Clown Bus Shrinkage…

Jeb Bush Bows Out of Campaign, Humbled and Outmaneuvered

Jeb Bush dropped out of the presidential race on Saturday, ending a quest for the White House that started with a war chest of $100 million, a famous name and a promise of political civility but concluded with a humbling recognition: In 2016, none of it mattered.

No single candidacy this year fell so short of its original expectations. It began with an aura of inevitability that masked deep problems, from Mr. Bush himself, a clunky candidate in a field of gifted performers, to the rightward drift of the Republican Party since Mr. Bush’s time as a consensus conservative in Florida.

“I’m proud of the campaign that we’ve run to unify our country,” Mr. Bush said, his eyes moist, in an emotional speech here Saturday night after his third straight disappointing finish in the early voting states. “The people of Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina have spoken, and I really respect their decision.”

Mr. Bush’s campaign had rested on a set of assumptions that, one by one, turned out to be flatly incorrect: that the Republican primaries would turn on a record of accomplishment in government; that Mr. Bush’s cerebral and reserved style would be an asset; and that a country wary of dynasties would evaluate this member of the Bush family on his own merits.

No surprise, Uncle Ben Carson came in last in South Carolina…But he has sworn to hang on.

 

Snow Days!

Fun Graphic, considering the blizzard in my area today. Yeah – we have about 30″ right now, and still coming down at my house. The neighborhood snow-bunnies rushed out this AM to shovel the walk and clean their cars…The problem being it has snowed another 12″ since then, and with the 40 MPH wind whipping – erased most of their labor.

Map: ‘How Much Snow It Typically Takes to Cancel School in the U.S.’

The geography of the snow day, courtesy of Reddit user Alexandr Trubetskoy

 

How much snow does it take to close the schools?

Weather-related school closings are a constant source of anxiety this time of year. Sometimes the anxiety is generational: “They never canceled school in my day,” parents and grandparents complain when a new snow day gets announced. Sometimes it’s regional. D.C. isn’t as “flinty” as Chicago, President Obama sighed when schools closed during his first winter in the capital. Northernerswatched in puzzlement as two inches of snow crippled Atlanta earlier this week.

A new map from Reddit user Alexandr Trubetskoy (a.k.a. atrubetskoy) is sure to stoke this regional competition. Using data “taken from hundreds of various points from user responses…interpolated using NOAA’s average annual snowfall days map,” Trubetskoy made a map showing how much snow it typically takes to close schools in the U.S. and Canada. Notice that for much of the southern U.S., all it takes is “any snow” to shut schools down. For the Upper Midwest and Canada, two feet of snow are required for a closure.

Trubetskoy includes the following clarifications:

1. In much of the Midwest and Great Plains, school closing often depends more on wind chill and temperature than on snow accumulation (“cold days”). Thus, this map may be misleading in those areas.
2. Many jurisdictions in California and other western states have significantly varied snowfall, depending on elevation. This makes it difficult to find an “average” number, or often makes it misleading.
3. Urban areas like Chicago and New York have more resources to clear snow and often need more to cause closings.
4. Clarification: The lightest green says “any snow” but also includes merely the prediction of snow.
5. Clarification II: This is snow accumulation over 24 hours/overnight.
6. Hawaii does get snow! Just… not where people live….

 

Clown Bus Update

 

Lindsey Graham Drops Out Of Presidential Race

 

Clown Bus Update

Gradually moving from that triple decker…

To a Short Bus. Another one bites the dust!

Smoked!

Bobby Jindal Drops Out Of The 2016 Presidential Race

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) ended his presidential campaign on Tuesday.

“I’ve come to the realization that this is not my time, so I’ve come here to announce that I am suspending my campaign for president of the United States,” he told Fox News’ Bret Baier.

Jindal, who entered the presidential race in June, has remained near the back of the Republican pack since then. In recent months, his persistently low polling numbers relegated him to the smaller televised events (AKA the KIddie Table) that preceded each of the main GOP debates.

Republicans to Jindal, “We already got our Minority…It ain’t you.”

 

 

“Al Green Hot Grits” Treatment for Philanderers… Cain Drops Out

Well…Looks like Cain talked to the little lady.

Once all the ugliness is done of having ended his campaign, he can come on home…

Sit in the Hot Tub with his favorite single malt, and let it all wash away…

While Gloria puts his favorite music on the stereo, and fixes him up with some of that home cookin’…

Starting with a big ol’ pot of hot grits!

Cain suspends campaign

Herman Cain said Saturday that he is suspending his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, choosing to end his campaign after weathering weeks of scrutiny over alleged sexual misconduct and accusations of an extramarital affair.

“As of today, with a lot of prayer and soul searching, I am suspending my presidential campaign,” Cain said at an appearance outside his campaign headquarters in Atlanta. “I am suspending my presidential campaign because of the continued distraction, the continued hurt caused on me and my family. Not because we are not fighters.”

Cain said he’s launching a “plan B” of his public career, a new policy-oriented website called TheCainSolutions.com. He said he will endorse a Republican candidate for president “in the near future.” His announcement could lead to the effective end to his campaign, but technically leaves open the option of reviving his bid for the presidency.

“I am not going to be silenced, and I am not going away,” he defiantly told disappointed supporters.

Those hot grits hit your ass, Herman… You WILL be suspending your philandering ways!