The 2016 US Election (Part II)

[jwl]

Wait, a Breitbart reporter?

[Elheru Aran]

Wait, a Breitbart reporter?

Who has since resigned due to "lack of support" from Breitbart itself, apparently. Just a sign of how toxic an environment is being nurtured by the Trump camp.

[Knife]

Breitbart wouldn't want to lose access to Trump now would it. Hope she sues Breitbart.

[aerius]

This is the surveillance camera video



News article with a photo of the alleged bruising
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politic ... -1.2581087

The video quality is shit, but as far as I can tell, that's not where Fields was allegedly grabbed by the campaign manager. It looks like he grabbed her by the upper arm while the bruising is halfway down her forearm.

Any decent lawyer is going to put reasonable doubt all over this, no way the charges are sticking unless they stack the jury.

[Civil War Man]

Trump and his surrogates definitely aren't helping his defense. First, they claimed that the incident never happened, then Trump used the classic "If she was being hurt, why didn't she scream?" defense commonly used by people trying to discredit rape allegations, then he said that Lewandowski was defending him from a vicious attack because the pen in Fields's hand might have been a bomb.

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

Speaking of candidates' surrogates being stupid ...

Sanders supporter Susan Sarandon may support Trump if her candidate loses.

I am aware that there are some who think that "the people" need to see how bad it can really get, before they support "the revolution." However, I am really hopeful that no more than a tiny minority of Sanders supporters share her views. Yes, one might argue that eight years of George W. Bush gave us Obama; but we're still living with the fallout of the younger Bush's administration, and will be doing so for years to come.

[Knife]

I'm of two minds on this. One, I don't particularly like Sarandon and don't particularly care what she thinks. On the other hand, we're only half way through the primary and Sanders still has a good shot (not a great one, nor is it inevitable but...) so why the push to 'when X loses will you endorse Y' crap?

[Elheru Aran]

Trump has declared outright what we've all figured he would do anyway... he's not going to stand on his pledge to support the Republican nominee if they pick someone besides him.

Republican front-runner Donald Trump on Tuesday abandoned a pledge to support a party presidential nominee other than himself, a sign of increasing friction with chief rival Ted Cruz.

“No, I don’t anymore,” Trump replied, when asked at a CNN town hall event whether he still supported a pledge he made last year to support whoever is the Republican nominee for the Nov. 8 election.

Trump’s signing of a loyalty pledge last September was important in helping him gain credibility within the Republican National Committee. The pledge was also signed by all his rivals for the presidential nomination.

His about-face came as he tries to fend off a challenge from Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas who is running second to the New York billionaire in the race for the 1,237 delegates needed to win the nomination.

Trump and Cruz were enmeshed in a fight last week involving their wives, with a Cruz SuperPAC publishing a provocative photo of Trump’s former model wife, Melania, and Trump retaliating by tweeting an unflattering photo of Cruz’s wife, Heidi.

Cruz, asked earlier at the CNN town hall whether he also would honor the pledge to support the nominee if it was not himself, declined to give a straight answer.

“Let me tell you my solution to that,” Cruz said. “Donald is not going to be the GOP nominee. We’re going to beat him.”

GOP is the acronym for Grand Old Party, a nickname for the Republican Party.

Trump said he could do without Cruz’s support.

“I watched him tonight and I watched how tormented he was when you asked him that question,” Trump told CNN moderator Anderson Cooper. “I don’t want to have him be tormented. Let me just tell you I don’t want his support, I don’t need his support. I don’t want him to be uncomfortable.”

Trump also said he recognized that several of those who have dropped out of the race might harbor ill feelings towards him, mentioning former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.

Walker endorsed Cruz earlier on Tuesday, with Wisconsin’s primary vote coming up on April 5.

“I drove him out of the race,” Trump said of Walker, who abandoned his presidential bid last autumn. “I drove Jeb Bush out of the race, I drove Rand Paul out of the race. I understand why they don’t like me.”

A third Republican presidential candidate, Ohio Governor John Kasich, was also tentative about honoring the pledge. He told the town hall he had been “disturbed by some of the things I’ve seen” during the campaign, adding, “I want to see how this finishes out.”

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Sounds like Kasich is hinting he may hang on until the convention, like Sanders, despite his commanding lack of delegates? I smell a potential angling towards VP or cabinet...

Also: There's some (not much) speculation that Palin is trying to get Trump to pick her up as VP. That would almost be a fucking dream come true.

[The Romulan Republic]

I've been wondering for a while if Drumpf would be nuts enough to pick Palin.

I'm glad Kasich's hanging in though, because it could increase the chances of a brokered convention and Republican Party split.

Plus, you know, he's the only sane one there.

[Elheru Aran]

I've been wondering for a while if Drumpf would be nuts enough to pick Palin.

I'm glad Kasich's hanging in though, because it could increase the chances of a brokered convention and Republican Party split.

Plus, you know, he's the only sane one there.

I have to say... Trump is almost certainly smart enough to not go *that* far into insanity with Palin. He's crazy, but he can't be THAT crazy. Because it would *guarantee* a loss, dead stop, after the public spectacle that Palin has made of herself and her family in the past near-decade. He has to be quite aware that she is an utter nitwit and completely unworthy of office.

Doesn't he? Because on the flip side of that coin... I can see him having the utter gall and brazen effrontery to try such a move if he thought it could get him votes.

If Kasich sticks it out, I wouldn't be surprised if it's announced during the convention that Cruz picks him for VP, and then there'll be a straight-up split between Trump and Cruz. Either way, I'm pretty sure it's still a little too early to say where things are going with the Republicans...

[The Romulan Republic]

Drumpf has done a lot of things in this campaign that would have seemed unlikely and self-destructive a year or two ago.

[bilateralrope]

I have to say... Trump is almost certainly smart enough to not go *that* far into insanity with Palin. He's crazy, but he can't be THAT crazy. Because it would *guarantee* a loss, dead stop, after the public spectacle that Palin has made of herself and her family in the past near-decade. He has to be quite aware that she is an utter nitwit and completely unworthy of office.

That depends on what Trumps goal is. If he gets the nomination, then Palin would be a bad VP pick.

If he doesn't get the nomination, he has to know that he can't get the presidency. At most he can split the vote to prevent a Republican president. If that's his goal, Palin might have enough supporters to help there.

[Raw Shark]

Donny Jingles is tapping into a (mostly fucking retarded) segment of the electorate that is sick of the status quo and is otherwise disinclined to participate. Not necessarily a smart or correct position, but one that exists and could possibly change things if they decide to drag themselves off the couch to vote against the darkies.

[Vendetta]

I've been wondering for a while if Drumpf would be nuts enough to pick Palin.

I'm glad Kasich's hanging in though, because it could increase the chances of a brokered convention and Republican Party split.

Plus, you know, he's the only sane one there.

I have to say... Trump is almost certainly smart enough to not go *that* far into insanity with Palin. He's crazy, but he can't be THAT crazy. Because it would *guarantee* a loss, dead stop, after the public spectacle that Palin has made of herself and her family in the past near-decade. He has to be quite aware that she is an utter nitwit and completely unworthy of office.

Doesn't he? Because on the flip side of that coin... I can see him having the utter gall and brazen effrontery to try such a move if he thought it could get him votes.

If Kasich sticks it out, I wouldn't be surprised if it's announced during the convention that Cruz picks him for VP, and then there'll be a straight-up split between Trump and Cruz. Either way, I'm pretty sure it's still a little too early to say where things are going with the Republicans...

I don't think you can reasonably ask "can he be THAT crazy?" any more.

However I don't think he'll pick Palin, because he'll pick a veep that doesn't try and compete for his spotlight. The sensible thing to do would be to pick someone with a reputation for being quietly competent.

[The Romulan Republic]

Well, there is that. Drumpf's ego may not want to share the attention, and Palin, if nothing else, is a headline grabber.

[Napoleon the Clown]

Obviously, then, Trump's choice is going to be Victoria Jackson. Every bit as insane as he is, but nobody remembers who she is. Can't steal the spotlight when the response to "Victoria Jackson said this" is "Who the hell is that?" or "Wait, she's still alive? Huh."

[The Romulan Republic]

Another day, another clusterfuck...

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local ... 42381.html

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders' name is not on the primary ballot in Washington, D.C., after the D.C. Democratic Party submitted registration paperwork a day late and a voter filed a challenge, News4 has learned.
D.C. party officials called the problem a minor administrative dispute.
Trump Revises Comments on Abortion Penalties
The Sanders’ campaign, as well as Hillary Clinton's campaign, each submitted registration fees of $2,500 on time earlier this month in advance of the June 14 Democratic primary.
But D.C. Democrats did not email the candidates' registration information to the D.C. Board of Elections until a day after the registration deadline of March 16, News4's Tom Sherwood was first to report on Twitter.
Highlights From the 2016 Campaign Trail [NATL] Highlights From the 2016 Campaign Trail
A Democratic voter in D.C. filed a challenge against the Sanders' campaign's registration. No complaint was filed against Clinton's registration.
"We did what D.C. law requires in order to get Bernie on the ballot, and we are confident he will be on the ballot," a Sanders spokesman said in a statement to News4.
Teen Pepper-Sprayed at Trump Rally in Wisc.: Police
Board of Elections rules call for a hearing to be held on the challenge against the inclusion of Sanders on the ballot. The hearing is expected to occur as early as next week, sources said.
D.C. Democratic Party Chairwoman Anita Bonds said the issue may be resolved through an emergency vote by the D.C. Council, if necessary. The Board of Elections could rule it was an administrative error and correct it.
Wisconsin Gov. Walker Endorses Cruz for President
A Board of Elections representative could not be reached immediately.
News4's Andrea Swalec contributed to this report.

[blahface]

Sounds like Kasich is hinting he may hang on until the convention, like Sanders, despite his commanding lack of delegates? I smell a potential angling towards VP or cabinet...

I think Kasich actually has a good chance to win in a brokered convention - especially if it turns out Cruz was having an affair. I also think he could unfortunately beat Hillary.

[The Romulan Republic]

If there is a brokered convention, there is a real chance that Drumpf will run as an independent and split the Republican vote.

In which case, it scarcely matters who the other nominees are.

[Crossroads Inc.]

Found an interesting video, though the web site design sucks, could t figure out how to post just the video but I heavily recommend watching it:

http://occupydemocrats.com/2016/03/30/w ... k-volumes/

Occupy Democrats
Ads by Adblade


In this heartwarming video, members of the Free Hugs Project attend the rallies of both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders in an effort to “Make America LOVE Again!” – but receive two very different reactions that underscored the fundamental differences between the two sides.

The men approach the Trump rally in Janesville, Wisconsin as a young girl is being treated after a Trump supporter pepper-sprayed her in the face. Others are weeping. The FHP rep is met with racism (“I DON’T WANT ANY DRUGS” and “WHITE IS BETTER”) and despondency (“There is no such thing as love”). They are exclusive and disparaging – one woman yells “Are you for Trump? I’ll punch you if you aren’t!”

At the Sanders rally, on the other hand, the man is happily embraced by everyone, who share in the energy and the passion of those around there. They are inclusive and accepting, proud to be part of a larger movement dedicated to progress and the betterment of all Americans. It’s clear which movement truly symbolizes the values that our nation holds dear – and which one embraces the foul sentiments that nearly tore it apart.

[Purple]

A bunch of strangers going around hugging other people to make a political statement. Creepy.

[Khaat]

A bunch of strangers going around and threatening to punch people to make a political statement. Sad.

It is just coincidence that Michael Douglas played Gordon Gecko in Wall Street and William "D-Fens" Foster in Falling Down? Or am I only connecting dots because of the massive turbulence of the Trump campaign supporters?

[Raw Shark]

@Purple: Hugs are nice. Punches are bad. This is normative human behavior. If you want to interact with we the human race productively, you should at least try to understand our nuances, even if you can't ever actually be one of us.

[The Romulan Republic]

Eh, an uninvited hug from a stranger could plausibly be construed as sexual harassment.

[Borgholio]

Eh, an uninvited hug from a stranger could plausibly be construed as sexual harassment.

Unless you grope or make it a sensual hug, I would not consider it any more harassing than a kiss on the cheek or a handshake...both of which are customary greetings in many cultures.