198 Comments

As long as she doesn’t become President...she would be a disaster. So I say, of course Niki stay in...I’d love to see Trump go completely mental.

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"...love to see Trump go completely mental."

(tongue-in-cheek) How could you tell that Trump from present day Trump?

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Trump arguably already meets or exceeds the minimal standard criteria for every single test of legal insanity, aka "that dude is NON COMPOS MENTIS," yikes!

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Agree. The best fiction writers couldn't make a Trump up,

Okay, perhaps Lewis Carroll after a few weeks in an opium den.

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founding

Pass the hookah please

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Tell 'em a hookah smoking caterpillar

Has given you the call

He called Alice

When she was just small

bestest newest version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_9ggYhM4yA&list=RD_1jL8A20H_k&index=26

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Love this ~Shadowcloud~ Thank you! I grew up in the SF Bay Area. Spent many a night at the Avalon and Fillmore in the 60s with Grace Slick singing White Rabbit among many other great songs and artists sharing their music in the cloudy theatre

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😆👌🏽

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Seriously—- he is showing signs of dementia, possibly aggravated by stress. He rambles, slurs and mispronounces words, and makes references that are simply unfathomable and irrelevant.

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I am happy if it’s stress. Why? because he has stressed the hell out of us!!

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Yes, he certainly has stressed all of us, but look at his situation. He is 77, overweight, has a lousy diet, gets no exercise, has been indicted in four jurisdictions, and faces considerable loss of income. His wife has all but left him, Ivanka and Jared— even his sons Uday and Qusay— are nowhere to be seen. No family campaigns with him. He won two primaries by unimpressive margins, with many Republicans voting for the other candidates. I feel zero pity for him, but he is clearly stressed.

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I agree with every word, Arthur. What appears to be dementia will undoubtedly be aggravated by the stress of the trials he's facing. Add to that the factors you mention below in your response to Marlene, I think there's a decent chance he could stroke out during the most stressful part of the campaign. At least, I hope that's what happens!!

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A majority of his supporters are struggling with shared paranoid disorder.

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It's a difference between completely mental and partially mental.

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Even now Trump doesn't belong in the White House, he belongs in The Nut.

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LOL

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Make the lazy bastard work for his votes. At some point he's actually going to have to defend himself for the obvious cognitive decline. There are lots of us old people out there taking that really low level cognitive test We all know there's no such think as "aceing it." It's in no way, shape or form that kind of test.

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Man...woman..tv.....how does that go again? 'They said, how does he do that? Incredible.'

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ROTFL!

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I'd love to see some interviewer surprise the Orange Dumpster with questions from an _actual_ intelligence test in a live interview. How many questions would it take for him to notice his answers were garbage? Which they would be.

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He's pretty close to going completely mental now! Confusing Haley with Pelosi! Do they sound the same, Haley and Pelosi? I think not! Yes, I believe it's a good thing she stays in the race, at least for now. I believe she could have a better chance of winning in November rather than DT. One thing at a time!

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They're both women. In what passes for Trump's mind, that makes them interchangeable.

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Trump is threatened by all women! His Mom must have been something else! Probably didn't protect him against his ruthless father!

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Not only did she not protect him but #1, she had the audacity to have another child after Donald (so he wasn't "the baby") and, #2, several months after Robert was born, she collapsed from uterine complications and dang near died. She was quite unwell for a long while after that, so no question Donald did not get sufficient nurturing. From what I remember of Mary Trump's book, DJT started acting out at a fairly young age.

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Having read Mary Trump's _Too Much and Never Enough_ I have a clear impression of Trump's father but virtually nothing remains in my mind about his mother. This does not surprise me, since I grew up in roughly the same time period. Married to men like Fred Trump -- a dangerous man as well as a rich one -- women had little power and had to be careful about how they used it. Same goes for the children: Mary's father, Fred Jr., tried to live his own life, and look what happened to him.

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I read the book also but not the second one! Very sad!

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His mom was sickly, bedridden when he was young, and so probably did not protect him from his dad, or teach him to be, oh, human.

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Sadly, his base couldn't care less! Pelosi, Haley, anyone wearing a skirt...they don't care...

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They don’t even look alike!

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Doesn’t make a shred of difference. In his sexist, philandering mind, they’re women, hence they’re interchangeable. Susanna Sturgis is exactly right.

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well, yeah, but, but, but.........Nancy and Nikki sound JUST alike.....right? /s

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I agree that she would be a disaster, but she'd only be a disaster, whereas Trump would be a calamity and would end democracy if not start a civil war. I think that Haley would beat Biden, but I'd rather risk that than risk Trump's beating Biden.

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I join those asking why you think so. Is Haley that magical? Or is her gender the key to the WH? Things are going well, unemployment is way down, and the national mood (despite the presence of Trump and the MAGA goons) is really fairly optimistic. Biden is an old pro. He’s “presidential.” This election is Biden’s to lose.

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You all make good points, but I think that people are tired of Biden, and she’s a fresh young face, however abhorrent a person.

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I don't know who the "people" you cite are. I think Biden's doing a great job. Under Biden, the stock market just hit a record high, unemployment has hit it's lowest level in 40 or 50 years, Biden has companies competing to open chip-making factories in the U.S., working people are doing better, he's doing more to save the climate than any president has ever done. I think he's terrific.

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We just need to make sure that "the people" know that all this is directly due to Joe Biden's work.

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Exaxtly. What you said.

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Well said, and I agree. I hope Henry Cohen reads your comment.

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Excuse me?? Like who? Are you aware that this administration has done more for working people and business than any administration since FDR? Loren Boobert is a fresh young face. Would she do?

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I agree with all the praise that you and Elizabeth M. and other commenters give to Biden's performance. The error that you're all making is to assume that voters are knowledgeable and rational.

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Jan 25·edited Jan 25

Large portions of the electorate are NOT knowledgeable and rational. That’s a given. Seventy million humanoids voted for the orange baboon last time. Seventy million !! A lot of people vote based on emotions and things like charisma. Those assets helped JFK in 1960. Is that “rational “? Of course not! All I say is that most Americans, by a slim margin, actually do care and do read and do vote with some thought involved. Let’s remember that Trump lost the popular vote twice. It was the electoral college, that asinine anachronism, that gave him the job in 2016.

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If that is so, then Americans are fickle and have the attention span of gnats. Biden has been working his butt off trying to patch up the mess that the melonFelon left. He's been low-key about it (maybe too low-key) and you say people are "tired" of Biden? It seems to me that that is like saying people are tired of breathing or are tired of having a normal person in the White House. Personally, I am most definitely NOT TIRED of normality!!!

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With respect, not that fresh and not that young.

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Look, people are always “tired” of the president. We elect ‘em and then we trash ‘em and expect miracles. Americans crave the new and the exciting. We’re like children that way. People thought Ike was old and boring in 1956. He won a second term. Lots of people thought RR, the GOP’s all-time Superman, was yesterday’s news. He won two terms. I could go on. Obviously I’d certainly take Nikki —who really doesn’t light my fire—over Dump, and I can’t guarantee Joe will win — god help us if he doesn’t— but when actually standing in the voting booth, most Americans… cross fingers here… will vote for the tried and true and sensible.

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I think maybe “the people” in this case is you….?

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Why do you think Nikki would beat Joe?

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I'm wondering the same thing. Haley has three strikes against her from the get-go: she's female, she's a woman of color (though she can probably pass for white), and she's going to have to work hard to achieve anything like national name recognition.

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Well not pass for white exactly but she’s nasty too. Lies about the Civil War and wants to deport Rev. Warnock if she has a chance. https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/07/republican-nikki-haley-raphael-warnock-deported

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WOW!! I hadn't heard about that!!

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I think polls that show Nikki beating Joe are flawed because they don't account for what Trump would do. There is no way he would concede the Republican nomination and endorse Haley. He would claim it was rigged, run as an independent and split the vote. More insanity. It won't happen now... But a Haley nomination would have turned out to be a good scenario for Democrats.

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Jan 25·edited Jan 25

You’re absolutely right about what Trump would do. Haley is too new and she doesn’t have a national constituency yet. Someday we’ll have a woman president— and eventually a Jew, even someday a Muslim. It grieves me no end that HC, who would have made a superb POTUS—- tough, smart, experienced—and for whom my wife and I voted, was denied the victory by the electoral college, a quirk in our system that is, in my book, a fecal profanity.

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HC was a far better candidate than Niki the confused.

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Absolutely! We missed out on a good one

with Hillary. Haley is actually very unimpressive.

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Personally, I'd like to see him have the breakdown that puts him in a straight jacket and off to the nearest mental hospital, never to be heard from again.

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Me too.

(Nobody likes a smartass grammar Nazi, but it’s “straitjacket.”) 😊

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I appreciate your correction, I really do!

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Very gracious of you. 😊😊

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Learned something. Thanks. Hopefully it will be useful.

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And I agree wholeheartedly with your comment. I hope I live long enough to see this despicable, loathsome specimen defeated, broken, and forgotten.

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Of the current crop of GOP officeholders, is there a single one who *wouldn't* be a disaster as president? I'm thinking, I'm thinking . . .

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Maybe Asa Hutchinson?

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I'd vote for Minnie Mouse if she was running against Trump...Just saying...

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That of course is the problem. If Haley is the GOP nominee we avoid the very small risk of a trump presidency, but in the process we probably lose the White House.

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Why? Because Haley is a woman? Does her gender give her a free pass to the White House? I’m all for a female president… I voted for HC in 2016 with high hopes and huge enthusiasm… but the electoral college (once again) installed a person who lost the popular vote. Biden is an uninspiring speaker but he’s an old pro, he represents us well, the economy is good and getting better, inflation seems under control, unemployment is low, and the stock market (admittedly a fungible and risky peg to hang your hat on) is soaring. This election is Biden’s to lose.

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founding

I knew I was in the right place when I signed up for this. That's exactly my take on Trump and how pissed he is that Haley isn't just crumbling like everybody else and bowing out. He's going to have to keep performing these little horror shows of his as he continues to crumble and even the mealy-mouthed MSM who keeps trying to normalize this horror of a human is beginning to latch-on to Haley's constant barrage of cognitive competence questions and pointing all his negatives. Nobody else has dug in like this. She's like a tick on a dog. Go, Nikki, and I wouldn't vote for you if you were the only person running for President. Now this is my kind of entertainment. The Ultimate Degrader is pissed because someone has found a way to effectively start degrading him. He will only be appealing in the eyes of the miserable little base of the base who actually believe Biden is a cardboard cutout and the country is being deluded while Trump is the actual real president. This lazy blob slob is actually going to have to keep working while he's also doing his best to delay every trial by any means, like dirtballing Fani Williams for behavior normalizing him has been made okay. Except, of course, for women still. We'll see. I hope she keeps going. I do like gutsy women, Liz Cheney and now Nikki Haley but we are worlds apart politically so no vote from me. But they know that.

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Yes. Liz is gutsy. Haley? Powerful ambition only. Powerful. You can bet on Cheny in 2028, if the world survives. After seeing the Biden accomplishments, her conservatism might bend a bit. At least she is capable.

Let's not just kick back and enjoy the show, much as we would like to. There's still lots of hard work to be done.

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Cheney has been really well treated by Dems and it seems she realizes that. She herself told the story of one of Pelosi's advisors telling Pelosi all the awful stuff Cheney had said about her and her response was: Why are you telling me this? Tell me something important. She's definitely a Republican but I think she's seeing Dems are not all that her party has tried to portray them as.

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Thunderous applause!!! Amen!

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Very well said, Mary Virginia, very well said!!

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Thanks for the smile reading this put on my face. Anything or anyone that causes hisself's blood pressure to spike is good. I figured Haley not throwing in the towel causes him to A) spend more money in SC he can't afford to lose and B) spend more time in SC pretending to be normal candidate instead of glowering at Jurors and insulting Judges in NYC. Keep making those old veins and arteries in his big orange head pulse Nikki.

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"I find in life, you can’t let people get away with bullshit. You can’t." Donald Trump said this ... forgetting, I guess, that he is Donald Trump.

As for Haley, I like that she's giving Trump agita, but she's a mediocrity who is a closet Kyrsten Sinema

in that she's been raking in the ca$h from Wall Street and big business. Where are the decent, worthwhile T. candidates? Maybe there are none.

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Decent, worthwhile Republican candidates would have a hard time getting through a Republican primary.

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They don't even try. And here are the ones who kind of sat on the sideline going back in for more humiliation. Liz Cheney is right, history will remember their disgusting cowardice. I hope they go so far in they can't get out when his world crumbles.

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I love that image! It's like they've gone deep, deep into a cave, looking for the Holy Grail, and then the whole mountain collapses on them. I just flashed on Pete Seeger's "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy," which was very popular (and very censored) during the Vietnam era. The situations aren't exactly comparable -- the soldiers in "Big Muddy" are obliged to follow the idiot officer's orders in a way that the Republicans in Congress and elsewhere are not -- but I see from a quick Google that others have been making the connection.

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Yeah, look at Asa Hutchinson, who is a a decent guy, for a Republican. He didn't get enough votes to even get an honorable mention (and then the DNC went all snarky on him. Shame on them)

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OK, and I've got a gazillion problems with the DNC, but why should they be supporting Hutchinson? Among other things, any sign of Democratic sympathy would be used against him by the hardcore Republicans. He'd be tagged a RINO PDQ.

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Refraining from snark is scarcely being sympathetic. Do you think Hutchinson is now targeted? I expect he is already persona non grata in Trump's view just for running against his wonderful self...and I can't see Hutchinson performing the acts of abasement and humiliation of 'kissing the ring' that Trump evidently requires for welcoming an apostate back into orange grace.

Asa Hutchinson ran a decent campaign, didn't lie and called Trump out on his BS. He prolly is being called a RINO already. Yeah, he's a Republican, and I'm not in any way a fan of the breed, but he's not vindictive and malicious. He dropped out and instead of just keeping mum, the DNC went out of their way to snarkily say they couldn't tell the difference. Biden made a gracious phone call to Mr. Hutchinson--because President Biden is a consummate statesman and they do not burn bridges of communication to other reasonably decent politicians if they need not.

I'm all over getting down and dirty in the trenches to fight with the slime lords of the MAGAt troops, but I see no need to get smarmy when it isn't necessary.

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Kari Lake taped and outed Kristen Sinema's not so secret backers. LDS.

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Romneyites? Pray tell.

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😮 Kari is doing all kinds of damage in Arizona. This sort of sneaky business won't win her any popularity contests.

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That was about his funniest projection yet!

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Colbert had a great monologue after the New Hamster primary, pointing out the many, many hypocritical statements that TangFace made in that whiny, catty "victory speech".

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What a belly laugh. Trump the philosopher. Right up there with Plato. Trump, of all people on this planet, saying you can’t let people get away with bullshit. Really Donnie Boy? Do tell!

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Not anymore. It's the old give an inch and they will waltz right in and take the first mile and when you don't protest that, they'll set about taking it all.

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Yes.It tickles me that she has not dropped out and is the raspberry seed inhis wisdom tooth.I feel a slight shift in momentum here.The msm are guardedly saying good Biden things.Taylor Swift has gotten many many young people to register to vote and also to vote for Biden.I think the young people will save us and not one peep from our news on this. The Republican Party is beating a proverbial dead horse here.Let them flounder.

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I agree with you that Taylor Swift may singlehandedly motivate the young vote for Biden. That is a gift that could keep on giving. She is a beautiful, talented, and smart young woman. That has to get *Rump’s knickers in a tight twist.

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I contribute to several effective GOTV organizations that are focussed on and in some cases run by young people precisely to get the young ones engaged. Thousands will be of voting age by November. Mi Vecino is targeting the Latino vote. There is a lot to back out there. The Lincoln Project is kickin ass. The DNC should seriosly be talking with Rick and Reed.

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The Times blew this story...a number of stories, again today. This morning's hed was that it was a Trump runaway. That just wasn't true. It was such bad horse race coverage that it demanded Red Smith, Bill Nack, and Jim Murray rise from wherever they are and start writing about politics. It was Trump alone on the leader board, prohibitive favorite, his conquest guaranteed. The reader comments deservedly kicked up the dirt from this sham track, and the Times was caught without its mudflaps. It took until tonight for the Times to get its analysis right: "New Hampshire and Iowa Reveal Broader Weaknesses for Trump." That's not the horn the Times was recklessly blowing this morning. They printed exactly the opposite. They blew the context, they blew what the margin meant, they're so caught up running their own numbers racket. Liebling, and Murray Kempton, would have wept.

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They constantly piss me off with that shit and more. The most accomplished administration since FDR is not newsworthy? People won't believe what they can't see and it the responsibility of journalism to do the revealing, by definition. And one wonders where the bad poll numbers come from.

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The walls of the Sulzberger bubble seem to get thicker each new generation.

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Digby's Hullabaloo reports that an exit poll in NH asked voters whether they thought that Biden had won legitimately in 2020. 80% of Trump voters said no; 83% of Haley voters said yes. This reveals that we have three political parties in this country: Democrats, Republicans, and Trump supporters. The question that will determine the election is how many Republicans will hold their noses and vote for Trump, simply because he is nominally a Republican, or won’t vote for Biden, simply because he is a Democrat.

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I really have no respect for Nikki as she has cheated on her husband many times as have many men candidates. I guess there is a double standard. Plus, she is not bright or mature enough to run a country. Her experience is very thin. It is my view that trump will not win in the general election. I am convinced that many of his supporters are tired of his bullshit. They will back him while in public, but in the voting booth, they will turn on him because he is a useless turd. Biden may be old, but he can out think trump everyday with half his brain tied behind his back. For the record, we need to Vote Blue because the next president will pick the next SCOTUS justice when Thomas dies. The court has little credibility, but the court has vast power. We can't have anymore unethical justices' on the court. Antonin Scalia died a mysterious death and we cannot allow that to happen again unless another radical right justice is the target. Vote Blue. It is the right thing to do. Be active. Get others to vote.

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You may well be right that Drumpf will not win the general election, but I don't feel that we can afford to comfort ourselves with that thought. Few of us thought he could win in 2016, and yet he did. Unless we all believe it could happen again, we won't collectively do enough to ensure it doesn't.

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I agree with your comment. Women [and others] need to become activists to ensure others vote. We can't afford to allow our allies not to vote. Remember, the winner will pick the next justice after Clarence Thomas dies.

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I totally agree with you, Lucian, the longer Nikki stays in the more stress she puts on the mango moron who is already under considerable pressure. When he’s not getting his way he becomes a petulant child and unhinged, which he is most of the time anyway. After she has spent about three months making him more miserable, and then drops out, is she going to cave and support him? That’s what worries me. She has flip-flopped on him before, and on other issues like the Confederate flag and abortion, which only points out how basically feckless she is. I’m definitely not one of her fans, but I like what she’s doing to *Rump, and I really hope she keeps it up. And means it.

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I do think she will cave and kiss the ring. She has been unable to say one negative thing about Drumpf until recently.

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And ask for the VP

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She has Koch'$ backing now. She doesn't have to cave.

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She will definitely cave. You know it's coming.

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Just finished reading Franklin Foer's The Last Politician -- Inside Joe Biden's White House and the Struggle for America's Future. Read it, especially if you harbor doubts about his political acumen, acquired over decades of experience, humanity and endurance. I wish the public more deeply understood the depth of his craft, which he's brought to bear on our problems, both at home and abroad. Yes, he's old (so what?) and imperfect, but he's wise, steady, experienced, and dedicated to preserving American democracy. The comparison to Trmp could not be more stark. And frightening.

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Agree Haley staying in matters alot.

For one thing Trump can't have his attorneys argue see you knuckleheads he is already the nominee so you best not do anything to interfere in the election. May not work in the lower courts, however @SCOTUS it just might.

By staying in Trump campaign doesn't have access to big donors forcing them to spend down their cash while President Biden can fundraise and attack Trump.

Finally and what is the most important, while Trump base and ass licking Republican members of Congress are all in, his victory speech wasn't received well by all the others. He basically said crown me now and getdafuq out of my way. Dude is way too anxious and antsy. Lots of Rs and Is who came away with wow, if he like that now, watdafuq will he be like on Day1 of a presidency?

If Nikki drops all and kisses his ring, then she isn't half the woman she is selling herself as. And still shaking me-noggin' at Sen. Scot's I Love you to Trump. Any R who claims they are the party of color blindness is most likely to texted her/his friend and said did you see that ni**a debase himself in front of Massa?

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Tim Scott should wear kneepads whenever Trump is within 1000 miles of him. But, give him credit, he kept his great smile while he groveled. What kept Trump from scratching Scott's belly and giving him a Milk-Bone?

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LMRAO.

Since Scott first came onto the scene saw him as Stephen in Django Unchained. Scott been a House Negro to Sen Graham and to Trump. It's really creepy. And as an ~indigenous~ POC cringeworthy while he goes about shaming his ancestors. WOC have come up with all sorts of characterizations of him.

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Um...because Trump dislikes, even fears dogs? Nah, Senator Scott can't even be a dog to Trump--dogs dislike Trump as much as he dislikes them.

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I forgot about his hatred of dogs. Everything about that punk is weird.

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You've got that right!!!!

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Yes, that staggered me, as well. I couldn't believe ANYONE would or could be so friggin' ambitious that they would give away their self-respect (and in such a public fashion, too!) to such a puling, pathetic creature. It was--to quote Jay Kuo's MA--"SICKENING".

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Re Scott: he’s a whore. Thinks if Dump wins, hey, Donald, remember me? I was an early supporter, so how about a Cabinet post?!?!? Same old tired balls-in-the back-pocket story. If he has any, that is.

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Cab;e teevee needs such commentary, Well-said, Authur.

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Republican voters..........are waiting for him to be convicted of a crime. He's already been convicted of rape goddammit. Every time I have to refer to this shitstain it's going to have these two words in front--convicted rapist.

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But is rape a crime really...

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I hope that you're right about all of this. Because honestly, I'm frightened....This Nation cannot take four more years of his dangerous and downright evil madness

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Having lived through many presidential elections over the years, it is astounding to think that Trump could be considered a candidate for one of the two major political parties, much less the leading contender for the nomination. How can we even treat that as being "normal"? His political career should have ended when he came down that escalator and spoke about Mexicans and other migrants.

But as I said in a comment to a recent Lucian column, in a one-on-one race with Trump, Biden is almost certain to win. The concern is if one or more third party candidates are on the ballot and draw support from Biden. That is why the Dems need to have back room meetings with these third parties and get them to stand down, or do deals that will get them to stand down. The one and only priority in November 2024 is to keep Trump out of the Oval Office, no matter what it takes.

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What a sick f**k he is. Have fun, Nikki!

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The pettiness about Haley’ dress! Astonishing that Deplorables buy into such BS! The Diapered Don really wears diapers--his AI image in church is a 6-fingered Freak, (do the idiots think it’s “6-figured or that he inherited only $10 from his Nazi father?). If he’s “going mental,” how would you characterize everything that came before? I know how HE would; given to hyperbole, he’d say he was “MON-U-MENTAL”!

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