The Cognitive Dissonance of the Republicans

[ccp]

he supports Obama and anybody who doesn't is racist.   Bottom line: race trumps all else for this guy.  Sad to say. 

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2015/10/01/colin-powell-i-am-continuing-to-be-a-republican-because-it-annoys-them/

[ccp]

Could this guy McCarthy have been more foolish to imply the Benghazi committee was formed to just to sabotage Clinton's campaign?

How about it being formed what went on there and why the embassy was refused reinforcements and added security and why in the hell both Clinton and Obama's agents were lying about how it came about just before a Presidential election.

Why are Crats so clever and Republicans so stupid?

[ppulatie]

McCarthy just dropped out of the Speaker position race.  (Of course, he was an idiot anyway with his statement about the Bengazi Committee.)

There is a true insurgency going on inside and outside the GOPe. Between the House Freedom Caucus and the Trump/Carson insurgency, the GOPe is in turmoil and doesn't know which way to turn.

[ccp]

"McCarthy just dropped out of the Speaker position race"

 

[ccp]

BTW Doug Schoen who I like (for a Democrat) says the Republican turmoil is good for Hillary.  I say don't be so sure in the long run.

[ppulatie]

Doug is pretty smart. But in this case, the drip, drip, drip of the emails and her changing positions on topics, as well as the general distrust cannot be overcome by her.

Of course, for Dems, ethnics may not matter.

[Crafty_Dog]

Very glad that McCarthy is not going to be a big part of the Rep's face to the American people!!!

[ccp]

I finished reading the LBJ book and took interest in how Johnson made a complete fool out of Mitt's father George Romney during the Detroit riots in the mid '60s which basically terminated any chance his father might have had to make a serious run for the Republican nomination for President in '68.  Mitt got the nomination but in the end wound up a loser (for President) like his father.

I do not know how any Republican can support Paul Ryan for speaker when Harry Reid is for him.  And Boehner too.   That automatically disqualifies him in my mind.   The Establishment refuses to get it don't they?   This is NOT about working or compromising with Democrats.  It is about stopping them!!!  For God's sake.  They still can't figure it out?!  NO wonder we have been so screwed all these years. 


Mitt Romney: Demise of Legacy Media Empowering Conservative ‘Insurgents,’ Preventing More ‘Collaborative Action’

by Tony Lee20 Oct 2015379

Failed GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney lamented that the demise of traditional media is empowering Republican “insurgents” and preventing establishment Republicans from compromising more with Democrats.

As the Republican establishment is trying convince
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)
to run for House Speaker, Romney told David Axelrod on a recent “The Axe Files” podcast that the “extremes within our respective parties are having a louder and louder voice and demanding more attention” and “immediate action” as opposed to more “collaborative action.”

Romney said this phenomenon flows in part from the “change in the world of media.”

“There was a time when we all got the news with the same facts, if you will,” he said. “We had three networks we watched for the evening news. Most of us got newspapers. Everybody in the middle class got a newspaper, so we got the same facts whether we agreed or not with them.”

Now, according to Romney, people “get their news on the web” and “they tend to read those things which they agree with.” He said people are “not seeing the other side” and “not even getting the same facts” while “we have commentators” on left-leaning and right-leaning cable news channels “who are hyperbolic in expressing their views on issues.”

Romney lamented that more Democrats are considering themselves “liberal” and “in my party, there are more and more who feel they are more insurgent than towards the center of the party.”

“And I think that divisiveness is one of the things that has led to Washington having such a hard time getting things done,” he said.

The rise of new media outlets in the Internet age has allowed regular Americans to get access to information that the mainstream press, with the help of the both political establishments, often concealed from the general public when, as Romney noted, Americans all received the same set of facts.

In this election cycle in which outsiders on the GOP side are getting the majority of the vote, Donald Trump has bypassed the traditional media and gone over their heads to get his message directly to his supporters and American voters. Romney blasted Trump on the podcast and implied that his remarks about women, “members of the news media,” and Hispanics would hurt Republicans like Todd Akin’s “legitimate rape” remarks during the 2012 election cycle. Romney referred to “certain things” that were “said by Republicans during my general election race in 2012 colored the perception of the Republican Party and may have caused some people to stay at home.”

Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union, Romney again expressed concern with the rise of conservative insurgents, saying “the challenge in our party is not so much that people have differing views on issues, as much as people have differing views about how to get those issues implemented.”

“There are some in our party who think the best approach is throwing bombs,” he said. “The problem with bomb throwing so far is that most of the bombs have landed on our own team. That doesn’t help.

After praising presidential candidates Jeb Bush,
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)
, John Kasich and Chris Christie on CNN, Romney said there are others who think that the “best approach is to see if we can’t find common ground with the people across the aisle.”

“We have Paul Ryan, for instance, that’s willing to work with Democrats,” Romney said. “I think that’s a productive thing.”

[G M]

We are so fcuked.

[ppulatie]

Another reason to hate GOPe politicians........


Paul Ryan's Rules for Order

This is what Ryan wants guaranteed for him as Speaker.

Prior to the presser Ryan met with various caucuses and gave them these conditions:

1. Every faction of the Republicans in the House must support him, or he doesn’t run.

2. A return to “regular order” where all proposed bills must come through committees first. Only Ryan will decide which bills will make it to the floor for a vote.

3. He will not be responsible for campaigning or raising money. Give that job to someone else, he doesn’t have the time for it.

4. Elimination of the “Jefferson rule”, or possible use of motions to “vacate the speaker”. This grants him unlimited power and no-one can challenge his speakership. He rules as dictator for the House and no-one allowed to challenge his authoritarian decisions.

[DougMacG]

Another reason to hate GOPe politicians........


Paul Ryan's Rules for Order

This is what Ryan wants guaranteed for him as Speaker.

Prior to the presser Ryan met with various caucuses and gave them these conditions:

1. Every faction of the Republicans in the House must support him, or he doesn’t run.

2. A return to “regular order” where all proposed bills must come through committees first. Only Ryan will decide which bills will make it to the floor for a vote.

3. He will not be responsible for campaigning or raising money. Give that job to someone else, he doesn’t have the time for it.

4. Elimination of the “Jefferson rule”, or possible use of motions to “vacate the speaker”. This grants him unlimited power and no-one can challenge his speakership. He rules as dictator for the House and no-one allowed to challenge his authoritarian decisions.

Yes, but given all that, do you support him?

[ppulatie]

Looks like Ryan is in as Speaker. Freedom Caucus ended up selling out.

Ryan supports full Amnesty, etc.

And you wonder why I am through with the GOP?

DRIP!!! Don't Return Incumbent Politicians!

[ccp]

How can he be good for the Conservatives when even the Democrat hacks are for him?

We do not need any more concessions, compromises and the rest.  We need to stand up to the Democrats.

Now we have the propagandists trying to tell us how conservative he (Ryan) is.   

Full amnesty?   Talk about tyranny.

Just read on Drudge that 10000 are at the border just this month.   That does not include the 10s of thousands overstaying their visas or just overstaying their vacations.   I can tell you here in NJ they are here in HUGE numbers and no one is counting them.  I drove by an elementary school playground in New Brunswick yesterday and the whole playground was with children who appeared to be from Mexico or Central or South America.
Every one.

There is obviously an undercounting of Muslims in the US too.   Around here they are all over the place.   

I don't mind at all to an extent but having peoples from all over just parking themselves here in the millions is not acceptable.

[ppulatie]

This is all about the Uni-Party being bought and paid for by the COC, Wall Street and other crony capitalist companies.

Ryan is just another puppet.

[DougMacG]

How can he be good for the Conservatives when even the Democrat hacks are for him?

We do not need any more concessions, compromises and the rest.  We need to stand up to the Democrats.

Now we have the propagandists trying to tell us how conservative he (Ryan) is.   

Full amnesty?   Talk about tyranny.

Just read on Drudge that 10000 are at the border just this month.   That does not include the 10s of thousands overstaying their visas or just overstaying their vacations.   I can tell you here in NJ they are here in HUGE numbers and no one is counting them.  I drove by an elementary school playground in New Brunswick yesterday and the whole playground was with children who appeared to be from Mexico or Central or South America.
Every one.

There is obviously an undercounting of Muslims in the US too.   Around here they are all over the place.   

I don't mind at all to an extent but having peoples from all over just parking themselves here in the millions is not acceptable.

Ryan is good on other issues.  Ryan is a Kemp protege.  Grow the economy.  That's not all bad.  He was the strongest Republican voice against Obamacare.  He can speak clearly and was gaffe-free as a VP candidate.  He didn't lose that race for Romney and he didn't press for amnesty then.  He won't be pressing forward on amnesty now if that is what divides the caucus.  He won't govern solely on his personal views.  He didn't seek the job, nor have any history of forcing his views on others.  

Amnesty is defined as anything short of arresting and departing people including the ones who have been here for years, otherwise law abiding, fully established with jobs, homes, families, kids in schools - not easy to depart.  Amnesty is already the de facto law of the land.  The issue is to change that.  People like Ryan aren't going to oppose the building of a fence and other enforcement, security measures.  Those also are already the law of the land.  

Most importantly, those who would take a harder line on everything may be right but don't have the votes.  Ryan isn't a perfect choice; there wasn't one.  

If we lose the Presidential election one more time and losing the Senate is also very possible, and we become a so called permanent minority party, then we will need to take a much more hard line direction in the House and start shutting things down with debt limit and funding fights, to hell with the political consequences.  But at this point in time, the table is actually set to win everything except the 60 seats in the Senate.

If we win the next election, leadership is going to come from the White House, not the Speaker's office, and Ryan may prefer to move back to Ways and Means anyway.

[ccp]

Doug,

Ryan is like Kemp?  Well wasn't Kemp a big government liberal Republican?

I am not sure we need "a Kemp" now.

Growth is fine but when speaks of growth and low taxes as basically the answer to everything in the world a la Kudlow (those are the only things ever out of his mouth) I wonder what wall streeter is backing him or her. 

But he sounds better than Boehner so in a sense he is an obvious improvement.

[ccp]

Wants to take the party back to what?  Jeb Bush?  The party of full retreat.  The party of insiders, rich, and compromisers? 

****Christine Todd Whitman..... is also co-chair of the Republican Leadership Council, which she founded with Sen. John Danforth and Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. The RLC’s mission is to support fiscally conservative, socially tolerant candidates and to reclaim the word Republican.****

I reject this notion of a fiscally conservative, socially tolerant candidate.  One cannot be both.  By the way Whitman was not fiscally conservative.  She raided the pension fund which is now in dire straits in NJ.
So now and Danforth and the way overrated Michael Steele are criticizing the core Republicans for rejecting establishment Republicans?   She was a lousy governor.  So she can go back to her money making insider "Whitman Strategy Group".

Her profile:


Arena Profile:Ex-Gov. Christine Todd Whitman
Ex-Gov. Christine Todd Whitman

Christine Todd Whitman is the president of The Whitman Strategy Group, a consulting firm that specializes in energy and environmental issues. WSG offers a comprehensive set of solutions to problems facing businesses, organizations, and governments; they have been at the forefront of helping leading companies find innovative solutions to environmental challenges.

 She is also co-chair of the Republican Leadership Council, which she founded with Sen. John Danforth and Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. The RLC’s mission is to support fiscally conservative, socially tolerant candidates and to reclaim the word Republican. The RLC was created in March of 2007 by joining forces with Governor Whitman’s political action committee, It’s My Party Too. She is the author of a New York Times best seller by the same name, which was published in January of 2005 and released in paperback in March 2006.

 Governor Whitman served in the cabinet of President George W. Bush as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from January of 2001 until June of 2003. She was the 50th Governor of the State of New Jersey, serving as its first woman governor from 1994 until 2001.

 As Governor, Christie Whitman earned praise from both Republicans and Democrats for her commitment to preserve a record amount of New Jersey land as permanent green space. She was also recognized by the Natural Resources Defense Council for instituting the most comprehensive beach monitoring system in the nation. As EPA Administrator, she promoted common-sense environmental improvements such as watershed-based water protection policies. She championed regulations requiring non-road diesel engines to reduce sulfur emissions by more than 95 percent. She also established the first federal program to promote redevelopment and reuse of "brownfields", that is, previously contaminated industrial sites.

 Governor Whitman is on the steering committee of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey; the Board of Trustees of the Eisenhower Fellowships; the Board of Directors of the Council on Foreign Relations; the Governing Board of the Park City Center for Public Policy; and is a member of the Board of the New America Foundation. She was also the Co-Chair for the Council on Foreign Relations’ Task Force, More Than Humanitarianism: A Strategic U.S. Approach Toward Africa as well as the Aspen Health Stewardship Project, which was released in February of 2008. She co-chairs Clean and Safe Energy with Dr. Patrick Moore.

 Governor Whitman also serves on the board of directors of S.C. Johnson and Son, Inc., Texas Instruments Inc., and United Technologies Corporation. She currently serves as an advisor to the Aspen Rodel Fellowship program.

 Prior to becoming governor, she was president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and served on the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

 Governor Whitman holds a BA from Wheaton College in Norton, Mass., and is married to John R. Whitman. They have two children and two grandchildren.

(Photo by AP)

[ccp]

NOTHING makes me want Trump to win more than this from "our" own side".  This is even worse than the attacks from the left.  They still don't get it do they? 

*****George Will: Beating Hillary Less Important Than Stopping Trump
   
GettyImages-501508018
Mark Wilson/Getty Images; Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty

by Ben Shapiro24 Dec 20152,966
 

As the end of the year approaches, Donald Trump is solidly ensconced at the top of the Republican polls nationally. The man just behind him? Senator
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)
, an establishment bugaboo. The establishment’s favorite candidate, Senator
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)

, is currently running far behind in national polling, a distant third in Iowa, and in a deadlock with Cruz and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for second in New Hampshire.
Panic time.

So, here’s the establishment roundup for Christmas week.

If You Support Donald Trump, You Want to Lose. Earlier this week, Bret Stephens of The Wall Street Journal unleashed a petulant column accusing all Trump and Cruz backers of begging for defeat. “Let us now pledge to elect Hillary Clinton as the 45th president of the United States,” he snarked. “Let’s do this because it’s what we want. Maybe secretly, maybe unconsciously, but desperately. We want four—and probably eight—more years of cable-news neuralgia. We want to drive ourselves to work as Mark Levin or Laura Ingraham scratch our ideological itches until they bleed a little. We want the refiner’s fire that is our righteous indignation at a country we claim no longer to recognize—ruled by impostors and overrun by foreigners.” Stephens specifically singled out Cruz for criticism, calling him a flip-flopper “happy to be on any side of an issue so long as he can paint himself as a ‘real Republican.’”

If We Have to Lose to Beat Trump, So Be It. When establishment columnists weren’t painting large swaths of the Republican base as politically suicidal, they were calling for suicide. George Will, iconic columnist, wrote today, “Conservatives’ highest priority now must be to prevent Trump from winning the Republican nomination in this, the GOP’s third epochal intraparty struggle in 104 years.” Never mind that Mitt Romney strayed from conservatism so far that he invented Obamacare; never mind that
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)
 crafted campaign finance reform and amnesty. No, it’s Trump who singularly represents the death of the conservative ideal.

Of course, Will might just be miffed that Trump recently said “I think I have a much higher IQ… You have these guys like George Will. He sits with the little spectacles. If he didn’t have the spectacles, you wouldn’t think he’s smart because he’s wrong so much.”

Hey, Anybody Wanna Start a Third Party? Months ago, establishment Republicans complained that Donald Trump would not vow to forgo a third party run. Now, they’re thinking of a third party themselves. Weekly Standard editor-in-chief Bill Kristol tweeted:

Crowd-sourcing: Name of the new party we’ll have to start if Trump wins the GOP nomination? Suggestions welcome at editor@weeklystandard.com

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) December 20, 2015

And as I explained earlier this week:

Politico’s Jeff Greenfield says, “If the operatives I talked with are right, Trump running as a Republican could well face a third-party run – from the Republicans themselves”….Jeb Bush’s aides “began looking into the possibility of making a clear break with Trump – potentially with the candidate stating that, if Trump were the nominee, Bush would not support him.” Last week, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough said that former Mississippi governor Haley Barbour “and a lot of the Republican leaders would much rather Hillary Clinton be President of the United States than have Donald Trump represent them as a Republican.” And in November, The Hill reported that “GOP establishment donors have confided to The Hill that for the first time in recent memory, they find themselves contemplating not supporting a Republican nominee for president.”

Gawd, Almighty. Jonah Goldberg of National Review sounded the alarm in September when he wrote, “Well, if this is the conservative movement now, I guess you’re going to have to count me out.” That’s been a consistent refrain from some of the columnists over at National Review – many of whom I like, respect, and read regularly. But here’s the problem, again: this is the party of Bob Dole and George H.W. Bush and John McCain and Mitt Romney. Ideological purity, unfortunately, went out the window long ago. And many of those who have suddenly discovered ideological purity didn’t have it when they were touting John Kasich. Today, Goldberg writes hilariously that he has endorsed the Sweet Meteor O’Death:

Only one candidate can unite us all in a way George W. Bush and Barack H. Obama could not. You’ve probably already guessed who I have in mind. But just in case you haven’t, it’s the Sweet Meteor O’Death, or, as he’s known on Twitter, @Smod2016.

There’s only one problem for Goldberg: Donald Trump may in fact be the Sweet Meteor O’Death.

So, here we are. Trump isn’t going anywhere, and he isn’t going anywhere because the same people who decry his rise are the ones who told grassroots Republicans to ignore conservatism in favor of “who could win.” Merry Christmas, establishment Republicans: you can thank yourselves for that giant lump of coal in your stocking.

Ben Shapiro is Senior Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News, Editor-in-Chief of DailyWire.com, and The New York Times bestselling author, most recently, of the book, The People vs. Barack Obama: The Criminal Case Against The Obama Administration (Threshold Editions, June 10, 2014). Follow Ben Shapiro on Twitter @benshapiro.****

[ccp]

https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/01/senator-burr-choose-sanders-over-cruz

[G M]

https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/01/senator-burr-choose-sanders-over-cruz

This is the face of the problem.

[DougMacG]

George Will Sunday, may be too late to stop Trump.

George Will last week, ruthlessly ripping Rubio, one of only two who could conceivably still beat Trump, without offering anything new against him.

Mark Levin appeared with Trump on his rise before discovering he is no conservative.

Sean Hannity, fellow New Yorker, is a friend of Trump, has defended him against all charges.

Hugh Hewitt, who walked back his comments that Trump doesn't have the temperament in order to stay as a debate questioner.  Now has Trump on as the lead interview anytime he wants to come on the show.  Calls him the best interview in radio, meaning ratings and attention.

Rush Limbaugh is a personal friend of Trump, has defended him from the beginning.  Without favoring him he always sounds like he favors him.  The worst part is that he has spent >50% of his show supporting Trump since entering the race (though I would assume he politically favors Cruz).

Now try to walk all of this back with a week to go...

[G M]

George Will Sunday, may be too late to stop Trump.

George Will last week, ruthlessly ripping Rubio, one of only two who could conceivably still beat Trump, without offering anything new against him.

Mark Levin appeared with Trump on his rise before discovering he is no conservative.

Sean Hannity, fellow New Yorker, is a friend of Trump, has defended him against all charges.

Hugh Hewitt, who walked back his comments that Trump doesn't have the temperament in order to stay as a debate questioner.  Now has Trump on as the lead interview anytime he wants to come on the show.  Calls him the best interview in radio, meaning ratings and attention.

Rush Limbaugh is a personal friend of Trump, has defended him from the beginning.  Without favoring him he always sounds like he favors him.  The worst part is that he has spent >50% of his show supporting Trump since entering the race (though I would assume he politically favors Cruz).

Now try to walk all of this back with a week to go...

We are going to get served a big Shiite sandwich and we will all be required to take a bite.

[ccp]

I am not sure which is worse.  A shiite sandwich or a liberal menu

[Crafty_Dog]

We live in interesting times , , ,

[DougMacG]

[I thought we had a thread for the non-existent Republican establishment but I couldn't find it.]

This commentator agrees with me (or vice versa) and makes a persuasive case of it.  In 1980, G.H.W. Bush was the embodiment of the R establishment, being sensible and moderate on all issues, well schooled and cultured.  He was not liberal and not conservative.  He called Reaganomics voodoo economics because it strayed from (failed) conventional wisdom.  He and the so-called establishment was defeated in the primaries and the victors were vindicated by growth, success and elections.  That HW was VP to Reagan is a footnote to his administration.  By 1988 Bush Sr. was [allegedly] a born again Reaganite and supply side conservative, then later in his term he relapsed into his old ways and the Presidency went Democrat.  Newt following Reagan was anti-establishment in the minority long before taking the majority. 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"The term “Republican Establishment” has no meaning. The actual Republican Establishment ceased to exist nearly a quarter-century ago, and nothing remotely coherent has come along to take its place."   - John Podhoretz, Commentary Magazine  https://www.commentarymagazine.com/politics-ideas/conservatives-republicans/no-republican-establishment/

[DougMacG]

Republicans eating their own.

I listened less and less to Rush L last year as he spent his valuable air time defending his friend Donald Trump, and now tries to walk that back as we are poised to nominate a non-conservative who will lose to Hillary.

Glenn Beck slowly determined that Cruz is the best conservative, so now his way to advance him is to tear down Rubio.  Good for him but not interesting to me especially when he adds no new facts to the equation.

Mark Levin goes the furthest on that, putting more passion into Rubio bashing than he ever did for Obama, or Hitler for that matter.  As mentioned with Cruz, merely listing the names of the gang of 8, with Rubio's name along with John McCain and DIck Durbin is how you get the people who already agree with you more angry,not how you bring one more person over to your side.  No mention of his current position or what he learned from the gang of 8 experience.

Last night in the middle of a Rubio bashing hour he took a call from a woman from Florida who said she helped Rubio get elected and then "the first thing he did when he got to Washington" was to work for open borders and amnesty.  In fact the first things he did was learn his way around, join the top committees, start in with intelligence briefings and earn the ranking from Heritage Foundation as the 3rd most conservative Senator in the 112th congress behind Mike Lee and Jim Demint.  Facts be damned.

Imagine it was me calling the show and starting off a defense of Rubio based on falsehoods.  He would say, "Get off the phone you big dummy!"

Ridiculed is Rubio's explanation that a) he hoped the bill from the Democratic Senate would  be improved if it made through the Republican House and conference, which is true and b) that Obama would act unilaterally if the Congress didn't act first, and he did.  Again, facts be damned.  Rip the guy for tryinng to get a problem solved and an issue off the table that is killing Republicans.

Levin worked for Reagan and worships him now (so do I).  But imagine I use Levin's logic to rip Reagan.  I could fill a multi-volume book with it.  Reagan and Tip O'Neill conspired to increase domestic spending and explode the deficit even while we doubled revenues in the 1980s as the result of tax rate cuts.  Make that point early enough and strongly enough and we could have had Carter and Mondale govern us through the 1980s instead.

Now apparently he wants Hillary.

[ccp]

Levin is a genius.  That said he cannot temper his temper and his own name calling on just about anyone who does not agree with his orthodoxy.

He has made a lot of enemies within the Republican Party.  At the same time he has been *right* to be critical.  The party has thrown most middle Americans to the wolves in my view.

I agree with him on immigration as I have posted here for years.  That said I don't want to lose an election over it.  There are too many other things at stake.

He can go ahead full bore and support Cruz, but I don't agree with him throwing others out the window.  He was open to Trump until his debate when he said W was to blame for 911 and and lied about Iraq.  And I felt that way too.  That was the last straw for me with regards to Trump .  As I have said I will only vote for him if the choice is him and a Democrat.

I agree with you Doug.  I am very nervous that Trump or Cruz can bring down the whole ship.   We can't just ignore all the data that says both would have a tough time beating the dirtball on the other side over one or two issues alone. 

I am not hopeful Hillary will ever drop out even in the unlikely event she is indicted.  We all know she will continue to shove herself down all our throats (along with her mob)

[DougMacG]

ccp,  You have been right on immigration all along and so has Levin.  I probably agree with him on every issue but I pick a different guy to carry the ball forward for different, valid reasons, and he (and others) express nothing but hatred toward me.  Great way to build a coalition of 25 or 30% max, stand on principle and be ruled by leftists until our demise.

As I wished earlier, the nomination should be a contest to see who can express our view most persuasively to the country in contrast to theirs, not who can tear down all but themselves, and of course tear down themselves while doing it.

The difference between Cruz and Rubio is small but the fight between then will ensure that Trump advances to lose to Hillary.  Besides losing our country, I lose another bet (Hillary will be President) that you don't even want to win!

Bush stayed in long enough to screw up SC.  Kasich will stay in long enough to screw up Ohio.  Rubio will stay in long enough for Trump to beat Cruz in Texas and Cruz will stay in long enough for Trump to beat Rubio in Florida.  Kasich draws from Rubio and Carson draws from Cruz.  And Trump, like Sanders, wants government to manage the private sector winners and losers.  Keeping track of enemy combatants in Syria is simpler.

[ccp]

Kristol Lays Out Strategy to Give White House to Hillary: Trump ‘Shouldn’t Win’

by JOHN NOLTE2 Mar 20161,859
In order to defeat Donald Trump,  The Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol admits he is prepared to hand Hillary Clinton the Oval Office. On Wednesday’s “Morning Joe,” the Republican Establishment leader laid out his plot to deprive Trump of the 50% of delegates necessary to secure the nomination. From there, the idea is to go into a brokered convention and cut a kamikaze deal that awards enough delegates to an “acceptable” candidate (who will have won far fewer votes, states, and delegates than Trump).

The problem with the Establishment brokering a behind-closed-door deal that hands the nomination to a Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)79%
, is that the backlash against the Republican Party is almost certain to hand Hillary Clinton the presidency.

If a bunch of rich, angry GOP elites rob Trump supporters of their victory, the blowback will result in so many voters staying home in November, Hillary wins. As NBC’s Chuck Todd pointed out last night, at this point the delegate math is such that the only way to stop Trump is through this scheme at the convention.

As you’ll see below, that outcome is preferable to Kristol, and by extension it is safe to assume that outcome is also fine with the rest of the Republican Establishment.

JOE SCARBOROUGH: The fact of the matter is that you know there is no historical precedent with someone doing as well as Candidate Trump did yesterday — winning New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, [losing the nomination] has never happened before, and as you know there is a momentum, a forward progress–

BILL KRISTOL: Right, so we have to stop the momentum, I totally agree.

SCARBOROUGH: So that’s my question. There’s no cheering here. I am looking at facts.

KRISTOL: To your credit, you have correctly seen that this was not going to be the historically normal year, and it’s not, so maybe we go–

SCARBOROUGH: So how do you beat him?

KRISTOL: You have to beat him in Florida and Ohio, the first two winner-take-all states, which means there has to be a de facto agreement between the opposition candidates — between the resistance to Trump, which I am proud to be a part of, because I think he’d be a terrible nominee and a terrible president…

SCARBOROUGH: You have the authority to broker that deal right now?

KRISTOL: Well, they need to. They need to defer to Rubio in Florida and probably to Kasich in Ohio, and say, or imply, that if you are a Cruz voter in Ohio, and if you look up the day before the primary and it’s Trump 42%, Kasich 35% — vote for Kasich. And the truth is if Trump doesn’t win Florida and Ohio, it remains very much of an open race. …

Donald Trump [so far] has 35% of the popular vote and 47% of the delegates. That’s a lot better than having 24% of the popular vote and 25% of the delegates, granted. …

JOHN HEILEMANN: Just to go a little further on this topic of what Bill’s advocating: As you talk more and more to Republicans, who will say to you privately and sometimes publicly, that they would rather vote for Hillary Clinton than for Donald Trump, [these are the] people who are going to try to stop him — their attitude is: We know that would happen at a contested convention if we took the nomination away from a Donald Trump [who has won through] a plurality of delegates.

What would happen is that we would likely alienate his supporters and we would likely lose the presidential election. But their position is that it would be better for us to lose the [general] election than to have Donald Trump tear the Party in half as the nominee.

Now you can say that’s suicidal, but that is the posture of people [worried] about the negative effects down ballot.

KRISTOL: And [Trump] would still lose the election. And shouldn’t win the election, So, yeah, I agree.

This is a good time to ask where this scorch-earthed mentality was when America needed it most to stop Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.

[ccp]

When Cruz when up against McConnell oh did we hear the outrage. Now this faux republican Susan Collins states they should hold hearing on Obama's Supreme Court nominee.  Where is the outrage over this.  For god's sake, she has the lowest conservative rating on the Conservative Review.  Worse than Elizabeth Warren .  Why is she even in our party?  Time to run her ass out of office:

http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2016-04-05/gop-senator-meets-with-garland-says-hearings-should-be-held

[ccp]

First, the WPost  was delighted to print this I am sure.  Second a disgruntled Bushe it seems. Rhinos just don't get it.  Why not come out in support of Ted Cruz?   I agree with her about Trump's character and some of his positions but why give cover to the Left?

No comment that Bush One left us with Clinton.  Bush Two left us with a crash, much higher debt, and 8 yrs of Obama.  Your "compassionate" leaders of the party gave us great Americans (no sarcasm intended) but losers vs the Democrats, Dole, McCain, Romney.  And what does making $30,000 and living in the District got to do with anything?  Is she saying that she is better off with Democrats.  What is she saying?  She has the 'right' to live in the district and the rich should pay?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ashamed-to-be-republican/2016/04/22/d80098e2-07fd-11e6-bdcb-0133da18418d_story.html

[DougMacG]

(From Healthcare thread)

Want to spend over $1500 to hear Jeb speak?  Bizarre speaker at a healthcare forum.  I guess he has to earn some cash to payback those he fleeced.  I guess when he is not giving bankers advice his vision of the problems facing the country today qualify him to be main speaker at some sort of busines of health care forum:
https://www.ahip.org/events/instituteexpo/?gclid=CKbR7fv-vcwCFVFZhgod8L0Hrg

It's a strange world they live in, both parties.  Get famous, sell books, give speeches, solve nothing.  Imagine how valuable he would be if he was polling above single digits.

Kasich, plain spoken son of a mail man, made $1.1 million working part time for Lehman Brothers in 2008 - in the year of the crash.  Newt took millions from GSEs.  Makes it hard to pin cronyism and rigged field on Democrats.
------------------------

Same goes for the behavior of Denny Hastert.

[ccp]

I don't blame him for not supporting Trump.  How could he after what Trump did to him AND his family.

I agree with everything he says but one crucial point:
AFter 12 years of Bush's this is where we are.  They deserve some blame.  He takes none for the family.  He still doesn't quite get it.  That is a shame.  Denial I guess:

https://www.facebook.com/jebbush/posts/876702172458827

[DougMacG]

I don't blame him for not supporting Trump.  How could he after what Trump did to him AND his family.

I agree with everything he says but one crucial point:
AFter 12 years of Bush's this is where we are.  They deserve some blame.  He takes none for the family.  He still doesn't quite get it.  That is a shame.  Denial I guess:

https://www.facebook.com/jebbush/posts/876702172458827

The time to defend the George W Bush administration was while it was happening.  The economic implosion was avoidable, just repeal leftist policies and agencies.  They didn't.  He could point blame to those failings and give credit to their good policies but no one wanted to re-argue those years or that Presidency.

Jeb had a great record as a two term Governor of the largest, politically divided state.  Primary voters didn't care about that.  Peggy Noonan put it best.  It was Jeb's job to persuade them of why that mattered.  He didn't.

I agree with you.  Jeb doesn't owe Trump an endorsement.  Trump is the politics of destruction.  He can win by destroying Hillary next, not by lining up people like Jeb, Ryan, Reince (or Doug) to pretend to like him.

[Crafty_Dog]

IMHO saying that Bush knew there were no WMD but lied us into war voided any notion of obligation to support Trump.

[ccp]

"IMHO saying that Bush knew there were no WMD but lied us into war voided any notion of obligation to support Trump."

Agreed.  And maybe worse he even blamed W for 911!! 

Totally outrageous and shameful IMHO too.That was even worse then most of the Democrats!  I do not really recall even them doing that.

( Except maybe Crats  didn't make a stink because the blame could have been traced back to Clinton who allowed Bin Laden to escape and Berger was caught at the Library of Congress National Archives pilfering documents that , if I recall correctly, had to do with that.)

[G M]

The 9/11 highjackers entered the US when Clinton was president, and the intent was to strike while Clinton was still in office.

[ccp]

Cannot say I disagree.   The former Repub candidates all look foolish now endorsing Trump after they attacked him.   Contrast that to the Dems who disagree but don't call each other names.  Trump himself started it though.  Now the Dem job is easy ,

https://www.yahoo.com/news/jindal-endorses-trump-162008441.html

[DougMacG]

"Trump himself started it..."  [call each other names, etc.]

Trump was being Trump.  His candidacy was a joke.  If his polling had been low enough he could have been left out of the first debate and ignored.  It is the people who jumped on board and thought all this is okay and supported him and voted for him over 16 pretty good others who got this going.  To them I would ask, now what's your idea...

[G M]

"Trump himself started it..."  [call each other names, etc.]

Trump was being Trump.  His candidacy was a joke.  If his polling had been low enough he could have been left out of the first debate and ignored.  It is the people who jumped on board and thought all this is okay and supported him and voted for him over 16 pretty good others who got this going.  To them I would ask, now what's your idea...

You assume thought is involved.

[ccp]

i don't know what Will is trying to prove.  George, we get it .  You don't like Trump, but what is this stuff supposed to prove:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/438541/donald-trump-russia-vladimir-putin-seeks-meddle-american-election

[Crafty_Dog]

http://www.vox.com/2016/7/25/12256510/republican-party-trump-avik-roy

[ccp]

I don't know that I agree the Republican party is the party of "white nationalist" but I do agree Barry Goldwater was a disaster for the Republican party because he did not support the Civil Rights Act as I have posted before.

[ccp]

Ah the greats of the Republican party, the Bush industrial complex, the Bill Kristols the Jonah Goldbergs, the ? Meg Whitman ( who was one of the worst candidates in history), Chritie Todd Whitman ( who as governor of NJ basically accelerated our unfunded debt to levels beyond comprehensible).   

https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/08/gop-elites-ultimate-goal-is-to-elect-democrats

[Crafty_Dog]

I know Jonah Goldberg hates Trump, but on the whole I like him , , , unless he is voting for Hillary.

[DougMacG]

I know Jonah Goldberg hates Trump, but on the whole I like him , , , unless he is voting for Hillary.

Yes, Jonah Goldberg is one of the good ones.  Too bad that our nominee and our thought leaders still aren't on the same page.  I don't see why endorsements have to be immediate; they can come along the way to the election.  Conservatives can leave Trump reason to court their votes.  Again, too bad to be in that situation while current momentum is crucial and hurting.

Also agree, this comes to a binary choice.  Support Hillary, and everything short of supporting Trump is that, then you will take that mistake to your conservative punditry grave.

During the primaries I found myself not interested in pro-Trump sites and now I find myself not very interested in National Review, George Will, Bill Krystal, Mitt Romney, the Bushes, Greg Mankiw and others unable to take a stand.

David Brooks supported Barack Obama in 2008 because of the crease in his pants(?).  Colin Powell did so for every reason except race (in other words only because of race).  In both cases the choce tod more about themselves than it did about the choices.  We too a far left turn; they supported it.  As I said to my RINO congressman who doubled federal spending since 2001, good luck with your new friends.

[ccp]

"Support Hillary, and everything short of supporting Trump is that, then you will take that mistake to your conservative punditry grave."

I agree .  This IS the last stand iMHO.

I don't know what these people are thinking or who they are trying to impress with their being "above the plebs".  If they don't like Trump some criticism is ok but to come and state you are going to actively

[ccp]

Release all the cons. "Take credit" for doing so !  And naturally they will vote Republican in the coming election.  And people wonder how why we got Trump?:

https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/08/what-are-republicans-planning-to-make-their-end-of-the-year-focus

[ccp]

I didn't hear the whole thing today but rush was commenting on VDH's latest piece.  VDH is right .  Forget about conventional conservatism for the time being , at least.  The right is in a fight for the country and our political future:

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/440198/never-nevertrump-not-voting-trump-republican-suicide

If Trump loses by 1 or 2 percent we can thank the "never Trumpers".

[ccp]

I also liked VDH's critique of Large Colin Powell.

Sounds pretty establishment to me:

https://www.google.com/search?q=net+worth+colin+powell&oq=net+worth+colin+powell&aqs=chrome..69i57.4167j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Still not enough.  Hillary stole his "gig"