Trump's new campaign manager as of Aug. 17, Kellyanne Conway, was all in with Zuckerberg's fwd.us in 2014

Kellyanne Conway participated in the fwd.us effort, here, which concludes:

There is a strong sentiment in the country that undocumented immigrants should not be granted amnesty; this immigration reform proposal addresses that issue by requiring that undocumented immigrants pay a fine, taxes owed, learn English and wait at least thirteen years until they can become citizens.

Americans across party lines believe this is not amnesty, but rather a fair and equitable way of dealing with the eleven million undocumented immigrants in the country. Hitting the 70 percent mark nationwide, this proposal wins broad support from the electorate.

Finally, this generates a more positive electoral environment for Republicans, as it creates an opening to a significant number of swing voters for GOP candidates.

Donald Trump: A bridge too far (you'll notice it doesn't say "Pence")

Mark Krikorian: Trump does Jeb Bush impersonation, throws away his only chance to win in November, spoils it for open-borders advocates

Here:

But Trump probably just threw away his only remaining chance to win in November with Wednesday’s Jeb Bush impersonation. He won the primaries with immigration control as his marquee issue; had he stuck to his guns, and still lost, the GOP Brain Trust, not to mention the Democrats, would more plausibly have been able to argue that opposition to their agenda was the reason. It still would have been a silly claim, since had he not grabbed hold of the immigration issue, the very idea of President Trump would have remained a Simpsons joke – if he’d remained consistent and still lost, it would have been despite his immigration position, not because of it. But now that he’s channeling Little Marco and Low-Energy Jeb on immigration, that story line has evaporated. Many of the voters who stuck with him through his various antics will start drifting away, so that in any state where the results are close in November could plausibly have been won if Trump hadn’t pulled a Schumer. It’s liberating, in a sense. ... His defeat will be on his head alone.

WaPo and The New York Times won't talk about Hillary's scandals, "conservative" media hide the anger over Trump's deportation flip flop

"If we don't report it, it doesn't exist".

The clueless sheeple bleat on their way to the slaughter.

Hard libertarian billionaire daughter Rebekah Mercer is behind Trump's shift to Bannon and Conway, away from deportation

The price of consensus for Mercer's "help" in retrospect was obviously that Trump soften his deportation stance. Bloomberg's story here in June completely misses the signficance of the Mercers' libertarianism.

The Hill had the story already on August 17, here, the day Trump shook up his campaign by hiring Stephen Bannon as CEO and Kellyanne Conway as campaign manager, detailing Mercer's links to Stanford, the Heritage Foundation, BREITBART, the Ted Cruz campaign and libertarian think tank CATO:

“The Mercers basically own this campaign,” said a source who has worked with Rebekah Mercer in her political activities. “They have installed their people. ... And now they’ve got their data firm in there.” ... Little has been written about the Mercers because they avoid the public spotlight, but conservative sources who know the family, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described them as “kind, civic-minded people and consensus-builders.” ... But that source, who has worked with Mercer in some of her other political ventures, said it was a surprise to some people that the Mercers had swung so forcefully behind Trump, given her ideological bent. “She identifies as a libertarian. At least she always did,” the source said, adding that Mercer was a big supporter of libertarian think tanks like the Goldwater Institute and Cato. “With Bekah you always had to prove your libertarian racing stripes,” the source added. “This seems really strange.”

Quinnipiac poll says 66% say Hillary's not honest, 53% say Trump's not, but Hillary still wins by 10 points

Poll here.

Calling Hillary crooked won't work when the voters are crooked, too. Sort of like promising to cut taxes of people who don't pay any.

Trump campaign CEO Stephen Bannon also needs to go out the door with Conway by his side

They never should have been hired in the first place . . . they're in for 8 days and Trump self-destructs over deportation. Bannon is as much at fault as Conway.

Ted Cruz' revenge: It took this woman only eight days to destroy the candidacy of Donald Trump

What Trump just did on deportation is the same caliber mistake committed by Romney and McCain, only worse

John McCain suspended his campaign in 2008 . . . to go to Washington to vote for bailouts which Bush engineered and Obama also voted for at the height of the financial crisis, making himself abhorrent to his free-market base and indistinguishable from his opposition at the same time. But it wasn't his signature issue.

Mitt Romney was caught telling a fundraiser in 2012 that 47% of the country, "the takers", weren't going to vote for him anyway, so forget 'em, which simply reinforced his image as "not really one of us" among the base, many of whom were in fact part of the 47% and at the same time people whom Romney had fired. But it wasn't his signature issue.

Donald Trump's signature issues have been illegal immigration and law and order, and there's no way in HELL forgiving immigration lawbreaking can be combined with law and order. Either all the laws are enforced, or eventually none of them will be obeyed.

Trump should have such a comprehensive view of that by now, but obviously doesn't, which means there's no there there.

The damage done thereby to the perception of Trump as a strong leader is incalculable.

Donald Trump can't claim to be the law and order candidate if millions of illegals aren't eligible for deportation

We are not mindless followers, Donald.

You just lost the election, and we just lost the country.

Trump has lost Mark Krikorian, says Trump is now the 9th member of the Gang of Eight, so it's over

Link repaired 1/14/24.

 

Quoted here:

Trump has also infuriated some of his supporters. Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, declared that Trump's latest remarks were the "last straw" for him, especially his statement that there would be "no amnesty," which he made just before saying that illegal immigrants will have to pay back taxes.

"Those are terms of art in the pro-amnesty, Gang of Eight crowd. Every politician pushing an amnesty says 'this version isn't really an amnesty because fill in the blank,'" Krikorian said, declaring Trump the "unofficial ninth member of the Gang of Eight."

"What he just did was make clear that even on his central issue, which is the only reason he's the nominee ... was immigration, and he now has shown that he can't be relied on, even on that," Krikorian said, who had previously considered himself a reluctant Trump supporter — until now.

"I'm done with Trump at this point," he said.

Trump's "near flip-flop" on deportation puts Ann Coulter on her heels, and Rush opens the show laughing about it

P.O.S.

Rush feels vindicated in his "conservatism".

That four year contract he just signed will be spent trying to find a new patsy to run against Hillary in 2020. Meanwhile, ka-ching, ka-ching, ka-ching.

Obama scrubs "Can I keep my own doctor?" page from healthcare.gov because, well, YOU CAN'T

Oh they're out there control, they're out there: In 2008 approximately 94 million Americans who could have voted, didn't

Total who registered was 176.7 million out of 225.5 million voting age Americans. Difference: 48.8 million.

Total who voted was 131.5 million out of 176.7 million. Difference: 45.2 million.

Maximum who could have voted, but didn't: 94 million.

AP story, supposedly delayed for 3 years because of State Dept. stonewalling, says 55% of Hillary's private meet-ups while Secretary ended up donating to the Clinton Family Crime Foundation

The Associated Press story here outlines the corruption game of pay for play no doubt detailed in some of the 30,000 to 45,000 e-mails deleted by Hillary Clinton from her private server:

At least 85 of 154 people from private interests who met or had phone conversations scheduled with Clinton while she led the State Department donated to her family charity or pledged commitments to its international programs, according to a review of State Department calendars released so far to The Associated Press. Combined, the 85 donors contributed as much as $156 million. At least 40 donated more than $100,000 each, and 20 gave more than $1 million. 

WaPo doesn't mention the minimum wage is too high and attracts cheaper illegal immigrant workers, displacing teenagers, which is just fine with them

There are all kinds of jobs not worth the minimum wage of $7.25, and we should abolish it forwith. Youth employment would surge, as would respect for a dollar and the value of capitalism. Maybe that's why liberalism keeps raising the minimum wage.

US teenagers used to do those jobs, and gained the valuable work experience and good habits employers look for in adults but often do not find any longer.

In the United States children who have reached 14 years of age may work limited hours in many jobs. 

There are an estimated 24 million kids aged 14 through 19.

In July 2016 just 6 million aged 16 through 19 were employed, about 38% of that slice of teenagers.

Here:

[A]t least 8 million unauthorized immigrants are employed, most have been in this country for 15 years or longer, and typically they do jobs — tending crops, washing dishes, mowing lawns — that native-born Americans do not want. In basic economic terms, illegal immigrants meet the labor market’s demand for lower-wage employees, for which there is a shortage of available legal workers.

So, Hillary says her foundation will not accept foreign donations when she becomes president . . .

. . . but it was OK to accept them when she was Secretary of State because . . .?

For Congress to see Hillary's FBI file, Comey requires layer upon layer of security which Hillary was allowed to discard

From Kim Strassel, here:

[T]he process highlights not only the absurdity of Mrs. Clinton’s claim that her server was no big deal, but also the irresponsibility of the FBI’s decision not to prosecute. Duly elected members of Congress are traversing layers of security and guards, clearances in hand, to view a few top-secret documents. Ask Mr. Comey why what is demanded of them was not demanded of Hillary.

But the contradiction gets even more extreme. The FBI has placed additional, and unnecessary, strictures on the Hillary file. It warned lawmakers against publicly sharing any information from the documents—even unclassified information. So the FBI chief won’t prosecute Mrs. Clinton for spreading secrets across the globe, but he bars Congress from talking about unclassified issues that potentially get to the heart of today’s presidential race. One might wonder why. ...

The entire spectacle—from the investigation to this week’s handover of files—demonstrates how much damage Mr. Comey has done to the FBI’s credibility.

You will search this New York Times Hillary Clinton health "conspiracy" story in vain for the words "blood clot", caused by dehydration, caused by, you know, alcoholism

Here. 

Flashback here to the New York Times January 2, 2013:

Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose globe-trotting tour as secretary of state was abruptly halted last month by a series of health problems, was discharged from a New York hospital on Wednesday evening after several days of treatment for a blood clot in a vein in her head.

Mrs. Clinton, 65, was admitted to NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia hospital on Sunday after a scan discovered the blood clot. The scan was part of her follow-up care for a concussion she sustained more than two weeks earlier, when she fainted and fell, striking her head. According to the State Department, the fainting was caused by dehydration, brought on by a stomach virus. The concussion was diagnosed on Dec. 13, though the fall had occurred earlier that week.

The clot was potentially serious, blocking a vein that drains blood from the brain. Untreated, such blockages can lead to brain hemorrhages or strokes. Treatment consists mainly of blood thinners to keep the clot from enlarging and to prevent more clots from forming, and plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration, which is a major risk factor for blood clots. ...

Dr. David J. Langer, a brain surgeon and associate professor at Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine, said that Mrs. Clinton would need close monitoring in the next days, weeks and months to make sure her doses of blood thinners are correct and that the clot is not growing. Dr. Langer is not involved in her care. ...

The fact that Mrs. Clinton had a blood clot in the past — in her leg, in 1998 — suggests that she may have a tendency to form clots, and may need blood-thinners long-term or even for the rest of her life, Dr. Manley said. ...

Speaker Paul Ryan lectures us to be ideologues and remains ignorant of how our founders appealed to English identity

In March, the Speaker informed us thusly:

"I want to talk about what our country can be…about what our Founders envisioned it to be. America is the only nation founded an idea—not an identity. That idea is the notion that the condition of your birth does not determine the outcome of your life. Our rights are natural. They come from God, not government."

George Mason, principal author of the Fairfax County Resolves of 1774 in response to the Coercive Acts, in 1776 begged to differ:

"We claim nothing but the liberty and privileges of Englishmen in the same degree, as if we had continued among our brethren in Great Britain."

So also Supreme Court Justice Joseph Bradley in 1873:

"The people of this country brought with them to its shores the rights of Englishmen, the rights which had been wrested from English sovereigns at various periods of the nation's history.... England has no written constitution, it is true, but it has an unwritten one, resting in the acknowledged, and frequently declared, privileges of Parliament and the people, to violate which in any material respect would produce a revolution in an hour. A violation of one of the fundamental principles of that constitution in the Colonies, namely, the principle that recognizes the property of the people as their own, and which, therefore, regards all taxes for the support of government as gifts of the people through their representatives, and regards taxation without representation as subversive of free government, was the origin of our own revolution."

What's wrong with conservatism in America is that it has forgotten all this, if it ever knew it at all.

Winter's coming . . .

. . . it's 65 degrees F right now in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The winter, January through March, is forecast to be colder and snowier than normal.

How to know the WaPo/ABCNews poll showing Clinton +8 overpolled northeastern liberals

The poll here ("detailed" view), still included in the Real Clear Politics presidential average this morning, gives away its northern liberal pedigree in the ZIKA questions appearing at the end.

Apart from the fact that Republicans represented only 23% of the sample, by question 33 you start to get the feeling that this poll comes primarily from the Acela Northeast corridor where the denizens of the Establishment live and have a clear interest in seeing the status quo maintained: Fully 58% want an Establishment president in November, not an outsider like Donald Trump.

This feeling is confirmed by question 48: Just 35% are somewhat or very worried about a ZIKA outbreak personally affecting them. Well of course not, not if you live up north. What? Me worry?

In question 49, the last in the poll, fully 69% are somewhat or very convinced that the Feds can handle anything ZIKA throws our way. The Federal Government is nothing if not competent, you see. We ought to know. We work there. Please keep sending your tax dollars to Washington.

Oh yeah, and 56% of them love Bill Clinton.

Once again, this is polling to shape opinion, not measure it. Otherwise known as the Democrats using all means at their disposal to suppress the Republican vote by demoralizing it, trying to get them to believe the election is already over, so you might as well give up now.

Please delete me, let me go . . .

But none of you remember "Release Me", do you?

Hillary didn't have a seizure, she had a Seagram's

Bribery: Hillary approved Russian uranium deal, her foundation got $2.35 million, and she accuses Trump of being pals with Putin

From the San Diego Union-Tribune editorial, here:

[Special interests] are not paying hundreds of thousands of dollars [to the Clintons] to hear shopworn speeches because they expect to obtain profound insights. They want the Clintons’ help, and they’re willing to pay for it.

That is the obvious conclusion to draw from The New York Times’ 2015 bombshell about how a Russian firm obtained control of one-fifth of all U.S. uranium production capacity from 2009-13 — which required approval from then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton — while the company’s owner used a Canadian partnership to surreptitiously convey $2.35 million to the Clinton Foundation.

DNC finance director Jordan "no homo" Kaplan is out, returns to full time consulting

Story here, which of course doesn't mention his Wikileaks "no homo" fame.

Another reason to throw Turkey out of NATO: age of consent for sex lowered to 12

Story here.

Crack pusher given early release by Obama in August 2014 killed three in January 2016, now eligible for death penalty

Way to go, Brownie! Your man slit the throats of children, who could have been yours.

Story here, here and here.

"A convicted crack dealer who left prison early as part of the Obama administration’s mass release of federal inmates has been indicted by a grand jury for fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend and her two kids in Columbus, Ohio. The gory crime drew national attention because the children, ages 7 and 10, were murdered to eliminate them as witnesses in the brutal massacre of their 32-year-old mother."

Hillary actually took twice as much money from the Saudis as Manafort supposedly took from "Ukraine"

$25 million.

Inspector General says Hillary's State Dept. mismanaged $6 billion in contracts

From the story here:

The [Inspector General] alert revealed that State Department officials lost contract files and maintained incomplete contract files, thus exposing taxpayers “to substantial financial losses.” Federal law and State Department policy requires maintenance of all files required to document a government procurement from start to finish.

In a blistering summary, the IG alert said such failures create “conditions conducive to fraud, as corrupt individuals may attempt to conceal evidence of illicit behavior by omitting key documents from the contract file. It impairs the ability of the department to take effective and timely action to protect its interests and, in turn, those of taxpayers. Finally, it limits the ability of the government to punish and deter criminal behavior.”

Polls troll, and Brexit showed the bookies weren't any better

Seen here:

Analysing outcome likelihoods in the real world is a risky business. But if all else fails, you can always rely on the one interest group that has a consistent stake in accurate outcome prediction – betting companies. OddsChecker currently has best odds for a leave vote at 11/4 (27% likely) and stay at 1/3 (75% likely). Make of that what you will.

Mark Belling's right: Hillary's a lying liar and will only continue to lie to you as president

And Donald Trump isn't going to stop being who he is, either.

Better bookmark his Twitter feed.

Hillary suspends campaign Thursday through Saturday to rest, news media shift you to Olympic swimmers' "lies"

Nothing on Hillary's schedule 18th-20th

The only possible headline in the political universe: "Hillary Bush suspends campaign to rest from rigors of the trail".

Notice how Hillary's calendar doesn't treat Sunday as the first day of the week, as in all Christendom?

How the mighty are fallen: The Financial Times calls National Review "establishment GOP"

Here:

"Publications such as the National Review have long been part of the establishment GOP while drawing on outsider status as the Democrats held control of the White House."

That whir you're hearing is William F. Buckley, Jr., who died in 2008, spinning in his grave.

State Dept. spokesman finally admits US paid ransom for hostages in Iran, making Obama a liar yet again

Quoted here:

The State Department admitted Thursday that the US would not hand over $400 million in cash to Iran until it released four American hostages — two weeks after President Obama insisted the payment was not a “ransom.”

State Department spokesman John Kirby was asked at Thursday’s press briefing: “In basic English, you’re saying you wouldn’t give them $400 million in cash until the prisoners were released, correct?”

“That’s correct,” Kirby replied.

Flashback: One week before the November 2012 election Rasmussen had Romney ahead by 2+ in FL, OH, VA and NH but Romney lost them all

And with those losses Romney did not get to 270 and finished instead with 206.

Romney lost by 166,000 votes in OH, 149,000 in VA, 74,000 in FL and 40,000 in NH . . . 429,000 votes.

Flashback here.

The Rasmussen presidential poll isn't really a poll of likely voters, either

From the Rasmussen methodology page, here:

For political surveys, census bureau data provides a starting point and a series of screening questions are [sic] used to determine likely voters. The questions involve voting history, interest in the current campaign, and likely voting intentions. 

Well, that's not polling likely voters. That's polling people who SAY they are going to vote. Likely voters are voters you KNOW voted recently, say in 2014 or 2012.

Polling such people is very expensive, which is why they don't do it.

The polls are not reliable because you can count on only about 30% of the population to tell the truth unfailingly.

The rest of you are liars, and you have the government you deserve. You lie, and you elect liars.  

 

"Science": "Hottest July on record", but not in Seattle, Boulder, Madison, Chicago or Grand Rapids

Seattle's hottest Julys

Boulder's hottest Julys

Madison's hottest Julys

Grand Rapids' hottest Julys

Chicago's hottest Julys

July 2016 hottest on record, they say, but not in Grand Rapids, MI: Average temperature ranked 21st since 1892

Warmest average July temperatures in Grand Rapids ranked

"July 2016 Was The Hottest Month Ever Recorded"

But 70% of the top ten hottest Julys in Grand Rapids, Michigan occurred before World War II.

Michael Warren of The Weekly Standard is convinced the polls are right because they are "scientific"

The guy probably believes the Arctic is ice-free, too.

Here:

Cohen's obstinate challenge to the plain fact that scientific polls show Trump is losing indicates this head-in-the-sand mentality has permeated the culture in Trump World. Remember, it's not spin if you believe it.

Mort Zuckerman pays his respects to John McLaughlin

Here.

Mort puts his time on The McLaughlin Group at about 24 of the 34 years, but has been notably absent in the last year and otherwise has been more quiet than usual.

The last time I remember him writing much of anything was early in 2013 when he reiterated that America was in actuality experiencing another economic depression.

Toronto Canada is the new crucible for molten salt reactors

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard reports here:

Canada is now the crucible for molten salt reactors. Terrestrial Energy in Toronto is the most advanced such project in the world with an integral molten salt reactor, and is already pre-licensed. "We can bring our reactor to the commercial market in the 2020s," said the chief executive Simon Irish.

"Once we put a shovel to the ground we can build it in three to four years. The parts can be manufactured on a mass scale.  We believe we can produce power for 40-50 US dollars per megawatt hour," he said.

Vlogger Louis Cole aspires to become the new Walter Duranty, not for The New York Times but for YouTube

Here:

In the description section of one of his North Korea videos, Cole writes, “I’m trying to focus on positive things in the country and combat the purely negative image we see in the Media.” Which, O.K., sure. But as another vlogger shows us in his own video from the DPRK (vloggers seem to be going there en masse), these videos are meant to capture a very carefully curated vision of a country whose human rights abuses are “without parallel in the contemporary world,” according to Human Rights Watch. Cole has, so far, not really made mention of any of that, choosing instead to go for a light tone, oohing and ahhing over abundant food in a country ravaged by hunger.

Real Clear Politics classifies the LA Times/USC poll as a "likely voter" poll, but it isn't

And it is evident to me that none of the other "LV" polls are either. The pollsters ASK if they are likely voters or registered voters, which is different from talking to someone who actually voted in 2014 and 2012. None of these polls appear to be representing the views of exclusively likely voters.

What's even more disturbing, only the Bloomberg and ABC News polls are conducted by telephone, either landline or cell. The other four are conducted online in some way.

The more you look into it, the less confident you become, which would explain why the candidates continue to campaign for your attention and fight like hell. They don't trust the polls either.

From the FAQ, here:

Q: Do you use a likely voter model? 

A: No, the respondents provide us with their own subjective probability of voting and we use that to weight their responses.

Five likely voter polls give Hillary an average advantage of only +3.6 in August, eight registered voter polls +8.9

Like Eleanor Clift, Fred Barnes expresses gratitude for being included in The McLaughlin Group

Here:

I'm grateful to McLaughlin for having been part of it.

Eleanor Clift says goodbye to John McLaughlin, the way it should be done

You should read it, here:

Every issue was deeply researched, and John relished weightier issues like NATO enlargement, making us eat our vegetables before we would get to the easy headlines. ... We will miss his signature phrases, beginning with Issue One, and ending with Bye-Bye. And we will miss the man, who was always a blast to be around. John was an original, and while there are many imitators, he will never be overtaken. He got there first, and he created something that in its own way is as iconic as The Honeymooners with Jackie Gleason, a comparison I know John would love.

Why Real Clear Politics shouldn't include the NBC/SM poll in its presidential average

The poll shows Clinton +9 currently.

The poll is conducted online, but if you're a smart person, you've installed an ad-blocker, which means you won't be polled. Hence the poll skews stupid right out of the gate.

The poll is of registered voters, including lots of motor-voters, not of likely voters, and the most likely to vote are 60 years of age and over. In 2012 70% of them turned out, but this poll this week of 15,179 includes just 657 people over  65, or 4.3% of the total. The poll therefore can't be said to reflect the opinion of those most likely to vote.

Here's what it does reflect. In 2012 turnout of people 18-44 averaged about 47%, yet this poll is 46% of that demographic, or 6,920 people, only 3,252 of which are likely to show up in November 2016.

You can make a poll say anything you want by playing games like this.

The NBC/SM poll is trying to shape opinion, not measure it.

Already ridiculed in July, Albuquerque Italian restaurant ups the ante from black olive tapenade to black olives matter T-shirts

Offensive WaPo "obituary" for John McLaughlin lumps him in with his intellectual inferiors to dismiss him

Liberalism prefers processed news

Nixon loyalists remain unforgivable at WaPo.

Erik Wemple, here, a liberal fundamentalist if there ever was one, whom McLaughlin wouldn't have needed five minutes to wither, let alone thirty:

"pugnacious style as a host of a political chat show helped usher in the era of impolite punditry"

"goaded journalists and pundits into moving beyond fact into the argumentative terrain of ideological talking points and rhetorical hyperbole"

"Mr. McLaughlin’s impact can be glimpsed almost any night on cable news channels, for better or worse. ... his show’s staccato approach to wringing opinions from guests previewed the Internet’s addiction to fast and unprocessed news bites."

Obamacare is only attractive to the poorest and sickest, but is "an utter disaster for the working and middle class"

So says Robert Laszewski for CNBC, here:

Obamacare has insured millions of people—particularly in the states that have expanded Medicaid (albeit a currently unsustainable program in its own right) and it has been attractive to the poorest that get bigger subsidies and lower deductibles in the exchanges. But Obamacare has been an utter disaster for the working and middle class that seem willing to buy the unattractive plans only if they are sick and can come out ahead on the deal.

Obama interrupted his vacation yesterday to fundraise for Hillary, but to oversee Louisiana flooding not so much

The Boston Globe didn't even bat an eye.

Tens of thousands of homes are flooded out in Louisiana, but your president has to be a Republican before the news media give a shit

Rod Dreher can only wonder here.

Hey Rod! The media only care when the poor blacks get flooded out. You working and middle class people don't count. And you don't have an advocate in the White House. Brownie is only for the rich (and for the poor only on paper).

The McLaughlin Group is history: John McLaughlin dead at 89

Reported here.

The show was a singular venue for decades to hear weekly the "old right" point of view as understood by Patrick J. Buchanan, long-time friend and associate of John McLaughlin going back to the days of Richard M. Nixon.

Some of those ideas now find expression in the candidacy of Donald John Trump.

Democrats want the Hyde Amendment ended, want your tax dollars to pay for abortions

Story here.

Doofus Joe Biden, VP, exposes the guy with the nuclear codes while saying Trump can't be trusted with them

Here:

“There’s a guy that follows me right back here, has the nuclear codes,” Biden said, turning and pointing. “So God forbid anything happened to the president and I had to make a decision, the codes are with me.” 

Video here.

Hillary Clinton deleted "you have the right to be believed" from website last February, six months later The Hill notices that BuzzFeed has finally noticed

Feminists haven't focused like a laser beam on Hillary's hypocrisy because . . . ?

From The Hill story here:

Clinton tweeted in September [2015] that every sexual assault survivor had "the right to be believed." ... Broaddrick, who claimed Bill Clinton raped her in 1978 when he was serving as Arkansas' attorney general, decided to tweet after hearing Clinton's statements on sexual assault. ... The line from Clinton's website was [reportedly] deleted in February after Broaddrick's [tweet] made headlines [in January 2016].

Reuters/Ipsos has Clinton +6 in early August, but . . .

. . . in early July she was +11.

The New York Times focuses on possible corruption of Paul Manafort, not on the real corruption of Hillary Clinton

Here.

Milwaukeeans volunteer to clean up rioters' mess, Governor Walker calls it "selfless caring" after blacks burn down Indian-owned BP gas station

Yeah, right up there with Jesus dying for our sins, guv'ner.

From the story here:

"I commend the citizens who volunteered in clean-up efforts this morning," Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said. This act of selfless caring sets a powerful example for Milwaukee's youth and the entire community. I join Milwaukee's leaders and citizens in calling for continued peace and prayer."

Nobody is going to call this a hate crime committed by blacks against Indian-Americans, but that's what it was. The gas station has been at the center of controversy since at least July 19th when clerk Bhupinder Sidhu fired shots to disperse juvenile delinquents from his store, some of whom earlier in June had broken windows at the station. 

From that story here:

According to the complaint, Sidhu told investigators shortly after Sherman Park closed at 10:00 p.m. on Tuesday night, a large group of juveniles came to the store. An employee attempted to close the entrance to the store -- but couldn't because someone was holding the door open. Sidhu claimed he feared for his safety and his employee's safety -- so he took his loaded Smith & Wesson M&P .40 caliber shield handgun from behind the counter and exited the store. He said he then pointed the handgun in the air, and fired two rounds "in order to try to get people to leave the store." Investigators reviewed surveillance video, which shows Sidhu exiting the store while holding what appears to be a handgun. Sidhu can then be seen raising the gun in the air -- and the crowd can be seen scattering. Sidhu and two others are then seen following the crowd until everyone left the area near the gas station.

Black cop shoots black perp, blacks burn down six Milwaukee businesses anyway, Governor Walker ready to send in the Guard

Walker would have made a good Chief Executive, except for the free-trade and illegal immigration stuff.  Like the Bush Clan, Walker lacks "the vision thing".

From the AP-Obama report, here:

Six businesses were burned and 17 people arrested in violence a few hours after a black police officer shot a black man. Police said the victim was fleeing a traffic stop and was holding a gun when he was shot. ... Walker says he took the step after receiving a request from Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke and talking with Mayor Tom Barrett and the Guard's leader. His announcement says the Guard will be in position to help "upon request."

US Attorney for the Southern District of NY and FBI field offices said to be cooperating in Clinton Foundation investigation

FBI Director James Comey before Congress July 7th would neither confirm nor deny such an investigation of the Clinton Family Crime Foundation exists.

Story here.

Ted Cruz' "very unfavorable" rating hits 52% in Texas

Data here.

Documents released last week implicate Cheryl Mills in covering up Hillary's private e-mail server

From the Daily Beast here:

The top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was told in late 2012 that a non-profit watchdog group had requested information about Clinton’s email, including the number of accounts she used, according to documents released Wednesday. ... [The aide] was alerted to the request, from the group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), via an email from a State Department spokesman, Brock Johnson, on Dec. 11, 2012. [The aide] was told that the group had filed a “significant” request seeking “records sufficient to show the number of email accounts of or associated with Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton…” The aide, Chief of Staff Cheryl Mills, and other Clinton advisers knew at the time that the secretary was using a private email system to conduct official business. But despite the information request, the State Department told the group that it had found no “responsive” records. “This is evidence that Cheryl Mills covered up Hillary Clinton’s email system,” Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, a conservative group that sued for information about that original 2012 request, said in a statement. “She was aware of the [Freedom of Information Act] request about Clinton’s email accounts and allowed a response to go out that was a plain lie. And you can bet if Cheryl Mills knew about this inquiry, then Hillary Clinton did, too.”

Smartphone poll of 100,000 daily finds Trump walloping Clinton 64 to 36

Story here.

Police show restraint after rioting in Milwaukee, at least four businesses burn to the ground, alderman says "it may not have been right" but threatens more

Khalif Rainey, the thugs' man in power

Whattaya mean "may", alderman?

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports here:

After an hours-long confrontation with officers, police reported at 10:15 p.m. that a gas station at N. Sherman Blvd. and W. Burleigh St. was set on fire. Police said firefighters could not for a time get close to the blaze because of gunshots.

Later, fires were started at businesses — including a BMO Harris Bank branch, a beauty supply company and O'Reilly Auto Parts stores — near N. 35th and W. Burleigh streets, a grim and emphatic Mayor Tom Barrett said. He spoke at a midnight news conference at the District 3 police station at N. 49th St. and W. Lisbon Ave. ... The mayor said police had "shown an amazing amount of restraint" Saturday evening. ...

“This entire community has sat back and witnessed how Milwaukee, Wis., has become the worst place to live for African-Americans in the entire country,” [Sherman Park Alderman Khalif] Rainey said. “Now this is a warning cry. Where do we go from here? Where do we go as a community from here? Do we continue – continue with the inequities, the injustice, the unemployment, the under-education, that creates these byproducts that we see this evening? … The black people of Milwaukee are tired. They’re tired of living under this oppression. This is their existence. This is their life. This is the life of their children. Now what has happened tonight may have not been right; I’m not justifying that. But no one can deny the fact that there’s problems, racial problems, here in Milwaukee, Wis., that have to be closely, not examined, but rectified. Rectify this immediately. Because if you don’t, this vision of downtown, all of that, you’re one day away. You’re one day away.”

John McLaughlin, whose health appears to have declined markedly since Christmas, fails to appear on this week's McLaughlin Group

Watch it here, but it's uncomfortable without the old boy, who turned 89 in March.

Why it's not a coincidence the polls now favor Hillary

Because Trump touted his poll successes throughout the primaries. So, poll now to make him look like a failure. A simple strategy. Don't measure opinion, shape it!

Pick the target . . . easy, there's only one in this circumstance.

Freeze it . . . attack him from all sides, media, academia, Congress, Hollywood, donors, Democrats, Republican establishment. Keep up constant pressure from every angle.

Personalize it . . . never talk about the issues he talks about, about all the people thronging his appearances, only talk about the man, how "unfit" he is, what a clown he is, how inarticulate, offensive and classless!

Polarize it . . . caricature him as if he didn't belong, like he was beneath us, you know like Mar-a-Lago Club didn't belong in Palm Beach. Treat him like people who work for a living, not like one of us. Accuse his movement of being violent, outside the mainstream, while having your thugs do actual harm to his supporters.

Make him and them feel all alone, like strangers in their own country. 

Bush v Dukakis August 1988

Dukakis 49%

Bush 42%

Trump thanks Gen. Hayden and the fifty for coming forward so everyone can know who the foreign policy fuck-ups are

From Spengler, here, who points out that it's bad enough that the emperor wears no clothes, but the empire has no tailors, either:

Trump responded, “The names on this letter are the ones the American people should look to for answers on why the world is a mess, and we thank them for coming forward so everyone in the country knows who deserves the blame for making the world such a dangerous place.” That is exactly correct. He might have added that they are incapable of learning from their mistakes and doomed to repeat them if given the opportunity.

But humorless liberal dipshits really do believe this claptrap that Trump is an ISIS recruiter

Here, last December.

Only dipshit liberals pretend anyone took Trump literally

Hillary: A border fence for me, but not for thee

This ten-footer surrounds Hillary's entire property in New York

Story here.

The 2015 cost of Medicaid expansion for 10 million people: $63.66 billion

As reported here:

In a recent report to Congress, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the cost of expansion was $6,366 per person for 2015, about 49 percent higher than previously estimated. ... An estimated 9 million to 10 million people are covered by the Medicaid expansion, and many of the remaining uninsured are likely to be eligible if their states accept. Most of the new Medicaid recipients are low-income adults.

Anti-Trump Macy's closes 15% of stores (about 100) after sales decline six quarters straight

From the story here:

Neil Saunders, CEO of research firm Conlumino, said the Macy's store closures are "sensible," but largely the result of a "self-inflicted defeat."

Hillary doesn't notice terrorist five feet away

US States ranked by number of public officials convicted of crimes 1998-2007

The co-founders of ISIS

Not a conservative A. Barton Hinkle complains Trump is not a conservative

Here.

What he means is Trump is not a libertarian. To Hinkle, Republican Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois is a "leading intellectual light" of conservatism.

There he goes again, Bogarting that joint.