Same as it Evers Was

56 thoughts on “Same as it Evers Was”

1. You’re not going to like Rubio if you don’t like Republicans, but he’s not even close to the other two clowns personally or politically.Report

   1. No, of course not. He’s the one who nearly got thrown in jail…Report

      1. Which makes him a superior Speaker of a state legislature than Sheldon Silver.Report

   2. Rubio is the closest to a marketable republican, sure. That’s why I’m rooting against the bugger.Report

2. The funny tweet I saw yesterday is that the Republican Establishment is stuck choosing between whether they want to lose to Trump or whether they want to lose to Hillary.

   Trumwill had an awesome insight recently where he pointed out that Trump found a vulnerability in the Republican Primary code and is exploiting the heck out of it.

   From there, I’m guessing that the problem isn’t Trump as much as whomever the 2020/2024 nominee is going to be… if the establishment figures out how to exploit the same bug.Report

   1. The Republican Establishment has already lost.
      That’s why the trolls stopped bothering with the race.
      Leave it to trolls to hack the system for fun and profit!

      Who else figures out how to make a profit off having a Democratic Congressional Candidate in Wyoming?Report

   2. Exactly! The GOP has been dumbing down their internal politics/policy/assertion to make it more palatable to slip the internal contradictions through, and now lo and behold an apex predator from the entertainment industry has invaded the suddenly hospitable ecosystem and is flourishing.Report

3. I am largely leaning towards Trump and Cruz. Rubio would be the establishment choice but he also seems to be everyone’s second choice. Though Rubio could pull a Kerry. I don’t like Rubio and he is probably the one most likely to give HRC a run for her money. Cruz is an unmitigated asshole and seems to alienate almost everyone including many GOP politicians.

   Trump worries me*. I don’t share North’s confidence that the Democratic Party would be really lucky if Trump wins the GOP nomination. In my mind if Trump wins, there is something in the air, a very reactionary populist blowback.

   *Unless he goes third party. That would be great!Report

   1. “everybody’s second choice”

      This gives us Romney.

      Of course, “everybody’s third choice” gives us McCain.Report

      1. Carson is toast now that he’s starting to make sense.Report

         1. Heh. He knows nothing about anything but neurosurgery, so it was clever on the part of his handlers to get him on the record about literally the only issue that made national political news – ever! – that is actually in his bailiwick.Report

            1. Less than clever since it was completely the wrong thing to say to his so-con base.Report

               1. Not so sure. I think there’s a fair chance that a month afterward, the only persistent memory will be that he took a swing at Bush and connected. For it to cause actual damage, the base will have to both digest the substance of the comment and remember it. I don’t see any evidence that that’s happening with any candidate so far… So why not take a shot at distancing yourself from the Establishment?Report

   2. I do not see how a Trump candidacy could beat Hillary short of some sort of melt down on her part. The Dems get the entire Latino vote, most of the Woman vote plus no reduction in their other constitutencies in a contest with Trump right out the gate. They have none (NONE) of the institutional or doctrinal hobbles that the GOP suffers so they could unleash hellfire on Trump in the ad war and the man is a geyser of soundbites to fuel said soundbites. Finally it’d be even odds if the GOP establishment would actually try to push Trump over the finish line or if they’d concentrate on salvaging downticket races and containing the contagion.

      And finally, let me state this baldly. In a scenario where a GOP candidate is guaranteed the win? I’d rather have Trump in the White House than Rubio or Cruz. No contest. Trump might not actually be a rubber stamp for a GOP Congress and Senate (Remember the Filibuster would be on the next boat to Guatanamo as soon as the GOP controlled the executive).Report

      1. Trump is currently doing a good impression of the Front Nationale: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-35047105. He’s winning support on the basis of open, blatant bigotry and racism. He’s pretty much declared himself hostile to anyone who isn’t a white man. It’s hard to say anything more without heading in a Godwiny direction.

         Him being elected is a absolute worst-case scenario.Report

4. I’m still holding out for Trump vs Sanders, which would basically be the personification of every internet comment section ever.Report

   1. Lol. So true.
      I think I’d actually pay for that one.
      Oh, the comedy.

      Of course, last election gave us an ad designed for Your Moment of Zen, so…Report

   2. I!!! ! MADE $970,000/HR DOING REAL ESTATE DEALS FROM MY COMPUTER. VOTE FOR ME 2 FIND OUT HOW !!!!Report

      1. Make cat Admin, now, plz?Report

      2. Diplomats Hate Him! Discover this man’s one weird trick to scuttle the TPP!Report

   3. It would also be the battle of the New York accents!!

      Queens v. Brooklyn!!!Report

      1. Can someone explain the difference, plz?Report

         1. If you have to ask…Report

            1. Oh you’s guys.Report

               1. I’m from Jersey. What do I know anyway?Report

         2. These days, the Queens accent is likely to be some variant of Latin American or East Asian and the Brooklyn accent NPR voice, unless you’re talking about actual Brooklyn as opposed to the handful of neighborhoods that have come to represent Brooklyn in the popular imagination. In that case, it’s just plain old black people with a heavy strain of generic New York and a smattering of Caribbean patois.Report

         3. Only the dead know Brooklyn.Report

            1. Is it because they adamantly refused to sleep the whole way there?Report

               1. And were victims of sabotage.Report

               2. This is sort of offensive, both as example of ‘rap’ (even if it’s intended as parody) and for using a speech impediment as a metaphor for rapping/scratching, but the subtitle of this 1988 English hit is “No Sleep ‘Til Bedtime”, for obvious reasons (it’s B-side was called “Another Boring B-Side”, and its chorus was “Very very very very very very boring”.):

                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAIOzM7SsMo
                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqnxDJk08vw

                  Yes, these guys make you realize how talented Weird Al actually is.

                  Still, they WERE ahead of the Rickrolling craze by a considerable margin:

                  https://youtu.be/2XKDTOiNqdEReport

5. 2016 – The Blowhard vs. the Haridan! Come see the Clowncar of Republican Davids take on the Democrat Kankles Sampson! See them stab at her, see her drop email bombs like your moms!

   Come one, come all!

   Step Right Up!Report

   1. ROLFReport

      1. NARF!Report

         1. “The same thing we do every four years, Pinky.”Report

            1. Hillary Clinton: Would you mind telling me who you are?!
               Brain: As if you didn’t know.
               Hillary Clinton: Right. As if I didn’t know.
               Pinky: Why, he’s your guest of honor – the Brain!
               Brain: I am the subject of this whole conference.
               Hillary Clinton: We’re here to discuss the human brain.
               Pinky: Egad! There’s a human version of you? Scary!

               Pinky and the Brain, Season 4 Episode 1 – Brainwashed (1): Brain, Brain, Go Away

               Report

   2. Harridan vs. Hadrian!Report

      1. Tear. Down. This. Wall!Report

6. My money his is still on Rubio, but I have seen enough pieces explaining the path Cruz is paving towards the nomination which makes me thinks the current situation is set in his favor.

   I still hope Trump gets the nomination. The head spinning within the Republican Party that will result will be epic.Report

   1. Trump is a mirage. It will be Cruz vs Rubio ultimately unless there’s some kind of insane Bush resurgence.Report

      1. He’s sure lasted a lot longer than I would have expected a ‘mirage’ to last.

         I’m frankly dumbfounded that it’s gone on this long without collapsing.Report

         1. It’s not remotely surprising if you look at the actual numbers. To be the front runner in the clown car you just have to bobble between 20-30% of polled people. Even screening for likely voters is a difficult art. We’re talking about a man who’s been the frontrunner during the time when only the political nerds and geeks are actually paying attention.

            Now sure the GOP doesn’t like what Trump is up to, he’s damaging their brand, damaging their candidates and he’s spooking the herd. But to get rid of him they’d need to get some of the other non-trump candidates to drop out so that opposition to him will coalesce. There’s no single favored candidate out there strong enough to get the establishment to start throwing their weight around this early.
            My personal expectation: Trump will not win a single one of the first four primaries. His candidacy will crater shortly after that, Cruz will kiss his ring (assuming Trump goes down gently) and inherit his supporters and the true contest will begin.Report

            1. When do the White Walkers show up?Report

               1. They showed up just the Other day.Report

                  1. Weirdly, in this case the Wall is supposed to be protection for, rather than from, the White Walkers (also, Joggers).Report

            2. My suspicion is Trump is basically a ringer and the real candidate will be a lot better, although no chance for Gregory Peck at this point.Report

               1. I don’t see him being as intentional as a ringer would be. Certainly none of the GOP powers that be are at all happy Trump is about.Report

               2. Just as well, it turns out Peck was really a racist.Report

            3. We’re talking about a man who’s been the frontrunner during the time when only the political nerds and geeks are actually paying attention.

               So…Trump’s support is going to drop when we add even less-informed voters into the mix?Report

               1. No BB, it means when a pollster asks a random person who they’re going to vote for a sizable number will select the name most familiar to them and that name would be Trump.

                  Look I would be ecstatic if Trump got the nomination. I am on the record that I will get hammered and wear a lampshade on my head if he wins Iowa and New Hampshire. Reality, however, is that Trump is not going to win the nomination. I don’t think he’s going to even get close.Report

            4. I’ve been waiting for his support to collapse for the last four months. There’s only a month left until the primaries.

               I still have trouble believing he could win, but I’m starting to worry.Report

               1. Two months. The first actual primary is February 9th.Report

               2. It remains true that exactly zero people have cast an in any way meaningful vote for Trump.Report

7. As to this:

   “Speaking of race as if they were named Strom,”

   Trump seems a no-brainer to me, and I can kinda sort get that about Cruz (though it seems a reach). But why Rubio? As I recall, he’s the one GOP candidate who has spoken out in support of BLM.Report

   1. “[W]ithout conscience or qualm,” indeed.Report

   2. I did paint with an overbroad brush there, but it’s hard to make “Bore false witness against Planned Parenthood” rhyme or scan.Report

      1. Anyway, just in the interests of equal time:

         Hillary shot Vincent Foster.Report

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