The Glade 4.0

Trump has been prattling on about various birther nonsense lately, basically killing any chance he had at winning either the general election or (probably) even the Republican nomination. In the process, though, he's secured a solid minority following among the fringe. Now he's saying if he loses the nomination, he may pull a Ross Perot and run as an independent:

Plausible explanations at this point are: (1) Trump is really just doing all this for sh*ts and giggles; (2) He's a genuine nutter; (3) He's laying the groundwork to extort his way into the VP slot; or (4) He actually intends to run as an independent so he can siphon votes from the Republicans and guarantee a win for Obama. Given his history as a pro-choice, pro-gay marriage Democrat, I'm honestly starting to suspect (4) might be the case.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was a combination of all 4.

I am going with 1 and 2. He doesn't have the best business sense in world and I can't imagine the current administration has helped him along so 4 is right-out for me.

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My initial reaction to his recent shenanigans was that he was trying to shame Obama into coughing up documentation. Now, I dunno.

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"Aaaah! Emotions are weird!" - Amdee
"... Mirrorshades prevent the forces of normalcy from realizing that one is crazed and possibly dangerous. They are the symbol of the sun-staring visionary, the biker, the rocker, the policeman, and similar outlaws." - Bruce Sterling, preface to Mirrorshades

I've been blowing him off completely. In other words, #5 - Who cares?

But, does he really have significant support?

There is no real strong front runner, so he's probably saying what the ****. GOP has several kick *** VP candidates but the Presidential field is chock full of meh.

Regarding the birther thing, I was reminded about the extent some media went after Bush with the AWOL deal in Texas. So I now fully support the irrelevant, but likely annoying, call for his Birth Certificate! Let's see that thing!

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“Strong people are harder to kill than weak people, and more useful in general”. - Mark Rippetoe

did any of the states pass a "you gotta show a birth certificate" before getting on the ballot there measures?

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A man who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself. ~ John Stuart Mill

Arizona almost did, but they backed off due to the barrage they were taking from Big Education during the budget process. Supposedly it's still waiting in the wings.

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The Dude abides.

There is no way Trump leaves his business empire for six years of campaigning for, and holding the office of President.

He's an attention whore, and it makes him money... so he's going to ride that wave as long as he can.

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Ezekiel 23:19-20 

I suspect it's all about the publicity. To what end, who knows/cares?

Donald Trump is now tied with Mike Huckabee for first place when Republicans are asked who they support for the GOP presidential nomination in 2012, according to a new national poll.

Of course, "tied for first" means they both have just under 20%, with the rest of the plausible field at 10-12%, at a stage of the game when simple name recognition is a big factor. Still, file this one under "sad, but true."

****. I'd vote for Obama over those clowns. Maybe.

While on the subject of the birth certificate junk...what happens if say 10 years from now it comes out that that the Golfer In Chief really wasn't born in the US? Could he go to jail?

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"It is true that democracy undermines freedom when voters believe they can live off of others' productivity, when they modify the commandment: 'Thou shalt not steal, except by majority vote.' The politics of plunder is no doubt destructive of both morality and the division of labor."

If it was proved that he knew that, then I would certainly think so.

Out of curiosity, Nitefox, do you believe Obama spends more time golfing or engaging in other recreational activities than other modern Presidents? If so, what do you base that belief on?

It's mostly to point out the hypocrisy of W's detractors while he was president, especially when it came to the war and the troops. W took a bunch of flak for playing golf while the troops were fighting and dieing. When that point was brought up to W, he stated he wouldn't play another round while the troops were on the battlefield. Unless I'm mistaken, he kept that promise. Also, i saw something a while back showing how much more golf teleprompter boy has played in his first term as compared to how many times W and Clinton did during their whole presidencies.


edit - Found something close to it. It makes my point.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -Bush.html


http://www.politico.com/click/stories/0 ... _golf.html

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"It is true that democracy undermines freedom when voters believe they can live off of others' productivity, when they modify the commandment: 'Thou shalt not steal, except by majority vote.' The politics of plunder is no doubt destructive of both morality and the division of labor."

It seems to me that the amount of time on vacation regardless of what activities the President is doing is much more important than whether they are playing golf or not.

Obama - 26 days in the first year
GWB - 69 days in the first year

http://www.factcheck.org/2010/01/presid ... tion-days/

I started to comment that I wished that I could get 26 vacation days a year, but then recalled that unlike most people who get a couple days off a week, the Presidency is a 24x7 job so in that context 26 days probably isn't all that terrible.

...

Factcheck.org is a valid source now, especially when it comes to matters of Obama's behavior?

Of course, perhaps the works cited for that little piece might be a hint it's not on the up and up.

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I thought it was politifact that you got your panties in a twist about.

There's a conflict of interest between the Annenburg Foundation and President Obama; this generally means factcheck.org will rarely, if ever, present a non-biased position about anything dealing with this particular President.

That said, the sources for your claim and factcheck.org's claim on the number of vacation days are dubious best. That's obvious from simply looking at the circular referencing of a single party in the works cited section.

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Interesting, since that's the same source that everyone uses for vacation times for the presidents, as that particular reporter apparently has quite the reputation for collecting those facts.

Out of curiosity, what is this conflict of interest you reference?

You do know that Obama chaired an Annenburg Foundation Challenge Grant in Chicago right?

Likewise, since there's no verification of his facts through other sources, Knoller's claims are rather dubious.

I get that you like Obama because he's not Bush; I simply dislike him more than I abhorred his predecessor.

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/agree

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Working from home =/ vacation.

The White House is their home.