It drives me crazy when people try to convince us that John Kasich is a "better" Republican.

Hah! Fooled you.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Ohio is prohibiting doctors from performing abortions in cases where tests reveal the fetus has or likely has Down syndrome. 

Republican Gov. John Kasich signed the legislation Friday and the law goes into effect in 90 days. "The governor is pro-life and supports policies that protect the sanctity of life," press secretary Jon Keeling tells CNN.

The law prohibits abortions after prenatal tests reveal Down syndrome in a fetus or if there's "any other reason to believe" the fetus has the genetic condition. 

A person performing an abortion in such a case could face a fourth-degree felony charge, and physicians could lose their licenses. The woman seeking the abortion would not be held accountable, according to the legislation.

Sure Kasich may seem relatively reasonable when compared to the Donald Trump's of this world but he is still a Republican willing to tell women what they can do with their own bodies and condemning them to raising a child they may be ill equipped emotionally or financially to parent. 

Taking care of a child with Down Syndrome, or any other challenging diagnosis, can bankrupt families, destroy marriages, and negatively impact the other children in the home.

This is simply NOT a decision that anybody other than the mother and father of the child should be involved in making.

The fact that John Kasich does not respect that is why nobody should respect his criticisms of the Republican party or Donald Trump.

Top Republicans launch shadow campaign to replace Donald Trump on the ticket in 2020.

Courtesy of the New York Times: 

President Trump’s first term is ostensibly just warming up, but luminaries in his own party have begun what amounts to a shadow campaign for 2020 — as if the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue weren’t involved. 

The would-be candidates are cultivating some of the party’s most prominent donors, courting conservative interest groups and carefully enhancing their profiles. Mr. Trump has given no indication that he will decline to seek a second term. 

But the sheer disarray surrounding this presidency— the intensifying investigation by the special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and the plain uncertainty about what Mr. Trump will do in the next week, let alone in the next election—have prompted Republican officeholders to take political steps that are unheard-of so soon into a new administration. 

Asked about those Republicans who seem to be eyeing 2020, a White House spokeswoman, Lindsay Walters, fired a warning shot: “The president is as strong as he’s ever been in Iowa, and every potentially ambitious Republican knows that.” 

But in interviews with more than 75 Republicans at every level of the party, elected officials, donors and strategists expressed widespread uncertainty about whether Mr. Trump would be on the ballot in 2020 and little doubt that others in the party are engaged in barely veiled contingency planning. 

“They see weakness in this president,” said Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona. “Look, it’s not a nice business we’re in.”

Some of the Republicans identified as conducting these "shadow campaigns" are Senators Tom Cotton and Ben Sasse, Ohio Governor John Kasich, and least surprising of all, Mike Pence.

This should not be surprising in the wake of sanctions bill the Senate Republicans forced Trump to sign, and the fact that they are making it impossible for him to make any recess appointments. 

Clearly the Republicans see the writing on the wall, and are becoming convinced that Trump will not be a viable candidate in 2020.

Considering of course that he even lasts that long.

It appears likely that Russian oligarchs helped to fund Donald Trump's presidential campaign, as well as the campaigns of some other prominent Republicans.

Courtesy of Dallas News:  

Donald Trump and the political action committees for Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Lindsey Graham, John Kasich and John McCain accepted $7.35 million in contributions from a Ukrainian-born oligarch who is the business partner of two of Russian president Vladimir Putin's favorite oligarchs and a Russian government bank. 

During the 2015-2016 election season, Ukrainian-born billionaire Leonid "Len" Blavatnik contributed $6.35 million to leading Republican candidates and incumbent senators. Mitch McConnell was the top recipient of Blavatnik's donations, collecting $2.5 million for his GOP Senate Leadership Fund under the names of two of Blavatnik's holding companies, Access Industries and AI Altep Holdings, according to Federal Election Commission documents and OpenSecrets.org.

Marco Rubio's Conservative Solutions PAC and his Florida First Project received $1.5 million through Blavatnik's two holding companies. Other high dollar recipients of funding from Blavatnik were PACS representing Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker at $1.1 million, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham at $800,000, Ohio Governor John Kasich at $250,000 and Arizona Senator John McCain at $200,000. 

In January, Quartz reported that Blavatnik donated another $1 million to Trump's Inaugural Committee. Ironically, the shared address of Blavatnik's companies is directly across the street from Trump Tower on 5th Avenue in New York.

Right across the street huh? Well that's certainly handy.

The Dallas News also makes this rather astute point:

Blavatnik's relationships with Russian oligarchs close to Putin, particularly Oleg Deripaska, should be worrisome for Trump and the six GOP leaders who took Blavatnik's money during the 2016 presidential campaign. Lucky for them no one has noticed. Yet.

Well guess what? We've noticed. 

I should point out that this is not definitive proof that Russian oligarchs directed Blavatnik to donate any of this money, but of course they probably did.

And there is no proof that the donations have impacted the way that certain Republicans react to the news of Russian interference in our elections, but of course it certainly might.

And finally on its own this would probably not even seem like such a big deal, but when you add it to the pile of what we already know about the 2016 elections, well then it certainly does.

New information proves that Donald Trump wants to win the presidency, but has no desire to be the President.

Look I want to be President, but I want you to do all of the work. Deal?

Courtesy of New York Magazine:  

The idea that Trump didn't actually want to win waned for a few days after he secured the nomination. But when the mogul chose to spend the first few weeks of his general-election campaign litigating the Mexican heritage of a federal judge, the notion gained renewed currency — especially after Vanity Fair reported that Trump was already discussing plans to channel his political following into a cable-news empire. 

And yet, this is also a man who transparently hates losing. Especially in a public fashion. Thus, one might reason that the ideal outcome for Trump would be to somehow win the election but not actually have to serve as president. 

According to Robert Draper of The New York Times Magazine, that is, in fact, how the mogul's campaign described his endgame to John Kasich, when trying to convince the Ohio governor to become Trump's running mate: 

One day this past May, Donald Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., reached out to a senior adviser to Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, who left the presidential race just a few weeks before. As a candidate, Kasich declared in March that Trump was “really not prepared to be president of the United States,” and the following month he took the highly unusual step of coordinating with his rival Senator Ted Cruz in an effort to deny Trump the nomination. But according to the Kasich adviser (who spoke only under the condition that he not be named), Donald Jr. wanted to make him an offer nonetheless: Did he have any interest in being the most powerful vice president in history? 

When Kasich’s adviser asked how this would be the case, Donald Jr. explained that his father’s vice president would be in charge of domestic and foreign policy. 

Then what, the adviser asked, would Trump be in charge of? 

“Making America great again” was the casual reply. 

As with so many of his ventures, Trump would like to brand his administration — but not actually run it.

You know I have been saying this for months.

Donald Trump does NOT want to be President.

And if he wins he is going to follow Sarah Palin's example and just quit.  

That means if he were to win the election the effective President of the United States would be freaking Mike Pence.

I'm actually not sure if that is better or worse.

But what I do know is that Republicans are the most gullible dumb asses on the planet.

John Kasich to finally accept reality and suspend his campaign.

Courtesy of Politico:  

John Kasich is dropping his presidential bid, according to a senior campaign adviser, one day after Donald Trump became the presumptive nominee and Ted Cruz bowed out of the race. 

The Ohio governor had long ago been mathematically eliminated from clinching the GOP nomination outright but had hoped to emerge as a consensus candidate at a contested convention.

Ultimately, Kasich outlasted nearly all of his rivals but can claim to have beaten few of them. He won only one contest — his home state of Ohio — during the primary season, and his final tally of 153 delegates puts him fourth in the race behind Marco Rubio, who dropped out in mid-March. 

I would put this in the "least surprising news of the day" category.

Ted Cruz and John Kasich team up to stop Donald Trump.

Courtesy of CNN: 

Ted Cruz and John Kasich are joining forces in a last-ditch effort to deny Donald Trump the Republican presidential nomination. 

Within minutes of each other, the pair issued statements late Sunday saying they will divide their efforts in upcoming contests with Cruz focusing on Indiana and Kasich devoting his efforts to Oregon and New Mexico. The strategy -- something the two campaigns have been working on for weeks -- is aimed at blocking Trump from gaining the 1,237 delegates necessary to claim to GOP nomination this summer.

The extraordinary moves reflect the national strength Trump has shown and the inability of Republicans who oppose the New York billionaire to come together to stop him. Dividing up some of the remaining primary states by putting forward one strong alternative to Trump in each could be enough to take away delegates and curb Trump's run to the nomination.

Of course Donald Trump being the level headed congenial statesman that he is simply wished the two well and said he would stay focused on his positive campaign to bring dignity back to politics.

Just kidding.

This is how Trump actually responded:

Wow, just announced that Lyin' Ted and Kasich are going to collude in order to keep me from getting the Republican nomination. DESPERATION!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2016

Lyin' Ted and Kasich are mathematically dead and totally desperate. Their donors & special interest groups are not happy with them. Sad!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2016

Lyin' Ted Cruz and 1 for 38 Kasich are unable to beat me on their own so they have to team up (collusion) in a two on one. Shows weakness!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2016

Shows how weak and desperate Lyin' Ted is when he has to team up with a guy who openly can't stand him and is only 1 win and 38 losses.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 25, 2016

I wonder how much popcorn you have to eat before you colon just blocks up completely?

Welcome to the New York primary, and remember to drink responsibly. Update!

John Kasich not pictured because, you know, who cares?

Okay so this is a big one my friends, as there are 247 delegates up for grabs on the Democratic side.

If Hillary does as well, as has been predicted, there will be increased pressure on Sanders to leave the race.

If she does not quite as well and still wins there will be increased pressure on Sanders to leave the race.

And if Sanders wins by a small margin there will be increased pressure on him to leave the race.

Essentially no matter what happens tonight there will be increased pressure on Sanders to leave the race.

As for the Republican side with 95 delegates up for grabs, well Trump is going to take the lion's share of those there is absolutely no doubt.

Let the games begin!

Update:  MSNBC is calling the New York primary for Donald Trump. No surprise there, but more notably they are calling the Democratic primary "too early to call."

That does not sound good for Hillary.

Update 2: MSNBC is calling New York for Hillary with 61% of the votes.

When it comes to news coverage Hillary Clinton receives the most negative coverage, and the least positive.

Hillary Clinton visiting a seniors only facility in New York City.

Courtesy of Vox: 

The biggest news outlets have published more negative stories about Hillary Clinton than any other presidential candidate — including Donald Trump — since January 2015, according to a new analysis of hundreds of thousands of online stories published since last year. 

Clinton has not only been hammered by the most negative coverage but the media also wrote the smallest proportion of positive stories about her, reports Crimson Hexagon, a social media software analytics company based out of Boston.

 One thing the article leaves out is that this negative coverage for Hillary has been going on for over 25 years.

So when my daughter and other millenials say they do not "trust" Hillary Clinton, that should not come as any surprise, because they have been instructed not to for virtually their entire lives.

And so much for that the press has a "liberal bias" BS.

Anti-Ted Cruz ad from a pro-John Kasich SuperPAC is the stuff of nightmares.

I  have seen a lot of illustrations of the Pinnochio nose before, but never one that slithered around the neck like a flesh colored boa constrictor.

I like how Trump's "Lying Ted" label is now being used by others to attack ole Rafael Cruz.

Plenty of negative things to say about the stubby fingered vulgarian, but he sure knows how to come up with catchy nicknames.

Well it looks as if Sarah Palin will have a busy April. You know, for her.

Courtesy of the Republican Party of Milwaukee County: 

Gov. Sarah Palin is confirmed to speak. 

Sen. Ted Cruz is confirmed to speak. 

Gov. John Kasich is confirmed to speak. 

All campaigns have been notified of this event. 

SOLD OUT!! 

Gov. Scott Walker is confirmed to speak. 

Event is from 5:00 PM to 9:30 PM Doors will open at 5 pm. Dinner at 6:30 to accommodate speakers.

Of course my first thought was that surely this must be an April Fool's prank, but nope it seems to be legit.

Which means that, despite her terrible performances in the past, Palin is acting as Trump's surrogate for this event as he is not scheduled to appear.

Wow, who would not want to be a fly on the wall when Palin runs into Ted Cruz backstage after all of the crap she has been spewing about him on Facebook?

And isn't it nice that her husband all of the sudden recovered to the point that his wife can leave him without people saying she is a terrible person?

Such a team player that Todd.

As it turns out this is not Palin's only gig in April, she also has to show up in Washington on the 14th to help deny man made climate change.

Courtesy of Climate Depot:  

The U.S. premiere of CFACT’s groundbreaking new documentary, Climate Hustle will take place at a Capitol Hill briefing in the historic Rayburn Office Building, including a riveting panel discussion on climate change featuring Gov. Sarah Palin and other notable guests. The invitation-only briefing and panel discussion will be held on April 14, 2016 from 4 to 6 p.m. The event comes just a week prior to the opening for signature of the U.N. Paris Agreement on climate change on Earth Day (April 22), and just a short time before Climate Hustle is seen in select U.S. cinemas for a one-night presentation by Fathom Events and SpectiCast on May 2, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. local time. 

With welcoming remarks by Congressman Lamar Smith (R-TX), Chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee and headlined by Gov. Sarah Palin (2008 Republican Vice Presidential Candidate; 9th Governor of Alaska), the panel will be taped and shown during the national theater event. The discussion will be moderated by Brent Bozell, Founder and President of the Media Research Center, and will also include other notable experts including respected climatologist Dr. David Legates and a special video appearance by Emmy Award-winning educator Bill Nye the Science Guy. The panel will further examine some of the science, politics, and media coverage of the climate issue, and go far toward helping debunk much of the alarmism and hype exposed in the Climate Hustle film.

Well isn't THAT special?

By the way up here in Alaska our temperatures just hit the 70 degree mark for the first time in history.

Alaskans don't have the luxury of denying climate change, we live with it every day.

In fact that might even have had something to do with a recent snowmachine mishap.

You know, assuming that is indeed what happened.

Does the lawyer for the former "DC Madam" really have explosive information that might impact the current presidential election? And if so who should be worried?

Courtesy of US News:

A lawyer who represented the so-called “D.C. madam” says he has phone records that could influence the outcome of the presidential election, and he’s threatening to release one or more names on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court if he’s denied a hearing on his right to distribute them. 

Montgomery Blair Sibley, the late madam Deborah Palfrey’s colorful attorney, has been subject to a restraining order since 2007 barring him from releasing the information, which he says includes 815 names, addresses and Social Security numbers of Verizon Wireless customers. 

“Time is of the essence because people are casting votes in primaries and caucuses,” he says. “I believe this information is relevant to that political discourse.” 

Sibley first said the records could be relevant to the presidential race in January, when there were 15 high-profile candidates. Now, just three Republicans and two Democrats remain – though Sibley won’t say if any are implicated, citing fear of being jailed for contempt.

I first heard about this story last night on the Rachel Maddow show, and I have to admit I was intrigued.

Now assuming that this Sibley guy is not simply an opportunist looking to get some attention during a "Mr. Toad's Wild Ride" of a campaign cycle, who do we think would be the most likely candidate to be damaged by anything contained in these phone records?

Online petition to allow guns at the Republican convention exceeds 35,000. Donald Trump wants to study the fine print.

Courtesy of USA Today: 

Donald Trump says he wants to study a petition that calls for allowing the open carry of guns at the Republican convention this July in Cleveland. 

While proclaiming himself "a very, very strong person for Second Amendment," the Republican front-runner told ABC's This Week that "I have not seen the petition. I want to see what it says. I want to read the fine print." 

Posted on the website change.org, the petition of unknown origin notes that "though Ohio is an open carry state, which allows for the open carry of guns, the hosting venue -- the Quicken Loans Arena -- strictly forbids the carry of firearms on their premises." That "is a direct affront to the Second Amendment and puts all attendees at risk," said the petition that has more than 35,000 signers as of Sunday. 

The other Republican presidential candidates -- Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich -- have not commented on the open carry petition.

Yeah I'll bet Donald Trump wants to study the fine print.

Could you imagine being in that building along with a crowd of armed Trump supporters at the very moment that they find out he DIDN'T get the nomination?

Not that I think there will actually be a better response from the other armed Republicans if he DOES get the nomination.

Let's face it, chances are SOMEBODY is getting shot.

Not that I necessarily condone violence but perhaps its past time for these assholes to have to dodge bullets like all of the young men and women that they helped send to the deserts of Iraq and Afghanistan based on the lies told by the President they voted into office.

Call it karma.

Breaking down the voting choices.

Obviously written as a joke, but you have to admit it does make a certain simplistic sense.

Wisconsin Governor, and former presidential candidate, Scott Walker floats the idea that a brokered Republican convention may decide on none of the above.

Courtesy of Madison.com: 

If the Republican Party finds itself with an open convention in July, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker believes the nominee may not be Donald Trump, Ted Cruz or John Kasich. 


"I think if it’s an open convention, it’s very likely it would be someone who’s not currently running," Walker told reporters Thursday. "I mean, who knows. The one thing I qualify — it’s like the qualifications you see on those ads you see for car dealerships. I think any of us who comment on this election have to qualify that almost every prediction’s been off, so it’s hard to predict anything."

You know I would typically think that a brokered convention that did not choose any of the candidates who had won delegates would be a long shot to say the least.

But after watching Ted Cruz and Donald Trump going at it tooth and nail this week, I am not discounting anything any more.

Though I also cannot imagine what kind of masochist would want to get the nomination in this way, and then get tossed into a cage match with the incredibly prepared Hillary Clinton.

It's primary day kids! Yes again. Update!

For the Republicans there are primaries in Arizona and Utah.

According to Real Clear Politics Trump leads in Arizona by 13 points while Cruz leads in Utah by 20.

As for the Democrats there are three states. Arizona where Clinton leads Sanders by 26 points, Utah where Sanders is leading by a slim margin, and Idaho where Sanders leads by an even slimmer margin.

For the Republicans Arizona offers 58 delegates, for Democrats 75.

Utah has 40 up for grabs among the Republicans, and only 33 for the Dems.

And of course Idaho has 23 which will probably be split up almost evenly between Hillary and Bernie tonight.

As usual I will try to update the blog just as soon as the numbers start rolling in, but we may not get the final tally until fairly late since these are western states.

Update: Dirty tricks already reported in Arizona.

Update 2: Trump wins Arizona.

Update 3: Now Hillary is projected to win in Arizona as well.

Update 4: Sanders wins Utah. Apparently the turnout was massive.

Update 5: Sanders has also emerged victorious in Idaho.  Good night for Sanders.

That's right kids it's primary day again! And this one could be for all the marbles. Update!

Image courtesy of Esquire.

Today there are five states up for grabs, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida, Illinois, and Missouri.

As of this post polls are closed in both Ohio and North Carolina.

Ohio is a winner take all state with 143 delegates up for grabs for the Democrats, and North Carolina splitting its 107 delegates between Sanders and Clinton.

In half an hour the polls close in Florida, Illinois, and Missouri.

Florida is also a winner take all state, and the biggest prize of the night, with 214 delegates available for the winning Democrat, and 156 from  Illinois and 71 from Missouri to be split between the two.

If Hillary takes both Florida and Ohio, like she did in 2008, she will gobble up 357 delegates, and, assuming she wins or does well in the remaining states, stands to increase her lead over Bernie by quite a significant margin.

On the Republican side polls show Kasich either slightly ahead or tied with Donald Trump for that state's 66 delegates, but Trump is far ahead in every other contest.

If both Kasich and Rubio fail to win in their states it is a good bet that one, if not both, will drop out, leaving Ted Cruz to continue battling the Donald for the nomination.

So the GOP nominee is going to be wither Trump or Cruz huh?

Good job Republican party, good job.

I will keep updating this post as the results come in.

Stay tuned.

Update: Trump and Hillary are projected to win Florida tonight according to MSNBC. That is a huge win for Clinton, and essentially the end of the trial for Rubio.

Update 2: Hillary is also now projected to win North Carolina. That's two for two so far.

Update 3: As predicted Marco Rubio just suspended his campaign.

Update 4: Hillary has now won Ohio, another winner take all state. This makes Sanders path to the nomination all but an impossibility at this point.

Update 5: Okay so John Kasich just won his home state of Ohio, and he is the only one who will likely beat Donald Trump tonight. But considering how few delegates he has earned so far does that really matter at this point?

Update 6: Trump wins Illinois. Still too close to call for the Democrats, though Hillary has a comfortable lead.

 Update 7: Hillary wins Illinois.

Update 8: Now Hillary has won Missouri so that is five for five tonight.

I think it is clearly time for Bernie to pack up his campaign and make way for the our Democratic nominee to finish the primary process and prepare to do battle against Donald Trump.

Trump may be the most aggressively vicious presidential candidate that we have ever seen, and Hillary is going to need everybody's support to get through the rest of 2016.

Update 9: The story of this night.

They’ll tell the story of tonight 🎶 pic.twitter.com/HP9X0yRb1L

— Jenna Lowenstein (@just_jenna) March 16, 2016

GOP Debate Open Thread. Update!

Courtesy of Politico

Debate hosts: Fox News.

Candidates: Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich. (No Ben Carson tonight as he is about to drop out.)

Time: Hell I don't know, I live in Alaska. But it starts about a half an hour after this gets posted.

What to watch for: Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY is going to be hitting Trump from every conceivable angle. Think of that Donald Trump roast, but this time nobody is joking.

Also watch for Marco Rubio to be a little irritable because it was recently revealed that Fox News will no longer be carrying water for him in this campaign cycle.

As usual I will be tweeting my drunken responses to the "action" here.

So let's have a safe evening and remember no matter how angry you get, do not take out your feelings on your poor long suffering family members.

Do what I do, take out your frustrations on some poor sap's blog. 

Update: The moment this debate, and the GOP front runner, lost their very last shred of credibility.

.@realDonaldTrump: "Look at these hands. Are they small hands?" #GOPDebate https://t.co/pIZy39j3Ah pic.twitter.com/BRvD19ezr9

— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) March 4, 2016

Super Tuesday Open Thread. Update!

Okay folks this the the big one.

As of this post the first polls are closing in Vermont, Virginia, and Georgia.

With Alabama, Massachusetts, Oklahoma, and Tennessee following in about an hour.

Those will be followed by Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, Texas within the hour following, and of course Alaska at the very end of the night.

Here is what the polls are predicting: 

While the polling varies by state, Trump and Clinton both look to be leading in a number of states across the map. For Republicans, Trump looks to be leading in Virginia, Georgia, Oklahoma and Vermont, among others. As for Texas, Cruz leads in some polls while Trump leads in others, so it could be a very close race. 

On the Democratic side, Clinton leads in most states that will vote on Super Tuesday: she is up by double digits in Texas, Virginia, Georgia, Arkansas and Alabama, according to recent polling. Sanders leads big in his home state of Vermont; he's close or slightly ahead of Clinton in Massachusetts and Oklahoma. 

It is going to be a long evening for the political junkies among us.  So get your popcorn and the beverage of your choice ready and let's see where the night takes us.

Update: So early returns show Hillary winning Georgia and Virginia, with Bernie taking Vermont.

Update 2: Okay so Trump has won in Georgia, but Virginia and Vermont remain too close to call.

Update 3:  MSNBC is now projecting that Donald Trump has won Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Alabama. Hillary has also won Massachusetts, Tennessee, and Alabama.

Oklahoma is too close to call for both parties.

Update 4: In no surprise to anyone, Hillary is projected to win Arkansas. But it is too close to call between Donald Trump and ted Cruz.

Update 5: So it looks like Hillary takes Texas for the Democrats, and Ted Cruz captures it (His home state.) for his side of the aisle.

Also it looks like Cruz also won Oklahoma, as did Sanders. 

So you think that perhaps John Kasich is the reasonable GOP presidential candidate? Think again.

Seriously, what part of "I'm a Republican" do you not understand?

Courtesy of NBC 4: 

Gov. John Kasich signed legislation Sunday to strip government money from PlannedParenthood in Ohio, a day after the Republican presidential contender’s weak performance in his party’s South Carolina primary. 

The expected action came despite calls for a veto by some legislative Democrats and several newspaper editorials. 

The governor did not sign the bill in public. His office made the announcement in a statement.

Just a reminder that there are NO reasonable Republicans running for office in 2016. 

And if you think there are, well then you are an idiot.

Republican Debate Open Thread. Because, why not?

Personally I can hardly wait until November when ALL of these assholes are covered by a black mark.

So yes tonight we have yet ANOTHER GOP debate.

I have to admit that I am pretty over the whole GOP race, especially since it looks like Trump is going to emerge victorious. Which by the way COMPLETELY undermines every single thing the Republican party has said about the importance of morality, family values, experience, pro-life credibility, and just about everything else that they have been attacking Democrats over for the last thirty plus years or so.

The one possible thing about tonight's debate that might make it worth putting off my Netflix and chill plans for tonight, is that the friction between "the Donald" and Ted "so creepy I can;t look him in the face" Cruz is at an all time high.

Which means that Trump is going to make Cruz his butt boy tonight.

Don't think I want to miss that.

I also imagine that there will be quite a number of kisses blown toward the memory of Antonin Scalia, so for those brave souls sitting through this tonight remember to have your barf bags at the ready.

As always you can follow me on Twitter, and I will be updating the post as events dictate.