trump is serious!!!!!

[Guinevere]

I've been reading it since I was a kid too, but definitely not as long as you . . .

[Big RR]

[Lord Jim]

Yeah, that's hilarious...

[Burning Petard]

Newspapers in general are reverting back to when they were just give-aways, to promote the opinion of the owner/publisher, or promote local business

The Philly Inquirer, Detroit Free Press, Kansas City Star were all great newspapers I read regularly in the past. I still check out the online versions once in a while. Now they are all just struggling to get by. I get phone calls from the Philly Ink and the Wilmington Journal soliciting subscription for home delivery. The sales pitch is the same--just think about all the sales coupons you will be getting!

Not surprising that for a while the preferred news source for many individuals was the John Stewart late nite tv comedy show.

(((((snailgate)))))

[Lord Jim]

Dozens of GOP delegates launch new push to halt Donald Trump

Dozens of Republican convention delegates are hatching a new plan to block Donald Trump at this summer’s party meetings, in what has become the most organized effort so far to stop the businessman from becoming the GOP presidential nominee.

The moves come amid declining poll numbers for Trump and growing concern among Republicans that he is squandering his chance to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. Several controversies — including his racial attacks on a federal judge, his renewed call to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the United States and his support for changing the nation’s gun laws — have raised fears among Republicans that Trump is not really a conservative and is too reckless to run a successful race.

Given the strife, a growing group of anti-Trump delegates is convinced that enough like-minded Republicans will band together in the next month to change party rules and allow delegates to vote for whomever they want at the convention, regardless of who won state caucuses or primaries.

The new push is being run by people who can actually make changes to party rules, rather than by pundits and media figures who have been pining for a Trump alternative. Many of the delegates involved supported Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) in the primary race but say they are not taking cues from any of Trump’s vanquished opponents.

“This literally is an ‘Anybody but Trump’ movement,” said Kendal Unruh, a Republican delegate from Colorado who is leading the campaign. “Nobody has any idea who is going to step in and be the nominee, but we’re not worried about that. We’re just doing that job to make sure that he’s not the face of our party.”

The new wave of anti-Trump organizing comes as an increasing number of prominent Republicans have signaled that they will not support Trump for president.

In addition, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (Wis.), who is slated to chair the Republican National Convention next month in Cleveland, said in remarks released Friday that House Republicans should follow their consciences on whether to support Trump.

“The last thing I would do is tell anybody to do something that’s contrary to their conscience,” Ryan said in an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” that will air Sunday.

Ryan has endorsed Trump. But his use of the word “conscience” could prove helpful to delegates organizing the anti-Trump campaign because they are seeking to pass a “conscience clause” that would unbind delegates and allow them to vote for anyone.

The campaign kicked off in earnest Thursday night on a conference call with at least 30 delegates from 15 states, according to multiple participants. Unruh and Regina Thomson, another Colorado delegate, have recruited regional coordinators in Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Washington and other states.

Eric Minor, a GOP delegate from Washington state, said that he felt compelled to join Unruh’s group because “I hear a lot of people saying, ‘Why doesn’t somebody do something about this?’ Well you know what, I’m one of the people who can. There’s only 2,400 of us. I’m going to reach out to us and see if there seems to be momentum for this. And if there is, we’ll see where it goes.”

Steve Lonegan, a veteran GOP operative from New Jersey, is not a delegate but is advising the group and building financial support through a super PAC, Courageous Conservatives, that backed Cruz in the primary. The group has said it is willing to spend money on advertising and to help delegates across the country find one another.

Unruh, Minor, Lonegan and a number of others involved in the effort are former Cruz supporters, but they insist they are not working on his behalf. Cruz has said he would not accept the presidential nomination as a result of an attempt to strip Trump of the prize.

Other top Republicans, including Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Rep. Fred Upton (Mich.), said this week that they will not back Trump. Ohio Gov. John Kasich said he’s not ready to support Trump. And Richard Armitage, a deputy secretary of state in George W. Bush’s administration who is close with other members of the party’s national security establishment, announced that he plans to vote for Clinton if Trump is nominated.

Some of Trump’s top surrogates, including Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Rep. Duncan D. Hunter (R-Calif.), have struggled to explain Trump’s policy positions and defend his statements and proposals in the wake of the mass shooting in Orlando.

This isn’t going to go away,” warned Cecil Stinemetz, a delegate from Iowa participating in the new campaign. “Trump or others might say that these are just little groups who won’t do anything and it’ll fizz out — that’s not going to happen. Trump just continues to embarrass himself and his party, and this is not going to let up.”

Several factors will complicate any attempt to stop Trump.

First, Unruh’s plan to unbind the delegates will need support from a majority of the convention’s rules committee, which is scheduled to meet July 14 and 15 — just a few days before the convention formally convenes. If the proposal passes the committee, it would need to be ratified by a majority of convention delegates the following week.

Second, several delegates are deeply concerned about what they say are intimidation tactics by Trump, his campaign[surprise, surprise] and some state party leaders.

One delegate, who commented on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retribution, wrote in an email that during his state party’s first convention organizing meeting, party leaders told the delegates that if they didn’t vote for Trump, “we would be removed from the floor and replaced with an alternate.”

Recruiting like-minded delegates may also be difficult, because the RNC has yet to release a list of the thousands of people elected to travel to Cleveland as delegates or alternates. A final list of names from each state and territory was due to the RNC on Monday, and party officials are reviewing the names to ensure that no elected delegate or alternate has a criminal record, according to party officials.

RNC Chairman Reince Priebus and other top leaders have said delegates are required to reflect the results of state contests.

In response, a group of veteran Republican operatives is planning to raise up to $2.5 million to run an advertising campaign arguing that delegates can do whatever they want. The Citizens in Charge Foundation plans to bankroll the outreach campaign. It has paid for the publication of a book by Curly Haugland, a GOP delegate from North Dakota, who argues that delegates are already free to vote for anyone.

“It’s not an effort for a candidate or against a candidate, but it’s an effort to educate people on what their real authority is and have them get the comfort that they’re not alone,” said Eric O’Keefe, a party operative based in Detroit who is a member of the group. “There’s a whole network of like-minded people.”

“This is not a play for Cruz or Kasich or Ryan,” O’Keefe said. “I trust the delegates that if they understand their authority, they’ll nominate a good ticket.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... story.html

I'm very happy to see that a serious effort is being made, and I wish these guys every success, but it's a real long shot. A lot of folks are going to be very reluctant to take this kind of leap into uncharted waters...

In order for this to have a real chance of success, it's essential that over the next three weeks that Trump continue to drop in the polls, and also show that he will drag down the whole ticket. The key to that happening is for Trump to continue to engage in his dishonest, toxic, bloviating jackassery.

Fortunately, that's something that can be counted on with virtual 100% certainty...

The most important weapon for stopping Donald Trump is Donald Trump...

[RayThom]

Trump is despicable but the cure may be much worse than the disease.

Ryan, Romney, Rubio, Cruz? Same shit, different day. The only thing going for them is they are not Trump. Is that a qualified endorsement for any one of them? John Kasich is the only one with even a slight chance against Hillary but, in his wisdom, I'm fairly sure he'd turn the invitation down.

The smart move? All good Repubs should swallow their pride, vote for Clinton, and then just sit tight and regroup for the 2024 election.

God bless America.

[Lord Jim]

Trump is despicable but the cure may be much worse than the disease.

Ryan, Romney, Rubio, Cruz? Same shit, different day.

Obviously I disagree...

Of the four you mention, I would gladly vote for any of them over Hillary except for Cruz...And given her weaknesses as a candidate, I think any of them could defeat her. (Even Cruz was neck-and-neck with her in the polls)

As I said before if Cruz is the nominee, I won't vote for him, but I also won't vote for Hillary. (I consider them to be equally odious; as opposed to Trump who is in a class of odiousness all his own.) I'd either cast a protest vote or not vote for President at all.

However, even though I wouldn't vote for him, I would much prefer Cruz as the nominee over Trump. I think the party would survive a Cruz nomination in much better shape than making Trump the nominee.

Whether this effort to deny the nomination to Trump will succeed or not, it's important that it is tried. I believe it's essential that when the US public tunes into the convention this summer, that they see that the GOP is NOT united behind this lying, racist pandering, un-American demagogue...

I can't believe I'm saying this, but a convention that is a show of unalloyed party unity is the very last thing we need.

[RayThom]

Groucho Marx said it best, "Time wounds all heels." All the rest is mere rhetoric.

July 18-21 and November 8th will show us who will bleed the most.

[BoSoxGal]

An admirable position, LJ.

[Crackpot]

I agree with Ray in his conclusion if not his reasoning. Overturning "the will of the people" (such as it is) for a different candidate would probably be dangerous for the party and possibly for the country. Immediately disenfranchising all the people who think a Trump presidency would be a good idea (as opposed to those who the lesser of two evils maths work a little different or those who just want to buck/break the system) all at once could lead to serious unrest amongst people that have already proven to have poor judgement or impulse control.

The best bet the republicans have at this point is to learn their lesson, walk back the rhetoric that spawned this candidacy, push this "conscience vote" as far as they can without actually succeeding, buckle down and eat the shit sandwich they made.

At this point making Trump go down in flames is the beat thing for this country and thier party.

[Lord Jim]

Overturning "the will of the people" (such as it is) for a different candidate would probably be dangerous for the party and possibly for the country.

But CP, Trump didn't get a majority of the primary vote, (in fact he never even broke 50% until the NY primary)

Until after NY, (when a lot of GOP voters who weren't true Trump supporters started throwing in the towel) he had gotten 37% of the primary vote and 45% of the delegates, even with all the winner-take-all-states...

Now, that having been said, he still did win the majority of delegates under the existing rules...

And undoing that, is certainly not a habit that a major political party wants to get into...

But this is a unique and unprecedented situation, and in my opinion, that fact justifies a unique and unprecedented approach to try and prevent it...

Yes, there will be a large political price to be paid for taking this path...

But in my view, a much larger political price will be paid by my party, both tactically and strategically, if this man is the nominee...

We're not exactly presented with an embarrassment of good choices here...

But even more than the political calculus, speaking as an American, not just a Republican, this is a guy who has no business having even the slightest chance of occupying the White House...

And if he becomes the GOP nominee, he will have that chance...

Maybe not the greatest chance, but especially given all of Hillary's problems and weaknesses as a candidate, it won't be beyond the realm of possibility for him to win...(before his latest set of rants these past couple of weeks, he was within the margin of error in the poll averages, and led in some of them.)

And "beyond the realm of possibility" is the only place that Donald Trump's chances of winning the Presidency ever belong....

And win or lose on this, as I said, I think it's very important that people stand up at the convention and make clear that the whole of the GOP is not embracing (or even passively accepting) this lying demagogue's reckless, poisonous, and fundamentally un-American agenda...

"Un-American" is not a description I use lightly, but I have no problem applying it to Donald Trump...

Denying people entry to this country based on their religion, establishing a special force to go around kicking in doors to forceably deport 11 million people, and wanting to change the laws to bully and intimidate the press into not criticizing you are all deeply un-American ideas....

The possibility of a Trump Presidency represents a far greater danger to the country than one of the major parties doing a one-off after the fact rules change to prevent that possibility.

[Burning Petard]

With the assumed nominee, does that make the GOP the party of Trumpery?

(((((snailgate)))))

[Lord Jim]

More Companies Opt to Sit Out Trump’s Coronation in Cleveland

Wells Fargo, UPS, Motorola Solutions, JPMorgan and Ford are among previous sponsors that won't give this year.

A growing number of prominent U.S. corporations are opting to drop or scale back their sponsorship of the Republican national convention next month in Cleveland, as the nomination of Donald Trump promises a level of controversy rarely seen in such gatherings.

Among those to signal in recent days that they won't sponsor the convention this year are Wells Fargo & Co., United Parcel Service Inc., Motorola Solutions Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Ford Motor Co., and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. All of those companies sponsored the previous Republican conclave, in Tampa, Florida, in 2012.

None would comment publicly on the reason for the decision or say whether Trump played a role. Many said they wouldn't support the Democratic convention either. The Cleveland host committee, which raised much of the money it needed more than a year ago, says that fundraising remains on track.

Big corporations usually shy away from partisan politics, but they often support conventions to promote their brands and schmooze with state and federal officials. Trump’s nomination threatens both of those priorities, according to Republican operatives who advise companies on political activities. A Trump spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/artic ... -cleveland

[Econoline]

[RayThom]

From Drumpf's lips to your ears...

[Bicycle Bill]

"Nobody's ever been more successful than me!"
"Nobody knows banking better than I do!"
"Nobody knows more about trade than me!"
"Nobody knows more about taxes than me, maybe in the history of the world!"
"No one respects women more than me!"
"Nobody knows the system better than me!"

Damn, someone find that nobody!!  He's the one who should be running for office.

-"BB"-

[Econoline]

The GOP should nominate nobody for POTUS...and tell Trump they're taking his advice.

[Econoline]

U.N. Warns Trump May Be 7 Months Away From Acquiring Nuclear Weapons

NEW YORK—According to an alarming new global risk report published Tuesday by the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump may be just seven months away from acquiring nuclear weapons.

“A year ago, the threat didn’t seem great enough to warrant serious concern, but at this moment, a nuclear-capable Trump is now a very real and very imminent possibility,” said UNODA high representative Kim Won-soo, adding that the agency’s current projections showed Trump potentially procuring nuclear weapons, as well as advanced ballistic missile technology, as early as January of next year. “The longer we wait to act, the closer he comes to obtaining a nuclear arsenal. The final red line for preventing him from acquiring this devastating capability comes in early November. If he is not properly dealt with before then, there will be no way to stop him from going nuclear.”

While U.N. officials said the international community should prepare for the destabilizing effects of Trump acquiring such weapons, they still held out hope that citizens of his nation might yet rise up against him and topple the extremist before he posed a global existential threat.

source (of course)

[Lord Jim]

Anti-Trump delegates raising money for staff and a legal defense fund

Supporters of a growing anti-Donald Trump movement announced plans Sunday to raise money for staff and a possible legal defense fund as they asked new recruits to help spread the word with less than a month until the Republican National Convention.

Having started with just a few dozen delegates, organizers also said Sunday that they now count several hundred delegates and alternates as part of their campaign.

"As we carefully consider not only the presidential nominee but the rules of the convention, the platform of the Republican Party and the vice presidential nominee, remember that this is true reality TV – it is not entertainment," Regina Thomson, co-founder of the group now calling itself "Free the Delegates," said Sunday night.

The group is led by delegates seeking to block Trump at the GOP convention next month in Cleveland by changing party rules so that they can vote however they want -- instead of in line with the results of state caucuses and primaries. It is quickly emerging as the most organized effort to stop Trump and coincides with his declining poll numbers.

Concerned Republicans also are increasingly alarmed by Trump's rhetoric, including his racial attacks on a federal judge, a fresh call made Sunday to begin profiling Muslim Americans, and his support for changing the nation’s gun laws in the aftermath of a mass shooting in Orlando.

Trump called attempts to strip of the party nomination "totally illegal [complete bullshit] but also a rebuke of the millions of people who feel so strongly about what I am saying." On Saturday, he accused former opponents Jeb Bush and Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) of trying to undermine his candidacy.

In a conference call Sunday night, leaders of Free the Delegates repeatedly insisted that they are not working on behalf of any of Trump's former opponents. They also lashed out at top party leaders.

Thomson, Eckstrom and others addressed at least 1,000 Republicans nationwide who participated in the call, organizers said. The Washington Post obtained call-in information from a caller, but there was no way to independently verify how many people participated.

Also on the call was Steve Lonegan, a Republican consultant from New Jersey who is advising the campaign on fundraising and media outreach. He asked participants to donate to Eckstrom's PAC, reiterating that both men are volunteering their time and would spend the PAC money only to help track down like-minded delegates, hiring staff to assist the campaign while in Cleveland and to help any delegates who may face threats or pressure.

Delegates in several states are under pressure not to join anti-Trump groups. In North Carolina, some have proposed fining delegates or kicking them out of the party if they vote against Trump. In other states, party leaders are threatening to strip delegates of their credentials if they buck primary results and vote against Trump, according to delegates who have contacted The Post. Some reached out on the condition of anonymity, saying that spouses are fearful of physical threats if they speak out publicly about their plans.

Kendal Unruh, one of the group's founders, told callers that she is planning to propose adding the "conscience clause" to the convention's rules so that there is no confusion about what delegates can do. While some Republicans believe that they already can vote their conscience, Unruh said that adding the rule would end any dispute.

"I’m so convinced that it’s going to pass with a majority," she said.

Unruh and other delegates were pleased to hear House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) tell NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that it's "not my place to decide" whether delegates should be unbound at the convention.

"It is not my job to tell delegates what to do, what not to do, or to weigh in on things like that. They write the rules. They make their decisions," Ryan told NBC.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/pos ... ense-fund/

[oldr_n_wsr]

And I've been reading it since I was seven years old,

Damn, I wish I had hung out with you when I was a kid.

But seriously, how did you get interested in this stuff so young?