Last Call For Trumpster Dumpsters

So there are quite a few Republicans who aren't so much "upset" with Trump's rampant racist, misogynist and Islamophobic garbage as they are "convinced he's going to lose".  Republicans are okay with racism, misogyny and Islamophobia, that's why Donald Trump won their primary easily. What they really hate however is a loser, so the "Dump Trump" long knives are out.

Some lawmakers, senior members of the Republican National Committee and delegates to the party’s convention next month in Cleveland acknowledged in interviews this week that another disruptive self-inflicted crisis would force the party to begin seriously looking at ways to deny Mr. Trump the nomination.

So far, discussions of a renewed dump-Trump drive have taken place only among the factions of the party that are openly opposed to Mr. Trump, and they have failed to gain much support.

But Mr. Trump’s suggestion that Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel’s Mexican heritage should disqualify him from hearing a lawsuit against Trump University has reawakened talk of hatching a convention coup — a complicated and nearly impossible measure of last resort that has no precedent in modern Republican politics.

Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee and one of Mr. Trump’s most unapologetic backers on Capitol Hill, suggested this week that Mr. Trump had “a crucial two- or three-week period” to smooth out his rougher edges or put his nomination in jeopardy.

Stopping Mr. Trump at this point could prove additionally difficult, however, because he has quietly filled the most important convention committees — those that will determine the rules and platform — with delegates loyal to him.

Initially seen as not having a strong delegate whip operation, Mr. Trump can now count on about half the seats on the platform and rules committees, according to Republicans who have been tracking delegate selection. This is a major turnaround from two months ago, when Senator Ted Cruz’s campaign was sweeping the delegate contests.

The bottom line is that Trump has until the end of the month to show he can be coached and that his people can get a handle on containing his toxic waste dump of a mouth, otherwise the Republicans are apparently going to try to depose him.

I'm all for an ugly convention and I'll tell you why: the Republicans out there who supposedly see Trump as a problem have one last chance to save their party or be consigned to the dustbin of history. They are going to have to decide which is worse: the immediate amputation of the Trump wing of the party, or the soul cancer of him taking over as head that will slowly wipe them all out.

The first option will cost them 2016. The rough beast slouching towards Cleveland will not abide being starved, and they will turn on each other, coughing up either a badly weakened nominee with Trump as a serious third party threat, or a perhaps a Trump with no support in the general and the GOP simply taking a dive to clear the decks.

The second option however will cost them the country for a generation, it will be their McGovern moment. For even the notion of dumping Trump to be in print is either sign of the RNC throwing a Hail Mary or so utterly incompetent in the message discipline department now that they are doomed in November anyway (and probably a long time after that).

Do I think the Republicans are smart enough to save themselves from Trump?  Possibly. But are there enough of them with the courage to do so?

Don't make me laugh.

The Next Bundy Ranch

Armed insurrection against the federal government only seems to happen when there's a Democrat in the White House, and I doubt that will change under Madam President.  However, let's not forget that there's still seven months left in the Obama administration, and it looks like we're going to have another episode of Bundy Ranch/Oregon Wildlife Sanctuary idiocy on our hands this summer, this time in Utah's Cedar Mesa.

Now, President Obama is weighing whether and how he can leave his own permanent imprint on history by designating about 2 million acres of land, known as the Bears Ears, as a national monument. 

And despite the uniformly acknowledged historical significance of the area, some people regard the conservation efforts by the White House as classic federal overreach. In the current-era conflict between Washington and rural Westerners, the idea of a Bears Ears national monument has produced warnings of a possible armed insurrection. 

In a state where the federal government owns 65 percent of the land, many conservatives already resent existing restrictions because they bar development that could generate additional revenue. Out-of-state militias came to San Juan County two years ago, when Commissioner Phil Lyman helped lead an all-terrain-vehicle protest ride through a canyon the Bureau of Land Management had closed to motorized traffic in 2007. Lyman is appealing the 10-day jail sentence he received in connection with the protest, and he argues that his case shows how BLM officials place the priorities of environmentalists over those of local residents.

“I would hope that my fellow Utahans would not use violence, but there are some deeply held positions that cannot just be ignored,” Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, the veteran Republican lawmaker, said in an interview.

Well, that's certainly comforting.  And once again, the President clearly has the law on his side.

But some lawmakers have suggested that unilateral action by the president, under the 1906 Antiquities Act, could provoke the same sort of resistance that led to the 41-day armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon earlier this year. 

“There is a lot of conflict that has escalated into being on the precipice of violence that is unnecessary and unwarranted,” said Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), who opposes the designation. 

Obama has approached the designation of national monuments as a way to bolster the country’s defenses against climate change and as a way to make the national narrative more inclusive, in addition to his obligation to safeguard the country’s national treasures.

Please note that Utah Republicans aren't saying that the President doesn't have the authority to do this, note that they are saying if he does designate the national monument that he will provoke possibly deadly violence and it will be his fault.

That's insanity.

President Obama is attempting to protect Native American culture (and more than any other president in memory he has done quite a bit in that regard) as well as land vulnerable to climate change and the response from the "loyal opposition" is "Oh, well you can do that but *I* wouldn't, you're likely to get somebody shot."

Can Republicans not be awful, even for a moment?

Liz Laser Lights Up Lame Loser

It amazes me that with all the opponents that went after Donald J. Trump in the primary that the best man for the job of taking him down turns out to be a very intelligent, very qualified woman: one Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

He has personally — personally! — directed his army of campaign surrogates to step up their own public attacks on Judge Curiel. He’s even condemned federal judges who are Muslim on the disgusting theory that Trump's own bigotry compromises the judge’s neutrality. You just can’t make this stuff up. 

Now, like all federal judges, Judge Curiel is bound by the federal code of judicial ethics not to respond to these attacks. Trump is picking on someone who is ethically bound not to defend himself — exactly what you would expect from a thin-skinned, racist bully.

These are the words that Republicans should have used a year ago to stop Trump. They chose not to (something about racist, thin-skinned glass houses and several metric tons of palm-sized rocks perfect for throwing) and the result is a huge target on the GOP presumptive nominee that Sen. Warren and other Democrats will be hitting on a regular basis for the next six months.

Expect it.

By the way, if you think this is a hell of an audition for Hillary's veep pick, you would not be the only one.

StupidiNews!

• President Obama, Vice President Biden, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren have all formally endorsed Hillary Clinton as the Democratic party nominee for President.
• The US military will now be allowed a greater role in assisting Afghan forces against the Taliban by joining regular Afghan troops into combat and not just special operations forces.
• Russia says it will respond the the entry of a US naval ship into the Black Sea ahead of a July NATO summit in Poland.
• The success of recent Broadway musicals like Hamilton is spurring the theater industry to push for the same tax deductions that television and movie productions get from Congress.
• The names of four heavy elements on the periodic table have been formalized by scientists as the world officially meets Nihonium, Moscovium, Tennessine, and Oganesson.