By sjwny, a Trail Mix Contributor
I wasn’t a Trail Mix member back in 2008 & from what I’ve read of the experience, sorta glad I wasn’t. I am a member now, proudly, & enjoy all the people who comment. I don’t take any negative comments personally. Heck, I’m happy when anyone replies because I know they took the time to read what I wrote. I respect that. Thank You.
What saddens me is when people leave or threaten to leave because of something written about a Candidate. Don’t leave. Now is the time to offer up the best defense for your Candidate. Do your best to convince me to support & vote for the person you feel so passionately about. Take Me To Your Leader. You have the power of persuasion on your side. Every person who comments on this site is intelligent, decent & has integrity. This is why I joined. This is why I stay.
Always appreciate your voice of reason, SJ. Thanks.
NYT take on last night: Hillary Clinton Is Shaken and Donald Trump Roars Back
Was it someone here who said, Hillary is running for president and Bernie is running for something else. Still true, but looks like he’s got the money and momentum to keep his something else going until summer. Meanwhile, looks like only a brokered convention can stop Trump.
sjwny, well said. and who wants to read a boring one-sided blog anyway?
sad that ad hominins have raised their ugly heads on the trail. whether it’s my conspiracy/corruption theory or poohbah’s conspiracy/corruption theory it’s still just a theory, an unproven supposition. few of us live in glass houses of fairness and balance (altho’ fearless leader has come close in happier times past you must admit). most of us are biased and creative in feeding that bias so either cut each other slack or cut out your own slant. one of those mote and beam in the eye thingys.
boston globe: Bernie Sanders stunned Hillary Clinton in an upset win in the Michigan Democratic primary Tuesday, revealing the former secretary of state’s vulnerabilities in a crucial Midwest state where foreign trade and economic issues played a pivotal role.
Clinton cruised easily to a victory in Mississippi, another of the four states voting Tuesday. But the surprising result in Michigan showed that Sanders’ anti-Wall Street message, and his demands for sweeping change in Washington, resonated powerfully in a state with a large number of white, working-class voters.
Ha, Patd, think you might be romanticizing my past. Was quite rough on Obama in 2008, recall often being accused of bias by his folks.
We all have our biases.
I’ve had some of my rough edges polished along this trail. I think I am better than I was before. Maybe.
Thanks, Solar, Flatus, Whskyjack, Purple, Champ, Jamie, CBob, Craig, and all you other tough guys.
And, I still have my biases. Nyah, nyah, nyah.
Old Anglo-Saxon Joke
Take me to your Ealdor.
Congrats on Bernie’s win in Michigan.
Craig… you are becoming hysterical… chill pills can do some good.
OK RR, I’ll try to calm down.
new CNN poll, Trump closing in on 165 winner-take-all delegates in Florida and Ohio:
In Ohio, Trump holds 41% to Kasich’s 35%, with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in third at 15% and Rubio in fourth with 7%.
And in Florida, Trump holds 40% to Rubio’s 24%, with Cruz at 19% and Kasich at 5%.
Not even a contest for Democrats. Clinton leads Sanders 63% to 33% in Ohio and 61% to 34% in Florida
Sjwny – Good on you. This is TrailMIX, not Trail-(your candidate’s name here)-Fan Club.
As for 2008, Tony tried to remind me of how nasty things got here, but I honestly don’t remember it being like that. I remember calling Obama an “empty suit” and freaking out when McCain picked such a horrible veep. If you connect the dots, we can blame Ted Cruz on McCain’s pick. The choice heard around the world is still reverberating.
If we all need to be on the same side of something, let it be freedom of speech…and dreading Ted.
Craig – I think it was a WAPO article that said Bernie was running for something else. Of course, they are owned by Bezos (of Amazon fame), and Amazon was given large gov’t contracts when Hillary was SOS…but it’s a huge company, so there may or may not be any there, there, with WAPO writing articles that try to marginalize Bernie.
That seems to be what the media is trying to do with Trump, but the villagers seem to love the creature the media built.
I had a chuckle when Bernie was doing his speech yesterday evening. I don’t recall the exact wording, but he started to phrase a problem/goal in the context of the “Peoples …” then he caught himself and rephrased to remove the Socialist start to the phrase. More seriously, what hath the Democratic Party wrought when they decided to add an avowed Democratic Socialist to their caucus in order to gain a vote in the Senate?
nate silver last night:
As I wrote earlier today, complacency was a risk for Clinton voters in Michigan, especially with an open primary with voters potentially casting ballots in the Republican contest instead. “In sports, we’d call Michigan a ‘let-down game,’” I said.
but Flatus, if not for Bernie we wouldn’t have Larry David as Bernie…
Craig 🙂 While I’m thinking about Bernie and his bio, do you or any of your sources have definitive info on how he came up with the funds for his continuing attendance at the Univ of Chicago? Sure wasn’t based on his academic or disciplinary record once there.
don’t know, Flatus, but that’s when he joined the Socialist League, maybe they gave him a scholarship
I posted that “running for something else” which was a repost including title from WaPo as blue pointed out. If Bernie does something like MI in OH and/or FL, we’ll be talking about him turning the corner and running for Pres. Of course there is that little detail of delegates.
20% was the weird miss yesterday. Polls had HRC 20 points up in MI and 40 points up in MS. The polls missed by 20 in each state. How do polls miss by 20%? Twice.
BTW, did the State Department give Amazon those contracts? No. Did those get awarded while HRC was SoS? No. The first contract was with the CIA ($600M over 10 years) and it was awarded in early 2013. Amazon also was involved as a subcontractor with 5 of 10 vendors who won a contract with the Interior Department – again in 2013. In 2014 Amazon won a contract with DOD.Now, I’m no historian, but I think the CIA, DOI and DOD are not part of the State Department and 2013 & 2014 were after HRC left State. If there were big contracts between 2009 & 2013 with DOS, I can’t find anything that supports such a suggestion. But keep pounding, Blue.
538 nate silver also said:
The question I am asking myself now is whether this means the polls are off in other Midwestern states that are holding open primaries. I’m talking specifically about Illinois and Ohio, both of which vote next Tuesday. The FiveThirtyEight polling average in Illinois gives Clinton a 37 percentage point lead, while the average in Ohio gives her a 20 percentage point lead. If Michigan was just a fluke (which is possible), then tonight will be forgotten soon enough. If, however, pollsters are missing something more fundamental about the electorate, then the Ohio and Illinois primaries could be a lot closer than expected.
Either way, this result will send a shock wave through the press. Heck, I’m a member of the press, and you might be able to tell how surprised I am. This will likely lead to increased news coverage of the Democratic race, which Sanders desperately needs in order to be competitive next Tuesday and beyond.
“…Heck, I’m a member of the press…”
Pat, I wasn’t aware of that, not that I’m a bit surprised considering the incisiveness of your mind and the top notch quality of your research and writing.
fivethirtyeight
The Endorsement Primary
In presidential primaries, endorsements have been among the best predictors of which candidates will succeed and which will fail. So we’re keeping track.
By Aaron Bycoffe
UPDATED 4:37 p.m. EST | Mar 8
Candidate
Representatives
1 point each
Senators
5 points each
Governors
10 points each
Total points
MarcoRubio
168
TedCruz
44
JohnKasich
32
DonaldTrump
29
Candidate
Representatives
1 point each
Senators
5 points each
Governors
10 points each
Total points
HillaryClinton
478
BernieSanders
5
Larry David is inspired 😉 Phil Hartman remains the best Reagan, in my humble opinion.
Watched the Smothers Brothers as a kid & my brother had Pat Paulsen for President signs, buttons. Looking back, Mr Paulsen made more sense than most of the other Candidates:
“Assuming either the Left Wing or the Right Wing gained control of the country, it would probably fly around in circles.”
“I’ve upped my standards. Now, up yours.”
The late comedian Peter Cook said the following: “One of the ways to avoid being beaten by the system is to laugh at it.”
Amen.
flatus, puhleeze no no no
that “…Heck, I’m a member of the press…” was nate silver talking. sorry the attribution wasn’t clear.
earlier I tried putting things like that in italics but the lighter print made them hard to read so I gave up and try to show the quote directly following the link from which it comes.
Bernie and Hillary debate in Miami tonight 9pm ET on CNN (live streamed on Univision.com, WashingtonPost.com, CNN.com and FUSION.net). I’ll put up a chat thread unless someone else does.
Of course the polling is off… polling is done by phoning voters is it not… so many people dumping their landlines. And the frequency of the phone ringing when it’s your state’s turn has turned the electorate off big time. With the invention of caller ID… who the hell answers their phone in Missouri when it says Las Vegas, NV. Only the very elderly… do they even understand the questions? And I don’t know about anyone else… but I don’t answer the polls that pop-up when I’m online. I don’t want the bastards getting my email address.
from rollingstone:
Hillary Clinton vs. Bernie Sanders: The Good Fight
Hillary and Bernie have waged campaigns full of vision, ideas and promise — and have shown us the best in American politics
Pat, My bad, I thought the new paragraph was you talking. In any case, frame your report card, you deserve it!
sjwny… this place used to be brimming with humor. The saddest part for me when these national elections take place is how much humor is sucked out of here.
Craig… I don’t have a problem with the criticism of any candidate. But an obvious personal vendetta against one candidate is unprofessional, IMO.
last I read somewhere hillary leads 55 to 34 percent among women and bernie has 53 to 41 percent among men. was this also the break down of voting blocs yesterday? if so, did anyone see numbers on whether there were more men voting in Michigan primary? did the ladies not turn out or did they take the opportunity to vote against drumpf thinking hillary was going to win anyway (because of the bad polls)?
Oh it’s bigger than one candidate, RR. My beef is against the cesspool this entire city has become, and those who keep it that way. At least Bernie manages to live in it without it living in him.
The DNC and the RNC, in conjunction with the various arms of the media who support them, have done their best to manipulate the process.
our fearless leader has spoken
Craig…. fine. I’d like to see you level your criticism at all of it… including the Supreme Court and Citizen’s United. Including an obstructionist Republican Congress. Including the spineless Democrats… all of them… not just the Clintons.
And also including your chosen candidate, Webb… who chose to quit instead of standing on the stage and debating Hillary as Bernie is doing. I applaud Bernie for his tenacity.
all in good time, RR, it’s a long list
Actually working on a television script for a Hollywood agent to run out my feelings. Even if it never makes air it’s good therapy
Craig,
I wanted to throw in my 2 cents worth on the exchanges generated by the Washington Free Beacon article. For context, I’m not a big Hillary fan, nor am I a big Bernie fan.
When you look at the FEC report, it’s helpful to look at both the contributions and the expenditures. On the expenditure side, those entries cited by the Beacon lead one to conclude the HRC campaign paid those funds to Hillary herself. But, if you look at the contribution side, those same amounts are clearly labeled as “in-kind contributions” made personally by Hillary to the campaign.
If you look at any candidate’s committee reports, you see payments to payroll companies like ADP – and you don’t see to whom ADP transmitted those funds. So, you’d have to do a lot of digging to find out who is on the payroll of any of these campaigns.
Is any of this stuff good for the HRC campaign? Of course not. In the midst of all the attempts to cast a negative light on any and all of the candidates’ campaigns, it becomes even more important to be informed. At the same time, it becomes even harder to determine what’s true and what’s not.
Hope you are well!
Chicago Trib archives from 1960 has info on tuition at U of Chicago.
Sand, thanks for the clarification. HRC camp needs to get this abundantly clear and above reproach before the general, asked and answered, old news by then. All I am saying. Just the sort of hairy-legged frog that can jump into the headlines.
“working on a television script for a Hollywood agent to run out my feelings”
way to go! how far back covering d.c. does your epic inchoate span, the carter days or all the way back to the days as senate page?
thinking too far ahead just for the fun of it, who’s gonna play you in the movie?
Craig … About HRC making it clear about paying or not paying herself – yes, you are likely right. However, there’s a good-sense limit to how much time a candidate should spend answering every accusation hurdled around. I’d say just inoculate her by going on the record via some brief statement explaining it more clearly.
The shenanigans involving politics has been written about many times. I don’t care if you’re talking about things at the local level at a small town such as my own. There’s always stuff going on behind the scenes. Craig… if it makes you feel better… write away. But, IMO, you will not affect what’s happening one wit… it’s the way the world and human nature works. I don’t bother getting all bothered by it.
I would relish an inside view. Comedy, drama-dy or horror?
Corporations are, for the purpose of campaign contributions, now considered to be people. So, human nature? No, not at the individual level. Mob psychology, absolutely.
Well, RIP to George Martin. He produced the music that served as my primary musical enjoyment for the past 50 years or so.
If they asked him, he could write a book
About the way they talk, and whisper, and look.
He could write a preface
On how they met
So the world would never forget.
And the simple secret of the plot
Is just tell you they don’t care a lot.
And the world discovers
As his book ends,
How those d.c. movers
Shook down friends.
[my apologies to lorenz hart]
As it’s panning out thus far, I’d say comedic horror is the genre I am falling into. The Office meets House of Cards.
As far as DC goes, decent Americans didn’t sacrifice their lives since the Revolutionary War to create an oligarchy masquerading as democracy. I choose to be bothered, no matter how pointless.
and George Martin….I’m with pogo on that…..
Comedic-horror. That sounds about right.If anyone wants a distraction, you can play the virtual Theremin with today’s Google logo.
Anybody gonna volunteer to post a chat thread starter for tonight’s dem debate? Email me if you need help or access. help@craigcrawford.com
If Wall Street Democrat Hillary is elected President, I would bet, there will be an attempt to privatize Social Security just as Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich plotted to do in the late 1990s in order to transfer tens of billions of additional dollars from the Social Security Trust Fund’s almost 3 trillion dollars to Wall Street and put Social Security at risk.
Social Security Privatizer Larry Fink, chairman and chief executive officer, of Giant Asset Manager BlackRock, an American multinational investment management corporation, seems to be a Clinton Treasury Secretary in Waiting. Fink’s tax proposal mirrors something that Hillary Clinton has advocated for recently. And Clinton has echoed Fink’s views on short-termism. That’s raised talk on Wall Street and in Washington that Fink may be angling for the job of Treasury Secretary should Clinton win the presidency.
Sjwny and blueINdallis I could not agree with you more.
I believe nothing that Hillary Clinton says. She is just like her husband Bill who is a liar!
In Bob Woodward’s 1994 book ‘The Agenda,’ Woodward tells about a time between when Clinton was elected in November and he came into office in January. Woodward was sitting in on meetings that was planning the economic policy under Clinton. Bill Clinton transformed his economic agenda from what he had called as a candidate putting people first, it was an investment in infrastructure and jobs and education, to basically doing the bidding of Wall Street. Bill Clinton said what we’re doing now is turning against the people that voted us in and supporting the bond market and Wall Street.
That is what I call a liar!
give em hell harry
“Republicans have not always been this irrational and vicious,” Reid said Wednesday, calling the GOP the “party of Trump, the caucus of Trump, the conference of Trump.”
Republicans, led by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., remain united. They counter that the American people should decide in November who will choose the next justice, especially with primary votes already cast in nearly half the states. An Obama pick would tilt the ideological balance of what has been a mostly conservative court for decades, and the GOP base wants none of it.
So no confirmation hearing, no vote, no meeting with Obama’s pick to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia.
“I think it’s very important that we continue to harp on the fact that all we’re asking people to do is their job,” Reid told The Associated Press in an interview in his Senate office on Tuesday.
I am beginning to wonder at this point why Obama has not nominated a Supreme Court pick? Are potential candidates turning him down, not wanting to be part of this partisan rodeo?
purple – Two liars and a Fink. That does not bode well for anyone but their cronies, the 1%ers.
George W wanted to do the same thing to Social Security. She has shifted her position on things (or hidden them) only because Bernie started getting traction and she had to do so. She is dishonest about where she really stands on the issues, and, she has repeatedly shown poor judgment when in a position of authority. If anyone but Hillary acted the way she has, they would not be given a pass.
I found it interesting that she set up a company to oversee her private server. So, the Clintons pay themselves and get some sort of a tax break for circumventing the government’s email system? The Clintons, and folks like them, have a lot of financial tools to let them live the high life.
No more Bushes in the WH, and no more Clintons, either.
The first guy who had his name floated for SCOTUS publicly declined interest. That may be the case. Anyone interested would prefer not to be raked over the coals, and probably for nothing.
It also may not be the story he wants to be in the news when he leaves office, especially if unsuccessful.
What if Trump asked Bernie to be his running mate?
I can’t imagine why anyone would say “Yes” to a Supreme Court nomination. S/he will be like a ping-pong ball in the on-going, mean game that will last until at least E Day. A nominee that would have a chance after the election might have that chance killed by entering the circus now. But, if Obama can find someone brave enough to take that chance, he should put that name forward forthwith!
yes Sand, suspect that might be what is happening. Anyone who would subject their reputation to this probably isn’t qualified to be on the court. Yet another example of how this clueless man should never have been elected president in the first place. Losing political authority to pick a justice and no idea what to do about it. So pathetic.
from cnn :
Adalberto Jordan, a federal judge in Miami seen as a top contender for the Supreme Court vacancy, has withdrawn his name from contention, a lawmaker told CNN on Wednesday.
“He pulled himself out of consideration,” Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida told CNN. Nelson said Jordan made the decision because of a “personal, family situation” involving his mother.
“I talked to him … I think that’s unfortunate because he is squeaky clean,” Nelson said, citing Jordan’s long judicial record and his overwhelming confirmation by the Senate in 2012.
Jordan, who would have fit the bill of another Obama appellate nominee who has an engaging personal story, was recently vetted for a federal judgeship and won a large majority in the Senate when confirmed.
arm twisting anyone?
from finance yahoo:
Jeb Bush is reportedly planning to meet with three of the remaining Republican candidates for president before the Florida primary next week, a Bush representative confirmed to Business Insider.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich will meet with Bush in Miami over the next couple of days. The candidates will be in town for the Republican presidential debate on Thursday night.
Bush will not meet with Donald Trump, the real-estate developer who is the clear frontrunner for the Republican nomination.
from fortune:
Perhaps the most notable thing to come out of the episode was a “Make Donald Drumpf Again” hat modeled after Trump’s ubiquitous baseball caps with his slogan, “Make America Great Again.” The product is described on HBO’s website as “A hat, specially designed to be worn on the head, as a reminder of the real Donald Drumpf,” along with the added fact that “All hats are being sold at cost, because we know nothing would irritate him more than someone choosing not to make a profit.” They sold out in just over a week due to “unexpected ludicrous demand.”
from the new yorker:
Populist Triumph: Big Wins for Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump
ByJohn Cassidy
Trumph
For the record Article II flatly states the president “shall nominate” — no exception for unless the Senate says it won’t hold hearings. Obama faces a clear obligation here.
neil bush, who helped engineer the bankruptcy of Silverado S&L, costing taxpayers $1.3 B!LL!ON$ in 1980s money, has signed onto the cruz campaign as a money manager.
The cruz campaign could be broke before this day is over.
Recess nomination. Then let the repubs try to pry the new justice out of the seat.
I’d go for a young (28-32) female civil rights lawyer from either midge mcconnell’s home, Louisville, or a from a big swing state. Some experience arguing before the SCOTUS very helpful.
Craig, In 2007 and 2008 Barack Obama projected so brilliant an aura that it was almost blinding. In my almost 73 year lifetime, I haven’t seen a politician with his gifts: his writing talent; his eloquence; his charisma; his mastery of public policy; his ability to run a national campaign against formidable rivals. During the 2008 election, Obama promised us hope and change, recovery and prosperity. When Barack Obama was elected with strong majorities in both houses of Congress, he had an unprecedented opportunity to shape American history by bringing the country’s financial oligarchy under control. Obama could have done great things. Instead, he gave us deterioration, poverty, despair and steadfastness. This is the Obama approach to middle class interests in a nutshell. Opt for initiatives that are clearly going to fail over ones that have good odds of success but cost real money. Obama seems to be getting his wish of being a transformative president. Everything he touches turns to dross. When Obama got into office, he, under the direction of Valerie Jarrett, started to do the bidding of his supporters of Chicago FIRE (the finance, insurance and real estate industries). Chicago FIRE power is disguised by the camouflage of community uplift; augmented by the authority of academia; greased by billions in foundation grants; and wired to conventional FIRE by the terms of the Community Reinvestment Act of 1995. Let us not forget that Valerie Jarrett, sometimes described as “the other side of Barack’s brain,”… Read more »
8:30pm ET chat thread coming for Bernie/Hillary debate on CNN at 9pm
Ha! Bernie would be Trump’s veep the same day Trump’s sister gets sworn in as a Supreme Court justice.
which big win, bernie’s 8 tenths of a point? the only one with a big win last night was hillary with an 82% win.
Comedic-horror to sci-fi with Trump/Sanders. 🙂
new thread