It’s like this…
Donald Trump wants to “Make America Great Again.”
Shouldn’t be a problem. The list of what this country needs is long. However, I would argue that America already is great. That said, Trump’s gaining ground with one liners like, “We don’t win anymore.”
Frankly, I’m not sure that’s really true either, but it doesn’t matter if people buy into both ideas.
So what sets America apart as being so great?
Outside of 9/11 and Pearl Harbor, there hasn’t really been any combat on our nations soil since the Civil War. And no other major country can say that. Not China, Japan, Russia, England, the Middle East, Europe – even South America.
On second thought, there is Canada.
We are the best protected people in the world.
In fact, even street crime is far more of a threat than an invasion or even a terrorist attack.
Our major cities are all stocked with beautiful homes, apartments, shopping areas, entertainment, parks and plenty of sight seeing. We have beautiful beaches, mountains and rivers.
Sure there are many poor areas, but they don’t compare to the slums of most other major countries our size.And with government aid and programs few people in this country go without food or shelter.
I know we have people who live on the streets – but not many – and mostly that’s their way of life due to drug or other personal issues. You can drive our cities and you see very few homeless people, even the poorer areas.
America is also the world’s media.
And almost every big international star is American or lives here.
In sports for example, who’s ever been as big as Muhammad Ali?
Nobody.
Almost every major film and television star is from or in America with rare exception.
And while our government is far from perfect it’s still overall the most fair and caring. Our courts rarely execute anyone and we’re e the land of second chances.
Anyone can grow up to be president – just ask Barack Obama or Donald Trump. America is still the land of opportunity. Yes. we need to work on our race relations, taxes, health care and many unfair laws that become silly in time like our drug punishments.
It’s never perfect, is it?
We’re always in crisis, according to people running for office.
But are we really in crisis? America always has an enemy or five. Today it’s Isis, tomorrow probably some other radical group. We have the world’s most deadly military force with what may be the second best – Israel – backing us up. If we had to or wanted to, seems we could destroy any enemy in just a few days. We have had the good sense thus far not to use nuclear power since World War II.
My parents were world travelers until they passed away.
I asked my mother once what she liked best:
“I like coming home,” she told me.
I think that sums it up.
USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA USA
Please…please have trump win the repub nomination!
With bums like glaze and K behind this lying conman (he’ll be in court
real soon) and he’ll explode at the next debate…they have found
his weakness….trumps business lies and scams…
BRING ON THE TAXES…..BECAUSE HE’S NOT WHAT WE WERE
WHAT HE TOLD US HE WAS.
Trump University and those bankruptcies….wait til you see who lost
the billions of dollars…it will astound you).
And no plans on how to solve the problems. More Mexicans leving
than coming in….4 years to build that wa ll…….and the collapse of
4 industries (including trumps hotels in florida that use Romanian
workers on work visas)……a liar/scammer/cheat.
And any man who says he wants to f*ckkk his daughter is a sick sick
man….but we’ll get to that later….watch your grocery check out stands.
Harley again comes thru. What I said in the above post came
true during the debate and how Rubio/cruz would attack
trumpster.
Now we’ll see trumps mob connections come out…..
But it might be too late for the nomination but
it will kill him in the geneeral
and his wall is almost impossible to build…..structural engineers say it would
be very tough to build his wall….2000 miles…..in tough soil…..literally a project
equal to building all the pyramids…and it would take a long long time to build
and use up tremendous amount of material and labor…..one of the largest
building projects ever….that’s not from Harley….that’s experienced top
structural and prject engineers saying that.
I refer this to chuckles and his opinion since he’s a digger and knows
more than any of us how to do this huge project.
Civil engineer, University of Missouri Rolla class of 86′ (not to gloat, but one of the best undergrad engineering programs in the world, so I think I might know something on the subject 30 years as a Professional Engineer in the field of Civil Engineering). I call BS on your comment. Your logic of time and material is absurd, not to mention “it would be very tough”. Let’s address time first… Was Eisenhower crazy to envision and implement the interstate system, it was an incredibly time consuming feat? Let’s address your material and labor… Was Hoover crazy to envision the enormous undertaking of the Hoover Dam, an incredibly laborious endeavor?
Since when did America stop being the land of “I can” and become the land of “I can’t”. And BTW the worlds best engineers said sending a man to the moon would be “incredibly tough”, but we figured it out in short order.
Harley just got clownsuited. Well done Rolla 86.
will get structural engineer report on this walland post
it if hearne will let it be posted.
ALSO….YOU BUDDY GLAZE AND K JUST GOT ENDORSED BY KKK.
should really do well with jewish/black/immigrant/
polish/evangelical voters.
Trump and KKK want the same things…a nation
devoid of anyone not white/European///////
good luck glaze….everdya another great group
endosrses the trumpster and every dya the landslide
grows bigger. would make a great tvad…
DAVID DUKE…NATIONAL KKK SPOKESMAN ENDORSES TRUMPSTER.
should cost him maybe 5-10 per cent of nationl
vote….KEEP THE ENDORSEMENTS COMING
TRUMP YOUR FILTHY LYAING CONMAN!
Funny you should ask Harley. We need only look at the Israelis. The Israelis are working on a wall to keep determined people out. Their design is a multiple fences system with three layers of chain link fencing, pyramid stacks of barb or razor wire, intrusion detection, anti vehicle ditches, and patrol roads on either side. It is about 10 feet tall and has an about 160 feet wide:
About 10% of the wall is actually a brick wall, 24′ plus tall.
So far the Israelis have finished about 310 miles of the barrier at a cost of about 2.6 billion US (so far).
Thats about 16% the size of what we would need for the US-Mexico border, so the cost to build our wall in a similar fashion would be $15.6 Billion.
ROLLY POLLY ’86……HAVE YOU SEEN
HOW LONG IT’S TAKEN THE ISRAELIS
TO BUILD THAT WALL……AND THEY ONLY
HAVE WHAT 350-450 MILES DONE.
THE WALL YOU SUPPORT WILL TAKE A
DECADE? GIVE ME A BREAK….NONE OF
THOSE HILLBILLIES UNDERSTAND THAT
…..THEY WANT ONE NOW.
SO MAYBE YOU NEED TO FIGURE OUT
A WALL TO BE BUILT IN 2 YEARS…IF
YOU CAN.
IS 10 YEARS THE BEST GUYS LIKE YOU
CAN DO?
The question is not can it be built but should it be built?
won’t work and won’t happen and won’t be able to do what
trumpster the dumpster wants done.
The foreigners will have already moved in…in fact more
Hispanics moving back to mexico than comeing in.
But the drugs will come in and they’ll flood America with even
cheaper drugs than heroin….look for poppers.
they will still come in because special interests and industry
need the cheap labor or they’ll take their factories to mexico.
Wall was what carrier used as an example to move south.
Built the wall…its a massive project and bythe time (if trump
is elected) the wall won’t be complete at 2000 miles.
Now trump says 1000 miles…so what do we do to the other
1000 miles…..massive movement of equipment/labor…have to
set up housing/accomdoations /cities to house the 20,000
people….problem is that every project trump has build has
failed…his casinos…his golf courses are faiing…are we going
to let this con man dictate the contractors/hiring etc. for this
fact project……..
AND HE’S GOT TO BE ELECTED TO DO THIS LEGO LAND
PICE OF CRAP.
Also…breaking….large republican donors are getting ready to
fund DEMOCRATIC CAMPAIGN…..the word is that America
would be better with a democrat than trumpster the dumpstere.
Froeign donors are using loopholes to give millionsto defeat
trump. I don’t think trump will be able to last the nuclear
ad campaign about to destroy him and his family…..he can
use all the negative expletives he wants….trump is going to
be attacked 24/7 like we’ve never seen before by both dem
and repub groups…….no one wants this unstable fool to be
running the nation…..its going to be a landslide.
How do I know….when losers like glazer and K pick someone
you know they’re going to lose.
And if they think they know so much let them put 1o k where
their mouth is. They won’t…..they’re chickenhawks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!\
Big talkers…no winners….just losers….need I say more!Q
I won’t speak to your politics, just your nonsense about engineering and building walls.
“massive movement of equipment/labor…have to set up housing/accomodations/cities to house the 20,000 people…”
This isn’t that complicated. Bechtel, the largest engineering firm in the world, is currently working on a liquefied natural gas project on Curtis Island in Australia. This Island is a protected nature preserve that had zero development. Not one road, not one house, not one piece of equipment. And Bechetel is handling the situation incredibly well. Built roads, built temporary housing, built some incredible nature preservation systems to ensure the protection of the rest of the island. This is a very common problem with large engineering feats, and is easily overcome. And the Curtis Island project employs more than double your 20,000 people with 40,000 construction craft.
rolla 86…please respond point by point as to why this
structural engineer is wrong. As a grad of a great school
I’m sure you have the facts and data to prove this man
(a structural engineer wrong)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
it will be in separate pieces but lets see why this man is wrong.
here ya go ROLLA ’86. Prove your mettle…lets see what you say about why this fence trump talks about is far fetched and nearly impossible. There were some graphs so if you need those I can get them……..you questioned Harley and this article….lets see if you can show us why this guy is either right or wrong. Hope you get explicit in why this is right or wrong point by
point. Thanks for your input.
There are very few occasions in American political discourse that require the input of a structural engineer, but when Donald Trump took a question from Univision’s Jorge Ramos regarding his proposed United States-Mexico border wall at a press conference on August 25, I heard the clarion call:
RAMOS: How are you going to build a 1,900-mile wall?
TRUMP: Very easy. I’m a builder. That’s easy. I build buildings that are — can I tell you what’s more complicated? What’s more complicated is building a building that’s 95 stories tall. Okay?
No. Donald Trump is not a builder. Donald Trump could not build a doghouse. Donald Trump is a developer who pays what he would call “very, very smart people” to build things on his behalf. His response to Ramos’ question was meant both to exaggerate his understanding of construction and to downplay the challenges posed by his border wall project.
Though I would never classify the construction of a 95-story building as simple, it is a feat that has been achieved many times before. There are at least 30 buildings that have reached a height of 95 stories or more, according to the obsessively detailed database at SkyscraperPage.com, and there are even more in the design phase or under construction.
On the other hand, human beings have built a 2,000-mile-long frontier wall exactly one time. Once. And it was accomplished only through a centuries-long building campaign that necessitated the forced labor of millions of Chinese peasants.
The challenge of Trump’s border wall is not technical, but logistical. The leap in complexity between “building a wall” and “building a 2,000-mile-long continuous border wall in the desert” is about equal to the gap between “killing a guy” and “waging a protracted land war.” Trump’s border wall, if built as he has described it, would be one of the largest civil works projects in the history of the country and would face an array of challenges not found when constructing 95-story skyscrapers.
In order to adequately answer Mr. Ramos’ question, let’s first make some assumptions on the project’s scope: A successful border wall must be effective, cheap, and easily maintained. It should be built from readily available materials and should take advantage of the capabilities of the existing labor force. The wall should reach about five feet underground to deter tunneling, and should terminate about 20 feet above grade to deter climbing.
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wall_1
Elevation view of proposed border wall. (Click to enlarge)
To be classified as a “wall” rather than a “fence,” the barrier must also be a continuous, non-porous construction. This distinction might seem purely semantic, but Trump has made himself very clear on the matter, saying, “A wall is better than fencing, and it’s much more powerful. It’s more secure. It’s taller.” So we’ll take him at his word: He wants to build a wall.
One of the biggest choices that a builder has to make is what material to use for his or her project. For Trump’s wall, I would first dismiss concrete masonry unit (commonly called cinderblock) construction because each block would have to be put in place and set in mortar by hand. The finished product would probably be acceptable, but construction would be outrageously labor intensive and therefore costly.
Next, I would dismiss steel wire mesh. While it is cheap and readily available, it can be easily penetrated by a pair of wire cutters, an angle grinder, an oxy-acetylene torch, or just a Chevy going really fast. Even though extant barrier sections along the border make use of wire mesh, the United States Border Patrol is constantly battling to repair breaches and, as stated above, this kind of barrier really falls into the category of “fence.”
That leaves concrete. A concrete wall would meet all of the basic project requirements, and as a bonus would also embody the gray-faced antipathy of America’s immigration policy. There are two major types of concrete construction:
•cast-in-place, where wet, plastic concrete is brought in trucks to a job site, cast into formwork, and then cured; and
•pre-cast concrete, where the concrete is cast in a controlled indoor environment, cured, and then shipped to the construction site for assembly.
The hot, dry climate in the border regions would complicate cast-in-place construction because high heat tends to screw up the chemical reactions that cause concrete to harden.
I drew up a quick design option for a pre-cast concrete wall, not dissimilar to many proprietary systems currently on the market. This design consists of I-shaped concrete columns spaced at 10 feet on center, with eight-inch-thick wall panels spanning in between them. In such a design, the only concrete that would need to be cast on site would be for the foundations. The columns would anchored to the foundations, and the wall panels are slipped in place from above.
Click to enlarge
Section cuts of proposed border wall. (Click to enlarge)
If we assume a border wall length of 1,954 miles (there are 600 or so miles of existing border barrier, but much of this would not qualify for Trump’s wall), then we can make some estimates as to the volume of concrete needed for the project:
•Foundation: 6 feet deep, 18 inch radius = 42.4 cubic feet
•Column: 4 square feet area by 30 feet tall = 120 cubic feet
•Wall panels: 25 feet tall by 10 feet long by 8 inches thick = 166.7 cubic feet
•Total concrete per 10-foot segment = 329.1 cubic feet
•1,954 miles = 10,300,00 feet = 1,030,000 segments (10-feet long each)
•1,030,000 segments * 329.1 cubic feet per segment = 339,000,000 cubic feet = 12,555,000 cubic yards. (The cubic yard is the standard unit of measure of concrete volume in the United States.)
Twelve million, six hundred thousand cubic yards. In other words, this wall would contain over three times the amount of concrete used to build the Hoover Dam — a project that, unlike Trump’s wall, has qualitative, verifiable economic benefits.
Such a wall would be greater in volume than all six pyramids of the Giza Necropolis — and it is unlikely that a concrete slab in the town of Dead Dog Valley, Texas would inspire the same timeless sense of wonder.
That quantity of concrete could pave a one-lane road from New York to Los Angeles, going the long way around the Earth, which would probably be just as useful.
Concrete, of course, requires reinforcing steel (or rebar). A reasonable estimate for the amount of rebar would be about 3 percent of the total wall size, resulting in a steel volume of 10,190,000 cubic feet, or about 5 billion pounds. We could melt down 4 of our Nimitz-class aircraft carriers and would probably be a few cruisers short of having enough steel.
But the challenge is far greater than simply collecting the necessary raw materials. All of these hundreds of miles of wall would need to be cast in concrete facilities, probably project-specific ones that have been custom built near the border. Then, the pre-cast wall pieces would need to be shipped by truck through the inhospitable, often roadless desert.
The men and women doing the work of actually installing the wall would have to be provided with food, water, shelter, lavatory facilities, safety equipment, transportation, and medical care, and would sometimes be miles away from a population center of any size. Sure, some people would be willing to to do the work, but at what price? Would Trump hire Mexicans?
This analysis also ignores the less sexy aspects of large-scale engineering projects: surveying, land acquisition, environmental review, geological studies, maintenance, excavating for foundations, and so on. Theoretical President Trump may be able to executive-order his way through the laser grid of lawsuits that normally impede this kind of work, but he can’t ignore the physical realities of construction.
Trump’s border wall is not impossible, but it would certainly be a more challenging endeavor than he would ever lead you to believe. Maybe he should stick to 95-story buildings.
Update: In the Oct. 28 debate, Trump amended his wall proposal to a mere 1,000 miles. The author responds here.
—
Ali F. Rhuzkan is the pen name of a professional engineer and unprofessional writer living and working in New York City. The author can be reached at a.rhuzkan@gmail.com.
This post has been updated.
Photo: Gage Skidmore via Flickr
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Copyright 2015 The National Memo
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read my article if hearne puts it up comparing trumps wall
to hoover dam…..
You’re not engineer…..you didn’t go to rolla (which is a
mediocre school to begin with)…..
Harley knows.
I can’t speak to claims of education, whether quality or my attendance. But I will address the claims of Mr. Rhuzkan, like you requested.
He has three major issues with the wall. One is climate, two is material, and three is logistics.
Importantly, I want you to understand I agree with each of the concerns Mr. Rhuzkan has raised. It would require a tremendous amount of material, it would take place in a climate that is difficult for those materials, and it would be an incredible logistical process.
But, I believe if Mr. Rhuzkan were to be asked to bid on the job for President Trump (because he would have to be President for us to even consider this alternate reality), Mr. Rhuzkan would express each of these concerns, then explain that they can be overcome (at a price.)
So, point by point, lets address each of the three major concerns. Firstly, I do not agree that the concrete must be pre-cast. Construction does not stop because of hot weather, instead project managers employ Hot-weather Concreting Practices. In the hottest western regions, most all concrete placement takes place before 10 a.m. On many larger projects, concrete is placed at night or during the early morning hours to avoid the extreme sun and heat of the day (you see MODOT, employ these practices during the summer). Rapid surface hydration is always a threat, so surface evaporative control agents and curing compounds are common on exterior concrete placements. In hot weather, concrete with fly ash or slag will set a bit slower. But using admixtures to control set and slump is more common and does not lower the quality of the concrete or change its color (after all, we don’t want to lose that grey-color). The cast-in-place vs. pre-cast is an important distinction.
I for one, believe there would need to be both pre-cast and cast-in-place. The pre-cast, does not need to be manufactured in Texas, it is common to pre-cast elsewhere and freight the material in by railroad and then truck.
Truthfully, and I think Mr. Rhuzkan would agree, it would be a hybrid of both cast-in-place and pre-cast.
Moving on to point two. Material. Mr. Rhuzan is spot on with his calculations on materials. Maybe even a little short. I should remind you that in today’s market, we are material rich. There is too much steel, as an example. And with it, too much metallugical coal. Just ask Arch Coal over in St. Louis. Eye-popping numbers are always catchy. So let me rebut Mr. Rhuzkan with some eye-popping numbers of my own.
“Aggregates-sand, gravel, crushed stone, and slag-needed for the Interstate System would supply material to build a wall 50 feet wide and 9 feet high completely around the world at the equator; enough to make 700 mounds the size of the largest Egyptian pyramids.
–o–
The portland cement concrete that will be used in the Interstate System would build more than 80 monoliths the size of Hoover Dam. That much concrete would provide six sidewalks to the moon. The cement alone would fill three trains of cement hopper cars with their locomotives in New York City and their cabooses in San Francisco.
–o–
The bitumens-tar and asphalt-to be used in pavements, bases, and shoulders of the Interstate System would provide enough material to build driveways for 35 million homes. Loaded in tank cars, the bitumen would require five trains each stretching from Chicago to New Orleans.
–o–
The steel required for the Interstate System will take about 30 million tons of iron ore, 18 million tons of coal, and 6½ million tons of limestone. The total steel requirements are almost twice the annual steel consumption of the automotive industry. Each mile of the System will need the amount of steel, on the average, required for the nails in 1,700 frame houses.”
When the US Government was pitching the Eisenhower Interstate System, this is how they described the massive undertaking to the American people. (Note how it is described in the present, not the past participles.)
These numbers dwarf the numbers by Mr. Rhuzkan. So, massive? Yes. Impossible? No.
In fact, it should be argued what such a use of commoditites would do for the economy. After the Chinese construction slow down, the economy needs a massive undertaking like this to jolt the economy.
Now lets move to Mr. Rhuzkan’s third issue, logistics. This is probably the most real. However, if Mr. Rhuzkan has ever done a massive job in a third world country, he understands how this is done. Roads are rather simple, all it requires is grading. These roads will be used by heavy machinery, not a Toyota Prius. They are temporary and expendable. Just a matter of moving dirt, no pavement required. The climate actually benefits the logistics. Housing is easily overcome using shipping containers. This is common practice. Fabricate standard shipping containers into three sleeping units for workers. Common areas are constructed using cheap Pole Barn techniques. Other methods can be used, but this is an example. I would remind you that we build cities like this in combat zones all the time. The last portion of logisitics is man power. America has a great deal of skilled labor. It is a blessing of this country. But lets assume we need more. In countries like Egypt, we take a skilled laborer and give him 5 unskilled laborers. The skilled laborer teaches the unskilled laborer one thing and one thing only.
Please don’t misunderstand, this would be a massive udnertaking. Absolutely massive. But it is a massive project like this that could turn a whole economy around. It would take no less than a decade. Train unskilled workers in a trade craft with real world experience. It would prop up a down trodden commodities market. President Obama talked about shovel ready projects. Do you remember that Harley? President Obama was right, that is exactly what we need. Unfortunately the execution missed the mark. They were a bunch of small projects that lasted maybe 6 months and were over. There was no return on investment. This project could change a generation.
More jobs, a better commodity market (remember we are one of the most commodity rich countries in the world), and least of all (yes least), it would curb the inflow of illegal immigrants.
a decade? arev you serious rollly polly?
a freaking decade to build a wall?
how s that going to stop the problem mr.
trumpster has outlined……….please make people
understand that mexico won’t pay for it….
the drug lords aren’t paying for it…..and once
built they’ll still gt their drugs in….and trump
won’t even still be in office when the wall is
done.
THIS IS ALL B.S…..CURB THE INFLOW OF
IMMIGRANTS….BY 2026 THERE WILLBE
SO MANY FOREIGNERS IN THE NATION
IT WON’T MAKE ANY DIFFERNECE…..THEY
WILL BE RUNNING THE NATION AND ALL
THE WHITES WILL BE MINORITY STATUS.
AND WHERE IS THE SKILLED LABOR COMING FROM? MEXICO?
YOU AND YOUR BOY THE DONALD ARE
JOKES…..GOOD LUCK RETHUGS….DUMBEST GROUP OF PEOPLE
ON THE PLANET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think part of being great is always assuming you’re slipping.
We need to fix health care, our education system is poor, a large segment of the population is stuck in poverty and there aren’t as many good blue collar jobs as there once were, and the deficit is out of control.
In other words, the country is circling the drain.
What do you mean our education system is poor? We have lots and lots of poorly educated people in this country and Trump JUST LOVES those in his poorly educated base. They helped him win Nevada. He certainly doesn’t want to see them get educated. And in Trump fashion, I’m not saying these things, I’m just repeating what someone else (Trump) said.
Poor was being generous. I think it was poor when I was young and now it’s becoming awful.
P.S. After Super Tuesday Donald will be the Republican Candidate for President. Wow. Now the FBI wants to interview Clintons staff..not good. I don’t think she can beat Donald. Lets get ready for President Trump. It’s happening. Will be a wild ride.
Yes CG, things could always be worse, and they could also be better… much better
Or not ( http://scottienellhughes.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/scottie-nell-hughes.jpg )
If America has a brain, one man will become President
So far, so good… America – ‘winning’ again
TRUMP 2016
🙂
WINNING!
HEY K DOG AND PIMP DOG GLAZE……READ THIS ABOUT YOUR MAN!
RETHUG PARTY TO CAMPAIGN AGAINST TRUMP IN GENERAL
ELECTION! NUCLEAR ATTACK ON TRUMP FROM HIS OWN
PARTY. RETHUG CONVENTION TO BE SHORTENED TO 1-2 DAYS.
CIVIL WAR IN THE PARTY OVER TRUMP LEADING THE TICKET!!!!!!!
In the most surreal moment in modern American politics, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told panicking Republicans that the GOP would actively destroy Donald Trump’s election chances if it came to that. That rush of warm air you feel on your face? It’s the wave of radiation from the Republican Party’s nuclear meltdown. We’re witnessing the death of a major political party.
Things are getting truly desperate in conservative camps and the grim acceptance that this isn’t a bad dream and that Trump is almost surely going to win the nomination has begun to set in. It’s led to an odd plan. In a stunning report by the New York Times, Republican sources confirm that party leadership is planning to destroy Trump and give Hillary Clinton the win rather than let him have control of the GOP.
To rally depressed Republicans, McConnell has hatched an unthinkable tactical retreat: Let Hillary Clinton win and focus on maintaining control over the Senate.
While still hopeful that Mr. Rubio might prevail, Mr. McConnell has begun preparing senators for the prospect of a Trump nomination, assuring them that, if it threatened to harm them in the general election, they could run negative ads about Mr. Trump to create space between him and Republican senators seeking re-election. Mr. McConnell has raised the possibility of treating Mr. Trump’s loss as a given and describing a Republican Senate to voters as a necessary check on a President Hillary Clinton, according to senators at the lunches.
Did you catch that? Mitch McConnell floated the idea of tanking his party’s own candidate for president over sandwiches at lunch.
McConnell’s thinking is this: If Republicans accept that Trump will never win the general election, they can devote their energy towards running against Clinton at the senate level. If that sounds insane, then welcome to the Republican Party in 2016.
The saddest part in this scheme is that McConnell’s plan probably won’t even work – at least not in the way he hopes. For one thing, Trump has run his entire campaign on being anti-everything the current “establishment” Republican Party stands for. If his rabid supporters catch wind of the fact that loathed senators like Mitch McConnell are lining against him, that will only make him more popular. Trump’s been saying the party is against him all along. This only confirms it.
Making matters even more dire, McConnell’s tenure as Senate Leader has been defined by such egregious levels of obstructionism that Republican lawmakers are roughly as popular as athlete’s foot. In just the last few weeks, sources leaked McConnell’s plan to literally do nothing during this year’s legislative session. If that “do nothing” strategy is shameful, he only made it worse by following it up with the announcement that he would be blocking President Obama’s Supreme Court Justice nominee to score political points. Neither decision was popular with Democrats or Republicans.
As a result, polls suggest McConnell is leading Senate Republicans into an epic defeat on election day. Having destroyed Trump to save the jobs of Senate Republicans, he will be left with nothing to show for it. A fitting end to a Republican Party that rushed so fast to the bottom that they didn’t realize they had jumped off of a cliff.
Featured image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr
YES YESYESYESYESYESYESYES YES YES YES YES YES YES YESS
Wow. Trump mauls the competition in Nevada. Wasn’t even close.
“And no other major country can say that. Not China, Japan, Russia, England, the Middle East, Europe – even South America.”
Europe and South America are not countries.
Shhh. Glayzer does not deal well with these pesky little things called ‘facts’.
Are you implying that the Middle East is?😊
Good peice CG. Hey, the best so far.
Whatever they are payin’ you too keep this websight going they should double, no triple it.
Preciate you insight bro. Peace.
We are a @unt hair away from Idiocracy, for real. Trump as President will seal it.
As the 21st century began, human evolution was at a turning point. Natural selection, the process by which the strongest, the smartest, the fastest, reproduced in greater numbers than the rest, a process which had once favored the noblest traits of man, now began to favor different traits. Most science fiction of the day predicted a future that was more civilized and more intelligent. But as time went on, things seemed to be heading in the opposite direction. A dumbing down. How did this happen? Evolution does not necessarily reward intelligence. With no natural predators to thin the herd, it began to simply reward those who reproduced the most, and left the intelligent to become an endangered species……
The years passed, mankind became stupider at a frightening rate. Some had high hopes the genetic engineering would correct this trend in evolution, but sadly the greatest minds and resources where focused on conquering hair loss and prolonging erections.
With no apologies to Dwayne Bowe, that’s ‘homo erectus’…
🙂
Thank you sir.
“And with government aid and programs few people in this country go without food or shelter.
I know we have people who live on the streets – but not many – and mostly that’s their way of life due to drug or other personal issues. You can drive our cities and you see very few homeless people, even the poorer areas.”
You… truly are out of touch with reality or you are blind as a bat. You have no clue.
Glad you do. That saves all of us…in my experience I see far less homeless and hungry people here than anywhere else. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist at all, just not a critical issue in America today.
Now I understand everyone’s “stuff” is emotional right now. But I’ve got a 3 point plan that’s going to fix everything. Let me break it down.
Number 1: We’ve got this guy Trump.
Number 2: He’s got a higher IQ than ANY MAN ALIVE. and Number 3: He’s going to fix EVERYTHING.
I shall prepare the toilet water…
Craig, your dad, Stan, is dead?
No Stan is alive and well. My mother remarried and she and Her husband, my step dad, died. His name was John Trantham. They were married for 30 years after my folks divorced back in the late 1960’s. Thanks for asking.
Perhaps it is this year’s version of Hope and Change…I hope I like the change. So Trump, elected, says America’s already great so I will follow in Obama’s footsteps and improve my golf game. It is amazing how people dream about the change or they picture America, a utopia, where everything gets done for us, and we still get paid. Years ago, having had my ass handed to me in an election, I seem to have become a little cynical, wondering why my esteemed opponent could have won with such an educated constituency, when she obviously was without a clue. Perhaps, I was the one marching out of step with the rest of the band. However, I was the first of my Party to carry a precinct in 22 years. Maybe, someone should have said something? Ah, but that precinct. I was definitely on the right track, and my mantra was “jobs”. Jobs, in a city where the cost of living was 117% of the national average and wages were 87% of the national average. My mistake was a constituency not quite educated yet, students, many of whom were drinking the Kool Aid that someone else would pay (Mom and Dad or the lender). What, repay education loans? In the end, my opponent and I had the same vision, Utopia. We just saw different ways of achieving it. I didn’t get the $50 per day job as a legislator, but I was fortunate enough to shag a $100 per day job as a lobbyist with a veto-proof legislature on my side, and a governor from the same party, but enough of that. I have to admire a marketer that can make the news everyday with another wild statement and no thought to political correctness. Like his predecessor, he wants what each and every voter considers a Great America, whether that is a North Korea as the largest Kingsford Charcoal Concession, or an Iraq and Iran full of farmers growing corn in peace. No, Trump is not for me, but there are several others who are not for me, as well. Trump still has a long way to go. Count the delgates, and in the meantime,smile at the next thing Trump says. After losing in an election to someone with a 0 score from the state Chamber of Commerce, I did not have a great deal of faith in the intellegence of the voter, like the members of the UAW who voted to end their careers with a vote for Gore, or members of the Coal Miners Union who voted for Obama. Maybe it is Hollywood voting for a higher tax rate for that $100 million acting job, or the GE charging stations being built, powered by coal. I still do not have faith in the voters, but now, it is a comedy. I’ll bet that Trump’s vision of making America Great again is not what the voters think it is.
WEll SAID. Nice.
Maybe it’s the Republican establishment that will end up running the third party campaign. 🙂 Trump certainly does not represent conservative orthodoxy. I don’t think his supporters care about conservative orthodoxy.
Trump is the new toy for low educated americans.
After nine months….after seeing republicans contributing to his opponents
campaign…..he’s toast.
Not that I’m enthralled with any of the candidates…but trump looked like a
jack a$$ at last nights debate. Multiply those attacks on him by 10000000 and
that’s what we’re going to see thru November. Already super pacs have been set
up by repub donors to run negative against trump…..its like he’s going to be
facing a nuclear bomb against him. and he won’t spend the money needed to
fight them……it’s going to be slaughter of mr. trump and his entitled family.
And remember Harley has inside info on this campaign.
As stated after Super Tuesday Donald will likely be the official Republican Presidential candidate. No everyone won’t drop out, Ben Carson may stay forever, he loves all this and as we talked about the more tv time, his speaking prices go up. So it won’t be offical really just accepted. I think Cruz will win Texas and that’s it and Rubio will be close in Florida but lose. With no wins oddly Rubio is the number 2 guy but likely out and Cruz is just too unpopular to continue with any hope.
Hilary already has it nearly locked up and after Tuesday that may be about it…
It’s all a matter of how long the names outside Trump and Clinton want attention.
Trump has made this, like him or not, the most exciting race to this point of all time. Wow the battle between Trump and Clinton will be insane. I’m sure they want to ask her to add debates, hah. The ratings will be NFL playoff numbers.
It’s become a major tv attraction. And growing as it narrows to the two finalists.
P.S. Every election the public says “I don’t like anyone” “Is this the best we can do” “I’m moving if so and so wins” we never like the choices do we.
Trump is a double agent.
If Donald Trump gets the nomination, if Donald Trump makes me vote for Hillary Clinton, I’m coming after him with the two weapons he is most frightened of, a building inspector and Kobe Bryant’s barber
I really do hate it with this immigration stuff. I mean, O’Rourke, was that a tribe in the Dakotas somewhere? I don’t think so. We are a nation of immigrants, what’s keeping us ahead of the Europeans and other economies is our welcoming of immigrants. That’s what keeps our age down, you know, I mean, everybody’s got to support me, soon, for Social — with Social Security. We need some young folks.
I thought there was a Republican establishment who was supposed to keep things like Trump or, for that matter, Cruz from happening, and then I realized, no, they’re all dead. I’m the Republican establishment now. And it was a sad and burdensome thing to find out. And I wish I knew what to do.”
Trump is a double agent.
If Donald Trump gets the nomination, if Donald Trump makes me vote for Hillary Clinton, I’m coming after him with the two weapons he is most frightened of, a building inspector and Kobe Bryant’s barber
I really do hate it with this immigration stuff. I mean, O’Rourke, was that a tribe in the Dakotas somewhere? I don’t think so. We are a nation of immigrants, what’s keeping us ahead of the Europeans and other economies is our welcoming of immigrants. That’s what keeps our age down, you know, I mean, everybody’s got to support me, soon, for Social — with Social Security. We need some young folks.
how can trump win when his own party is saying they will make him lose the
general election.
McConnell and his peers say trumpster on the top of the ticket would destroy
the republican party…and they’re right.
Idiots like glaze don’t get it.
And can you imagine the how many tv spots Hillary can make against the
orange man just from the video of other republicans.
Harley…even when things looked tough will be right again…..the orange man
when he releases those taxes and the attacks really start coming from his
own party will be hated by both democrats and republicans.
Please..please…I hope trumpster the dumpster gets the nomination!