Rush Limbaugh caller "New Jersey George" explains how Ted Cruz picked a fight with midwest common sense in Indiana and lost

The video of the confrontation with the "do the math" Trump supporter is here. Cruz changed the subject to anything but the fact that he no longer had a path to 1237, and never justified his staying in the race.

From the Rush Limbaugh transcript, here:

CALLER:  Okay, Rush.  Thank you for taking my call.  Been with you for many years.  Love you.  I just have this feeling -- I don't know why -- but I just have a feeling that you're a Cruz supporter.  Not a Trump supporter, I can't find that, but that's how I feel.  But the reason I called, I just wanted to defend the guy that you called brain-dead yesterday.  I watched that interview from the beginning, and, you know, we'll call him "braid-dead" since we don't know his name.  He was a very polite protester.  He was standing on the street with a Trump sign, and he wasn't bothering anybody, and, lo and behold, who comes along to cross the street, Ted Cruz.

Now, Cruz confronted him, and in the very beginning of the conversation, the number 1237 came up, and the guy knew what 1237 was, and he told Cruz in his opinion that Trump was gonna hit the 1237 and in his opinion would probably go over that.  And then he also asked Cruz a question.  He said, "I'd like to ask you a question.  Why don't you step out of the race because you've indicated that Kasich should step out, and, since you've indicated that, you think that Kasich can't make it, and neither do we think that you can, why don't you step out?" 

Now, the reason I mentioned these couple things to you, that doesn't seem to me as a brain-dead person.  That's just my opinion.  And a brain-dead person is just gonna stand there and look brain-dead.  This guy had some some some substance there.  So I didn't think it was fair that you labeled him as brain-dead.  Then Cruz started his stump speech.  And the guy was polite.  He was listening and listening and listening, and Cruz was going over all his stump speech.  And I think the guy had had it and finally didn't want to hear anything more, and he started yelling, you know, Lyin' Ted, Lyin' Ted, and he had had it.  And that's just my opinion.  And I -- I just feel that you labeled him wrong.  And I might even think that sometimes maybe I might be part of the brain-dead crowd. 

Another thing I just wanted to put in there real quick, I have a cleaning lady that was in my house yesterday, and she's from Thailand.  And Trump came on television, and she looked up and she said, I used to work for him.  I live 30 miles from Atlantic City.  So she said, I used to work for him.  And my wife said, what did you think?  Again.  And she said, he was very nice, he was a very nice person, he treated me with respect, and so did he treat all of us.

Now, they were just cleaning people in Trump's casino.  One other quickie.  I was in a restaurant a couple weeks ago, and the owner who I know came up to me, and he knows I'm a Trump guy, and he said I just gotta tell you something, he said I just had a guy was in here, and he got caught up in Trump's problems with the casino and he lost a hundred thousand dollars in the bankruptcy.  He said, but I'm gonna tell you something.  I lost a hundred G's, he says I'm gonna tell you, I'm voting for him.  You know why?  He's a straight shooter.  He said he got caught up in a bad situation, and he did his very best, he says, so he's got my vote.  I just wanted to pass these things on, and I want to tell you, I love you, I'll always be with you.

Indiana rejects Ted Cruz, who suspends a campaign descending into ugliness

A better man who really cared about the party and the country would have gotten out after Pennsylvania. Then again, a better man wouldn't have pulled a dirty trick in Iowa, or in Utah. How anyone can take the guy seriously as a Christian values candidate going forward is beyond me. Better to have bowed out earlier and salvaged a future for himself, but that was not possible for the man in a hurry.

Grand Rapids, MI experienced a reported temperature anomaly in April 2016 of 2.0 degrees F BELOW normal

Temperature averaged 46 degrees F, according to the preliminary monthly climate data for April 2016 in Grand Rapids, MI. The cumulative reported total anomaly year to date therefore falls from +9.3 last month to +7.3 degrees F in April.

Using the full NOW data set going back to about 1892, however, the cumulative temperature anomaly for the first four months of 2016 is +13.4 degrees F. 

Precipitation was a reported 0.57 inches above normal, coming in at 3.92 inches.

Snowfall was 9.4 inches, 7.1 inches above the mean average of 2.3 for the month, calculated going back to the beginning of the record. Snowfall has come to 61.1 inches to date, 4.7 inches below the long term mean average of 65.8 inches to date, with two months left in the measuring period.

Heating degree days in April at 564 were just above normal, only 1.8% above the very long term mean of 554. The long term mean expected HDD to date would be 6411. Actual to date were 5390, 15.9% below normal, thanks to the El Nino, with two months left in the measuring period.

It is notable that neither this El Nino nor any other since 1950 has come close to producing the warm winter Grand Rapids experienced in 2011-2012 when the heating degree day measurement hit an all time record low of 5253. Placeholders two and three for warmest winters by HDD after 2011-12 were 1920-21 at 5520 and 1931-32 at 5619.

Average temperature in Grand Rapids was also an all time high 52.8 degrees F (mean is 48) in 2012. The only other years which came close were 1931 and 1921, both at 52.2.

The difference between the first four months of 2016 and of 2012 is cumulative anomalies of +13.4 vs. +18.5 degrees, or an average temperature monthly of 35.525 now vs. 40.15 degrees then. 

Why does Glenn Beck still look like he could stand to fast like he's never fasted before?

I thought he was fasting every Tuesday for Ted Cruz.

And just how do you do that, fasting like you've never fasted before? If I'm not eating anything, I can't eat any less, can I?

Or is there some secret eatin' goin' on in Mormon fasting that I don't know about, which you can forego and then REALLY fast?

Oh boy, he really must mean it this time!

58% of Hoosiers disapprove of Ted Cruz/John Kasich tag-teaming to defeat Donald Trump

A question in the NBC/WSJ/Marist poll here showing Trump +15 in Indiana.

New Rasmussen poll shows Trump ahead of Hillary 41-39

Here.

Lead with your weakness, telegraph what will become your biggest problem

Ted Cruz' problem: He was for a wall in 2011 and 2012, but it's STILL not the centerpiece of his campaign

Patterico had the evidence of Ted Cruz' support for a wall in 2011 and 2012 in February 2016 here.

But Ted's problem is that he's FOR all kinds of stuff, and AGAINST all kinds of stuff, but nobody seems to believe him, primarily because he's too smart and too slick.

People believe Trump, because he's neither.

Under winner take all, Hillary would already be the nominee for the Democrats

Just counting the 35 states where a popular vote has been taken, under winner takes all delegates, including super delegates, Hillary Clinton has already clinched the Democrat nomination with her win in Pennsylvania.

Hillary has won 21 state contests so far, topping the 2382 delegates needed with 2523 because of Pennsylvania.

Bernie Sanders has won 14 state contests, but has garnered just 731 delegates under winner take all, including super delegates.

So far no popular vote was taken in Iowa, Nevada, American Samoa, Maine, Northern Mariana Islands, Alaska and Washington State.

The reality of the actual system, however, is that Bernie Sanders so far has accumulated 1357 delegates of both types, and Hillary 2165.

As in the Republican primaries, the also ran benefits at the expense of the front-runner.

ARG Inc. polls have gone 5 for 7 in the GOP 2016 primary season but were off by double digits in TX, MI and WI

Will ARG be right in Indiana after going 5 of 7 in other GOP contests, getting Michigan and Wisconsin massively wrong?

Scott Rasmussen didn't sound very happy about it on Mark Levin's show, but Trump and Hillary are tied at 38%

The punditocracy is increasingly unhappy about the popularity of Donald Trump with the Republican electorate. Scott Rasmussen seemed oddly eager to discuss the prospects for Ted Cruz against Trump in Indiana and the west.

Rasmussen Reports reported earlier here:

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Likely U.S. Voters finds Trump and Clinton tied at 38% each. But 16% say they would vote for some other candidate if the presidential election comes down to those two, while six percent (6%) would stay home. Only two percent (2%) are undecided given those options.

Trump makes new national high of 44% in Real Clear Politics poll average

Marco Rubio sends message to delegates that Trump's entitled to the nomination because of massive voter support

Quoted here:

“Look let’s not divide the party. You have someone here who has all these votes, very close to get 1237, let’s not ignore the will of the people or they’re going to be angry. Delegates may decide on that reason that they decide to vote for Donald Trump but if they don’t it’s not illegitimate in any way,” he told Miami radio host Jimmy Cefalo.

Sally Kohn, looks like a white man, talks like a white man, dresses like a white man too, but is afraid white men will vote for Trump

Yeah, so? Look at you, you blue collar pervert.

Here.

One member of the Zero Hedge trinity commits apostasy, lifts the veil on the (very profitable) lunacy

Read about it here.

We've tagged the kooky stuff it says for years.

CNN says only "several thousand" attend Trump rally in Costa Mesa, California, when 18,000 fill the stadium and protesters RIOT outside

Here from CNN:

Scores of protesters took to the streets Thursday night outside a Donald Trump campaign event here, drawing out police officers in riot and tactical gear and on horseback who sought to disperse the crowd.

The crowd gathered in the streets outside the OC Fair & Event Center as Trump addressed several thousand supporters at the Center's amphitheater. At least one police car was damaged and several scuffles broke out amid the hectic scene.

Here contrast ABC7.com:


The Pacific Amphitheatre was filled to its capacity of about 18,000 and many hundreds more were turned away. ... [Trump] welcomed onto the stage parents whose kids were killed by individuals in the United States illegally, including Jamiel Shaw, Sr., whose son Jamiel Shaw, Jr., was killed in 2008 when he was 17. "Donald Trump is giving us hope. All of our loved ones were murdered. We don't care about illegal aliens, we don't care. Americans first!" Shaw said.

Ted Cruz to announce his least favorite Old Testament food law at noon Friday news conference

Whatsoever hath no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you. -- Leviticus 11:12

FL Gov. Rick Scott: Trump is going to be the nominee ... the people have spoken

Quoted here in WaPo:

“It’s time for our party to unite behind Donald Trump and focus our time and energy on defeating Hillary Clinton,” [Rep. Bill] Shuster [of Pennsylvania] said in a statement.

That echoes what Florida Gov. Rick Scott said Wednesday in a Facebook posting calling for an end to the “Never Trump” movement among conservatives: “Donald Trump is going to be our nominee, and he is going to be on the ballot as the Republican candidate for President. The Republican leaders in Washington did not choose him, but the Republican voters across America did choose him. The voters have spoken.”

Herman Cain urges Cruz and Kasich to withdraw for the good of the country

Quoted here:

“If I were Ted Cruz and Gov. Kasich I would step back and say, 'OK, let’s do what’s best for the party which would be best for the country now.' That’s putting patriotism above the delusional idea that there’s a path to victory for them ... There is no path to victory,” Cain said.

Cain said the same thing on an appearance on Sean Hannity's radio show this afternoon.