{"id":19225,"date":"2016-02-02T00:12:37","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T14:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=19225"},"modified":"2016-02-02T07:55:04","modified_gmt":"2016-02-01T21:55:04","slug":"us-presidential-election-2016-the-republican-primaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=19225","title":{"rendered":"US Presidential Election 2016 &#8211; The Republican Primaries"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19226\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19226\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19226\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tagusa2016.jpg\" alt=\"tagusa2016\" width=\"600\" height=\"75\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tagusa2016.jpg 600w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tagusa2016-300x38.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19227\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19227\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19227\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/uselectionpeople.jpg\" alt=\"uselectionpeople\" width=\"620\" height=\"330\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/uselectionpeople.jpg 620w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/uselectionpeople-300x160.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Election Night 2012<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span class=\"dropcap\">I<\/span>t was chaos in the Fox News headquarters on November 7th 2012 on the night of the US\u00a0Presidential Elections.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Earlier in the day, there had been a measure of optimism in the studio. Republican nominee Mitt Romney had a wobbly campaign and was\u00a0hamstrung by an infamous leaked video where he <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=M2gvY2wqI7M\">referred to 47% of the country as do-nothing moochers<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0It wasn&#8217;t smooth sailing sure, but the party faithful still believed they had the numbers to carry the day. \u00a0Surely the country would not re-elect Barack Obama for a second term?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The optimism was short lived. \u00a0Over and over, states were calling their results in favour of Barack Obama and the Democratic party. \u00a0Key swing states &#8211; Florida, Iowa, New Hampshire &#8211; all turned blue. \u00a0In the end, Obama won the electoral college vote by a handy margin of 332 to 206.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The on air results were pandemonium. \u00a0Most famously Republican campaign advisor Karl Rove simply couldn&#8217;t comprehend what had happened and continually challenged Fox News host Megyn Kelly on the results, swearing black and blue that Romney might still carry Ohio (it wouldn&#8217;t have mattered anyway). \u00a0Eventually, an exasperated Megyn Kelly fired a brutal shot at Rove:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">&#8220;Is this just math that you do as a Republican to make yourself feel better?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">It was a cutting remark on a desperate and defeated man but it was completely on-point and a rare moment of clarity for a network famous for their one eyed support of the GOP.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/E1lJ3tfQFpc\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">For nearly half a century, the Republican Party had employed the use of the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Southern_strategy\">Southern Strategy<\/a>,\u00a0<\/strong>a technique popularized by Richard Nixon&#8217;s campaign advisor Kevin Phillips, that targeted white, Evangelical voters en masse by using dog whistle tactics to prey on their fears of African Americans. \u00a0For decades, it worked. \u00a0But as America&#8217;s ethnic make up shifted and became broader and more diverse, the party sensationally failed to keep up with the times. \u00a0They were asleep at the wheel. \u00a0The polling data plainly stated that Barack Obama would defeat Mitt Romney but campaign strategists lived in denial. \u00a0Worse still, it was the Republicans fifth loss of the popular vote in six elections. \u00a0This was not an anomaly but a continuation of a two-decade long decline.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The problem that the party found for themselves was that they had courted a base using a tactic too reliant on fear and the persecution of others. \u00a0For the party to recover, it wasn&#8217;t simply a matter of retaining the overwhelming support of white Evangelicals and reaching out to blacks, Hispanics, Muslims or the LGBT community. \u00a0They had become beholden to a base that specifically identified with being Republican because it meant supporting the existing\u00a0criminal justice system (which overwhelmingly punishes African Americans), bolstering anti-immigration policies (which loses them the Hispanic vote), conflating Islam with terrorism and putting religious values ahead of civil rights for LGBTs.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Anyone seen to be soft on a single one of these issues is quick to be called a RINO (Republican In Name Only) and swiftly punted to the curb during the Republica primary. \u00a0The most moderate Republican candidate that ran for election in 2012 was <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jon_Huntsman,_Jr.\">Jon Huntsman<\/a>, <\/strong>a former diplomat who believed in climate change and spoke fluent Chinese. \u00a0He had a proven track record for foreign relations and showed impressive business acumen. \u00a0At his peak he had less than 2% support from party voters.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The writing was on the wall and senior party members knew that the Republica Party had to move on from the Southern Strategy. \u00a0Or as Lindsay Graham (Republican Senator, North Carolina) put it:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>\u201cWe\u2019re not generating enough angry white guys to stay in business.\u201d<br \/>\n<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The GOP would need to do some major rebuilding of their brand to challenge for the presidency in 2016 against the presumed front-runner Hillary Clinton.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Losing the Culture War<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19236\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19236\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19236\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/usamarriageequality.jpg\" alt=\"usamarriageequality\" width=\"620\" height=\"330\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/usamarriageequality.jpg 620w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/usamarriageequality-300x160.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">For long stretches of his time in office, Barack Obama has been a president with unremarkable approval ratings.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">For liberals, there has been disappointment and frustration over his failure to close Guantanamo Bay, his authorization of brutal overseas drone strikes which have a high rate of collateral damage and his failure to punish Wall Street for their conduct that lead to the GFC in 2008.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">For conservatives, Obama has been responsible for an unprecedented &#8216;culture war&#8217; that has changed the landscape of the country. \u00a0Obama was the first American president to endorse and support marriage equality which the Supreme Court would eventually pass as federal law. \u00a0He is an outspoken advocate for tighter gun laws and his centrepiece legislation &#8211; the Affordable Care Act &#8211; has given millions of uninsured Americans access to health care. \u00a0Lastly, his failure to unequivocally support Israel and a lack of military action in Iran has left many amongst the American Right (actually, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/thehill.com\/blogs\/blog-briefing-room\/news\/252393-poll-majority-of-republicans-thinks-obama-is-a-muslim\">a majority<\/a><\/strong>) convinced that he is a &#8216;secret Muslim&#8217; who, *ahem*, has designs on turning Capitol Hill into an Islamic caliphate.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19232\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19232\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-19232\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ObamasNumbers-2015-Q3_1.png\" alt=\"ObamasNumbers-2015-Q3_1\" width=\"288\" height=\"638\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ObamasNumbers-2015-Q3_1.png 700w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ObamasNumbers-2015-Q3_1-135x300.png 135w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ObamasNumbers-2015-Q3_1-462x1024.png 462w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 288px) 100vw, 288px\" \/><\/a>So what\u00a0<em>has<\/em> Barack Obama accomplished in his two terms as president? \u00a0He has <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.politifact.com\/truth-o-meter\/statements\/2015\/jan\/21\/barack-obama\/barack-obama-says-unemployment-rate-now-lower-fina\/\">halved the unemployment rate<\/a><\/strong> that he inherited from George Bush. \u00a0He bailed out and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.politifact.com\/truth-o-meter\/article\/2012\/sep\/06\/did-obama-save-us-automobile-industry\/\">saved the auto industry<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0He\u00a0shrunk the deficit by <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.msnbc.com\/rachel-maddow-show\/deficit-shrinks-1-trillion-obama-era\">a trillion dollars<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.factcheck.org\/2015\/10\/obamas-numbers-october-2015-update\/\">8.5 million jobs<\/a><\/strong> have been created, more than six times what his predecessor achieved. \u00a0Obama inherited a country that was in poor economic shape under George Bush and he has righted the ship. \u00a0But he has done so in a fashion that hasn&#8217;t\u00a0been able to address <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/We_are_the_99%25\"><strong>the gross wage imbalance<\/strong> <\/a>that exists in the country. \u00a0Young Americans today are having to\u00a0come to terms with being <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com.au\/younger-generations-are-worse-off-today-urban-institute-study-2013-3\">the first generation in the post WWII era to be worse off than their parents<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0How the two parties view the American working class couldn&#8217;t be more different. \u00a0Labor unions have been fighting for <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/will-the-u-s-raise-the-minimum-wage-to-15\/\">the minimum wage to be raised to $15<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0On the other hand, there&#8217;s a Republican govenor running for office <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thenation.com\/article\/scott-walker-thinks-minimum-wage-is-a-lame-idea\/\">who wants to eliminate minimum wage entirely<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Republicans are hardly going to invite comparisons of Obama&#8217;s economic performance to that of his predecessor. \u00a0The financial\u00a0recovery under the current administration\u00a0has been robust enough that the GOP would look elsewhere to promote the credentials of their party. \u00a0To galvanize the base, they looked to fight back on lost ground for the cultural direction of the country.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">As it stands, they are losing that battle on virtually all the fronts.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Globally, the overwhelming majority of world leaders accept the science of climate change. \u00a0Support for marriage equality in America is at <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Public_opinion_of_same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States\">an all time high<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0Last year, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gallup.com\/poll\/183434\/americans-choose-pro-choice-first-time-seven-years.aspx\">more Americans<\/a><\/strong> identified themselves as being pro-choice over pro-life. \u00a0The overwhelming majority of Americans support some form of <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-usa-election-guns-idUSKCN0UQ2O220160113\">gun control<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0There is still <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com.au\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiIyJzwxNPKAhUlnqYKHUb_AGwQFggbMAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gallup.com%2Fpoll%2F184079%2Famericans-views-healthcare-law-improve.aspx&amp;usg=AFQjCNFa4llUYt6qa-ywoG5MVkRMOLqvhg&amp;sig2=JjxvsRJubbjTwhE1qS3GrQ\">a majority of Americans who do not have a favourable view of the Affordable Care Act<\/a><\/strong> but it is close to fifty-fifty. \u00a0There&#8217;s never been a less popular time to be an anti-abortion, anti-marriage equality, climate science denying gun enthusiast in America.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The GOP would like to change that very much.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19238\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19238\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-19238 size-full aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/4-6-2015_LEDE.png\" alt=\"4-6-2015_LEDE\" width=\"422\" height=\"656\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/4-6-2015_LEDE.png 422w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/4-6-2015_LEDE-193x300.png 193w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 422px) 100vw, 422px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A recent Pew Research poll highlights the dilemma facing the GOP. \u00a0They have cornered the market on white Southerners and the elderly. \u00a0However, they are overwhelmingly the second choice when it comes to blacks, Asians, aetheists, educated women, Jews, Hispanics and Millenials. \u00a0With a status quo candidate, they are effectively losing the election before they even start.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">For the 2016 election, the Republican Party establishment wanted to find their own version of Barack Obama. \u00a0A young, fresh face that signalled a changing of the guard that had the charisma and guile to not just &#8216;energize the base&#8217; but to win over independents, ethnic minorities and the youth vote. \u00a0They had their man in Latin American senator Marco Rubio of Florida. \u00a0The consensus was that if Rubio could get through the primaries unscathed, they would be a fighting chance against Hillary.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">In the 2016 Republican primaries, the establishment would get much more than they bargained for.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Clown Car Primaries<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19240\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19240\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-19240 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bachmanncampaign.jpg\" alt=\"bachmanncampaign\" width=\"620\" height=\"330\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bachmanncampaign.jpg 620w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/bachmanncampaign-300x160.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">One of the interesting cultural differences between America as compared with other Western democracies is that their selection process for a party leader is done in public\u00a0rather than behind closed doors. \u00a0\u00a0Candidates duke it out in an arduous season of debates, campaign rallies and caucuses\u00a0which are held in various States across the country until a presumptive nominee is chosen. \u00a0This extraordinarily long process is a pit trap for gaffes, pratfalls and &#8216;gotcha&#8217; moments which can take a momentarily popular presidential candidate and then crush them in an instant. \u00a0Just ask <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=l6i-gYRAwM0\">Howard Dean<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">For two consecutive elections, the Republican party leaders lamented their brutal and prolonged primary season. \u00a0They have been nicknamed Clown Car Primaries for the massive number of fringe candidates with bizarre beliefs who take turns fleetingly leading the polls before falling back into the pack as a safe &#8216;establishment endorsed&#8217; candidate takes the position.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">In the past eight years we&#8217;ve seen the\u00a0antics of:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left; padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><strong> Michelle Bachman<\/strong><\/span> (&#8220;carbon dioxide is harmless and climate change is a hoax&#8221;, &#8220;<em>The<\/em>\u00a0<em>Lion King<\/em> is gay propaganda&#8221;)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left; padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><strong>Herman Cain<\/strong><\/span> (quoted the\u00a0<em>Pokemon\u00a0<\/em><em>Movie<\/em> in his concession speech, ran this amazing <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=lwawPMSJins\">&#8216;smoking&#8217; ad<\/a><\/strong>)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left; padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><strong>Mike Huckabee<\/strong><\/span> (campaigned on an endorsement from <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MDUQW8LUMs8\">Chuck Norris<\/a><\/strong>)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left; padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><strong>Rick Santorum<\/strong><\/span> (<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/politics\/news\/10-completely-vile-things-rick-santorum-has-said-20150528?page=2\">invoked the deaths of WWII soldiers being let down<\/a><\/strong> if the country had government assisted health care)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left; padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><strong>Rick Perry<\/strong><\/span> (famously couldn&#8217;t remember how many government agencies he wanted to shut down during a debate, family holidayed at &#8216;Niggerhead&#8217; ranch)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left; padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #3366ff;\"><strong>Scott Walker<\/strong><\/span> (wants to eliminate unions for government employees, get rid of minimum wage and &#8216;let the free market decide workers worth&#8217;)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">All of these candidates unashamedly concentrated their efforts on winning over the most ardent far right members of their base and were hopelessly unsuitable for the general election.\u00a0Viewed through a cynical lens, its easy to say that most of these campaigns were little more than acts of self promotion or a pitch for a plum panellist job on Fox News (which Mike Huckabee was successful in achieving).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">At the end of the day, in the 2008 and 2012 Republican primaries, after the clowns were shown the door, two safe establishment candidates &#8211; John McCain and Mitt Romney &#8211; were left standing. \u00a0Both came up short against Barack Obama.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">It lead many to believe that this would be the new normal for presidential politics and the Republican party. \u00a0Clowns get the attention to start with after which the &#8216;safe&#8217; candidate wins the day.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Then the 2016 Presidential campaign happened.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>The\u00a0Republican Party Eats Itself<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19239\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19239\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-19239\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Eu1IKF6.gif\" alt=\"Eu1IKF6\" width=\"675\" height=\"506\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>For the 2016 Presidential Election, just as the two campaign seasons preceding it, there was an enormous conga line of Republican candidates.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19245\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19245\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-19245 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/y0xD9B.gif\" alt=\"y0xD9B\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" \/><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&#8220;I&#8217;ve said that if Ivanka weren&#8217;t my daughter, I&#8217;d probably be dating her&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8211; Donald Trump<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19246\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19246\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-19246 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/v1xDpk.gif\" alt=\"v1xDpk\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&#8220;As a teenager, I would go after people with rocks, and bricks, and baseball bats, and hammers&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8211; Ben Carson<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19247\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19247\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-19247 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/y7BD1j.gif\" alt=\"y7BD1j\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&#8220;Marriage is one of the many options, and if people were honest about the welfare system today, how you get on welfare is not having a husband in the house&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8211; Jeb! Bush<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19248\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19248\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-19248 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/mLqj9Z.gif\" alt=\"mLqj9Z\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&#8220;Obama&#8217;s just a social worker who wants to put ISIS on expanded Medicaid&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8211; Ted Cruz<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19249\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19249\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19249\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ywoMpk.gif\" alt=\"ywoMpk\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&#8220;Racists wouldn&#8217;t exist if minorities just acted like white people&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8211; Bobby Jindal<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19250\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19250\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19250\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/yXePqN.gif\" alt=\"yXePqN\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&#8220;At a time when the American family is threatened like never before, redefining it away from the union of one man and one woman only promises to weaken it as a child-rearing, values-conveying institution&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8211; Marco Rubio<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19251\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19251\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19251\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/yDnrZA.gif\" alt=\"yDnrZA\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&#8220;It&#8217;s time to just hand it over to God and say &#8216;God you&#8217;re going to have to fix this'&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8211; Rick Perry<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19252\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19252\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19252\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/vOz90o.gif\" alt=\"vOz90o\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&#8220;In the world I come from and choose to live in, &#8216;gun control&#8217; means you hit the target&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8211; Mike Huckabee<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19253\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19253\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19253\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/mGpM9w.gif\" alt=\"mGpM9w\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&#8220;Decisions concerning private property and associations should in a free society be unhindered. \u00a0As a consequence, some associations will discriminate&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8211; Rand Paul<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19254\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19254\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19254\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/y3xDJ4.gif\" alt=\"y3xDJ4\" width=\"480\" height=\"270\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&#8220;Does human activity contribute to climate change? \u00a0Of course it does. \u00a0We all contribute in one way or another. \u00a0By breathing we contribute to it&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8211; Chris Christie<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19256\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19256\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19256\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/tumblr_o1kpplEVDQ1qzh561o1_500.gif\" alt=\"tumblr_o1kpplEVDQ1qzh561o1_500\" width=\"500\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&#8220;Planned Parenthood engages in partial birth abortion, in late term abortion. \u00a0They alter those abortion techniques to harvest and sell body parts&#8221;<br \/>\n&#8211; Carly Fiorina<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19257\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19257\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19257\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/kasich.gif\" alt=\"kasich\" width=\"529\" height=\"295\" \/><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&#8220;Frankly, its time we punch the Russians in the nose&#8221;<\/em><br \/>\n<em>&#8211; John Kasich<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Some of these candidates followed the exact same trajectory as the joke candidates from 2008\/12. \u00a0Take neurosurgeon <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bencarson.com\/\">Ben Carson<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Carson ran a campaign selling his life story as a tough kid born on the wrong side of the tracks who found Jesus Christ and then went on to enjoy enourmous success both professionally and as a motivational Seventh Day Adventist speaker. \u00a0He lived the American dream. \u00a0So inspired was he by the teachings of Christ\u00a0that he campaigned on implementing a flat tax based on biblical tithing. \u00a0&#8220;I got that idea, quite frankly, from the Bible, tithing. You make $10 billion a year, you pay a billion. You make $10 a year, you pay one. You get the same rates. That\u2019s pretty darn fair if you ask me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">He is an ardent supporter of the second amendment and has said that in his time working as a doctor &#8220;I never saw a body with bullet holes that was more devastating than taking the right to arm ourselves away&#8221;. \u00a0Is he disturbed by the speight of mass shootings in America? \u00a0Mostly just disappointed. \u00a0After nine people were shot dead at\u00a0 Umpqua Community College in Oregon he suggested that the victims shouldn&#8217;t have &#8216;let&#8217; themselves get shot. \u00a0&#8220;I would not just stand there and let him shoot me, I would say, \u2018Hey guys, everybody attack him. He may shoot me, but he can\u2019t get us all.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Carson&#8217;s run near the top of the polls lasted about a month. \u00a0Unfortunately for Carson, some investigative journalists couldn&#8217;t corroborate his rags to riches story and had the nerve to suggest that he perhaps did not assault his family and friends as he had claimed. \u00a0In a decade that has produced some truly strange political spectacles over the years in America, its hard to top the sight of a frontrunner of the Republican party arguing\u00a0that the media were &#8216;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dmxNouIt81g\">trying to smear him<\/a><\/strong>&#8216; by suggesting that he\u00a0<em>didn&#8217;t<\/em> attack his mother with a hammer.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dmxNouIt81g\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">There were plenty of other wild candidates but they all paled in comparison to Donald J Trump.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19260\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19260\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19260\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/eEpBNdu-1.gif\" alt=\"eEpBNdu\" width=\"443\" height=\"243\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Trump announced his candidacy in bizarre fashion, riding down an escalator and waving to his admirers as though he were the Queen of England before giving a speech declaring his intention to forcibly evict 12 million illegal immigrants from the country (an estimated 250,000 a month for the entire four years of his term in office). \u00a0He then stated that <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/fact-checker\/wp\/2015\/07\/08\/donald-trumps-false-comments-connecting-mexican-immigrants-and-crime\/\">Mexicans in America were mostly rapists<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and that he planned to build a wall on the US\/Mexican border which he expected Mexico to foot the bill.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19259\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19259\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19259\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/xGvALMv.gif\" alt=\"xGvALMv\" width=\"800\" height=\"455\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">His remarks made headlines and his poll numbers with Republican members shot up. \u00a0And thus the template was set.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">For the weeks after the announcement of his candidacy, there was general confusion from outsiders looking in as to what was going on. \u00a0It wasn&#8217;t entirely clear if Trump (a friend to the Clintons and relatively left-leaning with his views in the past) was some sort of elaborate double agent, bringing down the party from the inside. \u00a0The Southern strategy that the party had employed in the past was based on dogwhistle tactics. \u00a0Alarmingly for senior party leaders, Trump was throwing raw meat to the Republican base and exposing the party&#8217;s seething resentment and hostility for all the world to see.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">He was unapologetic and deflected <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/baZYDy4DuGQ\">a question from debate moderator Megyn Kelly<\/a><\/strong> regarding his misogynistic language towards women. \u00a0He later suggested Kelly was menstruating and wasn&#8217;t thinking clearly when she asked the question.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">He suggested John McCain and other American prisoners of war <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/t.co\/0goAc6mHb8\">were losers for getting caught<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0Trump himself dodged the draught.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">On Republican candidate Carly Fiorina: \u00a0&#8220;&#8221;Look at that face! \u00a0Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?&#8230;I mean, she&#8217;s a woman and I&#8217;m not s&#8217;posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?&#8221; \u00a0After his comments about Fiorina were published, Trump reaches his highest average poll numbers yet.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">After the Paris terror attacks, Trump declared that he would implement <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/2016-election\/trump-says-he-would-certainly-implement-muslim-database-n466716\">a national database of Muslims<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0Later, after the terror attack in San Bernadino, he said he would <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2015\/12\/07\/politics\/donald-trump-muslim-ban-immigration\/\">block Muslims entering the country<\/a><\/strong> until he figured out &#8216;what was going on.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">For almost the entire election &#8216;pre-season&#8217;, he has <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com.au\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=10&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwib7OHvytbKAhUN62MKHfgpAe4QFghAMAk&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theatlantic.com%2Fpolitics%2Farchive%2F2015%2F12%2Ftrump-poll-numbers-success%2F421824%2F&amp;usg=AFQjCNGkjgXoDHEXw31gT4isq3Ip8DEbng&amp;sig2=VlWQ7nPSP8idmuwY7EXVsA&amp;bvm=bv.113034660,d.dGY\">lead the polls<\/a><\/strong> amongst Republican voters. \u00a0Each comment was more outrageous than the last but it was like manna from heaven for the GOP faithful.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This\u00a0left the establishment Republicans, with their aspirations of taking\u00a0Marco Rubio into the general election, with their hopes in tatters.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The party had well and truly reaped what they had sown.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19261\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19261\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-19261\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Znncl2T.gif\" alt=\"Znncl2T\" width=\"610\" height=\"334\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">In a crowded field of contenders, Trump was the outright leader and he was running on a campaign that cruelly exposed the simplistic jingoism that mattered most to the conservative base. \u00a0He was valued for &#8216;telling it like it is&#8217; and it mattered not that his campaign was built on pledges that were utterly impossible to implement. \u00a0The multi-billion dollar border wall. \u00a0Hunting down and forcibly evicting\u00a0quarter of a million people out of the country every month. \u00a0Denying entry into America (including re-entry from American citizens) based on whether they were Muslim or not. \u00a0There was no way that Rubio could compete with a campaign designed to appeal to the general electorate when the party faithful were far more interested in indulging Trump&#8217;s fantasy land.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Trump&#8217;s temperament during his campaign is not unlike that of a petulant ten year old and his popularity with conservative voters must infuriate those who had\u00a0carefully crafted a pious and idealistic vision of the conservative movement. \u00a0It must be absolutely crushing for Rand Paul, Jon Kasich and Lindsay Graham to feel they have the upper hand when it comes to knowledge on policy detail only for the crowd to roar with approval during debates as Trump boorishly attacks them for being &#8216;fat&#8217; or &#8216;ugly&#8217; or &#8216;stupid&#8217; or &#8216;a crybaby.&#8217;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Lastly, even the very cornerstone of the party&#8217;s values has been revealed as tissue thin in terms of priorities. \u00a0For the last eight years, Republicans have attacked and questioned the credentials of Barack Obama as a church-going Christian. \u00a0Donald Trump is unable to cite a single verse from the Bible, is twice divorced, has long held pro-choice views (conveniently dropped before the election) and appears to\u00a0have a lazy, dot-point\u00a0level of understanding of the Christian faith. \u00a0It doesn&#8217;t seem to have affected his popularity <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com.au\/entry\/evangelical-voters-trump_us_56a8ebd9e4b0947efb661ebc?section=australia\">one bit<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>The Primaries<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19262\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19262\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19262\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/trumprally.jpg\" alt=\"trumprally\" width=\"620\" height=\"330\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/trumprally.jpg 620w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/trumprally-300x160.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Tonight the primaries get under way in Iowa, formally kicking off the process to elect the next president of the United States of America.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">After an unprecedented campaign for Donald Trump that has defied the predictions of pollsters and pundits, what happens next? \u00a0No one really knows.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The statistician Nate Silver made a name for himself over the 2008 and 2012 elections by correctly picking 99 out of 100 electoral college votes . \u00a0Here&#8217;s what he had to say about what would happen in Iowa.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" lang=\"en\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Polling in Iowa is a rough gig. A 3-way tie is entirely plausible. So is Trump winning by 20.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NateSilver538\/status\/693993916840939520\">February 1, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Only two people stand in the way of The Don claiming the mantle of Republican nominee for the presidency. \u00a0Firstly, there is poor old Marco Rubio, languishly in third place with a wretched 13% approval rating\u00a0according to the latest Des Moine Register poll in Iowa. \u00a0Ahead of him, Texas senator Ted Cruz. \u00a0Cruz would have made all the headlines around the world that Trump would have made&#8230;if Trump wasn&#8217;t running. \u00a0He is equally hated by the Republican establishment and has made\u00a0<em>almost<\/em> as many ruthless and extraordinary policy proposals.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nmWqwKkaGjw\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nWill the moderate conservative vote (whatever that is) unexpectedly come out in a show of support for Rubio? \u00a0Will Cruz&#8217;s experience at campaigning at a grassroots level pay off and lead to an upset in Iowa? \u00a0Whatever the outcome, the emergence of Trump as the front runner has turned the Republican party upside down and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/article\/430137\/donald-trump-conservative-movement-menace\">at war with itself<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Senior members of the party are in a panic because they know in the general election, Trump is\u00a0<em>unelectable a<\/em>nd there is too much at stake with the next four year presidential term.<\/p>\n<p>Being POTUS today is a tough gig. \u00a0You face a hostile senate and gridlocked do-nothing congress that is filled with career politicians who are beholden to special interest groups and lobbyists. \u00a0It&#8217;s extremely difficult\u00a0to pass any significant piece of legislation. \u00a0It took two years and a lot of Obama&#8217;s political capital to get through the\u00a0Affordable Care Act.<\/p>\n<p>However, the next president will almost certainly preside over not just one but as many as three selections of judges in the Supreme Court. \u00a0The Supreme Court remains the most influential and powerful law-making body in America and it is the role of the president to nominate a new judge when one retires or passes away. \u00a0The Supreme Court has been the arbiters of landmark court rulings\u00a0that have legalized abortion (<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com.au\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwj-iMb73NbKAhVXz2MKHYnLCXYQFggbMAA&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FRoe_v._Wade&amp;usg=AFQjCNESOSJCU2HapoVXFSxhtZuOc31kTA&amp;sig2=1fQwrgGst96Bt6kDsoJHTQ&amp;bvm=bv.113034660,d.dGY\">Roe vs Wade<\/a><\/strong>) and marriage equality (<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com.au\/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjmsLDf3NbKAhUM12MKHVoIDxIQFggbMAA&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FObergefell_v._Hodges&amp;usg=AFQjCNFqslc2OcZyyyt6XlvyUVAqtjN1Jg&amp;sig2=GKEHNbXd6Fl5kaq9mL_9gw&amp;bvm=bv.113034660,d.dGY\">Obergefell vs Hodges<\/a><\/strong>) in the country. \u00a0The political leanings of the next appointee will have a significant impact on the future of Citizens United (campaign finance reform), the Affordable Care Act (government assisted healthcare) and other contentious pieces of legislation.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19266\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19266\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19266\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/rally.jpg\" alt=\"rally\" width=\"620\" height=\"330\" srcset=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/rally.jpg 620w, http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/rally-300x160.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Personally, I feel pretty comfortable in calling the outcome as the polls suggest they will happen. \u00a0<strong>Donald Trump will win the Republican nomination<\/strong>. \u00a0Americans will go to the polls in November with his name on the ballot sheet for the Republican party.<\/p>\n<p>Who will he face? \u00a0For the longest time, it seemed a foregone conclusion that his opponent would be Hillary Clinton. \u00a0The Democratic Party&#8217;s heir apparent was pipped to the post by Barack Obama in 2008 but it was assumed that she was a shoe-in for 2016. \u00a0That is until she faced an unexpected challenge from an upstart socialist senator from Vermont.<\/p>\n<p>More on that in another blog post.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?attachment_id=19263\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-19263\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-19263\" src=\"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/giphy.gif\" alt=\"giphy\" width=\"200\" height=\"147\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With Barack Obama approaching the end of his tenture as president, the race is on to elect a new leader of the United States of America<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19227,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[884,2429,2428,2424,2426,2423,2427,1529,2430,2425,2431,2422],"class_list":["post-19225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-barack-obama","tag-bernie-sanders","tag-bobby-jindal","tag-chris-christie","tag-donald-trump","tag-hillary-clinton","tag-jeb-bush","tag-marco-rubio","tag-mike-huckabee","tag-rand-paul","tag-ted-cruz","tag-us-presidential-elections-2016"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19225"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19270,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19225\/revisions\/19270"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}