The definitive Trump thread

[Ultralight]

So check this out. Is this for real or is it an Onion headline?

Donald Trump: I meant that Obama founded ISIS, literally
http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/11/politics/donald-trump-hugh-hewitt-obama-founder-isis/

[bae]

My one interaction with Trump:

A few years ago, I was in NYC with my family for the Ring Cycle. During the non-opera part of the day, we were free to wander the city.

I had heard of a strange and magical place, hidden in the heart of Manhattan. The Beretta Gallery. A lovely store built to look like a country home. First floor - very expensive Beretta-branded stylish clothing. Second floor, accessible via a stair, expensive Beretta-branded more-functional sporting clothing. Third floor, accessed via a very very small stair not easily noticed - a small room, with a counter, where you could talk with Beretta's firearm service folks, and hand in some items for repair... And behind that counter often would be found Beretta's #1 North Armerican gun-maker.

And if you spoke the right soothing words to him, and passed his subtle tests, he'd open up a nearly-hidden door, and usher you into the main room on that floor, a large, wood-paneled space that looks like Teddy Roosevelt's Harumphing Room. The walls covered with racks of $100k+ custom rifles and shotguns. Giant leather chairs. A wood table upon which plans could be laid out and sketched. Lovely huge windows overlooking the park. Not what you'd expect to find hidden in NYC these days...

We were there for two reasons - I wanted to be fitted properly for a shotgun for sporting clays and talk about ordering a double express rifle, and my daughter wanted to talk to the gunmaker about Beretta's history, as they are one of the oldest continually-operating companies on the planet (1526), and she was writing a paper for high school about such things.

The fitting was trivial, as it turned out a standard off-the-shelf fit was perfect for me, which, as I have no desire for fancy engraving, resulted in me being able to purchase a $2k shotgun instead of a $50k one.

The history was fascinating. As part of his early days in the firm, the gunmaker had to spend several years in Italy at the corporate center, learning the firm's history and technology, even though he was a native New Yorker. He spent about 2 hours talking with my daughter in great detail, including pulling out copies of important historical documents. In the middle of their conversation, the gunmaker's minion snuck in, and said "Trump's on the phone for you! He wants to know when his shotgun will be done!". Gunmaker sighs, says "Tell him I'm busy talking to a young lady about history, and he can have his shotgun when it's good and ready." Minion "But, I'll have it done tomorrow if I work on it!" Gunmaker "Don't you have other important things to do? I don't think you'll finish it for another few weeks..."

Gunmaker to us "I hate those people..."

Then he resumed his history lesson, after which he pointed us at some great hunting/fishing/dining spots in upstate NY.

So, I can affirm that Trump owns at least one firearm, for the 2nd Amendment people, but I'm not sure Beretta ever gave it back to him... My firearms arrived quite swiftly though.

[Rogar]

That's a good story, Bae!

[Ultralight]

So some major GOP members are okay with Clinton -- including Steve King!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/08/11/the-last-person-youd-expect-just-suggested-hed-be-okay-with-a-hillary-clinton-presidency/

[LDAHL]

What a gift Trump is for Hillary. All she needs to do is avoid press conferences and deliver scripted speeches making small-bore policy proposals while insisting she isn't Trump. All those Clinton Foundation donors are sure to get their money's worth.

My prayer is that the contagion doesn't spread down-ballot.

[peggy]

.
My prayer is that the contagion doesn't spread down-ballot.

My prayer is that it does! Trump isn't the disease, he's just the symptom. Trump is Trump, and who he has always been. The republican party created him.
As they like to say, "We built that"
30 plus years of nasty rhetoric, vilifying the opponents, refusing to work with the black man in the White House, calling into question the patriotism and even nationality of their opponents (71% of republicans STILL believe President Obama isn't American), lock and load second amendment solutions, Tom Cotton, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Fox News, Bush/Cheney, shutting down the government and a hundred other examples of general nastiness created Trump. And they are still at it.
They need to go. All of them. From congress to dog catcher, if they self identify as republican, they need to go.

some highlights from the republican platform
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/36954-the-conservative-proposals-in-the-2016-republican-party-platform

2. Deregulate the banks: "The Republican vision for American banking calls for establishing transparent, efficient markets where consumers can obtain loans they need at reasonable rates based on market conditions. Unfortunately, in response to the financial institutions crisis of 2008-2009, the Democratic-controlled Congress enacted the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, otherwise known as Dodd-Frank."

3. Stop consumer protection: "The worst of Dodd-Frank is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, deliberately designed to be a rogue agency. It answers to neither Congress nor the executive, has its own guaranteed funding outside the appropriations process… If the Bureau is not abolished, it should be subjected to congressional appropriation."

9. Appoint anti-choice Supreme Court justices: "Only a Republican president will appoint judges who respect the rule of law expressed within the Constitution and Declaration of Independence, including the inalienable right to life and the laws of nature and nature's God, as did the late Justice Antonin Scalia."

10. Appoint anti-LGBT and anti-Obamacare justices: "Only such appointments will enable courts to begin to reverse the long line of activist decisions — including Roe, Obergefell, and the Obamacare cases — that have usurped Congress's and states' lawmaking authority."
11. Legalize anti-LGBT discrimination: "We endorse the First Amendment Defense Act, Republican legislation in the House and Senate which will bar government discrimination against individuals and businesses for acting on the belief that marriage is the union of one man and one woman."

12. Make Christianity a national religion: "We support the public display of the Ten Commandments as a reflection of our history and our country's Judeo-Christian heritage and further affirm the rights of religious students to engage in voluntary prayer at public school events and to have equal access to school facilities."

15. Pass an anti-choice constitutional amendment: "We assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental right to life which cannot be infringed. We support a human life amendment to the Constitution and legislation to make clear that the Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply to children before birth."

16. End federal funding for Planned Parenthood: "We oppose the use of public funds to perform or promote abortion or to fund organizations, like Planned Parenthood, so long as they provide or refer for elective abortions or sell fetal body parts rather than provide healthcare."

17. Allow states to shut down abortion Clinics: "We condemn the Supreme Court's activist decision in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt striking down commonsense Texas laws providing for basic health and safety standards in abortion clinics."

21. Require citizenship documents to register to vote: "We support legislation to require proof of citizenship when registering to vote and secure photo ID when voting. We strongly oppose litigation against states exercising their sovereign authority to enact such laws."

25. Open America's shores to more oil and gas drilling: "We support the opening of public lands and the outer continental shelf to exploration and responsible production, even if these resources will not be immediately developed."

26. Build the Keystone XL Pipeline: "The Keystone Pipeline has become a symbol of everything wrong with the current Administration's ideological approach. After years of delay, the President killed it to satisfy environmental extremists. We intend to finish that pipeline and others as part of our commitment to North American energy security."

27. Expand fracking and burying nuclear waste: "A federal judge has struck down the BLM's rule on hydraulic fracturing and we support upholding this decision. We respect the states' proven ability to regulate the use of hydraulic fracturing, methane emissions, and horizontal drilling, and we will end the Administration's disregard of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act with respect to the long-term storage of nuclear waste."

Well, these are just some of the platform 'wish list'. Please go for yourself and read.

I just love how everyone says Trump is the death of the GOP. Hardly. All the GOP will take from this, after he loses is, "How can WE tap into that without SOUNDING like d*cks!" I guarantee you every republican out there envies Trumps success and wishes they were him because THEY, of course, could pull it off.
They aren't horrified by Trump. They're jealous.

[Alan]

They need to go. All of them. From congress to dog catcher, if they self identify as republican, they need to go.


Could we stage a coup, a great purge, put all the Republican politicians and opinion makers before a firing squad and then assign the rank and file to the re-education camps? That's how it's normally done.

Wait, you'd better get that universal gun registry in place first. It would be really helpful when you're rounding them up.

[JaneV2.0]

Eisenhower is spinning in his crypt. The military-industrial complex is ascendant and his party is its chief enabler.

[bae]

My prayer is that the contagion doesn't spread down-ballot.

I suspect it has, at least for fiscally-conservative, socially-liberal, pacific Republicans like myself .

After what I observed personally during the Republican convention/caucusing process during the previous election cycle, and then seeing the results played out during this one, I am pretty sure I'll never vote for a Republican again in my life, unless they burn the party to the ground and start over. I do not believe I am alone in this line of thinking.

[LDAHL]

I suspect it has, at least for fiscally-conservative, socially-liberal, pacific Republicans like myself .

After what I observed personally during the Republican convention/caucusing process during the previous election cycle, and then seeing the results played out during this one, I am pretty sure I'll never vote for a Republican again in my life, unless they burn the party to the ground and start over. I do not believe I am alone in this line of thinking.

I understand there is an effort underway to resurrect the Whigs.