The Trump Gambit

For a few weeks, Trump has been saying and doing things that do not seem to make a lot of sense. The black pill interpretation is that he has decided to cuck on all of his promises and cave into the establishment. Of course, the anti-Trump loons are claiming they were right all along and Trump is now finking on his stupid voters. Then you have the mouth breathers that hoot about 5-D chess all the time. The more likely explanation is that Trump is making a calculated gamble on himself and his read on public opinion.

Take the DACA controversy. Trump can count, so he knows the Democrats have far fewer members in both houses of Congress than the Republicans. He can cut all the deals he likes with Pelosi and Schumer, but those deals will go nowhere without the GOP leadership, as they control the legislative agenda. The game was to embarrass Ryan and Mitchell. By making it look like the Democrats were willing to work with him, he forced the GOP to make its own moves on immigration. It is petty, but it works.

The other point of the exercise was to get people talking about immigration in a way that works in his favor. News stories about “dreamers” makes him look bad. He rightly figured that his voters would get mad over his rumored cave and they would take it out on the GOP leadership. It would also trigger the immigration patriots to fire off a million proposals for fixing immigration. From Trump’s perspective, turmoil is good as it gets his people fired up, looking for a fight and it forces the GOP leadership to respond.

Trump did not get this far by not understanding the political map. He knows he is the leader of the White Party, which has been forced to vote within the Republican Party. He certainly never says it like that, but he is an old school New Yorker. He understands the skins game better than most. His opposition is not the Democrats. His enemy is the GOP, which has traditionally served to blunt the interests of the White Party. Therefore, Trump needs to keep the fires burning for the coming fights in the Republican primaries.

You see glimpses of what is coming in the Alabama Senate Race. The White Party is lining up behind Judge Moore, mostly because he is not on the side of Mitch McConnell. Trump has endorsed the establishment guy, claiming to do so out of party loyalty. At the same time, an army of Trump surrogates are in the state endorsing Moore. Even Trump has given mixed signals about his endorsement of Luther Strange. There is a wink-wink quality to all of it. It is theater and everyone in the audience is in on the gag.

Next year, there will be a slate of candidates running against GOP incumbents, promising to support the Trump agenda. There will be Democrat challengers making the right noises on immigration and trade. How successful these challengers are will depend a lot upon how things go in Washington the next six months. That is the message Trump is trying to send to guys like Ryan and McConnell, who seem to be trapped in a fantasy world where the 2016 election never happened and they are beloved figures on the Right.

From Trump’s perspective, the result on Tuesday opens up opportunities. If Strange pulls a miracle and wins the election, then Trump will be tweeting about how he can deliver votes even for a bozo like Strange. If Moore wins, then Trump will tweet that he tried to be loyal to McConnell and the GOP, but they refused to learn from past mistakes. In a few hours, no one will remember that he endorsed the loser. Instead, the story will be about the impending disaster for the establishment GOP in the coming primaries.

There is risk to what Trump is doing in Alabama. If Luther Strange wins, the White Party will be discouraged and may start to turn on Trump. At the minimum, it gives the anti-Trump loons ammunition to accuse Trump of finking on his base. It could also embolden guys like Ryan, who are convinced that Trump has no base. On the other hand, a win by Moore and the same cucks will argue that Trump cannot deliver votes, so they are wise to oppose him. You can be sure they have those op-eds written and ready to send.

It is a gamble, but Trump is a guy who thinks he can make something out of anything, as long as he has options. Whether it was by design or serendipity, this election is a referendum on the GOP establishment. The most likely outcome, according to polling, is a Moore win and maybe a big win. Trump will not only take credit for it but start to bet his winnings on the belief he can scare the GOP into passing his agenda items. They may hold the result against him, but Trump is betting they cave and play ball with him.

The reason it is a good gamble is the pressure on leadership will now come from their own ranks. Ryan and McConnell can keep discipline as long as they can promise their members, they will keep their seats. If the rank and file start thinking they are safer with Trump or that Trump will back their challengers, then it is game over for Ryan and McConnell. They have to play ball. From Trump’s perspective, he has everything to game and nothing to lose. Ryan and McConnell cannot hate him more than they already do.

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Epaminondas
Member
6 years ago

Moore has a double digit lead over Strangelove, and it increased after last night’s Bannon appearance. The GOP establishment is terror stricken. Trump has discovered their Achilles heel.

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
Reply to  Epaminondas
6 years ago

the gope is Achilles aquaphobic cuck cousin

RabbiHighComma
RabbiHighComma
Reply to  Epaminondas
6 years ago

There is zero plausible deniability remaining for the cucks. It’s similar to the Dems IV drip of claims of concern for the brown poor. With 50 years of Great Society decay data ignored, it can be concluded they don’t care about these people’s well-being. Back to the cucks. The gig is up and you can see it on their faces. Ryan looked like Terry Anderson’s 1980’s hostage videos during his recent town hall. (((Jake Tapper))) crafted the first 15min as a Marxist struggle session with a parade of jews wagging their fingers at him regarding Charlottesville and their mortal terror,… Read more »

Occasional Commenter
Occasional Commenter
Reply to  Epaminondas
6 years ago

Strange would stand a much better chance if McConnell hadn’t endorsed him. People down here noticed that. As I posted elsewhere, I’d vote for a dead syphilitic dog just to poke McConnell in the eye. And since there’s no dead syphilitic dog on the ballot, Moore will have to do.

Member
Reply to  Epaminondas
6 years ago

From Yahoo News tonight: Incumbent Sen. Luther Strange wished jurist Roy Moore well after losing the Alabama Republican primary for Senate. Strange told his supporters Tuesday night that “we wish (Moore) well going forward.” But he quickly shifted to his own bewilderment at the race he just finished. “We’re dealing with a political environment that I’ve never had any experience with,” he said. “I’m telling you, the political seas and winds in this country right now … are very hard to navigate, very hard to understand.” It’s only hard to understand if you don’t speak English. “We hate you people,… Read more »

Severian
6 years ago

That’s the funniest part of this “literally Hitler” business — of the many lessons we should’ve learned from that mustached fellow, a very big one for Establishment politicians is: The clown you think you’re using is actually using you, much better and far more ruthlessly.

James LePore
Member
6 years ago

I believe Trumps’s mixed signals on various issues (DACA, Strange) are tactical. His NFL gambit is a clear message to the Dirt People that he’s still on their side.

alcogito
alcogito
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

Catholic Archbishop of Seattle expresses concern, requires priests to read letter from altar: http://www.seattlearchdiocese.org/Data/DisplayFile.aspx?cid=1570
Response? Shrug, withhold contributions, quit church?

cerulean
cerulean
Reply to  alcogito
6 years ago

“Response? Shrug, withhold contributions, quit church?”

It’s a very tough call for any churchgoer who believes and supports with what their local congregation teaches and does, but has gas pains from the political meddling of their national organization / heirarchy.

Member
Reply to  alcogito
6 years ago

Shrug. That’s the reaction that pisses the bureaucracy off the most.

Ursula
Ursula
Reply to  alcogito
6 years ago

Alcogito, I say tell them you’re going to withhold contributions until they stop destroying their own country and the lives of their fellow countrymen by flooding us with immigrants, even if it makes the church good money:

US Catholic Bishops rolling in federal dough according to financial statements
https://refugeeresettlementwatch.wordpress.com/2017/09/19/us-catholic-bishops-rolling-in-federal-dough-according-to-financial-statements/

Makes my blood boil hot right up into my eyeballs!

Ursula
Ursula
Reply to  Ursula
6 years ago

Alcogito, p.s. you’re already giving money to the church via the tax-dollar paid money the church receives for bringing in immigrants.

LoveTheDonald
LoveTheDonald
Reply to  alcogito
6 years ago

Find a church with the Traditional Latin Mass. You’ll hear homilies about the evils of Modernism and how Islam, properly understood, is a heresy of Catholicism. The Traditional Latin Mass is the Dissident Right Movement of the Catholic Church.

Lorenzo
Lorenzo
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

Of course, the GOP Congress is praying to God, Mammon or whoever they worship that the courts validate DACA so the legislature doesn’t have to grapple with that Tar Baby.

Ryan
Ryan
Reply to  Lorenzo
6 years ago

Trump took that off the table. When he cancelled the initiative he mooted the court case.

BlowMe
BlowMe
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

I won’t be calling my Congressman

David_Wright
Member
Reply to  James LePore
6 years ago

In a way, earth shattering that Rush Limbaugh is boycotting football, or so he says. Sports is crack for too many so we shall see.
Still, in the culture battle (sideshow distraction) it is worth noting.

Al from da Nort
Al from da Nort
Reply to  David_Wright
6 years ago

David; Agree. The NFL fracas features similar methodology on Trump’s part. Apparently the NFL was hiding in the weeds, hoping to ride out the planned media s**t-storm over concussions killing black yuts, etc.: Another re-run of ‘Black Lives Matter’ for anti-Trump political use. The NFL was apparently planning to play ball with the Cloud Folk by appearing to side with their employees while maintaining elite solidarity. But Trump flushed the NFL from cover amid great squawking. The only question now is how many shotgun pellets they get in the backside from their customers. As Instapundit says, ‘This is a battle… Read more »

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
Reply to  Al from da Nort
6 years ago

the nfl was dying before this fracas. now they are dying much faster. what’s funny about the CTE affected negroes (who oddly enough are more intelligent than non-CTE negroes) is they think they are showing unity against Trump, while their dwindling audience of whites see them as united against America. next season they will be handing out tickets in Cracker Jacks boxes…

Dutch
Dutch
Reply to  David_Wright
6 years ago

Once you view the NFL as largely populated by thugs posturing for the cameras, it is so easy to walk away and never look back.

If I were in sports, I would be building a rugby or Australian rules football semi-pro league TODAY. White middle class guys want and need roughly played team sports, enjoyed over beers. Soccer and baseball don’t scratch that itch. Hockey does only to a point.

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  Dutch
6 years ago

A thousand years ago they wore their hair long, dressed in leather, rode horses, played violent ball on long fields of grass, and drank mead.

Today we have bikers on iron horses, teams playing football and rugby, and men still drinking de beers.

And those Valkyrie cheerleaders….!

Member
Reply to  Dutch
6 years ago

Everyone up there thinks Argentina’s all about soccer. Here’s the rugby team: http://cdn-planetrugby.com.s3.amazonaws.com/content/uploads/2015/09/1022.6666666666666x767__origin__0x0_Argentina_World_Cup_profiles.jpg

Look like the NFL to you?

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  Montefrio
6 years ago

Heh- Italians all look alike anyways.

From Taki’s:
“What makes people believe a more ‘diverse’ United States is going to be more free or egalitarian?”

http://takimag.com/article/looking_southward_costin_alamariu/print#ixzz4tpIudkmg

“Looking Southward” discusses the racial ‘casta’ system, as diverse as any castes in India.

I think one would have to play 5D chess with a diverse, caste-based parliamentary system. Imagine the stasis; would the corruption of “interests” cancel each other out, as ours meant to do? Perhaps that’s why Latin America is too busy for foreign wars.

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  Alzaebo
6 years ago

PS- reading further, politics is all about War On Whites down there too, same as our beloved NFL

Member
Reply to  Alzaebo
6 years ago

Not the case in Argentina, Uruguay or Chile, not at all. Race isn’t really an issue here; social class is.

akajhon
akajhon
Reply to  Montefrio
6 years ago

race is the social class,,History is racist,

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  Montefrio
6 years ago

Interesting, and thanks.
‘Noticing’ sounds more like a sport, then, without the implied malevolence assumed up here.

Dutch
Dutch
Reply to  Montefrio
6 years ago

The thing is, semi-pros in less major sports are not so likely to behave like idiots. They love the gig, they want to play, and they don’t want to mess anything up for themselves and their teammates.

james wilson
Reply to  Montefrio
6 years ago

I once talked to a former boxer at my gym about rugby. He had been fifth ranked light heavyweight in the world. Said he tried rugby once but the play was too tough for him. Maybe Lacrosse.

Brigadon
Brigadon
Member
Reply to  Montefrio
6 years ago

Actually it looks like a Texas Prison lineup.

TomA
TomA
6 years ago

I don’t think most folks nationally understand how the Confederate statue destruction movement is playing in the deep South. This travesty opened a visceral wound that will not heal quickly or easily. The Alabama senate primary will be the first manifestation of how deeply and passionately they react to the carpetbagger methods of Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan.

Drake
Drake
6 years ago

The next 9 months or so will be an interesting political stretch. Do the establishment Republicans value their campaign donations and whatever principles they have more than their seats? The great cuck-chuck of 2018 is coming – are they going to try to avoid it?

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  Drake
6 years ago

The politicals have forgotten how to make money without screwing their customers.

Glen Filthie
Glen Filthie
Member
6 years ago

Trump is just a stepping stone and a passing political landmark. The dissident right as you call it – is growing. They’ve done the soap box, they’ve done the ballot box, and this is pretty much the last chance for everyone to wise up and play ball. From here on out I think it will be cartridge boxes and candidates that make Trump look like a saint. The left has no answers, they’ve bankrupted their constituencies and all they have to offer Americans is to bankrupt the other half of the nation that still works and pays the bills. Life… Read more »

Ivar
Ivar
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

Unfortunately, steely-eyed Minutemen are in extremely short supply. Most on our side can’t even kill/dress a chicken, and don’t want to learn.

Al from da Nort
Al from da Nort
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

Z Man;
Probably true *unless* the Cloud Folk use the legal sophistry you talked about in your last post to repudiate the internal debt in some way. See my comment in the previous thread about ‘odious debt’ for more details.

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  Al from da Nort
6 years ago

Al from da Nort Will; I agree that the USA will default on our national debt at some point because it is simply impossible to pay it, particularly politically, as you point out. But the important question is how it’s done and what happens afterwards. It may be that there is a scheme in the works right now using just the sort for of legal sophistry that Z Man describes above. The generic name of that scheme is ‘odious debt’. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odious_debt Now, the historical precedent is that there is some sort of coup or revolution and the new regime repudiates… Read more »

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  Alzaebo
6 years ago

Beggin’ yer pardon, guvnah, but by gum if you don’t repost it then I will.

Invaluable, as always.
Definitely bears repeating.

(Please excuse the editing, limited to a phone.)

Al from da Nort
Al from da Nort
Reply to  Alzaebo
6 years ago

Al;
Thanks for the kind words. I try to contribute and not just react our esteemed host’s worthy posts.

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
Reply to  Alzaebo
6 years ago

i am kind of curious where it all went. not out into the general economy (in the form of wage increases). a lot looks to have been loaned to companies for buying back their own stock. anyone have any ideas about where the bulk of obama’s trillions went?

Al from da Nort
Al from da Nort
Reply to  Karl McHungus
6 years ago

Karl; Reasoning by analogy: Obama. Jerrett, Emanuel, et al, are Chicago machine pols. The Chicago machine sluices tax money through various departments, commissions and foundations, all to support the Prog lifestyle. That is, make-work and no-show jobs for those connected to the insiders, who will be called upon to work for the machine’s powers and existence on any and all occasions. More importantly, there are grants and contracts for the connected (which pay the top Progs way more than a simple no-show job). Public benefit is actually incidental but the sham must be maintained for the low information set so… Read more »

Rhino
Rhino
Reply to  Al from da Nort
6 years ago

Perhaps. But the young are easily manipulated and outraged.

Glen Filthie
Glen Filthie
Member
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

There’s still lots of food around, Z.

What happens when your kids can’t eat because income is taxed away? What happens when mortgages start foreclosing and repo men are working 24/7/365? What happens when you eat at soup kitchens or not at all – and the blacks are freaking out because their EBT cards and Obama phones don’t work anymore? It is going to be mutiny on the Bounty when the rest of these liberal problems come home to roost.

Leonard Herr
Leonard Herr
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

I generally agree that fat, dumb, and lazy folks don’t go to war. Of course the last civil war fought on this soil was not between starving, intelligent, workaholics either, so there’s that.

Herodian
Herodian
Reply to  Leonard Herr
6 years ago

That was a “holy” war.

A.B. Prosper
A.B. Prosper
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

I’m not certain about that. The level of anger is palpable these days and it takes only one minor event to set of a chain of nastiness God knows we’ve been buying all those millions of weapons for some reason. Even so if we did have \a cartridge box phase to what end? Everybody you hate is now gone, now what? hell if they all died in a magic comet pass-by you’d still have the same problems No one on any side has a even a basic idea as to how a new society could be configured what it should… Read more »

walt reed
walt reed
Member
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

Watch the destruction, in the inner cities, when the first, very minor cuts are made to welfare. The EBT crowd will finally find something worth dying for.

zerohtollrants
zerohtollrants
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

I agree with this. with one caveat-if the economy goes to complete shit and those same fat lazy people begin to suffer and really feel the pinch, all while the 24/7 “hate whitey” drumbeats are beating from the left, I think the possibility odds change somewhat.

Tully Bascombe
Tully Bascombe
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

Sure, as things are now, you’re probably right. But things change. I’ll bet there were plenty of people in Yugoslavia that said the same thing.

cerulean
cerulean
6 years ago

It is easy to become impatient with the President and worry that he’s given up or never really intended to drain the swamp. I do it frequently. This post and the comments reinforce how wedged-in Trump actually is … multiple rocks and hard places. I don’t know that I believe 5-d chess is going on, exactly. But it’s pretty clear that significant action requires prelimiary changes and those changes, in turn, require their own prerequisite changes. I think the man is playing the long game about as well as anyone could. When I get impatient, I remind myself that without… Read more »

George Orwell
George Orwell
Reply to  cerulean
6 years ago

Yes, given that the most proximate backstabbers to Trump are in his own party, he has to play the long game. I often look around and think that elections change nothing, but then think “Neil Gorsuch” and realize half a loaf is better than none.

Dennis
Dennis
Reply to  cerulean
6 years ago

“it wouldn’t have surprised me to see an executive order making sites like this illegal.” More likely it would have been an IRS audit, a visit from whatever government agency they could best harass him with, and an NSA scan through his phone and e-mail records for any dirt they could throw at him.

cerulean
cerulean
Reply to  Dennis
6 years ago

I agree, Dennis.

George Orwell
George Orwell
6 years ago

“His opposition is not the Democrats. His enemy is the GOP, that has traditionally served to blunt the interests of the White Party.” Never forget: the Republicans didn’t defeat the Dems last November; Trump did. He won because he’s Trump, not because he’s “Republican.” The GOPe deserves zero credit for his victory, the GOPe being merely the trailing edge of the Democrat wing. As Michael Walsh has observed repeatedly, there are not two parties but one Permanent Bipartisan Fusion Party. Put another way, last year’s election was Cloud People vs. Dirt People. Had the cucks nominated ¡Jeb! or Micro Rubio,… Read more »

bilejones
Member
Reply to  George Orwell
6 years ago

The Dems and GOP are merely the two wings of the same bird of prey,

Eskyman
Member
Reply to  bilejones
6 years ago

They’re two sides of the same bowl of slime mold, you mean.

Our American Eagle is a bird of prey, and has little resemblance to the Dems or GOPe. It is majestic; the Uniparty is not.

Rod1963
Rod1963
Reply to  Eskyman
6 years ago

The uniparty’s symbol ought to be a Turducken .

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
Reply to  Rod1963
6 years ago

with the head of one bird jammed up the cloaca of the other

Teapartydoc
Member
6 years ago

Agree. I’d vote for a kangaroo in the next primary over the establishment goon.

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
Reply to  Teapartydoc
6 years ago

we already have kangaroo courts, so why not!

Farmer in the Dell
Farmer in the Dell
6 years ago

Having been a single issue—Second Amendment—voter for the last few decades, I got from Trump what I wanted: Gorsuch. Anything else is icing on the cake.

Another thing Trump might be doing that seems counter-intuitive presently is letting anti-Trumper Mueller do all the heavy shovel work on digging a hole to punish, or at least expose and shame, Hussein’s spying efforts.

Dutch
Dutch
Reply to  Farmer in the Dell
6 years ago

The more Mueller scrambles, and the less he delivers, the greater the Trump victory over the rest of the Washington swamp. A high-risk gambit by Trump, but it just might pay off for him in a big way.

Member
6 years ago

Trump gave Strange the most backhanded endorsement you can give somebody. He basically said, “Well, if he manages to win, we’ll get credit for that. But if he loses, I’m going to campaign like hell for the other guy.” If Moore wins, expect additional primary challengers in red/Trump states against the Flakes currently holding those seats. In fact, you might look at this primary as a bell weather of the Flake primary next year, and he will not get a backhanded Trump endorsement. Trump has already tweeted out support for one of the opponents (Ward), and has people helping her.… Read more »

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

As long as that trapdoor opens to a poition as a lobbyist, a foreign direct investment representative , a corporate consultancy or office, onboarding to collect taxpayer-funded ‘investment’ streams, managing a tax-evading university trust, laundering money thru community outreach programs… or a thousand other scams

james wilson
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

Ryan calculated the immense powers working against Trump from every direction and expected to ride him out and stick a fork in him. Lots of people were betting real money that Trump wouldn’t finish his term. So Ryan has no plan B, yet. My question is, will Trump let him off the floor when he does? Either way, Hail Trump.

Member
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

Ryan is definitely still playing the old Conservative Inc. game. I get his Facebook updates still (The Weekly Standard blocks me now), and just love his posts about immigration reform, tax reform, repealing Obamacare, etc…and it’s like this alt-reality where nobody knows how badly he and McConnell have failed. Have to say I am increasingly thrilled that my term for it back from our NRO days – Conservative Inc. – has stuck and made it into the mainstream. I’m not so arrogant as to assume I’m the only person to ever think of something, but I’ve been calling them Conservative… Read more »

Ursula
Ursula
Reply to  hokkoda
6 years ago

My impression is the All-Hands-On-Deck alert called by the donor/ruling class during the election season to drag Hillary across the finish line was never cancelled. The donors/ruling class are still exerting immense pressure to bring Trump’s Administration to a premature end, which explains why you see the Leftist Congresscritters acting and talking absolutely crazy nonsense and the Right not supporting the MAGA agenda or our President even though voters gave the GOP the White House and Congress to get it done. So the Congressmen have even less agency than usual due to this pressure. Whores.

chris
chris
6 years ago

I think Trump weakly backed the establishment Luther in Alabama because if he actively turns on the GOP establishment then the GOP establishment would happily work with Democrats to impeach him and get him out of office and replaced with the more establishment Pence (which with the Democrats help they would have the numbers to do). Trump has to essentially subvert or cuckold the GOP establishment while they aren’t looking.

cerulean
cerulean
6 years ago

Somewhat related: more rocks and hard places revealed: “Most pollsters and pundits report that President Trump’s approval ratings are in the tank… In every poll, Democrat respondents outnumbered Republicans by significant amounts. The Economist poll was the worst. Only 24 percent of respondents (360) were Republicans compared to 38 percent (570) Democrats – which means that 58 percent more Democrats were polled than Republicans …” https://www.bombthrowers.com/article/mainstream-political-polls-commit-fraud/ Actually, TheConservativeTreehouse.com reported this phenomenon often and in detail during the Presidential campaign. The good news is that increasing numbers of people are distruting the institutions that have been feeding them shit — in… Read more »

Al from da Nort
Al from da Nort
6 years ago

Z Man; Excellent analysis. However, I’d posit that the MSM is *still* the enemy center of gravity*, even after the election, and not entirely the GOPe per se. It is as much for fear of the media as it is love for their big donors that the GOPe is stalling his agenda (that they ran and won on). In addition to providing favorable election coverage, the media can, to some extent, direct large donations from those who care about ‘hangin with the Kardashians’ in elite circles. They do this, of course, by hyping up one Repub. (looking at you McCain… Read more »

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
Reply to  Al from da Nort
6 years ago

the gope is the enemy inside the wire. they *have* to be taken down first, in order to get anything else done. Ryan and Mcconnell are like the Diem brothers 🙂

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  Karl McHungus
6 years ago

Absolutely- gotta get thru the guys running interence to get to the guys with the ball

(Diem brothers! Let us pray for such a fate!)

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  Alzaebo
6 years ago

Interference
(Allergic to sports, unless holding 3 min-wage jobs at a time since 14 is a sport, wish I knew the futbol terms)

Member
6 years ago

The Republican rank and file know darn well that they are not safe with Trump’s voter base. The gig is up for RINOs.

Chazz
Chazz
6 years ago

While congress people of diverse genders were publicly wetting their pants over Trump’s “fire the sons-of-bitches” broadside to the NFL, I’ll bet their mail boxes were filling up with letters saying “right on”.

Member
6 years ago

Zman, I guess you are just having fun with this, but it comes across wrong…. you do the “white party” folks in Alabama a disservice pondering that Trump might lose them if Strange wins. Kinda insulting. As if they aren’t aware… as if there is another national candidate, much less office holder, that has so solidly trashed the status quo and spoken in the olden tongues of nationalism and American is great, etc. Those Moore supporters are really going to feel so betrayed, they’d stay at home and not vote for any other politician b/c of Moore losing? There is… Read more »

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
6 years ago

He’s HUGGING the chicken to scare the monkey!

Anonymous White Male
Anonymous White Male
6 years ago

I have difficulty understanding why Paul Ryan is still Speaker of the House. I mean, I don’t really have difficulty understanding it. I know it is because he gives exquisite blowjobs to his masters. But, there are essentially 3 parties in the Federal government now. The DemonicRat party, the RINO’s, and the pro-Trump contingent. And Trump’s is the smallest of the 3. Trump is theoretically the acting head of the Republican Party by virtue of being elected President as a Republican. But, he has almost no control over his party. The longer the Swamp stymies his efforts, the more his… Read more »

Dutch
Dutch
Reply to  Anonymous White Male
6 years ago

No one knows what is coming next. But as elected officials go, I will put my bet on those who are most nimble and capable of rolling with the punches. Most of them can’t tell you if it is daytime or nighttime by looking out the window.

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
Reply to  Anonymous White Male
6 years ago

Trump owns the republican base — all of it. As Zman said, ryan and turtle have been conning the other house and senate members about that fact. Once the scalp count from the midterms comes in, those two turds are finally flushed. no lobbying $$ for them either (i bet).

Dutch
Dutch
Reply to  Karl McHungus
6 years ago

Democrat donor dollars have dried up. Can’t wait to see the GOPe donation glide path go the same way.

Dems wanted political donations blocked (in a “wink-wink, nudge-nudge” sort of way). Trump is delivering on that.

Anonymous White Male
Anonymous White Male
Reply to  Karl McHungus
6 years ago

“ryan and turtle have been conning the other house and senate members about that fact.”

Do you really think there is any conning involved? You have to make sure your minions know what you want them to know, plus at least enough information to know what boundaries have been set down.

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
Reply to  Anonymous White Male
6 years ago

there is mutual conning going on, but i would say the vast majority of elected gop officials are gope and need to be primarried ASAP. only need to claima few scalps to get the rest in line. keeping the traitors from cashing in as lobbyists is what’s really critical to draining the swamp.

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  Karl McHungus
6 years ago

About those ‘donors’- Remember McConnel, running for reelection, but he “gave Kentucky a new dam!”

Dollars to donuts he created the ‘private investment group’ that built the dam, and has a family member on the board to harvest it’s future profit flows.

Alzaebo
Alzaebo
Reply to  Alzaebo
6 years ago

Built the dam *with taxpayer funding*

Occasional Commenter
Occasional Commenter
Reply to  Anonymous White Male
6 years ago

As best as I can figure out, a big reason Ryan is still speaker is that no one else really wants the job. Things are too squirrelly.

Saml Adams
Saml Adams
6 years ago

Always go for the simple. If you’ve watched Trump around New York, he thrives on chaos, since his OODA loop is tighter than most. Don’t think much different now. As I believe Z pointed out, most of the Washington press corps (and most Democrats now) are like kittens with laser pointers stapled to their foreheads—give them anything distracting and they are after it. So he give them distraction and Trump can do it faster because he is untroubled by the normal political calculus that McConnell and the Fossils go through. The NFL is a double bonus since the base loves… Read more »

Rich Whiteman
Rich Whiteman
6 years ago

You’re pretty damn smart, Zman. I don’t go for multi-D chess, but the patterns are easy to see for the non-rabid.
President Trump could use a hand like you on the ranch.

Brigadon
Brigadon
Member
6 years ago

It’s not that we think Trump is playing 5D chess… it’s that he’s playing Chess and most of the public, Media, and Politicos are still playing checkers.
He makes mistakes, and failed gambits, But he is a master at grasping opportunity and always has been… as long as the game keeps moving, he can find a way to win. His enemy is stagnation, and so he occasionally has to shake the board to keep it going.

james wilson
Reply to  Brigadon
6 years ago

I’ve posted this before, and will again. Tocqueville–The mental habits which suit action do not always promote thought. The world is not directed by longand learned proofs. All its affairs are decided by the swift glance at a particular fact, the daily examination of the changing moods of the crowd, occasional moments of chance, and the skill to exploit them.

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
6 years ago

moore wins decisively! any chance of a post-vote recap Zman?

Dutch
Dutch
Reply to  Karl McHungus
6 years ago

“Oooohhhh, that’s gotta hurt!”

RWnova
RWnova
Reply to  Dutch
6 years ago

Ash?

CaptDMO
CaptDMO
6 years ago

I could use you help in the pending election Mr. Trump.
Very well Mr. Moore. Here, hold my beer*. Watch THIS!
“I, Donald Trump, Support Mr Strange, in no uncertain terms, as the BEST candidate for this HUUUUUUUge job!!!!!!”
Anything ELSE Mr. Moore?
No, Thank you Mr. President.
(* Yes, I KNOW he doesn’t drink.)

Member
6 years ago

Maybe it’s me, but does it seem logical that Bannon would be booted out of the White House, only to show up in Alabama to help Roy Moore win down there? That seems pretty logical to me. Play the establishment game in D.C. to get them off your back a little bit, but send your people down to AL to help the opposition win.

Expect a bunch more “retirements” this year to be announced. Jeff Flake is toast.

Russtovich
Russtovich
6 years ago

“he has everything to game and nothing to lose. ”

Minor nit; in 2nd last sentence I think “game” should be “gain”.

Cheers

Chuck Shumer
Chuck Shumer
6 years ago

“everything to game and nothing to lose.”

Ursula
Ursula
Reply to  Chuck Shumer
6 years ago

Chuck Schumer, “Head Clown”

Swingy pee
Swingy pee
6 years ago

America will soon be a Nation of Color. Nothing you can do about it! Sorry!

How does it feel? Knowing that your daughters will bear Children of Color

Ursula
Ursula
Reply to  Swingy pee
6 years ago

Pathetic provocation. If you hadn’t been dumbed down by your low-IQ people-of-color genes, you might have been able to do better. Can’t help it, it’s your haplogroup! Don’t worry, smarter and more decent people will continue to create civilizations that would otherwise be out of reach for people like you. You’re welcome.

Occasional Commenter
Occasional Commenter
Reply to  Swingy pee
6 years ago

White is a color.

Karl McHungus
Karl McHungus
Reply to  Occasional Commenter
6 years ago

white is the sum of all colors. black is the absence of any color.

Tim
Tim
Member
Reply to  Swingy pee
6 years ago

Tiny, if you were as intelligent as you are persistent, you would be a rich republican. You know that don’t you?

james ?wilson
james ?wilson
Reply to  Tim
6 years ago

I’d bet $5 he is working for our side.

We_wuz_kangs
We_wuz_kangs
Reply to  Swingy pee
6 years ago

How does it make you feel? Knowing that your sons and daughters would live in a semi-moronic third world backwater if that were to actually come to pass?

Oh, I forgot. You can’t think that far ahead.

Rube Goldberg
Rube Goldberg
Member
6 years ago

So – 5D Chess it is
Also, this sentence should read,
“From Trump’s perspective, turmoil is AS good as it gets.”

Rube Goldberg
Rube Goldberg
Member
Reply to  Rube Goldberg
6 years ago

Forgot to add the “sarc” and smiles 🙂
Oh well