# Beware the Ides of March! Which devil with the GOP Voter make a deal with?



## Martin Eden Mercury

It is the conventional wisdom that today (Tuesday, the 15th of March), GOP voters will be deciding whether to give Donald Trump a public spanking, or a '_yuuge_' embrace. I tend to be a little more critical and nuanced. I see today's elections as more of a choice between _the devil they know, _and _the devil they think they know,_ than as a choice between rejection, and an embrace of _The Donald_. The _devil they know_ being the establishment, which guides the coalition formed during the Reagan years; and the _devil they think they know_, being the candidacy of Donald J. Trump,

On one side we have _the devil they know_. So far, an average of 65% of Republican primary and caucus voters have chosen to _support other-than-Trump_. Since at least December of last year, Trump's 35% voter preference has stayed steady. It has stayed steady even as a dozen others have dropped out of the race. The overwhelmingly majority of the of Republican voters (65%) are split between, or have voted for either -- Senator Marco Rubio, who is claiming Republican primary voters will be choosing "between optimism and fear." -- Senator Ted Cruz who is claiming his extreme, right wing views represent conservatism --  and Governor John Kasich, the only true Reagan Republican in the race.  Governor Kasich's campaign is an interesting study in that it is mixing facts, with myth and metaphor. Kasich does this in order to make the case, that a vote for him is a vote to go back to either the mythical glory days of twenty-five years ago, or the mythical glory days of thirty-five years ago. With Kasich on the ticket, voters can go back twenty-five years ago -- to the glory days of Newt and his contract;  or go back to thirty-five years ago, to the older glory days of Reagan and his revolution. A revolution whose reputation was so tarnished, it needed the Reagan Legacy Project to rescue it from the toilet.

On the other side we have_ the devil they think they know_; Donald Trump, reality tv star and celebrity, who commands the stage and demands that the media and everyone else play by his rules. He bullies the media as much as he's bullied most anyone in his sights. This is a reality documented throughout a long lifetime of public mockery and bullying of individuals, institutions, and groups. No one is left off of this man's radar. His appetite for public attention is insatiable. I might also add, contrary to Trump's claims, there exists a long lifetime of documented bullying through lawsuits threatened, settled, and lost. Trump berates, scolds, and attacks anyone in sight, but especially the media. He savors any chance opportunity to bait the media. Yet, without the media feeding the Trump narrative, and Trump's ego; Donald J. Trump would be nothing more in myth, than what he is in reality; just another _tired, old, garden variety celebrity_, gone _crazy old birther_.

The mechanics of the race have receded into the background, and the race has become all about Donald J. Trump. It has become all about Donald J. Trump, simply because he tells us so. He tells us so by using incendiary and outrageous remarks  to keep himself in the headlines. From the beginning, the media and Trump have been in a sadomasochistic dance, and we the public -- the public that the ***Forth Estate uses as a shield, are a captive audience. As it keeps the Trump narrative front and center, the Forth Estate sells the American public short, simply because it sells. '_Follow the money_.' It is said that '_if it bleeds, it leads_.' If it bleeds and leads, and it sells; _and evidently nothing bleeds, leads, and sells as much as Trump's self-promotion_; the American public gets to sit back and watch the political process turn into a republican, carnival freak show. It bleeds, and it's as if an artery has been severed.

Trump has been demanding the party establishment get on his side. Trump has been meeting with them. He has lent his own campaign money. Lent. Who do people think would be paying that back if Trump were to somehow win? The establishment wing of the party holds the coalition together. Funding, logistics, strategy -- none of this can be done without the establishment. Populist movements rise and fall with the fortunes of the personality who pretends to be leading it. The Reagan Legacy Project dealt with that in an ingenious way. But make no mistake about it, either way the GOP voter goes in 2016, they are being sold a bill of goods. We now resemble a _banana republic_, more than we do the kind of republic the founding generation envisioned leaving us. The founding generation and their immediate offspring left us a healthy, two-party system. We have squandered away an inheritance. Shame on us.


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## JakeStarkey

"Populist movements rise and fall with the fortunes of the personality who pretends to be leading it."

Excellent commentary.


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## asaratis

The "establishment" is simply scared shitless that they will be losing their power to determine what the little people need.  The 'little people' are simply expressing what they want.  The 'establishment' wants to deny them that which they want and give them whatever the 'establishment' smugly thinks they need.  That would be, WHATEVER IT TAKES TO MAINTAIN THE ESTABLISHMENT.


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## Martin Eden Mercury

Dear asaratis, while I know it may be difficult for fans and followers to comprehend, rhetoric and reality often clash. 

"Trump has been demanding the party establishment get on his side. Trump has been meeting with them. He has lent his own campaign money. Lent. Who do people think would be paying that back if Trump were to somehow win?"​Donald Trump could not win a general election without the establishment. Not unless you think angry campaign event attendees, and anonymous posters on web sites have the wherewithal to run a national presidential campaign. Then again, I would not be surprised at anything a member of the Trump Cult believed.


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## asaratis

Martin Eden Mercury said:


> Dear asaratis, while I know it may be difficult for fans and followers to comprehend, rhetoric and reality often clash.
> 
> "Trump has been demanding the party establishment get on his side. Trump has been meeting with them. He has lent his own campaign money. Lent. Who do people think would be paying that back if Trump were to somehow win?"​Donald Trump could not win a general election without the establishment. Not unless you think angry campaign event attendees, and anonymous posters on web sites have the wherewithal to run a national presidential campaign. Then again, I would not be surprised at anything a member of the Trump Cult believed.


There you go with that smug, elitist attitude.  It must be difficult for you to communicate with all those fans and followers of yours.  Simply thinking that you possess superior intellect does not make it so.  After reading several of your mediocre attempts to compete with the likes of William F. Buckley, a true intellect...on the bell shaped curve of intelligence, I see you as being somewhere near the hump.

Rhetoric and reality have long clashed for the liberals.  Their rhetoric includes a bright and shiny future for all.  Their reality is evidenced in any number of decaying American liberal cities.  More welfare, more poverty, more crime, more corruption...you name it...it's not the pretty picture they paint when pandering for votes.

A word of advice: Stop quoting yourself as is you're some sort of reputable source of information.


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## Martin Eden Mercury

asaratis said:


> Martin Eden Mercury said:
> 
> 
> 
> Dear asaratis, while I know it may be difficult for fans and followers to comprehend, rhetoric and reality often clash.
> 
> "Trump has been demanding the party establishment get on his side. Trump has been meeting with them. He has lent his own campaign money. Lent. Who do people think would be paying that back if Trump were to somehow win?"​Donald Trump could not win a general election without the establishment. Not unless you think angry campaign event attendees, and anonymous posters on web sites have the wherewithal to run a national presidential campaign. Then again, I would not be surprised at anything a member of the Trump Cult believed.
> 
> 
> 
> There you go with that smug, elitist attitude.  It must be difficult for you to communicate with all those fans and followers of yours.  Simply thinking that you possess superior intellect does not make it so.  After reading several of your mediocre attempts to compete with the likes of William F. Buckley, a true intellect...on the bell shaped curve of intelligence, I see you as being somewhere near the hump.
> 
> Rhetoric and reality have long clashed for the liberals.  Their rhetoric includes a bright and shiny future for all.  Their reality is evidenced in any number of decaying American liberal cities.  More welfare, more poverty, more crime, more corruption...you name it...it's not the pretty picture they paint when pandering for votes.
> 
> A word of advice: Stop quoting yourself as is you're some sort of reputable source of information.
Click to expand...


Dear asaratis, regarding your perceptions of my intellect, and your evaluation of how difficult it is for me to communicate with potential 'fans' or 'followers' like you, it really doesn't matter all that much in the great scheme of things. But your critique of my _mediocre_ intellect has generated a spark from which amusement has visited me. I sincerely thank you asratis.

The mutual attraction you and another member here (the winner), seem to have for each other, calls to mind one of *Aesop's Fables: The Ass and His Purchaser*

While at first blush it may appear I would go down the road of "_Birds of a Feather Flock Together._" the more apt moral lesson here would be  "_A man is known by the company he keeps_."

A man wished to purchase an Ass, and decided to give the animal a test before buying him. He took the Ass home and put him in the field with his other Asses.

The new Ass strayed from the others to join the one that was the laziest and the biggest eater of them all.

Seeing this, the man led him back to his owner. When the owner asked how he could have tested the Ass in such a short time, the man answered, "I didn't even need to see how he worked. I knew he would be just like the one he chose to be his friend."​

caveat: 
*"While a person is apt to be judged by the company he (or she) keeps, that doesn't mean you have to choose to be like the company you keep."*


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## DarkFury

Martin Eden Mercury said:


> asaratis said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Martin Eden Mercury said:
> 
> 
> 
> Dear asaratis, while I know it may be difficult for fans and followers to comprehend, rhetoric and reality often clash.
> 
> "Trump has been demanding the party establishment get on his side. Trump has been meeting with them. He has lent his own campaign money. Lent. Who do people think would be paying that back if Trump were to somehow win?"​Donald Trump could not win a general election without the establishment. Not unless you think angry campaign event attendees, and anonymous posters on web sites have the wherewithal to run a national presidential campaign. Then again, I would not be surprised at anything a member of the Trump Cult believed.
> 
> 
> 
> There you go with that smug, elitist attitude.  It must be difficult for you to communicate with all those fans and followers of yours.  Simply thinking that you possess superior intellect does not make it so.  After reading several of your mediocre attempts to compete with the likes of William F. Buckley, a true intellect...on the bell shaped curve of intelligence, I see you as being somewhere near the hump.
> 
> Rhetoric and reality have long clashed for the liberals.  Their rhetoric includes a bright and shiny future for all.  Their reality is evidenced in any number of decaying American liberal cities.  More welfare, more poverty, more crime, more corruption...you name it...it's not the pretty picture they paint when pandering for votes.
> 
> A word of advice: Stop quoting yourself as is you're some sort of reputable source of information.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Dear asaratis, regarding your perceptions of my intellect, and your evaluation of how difficult it is for me to communicate with potential 'fans' or 'followers' like you, it really doesn't matter all that much in the great scheme of things. But your critique of my _mediocre_ intellect has generated a spark from which amusement has visited me. I sincerely thank you asratis.
> 
> The mutual attraction you and another member here (the winner), seem to have for each other, calls to mind one of *Aesop's Fables: The Ass and His Purchaser*
> 
> While at first blush it may appear I would go down the road of "_Birds of a Feather Flock Together._" the more apt moral lesson here would be  "_A man is known by the company he keeps_."
> 
> A man wished to purchase an Ass, and decided to give the animal a test before buying him. He took the Ass home and put him in the field with his other Asses.
> 
> The new Ass strayed from the others to join the one that was the laziest and the biggest eater of them all.
> 
> Seeing this, the man led him back to his owner. When the owner asked how he could have tested the Ass in such a short time, the man answered, "I didn't even need to see how he worked. I knew he would be just like the one he chose to be his friend."​
> 
> caveat:
> *"While a person is apt to be judged by the company he (or she) keeps, that doesn't mean you have to choose to be like the company you keep."*
Click to expand...

*An OP/ED is supposed to write it and walk away taking whatever thought in stride. YOU have failed at this as you have many things. Shut you f#cking mouth and listen to the PEOPLE asshole.*


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## Martin Eden Mercury

DarkFury said:


> *An OP/ED is supposed to write it and walk away taking whatever thought in stride. YOU have failed at this as you have many things. Shut you f#cking mouth and listen to the PEOPLE asshole.*



Bare Naked Imbecility (BNI) may work for you elsewhere, but here, and until you are in charge, you have absolutely no power whatsoever. Begone, before somebody drops a mosque on you! Your opinion is like an asshole -- everyone has one (I make leeway for the possibility that you may be in possession of more than one ).


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## DarkFury

Martin Eden Mercury said:


> DarkFury said:
> 
> 
> 
> *An OP/ED is supposed to write it and walk away taking whatever thought in stride. YOU have failed at this as you have many things. Shut you f#cking mouth and listen to the PEOPLE asshole.*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bare Naked Imbecility (BNI) may work for you elsewhere, but here, and until you are in charge, you have absolutely no power whatsoever. Begone, before somebody drops a mosque on you! Your opinion is like an asshole -- everyone has one (I make leeway for the possibility that you may be in possession of more than one ).
Click to expand...

*Are you making a threat to me?*


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## Martin Eden Mercury

DarkFury said:


> *Are you making a threat to me?*



*Are you getting politically correct on me?*


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## DarkFury

Martin Eden Mercury said:


> DarkFury said:
> 
> 
> 
> *Are you making a threat to me?*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Are you getting politically correct on me?*
Click to expand...

*Being PC is not something I tend to ever be accused of hack.*


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## Martin Eden Mercury

DarkFury said:


> *Being PC is not something I tend to ever be accused of hack.*


Notice To Readers: My next op-ed will be entitled 'How to deal with a major troll in the comments section, or The Political Alamo versus The Battle of Nincompoops and Imbeciles (BNI)


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## DarkFury

*NOTICE TO READERS!!!!

You may have seen the word "inshallah" written by the OP/ED in this thread. Comment number 12.
in·shal·lah
inˈSHälə/
exclamation

if Allah wills it.
Google

Your getting fed a line of horsesh#t by a "supposed" political writer who is a gawd damn muslim. 
*


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## Martin Eden Mercury

DarkFury said:


> *NOTICE TO READERS!!!!
> 
> You may have seen the word "inshallah" written by the OP/ED in this thread. Comment number 12.
> in·shal·lah
> inˈSHälə/
> exclamation
> *
> 
> 
> *
> 
> if Allah wills it.
> *
> *Google
> 
> Your getting fed a line of horsesh#t by a "supposed" political writer who is a gawd damn muslim. *


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## C_Clayton_Jones

asaratis said:


> Martin Eden Mercury said:
> 
> 
> 
> Dear asaratis, while I know it may be difficult for fans and followers to comprehend, rhetoric and reality often clash.
> 
> "Trump has been demanding the party establishment get on his side. Trump has been meeting with them. He has lent his own campaign money. Lent. Who do people think would be paying that back if Trump were to somehow win?"​Donald Trump could not win a general election without the establishment. Not unless you think angry campaign event attendees, and anonymous posters on web sites have the wherewithal to run a national presidential campaign. Then again, I would not be surprised at anything a member of the Trump Cult believed.
> 
> 
> 
> There you go with that smug, elitist attitude.  It must be difficult for you to communicate with all those fans and followers of yours.  Simply thinking that you possess superior intellect does not make it so.  After reading several of your mediocre attempts to compete with the likes of William F. Buckley, a true intellect...on the bell shaped curve of intelligence, I see you as being somewhere near the hump.
> 
> Rhetoric and reality have long clashed for the liberals.  Their rhetoric includes a bright and shiny future for all.  Their reality is evidenced in any number of decaying American liberal cities.  More welfare, more poverty, more crime, more corruption...you name it...it's not the pretty picture they paint when pandering for votes.
> 
> A word of advice: Stop quoting yourself as is you're some sort of reputable source of information.
Click to expand...

Ridiculous nonsense and lies.

Conservatism is the bane of the American Nation – the fear, ignorance, bigotry, and hate that manifests among the reactionary right, the true disease destroying this country, the decaying rot that gave rise to the likes of Trump, who is merely a symptom of the disease that is conservative dogma.

The American people must and will reject conservatives and the contempt they have for diversity, dissent, and expressions of individual liberty – we as a people are better than that, better than the fear and hate the right seeks to propagate, and better than the likes of Trump.


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## asaratis

Martin Eden Mercury said:


> asaratis said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Martin Eden Mercury said:
> 
> 
> 
> Dear asaratis, while I know it may be difficult for fans and followers to comprehend, rhetoric and reality often clash.
> 
> "Trump has been demanding the party establishment get on his side. Trump has been meeting with them. He has lent his own campaign money. Lent. Who do people think would be paying that back if Trump were to somehow win?"​Donald Trump could not win a general election without the establishment. Not unless you think angry campaign event attendees, and anonymous posters on web sites have the wherewithal to run a national presidential campaign. Then again, I would not be surprised at anything a member of the Trump Cult believed.
> 
> 
> 
> There you go with that smug, elitist attitude.  It must be difficult for you to communicate with all those fans and followers of yours.  Simply thinking that you possess superior intellect does not make it so.  After reading several of your mediocre attempts to compete with the likes of William F. Buckley, a true intellect...on the bell shaped curve of intelligence, I see you as being somewhere near the hump.
> 
> Rhetoric and reality have long clashed for the liberals.  Their rhetoric includes a bright and shiny future for all.  Their reality is evidenced in any number of decaying American liberal cities.  More welfare, more poverty, more crime, more corruption...you name it...it's not the pretty picture they paint when pandering for votes.
> 
> A word of advice: Stop quoting yourself as is you're some sort of reputable source of information.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Dear asaratis, regarding your perceptions of my intellect, and your evaluation of how difficult it is for me to communicate with potential 'fans' or 'followers' like you, it really doesn't matter all that much in the great scheme of things. But your critique of my _mediocre_ intellect has generated a spark from which amusement has visited me. I sincerely thank you asratis.
> 
> The mutual attraction you and another member here (the winner), seem to have for each other, calls to mind one of *Aesop's Fables: The Ass and His Purchaser*
> 
> While at first blush it may appear I would go down the road of "_Birds of a Feather Flock Together._" the more apt moral lesson here would be  "_A man is known by the company he keeps_."
> 
> A man wished to purchase an Ass, and decided to give the animal a test before buying him. He took the Ass home and put him in the field with his other Asses.
> 
> The new Ass strayed from the others to join the one that was the laziest and the biggest eater of them all.
> 
> Seeing this, the man led him back to his owner. When the owner asked how he could have tested the Ass in such a short time, the man answered, "I didn't even need to see how he worked. I knew he would be just like the one he chose to be his friend."​
> 
> caveat:
> *"While a person is apt to be judged by the company he (or she) keeps, that doesn't mean you have to choose to be like the company you keep."*
Click to expand...


Dear asaratis, regarding your perceptions of my intellect, and your evaluation of how difficult it is for me to communicate with potential 'fans' or 'followers' like you, it really doesn't matter all that much in the great scheme of things. But your critique of my _mediocre_ intellect has generated a spark from which amusement has visited me. I sincerely thank you asratis.

Self-aggrandizement is the mark of a true narcissist.  Had you a significant portion of the intellect you appear to claim, you would at least display competency in the art of proper punctuation of written English, Martin.

The thought that I am a potential fan or follower is laughable.  The fact is that I recognized you as an impostor after reading your first 'op ed' here.

The mutual attraction you and another member here (the winner), seem to have for each other, calls to mind one of *Aesop's Fables: The Ass and His Purchaser*


Your fabrication of a 'mutual attraction' that you perceive Dark Fury and I to share is a rather ridiculous extension of our apparent agreement on one point, that being that you are a blowhard.


While at first blush it may appear I would go down the road of "_Birds of a Feather Flock Together._" the more apt moral lesson here would be  "_A man is known by the company he keeps_."

I captured both of those adages decades ago.



A man wished to purchase an Ass, and decided to give the animal a test before buying him. He took the Ass home and put him in the field with his other Asses.

The new Ass strayed from the others to join the one that was the laziest and the biggest eater of them all.

Seeing this, the man led him back to his owner. When the owner asked how he could have tested the Ass in such a short time, the man answered, "I didn't even need to see how he worked. I knew he would be just like the one he chose to be his friend."

...and the moral of this story is that one should never buy a Democrat Equus.​

caveat: 
*"While a person is apt to be judged by the company he (or she) keeps, that doesn't mean you have to choose to be like the company you keep."*

You have a firm grasp on the obvious.


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## eagle1462010

So what is this OP ED.............Did they hire someone for this or something.................


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## Luddly Neddite

DarkFury said:


> Martin Eden Mercury said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> DarkFury said:
> 
> 
> 
> *An OP/ED is supposed to write it and walk away taking whatever thought in stride. YOU have failed at this as you have many things. Shut you f#cking mouth and listen to the PEOPLE asshole.*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bare Naked Imbecility (BNI) may work for you elsewhere, but here, and until you are in charge, you have absolutely no power whatsoever. Begone, before somebody drops a mosque on you! Your opinion is like an asshole -- everyone has one (I make leeway for the possibility that you may be in possession of more than one ).
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> *Are you making a threat to me?*
Click to expand...



A THREAT??

Did you say THREAT??

Have you read your own post, link in my sig?

You're the only one here who makes threats. Luckily, everyone knows you can't make good on your threat to have Joe Arpaio delete my posts and give you my name address. 

Idiot twerp.


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## Luddly Neddite

DarkFury said:


> Martin Eden Mercury said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> DarkFury said:
> 
> 
> 
> *Are you making a threat to me?*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Are you getting politically correct on me?*
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> *Being PC is not something I tend to ever be accused of hack.*
Click to expand...



*Being intelligent, educated, knowledgeable is not something I tend to ever be accused of hack.*

There. Fixed it for you.


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## BuckToothMoron

Martin Eden Mercury said:


> *Beware the Ides of March!
> Which devil will the GOP Voter make a deal with? *​
> 
> It is the conventional wisdom that today (Tuesday, the 15th of March), GOP voters will be deciding whether to give Donald Trump a public spanking, or a '_yuuge_' embrace. I tend to be a little more critical and nuanced. I see today's elections as more of a choice between _the devil they know, _and _the devil they think they know,_ than as a choice between rejection, and an embrace of _The Donald_. The _devil they know_ being the establishment, which guides the coalition formed during the Reagan years; and the _devil they think they know_, being the candidacy of Donald J. Trump,
> 
> On one side we have _the devil they know_. So far, an average of 65% of Republican primary and caucus voters have chosen to _support other-than-Trump_. Since at least December of last year, Trump's 35% voter preference has stayed steady. It has stayed steady even as a dozen others have dropped out of the race. The overwhelmingly majority of the of Republican voters (65%) are split between, or have voted for either -- Senator Marco Rubio, who is claiming Republican primary voters will be choosing "between optimism and fear." -- Senator Ted Cruz who is claiming his extreme, right wing views represent conservatism --  and Governor John Kasich, the only true Reagan Republican in the race.  Governor Kasich's campaign is an interesting study in that it is mixing facts, with myth and metaphor. Kasich does this in order to make the case, that a vote for him is a vote to go back to either the mythical glory days of twenty-five years ago, or the mythical glory days of thirty-five years ago. With Kasich on the ticket, voters can go back twenty-five years ago -- to the glory days of Newt and his contract;  or go back to thirty-five years ago, to the older glory days of Reagan and his revolution. A revolution whose reputation was so tarnished, it needed the Reagan Legacy Project to rescue it from the toilet.
> 
> On the other side we have_ the devil they think they know_; Donald Trump, reality tv star and celebrity, who commands the stage and demands that the media and everyone else play by his rules. He bullies the media as much as he's bullied most anyone in his sights. This is a reality documented throughout a long lifetime of public mockery and bullying of individuals, institutions, and groups. No one is left off of this man's radar. His appetite for public attention is insatiable. I might also add, contrary to Trump's claims, there exists a long lifetime of documented bullying through lawsuits threatened, settled, and lost. Trump berates, scolds, and attacks anyone in sight, but especially the media. He savors any chance opportunity to bait the media. Yet, without the media feeding the Trump narrative, and Trump's ego; Donald J. Trump would be nothing more in myth, than what he is in reality; just another _tired, old, garden variety celebrity_, gone _crazy old birther_.
> 
> The mechanics of the race have receded into the background, and the race has become all about Donald J. Trump. It has become all about Donald J. Trump, simply because he tells us so. He tells us so by using incendiary and outrageous remarks  to keep himself in the headlines. From the beginning, the media and Trump have been in a sadomasochistic dance, and we the public -- the public that the ***Forth Estate uses as a shield, are a captive audience. As it keeps the Trump narrative front and center, the Forth Estate sells the American public short, simply because it sells. '_Follow the money_.' It is said that '_if it bleeds, it leads_.' If it bleeds and leads, and it sells; _and evidently nothing bleeds, leads, and sells as much as Trump's self-promotion_; the American public gets to sit back and watch the political process turn into a republican, carnival freak show. It bleeds, and it's as if an artery has been severed.
> 
> Trump has been demanding the party establishment get on his side. Trump has been meeting with them. He has lent his own campaign money. Lent. Who do people think would be paying that back if Trump were to somehow win? The establishment wing of the party holds the coalition together. Funding, logistics, strategy -- none of this can be done without the establishment. Populist movements rise and fall with the fortunes of the personality who pretends to be leading it. The Reagan Legacy Project dealt with that in an ingenious way. But make no mistake about it, either way the GOP voter goes in 2016, they are being sold a bill of goods. We now resemble a _banana republic_, more than we do the kind of republic the founding generation envisioned leaving us. The founding generation and their immediate offspring left us a healthy, two-party system. We have squandered away an inheritance. Shame on us.
> 
> 
> Beware the Ides of March
> 
> to be continued
> 
> Martin Eden "Mem" Mercury
> 
> an invite for you to e-mail me at usmbmem@lookout.com
> 
> ***_attribute to Edmund Burke_


I agree with most of your sentiment. As of now I will vote for Trump, really against the establishment and I am a lifelong conservative. Where I disagree- I don't to pretend to know Trump, at least To how how he would govern. He is to me the unknown behind door number 3.


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## Martin Eden Mercury

BuckToothMoron said:


> Martin Eden Mercury said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Beware the Ides of March!
> Which devil will the GOP Voter make a deal with? *​
> 
> It is the conventional wisdom that today (Tuesday, the 15th of March), GOP voters will be deciding whether to give Donald Trump a public spanking, or a '_yuuge_' embrace. I tend to be a little more critical and nuanced. I see today's elections as more of a choice between _the devil they know, _and _the devil they think they know,_ than as a choice between rejection, and an embrace of _The Donald_. The _devil they know_ being the establishment, which guides the coalition formed during the Reagan years; and the _devil they think they know_, being the candidacy of Donald J. Trump,
> 
> On one side we have _the devil they know_. So far, an average of 65% of Republican primary and caucus voters have chosen to _support other-than-Trump_. Since at least December of last year, Trump's 35% voter preference has stayed steady. It has stayed steady even as a dozen others have dropped out of the race. The overwhelmingly majority of the of Republican voters (65%) are split between, or have voted for either -- Senator Marco Rubio, who is claiming Republican primary voters will be choosing "between optimism and fear." -- Senator Ted Cruz who is claiming his extreme, right wing views represent conservatism --  and Governor John Kasich, the only true Reagan Republican in the race.  Governor Kasich's campaign is an interesting study in that it is mixing facts, with myth and metaphor. Kasich does this in order to make the case, that a vote for him is a vote to go back to either the mythical glory days of twenty-five years ago, or the mythical glory days of thirty-five years ago. With Kasich on the ticket, voters can go back twenty-five years ago -- to the glory days of Newt and his contract;  or go back to thirty-five years ago, to the older glory days of Reagan and his revolution. A revolution whose reputation was so tarnished, it needed the Reagan Legacy Project to rescue it from the toilet.
> 
> On the other side we have_ the devil they think they know_; Donald Trump, reality tv star and celebrity, who commands the stage and demands that the media and everyone else play by his rules. He bullies the media as much as he's bullied most anyone in his sights. This is a reality documented throughout a long lifetime of public mockery and bullying of individuals, institutions, and groups. No one is left off of this man's radar. His appetite for public attention is insatiable. I might also add, contrary to Trump's claims, there exists a long lifetime of documented bullying through lawsuits threatened, settled, and lost. Trump berates, scolds, and attacks anyone in sight, but especially the media. He savors any chance opportunity to bait the media. Yet, without the media feeding the Trump narrative, and Trump's ego; Donald J. Trump would be nothing more in myth, than what he is in reality; just another _tired, old, garden variety celebrity_, gone _crazy old birther_.
> 
> The mechanics of the race have receded into the background, and the race has become all about Donald J. Trump. It has become all about Donald J. Trump, simply because he tells us so. He tells us so by using incendiary and outrageous remarks  to keep himself in the headlines. From the beginning, the media and Trump have been in a sadomasochistic dance, and we the public -- the public that the ***Forth Estate uses as a shield, are a captive audience. As it keeps the Trump narrative front and center, the Forth Estate sells the American public short, simply because it sells. '_Follow the money_.' It is said that '_if it bleeds, it leads_.' If it bleeds and leads, and it sells; _and evidently nothing bleeds, leads, and sells as much as Trump's self-promotion_; the American public gets to sit back and watch the political process turn into a republican, carnival freak show. It bleeds, and it's as if an artery has been severed.
> 
> Trump has been demanding the party establishment get on his side. Trump has been meeting with them. He has lent his own campaign money. Lent. Who do people think would be paying that back if Trump were to somehow win? The establishment wing of the party holds the coalition together. Funding, logistics, strategy -- none of this can be done without the establishment. Populist movements rise and fall with the fortunes of the personality who pretends to be leading it. The Reagan Legacy Project dealt with that in an ingenious way. But make no mistake about it, either way the GOP voter goes in 2016, they are being sold a bill of goods. We now resemble a _banana republic_, more than we do the kind of republic the founding generation envisioned leaving us. The founding generation and their immediate offspring left us a healthy, two-party system. We have squandered away an inheritance. Shame on us.
> 
> 
> Beware the Ides of March
> 
> to be continued
> 
> Martin Eden "Mem" Mercury
> 
> an invite for you to e-mail me at usmbmem@lookout.com
> 
> ***_attribute to Edmund Burke_
> 
> 
> 
> I agree with most of your sentiment. As of now I will vote for Trump, really against the establishment and I am a lifelong conservative. Where I disagree- I don't to pretend to know Trump, at least To how how he would govern. He is to me the unknown behind door number 3.
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Gambling with the future? Go for it


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