It’s a matter of recognizing the reality of the political landscape.

This gives an idea of where I think we are:
http://thezman.com/wordpress/?p=6566

IMO, Trump’s a roll of the dice. Cruz cannot win even if he were nominated which it appears won’t happen.

Wonder if Cruz would accept a spot as VP on a Trump ticket?

I missed where Rangel and Sharpton endorsed Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, or any of Trump’s opponents.

Your point is meaningless. Of course there are many people on the left, and many others like Sharpton et al, who will denounce Trump. There are also those like Farrakhan who like him. That doesn’t mean that all Trump opponents (or all Trump supporters, for that matter) are alike in any way except for that one fact.

I don’t hold any of that against Trump or against his opponents. I make my decisions about Trump based on my evaluation only, which is based on his words and his deeds—particularly his words which have NOT been written by others, because that is far more revealing than his ghost-written books.

This is interesting, however, and goes against what you are saying.

I am quite puzzled by the willingness of so many Cruz supporters to give up on him because of the “establishment” bugaboo.

Many people are firmly convinced—based on Trump’s own statements over the years, and some even recently—that Trump is as much a leftist and statist as Hillary. So they see no reason to vote for him on that score.

” fiona Says:
March 3rd, 2016 at 12:41 pm

In that long discourse about what the raccoon-infested homeowner wanted I saw no question about evidence of his competence in raccoon eradication. Or what happens if he decides that burning down your house is the most effective way to solve your problem….”

That is a fair question. Assuming the invaders cannot be gotten out according to the currently twisted rules, and that you are likely to lose title and right to it either to the invaders or their twisted government enablers, you have to ask yourself: after trying to hire another competent man and being thwarted by the “established interests”, after having done all you could short of killing them yourself, and being unwilling to resort quite so soon to the ultimate right of self-help and a likely personal apocalypse; then, how much do you really care at that point that it burns down and no one, especially your existential enemies, benefits?

And at that point, after you have given up all that you have but your freedom to act, and are surrounded by still insistent predators … all bets are off and you can serve your own – and your allies – interests any way you see fit.

But maybe it will never come to that, eh?

” carl in atlanta Says:
March 3rd, 2016 at 2:15 pm

This thread demonstrates why the GOP is probably doomed this year. I’m for Cruz (he was my second choice until Carly dropped out), but I’d be willing to hold my nose and vote for Trump if I thought he could win in 2016 and stop Hillary Clinton.

With so many conservatives willing to knowingly sacrifice this election (some even saying that they’ll actually vote for HRC) rather than taking that chance, it’s becoming clear that there really is no such chance.

I’d argue that the GOP made a tacit deal with Trump when they extracted that written pledge of party loyalty from him. Trump agreed that if doesn’t get the nomination he’ll support the GOP nominee regardless of who that is. Hard to accept that there was no implied reciprocal obligation on the part of the GOP to support Trump if he’s the nominee. Or is this just Lucy playing football with Charlie Brown?

Please don’t get me wrong: I hope that Trump doesn’t get the nomination but if he does I still believe I’ll vote for him, as the party’s nominee (warts and all). It’s becoming pretty clear that we’re going to lose anyway so it really doesn’t matter, does it?”

Each man will have to make his own analysis and base his decision on what he sees as the probable outcomes of any given scenario.

For those who argue that Trump represents the Reign of Terror apocalypse, I would point out that we are already on the legal tumbrels, and that failing to stop Hillary or Sanders, will not result in a period of tranquil defeat and the beginning of an under the radar regrouping, but an intensified period in which the lawless social harrowing and dispossession of the productive and once propertied class will only increase.

We all know that the left knows no objective limits, recognizes no boundaries, and respects no limits to its sway. It is an antagonistic philosophical anthropology dedicated to reordering all society, and refashioning both the membership, and the predicates of association.

This is not a situation where you get beat and then get to go home to be more or less left alone.

Some will judge that it is better to chance life under a lawless socialist or welfare state regime; hoping that the squeezing will relent enough for they and like minded people to regroup.

But don’t they recognize that the very project of the left precludes that possibility? The game is not to get what they want and then stop, but to achieve compete existential domination of every avenue.

We have the 600 dollar reporting rule, the shared individual responsibility mandate, and potential criminal penalties for non-participation.

Where do potential Hillary voters think that they are going to be able to retreat to? Or are they actually resigned to joining the Borg Collective in the hope that they be the ones doing, rather than the ones done to?

With so many conservatives willing to knowingly sacrifice this election (some even saying that they’ll actually vote for HRC) rather than taking that chance, it’s becoming clear that there really is no such chance.

I’d argue that the GOP made a tacit deal with Trump when they extracted that written pledge of party loyalty from him. Trump agreed that if doesn’t get the nomination he’ll support the GOP nominee regardless of who that is. Hard to accept that there was no implied reciprocal obligation on the part of the GOP to support Trump if he’s the nominee. Or is this just Lucy playing football with Charlie Brown?

Please don’t get me wrong: I hope that Trump doesn’t get the nomination but if he does I still believe I’ll vote for him, as the party’s nominee (warts and all). It’s becoming pretty clear that we’re going to lose anyway so it really doesn’t matter, does it?

Spot on in my opinion, and I’m starting to realize (and accept) that my opinion is probably not only in the minority but is actually reviled by some of the virtue-signalling “principled conservatives” I’ve been reading this week.

I continue to believe that getting rid of the bad critters in our basement “trumps” lofty declarations of principle during these trying times. And if the exterminator’s a little repulsive and a little smelly, that’s only to be expected.
No need to die.

Geez, what’s it take to get them to acknowledge it: a repeating Gif showing him flay the Republican surrender-monkey leadership?

Or even this 4 minute segment https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSPPKV-FZk8