January 23, 2016

What did Trump say about standing in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shooting somebody and what did it mean? Was it crazy?

No, it wasn't crazy. It was a colorful way of referring to polls that say people have definitely decided to vote for him and they're not going to change their mind. It's some comic hyperbole. Transcribed and punctuated correctly, it looks like this:
"And you know what else they say about my people —the polls — they say I have the most loyal people — did you ever see that? —  where I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK? It's, like, incredible."

51 comments:

jr565 said...

it is incredible. in that its kind of accurate. Trump supporters are that dumb. Sorry, but its true.
Its hyperbole, but its also true.
I'm sure he's amazed that he's said what he's said and none of his supporters have said "What? Did Trump just say that?"
This was the same thing that occured with obama, by the way. he could go to a church that says GOD DAMN AMERIKKKA! and no one would bat an eye that him sitting in that pew for 20 years might have some indication of who he hung out with or his sensibilities.
And now, we have the same thing occuring on the right.

Only, I'm not convinced that most of the people saying they are for Trump are conservatives. Or even for Trump. Its an operation to undermine other Republican candidates. I'm sure of it. Its either the media doing it or the democrats are doing it. they are propping him up so people like Bush spend all their money and drop out and you are left with Trump. Then when electoin time comes around and he's the nomineee, all the support drops out.

Its either that, or there are a lot of dumb people out there. Maybe thats the way it always will be. There will always be a group of people that fall for the cult of personality.

Etienne said...

It wouldn't be funny with a dictator, but he's no dictator.

Quaestor said...

More tempting bait for the ever more frustrated establishment Republicans and their breathless minions to waste their flagging energies upon.

Trump is playing a subtle psychological game on his critics, a kind of mental poker, that few of them have the wits to see through. It's like being caught in a Chinese finger trap, the more one struggles, the more confounded one becomes. Trump perfected this decades ago, in his wheeler-dealer real estate empire-building days.

pm317 said...

Haha.. media is spinning it like this: "Trump: I could shoot people in streets and not lose support" take a look at memeorandum

pm317 said...

Media is conveniently leaving this part out: "And you know what else they say about my people —the polls — they say I have the most loyal people — did you ever see that? — "

n.n said...

Great insight. Principles are stronger than bullets.

Fabi said...

Well said, jr565! Always feel free to trash the millions of supporters of the front runner by calling them dumb! Do you have a newsletter that I can subscribe to?

Sal said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Phil 314 said...

Same shit, different day.

Sal said...

Well then, who are the smart people supporting? And don't make me laugh.

jr565 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
jr565 said...

""
Trump is playing a subtle psychological game on his critics, a kind of mental poker, that few of them have the wits to see through. It's like being caught in a Chinese finger trap, the more one struggles, the more confounded one becomes. Trump perfected this decades ago, in his wheeler-dealer real estate empire-building days."
OR he's telling his voters how much of a rube they are. And they, apparently are nodding in agreement. They thinks he's laughing with them, but he's really laughing at them.

jr565 said...

Fabi wrote:
Well said, jr565! Always feel free to trash the millions of supporters of the front runner by calling them dumb! Do you have a newsletter that I can subscribe to?

Who the cap fit, let them wear it.

jr565 said...

Fabi,
If it makes it any easier for you I also said Obama voters were dumb too. He was also the front runner.

Anonymous said...

Sal: ...And don't make my laugh.

Is that a double-dog dare? I'll try:

The Duckopoulos @jokeocracy
TRUMP BURNS NYT REPORTER ALIVE DURING RALLY

GOP Frontrunner Now Leads By Fifty Points In All States
6:06 PM - 15 Jan 2016
78 Retweets 140 likes

Jr565: Hey, could you please stop saying the exact same shit over and over again in every comment? Crazy is OK. Crazy and monomaniacal? It's all good. But crazy and just about verbatim-repetitive? Boring.

Big Mike said...

Unfortunately he's quite right.

hombre said...

Trumpadopes are as loyal as Obamadupes and just as deluded. Americans have lost the capacity to learn from experience.

Jason said...

Shoot. Every time I see Twitter or the media or anyone else losing their minds over the latest outrageous thing Trump said, I look it up and it turns out Trump said nothing of the sort, or his words were taken wildly out of context. Every. Single. Time.

I'm not a Trump supporter. But so far the stupidity of his supporters has been outweighed only by the stupidity of his perpetually outraged critics.

Fabi said...

It's not about being easy for me, jr565, it's about winning against Hillary.

Calling Trump supporters dumb doesn't accomplish that goal. Have you thought this through? Are you immune to irony?

Why don't the anti-Trumpers try to understand his appeal and see if that can't translate to your preferred candidate. I'd like Cruz to glean what he can from Trump's message and persuade DT supporters to join his side -- that would thrill me. Maybe there's an issue that Trump is better communicating to the voters than Rubio. Maybe there's something to be learned from his appeal.

G-d knows the Republicans need all the votes they can get to succeed. Why alienate potential voters?

CWJ said...

Trump is simply getting out ahead of his critics and the media. Essentially the same has been said by many of us about Obama and many other Dems. The difference is that while they stay mum with no fear of anyone respectable calling them on it, Trump embraces it and laughs in their face. Having done so, what can the respectable people do now that Trump himself has drawn out the sting. Brilliant, but only because he's stayed true to his "bite me" attitude.

Paddy O said...

jr565:

Not or, and.

cubanbob said...

As a net taxpayer I have been getting screwed for decades, resigned to it by now so when it comes to Trump, if nothing else changes in terms of me getting screwed at least I get some entertainment value in return. Hillary and Sanders are such humorless apparatchiks, no humor there but the prospect of Hillary going to prison does have its charms.

grimson said...

Irrational exuberance seldom ends well.

pm317 noted: "And you know what else they say about my people —the polls — they say I have the most loyal people — did you ever see that? — " A recent Gallup poll also showed Trump to have the second highest unfavorable rating. (Jeb is tops.)

effinayright said...

I'm waiting for him to say he's bigger than Jesus now....

Paco Wové said...

'media is spinning it like this: "Trump: I could shoot people in streets and not lose support"'

Well, if they were the right people...

Titus said...

I love walking, public transit, the T, Grimes, and not driving.

tits.

pm317 said...

grimson said..
-------------

Hey.. I didn't note that. I am just cutting and pasting what is in Althouse's transcript as what Trump said and comparing it with the media headlines.

jr565 said...

Anglelyne, sometimes you have to be beaten about the head with repetition to get the point. Especially if you are not getting it.

but I,lol try to vary it for you a bit more.
Now, about the point that trump makes about his followers still voting for him if he shot someone what about it? If even the candidate notices, maybe it's true?

Anonymous said...

jr565; Anglelyne, sometimes you have to be beaten about the head with repetition to get the point. Especially if you are not getting it.

Is that a cry for help, jr?

khematite said...

Definitely not as amusing or colorful a comment on the subject of voter support as what Edwin Edwards said in his run for governor against David Duke: "The only way I can lose this election is if I'm caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy"

jr565 said...

fabi wrote:
Well said, jr565! Always feel free to trash the millions of supporters of the front runner by calling them dumb! Do you have a newsletter that I can subscribe to?

what do you think the tea party was doing when it attacked "establishment republicans"? Or when Donald attacks establishment republicans. Were you bashing mitt Romney when HE was the front runner?
Was Sarah plain trashing establishment repubs when she targeted their districts to remove them from office?
I don't mp get why you should think one side can go into attack mode, and the other side can't also go into attack mode. Or why people who don't want trump to be the nominee can't fight to make sure he isn't. Trumbots are certainly fighting to make sure he is.

jr565 said...

Anglelyne, no it's an attempt to get you to defend your candidate and his discrepencies. Which you don't do.

Christopher said...

Media is conveniently leaving this part out: "And you know what else they say about my people —the polls — they say I have the most loyal people — did you ever see that? — "

Yeah. And of course tonight one of the local Washington DC news stations briskly referred to Trump's "violent language" with the gun metaphor, in between shots of their news vans driving around in the snow with crews reporting no one should drive around in the snow. God the major media is such a cesspool of corruption.

traditionalguy said...

New York Values and also Scots Values include an unbreakable loyalty commitment to a Leader who has first made a loyalty commitment to them. Trump is noting that as a heads up signal to the Establishment GOP that the only smart move left now is to join him, because with followers like his, you can't beat him.

jr565 said...

Christopher,
Obamas supporters were also loyal to a fault. To the point where it would seem to critics of Obama that they are carrying his water. So they would hold bush to account for drone strikes for example. But then when Obama expands the drone policy we hear crickets.
Do they really have a problem with drone strikes then? If the only reason they are howling in,outrage is because their guy is not in power then I really have no interest in the argument. Since it's not credible.
Most conservatives haveno problem calling out Obama supporters for their rampant hypocrisy. Because they are partisanly hypocritical. And it's blatant.
Do you reallythink that trumbots do not have that same hypocrisy?

chickelit said...

jr565 said...I don't mp get why you should think one side can go into attack mode, and the other side can't also go into attack mode. Or why people who don't want trump to be the nominee can't fight to make sure he isn't. Trumbots are certainly fighting to make sure he is.

Offhand, I'd say that it's because of a fundamental power imbalance. The Tea Party started out Grass Roots with no power trying to tell established Republicans a thing or two. They did this by "targeting" certain Republicans who didn't listen. After a few elections and seeing that they could make nothing happen, established Republicans started saying screw you, we're fighting you. So now with this election, Jeb or Rubio were supposed to be foisted on republican voters despite fundamental disagreements on topics like immigration. Now we're at a point where "True Conservatives" are fighting back using the same the political weapons and tactics as Trump and Cruz supporters. If the "True Conservatives" have a real grass roots movement, then fine. But at this point they just look like another ensconced DC Establishment.

traditionalguy said...

Where does authority come from? The political dispute goes on and on. Jesus said he would not answer that question coming from the Jerusalem Temple Apparatchiks, unless they first told him where John The Baptist's authority came from. (Hint: it came from God's Word spoken by the Hebrew Prophets)

jr565 said...

Traditional guy wrote:
New York Values and also Scots Values include an unbreakable loyalty commitment to a Leader who has first made a loyalty commitment to them. Trump is noting that as a heads up signal to the Establishment GOP that the only smart move left now is to join him, because with followers like his, you can't beat him.

follow him where? Off a cliff? You are describing A herd mentality. What do trumpbots want from his administration. Are they following him like children followed the pied piper? Or do they want him to deliver goals. Well, What goals. Small govt or big govt. if establishment GOP are the enemy beciase they keep pushing big govt, that would suggest that trumpbots are against big govt. but trump has suggested that he is all for big govt. so then why would you support trump? And why would you not support RINO's. Even worse, why would you pretend that he wasn't for big Govt.
It would be like me saying Harry Reid is a tea partier. No, he changed see. He was a democrat but now he's a fiscal conservative. Because he says so. Where's the evidence? Well he has a lot of followers who are following him saying he is the real tea partier. Those other tea partiers are just RINO's according to them. Based on what criterion?!

jr565 said...

Chikelit wrote
"Offhand, I'd say that it's because of a fundamental power imbalance. The Tea Party started out Grass Roots with no power trying to tell established Republicans a thing or two. They did this by "targeting" certain Republicans who didn't listen. After a few elections and seeing that they could make nothing happen, established Republicans started saying screw you, we're fighting you. So now with this election, Jeb or Rubio were supposed to be foisted on republican voters despite fundamental disagreements on topics like immigration. Now we're at a point where "True Conservatives" are fighting back using the same the political weapons and tactics as Trump and Cruz supporters. If the "True Conservatives" have a real grass roots movement, then fine. But at this point they just look like another ensconced DC Establishment."

But they don't think that trump is the establishment? Where are they getting that impression? What does the establishment do? Work with the democrats, push big govt, push amnesty.
That's what trump is pushing. He's saying, vote those guys out so I can come in and do the exact same thing. Trumbots seem to be saying That'll show em! But if you replace the RINO with the democrat what have you accomplished?

MPH said...

Prof. Althouse -- come on...

jr565 said...

Most republicans don't like universal health care. Most liberals like universal health care. If Bernie sanders came out and said he as for private insurance companies and market driven healthcare he wouldn't get a lot of liberal votes.
Trump does like universal health care. He thinks Canada's system is great. He wants to raise taxes on rich fat cats to implement universal health care. He also wants to do so as the republican candidate.
What do trumpbots want in healthcare? Is their objection to obamacare that it's not market driven but instead is a huge govt program? Then they are probably a conservative. But if they are thinking its a problem that it's not a big govt program paid for by rich fat cats then they are probably liberals.
Don't you think they should have to answer that question? Because if he's for universal health care why should conservatives carry that banner? He is going to be the leader of the party. Republicans have to vote for him. Is universal health care now going to be what's pushed by republicans?
No thanks!
And if they are not for universal healthcare do they want to elect trump and then have republicans act as the opposition party to the republican leader? Are they going to be mad if repubs rubber stamp big govt programs rather than fight to keep sending in line? Then why would you nominate the guy who says that's what he wants?
If that's what trumbots want, they have a great candidate in the Democratic Party who is also pushing universal health care. I suggest they go there.

Ambrose said...

When I was just a baby
My Mama told me, "Son
Always be a good boy
Don't ever play with guns, "
But I shot a man on Fifth Avenue
Just to watch him die
When I hear that whistle blowin'
I hang my head and cry

Jimmy said...

@Ambrose
Thread winner by a mile. hilarious

Chuck said...

lol. You could read this, and think that Professor Althouse created the story as a prank. But, as they say on the playgrounds, "U can't make this stuff up."

Univision was brilliant, buying The Onion.
http://www.builtinchicago.org/2016/01/21/no-joke-univision-just-bought-controlling-stake-onion-reported-200m

The Onion is destined to be the World's Finest News Source for the Trump era.

ZZMike said...

Much the same has been said about Hillary - just not by her. It does point out how some on each side are so completely convinced of their positions (not necessarily their favorite candidates) that nothing would ever change their minds.

averagejoe said...

Trump talks like one of those diagrams that has all different words of varying sizes within a space. "PEOPLE... I have PEOPLE... my PEOPLE stay... he doesn't have PEOPLE, none of them do. None of them have PEOPLE... SOFT... They're SOFT, they're numbers are SOFT, they're all SOFT..."

Matt Sablan said...

There are people willing to vote for Hillary Clinton, so, he's probably right.

Oso Negro said...

Donald Trump: "I'm YUGE! I'm smart, I'm rich. I fucked the best women. You're small! You're weak! I can say anything!"

jr is right. It would be a frightful shock to many to wake up one morning and realize they missed Obama.

Gabriel said...

What would the media reaction be, if Trump had said "The only way I can lose this election is if I'm caught in bed with either a dead girl or a live boy"?*

"Gay Trump Supports Necrophilia"?

I don't know if I'm more annoyed by the cry-bully faux outrage, the blatantly partisan double-standards, or the historical amnesia, of today's media.

*That Democrat, by the way, is still alive, did win his election, and since he was paroled in 2014 is still running for office.

Moneyrunner said...

Trump satisfies the anger of the high school graduate in flyover country who reads about the goings-on in academia supported by his taxes. He’s loving the way Trump brought up the Clinton sex scandals which Jeb! is too polite to mention.

The reason that nothing seems to stick to Trump is because this isn’t about Trump, it’s about the Democrats who are nothing but Left Wing fringe with no center, and the Republicans who are afraid to stick up for the middle class white guy because they’ll be called racists.

And that's it. The Democrats have the black vote, the illegal immigrant vote, the La Raza vote, the Marxist professor vote, the Mattress Girl vote, the crazed Feminazi vote, the LGBTQLSMFT vote, the newspaper editorial writer vote, the network anchor vote, the George Soros vote, the Muslim Jihadist vote, the Hollywood vote, while dissing white Christian males and the women who love them.

And the Republican political class want to be just like them. At National Review they think outsourcing factory jobs to China and Mexico is good because of "comparative advantage" will appeal to the guy whose factory was just closed.

Is it any wonder that Trump's supporters are loyal and that he's winning?

mikee said...

>Donald Trump: "I'm YUGE! I'm smart, I'm rich. I fucked the best women. You're small! You're weak! I can say anything!"

Well, I'd correct that to read: "You're small! You're weak! And I am on your side, like an 800 pound gorilla, like a bull in a china shop, like the elephant in the room, like an aircraft carrier in a bathtub.!"

Trump is not offering servitude to his followers. He is offering his rather significant help in obtaining what the followers want.