As we've all learned through painful experience, it's rarely a good idea to predict that Donald Trump is going to suffer because of some controversial thing he's said or done. To his Republican base, at least, he can do no wrong.
Or can he?
Transgender people should be able to use whatever bathroom they want, Donald Trump said Thursday.Kevin Drum wonders how this will go over in Trump Nation:
"Oh, I had a feeling that question was going to come up, I will tell you. North Carolina did something that was very strong. And they're paying a big price. There's a lot of problems," the Republican presidential candidate said during a town hall event on NBC's "Today."
... "There have been very few complaints the way it is. People go. They use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate," Trump said. "There has been so little trouble. And the problem with what happened in North Carolina is the strife and the economic -- I mean, the economic punishment that they're taking."
Matt Lauer then asked whether Trump has any transgender people working for his company.
"I really don't know. I probably do. I really don't know," Trump said, answering that he would allow, say, transgender celebrity Caitlyn Jenner to use whatever bathroom she wanted at Trump Tower.
At a guess, Trump's supporters are mostly people who think the North Carolina law is a good idea. Or at least, they used to. But now that Trump has come out against it, will the rights of transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice become the latest rallying cry of the angry working class? Perhaps we're about to find out just how much influence Trump really has with his supporters.Let's go to the Trump-friendly confines of Free Republic and see how this is playing:
Donald, you have lost your mind.Ted Cruz pounced:
Thanks for messing over an awful lot of your supporters.
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It should be no surprise when liberals say liberal things.
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And the veil comes off. He’s not a conservative and will not advance conservatism....
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I’m out of here. This really hacks me off. It is absolutely indefensible.
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People are going to start wearing Depends when they are out in public for long periods. They will stop using restrooms.
The public restroom will cease to be.
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Civil unions > gay marriage > bathroom perverts > Marxist utopia.
Common sense: grown men shouldn't be in bathrooms w/ little girls. @realDonaldTrump told us he could be PC, but wow. https://t.co/WB93ATZYy4
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 21, 2016
During a Thursday interview with conservative radio host Glenn Beck, Cruz expressed support for the North Carolina law, arguing that the provision regarding bathrooms makes sense.But if Cruz wants to salvage his campaign, he should do more than pounce -- he should make this the #1 issue he talks about from now on.
"My five-year-old knows the difference between boys and girls. You’ve got the Obama education department suing to try to force junior highs to let teenage boys shower with teenage girls," Cruz told Beck. "That’s crazy. That’s not a reasonable position, and it is simply crazy."
Cruz doesn't do very well in the East, where Republicans are far less likely to be evangelical Christians, and so he's looking at defeats in five Eastern states this coming Tuesday. But it's my sense from watching the right that rank-and-file conservatives, secular as well as religious, have worked themselves up into a frenzy over transgendered bathroom rights. They are as certain that accommodating trans people in public restrooms leads to rape as they are that massive voter fraud is taking place -- i.e., they don't care what the facts say because it just feels true.
So Cruz should probably run an all-toilet campaign from now on. No, it won't endear him to the business-oriented Republican muckamucks he'll need at the convention, but he can tell them he doesn't really mean what he's saying -- remember, he's the guy who's out there promising to deal with the "crisis" of gay marriage while hitting up rich gay businessmen for cash and quietly telling other wealthy donors that fighting marriage equality wouldn't be"a top-three priority" in a Cruz administration.
So go for it, Ted. Trump is out-hating you on so many issues. This is your chance to out-hate him for once. I think this could really drive Trump's poll numbers down, even in the East, unless he walks it back.
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UPDATE, FRIDAY: I think Cruz is taking my advice.
Donald Trump won't take on the PC police...https://t.co/IZ1Xo3gxOg
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) April 22, 2016
Also:
I suppose in these bigoted imbeciles homes, there's a separate bathroom for males, and another one for females. Nope, no unisex bathrooms in their double-wides!
ReplyDeleteJayzoos, what a stupid issue!
Well, there'll be a new low-paid job coming soon. Remember hallway monitors in schools, back in the day? Well, now, there'll be bathroom monitors in schools, and businesses.
Now THAT'S what I call a shitty job!
Steve M's dead on here: Cruz should go Full Cloacal on this. it's exactly the brand he'll want to be stuck with thru his entire national political career. 24/7 armed hall monitors sexing all who seek entry to a shitter.
ReplyDelete'But I'm not going in there to use that. I'm only going in for a crap, not a tinkle.'
- 'We can't take yo;ur word for that. We'll be sending you in accompanied by an armed security personnel. One false move to the wrong part of the grainal area, and you'll be blown away like yo;u never could imagine.'
BLAM - BLAM BLAM BLAM FLAM BLAM
'What's that?'
- 'Fire alarm. Or maybe the girls volleyball team practice, not sure.'
Should have been Ted. And the other one, too.
ReplyDeleteThe sickness is tiny minorities distracting the people from the real economic problems resulting from job outsourcing and open immigration. Of course if you are a "creative class" liberal rather than a left socialist/populist, you relate more to the bizarre and selfish concerns of the miniscule few.
ReplyDelete" Of course if you are a "creative class" liberal rather than a left socialist/populist, you relate more to the bizarre and selfish concerns of the miniscule few."
DeleteWhile I can't speak to the bathroom laws of any other state, the one in North Carolina also vacates all existing local and county LGBTQ anti-discrimination laws in the state, and forbids new ones, as well as prohibiting local ordinances raising minimum wages above that of the state as a whole.
(Once again, the conservatards' professed concerns for "local control" are revealed as a sham and a lie, and the cons themselves shown to be arrant hypocrites -- but then, that's hardly news.)
So, Ken -- are you ignorant of these aspects of the law, or just pretending they don't exist (ie, lying)?
Or perhaps you're suggesting that the total population of LGBTQ citizens plus those paid at or near the min-wage in North Carolina constitute "the miniscule [sic, as well as sick] few," hmm?
Which is it?
ReplyDeleteI am the most happiest woman on earth,when i was having serious issues with my Husband, my marriage was falling apart and i was devastated. My Husband left home and it became a very big and difficult problem i almost died from heartbreak, i have to find a solution, I went to 5 different spell casters they all failed me, I really wasn’t sure anymore if spells were real so as i was making a search one faithful day, i saw some great reviews about Dr Abalaka I was a bit skeptical at first but I purchased a love spell from him and he said he will take his time to do a love spell that will bring my Husband back in 24 hour,No one could have ever made me believe as he said my Husband reconciled with me, I felt good to have my husband back, when he returned him said he would never leave me again...dr.Abalaka@outlook.com he is the best spell caster i can count on him when it comes to all kinds of spell..his email: dr.abalaka@outlook.com i see so many people testifying about his perfect work. thank you Dr Abalaka and may your Gods ever reward you for your good deeds.
Five (5) different spell casters -- oh, my!
DeleteIs there a union, or are they all in the yellow pages -- or do they do Google's Ad Words?
I'm trying to decide if this is parody, or real commercial spam -- but this seems too much effort for Dada, so let's assume it's for real.
Mariam, you should know that vanishingly few lefties would fall for something like this.
If you want to raise your close rate, you should limit your placements to the right-wing parts of the blogosphere, especially those visibly populated by the lower-IQ set, and those already given to counterfactual conspiracy bents, such as Breitbart, FreeRepublic, and the Wall Street Journal.
Ah hah! Miriam's comment (above) explains why Cruz is running behind Trump. Dr. Abalaka cast a spell that made it happen. No wonder Mariam's comment appeared on a political blog.
ReplyDeleteYours crankily,
The New York Crank
He took on the PC police with Tubman, if he has not retracted.
ReplyDeleteWait, what?
ReplyDelete"bathroom perverts > Marxist utopia"
There are people at FreepeRville who hold "bathroom perverts" in higher regard than a Marxist Utopia?
I knew they here pretty hardcore in their antiCommunism, but that seems a bit much even for them.