This was the first time I've listened to trump ever. I'm so appalled I don't know what to say.

[cali]

I've never seen an interview with him or heard his stump speech or watched his stupid shows.

He didn't talk issues or policy except for gobbledygook about bending everyone to his will, from Iran to Apple.. He mostly rambled on an ugly, fractured rambling way.

I so don't get it.

He's despicable and a caricature. He's a horrible human being and a complete embarrassment.

I'm at a complete loss.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

1. It's like a car wreck...and a train wreck. Now you know why those of us that have...

...have been shaking our heads in disbelief for 7 months now.

It's just incomprehensible that there are people out there that eat his shit...up.

[Rockyj]

12. Thrump followers are an embarrasment to our country.

Other country's probably think we're all nuts! Listening to Chris Haye's interview some of them I'm @ loss for words.

[Funtatlaguy]

51. It's not incomprehensible.

This country is full of stupid, malleable people.

[LuvLoogie]

2. He communicates via the id in visceral blasts that leave an afterglow

in brains with atrophied attention spans.

[cali]

3. Spot fucking on.

[malaise]

9. Brilliant

[myrna minx]

14. Perfect!

[Glamrock]

29. That

Was AWESOME!

[phantom power]

55. Thread winner. It's not coherent, it's Trump's id relating to other conservative ids.

[hifiguy]

58. Ayup.

As George Carlin, that Great American Truth-teller once observed, "think about how stupid the average person is. Half the people are dumber than that."

[Takket]

4. he is the frankenstein the GOP created

They carefully crafted and brainwashed their base, beginning with Rush's program being inserted in every rural corner of america, and fanned into an inferno by fox news. they crafted the base to move farther to the right to provide themselves with a perpetual resource for votes and did it by fanning the flames of racism, sexism, xenophobia and narcissism.

The said to themselves "there, now we have an entire generation there for us to control and do with as we please". Now they could depend on them to support anyone with the GOP label.

Then Trump came along.............. Trump, who as you said, is a caricature of everything the GOP wanted their base to be, and now the base has reared its ugly head and taken control of the ship.

They made this monster, this personification of the base, and now they have to deal with it.

[nruthie]

19. You said it.

[CanonRay]

28. Well said

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

37. Excellent analysis

[hifiguy]

59. And they have no cause to complain

that Frankenstein is tearing the castle down around them. It was inevitable.

[bullwinkle428]

5. Boundless narcissism with occasional helpings of sadism ("take their coats")

are pretty much the hallmark of every public speech he makes.

[pnwmom]

8. +1. n/t

[Person 2713]

18. You are describing most republicans I have met

[Hamlette]

43. refusing to allow protesters to take their coats in this freezing weather is not very presidential

or human. Does he do shit like that often? I'd never seen anything like it.

Think about someone who is called "The Donald" as the president of our country.

How far we have fallen. No wonder he likes Putin, he's just like him.

[morningfog]

6. The first and only time I watched him was when he spoke to the Jewish group.

I felt the same way. It was all about how he would win, how he's gaming the system, bravado, insults and stupid tough guy shit. I was dumbfounded that he has had any staying power with any group. It is disturbing that anyone actually supports him.

He is dangerous though. He knows the farce that has become the nomination process. He is exploiting it.

[tblue37]

24. Our only hope is that he is really this campaign season's Sanjay. nt

[pnwmom]

7. Doesn't his speech style remind you of Palin's, except for the added nastiness?

It's just word salad, most of the time.

[Wellstone ruled]

10. Yes it does.

The usage of words comes out of a High School Movie script. Waiting for Freddie and his chain saw complete with the Hockey mask.

[cali]

11. I think he's even more unhinged

[hifiguy]

60. He's also smarter, which is not saying much it must be admitted.

Il Douche has a plan of sorts. Not a good or sane one, but he does have a plan. Sparklemoose was ultimately in it for fifteen minutes of fame and the money that comes with it.

[TeeYiYi]

31. He used to seem...

...mildly more intelligent than Palin. Now, and in retrospect, I'm not so sure. Both appear to be masters at delivering compulsive, incoherent word salad.

TYY

[immoderate]

13. Trump understands 'American exceptionalism.'

It's also known as 'anti-intellectualism.'

--imm

[Laura PourMeADrink]

16. Can't believe you haven't heard him before Cali ! Yes, everything

you say is true ! And I am totally convinced he will win the nomination and has a very good chance to win it all. And, with a repuke congress there is no telling what horrors lie ahead. BTW, I got thoroughly chastised by my husband for watching the Trump circus in the kitchen while he raved about how wonderful Obama was at his gun town hall.

[cali]

22. I just figured that since I already knew he was awful I didn't need to subject

myself to watching him.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

49. Smart girl ! Can't believe they predicted Jeb would be the nominee

on Morning Joe this morning. What could possibly happen that would make people start liking him all of a sudden?

[cali]

63. I'll be genuinely shocked if Jeb is the nominee.

[Punkingal]

17. Same here. Watched for the first time tonight and I am apalled.

Complete rambling, nothing specific at all about solutions to anything, and he has all these people thinking he has answers. It blows my mind.

[m-lekktor]

20. I haven't seen any of his speeches or interviews.

I am sure I would be appalled as well based on comments he has made that I have heard about.

[CanonRay]

30. Please watch one so you will know

Even though it's pain. We all need to understand what we're up against and that all this Hillary vs Bernie shit is irrelevant in the long run.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

50. True - he is a candidate like no other. A media master. Overbooking the Vermont

site - to make it look like thousands are out in the cold unable to see him. PLUS - he plans all this while Obama is doing his town hall on CNN to steal TV viewers. He is smart enough to realize he can say ANYTHING. There is no truth source that everyone believes in anymore. Plus, he is very good at brushing off any criticism and good at zingers that are humorous but are enormously effective - i.e. Low Energy Bush.

[smirkymonkey]

21. What is even more horrifying is that so many Americans find him

so appealing. I find that really depressing.

[tblue37]

23. Haven't you seen his HAT?! Isn't that a deal-clencher for you? (It seems to be

for about 35%-40% of the GOP base.)

[DCBob]

25. Americas Mussolini.

Its scary.

[First Speaker]

26. Part George Wallace, part Berlusconi, part Mussolini, part Peron...

...all mixed in with some evil essence, some bulwark of dried liquid shit, that's uniquely his...

[hifiguy]

61. Resulting in a vulgar talking yam

with a dead muskrat perched atop its head.

[Kalidurga]

27. I am so sorry

I never saw a clip featuring T-Rump until many months of warnings. I read headlines here and a few articles sans clips. Then I saw an actual video of T-Rump it was nasty the one where he talks about Mexican immigrants. I am so done with that topee with a mouth. I remember the good old days when I just saw a show of his every once in a while and he would fire someone. He didn't seem evil then just stupid.

[Rex]

32. Yeah that is how I felt when I was growing up listening to Reagan laugh about AIDS.

I am still at a complete loss when it comes to republicans.

[valerief]

33. He does the same thing the rest of the GOP candidates do except he does it without

complete sentences.

[Kath1]

34. He seems like a horrible human being.

I watched it, too. OMG! He is worse than I thought, and I thought he was terrible before. Racist, bigoted, narrow-minded, aggressive, confrontational and egotistical. Not what I ever want to see in a President. I didn't think I could hate anything more than the Bush administration, but this would be even worse.

I was glad to see so many people protesting. This guy is the worst America can vomit up. The fact that he has any support at all is scary to me.

[Goblor]

35. Me too ...

I just sent a a Letter-to-the-Editor to several Mexican news papers regarding his incoherent rant and our un-acceptance of his blathering, racist point-of-view...

[spanone]

36. he's a pompous ass. no one loves don like don loves don.

an obnoxious boor.

it says a shitload about his 'followers' they must be despicable people too.

[jalan48]

38. Instead of the media focusing on candidates talking about the issues they focus on Trump.

Could it be that the corporate media doesn't want the American public exposed to a rational discussion of important issues? 'Reality TV Presidential Race' is what we are getting. A kind of "Survivor" where Trump plays the role of the obnoxious bad guy who manages to avoid being kicked off. Stay tuned next week for another exciting episode.

[NJCher]

42. That's it

Very astute, esp'ly the part about Surviverman.

Cher

[jalan48]

52. Thank you for the kind words.

It just seems a bit obvious that the Presidential election cycle has become another event to market to the public.

[kacekwl]

39. Sadly, there are way more racist , bigots and haters

in this country than we may have thought. I see and hear it almost daily. This is why he is doing so well .

[ecstatic]

40. The takeaways from his speech:

It's ok to steal someone's coat if you don't like what he or she says!

It's ok to laugh about an American company's stock plummeting (despite the job and wealth losses that hurts American families)

People should have the right to carry guns everywhere, including schools!

And let's not forget his crocodile tears over the thought of never getting to ride in a Rolls Royce again, not to mention his bragging about how safe his new ride was.

Did I forget anything?

[cali]

47. I think you summed it up quite neatly.

[Gothmog]

41. I can take about 5 to 10 minutes before I have to turn it off

I also can not believe that people are buying this crap

[Scuba]

44. I'm still thinking he's Andy Kaufman performance art.

[leftyladyfrommo]

45. Me, too.

He is just a mess. I don't get it.

[muriel_volestrangler]

46. Many horrible human beings in the GOP want him to represent them; he's successful at being horrible

They like making snap judgements of other people, and calling them 'losers', or throwing ethnic libels around like 'rapists'. And in Trump, they see someone with their prejudices and hatreds, but who is clever enough to have played the system and made money (though, arguably, no more than anyone else who inherits a lot) and got his name on a lot of things, and his face on TV. They want to believe they too can be rich and famous, without leaving behind their bigotry.

I can understand the die-hard bigots, idiots and nutters in the Republican party might like him; what worries me is that he is still competitive in match-up polls for the whole electorate. His support ought to be down at the level of the 27% crazification factor, at best:

John: Hey, Bush is now at 37% approval. I feel much less like Kevin McCarthy screaming in traffic. But I wonder what his base is --

Tyrone: 27%.

John: ... you said that immmediately, and with some authority.

Tyrone: Obama vs. Alan Keyes. Keyes was from out of state, so you can eliminate any established political base; both candidates were black, so you can factor out racism; and Keyes was plainly, obviously, completely crazy. Batshit crazy. Head-trauma crazy. But 27% of the population of Illinois voted for him. They put party identification, personal prejudice, whatever ahead of rational judgement. Hell, even like 5% of Democrats voted for him. That's crazy behaviour. I think you have to assume a 27% Crazification Factor in any population.

John: Objectively crazy or crazy vis-a-vis my own inertial reference frame for rational behaviour? I mean, are you creating the Theory of Special Crazification or General Crazification?

Tyrone: Hadn't thought about it. Let's split the difference. Half just have worldviews which lead them to disagree with what you consider rationality even though they arrive at their positions through rational means, and the other half are the core of the Crazification -- either genuinely crazy; or so woefully misinformed about how the world works, the bases for their decision making is so flawed they may as well be crazy.

John: You realize this leads to there being over 30 million crazy people in the US?

Tyrone: Does that seem wrong?

John: ... a bit low, actually.

http://kfmonkey.blogspot.co.uk/2005/10/lunch-discussions-145-crazification.html

[Vinca]

48. Someone played clips from his speeches - sort of a "greatest hits" - and

the first thought that came to my mind was that he sounded like a stand-up comedian doing his act. This election has become very, very scary because I can imagine the scenario where this nutjob wins. He'll make Reagan seem like the good old days.

[tenderfoot]

53. He's been horrible for the past 3 decades

He came on my radar screen back in the early 80's because of his involvement with the USFL and snatching big name players like Herschel Walker from the NFL. He was a big mouth then - you must check out this documentary:

if you can take it.

I hoped at the time that he would fade away, never to be heard from again - but no... he just stayed in the spotlight acting like the biggest loudest douche in the room.

More reading on what a dickbag he is - this from the early 1990s: http://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/donald-trump-and-the-central-park-five

[Demonaut]

54. bit late to the game Cali, he's been spewing this crap since day 1..and I just don't get it either

how does he have this level of support???????

[Glimmer of Hope]

56. He repeats the same shtick over and over again. There is no substance just

plenty of dumb and ugly blurbs.

[hifiguy]

57. Even The Austrian Corporal and Mussolini had actual platforms.

Il Douche just blathers on about the magnificence of He, tRump.

But this country has, historically, been virulently anti-intellectual, mistrusting both genuine education and the genuinely educated. The surprise is that it's taken this long for someone like the Vulgar Talking Yam to come along.

[randr]

62. A less than majority of Republicans

think he is better than all the other Republican candidates. Can't argue with them there.