Donald Trump met with the editorial board of the Washington Post. They asked him tough questions. What came through was the real Donald Trump. Self-absorbed, superficial, narcissistic, ill-informed, cocky, and–although he likes to say that he is very intelligent–not very intelligent. People who are intelligent never claim to be; they just are.
The Washington Post published the transcript. It is worth your time to read it.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The thing that stands out in this interview is how many “I’ show up in Trump’s conversation. “I will say”…; “I know….;” I am”….; “I got”…; “I hear…”I think”…;”I have”…”I would”….etc.
Why anyone would vote for such an egotistical, bigoted bully? Can’t the GOP come up with better candidates than this? The Republican elite has to be way out of touch with the common man for Trump to get votes. It’s a sad commentary on the state of politics in the US.
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“The thing that stands out in this interview is how many “I’ show up in Trump’s conversation. “I will say”…; “I know….;” I am”….; “I got”…; “I hear…”I think”…;”I have”…”I would”….etc.”
I notice the same thing when Hillary Clinton speaks.
From http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/12/politics/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-pronouns/
“Clinton may be one of the most experienced presidential candidates in recent history, and yet a pitch based on that might be a drawback on a campaign. She used the pronouns “I” or “me” in that speech 44 times. She used the words “we” or “us” less than half that amount — 21 times.
For Sanders, it was the exact opposite. Sanders used the words “I” or “me” 26 times. “We” or “us” was used more than twice as much — 54 times.
These moments were hardly comprehensive, but we looked at them in light of a criticism we’d been hearing about Clinton from Democrats. Clinton’s pitch to voters is all about her, they said. Her experience. Her readiness.
Sanders’ experience is about them. What they all can do together.”
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“Can’t the GOP come up with better candidates than this? ”
The other GOP candidates were boring, predictable. They’ve had no chance. If he manages to control his crowd, who will stop Benito Trump?
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Ed, I’ve noticed that Bernie constantly uses the royal “we” when talking about what he would do as president. It’s typical politician-speak, and I find it annoying and disingenuous. I even commented to my husband about it during the Flint debate.
Hillary doesn’t do that so much, so she’s not going to get great scores from the pronoun monitors, but I much prefer her normal use of pronouns. It seems much less B.S.-y to me.
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Bernie’s use of “we” doesn’t bother me that way. I interpret it as a reference to the group of people who’d be carrying out his policies if he was elected.
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Mom2Twins, I couldn’t disagree more. Use of “we” is not bullshitty. Thinking that politics is about you, the politician — rather than the public — is bullshitty.
I suspect you are merely cynical that Bernie’s “we” is a rhetorical device, rather than an ushering in of a new paradigm in politics. But cynicism is based in fear, while skepticism is healthy and can be confirmed or denied by looking at the facts. The fact is that Bernie has always been about “us,” and he is speaking the truth that a political movement is necessary to move forward.
A public official’s motives — and ability to include “the people” in the policy reasoning — is a strong indicator of what kind of leader they are/will be.
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Reading this reminds me of the George Steinbrenner character in Seinfeld. That show was a comedy. This is a national tragedy.
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Cross posted at http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/A-transcript-of-Donald-Tru-in-Best_Web_OpEds-Donald-Trump_Questions_Trump-Lies-160323-518.html#comment589288
It is hard to listen to this dunce talk. harder still is to hear people I know, when I say, what do you know about Trumps, begin their conversatonwith ” well some of the things he says make a good point.”
Ya think.
Trumps ignorance is matched by that of our citizens.
HERE IS A GOOD LINK to “the Man The Founding Father’s Feared:
http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/The-Man-the-Founders-Feare-in-Best_Web_OpEds-Donald-Trump_Lies_Lies-Republican_Lying-Lies-Prevarication-160320-147.html#comment588817
And although I am no Brooks fan, he nailed the serial betrayer in this one DON’T MISS IT”
Another good piece on this man is Truth-out’s “Trump’s Sucker Punch to Democracy.” here is a small section:
http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/trump-s-dangerous-sucker-punch-to-the-us-is-aiming-to-knockout-democracy
A prescient September 2015 article on the If You Only News website provides context for understanding that, as overused as the Hitler analogy is as applied to Trump, it is hard to believe that the “master salesman and negotiator” would not be interested in the propaganda and psychological tools Hitler used to rise to power:
By 1932, a recently unknown party called the Nazis was somehow able to get 33 percent of the vote (a majority), and Hitler was then appointed head of the German government as chancellor.
The Nazi party and Hitler became wildly popular among German citizenry with the use of endless propaganda that included large amounts of money spent on campaigns filled with nationalistic slogans. These campaigns were then dispersed via newspapers, posters, leaflets, etc. Anything, really, to rally support behind their lies.
Hitler wanted the nation to return to greatness and be a worldwide force to be reckoned with. And what greater way to rally support than by blaming a minority group for all the nation’s problems, in this case Jewish individuals?…
To combat his political rivals, Hitler had the Sturm Abteilung (SA), often called the “Brownshirts.” Their job was to go after all who disagreed with Hitler. Basically, he sent them to do his dirty work.
Replace the Jews as scapegoats with Mexicans, Muslims, Blacks, etc. — and consider the white supremacy militias as modern Brownshirts — and the pre-Holocaust consolidation of power by Hitler has an odiously familiar stench to it. Hitler vilified the Jews as the “vermin” of Germany. Meanhwhile, Trump has replaced Jews with others to blame for perceived ills in the US. He told CNN’s Jake Tapper this past Sunday, “I don’t even call ’em liberals….These people [non-whites and liberals] are bad people that are looking to do harm to our country.”
An August 2015 Addicting Info article offered a tantalizing insight into how Trump may have regarded Hitler as the master marketer of the ultimate product: power through emotional manipulation: READ MORE
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Godwin’s Law is suspended for the duration of Trump’s political career. Hopefully it won’t be much longer.
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Listen to Trump, we need to build a wall as the goons are coming for us. You see people the political correctness has destroyed this country. Obama has turned back time aneed the country he is currently in (Cuba) is so freken backwards yet obama feels a need to be there. The question is why?? Cuba offers nothing but cigars and they even suck. Other than that now we have another trade partner to suck more money out of the country.
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Johnny Joe, the best way to end the Castro regime is to open Cuba to commerce
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Great Diane–so American companies will move to Cuba for cheap labor and operating costs, while the Cuban will people flock to the land of good and plenty for the freebies. The US loses jobs but gains more mouths to feed–wow, sounds like another win win for us!
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List all the freebies that these alleged Cuban immigrants are going to get when they become a resident of the U.S.?
If they enter illegally, they get little to nothing from any social welfare program. If they want to enter legally, they have to get in line just like everyone else in the world and immigration comes with limitations and quotas.
You might want to educate yourself starting with the law for legal immigration.
http://bartlettlaw.com/understanding-immigration.aspx
10 myths about immigration from Teaching Tolerance
For instance — The myth that alleges undocumented immigrants don’t pay taxes but still get benefits.
Fact: “Undocumented immigrants pay taxes every time they buy gas, clothes or new appliances. They also contribute to property taxes—a main source of school funding—when they buy or rent a house, or rent an apartment. The U.S. Social Security Administration estimated that in 2013 undocumented immigrants—and their employers—paid $13 billion in payroll taxes alone for benefits THEY WILL NEVER GET. They can receive schooling and emergency medical care, but NOT welfare or food stamps.”
http://www.tolerance.org/immigration-myths
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You are absolutely right Johnny Joe. Lloyd, here are the freebies: The ILLEGAL immigrants’ children are entitled to a FREE education that we pay for in our INCOME taxes. That means I have to work to pay for those kids–and those kids need extra services being ENL learners, so they’re more expensive to educate than my own children. They also get free lunch, that I have to work to pay for through my income taxes. And no, those illegals don’t pay income tax–our biggest tax. While all of those extra dollars are spent on those illegal residents, our school budgets in New York are straining under the tax cap. We are cutting elective courses to add more ENL teachers, so those illegal kids get their educational opportunity while my children don’t get their electives. So Johnny and Trump are absolutely right. TRUMP 2016.
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NY Teacher, would you prefer that these children get no education, no food, and no healthcare?
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I think that anyone who supports Trump supports a dictatorship, the next world war, racism, segregation, suffering, poverty and concentration camps.
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Wrong – the public schools are not supported by “Income tax”. In California, property tax and the lottery support public schools. And why should children be punished for their parents entering the United States illegally? I think you want the children of illegal immigrants, even children born in the U.S. and many children of illegal immigrants are born in the U.S., to be treated like children were before the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
“About 7% of K-12 students had at least one unauthorized immigrant parent in 2012. Among these students, about eight-in-ten (79%) were born in the U.S. In Nevada, almost one-in-five students (18%) have at least one unauthorized immigrant parent, the largest share in the nation. Other top states on this measure are California (13%), Texas (13%) and Arizona (11%).”
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/11/19/5-facts-about-illegal-immigration-in-the-u-s/
Do the math, about 1.47% of K – 12 children in the U.S. are also illegal immigrants like their parents or less than 2 children of every 100 attending public schools in the U.S.
Yes, you have proven beyond a doubt that you are a Trump supporter and have willingly swallowed his lies.
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A lot of education funding in California comes from state aid, which comes mainly from the state’s general fund, which includes a lot of income tax revenue. I’m not aware of any state whose public schools are financed entirely by property taxes and the lottery.
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It is obvious, that you are impervious to evidence, and use your own beliefs to farther the argument. Yous eserve the kind of nation that serial betrayer would give you, but WE DON’T.
Here is what he will do for the schools, another con.
http://www.factcheck.org/2016/03/trump-universitys-d-rating/?utm_source=FactCheck.org&utm_campaign=0f94bf5863-FactCheck_Newsletter_3_11_20163_11_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_3294bba774-0f94bf5863-47810389
Europe sees what you cannot.
YOU will elect the man the founders feared and you think you are a patriot!
IF YOU are so interested in the schools, then learn about ALEC.
http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/ALEC-Relentlessly-Cashes-i-in-Best_Web_OpEds-Alec_Alec-Exposed_Corporations_Legislative-160322-178.html#comment589114
Or get some real facts about what is going wrong instead of buying the big CON about those immigrants. If you want to really know whois ending eduction look at this WELATH N AMERICA, because it aint the immigrants who are screwing you.
and then there is this truth -teller… forgive the language–he makes his point
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Johnnyjoe, the myth of PC is just that, and so is your silly myth based trolling. Mom of five, the Cuban people will have no desire to come to America if given the chance to rebuild their own country, one they truly love and want to be better. The whole reason American companies want to follow the lead of all the others from other lands who are already there is to set up shop in Cuba because the opportunities their are big and diverse, the idea that the Cuban people would leave town at the very time when they, who are best positioned to take advantage of such opportunities after being denied for decades is pathetically absurd in the extreme. If anything, you will see Cubans living in America returning home to aid in the expansion and rebuilding of a land they still hunger to reside in.
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THANKS for being so smart! 🙂
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It does depend on the state, Lloyd. In my state, 100% of income taxes are used for k-12 and higher education. It’s then supplemented with property taxes.
That being said, I agree with the rest of your argument. And New York teacher–schools are REQUIRED by the federal government to provide education for any child that walks through the door. Immigration status does NOT play into it (Plyler vs. Doe). And I refuse to have a permanent underclass of people that cannot access anything because someone is undocumented.
How Christian is it (or any other faith) to deny children food, education, and medical care? I’d MUCH rather pay for those things than all of the pork-barrel stuff, and that includes some mythical wall between us and Mexico that your candidate wants.
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Here you go Lloyd. 5 billion paid out to illegals by out federal government every year! It is a tax scam and many are cashing in big time by claiming 10 dependents on their tax returns (nieces and nephews who still live in Mexico). Wake up buddy! http://www.factcheck.org/2012/05/tax-credits-for-illegal-immigrants/ http://www.infowars.com/millions-of-illegal-immigrants-are-using-a-massive-scam-to-get-bigger-tax-refunds-than-you-are/
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You do know that GE doesn’t pay taxes, and there is 23 TRILLION dollars from our wealthy corporations an billionaires parked offshore?
More than half of the wealth generated by our taxes goes to a bloated Pentagon that has been known to pay 1000 per toilet seat and is welfare for the death merchants who push weapons that don’t work and are not needed.
You worry about all the children of immigrants, who 100 years from now will be like the immigrant ancestors of other migrations here from Ireland, Russia, Italy, Cuba, , etc, opening businesses and making an America that is unlike any country anywhere.
Are there scams. YEAH… but the tax loopholes –where the people who are in the 1/10th of 1%, 400 families, own more of our national wealth that the entire rest of the nation– are just fine.
Thanks for your link. Here is one for you https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPKKQnijnsM
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Good try. but you earn an F for getting off topic unless you can prove that 2% of the children in the United States, who are illegal aliens, are responsible for ripping off the IRS for 19% of the total that the IRS loses to this fraud annually.
In addition—I clicked the link you provided—illegal immigrants rip off the IRS for $4 billion — not $5 billion as you alleged.
“It is estimated that 2 million illegal immigrants are filing fraudulent tax returns each year and that they are pulling in more than 4 billion dollars in tax refunds every year that they are not entitled to.”
It is obvious to me that you have learned one thing from Trump—how to exaggerate and/or lie to make a flawed point since DT is the emperor of lies and exaggerations.
What about the whole picture for tax-refund fraud.
“Tax-refund fraud to hit $21 billion, and there’s little the IRS can do.”
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/02/11/tax-refund-fraud-to-hit-21-billion-and-theres-little-the-irs-can-do.html
What do we do with citizens and legal aliens who are involved in the other $17 billion that was robbed from the IRS through tax refund fraud?
Back to K – 12 children that illegal aliens — after all, the main theme of this Blog is education and not how the IRS loses money to fraud unless only school age children are behind the theft of 19% of this IRS fraud.
Most children of undocumented immigrants—73% in 2008—are U.S. citizens by birth. This number has increased rapidly in recent years, from 2.7 million in 2003 to 4 million in 2008. By contrast, the number of unauthorized immigrant children has stayed constant at 1.5 million since 2008 and may have declined slightly since 2005.
The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 1.5 million undocumented students currently reside in the United States. Of these students, approximately 765,000 arrived in the United States before turning sixteen. It is also estimated that there were 360,000 undocumented high school graduates between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four in the United States in 2006. However, it is estimated that each year only 5 to 10 percent of undocumented high-school graduates—about 65,000 nationwide—are eligible to attend college. In 2005, only about 50,000 undocumented students enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities. Of these college students, 18,000 were enrolled in California community colleges in the 2005-2006 school year as a result of financial accessibility. According to Roberto Gonzalez, Professor of Sociology at the University of Washington, “Given the opportunity to receive additional education and move into better-paying jobs, undocumented students would pay more in taxes and have more money to spend and invest in the U.S. economy.”
The 1.5 million is just not K-12 children but all children up to age 18 when legally, the children become adults.
There are almost 74 million children in the U.S. That translated to 2% of all children in the U.S. being illegal aliens. I think it is safe to say that these children are not the actual perpetrators of this IRS fraud.
FLERP mentioned in another comment in this threat that there were other taxes that fund public education in California besides property tax and the lottery. That was good to know—that illegal aliens that end up paying taxes through purchases of products, buying cars and paying rent or buying property are contributing to the public schools too.
“Undocumented immigrants paid $11.8 billion in state and local taxes in 2012. This ranged from roughly $3.2 million on Montana (home to only 6,000 undocumented immigrants ) to $3.2 billion in California (with an undocumented population numbers 3.1 million.”
http://immigrationimpact.com/2015/04/21/how-much-do-undocumented-immigrants-pay-in-state-and-local-taxes/
One more point: Your initial claim alleged that illegal immigrants were collecting money from social safety net programs—better known as welfare—like unemployment or food stamps through SNAP. It was not about the share of fraud and crime by illegal immigrants.
Since you brought up crime, lets look a bit closer at it in comparison to the total.
“For more than a century, innumerable studies have confirmed two simple yet powerful truths about the relationship between immigration and crime: immigrants are less likely to commit serious crimes or be behind bars than the native-born, and high rates of immigration are associated with lower rates of violent crime and property crime. This holds true for both legal immigrants and the unauthorized, regardless of their country of origin or level of education. In other words, the overwhelming majority of immigrants are not ‘criminals’ by any commonly accepted definition of the term. For this reason, harsh immigration policies are not effective in fighting crime.”
http://immigrationpolicy.org/special-reports/criminalization-immigration-united-states
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I add to this, Lloyd, that our total federal yearly tax revenue is more than $3,000 billion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_budget
The $4 billion alleged tax loss due to illegal immigrants is barely 0.1% of this total tax revenue. That’s less than one tenth of a single percent.
What I’d like to know is how much the IRS is losing due to GE, Google and friends not paying their taxes. In other words, how much “should be” the corporate income tax revenue had these ginormous corporations paid their taxes. Presently, the total corporate tax revenue is $300 billion.
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“What I’d like to know is how much the IRS is losing due to GE, Google and friends not paying their taxes. In other words, how much “should be” the corporate income tax revenue had these ginormous corporations paid their taxes.”
A piece in Forbes reports that number at more than $110 billion.
“The 965 companies in the report received over $110 billion of public money.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/taxanalysts/2014/03/14/where-is-the-outrage-over-corporate-welfare/#6e9e4cb96881
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Thanks. What I’d like to know is a per year tax we lose due to big companies not paying.
So for example, GE is supposed to pay x amount each year, but they pay nothing, Google is supposed to pay y amount, but they pay only 1% of that, etc.
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AH , Lloyd. such a great argument, but people are impervious to evidence.
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The people who support Trump are impervious to evidence. This is an extremist crowd and all their reactions are linked to their biased, racist, elitist, supremacist emotions.
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Yes, BUT, I hear people I meet, and people I know, smart folks who are not extremists, and they are blind to the CON!
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Even people who appear smart allow their emotions to make most or all of their decisions.
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Of course, that is a given, but what scares me is how many people have been conned.
I should not be surprises, and I remember Vance Packard and Marshall McCluah, and was a student of th media back in the fifties when tv was new. I was there when the mad men did the jFK campaign, and something new entered the equation of politics.
it was one thing to sell soap and fashions, but quite another when the most powerful propaganda tool became so ubiquitous that the people of this nation did not see what ti had done to them. It changed this nation into a consumer society, so that truth peace a nebulous idea.
Maher began his “truth is dead” by adding “and the internet killed it.
No, it added the final blow! The little screen added to the big one became a network where myth and truth were muddled….hence a “drumf.” He sold himself to a citizenry that had been primed with reality shows, winners and losers to the point that a charlatan could sell them the idea that he was a winner,- no evidence required.
As Krugman said last week ‘impervious to evidence.’ I am stealing that from him, and putting it on a file which contains links to the mutterings of the climate deniers. http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Humanity-s-Final-Exam—in-Sci_Tech-Adaptation-To-Climate-Change_Climate_Climate-Change_Ocean-Warming-160324-531.html#comment589513
TV replaced all the values a society holds sacred for its beneficial quality.
Violence and aggression replaced cooperation and compromise.
‘Self-esteem’ that stemmed from real accomplishment and performance, was replaced by awards for just showing up. The big con began in the entertainment industry, and our people are wallowing in the entertainment that this election season is providing.
Trump is an expert at selling the con. That is all he has done for a lifetime. In fact, his ‘deals’ failed as early as 1988
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/03/1988-the-year-donald-lost-his-mind-213721failed
This time, however, the people are buying a fraud who will be the head of the most powerful hegemony in history…, and when he makes a mess, and fails to deliver, it won’t be a university that fails, http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/Trump-University-s-D-Rati-in-General_News-Trump-Lies-160311-177.html
Or a mortgage company where people lose their homes. He is a serial betrayer:
It will be our democracy.
http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/trump-s-dangerous-sucker-punch-to-the-us-is-aiming-to-knockout-democracy
Liz Warren talked about his failed businesses ,
http://gawker.com/a-complete-list-of-donald-trump-s-business-disasters-1764151188
as
Republicans ARE running a Con game on America, as Krugman says,
http://all-len-all.com/paul-krugman-republicans-are-running-a-con-game-on-america/
because television belongs to the Kochs and other ALEC zillionaires. 64 people, which includes the Kochs have as much wealth as 3.5 billion of the poorest people on earth.
This is money that corrupts people, and they are Toxic.
They own the media and their dark money ended politics
http://billmoyers.com/story/how-the-media-enabled-donald-trump-by-destroying-politics-first/
Moyes got it right when he talked about the ‘chokehold they have on our democracy…. thanks to Citizen’s United.
http://billmoyers.com/2015/02/25/end-big-moneys-chokehold-democracy-amend-constitution/?utm_source=General+Interest&utm_campaign=3e81ce4555-Midweek12171412_17_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4ebbe6839f-3e81ce4555-168347829 r
An ignorant citizenry with no memory of the past are like the animals in Orwell’s prescient satire “Animal Farm”. The pigs are in the farmhouse, and the animals have forgotten the charter in the barn. So, like the Kochs, the pigs could rewrite history! Kochs rewriting america’s story
http://billmoyers.com/story/the-kochs-are-ghostwriting-americas-story/
Our people have no idea what it was like in 1939 when Hitler sold the people that he was a winner…so they don’t know when Trump borrows from his playbook.http://www.ifyouonlynews.com/politics/evidence-trump-is-politicking-straight-out-of-hitlers-playbook/
The power and politics of the mega wealthy are at work on our schools, AND THAT FOLKS, is why the schools are going down fast! But it is in this election cycle that we see how the power and privilege of the 1% can warp a presidential candidate, and bamboozle even smart people.
http://billmoyers.com/segment/matt-taibbi-and-chrystia-freeland-on-the-one-percents-power-and-privileges/
Hey, look at all those link… I am a journalist at Oped, and we must link, so I go lots of them that tell the story.
Bye, Lloyd it is 10:30 pm here in NY
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There have always been fools, but it was easier for those who knew those fools best to ignore them before the world-wide web arrived and made it easy for the fools to link up. The louder the noise, the stronger this mob feels the power of their numbers and it makes these bullies bold. Just look at ISIL and other modern day terrorist groups and how the internet is supporting their movements through secrecy using encryption and/or the dark net. They feed each other the same lies and because there are so many of them agreeing with each other, they take that as evidence it has to be true.
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“They feed each other the same lies and because there are so many of them agreeing with each other, they take that as evidence it has to be true.”
I am not sure, it’s the lies which is important. It’s the recipe which is thousands of years old, and it’s been working every time: “We’re gonna make our country great again.” This is the most dangerous slogan because it implies, somebody ran the country down, and we have to fight against those people. Fight.
The slogan doesn’t always work: when people can afford to think about other people, they do that. But if they can’t, because they have to think about survival, then the slogan will work.
The problem is, people almost never end up blaming and fighting the real enemy, the people who ran their country down.
Has Trump used the word fight yet?
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“I’d like to punch him in the face” is the same as urging his followers to fight. In addition, the Express in the UK reported that “Donald Trump has ordered his loyal followers to ‘beat the c**p’ out of protestors who may hurl tomatoes during the Republican front-runner’s speech in Iowa caucus.” The Wall Street Journal reported on the same quote.
Mr. Trump has been drawing large crowds throughout his presidential bid, encouraging supporters to shout down protests in the crowd. At a Feb. 1 rally, Mr. Trump urged his supporters to “knock the crap” out of a protester, and on Feb. 23, at another rally, he said: “I’d like to punch him in the face,” referring to a protester.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trumps-campaign-cancels-rally-at-chicago-arena-1457745513
Trump has also never defined what he means by “making America Great Again”.
What Trump means by that slogan might not be what his followers are thinking.
I think Trump means a return to 1900 when there were no labor unions, no minimum wage, women did not have the vote and children as young as five could be sold into a form of slavery, that included prostitution, and it was called servitude where children worked 16 hour days up to 6 days or more a week and were paid starvation wages with no job protection, no health benefits, no unemployment benefits, no future Social Security or Medicare and no retirement benefits. In addition, all Civil Rights laws would be rolled back to zero and minorities would become legalized second class citizens again and white supremacy would totally rule the nation and no one would be allowed to protest any ting Trump says or does. Trump has clearly revealed that he believes in censorship in direct opposition to the U.S. Constitution’s 1st Amendment.
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We are on the same page.
Listen to the crap about option gout that is being fed to the fools today in the nY Times
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Lloyd and Susan…It’s interesting that I offered my opinions for a discussion with other people. Because you don’t agree with my opinions you offered your rebuttal and evidence to make your point, and I respect that. I offered my rebuttal and evidence back to you and so on. I like that type of discussion–maybe we all walk away with something, maybe not. Never once did I call you a name, or ever think that you are bad people–you actually had some good points. BUT, I don’t get that same respect from you. For people you don’t agree with you’ve freely thrown around terms like racist, elitist, having supremacist emotions, fools, bullies, and even ISIS terrorists! Really?! Because I want secure borders and people to come legally to this country I am labeled a racist? It seems to me when people feel weak in their own arguments they fall back on personal attacks and name calling to “prove” their points. Kind of like the anti-Trump people who intimidate others, call them names, and stand in roads to stop them from attending a rally. It is American to disagree, but unAmerican to do so with unfair labels that are an attempt to shut down conversation.
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Do you have any idea how impossible it would be to secure America’s borders? The U.S. has 5,525 miles of border with Canada and 12,989 miles with Mexico and our maritime border4 includes 95,000 miles of shoreline.
Building Trump’s Wall along the Mexican border will not secure America’s borders. Business Insider Magazine reveals 16 Maps of Drug Flow Into the United States. The drugs come from all over the world – not just Mexico. And if the U.S. did manage to seal its border with Mexico, the smuggling of illegal drugs would shift to our shoreline and northern border. Learn from history. Where did most of the illegal booze enter the United States during Prohibition?
http://www.businessinsider.com/16-maps-of-drug-flow-into-the-united-states-2012-7?op=1
No, I don’t think you want to secure America’s borders. I think you support a return to the isolationism that led to World War I and World War II.
As for the name calling, how can you condemn those who disagree with you and allegedly call you names when Donald Trump does the same thing for those that he disagrees with.
From CBC World News: Donald Trump’s new normal: protestors, violence and name-calling.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-protester-violence-name-calling-1.3489800
Donald Trump Heaps Insults on Lindsey Graham, Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton, Other Foes
– Time Magazine.
http://time.com/3966085/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-jeb-bush-lindsey-graham/
Trump, Cruz, and Rubio Resort to Name Calling
http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/donald-trump-ted-cruz-marco-rubio-name-calling/2016/02/29/id/716638/
Donald Trump and His Name Calling: Why Hasn’t it Backfired Yet?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-russnow/donald-trump-and-his-name-calling-why-hasnt-it-backfired-yet_b_8002324.html
Back to sealing our borders: How is that going to stop home grown terrorist who are not even Muslims?
The New York Times reports that “Homegrown Extremists Tied to Deadlier Toll Than Jihadists in the U.S. Since 9/11”
“What about mass killings in which no ideological motive is evident, such as those at a Colorado movie theater and a Connecticut elementary school in 2012? The criteria used by New America and most other research groups exclude such attacks, which have cost more lives than those clearly tied to ideology.”
I think if you support Donald Trump than you also support name calling and that means, if everything is equal, you can be called names by anyone who wants to do it.
Did you know that the closest thing to the word or concept of “equality” in the U.S. Constitution is found in the 14th Amendment that was added in 1868 – “no state shall … deny to any person within its jurisdat9ion the equal protection of the laws.”?
But the 1st Amendment clearly says we have freedom of expression and can’t be p8unished by the government for that right but private sector corporations can punish their employee and their customers if the corporation doesn’t like what they say.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The UK’s Guardian reports: “Donald Trump attacking free speech only feeds the conspiracy junkies?”
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/12/donald-trump-dont-ban-censorship-doesnt-work
In conclusion, I think if you still support Donald Trump, you also support freedom of expression but only for Trump and his followers and not those who do not support DT.
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You were spot on Lloyd, but people likelier are deaf to evidence, or she could never have read what we said as an affront.
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I reread the posts. I don’t think Lloyd or Susan’s tone got more personal than yours, Mo5. They certainly didn’t call you racist or anything you seem to imply. Please reread.
Trump may have valid points about immigration (one has to be careful about immigration policy as the recent immigration crisis in Europe has shown), but his rhetoric doesn’t induce careful thought. Instead, and this is difficult to deny, his speeches induce uncontrolled emotions, hate. He is whipping up the crowd, and one can downplay this, but easily found videos on youtube show, speeches similar to his led to WWII.
One old friend, who lived through WWII as a teenager, summarized it like this “Trump’s rhetoric is the same as those those two’s but without the articulation.”
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Thanks… I know I don’t name call… but these days, when you dare to speak truth, the other side lashes out…look at trump.
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Here you go Mate: “The people who support Trump are impervious to evidence. This is an extremist crowd and all their reactions are linked to their biased, racist, elitist, supremacist emotions.” (Lloyd) “There have always been fools, but it was easier for those who knew those fools best to ignore them before the world-wide web arrived and made it easy for the fools to link up. The louder the noise, the stronger this mob feels the power of their numbers and it makes these bullies bold. Just look at ISIL and other modern day terrorist groups and how the internet is supporting their movements through secrecy using encryption and/or the dark net. They feed each other the same lies and because there are so many of them agreeing with each other, they take that as evidence it has to be true. ” (Lloyd) “Our people have no idea what it was like in 1939 when Hitler sold the people that he was a winner…so they don’t know when Trump borrows from his playbook.” (Susan). There are only some of the examples of the name calling used in this post. They are generalizing about me and others without even knowing us, our families, or our values. In the past the silent majority shut up when attacked with the “racist” comments and personal attacks, but no longer. That playbook is old and part of the reason the Trump train grows stronger every day.
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Well, Mo5, when my European friends say Americans bully and even terrorize the world, I don’t take it personally because I know, they are not talking about every single American, they may even just talk about American international politics. I have to accept the fact that I live in a country which does bully many other countries. I used to be quite ignorant of this and started to learn about the US actions abroad only after hearing these criticisms.
Similarly, Susan and Lloyd’s statements were not about every single Trump supporter, but conveyed a generic impression. Unfair, but there is no denying of the similarities between Trump’s rhetoric and those of Mussolini and Hitler—and many other similar figures in history. There were many people, like Einstein, who saw the danger in Hitler’s rhetoric from the beginning, and left Germany without delay, but many more stayed supportive even throughout the war—despite of plenty of warnings from others.
Don’t think, that Hitler or Mussolini were openly talking about camps and gas chambers. In fact, it seems they kept themselves away from truly comprehending the horrors of those camps.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1481809/Hitler-kept-himself-aloof-from-the-dirtiest-work.html
When you listen to their speeches, especially the early ones, they don’t say anything stronger than Trump. They talk about a need for restoring the greatness of their country which was taken away by various evil forces, and they talk about how much they understand the common people’s economic hardships—again emphasizing the dark forces that cause these hardships. They then gradually started planting fear: fear of foreigners, fear of Jews.
I understand why your feelings are hurt, Mo5, but at the same time, I’d also examine that Trump train, because it may turn out to be similar to a Hitler train.
I used to think that I’d support any force that would end the power of the billionaires and their multinational companies. But the Trump led change may run out of control to a bloody end. It’s possible to interpret Trump’s talks as straight and honest, but to many, he appears to lack control of his thoughts and emotions. This is scary from a person who aspires to lead the most powerful nation, and whose words and actions would affect billions of people.
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Mom of Five,
Mom of Five was not named in that comment and Susan didn’t call Mom of Five a name. We both talked in general about most if not all of Donald Trump’s ignorant foolish followers. If you took what we said personally when it wasn’t a personal attack on one person, than that is your problem—not ours, and I am not sorry for what you think we said about you as an individual.
There is a big difference between calling a person by their name a fool and calling the millions of people that support Donald Trump ignorant fools. But of course, we don’t even know your name so how can anyone attack you personally unless your name is really “Mom of Five”?
All we know is that you go by “Mom of Five.” You could be anyone.
And I still think that most if not all of Donald Trump’s followers are ignorant fools that let their emotions make decisions for them—emotions that are influenced by their own personal biases and prejudices. Look at that previous sentence carefully. I did not say they were ignorant fools. I said I think that most if not all of them are.
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Exactly. I was puzzled. I will say this… whomever Mom of I’ve is… I RESENT YOUR MISREADING AND ACCUSATION, but them I grasp who you are!
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I think that Mom of Five’s reaction is an example of how most if not all of Donald Trump’s followers think. They don’t!
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Mom of Five alleged that “The Trump Train Grows Stronger everyday.”
If anything, the Trump Train isn’t getting stronger. It’s just gets louder everyday.
Have you read what Nate Silver has to say about Donald Trump?
Nate Silver writes, “Donald Trump Is Really Unpopular With General Election Voters.”
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/donald-trump-is-really-unpopular-with-general-election-voters/
There are more than 146.3 million registered voters in the United States. 46% of them are independent voters. 26% or registered Republicans. 30% are registered Democrats. How many of those registered voters voted in the 2012 Presidential election? 126.144 million or 86.2% of registered voters.
How many registered Republicans have voted in the primaries—only members of the GOP are allowed to vote in GOP primaries?
Nate Silver says, “Through the first 12 primaries of 2016, combined Republican turnout has been 17.3% of eligible voters – the highest of any year since at least 1980.”
Trump has won less than 50% of the primary votes in the GOP so far. There are about 38 million registered Republicans, but less than 8.6% have voted for Donald so far—less than 3 million versus a total of 146.3 million registered voters. Two percent of registered voters in the United States does not translate into the Trump Train growing stronger.
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Will never vote Democrat again…Every obstacle in this teacher’s way was put there by a Democrat, or heavily supported by a Democrat elected in the past 20 years.
If its Trump, he’s got my vote. Quite frankly, I liked Diane much better when she was politically even-handed. Though I love the anti-common core Diane, I miss the Diane who wrote The Language Police.
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Really. You will show the DEMS?
http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/trump-s-dangerous-sucker-punch-to-the-us-is-aiming-to-knockout-democracy
http://www.opednews.com/Quicklink/A-transcript-of-Donald-Tru-in-Best_Web_OpEds-Donald-Trump_Questions_Trump-Lies-160323-518.html#comment589288
You want this self promoter, serial betrayer, narcissist?
http://trofire.com/2016/03/22/trump-jumps-politicize-brussels-attack-wants-close-american-border/
Such ignorance scare me!
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The Washington Post reported on Trump’s speaking to AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee). Here is part of the article:
“But no AIPAC speech had been criticized like Trump’s. Jane Eisner, the editor in chief of Jewish news source the Forward, wrote that she was “ashamed that any of my fellow Jews could applaud” Trump.
“I am ashamed that they would succumb to the pandering lies,” she wrote. “Donald Trump ought to have been received civilly but silently by AIPAC. Instead, the applause spoke volumes.”
Chemi Shalev, a correspondent for Israel’s Haaretz, left the Trump speech in shock and asked how fellow Jews could have applauded it.
“The enthusiastic reception given Trump could very well deepen the fault lines inside the Jewish community that were uncovered over the summer in the bitter clash over the Iran nuclear deal,” he wrote, adding that “it was good enough to transform Trump from a morally repugnant presidential candidate into a run of the mill contender who deserves as much respect as the others.”
…………
Trump is not earning friends either nationally or internationally.
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Hillary is more subtle about it, but she’s almost equally self-absorbed, superficial, narcissistic and cocky.
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Maybe, but she’s not a lunatic!
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Dienne, didn’t see this comment until after I posted mine at the top. So true!
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Ed – I’m glad you posted yours. I was going to post something similar, but I couldn’t find the link I was looking for. Even Hillary’s campaign slogan – “Hillary for America” – is all about her, whereas Bernie’s is all about us.
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Last election I voted Green. But this is the first time I am literally afraid. If it’s between Trump and Hillary, I have no other choice but to vote Hillary because it’s no longer the lesser of 2 evils, but preventing a maniac from becoming president. IMO.
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We also learned from the interview that Donald Trump, when it comes to foreign affairs, agrees with Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un of North Korea and China’s Xi Jinping. Trump wants to repeated the isolationism that helped cause World War I and World War II.
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Trump has done us this favor – he is re-enacting how a monstrosity like Hitler could happen. He exploits the fury of a wronged populace. We understand the middle class has decimated by NAFTA, etc. Many underestimated the depth of their anger until Trump.
He’s an embarrassment to the Republicans because he’s a traitor to his class. He’s also an embarrassment to the 1% because he embodies the crass, thoughtlessness that often secretly characterizes people who put money first.
“There is nothing new under the Sun” – Solomon
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I would caution anyone from drawing any hard and fast conclusions about what a Trump presidency would look like, the purposeful repugnance of his present campaign rhetoric notwithstanding. Right now, in a lot of ways he is running a click bait campaign, holding up “the mirror” to the rethuglican party while beating them at their own game of dividing the country against itself thru hate and fear mongering. He is doing to them what they have done to America. Speaker Ryan’s desperate hypocrisy in calling Trump out on his hate is illustrative, Ryan and the rest displayed a deafening silence when this same and worse hate was directed at Obama these past 7+ years. While disgusting in the bombastic buffoonery of his hubris, Trump is no fool and knows he must first secure the nomination, his campaign is operating with that primary goal right now, no others unless by accident. He know he cannot win the general by continuing the same campaign, so look for a significant shift to the center, an emulation/ imitation of Sanders populist issues that will put $hilary’s copycat efforts to shame. He is easily capable of making alliances of shallow peace with those who’ve dropped out to secure the support of their followers, and just as capable of kicking them to the curb once the nomination is secured. Step back from the knee jerk reactions he is counting on for distraction and dissembling and look at the overall strategy based on the terrain he must cross to be the nominee. Like Obama’s and as most presidencies in the past have shown, a single man cannot move the needle of the American deep state much at all unless as Sanders has rightly said, the president has the strong backing of a majority of the citizenry on an issue. Even then it’s a heavy lift. Therein lies the true danger of a Trump presidency, he likes to make deals and when he finds himself unable to move in his own direction, he will compromise in order to not be boxed out. His oversized ego is his biggest weakness in a situation where walking away from a deal is not an option since the deal will easily move forward without him.
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Past performance is the best predictor of future results. Maybe Trump would change his tune if he got elected, but I don’t want to take that chance. He’s already made the U.S. a laughingstock around the world.
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” rethuglican ”
🙂
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Trump likes to portray himself as something new and different but if you read the interview he’s just following the same stale script that so many Republicans have used for years now: poor me….everyone’s picking on me….. blah, blah, blah
My wife noticed this phenomena a long time ago. It’s this sense of victimization, of being a victim. So they blame the media, or “big government” or in Trump’s case, entire sovereign nations…. Mexico, China etc…. The list goes on and on.
So many Conservatives like to portray themselves as get tough, survival of the fittest, gotta have grit types….but then they just keep on whining, blaming someone else. How many times has Trump said he’s going to sue someone since this campaign started? He’s like a big baby.
Meanwhile, some of these gold-plated babies are sitting around amidst piles of cash….billions of dollars.
One word: grotesque.
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Goddess help us if Trump is elected to the presidency!
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I wrote 9 days ago that I was heading to the river and disconnect from the insanities of political crap that dominates all the traditional media and even social media. I was correct to do so. And ol Mother Nature put on a far better show!
May need to just pass over any and all political crap for a while longer. Thought this was a blog to “discuss a better education for all”. Not that I don’t understand how politics influence/control public education but. . . .
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As candidate known for speaking his mind and belonging to no one, Trump hems and haws his way through the interview unable to give a direct and comprehensible answers to about 95% of the questions asked.
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I can’t believe I slogged through that whole transcript. I know 10 year olds that would do as well as Trump in that interview.
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A little levity– thought immediately of this when I saw post title “The Real Donald Trump”. Just in case you missed this spoof when it went around last year: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cRly-0wwl_g
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Thank you for calling attention to WaPo interview; it was worth the time to read. The authors of our US Constitution didn’t think to include “speaks in complete sentences, not fragments” when delineating qualifications to be President.
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“Every obstacle in this teacher’s way was put there by a Democrat, or heavily supported by a Democrat elected in the past 20 years.”
LOL… ya think. You know, you are certainly entitle to your opinion, but not to the facts, to which you are totally impervious… Good luck with the GOP…charlatans with promises and an agenda that does not offer anything to you.
Tragic.
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Reply to mom of five.
I do not call anyone names. I rely on facts. But let me be clear, as someone who has taught debate for ever… fallacies that are presented as reality do not belong in real conversations about what is happening. Everyone is entitled to express an opinions, but when the idea of ‘balancing’ rhetoric in conversations, promotes the ignorance of the facts, then it is not helpful in moving forward.
Truth is truth. Ian sorry if you feel offended. That was not my intention and the links to articles with real evidence is intended to clarify my insights.
Thank you for your honesty. Your comment was well stated.
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This quote comes from the Washington Post concerning Trump’s ‘silent majority”:
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 142.2 million registered voters in the country as of 2014. This means that, so far, Trump has secured the support of 6 percent of the electorate. Yes, that’s right, 6 percent. Or perhaps it would be better to focus on the two-thirds of the electorate who actually vote. In that case, it should be acknowledged that Trump has secured, well, 8 percent. Even after every state has voted in primaries , Trump’s tally will at best probably be around 10 percent of the general electorate. Of course, turnout is lower in the primaries than in the general election, but that doesn’t change the fact that Trump can’t claim a silent majority.
Yet recently, a journalist from a reputable outlet called me for an interview, and among her questions was one that began, “Given that the vast majority of Republicans support Trump . . . ”
Thanks to all the signs at his rallies, Trump’s message about a no longer silent “silent majority” has been broadcast so frequently that people have begun to believe it. It’s marketing, pure and simple.
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Drumpf cannot get out of his own way, and once this narcissist was given the ‘stage’ he was unable toes the difference between the kind of mouthing off that occurs on a reality show competition , and the election of the leader of our nation.
He has consistently revealed his prejudice and attitudes to the larges voting group in America, –50% of the population WOMEN. The NY Times, says ”
“Donald Trump’s nasty skirmish with Ted Cruz about Mr. Cruz’s wife, Heidi, has played into a Democratic strategy to defeat Mr. Trump in November: to portray him as an unabashed sexist.”
“In surveys and focus groups, Republican women say their top issue is national security and safety, which should help Mr. Trump. But strategists say developments may force many women to rethink their priorities.Christine Matthews, a researcher who advises Republicans on how to win female voters, said Mr. Trump would lose conservative women in droves in a general election because they would view his temperament — in part informed by his insults — as unsuitable for the Oval Office. She said many Republican women were entertaining a once unthinkable possibility: crossing party lines in November. In conversations I’ve had with women who have worked in Republican administrations, who have worked for the Republican Party, we’ve moved from ‘I’d never vote for Donald Trump’ to ‘I might have to vote for Hillary Clinton,’ ” Ms. Matthews said.”
“The fracas was only the most recent episode in which Mr. Trump’s words about women have incited outrage.
YES! That is the thing about supreme narcissists. They have no mechanism for screening their comments..if they think, they say it, and this man’s mouth reveals his deepest animosity and utter disrespect towards women. ” And he has had a running battle with Fox News’s Ms. Kelly, implying that she had been agitated during the first Republican debate because she was menstruating.”
I want Drumpf to be the GOP candidate , just as I wanted Palin on the ticket, because in the long run, this nation knows a nutcase when they see it.
The image of the man who would be king, laying his bed at night, with nothing better to do that to twitter away his time insulting and threatening another presidential candidate, offers our nation a glimpse of WHO HE IS…
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“Given that the vast majority of Republicans support Trump . . . ”
That is one journalist who didn’t do their homework. With 944 delegates still available, Trump currently has 739, Cruz 465 and Kasich 143. That means Trump has the support of 33.8% of all GOP delegates—definitely not a “vast majority”.
How does that compare to the 146,311,000 registered voters in the United states or the 126,1144,000 that voted in the 2012 Presidential election?
According to Gallup in January 2015, 43% of registered voters were political independents, 30% were registered Democrats and only 26% were registered Republicans.
In fact, The Washington Post reports that “So far, Trump wins open primaries and Cruz wins closed … and the calendar is tarting to change toward more closed primaries.”
“Following the South Carolina primary, an interesting article by Michael Harrington went around Facebook that speculated that Donald Trump’s victory in the South Carolina primary was attributable to Democrats voting in the Republican (open) primary.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2016/03/02/so-far-trump-wins-open-primaries-and-cruz-wins-closed-and-the-calendar-is-starting-to-change-toward-more-closed-primaries/
I think a more interesting question would be why so many Democrats voted for Trump in the open primaries he is winning—are they doing it because they really like Trump more than Hillary or are they doing it to stir the GOP pot and cause more turmoil inside the party?
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If you have not read Gail Collins in the NY Timres here it is http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/26/opinion/trump-cruz-kasich-and-the-ladies.html?emc=edit_th_20160326&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=50637717
Trump, Cruz, Kasich and the Ladies
Let’s talk about the Republican presidential candidates … and women.
Not the fight about who has the prettiest wife, which truly tops this week’s list of Things We Never Thought We’d See in a Presidential Election. That was the dust-up in which Donald Trump tweeted an image of his wife, Melania, a former model, next to a rather unflattering picture of Ted Cruz’s wife, Heidi. Cruz called Trump “a sniveling coward” and delivered a stirring tribute to his spouse that would have been even more moving if it had not been lifted from the 1995 film “The American President.”
He also said, “Trump may be a rat, but I have no desire to copulate with him.” There was no indication what the hell that meant, but it definitely did not come from an old Michael Douglas movie.
This was also the week in which Cruz accused Trump of having his “henchmen” plant a National Enquirer story alleging that Cruz might have had five secret mistresses. Stories suggesting that conservative politicians have had affairs do not come under the heading of Things We Thought We’d Never See, so we will let that one go and move on.
To the issues: One thing that all these guys have in common is a desire to put themselves in charge of the reproductive rights of the entire female half of the country. Trump used to be pro-choice, but he “evolved” at some undisclosed point in the 21st century. Ted Cruz opposes abortion even in cases of rape and incest. John Kasich is willing to allow a troubled teenager to get an abortion if she’s seduced by her father, but not if the seducer is the next-door neighbor. This is why Kasich’s the moderate.
Everybody knows you can’t believe in abortion rights and win the Republican nomination. But then the candidates ought to be eager to make family planning services accessible, right? The best way to reduce abortion is to limit unwanted pregnancies.
Continue reading the main story
Ted Cruz made his position on contraception clear while campaigning in Iowa. It’s so charming that I am going to quote it in full: “Last I checked, we don’t have a rubber shortage in America. Look, when I was in college, we had a machine in the bathroom; you put 50 cents in and voilà. So, yes, anyone who wants contraceptives can access them, but it’s an utterly made-up nonsense issue.”
Women whose family planning needs go beyond a vending machine will have to fend for themselves. Cruz is opposed to requiring employers to include contraception in their health care plans. He hates Planned Parenthood so much that he wanted to shut down the federal government to end its funding. Said government funding pays for contraceptives as well as myriad other health services, none involving abortion except for the part where the contraceptives help avoid unwanted pregnancies.
John Kasich isn’t much different. His state has been in a war against Planned Parenthood that has closed down health clinics, cutting off everything from family planning to programs for at-risk expectant mothers. Kasich has said that there are “many different entities” that can take care of the women who were cut adrift. Last year, legislators who supported the defunding put together a list of those entities. They turned out, on second glance, to include senior centers, dentist offices and a food bank.
This is a crisis situation. States around the country have been stripping Planned Parenthood of Medicaid funds, leaving low-income women to fend for themselves. In Texas, women who used to have access to efficient methods of birth control like injectable contraceptives are showing huge jumps in pregnancy rates. On Friday, Gov. Rick Scott signed a bill effectively defunding the clinics in Florida.
The only Republican presidential candidate who has acknowledged the invaluable role Planned Parenthood plays is Donald Trump. (“Millions and millions of women — cervical cancer, breast cancer — are helped by Planned Parenthood.”) Of course, he’s also said that it should be defunded. (“I mean if you look at what’s going on with that, it’s terrible.”) And when asked if he would be willing to shut down the government in pursuit of the cause, Trump declined to answer “because I want to show unpredictability.”
This is exactly where we wind up on so many issues, people. Two Republican candidates take clear, consistent, terrible positions. Neither Cruz nor Kasich has made any effort to come to grips with the health care services poor women would need if Planned Parenthood closed up shop. And they’re doing everything they can to make sure that the unwanted pregnancies that follow can’t be terminated.
Trump seems more open, sort of. Except it’s the openness of a large, vacant pit with an issues-pendulum careening wildly, smashing from one side to the other. On the subject of women, all we know for sure is that he thinks his wife is a real looker.
And the campaign is a man’s world.
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Laughed my butt off. Thanks, Susan.
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Thanks for posting Gail Collins’ column, Susan
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You are welcome! Lots of women read here.
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At last, a good commentary on the failings of the media. They needed money and Trump got it for them in sensationalism.
Here is a quote from the article.
……………………..
My Shared Shame: The Media Helped Make Trump…by Nicholas Kristof…NYT
“All this said, I have to add that I don’t know if more fact-checking would have mattered. Tom Brokaw of NBC did outstanding work challenging Trump, but he says that when journalists have indeed questioned Trump’s untrue statements, nothing much happens: “His followers find fault with the questions, not with his often incomplete, erroneous or feeble answers.”
Likewise, Bob Schieffer of CBS tells me: “I’m not sure more fact-checking would have changed that much. We’re in a new world where attitude seems to count more than facts.”
That may be true. But I still think that we blew it and that this should be a moment for self-reflection in journalism.
Despite some outstanding coverage of Trump, on the whole we in the media empowered a demagogue and failed the country.
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