Release The Transcript, Donald
BY Herschel Smith
8 years, 8 months ago
Ace:
Ben Smith, at Buzzfeed:
On Saturday, columnist Gail Collins, one of the attendees at the meeting (which also included editor-in-chief Dean Baquet), floated a bit of speculation in her column:
The most optimistic analysis of Trump as a presidential candidate is that he just doesn’t believe in positions, except the ones you adopt for strategic purposes when you’re making a deal. So you obviously can’t explain how you’re going to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants, because it’s going to be the first bid in some future monster negotiation session.
Sources familiar with the recording and transcript –which have reached near-mythical status at the Times — tell me that the second sentence is a bit more than speculation. It reflects, instead, something Trump said about the flexibility of his hard-line anti-immigration stance.
So what exactly did Trump say about immigration, about deportations, about the wall? Did he abandon a core promise of his campaign in a private conversation with liberal power brokers in New York?
…
“If [Trump] wants to call up and ask us to release this transcript, he’s free to do that and then we can decide what we would do,” Rosenthal said.
If you visit the source article at Buzzfeed, there is a little more than what Ace includes, and a link to a demand by Cruz that Trump release the transcript.
Speaking to reporters in San Antonio, Texas, Cruz called for the tape to be made public before Super Tuesday.
“Apparently there is a secret tape that the New York Times editorial board has of Donald Trump saying that he doesn’t believe what he’s saying on immigration, saying that all of his promises to secure the border are not real and if he’s president he doesn’t intend to do what he said,” Cruz said. “I call on Donald: ask the New York Times to release the tape and do so today before the Super Tuesday primary.”
He won’t, but he should. Sadly, his supporters won’t really know his sincere positions (as opposed to what used car salesmen do) until it’s far too late.
Release the transcript, Donald. Do it. Just do it. I care about my readers. Your supporters deserve to know.
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On March 1, 2016 at 11:38 am, Archer said:
He won’t release it. Like you said, “Your supporters deserve to know.”
Which is true, but if they knew they might quit being his supporters.
On March 1, 2016 at 11:43 am, Herschel Smith said:
You’re hearing about this now. Donald will assume that saying ‘no’ will bury the issue. No such thing. It will come up in the MSM every hour on the hour in the run up to the national election. Count on it.
On March 1, 2016 at 12:30 pm, Archer said:
(Sorry in advance for the mini-rant.)
Donald Trump: It’s All Negotiable (http://legalinsurrection.com/2016/03/trump-admits-times-report-says-status-of-illegals-is-negotiable/ )
An earlier article at the same site (http://legalinsurrection.com/2016/02/does-ny-times-have-damaging-recording-of-trump-on-immigration/ ) puts up the possibility that all of Trump’s positions are negotiable. He’s proud of his “deals”. He doesn’t go into negotiations saying what he wants; he goes in taking a hard-line position, expecting to be walked back during negotiations, hopefully to what he actually wants. That’s “The Art of the Deal”, after all.
The implications are profound. Trump’s making big waves because he presents himself as a hard-liner. People agree with what he says what he wants done.
But…
What if he’s not a hard-liner? What if he’s just throwing out an extreme position, expecting to be walked back to something more in line with other candidates? More concerning, what if his hard-line positions are just what he thinks people want to hear? What if his true beliefs are the same as those of Rubio, or Kasich, or Sanders, or (*shudder*) Hillary?
IOW, what if Trump’s entire political persona is a lie?
That’s part of why I can’t support Trump. I don’t know where he stands on anything, and he’s done scarce little to alleviate my uncertainty.
On March 1, 2016 at 12:47 pm, Fred said:
“what if Trump’s entire political persona is a lie?That’s part of why I can’t support Trump. I don’t know where he stands on anything,…
Here is what I said about trump over at Uncle -That (“measured bites”) is what a cult of personality is all about. Reflecting your desires onto a caricature, in order to see what you want to be true, as truth, instead of looking at facts and listening to complete paragraphs. I submit that this is why Trump doesn’t speak in complete thoughts. It’s on purpose. I can listen to him for 30 minuets and still not know one planned policy. Again, on purpose.
You put it much more succinctly.
On March 1, 2016 at 1:33 pm, Josh said:
This is exactly accurate. Trump doesn’t have any values, he assumes whatever set of values that best serves his position at the time of negotiation. He is a chameleon.
The only difference between Trump and almost every other politician, however, is that he does it effectively. The rest just play into the façadé – that they’re actually principled. There remain some truly principled politicians on both sides of the aisle, but they are becoming more and more rare.
On March 1, 2016 at 12:34 pm, Josh said:
I’m not voting for Trump, but I will point out that he’s not especially “bad” or conniving in a way that the rest of the field is not.
They are all worms. Every last one of them. But the coordinated attack on Trump over the last 4 days has been something to behold. The fascinating fact, however, is that the attacks will only bolster his support.
I don’t care about off-the-record transcripts. I really don’t. I already know that publicly, he’s just saying what his supporters want to hear.
Ted Cruz is simply in crisis mode, and frankly I’m growing weary of listening to him whine. The other candidates don’t care about the transcripts. None of the others are demanding for him to release them, because they think are delusional – they still think they have a chance – and don’t want to be forced to release transcripts of their off-the-record comments either.
I have a lot of problems with Trump. But I will have much, much bigger problems with the GOP if they try to subvert the power of the voters by pulling shenanigans down the road.
Enough Chicken Little.
On March 1, 2016 at 2:04 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Quite obviously, I disagree concerning Cruz. I couldn’t agree with you and say (in earlier posts) that I supported Cruz. I don’t think they all worms. If you don’t want to listen to Cruz whine, then don’t listen to him at all. Since I have already acquiesced to a Trump victory, I don’t pay much attention now either (although I will still lampoon this whole thing when I need to be amused).
I haven’t detected much of a “coordinated attack” on Trump. I’m not saying that it isn’t real, but I just haven’t watched that closely. The transcripts have nothing to do with a coordinated assault on anybody. Either the NYT has something or they don’t.
As for what the eGOP does to Trump, I … couldn’t … care … less. I don’t care what the eGOP does to Trump, and I don’t care if Trump does anything back and has voters in the streets carrying pitchforks and demanding death to the eGOP. Awesome. Bring it. I’m all in. Burn it to the ground.
There is serenity in not caring anymore, in the recognition that it’s all coming to a bitter end, regardless of the specifics of the outcome. I imagine it’s sort of like watching the Texas A&M bonfire, only a 1000 times larger. The voters are all mesmerized by whores and pimps and carnival barkers with shinny trinkets and reality TV and singers and actors. I’m mesmerized by the fire bringing it all down. This is a once in a lifetime experience.
And it is a great conflagration, a beautiful and magnificent thing to behold. And that’s what these posts are. I’m throwing gasoline on the fire in my little corner of the world, not because the fire needs it, but because I cannot not do it. It’s like sitting around the fire when we backpack and playing in it.
Release the transcripts, Donald. Do it. Just do it! It’ll be better once you do. The people love you Donald because you’re so awesome, they won’t care. Everybody release everything! Let’s all have an old fashioned tent meeting revival – it’ll be the first time you’ve ever asked God to forgive you for anything Donald!
Do it. Just do it!
On March 1, 2016 at 3:51 pm, Fred said:
Tent meeting revival you say? I’m in. This is getting funnier by the day.
On March 1, 2016 at 4:10 pm, Herschel Smith said:
It will be nothing but dust and ashes by the time it’s all over. And when the installment of our new president arrives, whomever that is, we will have $18 trillion in national debt, negative interest rates, $100 trillion in unfunded liabilities at the national level, another $100 – $200 trillion in unfunded liabilities at the local, municipal, county and state levels, the FBI in a panic to read everyone’s cell phone, transgender and coming out parties in the Pentagon, and absolutely no manufacturing capabilities because it’s been shipped overseas in its entirety.
Whores, pimps, Charlatans with shinny trinkets, sound, light and magic. Sound, light and magic, my friend, sound, light and magic.
On March 1, 2016 at 3:43 pm, raz-0 said:
I’m with you in general. I don’t like trump, but I don’t like any of them. I’ve never seen an honest politician, but the cost to buy one these days are so discounted it’d make wal-mart blush.
My feeling is that what we have up there are a bunch of scumsuckers who will sell us down the river cheaply. Trump, if he is looking for a buck, might at least will charge more. On top of that all the professional politicians hate him, so what he wants to do, whatever that may be gets hard. On top of that, he’s absurd, which treats the election process with the level of respect it deserves at this point. Beyond that, he has the personality to take the regular escalation of abuse of executive powers and turn that stuff up to 11. Hopefully to the point where congress and the courts finally feel there’s a reason to get off their asses and do something about it, and finally actually perform their duty of checks and balances in the system.
Personally I’m hoping for a trump vs. sanders fight. At least with that, one sends the message that, yes Timmy, shit is that broken. The other would at least be a big FU to how the DNC has subverted the primary process and undermines the choices of their supporters.
On March 1, 2016 at 9:16 pm, Sando182 said:
I believe it’s beginning to dawn on Americans that Trump is a terrible candidate and an even worse person. For this reason, I don’t see Trump getting enough delegates to win the nomination outright, which means an open convention where anything can happen. And if Trump doesn’t get the nomination there…fire up those conspiracy theories!
On March 1, 2016 at 12:48 pm, UNCLEELMO said:
And Hillary should release the transcripts of her Goldman Sachs speeches.
On March 1, 2016 at 2:05 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Absolutely! Bring it. Everybody release everything.
On March 1, 2016 at 2:13 pm, JoeyJoJoJRShabadoo said:
New York Times AND Buzzfeed? Any port in a storm huh, Herschel?
On March 1, 2016 at 2:15 pm, Herschel Smith said:
See my comment to Josh. No storm, my friend. This is a great and magnificent conflagration, I’m enjoying it more than you can know.
Bring on the fail. All parties, all participants. This is fun.
On March 1, 2016 at 2:29 pm, JoeyJoJoJRShabadoo said:
LOL. well at least you’re enjoying yourself.