You dirty Rat

Check out this Politico write-up of Sarah Palin speaking to a Conservative Summit in Denver today. Great words she uses to describe the #NeverTrump movement.

“That gang, they call themselves Never hashtag, whatever, I just call ‘em Republicans Against Trump, or RAT for short,”

Wait, here’s another line:

“Now, you know, I shouldn’t call them thumbsuckers because they’re not all bad. I’m kidding. They are,”

Just check it out. And keep in mind this is the Trump, Palin, current GOP way of trying to woo you into voting for Trump this November.

Still waiting

Well, this isn’t good. At the beginning of June, Thomas Barrack, one of Donald Trump’s super-PAC fundraisers went on CNN and announced he had $32 million in pledges for the campaign. The money was pledged to the “Rebuilding American Now” PAC. Even Paul Manafort was running around pushing this particular PAC.  Let’s check in and see how much has actually been donated, hmmm?

“But Rebulding America Now has collected only $2 million of those pledges — from a single donor — Laurance Gay, the managing director of Rebuilding America Now, confirmed to Yahoo News. “Not every pledge becomes a contribution,” he said. Gay declined to disclose the identities of the donors who so far have failed to fulfill their pledges.”

Another Trump super-PAC, the Great America PAC, brought $2.5 million in June. Compare it to the other side of the aisle where Priorities USA, the main pro-Clinton super-PAC, has raised $75 million this cycle.

 Weep with me

Last night, I got a call. The young lady on the other end was polite and after introducing herself said she was with the Ted Cruz campaign. I pounced. I was so excited and just blurted out “Please tell me Ted’s getting back in the race.” She paused for only a second before saying, well no he’s not getting in that race –  and then she launched off into her fundraising spiel for his re-election bid for Senate which is coming up in 2018. Yep, they’re fundraising early. When I got off the phone Hubby asked if I would be sending money and I told him probably and then fell into a blue funk. Because it made me reflect again on the stupid election cycle this year and where we could be.  A warning, you too may soon get a call from the campaign. Don’t get your hopes up and don’t spend too much time on reflection afterwards. You’ll be in a funk for hours.

This should make things easier

Jamaica plans to capitalize on its not-so-secret tourist draw. That, of course, being marijuana. Even though Jamaica decriminalized pot a year ago, there were still a few snags. Since it’s no secret what tourists want when they arrive, plans are underway to make the whole transaction easier.

“… the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) is currently developing plans to install cannabis kiosks inside all airports and seaports that would not only allow travelers to pick up a license to legally use the herb during their visit, but also provide them with a couple of ounces of weed before they head off to the hotel.

“It would primarily be for people who have a prescription and, in effect, you’re doing it for medicinal purposes with a permit from the Ministry of Health. If they don’t have a prescription, then they can do what we call ‘self-declare’, and this will allow them to have the two ounces while they are here,” CLA Chairman Hyacinth Lightbourne told to the Jamaica Gleaner.”

Well, that’s convenient. The tourists should love it.

Today’s SMOD poll

Public Policy Polling is sharing some insight into the way the election is shaping up.  Find their latest poll here.  Question 8 asks if the choices for President were Democrat Hillary Clinton, Republican Donald Trump, and a Giant Meteor hitting the earth which would you choose?  13 percent picked the meteor.  But its the crosstabs that tell the whole story. Feel free to look at the poll and you’ll see about the same number of Whites and African Americans choose the meteor. And Libertarians like it better than Republicans or Democrats.  Other than the presidential race, the poll also touched on another subject.  Texas secession.

“On the issue of Texas secession 24% of voters support it leaving the country to 63% who are opposed. That movement is being driven more by liberal voters who would like to be done with Texas than conservative voters who would like Texas to be done with the US though.”

Today is International Joke Day!  Take part by throwing down jokes here at the cooler.

That’s today’s cooler. Enjoy. Add your stuff to it down below. Water coolers are always Open Thread.

* all emphasis mine