ScottFromWyoming wrote: 

 kurtster wrote: 
Lindsey Graham is a good American; other Republicans should follow his lead on this one. "There'll come a time when the love of country will trump hatred of Hillary."

 bokey wrote: 
Sing it sister! Sing it to the skies! (Actually I'm serious. Sing it.)

 kurtster wrote: 
I became a Republican last year and I have endless nice things to say about myself,here at RP or anywhere.When you're as special and wonderful as me,it's hard to keep it to yourself.

 buddy wrote:
It's like the hot dogs rooting for contestants at a hot dog eating contest.

 kurtster wrote: 
If you've done something to Rotekz, we'll all chip in for a gift basket or your defense (I'm actually in for a share of each) whichever is more appropriate.  

 kurtster wrote: 
I doubt all the local cheerleaders have quite given up yet. I'd still expect them, at least on occasion, to shake their pom-poms with great vigour.

 kurtster wrote: 
You may be right, but frankly I don't consider Trump a viable or acceptable candidate. The man should outlining his plans for helping Americans; instead he's whining about a judge presiding over a lawsuit against Trump's rip-off university. Donald Trump is all about Donald Trump and always has been. 

Trump is running because he wants to feed his ego and raise his image as he always has. The idea that he'd actually have to work for and serve Americans likely baffles him.

I think that it is a very safe bet that we will not see anything nice thing said about Donald Trump (and quite possibly any republican for that matter) anywhere here at RP until after the repub convention, and maybe not until after the election. 

carry on ... 

 aflanigan wrote: 
Yeah, he's starting to implode. He may throw in the towel before the convention; he can't take the heat with the temperament of a twelve year-old. The GOP will run Cruz or Romney up the pole and they'll go down in flames. Thanks, Donald!

 kcar wrote: 
I wonder if the states that voted early and gave him the momentum wish they could have a do-over.

Caught contradicting himself for the umpteenth time.
Trump brags he'll hire the best people, the smartest people when he's president. So far he hasn't figured out how to do that. 

On a conference call speaking with his surrogates discussing recent guidance put out by his campaign staff on the Trump University lawsuit, he had this to say about his campaign staff: "you guys (his surrogates) are getting sometimes stupid information from people that aren't so smart."

The wheels are falling off of Trump's wagon a bit, and this may be the beginning of a Trump downturn in the polls. Karl Rove loved to say that when you force your opponent to explain him/herself, you've already won. Trump is stumbling to limit the damage from his comments about Judge Curiel, as are his supporters. 

Trump is all about attack, projecting an image of strength, and never apologizing (he has not apologized for his remarks about Curiel). But he walks a fine line: given his campaign's relatively limited funds right now, Trump relies on outrageous statements to keep his face and name in the news and in front of voters. That allows him to show that he's not politically correct but it also risks alienating a lot of people.

Now that Trump has had to walk back some of his words, he doesn't look as invincible. The cartoon that R_P posted points to Trump's weakness: once people start laughing at him, it'll be hard for him to recover his momentum. The more people get tired of his bombast, arrogance and outrageousness, the more unappealing and ridiculous he becomes. 

Here's hoping! 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/08/us/politics/trump-university-judge.html

“It is unfortunate that my comments have been misconstrued as a categorical attack against people of Mexican heritage,” (Trump) added. “I am friends with and employ thousands of people of Mexican and Hispanic descent.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/08/us/politics/paul-ryan-donald-trump-gonzalo-curiel.html

“Look, he stepped in it,” Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee and chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee told reporters. “And you know this happens sometimes in campaigns.”

...

“I am a Republican, but what I care more about is our nation, and where we’re going as a nation,” (Corker) said. “And so again, I hope this isn’t the pattern that is going to occur between now and November. But what I see is, O.K., you have got a binary choice.”

Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, said, “My advice to our nominee would be to start talking about the issues the American people care about.”

...

Asked how he could support Mr. Trump after calling the remarks racist, Mr. Ryan said: “I don’t know what’s in his heart but I think that comment itself is defined that way. So I’m not going to defend these kinds of comments because they are indefensible.”

 

 R_P wrote: 

 VV wrote: 
But Hillary's so bad blah blah blah

 kurtster wrote: 
Me? I'm fed up with nonsense like this: 

Trump Orders Surrogates to Intensify Criticism of Judge and Journalists

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/trump-orders-surrogates-intensify-criticism-200834926.html

First you have to prove to me that you worthy/capable of holding the office. Trump proves daily... that he is not. There is nothing.... absolutely nothing in Trump's DNA that even remotely hints at him being successful as our next President.

If you don't think that the "three ring circus" that is Trump right now won't be the "three ring circus" that will be Trump in the Oval Office.... then I would like to put you in touch with a Nigerian royal who needs a little financial help to move their millions offshore.

 kurtster wrote: 
You and steeler might want to read this piece by Eric Posner, a Univ. of Chicago law professor, on what Trump could and couldn't do as President. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/04/opinion/campaign-stops/and-if-elected-what-president-trump-could-or-couldnt-do.html

According to Posner, Trump would have a fair amount of power. For instance, he could block Muslims from entering the country, order the deportation of illegal immigrants, impose tariffs on China, reverse environmental laws, and push the Dept. of Justice and regulatory agencies to focus their investigation of potential crimes in order to harass his enemies, including journalists. He might face foot-dragging and refusal to comply from the rank and file of federal employees, but he could staff the leadership of agencies with yes-men to push his agenda. 

But Posner doesn't touch on bigger matters. He says that Trump couldn't build The Wall without Congressional funding, but there's no mention of whether Trump could push through a jobs-creation program or repeal Obamacare. The stuff that Posner says Trump could do on his own is largely small-ball stuff.

The bully pulpit can only take you so far. Congress is marvelous at ignoring presidents when it wants to. You can appeal directly to the public to force Congress to do something, but that only works when you need to focus pressure about a specific matter for a short period of time. It wouldn't work for Sanders to get free health care and/or free college passed through Congress. I don't know what big projects Trump wants to do (besides The Wall) because, quite frankly, he likely doesn't have a clue. 

I understand your frustration with Washington, kurtster, but I don't believe in change just for the sake of change. I think the kind of change you're looking for—something like a significant redistribution of wealth or a massive job-creation/job-training program—will require sustained grassroots pressure on Congress. It could be done, but the people hurting economically in the US have to organize in order to have a bigger and more sustained presence in politics. A bull in a china shop like Trump in Washington wouldn't bring much significant or lasting change. 

 steeler wrote: 
I guess I am.  An unpleasant overdue change that will strike at the heart of the entrenched political elite who have everything to lose and deservedly so imo.  

Bernie on the other hand will call the liberal establishment's bluff on social issues where they always promise changes but never deliver or meet them out incrementally, because if they did them full tilt immediately, they would back fire economically in a hurry when the actual costs were learned.  Instead they blame their intentional slowness of the delivery on the obstructionist conservatives to hide the weaknesses in their plans.  He will bring home these radical policies that sound good in speeches but don't work on paper and run them right through using the Bully Pulpit.  You know what is said about socialism, eh ?  Socialism works great until you run out of other peoples' money.

I also expect Trump to use the BP effectively to his advantage as well.

As I also mentioned sometime ago, Trump knows where all the bodies are buried, metaphorically speaking.  He has contributed to both sides and can inflict some hurt on those unwilling to cooperate with his agendas by threatening to reveal some inconvenient truths, or as it is also sometimes called arm twisting.

 kurtster wrote: 
I did not take your comments about Trump's real estate skills as admiration. I commented upon your previous statements about Trump's positions on issues. If Trump is going to force change, and it is change that is needed and will ultimately be proven to be positive change, I do not see how that would constitute a train wreck. Perhaps you are using that term to mean something other than its usual meaning?

From my point of view, Trump has not demonstrated a firm grasp of the primary issues.  My biggest concern, however, is his oft-stated philosophy of retaliating for any attack or perceived attack on him. He believes in responding ten-fold. Perhaps that is necessary in the real estate development business, but it seems to be an integral component of his personality, one I do not believe he is able to shed in different contexts. That does not bode well for the President in a time of global turmoil. Some might like the sound of it, but the reality is that America is no longer in a position to dictate terms to the rest of the world. Trump is campaigning on a harkening back to an era when America could do so. I have no reason to believe, based on his constant tough-guy talk, that Trump can be trusted to navigate the complicated foreign policy issues. His impulse is to batter an opponent Into submission. Again, that does not bode well.