Welcome to The Vomiting Brain, a blog about nothing and everything headquartered in the remote syrupy northern enclave known as "Vermont".
Showing posts with label Ted Cruz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ted Cruz. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

Republican Presidential Candidates Should Put Their Barrels Where Their Mouth is

Ted Cruz via abcnews.go.com
As some of you may have heard, there is a petition circulating to allow open carry of firearms at the Republican Convention.  With an expected crowd of 50,000 in what is looking like a contested convention; with white supremacists, religious zealots, Ted Cruz, and the rest of the freedom-loving critters that form the base of the Republican Party in attendance, the need to pack heat has never been greater.  I for one cannot think of a better place to allow the full exercise of the Second Amendment.

This is how we determine which candidates are true patriots.  The buzzkill brigade otherwise known as the Secret Service is just big government getting in the way of the aspirations of our citizenry, undermining their Second Amendment rights, and jeopardizing their safety.  The candidates must demonstrate both their faith in the Second Amendment and free market principles by refusing Secret Service protection.  With the remaining candidates' net worth ranging from $3.5 million to $4-8 billion, they should have no trouble hiring security and I'm sure there are a number of members of the Aryan Brotherhood that would gladly offer protection to Donald Trump.

Naysayers will contend that arming attendees fueled with drugs, alcohol, and a strong sense of victimhood; in the great American shithole known as Cleveland, with protestors sure to be in the streets, the National Guard and Ohio State Police under the command of John Kasich, the convention could end in a bloodbath.  That is a small price to pay for freedom.

Merica!

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Realism for One



One of the things that irritates me the most about the upcoming election is that the media's line of questioning only seems to treat one candidate's policy proposals as though they're actually serious. Bernie Sanders is routinely questioned as though his proposals are crazy and unrealistic despite the fact that he's basically advocating for what every other western democracy already has.  I have no problem with asking Sanders tough questions like how he plans to pay for universal education or how he would get massive overhaul of the health care system through congress.  What I do have a problem with, is why other candidates are not subject to the same level of scrutiny.

Hillary Clinton has proposed a number of "reasonable" policies that under the current congress, where Obama could nominate Robert Bork and still not get him through confirmation in the Senate, would stand absolutely no chance of passing.  Clinton routinely talks about how she "would get stuff done" despite not offering any actual evidence of it.  The only things I see Clinton actually able to do given the current political climate, is work together with the Republicans to get bad free-trade deals and deeper involvement in wars we can't possibly win.

I don't hear how Clinton would pay for her policies.  Sanders at least has the decency to tell us that his "free stuff" would result in higher taxes and not just for the super-rich.  I never hear Clinton questioned on whether her "reasonable" and "technocratic" health care or education policies would create a massive amount of paperwork and bureaucracy for ordinary citizens to navigate.  I haven't heard anything about how these means-tested policies would be extraordinarily easy for congress to remove precisely because they don't apply to everyone.

Friday, February 26, 2016

Podcast 2/26/2016: Post-SC(R)/NV, Pre-SC(D)

In this episode, Vinny and I revisit our predictions of the Nevada caucuses, the Republican South Carolina primary, and make predictions for the Democratic South Carolina primary.

http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-hqs9h-5d07d0/download

South Carolina predictions:
AM:
Clinton 54%
Sanders 40%

VM:
Clinton 58-59%
Sanders 40%

Notes:
  • I said we are more segregated then ever... This is undoubtedly false.  The real story however, is less clear.  It's likely that many of us are more segregated in schooling than in the late 1960s. Bottom line:  It's nuanced.  Check out this 2003 UCLA study. 
NSFW

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Saturday, February 20, 2016

Podcast 2/20/2016: Nevada and South Carolina Prediction

In this episode, Vinny and I discuss where I actually agree with Donald Trump, the possibility of a fistfight in the next Republican debate, our predictions for the Republican South Carolina debate, and predictions for the Nevada Democratic and Republican caucuses.

http://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-hqrcw-5cd602/download

Predictions:
VM:
SC Republican:

  1. Trump 35%~
  2. Cruz 25%~
  3. Rubio 15%~
  4. Jeb 9%~
  5. Kasich 8%~
  6. Carson 5%~
NV Democrats:
  1. Sanders by a hair
  2. Clinton
NV Republicans:
  1. Trump 45%
  2. Ted Cruz 25%
  3. Rubio 15%
  4. Kasich 10%



AM:
SC Republican:
  1. Trump 30-35%
  2. Rubio 20%~
  3. Cruz 19%~
  4. Jeb Who cares?
  5. Kasich Who cares?
  6. Carson Who cares?
NV Democrats:
  1. Sanders by a hair
  2. Clinton
NV Republicans:
  1. Trump 35-40%
  2. Cruz 20-25%
  3. Rubio 15%~
  4. Jeb 10%~
  5. Carson 5%~
Notes:
  • Next Republican debate is 2/25/2016 on CNN
NSFW

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Thursday, February 4, 2016

Podcast 1-31-2016: Pre-Iowa

On this episode, Vinny and I ramble on about the Sanders candidacy, luke-warm progressives, Vermont gubernatorial candidate Matt Dunne, hot Supreme Court action, our Iowa predictions, and more.

Iowa Caucus predictions:
VM: 
Democratic:
  1. Sanders 
  2. Clinton 
  3. O'Malley 

Republican:
  1. Trump 
  2. Rubio 
  3. Cruz 

AM:
Democratic:
  1. Sanders 
  2. Clinton 
  3. O'Malley 
Republican:
  1. Cruz 
  2. Trump 
  3. Rubio 
Notes:
When speaking of the overthrow of Mossadegh, I misspoke and said the "Iraqi army" when I should have said "Iranian".
Allen Dulles' law firm was "Sullivan and Cromwell" not "Simon and Cromwell"
"The Devil's Chessboard" http://www.amazon.com/Devils-Chessboard-Dulles-Americas-Government/dp/0062276166/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454520372&sr=1-1&keywords=the+devils+chessboard
"All the Shah's Men" http://www.amazon.com/All-Shahs-Men-American-Middle/dp/0471265179/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454520442&sr=1-2&keywords=all+the+shah%27s+men
"The Siege of Mecca" http://www.amazon.com/Siege-Mecca-Uprising-Islams-Holiest/dp/0307277739/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1454520556&sr=1-1&keywords=the+siege+of+mecca
"The Seven US Ambassadors Killed in the Line of Duty"
Are agency fees for unions at public sector jobs a violation of free speech protections? http://blog.constitutioncenter.org/2016/01/supreme-court-tackles-key-public-union-case-on-monday/ Frederichs v. CTA.
History of first amendment protections for public employees: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/madison/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/FirstReport.PublicEmployees.pdf
Candidacy filings for president http://www.fec.gov/press/resources/2016presidential_form2pty.shtml
Debbie Wasserman Schultz's primary challenger Tim Canova https://timcanova.com/

NSFW

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