Well, So Much For Trump's Chances of Getting The Republican Nomination (With Update)

Donald Trump wrote this in 2000 (from his book, The America We Deserve):

“We must have universal healthcare. I’m a conservative on most issues but a liberal on this one. We should not hear so many stories of families ruined by healthcare expenses. Doctors might be paid less than they are now, as is the case in Canada, but they would be able to treat more patients because of the reduction in their paperwork."

You're fired, Mother-Fucker.

UPDATE: Karl Rove said this on FoxNews last Friday:

[Trump's] full embrace of the birther issue means that he’s off there in the nutty right and is now an inconsequential candidate. I’m shocked. The guy’s smarter than this. And you know, the idea that President Obama was not born in Hawaii, being — you know, making that the centerpiece of his campaign, means that he’s just a joke candidate. Let him go ahead and announce for election on “The Apprentice.” The American people aren’t going to be hiring him, and certainly, the Republicans are not going to be hiring him in the Republican primary.

Rove also referred to Trump's idea that Obama's parents would arrange birth notices to ensure his presidential eligibility as “full-throated . . . nuttiness.”

I agree with Rove that Trump is now an inconsequential candidate, but it isn't his embrace of the Birthers that made him so -- it's because he was for health care reform before he was against it. Trump's cozying up to the Birthers was actually a good move politically, given that 51% of GOP primary voters believe that Obama was born outside of the United States (21% said they were "not sure" on this issue).

It's one thing to ignore a bunch of lunatics when they only make up a small percentage of the group you are trying to get to vote for you. But when the lunatics actually make up a majority of the electorate you are targeting, you ignore such people at your peril. Mike Huckabee recognizes this as well -- that's why he recently said that Obama grew up in Kenya, then clumsily tried to convince people that he merely misspoke. Huckabee knew that Obama did not grow up in Kenya, but he also knows that such comments play well with the Birther crowd.

And although I believe that Rove also knows the importance of playing to your base, it is clear that he sees the danger of embracing lunacy when it comes to the General Election. Republicans are apparently more than willing to go along with the whole Birtherism thing, partly because it gives them an opportunity to indirectly express their continuing outrage over the fact that a Black man was elected President of the United States. But independents are not interested in such things, and Rove knows that independents will be turned off by this issue during the run-up to the General Election.

Quote of the Month (With Update)

"When Paul Ryan says his priority is to make sure, he's just being America's accountant ... This is the same guy that voted for two wars that were unpaid for, voted for the Bush tax cuts that were unpaid for, voted for the prescription drug bill that cost as much as my health care bill -- but wasn't paid for. So it's not on the level."

-- President Obama.

Yes, that's right -- Obama actually said this (along with a bunch of other things that were very critical of the GOP). My only problem with the comment is that he said it during what he thought was a private chat. He needs to be saying this stuff openly. He needs to repeat this in every speech that he makes on the budget.

The GOP caused the mess that we're in and the country should be constantly reminded of this. As Bill Maher once said, the Republicans are just like some guy who throws shit on you and then tries to sell you relief from the flies.

UPDATE: It been suggested that Obama knew the microphone was on when he made his comments, which makes me feel a little better. For example, Jed Lewison at Daily Kos stated:

[I]f this was indeed a classic open mic incident, it sure was a convenient one. I'll put it this way: I don't know if the audio was left on intentionally or not, but there's not a chance in hell Fox News is going to do much reporting on what President Obama said, because what he said about Republicans was tough as nails.

I still think he should be saying this stuff openly instead to pretending that he didn't know the microphone was on. But it is definitely a step in the right direction.

Quote Of The Week

"I think the biggest problem is revenues. It is simply unrealistic to say that raising revenue isn't part of the solution. It's a measure of how far off the deep end Republicans have gone with this religious catechism about taxes."

-- David Stockman, President Reagan's first budget director, on the House Republican budget plan.

There Will Be No Government Shutdown . . .

. . . because the GOP cannot afford it politically (via Slate):

An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Wednesday found that 40 percent of voters would blame Republicans if the government shut down, 20 percent would blame Obama, and 20 percent would blame congressional Democrats. Compare that with the poll that was conducted in October 1995, the last time the government shut down. Sixteen years ago, 43 percent of voters said a shutdown would be Republicans' fault, and 32 percent said it would be Bill Clinton's fault. And that was the high watermark for Republicans. They lost ground once the shutdown started.

And with regard to the Government shutdown, here's one Republican who is finally telling the truth about it.

Here's A Great Quote For You

Welfare has destroyed the African-American family by telling young black women that husbands and fathers are unnecessary and obsolete. Welfare has subsidized illegitimacy by offering financial rewards to women who have more children out of wedlock. We have incentivized fornication rather than marriage, and it's no wonder we are now awash in the disastrous social consequences of people who rut like rabbits.

-- Bryan Fischer, a top official at the American Family Association (I was going to add that the AFA is a right-wing organization, but why point out the obvious).