Dumb and dumber, you two geniuses wanna explain if the story is so "un-newsworthy" whty the leaders of BOTH houses of Congress felt compelled to discuss it today?
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/02/u...onnell-denounce-and-support-donald-trump.html
Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell Say No to Klan (but Maybe to Donald Trump)
By
JENNIFER STEINHAUERMARCH 1, 2016
WASHINGTON — Speaker
Paul D. Ryan on Tuesday forcefully denounced
Donald J. Trump’s refusal to distance himself from the former
Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. But Mr. Ryan did not shift from his position that he would support Mr. Trump if he became the
Republican Party’s presidential nominee, a perplexing contradiction that reflects the growing anxiety on Capitol Hill over the billionaire businessman’s ascent.
“If a person wants to be the nominee of the
Republican Party, there can be no evasion and no games,” Mr. Ryan told reporters in Washington after his weekly meeting with House Republicans. “They must reject any group or cause that is built on bigotry. This party does not prey on people’s prejudices. We appeal to their highest ideals. This is the party of Lincoln.”
Continue reading the main story
Mr. Ryan, who did not mention Mr. Trump by name, brought into sharp relief the intense struggle facing congressional Republicans — especially those in tough re-election fights — as they move to simultaneously run from Mr. Trump’s positions and largely proclaim fealty to his increasingly possible rise to the top of their ticket.
“Let me make it perfectly clear, Senate Republicans condemn David Duke and the K.K.K., and his racism,” Senator
Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, said Tuesday on Capitol Hill. “That is not the view of Republicans that have been elected to the United States Senate, and I condemn his comments in the most forceful way.”
Mr. McConnell stopped short of saying what only a very few congressional Republicans have said: that he will not pull the lever for Mr. Trump if he is the nominee.
The inherent paradox of renouncing a candidate you also provisionally support was raised Tuesday to near contortionist levels.
Presidential Election 2016
For instance, Republicans now repeatedly say they must support any Republican nominee over a Democrat largely to protect the Supreme Court seat that opened up with the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, a position that Mr. McConnell says they will not agree to fill until after the election.
“Any Republican nominee is going to have a better Supreme Court nominee,” said Senator Cory Gardner, Republican of Colorado, moments after he said his first job was to show America that “Trump is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
But Republicans acknowledge that they have no proof that Mr. Trump would pick the conservative jurist they crave. To wit: Mr. Trump has repeatedly embraced policies and political figures disliked by his party. He
once said that Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, whose policies fueled the recession in President Ronald Reagan’s first term and who then became a trusted economic adviser to the presidential candidate Barack Obama, was a great pick for the nation’s central bank job.
Congressional Republicans — dominated by the party’s conservative wing — dislike many of Mr. Trump’s policies, are out of step with their front-runner on social issues and are embarrassed by his antics. Yet they insist that at the end of the long, arduous day, none of those traits would be disqualifying.
“We will have to work on changing some of his ideas,” said Senator Orrin G. Hatch, Republican of Utah, smiling weakly. “He’s a good businessman.”
And many said that while his views were at odds with voters in their states, Mr. Trump’s overall candidacy was not, and so they would support him — if for no other reason than they will need his voters, too. “I have a primary,” said Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia, who added he would not endorse anyone in the race.
It is almost as if Republicans are dating someone they will not introduce to their mother, but have reluctantly agreed to marry because they cannot do better. “For a group with 9 percent favorables telling people how to vote,” said Senator Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, an outspoken critic of Mr. Trump, “I don’t think that’s going to work.”
One exception is Senator Ben Sasse, the freshman Republican from Nebraska, who began a one-man attack on Mr. Trump
on social media, explaining why he would never vote for him.
A House Republican, Representative Scott Rigell of Virginia, did proclaim Tuesday that “love for our country eclipses my loyalty to our party” as he declared he would never support “a nominee so lacking in the judgment, temperament and character needed to be our nation’s commander in chief.” But Mr. Rigell has already announced his retirement at the end of the year.
Yet for all the wishful thinking about Mr. Trump’s imminent demise — they said repeatedly that even if he cleaned up in Tuesday’s primaries, he could still lose the nomination fight — Republicans have not strongly coalesced around an alternative.
Many Senate Republicans were behind the now-failed campaign of former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida. Support for other candidates has been scattered. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has the endorsement of about a dozen senators, while Senator Ted Cruz has none.
Still, they press on. “It’s not going to be
Donald Trump,” snapped the usually affable Mr. Gardner, who is trying to elevate Mr. Rubio.
Mr. McConnell, who has spent much of his public life pressing against the most flagrant bigotry in politics, is in a particularly tough spot by not fully dismissing Mr. Trump’s candidacy over the David Duke episode. And while Mr. Ryan has been careful to try to ignore Mr. Trump’s garden-variety outbursts and name calling, he becomes agitated over remarks that he feels violate the inclusiveness of the party.
“This is fundamental,” Mr. Ryan said. “And if someone wants to be our nominee, they must understand this. I hope this is the last time I need to speak out on this race.”
Democrats are using the issue to pummel Republicans. Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the minority leader, was sharply critical of Mr. Ryan on Tuesday and his refusal to say he would not support Mr. Trump. “Talk is cheap,” Mr. Reid sneered.
Good to see you two schmucks have your fingertip on the pulse of the nation, lol...
ointer:kth)(&^Slapping-silly90)):bigfinger:trx-smly0:kissingbb:Countdown
Donald J. Trump
