It's Cheaper To Hire Corrupt Election Board Supervisors Than To Buy Campaign Ads

Whatever your opinion of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) may be, you have to cheer him on as he sounds the alarm about the fate of the Sunshine State’s governorship. “Democrat lawyers are descending on Florida.  They have been very clear they aren’t here to make sure every vote is counted.  They are here to change the results of the election and Broward [County] is where they plan to do it.”

Perkins Coie lawyer Marc Elias has been enlisted in a recount effort. Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson is retaining Elias, who said it’s “not plausible” that, as Broward statistics suggest, 14,000 people voted in sometimes-obscure state level races but left the Senate one blank.

The DNC and Clinton campaign used Perkins Coie to hire Fusion GPS, a shadowy research and public relations firm known for their alleged smear campaigns and funded by George Soros’ Democracy Integrity Project in a quest for dirt on Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Republican Gov. Rick Scott, who, by initial appearances, beat Nelson in a race for the U.S. Senate, said Elias will use aggressive techniques to “steal” the election.

Florida’s Broward County Supervisor of Elections is none other than the notoriously incompetent and corrupt Brenda Snipes who has violated both state and federal laws.

Rubio said Snipes’s office “has a history of violating the law.” He attached a news article about a court ruling against Snipes.

While a lawsuit seeking access to ballots from a 2016 congressional primary was pending, Snipes’ office prematurely destroyed the ballots.

She called it a mistake. A circuit court judge ruled in May that her office broke federal and state law by destroying the ballots too soon after the August 2016 primary, while the lawsuit was pending.

She OK’d the ballot destruction a year after the primary. The law requires preservation of the ballots for 22 months.

UPDATE:  Welcome readers of Bad Blue Uncensored News.  Remember to thank a veteran for their service this Veterans Day weekend.

As soon as Democrats sent their best Election stealing lawyer, Marc Elias, to Broward County they miraculously started finding Democrat votes. Don’t worry, Florida - I am sending much better lawyers to expose the FRAUD!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 9, 2018

Fanaticism And Ignorance Is Forever Busy And Needs Feeding

“Fanaticism and ignorance is forever busy and needs feeding” is a line from the film “Inherit the Wind”, a 1960 film adaptation of the 1955 play by the same name written thirty years after the famous Scopes Monkey Trial.

Journalists were looking for a showdown in 1925 when a high school teacher had been charged with violating a state law which forbade the teaching of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution which denied the divine creation of man.

Conflicts arise when people do not value or respect differing beliefs. “Inherit the Wind” attempted to convey the need to fight for the freedom to think for one’s self and the need to respect opinions which differ from their own.

Last night, CNN was looking for a showdown by hosting a propaganda event in Sunrise, FL featuring the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Rep. Ted Deutch, Sen. Bill Nelson, Sen. Marco Rubio, NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch and Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel.  Ben Shapiro described it as a “stacked show trial.”

That’s precisely what it was which brings me back to the line “fanaticism and ignorance is forever busy and needs feeding.”  People cheered for a massive gun ban and unabashedly accused their political opponents of being murderers. 

These traumatized children were carefully organized by liberals.

Cameron Kasky, one of the students, lashed out at Sen. Rubio saying, “I'm sorry, I know I'm not supposed to do this, but I'm not going to listen to that. Senator Rubio, it's hard to look at you and not look down the barrel of an AR-15 and not look at Nikolas Cruz, but the point is: You're here and there are some people who are not.” 

He asked Rubio if he’d stop accepting money from the NRA.  Rubio waffled. Kasky asked the question again and again and again, until eventually Rubio provided a tepid answer.

The so-called town hall quickly devolved into a grotesque version of the appalling Jerry Springer Show.  On full display last night was tribalism masquerading as urgent social policy.  They booed a rape victim’s story.

The questions asked by the students were scripted by CNN’s producers.

Colton Haab, a Junior ROTC student and survivor of the school shooting said he was going to participate in the town hall but decided not to when the network provided him with a list of scripted questions according to ABC affiliate WPLG-TV.

Haab said he was planning to ask about school safety and the possibility of using veterans as armed security guards in schools. After being told he had to ask a scripted question, Haab decided not to attend.

CNN refuted Haab's claim Thursday morning on its communications page on Twitter saying, “There is absolutely no truth to this.  CNN did not provide or script questions for anyone in last night’s town hall, nor have we ever.”

Haab saved lives that day by using Kevlar sheets to protect his classmates.  I don’t think calling this young hero a liar is a good look for the most busted name in news.

CNN would never sell its soul but will cheerfully rent it out for desperately needed ratings.

In another spectacle, Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel confronted NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch, telling her she was not standing up for the victims of a school shooting in Florida.

“I understand you’re standing up for the NRA and I understand that’s what you’re supposed to do, but you just told this group of people that you are standing up for them. You are not standing up for them until you say, ‘I want less weapons.’” 

The sanctimonious sheriff, along with the FBI failed the victims of the Florida shooter. Despite repeated calls to authorities, Cruz was never arrested and was basically cleared as being “no threat to anyone or himself,” as one therapist said in a police report from Sept. 28, 2016.

Attorney General Jeff Session declared, "It is now clear that the warning signs were there and tips to the FBI were missed. We see the tragic consequences of those failures."

Have you noticed how the Broward Sheriff’s Office has been spewing Democrat gun control talking points?

Well, turns out the Sheriff has some interesting friends.

How convenient for them that he’s getting so much media attention... #FloridaSchoolShooting #Parkland pic.twitter.com/uSHFgujho9

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) February 18, 2018

If you in any way believe last night’s show trial wasn’t about Democrats attacking the Second Amendment and disarming law-abiding citizens get a load of what one Democrat said this morning.

Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) said he is not interested in compromising with the National Rifle Association on gun control. “I am normally interested in compromise. Not this time. I cannot imagine a bill that would make a difference that the NRA supports. We don’t need to cut a deal with them, we need to beat them.” 

The Clinton Camp: Thirsty For Better Liars

You may recall Sen. Marco Rubio’s official Republican response to The World’s Most Dangerous Community Organizer’s State of the Union Address in February 2013 during which he dove for a water bottle to quench his thirst.  The video made it across the threshold of several news cycles and became fodder for the Democrat Party and late-night TV mockery.

Marco Rubio's Republican Party: Thirsty for new ideas—because the ones they have aren't working. pic.twitter.com/dna5jdN5

— The Democrats (@TheDemocrats) February 13, 2013

The worm always has a way of turning.  Granny Clinton’s Ministry of Truth is burning the midnight oil since her “collapse”, but they’re going to need a shitload of better liars to overcome the alarming optics of her “medical episode”.

Democrat VP nominee Tim Kaine just said, "Hillary's energy level is staggering."

— WH PRESS SECRETARY (@weknowwhatsbest) September 13, 2016

Fear not, citizens, she shall soon to re-emerge as an invincible bionic MechaHillaryhttps://t.co/XxeQgI5dr6

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) September 11, 2016

I Made A Pledge

Anyone remember the 2010 flick in which a lone warrior marched across a ruined, post-apocalyptic wasteland carrying humanity’s hope for redemption?

Picture it…four years from now a dejected media darling and political loser is seen wandering the landscape mumbling to himself, “I made a pledge.”

Back in February, Marco Rubio said Donald Trump should not be handed “the nuclear codes” and likened him to the “lunatic in North Korea with nuclear weapons.”

On Tuesday during his first live national interview after suspending his presidential campaign, Rubio told CNN’s Jake Tapper he would fulfill his pledge to support the GOP nominee even if he did not agree with him on the issues.

“I signed a pledge and said that I would support the Republican nominee and I intended to continue to do that.  I don’t want Hillary Clinton to be the president of the United States; I don’t want her to win this election. On the other hand, I have well defined differences with the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party, and like millions of Republicans, you try to reconcile those two things.”

“I intend to live up to the pledge that we made, but that said, these concerns that I have about policy, they remain,” he added. “That doesn’t mean that Donald needs to change his positions in order to get my support.”

Rubio has screwed the pooch too many times.  In June of 2013, Rubio became a coward after the Senate passed an immigration reform bill that gave amnesty to illegal immigrants.  He infamously was a member of the Gang of Eight and took his 30 pieces of silver.  Just like Judas he betrayed America.  People haven’t forgotten that.

Rubio wasn’t elected as just any Republican pol. He was a self-described “movement conservative” who caught the Tea Party wave against the Republican Establishment and surfed it all the way to the Senate.

During this campaign cycle Rubio noted on any number of occasions that many tried to discourage his candidacy saying it wasn’t his time—he was a young one term senator who should wait.

Rest assured Rubio is finished and he knows it.  You can’t say Trump is unfit to be president in February and then two months later espouse partisan loyalty.  If Little Marco’s wounds heal four years from now and he again fancies himself a presidential candidate, the attack ads will be vicious and unrelenting—deservedly so.

Lascivious Gutter Politics

The National Enquirer has gotten its hands on some smut that someone somewhere hopes will destroy the presidential candidacy of Ted Cruz.  Let’s not pretend you haven’t read about it or heard it discussed on the boob tube.

Cruz is blaming Trump for the salacious story.  Trump denies it.  Some are tying the revelation to surrogates of Marco Rubio’s failed campaign.  Fingers are pointing literally everywhere.

The man at the center of this tabloid trash has characterized himself as an evangelical, a family man, courageous, conservative, consistent.  The allegation of extramarital affairs is calculated to destroy his credibility.

The headline on the front cover of the National Enquirer might as well have read, “Ted Cruz is Periodically Stricken by Pon Farr and Must Return to Vulcan to Take a Mate or Die.”

Nothing has thus far been proven.  Nothing has been corroborated.  Nothing credible presented by credible journalists has emerged.

The dark art of opposition research is a perfected art form with the Clintons.  Their machine peddles hit jobs like no other.  Is it possible that Bill and Hillary’s oppo machine is behind all this?

Don’t laugh. In 2011, the founders of American Bridge, the first super PAC devoted exclusively to researching damaging information on GOP candidates, leveraged big donations from labor unions and donors such as George Soros to fund an army of campaign trackers and data miners.  

American Bridge has been credited with the destruction of Mitt Romney and Todd Akin. Its leaders have formed another super PAC called Correct the Record whose sole mission is to push the boundaries of campaign finance law by directly coordinating its research efforts with Clinton’s presidential campaign.

Bill when he opened up Twitter this morning #CruzSexScandal pic.twitter.com/RaSHnXJF7F

— Chow (@chow3) March 25, 2016

If @realDonaldTrump and @SenTedCruz would direct their focus on the criminal @HillaryClinton, the chips would fall where they may. #USA

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) March 24, 2016

George and Lorraine McFly’s Other Son “Little Marco” McFly

Marty McFly isn’t the only person to have traveled backwards in time.  As we learned last night following his drubbing in the “Super Saturday” primaries, “Little Marco” McFly brushed off his disappointing night firm in the notion that his future on March 15th will carve out a path to his nomination for president.

"What you need to understand is that all of these states are awarding delegates by proportion. So tonight, we will have more delegates than we did last night.  This map only gets better for us as we move forward in some of the other states," he said. "We're soon gonna be in the winner-take-all process…that's where we feel very confident as we move forward. We're gonna win Florida and you'll find out on March 15th how confident we are.”

NOTE:  For those too young to remember, The Chicago Tribune printed the most famous headline in its 150-year history based upon the overwhelming sense of inevitability that Thomas Dewey was going to defeat President Harry Truman in 1948.

The paper had relied on pundits and polls only to realize every publisher’s nightmare.  Truman defeated his opponent. 

The next day, November 3, Truman was traveling to Washington by train.  At a stop in St. Louis someone handed him a copy of The Tribune.  He held the paper up and photographers preserved the moment for history.

The Rise And Fall Of Marco Rubio

The age of the zeppelin died on a rainy day at Lakehurst, NJ nearly eighty years ago.  Airships like the Hindenburg were widely considered the future of air travel, but the spectacular and highly publicized disaster proved to be the death knell for this mode of air travel.

On April 13, 2015, Rubio announced that he would run for president with the enthusiastic campaign slogan “A New American Century”.  Rubio often touted that he and he alone was the only candidate capable of beating Hillary Clinton in the general election.

The establishment’s landslide choice to win the GOP nomination no longer seems capable of even finishing in second place.  After Iowa, Sen. Rubio promised his supporters he would rocket to the nomination on the strength of his 3-2-1 strategy.  

The “Future of the Republican Party” has been humiliated repeatedly in every contest save Minnesota.

Insulting the front-runner with juvenile broadsides about wetting his pants or suggesting he was poorly endowed just didn’t cut the mustard with Republican voters and now he’s been cornered into betting his political future on a first place finish in Florida.

On the eve of “Super Saturday” CNN reported, “Ted Cruz is going for the kill shot.”

“Cruz's aides and allies are preparing an aggressive effort to keep Marco Rubio from winning his home state of Florida on March 15, a blow they hope would render Rubio's path to the GOP nomination unimaginable and force him to withdraw.” 

“A Rubio loss, Cruz's orbit believes, would then set up the two-man race with Donald Trump they believe they are destined for—and absolutely need—to win.” 

"’Florida's a burning dumpster fire for Marco Rubio,’ said Cruz spokesman Ron Nehring. ‘If he doesn't win his own state, it's hard to rationalize going forward.’"

Rubio on #SuperSaturday losses: 'The map only gets better for us' https://t.co/nkubDj8WFm #Decision2016 pic.twitter.com/0x73orTwBf

— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 6, 2016

Get ready for more Rubio alchemy - preparing gold medal speech for his bronze & 4th place #SuperSaturday results. pic.twitter.com/72F2B44XGy

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) March 6, 2016

Rubio’s campaign is over.  The senator still has time to salvage a political career, but that won’t be the case if he hangs around long enough to be embarrassed by Cruz or Trump in his home state of Florida.

Fox News Hosted A Debate And A Hockey Fight Broke Out

Thursday’s debate in Detroit hit rock bottom for me.  Apparently, to many, the feeling is mutual.  The underlying fear is the effrontery of penis innuendos and name-calling is becoming profoundly detrimental to the image of the GOP.  For all intents and purposes the debate stage has moved to the gutter sewer.

I believe that Fox News is responsible for the hockey fight that broke out.  I remember the consensus praise the cable channel received for the manner in which the first debate in August of 2015 was handled.  This last debate devolved into an ugly exhibition of mudslinging which the Democrats have already racked for video evidence that their presumptive nominee will be a far, far better leader of the country than anyone that emerges from the GOP convention in Cleveland.

I blame Fox for not preemptively addressing protesters entering the debate hall.  There was no effort made to insist the audience remain silent during the debate.  In addition, Fox failed to adequately moderate the debate.  This was evident when Marco Rubio persisted in deploying the now very tiresome mockery of Trump’s “tan”, the size of his fingers and all the other schoolboy childishness.  Rubio’s boyish appearance coupled with his immaturity on the debate stage is part and parcel for why he is polling so poorly.  Others have noticed that Marco, on the campaign trail and on the dais, is “Red Bull-ed up”.  I believe that Rubio regrets having embarked on these cheap attacks and now cannot stop himself.  He is desperate for attention. 

Even as Trump led polls in the months before the primaries began, his biggest rivals Cruz and Rubio, largely avoided attacking him calculating that he would implode.  To say that they gravely miscalculated would be an understatement.

The ever-harsher tones of Ted Cruz, I feel, are damaging his chances of overcoming Trump in the primaries.  The more Cruz declares he is the only candidate who can defeat Trump the more desperate he comes across to voters.  Of course, this election cycle is like no other in my lifetime.

Today we have three states—Kansas, Kentucky and Louisiana—casting their ballots. There could be states where only Trump meets a 20% requirement.  In some states, that could mean sharing delegates with the second-place finisher; in others, it could give him a “backdoor winner-take-all” victory, enabling him to win all or most delegates from a state with only a plurality.

Trump leads Cruz by 15.6 points in Louisiana.  In Kansas, his lead over Cruz is 6 points but that was before Super Tuesday and the pleading of Mitt Romney.  Kentucky, which hasn’t conducted polling since November of 2015, projects a 13 point lead over Rubio.

After March 15’s primaries have concluded, 36 states and territories will have voted on the Republican side, and close to 60% of all GOP national delegates will have been awarded.

About that Romney speech, politicos have been sharing schemes for how Marco parlays a victory out of winning only one state, or Ted roars back, or Kasich has to finish second in Ohio.

What’s more, Romney pushes the ideology of the elite in the party. They are protected from much of the roughness of the world.  More to the point, they are protected from the world they have created. 

Romney claimed to understand the anger of voters.  The unprotected (that’s you and me) watched over the last 20 years and realized the protected were not looking out for us or our beloved country.

I resent their interference in this election.  The people are speaking boldly about the direction in which they want their country to go while the party overlords try desperately to circumvent their will.

UPDATE:   In my haste I neglected to include data for the caucuses in Maine.  There are 23 proportional delegates at stake.  Lance Dutson’s Whip Count Insider’s Survey overwhelming predicted a win for Trump.  Because of the idiosyncratic nature of the Maine electorate national pundit Nate Silver isn’t sure what will happen.

Taunting The Subway Pitchman

Nope.  I’m not talking about the spokesman for the sandwich joint who got arrested on child pornography charges, but the guy that came under a blitzkrieg of fire at the last GOP debate for being a purveyor of the bargain to be had on a shady deal—“the Manhattan street corner watch salesman.”

Donald Trump is proud of his “brand” but even the richest of brands are robbed by poor character.

Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz tag teamed The Donald and never relented.  In debates past, Trump has successfully absorbed the mockery from his rivals on stage, but Thursday’s debate was a different animal altogether.  It started earlier in the day with failed 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s incendiary charge of a possible “bombshell” in Trump’s tax returns.

That opened the door to Rubio reminding debate viewers of Trump’s hiring of undocumented Polish workers to build his signature skyscraper in New York City, his fake Trump University and his clothing line and ties made in Mexico.

The con man is a dark triad of psychopathy, Machiavellianism and narcissism.  (Ever notice how Trump always refers to himself in the third person?)

Con artists surround us:  Bernie Madoff.  Nigerian princes.  Psychics. But we never think we’ll fall prey to their wiles. We damn sure can spot a gimmick a mile away.  Right?

Beware the Ides of March.  There’s a little trick from the con artists’ handbook—Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People—called the Mark Anthony Gambit.  The premise comes from Shakespeare in which Mark Anthony begins a funeral oration for Julius Caesar, “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.”  Anthony’s rhetoric exudes the art of persuasion and an artifice used to veil intent.

Behold “the art of the deal.”

Mean Tweets: GOP “Thunderdome” Debate—Donald Trump Edition

After honor and integrity questioned, US statesman Donald Trump issues bloody death challenge to Marco Rubio as source of wicked slanders.

— DPRK News Service (@DPRK_News) February 26, 2016

There are going to be plans! And there's going to be lines! And lines in the plans, and plans in the lines!

— jimgeraghty (@jimgeraghty) February 26, 2016

Trump is actually sweating. The Cheeto dust he uses as bronzer is starting to run.

— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) February 26, 2016

Probably has two Corinthians doing his taxes. Explains everything. https://t.co/UzTd0FTTCy

— Brad Thor (@BradThor) February 26, 2016

In fairness, anyone who enrolled in Trump University probably deserved to be defrauded.

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) February 26, 2016

Huge. Trump's biggest endorsement. Maybe the biggest endorsement of the campaign so far - Chris Christie pic.twitter.com/oO4SMXODzk

— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl) February 26, 2016

How bad was the debate for Trump last night? Chris Christie bad.

— Melissa Clouthier (@MelissaTweets) February 26, 2016

Mean Tweets: GOP “Thunderdome” Debate—Marco Rubio Edition

Rubio says Trump would be "selling watches in Manhattan" if he hadn't inherited his father's money. #GOPDebate pic.twitter.com/n73H5Ipcn1

— PolicyMic (@PolicyMic) February 26, 2016

Rubio: What's your plan for healthcare?
Trump: Get rid of the lines!
Rubio: What else?
Trump: <makes twirling motion w/ fingers>#GOPDebate

— Will Antonin (@Will_Antonin) February 26, 2016

Breaking!! @MarcoRubio's shocked to discover his "path to the nomination" includes delegates from Obama's 57 states!! #SadRobot

— el Sooper ن (@SooperMexican) February 25, 2016

GOP Thunderdome Debate

I must admit that Thursday night’s debate from Houston was one helluva barn burner.  Normally, as I dutifully watch these things, I find myself nodding off.  Not so this time.  With Jeb out of the picture the war of words between Rubio, Trump and Cruz was brutal.

I’m still trying to decide who will get my vote.  I have a few days left before the window on early voting closes and I want to beat the rush because I’m a billionaire recluse and don’t like being among the great unwashed.

Marco Robot transformed himself into Master Blaster from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome.  It’s fair to say that Trump’s heavy application of orange spray tan made him remarkably thin-skinned for this debate..

For the last 7 months Trump has repeated the same phrases ad nauseum.  He touts what he will do when he is president but fails to give details.  The only thing I’ve noticed he changes from stump speech to stump speech is the placard on the front of the podium at which he speaks indicating the city in which the speech is being held.

Up to now, the debates have been an exercise in futility for Cruz and Rubio, but on this night their combination one-two punch found its mark.  The chink in Donald’s armor was revealed.

Wolf: How can you be neutral on Israel/Palestine?
Trump: I was in a parade with Israelis.#GOPDebate

— Stephen Hayes (@stephenfhayes) February 26, 2016

Trump's a strong Christian. He got a divinity degree from Trump University.

— Popehat (@Popehat) February 26, 2016

The audience applauded Rubio for *24* seconds when he mocked Trump for repeating himself. pic.twitter.com/cKRgLnX2VK

— Nick Jacob (@nicktjacob) February 26, 2016

it’d be nice if one of the candidates congratulated trump on getting david duke’s endorsement

— andy levy (@andylevy) February 26, 2016

OK, #GOPdebate, here's your chance to opine in the ONLY 100% scientific opinion poll!! GO! GO! GO!

— el Sooper ن (@SooperMexican) February 26, 2016

A Shock To The System

Dan Riehl of Breitbart.com shared the substance of a recent interview with Pat Caddell in which he said, “Cruz’s or Trump’s election would be a shock to the system.”

Caddell continued, “We are seeing the transformation of the paradigm of politics. All the old rules are failing. All the old assumptions don’t work. And we have a new set of assumptions evolving. And we have a public that no longer seems to want to eat the dog food that the establishment has dished out and are, in fact, going for choices that are outside the boxes of our ordinary politics.”

Nine months ago the conventional wisdom was that Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton would win election easily. “The country,” Caddell noted, “is saying we want something different.  And we want to take back…most importantly, reclaiming our sovereignty.  People seem to have gone from being passive observers to active participants.”  Caddell believes that many people who usually don’t vote will come out this election cycle.

Byron York, Chief Political Correspondent for The Washington Examiner, attended the rally in North Charleston, SC Monday night.  Former president George W. Bush and wife Laura were the star attraction in an effort to boost Jeb’s floundering campaign.

York interviewed 41 attendees.  I gathered from his report that most were there to see the former president who is beloved by South Carolinians.  As he interviewed them it became obvious that their love for W doesn’t transfer to his brother Jeb.

When York asked whether, looking back, going to war in Iraq was a mistake, seventeen said yes, it was a mistake. Seventeen said no, it was not a mistake. And seven said some variation of, "It's complicated."

Many of those who said the war was a mistake took care to add that they thought W did the best he could with the information he had at the time. Many of those who said it wasn't a mistake said they don't necessarily approve of it today, as they look back, but they don't want to apply 20/20 hindsight and criticize a decision made 15 years ago. Some blamed today's mess on Barack Obama. In other words, no matter what they said, they were inclined to cut W some slack.

Some of the "It's complicated" people seemed truly torn by the question. In the end, he came away with the impression that most of them didn't really disagree with each other very much. Some of them leaned a little more to the "mistake" side than others, but none of them were in a mood to blame the former president sitting on the stage.

South Carolina Republicans place a lot of value on loyalty. Many have supported the Bush family over the years, and they'll always feel warmly toward any candidate named Bush. But their feelings about Jeb just don't rise to the level of their devotion to W. It's hard to imagine that changing in the few days left before the South Carolina primary.

During last Saturday’s GOP debate, Marco Rubio responded to Donald Trump’s statement that “the World Trade Center came down during your brother’s reign.  Don’t forget that.”  During the heated exchange between Bush and Trump, Marco Rubio said, “I just want to say, at least on behalf of me and my family, I thank God all the time it was George W. Bush in the White House on 9/11 and not Al Gore. And you can—I think you can look back in hindsight and say a couple of things, but he kept us safe. And not only did he keep us safe, but no matter what you want to say about weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein was in violation of UN resolutions, in open violation, and the world wouldn’t do anything about it, and George W. Bush enforced what the international community refused to do. And again, he kept us safe, and I am forever grateful to what he did for this country.”

I believe, just as many others do, that Rubio’s response was not intended to answer Trump’s charge but was a play for the Jeb vote.

Jeb’s polling numbers are in single digits.  He’s shown no inclination to drop out of the race and may be stubborn or prideful enough to stick it out until after Super Tuesday when Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and Virginia all go to the polls.

Former president Bush’s appearance in South Carolina seemed more like Jebland giving itself permission to say to his supporters “we did all we could”.

Mean Tweets: South Carolina GOP Debate Pig Pile Edition

They're fighting, Dickerson. Get outta the way, this is what we tuned in for!

— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) February 14, 2016

Can we go back to the GOP color being blue? The debate stage looks like a meeting of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party #GOPDebate

— jon gabriel (@exjon) February 14, 2016 

 

Un poquito. It went by too fast for me, but I gather others are questioning its fluency. https://t.co/hCsbk7WAXH

— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) February 14, 2016

@jpodhoretz You speak Spanish??

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) February 14, 2016

If I'm Marco Rubio, I challenge Ted Cruz to a 1 v 1 debate on Univision, en espanol, right now...

— Buck Sexton (@BuckSexton) February 14, 2016

The great thing about Kasich is that he is cooling off the venue with his hand waving. #AirFlow #GOPDebate

— Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) February 14, 2016

I think what they get out of me is GIGANTIC, TERRIFYING HAND-PADDLES.

— Matt Welch (@MattWelch) February 14, 2016

#GOPDebate It's hard to focus on what Kasich is saying because Trump's not interrupting, the crowd isn't booing, and also I'm not listening.

— Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) February 14, 2016

Every day I worry that I lost my human sleeping pill in Martin O'Malley, I thank the man upstairs for Ben Carson.

— Harry Enten (@ForecasterEnten) February 14, 2016

Ben Carson, would you like to take a minute to mumble aimlessly and think about butterflies?

— The Scandalous DJT (@AceofSpadesHQ) February 14, 2016

"Rosie O'Donnell--you know, that broad says some good things about 9/11, even though she's a fat pig" -- Donald Trump

— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) February 14, 2016

Any time Trump gets in the weeds he sets fire to Bush. I realize you know this. I just like saying it. #GOPDebate

— Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) February 14, 2016

blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">

I think Trump just won Michael Moore's vote. #GOPDebate

— jon gabriel (@exjon) February 14, 2016

for those of you insisting Trump will self-destruct, eventually:

You may finally be 100% right.

— The Scandalous DJT (@AceofSpadesHQ) February 14, 2016

New Hampshire Primary: Rubio Announces “Obama Knows Exactly What He’s Doing”

Marco Rubio’s supporters pushed, shoved and wrestled demonstrators dressed as robots outside a polling place in Manchester, NH on Tuesday.  The demonstrators were mocking his robotic rhetoric in last Saturday’s GOP Presidential Debate from Saint Anselm College.

During the debate, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie eviscerated him for repeating the same canned talking points four times.  Rubio insisted for days afterwards that the confrontation had not wounded his campaign.

A somber Rubio blamed himself for his pathetic fifth place finish confessing, “I’m disappointed with tonight, but I want you to understand something.  Our disappointment tonight is not on you.  It’s on me.  I did not do well on Saturday night, so listen to this.  That will never happen again.  That will never happen again.”

Marco Rerun in 5th! How many more times will Repeat-io Bots tell us "Rubio's the most electable Republican?" #NHPrimary

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) February 10, 2016

Exclusive footage of #MarcoRubio learning the results of the #NHPrimary pic.twitter.com/4aizEh9Clw

— Kragar (@Kragar_LGF) February 10, 2016

Mean Tweets: Iowa Caucuses Edition