S03.E03: Donald Trump

[Danny Franks]

He also does not seem to do small meet and greet type of events. All of his events seem to be a big rally type of event, where he rambles on and leaves without any personal discussions. (Or may be media only shows those and does not show any small ones)

 

It's all very 'cult of personality' in its presentation. Which is fitting, considering the man. He makes sure that, either he has the platform to shout down anyone who disagrees with him, or he makes sure he's the only one shouting. What baffles me, though, is that he's not eloquent. He's not a good public speaker, he doesn't "have the best words", he constantly goes off on tangents and makes pointless, self-aggrandising comments. He does have some charisma, but people buy into him because he's saying things, in whatever mangled fashion they come out, that these people secretly want to say.

 

I just hope that Super Tuesday leaves enough to play for that the rest of the Republicans get even more nasty with him. Because that will just hurt them all. If he wins too convincingly, they might belatedly fall into line and endorse him.

Edited March 1, 2016 by Danny Franks

[Lion]

Checking out the polls on five thirty eight is depressing.  CNN's poll yesterday had Drumpf at nearly 50% of the GOP party.  I keep holding out hope that the recent attacks will knock some of the wind out of his sails today, but I think it's unlikely.  I guess there's a chance if he's clobbered at Thursday's debate, but who knows if he'll even show up since the big mean scary Kelley will be moderating.  If he doesn't show up, he gets the media attention focused on him again and the other candidates don't get the chance to make him look more stupid.  

 

Btw, #MakeTheThreadTitleDrumpfAgain.  Please, with sugar on top.

 

ETA: Donald Drumpf is beating Rubio and Cruz for second in web searches.  

Edited March 1, 2016 by Lion

[Danny Franks]

Apparently as many as seven out of ten voters questioned in some (southern, of course) states back Drumpf's plan to ban all Muslims from entering the country. Temporarily, of course. I despair, I really do. They'll let American citizens kill each other until they're wading knee deep in blood (and defend their right to carry the guns they use to do it), but if a foreigner might possibly do it? Well lock the doors and hide under the bed!

Edited March 1, 2016 by Danny Franks

[Julia]

Aaaaand Rubio, whose strategic brilliance eludes me here, has announced that he's not sticking with the pledge they all made to support the eventual nominee if it's Trump, which Trump has decided means he doesn't have to keep his pledge either.

 

I swear this is like a Paddy Chayefsky movie.

[SpiritSong]

You'll notice he learned from the mistakes the McCain/Palin ticket made. There are no sit down interviews where a reporter could press him, or edit his responses. He only agrees to live interviews, where if he doesn't like the question, he pivots to talk about his success, his popularity, his poll numbers. On Meet the Press, he ate up so much time talking about the opening of his DC hotel-- Chuck Todd didn't have time to ask follow-up questions when Drumpf clearly was dodging.

As if ass kisser in chief Schmuck Todd would ever ask a follow up question to anyone dodging a question, or even lying outright. He is the most useless waste of space on television.

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

Watch Last Week Tonight's Report On Donald Trump
Surely this will be the segment that ends his candidacy once and for all! (Sigh.)

[OneWhoLurks]

A few years ago a political science researcher examined the linguistic complexity of nearly 20 years of political speech in the U.S. Congress. He ran every speech given at the U.S. Capitol since 1996 through reading comprehension software and found that as a group, Congress speaks at roughly a 10th-grade language level (enter “sophomoric” jokes here).

 

This was a full grade level lower than in the mid-2000s, and entire university degrees less than the language the founding fathers used back in the day. (The U.S. Constitution is written at a 17.8-grade level, which is postgraduate complexity.)

 

[...]

 

I ran Donald Trump’s debate answers through the same program, called the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level. It turns out the front-runner for the Republican nomination for president of the United States is speaking to us as a fourth-grader.

 

Most of his answers ranged from third-grade-level language to fifth, while his rivals tended to range between sixth grade and 10th. Cruz, formerly of the Harvard debate team, was by far the most advanced speaker, in terms of linguistic complexity anyway. In his closing statement for example, Cruz spoke at a 12th-grade level. While Trump closed out the debate using language a full six grade levels simpler.

 

 

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/donald-trump-connects-at-a-new-level-a-fourth-grade-level/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=article_title_1.1

[90PercentGravity]

I know great words, too, like sophist and specious.

[Julia]

That was an awful lot of conclusions that man drew from a little over a third of the smallest segment of 1800 people.

[FartyPants]

That was an awful lot of conclusions that man drew from a little over a third of the smallest segment of 1800 people.

yeah, true that this is not a detailed study with a lot of data, yet, I have been thinking about the broad support that Trump has enjoyed in these primaries. While it is easy to say poorly educated angry white males are the only ones supporting him, that is not the case. So if his coalition of voters has some common thread / common reason for supporting him, it would make more sense. That article posits another possibility towards that common reason. I am not sure how you measure authoritarianism (I cant even say or spell it correctly with confidence) Or why that trumps all the other red flags Drumpf is throwing around. Its also possible that his support is purely from the people who blame all their problems on minorities, immigrants and Muslims, but are aware that they cannot openly say that and so it is not seen in the poll results .. Here is another article to calm our troubled souls -> http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/03/donald-trump-needs-7-of-10-white-guys-213699?o=2

[OneWhoLurks]

More than 333,800 people have installed the Drumpfinator extension to change Donald Trump's name to Donald Drumpf in their Chrome browser, as of Friday morning.

 

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-donald-drumpf-chrome-extension-20160304-story.html

[OneWhoLurks]

My posts seem to keep disappearing.  Let's see if this one sticks.

 

More than 333,800 people have installed the Drumpfinator extension to change Donald Trump's name to Donald Drumpf in their Chrome browser, as of Friday morning.

 

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-donald-drumpf-chrome-extension-20160304-story.html

 

Watching John Oliver’s brutal critique of Donald Trump this past weekend, I was struck by the Nevada caucus-goer who said that Trump “tells it like it is.” It’s one of Trump’s strengths. An exit poll taken during the South Carolina Republican primary, for example, reported that 78 percent of voters who said “tells it like it is” was the top quality they’re looking for in a candidate said that they supported Trump.

 

There’s something particularly powerful about Trump’s rhetorical style. In my book, “The Politics of Sincerity,” I call this style “hyper-sincerity.” When a politician is hyper-sincere, the world can be reduced to simple truths. It’s a view of the world as a clearly knowable, not-all-that-complex place ruled by self-interest and power. And the more hyper-sincere the politician, the less thought needs to go into his language. Why bother with fancy wordplay? Isn’t that what you use when you’re trying to hide something?

 

[...]

 

One common rhetorical trick that frank-talking or hyper-sincere panderers use is to flatter an audience for being smart enough to see through the rhetorical tricks of opponents and instead to bravely face the “truths” you’re offering. Athens’ experience shows us how easily frank speech can become just another form of cynical pandering.

 

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/03/04/trump-tells-it-like-it-is-thats-not-necessarily-a-good-thing-for-democracy/

[David T. Cole]

Posts/links that speak to the show and show content are welcome. Context is helpful and welcome. Go too far beyond that and then we're just talking politics divorced from the show. We don't do straight-up politics here. Lots of other places for that.

[Totale]

..

Yeah, exactly how did his father make all his money again? On the backs of who exactly, I do wonder now?

 

 

Well, Woody Guthrie for one

[EyewatchTV211]

If he is so successful and wonderful, he can't get better hair?  A shallow point, but if I had even a mere few million, I'd sure as hell get better hair (and a better bronzer - orange is fruit not a skin color).

I'm going to continue the shallow since he has been so eager to spout shallow crap at people. If he is so successful and wonderful, you'd think he could get a better face. I'm sorry, but there you go.

 

I had forgotten about the chrome app, but re-reading it here I downloaded it. Will have to try it out.

[trow125]

The show has sold out of Drumpf caps, and the Drumpf piece has set a record for the show's most-viewed clip ever (surpassing the FIFA segment).

“Due to, um, unexpected ludicrous demand, our #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain hats may be delayed slightly; we’ll get them to you as soon as drumpishly possible,” reads a post at the show’s online store.

That “ludicrous demand” translates to 35,000 caps sold, an HBO spokesman said. Mr. Oliver explained that the caps were being sold “at cost,” so neither the show nor HBO will make any profit.

The Chrome extension has been downloaded more than 433,000 times, a spokeswoman for the network said.

[ChicksDigScars]

Is it wrong that I want a ring tone of John Oliver saying, "Please fuck off. I have a banana."

Brilliance.

My state primary was today. I asked for a Republican ballot solely to vote against Drumpf. Fortunately, Michigan is not a winner take all state.

[Julia]

Is it wrong that I want a ring tone of John Oliver saying, "Please fuck off. I have a banana."

Brilliance.

My state primary was today. I asked for a Republican ballot solely to vote against Drumpf. Fortunately, Michigan is not a winner take all state.

Oh, interesting. Do you not have to be registered to the party you vote in?

[Jamoche]

Be careful with your chrome extensions! http://www.wired.com/2016/03/chris-christie-marginal-media/

 

Correction at 9:58 a.m. on 3/09/2016: Due to an oversight involving a haphazardly-installed Chrome extension during the editing process, the name Donald Trump was erroneously replaced with the phrase “Someone With Tiny Hands” when this story originally published.

[ChicksDigScars]

Oh, interesting. Do you not have to be registered to the party you vote in?

Yeah, you had to register/declare a party by February 8, I believe. When you walk in to your polling precinct, you fill out a card and check a box as to which ballot you want. So, really, I don't know what would happen if you registered as a Democrat, yet asked for a Republican ballot. I consider myself Independent, but I registered as a Republican with the intent of voting against Drumpf. I tried. He still won. My state frightens me.

[90PercentGravity]

I'm so sad. My Drumpf hat was supposedly delivered yesterday, but I did not receive it.

[alias1]

My state primary was today. I asked for a Republican ballot solely to vote against Drumpf. Fortunately, Michigan is not a winner take all state.

I wonder how many other people did that.  Is that why Hillary lost?

[peeayebee]

I'm so sad. My Drumpf hat was supposedly delivered yesterday, but I did not receive it.

I've only gotten the email about the delay. I did receive the Last Week Tonight mug. It's really cool.

[Danny Franks]

I'm so sad. My Drumpf hat was supposedly delivered yesterday, but I did not receive it.

 

Heh. If there was ever a tagline for a potential Drumpf presidency, this would be it.

 

Loved his attempts to prove all the business ventures mentioned by John (and the goppers) were not failures by trying to pass off the products of other companies as his own in his victory speech the other night. Even Trump Wines say clearly on their website that they are in no way associated with him.

[Julia]

I wonder how many other people did that.  Is that why Hillary lost?

I think both Trump's and Sanders' numbers are being affected by open primaries.

[alias1]

I think both Trump's and Sanders' numbers are being affected by open primaries.

I think you're right.  When I lived in WI it was really an open primary.  In other words, there was one ballot and you could vote for a democrat for president and a republican for dog catcher, it you wanted to.  Now I live in TN and you have to vote strictly along party lines.  We had to ask for either a republican ballot or a democratic ballot.   I did think about asking for a republican ballot just to vote for someone other than Trump, but then I decided to stick with voting for the democrat of my choice.  It would be nice if rules for Primary voting would be uniform across the country.  Maybe John should do a segment on how ridiculous and varied the rules are across the country.

Edited March 10, 2016 by SierraMist

[Julia]

I think you're right.  When I lived in WI it was really an open primary.  In other words, there was one ballot and you could vote for a democrat for president and a republican for dog catcher, it you wanted to.  Now I live in TN and you have to vote strictly along party lines.  We had to ask for either a republican ballot or a democratic ballot.   I did think about asking for a republican ballot just to vote for someone other than Trump, but then I decided to stick with voting for the democrat of my choice.  It would be nice if rules for Primary voting would be uniform across the country.  Maybe John should do a segment on how ridiculous and varied the rules are across the country.

 

In NY, you have to be registered to the party you want to vote for. Which makes a lot more sense to me, when you consider that it's possible for independents or people from an opposing party to choose your candidate (which, ironically enough, is how exit polls said John McCain won the 2008 nomination).

[alias1]

Julia, maybe I'm not understanding NY rules, but what if you're an independent?  You have to register in one party or the other before you can vote?

 

I personally think all primaries should be totally open primaries.   I almost always vote for the democrat, but I don't want to be a registered democrat.  I think if there is someone you like running for sheriff in the republican primary, against several other republicans, you should be able to vote for that person in the primary and still vote for a democrat for President. The rules across states are even worse than I thought.

[Julia]

Julia, maybe I'm not understanding NY rules, but what if you're an independent?  You have to register in one party or the other before you can vote?

 

In the primaries, yes. New York is actually one of the few state where all votes for a candidate in the general count for the candidate, so a single candidate can run as major party, Working Families, Conservative, Independent, Green, and/or Raving Loony if they can get on the ballot.

Edited March 10, 2016 by Julia

[Jersey Guy 87]

Julia, maybe I'm not understanding NY rules, but what if you're an independent?  You have to register in one party or the other before you can vote?

 

New Jersey is the same way - you have to register with a party to vote in the primary. But since the NJ primary is so late in the season that the nominees are usually already decided I've never bothered to register with a party.

[fastiller]

In the primaries, yes. New York is actually one of the few state where all votes for a candidate in the general count for the candidate, so a single candidate can run as major party, Working Families, Conservative, Independent, Green, and/or Raving Loony if they can get on the ballot.

Don't forget our recent favourite: The Rent Is Too Damn High Party.

[Irlandesa]

I personally think all primaries should be totally open primaries.   I almost always vote for the democrat, but I don't want to be a registered democrat.  I think if there is someone you like running for sheriff in the republican primary, against several other republicans, you should be able to vote for that person in the primary and still vote for a democrat for President. The rules across states are even worse than I thought.

I think the argument for closed primaries is that the party should be able to select the candidate of their choice.  Otherwise you could theoretically have a situation where people switch parties to cast votes for the least electable candidate in the opposite party--especially if they like the candidates in their party equally.  Or, as the #NeverTrump movement has been pushing for, democrats going into GOP primaries to make sure Trump doesn't get that close to November. 

[trow125]

I wonder how many other people did that.  Is that why Hillary lost?

I was wondering the same thing. My mom (in Michigan) voted for Kasich instead of Hillary because she wanted to cast an anti-Trump vote.

 

Even Trump Wines say clearly on their website that they are in no way associated with him.

Trump Wine is his son's business, I guess. Kind of funny that Trump was pushing vodka, since he's a lifelong teetotaler.

[OneWhoLurks]

The AJCongress — a nearly century-old Jewish advocacy group whose operations have somewhat diminished in recent years — on Thursday emailed out the results of poll on which presidential candidate its members think would be best for Israel, titled “The Results Are In!”

 

At the top of the AJCongress list is Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, followed by a name that’s trending online at the moment: “Donald Drumpf.”

 

[...]

 

UPDATE: The AJCongress sent JTA an email Friday afternoon expressing regret for the Drumpf “mistake,” which reads in full: “Recently, the comedy program ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’ created a Google Chrome extension as part of a bit about Donald Trump. Like many, one of our employees downloaded the extension on a personal computer, and then forgot about it. Its presence resulted in an unfortunate, but unintentional mistake in an email to our supporters yesterday. The American Jewish Congress in no way intended to be disrespectful and we regret that it happened.”

 

 

http://www.jta.org/2016/03/11/news-opinion/the-telegraph/donald-drumpf-listed-as-runner-up-in-american-jewish-congress-presidential-poll

 

Oliver filed a trademark application Feb. 26 for “Drumpf,” and it will take about four to five months before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issues a preliminary decision, said Howard Shire, a partner with Kenyon & Kenyon in New York, who filed the application for “Drumpf.”

 

If Trump wants to object, he’s going to have to acknowledge that it’s his ancestral family name and argue that it creates confusion for the public or harms his businesses.

 

[...]

 

The first hurdle for Oliver in obtaining the trademark is to show that the word “Drumpf” isn’t just a surname, but is connected to something in commerce. In keeping with that, he incorporated Drumpf Industries LLC in Delaware to file the application, and provided notice that there is an intent to use the brand name.

 

[...]

 

Trump could argue that consumers would be confused or, even more critically, that it lessens the value of his brand.

 

“He has a famous-enough mark that he could argue it’s diluting the strength of the brand,” McCarthy said. “There’s probably nothing more John Oliver would like than to be sued by Donald Trump.”

 

A key point in Oliver’s defense is the fact that he’s a known comedian. A politician can’t object to parodies or satire on their campaigns. It’s no different for trademarks -- it’s a protected form of speech, much like song parodies or taking images of Barbie in a blender to make political statements.

 

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-03-09/a-trump-by-any-other-name-like-drumpf-can-t-sell-steaks

 

ETA:

 

* John Oliver of “Last Week Tonight” trademarked the word “Drumpf” ahead of the humorous segment on his show, and he turned to Kenyon & Kenyon to get the job done. The comedian was apparently trying to keep it in the “Daily Show” family with his choice of legal representation — as we’ve noted before, Kenyon’s managing partner is Stephen Colbert’s older brother. [Am Law Daily]

 

 

http://abovethelaw.com/2016/03/morning-docket-03-11-16/?show=comments#comments

Edited March 12, 2016 by OneWhoLurks

[DeLurker]

I love John O. more each week.

[trow125]

All the trademarking business, as well as Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption, make me SO happy John is around -- this is sort of akin to the things Stephen Colbert used to do on "The Colbert Report" (like his Super PAC stunt, running for president in SC, etc.) before he neutered himself to interview celebs on CBS. Thank goodness John & his staff are inserting themselves into the "real world" much like Stephen used to do. It can often be the best way to make a point.

[90PercentGravity]

My Drumpf hat finally showed up. The quality is good and it is made in the USA, but doesn't say it is union made.

Edited March 15, 2016 by 90PercentGravity

[OneWhoLurks]

Doubling down on the "Donald Drumpf" message, Oliver brought a hat to the show for all to see. While they are available for sale online, the host pointed out a possible spike in demand as Jay Z has allegedly requested one.

 

Addressing that interesting turn of events, Oliver worries that if the hip hop mogul -- or his superstar wife, for that matter -- were ever seen in public wearing a "Make Donald Drumpf Again" hat, his HBO show would cease to exist as we know it. It's a valid concern but ... "The Last Week Tonight Hat Emporium" does have a nice ring to it.

 

 

http://zap2it.com/2016/03/the-late-show-john-oliver-jay-z-donald-trump-hat-colbert/

 

ETA:

 

John Oliver Never Thought He'd Have To Care About Trump: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x056ioqqn8A&feature=youtu.be&a

Edited March 15, 2016 by OneWhoLurks

[Sharpie66]

Thanks for that trademark story! I was able to use it here at work--I pass on stories to editors on various subject matters, including intellectual property.

[dusang]

John Oliver Never Thought He'd Have To Care About Trump: https://www.youtube....ture=youtu.be

 

I love Stephen's poli sci lesson there.

 

ETA: When will I learn?  Don't read the comments!!

Edited March 15, 2016 by dusang

[HyacinthBucket]

My state primary was today. I asked for a Republican ballot solely to vote against Drumpf. Fortunately, Michigan is not a winner take all state.

 

I did the same thing here in Ohio.  I'm watching the news sites now with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.  

 

Count me in on the love for John Oliver.  

[sinkwriter]

Voted here in Illinois this afternoon. Watching and waiting nervously.

 

Re-watched John Oliver's video, trying to reassure myself that this man (DRUMPF) will not become President of the United States or even the Republican nominee. (Please, oh please, oh please.)

Edited March 15, 2016 by sinkwriter

[represent]

My Drumpf hat finally showed up. The quality is good and it is made in the USA, but doesn't say it is union made.

 

 

 

Protesters need to show up at his rallies wearing the "Make Donald Drumpf Again" hat.

 

Say nothing at all, just show up wearing these hats, a sea of nothing but these hats.

[OneWhoLurks]

My Drumpf hat finally showed up. The quality is good and it is made in the USA, but doesn't say it is union made.

 

Be at ease:

 

As the only unionized American manufacturer of baseball caps, Unionwear has made logo-embroidered hats for candidates of all stripes.

 

If a candidate is doing well, his or her campaign might put in a large order for hats, said Mitch Cahn, president of Unionwear. Not so well? The campaign might cut back to putting in small orders on a week-by-week basis.

 

And just which hat has been popular? That would be "Drumpf," the ancestral name of Donald Trump's family, derisively parodied by British comedian John Oliver on HBO, which placed a large order for the hats.

 

 

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2016/03/campaign_caps_made_in_newark.html

[Danny Franks]

Voted here in Illinois this afternoon. Watching and waiting nervously.

 

Re-watched John Oliver's video, trying to reassure myself that this man (DRUMPF) will not become President of the United States or even the Republican nominee. (Please, oh please, oh please.)

 

My main hope revolves around the other Republicans being arrogant enough to think they can usurp him at the convention, and nominate someone else, which leads to all Drumpf's zealots rebelling and either refusing to vote or even for Drumpf to decide to run as a 3rd party candidate, fragmenting the GOP vote completely. Then it would be a landslide win for Hillary or (more hopefully) Bernie.

 

Even if none of that happens, and the GOP solidify behind Drumpf, I would hope that enough Americans are smart enough to prevent a slide into fascist demagoguery. I'm just waiting for Drumpf to issue his security people with an easily identifiable uniform. Brown shirts, or something like that.

[OneWhoLurks]

“In 2016, the ability to distribute and amplify video content means that the reach potential of content such as Oliver’s rant or other contextually relevant content has the potential to be amplified very quickly,” Edwards adds.

 

Case in point: Oliver’s segment on Donald Trump aired February 28, causing huge buzz, including 22.2 million views on YouTube and nearly 60 million views on Facebook, according to Pixability, as well as 1.1 million shares on YouTube and 1.8 million shares on Facebook, Unruly says.

 

[...]

 

“The creation of #Drumpf and a web plug-in that turns all mentions of Trump to Drumpf are great examples of how he goes beyond the distribution of video clips to influence the conversation,” Lieberman adds.

 

And in just eight days, the Oliver-endorsed hashtag #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain generated 554,000 mentions, along with another 66,000 for #Drumpf, per social media analytics firm Talkwalker.

 

[...]

 

Further, web traffic analytics firm SimilarWeb confirms search keywords that sent traffic to YouTube via desktop were also up after the Oliver segment ran, including “John Oliver” – which was 1.6 million in the last month – and up from 280,000 in January.

 

 

http://www.momentology.com/10100-whos-influencing-the-2016-election/

[dusang]

http://www.momentology.com/10100-whos-influencing-the-2016-election/

 

Further, web traffic analytics firm SimilarWeb confirms search keywords that sent traffic to YouTube via desktop were also up after the Oliver segment ran, including “John Oliver” – which was 1.6 million in the last month – and up from 280,000 in January.

 

Although the larger point of "amplification" stands, LWT was on hiatus in January so that particular measure of amplified interest is a bit specious.

[OneWhoLurks]

Oliver's one-month-old Trump take-down has become the most popular episode in the 65-episode history of "Last Week Tonight."

 

And not by a little. The "Donald Drumpf" segment is Oliver's most popular video by far, with 23.3 million YouTube views so far.

 

[...]

 

On Facebook, it has received 62 million views to date.

 

With 85 million video views combined, "this is a record for any piece of HBO content," according to a network spokesman.

 

 

http://www.wptz.com/money/even-john-oliver-enjoys-a-drumpf-bump/38763766

 

ETA:

On February 26, 2016, two days before the show aired, Drumpf Industries, LLC. filed an intent-to-use trademark application for DRUMPF in Class 41 for “Provision of a website featuring multimedia content.” In addition to the DRUMPF trademark, John Oliver spearheaded the campaign “Make Donald Dumpf Again” a play on Donald Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.” Hats reading “Make Donald Drumpf Again” were available for purchase on www.hbo.com. John Oliver’s campaign even went as far as launching a website www.makedonaldjdrumpf.com, where users could download a “Drumpfinator” browser add-on for Google Chrome.

 

Almost overnight, the DRUMPF mark became “in use,” but unfortunately for Donald Trump naysayers, trademark registration requires more than use. Under 15 U.S.C. § 1052 of the Lanham Act registration of a designation that identifies a particular living individual, absent written consent, is barred.

 

When a trademark application is filed for name, it typically receives a Section 2© refusal. For purposes of §2©, a “name” does not have to be a full name – it also applies to first names, surnames, shortened names, pseudonyms, stage names, titles, or nicknames, if there is evidence that the name identifies a specific living individual who is publicly connected with the business in which the mark is used, or who is so well known that such a connection would be assumed. This is not the first time that a famous political figure’s name was used in connection with a trademark application. In 2010, the marks OBAMA PAJAMA, OBAMA BAHAMA PAJAMAS, and BARACK’S JOCKS DRESS TO THE LEFT were barred from registration under §2© because the marks created a direct association with President Barack Obama. In re Hoefflin, 97 USPQ2d 1174.

 

[...]

 

The DRUMPF application, however, is a bit more complicated since Drumpf is not actually Donald Trump’s surname. It is allegedly Donald Trump’s original family name that has long since been changed. Assuming that there are no long-lost Drumpf relatives still using the name, Drumpf may not technically fall under the “living person” requirement of §2© since the Drumpf name has been reportedly changed and is not a known living person. Or at least this was John Oliver’s hope in filing the application.

 

[...]

 

Ironically, if the DRUMPF trademark application receives a §2© refusal, John Oliver has achieved his purpose: Donald Trump will be associated with DRUMPF. Regardless of the USPTO’s decision, John Oliver should be happy with the result: either the DRUMPF application is not associated with a living person and proceeds to potentially obtaining registration, or an Examiner rejects the DRUMPF application due to association with a living person, Donald Trump.

 

 

http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/drumpf-or-trump-the-name-or-the-brand-19711/

Edited March 31, 2016 by OneWhoLurks

[OneWhoLurks]

In an exclusive ranking from YouTube, USA TODAY reveals the video site's top trending videos of the last month, based on total views, virality and shares. You can peek at a real-time current list of today's top videos by checking out the site's new Trending tab.

 

[...]

 

4, 'Last Week Tonight With John Oliver': Make Donald Drumpf Again

 

John Oliver's show posts only four videos a month (usually the main segment from each Sunday's episode). To put that number in perspective, that's about how many clips The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon posts per weekday. Still, this clip — in which Oliver lays out the case for carefully considering Trump's checkered history before pulling that voting lever, and encourages people to start calling him by his family's original name — outperformed all the other late-night shows' YouTube content by more than 9 million views.

 

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2016/04/02/exclusive-youtubes-most-viewed-videos-of-march/82554756/

[OneWhoLurks]

I guess HBO must have gotten a slightly better deal on their second order.  The hats now cost $15 each.

 

http://store.hbo.com/?v=hbo_trump-hats&ecid=PRF-HBO-803502&PA=PRF-HBO-803502