Absent another Rubio "surge," or some shenanigans at the Republican National Convention, or an act of God, Donald J. Trump (né Drumpf) will almost certainly be the GOP's presidential nominee.
As party insiders desperately struggle to come to terms with this (alarming) fact, they've been casting about, looking for someone—anyone, really—to blame.
Needless to say, many of them view President Obama as the most likely culprit.
Apparently, it has never occurred to the "party of personal responsibility" to look in the mirror.
Were they to do so, they would see that the fault lies with them; however, self-reflection has never really been their strong suit.
In short, the Frankentrump monster is entirely a product of the GOP's creation—and it's absolutely beautiful.
Morning lineup:
Meet The Press: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Mitt Romney (#NeverTrump); Actor Kevin Spacey; Others TBD.
Face The Nation: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX); RNC Chair Reince Priebus; Roundtable: Molly Ball (The Atlantic), Ezra Klein (Vox Media), Michael Gerson (Washington Post) and Ed O'Keefe (Washington Post).
This Week: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT); Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R); RNC Chair Reince Priebus; Roundtable: "Independent" Strategist Matthew Dowd, Progressive Activist Van Jones, Republican Strategist Ana Navarro and Cokie Roberts (ABC News).
Fox News Sunday: Radio Host Rush Limbaugh; Roundtable: George Will (Washington Post), Julie Pace (Associated Press), Republican Strategist Mike DuHaime and Charles Lane (Washington Post).
State of the Union: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT); Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL); Mitt Romney (#NeverTrump); Roundtable: Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Liberal Commentator Sally Kohn, Radio Host Hugh Hewitt and Republican Operative Hogan Gidley.
Evening lineup:
60 Minutes will feature: an interview with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (preview); a report on the misdemeanor conviction of Massey Energy Co. CEO Don Blankenship (preview); and,interviews with several condemned murderers living on death row in Livingston, Texas (preview).
Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton will face off in the seventh Democratic Primary Debate, which will be broadcast on CNN at 8 pm EST. The debate will also be live-blogged on the front page beginning at 8 pm.
Late night shows:
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Monday: Actor Will Arnett; Former NBA Player Charles Barkley; Actor Max Greenfield.
Tuesday: Actress Helen Mirren; Director J.J. Abrams; Band DMA's.
Wednesday: Actress Sally Field; Actor Jerrod Carmichael; Bassist Esperanza Spalding.
Thursday: Actress Anna Kendrick; U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch; Singer Brian Fallon.
Friday: Actor Jeff Daniels; Actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead; Actress Audra McDonald.
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Monday: Actresses/Comedians Ilana Glazer & Abbi Jacobson; Tuesday: Actress Ellen Page; Wednesday: Actor/Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen; Thursday: TV Host Padma Lakshmi.
Elsewhere...
Texans are on the verge of electing a crazy person to the State Board of Education.
[Mary Lou] Bruner received 48 percent of the vote in a three-person GOP primary for a seat on the Texas State Board of Education on Tuesday (March 1), falling just short of the 50 percent needed to claim victory. She will compete in a May runoff against Keven Ellis, a chiropractor and city school board president who earned 31 percent of the vote.
In Facebook posts originally reported by the Texas Freedom Network, a nonpartisan watchdog group monitoring the far-right, Bruner shared her views on a number of subjects.
As recently as October, Bruner declared in a post that President Barack Obama used to be a gay prostitute:
"Obama has a soft spot for homosexuals because of the years he spent as a male prostitute in his twenties. That is how he paid for his drugs. ... Since he supports gay marriage, he should be proud of his background as a homosexual/bisexual. He is against everything else Christians stand for, he might as well be for infidelity."
Meanwhile, in other news...
"Joe the Plumber" explained the appeal of Donald Trump.
"Joe the Plumber," the Ohio workingman who came to symbolize U.S. taxpayer frustration in the 2008 presidential election, is still angry. And like many angry voters, he likes insurgent Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump — in part because the New York billionaire dated attractive women.
"He's a winner. He's made billions. He's dated beautiful women. His wife is a model. That's not to sniff at. And a lot of people believe he can bring that kind of success to the White House," said Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, 42, who shot to prominence during the 2008 campaign after then-Republican nominee John McCain seized on a confrontation Wurzelbacher had with then-Democratic candidate Barack Obama.
And, speaking of relics from the past...
Sarah Palin argued that Mitt Romney’s criticism only makes Donald Trump stronger.
The former half-term governor of Alaska and failed vice presidential candidate posted a Facebook response Thursday to the failed Republican presidential candidate’s harsh criticism of Trump, who Palin endorsed in January.
"Trump's favorables just rose again, as did the veil you willingly wore while being used by the corrupt political establishment who can’t afford to lose their power in liberal D.C.," Palin posted.
Romney called Trump a phony, fraud and buffoon in his speech and accused the real estate tycoon and reality TV star of "playing the members of the American public for suckers."
Palin hurled insults back at Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee.
"Your speech was so silly and contradictory it confirmed the reasons Trump received tens of thousands more votes than you did in your own home state that you governed," Palin said. "Silly man. Could the establishment really not find anyone credible in their holier-than-thou movement to spew the deception you regurgitated today on tv?"
It's alive!
- Trix