ShivaX
3062
Propaganda works. It’s why Newt took Goebbels’ ideas and applied them. Tested and proven results.
Quaro
3063
The fact the US public education system doesn’t teach logic and critical reasoning is probably its greatest failing.
Trump predicted the existence of terrorism:
The GOP front-runner reiterated past claims about his supposed vision Tuesday by talking about his alleged foresight regarding Osama bin Laden — and predicting “terrorism” in general.
“The other thing I predicted is terrorism,” he told the crowd before elaborating on a longer story of a friend who told him the same. “A friend of mind called me and said ‘Forget that, you’re the first guy that really predicted terrorism.’”
The real-estate developer from Queens said he predicted “terrorism” — which he also said was documented in his 2000 book “The America We Deserve” — “cause I can feel it.”
Because it would have taken amazing foresight in 2000 to imagine that terrorists might attack the World Trade Center!
(The scary thing is, there are plenty of people who would avidly agree with that statement, including plenty who were fullly grown adults at the time of the 1998 attack. Most people have the same capacity for memory and reflection as pigeons.)
Yeah, it only happened a few years before…
spiffy
3068
Trump is a businessman, and saavy enough to understand his ‘customers’ in this case turned out to be racist bigot uneducated malcontents, and so he’s tailoring his message to appeal to that demographic. He probably knows he can’t win the general election, but part of me is still expecting him to suddenly turn around and go, look at what I’ve done to the joke that is politics, spewing inanity to a significant majority and having them lap it up, and look at the ugly underbelly of America I have exposed. You’re welcome.
I think Trump is a blowhard, but not an idiot, and so much of this rings as spectacle, not genuine beliefs or ideology.
I was amused by two dueling articles that I read a couple minutes ago. First up, we’ve got the Washington Post, trying vainly to explain why Trump is such a massive juggernaut, and simply acknowledging that no matter what the hell he says, Republicans seem to love him:
But as a counterpoint, here’s an article from the Christian Science Monitor that basically shrugs Trump off as a non-entity.
He’s now supported by 25 to 30 percent of the 25 to 30 percent of Americans who self-identify as Republicans, notes data guru Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight. That works out to about 6 to 8 percent of the total US electorate.
As Mr. Silver points out, that’s about as many Americans as believe the moon landings were faked.
It’s a little more than half the number of dedicated Atlanta Braves fans in the US, according to Gallup.
Also Carson says things that are even more crazy, so that is about 60% of republicans that are… “Differently believing.”
Karen Black! Trilogy of Terror, no matter how old I get to be that voodoo doll will haunt my dreams.
Besides, the guy seems to be back at polling closer to 40% than 30% (started following this circus a while ago).
Question: it seems one of the very few ways he doesn’t get the nomination is by two of Bush, Cruz and Rubio dropping out fast so the remaining one can catch to him. From this distant land it looks like Rubio and Cruz might destroy each other by splitting the electorate and giving Trump a lead. Does this seem like a real possibility or is this a foreigner misreading the polls?
Desslock
3075
Rubio and Cruz appeal to completely different groups, so unlikely to have much influence. Trump followers are more likely to have Cruz as 2nd choice, so Cruz is doing everything he can to position himself to pick up support if it drifts from Trump. There is much more overlap between Rubio/Bush/Christie. Rubio would likely greatly benefit from Bush dropping, but that won’t happen for a long time yet, and by then it might be too late.
Alstein
3076
Bush and Christie support would likely go to Rubio
Rubio’s going to be the last “establishment” standing
Cruz and Carson support would likely go to Trump (some of Carson’s might not)
Trump support will either vanish, go to Cruz, or go to Carson.
Yes, this sounds about right. The real question is where the Carson supporters will go - he’s basically got the religious vote right now, and I don’t know that anyone else would pick it up disproportionately… I’d love to say that Trump’s despicable views would turn off Evangelical voters, but I’m not sure that’s true.
Timex
3078
Bear in mind that the Carson supporters aren’t just religious, but are also totally irrational. Most Americans are religious, but not in the crazy way Carson is.
Those supporters can’t really be predicted in terms of their actions.
This same guy said (in the same conversation) that he liked that Trump wasn’t accepting money from Super PACs, and was therefore beholden to no human cocksucker.
(That last phrase is actually thanks to episode 1 of Deadwood, but it gets his point across well.)
Another tidbit: “I’ve got nothing against Muslims. We shouldn’t be letting the murderers or rapists in, but the rest of them are welcome. They shouldn’t get anything for free, but they can work for it. My grandparents came from Germany through Ellis Island and started selling baked goods on the street, and by the time they retired they had their own bakery. They improved themselves and the country. I think this country needs a businessman like Trump as President.”
Recent Pew polling shows rather abrupt drop in those who self-identify as Christians and I have to suspect the public perception of Republican policy and evangelicalism being entwined is driving a bit of that change. Personally I find the Christian Right particularly repugnant. Social media this weekend has been especially hard to read with so many pro-lifers masturbating over the Colorado shooting.
What, seriously? People you know (or see) on social media are celebrating this?
