Tell me again - who are the antisemites?

 

And here you can see what gives them ammunition...

The strongman as hero

“The Republican régime in Germany has betrayed you. Our day of retribution has come.” [Adolph Hitler]

[...]

Trump’s pledge, with its nearly century-old echoes of the very worst movements that modern humankind has produced, was the low point of a weekend of red flags and flashing sirens for American democracy, just when you thought that it couldn’t get any worse.

[...]

[In a] story that ran in 1990 in Vanity Fair that the future 45th president’s first wife Ivana told her lawyer “that from time to time her husband reads a book of Hitler’s collected speeches, My New Order, which he keeps in a cabinet by his bed.”

  Philadelphia Inquirer

The only reason we question that is that we question whether Trump reads books.

But after listening to Trump’s New Order — Saturday’s grievance-filled, one-hour-and-forty-four minute fascism-on-barbiturates speech to the annual gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC — I’m starting to think The Donald must have at least skimmed Der Fuhrer, or had his aides whip up a two-pager about him.

With pictures.

“In 2016, I declared, ‘I am your voice,’” Trump told the CPAC auditorium just outside D.C., in a room of largely Trump cultists, albeit not enough to fill the back rows. “Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution.”

[...]

There are historical precedents for all of these [recent GOP] actions and the overheated rhetoric — among history’s worst despots, genocidal maniacs, and totalitarian movements (like DeSantis’ blogger bill, which is almost identical to one that Russia strongman Vladimir Putin enacted in 2014). It’s been already way past time for the American media to start using the f-word — fascism — to describe this ideology that continues to transfix the core voting bloc in one of America’s two major political parties.

[...]

[A]nd Trump’s dark prayer for justice and retribution might prove even more potent from a jail cell. [Some might] think the Big Money establishment like the surviving Koch Brother will stop him this time — but why, when all the money in the world can’t change minds that have been fried by QAnon and the Big Lie of election fraud.

[...]

[Trump has] led his only serious rival DeSantis — who, again, it must be noted, is also an autocrat). And against President Joe Biden in a general election? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The Real Clear Politics average has Trump barely winning, 44.6%-44.4%. A fascist America by the mid-2020s is a coin toss.In

[...]

addition to his inhumane “tent cities” for the unhoused, Trump — now engaged in a race to the moral bottom with DeSantis — told CPAC he would also send the National Guard into cities with high crime rates “until law and order is restored,” and suggested he would impose federal control over Washington, D.C., ignoring that city’s elected Black mayor. It all tied into his claim that there are “sinister forces” who want to “turn this nation into a socialist dumping ground for criminals, junkies, Marxists, thugs, radicals and dangerous refugees that no other country wants.”

[...]

Trump. The horrific CPAC call by the extremist pundit Michael Knowles to “eradicate” transgenderism in America should remind us that Nazi brownshirts and their allies attacked Berlin’s Institute for Sexual Research and burned its 20,000 books just two months after that Hitler “retribution” rally that Jones witnessed in 1933. That same year brought political purges of university faculty across Germany — not unlike what DeSantis envisions for Florida.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Also at CPAC

Junior's girlfriend really draws a crowd.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

We'll never be free of Trump(s)

Former President Donald J. Trump said on Saturday that he would not drop out of the 2024 presidential race if he was indicted in one of several investigations he is facing.

  NYT

Of course not. That will just be more to rile up the base with.

“Oh absolutely. I wouldn’t even think about leaving,” he said, adding that he believed an indictment would increase his poll numbers.

[...]

Trump is facing two state investigations — one in New York City and one in Fulton County, Ga. — as well as two federal investigations led by Jack Smith, a special prosecutor. Mr. Smith is investigating Mr. Trump’s attempt to thwart the peaceful transfer of power after losing the 2020 election, as well as Mr. Trump’s possession of hundreds of classified documents and presidential material at his private club, Mar-a-Lago.

The precise status of the efforts is unclear, but the two state investigations are believed to be in advanced stages.

Trump himself is in advanced stages.

“Every time the polls go up higher and higher, the prosecutors get crazier and crazier,” he said.

[...]

Several people close to Mr. Trump have said he believes his presidential campaign can be used as a cudgel to hit back against the prosecutors. In his remarks on Saturday, Mr. Trump repeatedly cast the prosecutors as corrupt and politically motivated, citing no evidence. As he has for years, he cast the investigations not as result of his own actions, but as an effort to silence the voices of his supporters.

[...]

“I am your warrior. I am your justice,” Mr. Trump told the [CPAC] crowd, before appearing to promise payback if elected to a new term. “And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution.”

[...]

“This is it, either they win or we win. And if they win, we no longer have a country.”

[...]

Mr. Trump also contributed to a song released this week on streaming services called “Justice for All” that featured several Jan. 6 defendants who were being held in a jail in Washington before their trials. In the song, Mr. Trump can be heard reciting the “Pledge of Allegiance” as the group of 20 or so inmates, calling themselves the J6 Prison Choir, sing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which they do nightly at the jail.

JFC.

The fucker is nuts.  And so are his followers.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE 07:55 am:

They invite dictators.

Was Orban not there?

How does CPAC outdo itself year after year?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Victor Orban is their model

In a speech over the weekend to supporters in Romania, Orban railed against a “flood” of migrants being “forced” on Hungary. He said he wanted to prevent Hungary from becoming a “mixed-race” country, adding that countries with a high level of racial mixing are no longer countries. Zsuzsanna Hegedus, who is Jewish and his long-time ally and adviser, resigned. The Romanian foreign minister also criticized the remarks.

[...]

Hegedus in a letter published by the hvg.hu news website said, “I don’t know how you didn’t notice that the speech you delivered is a purely Nazi diatribe worthy of Joseph Goebbels,” referring to Adolf Hitler’s chief propagandist. The speech would have appealed to the “most vile racists,” she wrote.

[...]

[Orban] is due to speak next week at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas.

  Bloomberg

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Un.Fucking.Believable.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Lunacy

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

The upside-down fantasy world of Trumpism

[Donald Trump]made his first speech since leaving the White House at the rightwing Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida, to an effusive reception. Trump claims, entirely falsely, that he actually won the 2020 election but was fraudulently denied his victory.

[...]

Trump said, to wild cheers: “I may even decide to beat [Biden] for a third time.”

[...]

“We all knew that the Biden administration was going to be bad – but none of us imagined just how bad they would be, and how far left they would go... Joe Biden has had the most disastrous first month of any president in modern history. And adding: “Biden’s radical immigration policies aren’t just illegal – they are immoral, they are heartless, and they are a betrayal of our nation’s core values.”

  Guardian

Christ.

In a speech that lasted about 90 minutes, Trump fell back on his reliable rightwing themes against immigration, especially dealing harshly with migrants crossing the US-Mexico border, and talking up his barrier strengthening there.

And everyone forgot what he said about Biden's heartless policies.

He also took off on a transphobic rant, claiming that transgender athletes were ruining women’s sport.

And Trump positioned himself at the presumed heart of the Republicans, saying any idea that he was going to lead a breakaway political party was “fake news”.

[...]

“The only division is between a handful of Washington DC establishment political hacks, and everybody else all over the country.”

Most commentators expect Trump, aged 74, to leave open the possibility that he will run for re-election in 2024 without making a definitive commitment. He has remained a looming presence at CPAC, with speaker after speaker pledging fealty to him and his “Make America great again” agenda, while a golden calf-style idol in his image was even paraded around the convention halls.

[...]

Matt Schlapp, chair of the American Conservative Union, which runs the conference, claimed: “CPAC is your first opportunity to see what actually happened on election day. And there was widespread voter fraud in way too many states, most especially in big cities run by the Democrat machine. That is fact and we gave you evidence to underscore that fact.”

Tom Fitton, president of the rightwing group Judicial Watch, told attendees: “On election day, President Trump had the votes to win the presidency. These vote totals were changed because of unprecedented and extraordinary counting after election day. Judicial Watch has long warned of the chaos and increased risk of fraud from recklessly mailing one hundred million ballots and ballot applications.”

Such claims have repeatedly been proved false. [...] The former president and his allies lost more than 60 legal challenges, including those weighed by Trump-appointed judges. Trump’s own attorney general, William Barr, dismissed the fraud allegations.

For all the talk of party unity, CPAC was notable for the absence of former vice-president Mike Pence, Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell and other leading Republicans.

Bill Cassidy, a Republican senator from Louisiana, insisted that CPAC does not represent the entire Republican party.

Cassidy could be wrong.

And he could also be wrong about another thing...

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) predicted Sunday that former President Trump would not be the party's nominee for president in 2024, pointing to the number of seats lost by Republicans in the House and Senate over the four years Trump was in office.

Speaking with CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union," Cassidy was asked several times whether he would support Trump should he run in 2024 or back him if he wins the GOP nomination, as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he would last week.

"That's a theoretical that I don't think will come to pass," Cassidy responded, adding, "I don't mean to duck, but the truth is you could ask me [about] a lot of people, if they are fit. Point is, I don't think he'll be our nominee."

[...]

Cassidy was one of seven GOP senators to defect and join Senate Democrats earlier this month in voting to convict Trump during the former president's second impeachment trial.

   The Hill

Well, he was right then.

The golden idol was made in Mexico. And why are his feet planted so far apart?  Also, what's with the wand in his hand?  Is he supposed to be a fairy?  A magician?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Hahahahaha

Everyone they invited has expressed reprehensible views.  Their top draw has expressed them over and over and over:  Donald J Trump.   

Pence was invited, but he demurred.

UPDATE:

Young Pharaoh is an online commentator who has told followers that Judaism is a “complete lie” and “made up for political gain,” said that Jewish people are “thieving fake Jews,” tweeted that “all the censorship & pedophilia on social media is being done by Israeli Jews,” and claimed that “all of these big tech [companies], media, & social media platforms are controlled by CCP & Israel through Jewish CEO & corrupt Democrats.”

  Mediamatters

Capitol Hill coronavirus

Five senior members of the Republican Party in the United States, including Senator Ted Cruz, have quarantined themselves fearing they were exposed to the virus at a conservative conference just outside Washington, DC.

There are also concerns that President Donald Trump could be exposed to the virus through contact with two of those legislators.

Matt Gaetz travelled with Trump on Air Force One on Monday. Doug Collins was with the president on Friday during a coronavirus briefing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters.

  alJazeera

If he comes down with it, those two will be hearing about it.

Trump's incoming chief of staff, Mark Meadows, also went into self-quarantine on Monday after learning he may also have been exposed at the same conference.

[...]

Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar was the fifth politician to go into self-quarantine.

[...]

Trump has not been tested for the virus, White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said on Monday evening.

[...]

The president, who flew back to Washington, DC after weekend golfing at his Florida resort and having dinner with Brazil's president, has spent weeks dismissing the seriousness of the threat.

But after an emergency meeting with administration staff, he told journalists on Monday that he would propose "very substantial" economic measures to Congress on Tuesday.

These will include tax relief and aid for workers in the gig economy who worry about calling in sick to ensure they are "not going to miss a pay cheque" and "don't get penalised for something that's not their fault".

[...]

On Monday, the Dow Jones closed 7.8 percent lower in the worst session since 2008.

[...]

Stories of new cases flooded in across the country - from a Washington, DC church rector to the head of New York's ports authority, while some stores ran out of hand sanitiser and masks.

Since the epidemic began, Trump has veered between defending his government from accusations of incompetence to accusing Democrats and the media of exaggerating the outbreak in an attempt to hurt his standing.

He'll go straight to accusing them of spreading the virus intentionally to hurt his standing any day now.

UPDATE 3/12:

CPAC coronavirus update

Yes, my schadenfreude is getting a workout today.

My schadenfreude is showing

There were a lot of bigwig Republicans at that conference.  I wonder how many of them were exposed and will come down with the virus.

Mitt Romney was not there, however, as they disinvited him for voting in favor of one article of impeachment.  Who's got the last laugh now?

UPDATE:



Wouldn't that be just the finest irony of all?

It's only going to get worse

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Let the punishment begin

Leaders of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Friday night formally disinvited Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) from attending the event next month over his vote to approve additional witnesses in the Senate impeachment trial.

[...]

The conference, which is scheduled for the end of next month, is one of the largest conservative gatherings in the country that has emerged as a top meeting place for some of President Trump’s highest-profile supporters.

[...]

"The 'extreme conservative' and Junior Senator from the great state of Utah, @SenatorRomney is formally NOT invited to #CPAC2020,” tweeted Matt Schlapp, the head of the American Conservative Union, which puts on the annual GOP confab.

[...]

Among this year’s speakers are GOP personalities Diamond and Silk, Candace Owens and Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.).

  The Hill

Boy, I bet Mitt's sorry he's gonna miss that.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

What in the world

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Ye Gods!

Daniel Dale live at CPAC for Trump's totally bonkers speech (aka campaign rally):



"Maybe" is doing a lot of work in that remark.  And it's more hysterical than historical.  That's all if you're talking about what he's talking about and not the infiltration of a transnational crime syndicate (Sarah Kendzior's phrase) into the highest levels of government.  In that case, historical is correct, and there's no need for "maybe".  Also, he capitalizes a lot of nouns.  It's the German in him.

"I was probably more of a conservative than a Republican," Trump says of his 2016 candidacy. He is telling the detailed story about how people did not think he could beat Hillary Clinton, but then, in fact, he did.
For the 20th consecutive time, Trump says Hillary Clinton got 223 electoral votes. She got 232.

Another one of his unexplainable lies.  Why?  She lost with 232.  Why keep saying it was 223?  Maybe because no one corrected him after the first time.

Trump on foreign leaders: "They like me."

Delusional.  And also not necessary except for his own ego.  His base doesn't give a shit if foreign leaders like him.  In fact, they'd probably prefer they didn't.

Trump complains of other presidents not challenging "40%" auto tariffs from China. They were not 40% until China retaliated against Trump's tariffs. They're now back down to 15%

Trump is now telling the story of the 1888 tariff debate. As before, he doesn't get it quite right. (He says it was about how to spend all the money the government had. It was indeed about the big surplus, but it was about how to reduce that surplus, not about how to spend it.)

Trump: "I'm totally off script right now. And this is how I got elected, by being off script." There is a standing ovation.

Dear God, these people.

He'll never go back on script again.

Trump: "If we don't go off script, our country's in big trouble, folks." He complains of the "New Green Deal or whatever the hell they call it." He then corrects himself, and mockingly says he is very excited for Democrats to promote it, thinks it's great.

Trump, mocking the Green New Deal, acts out a husband peering up at the sky as he attempts to watch TV but can't because it is not windy. He says, "Darling, is the wind blowing today? I'd like to watch television, darling." There is raucous laughter and applause.

Dear God, these people.

Trump says his wife always tells him not to use certain words, so he won't, but he tells her sometimes, "But the audience wanted me to do it. She said, 'don't do it.'" There is a "USE IT" chant from the crowd. Trump criticizes "the fake news" for not treating his jokes as jokes.

Trump, shouting and gesturing, re-enacts his call for Russia to obtain Hillary Clinton's emails. He suggests this was a joke the media unfairly didn't treat as a joke. There is a loud LOCK HER UP chant.

Dear God, these people.

So, that's what he's going with now?  It was a joke?

Trump says conservatives don't like tariffs. As for himself, he says, "I'm not likin' or not likin.'" He said on Feb. 15: "I happen to like tariffs."

For the 104th time as president, Trump falsely says the U.S. has had a $500 billion trade deficit with China "for many years," specifying that it is $507 billion. It was $337 billion in 2017, has never been $500 billion in any previous year.

Trump says of Republican congressman that he wants to name and applaud "every damn one of them." He names two of them, Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan.

The two clown ring-leaders at Cohen's hearing.

Trump is ranting about Democrats' plans to investigate his financial dealings. He refers to Rep. Adam Schiff as "Little Shifty Schiff."

Trump on Mueller's appointment: "You put the wrong people in a couple of positions...and all of a sudden they're trying to take you out with bullshit." Some of the crowd chants BULL-SHIT.

Dear God, these people.

Trump mocks Jeff Sessions's accent, as he has been reported to do in private, saying, "I'm gonna recuse mahhhself."

There was a bit of a not-totally-pleased gasp at CPAC when Trump did this, in my subjective opinion. Trump has denied Woodward's reporting that he has called Sessions a "dumb southerner."

Trump says "TiVo" is "better than television": "Television is practically useless without TiVo."

Trump is criticizing Sessions and Rosenstein at length, complaining that they, and Mueller, weren't elected, unlike him. He appointed both of them after he was elected.

Trump says he told Melania that he was going to fire James Comey because: "He's bad. He's a bad, bad guy." He says again that he thought it would be a popular move with both parties. "So bipartisan."

Trump is falsely claiming, again, that John Podesta called for Comey's ouster. Podesta criticized Comey the day of the firing, saying "the American public is getting mildly nauseous listening to Jim Comey," but didn't call for Comey to go.
Trump says that the CPAC people are probably thinking they're getting a lot more than they bargained for today.

Trump refers to a good friend of his in New York, a "stone-cold killer," then says the man is "not even a good friend of mine" because he'd turn on him quickly, but he's "very rich." He says the unnamed man asked him what he was going to talk about today, and he said "I dunno."

What the everloving fuck.

Trump says his unnamed non-friend "chokes" whenever he has to make a speech to nine or more people, because of a fear of public speaking, even though "he kills people for a living, meaning mentally and financially."

This is one of the least-hinged speeches Trump has given in a long time.

I think Daniel has said that about at least the last two.

Trump criticizes "a guy named David Weigel" of the Post for his erroneous tweet, 14 months ago, saying Trump did not have a big crowd. (Weigel apologized.) He mocks Weigel for getting to the rally so early because "he doesn't fly private," maybe because of "the carbon footprint."

Trump falsely claims he has not had an empty seat at any arena.

Trump is now talking at length about his inauguration crowd. He said he watched some television show "by mistake" and they were very unfair about it. "I saw pictures that there were no people. Those pictures were taken hours before." Trump says he is constantly telling his communications aide Mercedes Schlapp to show people pictures of his crowds, I think.

Trump says his aides say, about his crowd sizes, "Sir, it doesn't matter, nobody cares." He says he responds, "But I care." He says, "I have to live with [mocking voice] 'crowd size.' It's all a phony deal, folks."

After more than five minutes ranting about his crowd sizes, Trump says he'll now return to unspecified political content people are here for. He urges them not to "fall asleep."

Jesus Christ.

Trump applauds the state lawsuit seeking to get Obamacare invalidated in its entirety. He promises "really great health care" from Republicans if that happens.

Trump says his friends used to call him and say "Hey Don, hey Donnie," but now they say, very respectfully, "Mr. President. How are you, sir?" He says he tells them, "Lighten up. Call me Donald."

After talking about policy stuff for like 30 seconds, Trump is now on an extended story about talking on the phone with his old friends, ribbing them for how deferential they now are. He concludes, "Maybe that's a good thing. That's called respect for the office."

Trump says the new North American trade deal makes it "prohibitively hard" for companies to move to Mexico to manufacture. Rules governing almost all manufacturing industries, other than the auto industry, haven't been substantially changed from NAFTA.

"We're down to 3.7% unemployment. The lowest number in a long time," Trump says of the 4.0% unemployment rate.

Trump on immigration and Congress: "They have to be people that can love our country, not hate our country. We have people in Congress, right now, that hate our country."

Trump says, of either immigrants or unspecified Democratic members of Congress he is accusing of hating America [...] "How did they do in their country?...Not so good." He says he knows some people will say it's "terrible" he says this. [...] Trump was indeed talking [...] about members of Congress who immigrated from elsewhere. He referred to their birth country, not the U.S., as "their country."

Trump says India is a high-tariff country, but nobody knows this because "nobody knows what they're doing in Washington."

Trump is musing about anti-tariff members of Congress. "I even like some of them. But they're smart. So we take that out of the equation. And I know they don't have evil intentions. And the other thing...maybe these companies are all owned by people...campaign contributions..."

What in the world?

Trump on Powell: "We have a gentleman that likes raising interest rates in the Fed. We have a gentleman that likes quantitative tightening in the Fed...so with all of those things...with all of that, we're doing great. Can you imagine if we left interest rates where they were?"

Trump falsely claims that over 600,000 manufacturing jobs have been created on his watch. He has previously said it was over 500,000 but would "very soon" be 600,000, now just decided it is indeed over 600,000. It was 454,000 through January.

Trump falsely claims that the unemployment rate is the lowest in "51 years." It dropped briefly in 2018 to a 49-year low, but it's now at an 18-year low (ignoring earlier days of the Trump era).

Trump calls the Democratic presidential candidates "these maniacs," falsely claiming they want people to take "trains to Hawaii."

Trump is now attacking California's forest management practices.

Trump mocks "the Never Trumpers," saying "they are on mouth to mouth resuscitation. Mouth to mouth. Mouth to mouth." There are cheers.

He's not just off script, he's off his rocker.

Trump claims that Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom told him privately that he is a great president and extremely smart, but that Newsom will not admit this in public.

I'm sure! LOL.

Trump has a long history of inventing things people supposedly told him over the phone.

Trump falsely claims, of his military spending, "nobody's ever heard of these numbers before." Obama signed a bigger NDAA in 2011 than Trump has to date.

Trump falsely claims that he didn't leave the White House for "months and months" before his trip to Iraq in December. He said he thought it'd "look good" if he stayed in the White House so people would "love me and vote for me."

Trump is now talking at length about how he was supposedly all alone in the White House for New Year's. People say "awww." He tells them not to cry. He then talks again about all the guys with machine guys who were there too.

Trump now says that the US will likely have captured 100% of the ISIS caliphate "as of tomorrow." He said Thursday that it has already happened.

Trump is telling a lengthy Sir Alert story about how he went and sat with the pilots who were flying him into Iraq, because he respects people who know what they're doing. He is talking at length about how they had the plane go dark for the landing. "Seven trillion dollars and we have to fly in with no lights!" Trump concludes. As always, there is no basis for the "$7 trillion in the Middle East" claim he makes regularly.

Trump says that nobody in Hollywood could play US generals, "These guys are like perfect people." He says he met a general named "Raisin Kane." He said he was incredulous but that yes, the guy said, his name is Raisin "like the fruit." This should probably be Raisin Cane. I have no idea. This speech is bonkers.

No shit.

Trump says Raisin Cain gave him advice on how quickly they can beat ISIS, and he said, "I'm gonna get back to you soon, Raisin, I think you're great. I like you, Raisin Cain."

Trump: "I'm in the White House and I was looonely. I said, 'let's go to Iraq.'"

Trump says the generals are right out of central casting, and you could put them in a movie, and he liked all of them, not just Raisin Cain. He says one time a general was put in a movie but didn't get an Academy Award "because Hollywood discriminates against our people."

My God. Wasn't there anyone there with an actual cane - the kind with a hook on the end - who could put an end to this?

Trump has returned to script for a moment, warning against single-payer health care and the Green New Deal. He says somebody described it as "a high school term paper written by a poor student."

Trump asks the crowd if they're still okay, then complains about times that the media has reported people leaving his speech. He says, "You know where they went? To the bathroom. And then they came back." (No. People leave when he goes on and on.)

Trump mocks senators with white hair. He says, "I don't have white hair. I don't have white hair."

Jesus!

And how the hell do we know?  That shit color he sports isn't natural, that's for sure.

Trump: "The crazy female senator from the state of Ohio." (People: the state of Ohio?) Trump: "The state of Hawaii. She's like a crazed person."

This is 100% the weirdest Trump speech I've ever heard.

And he's heard 'em all.

Trump on the Green New Deal: "I want them to embrace this plan. I want them go sell this plan. I just want to be the Republican who runs against them. [...] I'm going to regret this speech" (because it's so good and effective). He adds, "I should've saved the Pocahontas thing for another year. Because I've destroyed her political career...and won't get a chance to run against her."

Trump, back on script, says the future does not belong to socialists, it belongs to believers in freedom. He says "America will never be a socialist country," prompting loud cheers and a U-S-A chant.

Trump: "We reject oppressive speech codes, censorship, political correctness, and every other attempt by the hard left to stop people from challenging ridiculous and dangerous ideas." He calls for free speech, "online and on campus."

Trump talks about a supporter, Hayden Williams, who was punched at Berkeley, He alludes to wanting to retaliate, but says he won't, "Because if I ever said violence..." He says he'll say, just for media, "I'm sure he's a lovely young man. Just had a little temper tantrum."

Trump advises the conservative who was punched at UC Berkeley: "Sue him (the perpetrator), but he's probably got nothing...but sue the college, the university..." There are big cheers for the idea of suing UC Berkeley. "He's going to be a very wealthy young man."

Trump says the Second Amendment is under siege, but tells pro-gun conservatives not to fear: "I'll protect you...it all has to come through my office."

To a raucous cheer from the CPAC crowd, which has many students, Trump says he'll be signing an order I think he said would deny research funding to universities unless they allow free speech, including to conservatives.

Trump offers a vivid embellishment of a cartel shootout in Mexico, 56 miles from where he was in McAllen, Texas, saying it happened right there on the Rio Grande and "they were buried right there where I was standing."

Trump says it is "false propaganda" to say illegal immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than American citizens. A bunch of studies have come to this conclusion.

Van Jones got booed earlier for telling them that truth.

Trump, pointing at the back of the room, criticizes the media for criticizing his 2015 announcement speech in which he spoke of Mexicans as rapists. "That was a very innocent speech compared to the real facts," he says.

Trump makes his usual false claim about caravans, saying Latin American govts put people in: "You think they're giving us their best and their finest? Oh, let's send our best people up to America!...So we can send America our greatest people! No, no, no, no...murderers, killers."

Not certain, but this might be Trump's longest speech since he launched his campaign in 2015. My first tweet about it was exactly 90 minutes ago.

Trump rejects some Republicans' "precedent for Democratic presidents" concern about his national emergency declaration: "They're going to do that anyway, folks. The best way to stop that is to make sure that I win the election." Trump's argument is that Democrats will do Democratic things regardless, if he loses, and "it won't have a damn thing to do with whether or not we approve our national emergency."

Trump talks about an emergency declaration to protect the sovereignty of Lebanon. He says, "Lebanon, it's good, fine, use it," but now we can use an emergency to protect "our people."

A standing ovation for "shutting down sanctuary cities."

Trump falsely claims that the US is forced to release criminals caught immigrating illegally, falsely claims other countries don't allow people a court process for asylum claims, falsely claims "3%" of people return for trial. 72% in 2017, per DOJ, and 89% for asylum seekers.

Trump complains about birthright citizenship, says that some children used to be called "anchor babies" but not anymore because it's not "nice"-sounding.

Trump is adding more lies to his usual lie about the visa lottery, falsely suggesting that the U.S. has to accept a man who has murdered four people (no; lottery winners are background-checked and rejected) and that foreign govts deliberately put bad apples in the lottery.

Trump is now on abortion.

Trump says that members of Congress who are real "Trumpers" are "the ones that win." He says, "It's the ones that are sort of a little shy about embracing what we're all about...they get clobbered." Trump says that two critical-of-him senators he doesn't name, but who seem to be Jeff Flake and Bob Corker, did not retire, they "were retired."

Trump is criticizing the "fake news" for writing about the Democratic landslide in the House. He says, "The Senate: far more important." Trump says that the midterms were not a humiliating defeat for him, indignantly noting that he didn't run. In the lead-up to the vote, he kept telling his rallies that he was effectively on the ballot.

Trump: "The DemoCRATTT party." He says it sounds prettier to say Democratic, so he won't do it. A woman shouts, "Thank youuu!"

Trump says he didn't think Stacey Abrams's State of the Union speech was very good. He falsely claims for the fifth time that MIchelle Obama campaigned for her in Georgia. She did not at all. Trump falsely claims that Brian Kemp was 10 points down in the Republican primary when he endorsed him. The most recent poll had Kemp down three. Trump used to say it was five.

Trump is now talking about Ron DeSantis's race. Can he make it to two hours??? Trump says of Ron DeSantis: "When people defend me, I defend them. That's why I like Mark (Meadows)...and I'm not sure a lot of people like him. He's tough as hell. But I like him I love him."

Meadows is the one who trotted out a black woman who works in the Trump administration at Cohen's hearing to prove Trump isn't racist.

Trump falsely claims that Ron DeSantis was at 3% when Trump endorsed him, peppering the story with "sir"s. DeSantis was never lower than 9% in any poll I could find; he was in the teens at the time of the official endorsement.

Trump falsely claims for the 58th time that he got Veterans Choice passed. It was passed under Barack Obama in 2014. "NOW THEY CAN GO SEE A DOCTOR!"

Trump adds, as usual, that people had been trying to get Choice passed for "44 years" before "I got that approved." What he signed was a significant change to the Choice program, not the Choice program.

Trump says he is about to conclude. He is mocking people from previous administrations who criticize him on North Korea. "These guys died," he says, referring to them doing poorly in the negotiations.

And he didn't?

Trump is talking about Otto Warmbier. He calls his parents "incredible." He says he's in a "horrible position" because he has to negotiate but he loves Otto and his parents. "A delicate balance." Warmbier's parents didn't speak out against Trump over mere negotiations. It was Trump absolving Kim of personal responsibility.

"I think it's going well. I think we learned a lot over the last couple of days," Trump says of North Korea.

One thing I wanted to check before tweeting: after months of criticizing previous presidents for giving money to North Korea, Trump says he will get other countries to give money to North Korea "if it all works out": "Maybe not us. But I'm going to get other countries to give."

Almost exactly two hours after he started speaking, Trump is approaching his grand finale.

Trump invites CPAC attendees to his 4th of July festivities in Washington. He says he wants to bring "millions of people into the city," people who love America, "those are the people we want."

Oh man. I was just watching dozens of people walk out of the room as they sensed Trump was a minute or two from concluding...then Trump said that he's been watching the doors and not one person has left.

Trump has concluded to the usual standing ovation. He spoke for two hours. It was extraordinarily bizarre.

God bless Daniel Dale.




He's done that before, and it's absolutely, creepily inappropriate.

If you're a glutton for punishment, Aaron Rupar has video clips.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:



Of course he wasn't joking.

Get the man a dictionary

Pretty sure nationalism by definition encompasses intolerance.  Judging from their speaker line-up they might as well just go ahead and and "white" in front of that.

If you're interested in how ridiculous these people are, Daniel Dale is there and live-tweeting.
Thread for 2/28/19.
Thread for 3/1/19.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:



And I hope he said, "I'm sorry if you don't like that, but it's true nonetheless."

A little encouragement

Mona Charen, the conservative columnist [...] faced audible boos and jeers from the crowd at CPAC on Saturday when she criticized Trump and Moore, but she says she’s also seen an outpouring of support since speaking up about the way GOP leaders have treated sexual misconduct among prominent candidates.

“There are fewer and fewer people who are speaking up. Even I was getting depressed and demoralized,” she said Monday morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “But since I said what I did, there’s been such an outpouring of support that I feel more than ever that people who are — who adhere to basic principles of dignity and integrity and belief that we should stand up for honesty, there are a lot of them out there, and they just need a little encouragement, I think.”

  TPM

That outpouring of support wouldn't be from liberals, would it? Conservatives can see how viciously their compatriots get attacked when they speak out against the president, the GOP fascists, and their financial backers. I doubt too many of them are willing to take the hit. They saw what happened to Mona, too.

After she left the CPAC stage, she was approached by security guard and escorted out of the venue, Charen told “Morning Joe.” However, she said that on her way out, she did see some CPAC attendees give her “the thumbs up.”

I'm skeptical. I think they were giving the security guards the thumbs up.

“There’s a tone of sort of sophomoric clownishness that’s creeped into conservatism now,” she said. “There’s this mood of trolling the opposition, that if you can create liberal tears, then anything goes.”

You got it, Mona. Time to change parties. Or make a new one.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Ooops

Ignorance is not always bliss.

I wonder which staffer was savvy enough to recognize that.

Activists who distributed hundreds of Russian flags to Donald Trump's supporters during a conference speech on Friday have said they wanted to use the stunt to point out that Americans "should not have foreign powers picking [their] president”.

Jason Charter and Ryan Clayton said they had nearly 1000 custom-made Russian flags printed with the President’s name, which they handed out to Mr Trump's supporters during his speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference.

[...]

Mr Chater told Talking Points Memo that the prank went better than expected because no one in the crowd at CPAC recognized the Russian Federation’s flag.

  Independent

Mssrs Charter and Clayton might want to change their names and move far away.

The activists are now selling the “Traitor Trump Flags” they distributed at the conference online.

In a Facebook post, Mr Charter said all profits from the flags would be used to “fund the Resistance”.

[...]

He added that they were members of the protest group Americans Take Action.

Which will now go on the terrorist watch list if it isn't already.

...but, do what you want...you will anyway.