The Apprentice Politician!

found online by Raymond

 
From Max’s Dad:

Trump on abortion. Christ only knows how many that pig has paid for over the years but yesterday’s yeah throw the sluts in jail answer to a barking dog’s question was just so Trump. First of all you know he didn’t mean any of it, as the frayed cards in his diseased brain flipped as he struggled to answer as he thinks his dopey followers think he should. There have to be consequences. Then as the yapping yorkie continued to yip and yip and as Trump tried to go to the Catholic card to trip up the ankle biter, the inevitable happened. Trump became Trump.

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Bernie Not Telling The Truth About Campaign Donations

found online by Raymond

 
From Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger:

This week Hillary Clinton responded to a heckler accusing her of taking campaign money from the fossil fuel industry by saying she was tired of the Sanders campaign lying about her. Her response went viral on social media, and was covered by cable news.

Sanders response was to once again accuse her of taking corporate money — something he claims he does not do.

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Every Day is April Fool’s Day for Fools

found online by Raymond

 
From PZ Myers at Pharyngula:

I guess Ken Ham is feeling the sting of all those comments about the absurdity of his efforts to build a “life size” ark — he’s got cranes and steel reinforcements and concrete and a swarm of construction crews laboring to assemble his boondoggle, yet somehow, this giant imaginary boat was supposed to have been built by one guy and his sons 4000 years ago, out of wood. How to reconcile the contemporary tech of his construct with the basic woodworking skills of a Mesopotamian carpenter? Easy!

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GOPers, Dems Agree on Rules for Congress Under Trump

found online by Raymond

 
From Jon Perr at Perrspectives:

Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress signed a landmark agreement codifying new rules for the House and Senate under the next GOP President. Negotiated by Senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY), John Cornyn (R-TX), Harry Reid (D-NV) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Reps. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Paul Ryan (R-WI), the 10-point deal provides guidelines for filibuster, judicial nominees, executive branch appointments, the debt ceiling, government shutdowns and other recent areas of conflict between the parties.

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Diddy’s Charter School Hustle

found online by Raymond

 
From The Intersection of Madness and Reality:

The media is predictably singing the praises of rap mogul Diddy for opening a charter school in Harlem. Now, before I get into this post, many of you will wonder why I am talking about this, despite this looking like a bit of good news for a change. The answer is that the area of education reform is a mess, and causes confusion on so many sides. It’s hard for some people to see things for what they are, and the hidden forces behind education reform a.k.a school privatization have been pretty good at masking much of their aims under the guise of “it’s about the children.” Except, that it’s really not.

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Ted Cruz Only Candidate Who Can Take On Trump

found online by Raymond

 
From Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson:

Welcome to ground zero. Wisconsin is the center of the political universe thanks to the presidential primary on Tuesday. We’re the only state having primaries that day, and all the attention is on us. Now we know a bit what it feels like to be Iowa and New Hampshire in January.

So while all eyes are on Wisconsin, the attention quickly turns in our direction. Waukesha, Washington and Ozaukee counties are the center of the Republican universe in Wisconsin. We generate the Republican votes for the rest of the state.

On Tuesday, residents of Waukesha County were treated to a visit from the two non-Trump candidates, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich. It was an interesting juxtaposition.

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Hillary or Trump – Lesser of Two Evils is Still Evil

by T. Paine

In response to Burr Deming’s Trapped in the Palace of Cows

The Republican Party is caught in a new sociological vortex. It began when non-liberals forced out liberal Republicans. So the party shrank and grew more conservative. The new conservatism meant that conservatives could make life unbearable for moderates. And so the party shrank a little more, and grew yet more conservative. Conservatives who were not extreme enough followed, and now extreme conservatives who consider even talking to Supreme Court nominees have reason to worry. Some will eventually leave voluntarily. Some will hang from electoral scaffolds.

Burr Deming, April 1, 2016

Mr. Deming, you may be correct about the inevitable demise of the GOP; however, I don’t think a lack of moderation is the reason why. After all, extremism increasingly abounds in the Democrat party.

Indeed, only a generation ago, it would have been unthinkable that a self-avowed socialist could have made a viable run for president with budget-blowing promises of free college educations and many other dangled carrots of increased entitlements. Economics and history are no longer objectively taught though, so the dangers of socialism simply aren’t apparent to our youth these days. The candidates for the Democrats fall to either a principled socialist or a corrupt and jaded establishment candidate, accordingly.

Yes, Trump is about as dangerous as they come as an insurgent candidate, but it isn’t because he evokes extreme conservative principles. His answer the other day on what the purpose of the federal government was is quite telling as an example of this fact. After all, on nearly all major issues he was reliably a Democrat only a few short years ago. Mitt Romney was even ironically disgusted with Trumps hair-pin turns on policy issues.

The Republican Party will cease to be a viable national party if they do not stand for constitutional and moral principles. Their attempt to pick “moderate” candidates that don’t espouse those principles is why they have alienated many of their party members. But let me assure you, it isn’t a matter of moderation versus extremism. It is a matter of constitutional principle versus a misguided and failed “anything to win” populist mindset.

Frankly, if the presidential race does eventually come down to a contest between Hillary and Trump, which seems to be the very personification of a choice between to evils, I will not choose the lesser. I will chose neither evil.

T. Paine can also be found at Saving Common Sense, a site devoted to the virtues of conservatism.
 

Cuba, News Bias, Conspiracy, Missing Molly, Superheroes

  • Libertarian Michael A. LaFerrara at Principled Perspectives endorses a Democrat’s self-described rebuke of President Obama. Senator Robert Menendez (NJ) objects to the blame that our President puts on the United States for Cuba’s suppression of political freedom. LaFerrara cheerleads the rebuke.
     
    Age takes its toll. Saddened by my own mental lapse, failing to recall “blame America” rhetoric on the part of President Obama, I tried to refresh my aging, mushy, liberal memory.
     
    Michael is a great help, thank you Mr. LaFerrara. He links to the good Senator who, in turn, links to a National Review article by Elliott Abrams. In that piece, Mr. Abrams conducts research by consulting his own reasoning powers. He cannot imagine any reason for a relationship with Cuba other than a “‘blame America first’ view.”
     
    So it turns out that Michael LaFerrara joins Senator Robert Menendez who joins Elliott Abrams in rebuking President Obama for Mr. Abrams’ lack of imagination.
     
  • At Crooks and Liars, Frances Langum seems to have developed a bit of skepticism about the liberal views of MSNBC.
     
  • It isn’t just Ted Cruz. Other anti-immigrant conservatives also quote the FBI saying that Syrian refugees can’t be vetted. Tommy Christopher, at the Daily Banter, takes a closer look and wonders why media interviewers don’t do the same.
     
  • Jack Jodell at The Saturday Afternoon Post holds irresponsible media coverage of fake debates at least partially responsible for a Republican campaign that has become an international embarrassment.
     
  • Jerry Wolfe at Dog Bless Us One And All has tracked down the real motivation behind the obtuse anti-abortion outburst from Donald Trump that has ticked off pro-lifers. It seems it is a planned distraction from the Hillary plot to steal the Democratic nomination from Bernie. Yeah, that’s what he says.
     
  • The Big Empty has another new conspiracy theory about Republican implosion this one more plausible than most.
     
  • Yellow Dog at Blue in the Bluegrass articulates how and why we miss Molly Ivins.
     
  • NOJO at Stinque explains how Netflex and Marvel comics have joined to satisfy our basest violent impulses and our deepest moral ponderings. That was once a job for Superman.