The story about Trump’s rambling news conference had this headline in the Washington Post:
“Trump Invites Russia to Meddle in the U.S. Presidential Race with Clinton’s Emails.”
This is a story that is very troublesome.
He is running for president of the United States, and he asks a foreign power to intervene in the presidential contest.
This is unprecedented.
Either he is suffering from some kind of classifiable mental disorder.
Or he has terrible judgment.
Or he is unbelievably ignorant of foreign affairs and national security.
Or he is a traitor, who puts the interests of a foreign nation above that of his own.
Does he realize that his warm and fuzzy approach to President Putin makes our European allies very nervous?
His comments reek of megalomania at best.
I know I should ignore what he says, but I can’t. At present, he is leading in most polls. A majority of the American electorate appears ready to elect him to lead our nation. If his mutterings do not trouble you, then you have a stronger stomach than I do.
I daresay I am older than 95% of readers. People who run for president are supposed to be leaders, protectors, defenders of our democracy. They are supposed to have the best interests of our nation uppermost in their thoughts. They are not supposed to invite other nations to meddle in our elections. I don’t get it.
Is he the Manchurian Candidate?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Right now the Progressive Movement’s Job #1 is to stop “Demogogracy” by making sure Trump is not elected. Then back to the agenda Bernie did such a magnificent job in pushing forward.
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Which demagogue did you want to stop, David? I’m interested in stopping both.
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Michael Paul — the orange haired one first. THEN we can go to work on the other one.
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I don’t believe Trump is “mad.” I don’t believe he cares enough to be truly angry. He is an opportunist, and he realizes he can mobilize a great many low information, frustrated people in order to gain access to the “keys of the kingdom.” I think he partly chooses to be provocative, and once he gets going he has no filter. If he wins, his bad judgment and counterproductive policies may cost us dearly, not just in economic policy, but with the lives of our people. He will make us long for the “halycon days of GW.”
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I think it’s a mistake to characterize Trump supporters as “low information” or ignorant as others have said. Friends of mine that were 1st in their class in high school and went on to become software engineers and mining engineers and teachers all support Trump. They are intelligent people, but they are extremely frustrated with the way government works or doesn’t work for them, among many other reasons. To them, nothing changes no matter who is President. They want a drastic change, and Trump offers the biggest change to them of all the candidates.
I’m not saying I agree with them, but that’s as much as I can understand of their position.
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Walking the plank also is a change, as is blowing up your home or having a head-on collision with an 18-wheeler.
Change is certain!
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I don’t know Diane. There’s more here than just what I said, but no, they do not view themselves as walking the plank or blowing up their own home.
This article that I think someone else posted does offer some interesting ideas about why Trump appeals to these people, and how we should be countering Trump. Very few Democrats are doing what this articles suggests.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff/understanding-trump_b_11144938.html
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I think you can be frustrated with government without supporting a con man that denigrates everyone that does not agree with him. You could support Gary Johnson or Dr. Jill Stein instead. Trump is the answer to creating more problems, not solving them IMO.
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What is even more frightening is the number of supporters this complete LUNATIC has! I think Trump views this whole election as a reality show starring HIM. What is going on with the people in this country? My faith in humanity is being tested by people who actually want this NUT to hold the highest office in this country. Sorry. I had to vent.
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I second this rant!
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I agree. And the real danger is that apathy and anger within the Democratic party and among supporters of Sanders will mean many total opt-outs of voting. This will be a close election. Opt-outs and migrations to third party candidates will make TRUMP the winner. And there could be the coat-tails put into office, like David Duke (of many KKK iterations) who is an announced candidate for the Senate. That may not be an extreme example given the entrenched and voter-authorized continuation of the onslaught against democracy by Republican governors, state legislators, ALEC, and “baby ALEC” well organized and well-financed to make voting more difficult and to limit public participation in decisions.
I am older that Diane and really conscious of the limited timeline that I have to vote in national elections. In my opinion, nothing is more important than stopping Trump, David Duke, and people who would like to see ultra-conservatives on the Supreme Court.
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I think your comparison to a reality show is disturbingly accurate. That’s actually what this election has become: the ultimate reality show, with the winner being awarded leadership of the western world. If the events of the past few months had been depicted in a movie 2 years ago, it would have been panned as too ridiculous & unbelievable.
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What I see as sadder is the reasons that so many Americans who were willing to make a Black man President twice on a platform of hope and change and new found populism, are now turning to a demagogue. Why the Billionaire Mayor who crushed the Occupy Movement; whose political revolution in 2011-12 changed the narrative from austerity to income inequality and the declining standard of living ,was on that stage.
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Trump has gone beyond any excuse of bad judgement…this certainly borders
on actual treason. He needs to be brought down as was Joseph McCarthy but
where is response from Repubs like McCain and Graham and Ryan and the
more trad. Republicans? According to Nate Silver, Hilary is back in lead but
by small margins…All of us who respect Bernie must support Hillary.
As was stated last night, this is not reality tv : this is reality. The last thing we
need now is disunity or hard left idea that not voting for Hilary is in some way a
noble gesture.
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It sincerely amazes me that Trump has any followers at all. He has less than no Tract , Couth, and ANY Diplomacy .
Obama said is 10000% Correctly last night Hillary is the Most Qualified for the job…
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“Either he is suffering from some kind of classifiable mental disorder.”
YES!
This is the only issue we need to be addressing now. (And profuse apologies to those who experience mental health issues and/or think this is inappropriate. I respectfully disagree that this subject is off-limits.)
Change the narrative. For this decision alone – seeking partnership with a foreign country for election to the President of the United States – the GOP candidate proves his decision-making skills are seriously questionable. Human decision-making skills are related to our mental capacities and our mental health. And over and over again, daily, this candidate is throwing his compromised ability to make sane, rational decisions, let alone decisions that don’t jeopardize an entire country’s security, in our faces. (And he probably goes to bed laughing every night about how easily he can do it.)
Time to deal with the real issue – and it’s not a political issue at its core. It’s fundamentally about the candidate’s unfitness to run for political office in this country.
(And for whatever this is worth, after posting something like this on my own tiny little of-no-consequence blog yesterday, without even mentioning the candidate’s name, I suddenly have many page view hits from none other than – Russia!
WTH?! )
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From my notes: In 2013, Mike Lofgren wrote, “The Party Is Over: How the Republicans Went Crazy: The Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Got Shafted.”
Lofgren quotes Altemeyer: “Probably 20-25% of adult America population is so right wing authoritarian, so scared, so self-righteous, so ill informed, and so dogmatic that nothing you can say or do will change their minds. They would march America into a dictatorship and probably feel that things had improved as a result….And they are so submissive that they will believe and do virtually anything they are told. They are not going to let up and they are not going to go away.”
Lofgren adds that 20-25% is enough to swing an election and they are more easily organized and mobilized than the rest of the population. Can you say Tea Party? They fall in line behind the current mandate.
I pray that people realize how important it is to vote in November.
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Here is a link that explains in more detail what Lofgren has pointed out, it answers he question of why such a foul creature as Trump has gained such support. It also gives sage advice to all those who oppose Trump on how to counteract his manipulations. If you want to understand the nature of the influence of this enemy of America, this is a must read. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff/understanding-trump_b_11144938.html
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Jon Lubar:
Yes, an interesting and thought-provoking piece.
I urge others to read it as well.
😎
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Retired teacher
Glad you brought Lofgren up
From “Confessions of a Republican who left the Cult ”
“The reader may think that I am attributing Svengali-like powers to GOP operatives able to manipulate a zombie base to do their bidding. It is more complicated than that. Historical circumstances produced the raw material: the deindustrialization and financialization of America since about 1970 has spawned an increasingly downscale white middle class – without job security (or even without jobs), with pensions and health benefits evaporating and with their principal asset deflating in the collapse of the housing bubble. Their fears are not imaginary; their standard of living is shrinking.
What do the Democrats offer these people? Essentially nothing. Democratic Leadership Council-style “centrist” Democrats were among the biggest promoters of disastrous trade deals in the 1990s that outsourced jobs abroad: NAFTA, World Trade Organization, permanent most-favored-nation status for China. At the same time, the identity politics/lifestyle wing of the Democratic Party was seen as a too illegal immigrant-friendly by downscaled and outsourced whites.[3]
While Democrats temporized, or even dismissed the fears of the white working class as racist or nativist, Republicans went to work. To be sure, the business wing of the Republican Party consists of the most energetic outsourcers, wage cutters and hirers of sub-minimum wage immigrant labor to be found anywhere on the globe. But the faux-populist wing of the party, knowing the mental compartmentalization that occurs in most low-information voters, played on the fears of that same white working class to focus their anger on scapegoats that do no damage to corporations’ bottom lines: instead of raising the minimum wage, let’s build a wall on the Southern border (then hire a defense contractor to incompetently manage it). Instead of predatory bankers, it’s evil Muslims. Or evil gays. Or evil abortionists.”
Gee how could Mike Lofgren predicted the rise of Trump.
The Democrats have had five years to heed Lofgren’s warning but as Thomas Frank details in “Listen Liberal” they have abandoned the working class. Surrounding themselves with the professional and donor class. Dismissing those fears not in rhetoric but in policy .
So if she gets elected hopefully the lesson has been learned, we will know by the policy she pursues. Or we pressure her to pursue .
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Rather than wade, once again, into the Trump madness, I’d just like to recommend a book that I think is a good antidote for our times. It has both nothing and everything to do with education (much like all the sound and fury surrounding this election). Unfortunately, the book is not out until October (I read an ARC for review purposes), but I recommend you pre-order it. It’s a middle grade children’s book by Grace Lin, the third of her series that began with WHERE THE MOUNTAIN MEETS THE MOON (it’s helpful but not necessary to read the other two books, but I recommend them anyway as they are very good in their own right and it will give you something to do until this one comes out). This one is called WHEN THE SEA TURNED TO SILVER and is the best of the series – a masterpiece I might dare to call it.
It’s basically a story of faith. Not really religious faith per se, although there are strong elements of Eastern religion woven throughout. But more just faith in the universe. Faith that life will endure. Faith that patience, humility, courage and calm will prevail over greediness, madness and evil. Fear is not the answer, no matter how afraid you might be or how much valid reason there may be for fear. I don’t want to give too much away – every drop of the story is worth savoring. Yes, it’s a fiction book. But, like THE LITTLE PRINCE or THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH, there is much truth.
Enjoy, and over and out.
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Thank you, Dienne! Adding all three to my reading list.
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Though Trump is completely unqualified to be POTUS, he is not at all stupid in spite of what he says. The majority of his public pronouncements are dissembling and diversion, meant to keep the media and opposition distracted by offering up irresistible bait for them to chew on. Though it seems like he does, he never actually takes a hard position in these rants, and that is not easily done by those who are not manipulative sociopaths. He remains vague while appearing not to. His purpose in these rants, aside from throwing rancid red meat to the GOP base, is distracting us all from the retrograde toxicity of the Republican Party platform, from the obvious fact that if elected he will change nothing other than brands or labels since he is surrounded by long time GOP insiders. If elected he will be advised by them and doubtless appoint many to cabinet positions. That is all he can do since he has no policy or political expertise. That is the true danger Trump represents, he is a figurehead, a pitchman for the same GOP policies that have failed in the past, the very things, the cronyism, corruption, and insider politics that his base in large part rejects and foolishly thinks he will cure. No such attempt will even be made, though the sales pitch that it has already succeeded will be “huge”. The GOP was, and is still in shambles due to its own failings, and all Trump has done is step into the middle of the mess and choose the authoritarian figures he thinks are best suited to a top down imposition of their same old ideologically based public policies, a thing that they will doubtless find a way to blame on Obama.
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I posted this link above but it bears reposting as it is an excellent window into understanding not just the figurehead that is Trump, but the reasons for his success as a candidate and by extension, why he has chosen those who he has allied with in his quest for the presidency. It also gives excellent advice in how to counter Trumps momentum. KNOW YOUR ENEMY! (and know yourself and you shall always prevail.) Sun Tsu, from The Art Of War http://www.huffingtonpost.com/george-lakoff/understanding-trump_b_11144938.html
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It looks as though the Democrats have taken Lakoff’s advice to heart. At the convention the message is very positive and upbeat: America IS a great nation, we are all in this together, many examples of Hillary as a caring and responsible public servant. Though they criticized Trump, they were always careful to bring it back to their main message of “Let’s make things better.”
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Yes, Trump is mad as a hatter. But look at what fear of him already has people saying on our side: Russia is our adversary. Why, because Russia took over Crimea? Look, Russia is a Great Power, like it or not. It has had and continues to have a “sphere of influence,” just as we do. (Ever heard of the Monroe Doctrine, 1823…our statement that all of the New World is our Crimea?) We had an understanding with the Russians in the early 1990s that Ukraine would remain in its sphere of influence. NATO, not Russia, is the aggressor here. Have you all forgotten about Russia’s history with Europe: invaded by various Europeans in 1610, 1812, 1941? Russia will defend herself, just as we defended ourselves against her during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Fearing Trump is already making us forget about our own Military-Industrial Complex. Russia is not our adversary. But we can make her our adversary is we treat her as if she were a bit-player on the world’s stage. Foolish…we are being foolish. We have no beef with Russia unless we intend to weaken or destroy her. And if we intend to weaken her, she will defend herself. Duh!
We must live with Russia, not try to dominate or destroy her. If we try, Russia will fight back, and it will be ugly. Great Powers are realities. I thought we were the grown-ups here, and that Trump is the child.
Don’t fall for the Military-Industrial knee-jerk reaction–the one that deprives us of the resources we need for public education!!!!!
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Steve Cohen, you might want to check with an ethnic Crimean Tatar regarding what they think about Russia. They were not exactly “happy” when Russia annexed the Crimea, to say the very least.
See: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/20/opinion/russia-is-trying-to-wipe-out-crimeas-tatars.html?_r=0
Also see: http://www.newsweek.com/who-are-crimean-tatars-459844
Stalin “ethnically cleansed” them from the Crimea, their home for over a millenium. Over 100,000 Tatars died as a result of this. I’d call this another Holocaust, at least for the Crimean Tatars.
Excuse Russia all you want, and I also stipulate that the United States has a horrible history regarding our own indigenous peoples. Among others. But while that does not mean that we should treat Russia as “the enemy,” and goad her into doing stupid things because she feels threatened, it also means that we should not act as though we have “no beef” with Russia.
Be careful, be wary, and be aware of with whom we are dealing. Russia is, at least in their minds, our adversary, and they are always on the alert. We do have to live with Russia, but we should not be naive about it.
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Well said
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Make well said Steve Cohen
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Trump is not only mad (splenetically and theatrically angry) but he is also mad (unhinged, irrational, narcissist, sociopath). But this is nothing new, he utilized his anger and unchained egomaniac shtick to defeat all those conventional hack GOP politicians. It worked and he still has good poll numbers vis a vis Hillary.
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To many of us in the middle of the country (and the South), she and the DNC represent everything that is wrong with this country: open borders, sanctuary cities, criminality (police as enemy), welfare, tribalism (my life matters more than yours!), atheism, political correctness… For many Americans (still the majority- thank god) the Democrats represent all that is wrong. I know that I write this here in the “Belly of the Beast”, (echo chamber) but the truth needs to be said (even here). There are many teachers who share my views (50%). Many of these teachers teach in the leafy suburbs, private schools, small towns, etc. I just advise all of you to watch the poll numbers and come back to reality. I encourage other teachers who don’t agree with this to speak up. Not all teachers buy into this craziness!
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John, many of the folks in the middle of the country, conservatives, right wingers do not support Trump. Many conservatives are leaving the GOP because of Trump and moving to the libertarian cult.
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As a Midwesterner, and usually a Democrat, I feel the need to respond. Here are the things that are wrong with the country according to the OP:
Open borders: If only we could make meaningful immigration reform happen. But that pesky party of no just won’t have it. And, we are almost all immigrants’ descendants. When my Eastern European great-grandparents arrived here a century ago, they were the evil foreigners. Speaking Polish. Being Catholic. Taking those jobs. People forget the KKK targeted Catholics. See, it’s only the new immigrants are the problem, I get it.
Police as enemy: Hey, almost all of my friends are likely Democrats. Not a single one believes the police are the enemy. Hell, judging by the treatment of public sector workers by Republican governors, I’d say they view the police as the enemy.
Welfare: What welfare and didn’t Bill Clinton pass a hugely popular with Republicans welfare reform bill. I live in a state that provides the shortest unemployment benefit term in the nation. Clinging to an antiquated concept there.
Tribalism: By your definition that fits Republicans more. White people, yeah! Everyone else, evil and less important.
Atheism: Seriously? The Democrats don’t stand for that. If they did, they’d disband as a party.
Political Correctness: Red herring. Easy rallying cry.
The majority of Americans? I think not. There are more registered Democrats. In my state, the only reason Republicans have a legislative majority is their awesome ability to gerrymander districts. (The last election in my state gave the popular vote to Democratic candidates for state representatives at 54%, yet Republicans hold 56% of the seats. Wonder how that happened?)
I’ll agree with the craziness part. This election is insane and a marker of the continuing reasons to be concerned about Americans. I can’t believe that Bible-toting Republicans like Trump. Thrice-married. Endlessly insulting, golden-rule violating loudmouth. I understand if you don’t like Democrats because that’s democracy but if you think this Trump-hijacked party is going to observe any of your beliefs, you’re part of the insanity. With rare exceptions, every party leader has caved to the reality star and multiple bankruptcy candidate. He ominously viewed Cruz’s speech which had the audacity to oppose him. He says Americans as sheep and uses fear-mongering to keep them herded together. And you’re in the flock because your post reflected irrational and unsupported fears. Baaa!
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Johnmiller,
I tolerate all kinds of views, even those from someone who has the same name as Trump’s alter ego.
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@ Diane Ravitch: 😊
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He’s a media celebrity who is very good at getting the media to write about him, and getting the public to pay attention to him. That includes us.
The media likes entertaining tension. It’s good for ratings. And that’s what he produces.
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I just had this conversation with a thirty-year-old who doesn’t care for Trump but…she still watched his speech at the RNC (to then complain about how scary and negative he is). When I asked if she would watch the DNC speeches with Pres. Obama and Hillary Clinton she just wrinkled her nose and said no. Not Enough Noise And Insanity, I guess.
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Reblogged this on DWPost and commented:
He hates, hires and marries immigrants. He encourages foreign governments to commit espionage against his opponent. Yeah, I’d say he’s a dangerous narcissist.
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When “I’m really angry and frustrated” and “They are treating me unfairly'” becomes the acceptable excuse for mass moral abdication we are headed for disaster. We certainly have plenty of recent and past examples. I am not a religious person but I know many, many people find religion to be their moral compass. Most politicians seem compelled to reference their “faith.” Why isn’t every religious leader (many of whom condemn ISIS) in the country calling on their congregations to reject Trump’s immoral and unethical stirring of hate and resentment as an extreme violation?
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Did ANYONE here even bother to read what Trump actually said, as opposed to the headline in the WaPo article? I doubt it.
“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” Trump said during a news conference at one of his South Florida resorts. He added later, “They probably have them. I’d like to have them released.”
Asked whether Russian espionage into the former secretary of state’s correspondence would concern him, Trump said, “No, it gives me no pause. If they have them, they have them.”
Please tell me where that translates into: “Trump invites Russia to meddle in the U.S. presidential race with Clinton’s emails” which was the accompanying headline, or some of the calls here and elsewhere that Trump should be tried for TREASON?
I’m handicapped by only being fluent in English. Apparently, those quotations are in Russian or some special espionage code that only people who support Hillary Clinton can read. So help me out here.
“I hope you’re able to find.” What does that mean, exactly, to you? He thinks they already have them. But that’s not inviting them to go get them, or to spy on the US. I agree that he hopes that they (whoever “they” actually turns out to be – Putin, anonymous hackers, or some vodka-drinking Russian peasant near Vladivostok) will release those emails. And every American should want those emails released, folks. We have the right to see them, given her failure to keep them on a secure server. She opened the door, and Trump is just reminding us of what the FBI should have done.
But of course, Trump’s every word expresses the mind of SATAN!!!
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The headline is “Trump invites Russia to meddle in the U.S. presidential race with Clinton’s emails.”
I think reasonable people would agree that Trump invited Russia to do something. And I think reasonable people would agree that what Trump invited Russia to do was to release Clinton’s emails. The unstated assumption of the headline is that releasing Clinton’s emails would constitute “meddling in the U.S. presidential race.”
One might contest that assumption — perhaps releasing Clinton’s emails constitutes “fostering transparency in a wonderful way” — but that involves an argument that’s distinct from “nobody can read English.”
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MPG,
I posted the entire transcript of Trump’s press conference yesterday. It read like the ravings of a lunatic. He welcomed Russia hacking into Clinton’s emails. Have you ever heard a presidential candidate say anything remotely similar to that?
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Oh, and we have been spying on the Russians at least since 1917. We wanted nothing more than for them to be destroyed during WW I, after WW I, up until we entered WW II, and ever since. Why is that, exactly? And what gives us the right to meddle in the affairs, electoral and otherwise, of every country on the planet that we can manage to mess with and choose to try to bend to our will?
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I imagine this relates more to the idea of patriotism than to any analysis of Russia’s and America’s relative rights to meddle in other countries’ domestic affairs. Many people think that Americans, and especially U.S. elected officials, have some duty of loyalty to the United States, and that acting against the interests of the United States is a bad thing, in a way that acting against the interests of a foreign country is not.
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MPG,
The USSR and the USA have spied on one another since 1917. But we have never had a presidential candidate who invited Russia to intervene in the presidential election.
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Trump isn’t the Manchurian candidate. He is the Putin-Kim Candidate.
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This discussion reminds me of driving by an auto workers’ union hall near where I used to teach in Wayne/Westland Schools and seeing a sign in the lot: NO FOREIGN CARS. Apparently, that commonplace.
This was 1998-2000. The “difference” between “American” and “foreign” cars was already deeply blurred. Parts made there and assembled here, and vice versa. Foreign car plants on US soil employing thousands of American auto workers.
These people are stuck in another era entirely. It’s like our friend Dawn who doesn’t realize that the One World government is already here, but it’s not located at UN Headquarters in NYC, but in the boardrooms of the multinational corporations all over the globe.
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To MPG:
Do you really care for the well-being of strangers MORE THAN your own family members? (re: no foreign cars!)
Do you focus on Public Education or international politics? (re: the boardrooms of the multinational corporations all over the globe.)
Could you cultivate me the “”real meaning”” or definition of humanity, democracy, liberty, and conservative WITH RESPONSIBILITY to the WORLD peace and people’s own INNER PEACE.
Please explain and enlighten me through theory to your own experience and EXAMPLES of your educational background and your past, present living lifestyle if possible your anticipated future desire how to live with the acceptance of both pros and cons of your choice.
Please accept my sincere appreciation in advance for your precious time to cultivate an old but open minded immigrant. Back2basic
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Read an insightful commentary on and analysis of Trump on following link:
https://georgelakoff.com/2016/07/22/understanding-trump/
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Here’s Trump: “Putin has said things over the last year that are really bad things. He mentioned the N-word one time. I was shocked to hear him mention the N-word. You know what the N-word is, right? He mentioned it. I was shocked. He has a total lack of respect for President Obama. No. 1, he doesn’t like him and No. 2, he doesn’t respect him.”
According to Thom Hartmann, it’s a total lie that Putin used the N-word. Do they use the N-word in Russia. Russians most probably have the equivalent of the N-word but Trump did not say that.
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Google translate does give a Russian word for our N-word: негр
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Donald Trump might well answer, ” I am but mad north-north-west. When the wind is Southerly, I know a hawk from a handsaw.”
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Trump grew up in a highly authoritarian family, he has operated all his adult life as an authoritarian in the world of business, he admires an authoritarian/dictator like Putin, he wants to be an authoritarian president and his supporters want an authoritarian leader. He is addressing people who want a savior and he wants to be their savior. He is quintessentially un-democratic. The long struggle for freedom from a divine ruler may be about to be reversed.
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And Washington, Madison, Lincoln, and others must be spinning in their graves.
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Obama last night: “We don’t look to be ruled.”
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Good grief! If there are educated Americans who look to have SATAN to be their saviour, I must question the goal of all PRIVATE and “”private”” RELIGIOUS (Gluen movement, Fundamentalist …) schools from elementary to higher education in post secondary institutes like Harvard and its Ivy Leagues.
There is an abuse of freedom and democracy to the point that both major parties have CONFUSED people with CONSCIENCE.
Thanks God that we still have many conscientious veteran educators, writers and lawyers are with Dr. Ravitch’s wisdom.
In Canada, I, yes I, who was fed up with corruption in Liberal Party, voted ONCE for NDP Party (Ontario Premier Bob Rae), and once for Conservative Party(Ontario Premier Mike Harris)
I learn my lesson so fast that without the support of GULLIBLE but CONSCIENTIOUS teachers, Bob Rae failed to deliver his best to his voters.
Also, I learn very fast that conservative representative, who did not have experience in politics, will be a PUPPET for business party. Mike Harris sold Ontarian toll highway HW 407 in the lease of 99 years to foreigner (?) for 100 million (1 million per year). This toll HW 407 can produce to Ontario coffer MINIMUM 10+ million dollars monthly ( = 120+ million annually). This toll HW 407 was built at a cost of Ontarian tax payers 3000 million dollars = 3 billion dollars
In the same vein, Americans will see or experience themselves that ALL BUSINESS TYCOONS will pull the string on your MANIAC or CHARISMATIC leaders (one after another) to have their way in operation that definitely in their favor.
1) Suppress the minimum wage and outsource your jobs.
2) Lower quality and credentials in teaching profession = your children and grandchildren will forever be a cog in the machine
3) Manipulate the business degree in PRIVATE Ivy Leagues by nepotism in SELECTIVE hiring and high paying jobs TO THEIR OWN and CONTROLLED SECTORS.
4) There would be LIP-SERVICE in vocabulary, NOT and NEVER in reality regarding liberty, freedom, democracy in all public services like schools, hospitals, legal system and military.
IN CONCLUSION
If intellectual Americans are proud of their being intelligent, compassionate, and considerate for the well-being of themselves, their children, grandchildren and the WORLD PEACE, please try to focus and tackle your task one step at a time.
PLEASE VOTE SENSIBLY with all pros and cons CONSEQUENCES
Please ask yourself that who makes a rule (= conscience with consequences) so that you must live by (sheepishly, or provocatively with consequences)?
ANSWER: you make your own bed, you will sleep in it. (= the universal law of cause and effect = karma).
I profoundly appreciate Dr. Ravitch to allow my voice in this precious website. Without your wisdom in education aspect, Dr. Ravitch, I would be VERY confused and appalled by American Repubican Party’s Nominee. May.
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One of the more interesting phenomenon in this year’s political climate is the right wing acceptance of the friendly attitude of its,candidate toward Russia. Once a positive attitude toward Russia was the political plague. Now it seems Trump can cozy up to a former Soviet, a member of the KGB, who has violated the borders of a sovereign nation and no one bats an eye. Silence streams from all the right wing. Their silence indicts them.
While we know what Ailes the right wing, what is the matter with the left wing. They see no difference between any number of candidates on opposite poles. They want everything from the government, but are not willing to even go to the polls in the off year elections to get it.
I sometimes think my country has gone crazy.
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