Obvious GOP candidate for 2016: gun-lover, gay-baiter, hates liberals. And you can see Russia from his house.
There’s lots of nonsense being talked about how the Republicans don’t have a natural candidate for 2016.
In fact, there’s someone with (1) huge name recognition; (2) a strong anti-gay record; (3) unlimited willingness to violate human rights in “anti-terrorist” campaigns; (4) a love of weapons and cheap machismo; and (5) no liberal tendencies whatsoever. Mitt Romney praises him. Â As an extra bonus, you can see Russia from his house.
Ted Cruz, eat your heart out!
Author: Mark Kleiman
Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out.
Books:
Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken)
When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist
Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993)
Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989)
UCLA Homepage
Curriculum Vitae
Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com
View all posts by Mark Kleiman
Ted Cruz, eat your heart out!
Whatever Putin's rightishness moves, the fact is that he is a total failure as bagger. He doesn't want to war with the entire world, actively avoiding it on occasion. Basically, he's Russia's answer to Charlie Wilson & Dick Nixon.
The Republican base demands the fulfillment of apocalyptic prophecies and they won't be happy til they get it, meaning that they have a lot more in common two or three names I'm supposed to avoid saying. So I'll just namecheck the White Baron and leave it at that.
max
['Deranged extremism in defense of white supremacy is definitely a vice.']
They are completely different! Putin controls the oligarchs. Romney is a supple tool of the plutocrats.
Advantage Putin.
This.
No way he gets the GOP nod.
Yes and no. It's true that he used his power over the state to destroy and even murder a number of oligarchs and their top level employees. My impression, however, is that this was done to simply establish his dominance and not out of a moral opposition to the mafia state. If I'm understanding the news reports correctly, the main reason why the infrastructure of the Sochi Olympics is so outrageously expensive even as nothing has been built correctly (and sometimes not even built at all) can be fairly described as the result of corruption on an epic scale.
Vladimir Putin is the man Chris Christie aspires to be.
I just have the hugest crush on him. His manhood exudes potent leadership.
This would be even better coming from a bloke.
Not a chance in hell they ask for his birth certificate.
Without a doubt, Russia is now a more Godly nation than the U.S.
But on a more serious note, it's more than a little disconcerting that for all of the stereotypes about Russian plutocrats, the U.S.'s Jini Coefficient is significantly higher. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worl…
"Mikhailovich," surely? Unless, hmm, "McCainovich," maybe?
Yes, you've got it.
"Romnii" is actually a perfectly good Russian-sounding word. It might could have something to do with daiquiris.
Unfortunately for the GOP, Putin's long firm birth certificate makes him ineligible to be President according to our Constitution.
Not necessarily. Just think for a moment about the infamous phrase, probably spoken by Karl Rove, from which this blog derives its name. For Republicans, the "will to power" is its own justification and there are no limits on what can be done to get what one wants. A Supreme Court that could make George W. Bush president could make Putin president just as easily.
Mitch is right. IOKIYAR. Also, Article 4 Section 4 of the Constitution guarantees each state a Republican Form of Government. Can't have that without a Republican in the White House. As everybody knows, whenever dealing with conflicting clauses in the Constitution, the Second Amendment wins. Just ask any wingnut Justice.
As the second richest man in the world he could finance the entire campaign himself, freeing the GOP money for congress.
Yes, that's absolutely true. As an aside, if Vlad is only the second richest man in the world it's just another example of how fearless leader is truly a man of the people. He is a modest, self effacing man who is content to stay out of the limelight as he does the peoples's business. After all, Russia still has plenty of Polonium 210 handy so if Putin wanted to be the richest man alive, he would be.