THE BROMANCE IS OVER

The kind of man he is: how Trump decided to go after Ted Cruz

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2016/01/inside-donald-trumps-mind.html

More: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/30/donald-trump-is-the-least-favorably-viewed-presidential-candidate-since-at-least-1992/
Donald Trump is the least favorably viewed presidential candidate since at least 1992

Why Woody Guthrie hated Donald Trump's dad (thanks to WC for the link)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/01/22/the-unbelievable-story-of-why-woody-guthrie-hated-donald-trumps-racist-dad/

Ted Cruz gets asked what he would replace Obamacare with

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/01/30/uncomfortable-question-for-ted-cruz-on-obamacare-silences-the-room/?partner=rss&emc=rss
Uncomfortable Question for Ted Cruz on Obamacare Silences the Room

The Cruz campaign's sleazy mailer

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/10/31/do-those-we-know-whether-you-voted-warnings-actually-work-an-expert-weighs-in/
Do those ‘we know whether you voted’ warnings actually work?

[NB: The Dems do it too.]

A hopeful prediction for Hillary

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/30/the-last-iowa-poll-good-news-for-clinton-less-so-for-trump/
Since October, Clinton has held a lead over Sanders in Iowa, according to Selzer polling. (Which, in case you hadn't heard, is the go-to for Iowa election results.) . . . [read on]

More: http://www.vox.com/2016/1/30/10875956/iowa-caucus-polls-2016

Why the new email story matters

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/30/hillary-clintons-email-defense-just-hit-a-major-bump-in-the-road/
For months, Hillary Clinton and her presidential campaign have stuck to a consistent story line when faced with allegations of classified information on the private server she used exclusively as secretary of state: She was the victim of an overzealous intelligence community bent on categorizing information as top secret or classified when it was, in fact, neither.  That defense hit a major snag on Friday when the State Department announced that it, too, had found “top secret” information on Clinton’s server  . . . 

If money is free speech, these guys have a LOT of free speech

https://politicalwire.com/2016/01/31/koch-brothers-have-already-spent-400-million/
“The Koch brothers’ donor network spent close to $400 million last year, and is on its way to spending an unprecedented $889 million supporting right-wing politics and causes during the 2016 cycle,” The Hill reports. 

Theocracy watch: just for a joke, John Oliver decided to start a church and start asking for (tax free) donations

http://www.salon.com/2016/01/30/john_oliver_cant_believe_how_easy_it_is_to_start_a_church_we_had_70000_donated_in_singles/
“It turns out that’s an amazingly easy thing to do,” Oliver said laughing. “With almost no legal consequences.” Oliver said that the experiment “got out of hand fast” talking about the six months the researchers on the show exchanged letters with a pastor’s “buy a prayer” style of business. But then Oliver dropped the bombshell: “We had $70,000 donated in singles. And that was just the top of a crazy iceberg. . .”

A voice for liberal Christians (yes! they exist!)

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/01/hillary-clinton-gives-liberal-christians-a-voice.html

The Sunday talk show line-ups

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/01/31/1476935/-Sunday-Talk-The-beginning-of-the-end-is-near
NBC Meet The Press: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT); Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX); Roundtable: David Brody (Christian Broadcast Network), Joy Ann Reid (MSNBC), Tom Brokaw (NBC News) and Jennifer Jacobs (Des Moines Register).

CBS Face The Nation: Raging Narcissist Donald Trump (R); Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL); Pollster Ann Selzer; Roundtable: Kimberley Strassel (Wall Street Journal), Ed O'Keefe (Washington Post), Ezra Klein (Vox) and Ben Domenech (The Federalist).

ABC This Week: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D); Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT); Raging Narcissist Donald Trump (R); Roundtable: Democratic Strategist Donna Brazile, Republican Strategist Alex Castellanos, "Independent" Strategist Matthew Dowd​ and Katrina vandal Heuvel (The Nation).

CNN State of the Union: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL); Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX); Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT); Roundtable: Republican Strategist Ana Navarro, Former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D), Radio Host Hugh Hewitt and Neera Tanden (Center for American Progress).

Bonus item: What it's like to be in space

http://www.vox.com/2016/1/30/10873616/nasa-scott-kelly-space-station

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL: http://pbd.blogspot.com

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

HELLO? IT'S ME

Is Trump a true conservative? This may be the wrong question. The current GOP base isn't driven by conventional policy positions, and they don't expect a coherent, consistent political philosophy. They are reacting to Trump's manly, confident assertion of promises to "get tough," to "make America great," to "negotiate winning deals," to "keep the immigrants out," etc, without any regard for what those might actually mean in terms of governing actions. By presenting himself as a bold, no-nonsense, man of action, his campaign is a repudiation of the actual political process -- as if the real context of compromise, building coalitions, filibusters, media criticism, and court challenges didn't exist -- and as if saying you will do things is the same thing as actually being able to do them (which he wouldn't be). And the atavisms he appeals to in people, the fears and hates and resentments, don't want to hear about laws or policies or fiscal models -- they want a WALL, goddamn it, they want to WIN (something, somehow), they want SIMPLE answers and they want to feel SAFE and SECURE in a world that doesn't allow for that any more

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/01/29/what-if-a-lot-of-gop-voters-dont-really-care-if-trump-is-a-real-conservative/

More: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/01/trump-wins-do-parties-still-decide-nominees.html

If you want any indication of how far right, hateful and nativist the Grand Old Party has become, listen to this GHW Bush and Saint Ronald Reagan debate on immigration from the 1980 campaign

http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2015/08/06/3688656/republican-presidential-primary-debate-immigration-rhetoric/

Having lived through Nixon's "hard hat" campaign, I know that unions aren't necessarily a progressive force. Union organizations support Dems -- union members often don't

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/30/business/donald-trump-unions.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

A tale of two debates

http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/29/media/republican-debate-ratings-donald-trump/
Trump, who had refused to attend the debate, showed off his ratings magnetism by depriving Fox of it.  But Trump's rivals, like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, still reached a big audience by debating, which suggests that there are some limits to Trump's power.  Fox's Trump-less debate had 12.5 million viewers between 9 and 11 p.m., according to Nielsen.  By comparison, two of the cable channels that showed parts of Trump's fundraising event, CNN and MSNBC, had about 2.7 million viewers combined. . . .

More: http://www.vox.com/2016/1/29/10868360/trump-quotes-counter-debate

It does seem possible now, amazingly, that Trump may emerge as the GOP nominee. The party is so dysfunctional and his opponents so feckless that it's hard to see who stops him. But I still believe he can never win a national election

http://www.vox.com/2016/1/30/10873476/donald-trump-never-president 

Hillary's email problem won't go away

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/01/29/the-state-department-concludes-there-is-top-secret-material-in-hillary-clintons-email-correspondence-from-her-time-as-secretary-of-state/
The State Department: Hillary Clinton’s email correspondence contained ‘top secret’ material

More: http://www.vox.com/2016/1/29/10873106/hillary-clinton-email-top-secret

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/01/hey-have-you-heard-about-top-secret-us-drone-program

http://crooksandliars.com/2016/01/hillary-clinton-calls-full-release-emails
[Clinton campaign] "We firmly oppose the complete blocking of the release of these emails. Since first providing her emails to the State Department more than one year ago, Hillary Clinton has urged that they be made available to the public. We feel no differently today. . . .This appears to be over-classification run amok. We will pursue all appropriate avenues to see that her emails are released in a manner consistent with her call last year."

Realism sucks

http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/01/29/hillary-clinton-say-bernie-sanderss-health-plan-will-never-ever-come-to-pass/?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0 
Hillary Clinton Says Bernie Sanders’s Health Plan Will ‘Never, Ever Come to Pass’

Elizabeth Warren wants to start a national debate on how we enforce (or don't enforce) our laws equitably

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2016_01/sen_warren_initiates_an_import059443.php

More: http://www.warren.senate.gov/files/documents/Rigged_Justice_2016.pdf

Bonus item: A Trump vs. Trump debate (don't miss it)

http://www.vox.com/2016/1/29/10868392/stephen-colbert-debate-donald-trump

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL: http://pbd.blogspot.com

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

FOUNDERING FATHERS

Another Republican debate, another round of winners and losers

http://www.vox.com/2016/1/29/10866528/republican-debate-fox-news-winners-losers

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/28/winners-and-losers-from-the-7th-republican-presidential-debate/

https://politicalwire.com/2016/01/28/the-7th-gop-presidential-debate/ 

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/01/who-won-the-trumpfox-news-debate-showdown.html
 
More: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/making-sense-of-this-weird-weird-night

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2016/01/my-non-debate-wrap

Everyone agrees: a rough night for Ted Cruz

http://www.vox.com/2016/1/29/10866512/ted-cruz-debate-lost

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/01/ted_cruz_lost_the_fox_debate_to_donald_trump.html 

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/gop-insiders-it-was-a-rough-night-for-ted-cruz-218395#ixzz3ydMB9Mck
 
Highlights

http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000004175633/analysis-of-the-seventh-gop-debate.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/gop-debate-no-trump-highlights_us_56ab09e3e4b00b033aaea4ac 

Lowlights: http://www.salon.com/2016/01/29/everything_you_need_to_know_about_last_nights_excruciating_gop_debate/

Trump claimed his counter-debate was going to raise money "for the vets" -- but the money is going to his Foundation

http://crooksandliars.com/2016/01/trumps-anti-debate-event-tonight-raising 
  
http://crooksandliars.com/2016/01/trump-spox-cant-name-one-veterans-charity

More: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/28/does-trump-like-hillary-more-than-vets.html
 
Is there ANYTHING too low for Donald Trump?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/28/the-real-problem-with-donald-trump-retweeting-those-provocative-pictures-of-megyn-kelly/

ANYTHING? http://crooksandliars.com/2016/01/trump-hammers-bernie-commie-card

The Republican campaign is looking more and more like an episode of WWE

http://www.salon.com/2016/01/28/theyre_turning_campaign_in_the_wwe_as_donald_trump_surges_in_iowa_ted_cruzs_desperation_reaches_comic_level/ 

More: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/01/29/trump-freakshow-overshadows-the-debate.html
Trump's Freakshow
 
Or another analogy: has Trump turned the primary campaign into a reality tv series?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/national/2016/01/27/deciders-trump/
  
More: http://www.vox.com/2016/1/29/10862134/donald-trump-university
I was a Donald Trump ghostwriter . . . Trump said the same things over and over and over and over again, based on the same few articles of faith: worship of material success, contempt for "losers," and certainty — above all, certainty. . .  [read on]
 
Jeb! So pitiful!

http://www.vox.com/2016/1/28/10865564/jeb-bush-mission-accomplished
 
Carly Fiorina understands that her only potential role in the campaign is to run as someone's designated attack dog to go after Hillary. She is auditioning

http://crooksandliars.com/2016/01/fiorina-bares-her-teeth-hillary-clintons 

Two conceptions of politics

http://www.vox.com/2016/1/28/10853502/bernie-sanders-political-revolution
Bernie Sanders's political revolution

http://www.vox.com/2016/1/28/10858464/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-political-realism
Hillary Clinton and the audacity of political realism

Bernie's health care plan

http://www.vox.com/2016/1/28/10858644/bernie-sanders-kenneth-thorpe-single-payer
Bernie Sanders's single-payer plan is almost twice as expensive as he says

You wouldn't think the Flint toxic water scandal could get any worse. It just got worse

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/01/flint-state-workers-got-bottled-water-a-year-ago.html
Long before Michigan governor Rick Snyder would admit anything was wrong with the water in Flint, Michigan, his administration made sure state workers didn't have to drink it. Emails obtained by Progress Michigan show that when Flint residents began to voice concerns over the quality of their tap water back in January 2015, Snyder's office reassured them it was safe. But when state employees expressed their concern over the city's water advisory — which nonetheless insisted that there was nothing to worry about — around the same time, officials trucked in watercoolers to install next to the office fountains, giving workers a safe alternative to the city's supply, which turned out to be full of lead. . . .

More: http://www.vox.com/2016/1/28/10864192/flint-water-crisis-bottled-water

The GOP is still gunning for Planned Parenthood

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/gop-wont-drop-crusade-against-planned-parenthood

More: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/01/28/1475945/-Indictments-be-damned-House-Republicans-will-continue-to-investigate-Planned-Parenthood

Obama's not interested in a Supreme Court position

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/01/28/obamas-not-interested-in-a-supreme-court-appointment-white-house-says/

Bonus item: A Donald Trump quote generator

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/28/not-getting-enough-trump-in-tonights-debate-our-trump-quote-generator-is-here-to-help/

More: http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/01/donald-trump-timeline.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL: http://pbd.blogspot.com

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

THIS MEANS WAR

Trump versus Fox News

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/01/27/1475765/-Donald-Trump-and-Fox-News-go-to-war

More: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/01/27/1475863/-Pouting-Fox-News-statement-attacking-Trump-was-crafted-by-Roger-Ailes-himself

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/trump-barrels-ahead-into-uncharted-waters-218316#ixzz3yXb3jt4D
Trump’s decision will create the unprecedented spectacle of a major party front-runner counter-programming against his own party’s presidential debate with a rival event in the same city on the eve of the Iowa caucuses. . . . [read on]
 
Rush Limbaugh (!) tries to play peace maker

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/01/right-wing-media-reacts-to-trump-boycott.html

More: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/27/rush-limbaugh-totally-gets-donald-trump/

Trump's misogyny

http://prospect.org/article/fear-women-key-donald-trump%E2%80%99s-misogyny-and-america%E2%80%99s

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2016_01/the_underlying_sexism_of_the_2059412.php

The thirty per cent or so who love Trump for all that he is give him an overwhelming hold on the Republican campaign. But this is a national race

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/28/69-percent-say-president-trump-makes-them-anxious/
69 percent say ‘President Trump’ makes them anxious
 
Cruz's pure sliminess

http://www.vox.com/2016/1/28/10846212/ted-cruz-republicans-hate
A lot of people who work closely with Cruz are just truly repelled by him. . . . [read on] 

Dr. Magoo's campaign is on life support

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/28/us/politics/ben-carsons-campaign-beset-with-frustration-disappointment-and-grief.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
After surging to the top of the Iowa polls in the fall, Mr. Carson’s support has plummeted in recent months as scrutiny over his background and grasp of foreign policy intensified. The disarray was compounded by the sudden departures of his campaign leadership team and reports of misspent money. Then last week came the death of a campaign staff member . . .

More: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/01/27/1475903/-A-fast-fading-Ben-Carson-doesn-t-much-like-Donald-Trump-these-days

https://politicalwire.com/2016/01/27/carson-slams-his-top-adviser-as-dishonest/
Ben Carson said his top outside adviser and longtime friend Armstrong Williams is dishonest . . . Said Carson: “Armstrong is not necessarily the epitome of truth . . .”

Q&A

Question: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/10/24/bernie-sanders-our-first-agnostic-president/
Bernie Sanders: Our first non-religious president?

Answer: https://politicalwire.com/2016/01/27/americans-dont-want-an-atheist-president/
A new Pew Research Center survey finds that “being an atheist remains one of the biggest liabilities that a presidential candidate can have; fully half of American adults say they would be less likely to vote for a hypothetical presidential candidate who does not believe in God, while just 6% say they would be more likely to vote for a nonbeliever.”

Guess

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/01/27/are-smarter-people-actually-less-racist/
Are smarter people actually less racist?

Despite the arrest and death of key leaders, the Oregon federal occupation isn't over

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/meet-oregons-new-militiaman-leader

More: http://crooksandliars.com/2016/01/3-more-arrests-malheur-refuge-after-ammon
3 More Arrests . . .

Damning

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/01/chicago-police-officers-tampered-with-dash-cams.html
Chicago Police Have Been Sabotaging Their Dash Cams

A new documentary on the fall of Anthony (aptly named) Weiner. I think it's a comedy

http://www.vulture.com/2016/01/anthony-weiner-huma-abedin-documentary-sundance-moments.html
Footage of him practicing different inflections of the line, "... and for that I am profoundly sorry." . . . [read on]

Bonus item: Mike Huckabee gives us one of the WEIRDEST ads of the campaign season

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2016/01/huck-does-adele-seriously.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL: http://pbd.blogspot.com

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***