Trump runs for POTUS / Trumped Up! Part IV

[Puppycow]

Donald Trump Used Campaign Donations to Buy $55,000 of His Own Book

Read the article. As long as he doesn't accept the royalties, it should be legal.
Looking for more info on how common this practice is, I found this:

https://newrepublic.com/article/123156/why-did-ted-cruz-spend-122000-his-own-books

The biggest eye-opener in this one to me at least was this:

In 2011, the government’s online procurement database revealed that the State Department had spent over $70,000 purchasing copies of President Obama’s books to be used as Christmas gifts and to stock foreign embassies, including $40,000 worth of Dreams From My Father for the U.S. embassy in Cairo. This equates to several thousand copies earmarked for that single embassy.

 

[Foolmewunz]

Read the article. As long as he doesn't accept the royalties, it should be legal.
Looking for more info on how common this practice is, I found this:

https://newrepublic.com/article/123156/why-did-ted-cruz-spend-122000-his-own-books

The biggest eye-opener in this one to me at least was this:

I think Newt could give seminars in how to milk the publishing racket for supporters, grass roots organizations and campaign stops.

Same old, same old. They'll all talk about reforming campaign financing and closing loopholes but only when it's about the other guy. Only if the press or an ombudsman type keeps after it does it become an issue.

It is classic Tu Quoque. They all do it so they will all not make a lot of noise about it. The problem for campaigns is that zealous supporters will want to take advantage of any such findings, and as soon as Party A calls out Party B, then Party B has to call out Party A and pretty soon the whole country knows they're all a bunch of smarmy hypocrites.

Trump's taken it to new heights, though only a scant few inches higher than others. I wouldn't be real surprised to find that many candidates for many positions get their printing done by donors, rent their office space on Main Street from donors or relatives or themselves, hire their brother-in-law's shuttle service, etc... It's BUSINESS as usual, and politics is business.

Wake me when one of them makes a real effort to reform financing.

 

[Cl1mh4224rd]

I wonder if all the cancellations of Rallies and "postponing" the big time speech on immigratation are signs of big time power struggle between Conway and Bannon, who have 100% different approaches to the campaign.

That seems doubtful. If that were the case, I'm sure Trump would wander off on his own again, which would include those public appearances.

 

[Matthew Cline]

Turns out trump lied about the Chicago cops.

To be fair to Trump, he might have a very different idea from the actual police about what a "top cop" is (that is, an actual mid-level Chicago cop might have told him that stuff).

 

[Steve]

To be fair to Trump, he might have a very different idea from the actual police about what a "top cop" is (that is, an actual mid-level Chicago cop might have told him that stuff).

Or the rookie who was guarding the washroom door for him.

 

[Foolmewunz]

The New Improved Donald Trump does not seem to making enough of a difference to really matter.. Which means that Donald will revert to the Old Donald Trump sooner rather then later.
I wonder if all the cancellations of Rallies and "postponing" the big time speech on immigratation are signs of big time power struggle between Conway and Bannon, who have 100% different approaches to the campaign.

That seems doubtful. If that were the case, I'm sure Trump would wander off on his own again, which would include those public appearances.

I'm not sure he's ready to wander off just yet. He's picked up a point or two, and no doubt they're feeding him in-house polls from the Karl Rove playbook, showing him gaining among swarthy voters. He's happy with this crew of reprobates. Coulter, Sessions, Bannon.... Conway's just the pitch person.


I mentioned elsewhere that seasoned vet campaign watchers are looking for dissension. Conway appeared to be trying to make this "Immigration Pivot" into a new position. But it's really not much of one - he never actually said anything concrete about his plans to round 'em up, just a bunch of posturing. And that's the message that seems to be coming out of the campaign... "Hey, we never really said anything about forcing 'em into internment camps or herding them across the border. Give us a break. Donald loves all people and wouldn't want to inconvenience them." They're selling Obama Lite - Just Tougher and With More Glitter.

We also have to recognize Bannon. This is a guy who lies for a living. It's what he does. He's very capable of advising Donald to do just that. "Look, just don't mention the camps, okay? Don't say you're against them - that'd lose us the Stormfront vote, but don't let them corner you into saying what you're going to do. Stick with ".... and it'll be great, believe me...."

I think we'll see Trump staying on script until Labor Day. I'm sure he believes that all his voters are vacationing in Saratoga or Newport "for the season". August is usually lull-time in the polls. Come Labor Day if he's not seeing positive press and better polls he'll make some other non-change.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

agreed.

I think that the current team is the worst that could've happened to Trump:

on the one hand you have Conway who wants him to do well (winning is optional) for her own sake. And she will make him flip-flop and fake and lie to make it happen, leaving Trump a laughing stock come November.

And then there is Bannon and Ailes who don't care about Trump either: they just want to break the GOP and (re-)establish the Angry White Man as the core Republican.

Trump should pick a crew that will make him look good while failing (let's not call it losing) and give him a graceful exit strategy.

 

[Puppycow]

Trump suggests major shift on deportations

Washington (CNN)Donald Trump suggested Wednesday that he would allow exceptions to let some undocumented immigrants to stay in the US, vowing he wouldn't grant them citizenship but telling Fox News, "there's no amnesty, but we work with them."

"No citizenship. Let me go a step further -- they'll pay back-taxes, they have to pay taxes, there's no amnesty, as such, there's no amnesty, but we work with them," Trump told Sean Hannity when asked if he would allow for exceptions to his long-held position.
Donald Trump's immigration policy: Then and now
He continued: "Now, everybody agrees we get the bad ones out. But when I go through and I meet thousands and thousands of people on this subject -- and I've had very strong people come up to me, really great, great people come up to me -- and they've said, 'Mr. Trump, I love you, but to take a person who's been here for 15 or 20 years and throw them and their family out, it's so tough, Mr. Trump,' I have it all the time. It's a very, very hard thing."
At the same event, Trump also indicated an openness to "softening" his immigration policies, which also includes building a wall on the border with Mexico.

Previously he promised to deport all of them. Now he sounds like every other Republican candidate did.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

What is he doing? does he think he gets the Hispanic vote for not setting up internment camps?

This just means that the most lazy of his angry supporters will stay home in November.

 

[Puppycow]

Donald reversing his immigration position to adopt that of the gang of 8 he criticized in primaries is hilarious. It also means Ann Coulter is about to embark on her shortest book tour ever.

[qimg]http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u492/rfstack/000000_23.jpg[/qimg]

That passage is from her book that just came out right before Donald pulled the rug out from under her. The Alt Reich is being betrayed by their hero and the proprietor of the website that caters to them.

Ann has a sad:

Coulter Goes to War with Trump And It Is Glorious

Liberals may die tonight because there are limited supplies of those injections they give you for acute schadenfreude toxicity. Ann Coulter has been Donald Trump's biggest New York City white nationalist supporter. She's transformed toadying into a militant act. Just today her new book In Trump We Trust was released, a genuflecting, tour de force of leader principle obsequiousness. As many have noted, in the book itself she writes that Trump can do anything, change his position on anything - none of it matters. She and they are that devoted. Everything except shift on immigration.

So today, the very day her book comes out he shambles his way to embracing the Rubio/Bush 'Amnesty' agenda he spent the last year railing against and using as a cudgel to destroy the Republican establishment's favored ones. She even had an opening book party hosted by Breitbart.

Already at the book party, photos snapped by Twitters journos showed a sad visage and perhaps a growing thunder ...

In her Twitter feed she is already starting her pushback:

https://twitter.com/AnnCoulter?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

 

[Foolmewunz]

What is he doing? does he think he gets the Hispanic vote for not setting up internment camps?

This just means that the most lazy of his angry supporters will stay home in November.

I think he's playing right now for two things:

> He'd like to get up to at least Romney levels with minorities. No black or Hispanic really thought that the GOP were their friends, but at least >0% voted Romney. He's delusional and might think he'll swing enough minority votes to replace the Lost Tribe of Angry Old White Men, particularly combined with...
> Johnson libertarians and disaffected college-educated conservative whites. Most pundits agree that this is his larger target. There are any number of conservatives who are NQKA - not quite Kelly Ayotte, who has said she won't support him but she'll vote for him. She's a pro so maybe she sees that as paying dues to the party. Miscellaneous voters don't feel that way about their party loyalty. If they can't support him, many of them can't vote for him and the biggest turn-offs to those voters have been his bigoted and biased stands.


The possible downside, though, is all those Stormfront and David Duke supporters who are now peopling the Trump Twitter comments. Even if Trump doesn't slip up and say something racist, bigoted or exclusionary - they will. And he's going to have his feet held to the fire if he doesn't do something about clearing out the garbage he's invited into the club house. They're going to be his biggest headache; they'll turn on him in a second. Bannon and the Coulter Critter haven't had enough time to get out the Wink Wink Nudge Nudge code book. If they see the Great White Hope as sucking up to the mud races, they'll react.

 

[Ladewig]

Trump suggests major shift on deportations



Previously he promised to deport all of them. Now he sounds like every other Republican candidate did.

and I've had very strong people come up to me, really great, great people come up to me -- and they've said, 'Mr. Trump, I love you, but to take a person who's been here for 15 or 20 years and throw them and their family out, it's so tough, Mr. Trump,' I have it all the time. It's a very, very hard thing.'​

First, I think I am agreeing with Ann Coulter: we need a president that will do the right thing even if it is hard.

Second, As for it being hard, no **** Sherlock! It is a hard job because major decisions have ripples that affect other issues. Look at each president's before and after pictures. It is a hard job that demands your attention any time day or night.

Third, bull **** Mr. Trump. You do not have people come up to you all the time and say that. And right there, we have Trump in a nutshell. Rather than say that he has run the numbers or has consulted experts or has dug deeper into the issue, he makes up a story about "really great, great people" saying that to him.

 

[The Don]

According to this BBC article, based on a poll by Pew Research, Trump voters want to live in the 1950's

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-37161449

 

[Puppycow]

and I've had very strong people come up to me, really great, great people come up to me -- and they've said, 'Mr. Trump, I love you, but to take a person who's been here for 15 or 20 years and throw them and their family out, it's so tough, Mr. Trump,' I have it all the time. It's a very, very hard thing.'​

First, I think I am agreeing with Ann Coulter: we need a president that will do the right thing even if it is hard.

Second, As for it being hard, no **** Sherlock! It is a hard job because major decisions have ripples that affect other issues. Look at each president's before and after pictures. It is a hard job that demands your attention any time day or night.

Third, bull **** Mr. Trump. You do not have people come up to you all the time and say that. And right there, we have Trump in a nutshell. Rather than say that he has run the numbers or has consulted experts or has dug deeper into the issue, he makes up a story about "really great, great people" saying that to him.

This is the guy who thinks that Chicago's crime problems could be solved in a week if police just got tougher. Fire the people in charge and replace them with the super-awesome cop who bragged to Trump that he could solve it in a week. Problem solved! Solving major intractable social problems to Trump is as simple as firing someone. Easy Peasy.

Fox host Bill O'Reilly asked Trump how to solve the city's crime problem, with homicides up nearly 50 percent.

"How? By being very much tougher than they are right now. They're right now not tough. I could tell you this very long and quite boring story. But when I was in Chicago, I got to meet a couple of very top police. I said, 'How do you stop this? How do you stop this? If you were put in charge — to a specific person — do you think you could stop it?' He said, 'Mr. Trump, I'd be able to stop it in one week.' And I believed him 100 percent," Trump said.

When O'Reilly asked whether the unnamed officer told him how, Trump said: "No, he wants to use tough police tactics, which is OK when you have people being killed."

One of Coulter's sarcastic tweets:

Well, if it's "hard," then nevermind. Trump: "... to take a person who's been here for 15 or 20 years ....It's a very, very hard thing."

 

[SezMe]

Donald Trump Used Campaign Donations to Buy $55,000 of His Own Book

From Stackko's link:

and filled with copies of Crippled America, as well as Kleenex and Make America Great Again! cups, hats, and T-shirts. Delegates were also given plastic fetus figurines.

Huh? Is that to wipe little booboo's cute little butt when it poops?

 

[SezMe]

Wait, wait, wait.

The best negotiator in the United States purchased 8500 books at the retail price?

A BS artist running a con game. Is there a better explanation for paying full price?

It's the equivalent of 3,500 hardcover versions or 5,000 softcover not 8,500. Other than that, your point stands. There's only 2,472 delegates so what were the extra 1,000+ copies for?

No, the point doesn't stand. He bought the equivalent of 3500 hardcover versions. It could be he bought 7000 at 50% off. I'll bet he sells them at all his rallys, gives them away like candy at fund raisers,etc. In short, I think it is reasonable to assume he bought a lot of books at a fairly deep discount.

BTW, I also don't think Drumpf had anything to do with the price. Some low-down grunt did all the buying.

 

[Armitage72]

A caller on Glenn Beck's radio program said that if Trump backs off on the Mexico wall, the caller and his friends would "come after him personally. You know what I mean? We’re going to get him.”

“So if he doesn’t build a wall like China, then he’s in trouble?” Beck said.

“Oh, he’s in so much trouble,” the caller quickly shot back. “You don’t even understand the backlash of us, the ones who are so frustrated and angry and tired of all the political stuff. We’re going to come after him personally. You know what I mean? We’re going to get him.”

“I’m just saying, he’s appealing to people who are very frustrated and angry. Their frustration and anger can only be subsided if he makes his promises true,” Nate said. “And he has a lot on his shoulders. Maybe he himself doesn’t even know how much. But if he doesn’t come through for us, he’s going to have bigger problems, bigger problems than what you know.”

Borrowing from Trump, the caller did clarify, when pressed, that he was talking about "the peaceful process of impeachment".


What's that Diomedes? Your horses are hungry?

 

[Darat]

.. Snip...
BTW, I also don't think Drumpf had anything to do with the price. Some low-down grunt did all the buying.

Don't you mean the best low down grunt? [emoji39]

 

[Andy_Ross]

They are good grunts, the best. I have to tell you they are good, good grunts, great people. I have even spoken to them and they assured me they got a great deal, I just can't tell you how good a deal they got but just look at the numbers here.

 

[Stacko]

No, the point doesn't stand. He bought the equivalent of 3500 hardcover versions. It could be he bought 7000 at 50% off. I'll bet he sells them at all his rallys, gives them away like candy at fund raisers,etc. In short, I think it is reasonable to assume he bought a lot of books at a fairly deep discount.

BTW, I also don't think Drumpf had anything to do with the price. Some low-down grunt did all the buying.

They were purchased at retail cost per the original article.