;)
The Commentariat -- August 8, 2016
Afternoon Update:
David Sanger of the New York Times: "Fifty of the nation's most senior Republican national security officials, many of them former top aides or cabinet members for President George W. Bush, have signed a letter declaring that Donald J. Trump 'lacks the character, values and experience' to be president and 'would put at risk our country's national security and well-being.' Mr. Trump, the officials warn, 'would be the most reckless president in American history.'" -- CW: This is as big a kick at Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, et al., as it is Donald Trump. Trump may be a bloviating buffoon, but Congressional leaders & other big-name enablers are supposed to be smart enough not to put the country at risk. The letter, a copy of which is here, also gives less lily-livered Republicans permission to abandon ship.
David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "Last October, at a rally in Las Vegas, a friend of Donald Trump's introduced [Trump, saying,] 'You won't hear this in the media, but Donald gave $20 million to the St. Jude children's home. Twenty million dollars,' said Phil Ruffin, the owner of the Treasure Island casino, which was the site of the rally. The crowd cheered. Trump mouthed 'Thank you' twice and waved.... Later that day..., Trump retweeted a message from a fan, criticizing the mainstream media for not broadcasting Ruffin's story about the gift. If Ruffin's story were true, then Trump's gift to St. Jude would appear to be, by far, the largest charitable donation of Trump's life. But when The Washington Post looked for evidence to back up Ruffin's story it could find none.... It seems possible that what Ruffin was referring to actually" was a pledge from Eric Trump's foundation, an entity entirely separate from Donald Trump. (Emphasis added.) ...
... CW: Maybe you should start getting your friends & associates to introduce you at social & business gatherings by saying, "You won't hear this in the media, but [Your Name Here] gave $20 million [or more, what the hell] to [name of your favorite charity]." Think how much more people would like & admire you if they thought you gave all your worldly goods & then some to a worthy cause.
Sean Sullivan & Jim Tankersley of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump on Monday proposed collapsing the federal income tax rate from seven brackets down to three and called for allowing child-care expenses to be exempt from taxation in a speech allies hope will help the GOP presidential nominee turn the page on a tumultuous period some Republicans fear has severely damaged his campaign. Trump was interrupted every few minutes by protesters for much of his address at the Detroit Economic Club. He took sharp aim at Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the speech, holding up Detroit, which has been devastated by manufacturing job losses, as 'the living, breathing example' of her 'failed economic agenda.'" -- CW ...
... Pat Garofalo of US News: "... Donald Trump delivered an address before the Detroit Economic Club on Monday that was equal parts conservative pablum, distortion and conspiracy theorizing.... The policy content of the telepromptered speech was warmed-over Republican orthodoxy: tax cuts, deregulation and an insistence that any effort to combat climate change be subverted.... He layered on top of that some of his favorite lies: That ... Hillary Clinton called for raising taxes on the middle class (she didn't); that regulation is costing the economy $2 trillion per year (it's not); and that Obamacare will kill some 2 million jobs if it remains the law of the land (it won't). And then he threw in some conspiracy fearmongering about the official Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs numbers, one of his favorite ridiculous theories." -- CW
Brian Stelter of CNN: "From the looks of Matt Drudge's home page, Hillary Clinton is so sick, she needs help getting up a flight of stairs.... But looks can be deceiving. The Drudge Report, one of the most widely read sites on the web, is misleading visitors by taking a six-month-old photo out of context. Clinton slipped on some stairs while campaigning in South Carolina ahead of the February 27 primary -- that much is true. A couple of men helped her up the stairs. Photos of the awkward entrance were published right afterward by two wire services, Reuters and Getty.... A right-wing blog called The American Mirror picked up on the tweets and published a short story on Sunday. 'SHOCK PHOTO: Multiple staffers help unstable Hillary up stairs,' the headline said.... The blog post was all Drudge needed to splash the photos across the home page of his hugely popular tip sheet." ...
... CW: I scanned the American Mirror blogpost; it's worse than Stelter lets on. I'd like to see Drudge keep a schedule like Clinton's, then try to bound up slippery steps in tiny, slick-soled high heels. Women-haters! ...
... Oh, look. Here's a pic of President Obama stumbling on stairs at a campaign rally in July 2012. He was indoors! And wearing big ole man-shoes! I guess all the wingers were right: he is totally unfit for the presidency:
*****
Presidential Race
AP: "... Hillary Clinton will deliver what aides are billing as a major economic speech on Thursday in Detroit.... Aides say Clinton will outline her economic plans and argue that Trump is only focused on the wealthiest Americans. At campaign events last week, Clinton questioned Trump's commitment to creating American jobs by highlighting his use of outsourcing at his companies." -- CW ...
... David Letterman was on the case four years ago. CW: Thanks to my friend Jan C. for the link:
(... CW: To the best of my knowledge, Trump has not moved his tie production to Queens. And even tho Macy's dumped Trump more than a year ago for his incendiary, racist comments, his men's clothing is still for sale elsewhere.)
... Jerry Markon of the Washington Post: "In her presidential bid, Hillary Clinton has made job creation a centerpiece of her platform.... Her argument ... has focused on her time in the Senate, when she took on the mission of creating jobs in chronically depressed Upstate New York.... But ... there is little evidence that her economic development programs had a substantial impact on upstate employment.... The former first lady was unable to pass the big-ticket legislation she introduced to benefit the upstate economy. She turned to smaller-scale projects, but some of those fell flat after initial glowing headlines.... Some of her pet economic projects involved loyal campaign contributors, who also supported the Clinton Foundation...." -- CW
Patrick Healy of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton will be 'real transparent' with Americans after learning lessons from the controversy over her use of a private email server, her running mate, Tim Kaine, said on Sunday, expressing optimism that she could improve her trust deficit with voters over the next month.... Mr. Kaine's primary objective on NBC was to help Mrs. Clinton move on from her latest email imbroglio: her inaccurate statement last week that the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, had called her answers about her private email server 'truthful.'" -- CW
Rebecca Savransky of the Hill: "... Hillary Clinton on Sunday released a video questioning ... Donald Trump's ties to Russia.
... Eric Bradner of CNN: "Former CIA acting-Director Michael Morell said Sunday he'd trust Hillary Clinton with the nation's security, but that Donald Trump is being manipulated by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Morell ... said on ABC's 'This Week'..., 'I worked with her for four years very closely when she was secretary of state and I was at the CIA. I provided her -- personally provided her some of the most sensitive information that the Central Intelligence Agency has,' he said. 'She never misused it. She always protected it.'... His endorsement could help Clinton amid renewed criticism over her use of a private email server. Morell also said he believes Putin -- 'a trained intelligence officer, worked for the KGB, very talented, manipulated people much smarter than Donald Trump" -- has intentionally been using Trump's ego as a way in with the Republican nominee." -- CW ...
... Cyra Master of the Hill: "Donald Trump lashed out a[t] former CIA Director Michael Morell Sunday evening.... 'Michael Morell, the lightweight former Acting Director of C.I.A., and a man who has made serious bad calls, is a total Clinton flunky!' [Trump tweeted.]... Last week, Morell announced his support for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton." -- CW ...
... David Atkins in the Washington Monthly: "Trump and Nukes are Scary. But His Danger to the Climate Is Worse.... Trump is a willfully ignorant climate denier who actively campaigns on drilling more oil faster. Four to eight years of a Trump presidency could easily lock in temperature rises that could without exaggeration reach levels that doom human civilization within a couple of generations.... Donald Trump and the GOP wouldn't need to launch a single nuclear warhead to destroy life on earth as we know it. All they would need is to implement the energy policy they are openly advertising to voters." -- CW
Shane Goldmacher of Politico: "After spending months scolding his rivals for being beholden to their financial backers, Donald Trump unveiled an economic advisory council last week -- and filled it with some of his biggest donors. Of the 13 men -- and they are all men -- ..., five are major donors whose families combined to give Trump's campaign and his joint fundraising account with the Republican Party more than $2 million. Two more have been pursued for campaign contributions.... Trump's new economic team leans heavily on Wall Street investors and hedge-fund managers, despite Trump's railing against them during the early parts of his presidential campaign.... Trump is scheduled to deliver a speech on his plans for the economy on Monday at the Detroit Economic Club." CW Spoiler: He plans to make the economy great again. Also, Hillary Clinton is a crazy harridan. That's about it. ...
... Actually ... Jonathan Swan of the Hill: "Donald Trump will announce in a major economic speech on Monday that childcare payments will be fully tax deductible under a Trump administration, a senior aide told The Hill on Sunday night.... Among the specific policies mentioned in Trump's speech on Monday will be a 'temporary moratorium on regulations,' [a] senior aide said.... Other policies outlined in Trump's speech will include the corporate tax rate being lowered to 15 percent, "which will make us a magnet for global investment in the United States and bring in thousands of new companies." ...
... CW: The president has a good deal of authority to decide on how regulations are applied (tho not carte blanche -- would Trump really eliminate FAA safety regs??), Swan's report that "childcare payments will be fully tax deductible under a Trump administration" is nonsense. Tax policy, including the corporate tax rate & elimination of what Swan -- and all Republicans -- call the "death tax," are controlled by Congress, not the president. ...
We'll get a fund, we'll make a phenomenal deal with the low interest rates and rebuild our infrastructure.... People would put money into the fund. The citizens would put money into the fund. -- Donald Trump, August 1
... Wherein Paul Krugman chooses today to make the case for a portion of Trump's economic "plan": "... the most important thing we need is sharply increased public investment in everything from energy to transportation to wastewater treatment. How should we pay for this investment? We shouldn't -- not now, or any time soon. Right now there is an overwhelming case for more government borrowing.... Investing more in infrastructure would clearly make us richer." -- CW
Hill: "Donald Trump has been pressured for months to release his tax returns, but refuses to do so until he is done being audited by the IRS. But experts tell the Wall Street Journal that Trump and his lawyers know the IRS's deadlines, and thus can take their time negotiating settlements and responding to requests for documents. Outstanding audits of Trump go back as far as 2009, the WSJ reported, which means the businessman has given the IRS permission to expand its investigation beyond the three-year statute of limitations.... 'He certainly has a lot of influence over the audit ending sooner or later,' Bryan Skarlatos of Kostelanetz & Fink LLP [said] to the paper. 'It would be relatively easy at this point to extend the audit beyond the elections.'" -- CW
Artist: Illma Gore. CW: I know you're thanking me right now.Frank Lavin in a CNN op-ed: "I had the honor of serving as Ronald Reagan's White House political director from 1987 to 1989.... It might not be entirely clear that Hillary Clinton deserves to win the presidency, but it is thunderingly clear that Donald Trump deserves to lose.... I will do something that I have not done in 40 years of voting: I will vote for the Democratic nominee for president. The depressing truth of the Republican nominee is that Donald Trump talks a great game but he is the emperor who wears no clothes." Via Rebecca Savransky of the Hill. -- CW
Kathleen Gray of the Detroit Free Press: "Current and former governors of Michigan are either working for the Democratic candidate for president, Hillary Clinton, or have declined to endorse Trump in the race for the White House. Former Gov. William Milliken, a moderate Republican from Traverse City, broke ranks over the weekend and is endorsing Clinton for the presidency." Current Gov. Rick Snyder (R) has said he was "staying out of the presidential race." -- CW
Abby Phillip of the Washington Post: "Lezlee Westine, a former aide to President George W. Bush, will support Hillary Clinton for president. Westine, who served as the Bush administration's White House Director of Public Liaison and deputy assistant to the president, is one of several Republican figures to publicly announce their support for Clinton in recent weeks." -- CW
BUT. Louis Nelson of Politico: "Jeb Bush has said he will not vote for Donald Trump this November, but the former Florida governor's son is urging fellow Republicans to fall in line behind their party's nominee. Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, who is also serving as the state GOP's victory chairman, stopped short of offering a full endorsement of the Manhattan billionaire. But he told a gathering of Texas Republicans that it is important to back Trump, if only to block Hillary Clinton from winning the White House." -- CW
David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Four Donald Trump supporters insisted on CNN over the weekend that recent polls could not be trusted because they were 'skewed' in favor of ... Hillary Clinton." CW: From the Trumpglish New Great American Dictionary: "skewed: adj. def.: biased or distorted in a way not indicating overwhelming support for Donald Trump." ...
... CW: We know this for sure because over at crazed winger Jim Hoft's Gateway Pundit, Joe Hoft reports, "Thanks to social media there is more and more evidence that the polls are way off and if things stay as they are, Trump will win in a landslide!" (Histrionics original.) ...
... Now read Paul Waldman on the possibility of a "rigged" presidential election. CW: Note, too this distinction, which I have sometimes elided: "there's a difference between fraud, which suggests that somebody is trying to manipulate the results from the outside, and saying the system is 'rigged,' which suggests that the system has been set up from the inside to guarantee that one person will win." The rigging, as recent court decisions have verified, is all on the Republican side, where GOP-controlled state legislatures have been busy suppressing votes by likely Democrats.
Everything That Happens Is Because of Me. Yesterday for the first time she said she wants to renegotiate trade agreements. First time, yesterday. Well, because of me. -- Donald Trump, news conference, July 27
Contrary to what Trump claims, Clinton's interest in renegotiating NAFTA is not a recent change of heart. She has been advocating it for nearly a decade. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post
** Rebecca Traister of New York: "... the language used by Trump and his allies, the language of delegitimization, is especially telling, and potentially powerful, in a race against the first woman ever nominated for the presidency. It channels a conviction that has deep roots in our culture: A woman could never really win, not over a man.... Not coincidentally, this was also the argument used in many attempts to delegitimize the presidency of our first black commander-in-chief.... In the brief period of Election Night 2012 in which it appeared that [President] Obama might have won the electoral college but lost the popular vote, Trump tweeted furiously that his victory was false: 'He lost the popular vote by a lot and won the election. We should have a revolution in this country!'; 'The phoney electoral college made a laughing stock out of our nation. The loser one! [sic]'; 'This election is a total sham and a travesty...'... In his impulse to cry illegitimacy when faced with potential insurrection by a woman or a person of color, Trump is not un-American. In fact, it is a response that runs throughout our history." ...
... CW: As I've noted before, Trump repeatedly -- and even more obviously -- expresses this same misogynistic view when he says Hillary Clinton "doesn't look presidential." Just this past Saturday, he said, "Now, you tell me, she looks presidential, folks? I look presidential," as Jose DelReal reported (in a graf that didn't get edited). ...
... Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. CW: Yesterday, I pointed to this report by Jose DelReal of the Washington Post on Trump's speech in New Hampshire Saturday. The report began, "Donald Trump unleashed a series of nasty personal attacks Saturday against ... Hillary Clinton...." Later in the report, DelReal wrote, "The attacks went far beyond what is considered appropriate in political discourse. And notably, his most charged attacks focused specifically on ad hominem attacks rather than on policy differences." However, contributor Rockygirl read the report later in the day, & by that time the lede read, "Donald Trump unleashed a series of personal attacks." That is, "nasty" had been edited out. And the graf I cited above, which spoke to the inappropriateness of Trump's ad-hominem attacks also got "disappeared." As Rockygirl concluded, "Maybe our optimism for the press is premature." Yup. Looks like we're back to he-said/she-said. Thanks, WashPo editors! BTW, DelReal's original report was still up on the Chicago Tribune site Sunday night, tho if you don't have a Trib subscription, you may have to Google it. ...
... Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times on journalists' obligations to the public when one candidate is "abnormal." Ironically, Rutenberg cites the Washington Post's managing editor on how to handle the crazy: "'When controversy is being stoked, it's our obligation to report that,' said the Washington Post managing editor Cameron Barr. 'If one candidate is doing that more aggressively and consistently than the other, that is an imbalance for sure.' But, he added, 'it's not one that we create, it's one that the candidate is creating.'" -- CW ...
... Driftglass is at his best in this week's takedown of the Sunday Showz. CW: Yes, he may have taken some liberties in his transcript of "This Week With...Whoever Drew The Short Straw." Although I didn't watch, so I'm not sure. ...
... Brian Stelter of CNN calls Sean Hannity & Bill O'Reilly "unpatriotic" for helping Donald Trump promote his "rigged election" conspiracy theory:
This Will Work. McKay Coppins of BuzzFeed: "Key players in the GOP’s anti-Trump movement are preparing to launch an independent presidential campaign for Evan McMullin -- a CIA veteran and the chief policy director of the House Republican conference -- sources close to the effort told BuzzFeed News.... He would make for an unlikely presidential candidate. He has never held elective office before and has spent most of his career as a CIA officer, according to his LinkedIn page. Young and unmarried, McMullin received an MBA at Wharton in 2011, and after a stint at Goldman Sachs, went to work as a policy wonk on Capitol Hill." -- CW ...
... BUT McMullin has more than a hundred (100) Twitter followers. ...
... AND This. Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "Activists who were unable to block Donald Trump's presidential nomination are trying again, this time petitioning the Republican National Committee to call an emergency meeting to strip him of the nod." -- CW ...
... Brian Beutler: "If Trump stays in the race, and the #NeverTrump crowd ends up costing him the presidency, they will have done a remarkable thing for the country. But the irony is that the Republicans most committed to defeating Trump are generally the most misguided or in denial about the status-quo ante in Republican politics. They've blamed the party for being culpable in Trump's rise. But they want the nominee out because, despite everything that's happened, they still believe the GOP can be entrusted with control of every branch of government." -- CW
Other News & Views
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: Marc "Elias, a go-to lawyer for Democrats in recount fights and redistricting battles, has now taken a prominent and somewhat controversial place among the coalition of groups challenging a wave of state election laws that were rewritten in recent years. With a multimillion-dollar commitment from liberal mega-donor George Soros, Elias is challenging laws that, he argues, diminish the impact of important Democratic Party constituencies of African Americans, Latinos and young people.... Besides joining the efforts of civil rights groups in several states, he has also struck out on his own, bringing additional claims in states that are especially important for Hillary Clinton's campaign and future Democratic candidates." CW: And this is "somewhat controversial" because Republican lawyers would never do any such thing??? Elias is fighting laws Republican lawyers wrote for the purpose of suppressing Democratic votes, for Pete's sake.
John Bacon of USA Today: "An Iranian scientist accused of providing information on his country's nuclear program to the United States has been executed for treason, an Iranian judiciary spokesman said Sunday. Shahram Amiri was charged with spying for enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran, spokesman Gholamhosein Mohseni-Ejei said in his weekly news conference, the Iranian Student News Agency reported.... Mohseni-Ejei said U.S. officials had been unaware that Iran was monitoring Amiri's efforts for the West. 'The CIA thought that its movements were kept away from the eye of Iranian Intelligence Ministry,' Mohseni-Ejei said. 'They took Amiri to Saudi Arabia.' Amiri, 38, disappeared while on a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia in 2009. He re-emerged a year later in the U.S., claiming in a video that he had been abducted, interrogated, tortured and offered millions in bribes while under 'intense psychological pressure' by the CIA. He said he rejected the U.S. effort to break him. The U.S. said in 2010 that Amiri had defected voluntarily and was paid millions of dollars for providing 'useful information.'" -- CW
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Gabriel Sherman of New York: "... with [Roger] Ailes gone, Fox executives are now looking closely at how Ailes spent Fox money. And what they are discovering is that, beyond [settlement costs of] the sexual-harassment claims, Ailes was also able to use portions of the Fox budget to hire consultants, political operatives, and private detectives who reported only to him.... Last week, according to the source, Fox News dismissed five consultants whom Ailes had hired to do work that was more about advancing his own agenda than Fox's.... According to one highly placed source, [some consultants] worked out of what Fox insiders called 'the Black Room,' an operation Ailes established around 2011 to conduct PR and surveillance campaigns against people he targeted, both inside and outside the company.... Targets of the campaigns included journalists John Cook and Hamilton Nolan, who have aggressively covered Ailes for Gawker." Sherman learned he also was a target. Ailes says the allegations are "totally false." -- CW ...
.. AND here's John Oliver on actual journalism. The "movie trailer" at the end is excellent. Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the link:
Chas Danner of New York: "Nineteen-year-old American sport shooter Virginia Thrasher has become the first gold-medal winner at the Rio Games, earning an Olympic-record top score (208.0) in the women's 10-meter air rifle competition and defeating two heavily favored Chinese competitors, Du Li and reigning champion Yi Siling. Heading into the match, Thrasher, from Springfield, Virginia, had been ranked number 23 in the world, so it's a pretty surprising win." CW: No it's not surprising. Because Second Amendment.
Way Beyond the Beltway
Julie Makinin of the Los Angeles Times: "Japanese Emperor Akihito addressed the nation on Monday, releasing a rare video message to the public in which the 82-year-old strongly suggested that he wished to abdicate but avoided using that word directly.... Japan's Imperial Household Law, however, does not have any provision for abdication. Japan's parliament, or Diet, would need to revise the law in order for him to abdicate and pass the Chrysanthemum Throne to his eldest son, Crown Prince Naruhito, 56." -- CW
BBC News: "Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told a vast rally in Istanbul that he would approve the return of the death penalty if it was backed by parliament and the public. He was speaking to a crowd of at least a million who had gathered in Turkey's biggest city.... The European Union - which Turkey has applied to join - refuses to accept capital punishment in member states." -- CW
Pamela Constable of the Washington Post: "Two foreign university professors, one American and one Australian, were kidnapped at gunpoint Sunday evening near the Kabul campus of the American University of Afghanistan, municipal police officials said. Neither has been publicly identified. Local media reports said the attackers were wearing Afghan security uniforms and entered the front gates of the large compound, which is guarded and surrounded by high walls. This was the first reported abduction related to the private co-ed university, which has attracted numerous visiting instructors from the United States and other Western countries since it opened in 2004." -- CW
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Reader Comments (15)
Notice that 100 percent of all people who piss on Trump are totally incompetent idiots. The number grows every day. What an honor it must be.
No. I am not thanking you right now, but I think the R "47%" could benefit from a clear view of the Emporer.
Ps. trump will certainly not use the word " harridan" in his economic speech.
A Bush cave-in: Jeb's son, George, is now urging his Republican Texans to hold their noses and do the right thing––not for the country, mind you, but for the party and to prevent that woman, Mrs. Clinton, for ever becoming President. So my fellow mericans, vote for Trump who will dump his dumps all over thee and me and thousands three.
https://www.texastribune.org/2016/08/07/george-p-bush-trump-holdout-urges-support-him/
Is this article in the Charlotte Observer for real? Sounds more like
the Onion.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article94019107.html
Anyway, sounds like something trump really would do, drop out and
endorse Hillary.
Andy Borowitz
On Monday, Trump will unveil the details of his economic plan, which calls for every American to inherit a billion dollars from their father.
De real deal on our journalistic future via John Oliver : Perhaps DelReal has an editor that is more of a puppy person or one of Trump's minions threatened Jose with god knows what ...?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/john-oliver-newspapers_us_57a82d11e4b021fd98790052?section=&
@forrest morris: It's an op-ed. It's satire, tho serious people have told me they thought Trump was purposely trying to throw the election. He may be, subconsciously, but what we're seeing in the insults & threats & conspiracy theories & lies is the #RealDonaldTrump, not a newly-invented, fake routine to promote himself. He's never behaved any differently.
Marie
There are only two possibilities. Trump wins or the election was 'rigged'. The idea that he loses, never mind to a women, is impossible.
How can the only person on earth who knows everything possibly lose?
It's time for the media to use the right words.
Delusional, malignant NPD.
Still on the road, checking in after another hiatus and see this morning little has changed. There's this new Olympics thing that gets headlines but as I drank my coffee my wife counted four or five Trump references in the NYTimes headers to one for HRC, so no change there. The free ride for the comic candidate continues.
Nor has my wonderment lessened over why from the beginning anyone saw Trump as a serious Presidential candidate, because he's so obviously not. No, the serious element of his candidacy is not anything about him. It's the very grave questions his support raises about our country and the nature of our democracy. He clearly does not have the education, experience, character, none of the necessary qualifications for office, but thousands support, even admire him nonetheless.
The extent and nature of that support make me think of the similarity many have seen between the psychology of suicide bombers and the manner in which Congressional Republicans have approached governing during the Obama years. If you don't get your way, bomb it or burn it down. Trump no doubt exhibits NPD, but the party under whose banner he chose to run has shown classic signs of arrested development for years. The GOP, Greedy Old People who act like spoiled children.
Trump's success as a Presidential candidate, when he should have been laughed off the stage years ago, is disturbing evidence that the coalition of GOP and spoiled children of all ages, embarrassing as it is, is a very potent force in our benighted land.
Want a live blog (you really should) of Trump's economic speech? Visit Kai Ryssdall's twitter. I'm telling you - this Twitter is great!
(Ryssdall does Marketplace for NPR)
It's not just trump running off at the mouth about regulations. On Saturday morning, William Weld (former R governor of Massachusetts and current Libertarian VP candidate) was interviewed on NPR's Morning Edition:
http://www.npr.org/2016/08/06/488969901/libertarian-william-weld-outlines-platform-amid-major-party-candidates-unfavorab
The part that really annoyed me was when Weld was talking about changing Obamacare: "I would want to move it more in the direction of having greater competition and greater control by individuals so they could buy a Chevrolet plan if they wanted to instead of a Cadillac plan."
Chevrolets are regulated. And people survive crashes in Chevrolets because of those regulations. What he really wants is to let people buy the health care equivalent of a go-cart and drive it on the interstate.
NiskyGuy,
Something like this?
Come on now Hilary. Obviously you have not read the definitive pamphlet ,"The Proper Role of Women" by D. Trump. #1 Never, ever try to usurp the status or rightful place of any male. #2 Do what you're told by males and especially a spouse, at all times. #3 Always make yourself attractive, if you become a "fat pig" or begin to show your age, absent yourself from view immediately. Better yet, graciously step aside for a suitable replacement. #4 Don't hesitate to lie, embellish or twist your resume to make your male partner look good. Clearly possessions reflect the standing of the owner.
Oh and don't worry if you posed nude with a hand over your crotch for free (says the editor of Max) at anytime in your "career". Its proof that you have an unfailing understanding of your role in the world.
@unwashed,
Yikes. Yes, and I guess you really can find anything on YouTube.