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Thursday, April 7, 2016

Sick Of It!

I’m sick of all the squabbling about the GOP candidates!

It’s a circular firing squad — with fellow conservatives turning on each other.

Can we not understand that even those with whom we disagree really are trying to discern which candidate is best for our republic?

Some advice from How to Get Organized and Stay Focused in a Modern World (hat tip to Adrienne):
Avoid anger porn

Between liberals rage-watching Fox News, conservatives gnashing teeth over Obama dancing the tango in Cuba, and anyone with a pulse reading Youtube comment sections, people are drawn to opinions and news that enrage them. I call this anger porn, and I’m not sure why we insist on consuming it. At least with regular porn, there’s a pay-off. With anger porn, we just get angry and frustrated. We can’t affect the world events being reported on. We can’t change that other guy’s disgusting opinion (nor can he change your horrendous one); we can reply to comments, but that just turns into a flame war without victors.

Anger consumes you. It depletes you. It’s a huge waste of time and attention.
Read the entire article HERE. Worth your time. Then, self-evaluate.

116 comments:

  1. It should never be personal. Rational people should be able to lay out their cases....but this cycle is a bit different in that the leading candidate is neither a Republican nor a Conservative, and is seen by a great many people [myself included] that said candidate would be just as harmful to the Republic, as either from the opposing party.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CI,
      Well, it has become personal.

      Nasty, even.

      Delete
    2. Hugh Mann said


      "Well, [the campaign] has become personal.

      Nasty, even."

      No kidding!

      Nasty is okay, frankly. It's all the arrogant condescension from self-appointed know-it-alls that frost my keister.

      Delete
    3. Hugh,
      Yes, the arrogant condescension is the worst part.

      And nothing is being accomplished, is it. Reince Priebus has told people to "Shut up and sit down. We decide the nominee." Or some such.

      Delete
    4. Living in Europe, I saw how it is not personal when they talk politics...you can REALLY disagree vehemently but if we use facts/figures, we are respected on both sides. BIG difference.

      Here in L.A., the Left assumes you're a leftwinger and makes truly outrageous comments about Conservatives...and that doesn't work the other way around. We conservatives stay mostly silent because you can't teach everyone, and the Left has tabula rasa to attack...that's just the truth, and I hear it from all my cons. friends.
      I once had a liberal say "boy, I never argued with a conservative who knew her stuff and respected my position before". I was flattered but the truth is we do know our stuff; it's the emotions of the left which are cheap and easier to sell.
      That's just a fact.

      Delete
    5. The emotions of the left?

      The fringe right is freaking out about what bathrooms transgenders use and you talk about the emotions of the left?

      You "know your stuff"? How is that established?
      I'd say that someone who thinks Faux Snooze presents "both sides" isn't even aware of the scope of facts and opinion let alone "the truth".

      "And that doesn't work the other way around". Just ask kid or any of your regulars. They'll give an objective opinion.

      As for the Republican primary, own it. This is the creation of the Republican voter. CI got that one spot on.

      Delete
    6. No, Ducky; you see children are scared of public bathrooms now, as schools are reporting, because little girls aren't used to having little boys in the same bathroom. Wake up...Who's 'freaking out"? the children. I think that's not fair to them.

      It's FOX NEWS and you STILL haven't noticed they have about 70% more political diversity on their show than CNN or MSNBC? And you say I don't know MY stuff? :-)

      If you don't live here, and don't have a mind open enough to engage with conservatives in person, please stop (finally?) trying so hard to insult what you don't know..it's dumb. I'm telling you my experience. You don't have it...negating it's just plain stupid.
      Thanks

      Delete
  2. I’m sick of all the squabbling about the GOP candidates!

    Listen, I GET that sentiment, but isn't that what the primary season is for? I agree with the rational part. Someone should tell that to the Trumpets who are marking their calendars for the "day of rage".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. DaBlade,
      Listen, I GET that sentiment, but isn't that what the primary season is for?

      Not to the extent that situation is right now, IMO. It's gotten way too personal -- with disregard for Can we not understand that even those with whom we disagree really are trying to discern which candidate is best for our republic?

      Delete
    2. Hugh Mann said

      Can we not understand that even those with whom we disagree really are trying to discern which candidate is best for our republic?

      I disagree. The problem with the GOP right now should be labeled The Establishment v. Rebels for Reform.

      The GOP Establishment is rotten, self-serving, hypocritical, short-sighted and addicted to Power and Control over all other considerations. The Establishment must be weakened, humiliated and deposed.

      The Hillamonster might just as well be an integral part of the GOP Establishment. Isn't obvious those slimy creeps in the GOP would prefer to have the Hillamonster as president than Donald Trump or any of the others who've challenged and defied McConnell, Boehner, Romney, McCain, Dole and all the other RINO'S?

      This campaign stinks to high heaven.

      Delete
    3. Hugh,
      The GOP Establishment is rotten...

      This campaign stinks to high heaven.


      YES!!!

      Delete
    4. What is this RINO?

      Is it anything like a unicorn?

      Delete
  3. I reserve, defend, and frequently exercise my right to belittle the intellect of anyone who has considered Trump for 0.34 nanoseconds or longer and still supports him.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You have that right, but what good does it do?

      Delete
    2. Well, that's a deeper question that turns on why the Trump supporter is doing something Trump himself doesn't do - consider Trump a serious candidate.

      "I thought my campaign would be over when I called for a ban on Muslims." - Donald Trump

      Still calling it. Trump will withdraw and endorse Hillary in July.

      Delete
    3. Beamish,
      Ann Coulter disagrees. Of course, she is a Trump supporter.

      I don't recall an election season this acrimonious.

      Delete
    4. Beamish,
      It is my view that we don't have "a true Conservative" in this race to the White House.

      Some say that Ted Cruz is one, but I have serious doubts about him.

      Besides, Ted Cruz will not be the nominee. Just watch.

      And neither will Donald Trump.

      Maybe Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio.

      Delete
    5. ...and as "arrogant" as my anti-Trumpette stance may seem, we're still dividing the electorate into thirdd - those with you, those against you, and those who wonder why the light sockets bite their tongues in a French kiss.

      Donald Trump has a lock on one-third of the Republican Party, which itself has a lock on one-third of the electorate. One-third of one-third gives Hillary Clinton an 89% landslide.

      Delete
    6. Beamish,
      How much of a lock does Cruz have?

      Delete
    7. Hugh Mann said

      Shouldn't we be most sick and tired of condescending jerks with an undeserved superiority complex whose first and foremost reason for commenting is to snipe, and jeer with withering scorn and unregulated sarcasm? Miserable types like this are non-partisan. Libs and cons alike produce too big a share.

      Criticism should not be welcome anywhere unless it is intelligent, impersonal and genuinely constructive.

      Delete
    8. @AOW

      Ann Coulter's opinions are about as out-of-place in conservative and libertarian thought as a roll of paisley wallpaper on sale at a pie shop. Didn't she try to force feed everyone the Romney-is-a-conservative cow dung in 2012? My secondary reaction is "Ann Coulter is still on the Internet?"

      2016 is the fruit of Obama's IRS war on conservative fundraising. Yeah, let's get behind the "self-funding" Hillary Clinton financier and try to keep a straight face when we call his ideas "conservative."

      I think I would rather see Trump and the Republican Party go down in flames and sometime in Hillary Clinton's first term ask those who still brand themselves with the stench of the GOP if they are ready to be a small government conservative-libertarian fusionist party again.

      Delete
    9. @"Hugh Mann" aka FT

      Personal sneering aside, I admire your Quixotic ability to ignore your obvious and inherent inferiority to everyone while remaining self-convinced that you've contributed to the discussion due to eliciting a reply.

      Delete
    10. Beamish,
      sometime in Hillary Clinton's first term ask those who still brand themselves with the stench of the GOP if they are ready to be a small government conservative-libertarian fusionist party again

      I don't think that an awakening will happen even then.

      Delete
    11. Beamish,
      Don Quixote had his positive qualities.

      I think that one point Cervantes was trying to make is that people need to be a balanced combination of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Both have contributions to make.

      BTW, I love Don Quijote. I actually read the entire novel -- the first novel ever, supposedly -- in the original Spanish. A bear to read in many ways, but worth it because of the many plays on words. Those plays on words get lost in the translation.

      Delete
    12. Beamish,
      Didn't [Ann Coulter] try to force feed everyone the Romney-is-a-conservative cow dung in 2012?

      Yes, she did.

      But as far as I can tell, she is correct about the Ted Cruz flip flops she cited in that particular essay.

      Delete
    13. Okay. I lack the intellectual masochism required to click on a link to an Ann Coulter column, but let's pretend she had a lucid moment and what she has to say about Ted Cruz has any merit whatsoever. Help me I've disconcerted myself.

      Alright, now what? Is Ted Cruz less conservative than Donald Trump? Is Ted Cruz less libertarian than Donald Trump? Does Ted Cruz's ideas and proposals pale in comparison to the stillborn oatmeal offered by Hillary Clinton's fundraiser Donald Trump?

      Delete
  4. One reason we are sick of it is because we have 24/7 non stop coverage. There is literally no other "news" being reported. Especially on Fox which is fixated on Trump. I doubt it was that much different in the past, but our awareness of the importance of this election makes many of us especially annoyed with the triviality of the process.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bunkerville,
      Yes, there never-ending news cycle is part of it.

      The same coverage is all over the print editions of newspapers and magazines, too.

      **sigh**

      Delete
    2. Donald Trump has received more media attention FOR FREE that all the other Republican AND Democrat candidates have paid for combined.

      Donald Trump farts in church film at eleven.

      OMG Donald Trump had the guts to fart in church! SWOON!

      Delete
    3. The media is covering his childish Twitter trolling like it's breaking news.

      Delete
  5. Beamish,
    "I thought my campaign would be over when I called for a ban on Muslims." - Donald Trump

    Based on some of Michael Gerson's columns, what Trump said about Muslim immigration indeed appears to have been Trump's unforgivable sin. Gerson writes about that aspect time and time again. His needle is stuck -- or else certain GOP leaders have tasked him with writing those columns.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hugh Mann said

    A foul ball like this PP (apt name!) should not be allowed to post at any decent blog. All he she or it is doing is posting SPAM - canned anti-Trump propaganda and progressive talking points.

    Accusations that give no evidence to support them should be scrubbed. remarks quoted out of context never qualify as proof of anything beyond the malicious intent of the commenter.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Trump supporters should emulate their Dear Leader and flee serious discussion and go piss themselves on Twitter.

    ReplyDelete
  8. The media doesn't help. Politcs must be like a plane crash because they sure love to talk about it/them. ANd of course with the media, they are pounding on the repub candidates and carrying the water for the human garbage dems.

    But yea, gotta love the people who say things like Oh, I couldn't vote for him, there';s just something about him (pick one). Really versus clinton????? Wow.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'd need to see the receipts before I began fantasizing that any reporter is being paid by the GOP to make Trump look bad BY QUOTING HIM VERBATIM.

    Could it be possible that Trump is the horrible candidate he projects himself to be?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Beamish,
      I don't have the receipts, of course.

      But I do know Gerson's background -- and I'm not speaking of what I have read on the web. Remember that I live inside the Beltway and rub shoulders with many people who are merely web or newspaper presences.

      I wish that I didn't know what I know.

      Delete
    2. Well, my only real quarrel with the "GOP establishment" (whoever that is today) this time around is that they allowed Donald Trump on stage at all - largely to derail actual conservative candidates. The same "establishment" that ran a candidate solidly to the far left of Obama and called him "conservative." If Romney is conservative, both everyone and no one is.

      Ted Cruz, love, hate, or ambivalence toward him, represents the last exasperated gasp of the conservatism / libertarianism the Romney machine wants out of the Republican Party.

      Donald Trump is their coup stick.

      Delete
    3. Beamish,
      the "GOP establishment" (whoever that is today)

      For starters: Karl Rove and Reince Priebus. Those two foisted Mitt Romney on us as the GOP candidate in 2012.

      Delete
    4. Let's see if they do the same thing in 2016,

      Delete
    5. 2016 Republican nomination season:

      Tune up the engine or boast that at least we have a car on concrete blocks somewhere among the lawn ornaments.

      Delete
    6. Karl Rove and Reince Priebus. Those two foisted Mitt Romney on us as the GOP candidate in 2012.

      Delete
    7. Karl Rove and Reince Priebus. Those two foisted Mitt Romney on us as the GOP candidate in 2012.

      * my .mil domain has blocked my ability to engage the delete button for some reason...but will let me post. Odd

      AOW, the GOP deserves appropriate scorn for creating this cycle's environment, but would you agree that the Trump phenomenon is the direct result of the individual voter?

      Delete
    8. CI,
      I'm not sure that I understand your question. Clarify, please.

      Delete
    9. One could argue popular vote to delegate allocation ratio and see Trump's delegates inflate his actual popular support by nearly triple.

      Just saying.

      Delete
    10. What I meant is, is there a rational delineation of blame for the predicament the GOP finds itself in? The party elite has been unresponsive to the desires of the electorate [rule 40 Ron Paul change as an example.....the 'next man up' tactic as well]; but it's the GOP voters who have propelled a vile, liberal, charlatan to the primaries lead....all but assuring a Clinton victory [as long as she remains un-indicted at least].

      Does blame lie more towards the party elite or the voter?

      Delete
    11. CI,
      What the party elite did -- in effect, betrayal -- led to the voting patterns we're seeing, IMO.

      Actions lead to reactions.

      Delete
    12. Oh, I get what the party has done over time.....I'm just a bit perplexed as to why so many in the GOP would - in response - betray their supposed Conservative principles, and vote for a big government huckster with less maturity.

      Delete
    13. CI,
      Voting with the middle finger directed at the GOP's management? Some have mentioned that such is their motive.

      Delete
    14. I do agree that gifting this election to Hillary, may just be about the strongest message voters could send. I hope we can weather the storm.

      Delete
    15. I'm just a bit perplexed as to why so many in the GOP would - in response - betray their supposed Conservative principles, and vote for a big government huckster with less maturity.

      What does 2000/2004 (Dubya) have to do with THIS election?

      Trump can't do any WORSE.

      Delete
    16. Sure he can. He's a childish liberal with no respect for the Constitution. A vote for Trump is a vote for Hope and Change.....with worse hair.

      Delete
    17. The only positive I see to a Trump Presidency is if you don't like what he's doing, you can troll him on Twitter until he changes direction.

      Donald Trump his comfy with the size of his poll and has the big jetliner to prove it.

      Delete
  10. Good heavens. You post about being tired of the acrimony and elicit acrimony. Very strange, indeed.

    I've been doing some very deep research on Cruz and I'm not liking what is being revealed.

    I have not endorsed either Trump or Cruz. I'll vote for whomever is the nominee.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adrienne,
      You post about being tired of the acrimony and elicit acrimony.

      I expected nothing else.

      Everyone's views are set in stone, and everyone hates anyone who doesn't hold those same views.

      THIS just popped into my head:

      Nobody likes me,
      Everybody hates me,
      Guess I'll go eat worms.

      Long, thin, slimy ones,
      Short, fat, juicy ones,
      Itsy, bitsy, fuzzy wuzzy worms.

      Down goes the first one,
      Down goes the second one,
      Oh, how they wiggle and squirm.

      Up comes the first one,
      Up comes the second one,
      Oh how they wiggle and squirm.


      My boss used to quote that ditty when teachers were bitching about how hard a life they had.

      Delete
    2. Adrienne,
      I'll vote for whomever is the nominee.

      I understand your reasoning. The lesser of two evils, right?

      Delete
    3. If Obama proves anything, it's that it's better to have a President who changes and acts on every poll than one who rigidly runs on pure Marxist idealism.

      Delete
  11. Beamish,
    Possibly of interest (not Ann Coulter, nor anything that she linked to as far as I know):

    Ted Cruz Flip-Flops Now Says He Supports “Fair Trade”.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yawn.

      The TPP wording has not been finalized, so one would expect fluidity of positions upon it as that wording changes.

      Regardless, it's a sight better than getting solidly cornpone riled up about China as Trump does, when China isn't even a party to the TPP and has not even a shartstain to do with it.


      Delete
  12. The Republican party is in full panic mode right now. As we inch closer and closer to the first presidential primaries, Donald Trump hasn’t gone away. In fact, most polls show his numbers at all-time highs. If you’re a rational Republican (yes, they do exist) you know there’s no way your party can go into 2016 with Trump as your candidate and expect to win.
    Despite popular belief, Republican voter turnout would be low: Yes, the “base” will be highly enthusiastic and rabid for a “President Trump” – but almost nobody else within the party will be. Politicians with future ambitions to either extend their careers, or advance them in some other way nationally, are not going to want to risk being tied in with Trump. Not only that, I’ve spoken to more than a few moderate to fairly conservative Republican friends who’ve told me they won’t vote for him because he’ll destroy their party. As I’ve stated before, I do believe there are more than just a few Republicans who would rather see Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders elected, and focus on winning in 2020, than risk seeing Trump dismantle the GOP from within, potentially doing damage from which they might never recover.
    And another thing, soes anybody really respect Sarah Palin on a political level? I know she got popular with the VP nomination that ended up bombing McCains campaign, then used her popularity to start a reality TV show, however, I hear many conservatives talking about this influence that she has... I just don't see it. Listening to her talk is like listening to a mindless robot spitting out conservative talking points to a kindergarten class. Why is Trump putting so much weight on this endorsement?? Is it because they are both Reality TV stars? Can anybody explain this

    ReplyDelete
  13. Trump supporters hate opinion polls now that Trump is consistently losing all of them. With 34% of the votes and 47% of the delegates awarded thus far, Trump has peaked and now wants rules changed for him, despite the largesse the rules have already given him. Last time the rules were monkeyed with to keep a candidate on top we got a far-left Massachussetts whacko-environmentalist gun-banning gay marriage licenser that professed his love for firing people when real unemployment was 17% and rising.

    I'd say the "anger at the Establishment" is a residual from that, and the Trump "candidacy" is entirely focused upon never addressing that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Beamish,
      I'd say the "anger at the Establishment" is a residual from that, and the Trump "candidacy" is entirely focused upon never addressing that.

      I agree with the first clause but not the second. Trump has addressed it -- albeit not quite directly.

      Last time the rules were monkeyed with to keep a candidate on top we got a far-left Massachussetts whacko-environmentalist gun-banning gay marriage licenser that professed his love for firing people when real unemployment was 17% and rising.

      I think that is true! In fact, I KNOW that it is. Inside the Beltway and all that.

      Now, who might have been the 2012 nominee if that hadn't happened?

      I asked the Beltway insider with whom I spoke face to face for 2.5 hours in October, but he wouldn't give me a name. "I don't recall," he said.

      Delete
    2. Well, 2012 came down to Romney's vanilla flavored Obamaism vs. Sick Rantorum's war on libertarianism / Satan vs. Jimmy Carter / Al Gore supporters waving Gadsen flags.

      Delete
    3. Best ride the snake to the ancient lake, beamish. Morrison loved it!

      Delete
    4. "Set your principles aside and vote for Romney anyway."

      Donald Trump, frontrunner of the party without principles.

      Delete
    5. This is the End, my only friend, the End.

      Delete
    6. Imagine my shock when the popular vote totals revealed someone outside Romney's immediate family voted for him.

      Delete
    7. Bill Clinton is trolling the Black Lives Matter movement lol

      Delete
  14. If you think this election is nasty go read some history. Two of the nastiest elections were those of Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln. Jackson viewed each negative as a personal insult, and the press hated Abe Lincoln along with all the slave-holding Democrats.

    I agree about the anger porn. Once we let our anger take over, it saps our emotional energy and can have physical results. How about anxiety attacks, or high blood pressure. Anger can kill the angry person.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bob,
      Yes, those were two very nasty election cycles. The latter led to civil war, didn't it?

      Delete
    2. Yeah. It was pretty nasty. So far, the rhetoric is not as bad as it was before the Civil War, but abortion, and the liberal penchant for smothering the First and Second Amendments may foster another civil disturbance.

      Delete
  15. ...and emulate the Rovites?

    Maybe they should just join Bill Bennett at the Roulette table and piss away another $100 million on "Stop Kasich" ads...

    ReplyDelete
  16. I thought Rovites were the "establishment" that wants Kasich to stay in and start a floor fight at a brokered convention.

    Someone's confused, and it ain't me.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Yeah, Rove's crew is REAL tough when they've got money in the bank. Let's see what they can do with all those Trump/Cruz delegates that need to pass new nominating rules at the convention... even your boy isn't THAT confused.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Dole '96 will be a fond Republican presidential memory if the Establishment gets its way in 2016.

    ReplyDelete
  19. When push comes to shove, the Rovites will kiss the Donald's ring and settle for a Rubio VP.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I'm more interested in the rules Donald Trump wants to change now that he's losing support. Like the decades old primary rules in several huge delegate states that disqualify candidates if they refuse to back the party nominee.

    Trump may just screw himself with his "I won't support anyone but myself" stance.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Funny, you don't hear the other candidates vowing to support Trump if HE wins...

    ReplyDelete
  22. FJ,
    And you won't either.

    But the Party will expect everyone to support "their boy." Jeb? Marco? Paul Ryan?

    ReplyDelete
  23. Igor Puketoff said

    Behold The Age of Insolence in full flower.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Anger Porn: That Beamish Fellow is a raging addict.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Not angry at all. Didn't the TV tell you that Trump is tapping into your anger?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not a Trump fan. The Anger Porn comment was clever and quite appropriate, and you, my little raging buddy, are the Incredible Sulk of Anger Porn, talking of putting people through wood chippers, flaming any and all who dare disagree with you. Are you just going to do it until you need glasses? It's called blind rage with reason.

      Delete
    2. Running Romney supporters through tree mulchers would be tragic. Especially if no one captured it on film to enjoy with popcorn.

      Delete
    3. Should the autograph be made out to FT, FreeThinke, or Helena Handbasket?

      Delete
  26. ’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
    ___ Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
    All mimsy were the borogoves,
    ___ And the mome raths outgrabe.

    “Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
    ___ The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
    Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
    ___ The frumious Bandersnatch!”

    He took his vorpal sword in hand;
    ___ Long time the manxome foe he sought—
    So rested he by the Tumtum tree
    ___ And stood awhile in thought.

    And, as in uffish thought he stood,
    ___ The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
    Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
    ___ And burbled as it came!

    One, two! One, two! And through and through
    ___ The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
    He left it dead, and with its head
    ___ He went galumphing back.

    “And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
    ___ Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
    O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!”
    ___ He chortled in his joy.

    ’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
    ___ Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
    All mimsy were the borogoves,
    ___ And the mome raths outgrabe.


    ~ Lewis Carroll (1832–1898) - from Through the Looking Glass

    ReplyDelete
  27. Replies
    1. You remind me, Beamish. I know how the Republican convention ends.

      On the 50th ballot your man Lyndon LaRouche parachutes in and accepts the nomination.

      Delete
    2. Your memory has a flaw, Dücky. LaRouche was a proud Democrat.

      Delete
  28. The topic's gotten old.
    The topic's gotten old.
    Hi Ho the Derry-O!
    The Topic's gotten old.

    The comments are a bore.
    The comments are a bore.
    Hi Ho the Derry-O!
    The comments are a bore.

    It's time to change the thread.
    It's time to change the thread.
    Hi Ho the Derry-O!
    It's time to change the thread.


    --- Salamo Moishe Maimonides

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, it's time to change the topic.

      The change of topic occurs on Tuesday. I'm busy!

      Delete
    2. Aha! I just stumbled across something to post!

      Delete
  29. The process for choosing the 2016 candidates has the potential to turn ugly:

    WASHINGTON — When it comes to nominating presidential candidates, it turns out the world’s foremost democracy is not so purely democratic.

    For decades, both major parties have used a somewhat convoluted process for picking their nominees, one that involves ordinary voters in only an indirect way. As Americans flock this year to outsider candidates, the kind most hindered by these rules, they are suddenly waking up to this reality. And their confusion and anger are adding another volatile element to an election being waged over questions of fairness and equality....


    Millions of voters cast their ballots for particular candidates, and those voters are finding out that their votes don't make a tiddler's damn.

    Reince Priebus says, "Sit down and shut up. We choose the nominee."

    Why are we having primaries at all?

    Sure a lot people want Trump shut out of the convention.

    But imagine if it were the candidate you support who was getting shut out?

    The RNC can change the rules right up to within on week of the convention.

    What kind of process is THAT?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sure, but but Trump should likewise quit bitching and whining about GOP primary rules put in place before he decided to run. His 'threaten to sue' schtick is an embarrassment to this nation.

      Delete
    2. CI,
      bitching and whining

      Maybe.

      But as as result, more people are learning about the nominating process. It's about time that people took interest in that process; after all, that process gave us McCain and Romney as the GOP candidates in 2008 and 2012, respectively.

      Who will that process give us this time?

      Delete
    3. CI,
      GOP primary rules put in place before he decided to run

      Well, yes.

      BUT the RNC can change those rules at any time -- right up to one week before the convention. Or so I've been reading in many sources.

      Delete
    4. I don't remember this much interest in rule changing when they enacted roadblocks to Ron Paul. But then again, Paul wasn't a Twitter troll.

      Delete
    5. Additionally, I'd much rather the nomination process be educated in high school and college civics classes, than on-the-fly during national primaries.

      Delete
    6. CI,
      I don't remember this much interest in rule changing when they enacted roadblocks to Ron Paul.

      More people are accessing the news via digital now, too.

      There also seems to be more voter interest in this election cycle.

      Delete
  30. Trump's delegates were allocated from less popular votes than other candidates' delegates. Looks to me like the system is rigged to favor Trump.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Beamish,
      Trump's delegates were allocated from less popular votes than other candidates' delegates.

      How so?

      Delete
    2. I think that Cruz said this morning: "Trump will win on the first ballot but will not win on the second ballot."

      Huh?

      Delete
    3. Popular votes per delegate. Trump is getting a delegate for about 1000 votes. Cruz has gotten a delegate per 2000 to 3000 votes.

      Delete
    4. (if delegate allocation rules were uniform among states and apportioned by actual votes cast for a candidate, we'd be going "who's Trump and why are we worried about the guy in fifth place?")

      Delete
    5. Beamish,
      Why does that kind of that allocation exist in the first place?

      In other words, what is the rule being applied?

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    6. Is Trump winning in the states which are more heavily populated?

      Delete
    7. Worse. He's winning in states that have "open" primaries. Registered Republicans aren't interested in Hillary's fundraiser.

      Delete
  31. The GOP is shooting itself in the foot:

    The Colorado Republican Party's decision last summer to jettison a presidential poll at its caucus on Tuesday looks worse with every passing day.

    Except for the actual delegates to July's national convention, Colorado Republicans who want to have a say in the future of their party have mostly been stripped of a role in the most interesting and surprising nominating struggle in decades.

    They'll stand on the sidelines on Super Tuesday while other states determine whether Donald Trump continues his march toward a possible nomination or whether his rivals can slow him down.

    Meanwhile, local airwaves have been featuring ads on behalf of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, since the Democrats are still holding a traditional caucus at which participants get to signal their support for a candidate. It's known as democracy. The Colorado Republican executive committee needs to reacquaint itself with the concept....


    Trump is going to make hay with this -- and I don't blame him for doing so.

    Both Parties are crooked!

    ReplyDelete

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