Video: Romney Rips Trump, Ryan Ducks

My video comments on this, but first the stories:

On Romney’s ripping on Trump, Politico reports:

Mitt Romney opened a new front in the Republican Party’s civil war on Thursday, going after Donald Trump in a scorched-earth speech that eviscerated the Republican front-runner as lacking the temperament, business record and substantive policies to occupy the White House.

Romney immediately said at the outset of his remarks he would neither endorse a candidate nor announce a third presidential bid of his own. Instead, he focused nearly the entirety of his speech on the urgency of stopping Trump.

“If we Republicans choose Donald Trump as our nominee, the prospects for a safe and prosperous future are greatly diminished,” Romney warned, speaking at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

Trump’s economic policies would lead to a sustained recession, Romney charged. “Isn’t he a huge business success and doesn’t he know what he’s talking about?” Romney asked mockingly. “No, he isn’t, and no he doesn’t.”

“He inherited his business. He didn’t create it,” Romney said. “And what ever happened to Trump Airlines? How about Trump University? And then there’s Trump Magazine and Trump Vodka and Trump Steaks and Trump Mortgage? A business genius he is not.”

On Ryan Ducking, Politico reports:

Mitt Romney’s running mate is staying out of the 2012 nominee’s slugfest with Donald Trump.

Paul Ryan told reporters Thursday that he hadn’t even seen a copy of Romney’s speech denouncing Trump before Romney went public. The speaker said House Republicans would work with “whoever the nominee is.”

Ryan, however, did say he “laughed out loud” when Trump said Ryan would “pay a big price” if he couldn’t get along with the billionaire businessman, if he becomes the GOP presidential nominee.

“Sometimes reality is stranger than fiction these days. I don’t really think anything of it,” Ryan said. “I’m a good-natured guy. I get along with everybody.”

“Mitt and I are very close friends. We have talked about lots of things over the days and weeks,” Ryan added. “But I am not sure exactly what he is going to say. He feels the need to speak out on behalf of the Republican Party.”

My thoughts on these two:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7KSuFxRSW0?rel=0

By the way, I am listening to Chris Christie’s presser. He didn’t resign or withdraw support. He called the presser to answer questions and respond to calls for his resignation. He isn’t resigning.

Video: Pat’s Thoughts: Carly Fiorina and Chris Christie are out!

Sources:

Carly Fiorina bows out

Chris Christie to bail, Maybe?

Reuters: Ohio to fund Planned Parenthood

Chris Christie to bail, Maybe?

Getting alot of conflicting reports on this one.

First the Video, via Fox News Insider:

The Story via FNC Insider:

As results showed Chris Christie on track for a sixth place showing in New Hampshire, the New Jersey governor said that he would be heading home to evaluate his campaign, instead of continuing directly to South Carolina.

Christie said: “Mary Pat and I spoke tonight and we’ve decided we’re going to go home to New Jersey tomorrow and we’re going to take a deep breath, see what the final results are tonight. …

“We’ll make a decision on our next step forward based on the results.”

Watch the statement above.

UPDATE, 11:00am: The Christie campaign says no decision has been made on whether to end his presidential bid.

However, HotAir.com shares this tweet here:

Breaking News: @ChrisChristie is suspending his campaign. pic.twitter.com/dsERpbwO76

— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) February 10, 2016

So, who is right here? I don’t mean politically! I mean, about the story. 😉

Either way, I predicted this would happen in my last video that I shot last night. Sorry to see him go; I think Christie could have done well; if he had not had that bromance moment with President Obama. It might not have been what Christie had in mind; but in politics, image is everything and if you do something like that, it will come back to haunt you.

My thoughts on the Fox debate

Here are my thoughts on the Fox News debate tonight.

Please keep in mind that I am dictating this using voice to speech on my telephone. So, if the punctuation is bad or the wording sounds a little odd that is why.

Number 1: Donald Trump bombed, horribly. He came off as an arrogant a-hole. He attacked Meghan Kelly; he came off as a misogynist, aggressive a-hole, who respected no one else on that stage except for himself.

That might play well with his hardcore supporters and it might play well with his business friends in New York City and around the world, but it will not play well with middle America and it will not play well with women voters at all.

Number 2: Jeb Bush look like a freaking nerd. He looked like the smart intelligent geeky kid at debate club. He supports common core although he claims he doesn’t, he just wants higher standards. But, he did not look presidential he looked like he was nervous and a bit out of his element on the debate stage. I predict that he will not fare well in the primary.

Number 3: The rest of them did rather well. I think the sparring of Chris Christie and Rand Paul paints a drastic difference between the libertarian wing and the national security/antiterrorism wing of the Republican Party. The voters in the primaries, will have to choose which side of that divide that they want to vote for. It should be interesting.

Number 4: Mike Huckabee looks like a Southern Baptist preacher talking about politics. Although I did admire his defense of Social Security. I did not however, appreciate Chris Christie’s comments about Social Security. It sounds to me like he wants to gut it and possibly stop it. He needs to be a bit more clear about that.

Number 5: The only candidate that really stood out to me during the 5 o’clock debate was Carly Florina. I very much appreciated her smart answers to the questions that she was presented especially the ones about Iran. She very much held her own, being a woman and I think that was admirable. She would really make a good vice president and probably a president after the second term of whoever wins but she runs with.

So there you have it,my impressions of the first debate of the Republicans in 2015. I’m hoping that after the first primary this field gets narrowed down. Right now there is much too many people and much of their messages are interchangeable, except for some finite details. hopefully the ones who vote in the primaries will select the best candidate.

One thing I will say as an independent conservative who’s not beholden to any particular party as a rule. I keep hearing these candidates saying that America is going down, America is in terrible shape, America is not a good place now; and all that I feel that is bad messaging myself personally.

I feel that what they should be saying is America still the greatest nation on earth. It just has poor leadership at the moment and we need to change that.

Yes, America has problems. Yes, America has leaders now we were out of touch with the rest of the world and with the people of America obviously. But to say that America is going down to me strikes me as being anti- American.

America now is still the greatest place on earth to live. just ask all the Mexican immigrants who are coming across the border illegally. Obviously, we’re doing something right or they wouldn’t be pouring into this country.

I think that needs to be addressed in the upcoming debates. It’s bad messaging and it gives swing voters like my mom, the impression that the Republicans believe because we have a black president who is a Democrat that that makes America a bad place and that’s not a good message to be putting out to the rest of America are not necessarily Republicans.

Just my opinion and I will come yours here.

UPDATE: As I figured he would, Donald Trump is whining like a little bitch that he was picked on by Meghan Kelly.

If he can’t handle Meghan Kelly, how the hell is he going to handle the problems that he is going to meet in the White House?

The man is not entitled to be treated any differently than anybody else. I don’t give a darn how much money he has!

So, as far as I’m concerned; Donald Trump is no longer a serious candidate in my eyes and I am sure I’m not the only person that feels that way.

Update #2: Now a big story on Memeorandum.

It is official: Chris Christie is a neoconservative

I knew it, when the bridge scandal broke; that something was up with this big ol’ tub of lard —- and now, I now know that is true.

The New American Reports:

Speaking to a crowd of 700 at the Champions of Jewish Values International Awards Gala in New York on May 18, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (shown) called for a more aggressive, interventionist U.S. foreign policy.

Criticizing the Obama administration’s foreign policy, which he views as too weak, Christie charged: “America is no longer sending clear signals to the world. Consistent signals.” He continued: “Signals like the ones Ronald Reagan sent when he was president as to who our friends are, and we will stand with them without a doubt, and who are enemies are, who we will oppose regardless of the cost.”

Obviously believing that the United States has not acted aggressively enough through Obama’s foreign policy, Christie said: “The rest of the world watches in desperation and hope that America will realize and act upon once again its indispensable place in the world.”

Christie insisted that America’s leaders must send “clear and consistent signals” to those nations it supports and those it doesn’t while promoting America’s values.

Given the venue, observers interpreted “those nations it supports” to include Israel, but he did not mention the Jewish state by name.

“We need to stand once again loudly for these values,” Christie said. “And sometimes that’s going to mean standing in some very messy, difficult places. Standing long and hard for those things that we believe in.”

Christie was particularly critical of what he considers the Obama administration’s lack of sufficient response to Iran’s nuclear enrichment program and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s alleged use of chemical weapons.

He expressed dismay that “even the thought” exists of Iran building a nuclear weapon. He also criticized Obama for saying he’d draw a “red line” warning Assad not to use chemical weapons, but not intervening when alleged evidence of such attacks was presented.

“Once you draw that red line you enforce it, because if you don’t, America’s credibility will be at stake,” Christie asserted.

Needless to say; I will be removing the blog posting about Chris Christie that I wrote a while back. 😡 What an idiot, pander to the Wilsonians, so he can get elected. He won’t be getting my vote, that is for sure.

It is official: Chris Christie is done

This is not really shocking, but sad to see. (Via the Corner)

The former Port Authority official who personally oversaw the lane closings on the George Washington Bridge in the scandal now swirling around Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said on Friday that the governor knew about the lane closings when they were happening, and that he had the evidence to prove it.

In a letter released by his lawyer, the official, David Wildstein, a high school friend of Mr. Christie’s who was appointed with the governor’s blessing at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which controls the bridge, described the order to close the lanes as “the Christie administration’s order” and said “evidence exists as well tying Mr. Christie to having knowledge of the lane closures, during the period when the lanes were closed, contrary to what the governor stated publicly in a two-hour press conference” three weeks ago.

“Mr. Wildstein contests the accuracy of various statements that the governor made about him and he can prove the inaccuracy of some,” the letter added.

The letter marked the first signal that Mr. Christie may have been aware of the closings, something he repeatedly denied during the news conference.

via Christie Knew About Lane Closings, Ex-Port Authority Official Says – NYTimes.com.

I agree with the guy at the corner; Christie is done in politics. Sad thing too. 🙁 Anything that I wrote about him in the past, and there has been a few things, is now null and void.

Why Chris Christie will not be President

I know I have written about Chris Christie and how much I like the guy in the past. However, I am quite the realist; and I happen to know that the man does not have a prayer. I will explain this after the story quote.

Quote:

Gov. Chris Christie’s “bizarre behavior’’ in refusing to say he’ll support a possible GOP challenger to Gov. Cuomo next year could derail his chances to become president, state and national GOP insiders have told The Post.

“Christie already has a problem with many Republicans refusing to forgive him because of his embrace of [President] Obama and his socially liberal policies,’’ said a nationally prominent GOP operative. “But this bizarre behavior in suggesting he won’t help a Republican defeat a Democratic governor, and a Cuomo no less, could finish off his chances of becoming his party’s nominee for president in 2016,’’ the operative continued.

via Christie’s ‘bizarre behavior’ could undermine presidential chances | New York Post.

If Chris Christie tries to run for President of the United States in 2016, it will be a fool’s errand. The reasons are many:

The Conservative grassroots sees him as too moderate, even a closeted liberal. In actuality Christie is simply a moderate pragmatist; but that means nothing in politics, especially of the presidential sort. The Republican Party has become a purist party and moderates like him are simply not wanted.
The Republican establishment sees Christie as a loose cannon and as too much of a moderate. While the Republican establishment loathes the “tea party,” they are not fools, they would never risk a high stakes election in 2016 on someone like Christie. The republicans are worried about electability; and Christie does not fit that bill.

It is a pity that politics has become a likeability contest anymore; but thanks to the liberal media and a complacent Republican establishment; which is more interested in protecting its reputation and it’s entrenched special interests —- things like this will most likely never change. It has been said many times, that in this day and age, Ronald Reagan would never make it out of the primary and it is true. The Republican Party let Reagan slip, because of public backlash among the grassroots, which the media captured in the “I’m paying for the microphone!” moment.

However, things now have changed and will never, ever see an economic populist, true midwestern American President again; especially seeing that the protected ethnic minority caucuses on the right. I hope that I would be wrong about this; however, I am one that will readily concede to reality — and this is the reality of American Republican politics.

It is truly a shame; but it is the truth.