Curb Your Authoritarianism? The 2016 Conventional Wisdom Thread (Elections, Part 6)

when did rubio's left eye swell to twice the size of his right?

Marco the Cat

its being p widely reported including that manafort tried to bully cruz into endorsing at the last minute w the threat of booing

this whole thing is so, so strange. they knew what was going to happen, they (should have) known it would overshadow else everything at the convention, and yet they went through with it anyway?

and yeah "at face value" it sounds like he's basically saying, "yeah, vote Trump because Republicans have better principles" but there's a lot of subtext here. it still felt like a pretty big "fuck you" to me and Trump's tweet this morning pretty much confirms that's the way he's taking it

the screen flickering and scrambling behind him is way too on the nose

Also you know if you're really sure he endorsed trump maybe watch that video lagoon posted one time and see if that seems ambiguous

Or read the remarks Cruz made at a press conference this morning which have already been posted to this thread:

http://www.vox.com/2016/7/21/12247234/ted-cruz-rnc-donald-trump

so is this like paying the mob for protection?

― (•̪●) (carne asada), Thursday, July 21, 2016 9:51 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i think it's more like trump doesn't know shit about europe, russia, or NATO and instinctively goes for a line to cover that up while also appealing to his base, who suspect the world of taking the USA for a ride. all these countries, getting government handouts, what have they done for us lately?? i'm a practical man, i make deals, i look at each situation.

#meetings

if nothing else I respect Ted Cruz for having a damn backbone

his penchant for being an unrepentant piece of shit is def an asset in this case

Run government like a business

the way ILX is run

A really shitty business with poor customer service that will be bought out within a year

so are we to understand that Trump's camp didn't understand the implications of Cruz's speech, or simply didn't read it??

how the hell does this guy have a 40% chance to become president according to 538? *guliani voice* WHAT IS HAPPENING TO MY COUNTRY?

Asked how he would solve that problem, Mr. Trump paused, then said: “Suggest Ban."

frogbs... you're fired!

xxxxpost kickstarter campaign every Apr 15

cruz showed 'backbone' last night only in the way of a nervy shithead debate-squad asshole who is positively wriggling with delight that he gets to perform the having-a-backbone role by trolling a booing audience. it's great theater and a nice turn of events but let's not get it mixed up with cruz being the Principled Old-Fashioned Statesman he so palpably yearns to be taken as.

Cruz is very principled; it's just that the foundation of those principles are "Take Me Seriously" and "Give Me Power"

Asked how he would solve that problem, Mr. Trump paused, then said: “Suggest Ban."

― Here, let me Danesplain that for you (jjjusten),

hahaha

the screen flickering and scrambling behind him is way too on the nose

― le Histoire du Edgy Miley (difficult listening hour)

during his speech somebody fed ticker tape into the computer containing only the word "why?"

they weren't booing, they were saying Cru-uuuuz

xpost I dunno, Cruz's speech seemed pretty courageous to me. *all the usual disclaimers about how he's a terrible asshole* and the speech was self-serving - it's purpose was to set him up for 2020 as an early opposer to trump withinh the GOP. But those incentives would apply to any number of people in the GOP right now, who instead meekly avoid the topic, or do whatever Rubio is doing right now, or do the Homer Simpson ghosting into the bush thing. It takes guts to stand up and be booed and screamed at by a group of some of the worst people on the planet, no matter how right or wrong you are about something.

xp spit out my coffee on that one

You guys love this horserace shit, huh? Meanwhile back on Planet Earth

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjIqii8bA-Y

wow if only i were capable of considering more than one thing but that is impossible oh well

yeah, and also stop talking about pokemon go! this is SERIOUS BUSINESS!

how dare people talk about the RNC on a thread devoted to the election

anyway now that we've sufficiently demonstrated our disdain for REAL HUMAN SUFFERING, is this the bit where we rehash the argument about whether the 9/11 attackers were "cowards"?

imo theres actually something more important than the syrian war so thinking abt the war is frivolous

Mr. Cruz said the response of Trump supporters was troubling.

“What does it say when you stand up and say ‘vote your conscience,’” he began, “and rabid supporters of our nominee begin screaming, ‘What a horrible thing to say!’”

If the nominee cannot meet that threshold, he said, “We are not going to win and don’t deserve to win.”

honestly, this is what i have been waiting for republican leaders to say.

cruz's lone rebel schtick is tedious and self-aggrandizing -- especially because he champions the cause of evil -- but last night i think he proved that he is more of a human being than rubio, ryan, et al

granted, he was the one who sucked up to trump so much in the beginning.

cruz's lone rebel schtick is tedious and self-aggrandizing -- especially because he champions the cause of evil -- but last night i think he proved that he is more of a human being than rubio, ryan, et al

― Treeship

ok i don't want to be super-pedant here but they're all human beings, ok? we shouldn't judge people's fundamental worth as human beings by a single act, no matter how brave or cowardly. good job, ted. you're still a lowlife prick and i still wouldn't vote for you in a million years, but you did a good thing last night.

christie begging for scraps and getting nothing def doesnt look great in comparison

do think cruz has some hardcore conservative principles fwiw hes a believer where trump/christie/rudy r pure power worshipers

Tim Kaine joins 55 Republican senators & 13 blue dogs in advocacy for bank deregulation. *This week.*

no way he is the VP choice. i can't believe hillary would be that bad at knowing which way the wind was blowing.

ehh

i hope not!

I kind of wonder whether Cruz did it out of spite, based on how nasty things got when they were essentially the last two candidates in the primary. Like if he dropped out early for whatever reason, or had Ryan's job, would he have made the same speech?

Absent all else, 'vote your conscience' should be such a value-neutral statement that any odious piece of shit should feel comfortable hanging their odious piece of shit beliefs on it. Whatever the circumstances, people shouting down the concept basically confirms my belief that many Trump supporters are essentially nihilists.

it was def p personal xp

Based on what I've read I'm not sure anyone heard the "vote your conscience". I think booing more about failure to endorse or even really mention Trump.

"vote your conscience" is a buzzphrase. that's what the delegates who wanted to deviate from the will of their state's voters said they would do.

Kaine is 1/4 on with the UK bookies to be the VP pick with Vilsack closest at 3/1. If anyone has a better suggestion there's an opportunity to make some money.

xps

cruz is a fascinating figure worthy of a sinclair lewis novel. have never quite grasped his psychology but the relentless alienation of those nominally on his "side" strikes me as something derives as much from some deep compulsion of his personality as it does from any political calculation.

xxxp Part personal, part chess move for 2020. I don't think it has much to do with real convictions that Cruz actually holds (although I do agree he's marginally less spineless than most of the other candidatesx is).

cruz is essentially babbitt only creepier

cruz is a fascinating figure worthy of a sinclair lewis novel. have never quite grasped his psychology but the relentless alienation of those nominally on his "side" strikes me as something derives as much from some deep compulsion of his personality as it does from any political calculation.

― ryan,

The only way to tell his story is to view him through the lenses of other characters or to wear HAZMAT gear when writing it.

i know some people who wear hazmat gear when writing, but that's just a fetish thing

Not Babbit imo- Elmer Gantry