Sessions seemed a natural ally for Cruz, after heaping praise on him ever since the Gang of 8 defeat. I have a feeling the deal-making attention whore must have offered him something sweet – Secretary of State, maybe Secretary of Defense or Homeland Security.

Then we got to watch Ben Carson literally sucking up to Trump, after Trump relentlessly questioned his faith, called him a child molester, a pathological homicidal maniac and even a not-too-bright, less than average doctor for the crime of creeping up on him in the polls. I don’t believe for a NY second that a Cruz staffer sending out an ill-advised email based directly on a CNN report, too late to make a difference, could have provoked him enough to despise Cruz vs the thunderous month-long character assassination Trump hit him with.

He came right out and admitted Trump offered him something for his endorsement, but wouldn’t say what. Cruz ideologically is much closer to Carson than Trump, so whatever he was promised must be a real doozy.

The likes of Rove must be sweating blood. They want to game the convention and select someone like Kasich or Rubio or even Jeb! But that would be making sausage under a spotlight. So it will get even more interesting as the rest of the primaries unfold and the convention opens.

BTW, the only endorsement that puzzles me is Session jumping on the Trump band wagon.

Makes two of us. In fact, I perceive that at some point, I had definitely entered the fifth Ké¼bler-Ross stage of grieving for our nation and culture.

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(As a refresher, here are the five Ké¼bler-Ross stages of grief, plagiarized from Wikipedia; I did spend a lot of time in stage 4, but now, what the heck.)

BEGIN PASTE

1. Denial – The first reaction is denial. In this stage individuals believe the diagnosis is somehow mistaken, and cling to a false, preferable reality.

2. Anger – When the individual recognizes that denial cannot continue, they become frustrated, especially at proximate individuals. Certain psychological responses of a person undergoing this phase would be: “Why me? It’s not fair!”; “How can this happen to me?”; ‘”Who is to blame?”; “Why would this happen?”.

3. Bargaining – The third stage involves the hope that the individual can avoid a cause of grief. Usually, the negotiation for an extended life is made in exchange for a reformed lifestyle. People facing less serious trauma can bargain or seek compromise.

4. Depression – “I’m so sad, why bother with anything?”; “I’m going to die soon, so what’s the point?”; “I miss my loved one, why go on?”
During the fourth stage, the individual becomes saddened by the mathematical probability of death. In this state, the individual may become silent, refuse visitors and spend much of the time mournful and sullen.

5. Acceptance – “It’s going to be okay.”; “I can’t fight it, I may as well prepare for it.”
In this last stage, individuals embrace mortality or inevitable future, or that of a loved one, or other tragic event. People dying may precede the survivors in this state, which typically comes with a calm, retrospective view for the individual, and a stable condition of emotions.

Ké¼bler-Ross later expanded her model to include any form of personal loss, such as the death of a loved one, the loss of a job or income, major rejection, the end of a relationship or divorce, drug addiction, incarceration, the onset of a disease or chronic illness, an infertility diagnosis, and even minor losses.

END PASTE

What I don’t understand is the theory that the anti-Trump forces should force Kasich out. Surely there are a significant number of Republican primary voters (basically, secular pro-business types) who might prefer Trump to Cruz, if those were the only choices. If the game is to deny Trump a majority, then votes for Kasich advance that end as well as votes for Cruz (subject to the complicated rules for actual award of delegates, which are awfully hard to game out two months in advance).

I’m becoming resigned to a Hillary presidency, and wondering if this will mean much to me personally or not. Micro-level impacts, in other words.

How will she react to terrorism. Bill has evinced some regrets he did not pull the trigger more often or effectively so there may be a bellicose influence looming if and when outrages occur. It’s dimly possible anyway.

Trump and Cruz are disliked by the GOPe.

To back Cruz earns the hatred of Trump, who is the kind of guy whose retaliation as President would be scary, and who wouldn’t forget someone daring to take a stand against him even if he just goes back to private life.

To back Trump puts you on the side of a candidate who stands very little chance of winning.

I’d steer clear of the whole mess, too.

http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-endorsement-primary/

That aside; I have really been disappointed by some of the people who endorsed Trump. Sure, Sarah Palin has a big chip on her shoulder toward the Republican establishment for their lack of respect for her VP credentials. I thought she was smart, however. Does she really expect order out of chaos? Others are even more mystifying. If Giuliani, who is flirting for sure, comes out for him officially I will be completely disoriented. Do they see something that is not apparent? Is there really a hidden Trump? If so, why? What does he look like?

And that’s that.