I watched the Republican convention last night.
Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka was light-hearted, loves her father, and gave a good introduction to a man whom few know well.
Watching Trump give his speech was an out of body experience.
I suddenly felt fearful. I felt fearful for myself, my community, my family, my country. Only he has the strength to save and protect us. Only he knows how to fix everything that is broken. Only he can bring back the happiness and prosperity that was once there for everyone. Remember the Good Old Days? Only he has the tenacity and courage to restore the American dream. Everyone else is too weak, too politically correct, too timid. He can do it. He said so.
I am not saying this mockingly. I felt in my bones the appeal of a strong man who could solve every problem. He frightened me, then reassured me that he would protect me.
He will make America great again. He will be the voice for working people. He will defeat ISIS. He will bring back jobs. He will protect law enforcement officers. He will end the violence in America’s streets. In the future, everyone will be safe, protected in his strong arms, and prosperous.
That is one heck of a big promise.
Very alluring.
After seeing and hearing him, I can understand why so many people adore him and believe his promises. Then I thought about what he didn’t say.
While he made clear that he would be the voice of the average working person, he didn’t say anything about raising the minimum wage.
He didn’t say anything about reducing the crushing debt that college students accrue.
He didn’t say how he would defeat ISIS.
Lots more unanswered questions.
What will he do about health care after he kills Obamacare?
Why does he think that education will be great for everyone if only there is a free market? We know the evidence runs the other way.
After he finishes building the Great Southern Wall, will he have money left to repair our infrastructure of roads, bridges, and tunnels?
Then, this morning, I heard him talk to his volunteers, without a script. He talked about himself nonstop for an hour. He talked about how great he is. He mocked Ted Cruz and said he would reject his support. He brought up the episode where he said Ted Cruz’s father was implicated in JFK’s assassination, and Trump didn’t back down or apologize. Off script, he is the same old Donald.
But the basic appeal, which we will hear until November, is the invitation to be protected by a strong man who never apologizes, never explains, never backs down.
He loves us. He loves working people. He loves us unless we don’t love him.
Get used to it.
Everything but making the trains run on time. Very scary. The view of the audience of true believers was very scary too.
What scared me is when they cheered when Trump said this:
“But to this Administration, their amazing daughter was just one more American life that wasn’t worth protecting. One more child to sacrifice on the altar of open borders. ”
Trump actually said that to Obama, this girl was “not worth protecting”. She had to be “SACRIFICED”. And got away with it. No one called him out on such a truly hateful, sickening statement.
That isn’t a difference of policy. This is characterizing your opponent as someone who wants to sacrifice your kids for the “other”. That is the scariest kind of demagoguery.
It reminds me of the pro-charter folks who are underwritten by many of the same billionaires who paid for the Republican convention.
It isn’t a difference of opinion about what works. It is that Mayor de Blasio wants violent children to be coddled. He doesn’t care about your child — like President Obama feels about that poor girl in Nebraska, your child needs to be “sacrificed” to some altar of public education.
Demagogues all.
#NYCSchoolParent—-IF this is the one I am thinking of –the life “taken: by a drunk driver?—as if no actual citizen had driven drunk and killed some one. Not that this would change their loss–and I am NOT making light of it–but—this was the BEST they could come up with re illegal immigrants? I know plenty of people killed by legal citizens–should we deport them?
#judith loebel —
My point is that Donald Trump riles up people’s hatred by doing more than just invoking facts. Trump is dishonest, period. You have to be dishonest to tell the entire country and world that President Obama did not care that a young woman died because he was more than satisfied to have her sacrificed on the altar of illegal immigration. That isn’t debate. That is explaining that your opponent is an evil and dangerous person who won’t protect your children. THAT is what is wrong with what Trump said. Not that a woman died. That President Obama DIDN’T CARE and was fine with that woman being SACRIFICED. See, the only way Obama could have shown his concern was to do what Trump wants and round up everyone.
It’s the exact same rhetoric I hear from the pro-charter folks whenever they can find some kind of tragic even in a public school. It’s not just that the event happened. It is that the pro-charter folks have to go one step further and say that the leader they despise — most recently Mayor de Blasio — was happy to sacrifice those children for some political goal. He doesn’t care. Because the only way a Mayor can show concern is for him to allow rich charter chains to come in so all those “victims” won’t be in public schools. If he doesn’t do that, it is because he wants the violent kids to run rampant and hurt anyone. Just like Trump explained on Thursday night that President Obama wants the violent illegal immigrants to run rampant and hurt anyone.
The outrageous and dishonest rhetoric we heard from Donald Trump is exactly like the outrageous and dishonest rhetoric we hear from Families for Excellent Schools when they want to get their way. When I heard Trump, I realized he very likely shares speechwriters and donors from the same class that does PR for the privatization organizations. Honesty doesn’t matter to them. Winning does. And when I hear Trump and Families for Excellent Schools resorting to lies in order to further their agenda and win, I realize how truly appalling and disgusting those people are. They should be kept far away from the white house and far away from schools. Because honesty has been replaced as a value for them with winning.
Did you see this –Donald Trump’s Disturbia
There’s no question in my mind that Trump/Pence would be an absolute horror for this country. Yes, I will vote for “lucifer” to block Trump from winning.
And by 2020, something must be done about the superdelegates in the pockets of the elitist elite.
Diane, great insight. I remember the Twilight Zone where the ghost of Hitler directs the
young neo-Nazi played by Dennis Hopper to kill the young man’s only friend–a
gentle Jewish scholar–who is the only one who treated the young Nazi in a humane
way…Like a Hitler or a Mussolini, Trump directs his crowd of followers…of course
he would deny any evil intent: now he denies fostering prejudice–while proposing
mass deportations, while copying the racist law and order appeal of Nixon’s
law and order election slogan…I had a spooky feeling watching him
that we had entered a kind of Twilight Zone where nothing is as it seems…
where hysteria and madness are right around the corner…
It is indeed the Twilight Zone, Marek.
The fact that Trump chose a Black pastor (clearly to make a racial and theatrical point, for HIS Repub Convention was political theater at best) who is a raving wild orator and has no sensitivity for any religion other than Christianity (same message as the soap opera actor on Day One of this), is a frightening additional statement to this list of hate mongering behaviors.
It was Trump’s “black guy who loves” him. To have screamed the long invocation, and repeatedly inferred America is a Christian Nation, and prayed only in the name of “our Lord, Jesus Christ” should give pause to the other 2/3 of the Abrahamic religions (Muslim and Jewish), and to the scores of other religions…with all of them making up the voters in the US. And then he chose his “great Latino Veteran friend” who reiterated that he stands by his death threat to Obama.
Agree also with others who mention the faces, the lily white, hate filled, faces, of his chosen crowd in their cowboy hats and wrapped in the stars and stripes. Oh boy.
We were all generally taught as children to evaluate people on the company they keep….good luck to us all seeing who Trump chooses. And the entire room did not have more than a half dozen faces of color. Let’s see what the Dem Convention looks like.
Trump’s children vapidly “love their father” whoopee…and his billions..and their soft lives of privilege…and his sons follow in his footsteps in dating and marrying only models. At least his daughter married a man of intelligence, a wealthy hedge fund guy (who many in the crowd would probably like to finish off) who has to have pangs of conscience in the middle of the night, or when lighting the shabbos candles. Wonder what the in-laws think of it all?
Loved your comment. I would love to use it at Oped… that room made me ill.
I was waiting for them all to raise their hands and say Sig Heil!
Trump initially had Ivanka’s Upper West Side Rabbi doing an Invocation BUT after his congregation wrote a letter signed by over 600 of their members he withdrew. There was also the question of HOW the Trump people worded this–they “forgot” that it was ONLY an Invocation; they had it billed as a endorsement Speech. I wondered what kind of a Rabbi would speak at an Anti-Semite’s event not to mention one endorsed (and accepting OF that endorsement) by David Duke the KKK leader.
Donald Trump fits the perfect picture of someone who is a domestic abuser.
During Donald Trump’s 1992 divorce proceedings, his wife provided a deposition that detailed an upsetting, ugly sexual assault. The signs are clear: The domestic abuser will initially try to explain his/her behavior as signs of his/her love and concern, and the victim may be flattered at first; as time goes on, the behaviors become more severe and serve to dominate, control and manipulate the victim.
These signs, behaviors, traits, and beliefs are common to abusive personalities. They are warning signs.
Why many Americans don’t see these signs makes me wonder if many of us have been in abusive situations in the past, and cannot see through
And even the statistics we have are just for physical violence and don’t take verbal and emotional abuse into account. Even though they’ve been out of the relationship for years, they may still feel like they are still sitting there.
When Ivanka spoke about childcare, she said she would work along side of her father every step of the way. Her words, amplified by her expression, chilled me to the bone. Just how many Trumps are we being asked to elect?
Check out #DNCleaks @wikileaks.
What have we become….plotting to expose Bernie as an atheist.
Re: No shit
From:DaceyA@dnc.org To: MARSHALL@dnc.org, MirandaL@dnc.org, PaustenbachM@dnc.org Date: 2016-05-05 12:23 Subject: Re: No shit
AMEN Amy K. Dacey | Chief Executive Officer Democratic National Committee 430 S. Capitol Street, SE Washington, D.C. 20003 202-528-7492 (c) | 202-314-2263 (o) DaceyA@dnc.org On 5/5/16, 1:33 AM, “Brad Marshall” wrote: >It’s these Jesus thing. > >> On May 5, 2016, at 1:31 AM, Brad Marshall wrote: >> >> It might may no difference, but for KY and WVA can we get someone to >>ask his belief. Does he believe in a God. He had skated on saying he >>has a Jewish heritage. I think I read he is an atheist. This could >>make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps >>would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist.
And why didn’t they use it? Do you think that just because someone suggests something appalling that is the same as choosing to use something wrong?
PS — Bernie IS an atheist. I supported him strongly over Hillary. It is fine to say that Bernie is an atheist. What is NOT fine is if Hillary had done what Donald Trump did last night and explained that President Obama SACRIFICED a young girls’s life to his “altar of open borders” and had no concern whatsoever about her death because she had to be sacrificed.
Saying Bernie is an atheist is the truth. Saying that Bernie WANTED lots of Americans to die because they were Christians is not the truth.
The reason the press hasn’t called out Trump on his very frightening statements is because they cannot recognize the difference between a sociopath who lies whenever it suits his purpose, and someone who comes up with a bad idea that happens to be the truth.
That’s one ploy of many. Just one. DNC was in the bag for HRC from the get go. We have two brands feigning concern for the people. We are fools to put any faith in the Dems. Read all of them.
See #dncleaks
“But to this Administration, their amazing daughter was just one more American life that wasn’t worth protecting. One more child to sacrifice on the altar of open borders. ”
Sorry, Linda. When I heard Trump speak last night, I became a Hillary supporter. Do I especially like her? Not at all. So what.
If Donald Trump had won the Democratic nomination and the Republican running against him was Jeb Bush, I would become a Bush supporter.
There is a difference between electing a sociopath who is a charismatic demagogue and a politician who you don’t especially like. Will the demagogue stand for some good things? Maybe. When I read Huey Long’s beliefs, I think “well, he said some good progressive things”. So did Father Coughlin his VP hopeful.
But when you are talking about a sociopath, you can’t trust a word they say. Trump doesn’t stand for anything but Trump and that is a scary risk to take.
I don’t support either and we shouldn’t be shamed into voting the evil of two lessers.
We’re screwed either way and HRC doesn’t need or want my vote. She could care less about any of us.
And you know this HOW?
I don’t like her, but I do not say things I cannot prove, or sow contempt.
Linda, I agreed with you yesterday. I planned to vote for Jill Stein.
No longer. Watching Donald Trump’s scary rhetoric was truly frightening. I’m sorry, but your quotes from the wikileaks don’t even look that bad. Bernie Sanders IS a socialist. One of the reasons I adored him is because he didn’t run away from it, he was PROUD of it.
Now if Hillary planned to tell people that Bernie was an atheist “who was coming after their Christian kids”, I would be appalled.
I have to wonder whether you ever really supported Bernie. I am shocked you could listen to Trump and not be frightened. I am old enough to have lost great grandparents who disappeared during the Third Reich. Trump is scary like Hitler was. Hillary is scary like President Obama is.
You don’t know me to question my beliefs. If you read all the leaks it is evident the DNC is an organized crime organization. You haven’t read them all have you? The emails and plotting are disgusting. We have no moral compass anymore. This “election” has nothing to do with the people at all. HRC will be coronated so don’t worry about Trump.
Who are you to question? What makes you so smart.
Were you born into a time when you saw Mcarthy rise, as Hitler and Mussolini did their thing? Did you study classical civilization and read the historians and writers of literature who chronicled the behaviors of mankind/ What is you knowledge of psychology and sociolgy?
We who were there, who remember FDR, Truman, Ike and even Humphry and Stevenson, JFK and Johnson, and yeah even the last charismatic star to inhabit the executive office, have a perspective you lack. What you do have in great supply is HUBRIS!
Bit of an overstatement to say that the DNC is a criminal organization, assuming that the email leak is your basis for saying that. From what I’ve seen, the leaked emails are very underwhelming. I would have thought that the Party’s confidential internal communications would be a heck of a lot spicier than what I’ve seen so far. They would be more interesting if we thought the DNC was a totally neutral observer in the primary process. But that’s not what it is. This is how the party system works, and that’s not a cynical statement. The DNC and the RNC are corporate entities that have their own political interests, agendas, and alliances. This is what the phrase “political establishment” means.
All that said, the “atheist” email is a prime example of political sleaze, and it would have been very sleazy if the proposal was acted on. But it’s not surprising, and again, it’s pretty mild relative to what I would expect to see in an email dump.
I don’t have time to read through it, but if you are finding something disgusting and want to post it, you should.
It actually bothers me that you think that making it clear to voters that Bernie is an atheist exposes some plot. Again, it is not whether you tell the truth about a candidate, it is whether you mislead the public with something that isn’t true that is dangerous.
I am open to changing my mind — but you can’t just say “read it yourself”. What was written about Bernie beyond this? How did they plan to use his atheism to convince voters he was dangerous and would attack Christians?
It was one single leak of many. Just one….you don’t get it. Yes, Trump is deranged. And our political system is in shambles.
Read one a day. You’ll be busy for a year or keep your head in the sand. Your choice.
https://wikileaks.org/dnc-emails/
Linda, I know the system is corrupted. But it is still a democracy.
If you can’t come up with a single “disgusting” example beyond making Bernie state for the record whether he is an atheist then I do doubt your intentions in posting here. If there are really so many examples, you can surely post one. If this is the worst, it truly doesn’t seem to be a big deal. Frankly, I don’t think Bernie would care that he was being forced to state whether he is an atheist. That IS a fair question. What wouldn’t be fair is if he stated categorically that he believed in G-d and the DNC still tried hard to paint him as an atheist.
I am open to being convinced, but surely if the leaks are that bad you can come up with another example.
#DNCLeaks: Clinton campaign arranged call with editor to try and squash Victory Funds money laundering story wikileaks.org/dnc-emails/ema…
#Wikileaks: DNC openly discussing how to smear Bernie as a bumbling incompetent. #DNCLeaks wikileaks.org/dnc-emails/ema…
I have tried to post several and they are not getting through. If you are on Twitter either go to #dncleaks or @wikileaks or google DNC leaks. I don’t know why they won’t post.
#DNCLeaks: plot to smear @realDonaldTrump by planting fake ads for hot women in Craigslist wikileaks.org/dnc-emails/ema…
Wikileaks drops 20k DNC emails…SHOCKER it shows direct collusion against @BernieSanders
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/07/22/on-eve-of-democratic-convention-wikileaks-releases-thousands-of-documents-about-clinton-the-campaign-and-internal-deliberations/?postshare=2821469221450326&tid=ss_tw
And as you lecture….You’re pointing out hubris?
Congrats…You fit right in.
#strongertogether. Get on message please
Linda, you STILL didn’t come up with a single lie that the DNC was planning to release about Bernie.
I read your links and they talk about special parties for big donors. Just the Republicans have.
But where the Trump is unique is in his willingness to blatantly lie about his opponent to convince them that they condone violence or killing.
I find it odd that you are so outraged about an e-mail saying that the DNC wants to “out” Bernie as an atheist. In order to think that was terrible, you have to think just letting people know that a candidate is an atheist is a terrible thing. Why?
I am still waiting for the terrible things the DNC said about Bernie. That he is incompetent? That’s the worst?
It’s not just about Bernie. I never said that. It’s the undermining of the democratic process. The DNC served one purpose – to set up Hillary. I’m sorry you don’t understand.
Check out #DNCleaks @wikileaks
From:DaceyA@dnc.org To: MARSHALL@dnc.org, MirandaL@dnc.org, PaustenbachM@dnc.org Date: 2016-05-05 12:23 Subject: Re: No shit
AMEN Amy K. Dacey | Chief Executive Officer Democratic National Committee 430 S. Capitol Street, SE Washington, D.C. 20003 202-528-7492 (c) | 202-314-2263 (o) DaceyA@dnc.org On 5/5/16, 1:33 AM, “Brad Marshall” wrote: >It’s these Jesus thing. > >> On May 5, 2016, at 1:31 AM, Brad Marshall wrote: >> >>
It might may no difference, but for KY and WVA can we get someone to >>ask his belief. Does he believe in a God. He had skated on saying he >>has a Jewish heritage. I think I read he is an atheist. This could >>make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps >>would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist.
I missed where the DNC said that because Bernie is an atheist, he doesn’t care if lots of little Christian children are killed.
THAT is what we heard from Donald Trump last night. That Obama doesn’t care about the life of a young “American” girl because he was delighted to sacrifice her on the “altar” of open borders.
So, did Hillary say “Bernie was happy to sacrifice Christians for his atheism”?
First of all…false equivalence are the problem.
Second of all, what he says comes from his ass, and has no relevance to truth. He is vile human being… but then those of us whoa re really old, remember MCARTHY!
“There were two things, they told Doremus, that distinguished this prairie Demosthenes. He was an actor of genius. There was no more overwhelming actor on the stage, in the motion pictures, nor even in the pulpit. He would whirl arms, bang tables, glare from mad eyes, vomit Biblical wrath from a gaping mouth; but he would also coo like a nursing mother, beseech like an aching lover, and in between tricks would coldly and almost contemptuously jab his crowds with figures and facts – figures and facts that were inescapable even when, as often happened, they were entirely incorrect.”
― Sinclair Lewis, It Can’t Happen Here
This scares me even more. The history of abuse has not stopped. http://gawker.com/the-time-donald-trumps-ex-wife-accused-him-of-brutally-1721129617
Corruption and deceit is within both parties. DNCLeaks all over Twitter.
And yet they did not. I wonder if their higher instinct prevented it.
Certainly Trump would have no compunction. I mean, he told us Obama is a Kenyan by birth and Ted Cruz’ dad killed JFK.
The fact that you don’t understand the difference between saying Sanders is an atheist (which is true) and doing what Trump is doing, and saying that Sanders’ atheism causes him to be unconcerned about the lives of Christian children who “are sacrificed on the altar of open borders” is why you are the kind of person who would have voted for Hitler. Seriously, if you can’t see the difference between the two things, then I fear for this country.
Exactly. False equivalency at work. It is impossible to convince people whoa re impervious to evidence and truth.
When we ”get used to it,” we will be lost. It’s not just Trump’s constant evocation of “believe me” and egotistical overuse of the pronoun, “I,” that frightens me. No. It is the popular appeal of resentment-driven authoritarianism directed at the “other.” It is the mentality of the chants. “USA, USA, USA.” “Trump, Trump, Trump.” “Lock-her-up, Lock-her-up, Lock-her-up.” Historical memory makes me terrified about what seemingly ordinary neighbors, who seem kind and loving to their friends and family, are capable of in that state of suspended autonomy and morality. It’s the “banality of evil.”
It is not enough, however, to call out the evil. We need to offer more resonant and more moral alternatives that people recognize as tangible alternative solutions to the profound anxieties and dislocation they feel. That is what we must demand of politicians.That is what we must demand of religious leaders who claim to represent morality. That is what we must demand of one another.
And let there be no doubt. This is a different kind of threat. Trump must be defeated, not by electoral college votes, but resoundingly by the popular vote in every state and locality.
http://www.arthurcamins.com
Ah, King Midas, 5 of the 7 Ringling brothers and P.T. Barnum and Bailey, Hitler, Houdini, Svengali, the Stay Puft marshmallow man and Alfred E. Newman all rolled into one, and calculated to drive you MAD!
You forgot Stalin and Satan.
There’s a lot of room and gooey substance in that marshmallow man from the other world.
LOL> TERRIFIC
I have lived through 8 Presidencies and 12 Presidential elections. In my time, I have disliked Presidential candidates. I have disdained Presidential candidates. I have strongly opposed Presidential candidates.
Last night I was truly fearful of a Presidential candidate.
Nobody should mince words about this. Donald Trump delivered a nomination acceptance speech that was rooted in overt Fascism. There wasn’t a trope of Fascism that he either did not cover in that speech or was not covered by a close associate or family member of his during the convention.
I have few hopes that President Hillary Clinton will offer education policies that convince me that public education is no longer in danger. I don’t expect her to robustly reform our financial system.
But she is not an existential threat to our democratic institutions. Trump is. It is as simple as that. I live in New York, so I have considered the possibility of voting third party to send a message — but not this morning. Trump must be defeated by as large a margin as possible. We have to scream NO! in response to this campaign.
Amen to that Daniel. Mille grazie.
I have high hopes for Hillary and education and hope I am right. You are so right, we need a huge defeat for the Der Fuhrer Trump! BIG! And let’s get a huge victory for the Congress as well, especially the Senate.
So, it’s not enough to defeat Trump, but he must be “defeated by as large a margin as possible”?
“As large a margin as possible” would seem to correspond to the situation where every registered voter votes and every single one votes for Clinton.
I can’t be sure that that is what you mean, but I do know one thing: if Trump wins, it is very unlikely that it will be because of third party votes in NY.
It will be due to what happens in swing states like Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Here are the results to a July 19 Quinnipiac poll for NY State
“Driven by a 3 – 1 lead in New York City, Democrat Hillary Clinton leads Republican Donald Trump 47 – 35 percent among all New York State voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.
Both candidates have negative favorability ratings, 41 – 52 percent for Clinton and 32 – 61 percent for Trump, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University Poll finds.
Clinton leads among all age groups, especially among voters 18 to 34 years old, who go Democratic 53 – 18 percent. There is a yawning gender gap, with men tipping to Trump 44 – 40 percent, while women back Clinton 54 – 28 percent.
New York City voters back Clinton 63 – 20 percent, while upstate voters go to Trump 48 – 36 percent. Suburban voters are divided, with 40 percent for Trump and 39 percent for Clinton.
Both candidates suffer from lower levels of same-party support than winning candidates normally receive, as Clinton leads 82 – 10 percent among Democrats, while Trump takes Republicans 76 – 9 percent. Independent voters back Clinton 41 – 35 percent.
With third party candidates in the race, Clinton gets 45 percent, with Trump at 33 percent, Libertarian Party candidate Gary Johnson at 6 percent and Green Party candidate Jill Stein at 4 percent.
“As Republicans rally in Cleveland and Democrats prepare for their Philadelphia convention, Hillary Clinton seems to have her adopted home state votes safely locked up,” said Quinnipiac University Poll Assistant Director Maurice Carroll.
(margin of error is +- 3%)
I’m well aware that I live in a “safe” state. I do not care. The national margin needs to be huge if it can be managed. Trump himself must be defeated — but what he represents must be resoundingly defeated as well. He’s running an actually Fascist campaign. I wanted a better Democrat for November. I have Hilliary Clinton. Every 4 years we’re told “this is the most important election in our lifetime” — well, this time it is real. Trump isn’t merely wrong – I’ve lived through plenty of Presidents who were wrong on some or most things. Trump is a fundamental threat to our ability to even have institutions.
danielkatz2014,
I agree. Trump’s speech converted me from thinking about voting for Jill Stein to rabidly supporting Hillary. I am donating to her campaign this week.
I used to think it was crazy to say “who do you trust”? But Trump terrifies me. I don’t trust Hillary to do anything except believe that the constitution is more powerful than she is.
Trump explained in no uncertain terms last night that he believes he is beyond any controls. But everything he does will be “for the good of the people”.
On education…
I feel like he glossed over it. There’s really no need to talk about specifics such as increasing STEM funding by 20%, increasing the availability of the arts, calling a curriculum task force, changing evaluation systems, etc. when your position is “choice” and “free-market.”
He and others with the same opinion simply believe that if parents get to choose where their children attend school, then all the details will work themselves out as school “innovate” to attract more students.
The reality still remains that at least in my state….
Public School = Achieve these results on the state exam and here’s how we want you to do it.
Charter School = Achieve these results on the state exam and you can figure out the best way to achieve it.
Private School = You don’t even have to take the state exam. The fact that people attend your school is enough justification for your existence.
Did he love all the small business people in Atlantic City he refused to pay and forced out of business? Who will fall for the ” Trump Trump Uber Alles” line? The Germans have faced their history, what are we allowing in face of that history?
#NotOnePlan….. except i see visions of armed forces gathering people into camps, or just killing them outright, so, yeah…..you may think that is an extreme reaction to him, but i feel too much fear to ignore the nightmares i see….
I agree….very real and very scary because he HAS gotten this far and no one thought he would.
I truly feel Trump will seek retribution on those who opposed him if he wins. He is very Machevelian.
Very . . . Cuomo.
Machiavellian, too. 🙂
Very Chris Christiavellian, too. Trump is very likely to appoint “Piccolo” Duce to some high position in his administration.
He is already trying to do so.
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2016/07/22/donald-trump-says-dishonorable-speech-could-ruin-ted-cruzs-career/?mod=djemCapitalJournalDaybreak
HE IS A THIN-SKINNED PSYCHO! Can you imagine JFK or FDR or Truman or Ike twittering or calling people dumb, or talking about the size of their genitals.
The man is mentally ill and YES exceptionally scary for the country. If you read posts/blogs, multitudes of people are posting things like this: Narcissistic Personality Disorder:DSM-5 criteria for narcissistic personality disorder include these features:
~Having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
~Expecting to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it
~Exaggerating your achievements and talents
~Being preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate
~Believing that you are superior and can only be understood by or associate with equally special people
~Requiring constant admiration
~Having a sense of entitlement
~Expecting special favors and unquestioning compliance with your expectations
~Taking advantage of others to get what you want
~Having an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others
~Being envious of others and believing others envy you
~Behaving in an arrogant or haughty manner
~Although some features of narcissistic personality disorder may seem like having confidence, it’s not the same. Narcissistic personality disorder crosses the border of healthy confidence into thinking so highly of yourself that you put yourself on a pedestal and value yourself more than you value others.
There are other disorders and you can google them as well as compare him to other dictators, demagogues and fascists…that’s an entire PhD for someone.
Narcissism is not a mental illness, it’s a personality disorder. Axis I vs. Axis II.
I thought narcissism was a political philosophy taught at Ivy League schools.
Trump’s speech(es) remind me of the guy who said: “Ein Reich, ein Fuehrer, Gott mit uns.” Let’s see, who was that guy? — Edd Doerr
Hitler, one of his many speeches:
Oh, and Laura Ingraham at the RNC:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/laura-ingraham-called-appearing-nazi-salute-article-1.2719389
The New York Post got off a good pun:
“Laura Ingraham’s Salute Raises a Fuhrer”
Judge for yourself:
I always wondered how Hitler pulled it off. Now I know.
His wife plagiarized Michelle Obama?
“We have met the enemy and he is us.” ~ Pogo. Our Founding Fathers did not create a form of government with all power vested in one person. Yet today, too many voters look to DC to solve problems they should be addressing at the lowest possible levels. In the case of Trump, these voters will look to him to fix America. Others will look to Clinton and her message that “government can solve these problems.” Whether it is an individual or government, this presidential election has been too much about concentrating power in one place. When it comes to schools – choice, new standards, or more testing or an education czar is not going to fix things. We the people are the only ones who can do this. And that is why we need to focus on local and state elections. It’s our only hope.
This feels like, ‘The Omen’ when they were told that the antichrist would come from inside politics…..this is bad, I mean, really bad. I have a very strong feeling that the violence that we are currently witnessing will escalate/increase and spread under his administration. All freedoms and rights guaranteed for all citizens under the Constitution will be ignored. I agree with many that have commented here, especially someone that saw Hitler-like actions, behaviors, and group dynamics.
Au contrairey! He left no questions unanswered. All problems are going to be solved on January 20th, 2017. The very day he takes office, every bad guy will be so afraid he will implode, disappearing from the face of the Earth with a whooshing sound followed by a faint pop. Anyone left over is going to prison on January 20th, 2017. Prison guard will be the great profession of the 21st century. Lock us up! Lock us up!
They already may be competing with Walmart ,as Americas largest employer. Especially if you count inmates convicted of petty non violent drug offenses .
LeftCoastTeacher,
You are right. All problems solved as soon as he takes the oath of office. Poof!
Joel, you’re right. We already live in a police state with privately run prisons filled to capacity and growing. I really hate Hitler, so I am going to support Stalin. Thrilled. Thrilled, I tell you.
Diane, yup. Poof! I just cannot reckon Poof! with the sensible speech Ivanka made. How can those two be related? I do not know.
Well Diane , I ignored your advice . I turned to the wife and said ,I would rather watch HSN, the equivalent of needles in the eyes, than the Republican Convention. So I missed Ivanka’s speech entirely. After a while the wife fell asleep and there wasn’t much on.So I gave the convention my Fox news dosage about 20 seconds at a time, in between flipping channels. The first half dozen times was quite enough hate for one evening . Then came the the I’ll stand with you stuff. Now honestly I can’t remember how much of that part of the message came from CNN talking heads after the speech. But it was a powerful message. As David Axelrod said ,what is Hillary’s message.
I just spent two hours fighting with Blue Collar Union members in language and remarks I can not use here. About the bennifits of jumping off bridges rather than voting for your economic execution.
So what is it I am worried most about ?.
The “New Democrats” are blind and tone deaf .Instead of picking a dynamic woman VP, whose powerful message counters the xenophobic message ,as well as the economic rhetoric that does not match the record or the platform. Hillary is going to pick a Neo Liberal shill who opposes Banking reform ,favors every Trade deal , refused to gut the Virginia “Right to Work” law. A real progressive’s dream for sure???? Sure to carry those Midwestern swing states that used to be Blue states before the Clinton’s . What a great way to motivate the base. Sure to draw out those young voters. Sure to sway the minds of disillusioned blue collar workers. She does deserve to be jailed ,but not by the Republicans, by those that will suffer from her failure.
That, the greatest speech ever, always makes me shed a tear. The following one always makes me laugh, and after last night makes me laugh and squirm.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VFRMK9HGyaM
Jon Awbrey and LeftCoastTeacher:
Heartfelt thanks to you both.
Both clips are as relevant today as they were then.
😎
When it comes to education … they’re all poison.
Some poisons make you quite sick. Others kill you.
Or, some poisons kill you quickly, others slowly.
Some poisons make you drunk with wantonness and braggadocio. Other poisons make you hallucinate images of flowery hope and change. Still other poisons can be used as medicines, but they get beat in the Democratic primaries because of Citizens United.
..and some poisons can be used as medicines to kill disease but you can’t afford them because of back room deals between the White House and Big Pharma.
Trump would not exist if he didn’t have support. We can attack Trump all day long and it does no good, instead strengthens his power. It validates an us v. them, winners v. losers world view that feeds his campaign.
The problem is fear and anger. This election has nothing to do with Trump. People are angry. People are losing their jobs and security. Trump offers no solutions, but he still resonates with a large group of voters. In our area, a major bank brings in H1b workers instead of employing Americans. The bank finances and builds large apartment complexes to house all the H1bs. The Americans in the area are watching as their jobs are replaced by immigrants, their homes are lost, their retirement eroded. It is a seething, boiling anger I can understand. Does that make me want to vote for Trump? If they replaced all teachers with H1bs as cheap labor, what would be the reaction?
I will never vote for Trump. But Democrats have become out of touch and complacent. Obama has sold out the middle class to Wall Street and Hillary is just Obama 2.0. If Democrats do not address this fear and anger of working Americans and become over confident, they will lose it all.
“The only things to Fear”
The only things to fear
Are Trump and plagiarism
For Trump is Satan’s peer
And plagiarist is with him
Everything you say is true but Obama did appoint Kagan and Sotomayor to the supreme court. The GOP has successfully blocked his last candidate. Obama has been liberal on many social issues and an abject failure on the others you listed. The GOP, Trump and Pence will be bad on everything and will appoint right wing nudniks to the supreme court.
We have to remember Obama was ready to capitulate on Social Security in the budget talks not too long ago. And we know his actions towards teachers. Republicans get fired up. Trump may be dangerous, but he puts energy in the campaign. Democrats are all to willing to “compromise”, usually by giving up or moving to the right over and over. Hillary is uninspiring when Dems need voter turnout in this election. Democrats must again be aggressive, support unions and labor, take on the banks and corporations, and deal head on with globalization’s effects and income inequality. Just today, I read Obama’s comments where he seems to accept the inequalities of globalization as a given. Trump seems strong and plays that up. Hillary looks like Obama all over again.
Yes, Vale Math. What scares me is that some people are thinking “Why vote for Republican-light, when we can get a robust Republican”?
Not that I think that Trump is an actual Republican, but he still knows how to ring their chimes, unfortunately.
You’re right Mathvale
To a large degree, Democrats have only themselves to blame for the fact that the race is even close.
They could have nominated Bernie Sanders who, in all likelihood (if all the polls over the past six months are anywhere near accurate) would have handily beaten Trump
But nooooooo, they nominated someone who has more baggage than a major airline and is almost as unpopular as Trump.
Absolutely brilliant!
But Clinton still has a chance to remedy the situation by choosing Elizabeth Warren as a running mate.
But I won’t hold my breath.
based on their behavior over the past year, I’d have to say that the Democrats actually want to lose.
..and when I say “:they could have nominated”, I’m talking about all the people who voted for Clinton (not party officials or superdelegates)
If Clinton loses, in addition to Clinton herself, these are the people who will shoulder the blame.
I should say “if Trump wins”
SomeDAM Poet
It is like Democrats want to lose. I don’t know if Trump just caught them off guard and they are doubling down on establishment strategies, or if they are complacent and over confident. I am concerned what happened in Ohio will happen nationwide. Democrats in Ohio thought they had much more support than they did. They greatly underestimated the effect jobs and economy play in peoples minds over ideology and non-kitchen table issues. They lost and we have a far right cabal running Ohio into the ground, probably for quite awhile.
Democrats need to get aggressive on pocketbook issues and fight for working Americans, not deal in abstracts and philosophy. We’ll see what is said in Philly.
Was too busy watching the Cardinals pull off an improbable comeback in the 8th & 9th against the Padres to worry about watching the Trumpster spew spoo from his pie hole.
Yay, Cards! I was born and raised in St. Louis, visit it often (I have relatives there) and have always been a die-hard Cardinals fan!
And we’re totally off the current topic, but the Cards’ comeback made me feel good, and was a nice antidote to the current political climate.
Anything that takes my mind off of the idiocies of politics is all good, as far as I’m concerned. It’s better than drinking, at any rate. 😉
Have you seen this article and chart? (have to download the chart from the article): http://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/where-you-shouldve-gone-to-high-school/Content?oid=2497512
Cute, Duane. I went to Hazelwood (only one high school there at the time, it was very rural).
My mother had the Cards games on the radio constantly, and we also went to a lot of games at the (old) Busch Stadium.
My parents actually met Stan Musial at the restaurant he co-owned, way back in the day.
Recall the saying, “You can’t do business with Hitler”?
Well, . . .
Let’s not let this guy end us all.
Sadly, a lot of companies did business with Nazi Germany. Ford, Coca-Cola, Chase Bank, IBM, and others.
http://yournewswire.com/11-popular-brands-of-today-that-worked-with-hitler-the-nazi-party/
The banks that Alexander Hamilton supported and the corporations they financially buttressed have funded both sides of every major war in the last 200 years. They are, I assume, funding both sides of this election.
Of course they did, and are. They want to be on the “winning side,” no matter which side that is.
Banks and other large corporations have no morals or ethics, their function is to make money for the corporation and its stockholders. And that is their only function.
Campaigns of politics and war take vast sums of money to run. The rich and powerful make their money by loaning with interest what is needed to buy weapons and propaganda (and everything else, for that matter). The more we fight, the more they take. …Another way those very same people make money is by influencing governments to privatize governmental functions. But shh, don’t dare tell anybody. This age old problem is what None Dare Call a Conspiracy.
If there is one universal truth it is that bankers always laugh all the way to the bank …and sometimes all the way home too.
But they never (ever) laugh at the bank. That would be unprofessional.
DAM, you’re on fire today!
I will never get used to him. Trump is an egomaniacal mysogenist. He knows nothing about America that truly matters and can’t read a TelePrompTer. Those supporting him are scarier than he is. I will use my voice, pen and email until I can no longer talk, type and write and pray Americans wake up from this terrifying buffoon with “stunningly superficial knowledge.”
Here are two articles in NYT where I cannot open because of its limitation on NOT paying the subscription (I love to pay for if NYT respects education and report impartially their editorial views)
1) Pistols at the Pool, Machine Guns on Parade and Nothing We Can Do ( in USA, State?)
By JOHN HAMILTON
Why I can’t protect my city from guns.
2) How the G.O.P. Outsourced the Judicial Nomination Process
By LINDA GREENHOUSE
The National Rifle Association has become the gatekeeper for nominations to the federal courts.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/opinion/how-the-gop-outsourced-the-judicial-nomination-process.html?
People of all walks of life, who respect their own freedom with integrity and responsibility, will show through their thoughts, actions, and verbal communication in interact with others in society.
Human is not defined by the body shape = head, two arms and two legs. We are human because we treasure humanity in us and in OTHERS THROUGH OUR HUMANITARIAN ACTS.
People reject others because others have different views to them = sign of oppressor
Leaders call out for a support by division, and alienation of others who have different views to them = dangerous sign of deficit in attention = sign of dictatorship.
How much more educators can be proud to be educated and cultivated when they cannot distinguish or recognize the danger in society where dictator without POWER yet, but dares to threaten his own colleagues, the Supreme Court Judge and people who oppose him from. Pray to the Lord. Back2basic
Please modify as:
People reject others because others have BETTER humanitarian and impartial views to them = sign of oppressor in crooks.
Leaders call out for a support by division, alienation and hatred provocation in others who are desperate and illusive in empty promise = dangerous sign of manipulation = sign of a lunatic dictator.
Yes, we are human when we decide that we are no longer naked plains apes.
When we decide that people who look different than we do, who act differently than we do, who believe differently than we do, are also our brothers and sisters, and equally human.
Unfortunately, we are still far from this realization, and the politicians keep stirring up this division between us because it suits their purposes.
Here’s an excerpt from another great speech:
—————–
“Gentlemen, we are faced with enormous and stupendous tasks. A new history of the leadership of our nation must be constructed. Its composition is dependent on race. It is, however, just as necessary to demand and make sure through the system and method of our education that above all bravery and the readiness to accept responsibility will be regarded as essential qualities in those about to assume public office of any kind.
“When appointing men to leading positions in government, greater value should be placed on character than on purely academic or allegedly intellectual suitability. It is not abstract knowledge which must be considered as a decisive factor wherever a leader is required, but rather a natural talent for leadership, and with it a highly developed sense of responsibility which brings with it determination, courage and endurance.
“It must be recognized on principle that the lack of a sense of responsibility can never be made up for by a supposedly first-class academic training, of which certificates may supply the fruit. Knowledge and qualities of leadership, which always imply energy, are not incompatible. But in doubtful cases, knowledge can, in no circumstances, be a substitute for integrity, courage, bravery and determination. These are the qualities that are more important in a leader of the people in our nation.
“And I say this to you now, gentlemen, looking back on the one year in our history which has shown me more clearly than the whole of my previous life how vital and essential these very qualities are; and how in time of crisis, one single energetic man of action outweighs ten feeble intellectuals.
“But as a factor in society this new type, selected as embodying the qualities of leadership, must also be freed from numerous prejudices which I can really only describe as the untruthful and fundamentally nonsensical code of social morals. There is no attitude which cannot find its ultimate justification in the benefit which it brings to the community as a whole.
“Anything that is obviously unimportant or even harmful to the existence of the community is not to be recognized as a moral code on which a social order can be built up.
“And most important of all, the national community is possible only when laws are recognized which are binding for all. It will not do to expect or demand that one man should act in accordance with principles which in the eyes of the others are absurd or harmful or even just unimportant.”
————-
Adolf Hitler,
Speech to the Reichstag
November 27, 1939
http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/holoprelude/jewishquestion.html
Jack, my thoughts exactly.
Reminds me of this, from the Washington Post opinion page 2/21/16:
“Like any number of us raised in the late 20th century, I have spent my life perplexed about exactly how Hitler could have come to power in Germany,” Harvard University professor and political theorist Danielle Allen wrote.
“Watching Donald Trump’s rise, I now understand,” she added.
Earlier in the week Gingrich spent his entire speech instilling fear. How conscious are they of doing this? Gingrich is some sort of historian. They may have decided that fear mongering is the only winning strategy.
I wanted to cry because that enormous crowd cheered. They loved this racist psycho, knowing little about how fast he turns on anyone and how unsuited he is for any job, having screwed up so many,
I was scared, because like you I was born in the forties, and remember the way it was when Jewish families ran out of Germany with only the clothes on their backs, and they told of the fear-mongering. WW1 had impoverished the Germans who had payed a fearful price and faced staggering . reparations.
Our economy is nothing like that, but the warning signs are imminent that the oligarchs are looking to take it down. I hear rumors that the are looking got see the dollar plunge, and the Trump moron is just the one to see that it happens with his half -baked ideas of making us great, that will bring the economy to a standstill, according to top economists..
The conditions for a fascist are ripe, and there is a propaganda machine, an ubiquitous screen, a window on the world, that is controlled by the very people who want to see the collapse of our democracy.
These historian took a lot of flack fro daring to say what they knew to be true because they KNOW THE PAST for study and reading, and from EXPERIENCING THE PAST as did Justice Ginsberg.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/historians-donald-trump_us_578644dee4b03fc3ee4e9da7?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pol%2071316&utm_content=pol%2071316+CID_87fa25e9c7d5292f8f70822fac979b93&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=Read%20more
We the people must end this man’s appeal but going out there and spreading truth… and for those who want a third party, or know Jill & Bernie, I say be patient, get that party ready to take eon Ryan and Cruz who are waiting in line…. and whatever you od, vote Democratic even if she ain’t yer 1st choice….against the devil she is the ONLY CHOICE.
AND THANKS JACK FOR posting THAT SPEECH.
The rule of law and an honorable smart, educated leader is what we need.
Trump and company are lawless liars, and intellectual baboons.
I am scared! Not of terroriists, and not of guns, but of charlatans and liars who want to become president and of acitzenrw that so ignorant that it can not see what is infant of tier eyes is actually A REALITY SHOW, where they lose!
I agree Susan, I am terrified of a Trump presidency. If there is another terrorist attack here, Trump will be virtually unstoppable. Just today there is what is looking like a terrorist attack in Munich, Germany. I’m sure Trump will beat that to death in the next few days.
Of course he will..and the meida will play it endlessly, too.
Did you hear the Lenard Lpate radio podcast today, where %#* and the Guardian gave the statistics about violence by police, and the truth about gun eat.2/3 of which are suicides, and a hug percentage of the last third a re by people ho know each other (domestic villain) .
The GOP is painting this time in our nation as one of violence and danger. Fear is the name of the game, and we saw its raw face at the GOP convention, in the snarling Gulliani, and the corrupt sleeze Christie spewing poison about Hillary…the height of irony and hypocrisy.
and Diane, his children attend or attended schools that cots $%%,000 a year!
Nothing he say is credible.
Here is Atlantic’s The MINd of donald trump!
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/the-mind-of-donald-trump/480771/
and here is THE MONTAGE OF RAGE that trevor Noah gave us from that first night
http://www.cc.com/full-episodes/g6v0bm/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-july-19–2016—michael-steele-season-21-ep-21132
You think he will win? God I hope not, I also felt scared as I watched Trump last night. His face had a weird grin, almost scary.
He’s a wildly successful, narcissistic, charismatic showman. That’s powerful, but that’s all that he is, and he cannot transcend that. People don’t fundamentally change, let alone transcend, what and who they are, though that in itself may be transcendent in a much different sense. Whatever happens, that is all he is. The history books will bear that out, though the current media and populace may trip here and there, in both senses if that word. Once it is clear what he is, he will be prevented from running totally amok and destroying humanity. And it is highly unlikely he will, as he has survival mechanisms too. But no one should be getting this close to that kind of highly unlikely. At this point, vote Democrat. Or let the chips fall.
His speech was like something out of 1984: “We’ll have peace, we’ll pull out our troops, but we’ll destroy ISIS.” “I’m going to give big tax cuts to the wealthy, but it will help the middle class.” I kept hoping that someone would start booing him when he started contradicting himself. No such luck.
And these supporters will salute Trump and follow him all the way to hell, while saying they support the Constitution. The Founders HAVE to be spinning in their graves.
Some one DID try and speak out and was hustled out of the room by his goons. I don;t know how she got in but she tried to say BUILD BRIDGES NOT WALLS and was silenced.
And in a time during which widespread disestablishment beliefs led to Donald Trump of all people getting the nomination, establishment Clinton picks an establishment running mate….. Brilliant. That was in-touch. What a genius. Ugh….. This just became an establishment versus change election.
The nuances don’t count as much anymore.
This is Coca Cola versus Charles Manson.
She gets Virginia now, though.
LeftCoast, I don’t think that was her reasoning. Virginia does not have as many electoral votes as larger states. I think she thought hard about who would be best qualified to step in as president in the event she was incapacitated or died.
Oh, sorry Akademos. I typed that Virginia sentence in a while ago and just got around to hitting Post Comment, before I saw your reply, for which I am thankful.
I think about a voting public comprised of so many who don’t pay any attention to nuance. Many people are just hitting the Like button for the encumbent president when they vote for the same party. Manson/Trump is just the Dislike button, not distinctive to them. People will allow a Hitler if they’re struggling enough. Hillary’s campaign now relies on 3 1/2 months of peace and prosperity.
Diane, I’m confident you’re right she did. I’m — gasp — starting to hope 51% of Electoral College votes reflect that people believe she did instead of seeing the pair as an undesirable more-of-the-same.
Wasn’t Tim Kain the chair of the DNC when the party suffered the greatest loss in decades of state & house seats to the Republicans? Democrats again, dismiss those of us living in non-swing states as invisible. They really don’t seem to want increasingly liberal, populist & pro union young people voting.
OTOH, here’s a version of Trump’s Utopia (this is wicked funny)
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/another-brick-in-trumps-wall?mbid=nl_160722_Daily&CNDID=26810038&spMailingID=9243775&spUserID=MTA5MjQwNDk3MTg2S0&spJobID=961788079&spReportId=OTYxNzg4MDc5S0
Diane,
I think that succession had nothing to do with her decision. Assuming that Sanders was out because politically that marriage would never work . The next choice would be Warren, would you like to be Hillary sitting in the shadows of the more dynamic and likeable Warren for four years. Would Warren sit idly by as Clinton pursued neo liberal policy,on Trade,on Regulation.
She assumes that progressives will have nowhere to go . She probably is right about that . How about those workers in the mid west that see the system being rigged against them . They have some place to go ,Trump. I’m with Leftcoast the American people are saying “enough is enough” tear it down. Trump is their weapon of mass destruction . The irony is they are jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. Most of his supporters will be destroyed by his /Ryan’s economic policy.
Joel,
None of us know what she was thinking.
She could have chosen Sherrod Brown from Ohio, which is a crucial state, but she chose the person she believed was best fit to succeed her. Ohio and Florida are the decisive states in any presidential election, not Virginia.
Thanks for that quote, Jack.
Ladies and gentlemen, a quote from the deform manifesto:
“When appointing men to leading positions in government, greater value should be placed on character than on purely academic or allegedly intellectual suitability. It is not abstract knowledge which must be considered as a decisive factor wherever a leader is required, but rather a natural talent for leadership, and with it a highly developed sense of responsibility which brings with it determination, courage and endurance.”
A. Hitler
And of course character and highly developed sense of responsibility here means the capacity to be a total psychopath.
Hitler had many brilliant quotes. He was much smarter than Trump. Here is another one that perfectly summarizes Trump, and explains why Trump will win.
All great movements are popular movements. They are the volcanic eruptions of human passions and emotions, stirred into activity by the ruthless Goddess of Distress or by the torch of the spoken word cast into the midst of the people. Adolf Hitler
“When appointing men to leading positions in government, greater value should be placed on
characterjump shots than on purely academic or allegedly intellectual suitability. It is not abstract [or any other kind of] knowledge which must be considered as a decisive factor wherever a leader is required, but rather a natural talent forleadershipBS’ing, and with it a highly developed sense ofresponsibilitydenial and finger pointing which brings with itdetermination, courage and endurancegrit”Fixed.
It was a great speech, powerful! Awesome! Some people don’t like to hear the truth or look in a mirror. America has many problems that can only be solved with conservative answers. Hopefully Trump will win, and we will try to get back to the great country we once were. There will be a rule of law again with clear borders, clear consequences for crimes. It will take a long time to wash off all the filth that has accumulated in the last 60 years. There is a lot of work to be done. Let’s all get out there and vote for Trump!
The problem is it’s not the truth, and Trump is a fraud, a mere showman. Hitler was also a fraud, compared to what he thought he was. This is not the time to play in the dark with sticks of dynamite.
You do realize that this person is trolling for people he can ‘spook’ with his nonsense.
The fact that Trump is a demogugue is frightening enough, but that he is bonafide psychotic, and has demonstrated that he cannot be trusted is terrifying. Argument only gives this troll a reason to come back and waste your time. Let him go back to playing video games or target shooting.
When I taught the course British Literature, one of the first text readings was always Beowulf. I learned to get my students to have a little fun with the psychotic “I ALONE” personality of Beowulf himself, a guy who apparently feels it his job to enter kingdoms unannounced and single-handedly save the world from an unmistakable “evil.” I felt like I heard most of that again in Trump’s speech….even to the point where the crowd was not saying anything like Yes We Can, but, more tellingly: YES YOU CAN.
Wow, Bill. You’re sort of out there aren’t you?
I’m curious. If Trumps has answers to our country’s problems, why didn’t he outline any of them in his speech? Why haven’t Republicans done anything of substance in Congress over the last eight years?
What have we gotten from conservatives over the last three decades? Reagan and Bush1 piled up deficits and debt, increased taxes on the working class while cutting them for the rich, and subverted the Constitution.
Bush2 ignored dire warnings of terrorist threats, and then manufactured a war against Iraq, which he refused to pay for. And then he broke the economy.
Obama has been cleaning up the mess.
The term “conservative ideas” is a virtual oxymoron.
If you believe in a bigot and a racist, then you have some serious issues.
Bill, you must have missed this. Read it & weep.
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/donald-trumps-ghostwriter-tells-all
To Bill:
Yes, William, please go to live in any fascist (Russia), communist (North Korea),or make-believe democracy in Turkey.
You should read more history in civilization. If you are between 30 something to over 65 and unemployed, then you should be able to distinguish that the great America is built on mutual respect for humanity, mutual caring for humanitarian acts, and mutual treasure for freedom to all.
All lip-services promises to please your selfish endeavor, desires and ears will only be lip services. If you rob people’s labor for your living, how could you make others to be greater than you? Please think over what you wrote. Thanks, but NO thanks for your inhuman voting advice. Back2basic
Dear May. Bill is a troll… probably an old man and a failed human being with nothing to do but provoke people.
“I woke up depressed this morning. I’m normally a sunny optimist but I’ve got to tell you, the four-day Trumpathon that ended last night with the Donald’s fake populist speech has got me spooked. “I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people who cannot defend themselves,” he said. What utter baloney. He’s a vacuous and vicious megalomaniac, but also a brilliant conman who could convince gullible Americans (including some Bernie backers) he’s their champion against a political-economic establishment that has shafted them for years.
Hillary must make a convincing case she’s their real champion. But that means she’s also got to convince Americans she’s not part of that same establishment. How does she do this?” Robert Reich .
As Michael Moore said; Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin,and Pennsylvania,the only states that have to swing. So Hillary did you select the leader of the opposition to destructive trade deals to be your running mate? .Did you select the leader of the opposition to the “Banksters” on Wall Street to be your running mate ?, nope . You motivated your base to get out the vote for you in those critical states? nope . I don’t care about Benghazi , forget the Emails . You just took battery acid and rubbed it into the wounds in these states. You just took those vibrant young adults who have accumulated little, so they have little to lose and told them to stay home as usual. .This is pompous,arrogant.!!. How much did Trump pay you?
I would love to have someone throw this in my face on Nov 2.
The word “unhinged” comes to mind after reading this comment.
Speaking of acid.
Watching Clinton’s choice of Tim Kaine as running mate was an out of mind experience.
I suddenly felt like Timothy Leary.
I voted for Bernie in the primary, but I’m actively supporting Clinton in the general election. Donald Trump is truly frightening. He wants Saudi Arabia to have nuclear weapons. He wants to abandon Europe to Russia. He wants to form deportation squads in America. He wants to build a wall. He believes vaccines cause autism. He is a conspiracy theorist. He is a racist. He is a misogynist. His business career has been a history of bankruptcies and shady deals. He will try to appoint his children to cabinet positions. He would try to become our emperor rather than our elected servant. No thanks.
If you don’t want this man in office, then start to actively support Hillary Clinton. Give her time, money, put up a “Hillary” sign in your yard, etc. Argue with your friends and family who are to going to vote for someone else. Do what it takes to keep Trump out of the White House.
Eric,
In an interview with the NY Times, Trump said that if another member of NATO were invaded, he would not necessarily support them. Asked specifically about the Baltic states, which are threatened by Russia, he was not willing to say he would support them. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania must be terrified of Trump.
This from a friend whose father was CEO of Waldenbooks back in the 80s.
They lived in NY and he worked with the Donald extensively.
This reference the ghostwriter who gave the interview to NYer talking about how awful Trump was—and now Trump is threatening to sue him.
“My father says he really regrets having helped Trump sell so many copies of his book. Dad had lunch with Tony Schwartz when the book was coming out. He said Schwartz wrote the book to please Trump, but after working with him for six months, he told my father Trump was a really terrible person.
After Peter Thiel’s pro Trump speech at the RNC I needed a benedryl to go to sleep. His vision of American greatness is centered in his singular genius and Silicon Valley. According to Thiel, they’ve made no mistakes in PaloAlto- perfection personified and he wants to replicate this all over the US. Thiel’s libertarian fantasies & Trump’s authoritarianism are frighteningly anti democratic; as if 98% of the population either don’t exist or will magically reinvent themselves into techies. Here’s what he thinks about an educated populace- don’t go to school.
http://www.newyorker.com/news/benjamin-wallace-wells/peter-thiels-conservative-vision
Thiel—a co-founder of PayPal and an influential investor—established a scholarship, several years ago, offering a hundred thousand dollars to high-school graduates who imagine themselves talented enough to circumvent college and begin their lives as entrepreneurs. Thiel said that he wanted to liberate them from the “priestly class” of professors.
Thiel also said, a few years ago, that allowing women to vote (when combined with the votes of welfare beneficiaries), made “capitalistic democracy an oxymoron.” Thiel, like Marc Andreeson, who praised Indian colonialism, are on the Facebook board.
The announcement of Silicon Valley’s victory over democracy, hasn’t been covered by main stream media. And, that victory is apparent in the US Dept. of Education, aka Aspen Institute.
According to MSNBC, Peter Thiel opposes democracy.
If you can catch up on the dnc leaks via wilileaks you’ll find so does the Democratic Party.
Linda,
You should vote for Trump or Stein.
You’re missing the point in reference to the lack of democracy in our country.
Can anyone respond or dialogue anymore without the “then vote for Trump” mantra?
Fight for democracy. Fight for your principles. That’s important work.
But right now we face a choice: Trump or Clinton.
Their country, the United Corporate Colonies, is driven by entitlement, built on wealth and by, exploitation. Political leadership differences are limited to style, rhetoric, target selection and harshness of penalty (internationally and nationally), speed of economic loss for workers and the poor and, the hierarchy of demographic groups. And, that may provide enough of a reason to choose between the two candidates.
Holy cognitive dissonance Batman, the edifice is crumbling. Finger wagging and
fear-mongering calls for even more finger wagging and fear-mongering. Shouldn’t
we save some for Hillary to use? If we spend it all now, what will she use to
motivate the faithful?
Trump loves the working man. He has said in the past on the record that the wages of the working men and women are too high!!!!
When he demolished Best Dept. Store to make way for Trump Tower he paid illegal Polish immigrants, working seven days a week, $4 an hour for their labor!!!
Wikileaks and Demexit. When Trump wins because millions like myself won’t vote for Hillary either we can all blame the DNC and the corrupt super delegates.
Clarity:
The choice is between Hillary and Donald.
Hillary won more votes and delegates than Bernie. Bernie endorsed Hillary.
Do you really want Trump to be president?
@CLARITY::: No; we will NOT blame the DNC; we WILL be placing the blame squarely where it BELONGS—n the voters who out of spit sat out; butt voted for Trump-; or wasted their votes on Stein. In other words—we will blame YOU.
Listening to Trump’s convention speech reminded me of other moments in my life that I was truly frightened. Like being 10, alone in a row boat with a fog rolling in. Or as a TV host in D.C. and rejecting Idi Amin’s invitation to Uganda with six of his henchmen blocking the exit. “Carol we leave from Dulles tonight at 3 AM”.
One thing for sure is you can’t let fear over take you.
Have you read the great article in The New Yorker about Trump’s ghost writer for his book “Art of the Deal”? It is the best examination of Trump I have ever read. Let’s hope we hear from him at the convention.
Thank you Diane for a great article and all that you do.
This comes from Robert Reich, a Bernie supporter. It appeared on his blog on June 16 but the reasons to not vote for Trump remain solid.
By Robert Reich, Robert Reich’s Blog
13 June 16
… Right now it’s [GOP} supporting for President of the United States a man
1. who divides us by race and ethnicity and religion.
He says undocumented Americans “bring drugs, crime, they’re rapists.” That the Mexican government “sends bad ones over because they don’t want to pay for them.” And who says he’ll round up and deport all 11 million undocumented workers in the United States.
This is a man who equivocated on repudiating an endorsement from David Duke, former head of the Ku Klux Klan. And when asked to repudiate the vicious anti-semitism of some of his followers said “I don’t have a message to the fans.”
A man who claimed “thousands and thousands” of Muslims in New Jersey celebrated the Twin Towers collapsing, when there’s no evidence at all to support that statement. And whose response to terrorism is to prevent all Muslims from coming into the United States.
A man who, in response to the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, did not mourn the victims, but instead crowed “Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don’t want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!” and repeated his call for his temporary Muslim ban – even though the shooter was an American citizen. “What has happened in Orlando is just the beginning. Our leadership is weak and ineffective. I called it and asked for the ban. Must be tough,” he said.
A man who says black criminals are responsible for 81 percent of homicides against whites, which turns out to be a racist myth.
2. whose incendiary lies are inciting violence across this land, but he excuses them.
When he learned that some of his supporters punched, kicked and spit on protesters of color at his rallies, he said “people who are following me are very passionate.”
When a handful of white supporters punched and attempted to choke a Black Lives Matter protester at another of his rallies, he said “maybe he should have been roughed up.”
3. who bullies, humiliates, and threatens those who dare cross him.
He mocks their physical characteristics, makes up lies about them, degrades them, tries to intimidate them by unleashing hostile attacks on the Internet – announcing, for example, that a family who donated money to a political opponent “better be careful, they have a lot to hide.”
He calls a federal judge who’s considering a case against Trump University a “total disgrace” and a “hater,” and alleging he’s Mexican although he was born in the United States.
4. who spreads baseless conspiracy theories.
He conjectured that President Obama was not born in the United States, and that the government hid information about the Ebola virus and a plague would start in America if flights from Ebola infected countries weren’t cancelled. He opined that Ted Cruz’s father was with Lee Harvey Oswald during the Kennedy assasination in Dallas, and that child health vaccinations cause autism.
And he suggested that the death of Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia might have been a part of a plot.
Such baseless conspiracy theories can do great damage, when, for example, parents don’t vaccinate their children because they fear autism.
5. whose hateful and demeaning attitudes toward women and boastful claims of sexual dominance have been filling the airwaves for years.
They’re best summed up in an interview where he said “women, you have to treat them like shit.”
6. who believes climate change is not caused by humans, contrary to all scientific proof.
And he calls for more fossil fuel drilling and fewer environmental regulations, vows to cancel the Paris agreement committing nearly every nation to curbing climate change, and to rescind Obama’s rules to curb planet-warming emissions from coal-fired power plants.
7. who proposes using torture against terrorists, and punishing their families, both in clear violation of international law.
And if all this weren’t enough,
8. who wants to cut taxes on the rich, giving the wealthiest one tenth of one percent an average tax cut of more than $1.3 million each every year – exploding the national debt and endangering the future of Social Security and Medicare.
This man is Donald Trump, and the Republican Party wants him to be President of the United States…
it is one thing to have a man who has the leadership quality of being able to command respect by his mannerism and appearing to be self willed and aware of where he is going, as well as what he is doing, but it is unfortunate that this is isn’t all one must look for when appointing someone who would determine their living condition for the next four years.
I really wish this was all that is needed when electing a candidate, but frankly it is not! sometimes we need to look beyond the drama and look at a man for what he really is.
past history has shown us that men with strong political appeal and charisma hasn’t always been the best. Why do we still look for the person who manipulates our fears and insecurities to gain our support?
If there is anything Adolf hitler was known for, it was his persuasive skills and strong nature, his ability to project a man who is in control, none of this stopped him from being the man responsible for the death of millions of jews and the cause of world war 2