Yes, DT knows just what buttons to push....

And if we had started in 2000 voting en masse for principle we would be much better off. You keep voting for evil and we'll be slaves.

That's only true if you think it couldn't be worse. I think it could.

I certainly think Al Gore and John Kerry would have been worse.

That action, wasting your vote on the arguable lesser of two evils, has been proven to have no value over the past 30 years.

You still are responsible for the consequences of your decisions. If Candidate A is, in your opinion, level 5 evil and Candidate B is level 8 evil and Candidate C is good but polling at 3%, selecting C may send a message but does make it likelier that B wins with his level 8 evilness.

Yes, it's possible for candidate C to win but the most likely scenario is that in the run up to the election people tell pollsters that C is their choice and C is no longer polling at 3%. When C goes into the actual election with a realistic shot -- vote as often as your conscience allows.

:-) These comments are making me so hungry, the meat of your remarks was overlooked.

He sets a standard for his brand. We need some sort of standard set for our country other than pandering to blacks and muslims and encouraging hip hop. Living in this mess is kind of depressing. A little class wouldnt be a bad thing

Pork seems to be appropriate.

Suspect he just said, "make it so gaudy that everyone on board will be envious" and the interior decorator put his finger down his throat, ignored good taste and took a sizeable fee. That's what a Trump presidency will entail, lots of expenses to cover up that Trump has no clue.

Absolutely. We could have a spread that included a different type of barbeque for each of the charges referred against her.

funny. Its not the gold plating thats important. The reason i brought it up was his attention to detail actually, which I have to give him credit for. If he asked for the same level of attention to our problems in the country, it can't be bad. All he could do is inspire people to be great. He cant make the country great all by himself by any means. I dont have rose colored glasses on that.

Just what America needs to make it "Great" again, a 24k gold plated white house toilet courtesy of the IRS and the Treasury dept.
(to match Obama's gold plated golf cart.)

May I bring some eastern NC pork barbeque?

The Gulch is filled with individuals. A single thumbs down is indicative of one person's individual opinion. Even in the Gulch there could be a difference of opinion that appears not to acknowledge reality.

I saw a YouTube video last night entitled something like Trump 757 documentary or something like that. Very instructive as to the level of detail Trump puts into things. If he attended to things with that level of perfection when President, it would be a GREAT think for our country

I couldn't believe the down vote either. But, Susanne, please don't shrug. We need you in The Gulch. Let's hold onto the dream, for at least a little while longer, that The Hildebeast will be indited.

You bring up some good points, particularly that if everyone didnt vote for a freedom loving candidate because they "couldnt win", they would NEVER win. kind of sounds like a self fulfilling prophecy..
Isnt it also true though that an election like this to head up a currently statist country with so few principles would make it impossible for a principled person to actually operate within his principles. Remember Thompson asked John Galt to take over, and Galt refused to be "king".

This would be an argument to just withdraw from the whole thing, and just not vote at all if one was true to one's principles. Our constitution and laws are not principled at all at this point.

Voting for evil makes no sense at all.
Voting based on principle is the thing that makes it possible for the people with ethics and principle to compete in elections. You admit that without support they can't win, and you refuse to support them because they can't win, Not rational. You will support someone without principles because he runs his mouth on problems but he has no detailed solutions, he claims politicians are not trustworthy, tells you that he should be trusted when he has a proven record of looting from the people. You are not thinking rationally.

Wow, Big Trump haters are showing their teeth. I really don't see how Trump is any different than Romney. Romney managed a hedge fund basically. He bought and sold companies, closed them down when he thought they should. Trump built businesses and sold them when they no longer fit his mantra. Yes, he used government to get what he wanted, so did Romney and most other politicians. Most politicians use government to vastly increase their wealth while in Dirty City. So how is Trump any different than what we have in anybody else? I am sorry but I feel that the arguments against Trump can be used on any other politician and the difference in most people's eyes are that Trump is not status quo, he is not a political creature like Hill or Sanders or Rubio or Christie or any other candidate, yes, even Kasich. So, bash Trump if you want but what he says resonates with the populace.

I agree with you in wanting a purist- someone who defends personal liberty (our consititution doesnt do a perfect job of promoting liberty at this point). Ethics is great and if Gary Johnson has a snowball's chance of being elected, I would vote for him. But he doesnt stand ANY chance of being elected this year.

Given that we dont have unlimited lives, it would seem prudent to try and make the best of what we actually CAN get. Voting on principle in today's culture is useless because the only way we would be able to get a principled person to win would be to convince multi multi multi millions of people to understand those principles and agree with them. You are trying to stand in the way of the tide coming in instead of waiting for the right moment to make your stand. Education at this point is the only thing to do that will accomplish anything, and there is a good argument that only an apocalypse will convince the required mass of humanity that statism isnt the way to go. Doesnt this make any sense to you??

Hillary does not deserve a vote, AND neither does Trump. All your criticisms of her are valid. It is probable that the FBI and the courts will, justifiably, inflict unelectable damage on her. A Texas barbeque is scheduled at our house on that day.

Picking Trump over Hillary is like picking one terminal disease over another. His record of cronyism, inconsistency, lying, creepiness, and teenage behavior makes him no better than Hillary.

+$

Our criticisms of Trump are equivalent to Hillary's in the minds of some Trump supporters. At least, drowning is not possible in the depth of that perception.

He built a business from essentially nothing. FALSE
He had pull, millions from his relatives, and looted using government favors.
Again, you keep comparing Trump to other looters in a failed attempt to defend him. Compare him to the one you should be voting for instead, Gary Johnson.
Trump a stickler for details? Based on what evidence?
Commands respect? No, he demands unearned respect and insults anyone who doesn't agree with him regardless of how stupid his arguments are.
Purist? I want someone who defends the constitution as the oath the POTUS takes requires. I want someone who takes his own promises seriously, and will fulfill them. I want someone with ethics that opposes statism in actions, not just words. Trump fails on all these simple ethical requirements.
The reason we get evil looters is people don't vote on principle; they vote based on fear instilled by the GOP. I argue that we should vote on principle or we are at fault. You on the other hand won't vote on principle because other people won't. Do you have any principles?

I am beginning to think you are just being a Trump hater for some sort of hidden agenda. He built up a big business from essentially nothing. The other candidates have done NOTHING except use government to get rich and stand in the way of the producers. He obviously hires very talented people, and is a stickler for detail (both skills are essential for a presidential candidate). He commands respect which is essential for foreign relations (look at how far Obama gets with Putin), and it is very hard to understand how he could be worse than the electable alternatives. I know you are a purist, and thats OK, but before your purist gets elected, we will all be dead and buried for a long time. You would get your purist elected sooner if you voted for Sanders so we get the apocalypse faster and get it over with

You couldn't be more wrong about Trump. everything he has done in his public life contradicts your conclusion.