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[FearfulJesuit]

Donald Trump will not be in the debate on Thursday.

What...what game is he trying to play? 

[RedKing]

Donald Trump will not be in the debate on Thursday.
He's clearing a spot for Jim Gilmore on the undercard debate.

What...what game is he trying to play? 

[smjjames]

I may be a supporter of the police, but it's horrible that we put so many people in prison for tiny stuff.  That's what criminalizes them - being stuck in a dangerous, tight space with a bunch of criminals.  It's a horrible vicious cycle, and also extraordinarily expensive.

Blame that one on the whole failed 'War on Drugs. Theres also the whole prision lobby (among other lobbies) thing.

Of course though, the deep polarization doesn't help when people on either side attempt to fix things.

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/01/donald-trump-fox-debate-218264 Whatever Trump, I won't miss you at the debate. fakeedit: Ninja'd

Also, Rand Paul is in the main stage now, though he probably would have anyway now that Trump opened up a spot. I wonder if the undercard will still be around....

Donald Trump will not be in the debate on Thursday.

What...what game is he trying to play? 

*shrug* Afraid of the moderators maybe....

Also, Fox said in response something worthy of The Onion, basically nefarious blah blah ayatollah and putin not treating him fairly so he skips meeting, another nefarious source says he'll replace cabinet with twitter followers, blah blah blah.

[Shadowlord]

He's afraid of Megyn Kelly, lol.

[Rolan7]

Wow, wow.
If I had to guess the game is "Be as nutty as possible, the voters love it when I don't follow the rules."
Also, since he's essentially all that makes the debates exciting, I'm betting on: "See, I gave them the entire debate to prove themselves and they were boooooring!  You really want to vote for them?"

I wonder if he'll tweet over the whole thing, or pretend to ignore it.  I'm hoping for the former, I wonder if he can outdo the glorious NK twitter.

I may be a supporter of the police, but it's horrible that we put so many people in prison for tiny stuff.  That's what criminalizes them - being stuck in a dangerous, tight space with a bunch of criminals.  It's a horrible vicious cycle, and also extraordinarily expensive.

Blame that one on the whole failed 'War on Drugs. Theres also the whole prision lobby (among other lobbies) thing.

Oh, I definitely do.  I don't smoke anything, but I want the big one legalized ASAP because the laws are absurd and just ruining lives.  I'd probably be better off if I did smoke, instead of drinking so much.

Also, Rand Paul is in the main stage now, though he probably would have anyway now that Trump opened up a spot. I wonder if the undercard will still be around....

Oh cool, this may be interesting after all...

[Amperzand]

@Criminal Justice

There's also the question of whitecollar criminals, like conmen, pyramid-scheme runners, embezzlers. They can bounce back from prison, and in some cases are unlikely to actually rehabilitate when put through rehab.

[Loud Whispers]

He is giving the Randlet the chance to dark horse his way into the white house

In all seriousness though, court controversy before the debate; you'll get the media talking about you all the time and you'll control the discourse before you even walk on stage. Same thing happened when Trump said he'd not show up unless the CNN debate donated their profits from the GOP debate to a veterans' charity. If you succeed you succeed, if you fail you succeed. In this case Fox cannot remove Megyn without humiliating her in her bullish rise whilst they lose very little face by simply snubbing Trump, so agreeing with Trump that Megyn has a conflict of interest and removing her is a bad move for them. Likewise I don't think Trump's gonna run his own rival debate/show with blackjack and hookers, lest his supporting faction within Fox feel snubbed that he went to their rivals and posed a real threat to their livelihoods.

Basically he's just doing an anti-Jeb by spending no money to get mo coverage

[mainiac]

Seems like a suicidal move by Trump.  He has gotten where he is by never giving up the spotlight and letting other people have attention.

[Baffler]

Seems like a suicidal move by Trump.  He has gotten where he is by never giving up the spotlight and letting other people have attention.

I dunno. Everyone is talking about his sitting this debate out, and they'll certainly notice his absence. I won't be surprised in the least if at least one person mentions that he's gone during the debate. Even if they make fun of him, they still serve his purpose.

[Bouchart]

Trump is gambling that the ratings for this debate will be significantly lower than the others.  If it is, he'll claim victory.

[RedKing]

I dunno...it's the same vein of "I could shoot somebody and not lose any votes". He could skip the debate and not lose any votes.

Especially because now the other candidates have to decide -- do they continue to talk shit about him while he's not there (and look petty and backbiting) or ignore him completely and attack each other (which serves his purpose of keeping them at each others' throats).

It's shrewd.



But all this talk of caning and Trump has overshadowed the truly epic news of our time:
Oregon Militiaman issues challenge to Chris Christie: Beat me in a sumo match, and we'll leave.

Spoiler: Warning: Moobs. (click to show/hide)

I now regret ever having called for an airstrike on these people. I so completely misunderstood their real purpose: Political Dadaist performance art. It's breathtaking.

[Loud Whispers]

But all this talk of caning and Trump has overshadowed the truly epic news of our time:
Oregon Militiaman issues challenge to Chris Christie: Beat me in a sumo match, and we'll leave.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I now regret ever having called for an airstrike on these people. I so completely misunderstood their real purpose: Political Dadaist performance art. It's breathtaking.

My hope in humanity is restored

THE MANMED

CHRIS PLEASE ACCEPT, MAKE DREAMS TRUE

[RedKing]

I also understand how they ran out of food so damn fast now.

[mainiac]

Christie kinda strikes me as a guy adept at throwing his weight around.

[RedKing]

Yes, but can he throw *that* guy's weight around?