNC speech he may end up winning.Replies: @rod1963
What Trump accomplished so far is pretty much a historical feat. No one has ever done that with the entire establishment against him.
In regards to staffing, I’d ignore his naysayers in the political class because they do not have Trump’s best interests in mind, not to mention most are total losers to begin with.
And when you add the wikileaks DNC Media Collusion data revlations, it pretty much shows the MSM in Hillary’s pocket and their polling unreliable and agenda driven. I mean they totally shafted Bernie and his supporters.
In short criticism from the political class should be taken with a gallon of salt.
Question: You see migrants use welfare services and simultaneously claim that they take Americans job. How are these two things simultaneously possible?
This answer is straight forward but most people would have some difficult answering it.
- An example how you could answer: The answer is basically like this: Migrants have in generally higher unemployment rate. Hence, they are receiving welfare benefits. When they do have jobs they take these jobs from Americans because over economy cannot produce enough jobs to go around. The migrant flow also leads to decreased wages. Hence, migrants works earn less (dumping of salaries) meaning that our welfare system kicks in and compensate them for their low income.
This can be backed up by data. However, there are also other difficulties. A few migrant groups (certain Asian groups) are actually earning more than Americans and do not (direct) cost they society in terms of welfare. They are much more dedicated too what they do and in general perform better on standardized tests and in school. However, they do cast Americans (mostly whites Americans) to under-unemployment and sometimes force them into poverty. Simply, American domestic labourers compete with certain foreign labour because they are simply better at what they do. You can see this in sports. Analogy; Countries buy foreign sportsmen. The France national soccer team is not French anymore. It is a mix of African, Latin-American and North-African migrants. Naturally, this is an issue. Should educate our own researchers, doctors, engineers and general college graduates or should we import them? There will be crowding out effect – meaning Americans will lose their chances of enter the middle or upper middle class.
Look at BBC interviewing Republican grassroots.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj0xxThvfY0
The Asian journalist from BBC basically asks these questions;
“How are you going to build the wall?”
“Who is going to pay for the wall?
“People will always find a way of getting around the wall so why do you need them”?
The interviews are heavily cut to make them “look dumb”. Note, that some of them are quite bright. This is why they had to cut the interviews. However, these questions are sort of irrelevant. The first question can be answered simply. We want a complete the protective barrier (fence, wall or electronic). It has been successful in India, Georgia, Israel, Egypt, South Korea, Bangladesh, Hungary, Serbia, Spain, Cyprus, Ireland and Morocco to stop the drugs, weapons, illegal immigration and ethnic conflict. The second question can be answered just “taxes”. The third question is hilarious. It stem from the notion that because people will (in some way) get over the wall it is not needed. You could ask people who support BBC the same thing. Why is BBC needed when not all people pay licenses? Or why should we have police and laws when people break the law?
Anyway, I think Trump do well. It seems that more Conservative politicians are willing to stand up against liberal media bias.Replies: @bomag
I was just happy to see it getting some traction. Hopefully it continues to spread far and wide.
I am waiting for Trump to use the phrase to describe Hillary’s policies.
Steve was saying that stuff before I came across Scott Adams’ “Linguistic Kill Shots,” but the concept is about the same. It sticks in peoples’ heads and has the added benefit of being true.
After all, Hillary’s policies led to Libya, ISIS, and the invited invasion of Europe.
I like this (once you get past the first 15 seconds):
http://youtu.be/vqYJRc0TJkQ
That Luis Miranda is a DNC staffer. Not the rapper’s father.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/dnc-names-luis-miranda-as-comms-director/432855/
However, here is a N.Y. Daily News article that provides a bit more info. On Lin-Manuel's family background.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/gonzalez-family-helps-bring-hamilton-broadway-article-1.2317665
Miranda's father was named the communications director for the Democratic National Committee in Sept. 2015, and he started working in that capacity in October.Replies: @Anonymous, @Steve Sailer
I think many Americans felt, after 9/11, that they really didn't give much of a damn what our gov't did to anyone in the Middle East. Plenty were in favor of war. I vividly remember that in comment threads and chat rooms there were plenty of people who wanted to turn desert into glass.Replies: @JohnnyWalker123
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/2003-09-06-poll-iraq_x.htm
70% of Americans believed Iraq was responsible for 9/11.
Saying “Muslims” were responsible for 9/11 (there wasn’t a single hijacker from Iraq) is like saying that Buddhists were responsible for Pearl Harbor. Maybe we should’ve attacked Nepal during WWII.
Americans supported the Iraq War because they were told that it’d be an important battle in the “War on Terror.” Since Americans are generally dumb, they got on board with the most nonsensical war in American history.
A lot of Muslims seem to have the same mentality. Every single Westerner is interchangeable. If an American soldier kills an Iraq/Afghan/Yemeni civilian, Muslims seem to hold every Westerner responsible.
The MSM might hate Republicans in general, but they know where their bread is really buttered, and that is going along with the will of the deep state.
A.) voters are clamoring for more of the same,
B.) TV ads are still the best way to influence voters, and
C.) being closely associated with Wall St makes people think a candidate is trustworthy and steadfast.
The way I see it, the 2016 election is Hill's to lose!Replies: @JackOH
Thanks, although not sure if you’re being sarcastic here.
I published locally a short piece favorable to Trump speculating on what his policies might be based on his public statements. The Trump supporters I know were miffed, but they couldn’t explain why. That has me thinking Trump support is fairly shallow.
Yes. As I was saying . . .
Not sure about that. PKD was pretty prescient and he’d probably get a kick out of today’s world. As I do. Dick hated boredom and there’s nothing boring these days.
Trump is boring. I know his schoolboy antics amuses co-ethnic conservatives, but what’s the word for a 70 year old that’s still name calling like a kindergartner. The jokes on Trump. We’re laughing at you, not with you. But you knew that already.
To the people forecasting, don’t forget the recent Russian hacker dump of DNC emails (tips hat to Rod). I bet there’s all kinds of juicy bits in that pile.
I hadn’t even considered that possibility. Man, that would be a high-risk, high-reward kind of move. You’re right to give it a low %, Cankles isn’t into risk.
“I want only the best for you, so you should take my advice. And if you don’t, I’ll smash you.”
I do think the negotiations around the debates (how many, what rules, sponsored by whom, etc.) will make for an interesting sideshow.
On a related note, when was the last time Hillary had a relatively open Q&A with the press?
All of that said, I would not underestimate Hillary. She has a smart legal mind and absolutely no shame. Under the right set of rules I think she could embarrass Trump (and vice versa).Replies: @NOTA
It’s the kind of thing we hear constantly from talking heads and pundits on immigration, globalization, etc.
Trump isn't literally Hitler. He's literally Mussolini. Filmic evidence from WaPo above.
I think Charles Manson probably once said "How are you doing?", and Obama probably once said "How are you doing?", so...Replies: @guest, @MEH 0910
Ah, “journalism.”
Actually, I do think Americans are stupid. The majority of Americans believes Iraq was behind 9/11 and supported the Iraq War. The majority of the American electorate also voted for GWB. Truly embarrassing.
When I use the term stupid, I mean it more sense of being infantile and distracted. Not necessarily referring to IQ.There's some truth to that. Except that Americans were amazingly supportive of the Iraq War and mildly support for 2 terms for GWB. Even when offered alternatives, Americans make the dumber choice.
Historically, Americans have actually had a pretty well-informed and civic-minded citizenry. It's only in the past 15-20 years that we've seen this drift towards apathy/corruption.Replies: @Grandpa Jack, @Harry Baldwin, @William Badwhite
It’s only in the past 15-20 years that we’ve seen this drift towards apathy/corruption.
I think it has something to do with the lesser-of-two-evils choices we get every four years. It’s hard not to feel apathetic when you struggle to decide who is the less bad, e.g., Obama vs McCain. Obama has been bad in many ways, but McCain would have been bad in many of the same ways and even worse in others.
Trump is the first presidential candidate in my life that I’m actually going to vote for with enthusiasm.
http://www.breitbart.com/2016-presidential-race/2016/07/23/tim-kaine-addresses-crowd-in-spanish-promises-amnesty-plan-in-the-first-100-days-in-office/
Can the Dimocrats really be so stupid? Under Hillary - yes, they can. Trump's speech was positively viewed by 75% of Americans. Trump soundly defeated "Act of Love" Guac Bowl Merchant. This should be a subtle clue that amnesty is not a winning issue in 2016.
I have had confidence for quite a while now that Trump will win handily, based on the human dynamics. Trump has hardly lost anything in his life. Meanwhile, Clinton has hardly put a foot right as Secretary of State. Between corruption, schoolmarmish PC following, drunkeness on both power and red wine giving a carelessness not before seen in a presidential nominee, this is not a prescription for agile navigation of a course to suit America's best interests. This will play out in how Bill's wife attempts to navigate a path to success in the general election.
We are seeing that now, with a declaration for amnesty at the outset of the campaign. She has drunk the koolaid - the "helpful" advice from the MSM about how to increase the critically important Hispanic vote. But that concern-troll advice is for Republicans, not Democrats. It's a complete waste of time trying to win another 5% of a vote that is already going to be 70% in your camp. So she's alienating everyone bar Hispanics and SJWs - the perfect foil for Trump. Far better to fail to disclose that plan, and appear to be a Bill-like moderate.
For all the talk of a "power couple", Bill's wife reminds me of the meddling, busybody wife of the big man that people are familiar with (and resent) from their own experience, whether it is on a sports team, business, or some other organization.Replies: @Harry Baldwin
For all the talk of a “power couple”, Bill’s wife reminds me of the meddling, busybody wife of the big man that people are familiar with
LOL–nailed it. Yes, the boss’s wife to whom you have to be polite and pretend to respect because you don’t want to get on the wrong side of the boss. He knows she’s a pain in the ass, but he’ll appreciate your efforts to keep the peace.
…more than 13 million people voted for Donald Trump. There is no supply-side issue here. The problem is demand-side, and it grows out of the character of Trump’s initial staff. I am a student at one of the very best law schools in the US. There are several of us here who sought positions with the Trump campaign.
None of us ever found any ins to the campaign at all (in spite of having second-degree of separation connections with various core Trump campaign staffers). This is in absolute contrast with other campaigns: any one of us could have easily worked for Cruz, Fiorina, Bush, or Rubio. All of those candidates actively solicited students early last year through campus conservative institutions like the Federalist Society.
From everything I have heard from Cruz staffers, the source of the problem is that Trump had a relatively novice operation from the start and those who were close to him at the outset had strong incentives to pull the ladder up early to prevent competitors from entering the picture.
Think of it this way: if you are Stephen Miller or Hope Hicks, your career prospects rise from Senatorial hatchet man or hotel PR woman to top level White House staff if Trump wins. If you start bringing in Harvard and Yale people with talent, the “big fish in a small pond” effect evaporates. Thus, we are looking at a tiny and still largely amateur operation at the start of August. And it’s a damn shame, because there are many talented people out there who have sought to join this operation from the start, and many of us are longtime readers of this site.
Steve,
Twitter is a time sink, but it can be a net time saver for you if you shift some of your email correspondence to Twitter.
People I know who get high volumes of emails (venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, etc.) are often more accessible via Twitter direct messages. Even though there’s no character limit for DMs, there’s an unspoken rule to keep it short. If it warrants follow up, you can ask someone to email you.
Consider swapping your Twitter handle for your email address on your blog. Those you aren’t following can still @-message you on Twitter, but they will be limited to 140 characters. And you will too, so it’s less of an investment to respond. And if the tweet is just something along the lines of, “Love your blog”, then you can just favorite it instead of responding.
None of us ever found any ins to the campaign at all (in spite of having second-degree of separation connections with various core Trump campaign staffers). This is in absolute contrast with other campaigns: any one of us could have easily worked for Cruz, Fiorina, Bush, or Rubio. All of those candidates actively solicited students early last year through campus conservative institutions like the Federalist Society.
From everything I have heard from Cruz staffers, the source of the problem is that Trump had a relatively novice operation from the start and those who were close to him at the outset had strong incentives to pull the ladder up early to prevent competitors from entering the picture.
Think of it this way: if you are Stephen Miller or Hope Hicks, your career prospects rise from Senatorial hatchet man or hotel PR woman to top level White House staff if Trump wins. If you start bringing in Harvard and Yale people with talent, the "big fish in a small pond" effect evaporates. Thus, we are looking at a tiny and still largely amateur operation at the start of August. And it's a damn shame, because there are many talented people out there who have sought to join this operation from the start, and many of us are longtime readers of this site.Replies: @Steve Sailer
Here’s a historical example: Pat Buchanan was pretty much Nixon’s right hand man when Nixon had a tiny staff in 1966 when he rebuilt his reputation among Republicans by tirelessly flying around and campaigning for GOP Congressional candidates. But by the fall of 1968, Nixon had a huge staff and Buchanan had been bounced down to the 3rd tier of staffers by all the heavyweights who had signed on after Nixon won the primaries.
That might not have been an option for Buchanan, but it seemingly was for the core members of Trump's initial staff. What I'm describing here is not a situation in which people displaced from other campaigns tried to join the Trump campaign. I'm talking about people who tried to join last summer, long before Trump was known as a winning commodity. People who wanted to join because they had hoped a campaign like Trump's would arise for years. What you see instead now is a situation that resembles the Nixon scenario you've called up here. It isn't at all unusual to see former Romney people serving as Trump surrogates on major media outlets.
In other words, if the story I got is accurate, then Trump's early team did a disservice to the campaign by keeping out ideological fellow travelers. Now the campaign is saddled with people who are there because it's a good political bet to be on the Trump train now. Those newcomers will in all likelihood push the campaign toward orthodox GOP positions and will not contribute novel extensions, applications, or articulations of civic nationalist thinking.Replies: @Rob McX
He blew them out because they’re R cowards, fearful of Trump’s vast personal resources – and credulous of Trumpian overstatement.
Imagine if Buchanan had brought ideological affiliates into the Nixon operation early on rather than leaving positions to be filled by bandwagon apparatchiks later. He might have had allies. That, in turn, might have resulted in more influence for Buchanan and greater traction for his views.
That might not have been an option for Buchanan, but it seemingly was for the core members of Trump’s initial staff. What I’m describing here is not a situation in which people displaced from other campaigns tried to join the Trump campaign. I’m talking about people who tried to join last summer, long before Trump was known as a winning commodity. People who wanted to join because they had hoped a campaign like Trump’s would arise for years. What you see instead now is a situation that resembles the Nixon scenario you’ve called up here. It isn’t at all unusual to see former Romney people serving as Trump surrogates on major media outlets.
In other words, if the story I got is accurate, then Trump’s early team did a disservice to the campaign by keeping out ideological fellow travelers. Now the campaign is saddled with people who are there because it’s a good political bet to be on the Trump train now. Those newcomers will in all likelihood push the campaign toward orthodox GOP positions and will not contribute novel extensions, applications, or articulations of civic nationalist thinking.
My bet is that you will be seeing much more of Nigel Farage Stateside.
He's a liar with an attention span of a kindergartener
who's stumbled upon a racist path to office. When he loses
the blow backs gonna be 10 x worse. If he wins, you're still
screwed. And the backlash 4 years later is gonna be horrible.Replies: @e, @bomag, @JSM, @The most deplorable one
The Donald said, “Mexico isn’t sending us their best.” Included in “not their best” are rapists, murderers, drug dealers, thieves. Consider the number of Mexicans, Salvadorans, in CA prisons, many of them the offspring of illegals or illegals themselves.) Living in CA, I can tell you how accurate his statements are.
“Racccccissssss?”
Sorry, that tired old accusation just doesn’t work.
Trump isn't literally Hitler. He's literally Mussolini. Filmic evidence from WaPo above.
I think Charles Manson probably once said "How are you doing?", and Obama probably once said "How are you doing?", so...Replies: @guest, @MEH 0910
70% of Americans believed Iraq was responsible for 9/11.
Saying "Muslims" were responsible for 9/11 (there wasn't a single hijacker from Iraq) is like saying that Buddhists were responsible for Pearl Harbor. Maybe we should've attacked Nepal during WWII.
Americans supported the Iraq War because they were told that it'd be an important battle in the "War on Terror." Since Americans are generally dumb, they got on board with the most nonsensical war in American history.A lot of Muslims seem to have the same mentality. Every single Westerner is interchangeable. If an American soldier kills an Iraq/Afghan/Yemeni civilian, Muslims seem to hold every Westerner responsible.Replies: @The Alarmist
Only because they bought into the propaganda campaign that sold the need to attack Saddam to stop him before he used his vast stores of WMDs. My mother, who a big time Dem, believed Saddam was behind 9/11 because she heard it in the news. Whenever I point out a fact on anything that is critical of Big O or HRC, her response is usually along the lines of, “If that is true, why haven’t I heard it in the news?” Because the “news” will never report anything that diesn’t fit the narrative.
The MSM might hate Republicans in general, but they know where their bread is really buttered, and that is going along with the will of the deep state.
A number of Reagan administration staffers at the lower levels were purged during Bush I and were told by the upper tiers of Bush II staffers that they were not welcome in that administration even as it strived to give the impression that II was a Conservative in the style of Reagan and not of Daddy.
In regards to staffing, I'd ignore his naysayers in the political class because they do not have Trump's best interests in mind, not to mention most are total losers to begin with.
And when you add the wikileaks DNC Media Collusion data revlations, it pretty much shows the MSM in Hillary's pocket and their polling unreliable and agenda driven. I mean they totally shafted Bernie and his supporters.
In short criticism from the political class should be taken with a gallon of salt.Replies: @AmericanaCON
I don’t think all the polling is inaccurate. I think there is some truth in it. Donald Trump is disliked among women and minorities. It will be difficult for Trump to muster enough of these votes to secure a safe victory. I do believe that Trump has a good chance winning but he has to play it much more professional. His RNC speech have a lot of good stuff in it is not very good rhetorically. He has been shooting from the hip from the very beginning and when you go up against Hillary you have to play it more professional. Trump also needs some policy prepping and some instructions on how federal government works so he can block a few jabs from Hillary. Sarah Palin also shot from the hip and she became a popular item to the McCain race but she needed a lot of policy prepping and didn’t really understand how federal government worked. Palin came from isolated Alaska and Trump come from real estate, hotels, casinos and show business. Trumps argument is often rooted in “business”. For example, he wants NATO members to pay more and if they don’t United States shouldn’t protect them. That argument is logical if United States was a business but United States is not a business. Trump could get questions like this;
Question: You see migrants use welfare services and simultaneously claim that they take Americans job. How are these two things simultaneously possible?
This answer is straight forward but most people would have some difficult answering it.
– An example how you could answer: The answer is basically like this: Migrants have in generally higher unemployment rate. Hence, they are receiving welfare benefits. When they do have jobs they take these jobs from Americans because over economy cannot produce enough jobs to go around. The migrant flow also leads to decreased wages. Hence, migrants works earn less (dumping of salaries) meaning that our welfare system kicks in and compensate them for their low income.
This can be backed up by data. However, there are also other difficulties. A few migrant groups (certain Asian groups) are actually earning more than Americans and do not (direct) cost they society in terms of welfare. They are much more dedicated too what they do and in general perform better on standardized tests and in school. However, they do cast Americans (mostly whites Americans) to under-unemployment and sometimes force them into poverty. Simply, American domestic labourers compete with certain foreign labour because they are simply better at what they do. You can see this in sports. Analogy; Countries buy foreign sportsmen. The France national soccer team is not French anymore. It is a mix of African, Latin-American and North-African migrants. Naturally, this is an issue. Should educate our own researchers, doctors, engineers and general college graduates or should we import them? There will be crowding out effect – meaning Americans will lose their chances of enter the middle or upper middle class.
Look at BBC interviewing Republican grassroots.
The Asian journalist from BBC basically asks these questions;
“How are you going to build the wall?”
“Who is going to pay for the wall?
“People will always find a way of getting around the wall so why do you need them”?
The interviews are heavily cut to make them “look dumb”. Note, that some of them are quite bright. This is why they had to cut the interviews. However, these questions are sort of irrelevant. The first question can be answered simply. We want a complete the protective barrier (fence, wall or electronic). It has been successful in India, Georgia, Israel, Egypt, South Korea, Bangladesh, Hungary, Serbia, Spain, Cyprus, Ireland and Morocco to stop the drugs, weapons, illegal immigration and ethnic conflict. The second question can be answered just “taxes”. The third question is hilarious. It stem from the notion that because people will (in some way) get over the wall it is not needed. You could ask people who support BBC the same thing. Why is BBC needed when not all people pay licenses? Or why should we have police and laws when people break the law?
Anyway, I think Trump do well. It seems that more Conservative politicians are willing to stand up against liberal media bias.
This commercial ran in Denmark to increase fertility and it worked
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/denmark-s-bizarre-series-of-sex-campaigns-lead-to-baby-boom-a7062466.html
Scandinavian culture is isnteresting.Replies: @Pericles
“isnteresting”
I’d just like to note that this, while presumably inadvertent, is a fantastic blend.
From what I've seen, most Americans seem obsessed with entertainment (sports, celebrity gossip, reality tv, social media). They have little (if any interest) in what's happening around them. It's like how Romans were distracted by bread and circuses, while their elites looted the country and allowed the empire to decay.
Americans are immature and infantile. They want the adults to keep the country running, while they spend their downtime updating their Facebook feed and watching Beyoncé videos. In this type of environment, it's pretty easy for parasites to take control of the government.Replies: @Pericles
The bread is yummy and the circuses are so naughty.
“But sometimes you get what you need.”
That might not have been an option for Buchanan, but it seemingly was for the core members of Trump's initial staff. What I'm describing here is not a situation in which people displaced from other campaigns tried to join the Trump campaign. I'm talking about people who tried to join last summer, long before Trump was known as a winning commodity. People who wanted to join because they had hoped a campaign like Trump's would arise for years. What you see instead now is a situation that resembles the Nixon scenario you've called up here. It isn't at all unusual to see former Romney people serving as Trump surrogates on major media outlets.
In other words, if the story I got is accurate, then Trump's early team did a disservice to the campaign by keeping out ideological fellow travelers. Now the campaign is saddled with people who are there because it's a good political bet to be on the Trump train now. Those newcomers will in all likelihood push the campaign toward orthodox GOP positions and will not contribute novel extensions, applications, or articulations of civic nationalist thinking.Replies: @Rob McX
This suggests Trump isn’t watching his campaign closely enough. You’d imagine he’d have enough experience of managing people to stop the staffers from safeguarding their own careers and influence by closing the door to competing talent.
He's a liar with an attention span of a kindergartener
who's stumbled upon a racist path to office. When he loses
the blow backs gonna be 10 x worse. If he wins, you're still
screwed. And the backlash 4 years later is gonna be horrible.Replies: @e, @bomag, @JSM, @The most deplorable one
.
A troll, but it resonates in that outside Cruze and Trump, the other candidates hardly made a pretense of having our back on immigration and citizens first. And I love the open threat that if we don’t get in line with proper Progressivism today, we are REALLY going to get it tomorrow; we are all just galley slaves, and if we don’t row fast enough to the Left, we will be punished by being forced to row even faster leftward.
Don’t what you’re so proud of as a white person. You’re monitored and conditioned craddle to grave by who knows god what in Hollywood, SV, WS, CIA, your church, your neighbors, Pokemon. And instead of putting on some sort of reasonable defense or dropping out, you want to keep out the races of men who still have some resistance to total monitoring.
Question: You see migrants use welfare services and simultaneously claim that they take Americans job. How are these two things simultaneously possible?
This answer is straight forward but most people would have some difficult answering it.
- An example how you could answer: The answer is basically like this: Migrants have in generally higher unemployment rate. Hence, they are receiving welfare benefits. When they do have jobs they take these jobs from Americans because over economy cannot produce enough jobs to go around. The migrant flow also leads to decreased wages. Hence, migrants works earn less (dumping of salaries) meaning that our welfare system kicks in and compensate them for their low income.
This can be backed up by data. However, there are also other difficulties. A few migrant groups (certain Asian groups) are actually earning more than Americans and do not (direct) cost they society in terms of welfare. They are much more dedicated too what they do and in general perform better on standardized tests and in school. However, they do cast Americans (mostly whites Americans) to under-unemployment and sometimes force them into poverty. Simply, American domestic labourers compete with certain foreign labour because they are simply better at what they do. You can see this in sports. Analogy; Countries buy foreign sportsmen. The France national soccer team is not French anymore. It is a mix of African, Latin-American and North-African migrants. Naturally, this is an issue. Should educate our own researchers, doctors, engineers and general college graduates or should we import them? There will be crowding out effect – meaning Americans will lose their chances of enter the middle or upper middle class.
Look at BBC interviewing Republican grassroots.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj0xxThvfY0
The Asian journalist from BBC basically asks these questions;
“How are you going to build the wall?”
“Who is going to pay for the wall?
“People will always find a way of getting around the wall so why do you need them”?
The interviews are heavily cut to make them “look dumb”. Note, that some of them are quite bright. This is why they had to cut the interviews. However, these questions are sort of irrelevant. The first question can be answered simply. We want a complete the protective barrier (fence, wall or electronic). It has been successful in India, Georgia, Israel, Egypt, South Korea, Bangladesh, Hungary, Serbia, Spain, Cyprus, Ireland and Morocco to stop the drugs, weapons, illegal immigration and ethnic conflict. The second question can be answered just “taxes”. The third question is hilarious. It stem from the notion that because people will (in some way) get over the wall it is not needed. You could ask people who support BBC the same thing. Why is BBC needed when not all people pay licenses? Or why should we have police and laws when people break the law?
Anyway, I think Trump do well. It seems that more Conservative politicians are willing to stand up against liberal media bias.Replies: @bomag
An okay response, but keep in mind these questions are often asked not to gain information, but to make the responder look bad.
Choose between Hitler or Stalin, but choose we must.
Trump is a tactless boor... perhaps that's why he appeals to so many regular folks.
Even if he's shown no ability for diplomatic restraint, there is absolutely zero evidence that he's actually a racist. Calling everybody a racist has to have gotten worse than the McCarthyites calling everybody a communist. There were certainly communists out there in positions of power in the US, as there are doubtless racists still today, but it's gotten to be more a tool to "take-out" rivals than anything else.
What concerns me most about Trump are the following:
1. His much vaunted ability to make deals may be exaggerated
If he can't make a deal with a jerk like Ted Cruz or Ohio Governor John Kasich or so many of the other establishment Republicans, how do we expect him to deal with Iran, Mexico, China or North Korea, much less a bitterly pissed-off opposition in Congress that has all the resources and tricks at its disposal to obstruct any executive leadership or action. Negotiating a deal when you have the capital or the crucial property location is much different than negotiating with a legislature that might not be persuaded by a President without any of those assets.
2. His management skill and ability to make priorities and focus
So much of his business empire is pretty shallow stuff, based more on licensing the gold-plated Trump brand than actual real estate deals, eg all those hotels with his name that aren't actually his. Furthermore I question his ability to focus. If he were such a great real estate entrepreneur, then why did he get distracted by so many unrelated enterprises; mineral water, steaks, neckties, get-rich guru training, reality television. Finally attention to detail is important, but there are limits and great leaders have to be able to delegate the details so they can focus on the big questions that can't be delegated. The story of Trump spending so much time on the design of his trademark "Make America Great Again" hat is emblematic of this. He was said to have been deeply involved in choosing the typeface, the colors, the materials, the styles, etc. If there was ever a case of a project that might have been suitable to delegate to the best people he had hired, then this might be it. Finally the rumors that he offered Governor Kasich the responsibilities and powers of the Presidency to carry out as viceroy Vice President truly are frightening. If this is true, it certainly sounds like he might not actually even be interested in the hard work, attention and responsibilities of the presidency. Sad! Finally it's also very concerning, that whether, either due to disinterest or inability to focus, he's been unable to scale his campaign operation, raise money or start the very important work of planning his organizational transition for when he takes over the White House in January.
3. His integrity and ability to hire the best people and keep them accountable
As a corollary to the notion that managers have to have the ability to delegate and not obsess with the details, managers still have to focus and be able to keep the team accountable. If he gets too lost with certain unimportant details, in areas that matter more his campaign and eventually his administration might be run too distantly from Trump's attention thanks to his hands off approach. I'm concerned that the opposition might end up watching the administration more closely than the Trump in charge and when they discover anything that has a hint of sleaze, no doubt they'll make a big stink about it. Finally I can't believe nobody has ever expressed the concern about the integrity of his business background. I don't think Trump is necessarily a bad guy, but what industries and what regions have the reputation of suffering from the most corruption? Of course real estate development, casinos, New York, New Jersey and Las Vegas.... Now can we really blame the Trump for playing that game that must be played if one wishes to play the game? No. But when it comes out (and if it can be made comprehensible to the dumb public), it'll make a few pissed off vendors and contractors look like he has some overdue library books.
Don't misunderstand, I'm not suggesting Hillary is better. The only things she's ever managed were Arab Spring and Hillarycare. We remember how those turned out. She can't even get to her own speeches in time...
Trump might be a great guy... or not. Of course with many strengths, but probably also some deficits.Replies: @Beliavsky
“Even if he’s shown no ability for diplomatic restraint, there is absolutely zero evidence that he’s actually a racist.”
Saying that Judge Curiel could not judge him fairly because he’s a Mexican was racist. If people judge that Hillary is even worse than Trump, I cannot prove them wrong, but the man disgusts me.
He's a liar with an attention span of a kindergartener
who's stumbled upon a racist path to office. When he loses
the blow backs gonna be 10 x worse. If he wins, you're still
screwed. And the backlash 4 years later is gonna be horrible.Replies: @e, @bomag, @JSM, @The most deplorable one
Ooooh, scary.
He's a liar with an attention span of a kindergartener
who's stumbled upon a racist path to office. When he loses
the blow backs gonna be 10 x worse. If he wins, you're still
screwed. And the backlash 4 years later is gonna be horrible.Replies: @e, @bomag, @JSM, @The most deplorable one
Trump has already changed things considerably in the US without even taking the Presidency.
He has made it possible to state things like Crooked Clinton and to push back against the bullshit that people like you spew.
That in itself is enough for me, but it is going to get worse for people like you and I am going to enjoy the schadenfreude immensely.
I've also noticed a new trollish element among the iSteve ranks this week that I can't help but feel is organized. Paid shills for Hillary?Replies: @Tracy
Shillaries?
Priceless!Replies: @Jim Don Bob
Here is a guy on ebay who has 10 of these Guaca Bowle Official JEB! Bush 2016 for $40 each.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Guaca-Bowle-Official-JEB-Bush-2016-Campaign-Guacamole-Bowl-/262516263906?hash=item3d1f304be2:g:D~8AAOSwnNBXX6SI
“The Impossibility of American Dissent”; “The Impossibility of American Revolt”. I’ve been thinking about drafting an essay with titles like those for a few years. The gist was as you suggest. Most of us need to work to earn money to live on, and many of us need to keep our lips zipped in the workplace and among our neighbors unless we’re willing to risk our livelihoods and neighborhood goodwill..
Actually, I do think Americans are stupid. The majority of Americans believes Iraq was behind 9/11 and supported the Iraq War. The majority of the American electorate also voted for GWB. Truly embarrassing.
When I use the term stupid, I mean it more sense of being infantile and distracted. Not necessarily referring to IQ.There's some truth to that. Except that Americans were amazingly supportive of the Iraq War and mildly support for 2 terms for GWB. Even when offered alternatives, Americans make the dumber choice.
Historically, Americans have actually had a pretty well-informed and civic-minded citizenry. It's only in the past 15-20 years that we've seen this drift towards apathy/corruption.Replies: @Grandpa Jack, @Harry Baldwin, @William Badwhite
“Actually, I do think Americans are stupid. The majority of Americans believes Iraq was behind 9/11 and supported the Iraq War. The majority of the American electorate also voted for GWB. Truly embarrassing.”
To the extent they believe this, it is because that’s what they’ve been told. A remnant of our formerly high-trust culture. There was a time when major news outlets didn’t tell outright lies (Duranty at the NYT excepted). There are still quite a few people left in this country that don’t understand once respected institutions have been hijacked. That doesn’t make them stupid. If they still believe in these institutions in 10 or 20 years…that’s kind of stupid.
Regarding GWB, the alternatives were even more sickening.
Your comments about Germany social conformity were interesting not relevant. My point was that being governed badly doesn’t necessarily make a population “stupid”. The average German (real Germans, not some Afghan that arrived 12 minutes ago) is highly intelligent, yet badly governed.
Regarding Hitler, power abhors a vacuum. Attempting to understand the rise of Hitler without comprehending the mayhem and disorder in Germany (something on the order of 350+ political assassinations – mayors of small towns, newspaper editors, etc in just the two prior years) prior to his coming to power is pointless. People supported Hitler because he promised (and delivered) order. Whether the cure was worse than the disease is a separate question.
Come election time, it will be obvious that there was no there there. It is indicative of how horrible Hillary is that it is actually possible this empty suit might win. If only the Republicans had had a serious candidate who understood the importance of the immigration issue.
We can now look forward to a supreme court that not only permits but requires affirmative action. A court that favors safe spaces for losers over free speech. Thank you stupid wing of the Republican party.Replies: @Kyle a, @Jean Cocteausten, @Jus' Sayin'..., @415 reasons, @Yojimbo/Zatoichi, @slumber_j, @John Rebel, @Lurker, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @Charles Erwin Wilson, @AnotherDad
Trump’s not an empty suit, he understands–and pushes–things our entire elite class chooses to refuse to understand or even acknowledge.
But what he most needs is a campaign manager \ staff to save him from himself.
For an alpha male who’s been a successful businessman, has a passel of beautiful women, has produced a bunch of healthy, smart, articulate kids … the guy is amazingly ego sensitize. Why was the big man picking fights with a nobody like blond bimbo who’s job is to wiggle her T+A on TV? Why is he now–pissing away his post convention prime time–tweeting shit about Ted Cruz who already committed political suicide on national TV?
Trump needs to be talking about nothing now but mass immigration and its affects–jobs, income inequality, jobs for college grads instead of mired in student loan debt, welfare costs, jobs for working class folks not going to college, sky high housing prices, delayed family formation for the young, crappy schools, sprawl, resource depletion, jobs, American jobs for Americans ….
This is it. He either runs on the issue that can actually win–preserving the nation, not turning into Brazil … then worse–or he loses. What he needs is someone who keeps him talking about that–which Americans care about–rather than having his latest ego battle, which matter to Americans not one whit.
Glad to know you are a supporter of his. He will win.Replies: @John Rebel
I sure hope your prediction is right…..and yes, when I call the GOP stupid, I mean the neocons, cucks etc. who fought like hell to deny Trump the nomination. Perhaps I should have been more clear.
My money is on Hillary only agreeing to debate in a setting where both the rules and “moderators” are incredibly favorable to her. Perhaps they can have scheduled extended commercial breaks for her so her stamina isn’t an issue (or even better, panel interludes where the media can tell us how well she is doing). And mandatory breaks if she starts coughing.
I do think the negotiations around the debates (how many, what rules, sponsored by whom, etc.) will make for an interesting sideshow.
On a related note, when was the last time Hillary had a relatively open Q&A with the press?
All of that said, I would not underestimate Hillary. She has a smart legal mind and absolutely no shame. Under the right set of rules I think she could embarrass Trump (and vice versa).
Be scared. The world is at least 1000x cleverer than Trump + angry white men. We’ll find multiple solutions to you.
Depends on the realm.
Experience in politics–that is to say, playing a chattering beta to an alpha, real or perceived–is overrated.
Experience in infrastructure construction or complex surgery is not.
Saying that Judge Curiel could not judge him fairly because he's a Mexican was racist. If people judge that Hillary is even worse than Trump, I cannot prove them wrong, but the man disgusts me.Replies: @ben tillman
Only if you define “racist” to mean “of, being, or related to that which a white person does”.
“How are they simultaneously impossible? I think that leaves me enough time for your next stupid question.”
“The answer to 1 and 3 are the same for how and why people build walls around their back yards. The answer to 2 is ‘the same way we pay for everything else.’”
In the same way that you, BlM, the left, the mainstream media, and Hillary are racist, in that they’re always blaming everything on YT, always presuming YT’s guilt, etc.
As Ann Coulter said, the media ran around screaming for months that what Trump said was gonna piss off millions of Mexicans. Then when Trump said it might have pissed off one Mexican, the media went ape.
He has made it possible to state things like Crooked Clinton and to push back against the bullshit that people like you spew.
That in itself is enough for me, but it is going to get worse for people like you and I am going to enjoy the schadenfreude immensely.Replies: @Hacienda, @NOTA
What bullshit do I spew? I simply believe America is a combination of construction and natural assets. The natural assets are God created and preserve for as many people as is reasonably possible.
Net creativity of white people when considered this way is 0 or negative in the Americas, as N. American, world ecology is a shell of what it once was. White people overall have been BAD stewards of nature.
The bullshit is you and everything that conditions you.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/dnc-names-luis-miranda-as-comms-director/432855/Replies: @Anonymous
Accordingly big to Wikipedia, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s father is a former political advisor who advised Ed Koch. Curiously, Wikipedia doesn’t mention his father’s name.
However, here is a N.Y. Daily News article that provides a bit more info. On Lin-Manuel’s family background.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/gonzalez-family-helps-bring-hamilton-broadway-article-1.2317665
Miranda’s father was named the communications director for the Democratic National Committee in Sept. 2015, and he started working in that capacity in October.
However, here is a N.Y. Daily News article that provides a bit more info. On Lin-Manuel's family background.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/gonzalez-family-helps-bring-hamilton-broadway-article-1.2317665
Miranda's father was named the communications director for the Democratic National Committee in Sept. 2015, and he started working in that capacity in October.Replies: @Anonymous, @Steve Sailer
Please excuse the typos in my comment. The edit feature isn’t working for me. I think my message basically makes sense even with the errors, but please ignore the word “big” that appears as the second word in my comment. I guess my iPad thought it would make my comment better.
However, here is a N.Y. Daily News article that provides a bit more info. On Lin-Manuel's family background.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/gonzalez-family-helps-bring-hamilton-broadway-article-1.2317665
Miranda's father was named the communications director for the Democratic National Committee in Sept. 2015, and he started working in that capacity in October.Replies: @Anonymous, @Steve Sailer
I am told that the Democratic consultant “Luis Miranda” in the DNC emails is not the same “Luis Miranda” who is a Democratic consultant and is father of Lin-Manuel Miranda of “Hamilton.”
But it’s all pretty confusing, so don’t ask me.
I think his father's role as communications director for the DNC is interesting. I don't remember your mentioning it in any of your articles, or if you did for some reason it didn't jump out at me. In your Feb. 3, 2016 Taki Magazine column, you wrote that, "Also unsurprisingly, last November [a month after Luis Miranda became the DNC comm. director] the Democratic National Committee sponsored a benefit performance of Hamilton to retire Obama’s 2012 campaign debt, with tickets going for up to $5,000." I would guess Lin-Manuel's father had something to do with that. I wonder how all of this played into the $10 bill / $20 bill controversy?
Regardless, thanks for your informative and entertaining coverage of these topics.Replies: @Anonymous
Funny, that’s how I feel about China, Asia, Central America, South America, Africa, and blacks, browns, and yellows, but not North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and whites.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_ecological_footprint
Oh, that’s confusing.
I think his father’s role as communications director for the DNC is interesting. I don’t remember your mentioning it in any of your articles, or if you did for some reason it didn’t jump out at me. In your Feb. 3, 2016 Taki Magazine column, you wrote that, “Also unsurprisingly, last November [a month after Luis Miranda became the DNC comm. director] the Democratic National Committee sponsored a benefit performance of Hamilton to retire Obama’s 2012 campaign debt, with tickets going for up to $5,000.” I would guess Lin-Manuel’s father had something to do with that. I wonder how all of this played into the $10 bill / $20 bill controversy?
Regardless, thanks for your informative and entertaining coverage of these topics.
http://www.mirramgroup.com/luis-miranda-jr/ (Lin-Manuel Miranda's father: Luis Miranda)
https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/author/luis-miranda (DNC staffer named Luis Miranda and mentioned in Wikileaks)
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/dnc-names-luis-miranda-as-comms-director/432855/ (Again, the DNC staffer named Luis Miranda mentioned in Wikileaks)Replies: @Steve Sailer
You lose:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_ecological_footprint
I think his father's role as communications director for the DNC is interesting. I don't remember your mentioning it in any of your articles, or if you did for some reason it didn't jump out at me. In your Feb. 3, 2016 Taki Magazine column, you wrote that, "Also unsurprisingly, last November [a month after Luis Miranda became the DNC comm. director] the Democratic National Committee sponsored a benefit performance of Hamilton to retire Obama’s 2012 campaign debt, with tickets going for up to $5,000." I would guess Lin-Manuel's father had something to do with that. I wonder how all of this played into the $10 bill / $20 bill controversy?
Regardless, thanks for your informative and entertaining coverage of these topics.Replies: @Anonymous
Steve, It looks like you and some of the other commenters here are correct that the DNC staffer named Luis Miranda who was mentioned in the Wikileaks isn’t Lin-Manuel Miranda’s father.
http://www.mirramgroup.com/luis-miranda-jr/ (Lin-Manuel Miranda’s father: Luis Miranda)
https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/author/luis-miranda (DNC staffer named Luis Miranda and mentioned in Wikileaks)
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/dnc-names-luis-miranda-as-comms-director/432855/ (Again, the DNC staffer named Luis Miranda mentioned in Wikileaks)
http://www.mirramgroup.com/luis-miranda-jr/ (Lin-Manuel Miranda's father: Luis Miranda)
https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/author/luis-miranda (DNC staffer named Luis Miranda and mentioned in Wikileaks)
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/dnc-names-luis-miranda-as-comms-director/432855/ (Again, the DNC staffer named Luis Miranda mentioned in Wikileaks)Replies: @Steve Sailer
Two Luis Mirandas in same business with same views — the younger one should use a middle initial. It’s like how the movie director Steve McQueen is obnoxious for not being Steven McQueen or whatever. It’s basic politeness to take simple steps to cause less confusion for others.
I wasn't aware that there were two Steve McQueens in the movie industry. I thought people in the entertainment industry had to have unique names, but maybe that only applies to actors.
Well, it looks like Lin’s father officially goes by Luis A. Miranda, Jr., but I agree that the younger one should still differentiate himself, since the father is often mentioned in articles as just “Luis Miranda.” It’s really confusing.
I wasn’t aware that there were two Steve McQueens in the movie industry. I thought people in the entertainment industry had to have unique names, but maybe that only applies to actors.
Excellent idea. I’d love to read such an essay on the impossibility of American dissent and/or revolt.
I've done that.
Thanks for your comment.
I go with a completely different view. In my book, a “natural-born citizen” is someone who, at birth, can claim to be a citizen of the United States and no other country. If any other country can claim you as its citizen at birth, you may still be a U.S. citizen, but you’re not “natural-born”.
Thanks. I return to the idea once in a while, but it’s a depressing subject. I never muster the time or energy, and probably don’t have the talent to do the subject justice. Anyone else with the right talent would have to upset a lot of civic pieties to do the job right. Burning bridges is tough work.
I’ve done that.
Thanks for your comment.
I do think the negotiations around the debates (how many, what rules, sponsored by whom, etc.) will make for an interesting sideshow.
On a related note, when was the last time Hillary had a relatively open Q&A with the press?
All of that said, I would not underestimate Hillary. She has a smart legal mind and absolutely no shame. Under the right set of rules I think she could embarrass Trump (and vice versa).Replies: @NOTA
Hillary is a lifelong policy wonk, and Trump still stumbles over a lot of policy details. It would be easy for Trump to come off really badly in a debate for that reason. Though it’s also quite possible for Hillary to seem like the winner to the policy wonk journalists covering it, but not to the much less informed voters watching it, who don’t know that Trump flubbed a question about the alternative minimum tax and showed he didn’t really understand how HHS is organized.
Hillary was never the sharpest tool in the shed, no matter her intimate knowledge of the finer points of politics, but today she seems to be losing whatever brains she had when she was younger. It could be as a result of a brain embolism or the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. In any case, in her public appearences, she looks confused and doped up to the gills. It’s so bad that her advisors would rather have us think she’s an alcoholic than senile and terminally sick.
To the extent they believe this, it is because that's what they've been told. A remnant of our formerly high-trust culture. There was a time when major news outlets didn't tell outright lies (Duranty at the NYT excepted). There are still quite a few people left in this country that don't understand once respected institutions have been hijacked. That doesn't make them stupid. If they still believe in these institutions in 10 or 20 years...that's kind of stupid.
Regarding GWB, the alternatives were even more sickening.
Your comments about Germany social conformity were interesting not relevant. My point was that being governed badly doesn't necessarily make a population "stupid". The average German (real Germans, not some Afghan that arrived 12 minutes ago) is highly intelligent, yet badly governed.
Regarding Hitler, power abhors a vacuum. Attempting to understand the rise of Hitler without comprehending the mayhem and disorder in Germany (something on the order of 350+ political assassinations - mayors of small towns, newspaper editors, etc in just the two prior years) prior to his coming to power is pointless. People supported Hitler because he promised (and delivered) order. Whether the cure was worse than the disease is a separate question.Replies: @NOTA
I think the prestige media have been in the business of twisting their reporting of reality to fit their worldview for a very long time. It has just become more visible now, thanks to the Internet. They’ve also become worse at actually getting and reporting on the news over the last couple decades, because their business model stopped working–newspapers have basically lost the ad battle to Google and Craigslist and the like, leading to shutting down foreign bureaus and getting rid of expensive older reporters in favor of new hires and interns, to save money.
Rich countries can afford to care about the environment, but poor countries can’t. So the US and Canada and Austrailia and most of Europe tend to be relatively clean–we actually enforce laws about dumping toxic crap into the water, we mandate scrubbers for coal plants, etc. China and Mexico don’t do as well at this, because they can’t afford to.
He has made it possible to state things like Crooked Clinton and to push back against the bullshit that people like you spew.
That in itself is enough for me, but it is going to get worse for people like you and I am going to enjoy the schadenfreude immensely.Replies: @Hacienda, @NOTA
People were calling the Clintons crooked long before Trump’s campaign. He’s managed to make immigration and trade issues that we actually debate, instead of issues that the elites have already decided are off the table, however, which is a real accomplishment. However many qualms I have about other aspects of his campaign or temperament, he deserves credit for that.
The Overton window has been moved considerably, and being able to have a sane discussion about immigration is possibly his most important achievement. Oh year, and highlighting Crooked Hillary Clinton.
You are correct in saying that in my haste I failed to mention the more important aspects of the change that Trump has wrought.
The Overton window has been moved considerably, and being able to have a sane discussion about immigration is possibly his most important achievement. Oh year, and highlighting Crooked Hillary Clinton.