‘But far more than Obama or Hillary or George W. Bush, Trump is actively campaigning as a Caesarist . . . .’

Ross Douthat makes a very concise case for torpedoing Trump’s candidacy:

All presidents are tempted by the powers of the office, and congressional abdication has only increased that temptation’s pull. President Obama’s power grabs are part of a bipartisan pattern of Caesarism, one that will likely continue apace under Hillary Clinton.

Garry Kasparov: Trump Embodies the Worst of New York, Does Not Represent the Best of New York

Famous chess master Garry Kasparov thoughtfully explores concepts of good and bad “New York values”.

It’s tempting to rally behind him — but we should resist. Because the New York values Trump represents are the very worst kind. He exemplifies the seamy side of New York City — the Ponzi schemers and the Brooklyn Bridge sellers, the gangster traders like Bernie Madoff and the celebrity gangsters like John Gotti — not the hard work and sacrifice that built New York and America.

Trump Advisor Promises to Facilitate Violence against Delegates Who Vote against Trump

Once and future Trump advisor (and Nixon trickster) Roger Stone, currently running a pro-Trump “super-PAC”, had already called for “Days of Rage” at the Republican convention in Cleveland this summer, a reference to riots and attempts to overwhelm police organized by the radical terrorist organization the Weathermen in Chicago in 1969.

Now Stone has specifically promised to facilitate the physical intimidation of (and physical retaliation against) Republican-convention delegates who don’t vote the way he’d like them to:

Cruz, Kasich, and Drumpf Virtually Tied Going into Ohio Primary

This is part of the problem with the Romney strategy.  He recommended that everyone vote for whichever non-Drumpf candidate is in the lead in each state according to surveys.  It sounds good in theory, but what if two candidates are tied in the polls, or nearly tied?

The most recent poll in Ohio puts all three contenders in a virtual tie: Drumpf 33%, Kasich 33, Cruz 27, margin of error 4.4 points.

Vote Strategically in Ohio: Vote for Ted Cruz

Mitt Romney and others have urged us (anti-Trump Republican primary voters) to “vote strategically”: by voting for Rubio in Florida, Kasich in Ohio, and whoever is polling highest in each state before election day in that state.

But John Kasich is already a big part of the reason that Drumpf has won as many states as he has.

Arkansas primary results:
Drumpf 32.8%
Cruz 30.5%
Kasich 3.7%

Ben Carson Sells Out—Again

Donald Trump, a. k. a. Drumpf, has bought another friend.

In retrospect, the signs were there; this isn’t the first time Carson has lent his name and reputation to a scam.

I wonder how much he got paid for it this time.

‘I personally don’t trust Donald Trump. With Donald Trump, you always have to read the fine print.’

The truth about Trump University, from a man who would know—for a time, he worked for the con man.

More about Trump University from Ian Tuttle at NRO: “Yes, Trump University Was a Massive Scam”

Yes, Drumpf Declined to Denounce David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan

Look, here’s the timeline:  As Jim Geraghty points out,

• Year 2000 — Donald Trump, a. k. a. Drumpf, left the Reform Party, and denounced David Duke by name as a Klansman:

“The Reform Party now includes a Klansman, Mr. Duke, a neo-Nazi, Mr. Buchanan, and a communist, Ms. Fulani,” he said in his statement. “This is not company I wish to keep.”

Trump: Boy, Those Immigrants Sure Do Mistreat Women

From the Daily Beast:

Trump’s history of misogyny is not limited to Kelly, Brenner, and Ivana. For decades, he has degraded and objectified women, from Rosie O’Donnell to his own daughter, Ivanka.

Trump even admitted this was his M.O.

“You have to treat ’em like shit,” Trump told friend Philip Johnson, according to New York.

‘Old theory: Trump is erratic. New theory: Trump is bananas.’

Great short piece at Hot Air about Donald Trump, who continues to flip-flop like a fresh-caught mackerel.  Sample:

The really weird part of this, though, is that he’s backing off the personal attacks on Cruz too, not just the fraud claim. How can you say you’ve always liked a guy whom you’ve been calling nasty, corrupt, cronyist, a hypocrite, a “total liar,” and someone whom no one likes once they get to know him?

Trump in One Sentence

Often the “Happy Warrior” columns on the back page of National Review these days (when I can bring myself to try reading them at all) seem to be trying really hard to be funny, which is a poor substitute for actually being funny.  (I guess most writers are a poor substitute for Mark Steyn.  It’s an unfair position to put them in.)  But I thought Heather Wilhelm’s offering in the current issue had a pretty good line:

We have Mr. Trump, of course, a crafty, plotting sort who lurks and waits until the national conversation reaches a tipping point—just this close to veering into a substantive, crucial discussion—before he kicks in the door, bellows something mean about all of our mothers, shoots out the chandelier with a paintball gun, and sucks all the air out of the room.

‘Democrats have sown the wind and could reap the windbag’

Favorite politics-as-politics line of the day, from Kevin Williamson:

Democrats have sown the wind and could reap the windbag — or a Texas tornado

Kevin Williamson sometimes sounds about as sweet as a boiling bucket of bile, but other times—OK, oftentimes—the man has a way with words.  He has other great lines in this piece alone.

Mark Steyn Gets One Wrong

I don’t think there’s any doubt I’m a big fan of Mark Steyn.  I would never mock Mark (though I would love to be a mock Mark).  Given his T-shirt design, you might even call me a Mark St’ist.

But I have to disagree with him today.  I think Steyn’s piece about Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders makes good points, but he almost says that Trump is the only one who has raised actual policy issues in the campaigns so far:

Why the Welfare State Seems like a Good Idea; Trump; Roosevelt; Gingrich

Robert Tracinski explains a structural problem with (and leading to) Obamacare, and the welfare state generally:

. . . when the government bestows its largess, we tend [to] see only the benefits coming down from above: there are press releases and newspaper articles and a lady writes an op-ed in the LA Times. What we don’t see is where that money came from and who it came from, and what else we might have done with that money.