Saturday Open Thread [10.3.2015]

President Obama trashed idiot son Jeb! Bush after the Republican presidential candidate shrugged off any need for government action in the wake of the massacre at a community college in Oregon, saying simply that “stuff happens.”

Said Obama: “The American people should hear that and make their own judgments based on the fact that every couple of months, we have a mass shooting. They can decide whether they consider that ‘stuff happens.’”

It is now official: Die Fuhrer Donald Trump is no longer the GOP Frontrunner. That dubious honor goes to idiot Dr. Ben Carson. Carson leads nationally and in Louisiana.

NATIONAL.PRESIDENT.REPUBLICAN.PRIMARY.IBD/TIPP: Carson 24, Trump 17, Rubio 11, Fiorina 9, Bush 8, Cruz 6, Kasich 4, Huckabee 2, Christie 2
NATIONAL.PRESIDENT.DEMOCRATIC.PRIMARY.IBD/TIPP: Clinton 42, Biden 22, Sanders 18
LOUISIANA.PRESIDENT.REPUBLICAN.PRIMARY.WWL-TV/CLARUS: Carson 23, Trump 19, Bush 10, Rubio 9, Fiorina 7, Cruz 6, Huckabee 4, Jindal 3, Kasich 3, Christie 2, Paul 0, Santorum 0,
LOUISIANA.PRESIDENT.DEMOCRATIC.PRIMARY.WWL-TV/CLARUS: Clinton 57, Biden 22, Sanders 7, O’Malley 2, Webb 1, Chafee 0

Then again, Trump still leads in Iowa.

IOWA.PRESIDENT.REPUBLICAN.PRIMARY.Gravis: Trump 19, Carson 14, Cruz 11, Fiorina 10, Rubio 9, Bush 7, Kasich 3, Paul 2, Huckabee 2, Graham 2, Jindal 2, Christie 1, Santorum 1, Pataki 0, Unsure 18
IOWA.PRESIDENT.DEMOCRATIC.PRIMARY.Gravis: Clinton 40, Sanders 31, Biden 12, O’Malley 2, Webb 1, Unsure 16

President Obama pledged that he “would not sign another temporary spending measure after the one passed this week, a move to try to raise the pressure on Congress to reach a long-term agreement to finance the government.” The short-term spending bill that was passed this week to pay for government operations until Dec. 11, he said, was a “gimmick” that only “sets up another potential manufactured crisis just two weeks before Christmas.” He added: “This is not the way the U.S. should be operating.”

Wow. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) is preparing to launch a campaign for House speaker, multiple sources told Politico.

“The expected bid by the four-term lawmaker comes after Chaffetz called on House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to apologize for his remarks this week that the Benghazi Committee investigation has damaged Hillary Clinton’s poll numbers. Though Chaffetz is a respected member of the Republican Conference, McCarthy remains the overwhelming favorite to replace outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-OH).”

Donald Trump told CNBC what would have to happen for him to drop his presidential bid.

Said Trump: “Well, I’m not a masochist. Right now I’m leading every poll, and in most cases big. That’s good. If that changed, if I was like some of these people at 1 percent and 2 percent, there’s no reason to continue forward. If I fell behind badly, I would certainly get out.”

Education Secretary Arne Duncan, one of the longest-serving members of President Obama’s cabinet, will step down in December, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Obama has tapped John King Jr., a senior official at the Education Department, to run the department for the remainder of his administration.