Past their prime...

[Gravdigr]

Why is there a picture of Gollum under Newt Gingrich?

[Lamplighter]

From the third branch of government...

Antonin Scalia



Clarence Thomas

[Lamplighter]

From the Democrats...

Harry Reid


Al Gore


.

[Lamplighter]

And from the GOP - they get 3


Ben Carson


Chris Christie


Donald Duckorwhateverhislastnameis


.

[glatt]

I hadn't been paying much attention to these guys, but I saw a headline in the paper today that Trump is actually surging in the polls with his party as a result of his anti-mexican comments and the resulting publicity backlash.

You just have to shake your head. Give the extremists enough rope, and they will hang themselves and anyone around them. The better Trump does with the republicans, the more likely the republicans will lose.

People (not just conservatives, btw) get in an echo chamber and they have no idea they are in there.

[Lamplighter]

Back to politics...

Mitt Romney


Joe Biden

[Griff]

Originally Posted by glatt

I hadn't been paying much attention to these guys, but I saw a headline in the paper today that Trump is actually surging in the polls with his party as a result of his anti-mexican comments and the resulting publicity backlash.

You just have to shake your head. Give the extremists enough rope, and they will hang themselves and anyone around them. The better Trump does with the republicans, the more likely the republicans will lose.

People (not just conservatives, btw) get in an echo chamber and they have no idea they are in there.

It's true. I have a big L libertarian bacefook friend from high school who makes me reflect occasionally. I remember being that guy, it's great for personal motivation, and it makes perfect sense if everyone is on the same page. Since the rest of the world isn't libertarian you're doing the hard right's work for them advocating for a vacuum where government oversite would be in the mistaken belief that corporations will take personal responsibility for their actions. This disengagement from politics is perfect for the political criminals of all stripes.

kinda off the rails there... but yeah echo chamber bad

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Griff

I remember being that guy, it's great for personal motivation, and it makes perfect sense if everyone is on the same page.

Libertarianism is great in theory, rewritten history, and Hollywood movies, but only works in the real world when dueling is legal.

[Griff]

I'm going to nominate Hillary. I don't see her as relevant despite strong polling inside her party. More hawkisk and anti-union than Obama, she really only appeals in terms of willingness to say or do anything to be elected. This is where team play, "gotta beat the GOP" undermines representation. Will she actually represent working people?

[Lamplighter]

Past their prime...

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

And from the GOP<snip>
Donald Duckorwhateverhislastnameis
Attachment 52264.

I stand by my co-optation.
... and now Huffington Post is following suit

Huffington Post to cover Trump as an entertainer, not a politician
CNN - Tom Kludt - 7/17/15

The Huffington Post will continue to cover Donald Trump, but the popular news site
is done treating him like a legitimate presidential candidate.

In a note to readers on Friday, two top editors for HuffPost said that coverage
of the brash billionaire's campaign will be a part of the site's entertainment section.

"Our reason is simple: Trump's campaign is a sideshow,"
wrote Washington bureau chief Ryan Grim and editorial director Danny Shea.
"We won't take the bait. If you are interested in what The Donald has to say,
you'll find it next to our stories on the Kardashians and The Bachelorette."

In a separate statement, Grim said that the site had
"erroneously been covering [Trump] as an actual presidential candidate."
"Now, the impact he's having on the Republican Party
and the immigration debate is itself a real thing,
and we'll cover that as substance, but anything that tumbles out of his mouth
will land on the Entertainment page," Grim said.

[Lamplighter]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Past their prime...
I stand by my co-optation.
...

Next in line for media attention is Ben Carson
--- at least until the end of the Iowa Caucuses, then this too shall pass.

I have to tell you, ObamaCare is really, I think, the worst thing that has happened
in this nation since slavery. And it is in a way, it is slavery in a way.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Meanwhile the base is apoplectic.. Another Nigerian, oh noes. But Carson is just a tool to trip Trump, cause confusion and consternation, so when the power behind the curtain offers up the chosen, the base will gasp him like he's the messiah.