Laugh of the Day: NY Times calls CPAC a "gathering of traditional conservatives"

Here:

As polls showed Mr. Trump likely to capture the Louisiana primary on Saturday, the biggest prize among states holding contests this weekend, the party establishment in Washington seemed seized by anxiety and despair. At the Conservative Political Action Conference, a long-running gathering of traditional conservatives, attendees feared that they were witnessing an event that has not occurred in more than a century: the breaking apart of a major American political party.

CPAC is dominated by a bunch of libertarian wankers who in 2013, 2014 and 2015 picked Rand Paul as their man for president. You remember him. He flew high in the polls until Donald Trump appeared last summer and shot him out of the sky. Before 2013, CPACers picked other well known losers like Mitt Romney, Ron Paul and Jack Kemp.

The only "winner" they picked was George W. Bush in 2000, and we all know how that's worked out.

Everyone has nostalgia for the Reagan years, not the Bush years.

Traditional conservatives emphasize traditions like the church, Christmas, English, marriage between a man and a woman, homeownership, babies and law and order, all of which are expendable to libertarians but are essential to conservatives because they are essential to maintaining continuity with the American past which gave us the nation in the first place.

If conservatism is cracking up in America, it's because of the continuing bad influence from libertarian lunatics, but I repeat myself.

Grand Rapids, MI in February 2016 experienced a temperature anomaly of 2.7 degrees F above normal on average

Temperature averaged 29.5 degrees F.

The very long term mean average temperature in February, however, is 24.4 degrees F using the full NOWdata, so NOAA is saying the normal average is 26.8 based on a smaller data set which does not incorporate the full record available. Otherwise the anomaly would be 5.1 degrees F, not 2.7.

Do these people know what they're doing?

Precipitation was 0.99 inches above normal, coming in at 2.78 inches. The very long term mean precipitation average is 1.76 inches in February, however, not 1.79.

Snowfall was 14.8 inches, 1.7 inches above the mean average of 13.1 for the month calculated going back to the beginning of the record. January is typically the snowiest month at 18.5 inches, followed by December at 15.9 and then February at 13.1.

Heating degree days in February were 10.35% below the very long term mean of 1140 at 1022. Cumulatively for the season HDD are running 827 below normal (4077 v 4904), about 16.9% to date, thanks to the El Nino.

Partly due to the warmer winter weather than normal, my natural gas consumption in February is down almost 26% year over year. But I also remedied an attic insulation defect last summer.

The current very strong El Nino now averages 2.2 on the enso index for four consecutive measuring periods

The 1997-98 El Nino averaged 2.18 for five consecutive periods.

The 1982-83 El Nino averaged 2.1 for three consecutive periods.

The current El Nino is eleven periods long so far, averaging 1.49, the '97 was thirteen total averaging 1.56 and the '82 was fifteen total averaging 1.30, according to the most recent data.

Illegal immigrant flood is Bush's fault, and Mexico's: W's 2008 anti-human trafficking law prohibiting immediate deportation is the magnet

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports here that Mexico just sends their problem north to us, and Bush's law requires us to waste time and resources tracking down the traffickers, all while it's in Obama's political interests to be lenient:

Fleeing punishing poverty and brutal gangs, tens of thousands of people from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras started surging across the border in 2014. Their numbers fell toward the end of that year and stayed lower in early 2015 before rising sharply again. Between October of 2015 and January of this year, apprehensions on the southwest border were more than double the number from the same period the year before. Most of those who were caught are from Central America. Some are from Mexico. ...

A 2008 anti-human trafficking law — signed by President George W. Bush — prevents the government from immediately deporting them. Instead, the government is required to feed, shelter and provide medical care to them until they can be released to the care of sponsors, who are usually relatives. Meanwhile, the children undergo deportation proceedings in federal immigration courts in Georgia and other states where they can seek relief to stay in the U.S. ...

[T]he government is in a better position to respond to the surges this year because it has opened several processing centers — converted warehouses — for the apprehended immigrants in McAllen, Texas. At those centers, authorities try to identify their smugglers and the routes they took to get into the U.S.

One impediment to building a decent wall to stop this flood is that much of the border land is privately owned.

Now you understand why Trump is talking up eminent domain. Talking about taking land to build a pipeline from Canada to the Gulf is simply preparation for taking land to build the Great Wall of Trump.

Trump is serious, folks.

Tea Party Patriots pat themselves on the back at CPAC in Maryland while Trump heads to Kansas to talk to the people

Noted here:

Tea Party Patriots co-founder Jenny Beth Martin said the businessman "has no business thinking he is Tea Party. Trump is about love of himself," she said. "But the Tea Party is about love of country and the love of our constitution."

The Tea Party in South Carolina begs to differ, giving about equal love to Trump and Cruz.

Bruce Bartlett goes off his meds again

Here:

[T]he system is out of balance, creating gridlock even as the public cries out for action on serious problems such as our deteriorating public infrastructure, epitomized by that in Flint, Michigan. ... The government was shut down, increases in the debt limit are constantly at risk, nominations to even the most minor administration positions are blocked and, now, the president has been denied the opportunity, which is his right under the Constitution, to name a new justice to the Supreme Court.

Let's see.

Incompetent Democrats failed to treat the water of the Flint River properly before tapping it, ruining Flint's infrastructure.

Republicans gained seats after the government shutdown. Maybe they should do it more often.

Republicans subsequently extended the debt limit until after Mr Teflon is gone so as not to interfere with the president's many golf outings and vacations.

The president still can name whoever he wants to whatever he wants.

Meanwhile the public cries out for Donald Trump, not action.

GOP delegate totals through Super Tuesday 2016: Trump dominates with 319, 46% of the 688 decided so far

Sorry Sean Hannity, Ted Cruz has no path to 1237

Ted Cruz currently has 226 delegates committed to him. This is 33% of the 688 already allocated in the contests to date.

Cruz still needs 1011 delegates to get to 1237, which is 57% of the 1784 delegates still up for grabs, not 33%.

Ted Cruz is going to ramp up his support by 24 points in all the future contests? I don't think so. Improving his wins by 73% is not in the cards.

Ted Cruz needs to think about an eventual alliance, or hope for a brokered convention.

Michael Goodwin calls Mitt Romney a coward

Here in "Romney is too much a coward to say what’s really on his mind":

Romney wants back in, but doesn’t have the nerve to come out and say it. So typical, and another example of what so many Republicans like about Trump. As writer and Fox commentator Monica Crowley put it, frustrated GOP voters “want a street fighter,” and in Trump, they finally have one. ... [Romney] stood mute as a biased moderator sided with President Obama on Benghazi in the crucial second debate. ...

[W]hat he hoped would be seen as a principled stand against Trump was, in fact, a disingenuous and selfish act. His failure to endorse either Marco Rubio or Ted Cruz is most revealing. Romney’s only hope for stealing the nomination is a brokered GOP convention where nobody has a majority of delegates on the first ballot and he emerges as a compromise. And the only way for that to happen is for both Rubio and Cruz to collect enough delegates so that Trump can’t reach the magic number of 1,237.

Rubio after Detroit debate polls LAST at Drudge, Kasich does surprisingly well

Once again I thought Kasich did himself proud at the debate.

It's sad "adult behavior" like his is now the exception rather than the rule.

In the old days, however, everyone acted like Kasich, or tried to, and they were judged on fundamentals of policy as opposed to behavioral standards which were simply expected of everyone and taken for granted.

Being the adult in the room does not make Kasich right today.

Boots on the ground again in the Middle East is not going to cut it.

The Excommunicators: Republicans have a fractured party because of people like Marco Rubio and Mitt Romney

And Paul Ryan and Ben Sasse and Bill Kristol, Tim Carney, Erick Erickson, Jennifer Rubin, Jim Geraghty, Jonah Goldberg, Glenn Beck, Montel Williams, Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood, Max Boot, Van Jones, National Review, Christine Todd Whitman, Meg Whitman, Steve Deace, Conservative Review, Rick Wilson, Ken Mehlman, Mona Charen, Daniel Pipes, Lawyers for Rubio, Neal Boortz, Conn Carroll, Pete Wehner, Wipe Out GOP 2016 . . . 

Marco The Incoherent pledges to support the con artist if he's the nominee

Last night in Detroit, here:

RUBIO: I'll support Donald if he's the Republican nominee.

GOP popular vote after Super Tuesday shows Trump outpolling Cruz by 22%, Rubio by 58%, Kasich by 418%

National Review's latest contribution to elevating the discussion

Ruprecht's the only one who goes on Marco Rubio's website

Interesting theory from Mark Levin, but it's not at all convincing

Today's speech by Romney was a campaign speech for himself because Romney didn't endorse anyone in it, says Levin. In other words, Romney's saying he's available at convention.

Maybe, but this doesn't explain why Romney didn't move earlier to stop Trump, nor does it cohere with the well known fact that Romney had to be persuaded to run in 2012. He didn't have the fire in the belly then, and he doesn't now.

Jeb dropped out 11 days ago (seems like an eternity, right?), but has been on the ropes since July 2015 when Trump began to eclipse him. That's seven long months ago and $150 million goes only so far. But crickets from Romney all during that time. The establishment hasn't had a viable alternative the whole time, either. Certainly not in Rubio, who fancies himself a Reagan conservative but who has only cozied up to the establishment as a political calculation late in the game.

Romney didn't move earlier because he's always been a spineless coward. He decided to act now because he felt he had enough cover from the many elites who had finally expressed their opposition to Trump in adequate number.

Romney wouldn't fight Obama for a similar reason. He didn't have enough any cover. Republicans have given Obama a pass every single day. Romney wouldn't even fight Candy Crowley. That's because establishment Republicans want media approval. They never fight the media.

Romney is a follower, not a leader, and that's why he's a loser.

But Trump is a leader and a fighter, and he's taking over the party. And he's going to be a winner, and already is.

Wake up people: Trump is outperforming Romney in primaries to date by 1.8 to 1

Data here.

Not only could Trump buy Romney 40 times over, he's outperforming the failed politician by 80%.

Sean Hannity can't help but notice how similar Mitt Romney today sounds to Marco Rubio criticizing Trump

Uh huh.

Hillary's private server set-up man, Bryan Pagliano, reportedly given immunity after pleading the 5th last fall

WaPo story reported here in USA Today.

Trump 2016 trounces Romney 2012 in 13 states which have already voted by 1.8 to 1: 2.5 million votes to 1.4 million

The only state Mitt Romney won over Trump so far is liberal Vermont!

Georgia: Trump .501m / Romney .233m

Tennessee: Trump .332m / Romney .154m

Virginia: Trump .355m / Romney .158m

Massachusetts: Trump .311m / Romney .265m

Vermont: Trump .019m / Romney .023m

Minnesota: Trump .024m / Romney .008m

Alabama: Trump .371m / Romney .180m

Oklahoma: Trump .130m / Romney .080m

Alaska: Trump .007m / Romney .004m

Iowa: Trump .045m / Romney .029m

South Carolina: Trump .239m / Romney .168m

New Hampshire: Trump .100m/ Romney .097m

Nevada: Trump .034m / Romney .016m

The Texas primary was a late primary in 2012 after all other challengers had been vanquished, on May 29, instead of early in 2016. Romney took 1m votes vs. Trump's .757m in 2016. But Ted Cruz has won the Texas primary in 2016 with 1.239m votes, beating Romney by almost 24%.

The Arkansas primary was also late in 2012, on May 22. Romney took .104m votes vs. Trump's .133m in 2016.

Add in these two contests and Trump in 2016 beats Romney in 2012 3.358m votes to 2.519m to date, or 1.3 to 1, which in other words is by 33%.

Mitt. Romney. Loser.