The Trump/Republican Primary/General Election Megathread

[ArcadiaGP]

Misleading click bait title.

I take it you haven't been listening to Trump this morning. The politico barely touches on what he said. He went as far as to ask if it had been actually debunked yet... continuing speculation that it was true.

 

[jamil]

I'm now leaning towards voting up and down the ticket. But less up than down. Maybe I'll just leave the presidential blank open. Or maybe write in "**** you".

 

[Ericpwp]

I'm sorry, but I don't see it. I'd love to get an INGO LEO's perspective, but I just don't believe that a Carmel PD patrol officer/sergeant/lieutenant makes any decision based on what the DOJ might do. Let alone a beat IMPD officer.

I don't mean to be overly argumentative about this narrow point, but even if its true, what can POTUS really do? Make sure local LEOs know that the DOJ WON'T investigate wrongdoing? That seems like a not-so-good solution, too.

I don't think Carmel is a good example.

According to a 2010 estimate, the median household income in the city was $101,494.[SUP][17][/SUP] Males had a median income of $93,340 versus $62,943 for females. The per capita income for the city was $85,320. About 1.6% of families and 2.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.5% of those under age 18 and 2.2% of those age 65 or over.
The median home price in 2014 was $294,000.[SUP][18][/SUP]

rolls down hill. Their is not one officer that would want to be in Darren Wilson's shoes. That rolled straight from the top. He wishes he called in that day.

 

[T.Lex]

Trump's Republican Party Is Now Secular, Materialist, And Big Government. In Other Words, Leftist. | Daily Wire

One to add to the list. In the transcript, he mentioned "Republican" one time. One. Time. The context:

I have proposed the largest tax reduction of any candidate who has declared for the presidential race this year – Democrat or Republican.

If someone has a different place that he mentioned it, let me know.

He also said:

Millions of Democrats will join our movement because we are going to fix the system so it works for all Americans.

That seems a tacit admission that "we" are no longer the Republican party. The people that voted for him are part of his own movement. A Trump Movement.

If millions of Democrats join a Republican Party that is no longer conservative, is it still the Republican Party?

 

[jamil]

I take it you haven't been listening to Trump this morning. The politico barely touches on what he said. He went as far as to ask if it had been actually debunked yet... continuing speculation that it was true.

That's one of the problems with fierce loyalty that I ranted about a few weeks ago.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Misleading click bait title.

Hope this helps.

Certifiable crazy person below:

 

[PaulF]

"Freedom means religious freedom, whether you are Christian or Jew, Muslim or atheist. Gay or straight. The Bill of Rights protects the rights of all of us to live according to our conscience."

Last night I was reading a thread on r/Atheism over at reddit (don't visit, it's a ****hole over there) discussing this snippet from Cruz's RNC speech the other night, and it got me to thinking...

Where was this Cruz during the campaign when it could have made a difference? It occurs to me that he made a major misstep by pandering to the far-right wing of the party in the run-up to the convention. It is clear through this speech that he is perfectly able to pander to a wider audience...why did he allow himself to become so narrowly focused for so long?

...and why not take a shot as an independent? Cruz is a powerful speaker. Had he broken away from the other also-rans a few months ago he (potentially) could have pulled most of the wind from Trump's sails entirely by offering a "genuine" (or what passes for genine in DC) alternative to business-as-usual washington politics.

I have long said that the national Democrats and the national Republicans are just two sides of the same coin...to me the Trump/HRC race is one of the most potent illustrations of this idea to date.

I guess what I'm, asking is...why did Cruz seemingly try to pivot to the center now, when it seems to help him the least? Trump and Clinton are both far to the left of him...It seems to me has he campaigned more from the "center" from the beginning he might have gotten a groundswell of support from a large portion of would-be "Trumpers".

 

[PaulF]

I'm now leaning towards voting up and down the ticket. But less up than down. Maybe I'll just leave the presidential blank open. Or maybe write in "**** you".

I'm writing you in...

Good luck in your new endeavor, you'll need it!

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

The Republican Platform is National Socialism

http://thelibertarianrepublic.com/republican-platform-national-socialism/

 

[T.Lex]

Cruz was my best viable option (while Kasich was my preference on ideological grounds). That Cruz was always there, but he played too much into Trump's hands by defending stupid allegations and going on the offense in stupid ways.

His speech statements were echoes of what he said all along as a constitutionalist.

Strategically, he allowed the - SQUIRREL - moments to be the main moments.

 

[jamil]

Last night I was reading a thread on r/Atheism over at reddit (don't visit, it's a ****hole over there) discussing this snippet from Cruz's RNC speech the other night, and it got me to thinking...

Where was this Cruz during the campaign when it could have made a difference? It occurs to me that he made a major misstep by pandering to the far-right wing of the party in the run-up to the convention. It is clear through this speech that he is perfectly able to pander to a wider audience...why did he allow himself to become so narrowly focused for so long?

...and why not take a shot as an independent? Cruz is a powerful speaker. Had he broken away from the other also-rans a few months ago he (potentially) could have pulled most of the wind from Trump's sails entirely by offering a "genuine" (or what passes for genine in DC) alternative to business-as-usual washington politics.

I have long said that the national Democrats and the national Republicans are just two sides of the same coin...to me the Trump/HRC race is one of the most potent illustrations of this idea to date.

I guess what I'm, asking is...why did Cruz seemingly try to pivot to the center now, when it seems to help him the least? Trump and Clinton are both far to the left of him...It seems to me has he campaigned more from the "center" from the beginning he might have gotten a groundswell of support from a large portion of would-be "Trumpers".

Pander to conservatives? Worked for Trump. Maybe if Cruz had a crystal ball he'd have realized before his government shutdown to nowhere antics that the ultra-conservative space would be crowded.

I'm really tired of pandering politicians.

 

[T.Lex]

I'm writing you in...

Good luck in your new endeavor, you'll need it!

FYI

"Jamil" isn't his real name, he doesn't dress in black, and I'm thinking the light saber thing is a prop.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Where was this Cruz during the campaign when it could have made a difference? It occurs to me that he made a major misstep by pandering to the far-right wing of the party in the run-up to the convention. It is clear through this speech that he is perfectly able to pander to a wider audience...why did he allow himself to become so narrowly focused for so long?

That Cruz was there all along. He's been saying this sort of stuff all along. But some people don't like religion or religious people so when they see him talking about religion, they tended not to hear the other parts, when he expounded later or somewhere else. And let's face it, Trump's delivery style was fresh and because he spoke in short sentences and didn't get bogged down in wonkishness, he was more relateable. Cruz has a stiffness and a speech pattern that, if you let it distract you, you miss how he really was/is rebelling against the path the republican party was/is taking.

But we're stuck with Trump now.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

Pander to conservatives? Worked for Trump. Maybe if Cruz had a crystal ball he'd have realized before his government shutdown to nowhere antics that the ultra-conservative space would be crowded.

I'm really tired of pandering politicians.

In light of what's happened in the last year (just for the republicans), certainly this has to seem less and less a factor for disdain as the days go by.

(Not that I agree with your representation of it).

 

[PaulF]

If millions of Democrats join a Republican Party that is no longer conservative, is it still the Republican Party?

I'm not a Democrat, but there is little question that I "lean" a little more liberal than most in this forum...as such I am close with a number of very liberal people. NONE are voting for Trump. They are all swallowing their displeasure for Hillary and pulling the lever.

I don't see trump pulling a large number of registered Democrats. Independent liberals...maybe, but only maybe.

Liberals don't want to build a wall between the US and Mexico, they want to "level the playing field".

Liberals don't want to lower taxes on everyone...they want to raise taxes on the "rich" so they can "help the disadvantaged".

Liberals don't want more law enforcement, they are running very successful campaigns painting cops as the bad guys...

Trump's audince are frightened, formerly middle-class white people...a shrinking demographic in this country.

 

[T.Lex]

Trump's audince are frightened, formerly middle-class white people...a shrinking demographic in this country.

I don't necessarily disagree, but that makes me even more perplexed about who he is talking to. I mean, he was at the REPUBLICAN convention, talking about bringing in Democrats. Is this the Reagan Coalition?

The one part I will quibble with you on is the union members. My Dem friends are more worried about blue collar union Democrats voting for Trump. The "limousine" liberals are HRC's base.

 

[foszoe]

I take it you haven't been listening to Trump this morning. The politico barely touches on what he said. He went as far as to ask if it had been actually debunked yet... continuing speculation that it was true.

I heard him talk about a picture purported to have Cruz dad and Oswald. I don't see that as a linking of Cruz dad with the assassination. I am at work so while I am watching, I might have missed where he said Mr Cruz aided and abetted

 

[Expat]

Not enforcing the laws for fear of being accused of civil rights violations seems counterintuitive to me. I'm not arguing, I just haven't heard the same thing.

Really... where have you been?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...1011d4-7c2c-11e5-afce-2afd1d3eb896_story.html

 

[T.Lex]

I heard him talk about a picture purported to have Cruz dad and Oswald. I don't see that as a linking of Cruz dad with the assassination. I am at work so while I am watching, I might have missed where he said Mr Cruz aided and abetted

It is the art of wrapping an accusation within a question.

"When did you finish beating your wife?"

"Why hasn't anyone investigated whether Padre Cruz helped Oswald kill JFK when we have pictures of the two of them together the day it happened?"

 

[T.Lex]

Really... where have you been?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...1011d4-7c2c-11e5-afce-2afd1d3eb896_story.html

Did you read the article you posted?

Twice in recent days, FBI Director James B. Comey has stepped to a podium here and asserted that police across the nation are reluctant to aggressively enforce the law in the post-Ferguson era of smartphones and YouTube.

The allegation is not that the DOJ is having a chilling effect, but that cellphone video cameras are.