Jeb Bush is malingering at a mere 14% support and Scott Walker even less than that and most of the rest in that clown car are floundering in the single digits. What does this mean? Nothing. Unless you have the creepy sensation that Americans have dumped democracy in favor of entertainment.
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Molly Ball, writing in The Atlantic, watches Donald Trump in action down on the border -- in Laredo.
The pundits love to talk about what Trump is really doing, because he can’t really be running to be president. Is he trying to boost his brand? Is he trying to make more money? But money-wise, this deal is a loser for Trump. He has lost his hit TV show and his Macy’s clothing line. Univision refused to air the Trump-owned Miss USA pageant. He is funding the campaign out of his own pocket.
What if—the most terrifying thought of all—the presidency, not approval or money or anything else, is what he really wants? “I’m in first place by a lot, it seems, according to all the polls,” Trump says, in his New York accent, with his usual facial expression: a sort of perpetually nonplussed duckface, like he is continually being impressed with himself anew. “We’ll see soon enough, but I think I’ll get the nomination.”
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All of this leaves Ted Cruz -- who just knows he's what America really needs in the White House* -- pissed off and acting out. Also in The Atlantic, Russell Berman describes Cruz getting himself and his demon ego in trouble. He calls Senate Majority Leader a liar.
Accusing another senator of lying on the Senate floor is not just rare—it runs counter to the Senate’s rules:
No Senator in debate shall, directly or indirectly, by any form of words impute to another Senator or to other Senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a Senator.
Cruz’s rant against his party leader was all the more notable because he has repeatedly refused to denounce Donald Trump’s critique of immigrants, or his later attack on John McCain, because, Cruz told Chuck Todd on Meet the Press: “I’m not interested in Republican-on-Republican violence.” That principled stand appears to have given way to Cruz’s desire for the votes that Trump is now hogging.
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Thing is, the Republican party is in a state of embarrassing frustration. Just look at what they're up to:
On consecutive days last week, two Republican senators, both of whom are hoping to be the next President, released videos in which they destroyed stuff. First, Rand Paul went at a pile of paper, which he said was the United States tax code, with fire, a wood chipper, and a chain saw. (He wore safety goggles—he may be against regulations, but he’s also an ophthalmologist.) The next day saw Lindsey Graham attacking his Samsung flip phone with a cleaver, a blender, and a golf club. He also dropped a concrete block on it, threw it off a roof, and doused it with lighter fluid and ignited it. These videos suggest that Fox News, which is co-hosting the first G.O.P. Presidential debate, in Cleveland, on August 6th, should have in place firm rules regarding props, and that, perhaps, extra fire marshals should be deployed. With sixteen declared candidates, there is already a crowd-control problem; now the campaign threatens to be defined by demolition. ...AmyDavidson,NewYorker
Busy, busy, busy!
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*Let me revise that. Ted Cruz is not likely to be satisfied with the White House. He has the look of a fella who just knows he's born and educated to be emperor of all he can see. The White House is just another short-term lake cabin rental for lesser beings.
