Trump, Cruz, and ‘New York Values’

John Podhoretz  . . . "Cruz is operating from a false premise here. In point of fact, the base has had months to evaluate Trump, and one can argue that the base long ago decided he was unacceptable. As I write, national polls have Trump leading the field with 35 percent to Cruz’s 19 percent in the wake of Trump’s seven-month run at the top of the charts and what must be judged the most spectacular primary bid of our time. These polls are problematic, but at the very least what they suggest is 65 percent of the Republican electorate is actively opposed to Trump. They know he’s pro-choice, they know he supports Democrats, they know he’s crude and ugly and insulting, and they know his foreign-policy views are at best inconsistent." . . .

Video Release: Paris Terrorists Shown Training With ISIS in Syria

Legal Insurrection

"ISIS has reportedly released a video that confirms that the Paris terrorists trained in Syria; the video shows the men carrying out executions and reinforces the knowledge that they were not merely “inspired” by ISIS.

"The New York Times reports:

The Islamic State released a video on Sunday apparently showing footage of the men who carried out the November attacks in Paris while they were in Syria and Iraq, where they are pictured carrying out executions, including beheadings.

If the identities of all of the men in the video are confirmed, it would be the first evidence that the group that killed 130 people in coordinated attacks in Paris on Nov. 13 had been sent from the Islamic State’s base in Syria.

The video makes it clear that the Paris attacks were not just inspired by the Islamic State, but rather carried out by core members of the terrorist group, who had been trained and vetted in Syria before being tapped to carry out attacks on European soil. It also aims to show that the assailants — some of whom had European passports — had been carrying out atrocities in the group’s name long before their return to Europe.

"The NYT describes vivid and horrifying scenes from the video." . . .

Movie Review: 13 Hours is red meat for conservative base

"Plenty of disillusionment too.  And it’s pretty clear that, in the motion picture at least, for Silva and Woods the disillusionment crept in long before the men got to Benghazi.  We have the finest men fighting for our country, and we don’t have their backs.  Something to think about this November."

Legal Insurrection

. . . "The blame for the death of four Americans in the hands of the terrorists is never explicitly put on the the highest echelons of government.  Apart from the single sentence “The POTUS is briefed” superimposed over the picture of the White House, nothing assigns the responsibility for the death of four Americans to the president.  Something tells me if it was a Bush White House, the filmmakers would find a way to make it abundantly clear where the buck stops.

"Although Ms. Clinton’s name is never uttered, the oil industry lobbyist Sona Jilliani (Alexia Barlier) initially established herself as a Hillary archetype.  The character is a blue-eyed, Harvard-educated resident of the CIA compound, always on the verge of striking some sort of a deal and always berating the men who risk their lives to protect hers.  But Jillani redeems herself towards the end and, in any event, the Hillary connection, if intended, is in no way obvious to a mainstream viewer.  Because 13 Hours steers clear of partisan politics, it is a better, much less heavy-handed film than it would otherwise had been." . . .

Michael Bay to film Benghazi drama 13 Hours in Morocco and Malta

. . . "Morocco is the top international filming location for desert landscapes and is coming off a strong 2014 that saw a five-fold increase in foreign shoots. Tom Cruise was one of the highest-profile visitors with Mission: Impossible 5.

"Malta is also a popular double for Middle Eastern locations and in recent years has doubled for Israel in Brad Pitt’s zombie drama World War Z (above), and for the Indian Ocean in Tom Hanks’ modern piracy thriller Captain Phillips. " . . .

Trump, National Review, and the concern over Trump's appeal to many voters

Pat Condell on Donald Trump, Barack Obama, and leftist war on free speech they find offensive

Hat tip to John Paul Curnutt; Madras, Oregon

The Voters’ Trump Love Affair Explained in Terms Even Beltway Pundits Can Understand . . .  Media, listen and listen real good:

tapping into anger against the Establishment and over immigration and is a plain-spoken breath of fresh air. 

sounding a nationalistic note in an age where it is not the “elite” norm.

not campaigning as conservative but a populist, which, almost by definition, tends to make one popular in an era of mass discontent.

a crusader against hated political correctness, which has stifled tongues and killed careers nationwide. And in being the first prominent person to defeat the thought police (at least for now) — and by not cowering and apologizing to them — he has become a hero.

 What Democrats know (and National Review forgot)  . . . "N.R.’s demonizing Trump is worse than foolish.  It’s political malpractice of the worst sort: a suicidal rejection of a great opportunity to expand the GOP presidential vote."  
Do not take this as an endorsement by this site. But if Trump -or any other Republican- is our candidate, I will support him.  Vote Republican, people, if only to cancel a Democrat vote. TD

Donald Rumsfeld: Donald Trump has 'touched a nerve in our country'

National Review's Jihad Against Trump   

. . . "It would be an American epic -- the quintessential business pragmatist against the most extreme ideologue to have run for national office in years ... in a nutshell, capitalism versus socialism.  Capitalism is ragged and wild and wooly, like Donald Trump. It changes its mind on a dime. Ideology is secondary.  Socialism is a rigid utopian theory that leads to bankruptcy (at best) or mass-murdering Maoist totalitarianism.  Ideology is primary."

National Review's latest on Trump:

Translating ‘Make America Great Again’ into English
" . . .that the candidacy of Donald Trump is something that could not happen in a nation that could read."
Give Trump’s Jacksonian Voters the Respect They Deserve, but Reject the Donald
. . . "The Trump voter is moderate, disaffected, with patriotic instincts. He feels disconnected from the GOP and other broken public institutions, left behind by a national political elite that no longer believes he matters." . . .
William Kristol: Trumpism Is Just Two-Bit Caesarism  
". . .  Leo Strauss wrote that “a conservative, I take it, is a man who despises vulgarity; but the argument which is concerned exclusively with calculations of success, and is based on blindness to the nobility of the effort, is vulgar.” Isn’t Donald Trump the very epitome of vulgarity?"
Where Is the Evidence for Donald Trump’s Conservatism?

Much more at NRO.

Not Looking Good For Hillary In Minnesota, Head To Head Matchup Shows Hillary Ties with Cruz, Loses to Rubio…

Weasel Zippers

"Oddly Hillary is beating Feel the Bern.

"Via Minneapolis Star Tribune:

Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Hillary Clinton are early favorites among Minnesota voters in the presidential race, according to a new Star Tribune poll.

Clinton holds a commanding 34-point lead over rival Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, but the statewide poll of 800 registered voters shows that the former secretary of state could face trouble against two top Republicans. In head-to-head matchups, Clinton is essentially tied with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and trails Rubio, the Florida U.S. senator. Clinton tops Donald Trump by 5 percentage points.

Full article. . .

Whack-A-Bimbo

http://www.americanthinker.com/cartoons/

Western PC thought on Islam

Bloviating Zeppelin   "It’s not funny unless it’s true."

Hillary Getting a Pass on Dems' Turn Left to Socialism

RealClearPolitics . . . "It is, quite frankly, astounding that in the other race that has become the Democrats' nomination battle between Vermont socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, no one has asked Clinton to explain how she differs from Sanders' socialist ideology. Not one question, even though Sanders shockingly is the frontrunner and Clinton shockingly isn't in the primary season's first two nominating contests.

"Is this the case because Trump is sucking all of the oxygen out of the other campaigns? Or is it because Democrats are treated differently by the national media?

"All fair questions because, goodness knows, if someone was running as an anarchist in the Republican field, Sen. Marco Rubio or Gov. John Kasich certainly would be asked how their views contrast with anarchy." . . .

Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg may enter the race as an independent.

Hot Air  "Guard the Big Gulps and the guns, and store up on the table salt while you’re at it. “Galled” by the lasting power of Donald Trump with Republicans and the incompetence of Hillary Clinton in closing the sale with Democrats, former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg may enter the race as an independent. The New York Times reports today that Bloomberg will loosen up at least a billion dollars of his own money if he decides he can win in November:"

Galled by Donald J. Trump’s dominance of the Republican field, and troubled by Hillary Clinton’s stumbles and the rise of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont on the Democratic side, Michael R. Bloomberg has instructed advisers to draw up plans for an independent campaign in this year’s presidential race. . .

Trump 37, Hillary 36, Bloomberg 13  "The only way this horrible campaign can end for conservative anti-Trumpers, I think, is with a third-party candidacy that’s even more irritating than Trump’s is. It’d be like a twist at the end of an especially creepy Twilight Zone episode, where a guy sells his soul to the devil for another choice besides Trump and Hillary — and it turns out to be Mike Bloomberg. “Submitted for your approval: A man who’ll never drink more than 12 ounces of soda in one sitting again. A lesson in being careful what you wish for … in the Twilight Zone.' ” . . .

The Marco Rubio crime spree

Mediaite   The Washington Post ran a story this week on how Rubio was arrested when he was 18 for being in a park after it was closed.

Yeah, that’s it. As Mediaite’s own Alex Griswold wrote, it might be the “lamest attack” on Rubio over his past to date.

Well, Rubio shot back on Twitter yesterday by tweeting out a video with more details of his “crime spree”:

The United States of Air-merica: Stunning aerial photographs show the full glory of the US in a way you have never seen before

Daily Mail

"These aerial photographs show the U.S.'s stunning array of scenery as well as housing estates and parking lots

"They were taken by pilot Jassen Todorov, from San Francisco, who was flying in a 1976 Piper Warrior plane

"He travelled(sp) for three weeks, flying for four hours a day, across states that included Florida, Arizona and Texas

Tractors travelling in perfectly parallel lines plow a field in this photograph, taken by Jassen Todorov above Florida

" These incredible aerial shots show the U.S. in a way you've never seen it before - from suburban housing estates to sprawling deserts, the amazing images show the vast expanse of scenery the country has to offer.

"Deep craters in Arizona's red desert and swamps and wetlands in Florida and Louisiana look like they could be alien planets, alongside urban images of houses and freeways.

"Pilot Jassen Todorov, from San Francisco, spent three weeks flying across eight states in a 1976 Piper Warrior plane to capture the amazing shots from high above."

Massive craters in the Red Desert, Arizona, are photographed by Jassen Todorov during a flight in a 1976 Piper Warrior plane

These are the Vicksburg Bridges, located on the Mississippi River, show a barge making its way underneath them

Much more here.  Jassen Todorov.   His Facebook page

Just as Obama owned Democrats in 2008, so "Donald Trump is hypnotizing the GOP. Literally."

"America has become an idiocracy."

James Pethokoukis

. . . "These and other of Trump’s “master persuader” tricks and techniques — including engineeredinsults like calling Jeb Bush “low energy” — have been outlined and explained since last summer in a series of prescient blog posts by cartoonist Scott Adams. Best known as creator of the Dilbert comic strip, Adams is also a Berkeley MBA and trained hypnotist. While many analysts dismiss Trump as an idiot clown benefiting from America’s anxious id, Adams sees Trump as a savvy communicator “highly trained in the art of persuasion [who] literally wrote the book on it …There is a reason Trump’s message penetrates the crowd noise” while the other candidates flounder." . . .

"I don't get this Trump phenomenon"  On the contrary, I always enjoyed him on TV and agree with him on some things.  However, we are talking about the presidency, and I don't see Mr. Trump as the right man for that job.

National Review is Against Trump  . . . "Trump’s political opinions have wobbled all over the lot. The real-estate mogul and reality-TV star has supported abortion, gun control, single-payer health care à la Canada, and punitive taxes on the wealthy. (He and Bernie Sanders have shared more than funky outer-borough accents.) Since declaring his candidacy he has taken a more conservative line, yet there are great gaping holes in it." . . .

"Since 1984, when Jesse Jackson ran for president with no credential other than a great flow of words, both parties have been infested by candidates who have treated the presidency as an entry-level position. They are the excrescences of instant-hit media culture. The burdens and intricacies of leadership are special; experience in other fields is not transferable. That is why all American presidents have been politicians, or generals."

 Much more of NR's case against Donald Trump here.