Donald Trump Dominates Republican Party Super Tuesday Races (VIDEO)

At the video, Trump asks the key question about GOPe resistance to his campaign, "If I'm going to win all of these states, with tremendous numbers ... I think, I think we're a democracy ... it's awfully hard to say that's not the person we want to lead the party, right?"

At the Washington Post, "Trump owns Super Tuesday, but Cruz and Rubio see glimmers of hope":

Donald Trump rode a powerful tide of voter fury to victories across the country on Tuesday, ending the campaign season’s most momentous day of balloting as the unrivaled favorite for the Republican presidential nomination.

The billionaire mogul’s Super Tuesday rout extended from New England to the Deep South, but he resoundingly lost the night’s crown jewel, Texas, to home-state Sen. Ted Cruz, who also defeated Trump in Oklahoma.

Tuesday’s results exposed some vulnerabilities for Trump: He lost late-deciding voters in many states by wide margins to rival Marco Rubio, a sign that the senator from Florida may have had some impact with his withering assault on Trump’s character. Ohio Gov. John Kasich also came close to beating Trump in Vermont.

In Virginia — one of the biggest of the 11 states holding primaries or caucuses and a critical general-election battleground — Trump’s win was also narrower than the latest polls had indicated. Rubio nearly pulled off an upset, though his boost from more highly educated voters in the suburbs of Northern Virginia and Richmond was not enough to offset Trump’s command of Southwest Virginia and rural areas.

Cruz’s twin victories breathed new life into his beleaguered campaign after a string of defeats forced him to mount an impassioned last stand in Texas. Meanwhile, Rubio won Minnesota’s caucuses, giving him his first victory of the campaign.

Still, Trump was dominant. On top of Virginia, he won decisively in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Massachusetts and Tennessee. With each victory, he solidified a robust and ideologically diverse coalition of working- and middle-class Americans behind his rebellious call to overthrow the nation’s political order.

Trump claimed victory by holding a news conference in the opulent gold-and-white ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, the lavish wonderland he owns in tony Palm Beach, Fla.

Speaking in uncharacteristically measured tones beneath giant crystal chandeliers, Trump tried to assume the mantle of presumptive nominee. He sought to convince party insiders that he could win a general election against Democrat Hillary Clinton, labeling himself as a “common-sense conservative” and portraying her as a relic of Washington...

More.

Marco Rubio Wins Minnesota Republican Caucuses

Heh, he finally won a state.

At WSJ.

And watch, at Fox News, "Fox News projects Marco Rubio wins Minnesota."

‘He Doesn’t Care Who He Makes Mad’ — Donald Trump Support Is Deep and Diverse

Ted Cruz picked up Oklahoma and his home state of Texas. After that it's been all Donald Trump, and vote tallies are still coming in.

Lots of folks are going absolutely batshit crazy at the prospects of a Trump nomination, but all that does is make his supporters love him even more.

At NYT, "Donald Trump’s Backers Express Deep and Diverse Support":

The Huffington Post is NOT happy pic.twitter.com/AviejRhgse

— Hadas Gold (@Hadas_Gold) March 2, 2016

Donald J. Trump won the vote of a 59-year-old cabdriver in the Boston suburbs who said he lost his trucking business after immigrants began delivering cargo for less.

In Loudoun County, Virginia, one of the country’s wealthiest, he won the backing of a newly separated mother and a longtime Democrat who spoke of the possibility of another terrorist attack, saying, “I don’t think we feel safe right now.”

And Mark Harris, a 48-year-old owner of an antiques shop in Canton, Ga., said he did not much care for Mr. Trump’s ego and worried that his impolitic speech could derail American diplomacy.

But Mr. Harris voted for Mr. Trump, too.

“He’s not afraid to get in the trenches and fight for you,” Mr. Harris said. “He’s going to be a bully, and he’s going to tell them what he thinks, and he’s going to push to get it done. He don’t care who he makes mad in the process.”

Mr. Trump’s string of victories Tuesday, the biggest day of primary voting, was not unexpected. But interviews with Trump voters from the middle-class suburbs of Minneapolis to the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains revealed a surprising depth and diversity of support that could sustain him as a front-runner in the critical weeks to come...

More.

The wisdom of the common people ... isn't that a beautiful thing? And it's confounding everyone, on both the left and right.

Republicans Revolting Against Donald Trump Nomination

Well, today's the big day.

If Trump "runs the table," Cruz and Rubio might as well be toast. And after that, you're likely to see ever increasing establishment machinations to deny Trump the nomination at the convention. It could get ugly.

In any case, I'll have all kinds of reporting tonight.

Meanwhile, check out Hot Air, "Ben Sasse on not voting for Trump: 'This is in some ways an 1860 moment'."

BONUS: At USA Today, "Possible party split weighs on GOP ahead of Super Tuesday."

James Holland, The Rise of Germany, 1939-1941

This looks like a great book.

Unfortunately, it's going to have to wait for a while, until I finish some of my other books at the front of the line, lol.

See, The Rise of Germany, 1939-1941: The War in the West, Volume 1.

Very enthusiastic reviews at the link.

'There is no hope for the future of capitalist prosperity and a free society at home and world peace abroad unless the Republican Party is destroyed...'

From David Stockman (the former budget director), at Zero Hedge, "The Good, Bad & Ugly of Donald Trump" (via Serr8d):

America will need the Almighty’s unstinting favor if Donald Trump becomes our 45th President. Still, blessed be The Donald for running a demolition derby in the Republican primaries.

There is no hope for the future of capitalist prosperity and a free society at home and world peace abroad unless the Republican Party is destroyed. And, by golly, Trump may well accomplish the deed.

We need to be clear. There is no longer a Republican Party rooted in the main street highways and byways of America. What’s left of it is not really even the xenophobic, nativist, crypto-racist flotsam and jetsam of the populist right that Trump is successfully calling to political arms.

The fact is, the GOP has mutated into the Warfare State party. Nestled comfortably in the Imperial City, it operates a plethora of special interest rackets which underwrite its incumbents’ bi-annual electoral campaigns out in the provinces.

In the interim, GOP politicians idle their time in the capital and on foreign junkets conjuring and embellishing scary stories about terrorist threats and hostile regimes. So doing, they perceive enemies of the American Imperium to be stalking the planet everywhere and even creeping onto these exceptional shores.

In a word, as the party of the Warfare State, the GOP’s main business has become promoting the agenda, campaigns, machinations and glory of the Imperial City. Whenever its pro forma rhetoric about small government and fiscal prudence becomes inconvenient to the needs of the military/industrial/surveillance complex or the fund-raising requirements of its special interest rackets, the GOP’s putative conservative economics platform quickly becomes “inoperative” in the Nixonian vernacular.

There is no better prototype for the new GOP than Senators Lindsay Graham and John McCain. Their agenda consists exclusively of promoting and superintending Washington’s foreign projects, occupations, alliances and maneuvers. Cycling through Tel Aviv on a regular basis, showing up on the battlements of Kiev and lecturing the Chinese about maritime law in international waters, for example, they comically imitate the first century Roman Senators they fancy themselves to actually be.

Yet after decades in Washington they and most of their Senate colleagues have accomplished nothing that resembles the old Republican verities...

Keep reading.

It's good!

New Nationwide Poll Shows Donald Trump as Strong GOP Front-Runner Ahead of Super Tuesday (VIDEO)

It's at CNN, a new nationwide CNN/ORC poll.

And see, "Trump, Clinton dominant as Super Tuesday looms":

(CNN) - Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are poised to lead the nation's two major parties in this fall's presidential election, with a new nationwide CNN/ORC poll finding each well ahead of their closest competitors just as the race expands to a national stage.

Trump has expanded his lead over the diminished field to capture the support of nearly half of Republican voters, while Clinton tops Sanders by nearly 20 points.

On the Republican side, the new survey finds Trump's lead is dominant, and his support tops that of his four remaining opponents combined. The businessman tops his nearest competitor by more than 30 points: 49% back Trump, 16% Marco Rubio, 15% Ted Cruz, 10% Ben Carson and 6% John Kasich.

Trump's supporters are incredibly enthusiastic about the coming election, and largely committed in their support for him. Nearly 8 in 10 say that they are more enthusiastic about voting this year than in previous elections, among Republicans who are not supporting Trump, just 39% say they are more enthusiastic than in years past. Likewise, 78% of Trump's backers say they will definitely support him vs. 22% who say they could still change their minds. Among those backing other candidates, 57% say they are committed to their chosen candidate.

The survey asked those Republicans not currently backing Trump whether they would support him if he became the party's nominee, and just a quarter of Republicans overall say they probably or definitely wouldn't support him in November. That's about the same as the share saying they wouldn't back Rubio or Cruz.

Trump is widely viewed as the candidate in the field who would be most effective at solving the country's problems, 51% vs. 17% for Cruz, 13% for Rubio and 10% for Carson, and as being best able to handle the responsibilities of being commander-in-chief, 48% say so, compared with 17% for Cruz and 15% for Rubio. The billionaire is also seen as the one who best understands the problems facing people like you, 46% Trump vs. 18% Cruz and 15% Rubio.

As accusations of dishonesty have flown between Trump, Cruz and Rubio, voters say they are more apt to see Trump as honest and trustworthy. Asked who of the five candidates is most honest and trustworthy, 35% name Trump, 22% Carson -- who has largely stayed out of the mudslinging - 14% Cruz and 13% Rubio...

More.

And additional video, "Super Tuesday scenarios: Can Donald Trump be stopped?"

Jessica Simpson's Lovely Window

Heh.

At GCeleb, "Jessica Simpson and Her Strangling Cleavage Window."

An Oscar for the Grievance Industry

I think we've reached a national psychosis on diversity. Things are definitely out of control.

From Joe Hicks, at USA Today:

On the heels of a threatened boycott of this year’s Academy Awards by black film figures comes a well-timed report on diversity in the film and television industries. This report from the aptly named Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative at University of Southern California-Annenberg's School for Communication and Journalism argues that these industries have “… an inclusion crisis.”

Is there really a crisis in Hollywood? The report’s lead claim, among a number of loaded assertions, appears to be that “only 28%” of all speaking characters across 414 films, television and digital episodes in 2014-15 were from “underrepresented” racial/ethnic groups. However, this is only 9.6% below the U.S. population norm of 37.9% for those minorities, hardly a crisis.

The report’s major argument about racial bias in Hollywood should raise eyebrows. This community of creative artists and film magnates is perhaps the best-known liberal spot in the nation. The rare conservative who works in this milieu mostly keeps his politics in the closet.

Despite this, the writers of the USC report argue that women, ethnic minorities and even gay, lesbian and transgender people were “excluded,” causing an “epidemic of invisibility.” Tell that to the casts and investors in this year’s films “Carol,” and the “Danish Girl” — both up for Oscars and openly involving Lesbian and Transgender issues.

Responding to the #OscarsSoWhite meme, Jada Pinkett Smith (married to actor Will Smith who starred in Concussion and was shut-out of the nominations) announced that she would not attend the awards ceremonies, with others following suit.

Despite all of this angst, if every Oscar awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences went to a black film artist, would the life of any working-class black person be changed one iota?

Will Smith seems to think so. In announcing that he too would be joining his wife in boycotting, Smith said “… This is so deeply not about me. This is about children that are going to sit down, and they’re going to watch a show, and they’re not going to see themselves represented.”

Is all of this simply a political pitch for racial preferences (often called “affirmative action”) in filmmaking? Should film companies be forced to adopt “diversity goals” and/or “suggested” racial quotas when casting actors and funding projects? TV production executives already meet frequently with representatives of minority group advocates to assess whom they hire, whom they depict and what more they can do...

Keep reading.

A Stunning Donald Trump Super Tuesday Looms

At some point folks are just going to either get on board or get out of the way.

At Politico, "Trump closes in on Super Tuesday romp: As a stunning victory looms, top Republicans are split between those ready to accommodate and others starting to panic":

Donald Trump is poised for sweeping nationwide wins on Super Tuesday, solidifying his position as the Republican front-runner and intensifying the pressure on his struggling primary rivals to find a way forward.

Top Republicans — including governors who convened an emergency conference call on Monday on which Trump was Topic A — expect the real estate mogul to carry as many as 10 states on Tuesday night, an outcome that would deal a body blow to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who has staked his campaign heavily on the Southern states holding nominating contests, and to Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who has yet to win a primary and isn’t expected to do so on Tuesday.

“If Trump wins 8 or more states on Tuesday, it would take a massive collapse on his and/or his campaign’s part for him not to be the nominee,” said Tony Fabrizio, a longtime GOP pollster and strategist who advised Rand Paul.

Trump’s march to the nomination has set off a wave of anxiety across the Republican Party establishment as top officials weigh whether to endorse him — or denounce him as anathema to the party's values. Reflecting that angst, on Monday morning, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, the heads of the Republican Governors Association, convened fellow governors for an unusual conference call to discuss how the primary was unfolding — and Trump was a central topic of conversation...

Scott Walker? Boy, he didn't last too long on the campaign trail, now did he?

And Susana Martinez? She'll be lucky to make onto Trump's veep shortlist.

But keep reading.

Jackie Johnson's Increasing Cloudiness Forecast

She's so lovely.

Great to see her back for the week.

Via CBS News 2 Los Angeles:

The GOP Implosion

Everyone's lost their minds.

It's all going to work out. I guarantee you.

At the Washington Post, "The Republican Party’s implosion over Donald Trump’s candidacy has arrived":

MADISON, Ala. — The implosion over Donald Trump’s candidacy that Republicans had hoped to avoid arrived so virulently this weekend that many party leaders vowed never to back the billionaire and openly questioned whether the GOP could come together this election year.

At a moment when Republicans had hoped to begin taking on Hillary Clinton — who is seemingly on her way to wrapping up the Democratic nomination — the GOP has instead become consumed by a crisis over its identity and core values that is almost certain to last through the July party convention, if not the rest of the year.

A campaign full of racial overtones and petty, R-rated put-downs grew even uglier Sunday after Trump declined repeatedly in a CNN interview to repudiate the endorsement of him by David Duke, a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Trump had disavowed Duke at a news conference on Friday, but he stammered when asked about Duke on Sunday.

Marco Rubio, who has been savaging Trump as a “con man” for three days, responded by saying that Trump’s defiance made him “unelectable.” The senator from Florida said at a rally in Northern Virginia, “We cannot be the party that nominates someone who refuses to condemn white supremacists.”

The fracas comes as the presidential race enters a potentially determinative month of balloting, beginning with primaries and caucuses in 11 states on Tuesday. As the campaign-trail rhetoric grew noxious over the weekend, a sense of fatalism fell over the Republican firmament, from elected officials and figureheads to major donors and strategists.

“This is an existential choice,” said former senator Norm Coleman of Minnesota, who is backing Rubio. Asked how the party could unite, Coleman said: “It gets harder every day when you hear things like not disavowing the KKK and David Duke. It’s not getting easier; it’s getting more difficult. . . . I’m hopeful the party won’t destroy itself.”

The choice for voters is not simply one of preference but rather a fundamental one about the direction they want to take the country, with the insurgent Trump promising utter transformation...

You know, maybe all of these GOPe talking heads should defer to the people?

If voters pick Trump, that's democracy in action. The U.S. isn't all of a sudden going to turn into Nazi Germany from the 1930s. People need to have some faith that the constitutional system will work, even with a bombastic fellow like Trump in office. Obama certainly hasn't gotten his way on everything. I seriously doubt Trump's going to be worse, heh.

Keep reading.

I personally love all the hand-wringing and doomsday scenarios. It serves the GOPe right.

Deal of the Day: NordicTrack Treadmill

At Amazon, NordicTrack T 6.5 S Treadmill.

And from Jennifer Lawless and Richard Fox, Running from Office: Why Young Americans are Turned Off to Politics.

Also, from Kristen Soltis Anderson, The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America (And How Republicans Can Keep Up).

Influential Republican Senator Jeff Sessions Endorses Donald Trump (VIDEO)

Sessions is the man on immigration border control.

This is an excellent development for Donald Trump.

At the Washington Post, via Memeorandum, "In major blow to Ted Cruz, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama endorses Donald Trump for GOP nomination."

And watch, at CNN:

California Democrats Lose the Fight for Millennial Voters

Oh, well, screw them.

At least youth voters have an independent streak.

At LAT, "A threat ahead: California Democrats losing the fight for younger voters":

The state Democratic Party convention held here over the weekend presented an occasionally jarring contrast: Democrats gathered at what seemed like a 50th college reunion for veteran politicians, and at the same time one of the biggest rounds of applause came at the mention of Bernie Sanders, the presidential candidate few of those politicians support.

The split, largely generational given the youthful tilt of the Vermont senator’s supporters, underscored a hard truth for California Democrats that was barely discussed during the celebratory convention:

Numbers-wise, the party's heading for trouble...

Keep reading.

Interstate 5 Closed Down All Day Saturday After Street-Racing Crash Kills 3 (VIDEO)

This was horrendous.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Suspected street racer arrested in crash that killed three and shut down 5 Freeway."

Also, "Suspected street racer still at large after fiery crash that killed three."

Violent Ku Klux Klan Protest in Anaheim (VIDEO)

So stupid.

Leftists are so out of control it's like they're out to create sympathy for the Klan.

Let them march. As hateful as they are, the Klan has the right to hold a rally. Let 'em be.

At the Los Angeles Times, "Anaheim is land of Disney, not Ku Klux Klan, dismayed residents say."

Chris Rock Skewers Hollywood Racists

I thought he did pretty good (considering how over-the-top was the show's politics).

Here's Kyle Smith, at the New York Post, "Chris Rock crushed it":

Heh, #ChrisRock is nailing it. #Oscars

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) February 29, 2016

Chris Rock is the guy who once did a skit called “How Not to Get Your Ass Kicked by the Police,” which instructed black men they were unlikely to suffer police brutality if they minded their manners. Rock’s contrarian credentials are strong. Even so, his pointed, witty and thoughtful opening monologue at the Oscars was surprisingly rangy: Instead of picking one side or the other, he nailed both.

Rock did exactly what comics are supposed to do: wrap the truth in an irresistible joke. He made both smug white Hollywood liberals and angry black protesters look bad.

Advising the #Oscars­SoWhite crowd, and prominent boycotters such as Jada Pinkett Smith and Spike Lee, that they needed a sense of perspective, Rock said, “Why this Oscars? It’s the 88th Academy Awards. Which means this whole ­no-black-nominees thing has happened at least ­71 other times.”

All those other years, “Black people did not protest. And why? Because we had real things to protest at that time. We were too busy being raped and lynched to care about who’s winning Best Cinematographer. When your grandmother’s swinging from a tree, it’s really hard to care about Best Documentary Foreign Short.”

In other words: This year’s Oscar hubbub is a fake controversy.

And in the grand scale of things, which is harder to believe — that Will Smith failed to get an Oscar nomination for “Concussion,” a so-so movie that flopped? Or that, as Rock pointed out, “Will Smith was paid 20 million for ‘Wild Wild West’?” The Smiths may not be the last people on Earth with genuine cause to complain about anything, but they’re pretty close.

Rock even worked in a hilarious, because completely accurate, dig at Jada’s acting skills: “Jada boycotting the Oscars is like me boycotting Rihanna’s panties. I wasn’t invited!”

How Not to Get Your Ass Kicked by the Oscars? Be so good, they have to nominate you. “Concussion” was not that good, and “Straight Outta Compton” and “Creed” were just solid genre movies, not true Oscar-caliber features.

It would have been easy for Rock to point out that the academy’s voters are old and white and out of touch, but that would have been letting them off too easy...

Still more.

PREVIOUSLY: "The Most Political Oscars Ever."

Nina Agdal Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2016 (VIDEO)

Wake up with the lovely Danish supermodel.

Via Sports Illustrated:



FLASHBACK: "Nina Agdal: American Power's Woman of the Year for 2015."

The Most Political Oscars Ever

I mentioned that my faithful tradition of watching the Oscars might be coming to an end. I think this year's over-the-top political grandstanding is the last straw.

At the Irish Independent, "From racism to rape to climate change - was this the most political Oscars ever?":

Probably the most political #Oscars ever.

— Warner Todd Huston (@warnerthuston) February 29, 2016

Chris Rock set the tone with his opening monologue which tore the Academy apart over the #OscarsSoWhite controversy.

"Welcome to the Academy Awards, otherwise known as the white people's choice awards!" he began, before tackling racism, "Is Hollywood racist? You're damn right it's racist! Hollywood is sorority racist - We like you Rhonda, but you're not a Kappa!"
However, he spoke out against the boycott.

"Why are we protesting this Oscars? It's the 88th Academy Awards, which means this whole 'no black nominees' thing has happened at least 71 other times."

He said black people didn't protest before because they had "real things to protest at the time. They were too busy being raped and lynched to care about who wins best cinematographer."

And so it continued as Rock, who admitted he had completely re-written his monologue in the wake of the diversity controversy, performed a autopsy on the elephant in the room.

Elsewhere, Vice President Joe Biden and Lady Gaga united to promote White House campaign It's On Us, which aims to eradicate sexual assaults on US university campuses.

Biden introduced Lady Gaga for her haunting performance of Till It Happens to You, which was nominated for Best Original Song.

"Despite significant progress over the last couple years, too many women and men are still victims of sexual abuse," he said.

"Let's change the culture so that no abused woman or man ever feels they have to ask themselves, 'What did I do?'.  They did nothing wrong."

Gaga's song features on the soundtrack for the 2015 documentary The Hunting Ground which documents alleged incidents of abuse on American college campuses.

For her performance Gaga was joined on stage by survivors of sexual assault.

The winners' speeches provided the perfect opportunity for stars to have their say and Leonardo DiCaprio harnessed his 60 seconds following his first ever Oscar win to highlight the issue of climate change.

"Making The Revenant was about man's relationship to the natural world. Climate change is real, it is happening right now," he said...

Keep reading.