Is “The System” Really Rigged?

Townhall.com ^ | April 17, 2016 | Derek Hunter

[kiryandil]

Too many of us dont educate ourselves as witness the ignorance expressed on FR.

I think Trump and his people understood the process just fine.

They appear to have used it to create some real blowback on Cruz.

People read the stuff on Drudge: "CRUZ CELEBRATES ANOTHER VOTERLESS VICTORY! NO ELECTION IN WY..."

[Pollster1]

Stop whining about long set rules when they suddenly don’t go your way, and tell your candidate to man up.

I've been critiquing Trump for over a month for not trying to game the system and win every single delegate possible along with collecting votes. I will be irritated beyond words if he wins the popular vote in November and loses on electoral votes. This is an election, and Trump needs to prove that he can understand the rules and play to win under those rules.

Note: Trump needs to understand the rules of the convention too and make sure his loyal delegates (which is not all of his delegates) are protecting his interests when they vote on rules. Winning a game is all about rules, and he needs to pay attention to the details and not just the showmanship. If necessary, he needs to make a deal with Cruz at some point. "Art of the Deal"? I hope he is still the master he claims to be.

[kiryandil]

Trump will need those Cruz voters if he's going to beat Hillary's corrupt machine in November. I don't expect most of them to stay home, but if trolls who support or pretend to support Trump offend them enough, they might vote third party or skip voting for president and just vote in the down-ballot races. Please lighten up and stick to issues. [Oh, right, Cruz and Trump agree far more than 80% of the time, so there is not much to attack in terms of issues.]

Cruz is the one who is conducting the "scorched earth" battle.

I would bet money he knows what was done in Wisconsin to keep him in the race.

It tells me something about the man that he wouldn't put his country before his ambitions. History is filled with little men like him.

[exDemMom]

If the rules are known and not against accepted law, the system is not “rigged.” Don’t sit in a poker game without knowing how to play and then expect to have whining entertained when you lose.

I'm sure you know as well as I do that rules and laws are not always fair or just. It is not "whining" to point them out when they are not.

If everyone automatically were to accept that something is fair and/or just just because it conforms to rules or the law, then we'd still have slavery... women wouldn't be able to go to college... we'd still be serfs in a feudal system... etc.

I have little idea how to play poker, so yeah, I probably *would* complain if I had to participate in a poker match for some reason.

[XEHRpa]

>>> It’s a distraction away from the fact that the system is endemically rigged to transfer authority away from the voters themselves and to a small group of party leaders and their hacks.

precisely. it’s still a smoke-filled room, with the veneer of representation attached to it. But this year, the mask comes off.

[Pollster1]

Cruz is the one who is conducting the "scorched earth" battle.

As far as I can tell, Cruz is following election law, and paying attention to the details of each state to maximize his rather slim changes. As a bonus, he is keeping Kasich from rising, which makes it much harder for the establishment to nominate Kasich. Trump would be best off with both Cruz and Kasich out of the race, but that won't happen. If Kasich stays, it's best for Cruz to stay too (I have analyzed a fairly large number of elections, and a three-candidate race is the next best thing to being the only one left). I'll vote for Trump - happily - but I certainly won't condemn Cruz for staying in or for trying for delegates.

[kiryandil]

I'll give you the math on Kasich. Your analysis makes perfect sense, statistically.

The bigger issue is that the GOPe pitching a fit about Trump means in my view that they're not serious about winning the 2016 presidential election, and the future of the Supreme Court that's bound up with it.

The Republican Party could have easily had the presidency wrapped up 4-6 weeks ago, given the total disarray on the Democrat side.

I don't often indulge the whims of children - and the GOPe is acting like children, or something far darker.

[PLMerite]

“I’m sure you know as well as I do that rules and laws are not always fair or just. It is not “whining” to point them out when they are not. “

Trump is acting surprised.

“I have little idea how to play poker, so yeah, I probably *would* complain if I had to participate in a poker match for some reason.”

Trump wasn’t forced. He’s had plenty of time to familiarize himself with the way things are done and plan accordingly. It seems that he decided he was going to bloviate his way through the nominating process.

I admire Trump for what he *says* he’s going to do, but I think he’s coming off the rails a bit when it comes to the “how.”

[chasio649]

yes

[exDemMom]

Trump wasn’t forced. He’s had plenty of time to familiarize himself with the way things are done and plan accordingly. It seems that he decided he was going to bloviate his way through the nominating process.

I admire Trump for what he *says* he’s going to do, but I think he’s coming off the rails a bit when it comes to the “how.”

Trump is going straight to the people, not the power brokers in DC. So, from the get-go, he cannot take advantage of the way "things are done."

I like the fact that he is exposing some of the deep-rooted corruption in the process. I like the fact that he is not a career politician, but he has the executive skills this country so desparately needs and he is willing to step up and spend his own time and money to apply for the job.

So, no, he isn't schmoozing and doing all of that other stuff to buy power behind the scenes, and he also is not taking money from special interests for which they will expect special favors in return.

I sincerely hope he makes it, and on the first pass. If not, we will just have more of the same--exponentially increasing debt, more tons of regulations complicating every aspect of our lives and driving businesses to other countries, etc. Because that is what putting lawyers into an executive position has gotten us. I don't think the country can survive it, really--and I am not certain President Trump can fix it, either, but he's the most qualified to do so if it can be done.

[itsahoot]

Do the "magnets" only work on New Yorkers, real estate magnates, presidenntial candidates, what...???

I give up, I guess some Okies really can be that dense.

[browniexyz]

Actually, I think for the RNC it dates later than that. After Ronald Reagan won in 1980, the RNC forever changed so that never again could an “outsider” breach the sanctity of the elites’ pick for President. As for the DNC, I am not sure when it transitioned to globalism, but your date of Nov. 22, 1963 might be right.

All I know is this — it no longer matters who votes for whom. Hillary has already been “crowned” the next American president by the powers that be. Huma Abedin may already be the VP or will be the person actually in the power seat, much like Valerie Jarrett. The White House and the Congress are not controlled by the American people and there is no longer a way for the American people to pull the plug on both by defunding DC. But all this is being done with the tax dollars of the “45%” percent of us who pay taxes into the system. First step I will take is to stop voting and/or contributing in any way to the political process, and next may be to expatriate. No one with a conscience can really participate in the system anymore.