I got a bit irked at a Tweet from Lindsey Graham last night:
All the possible Trump VP choices mentioned – Gingrich, Christie, Pence – are talented, smart & would be good choices for different reasons.
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) July 14, 2016
Which is irrelevant, since the top of the ticket is utterly unthinkable, as the senator knows… https://t.co/JltO5Gpqgs
— Brad Warthen (@BradWarthen) July 14, 2016
I should have said, “as the senator well knows.” Lindsey Graham, more than any other Republican with the possible exception of Ben Sasse or Mitt Romney, has eloquently articulated the reasons why Trump is unthinkable.
So why this ridiculous reaching for straws to make him feel better about the ticket? The most wonderful running mate in the history of the world wouldn’t change the fact that if elected, he or she would hold an office worth no more than a bucket of warm spit, while He Who Should Not be Named would be President of the United States.
Such an effort to find good things to say about the ticket on the part of Republicans who know better is unseemly in the extreme.
The identity of the running mate is a distraction, a digression, and no one who knows what a threat Donald Trump is to the nation should indulge in it for an instant.
By the way, Trump confirmed a few moments ago that the individual in question is Mike Pence, governor of Indiana.
Like I care.
OK, I’ll say one thing about him: I have a low opinion of anyone who would abandon the people of Indiana to help Donald Trump get elected. That cancels pretty much anything positive he might conceivably bring with him…
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When do we get to the bread and circuses part of the election?
Oh, it’s going to be awesome. Trump steaks will be served, and he’ll have gladiator matches between Muslims and Mexicans…
Meanwhile the reaction to the new logo for the Trump-Pence ticket is getting a bit silly:
Some have also noted that to most of us “TP” means “toilet paper.” Thank goodness their initials weren’t B and J…
Then there’s this:
I guess is just a question of which direction America gets screwed – Hillary from the back or Trump from the top.
Protip: Before you unveil a new logo, focus group it with some smart-aleck teenagers first.
Remember those American Express “Do you know me?” ads with William Miller? This is the fate that awaits Pence in about 16 years.
“Who cares who Trump’s running mate is?” -Brad
A very good question has been asked and, as has often been true with some of Brad’s better questions, serious issues degenerates into levity.
In line with the levity, here are two, relevant humor-provoking questions with the same “fit” as others:
1) Any thoughts yet as to who Trump’s cabinet appointments are going to be?
2) Any thoughts yet as to what actions Trump’s legal team have planned to thwart the usual hordes of illegal November voters in CA, WA, etc.?
Could be a good time to trade tin-foil hats for thinking caps.
Actually, Pence may be “abandoning the people of Indiana” because they’re threatening to abandon him. His proposed re-election bid (which had to be decided by *today*; had Trump waffled too long, Pence would have been screwed) has been looking pretty iffy. Basically, it doesn’t appear that anyone with a decent current gig wanted this one.
The only important aspect of Trumps vp pick is how it will impact the dynamics of the fall election. Sadly the Pence pick will likely help Trump and by extension the prospects of the dreadful GOP. I was personally pulling for Sarah Palin.
I don’t get the dire hatred for Trump when the only other choice is Hillary. One is as bad as the other. It’s not like one is so wrong and the other will be a Godsend. In reality, they both suck and one will only suck 1% less than the other one. If Hillary does win, I doubt we’ll see celebrations in the street.
Wow! I disagree with you so much. The degree to which Trump would suck is exponentially greater than the degree to which Clinton would suck. Really. Exponential! Which is a lot.
Trump does not think before he talks. He says what he thinks people want to hear in the moment using 3rd grade vocabulary and says anything he will do will be “great” no matter what it is or if he knows anything about it. If he thinks insulting people will get applause out of a crowd, he will do it. Don’t you remember talking to people who talked like this….in third grade? Subtlety and forethought and emotional maturity are not his strong suits.
Clinton is a control freak – she is overly careful with what she says. She is thoughtful and works well with others (ask republicans who served in the Senate with her). Plus she is intelligent and well informed. She typically speaks respectfully to people.
Which of the aforementioned traits would serve us better when talking to foreign leaders as the representative of our country. This really is not hard. The difference is exponential.
You see what is happening, right? Trump is slowly evolving into a more viable candidate. He’s never run for office before and is learning add he goes along. When was his last controversial moment? Back in April?
Meanwhile Hillary has drifted lower and lower while Gary Johnson steals more votes from her than Trump. She’s one misstep from blowing this.
April? Really?
Uh, that statement didn’t even register with anyone outside the media bubble. It got zero traction in the Trump is crazy narrative. Your attention to the daily details of what Trump says is way outside the norm.
This, of course, is the problem with democracy.
Anyone who paid no attention to that, or worse, doesn’t see what’s wrong with it, clearly should not be voting…
Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…
Yep, it’s chock full of flaws.
Especially direct democracy, which makes me shudder. But sometimes our less direct variety can give me chills as well, and not in a good way. It’s been handing the country setbacks ever since Andrew Jackson beat John Quincy Adams in 1828…
I’m not ever voting for Trump or Hillary. I’m just an observer of what is happening. Trump reached his lowest point sometime in March. Since then he has stabilized and added to his support.. inch by inch. Meanwhile, Hillary has gone into bunker mode and is using Elizabeth Warren (!) as her attack dog. Big mistake on Hillary’s part as Warren comes across as shrill and has zero credibility with anyone except the “I hate rich people” left wing of the left wing.
Doug, seriously? Then again you might have a point. No matter how bizarre his statements ‘misstep’ doesn’t really fit anymore.
I think Trump’s running mate cares who’s Trump’s running mate is, and Pence got the call.
I know of no one who’s pleased with the choices we face in this election except for the diehard Hillary and Trump supporters. But this is an unusual year. This is not progressives versus conservatives, or even really Democrats versus Republicans, it’s the pissed-off versus everybody else. I think the polls will be unreliable because the pollsters haven’t figured out yet what a representative sample of this cycle’s voting public is and are oversampling or undersampling various demographic groups. I think the primary results show that pollsters generally performed poorly.
On top of that, Hillary, her campaign, Democrats, and much of the media are making several serious mistakes. Their most serious strategic error is minimizing the terror threat. They’ve done so with Orlando, trying to turn that into a hate crime, and blaming firearms. The New York Times at first used the phrases “truck attack” and “truck attacker” to describe the Nice slaughter, emphasizing the guy’s record as a petty criminal alcoholic who beat his wife until she threw him out. France blames ISIS, ISIS is taking credit, and it appears the perp had a conversion a la Saul on the road to Damascus.; France wants more citizens to join the reserves to fight this menace, realizing that they’re on the way to a 9/11 on the installment plan, (Hat tip to IowaHawk.) Now they realize the value of a well-regulated militia. Nice!
The approach of trying to downplay terrorist activity is dangerous: it makes us look like the weak horse and increases the probability of attacks. Orlando was not a hate crime, the guy was not a whacked out Lutheran singing “A Mighty Fortress is our God,” he shouted “Allahu Akbar” throughout his calls with the cops. And those were the last words of the Nice trucker too.
Meanwhile the Dems are cozying up to the race crazies like BLM and the New Black Panther Party, a dangerous move because such groups are not controllable and don’t abide by typical political practices. Even minor stuff like blocking traffic and worse only creates more Trump voters: they don’t seem to care about that. The Democrats may find after the conventions that silly antics and bad behavior is driving more voters to Trump.
I fully expect the whacko Dems to fall back on their urine and feces munitions like they did in Denver in 2008 and in Austin in 2013. Such behavior will repulse scores more potential voters.
Hillary herself said several stupid things this week, the sort of stuff Trump and his minions are already starting to use against her. She criticized Trump for his morals. The guy with the good-looking, successful kids, even an ex-wife who doesn’t trash him, is assailed by the spouse of Mr. Alley Cat himself? That will surely come up, as will her charge that Trump is the kind of guy who will set the IRS on his enemies. If he does, he’ll just be following the Obama practice.
I’ve told family and friends that I’m gonna start a bender on the Friday before the election, then crawl to the polling place on Tuesday. It’s the only rational way for me to cope with what’s before us.
The threat from organized religious terrorists is tiny compared to other dangers. Over stating the risk and fear mongering only stokes the passions of those disturbed individuals who might otherwise lay low.
Our best hope to retain some sanity is to elect the most knowledgable, experienced candidate in the history of the nation. Hillary Clinton has shown she can take a punch, including many a sucker punch from the obsessed, clueless GOP and there partners in nonsense, Fox News.
I’ll let Juan Zarate respond to Bud for me…