On Thursday, Mitt Romney came out with a public condemnation of Donald Trump in an effort to stop him from winning the GOP nomination.
This is the same man during the 2012 presidential campaign who publicly badmouthed 47% of the American electorate and dismissed them as useless parasites who did not pay taxes, who lived off the government, supported Obama and would never vote for him—Romney. So, basically, they should be dismissed as garbage.
Ironically, of these very same 47% of the population, many of whom hard-working average Americans, are millions of Americans supporting the candidacy of Donald Trump. These very same Americans believe that the political and financial elites of America—the Clintons and the Romneys, and their wealthy Wall Street and Silicon Valley supporters—have abandoned these people. Accordingly, they are attracted to Trump who rails against these elites.
For the GOP establishment and Trump’s opponents to look to Romney for salvation, is the height of political stupidity and folly.
Here is what Romney said about 47% of Americans in the last election:
“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. That that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what… These are people who pay no income tax…”[M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
Note when Romney was confronted with the tape and video of this incredibly stupid public statement, Romney first denied its existence, then misstated it, then claimed it was taken out of context. He never apologized or took personal responsibility for this YUGE political blunder.
Mr. Romney should have shown this spirit and toughness four years ago when he was competing against Obama for the presidency.
Romney is not only a few months late in this 2016 campaign, he is several years too late in showing some backbone.
Time to return to Utah, Mr. Romney, and the dustbin of history. You are a two-time loser. And if you thought you were so superior to Trump, why didn’t you have the guts to compete with him in this presidential campaign instead of taking futile shots from the peanut gallery?
I just love watching these stuffed shirt pundits, be they liberals or conservatives make utter asses of themselves. So-called conservative pundit David Brooks of the New York Times embarrassed himself and his newspaper on national television on PBS last night during Super Tuesday.
The numbers do not lie. Trump won eight major states decisively from Massachusetts and Vermont to Virginia and then Alabama and Arkansas. He was a solid second in Texas, Cruz’s home state and Oklahoma, neighbor to Texas. And in Alaska, he came in a very strong second. Trump only badly lost in Minnesota, coming in third to Rubio’s only win.
But Trump’s popular support was overwhelming.
Chuck Todd on NBC and Amy Walters on PBS, analyzed the numbers and both concluded Trump is bringing out huge numbers of Republicans in larger numbers than in previous primaries. Trump is appealing to all demographics. They both concluded that he is the change candidate. And he is swamping Hillary in overall appeal.
Trump will be the GOP nominee.
Yet pundits like Brooks just can’t bring himself to admit this. In the face of cold-hearted facts and numbers.
Brooks is hoping against hope the GOP leaders and the officials will rally around some one anti-Trump.
But Cruz shot his bolt on Super Tuesday. He does not have strong support outside the conservative evangelical south.
And Rubio, is a pathetic lightweight. He has come in third in all these states except he did win Minnesota. Woopeedoo!
Rubio is done and I predict that Rubio will lose to Trump in Florida. That will be Rubio’s Waterloo as well as the Waterloo for all GOP leaders who are deluding themselves into thinking they can stop Trump and his widespread and overwhelming popular appeal.
The more the GOP leaders talk about trying to stop the populist Trump with his huge popular support, the stupider and more out of touch they look like. Trump has made them into political idiots, as he has made just about every liberal and conservative pundit.
I read all these left wing and right wing pundits. From Remmick of the New Yorker to Brooks of the NY Times to Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post and my Harvard classmate Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard. All these pundits have put their ideology ahead of clear and objective analysis. They are also the big losers in this Trump-dominated election.
I love the smell of conservative and liberal ideological blindness and ignorance in the morning. Especially, so-called pundits as David Brooks, whose ideological blinders have blinded him to the Trump train that is running over his reputation and the reputation of all those other so-called pundits and experts.
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This year’s Oscars show, put on by The Academy of Arts and Sciences (under the leadership of non-film maker/non-actor/black public relations flak Cheryl Boone Isaacs), was viewed in America by approximately 34.3 million people.
Put in context, the Chris Rock-hosted, black-oriented Oscars were 6% lower in viewership numbers and 3% lower in the 18-49 adult demographic than last year’s Neil Patrick Harris-hosted Oscars, which in itself was one of the most poorly-watched Oscar shows since the 1970s.
These horrible numbers indicate that the vast majority of American people voted “with their feet” — or, more accurately, with their remote. Those who did tune in at the beginning turned it off as the show doubled down on lame, unfunny “diversity” jokes.
“Nielsen data reflecting quarter-hour segments of viewership indicates that Sunday’s show appeared to lose viewers as glamour (and movies) increasingly took a back seat to activism. The show started with ratings roughly on par with last year’s. But in 2015 the numbers then climbed and remained fairly stable, while Sunday’s ratings fluctuated and then fell more steadily in the show’s last hour.”
Most of the American people outside the liberal elite enclaves of LA and New York have turned their backs on politically correct liberal Hollywood and on talentless, whining, self-entitled, self-centered multi-millionaire black actors, actresses and entertainers.
In January of this year, when the Oscar nominations were announced, and no black actors or actresses were nominated, many in the black community and white liberal Hollywood thought a horrible injustice had occurred.
Specifically, mega star and multi-millionaire Will Smith (“Concussion”) and his wife Jada Pinkett Smith(“Magic Mike XXL”), went public with their disgust, primarily because Will Smith, who thought he deserved an Oscar nomination for his role as the real-life Nigerian-born doctor who discovered the link between head trauma from football, and the early onset of dementia and death.
Will and Jada Smith then announced they were boycotting the Oscar ceremonies. They were joined by black filmmaker Spike Lee and white doc filmmaker Michael Moore.
Needless to say the Hollywood liberal press and media went nuts, all writing about the boycott and #OscarsSoWhite.
As is usually the case, with the insulated liberal elite press on both coasts, who drink their own bathwater, the rest of America did not see what all the fuss was about.
Will Smith was horribly miscast in the “Concussion” flick. His accent was artificial, and his acting, one dimensional. The film is too pedantic, and it sank without a trace. Furthermore, for Will and Jada and their Hollywood liberal supporters to suggest that Hollywood is racist and he has been discriminated against, shall we say, was beyond the pale.
The Smiths are each multimillionaires, collectively worth over $200 million. They live in a Malibu home on 100 acres worth conservatively over $30 million.
The Smiths are the beneficiaries of Hollywood. Not victims of racism.
Accordingly, as the voices for pro diversity in Hollywood got louder and louder, with calls for Chris Rock to step down as Oscar host, the rest of America began turning away from this liberal, guilt-ridden, “black actors as Hollywood victims” lunacy.
You could hear it in the voices of outraged middle Americans on talk radio shows. You could read their disgust in conservative blogs and commentaries on the internet.
This is not a racist response. It is a call by Middle America for success based on merit, not based on liberal guilt.
Middle America views the word “diversity” as code for giving preferential treatment to American blacks, simply on the basis of color, not due to merit, hard work or sacrifice.
And Middle America is mad as hell and not buying any more of this b.s. The numbers do not lie.
It is no coincidence that this current black American push for diversity in Hollywood and on college campuses is occurring during the dying days of Barack Obama’s race-based presidency.
Obama would not have beaten Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries and gone on to be elected president if he had been a no-name junior white senator from Illinois.
Obama ran as the first black president. He won on that basis and he has governed as a black president.
The country is finally sick and tired of Obama and his black race-based presidency.
And as the country turned against a black-hosted race-based Oscar show, the country is turning against Obama’s black, race-based administration.
I just love watching these stuffed shirt pundits, be they liberals or conservatives make utter jackasses of themselves. So-called conservative pundit David Brooks of the New York Times embarrassed himself and his newspaper on national television on PBS last night during Super Tuesday.
The numbers do not lie. Trump won eight major states decisively from Massachusetts and Vermont to Virginia and then Alabama and Arkansas. He was a solid second in Texas, Cruz’s home state and Oklahoma, neighbor to Texas. And in Alaska, he came in a very strong second. Trump only badly lost in Minnesota, coming in third to Rubio’s only win.
But Trump’s popular support was overwhelming.
Chuck Todd on NBC and Amy Walters on PBS, analyzed the numbers and both concluded Trump is bringing out huge numbers of Republicans in larger numbers than in previous primaries. Trump is appealing to all demographics. They both concluded that he is the change candidate. And he is swamping Hillary in overall appeal.
Trump will be the GOP nominee.
Yet pundits like Brooks just can’t bring themselves to admit this In the face of cold-hearted facts and numbers.
Brooks is hoping against hope the GOP leaders and the officials will rally around some one anti-Trump.
But Cruz shot his bolt on Super Tuesday. He does not have strong support outside the conservative evangelical south.
And Rubio, is a pathetic lightweight. He has come in third in all these states except he did win Minnesota. Woopeedoo!
Rubio is done and I predict that Rubio will lose to Trump in Florida. That will be Rubio’s Waterloo as well as the Waterloo for all GOP leaders who are deluding themselves into thinking they can stop Trump and his widespread and overwhelming popular appeal.
The more the GOP leaders talk about trying to stop the populist Trump with his huge popular support, the stupider and more out of touch they look. Trump has made them into political idiots, as he has made just about every liberal and conservative pundit.
I read all these left wing and right wing pundits from Remmick of the New Yorker to Brooks of the NY Times to Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post and my Harvard classmate Bill Kristol of the Weekly Standard. All these pundits have put their ideology ahead of clear and objective analysis. They are also the big losers in this Trump-dominated election.
I love the smell of conservative and liberal ideological blindness and ignorance in the morning. Especially, so-called pundits as David Brooks, whose ideological blinders have blinded him to the Trump train that is running over his reputation and the reputation of all those other so-called pundits and experts.
Poor Marco Rubio. Just when he thought he got his mojo back after landing a few solid blows against Trump in the last debate, he was blindsided by none other then the Jersey Brawler, Republican Governor Chris Christie, who came out swinging for his new BFF, the Trumpster.
Christie, as former presidential candidate, is one member of the Republican establishment who is leaping aboard the Trump Super Train that’s hurtling out of the station, bound for overwhelming victory in the southern states on Super Tuesday.
According to Christie, he threw his support behind Trump because he viewed Trump as a strong leader, the only one who could take on the probable Democratic nominee, Hellfire Hillary Clinton, the Arkansas Krusher.
As Christie astutely noted, the Clintons don’t want to see the Trumpster in the ring. They “do not know the playbook of Donald Trump because he is rewriting the playbook.”
Conventional wisdom was that in order to win in these complicated Republican primaries, a candidate needed thousands of volunteers in the trenches, getting out the vote, a tactic known as a ground game.
Also in the past, successful candidates required the support of local Republican bigwigs and grand poobahs, plus tons of moolah from special interests, to make huge negative advertising buys.
Trump had neither a ground game nor the support of local GOP notables. Also, Trump’s campaign is mostly self-financed, so he does not owe favours to any filthy special interest groups.
Nonetheless, Trump smoked the competition in the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries and he is going to run roughshod over his opponents in the southern conservative states on Super Tuesday.
The Donald has become the master of the traditional media as well as social media.
His anti-establishment message is resonating with young and old, male and female, white and of color, blue collar workers, professionals and business people.
Accordingly, Republican majority leader Kevin McCarthy from California is now on side, together with a growing number of no-name Congressional Republicans.
Even Nikki Haley, Republican Governor of South Carolina, and a public supporter of Rubio, has publicly admitted that if The Donald is the Republican nominee, she will be able to work with him.
And therein lies Trump’s trump card: Winning. In politics, winning is everything.
Poor Marco Rubio doesn’t get it. He is still coming across as a weak, frightened and clueless little Bambi, caught in Trump’s oncoming headlights.
Rubio’s latest fallback position is that even if The Donald wins the nomination, Republicans will not vote for him. Basically, Rubio is saying: I may be a loser, but I am a preferred loser. So vote for me anyways.
Of course, Republicans will vote for Trump in the general election, likely in greater numbers than they voted for the boring and uninspiring Mitt Romney during the last presidential rodeo.
Republicans, like Democrats, are in politics to win, not to hand over victory to their arch enemy — in this case, the hated Clintons — without a fight.
Remember, Republicans are mad as hell at the Obama Democrats. They do not want a white female clone of Obama, in the guise of the Hillary.
Tim Miller, Jeb Bush’s former spokesman, lit up Twitter with cutting comments. “Like Trump, Chris Christie is a pathetic, corrupt man with a tiny ego. I’m sure they bonded discussing their insecurities over a big meal,” he tweeted.
Bush strategist David Kochel also laced into Christie. “New lesson kids: sometimes, the best option for the fat kid is to just hand his lunch money over to the bully! #TrumpChristie2016,” he said on Twitter.”
Recall that Miller and Kochel were part of the Jeb Bush campaign brain trust that blew through $130 million with nothing to show for all that hard-earned American cheddar. These two so-called political pros were part of the most expensive and worst campaign in primary history, a political debacle of Titanic proportions.
If I was either one of those bozos, I would be hiding my head in shame, probably on some obscure beach in Ibiza. The last thing I would be opining on would be the political acumen of any politician.
But these old political hacks are like their candidate: A pathetic, sore and clueless loser who had no business playing with the big boys and girls.
I predict that when Hillary comes up against the hard-charging and disruptive Trump juggernaut, she too will suffer the same political fate as the sorry Jeb Bush.
Poor Marco Rubio. Just when he thought he got his mojo back, after landing a few solid blows against Trump in the last debate- Robotic Rubio is blindsided by none other then, the Jersey brawler, New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie, who came out swinging for his new BFF, the twice-divorced Trumpster.
Christie’s endorsement is Yuge, with a capital Y, baby.
Christie, as former presidential candidate, is part of the Republican establishment who is leaping aboard the Trump Super Train, hurtling out of the station, bound for overwhelming victory in the southern states on Super Tuesday.
According to Christie, he threw his support behind Trump because he viewed Trump as a strong leader, who alone could take on the probable Democratic nominee, Hellfire Hillary Clinton, the Arkansas Krusher .
As Christie astutely noted, the Clintons don’t want to see the Trumpster in the ring, the Clintons “do not know the playbook of Donald Trump because he is rewriting the playbook”
That’s right, folks. Trump has thrown this whole presidential race- topsy, turvy.
Conventional wisdom was that in order to win in these complicated Republican primaries, a candidate needed thousands of volunteers in the trenches, identifying and getting out the vote, known as a ground game.
Also in the past, successful candidates required the support of local Republican big wigs and grand poobahs.
And tons and tons of moolah from special interests, to make huge negative advertising buys.
Trump had neither a ground game nor the support of local GOP notables. Also Trump’s campaign is mostly self-financed, so he does not owe any filthy special interest groups.
Nonetheless, Trump smoked the competition in the New Hampshire and South Carolina primaries and he is going to run roughshod over his opponents in the southern conservative states on Super Tuesday.
Because The Donald has become the master of the traditional media- tv, news papers, public debates and the social media- Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Also his anti-establishment message is resonating with young and old, male and female, white and of color, blue collar workers, professionals and biz people.
Accordingly, Republican majority leader McCarthy from California is on side together with a growing number of no-name Congressional Republicans.
Even Nikki Haley, Republican Governor of South Carolina, and public supporter of Rubio, has publicly admitted that if The Donald is elected the Republican nominee, she will be able to work with Trump.
And therein lies Trump’s trump card. Winning. In politics winning is everything. Poor Marco Rubio doesn’t get it. He is still coming across as weak, wet behind the ears, frightened and clueless little Bambi, caught in Trump’s onrushing headlights.
Rubio’s latest fallback position is that even if The Donald wins the nomination, Republicans will not vote for him.
Basically, Rubio is saying, that I may be a loser, but I am a preferred loser. So vote for me anyways. What Rubio is- is a pathetic pol with no political instincts and no spine.
Of course, Republicans will vote for Trump in the general election. I predict in greater numbers than they voted for the boring and uninspiring Mitt Romney, during the last presidential rodeo.
Republicans like Democrats are in politics to win. Not to hand over victory to their arch enemy, in this case, the hated Clintons- without a fight.
Remember, Republicans are mad as hell at the Obama Democrats. They do not want a white female clone of Obama, in the guise of the Hillary.
What I also find yugely amusing is the juvenile responses of the reps from the loser campaigns to Christie’s endorsement of Trump.
“Tim Miller, Jeb Bush’s former spokesman, lit up Twitter with cutting comments. “Like Trump, Chris Christie is a pathetic, corrupt man with a tiny ego. I’m sure they bonded discussing their insecurities over a big meal,” he tweeted.
Bush strategist David Kochel also laced into Christie. “New lesson kids: sometimes, the best option for the fat kid is to just hand his lunch money over to the bully! #TrumpChristie2016,” he said on Twitter.”
Recall Miller and Kochel were part of the Jeb Bush campaign brain trust that blew through $130 million with nothing to show for all that hard-earned American cheddar. Nada. Zero. Gunish.
These two so-called political pros were part of the most expensive and worst campaign in primary history. They were part of a political debacle of Titanic proportions.
If I was either one of those bozos, I would be hiding my head in shame, probably on some obscure beach in Ibiza. The last thing I would be opining on- would be the political acumen of any politician.
But these old political hacks, are typical of their candidate. A pathetic, sore and clueless loser. Who had no business playing with the big boys and girls.
I predict when the Hillary comes up against the hard-charging and disruptive Trump juggernaut, she too will suffer the same political fate as the sorry Jeb Bush.
To date Trump has won in northeast New Hampshire, South Carolina, and now the wild west of Nevada. His support is clearly national and he is attracting all segments of society, not just angry old men and women.
Trump even captured 45% of Hispanic vote in the Nevada caucus, notwithstanding his strong anti-immigrant position.
(He also did very well in midwest Iowa, coming a strong second to Cruz.)
In his victory speech last night, The Trump confirmed what I have been stating for weeks. Trump is winning the old, the young, the highly educated and as Trump so characteristically called them, “the poorly educated.” To which he ad libbed, “I love the poorly educated. They are the smartest and the most loyal.” That is pure Trumpism. Brilliant. Honest.
And that is why Trump is winning. He is connecting with people, like no one else in the Republican or Democratic races. Because Trump is being Trump. Profane, crude, blunt, brash, controversial. Anti-establishment. And the American people love him.
Sixty per cent of people polled in Nevada support a candidate who is not part of the political establishment.
I suspect that is true of Democrats and independents as well in America.
American people are sick and tired of both the Democratic and Republican establishments.
They are equally sick and tired of the very tired and disappointing Obama presidency. A president who is now being mocked and ridiculed in Europe, Asia, the Mideast and around the world for being a spineless wimp. For “leading from behind”. For failing to step up when Syria’s Assad crossed Obama’s “red line”, and for cutting and running in Benghazi and leaving Americans to be tortured and slaughtered. And for alienating America’s closest allies: Britain, France, Germany, Canada, Japan and Israel and its Mideast allies, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Obama has also diminished America and Americans in the eyes of its enemies; Russia, Iran and China, by Obama’s inactivity, his indifference and his overall weakness and spinelessness.
And who has the politically tone-deaf Hillary Clinton aligned herself with, but the failed and failing Obama presidency.
Hillary Clinton epitomizes the American political establishment. The old, decaying and dying sclerotic status quo.
There is a revolution stirring in American politics. The angry American people are mad as hell and they are not taking it any more. And by electing Trump president they want to send a message to Hillary that will be heard around the world:
Get the frack out of Washington and politics, you tired, old, lying, corrupt, political hack!
Last night Trump won overwhelmingly in the GOP Nevada caucuses. Trump-45.9/5% to Rubio- 23.9% and Cruz-21.4%.
To date Trump has won in northeast New Hampshire, South Carolina and the wild west of Nevada. His support is clearly national, broad-based and he is attracting all segments of society- not just angry old men and women.
He has captured New Hampshire independents, South Carolina evangelicals and Nevada Mormons and rural activists. Trump even captured 45% of Hispanic vote in the Nevada caucus, notwithstanding his strong anti-immigrant position.Trump also did very well in Midwest Iowa, coming a strong second to Cruz.
In his victory speech last night, The Donald confirmed what I have been stating for weeks. Trump is winning the old, the young, the highly educated and as Trump so characteristically called, “ the poorly educated.” To which he ad-libbed, “I love the poorly educated. They are the smartest and the most loyal.” That is pure Trumpism. Brilliant. Honest. And that is why Trump is winning. He is connecting with people, like no one else in the Republican or Democratic races. Because Trump is being Trump; profane, crude, blunt, brash, controversial. Anti-establishment. And the American people love him.
Sixty per cent of people polled in Nevada support a candidate who is not part of the political establishment.
I suspect that is true of Democrats and independents as well in America.
American people are sick and tired of both the Democratic and Republican establishments.
They are equally sick and tired of the very tired and disappointing Obama Presidency. A president who is now being mocked and ridiculed in Europe, Asia, the Mideast and around the world for being a spineless wimp. For “leading from behind”. For failing to step up when Syria’s Assad crossed Obama’s “red line”, and for cutting and running in Benghazi and leaving Americans to be tortured and slaughtered. And for alienating America’s traditional allies.
Obama has also diminished America and Americans in the eyes of its enemies; through his inactivity, his indifference, and his overall weakness and spinelessness.
And who has the politically tone-deaf Hillary Clinton aligned herself with, but the failed and failing Obama presidency.
Hillary Clinton epitomizes the American political establishment. The tired, decaying and dying sclerotic status quo.
There is a revolution stirring in American politics. The angry American people are mad as hell and they are not taking it any more. And by electing Trump president, they want to send a message to Hillary heard around the world.
Get the frack out of Washington and politics, you tired, lying, corrupt, political hack!
The results are in from the most recent Republican primary in South Carolina. As predicted, Donald Trump won his second consecutive primary contest. Trump- 32% and the runners up- being Senator Cruz and Rubio, both at about at 22%.
I hate to the bearer of bad news to the Republican political establishment, the “Anyone But Trump” cabal of fat cat fossilized old fogies; those die-hard denizens of the National Review and the Weekly Standard- the sanctimonious keepers of the conservative flame; and of course, those hundreds of long-time wealthy and well-connected conservative politicos who have been backing Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.
But it is time to face the music and dance with Trump. Because Trump is going all the way in these Republican primaries—whether you myopic political hacks are on board- or not.And the more you bury your collective heads in the political sands, or tear your Brooks Brother threads in frustration and hunt around for the anti-Trump, no-name John Kasich or not-ready-for-prime-time Rubio—you further continue to marginalize yourselves and call into question your previously hard-earned good political judgment.
Despite being attacked from all sides in the debates, despite multi-million dollar attack ads from Bush-supporting PACs, and despite being attacked by many lame stream media columnists and commentators from the Washington Post, New York Times, the New Yorker, CNN and Fox, Trump and his core support have held firm.
We have seen this populist movie before here in good old Toronto, with Rob Ford and then his brother Doug.
I predict that Trump’s populist appeal is deeply emotional, visceral, personal and unshakeable. Broad as it is deep.
And his growing core supporters will stick with Trump through hell and high water.Trump’s critics could call Trump all kinds of names until they are blue and red in the face: bigot, racist, homophobic, sexist, anti-immigrant, Islamophobic, but they have had no impact on Trump. More importantly, these public epithets, this juvenile name-calling have had no impact on Trump’s core support. And will have no effect on this core group, going forward into the spring, summer and fall through the Republican primaries. And through the down and dirty, winner take all, race to the Presidency.
Nothing short of Trump being criminally indicted will stop this powerful, seemingly indestructible Trump train.
After three hard-fought and contentious primaries in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, we have a much better handle on who constitutes Trump’s core supporters.
The most recent South Carolina primary confirmed that Trump had retained the support of men, moderate conservatives, those without college degrees and older voters.
In addition—and this was a huge shock to Cruz supporters and mainstream Republicans—Trump also won the support of white evangelical voters by 8 percentage points over Senator Cruz.
This very powerful and influential Republican group in South Carolina made up approximately 70 percent of Republican voters in the state and had been the backbone of Senator Ted Cruz’s support. Obviously no longer.
Recall about a month ago, in an effort to bolster his support among socially conservative Republicans, while at the same time alienating Trump from this very same group, Cruz accused Trump of “embodying New York values”.
In other words, contrary to Republican socially conservative dogma, Trump was soft on abortion and gay marriage. Cruz further implicitly accused Trump, as a born and bred New Yorker, as being overly focused on money and the media.
Well, Senator Cruz- Duh!!! Donald Trump owes his very political and public appeal to being totally focused on success, money and the media. And Republicans—both social conservatives and moderates—appear to be fine with Trump’s positions.
Because Republicans, young and old, male and female, conservative and moderate, urban, suburban and rural, all appear to more concerned about the economy, the threat of terrorism and radical Islam, (both foreign and abroad), America’s broken immigration system, and the fact that America has lost its way.
And Trump, above all the other Republican contenders, has clearly tapped into these issues.
My view is that if Cruz could not beat Trump in evangelical-rich South Carolina, then I don’t like Cruz’s chances in delegate-rich and socially conservative states like Texas, Virginia and Florida.
Cruz’s chances become even worse as the primary fight shifts to more moderate Republican states in the northeast, Midwest and the west.
In addition, as Cruz falters more, I predict that Cruz’s natural conservative support will gravitate to Trump, followed by the remnants of Jeb Bush and Kasich supporters and not to the wishy washy Rubio, who has clearly failed to inspire and connect with the greater Republican electorate.
To me, Trump’s victory in the Republican primaries seems inevitable. To the clueless Republican political establishment – not so much.
The Coen brothers’ recent film, “Hail, Caesar!” is a pure rollicking delight, their funniest and sweetest film in years.
A loving send-up of the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood in the late 40s and early 50s, it is a film that can be enjoyed by the whole family on so many different levels.
Those were the days when the studio system churned out biblical Ben Hur-type epics with a cast of thousands; song and dance musicals starring Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire; cheesy aquatic dance numbers with Esther Williams; singing cowboy flicks with Gene Autry; and snooty Joan Crawford/Loretta Young New York Upper East Side melodramas.
In “Hail, Caesar!” the Coens brilliantly recreate set pieces from all these genres, but with their signature off the wall, quirky sense of humour.
However, the film is much much more than a an exercise in nostalgia.
On a deeper level, it subtly tackles larger themes of religion, faith, duty, ethics, morality and the influence of art on life and life on art.
The Coens also slyly take a dig at liberal Hollywood icons like George Clooney (who is one of the actual stars of “Hail, Ceasar!”)
The simple plot centers on a day in the life of a film executive and fixer, Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) of Capitol Pictures.
This fictional Capitol Pictures is the same studio that seduced an idealistic New York playwright, played by John Turturro, in the Coen brothers’ first Hollywood-centered flick, “Barton Fink.”
Part film noir, part horror flick, “Barton Fink” was influenced by Nathaniel West’s “Day of the Locust” and Polanski’s “Repulsion”, and exposed the Hollywood dream factory as a hellish destination where artistic and creative careers and dreams are shot down in flames, both literally and figuratively.
Fast forward to 2016. Many wonderful Coen films later, the film industry, for all its weirdness, deception and shallowness, has been kind to the Coen brothers, who have clearly mellowed. In “Hail, Caesar!” their satire is still biting and at times edgy, but also joyful and lots of fun.
Eddie Mannix is a devout Catholic, a family man and true believer in God, country and Hollywood. One of the movie’s best running jokes is that Mannix is constantly seeking absolution from his exasperated father confessor, for such venal sins as sneaking cigarettes and lying to his wife. But there is something greater at play.
On a a deeper level, Mannix is conflicted. He loves his work — which is essentially keeping the Hollywood dream factory running smoothly, churning out fluff and idealized illusions, while backstage, he’s dealing with all kinds of sleazy, corrupt and potentially soul-destroying shite.
The Coens take us behind the painted-on backdrops, fake cityscapes and the constant turmoil among the imperfect stars and extras. We see more sausage factory than dream factory.
From this chaos, dreams and memorable images are created. But Mannix can’t help asking himself, is this what his life is all about?
For example, we see Mannix breaking up a soft core photo shoot involving a seemingly virtuous starlet, and bribing police to keep her name out of the gossip mags.
Then he deals with a twice married, bitchy, pregnant Esther Williams type (Scarlett Johansson), by arranging the handoff of her baby to a fake foster parent, then the re-adoption of her own child by the Esther character. (This actually happened, by the way.)
All the while, Mannix is trying to avoid Thora and Thessaly Thatcher, the competitive twin sister gossip columnists ( channeling Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper), both played hysterically by Coen regular Tilda Swinton.
It appears Thora wants to expose how Capitol Pictures’s box office star and matinee idol, Baird Whitlock, (George Clooney) won his first role by doing the horizontal tango with his male director, precious and prissy Shakespearian-trained director Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes). (Shades of Rock Hudson.)
And Thessaly has heard that Whitlock, playing a Roman tribune in the time of Jesus Christ, is now missing in action from the massive set of the Ben Hur-like biblical epic movie-within-a-movie, also titled “Hail, Caesar!”
On top of everything else, the Coens involve Mannix in three great set pieces that in themselves are worth the price of admission.
One is Mannix leading a focus group of four different religious leaders reviewing the depiction of the deity in the studio’s biblical epic. This exchange is one of the funniest Coen scenes ever.
The other marvelously funny two scenes are a Gene Kelly-like sailor-themed tap dancing routine with a blazing homoerotic subtext, and an attempt to turn singing cowboy Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich) into a black-tie matinee idol.
Mitch Wolfe: The Playful Contrarian 