Trump's Death-Eaters, Cuba's Freedom Fighters, and DiCaprio's Idiocies

Watch Matt Welch on tonight's Kennedy, Fox Business Network at 8 p.m. and midnight ET

On tonight's Kennedy (8 p.m. Fox Business Network, with a repeat at midnight) I will be on a party panel with ex-cabbie funnyman Jimmy Failla and FBN host Deirdre Bolton, talking about the big news of the day: President Barack Obama's historic trip to Cuba, the plight of Cuban dissidents, the inevitability of Donald Trump, the WTFness of John Kasich, Leonardo DiCaprio's funny ideas about carbon policy, and so forth.

Comments

[AlmightyJB]

Fuck politics. Drink beer.

[bacon-magic]

Matt,
Every time I see you on T.V. all I hear is Buddy Holly by Weezer. Keep up the good work.

[Crusty Juggler]

More like the incredibility of Donald Trump.

[AlmightyJB]

+ huuuuuuuge

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Di Caprio is insane.

[bacon-magic]

The bear should have raped him after it mauled his stunt double.

[Hugh Akston]

Is that the same as saying he's wrong? I know the distinction is all but meaningless these days.

[Rich]

No. "Insane" means "very good" or "intense".

Doesn't it?

[Heroic Mulatto]

In the august words of B-Real:

Do my shit undercover now it's time for the blubba
Blabber, to watch that belly get fatter
Fat boy on a diet, don't try it
I'll jack yo' ass like a looter in a riot

My shit's fat, like a sumo, slammin' dat ass
Leavin' yo' face in the grass
'Cause you know, I don't take a chulo, lightly
Punks just jealous cause they can't outwrite me

Or kick that style, wicked, wild
Happy face nigga never seen me smile
Rip dat mainframe, I'll explain
A nigga like me is goin' insane

[Hugh Akston]

That must have been edited out for television.

[Heroic Mulatto]

There is nothing 'natural' about that 'Mr.", shenanigans, I say!

[Winston]

Will Free Trade with Trump and Kasich turn them libertarian?

[JimBob7]

No, neither is smart enough to understand the underlying concepts. But you already knew that.

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

So what's the over-under on the GOP scuttling the ship until 2020?

[Rich]

Even with Bill's help, I am *certain* they can do it.

[Jerryskids]

What's the over/under on them attempting it? Pretty much the opposite of that.
If the GOP is running the Titanic and you tell 'em you want that iceberg rammed, everybody gets home safe and sound.

[R C Dean]

I'd say 50/50 at this point. They might try to broker the convention or monkey with the rules to get Anybody but Trump on the ballot, but I think a lot will depend on what happens between now and the convention.

[Crusty Juggler]

My prediction, which I did not steal from anyone else and came up with on my own: Paul Ryan "reluctantly" accepts the nomination, and Trump runs third party.

[lap83]

well at least that would bring conservatives, libertarians, and trumptarians together at last...in Hillary's camps

[MSimon]

To burn it?

[Jerryskids]

Hillary will be locked in there with us. We will be her punishment and she ours. This will be President Biden's decision, to heal the country and to move on.

[Irish ?s Lauren Southern]

Local neoconservative blog thinks asking allies to contribute to their own defense is a 'shakedown.'

"As Obama advanced his foreign policy of giving away the store to third-rate dictatorships in the supremely arrogant belief that his generosity will teach their leaders to be virtuous, almost simultaneously the GOP front runner was in Washington advancing a vision of American leadership that appears to be based on shaking down our allies. Trump told the Washington Post's editorial board that "NATO is costing us a fortune," and that "we are not reimbursed" for the help we give South Korea. Because America is "a poor country now," we need to pull back from these and other similar relationships?though, implicitly, our friends could always pay up if they wanted to keep our protection."

With the exception of that dumb shit about America being 'a poor country,' I fail to see what's wrong with Trump's argument that we shouldn't be paying for the defense of other countries. How exactly are these motherfuckers our allies if they're just sponging off our military without contributing anything?

[Doctor Whom]

Not giving is taking.

[Lee G]

How can we subsidize our defense contractors if we don't give other countries money to buy our stuff?

[Pay up, Palin's Buttplug!]

Trump actually has a good idea!

[Winston]

Will Barton Hinkle be on to explain how the end of the Hays Code and Twitter character limits led to Trump?

[Playa Manhattan.]

The whinery is open for business!

[Winston]

I hope his boots have a good taste...

[Winston]

Is Obama's Cuba trip the harbinger of the Libertarian moment? There's something that Welch, Gillespie, Obama and Sanders can agree on. What more proof do you need?

[Lee G]

I just think it's the end of something that never worked.

[Winston]

The Embargo? Or Communism?

[DenverJ]

The embargo, of course. Everybody knows that communism would work if we could just get the right Top Men.
Also, Kennedy? Ever since MTV actually played music videos and she was a VJ- would!

[Ted S.]

I vote foe.

[MSimon]

isn't that fok?

[Libertarian]

Goddammit, the "trading with the enemy" laws were/are laws that restricted AMERICANS from trading and traveling with Cuba. They (obviously) didn't impose restrictions on Cuba, per se. They outlawed actions by you and me and all Americans. And after a half century of these restrictions, is it just coincidence that Cuba is still under communist rule while the USSR is history, China is granting limited liberty, and Viet Nam has singers pushing back against the government even after 60,000 Americans died in that war?

[Winston]

And after a half century of these restrictions, is it just coincidence that Cuba is still under communist rule while the USSR is history, China is granting limited liberty, and Viet Nam has singers pushing back against the government even after 60,000 Americans died in that war?

The Castros are still alive and Mao, Ho, Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky are dead which I think is a much more important factor.

[Winston]

Oh and FDR gave diplomatic recognition, traded with, encouraged the production of friendly propaganda and even visited the USSR and did that liberalize Stalin at all?

[Pay up, Palin's Buttplug!]

Which is ironic, given that the Administration he worked for previously invaded the USSR.

BTW, Calvin Coolidge was President at the time Rex Tugwell and 94 others visited the USSR in what they called "The Junket".

[JimBob7]

Preezy Obola going to Cuba, while the Cuban dictatorship puts dissidents in prison, is a perfect example of the rich putting their heel in the face of the downtrodden poor and grinding it into the mud . Welch sucks for his dictator fellating.

[Libertarian]

Citation needed.

[MSimon]

Video is more important.

[Libertarian]

From my favorite living economist, Donald J. Boudreaux:

Robert Reich's "Free trade today enriches only 'the one percent'" (March 17) is a carnival of confusions, faulty reasoning, half-truths, and outright errors. Consider, for example, his assertion that "old-style trade agreements of the 1960s and 1970s increased worldwide demand for products made by American workers," but that today "American corporations no longer make many products in the United States for export abroad."

This assertion is false. The real annual value of U.S. exports did indeed steadily grow from the end of WWII through 1980. The annual dollar volume of U.S. exports hit their 1947-1980 high in 1980. Reckoned in 2009 dollars, that 1980 figure is $376 billion. But in 2015 U.S. exports totaled $2.1 trillion (also reckoned in 2009 dollars). That's an increase in the real value of U.S. exports from 1980 through 2015 of 460 percent. Moreover, the average rate of annual increase in the real value of U.S. exports has been faster since 1980 than it was from 1947 until 1980.

Finally, as a portion of U.S. GDP, U.S. exports are today ? at 12.2 percent of GDP ? near a post-WWII high. In the period 1947 through 1980, U.S. exports reached their peak as a percent of GDP in 1980, when exports were 9.8 percent of GDP.

http://cafehayek.com/2016/03/r.....ong-2.html

[Diane Reynolds (Paul.)]

I usually stop listening (or reading) at "Robert Reich".

[Libertarian]

I loathe Reich. I loathe him more than Krugman. More than Hillary. More than Miller Genuine Draft.

[John]

What amazes me is how horrible of a case these half wits make. There reasonable arguments that other nAtions are fucking us in these agreements and that there are other aspects to economic policy than get cheap shit. And Reich is apparently unable to grasp this and instead makes what has to be the dumbest claim I have read in a while.

[Lee G]

Retards need love too

[Crusty Juggler]

Agreed.

[Lee G]

Great, now I feel like I need a shower or penance or something.

[Crusty Juggler]

Pics?

[Rufus The Monocled Derp Slayer]

Because of the Third Reich? Because that would be unfair to Robert.

[livelikearefugee]

Did you read further to Boudreaux's link to Krugman's excellent defense of free trade? Yes, that Krugman. A moment while you pull pick your teeth up. He also rips Reich for being economically ignorant. Yes, I know it's not April 1st. Couldn't believe it either at first but eventually, Krugman's arrogance shines through, essentially say that economics is too difficult a subject for politicians to grasp. Actually, I think he might be on to something.

[Pay up, Palin's Buttplug!]

Nah, that's Paul Krugman the actual economist not Paul Krugman the craven political pundit.

Thomas Sowell was onto something when he said, "The first lesson of economics is scarcity: there is never enough of anything to fully satisfy all those who want it. The first lesson of politics is to disregard the first lesson of economics.".

[livelikearefugee]

Krugman goes on to state that the reason politicians don't understand economics is because it's a difficult subject and, unlike econ students, you can make them learn it. Politicians are essentially shallow people who won't waste their time on a rigorous discipline that doesn't immediately benefit them.

[livelikearefugee]

Ooops, should have said ...CAN'T make them learn it...

[Marty Comanche]

We haven't had a John-Nikki makeout session lately. I guess Reason really is trying to throttle back the Trump coverage. This post only mentions Yuge Leader in passing.

[John]

Patience. Going slow now will just make the inevitable post election make up sex that much better.

[Heroic Mulatto]

Cheating on MNG isn't going to sit well with the commentariat.

[Lee G]

Apparently Gawker editors are really unlikable. The jury just hit then with another 25M in punitive damages on top of the 115.

[John]

Yeah. I feel bad for their lawyers. I bet they wish they were defending child molesters or Illinois Nazis, anyone but Gawker.

[Grand Moff Serious Man]

Sure hope they charged a ton for having to endure the professional embarrassment of dealing with clients that ignored their advice at every turn.

[Pay up, Palin's Buttplug!]

A lot of lawyers would be out of a job if their clients actually listened to them...

[Playa Manhattan.]

They wouldn't fucking listen to their lawyers. It sucks for whatever firm is associated with this.

I hope they secured collateral.

[R C Dean]

Probably got an upfront retainer.

[Playa Manhattan.]

It's going to be nearly impossible to collect. You know all the tax-dodging, shell corporations, and offshore accounts that Gawker constantly criticizes?

Yeah... They're one of the biggest "offenders".

"Gawker is organized like an international money-laundering operation. Much of its international revenues are directed through Hungary, where Denton's mother hails from, and where some of the firm's techies are located. But that is only part of it. Recently, Salmon reports, the various Gawker operations?Gawker Media LLC, Gawker Entertainment LLC, Gawker Technology LLC, Gawker Sales LLC?have been restructured to bring them under control of a shell company based in the Cayman Islands, Gawker Media Group Inc."

[John]

Hulk has the money to hire the lawyers to if not collect make Denton's life miserable as they pursue his assets all over the world and unravel all of that.

If it is not collectible it will because the money is not there. If it is there, it can be recovered. It just takes time and money.

[Lee G]

Getting the lawyers to chase it is easy, just give them a cut off what they collect.

[R C Dean]

Looks like its not that hard to enforce a judgment in the Caymans, although there's some discretion there, so I couldn't say for sure. Caymans is mainly a tax shelter, is my take.

http://www.loebsmith.com/story.....slands/20/

Hungary looks like a tougher nut to crack, because there is no reciprocity with the US (scroll way down).

http://us.practicallaw.com/8-5.....nt#a913986

[Ted S.]

Only 25M?

[Fist of Etiquette]

She's still doing Topical Storm? I hope Welch and Foster get a piece of this.

[Rhywun]

Right? Feels like old times.

[Ted S.]

Feels like the very old times.

[Fist of Etiquette]

They're still doing Manufacturing Marvels? What's next? The commie going to come on and talk about vaccinations?

[Fist of Etiquette]

What the hell is going on with Welch's hair? I can't even talk about his wardrobe while I'm trying to figure out if that's an undercut or he's going grey on the sides. Also, that tie.

[Fist of Etiquette]

And the panel gets shown the door.