Octopus Overlords

Defiant wrote:

Max Peck wrote:

El Guapo wrote:It's interesting that they are counting the unbound delegates in stating that he has 'clinched' the nomination. If you count unbound superdelegates, then Clinton will very likely similarly 'clinch' the nomination by winning New Jersey, without even counting California. So I wonder whether the AP will similarly announce that for Clinton as well.

Though Trump has no opponents left to dispute the 'clinching', unlike Clinton.

Bear in mind that the AP article is counting unbound delegates that are saying they will support Trump, not all unbound delegates, and they spell out that by "clinch" they mean he now has a total of 1238 delegates (either bound or declaring support for him), which puts him one over the magic number to avoid a contested convention. Given that he will undoubtedly gain more delegates in the remaining primaries, it sounds legit to me.

Then, by the very same token, they should count the superdelegates that say that they will support Clinton, and say that she clinched the nomination after NJ.

Max Peck wrote:

Defiant wrote:

Max Peck wrote:

El Guapo wrote:It's interesting that they are counting the unbound delegates in stating that he has 'clinched' the nomination. If you count unbound superdelegates, then Clinton will very likely similarly 'clinch' the nomination by winning New Jersey, without even counting California. So I wonder whether the AP will similarly announce that for Clinton as well.

Though Trump has no opponents left to dispute the 'clinching', unlike Clinton.

Bear in mind that the AP article is counting unbound delegates that are saying they will support Trump, not all unbound delegates, and they spell out that by "clinch" they mean he now has a total of 1238 delegates (either bound or declaring support for him), which puts him one over the magic number to avoid a contested convention. Given that he will undoubtedly gain more delegates in the remaining primaries, it sounds legit to me.

Then, by the very same token, they should count the superdelegates that say that they will support Clinton, and say that she clinched the nomination after NJ.

If that puts her over the top, then maybe they will. I just don't think there's anything odd about the Trump article -- the big story with Trump has been whether or not he would have to deal with a contested convention. If their sources and analysis say "nope, it's a done deal" then they are obviously going to run with that story.

El Guapo wrote:There isn't anything odd about the Trump story, especially since Trump has no opponents anymore so it's academic whether he has formally clinched or not. I'm just questioning the possible implications for the democratic race, which is not over, so that seems the material issue to me.

GreenGoo wrote:

Alefroth wrote:I feel like he's touched a part of me that I don't like where it is.

I figure a few people would prefer that he just stop touching them altogether.

Carpet_pissr wrote:

GreenGoo wrote:

Alefroth wrote:I feel like he's touched a part of me that I don't like where it is.

I figure a few people would prefer that he just stop touching them altogether.

Does no one find his tiny, orange hands cute?

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told California voters Friday that he can solve their water crisis, declaring, "There is no drought."

“He needs an experienced person to do the part of the job he doesn’t want to do. He seems himself more as the chairman of the board, than even the CEO, let alone the COO.”

The campaign probably won’t choose a woman or a member of a minority group, he said. “In fact, that would be viewed as pandering, I think.”

Defiant wrote:Apparently Trump wants to pick a Veep who will do the parts of the presidency he doesn't want to do:

“He needs an experienced person to do the part of the job he doesn’t want to do. He seems himself more as the chairman of the board, than even the CEO, let alone the COO.”

Also, women and minorities need not apply. So no Palin.

The campaign probably won’t choose a woman or a member of a minority group, he said. “In fact, that would be viewed as pandering, I think.”

Editor's note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S.

tgb wrote:That last is a Huffington Post thing and has appeared at the bottom of every piece about Der Fuehrer Teh Donald for months now.

Max Peck wrote:

tgb wrote:That last is a Huffington Post thing and has appeared at the bottom of every piece about Der Fuehrer Teh Donald for months now.

Ah, OK, I obviously don't read that site much (OK, at all), but I see them referenced a lot so if they have an editorial bias, it's good to know about it.

Two things were evident throughout what was clearly intended by the campaign to be a Major Speech, showing Trump as a Serious Man.

The first is that Trump loves his rambling improvisations, and so does his audience, so he can scarcely be restrained from indulging in them. Time after time he would slip off script, tossing in a line about his border wall, his lead in the polls, Hillary Clinton's intention to "abolish the Second Amendment," or farmers. (He loves farmers.)

The second is that Trump was encountering his own speech, if not for the first time, then something close to it. The difference in tone and affect between the parts he read and the parts he freestyled was almost comical. He would squint at the teleprompter for a moment, read a fully formed English sentence with correct grammar and multisyllabic words ... and then grin, look out at the audience, and fire off a few hortatory exclamations.

What made this effect particularly disconcerting is that many of Trump's spontaneous interjections were reactions to his own speech.

tjg_marantz wrote:The guy is a joke. His supporters likewise. Pretty simple.

tgb wrote:

tjg_marantz wrote:The guy is a joke. His supporters likewise. Pretty simple.

A joke who is doing as well as, and in some polls, beating Hillary. He's one terrorist attack away from a landslide, I fear. Then we'll see who's laughing.

I was going to make a snarky comment about Rip moving the servers to your house up there in America Lite, but Der Fuehrer Teh Donald has already offered him the post of Minister of Propaganda.

tgb wrote:

tjg_marantz wrote:The guy is a joke. His supporters likewise. Pretty simple.

A joke who is doing as well as, and in some polls, beating Hillary. He's one terrorist attack away from a landslide, I fear. Then we'll see who's laughing.

I was going to make a snarky comment about Rip moving the servers to your house up there in America Lite, but Der Fuehrer Teh Donald has already offered him the post of Minister of Propaganda.

Rip wrote:

tgb wrote:

tjg_marantz wrote:The guy is a joke. His supporters likewise. Pretty simple.

A joke who is doing as well as, and in some polls, beating Hillary. He's one terrorist attack away from a landslide, I fear. Then we'll see who's laughing.

I was going to make a snarky comment about Rip moving the servers to your house up there in America Lite, but Der Fuehrer Teh Donald has already offered him the post of Minister of Propaganda.

Actually I am hoping to be running The Gestapo Homeland Security.

Trump added, "The judge, who happens to be, we believe, Mexican, which is great. I think that's fine."

Rip wrote:

tgb wrote:

tjg_marantz wrote:The guy is a joke. His supporters likewise. Pretty simple.

A joke who is doing as well as, and in some polls, beating Hillary. He's one terrorist attack away from a landslide, I fear. Then we'll see who's laughing.

I was going to make a snarky comment about Rip moving the servers to your house up there in America Lite, but Der Fuehrer Teh Donald has already offered him the post of Minister of Propaganda.

Actually I am hoping to be running The Gestapo Homeland Security.

Max Peck wrote:

tgb wrote:

tjg_marantz wrote:The guy is a joke. His supporters likewise. Pretty simple.

A joke who is doing as well as, and in some polls, beating Hillary. He's one terrorist attack away from a landslide, I fear. Then we'll see who's laughing.

I was going to make a snarky comment about Rip moving the servers to your house up there in America Lite, but Der Fuehrer Teh Donald has already offered him the post of Minister of Propaganda.

Uh, where do you think OO is hosted?

And yeah, anyone that is still writing Drumpf off as a joke hasn't been paying attention lately. He's looking pretty damn viable, especially if something crazy (a terrorist attack is just one of many possibilities) happens between now and the election. The idea of him being elected president dismays me, but it has been awhile since it seemed unthinkable.

tgb wrote:

Rip wrote:

tgb wrote:

tjg_marantz wrote:The guy is a joke. His supporters likewise. Pretty simple.

A joke who is doing as well as, and in some polls, beating Hillary. He's one terrorist attack away from a landslide, I fear. Then we'll see who's laughing.

I was going to make a snarky comment about Rip moving the servers to your house up there in America Lite, but Der Fuehrer Teh Donald has already offered him the post of Minister of Propaganda.

Actually I am hoping to be running The Gestapo Homeland Security.

You don't have the jackboots for it.

Bob Dole encouraged fellow Republicans Saturday to back Donald Trump and suggested the presumptive GOP nominee select Newt Gingrich as his running mate.

In an interview with CNN's Ana Cabrera, Dole -- the 1996 Republican nominee who said he spoke with Trump last week -- also suggested Trump apologize to Arizona Sen. John McCain and New Mexico Gov. Susanna Martinez for disparaging comments he's made about them in the past.

"I have been a Republican all my life," said Dole, who endorsed former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at one point during the 2016 primary fight but has since backed Trump. "The party has done a lot for me. I hope I've done a lot for the party along the way. But when Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, it was an easy call for me. What's a lifelong Republican supposed to do, support the opponent? I don't think so."

Asked about notable Republicans who haven't yet supported Trump -- including Bush and House Speaker Paul Ryan -- Dole said, "Well, they still have time to get on the train. It's not moving that fast right now."

Rip wrote: That would be too German, we will be wearing these.

tgb wrote:I've said it before and I'll say it again.

They laughed at Reagan when he said he was running for Gov. of CA. Then they laughed when he said he was challenging the incumbent for POTUS.

Anything is possible, and a Trump victory has a real chance of happening.

msduncan wrote:I'm not a Trump guy, but I have to say that the hysteria here about him is both overblown and telling. Telling because you guys are beginning to think that he might be able to actually win this thing and it's fueling the hysteria.

Rip wrote:

"I have been a Republican all my life," said Dole, who endorsed former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at one point during the 2016 primary fight but has since backed Trump. "The party has done a lot for me. I hope I've done a lot for the party along the way. But when Donald Trump clinched the Republican nomination, it was an easy call for me. What's a lifelong Republican supposed to do, support the opponent? I don't think so."

msduncan wrote:I'm not a Trump guy, but I have to say that the hysteria here about him is both overblown and telling. Telling because you guys are beginning to think that he might be able to actually win this thing and it's fueling the hysteria.

Max Peck wrote:

Rip wrote: That would be too German, we will be wearing these.

So, you're saying Trump is a bit of a heel?

tjg_marantz wrote:

tgb wrote:I've said it before and I'll say it again.

They laughed at Reagan when he said he was running for Gov. of CA. Then they laughed when he said he was challenging the incumbent for POTUS.

Anything is possible, and a Trump victory has a real chance of happening.

Reagan never said he'd build a wall or forbid Muslims. Yuge difference.

msduncan wrote:I'm not a Trump guy, but I have to say that the hysteria here about him is both overblown and telling. Telling because you guys are beginning to think that he might be able to actually win this thing and it's fueling the hysteria.

“We're going to solve your water problem. You have a water problem that is so insane. It is so ridiculous where they're taking the water and shoving it out to sea," Trump said at the Friday night Fresno event.

The apparent weather expert’s solution?

“If I win, believe me, we're going to start opening up the water so that you can have your farmers survive," he barked. “There is no drought. They turn the water out into the ocean.”

msduncan wrote:I'm not a Trump guy, but I have to say that the hysteria here about him is both overblown and telling. Telling because you guys are beginning to think that he might be able to actually win this thing and it's fueling the hysteria.

hepcat wrote:Could you add more hysteria to that post? You're at about 2 and we need you at around 8 or 9.

tgb wrote:

tjg_marantz wrote:

tgb wrote:I've said it before and I'll say it again.

They laughed at Reagan when he said he was running for Gov. of CA. Then they laughed when he said he was challenging the incumbent for POTUS.

Anything is possible, and a Trump victory has a real chance of happening.

Reagan never said he'd build a wall or forbid Muslims. Yuge difference.

No, he didn't. But here are a few things he did say.

GreenGoo wrote:My opinion is that if he's elected, he'll do pretty much nothing. He'll be a figurehead at best. He'll say stupid things and do stupid things, but those stupid things will be small and easily fixed once he's gone.

I don't think he'll do any more damage than if you left the seat empty for 4 years. Hell, he might get another term out of it if he stays out of the way.

But that's if he gets elected. I just can't be that pessimistic about the American public. I don't think he's got a shot, and I figure this will be the widest gap between candidates in a century. Even with the Hillary hate.