Everyone has a different theory about what's ahead for Republicans and Donald Trump. The media, which pushed him to the top in the first place, has finally begun the backtrack. Is it too late? Is the apparent alternative (Ted Cruz) worse? Is John Kasich relevant?

In The 2016 U.S. Presidential Race: A Cheat Sheet, an article assessing the state of the race for the presidential nomination, with a section on each of the current and former contenders for all parties, the Atlantic writes about Trump:

Who is he?
America’s sweetheart—well, America’s high-school sweetheart, the one you get embarrassed thinking about decades later.

[More...]

I have no idea who .Mic News is or why Google News is promoting its stories above mainstream media articles on its News home page. But .Mic should fire its headline writer and Google needs a new algorithm for picking news articles. Example: This headline is false and inexcusable. And it's the number one story on my Google News page.

Obama did not say intervention in Libya was the worst mistake of his Presidency. He said he still supports intervening in Libya, his worst mistake was in failing to plan for the day after the intervention. The quote:

“Probably failing to plan for the day after,” Obama said in the session, which was taped at the University of Chicago on April 7. He added that intervening in Libya “was the right thing to do.”

This is an open thread, all topics welcome.

Your turn. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

There is no huge fight for Republican delegates in Colorado. Donald Trump isn't here. Colorado is off his radar. Ted Cruz can have the state's delegates.

"The process here doesn't lend itself to our kind of campaign," said Alan Cobb, a senior Trump adviser based in Kansas who is on the ground in Colorado Springs. "Our expectations are really low. If we get a delegate number higher than zero, it's going to be a success."

Kasich isn't coming to Colorado either. He has sent ex-Sen. John Sununu to pitch for him. Sununu claims Republicans will lose the U.S. senate and the state legislature to Dems if Trump is the nominee. [More...]

So it took Hillary five swipes to get her metrocard to work in the New York Subway. At least she had a card. Bernie thought subways still use tokens.

But in an interview with the editorial board of The Daily News this month, Mr. Sanders bungled a question about the New York City subway. “You get a token and you get in,” he said, even though tokens were long ago replaced by MetroCards. The tabloid also marked Mr. Sanders’s turn toward New York with a cover story this week attacking his position on granting immunity to gun manufacturers.

[More...]

I'm busy at work today. Here's an open thread, all topics welcome.

Forget Wisconsin, all eyes are moving to New York. NY is Trump territory for sure, he's largely favored to win there.

As to Hillary and Bernie, the Washington Post has this report on delegates today. Shorter version: Hillary's far ahead (700 votes) in total delegate votes, leading Bernie 1,749 to 1,061. [More...]

Amnesty International has released a report on global executions for 2015. More people were executed than in any year in the past 25 years.

89 % were killed by three countries, Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. (China's exact numbers are unknown, but they are known to be very high.)

The U.S. ranks 5th in the number of people executed in 2015.

The top five executioners in the world in 2015 were China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the USA – in that order.

[More...]

If it walks like a duck....The Governor of Mississippi claims the anti-gay bill he just signed is an expression of religious freedom not discrimination. Baloney.

The bill, H.R. 1523, as sent to the Governor, is here.

The Governor and legislature call it an anti-discrimination bill -- it prevents legal action against those who discriminate against gays and transgenders, provided they say they are doing so for religious and moral reasons.

What a shameful and disgusting bill.

It's a jail day for me, open thread for you.

All topics welcome, but speaking of TV: Has anyone been watching the Viceland shows? Vice launched its own channel at the end of February and has about 8 shows. From what I've read (no time for links right now) the network is geared towards millenials and the first month ratings via cable were not good. (There are many ways to watch.) This New York Times article sums

I actually liked F*ck That's Delicious, with rapper Action Bronson. It's part of their "Munchies" series. I never heard of him before. Physically, he resembles one of the guys in Duck Dynasty. But he's from Queens, NY, NY, , the son of an Albanian Muslim and an American Jewish mother, so any similarity ends there.

Anyway, Action used to be a chef before he broke his leg and became a rapper. The New York Times has this pretty extensive write-up on Action and Viceland. [More...]

Abu Firas al-Suri, a longtime al Qaida veteran who relocated from Yemen to Syria in 2012-2013, and became a spokesman for AQ's Syrian branch Jabhat al Nusra, has reportedly been killed in an airstrike in Idlib.

He was very outspoken in his opposition to both ISIS and the United States. It's not entirely clear whose strike killed him (U.S., Russia or Syria.)

The Department of Justice announced last week it was forming task forces in 10 districts to combat fraud and elder abuse in nursing homes.

These teams will bring together federal, state and local prosecutors, law enforcement, and agencies that provide services to the elderly, to coordinate and enhance efforts to pursue nursing homes that provide grossly substandard care to their residents.

“Millions of seniors count on nursing homes to provide them with quality care and to treat them with dignity and respect when they are most vulnerable,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Stuart F. Delery. “Yet, all too often we have found nursing home owners or operators who put their own economic gain before the needs of their residents. These task forces will help ensure that we are working closely with all relevant parties to protect the elderly.”

[More...]

The Aspen Daily News has a funny article about Trump getting the naming rights to Sardy Field (Aspen's airport) and his plans to turn it into an international hub. It's an April Fool's joke.

There's even a photo of the new airport, topped with a Donald-style mane of hair. There's more about his plans to outlaw hiking, take on environmentalists and erect a statue of himself in Carbondale.

Trump is also seeking naming opportunities elsewhere in the Roaring Fork Valley. He has already approached Carbondale about placing a statue depicting himself as a Roman god in the town’s roundabout, and Glenwood Springs concerning the design of the Grand Avenue Bridge, which would be shaped like his p*nis.

[More...]

Speaking of Ted Cruz (okay, so nobody here was), he was on Jimmy Kimmel the other night. I only saw the last five minutes -- Kimmel was giving him some kind of quiz with uninteresting questions like what was the first concert he went to. He seemed much more relaxed than he does on the campaign trail -- almost like a pleasant person. And for the first time, his makeup didn't make him look like Grandpa Munster. Given his terrible position on issues, that's scary.

One of his stories seemed like a whopper. Another seemed mis-remembered, at best, and manufactured, at worst. Both were extremely unlikely to have happened the way he described. I think he has memory problems or truth issues -- neither one is good for someone who is running for President. At least if he's gonna make stuff up, he should make the stories credible. These two incidents he recounted were not. [More...]

Thread.

I'm on twitter if you want to read my pithy takes on the election. @armandodkos.