Very sobering Bill Maher last night

[Cosmocat]

Outside of some blovating POS libertarian Trump supporter completely sceaming and bullying over the show while MHP (who I always had a pretty good view of) had a very bizarre turn of I am pretty look at me ...

Maher had the cartoonist for Dilbert on, and what he said was VERY sobering, and is the best analysis of Trump yet.

The cartoonist is a trained hypnotist, and he said last summer Trump was going to win the general election in a landslide because what he does is TEXTBOOK mass suggestion/influencing.

Most people are at heart fairly irrational. We might see what he says as stunningly bizarre/fantastical, but from a standpoint of influence people at large, the fact is, the more ridiculous something is, the more people will gobble it up.

And, this thing where he assigns a simple one or two word phrase every time he says someone's name (lying ted cruz, crazy bernie sanders) - he is a complete master at it.

Again, while we may be appalledy by it, MANY, MANY people just go to the confirmation bias, he always has it very accurately tuned, in a simple way, to something we think about or want to think about these people.

He pointed to a recent speech where Trump actually did an AB test on the audience DURING THE SPEECH.

He said to the audience - "what is better, heartless hillary or crooked hillary." Kept going from one to the other, trying to see what got the best reaction. crooked hillary did, and that is what he has used since.

Spot on what Trump does.

He is a con man, pure and simple. And, has used these techniques to separate people from their money for DECADES, and is now using these techniques to separate people from their votes.

It is the penultimate con job, folks.

[brucefan]

1. Very sobering

To say the least.That Dilbert guy seemed very reasonable and scared the shit out of me.

[Cosmocat]

6. YEP

VERY tenuous time in our history ...

[rtracey]

74. did he scare you

Did he scare you enough to begin to align or get people to align with the party. Remember at this time in 2012, Mitt Romney was (according to Dick Morris...hmmmm where is he now) going to win by a landslide.... I don't buy it. There will be a runoff of trump supporter who just will vote for him, because they are racist, arrogant, spooges, but I think the more trump talks, the more he hurts himself, not to mention who will be his picks for offices. Example, in California, he just said there is no drought, but govt covering it up for fish species.....well anyone living there who does need rain, water to survive will see this and think differently.

Does anyone ever think, people who may support candidates say things to perhaps push people. Dilbert guy says trump will win by a landslide, well now perhaps we can work together to make sure it does not happen....the other blowhard, well hes a conservative windbag....of course he hates anything dems say or do

[FrodosPet]

151. Unfortunately, Trump is not an idiot.

He is just not smart in the right ways and too smart in the wrong ones.

[brucefan]

156. You overthought my reply.

Maybe"scared" was the wrong word,but i'll be supporting the the Democratic nominee .

[Person 2713]

211. Scott adAms the Dilbert guy is a libertarian and men's rights activist

I don't give a crap about what he says about Trump winning and Adams doesn't scare me
http://boingboing.net/2015/12/13/mra-scott-adams-pictures-and.html

[Gormy Cuss]

228. Both true but what he said about persuasion technique and confirmation bias was accurate.

It would have been nice if Maher had found someone else to deliver the message but Maher often chooses guests poorly (think Coulter.)

[Thenewire]

87. This can easily be countered

By saying you will focus on the issues and figuring out solutions instead of pointless name calling. Then simply make allusions to spoiled children which temper tantrums and added to the fact that trump is a thin skinned coward he will implode as his ego can no longer contain the fact that he is losing and unable to defend himself against attacks from other democrats.

[JDPriestly]

104. Bernie can beat Trump more easily than Hillary because Bernie focuses on the issues and tells the

Truth in language people understand.

[Ed Suspicious]

111. Bernie is our only hope here. Truth is the only hope.

[rtracey]

154. stop

That is not true, that is the problem, separation and individualism, vs party unity.

[Duval]

189. +1

[dynamo99]

127. Sad

that at this point, Bernie is toast.

This is not unexpected, he went way further than most of us thought he could go. Maybe he could have pulled it off if he'd started a year earlier, and not had to concede the South to Hillary. But that's not what happened.

So, we're going to get to decide between the candidate who's crooked megamanic bully who'll say absolutely anything (and tomorrow say the opposite), who wavers between lassiaz-faire and fascism, or the candidate who's in the Rockefeller Republican range, and probably no more crooked than the average pol.

Seems like a no-brainer to me. If it looks like it's going to be close in my state, I'll vote for Ms. More-of-the-same. If not, probably Jill Stein, whose politics I can agree with. And we bide our time and hope that Elizabeth Warren will be ready (and willing) to roll in 2024. (Or, alternatively, that the GOP has gone to join the Whigs by then, and parties that actually do have progressive candidates have a realistic chance.)

[RoccoR5955]

148. But it's Hilliary's turn!

She has more votes than he does. They have been attacking her for a long time, and not Bernie. They will go after Bernie for being a communist. Hilliary has more experience than Bernie. Bernie is misogynistic. Bernie cheats. Hilliary is tested.
There, did I get all the memes?
Probably not, but those are the main ones.
Now no Clinton supporters have to respond, unless they have NEW memes!

[pkdu]

178. you forgot two..

1. Hillary has (~300) more Pledged Delegates
2. Hillary has (~450) more Super Delegates

[gordianot]

196. Predictably is a major Clinton asset both Bill and Hillary.

You get what you expect.

[pansypoo53219]

215. i have not been WATCHING debates + shit, but judging the MONET from afar like an artist. i saw

that hillary was running this JUST LIKE GORE + KERRY. bernie was a man w/ a plan like BILL clinton. then i saw a post win hillary speech. OMG SHE IS AWFUL. she WILL be awful against the REAGANESQUE FAKER tRUMP. we will LOSE WITH HILLARY AND EIGHT YEARS of GWB did ENOUGH damage. the TEEVEE GNEWZ WOULD LOVE the RATINGS rump w/ give them. fuck democracy. its FOLLOW THE MONEY.

[Orrex]

230. Then Bernie should have tried harder to win the nomination

It's tough to say that Clinton can't beat Trump but Sanders can, when Sanders couldn't beat Clinton.

Yes, there will be kinds of complaints about dishonest tactics and voter suppression and closed primaries and other complaints about matters that have been largely unchanged for years, but these were in place when Sanders decided to be a Democrat, so if his strategy didn't include an awareness of these matters, then that's on him.

Further, for those who complain that Clinton has run a dirty campaign, does anyone think that the GOP won't do the same but 100X worse?

[ananda]

2. Textbook Hitler, eh?

Not surprised.

[Cosmocat]

4. I didn't want to draw that comparison

Last edited Sat May 28, 2016, 10:19 AM - Edit history (1)

because people can't put that into the mix without it turning into stupid ...

But, yeah, spot on what the national german workers party and its leader did ... And, that isn't the only example in history, either.

[Stuart G]

5. I agree with you..."isn't the only example in history.."...well said.

[BillZBubb]

9. WTF? "democratic socialist party"? That's a right wing meme.

What the F are you talking about?

[Surya Gayatri]

43. IMHO, this is what he meant to say--National Socialist Party:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Socialist_Party

National Socialist Party

National Socialist Party or Nazi Party may refer to:

National Socialist German Workers' Party, or Nazi Party

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Party

National Socialist Party

The National Socialist German Workers' Party (German: About this sound Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (help·info), abbreviated NSDAP), commonly referred to in English as the Nazi Party (/ˈnɑːtsi/), was a political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that practised Nazism.

[Cosmocat]

76. right

I corrected it, should have been more detail oriented/careful on the reply.

[JDPriestly]

106. Nationalist is a very different word with a very different meaning from democratic.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

175. Dog whistle...

to his neonazi supporters....

[Matrosov]

18. 'democratic socialist party and its leader did'

I guess I'm missing the reference..

Are you talking about Hitler? Sanders? Trying to compare Sanders to Hitler?

This place is crazy sometimes

[yodermon]

27. I think you meant "national socialist" party. N/t

[Cosmocat]

41. Thank you

edited ...

[yardwork]

16. Trump is more like Mussolini, I think.

Trump is the blustering bully type of dictator. He looks and sounds just like Mussolini. Same phrases, same message.

[randr]

25. Same genes

[ProudProgressiveNow]

84. +1 nt

[dynamo99]

132. Yes, Mussolini.

A garden-variety bully, maybe a sociopath but not a paranoid psychopath like the German fella.

And he does look a little like Mussolini... just imagine the Donald wearing a uniform.

[Fumesucker]

142. Il Douche

[yardwork]

165. Narcissistic personality disorders.

It didn't end well for Mussolini.

[alterfurz]

232. separated at birth?

the very same facial expression...

[99th_Monkey]

131. According to one of Trump's ex-wives, he's got a complete collection of Hitler's speeches

at his bedside. Very creepy this guy.

[Stainless]

147. Actually more like Mussolini

The body language and facial expressions look exactly like they were taken from films that still exist of the textbook fascist Italian dictator.

[B Calm]

3. I fear he may be right on Trump winning the GE.

[Cosmocat]

7. Man

this country is in a battle for its soul ...

[B Calm]

8. Maher said Canada will be building a wall to keep us out.

[TeamPooka]

117. Don't be fooled, Trump's wall is to keep us in. nt

[B Calm]

118. We're screwed then if Canada does the same.

[ProudProgressiveNow]

176. +1 nt

[BillZBubb]

10. That battle is already lost. Trump or Hillary. It's all for the 1%,

[bigwillq]

15. This

[pengu]

36. The battle is lost, but not the war

We go on.

[MH1]

48. Are you SERIOUSLY saying "Trump and Hillary are the same"?

That's an asinine statement. I will be so glad when crap like that no longer flies at what is supposed to be a discussion board for Democrats and their allies.

As a reminder, from the TOS:

Democratic Underground is an online community for politically liberal people who understand the importance of working within the system to elect more Democrats and fewer Republicans to all levels of political office.

I get that you're not a fan of the whole "working within the system" part. But that doesn't make Hillary equivalent to Trump. And it won't excuse the guilt of those who help Trump get elected, if that happens, for the suffering caused by the catastrophe that follows.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

57. Of course he is, except they really aren't the same to him

I see the same names all the time who deflect every criticism of Trump into something about Hillary.

[world wide wally]

77. Saying Trump = Hillary is a groupies way of saying , "Help! I can't think"

[Nirgendwo]

112. I will not feel guilty at all by voting for the person I would like to see in office.

But my state will go for Trump no matter what I do.

[Gore1FL]

157. That's not what the persom implied at all.

He said they were both for the 1%. That's true. Hillary is a Dem that bought into Reaganomics. Many Dems have. It's a 35-year-old lie that is accepted as truth by many.

I'd like to elect someone who has not embraced supply side.

[MH1]

158. Where do you get that Hillary is a supply sider rather than Keynesian?

Do you have a link for that?

Just because she isn't a socialist doesn't make her a supply sider.

[Gore1FL]

160. I can't provide a link where Hillary calls for pre-Reagan tax rates.

He inability to do so pretty much proves the point.

On Edit: Supply side and Keynesian are not mutually exclusive.

[SammyWinstonJack]

122. Pretty much.

[TeamPooka]

124. You've got some learning to do if you think Trump & Clinton are the same.

One's as dangerous to America as a cap gun, the other is a nuke set to blow up right away.

[Miles Archer]

133. This is going to be a different website...

...when the only people allowed to express an opinion are Hillary supporters.

I'm not suggesting any pro-Trump comments.

But it comes down to pro-Hillary or STFU, and I think that's kind of sad.

[B Calm]

138. Very sad. They might as well remove the underground label.

[valerief]

139. Yeah, change it from Underground to Beltway. nt

[B Calm]

140. Democratic Beltway, yeah that would be a good name for DU.

[truebrit71]

162. It'll certainly be more accurate....

...

[cui bono]

145. And the democratic one too.

I'm not saying Trump and Hillary are the same, but Hillary embraces Republican policies and is beholden to corporations.

Bernie is the only candidate who will be good for the country. The other two are destructive and catastrophic.

.

[NorthCarolina]

86. Your fears are warranted if Hillary is the Dem candidate running against him. -nt-

[Different Drummer]

88. I fear you may be right about him being right.

n/t

[Fast Walker 52]

135. he said he predicted a Trump landslide-- I call bullshit

[MFM008]

155. Me to

TOTAL.

[BlueNoMatterWho]

11. Video

Very interesting. And frightening. Here is some video:

[Cosmocat]

33. Thank you

for posting that ...

[AgadorSparticus]

116. Wow. That gives much pause....and much thought. Very scary stuff.

That comparison to Hitler now takes on a whole new meaning. Very scary stuff. But knowing is 1/2 the battle, right?

[IdaBriggs]

12. DU hates the Dilbert creator.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022685291

[LittleGirl]

66. I remember that. eom

[IdaBriggs]

79. I think the outran was a little over the top, personally.

The cartoon has always been very on topic.

[stopbush]

13. Because who knows politics better than a trained hypnotist?

[randr]

19. I think his education also involved a study of human group behavior

and his comments were spot on. His analysis of Clintons campaign so far was painfully so.
We are up against a monster who will not play by any rules and he will make those who play by any rules seem foolish.
Even the protestors at Trump rallies will become part of his appeal as he paints them as the cause for all the anguish people are experiencing. The protests are looking more and more like the sixties and another form of opposition needs to be presented.
The left had better wake up and position themselves as a viable choice soon.

[Cosmocat]

24. YEP

Spot on.

"playing by the rules" isn't going to work, but playing his game directly won't, either.

The democratic party needs to get it shit together, F A S T.

They need to get some really smart people together to develop their frames for Trump and for one god damned time the party needs to work together and put those frames out in unison.

There need to be a LOT more Elizabeth Warren's who have some status, and are smart and tough enough to troll him, because he is who he is and WILL respond to trolling, and the more they can get him to do that the more it thins out his focus on Hillary and the more it exposes him while she can hopefully show herself to be a better alternative.

[randr]

35. I think the protestors need to come up with a smarter plan as well

It is too easy for Trump to use the footage to his advantage. Somehow they need a new form of theater that aligns them with the public at large.

[Cosmocat]

44. yep

The media in its brainless, feckless right wing pandering way most certainly just automatically does that 60s connection to it ...

[Ex Lurker]

67. The subset of protesters who are engaging in violence

are in it for themselves and aren't out to stop trump, necessarily. Trump is just where the action is at the moment. If it weren't him it would be someone and somewhere else.

[randr]

150. The violent protestors are the ones on the front page

They are who will be shown on every newscast over and over as representing the protest at large. In the sixties there were weekly protests across this nation attended by church groups, grand parents, veterans, college students, and a hand full of colorful characters who would confront the man whenever the opportunity presented itself.
Guess who made the evening news?

[mountain grammy]

63. I think this is a pretty good analysis..

I know what Trump is and I detest him, and yet, every now and then he says something and I find myself nodding in agreement. WTF? I know better. This is seriously sad and creepy. I think Trump could win..

[stopbush]

78. Sanders supporters need to wake up and embrace the fact that

Hillary is the D nominee.

Either get behind her or don't. Engaging in speculation and fear mongering are worthless.

[Nirgendwo]

115. Is this still the General Discussion forum?

Or did I fall into the Hillary only forum? Is it OK to criticize her here? Or am I supposed to just sit down and shut up?

[Fantastic Anarchist]

144. They're so insecure about their faulty candidate ...

...that they'd prefer not to hear any truth, and so you'll need to be quiet and not rock the boat.

[Gore1FL]

159. I missed the convention?

Fuck! I hate it when I oversleep.

[stopbush]

167. Are you actually holding out hope that Sanders somehow wins this

or are you just regurgitating Sanders talking points?

[Gore1FL]

191. No. But I am not pretending that things have happened yet that have not.

I expect I will grudgingly vote for Clinton in the 2016 GE and then support the person who primaries her from the left in the 2020 nomination phase and GE.

[stopbush]

193. She won't be primaried in 2020.

Why not spend the next four years getting your ultra-progressive party off the ground and fielding your own candidate to run against the D and R?

[Gore1FL]

194. We have a two party system.

I would hope the Democrats would return to being Democrats some day. Sadly, we are still running scared from Reagan.

If the GOP collapses and the Democrats become the political-right party I will join the one liberal one that springs up to the left, to be sure.

Edited to ask, isn't it against TOS to suggest I vote for a non-Dem?

[stopbush]

195. I've been Democrat since 1972, I support Hillary, who is a Democrat.

Sanders is an Independent who ran as a DINO to take advantage of the system. Sadly, we now know that it has always been about Sanders and nothing else. Possibly the most dishonest person to run as a D in my lifetime.

I'll be happy if the Ds primary him in his 2018 Senate run, where he is already registered to run as an Independent, not a D.

Best case scenario - he retires after his present term in the Senate ends.

[Gore1FL]

210. Sanders runs like what a Democrat should be.

Hillary is to the right of Nixon.

[stopbush]

213. Bull.

[Gore1FL]

214. Wow! How Convincing!

I remember the Democrats before the DLC. The last decent president we had was Carter.

[stopbush]

225. More convincing than Sanders' plans to pay for his healthcare policies.

[840high]

180. That's not a suggestion I'll take.

[stopbush]

187. Whatever. You're just delaying the inevitable.

[840high]

188. The only inevitable in life

is death.

[stopbush]

190. Agreed, especially in politics when a campaign is dead, like Sanders.

Besides, having the votes at this point as does Hillary makes her nomination more inevitable than does any hoped-for outcome based on pinning your hope on some generalized platitude.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

52. Has the Amazing Randi, Penn Jillette, and Criss Angel weighed in?

[Hydra]

80. Hypnotists, if they are know theirs stuff, like illusionists, know where humans have blind spots

And how to exploit those.

What would you call politics these days? Most of the players looking for votes are not actually offering a platform- they are finding ways to play the audience to support things they wouldn't normally support. Not unlike how advertisers try to get you to buy something you may not need or is inferior to other brands.

Manipulating people is a science. But you probably know that already, and just need some polish.

[dembotoz]

125. you don't get it...trump is a master salesperson..and folks are buying his stuff

screendoors on submarines
refrigerators to eskimos

he is very good....very very good

[stopbush]

126. You don't get it. People are so desperate to see Hillary lose

that anyone who advances a theory that supports that agenda are suddenly looked upon as geniuses. Could be a pundit or a pol...or a hypnotist.

Out of everybody, a magician should know better than anyone else that audiences don't believe that slight of hand is magic. Audiences are in on the act. They know they are bring manipulated. They don't believe the rabbit magically came out of the hat.

So why wouldn't the same be true of people watching the "magician" Trump?

[flygal]

14. Great post! Thank you!

[Albertoo]

17. Bill Maher spot on, as usual. But there's a chink in Trump's armor

A tactic exposed is no tactic. HRC should expose lay bare and ridicule Trump's tactics.

That would require her to get a bit more into the fight than she is at present.

[Cosmocat]

20. IMO

She has to tread carefully.

Getting into the mud is Trumps game, and none of the POS Rs could beat him at it, and Hillary can't either.

She has to find a way to more subtly take shots at him, while maintaining her status as the most appropriate candidate for POTUS.

HOWEVER, there needs to be a number of people who go after him like Elizabeth Warren does.

The PARTY has to get its shit together and get into the game.

There need to be a number of people with his profile and status who go after him regularly, because he is who he is and won't let it go.

They need to troll this asshole HARD.

Force him to muck it up with surrogates, to thin out his focus on Hillary and let the (sadly) small portion of people who sit between conservative and liberal in this country who have some actual common sense see the difference repeatedly and clearly.

[Albertoo]

202. Disagree

Part of the political process is like Homer's Greek wars: the champion of each camp comes forward to fight the other mano a mano. Hillary needs to work with Stephen Colbert and deliver some sharp one liners.

[B Calm]

21. She fights back, his base will think yup she's heartless.

[MH1]

60. I don't give a shit (and neither should she or you) what his "base" thinks.

"His base" means people who already have zero or less chance of voting for her and definitely will vote for him, barring major obstacles on election day.

Her goal needs to be keeping that base to its current size, and not letting get any bigger.

I don't know why she doesn't use the same "AB test" tactic herself, to choose a derogatory moniker for Trump. "Don the Con"? "Con Man Don"? "Trashy Trump?" "The Bigoted Boaster"? (maybe we could have a contest on DU, too. )

[B Calm]

62. Just proving what this con man is doing. You should give a shit.

[Albertoo]

203. his base is beyond reach

[AgadorSparticus]

207. No his base likes this kind of behavior.

They will actually respect her more if she can land some zingers and show she is "tough".

[randr]

22. The fight is just what Trump wants

Like a moth to the flame Democrats are being drawn into the fray. It is going to take a move outside of the box not only by Hillary or Bernie but also by the anti Trump protestors to move Trump off his game.

[Albertoo]

204. Can't leave 'Crooked Hillary' unanswered

And it must be answered with wit, not reason

[PJMcK]

26. Secretary Clinton has tons of ammunition for the fight

Don't you think that the Clinton Campaign has been doing its opposition research? Their machinery has always been powerful and I'm certain they're keeping their powder dry until the GE begins in full. Strategically, it's probably too early to start going after Mr. Trump.

I'm hopeful that when they do begin their assault, it will be item after item of Mr. Trump's history. The Clintons have always been fierce fighters and this campaign won't be any different. It would be wonderful if she gets under Mr. Trump's skin and he melts down in public with one of his profanity-laced tirades.

As a New Yorker, I've been subjected to decades of Mr. Trump's bloviating, obnoxious presence. He's disgusting and I'm at a loss to understand anyone who supports him. But then I don't comprehend our celebrity culture either.

[B Calm]

37. Nothing and I mean NOTHING he's said or done has hurt him

yet. I don't know how in the hell Hillary will bring him down, when all the republicans are saying anybody but Hillary. I fear we're facing a Trump presidency. I hope her the best of luck.

[thesquanderer]

94. re: "Nothing and I mean NOTHING he's said or done has hurt him"

Yup. Good take on that...

[valerief]

143. Funny clip. Won't be so funny if it comes true. nt

[Mz Pip]

47. Trump supporters won't care

Last edited Sat May 28, 2016, 11:28 AM - Edit history (1)

One of the points the Dilbert guy made was when people are making irrational decisions no amount of facts will change their minds.

This country is filled with people who only care about having their feelings validated. Trump gets that. He doesn't need to come up with workable policies. Crooked Hillary or Goofy Bernie is all they need to hear.

[Different Drummer]

91. +1

n/t

[Station to Station]

216. The people making decisions on that basis

will tend to be in the Republican column already. Remember, what Trump needs is for the white vote to increase as an overall share of the electorate.m for the first time in over three decades.

Realistically, he needs a massive white population boom between now and November and for those newborns to reach the age of 18 prior to that point.

[Cosmocat]

50. Hillary is tougher

than people give her credit for, and I absolutely believe that they have put thought into beating him.

BUT, SHE can't beat him, not alone. Not her campaign alone.

They just can't because if it is just her and her campaign, Trump will eat them up because the media lets him do WTF he wants.

The ENTIRE democratic party has to get into the game, they have to research and develop frames for him and EVERY democrat has to repeat the same SIMPLE ASS frames that they come up with, not high falutin liberal thinking.

And, there need to be a LOT of Elizabeth Warren's who aren't directly involved with her campaign who troll the asshole and get him distracted and take some of his focus off of Hillary.

[zalinda]

102. Her negatives far outweigh her positives.

And not only has the DNC, but Hillary and her supporters have alienated Bernie supporters. The fact is that having 87% of an approval rate in the Democratic Party (and that isn't really true or she would have won closed primaries by landslides) is not going to win the GE. I don't care if each and every one of the party faithful rallied around Hillary, there is not enough people who will vote for her. The latest polling is 25% Republican, 44% Independents and 31% Democrats.

The simple fact is that people, especially young people don't like dynasties. They have seen what it can do with the Bushes, and don't want a repeat with the Clintons. She can't seem to tell the truth, and even when she is telling the truth, she obfuscates so much that it comes out looking like a lie. To some people, especially the young, truth is everything, their lives are on the line, so just be straight.

And to be clear, Hillary's policies do nothing to really change the economic or climate problems. These problems are urgent and will take someone who has the guts to think outside the box, to solve them. People who care about these problems don't think that Hillary even has the will to do something about them.

This has nothing to do with being tough, there are women out there who could run circles around Hillary on the degree of toughness. It's being correct on the issues that is the test, and she is not. She has done something that no one thought possible a few months ago, she is single-handedly bringing the Republican party together behind Trump, in their anyone but Hillary campaign. I don't think Hillary supporters understand just how much she is hated in the real world.

Finally, don't count on Bernie supporters to vote for Hillary, for many of the above reasons. But there is another reason that is just as important, if the election is based on handing the Presidency to someone because she's a woman or it's her turn or whatever flimsy reason, people just won't turn up to vote. The time is past where it is acceptable to vote for the lesser of two evils. More and more people have come to realize that elections don't have anything to do with them and the match between Hillary and Trump is a clash of egos and nothing more.

Z

[ProudProgressiveNow]

171. +1000 nt

[Albertoo]

205. All I'm asking for is a handful of one liners to meet Trump's 'Crooked Hillary'

Can't let the people who just enjoy a fight think Trump is getting away with it and stealing the show

[jtuck004]

23. Had the Democrats gone to hell and back for working people like they did for the bank$ter/jihadists,

the real estate swindler wouldn't even be a passing thought.

But tens of millions of people are worse off than they were 8 years ago, and "elect us AGAIN, because this is all someone else's fault" might not be enough to win. lol.

http://www.cc.com/shows/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart/interviews/z9b8f1/timothy-geithner-extended-interview

[yardwork]

28. You want to see worse off, let Trump win.

[randr]

32. Excellent observation

We are in a situation where neither party is working for the people. Trump and Bernie are the only ones to figure that out.
There is a really good reason Trump will not debate Bernie. He knows Bernie offers the only opposition to his campaign.

[femmocrat]

29. That show was very depressing.

I was so looking forward to seeing MHP and she just seemed strange. She could never get to her point and did all kinds of quirky posing and awkward reactions while trying to be heard.

That conservative/libertarian guy was just over-bearing and the guy from VICE was probably very good, but could never get a word in.

By the time the cartoonist/hypnotist came out I was ready to put my head in the oven. I will never see Dilbert as funny again. What a downer.

I did enjoy seeing Bernie though. He looked great and seemed very relaxed.

[Cosmocat]

38. Yeah

MHP was bizarre.

I agree on Bernie, and while I am behind Hillary as the presumptive nominee, I had the same reaction that Maher had to Bernie last night.

You would tell Maher was in awe of him, and in his mind was thinking "WTF can't we have this man to go against Trump?"

[LittleGirl]

69. She blew me away and I started to think

she was on 'something' during the show. WTF?

[tblue37]

96. In my post #95 below, I also mention wondering whether she was drunk or high last night. nt

[tblue37]

95. What you said about MHP is spot on!

I was so looking forward to seeing MHP and she just seemed strange. She could never get to her point and did all kinds of quirky posing and awkward reactions while trying to be heard.

She stammered and beat around the bush and, as you say, never got to the point. I sure hope she doesn't talk like that when she teaches. It isn't charming; it's annoying as heck. I teach college, too, and if I ever blathered the way she did last night, my whole class would walk out the door!

It seems to me that when I have seen her on Maher's show in the past, she has been much more articulate and effective. I was actually wondering whether she was drunk or high last night.

MHP also let that Wayne Allyn Root jerk shout over her, as did the Vice guy, who made so little impression that I can't even remember his name. I wish Maher would take control when one of his RWNJ guests starts shouting everyone else down. I assume he figured that MHP and the Vice guy would be able to talk rings around Root and show him to be an idiot, but instead Root got his talking points in, even shouting successfully over Maher when Maher was trying to make it clear that Root was telling lies and that he had "no facts."

Heck, Root even talked over Maher's mid-show comedy bit, and continued to do so for a while after Maher told him it was the mid-show comedy bit and the panel was not supposed to talk during it. And the whole time, as he completely upended the apple cart, Root grinned like a baboon. He was achieving his goal and obviously enjoyed running rings around the rest of the panel and the host himself. They foolishly kept trying to play by the rules of civil discourse, but with people like that, there are no rules, there is no polite discourse. Although I have always deplored the way O'Reilly simply cuts the mike when someone starts to win an argument with him, I actually wish Maher would cut the mike when someone starts shouting everyone else down the way Root did last night.

I had a guy like Root in a literature class once. He kept trying to yank the entire class discussion away from our topic and onto whatever hobby horse he was riding that day, which usually had no connection whatever to our topic of analysis. Admittedly, it was not easy to keep him from hijacking the class, but even without the option of cutting the young man's mike I managed to do so, even though despite warnings in conference, he continued to try it out almost every class period. I'm sure he had a deep-seated need to be the center of attention and to control every conversation, but I couldn't let him ruin a class other students were trying to learn from. Similarly, Maher should keep in mind that his fairly large audience does not tune in to watch jerks like Wayne Allyn Root take over the show.

I don't remember seeing Root on the show before and I hope Maher has the sense never to have him on again, because that jerk ruined the whole show. Maher used to have on Floyd Brown, another loud mouth RW tool (the one responsible for the Willie Horton ad), who did the same sort of thing, but I haven't seen Brown on the show for quite some time. I think Maher either got tired of him or else heard enough from the Real Time audience to decide Brown was driving people away. Maybe we all need to let him know we won't watch the show when he has Wayne Allyn Root on.

[senseandsensibility]

120. She was actually a contestant on Jeopardy a

couple of weeks ago and was doing a lot of weird mugging and posing then, too. Very uncomfortable to watch.

[moondust]

152. I turned it off.

Shortly after the Dilbert guy came on with his quirky "analysis" and MHP's quirky behavior.

[Marie Marie]

199. Yes I kep wondering what was up with MHP last night.

The formal, over-the-top glam necklace with the causual T-Shirt that said FLAWLESS combined with the heavy make-up seemed like a desperate cry for attention. Then she opened her mouth and began the dramatic gestures. I just kept thinking that she was better than this - what happened? But as others suggested, she seemed to be on something.

OTOH - the Dilbert guy was amazing and sobering. So was Bernie.

[Brainstormy]

30. He gave Trump WAY too much credit

He's simply not capable of such machinations. He's just not that smart.

[philosslayer]

34. You are delusional

Trump managed to emerge from a field of 17 candidates as the winner. He marginalized every single one of them, and came out on top. He's not smart in an intellectual sense, but he knows people, and knows how to manipulate them.

[Cosmocat]

39. YEP

I doubt is particularly thoughtful to him.

BUT, he has these skills innately.

Again, he has been separating people from their money for a long fucking time.

Just doing the same thing to separate people from their vote.

[B Calm]

42. Spot on philosslayer. From what I've seen so far,

Hillary will be a cake walk for this monster.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

64. By pandering to a party of racist fuckwads.....

.....a subset of the voting populace....

[AgadorSparticus]

119. +1,000. Manipulating the masses IS politics. This is very sobering.

[840high]

182. He certainly showed it by

winning state after state.

[Bluenorthwest]

61. Adams is a libertarian, Romney endorser and he has spent time claiming that Trump got cheated

in Iowa by the GOP.

[tblue37]

105. Oh, yes, he is. Before running, he had three consultants sit

and listen to RW talk radio, read RW websites, and watch FOX to find out which topic were the ones most focused on, and how they handled the topics. IOW, he acted like a businessman, hiring marketing experts to survey his potential customers to find out what they wanted and how they wanted it packaged and presented.

Then he built his campaign on the points his experts had identified as being most important and effective for his base.

He isn't smart, but he has cunning, "street smarts," of the sort one finds in effective snake oil salesmen, which is, of course, precisely what he is.

The RW has always done a better job of studying and playing to the voters. In fact, that was the whole approach that Gingrich used to take over the Republican Party during his heyday and to help the Republicans overturn the Democratic majority.The Democrats ignore the advice of our experts, like George Lakoff. We have all the evidence we need to know how to deal with those who vote based on gut reactions--which as Scott Adams correctly noted is almost everybody. But the Dem establishment ignores that evidence and keeps doing the same stupid stuff.

One of the most important points Adams made, and again, it is something Lakoff has tried (unsuccessfully) to teach the party is that framing and language are what most people respond to--NOT policy or rational analysis and argument. Trump gets that, and he has used framing and language effectively during his campaign.

For example, Dems keep thinking it will hurt Trump to point out that he talks like a third-grader--and a not very bright or articulate third-grader at that. But that is part of his appeal for many voters, just as it was for W, and those who slam him for it--just like those who keep harping on how dumb the voters are--end up alienating a lot of people who feel that they are bing insulted and condescended to by the "elitists" who say such things. (That is one of the valid points that MHP tried so clumsily to express last night.)

[Ruby the Liberal]

197. And this is why we need a like button for posts

Great observations tblue.

[Cosmocat]

222. Yep

he isn't "smart" so to speak, but he absolutely is "cunning" and for a VERY long time has been super adept at his con. Helps to come from a background with wealth and privilege to build from. Giving him the ability to fail and not be mortally wounded from it, get a number of redos to get his game down.

But, it is the same scam he has been running for his entire adult life.

I totally agree on the point relative to messaging and framing, I have a Lakoff book, and it is exasperating seeing democrats continually falling in the rat hole that people are thoughtful about government and politics.

The one thing I disagree about is this thing about being afraid to call people stupid. No reason to tap dance around that. Better to reconcile with it, call it for what it is and try to move on to using more simplistic framing as you noted.

Flat out saying people are stupid who are voting/supporting Trump vs trying to pretty it up with all the "disaffected" bullshit or whatever way you can try to positively spin it does not hurt any, and trying to avoid flat out calling them stupid does not help, at all.

They are victims either way.

They look down and are dismissive of anyone who is thoughtful and rationale either way.

It NEVER changes their minds if you avoid calling it for what it is and try to just talk to them about it.

Fuck them.

They are lost and there is on way of talking about it that will bring them back.

I have tried, repeatedly for my entire life to try to reason with people who have the conservative disease.

The only thing that breaks through for them is if something pretty significant happens that directly effects THEIR life that somehow burns a new path in the synapses of the brain that allows them some level of reason to see though it.

Words from some liberal scum of the earth changes nothing for these people one way or another.

[Nevernose]

141. I agree, but you're still wrong

Trump isn't that smart, certainly not smart enough to consciously use the tactics Mr. Dilbert ascribed to him.

I differ in opinion, though, because Trump IS using those tactics. He's just coming from a different place than intelligence. It's 50 years of professionally peddling bullshit to suckers. More specifically: Trump has an effective, low, animal cunning.

[cantbeserious]

31. IMHO - This Is The Reason That Trump Will Handily Trounce HRC In The General Election

eom

[Roy Rolling]

49. Trounce?

Being one of 17 allowed Trump to hide from Democratic attacks. He will not be as successful one-on-one against Democratic opposition.

The primaries and debates were a Republican reality-TV show, like his show "Apprentice". But the General Election will be against REAL FOES, not other Republicans auditioning for the same role.

I would expect the exact opposite result, and Trump will be trounced as a superficial, political wannabe with no interest in the welfare of the people he is competing to lead.

[cantbeserious]

65. One Obviously Underestimates The American Electorate

eom

[Hoyt]

51. Actually, I think Clinton will handle Trump better than any of the GOPer candidates or Sanders.

Trump will marginalize Sanders like Cruz, Rubio, etc.

[randr]

54. Because she has done such a stellar job of it so far?

[Hoyt]

55. Better than getting rope-a-doped like Trump did to Sanders. Clinton will handle him.

[libdem4life]

172. After reading here, what I came away with

Is that Hillary is experienced and loves a good fight. But it's the old fashioned gunfight type.

It's out of date. Bernie is like Mr Jujitsu and Trump is Mr. Flim Flam. Fess Parker isn't running.

She is head smart but not people smart...which is why they keep her from them as much as possible. That's not bad, just doesn't cut it. She's better as a legend and that can not describe the Leader of the Free World.

[Skwmom]

40. No mention of Crooked Hillary, a nickname many are concluding will stick.

Bernie's nickname is a joke.

[B Calm]

45. Oh it's sticking alright. He's not dumb.

[malaise]

46. Melissa needs to step back and deal with herself

or she's going to break. I was very disturbed with her behavior last night.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

58. How so? nt

[malaise]

108. The shouting, the touching of the RW loon, the non-stop braids flashing,

the over the top make up and necklace.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

209. Sounds awkward. nt

[bdwker]

101. She was weird last night.

She seemed almost wired last nite.

[malaise]

109. I was worried for her n/t

[SDJay]

53. That Fucking Trump Guy

was absolutely insufferable. I was actually hoping Maher would tell him to STFU or get off the show. I doubt he'll be back anytime soon.

This is what has always been my biggest concern with HRC - she's a 'traditional' politician that is absolutely tailor-made for a jackal like Trump. Look what this POS did to other 'traditional' types like Jeb!, Rubio, et al. He'll do the same to HRC and she won't know how to react.

Bernie is so out of the box for the average Joe out there that I think folks would actually listen to him. They're not going to listen to HRC - they've heard what they've heard whether it's true or not - and that's all they want to hear. Bernie would simply paint Drumpf for the child that he is and then watch his shtick backfire.

Drumpf is the PT Barnum of our time.

*disclaimer before HRC people jump on this - I am not an HRC hater - I will vote for her in the GE. I just think it's going to be difficult for her to win.*

[Cosmocat]

81. yeah

I very possibly would have lost it on that asshole had I been there.

I do think Bernie very likely would be better at taking Trump on, but overall he just has not faced near the scrutiny and negative framing Hillary has, and the Rs absolutely would tear him down like any other D.

But, again, Bernie is tough, not complicated, direct and has likeable quality to him.

Hillary is tougher than people give her credit for, but it absolutely is going to be a REAL slog for her to win.

[Bluenorthwest]

56. Scott Adams of Dilbert was an independent candidate for President in 2012, prior to his

endorsement of Mitt Romney "while I don't agree with Romney's positions on most topics, I'm endorsing him for president". This is ironic because Adams insists that he does not vote. Adams calls himself a libertarian, while this OP contrasts him to a libertarian, he actually is one. According to him.

Adams has actually been sounding pro Trump. He claims Cruz won in Iowa because it was rigged against him by the Party.

When a hypnotist who favors Republicans suggests that a Republican has magic powers that can not be resisted, I tend to note that 'suggestion' is part and parcel of hypnosis, and that the use of shills to tout the wonders of the magician has long been a common method of enhancing the impact of the person being touted. Therefore I remain skeptical of the Vaudeville turn playing out in front of me.

[leveymg]

70. Good catch. That's precisely what Trump is, a Vaudeville Magician Act.

Part sleight of hand, part girlie show, part audience being sawed in half . . .

[Bluenorthwest]

83. A shill will often pose as partly or previously skeptical or even as an opponent but will always

tout the great and magical powers of the act being touted. A shill can pose as a preacher who is shouting against the wizard, the magician 'He knows things no man could know, and that is not from God!!!!' still says that the magician knows things. That he is worthy of passionate and clerical reaction, that man is not an entertainer but something real and rare and mysterious, a thing not of patter and illusion but a thing of spirit.

That's the part Adams is playing. 'You can't beat him, he is special, he knows things, he will win, resistance is futile'. Planting seeds, making suggestions. 'When you see him, you will not be able to resist him, reason will fail you, and you will vote for him'.
He did everything but count backwards and snap his fingers.

[Cosmocat]

72. everything he said about Trump is SPOT on.

Maher said in his introduction of Adams that he was bringing people on to help figure out how to beat Trump.

To me, his analysis of him and what he is doing was the most specific and accurate that I have heard, and more directly and clearly spelled out what I had picking up from Trump.

To me, what he said was information, useful in understanding Trump more clearly, and thereby being able to develop a better strategy to beat him.

"“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”

[Bluenorthwest]

85. But Adams actual message was that Trump is very magical and powerful, his own 'qualms'

are just part of the shilling, that's how it is done. It's great to know your enemy but if that 'knowledge' is being delivered as a message that your enemy holds unstoppable and invisible powers and that you can't win, that's not really knowing your enemy that's being told that your enemy is going to win because your enemy is more powerful than you are.

Adams has claimed that Trump got cheated in Iowa. Now he's telling you Trump can control minds with a phase or a gesture, there is no stopping this he says. It's bullshit. It's pure bullshit. It is not knowledge of Trump anymore than it is when Trump says he has a large penis. It's just stuff to say that makes Trump look powerful. Truth is not really part of it.

[bbgrunt]

99. One of my favorite shows was "The Mentalist" because these techniques were

exposed on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, I think their exposure was much too subtle for most people to understand the constant bombardment of these techniques that we are exposed to.

[840high]

183. I still watch repeats on antenna tv. You

are right.

[TonyPDX]

82. Excellent assessment-- I watched the program last night and agree. n/t

[LittleGirl]

59. Scott Adams

voted for McCain so that's when I stopped following his blog. He's a nutcase.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

68. Donald Trump is a cult leader.

[Boomer]

93. Close.

Trump is a tribal leader.

There is nothing in Hillary Clinton's playbook that will work against Trump. People aren't drawn to him because of policy or facts, they're drawn by his flamboyant personality and the fantasies he spins. She's a policy wonk with a very mannered, canned speaking manner and that's going to be a huge (yuggge) liability in opposing Trump.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

129. I agree. Her canned lying will not go well.

The DNC is crazy to take their chances on her when they have a completely viable and attractive alternative in Sanders.

[840high]

184. Every time I hear her now - all I think

is - here she goes again lying.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

192. We didn't tolerate it when Bush did it.

Why do some here tolerate it when she does it? She's such a horrible candidate, and an even worse person.

[840high]

200. I don't understand the Hillary supporters. It's

like they are hypnotized.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

212. They must love royalty.

[kag]

71. Yeah, who was that moron...?

"Outside of some blovating POS libertarian Trump supporter completely sceaming and bullying over the show..."

I had to skip over a few spots because he wouldn't STFU or let anyone else talk!

[Cosmocat]

73. I swear

if I had been on that panel, I would have lost on him.

[YoungDemCA]

75. Trump is that guy you knew in high school who always bragged about "knowing a guy who knows a guy"

Only he's now the presidential nominee of one of the two major political parties.

Good analysis of Trump by Scott Adams BTW.

[SmittynMo]

89. I didn't find it sobering at all

It certainly wasn't his best, but I still found it entertaining. The best part was Bernie.

[oldandhappy]

90. Thank you, well said and important to say it.

Saw the show and was startled with what the toonist said and it made sense. This is not for a candidate to face but is for all of us to face. Trump is an illness in our society.

[underpants]

92. Have it on tape will check it out later.

[L. Coyote]

97. Trump has Alzheimer's and can barely give a speech. He won't get the nomination.

Pay close attention to his so-called speeches. He cannot articulate a complex thought, nothing but simple sound bites. He has incipient dementia.

I expect him to back out of the race at the republican convention, at which point someone new will step up and get nominated, sort of a surprise attack the Dems never expected. Trump will get a ton of sympathy and the new guy won't have endured all the negatives of getting lambasted by everyone during the primaries.

[840high]

185. My Dad had Alzheimer's. He had

none of what you describe.

[nolabear]

229. I see no sign of Alzheimer's. IMO he is doing the same thing a medium does. He reads micro-responses

and he skates along on the surface, adjusting what he says very quickly to zero in on what the audience wants to hear. It's a real and extremely dangerous talent that can convince people who aren't inclined to be very careful and skeptical that you have the ability to do what they need done, when in reality you just have the power to recognize that they want it and to make promises you have absolutely no intention of keeping unless it suits YOU, not them.

[greiner3]

98. To be fair

Scott Adams is somewhat far to the right politically and his damning of Trump is most likely the failure of his own Republican nut job candidate. Or not

[JDPriestly]

100. Assoctatipn in a suggestible state.

That is why Bernie's ad that turns the word "crazy" into a compliment is so good,

Hypnosis only works to a certain extent.

[radhika]

103. He also said Trump will win...IIRC

Bernie, in the first segment, admitted its hard develop an effective push-back strategy. Cuz Trump is all over the place, and he never says gets called on his 'mistakes'. If challenged, he shrugs it off and changes his schtik. Crowds love that, Trump blows off anyone who interrupts the routine.

I wince at how ineffective Libs and Progs are dealing w Don. They pathetically cling to ho-hum tactics like rehashing his remarks about women (we've heard them already) or going all left-brain expertise-y and showing off his lack of science (climate change) policy wonkery (how government works) when it's obvious that those cards aren't playing this year.

If Hillary is the nominee (duh) Trump will win. With Bernie, maybe we got game.

[Johnny2X2X]

107. Trump will win

Our party is fractured when it could least afford to be. Trump represents an end to the American way of life and that's not being an alarmist. Fascism is at our door and the majority of our voters are ready to embrace it.

This isn't a defeat just for Democrats, this is a defeat for America and for humanity as we as a species are about to descend into dark days filled with war and upheaval.

[okieinpain]

110. Huh? All politicians are con men.

What's the surprise in knowing that.

[nini]

113. Trump is simply playing to the Fox News crowd

Fox has been brainwashing and lying to their watchers for years. They have tapped into the hateful uneducated racists and convinced them they are victims. While doing that they pulled in the the abortion obsessed etc.


Trump is only reinforcing the hate and ignorance of those people - it worked for Fox and it'll work for him.

[ReRe]

114. In two words, Trump is a...

... flimflam man.

[Octafish]

121. Is there an antidote?

The Truth? A Joke? Shock to the System?

[modestybl]

123. The antidote is truth... Bernie can defeat him, HRC cannot.

And that sums up our situation - and is why Bernie is taking this through the convention.

[Octafish]

136. He put the arm on Larry King: 'Bad Breath.'

What Gives Donald Trump the Edge? Larry King: ''Bad Breath.''

One Upmanship. Put down the opponent before "negotiations" get started. Low Energy...Little Guy...Spilled Goods...

Thanks, modestybl. Now we got the hypnotic liar's number: Chicken Trump.

[Darb]

223. Trump eats Bernie alive.

It will be awful.

[modestybl]

227. Oooh... That's why Trump turned tail and fled...

"He's fleeing the interview!!!'

[Mary Mac]

128. so we'll have to explain to the Europeans,

Americans are very easily hypnotized. I'll stick with Agent Orange.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

130. "the more ridiculous something is, the more people will gobble it up"

Last edited Sat May 28, 2016, 04:25 PM - Edit history (1)

No kidding. I know someone who actually believes God appoints our leaders.

He also believes Obama got in as a wake up call for white people.

[Fast Walker 52]

134. I call bullshit-- I can see Trump might win, but saying it'll be a landslide is idiocy

also Scott Adams is a rightwinger

[valerief]

137. Yes, that Dilbert guy was very interesting. And I agree with you, of course, about

the bloviator and about MHP. She looked very middle-school and may have had one too many cocktails. And the other guy was Politico. Nuff said.

But the beginning segment with Bernie was best!

[Cosmocat]

224. Yeah

I had the same reaction as I believe Maher did to him.

IMO, Maher was in awe of him, and you could tell he was thinking, "fuck, I wish he was who we were going to do battle with ..."

[DrBulldog]

146. And the millions of continually dumb Americans are a ripe target for him.

[NNadir]

149. It's not all that sobering actually. A cartoonist - as much as I like his work - is hardly an...

...expert in neurophysiology.

I certainly believe in a certain level of mass hysteria, but I'm really not convinced that mass hypnosis is a viable psychological theory.

If one searches the term "mass hypnosis" on Google scholar, one will see few recent hits, and those that are there are not impressive.

[NoMoreRepugs]

153. I apologize for my ignorance but does Corporate America want Trump?

any foreign country want Trump?

I ask because in todays election climate with dark money thats a powerful coalition to oppose a particular candidate.

[Vote2016]

161. Adams pointed out Trump is gonna win.

[colsohlibgal]

163. Troubling Indeed

With our dumbed down populace his simplistic bombastic words certainly plays to many.

And....that Idiot Trump guy was annoying to the max, what a world class jerk blowhard. Between him and MHP I felt for the other panelist who could barely get a word in.

Loved Bill's New Rules 2041 Commencement speech....scary because much of it might be too possible.

When I see that this media clown is going to be the right's nominee it gives me pause and one question in my mind is hard to ignore....as in "what's wrong with people?". Not all people but way too many.

[jimmyzvoice]

164. “Dangerous Donald” should be our nickname for Donald Trump.

During the Republican debates, some of Trump’s opponents used his kind of insults to fight against him, but they all failed.

But this nickname stuff, described by Scott Adams, might just be what we need to use against Trump. How can we get everyone to call him “Dangerous Donald”?

Imagine an ad in which we are given quotes that illustrate how dangerous Donald Trump is for our country and the world. After each quote is repeated, “That’s why we call him Dangerous Donald”. At the end of a series of four or five quotes simply state, “Donald Trump is dangerous for our country and the world. He must not be allowed to become President of the United States”.

Wouldn’t it be great if every time Donald Trump says something out of line we could get everyone to think, “Dangerous Donald”?

[radhika]

166. How about Dick-Wad Donnie....

I'm all for mockery and bullying the bully. He hates that.....

[roamer65]

168. A Trump Chump.

That is what I call his groupies.

[Blue_In_AK]

170. I don't think Dangerous Donald would work.

I kind of think Trump would take it as a compliment. Kind of like "bad to the bone." I agree with the posters above who suggest something a little more "mocky."

[daleo]

231. I like Daffy Donald

Just keep repeating it.

[jg10003]

169. Actually it is the ultimate con job, penultimate means next to last

[Cosmocat]

218. This IS the next to last

ultimate con job is actually being POTUS, using the position to extort, manipulate and get what you want.

The con needed to win the election is the very definition of penultimate.

[Liberal_in_LA]

173. Hush up. We havent voted yet. DU is so annoying these days

[UCmeNdc]

174. Agree! Trump is nothing more than a Con man. Running a big con game on the American Voter.

Called it correctly. Bush W. was another con artist.

[roamer65]

177. That's right. If 'ya vote for Trump, you're a chump.

[melman]

179. Trump is very good at what he does

His political skills are yooge. I don't think we really needed the Dilbert guy to tell us that.

[840high]

186. Many on DU are in denial - they

needed to hear that. Hillary certainly does not have it sewed up.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

181. Scott Adams is a weirdo

Some people call him a flat out asshole, but my guess is he's trying to do some sort of schtick he thinks is.....funny? on some intellectual level.....like Steven Wright?

[Skittles]

198. whatever it is, it does not work on me

I cannot listen to the man; I find him absolutely revolting

[HassleCat]

201. Ultimate con job, not penultimate.

Penultimate means next-to-last.

[Cosmocat]

217. It is the very definition of penultimate

the ultimate con job is getting to actually be POTUS. To take advantage of the position to get what you want.

To get there - you gotta con enough dolts to elect you.

[HassleCat]

226. Looking at it that way, yes.

Although I have the feeling we will be conned many,many times if he gets elected. Conned into at least one war, probably two. Conned int privatizing social security, selling off public assets, etc. Gonna be lotta, lotta fun!

[historian]

206. True

but there is another factor. Americans are not the most intelligent beings on earth and they prefer a good show rather than a sobering truth.

[Cosmocat]

221. Yep

This is the one thing I was most naive about relative to politics.

I had this romantic notion that on average, people had a wisdom in how they voted.

The sad reality is, the stupid reigns.

[jillan]

208. Hillary needs to give it back to him. Last nite Bernie coined the phrase "chicken Trump".

That's how you have to deal with Trump.

Treat him like he is a little kid.
Call him names. It's the only thing he understands.

Going into long dissertations on why people shouldn't vote for him won't work. Speak in bumperstickers.
Very sad but very true.

[sendero]

220. It is no more of a con...

... than what most politicians do, promise things they have zero intention of delivering.