Trump New Favorite to Take Republican Nomination, Betfair Says
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-13/trump-new-favorite-to-take-republican-nomination-betfair-says

:D

Michale

Kudos to O'Keefe for bring this out into the light..

Michale

i agree.

Since yer here...

EXCLUSIVE: Textbook sales leader says national Common Core education standards are 'all about the money' as teacher insists bureaucrats created a 'new f**king system that f**king sucks to sell more books'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3394331/Textbook-sales-leader-says-national-Common-Core-education-standards-money.html#ixzz3x2sQLXLx

Comments?? :D

Michale

Aber naturlich... :D

Personally, I think El Chumpo has more in common with Obama than with Trump..

Both lord over the common people and believe that the rule of law doesn't apply to them...

Michale

Or, more accurately.. The criteria....

well, Idi amin wins at being dead, wins at being a dictator, wins at being born in africa.

IMHO, Trump vs. El Chapo is a much more interesting contest.

JL

Record numbers of sexual assaults by Syrian refugees are being committed in various European countries where record numbers of refugees have been accepted...

If I were inclined to spin things, I could say that those who advocate the welcoming of these refugees are committed to a....

.....wait for it....

WAR ON WOMEN.....

Good thing I am not prone to "spin", eh? :D

Michale

I have seen my fair share of shitholes, albeit not this particular one...

While it is patently obvious that places such as these bear witness to the depths of human depravity, you also (if you are lucky) see the heights of human kindness and compassion...

If you do get the opportunity, make sure you have a battery of Cipro, and Azithro, body armor that fits Medium weight or better, lots of money for bribes and payoffs, local security, and a gun (mainland HND is the only other place I carry... albeit illegally).

Tempted to explore how you feel about the Left Wingery and gun control, but my dinner is ready.. :D

Michale

Rubio: Jan 2011 to Dec 2015, 1482 voting opportunities 197 of which were missed or again percentage wise 13.3 percent of voting opportunities missed.

Those stats are meaningless without knowing WHAT votes were missed..

For example...

All of Rubio's votes that were missed had to do with naming post offices and such..

All of Sander's votes that were missed had to do with civil liberties, declarations of war, domestic surveillance and patriot act additions..

You see my point?? :D

Rubio has missed votes that are of ideological import to his political world view and issues he is campaigning on. Sanders has not missed those important votes.

Rubio has missed important votes to ensure the operation of the government and important votes for items in his committees....Sanders again has not.

Apparently you do... :D

I stand corrected...

So, basically, it's a numbers game. Missing SOME votes is OK.. Missing a LOT of votes... Not so much..

I tend to be more of a black and white guy.. A senator is either doing his job or running for POTUS... Can't do both effectively..

In your world view you might perceive that is how it works...poor poor republicans always getting picked on...:D

I don't give a rip about Republicans..

MY beef is that Democrats ALWAYS {sic} get a pass for the exact same transgressions that Republicans are getting "picked on"...

For me R or D does not matter ( I am an equal opportunity bigot....I hate all politicians equally)

That's my line!!! :D

But hay, I'll take you at your word... It would come easier, though, if you could point to anytime you took Democrats to task as equally as you take Rubio to task... :D But I accept your word, regardless...

Michale

ON a serious note, I would not have minded seeing the non-touristy parts of Haiti.. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option..

I was in the very non-touristy parts a few months ago, if you want to experience a society devoid of a middle class, high corruption, and virtually no infrastructure it is THE place to go for that close to home that is not an active war zone.

If you do get the opportunity, make sure you have a battery of Cipro, and Azithro, body armor that fits Medium weight or better, lots of money for bribes and payoffs, local security, and a gun (mainland HND is the only other place I carry... albeit illegally).

Don't get me wrong there are some wonderful humans in Haiti, it is just a hard scrabble as is to be expected when you have to fight for everything....when you only get nothing.

Mighty is the Argle Bargle in this one.... :D

That seems to be a criteria cherry picked to support the position you hold..

Sorry it is not cherry season, so none were picked....

The criterion used is one that allows for a true apples to apples comparison....in other words both in office and both having the same number of voting opportunities... but since you have never really been into that sort of thing here is the unvarnished apples to oranges.

Sanders: Jan 2007 to Dec 2015, 2835 voting opportunities 102 of which were missed or percentage wise 3.6 percent of voting opportunities missed.

Rubio: Jan 2011 to Dec 2015, 1482 voting opportunities 197 of which were missed or again percentage wise 13.3 percent of voting opportunities missed.

Convenient that, based on the cherry picked criteria, the Democrat is OK, but the Republican is bad... :D

Not really, I find it "bad" in general, using my original comparison criteria I find it a bit odious that once the " season of pandering " began his job performance dropped to 70 percent from a high of 86.7 percent and has remained that way thus far into the campaign season. Sanders on the other hand has held at a steady missed vote curve and is kind of in the middle of the pack missed vote wise so to speak.

Rubio has missed votes that are of ideological import to his political world view and issues he is campaigning on. Sanders has not missed those important votes.

Rubio has missed important votes to ensure the operation of the government and important votes for items in his committees....Sanders again has not.

I will at this point mention that i freely give passes to both for missed votes on bills on non consequence...I.E. "declaring February the year before an election cycle national political pandering month" or " the resolution to require obfuscation in political debates act " .... of which both have done and is counted against their total missed vote tally.

Funny how that always works out that way, eh??

In your world view you might perceive that is how it works...poor poor republicans always getting picked on...:D

In the initial BHO run for office I was a huge proponent of him resigning his seat, precisely because of the fact he was not doing the job he was elected to do which is to read legislation and vote on it on behalf of the people who elected him and to press for the interests of his constituency....(or... at least that is how it is supposed to be, but lets face it they really just need to make sure they are voting on the bills that their corporate interest block pays them off to vote on, screw the rest of us).

For me R or D does not matter ( I am an equal opportunity bigot....I hate all politicians equally) it really is as simple as if you are not doing your day job while running for higher office GTFO and let someone who has the desire to actively do the job take your place.

If Bernie starts to falter in his job performance I will be right there to suggest it is time for him to pick one or the other....

Depends on the category... :D

Or, more accurately.. The criteria....

Michale

Looks like the ZERO (0) is universally replaced with the (o)...

I wrote Shr -0- edingers Cat.. The system replaced the 0 with an o...

Something new, CW??? :D

Michale

Rubio is currently, Pre-anouncement of the congress totally abdicating their responsibilities, skipping 30 to 32 percent of his votes, Bernie 3 percent.

That seems to be a criteria cherry picked to support the position you hold..

Convenient that, based on the cherry picked criteria, the Democrat is OK, but the Republican is bad... :D

Funny how that always works out that way, eh?? :D

Welcome back from Haiti....the fun part of Haiti is a great way to make a contribution to the local auto repair economy and also to provide additional support to the local law enforcement officials detailed to support your security.

I didn't much test the defenses of Labadee, being too much enamored with drinking.... and drinking.. and drinking.. :D

ON a serious note, I would not have minded seeing the non-touristy parts of Haiti.. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option..

RD,

So to whom am I giving assent when I'm silent? You or the commentor who disagreed with you (or that you disagreed with)?

Shr0edingers Cat... :D

JL,

Trump vs. El Chapo - who wins?

Obama vs. Idi Amin - who wins??

Depends on the category... :D

Michale

Welcome back from Haiti....the fun part of Haiti is a great way to make a contribution to the local auto repair economy and also to provide additional support to the local law enforcement officials detailed to support your security.

And, of course, I am sure that ALL of you would say the same thing about Bernie Sanders, right??

Right???

I might be inclined to agree with you if Bernie wasn't doing his job. If Bernie was skipping votes at the level Rubio has been on the campaign trail AND additionally at the same rate in the 9 month lead up to the kickoff of mind numbingly LIV voter season you might have a point.

But he is....so you don't...

Rubio is currently, Pre-anouncement of the congress totally abdicating their responsibilities, skipping 30 to 32 percent of his votes, Bernie 3 percent.

I thoroughly expect the vote records to change over the course of the coming campaign assuming of course that there is anything to vote on allowed to the floors....

THAT must be it!!!! Which would mean that "silence gives assent"...

So to whom am I giving assent when I'm silent? You or the commentor who disagreed with you (or that you disagreed with)?

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/L9cKio2rE1g/maxresdefault.jpg

JL

EXCLUSIVE: The FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of private email as secretary of state has expanded to look at whether the possible “intersection” of Clinton Foundation work and State Department business may have violated public corruption laws, three intelligence sources not authorized to speak on the record told Fox News.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/01/11/fbis-clinton-probe-expands-to-public-corruption-track.html

Michale

OK, I can agree with that..

...a sense of futility that what one posts is unlikely to persuade or otherwise be engaged with meaningfully.

Oh THAT just can't be it... :D

...one is not ready to take a position because one is still thinking through what has been written before or doing some research of their own.

A possibility as well..

...other people have already expressed the same POV and one doesn't want to waste others' time with a "me too!" reply.

THAT must be it!!!! Which would mean that "silence gives assent"... :D

What form of rhetoric is that? Proof by exhaustion?

Often times the only proof I get.. :D

Oh, and welcome back, Michale!

Tanks.... And planes!!! :D

Now that we are past the holidays and I have caught up with what I missed, I am sure things will settle down around here.. :D

Michale

SILENCE GIVES ASSENT

Absurd. Silence can also indicate...
...not enough hours to respond to everything posted in the comments section on an Internet blog.
...a sense of futility that what one posts is unlikely to persuade or otherwise be engaged with meaningfully.
...one is not ready to take a position because one is still thinking through what has been written before or doing some research of their own.
...other people have already expressed the same POV and one doesn't want to waste others' time with a "me too!" reply.

Silence gives assent is an important sentiment when one wants others to have the courage and conviction to be counted on a particular topic of controversy that a group is ready to commit to prosecuting. It's a call to arms, a call to action.

"Silence gives assent" is not an affirmative proof that if one doesn't reply in particular to every post you seem to find time to make, one must agree with you. What form of rhetoric is that? Proof by exhaustion?

Oh, and welcome back, Michale!

Feel free to chime in if any of ya'all disagree with my points..

Like me and Biga agree..

SILENCE GIVES ASSENT :D

heh

Michale

Didn't you say something along the lines of that if Trump polled consistently above 30% than his nomination is all but assured???

Trump said a lot of things in December that shocked the inside-the-Beltway set. His proposals were declared political poison by many. His fellow Republicans (some of them, at least) even tried to denounce him. And his poll numbers went up.

And *WHY* did that happen??

Until ya'all come to grips with the WHY, all of the Trump predictions will be as inaccurate and worthless as all the Global Warming predictions...

Michale

And, of course, I am sure that ALL of you would say the same thing about Bernie Sanders, right??

Bernie MUST relinquish his Senate seat immediately..

Right??? :D

Michale

As I understand it, these guys were charged, tried, found guilty and served their sentence..

Now, the Obama Administration wants to CHANGE their sentence to make it harsher..

Surely that comes under the scope of Double Jeopardy, eh??

Obama and his minions fraked up... Why should they get to impose ANOTHER sentence without another trial??

And they CAN'T have another trial because that would be TEXTBOOK Double Jeopardy....

Regardless of how I feel about their methods, the fact is that the Federal Government is in the wrong here..

Michale

So....

Black Lives Matter is a terrorist group..

OK... I'm down with that... :D

Michale

In other words, civil forfeiture is fine in pursuit of a chosen ideological agenda...

Hmmmm Where have I heard something like that before??? :D

Michale

Really??

NO BLM violence??

A “Black Lives Matter” march against police brutality in Oakland turned ugly, with protesters reportedly attacking a journalist, smashing shopfront windows, throwing bottles, and defacing the main Christmas tree in the heart of the city.

As Black Lives Matter activists gathered this week in Ferguson, Missouri, to mark the first anniversary of Michael Brown’s death, their planned anti-police brutality demonstrations were marred by violence that gave opponents more pretext to attack their movement. As the world watched the demonstrations on Twitter and Facebook, protesters were branded criminals and hooligans amid isolated incidents of shootings, looting, arson and assault on police officers.

The BLM group is FOUNDED on the concept of violence...

Michale

She can make that claim because SHE ORDERED HER STAFFER TO REMOVE SUCH HEADINGS and send them thru her non-secure server...

“Turn into nonpaper w no identifying heading and send nonsecure.”
-Hillary Clinton's order to staffer Jake Sullivan

There's yer smoking gun, people...

There is PROOF POSITIVE in Hillary's own words, her intent to subvert and circumvent the rules..

Hillary's gonna do da perp walk...

Michale

RIP David Bowie

Michale

That scenario would be a total nightmare for Clinton. Period. It’s also a lot more likely to go from fantasy to reality than most people — including most establishment Democrats — understand.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-fantasy-scenario-that-could-become-reality-for-clinton/2016/01/10/085496a6-b7d6-11e5-829c-26ffb874a18d_story.html

Ya know what's REALLY funny???

It's that, with one possible exception, EVERYONE here in Weigantia is hoping for the above to come to pass..

We are ALL in agreement on that!

How kewl is that!!?? :D

Michale

I'll take it.. :D

Gods, it's good to be back!!! :D

Michale

heheheheheh Nope, I didn't get to play in the fun part of Haiti...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labadee

It's a private compound for the cruise lines..

But, if you see it, you would swear it looks like the JURASSIC PARK island... :D

Michale

Haiti. Hmmm..attending a voodoo economics conference? I'll bet some of the best brains are there for the picking. Ummm, brains!

"Bernie Sanders continues to offer up progressive policies that are wildly popular with the public, even when the media refuses to report on the specifics. Bernie just gave a speech on economics and Wall Street where he announced he would push for laws to cap all credit card rates at 15 percent and ATM fees at two bucks. That is the type of change the American people truly want from the government. And yet the media completely ignored such a fundamental proposal for fairness. Think credit card interest rates are obscene? Think ATM fees are outrageous? Then Bernie's your candidate!"

If the Democrat Party nominates Sanders, then I will agree that the DP is willing to walk the walk instead of just talk the talk..

If the Democrat Party nominates Hillary Clinton then ya'all MUST concede that the DP is no better than the GOP...

It's really THAT simple...

Michale

p.s. That governor of Maine ... whacky. Wonder if this is the Trumpster effect.

Let the "bimbo eruptions" (Hillary's word, not mine) commence....

Regardless of any feelings I may have for Donald Trump, he deserves credit for making the Clinton's pay for their past transgressions...

Michale

It also cost $600,000 to fight the deliberately lit fires and more than two years for the area to recover.

And it cost $5.7 MILLION to clean up the destruction JUST in Ferguson by the racist hate group, Black Lives {DON"T} Matter...

Probably similar costs in Cincinnati, Baltimore and a host of other cities..

Funny how no one cares about the costs in THOSE instances, eh???

Funny, iddn't it...

Michale

Obama's useless and completely unnecessary executive orders on gun laws is going to drag his poll numbers down in January...

Put another way... If Obama's execute orders had been in effect for the last 10 years, do you know how many shootings it would have prevented??

ZERO..

Do you know how many lives it would have saved??

ZERO..

Of course, the Left Wingery will say, "Well it's something.."

How is it "something"???

Michale

Just so ya'all don't have to go back searching the the previous commentaries...

Liz,

In the case of the gun-toting anti-government shit disturbers now occupying federal buildings in Oregon, it is worth pondering what would happen to America if everybody decided to settle their grievances in this manner.

What's wrong with gun toting shit disturbers???

Are they any worse than shit disturbers that hold signs advocating the murder of cops??

Advocating violence against a specific group seems to bother the Left Wingery...

.... when the Right Wingery does it...

I'm just sayin...

Now is the time to send a clear message to these zealots - if you have legitimate grievances with the government, then put down your precious weapons, end your nonsensical occupation and pursue legal ways to have those grievances addressed.

Why was this advice never advocated against the Oowsers (rhymes with Lusers) and the racist hate group BLM???

Just curious...

Michale

It's a controversy amongst those that have seen THOR II:DARK WORLD...

At the end, Odin turned into Loki thereby leading some to believe that Loki does, in fact, rule Asgard...

What it has to do with Trump, I am not sure.. But that's where the reference comes from...

Michale

Hillary’s EmailGate Goes Nuclear
Does the latest release of Hillary’s State Department emails include highly classified U.S. intelligence?
http://observer.com/2016/01/hillarys-emailgate-goes-nuclear/

It's becoming clear that Hillary's home-brewed insecure email server issues are becoming more and more acute...

There is absolutely NO DOUBT that Hillary sent classified email thru the afore mentioned home-brewed insecure email server..

Step back and look at things logically and rationally and politically agnostically...

FACT: Hillary was the Secretary Of State for the United States Of America

FACT: Hillary used the afore mentioned home-brewed insecure email server *EXCLUSIVELY* for her correspondence as the afore mentioned US Secretary Of State.

Now, for the Hillary-bots amongst the Left Wingery to be correct, they would have us believe that Hillary never.. ever... EVER... **NEVER** corresponded about ANYTHING classified during her ENTIRE tenure as the afore mentioned US Secretary of State...

Now, is there ANYONE (who is rational and logical and objective) who could believe such complete and utter felgercarb!??

That our SecState NEVER corresponded about ANYTHING classified???

EVER???

Anyone who believes that, I have a cruise ship I want to sell ya... :D

Michale

A new survey of likely voters might at least raise momentary dyspepsia for Democrats since it suggests why it wouldn't be a cakewalk.

Nearly 20 percent of likely Democratic voters say they'd cross sides and vote for Trump, while a small number, or 14 percent, of Republicans claim they'd vote for Clinton. When those groups were further broken down, a far higher percentage of the crossover Democrats contend they are "100 percent sure" of switching than the Republicans.
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-01-08/new-poll-shows-donald-trump-is-a-real-threat-to-hillary-clinton

You were saying?? :D

Here's the one question that, when answered honestly, indicates the folly of ya'all's claims..

To a ONE (except THIS one), all of you laughed and ridiculed Trump's candidacy and said it wouldn't last the month.. ANY month...

Ya'all were wrong then.. Again and again and again..

Can ya'all concede that ya'all just MAY be wrong again about Trump's ascension to the POTUS-ency??

In another vein, everyone on the Right **AND** the Left ridiculed Obama's possibilities at this point in the 2008 election...

We KNOW how that worked out...

So, don't get too comfortable, people... You might have to get used to saying PRESIDENT TRUMP...

Michale

Just let me get settled in.

I'll start with a big HELLO from Haiti...

http://sjfm.us/temp/LabbadeeA.jpg

:D

Michale

Interesting article. Boyd was much in vogue in my line of work during the '80s; I always thought it more like a metaphor than a model...and it morphed a lot depending upon who was trying to apply it....too many lines, not enough boxes!

Phase 1: Say anything to generate publicity

Phase 2: ?

Phase 3: Hang drapes in WH

Attempts to fill in the question mark still depend mostly upon national polling data, which while not entirely irrelevant, has never been a very reliable predictor in equivalent time frames of past elections. Lot's of early front runner bubbles have burst in the past...and past tends to be prologue. If not everybody ought to get out of the forecasting biz.

Trump has to somehow convert roughly (maybe) 33% popularity into a >50% popularity by siphoning off support from other Republican candidates. I see Condorcet hurdles for Trump doing that. Being an acceptable 2nd place choice may be the key to success.

As for the lede, I can't help but think of The Blue Haired Lawyer from the Simpsons saying.

"I represent the heirs of George Washington, who are deeply offended by your unfounded allegations regarding his private part."

JL

What are your thoughts on the piece?