The transparency of the puppeteers continues. The latest example is the New York Post (Murdoch outlet) promoting a story of the RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, appearing on Fox News (Murdoch outlet) to warn President Trump not to avoid the RNC debate hosted by Fox News, the Murdoch outlet.
The private corporation (RNC) has a vested interest in Trump delivering credibility to the organization. The Fox News corporation has a vested interest in Trump delivering credibility and ratings to the organization. Whether President Trump decides to attend or not, the desperation expressed by the two corporations is a little funny.
The Freudian slip in this soundbite “20 million dollars” is also funny. WATCH:
[NEW YORK POST] – Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has cautioned that it would be a mistake for GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump to skip the party’s primary debates.
“I think he should be on the stage. I want everybody on the stage that qualifies, obviously,” she told Fox News Wednesday. “It’s a mistake not to do the debates, but that’s going to be up to him and his campaign.”
McDaniel cited two main reasons why she feels it’s in Trump’s best interest to jump into the upcoming verbal slugfest despite holding a massive polling lead over his rivals. “One, short-term, you want to win the nomination, you got to get in front of the whole primary voters,” she said. (read more)
There’s only one thing these three corporations care about, money!
Ms Romney is a crook who needs to stay away from the plastic surgeon.
Rupert Murdick and his failing empire can not survive much longer with ratings thru the floor.
The world’s tiniest violin plays just for Murdoch.
Thanks, GB!
Always glad to help!
😊😊
Nanotechnology for a really teeny-tiny violin, only visible through a microscope.
Squeaky voiced Romney needs to go to a plastic surgeon. The surgery has not been completed!!
She needs to go get a refund from that plastic surgeon! lol
If you look at a picture of her when she was installed you can tell she has had tons of work done.
Much more work and she’ll look like all the women and men who have so much done they all look the same.
Won’t be 20 million people without VSGPDJT!!!
Sorry. Same comments below.
a crook with an appetite for the finer things in life – expensive resorts, fine food – long as someone else is paying
the “caviar queen” has expensive tastes
And the expensive gift’s bought with our donations to give to top donors.
She must be injecting fat into her lips from some one else’s ass now. No way one person can keep up with the demand she has heaped upon herself. They’re so HUUGE !😳🤡🤡
Which also explains why she is so full of..well…I’ll leave it at that! 😉
She reminds me of the carp at the Marina! 😛
I keep having flashbacks to an episode of StarTrak where the Enterprise comes across a planet with only 2 people on it,a older man and a woman.The woman turns out to be a shape shifting hideous looking creature that sucks the salt out of people and keeps the old man around to provide cover and trick people and gain their confidence so it can use it’s huge suction cup lips and tentacles,….that’s Ronna,…the huge lipped salt sucker!😯🤣🤣
Maybe she is getting Mittens ass fat.
Family handme down ass fat.👍
Unfortunately, Dox is just a minute part of his billions
A drop but it does allow him to influence pedal
Maybe he should by cnn
And pretty soon he’s going to die and spend eternity burning in Hell. So, he’s got that going for himself.
Money ….SD Hit the nail on the head. Thanks
20 million person audience??!!
Not if Trump’s not there.
These people are just too cute by half!
Thanks for the laugh tonight, Sundance!
FRRM
FFauxNewz
No to the first; happy to do the second.
Still do NOT think President Trump should attend Fox’s debate. Screw all of them.
Absolutely. All the other also rans and the moderators will try to use Trump as a punch bag, and he has better things to do, like a round of golf.
President Trump is well able to handle himself.
Those who love President Trump care that he does not go – it’s payback time. Don’t give them any increase in ANY form. For all the times Fox have not been civil or welcoming or reciprocal.
Or a rally. BIGLEY…..
Like somewhere, if there is such a place, that can hold as many as 200,000 people.
Yep! Trump should do a Yuge Rally that night….and have Jason Aldean open it up with his new “banned” tune “Try That In A Small Town”.
You should be a promoter! Excellent idea.
Yes a 50,000 person rally the night of the debate would be excellent!
Or like using the bathroom.
Hold a Trump rally 20 miles away LOL!
It’s not just that he should skip it. He should hold a massive rally at the same time on competing platforms.
I wish it could live-streaming on multiple channels “730K watching” times ten times . . . times something something to reflect in the millions of MAGA viewers . . .
cool if they have that side panel for comments like “I Love Trump” et cetera
Agreed.
I would not bother debating someone who is so far behind me their numbers are statistical noise.
Bullseye, Sundance. It really is about following the money.
The RNC and the GOP and Fox hate their base voters/watchers…guess what? The feeling is mutual!
The only reason she said that is because she knows that everybody will be watching President Trump on another channel having a Trump rally and more than 20 million people will watch. She wants Trump on the stage in order to get 20 million people to watch that idiotic debate. So pathetically transparent.
Idiotic is right.
I heard that doofus Tim Scott speak last week (on the radio). What a stupid buffoon. Same with neocon Ron. He is not a smart person. How did he go through Ivy League?
Nimrata as stupid. Republican Pritzker Christie is fat and stupid.
A loathsome bunch.
I’m sensing a theme
😂
Fat
Stupid
Oh yes, and Vivek Ramaswamy? Oh boy, his pharmaceutical company tied in with Pfizer, how lovely, NOT!
Abu Chris Christie who put a Muslim on the NJ supreme court, was responsible for Bridgegate and yes, as Roger Stone said, he should run, but only for his health, not for the presidency. As for Tim Scott, I remember Trump supported him both times for SC Senate, and in 2016, Trump appeared with Tim Scott on stage in SC in those yellow chairs where the audience could ask him questions. Scott appeared to endorse Trump, but never did. Instead he endorsed Cruz. Scott’s voting record is not conservative, he’s another establishment drone.
And that’s not even mentioning Judas Pence. The man is not just establishment, not just a Koch boyo, but there’s evil behind that faux Christian attitude…a Bible out front and a knife behind his back. Tucker showed us what he is, and Pence stepped right into it.
There’s only one choice. And I would hope he’d choose a very strong man as his VP to help him set this nation straight. I’d suggest General Michael Thomas Flynn. He is another man who has been through the crucible and emerged an even stronger patriot.
I’ve always thought that about the entire bunch. Vivek seems to be the brightest….the others are definitely the dullest knives in the drawer. We need new blood in the Republican Party.
We need to drain the blood from the Republican Party.
We need the MAGA Party!
$20,000,000.00
🎯Heard that Freudian slip, too.
“Brought to you by Pfizer”
Carp lips, GOPe, Ronna Romney is as phony as her face and Fux Snooze. 20 million dollars.🤑🤑🤑🤑
What’s even funnier than their desperation is that the candidates polling number 2 (DeSantis) and 3 (Pence) don’t have enough donors to enter the debate.
IKR?! 😆
The buffoon from North Dakota is sending out $20 gift cards to anyone who donates a $1 to his campaign, just so he can be on stage.
Then he will sell your information to make up the difference!
Even funnier, it looks like Perry Johnson may in fact meet the requirements to be in the debate.
The RNC will be changing the rules to allow them to be there. Count on it.
It’s like really, really important that you don’t diss us even though we back stab you every chance we get
Its important for PDJT to have a competing event with streaming numbers showing on the screen below his active interaction. Prove exactly how pointless Mitten’s niece and the RNC is it putting America First.
At what point of differential, 10x the viewers, 15x the viewers, is president Trump empowered to waive off the RNC and start The People’s Party?
If President Trump were to participate in one of these so-called “debates”, all of the other candidates would spend their time and energy trying to make points by attacking President Trump.
He is, after all, the man to beat.
It would be like being the proverbial one-legged man in an a$$ kicking contest for him.
Nothing good would come of it for the President.
That is why front runners seldom discuss debating the rest of the field. It would be like the slower cars blocking the track and then saying “let’s talk about who should be out front.” How does that help the guy who is already out front.
I dunno. I think President Trump would wipe the floor with them all. They’re nothing but liars and frauds. An honest man like Trump will dispatch them easily.
In these so-called “debates” the “moderator” always allows the Lefty/Uniparty candidates to talk over and interrupt the conservative candidate.
President Trump would not be afforded the opportunity to wipe the floor with anyone or anything.
You must be imagining a fair civilized playing field that could never happen.
Then later, after the “debate”, the pundits and analysts would make hay from outtakes of the debate which have the potential to inflict the most damage to President Trump.
The only thing that comes to mind when I see her is lipstick and a pig.
One of Obama’s favorite jokes.
I thought it was Sarah Palin.
🙄
Her days of being effective at pimping her wares are over.
We are so onto her and her corrupt shenanigans.
Get lost, Ronna.
Get lost RNC. It must be replaced with the MAGA Republican committee.
I don’t think anyone on the deep state side has any inkling of what is about to befall them all.
Except the Demonrats will find a way to remove Trump from the ballot in many states, a fait accompli. They will wait until the last minute, so in the unlikely event a judge would be willing to intervene, it would be too late. Then what do we do?
Write in Trump’s name.
Time to fight like the third monkey on the ramp to the Ark!! Raise holy hell and put a prop under it.
There is really no good reason for Trump to get set up at the debates.
Sundance, the boycott of Faux News would go much better if you would stop posting two or three articles based on Faux videos every day. I won’t watch Faux.
Also I hate Bud Lite and my legs are too hairy to look good in a dress.
Yes, Sundance is single handedly keeping FOX afloat.
Good call.
🙄
He is blowing the boycott, yes. Deal with it.
Oh Noes!
You Crack me up 🤪😜
🤦♀️🤫
😂😂😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Mai oui, mon ami!
Votre sarcasme est grand!
Sundance deserves combat pay for watching FNC so we don’t have to… good grief ICP.
SD lets us cut our cable but keeps us informed what family and friends who didn’t are hearing from Tokyo Rose.
You need to rethink things before posting again.
Nothing like someone telling someone else what to think or say.
As someone who gave up my TV in2002, I obviously approve of the boycott.
However, I do not support rigid behavior.
Sundance, through his excellent teaching skills, is helping educate us on something far greater than a boycott.
I learn a wealth of information when I watch the Fox videos he presents and that is my reason for being here in the first place.
So, Fox does not get the ratings or the advertising dollars, and we still get to see the important stuff.
“We need to contrast our ideas with the Democrats.”
Like driving off the cliff at 90 instead of 100.
Gipper: Excellent.
It was Thelma’s idea.
😂🤣😂
LOL!
But she’s not around to take the credit! LOL!
Steve Doocey along with Brian Kilmeade are tools. Actually, Bannon said it best, “company men”, Hey Fox gfy.
Trump should sit down with Tucker on debate night and provide commentary
Nah, don’t give these vulture candidates any oxygen. Ignore them and the debate happens without an audience. I do like the idea of a rally that night though.
I like Trump sitting on the beach watching the tide roll in, more cameras would be on the beach than anywhere else. Or as someone suggested, playing golf, might be a tad dark but he could bring out some spot lights.
No he should ignore it entirely. Let the air out of their balloon heads.
I disagree. He has an opportunity to inflict severe economic damage on Fox-Rupert by hosting an event at the same exact time on a competing live steam platform.
We have to train our people to show the Republicans our backs. We delegitimization them by saying “Yeah, you do you. We’ll be over here holding “Watch Parties with Trump”.”
The people running against Trump are part of an illegitimate system. We gain nothing by participating in their charades. We gain little by opting out. We grow and win by competing with them and taking them down.
But, But, if he ignores it he’ll go up in the polls.😃😃
Tucker is still under contract to Fox, from what I can tell.
Maybe Don should do an interview with Jim Caviezel that night.
Harmeet Dhillon – y’all?
Reaching a bit?
At the Kwiki Mart?
7-Eleven or a Dunkin Donut?
FHD
Perot…: She’s a real down-home southern gal. Family goes way back. The family house still has Union bullet holes in it.
Why do you want Ron DeSantis in a dress?
Because Casey’s leotards don’t fit him…
Neither do her camo pants or stilettos
Didn’t SD tell us to be wary of Republicans who take selfies of their lunches?
🙄
These people are important in their own minds.
She’s probably in Raleigh to put the plan in place to try to wreck Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s campaign.
Good pickup Lindy
Are we supposed to care?
Gas station sushi?
Curry.
you need to be careful with cheap sushi – $10 to go in – $1,000 to get out (well, maybe $100,000, the cost of visiting the hospital these days)
Like we care? After all that nice-guy exposure on Fox, we find out she is a turncoat. Baaaaad!
Being a Georgia Redneck, I get the guns and the humidors. So don’t ya’ll worry if she goes to eat Soul Food next week. I speak fluent Jive! (and keep packs of hot sauce in my pockets)! 😉 Lawdy…
“y’all”
I guess that most of us don’t give a fig where YOU AT!!
There is zero reason to be on the stage with these clowns. Zero.
I loathe the Republican Party at this point. It’s a toss up as to which party is worse.
At least with Democrats you know where you stand.
The Republicans are those awful people who love you when you give them money, but abandon you when the chips are down or there’s no money in it.
Trump needs to “get in front of the whole primary voters.” I guess that’s reasonable since almost nobody knows anything about him yet.
Did she also mention he should prepare good notes and get plenty of rest the night before?
These people are idiots.
They live in a bubble. There is no connection to the outside world. It’s a fantasy world to them and we are the peasants on the outside waiting for our loaf of bread and brick of cheese.
👆👆👆
She is inarticulate to boot!
“get in front of the whole primary voters”
?????
Why would Trump lower himself to participating in that setting and elevate this pack of losers?
I would only watch their debate for the comedic value.
I’d watch it to get pissed off.
I’d watch it to see how long they can go without talking about President Trump (assuming he’s not there).
You’ll be passed out in the first fifteen minutes.
If doing shots.
With Bidenomics, the war in Ukraine, our porous southern border, the rise of China and the policies that abetted all this, and you need a reason “to get pissed off?”
You sound like Ferdinand the Bull.
Giving FOX ratings is not funny.
It is really stunning how many corporations have torpedoed themselves in the name of supporting this woke/anti Trump garbage.
If I was Trump I’d hold a rally that night.
Or a nice interview/townhall hosted by RSBN?
That would be cool.
How about something on MSNBC at the same time, just to finish off Fox? MSNBC is eating Fox’s lunch, now let’s go for dinner—a winner.
Speaking of those hoping to be on the stage, I got an email today from Dirty Pence begging for a single dollar and unabashedly acknowledging that his purpose is in order to gather sufficient donors to qualify for the debate.
He’s got no shame. He humiliates himself more and more.
I hope the entire state of Indiana goes against Pence, just turn their backs on that guy . . . he is a real stinker and will give Indiana a bad name, if they let him.
Poor Pence. Remember the song Poor Poor Pitiful Me (Linda Ronstadt)? The first verse comes to mind for some reason.
[Verse 1]
I lay my head on the railroad tracks
And wait for the Double E
The railroad don’t run no more
Poor, poor pitiful me
And speaking of not having enough donors, Laura Loomer says DeSantis falls way short of the needed number too.
…….Maybe the debate stage will be empty.
Plenty of time to change the rules or fake some numbers!
There’s a clown in Georgia offering $20 gift cards for a $1 donation, Burgum I think, lots of strange losers popping up, but to do stuff like this they are akin to DeSanctus, a few big donors, willing to buy people to dilute their contributions.
Smells like desperation.
That would be funny, but obviously, they would change the rules so like they must have at least a thousand contributors.
That would be outstanding.
Pathetic.
Judas Pence is a LOSER.
Its no longer ‘brother can you spare a dime’……its a ‘dollar’….? Who has spare money, outside of those in a union shop job?
Many people are not working because companies are not really hiring inspite of advertising that they are…
….I place the blame squarely on his shoulders.
Tell him to go validate and count electors. He got it wrong the first chance he had.
Send him a shredded dollar bill!
Good grief, Ronna, back away from the scalpel or injectables or whatever is going on with your face.
I’d be happier if she backed away from the camera.
She reminds me of Edgar on Men in Black
It is only McDaniel’s dubious status as Chair of the RNC that keeps her in the news and ensures dogged reporters like sundance will maintain a focused eye on her manipulations. Otherwise she is not pleasant to watch due to her conniving ways.
President Trump’s recent compliments for Murdoch owned Fox show hosts Hannity, Watters, Ingraham, Hegseth, Cain and so on hasn’t seemed to help Fox’s ratings if these reports are accurate. Chadwick Moore has been a reliable chap as far as I know.
Is it bitter, cantankerous Murdoch’s and Exec Paul Ryan’s deliberate intention to temporarily encourage MSNBC and even CNN to dominate the night time political shows to help DeSantis or is the ratings slide happening due to their stupidity? It was noted earlier that Jake Tapper threw respectful softballs at DeSantis during an interview.
Hannity, Lol
Yeah, what I said.
The Murdochs and Fox need Trump. President Trump, does not need Fox.
The REAL reason is because without True President, they would finish behind Gilligan’s Island reruns.
”…so remember, kids; Communism is just as good as capitalism–maybe better! And Global Corporate Fascism is better than both of them! Now, who wants to go for a boat ride? We’ll only be gone for three hours.”
oh that’s terrible! Gilligan was one of the good guys. Let’s not disrespect the heroes from the 60’s. The Minnow people would have thrown Obama overboard, probably led by Mary Ann.
Ginger.
Speaking of whom…I was in a restaurant once where ‘Ginger’ came in with a lady friend, shared a Caesar salad, two glasses of water and paid for that by check.
The waiter showed us the check and said he would frame it. Would have more value.
or “my mother the car”….
PresTrump should offer shared broadcasting rights to his own rally, to be held at the same time as the Fox debate
Newsmax, other conservative outlets, and even CNN
Maximize coverage, dominate viewer share
Or offer exclusive rights and let the bidding begin, proceeds to his re-election fund
No one would carry it except RSBN. I must be online in some way that can draw millions.
Let them all stew in their own insignificant septic tank.
(Although the vain in my veins would thoroughly enjoy watching DJT curb stomp them all over again)
All GOP problems can be traced to a Mc.
I see what you did there…
McConnell
McCarthy
McDaniel
McRomney
McCain
McBush
McRove
McCheney
McThune
McGraham
McKemp
McRubio
McCruz
….
A list of McFailures, McLosers and McRino’s.
Absolutely!
Wow, just look at that worthless lineup! The do-nothing or do-something-idiotic crowd!
And let us not forget the dear departed Senator John McCain who helped set in motion the corruption in Ukraine which has resulted in the biggest pork barrel spending project EVER!
Your first clue, Bret & Martha will be hosting…
I remember when they called the last election. That did it for me…
Both losers
Cabbage Patch Head Bret and Mouthing Breathing Martha. Both are disgusting.
You got that right. Stay away from those schemers. Let them taste what an obscure life without Trump is like. They are all against him anyway, so let them lie in the bed they have made.
3Mikey has their number. Bother loser Mc’s.
McCallum
McBaier
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha, This Botox laden wench has presided over three disasters in 2018, 2020 and 2022! Hell she and McConnell cost the Party control of the Senate in 2020 and 2022 and she and McCarthy damn near lost the House (the Republicans should have won an additional 10 seats) but she and Kevin couldn’t figure out how to get money to candidates in critical races!!! Pres Trump should tell her she just needs to worry about not missing her next Botox treatment and forget about the rest of it!!! 🥴
Now that would be a fun mean tweet to see.
I dislike Ronna. She is a shill and works along with the DNC imo. That’s why she was chosen.. Be sure you aren’t being misled that it was only the denial of RNC money that lost the races for many R candidates. Somebody is avoiding the real truth—election fraud. We are only allowed to see the tip of the iceberg . What lies beneath is a frozen landfill of evil.
These idiots at Fox and Ronna need to understand that DJT already has a significant majority of the GOP electorate votes and definitely more than the sum total of votes all the GOP wannabe POTUS candidates will receive in the primary election. Given that fact, it appears that DJT doesn’t need Fox but that Fox is in a big hurt without DJT. Considering that Fox is part of the MSM that constantly trashes DJT, wonder if DJT can negotiate some interesting perks from Fox in exchange for appearing in a debate?
Right on the money. Great post.
Yea, like a 100 million donation.
Joe Biden and all other international thugs arrested and jailed.
They would only back stab him.
So what? They do that constantly and all does is reinforce that DJT is the only viable person in this cluster of nitwits (all the other GOP POTUS candidates) that has the skill set , determination, fortitude and desire to restore the prosperity of this country, the rule of law and Constitution.
Between stiffing Tucker after stiffing Trump, they deserve to die a slow death — not that I’m vindictive or anything!:)
Here in AZ the Democrat party is working on a new way to set up who gets on the ballot, how the primaries are run (or are done away with!!) and who gets elected. AZ Dems appear to have given up on pushing rank choice voting or so they say.. They’re onto their next scheme and will try to get it on the 2024 ballot according the article I read. Beware Arizona!!
Trump gives honest take on RFK Jr. “Respected” | Eric Bolling The Balance – YouTube
Actual President should debate RFK on that night.
heh heh.
Sometimes I impress myself.
Best way for President Trump to go is for him to be the moderator asking the others the questions. After all, he is the sitting president and has privilege to skip primary debates. He couldmake it real simple and state each item of his 47 points and the others can fight it out amongst themselves.
Trump would never allow himself to be a lowly moderator.
Audience of 20 million out of 300 million plus? Yeah, not even close to being worth it. Let the anklebiter 1%ers have it. Let Faux Newz have 2 million watch. I would not watch it on Faux Newz anyway.
Do a separate private event on Rumble. Let Faux Newz have 2 million watch.
Murdoch needs to recover some of $780 million he donated to Dominion!
Murdoch wants to help Biden “Finish the Job.”
I’m so sick of these establishment neo-con Trotskyite Republicans. I have two words for this bag of hot air and it’s not “Let’s Dance.” The hubris of this woman! Obviously she’s well trained in the family ways of Willard Mitt Romney’s leftist tactics. This is the kind of fecal matter she spews with her undeserved and disproportionate power.
Stand firm President Trump!
Hopefully President Trump does have a competing event scheduled that night that sucks all the air out of the room. Let Faux News shrivel up and disappear.
It runs deep in the Romney genes. Mitt took over companies and stripped them. Money means everything.
Scott Adams suggested that Trump should frame the debate as part of a search for potential VP candidates.
I like the idea at least a few would suck up. The criticisms would be blunted. Those who remained highly critical would look vile. The primary gets treated as a fete complete as the media trips over itself to find out what Trump thought of the candidates and his VP choice LOL
I can see Trump now post debate ” well there were a couple of moments but so far I am not too impressed. We will have to see how they do in the next debate assuming they have one”
Oooh, how about Trump commenting live online during the debate. He could dis them humorously, one after another.
Damn right! All three republican corporations haven’t given a sh*t about what matters to the rank and file. Their focus has always been on the money their shtick gets them. I learned this in 2006 when the republican organization abandoned George Allen to the MSM and Democrat wolves over the manufactured “Macaca” incident.
Fu*k them and fu*k their phoney debate on August 23rd. I don’t think Trump should participate. He is already reaching and getting more voters to listen to his message of hope for the US.
Watch them squirm when PDJT says he won’t attend! Besides, does he really need FOX viewers who will be watching Baeir and McCallum? B&M are sesperately hoping Trump will show up so they can stab him in the back again. 20 million? More like 20,000.
It would be hilarious if PDT had a rally at the same time as the debate. Then instead of the normal rally he responds to each question posed by the moderator AFTER the candidates respond. Do it on say a 10 min time delay. The RNC would be furious hahahahaha
Cherry on top if his ratings are better than the debate
Bonus…..done with him in a nice leather wingback chair, large screen with the debate on, paused after eqch question answeres by the other candidates. Done very seriously and in a calm, cool collected manner.
Then at the end he starts an abbreviated version of regular rally.
So, U was thinking momentarily that it would be cool to show the debate on big screens at the Trump rally but that would be giving those rats on stage more exposure than they deserve.
And what’s with Ronna’s HAIR?!?! Trying to be 30 years younger? Not!
Revenge is best served cold.
For the times they were antigonistic even while President Trump was in the White House. President Trump should not go for them to rub their hands in glee to the sound of replenishing kachings which their coffers are screaming for lately. Who wants to see their hypocritical smiles and fawnings, insinuated digs and pointed attacks?
Or Paul Ryan, Donna Brazille, Brian Kilmeade, Laura Ingraham or Doocy?
She’s got a face like a monkfish.
Trump needs to assert his draw, hold a rally somewhere instead at the same time. We don’t need Fox, Fox needs Trump.
These debates are a joke. Trump can go on Fox and be attacked by the hostile moderators. Or he can go on CNN and be attacked by the hostile moderators. Or he can go on CBS and be attacked by the hostile moderators. Or he can go on ABC and be attacked by the hostile moderators. It’s a good thing the man has a steel spine.