I watched it all, with a growing sense of dismay. Once again, Trump was rude, abrasive, and couldn’t stop sniffing. When Clinton was speaking, he got up from his chair, lurked behind her, loomed over her, and it was incredibly distracting. He changed the subject and deflected as usual. His attacks on Bill Clinton were disgusting. Bill Clinton is not on the ballot. For a man who is a serial sexual abuser, a man who boasts of his sexual assaults, to complain about another man’s infidelity is a high level of hypocrisy. What I found so depressing was the small amount of time devoted to discussing actual issues that confront the nation. Trump talks in slogans; he will kill Obamacare and that will fix all the problems with spiraling costs. He will crush ISIS. He will do this and do that, but forget the details. He knows nothing about foreign issues and it is embarrassing to listen to him blabber on about Russia or Syria or anywhere outside of his social media orbit.
But, for me personally, the worst moment of the debate occurred when he said that if he were President, Hillary Clinton would be in jail. That sounded like the kind of threat or behavior that one expects to hear from a dictator. In democracies, winners are gracious in victory and form a government. They don’t pursue their opponents and threaten to jail them. This man is a psychopath. He is unfit to be anywhere near the Presidency.
He played to his hard-core white nationalist base. He gave them the Red Meat they love. He was the bully we have come to know and loathe.
As for the infamous sex tapes, where he bragged about grabbing women by their genitalia, he again said it was “locker room banter,” the kind of thing that men say to one another whenever they are together. If he attempted to apologize for his remarks, it was clear that he was not sincere. He still does not understand why women and men too would find his vulgar remarks offensive. But his debate coaches told him to be contrite, so he pretended. But it wasn’t a good pretense.
The idea that this man is the candidate of the Republican party is a stain on the party. It once claimed to be the party of “family values.” No more. If ever. If they accept this man afflicted with satyriasis as their leader, they lose all pretense of caring about family values, morality, decency, or respect for women.
Yuck! The level of discourse in this campaign has been driven down to potty talk and worse by the most unqualified candidate for the Presidency in modern times, maybe ever.
this man could not put one coherent sentence together. This man did not answer a single question. I have never beheld a coke inspired rant, but I have heard them described.
This man cannot be president. He needs to be institutionalized, but the attorneys generals need to ensure that he is charged and prosecuted for the theft, fraud, and abuse he has committed. He has to go to jail, not Hillary.
If the allegations against Trump were brought to a court room rather than silenced with payoffs, Trump might not only be serving jail time, he would likely be a registered offender.
Exactly.
Much to be dismayed about. Yes, Donald Trump appears to be an ignorant schoolyard bully, but I found Hillary’s uncompromisingly aggressive posture against the only other power on the globe with thousands of nuclear weapons on hair trigger, and the promise to expand military involvement in Syria, also dismaying. This insane warmongering has to stop. It is wrecking the nation and the planet.
@Ray: I’m with you.
I agree. But Putin is the ex-KGB cold warrior invading Crimea and intervening in Syria to support Assad. In Syria, the rescue workers have to be concerned about a Russian “double tap”. First the bombers kill or injure the civilians, then the Russian jets wait and return when the know the rescue workers are out helping people caught in the destruction.
I did not hear a solution to how Trump would handle Putin, other than, like most alt-right in this country, Trump thinks he’s a great guy and a better leader than Obama. My concern is Putin would be playing chess while Trump is playing checkers. Trump just isn’t that smart.
I agree. The fear of Russia and Putin is propaganda, and Clinton is itching to start a war with Russia which will bring about WWIII. I don’t think we’ll survive a WWIII.
Nonsense. Fared Zakaria had a panel of Russian experts on CNN yesterday and they warned that ex-KGB agent Putin had reopened aggression on three fronts: Syria, where they are bombing civilian populations; Ukraine, which he hopes to reconquer; and the Baltic nations–Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania–where Russian troops are massing on their borders. Putineants to re–establish the USSR. He said not long ago that the dissolution of the USSR was the worst event of the 20th century.
He would love to see Trump elected because he is (in Lenin’s words) a “useful idiot.”
George HW Bush was head of the CIA before becoming President: should we always preface our remarks concerning him with “Ex-Cia leader George Bush?”
It is not nonsense. The US has been after Syria for over 20 years, since Perle and his ilk came up with the the Project for a New American Century, with the goal of preventing Iran from gaining influence in the region and sowing chaos in the ME so Israel can remain supreme. This “expert panel” on the mainstream news network CNN- isn’t this the same network that was touting the “weapons of mass destruction” before the invasion of Iraq? What makes them more credible now on the topic of Russia? Before you impugn Putin’s motives look at our own actions that pose an existential threat to Russia – entering into trade agreements to the east and west that will economically isolate Russia. Fomenting a revolt in a country on Russia’s border – the Ukraine, in order to install “our guy” per Victoria Nuland. If Putin were doing the same in Mexico or Canada, don’t you think the US might be concerned? Diplomacy requires seeing where the other side is coming from rather than automatically dismissing their motives as “evil,” particularly since the US has a long history of subverting governments that would threaten the supremacy of multinational corporations.
email from International Fellowship of Christians and Jews
Over the past several days, life in eastern Ukraine has become increasingly dangerous. Reports from the field are coming in by the minute, including personal accounts from Fellowship team members on the ground, telling us pro-Russian forces have unleashed hundreds of rounds into the Donbass and Lugansk regions of Ukraine along Russia’s western border where [people] are trapped inside the military zone as checkpoints have closed amid nonstop shelling. Civilian liberties and human rights have been stripped away as the situation spirals further out of control. Calls for assistance are escalating by the minute; we do not yet know the extent of the damage since communications are blocked, yet we fervently pray that this crisis will subside quickly and not become a full-scale war. This pressing reality is a stark reminder that we must do everything we can while there is still time .Our frontline teams are already providing food, clothing, shelter, and emergency relief to refugees, as well as critical medicines to the sick and elderly. At the same time, we are increasing our Emergency Freedom Flights .
I read Oped News, among 50 other feeds daily, maybe you need to look at this, and decide ‘wuz up!’
Article: Is Trump ready to go nuclear? http://www.opednews.com/articles/Is-Trump-ready-to-go-nucle-by-Pepe-Escobar-Bombing_Donald-Trump_Neocons_Putin-161013-906.html#comment62268
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/10/13/no-red-button-campaign-conjures-terrifying-image-trump-nukes with the scariest video you will ever see …It’s an unsettling image that Hillary Clinton has employed throughout her campaign, and it’s the focus of a new video launched Thursday by nuclear disarmament group Global Zero Action.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kcthwv46wAg
Ray,
Stalin used to make the same comments about the US. Any resistance to Soviet aggression was illegitimate. NATO was encircling the Soviets. The KGB are master propagandists. Now we are supposed to believe that Putin must take back the Ukraine and then the Baltic nations because he feels encircled. Read some history.
My point is, you don’t get to choose who your opponents are be they Stalin, Putin, Assad or whomever. Demonizing a foreign leader only blinds you to potential areas of compromise. You have to work with what you have within the limitations of what’s possible. You certainly should not go about making matters much worse by provoking armed conflict with a nuclear power (or two nuclear powers at once, if you look at many of the actions of the US against China, including the TPP and the anti-missile defense that would give the US and its allies first strike capabilities that is currently being installed in Korea). The stakes are too high and the possibility of a civilization-ending mistake is too great. This continued focus on demonizing and then moving to destroy, militarily, anyone the US disagrees with (or, more accurately, the enablers of corporate power in the military disagree with) when it is clearly not possible to succeed in such adventures, only insures continued bloated military budgets at the cost of schools, decent lives for retirees, etc. We have got to break out of this paradigm. We can’t afford it.
No one is demonizing Putin. He does it all by himself.
Murdering journalists and critics is not nice.
Shooting down a civilian airliner is not nice.
Invading a neighboring nation is not nice.
Threatening to reoccupy Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania shows very bad manners.
I hope I didn’t hurt Vladimir’s feelings.
LOL! Poor, poor Vlad!
“No one is demonizing Putin. He does it all by himself.”
Oh, not all by himself. Hillary Clinton and the DNC have been breaking a sweat trying to blame all the revelations of their own past words on Putin and the Russians.
Putin is not a good guy, but our government is doing everything it can to provoke him. Provocation is not just toward the Russians, either. It is the M.O. of the United States and its military, usually justified in economic terms, for the simple good of “American business.”
Ya’ll need more Noam Chomsky in your life. Just hop on youtube, type his name into search, and listen for hours. Then, you’ll see exactly what Ray is talking about. Have you read much Chomsky, Diane? I remember you posted his words several times before, and you seem to respect him. What about on foreign policy, his main focus now? Noam says to vote “lesser evil,” but at the same time he criticizes the Clintons and U.S. politics constantly, especially as it relates to military power. Lately, he has been talking about the massive threat of nuclear warfare — with the United States playing the largest role in the threat.
Hillary Clinton should not be provoking other nuclear powers for the potential of a few more earned votes, as she has been doing. Her motive (and the DNC’s) is to make herself seem innocent by invoking a scapegoat. Incredibly irresponsible, and another example of her terrible judgment and inclination toward political expediency.
If you want Hillary Clinton so badly, be ready to stop her from taking us to war, and then having to apologize for another “mistake” 10 years down the line.
Ed,
We will have to disagree on Putin. All during the Stalin era, which I remember well, the advantage of being older, the Soviets always blamed the U.S. whenever they committed an act of aggression. This is typical Soviet-style behavior. There was no way to co-exist with Stalin just as there was no way to co-exist with Hitler. Both were genuinely evil men who slaughtered millions of innocents. Our intelligence agencies–which are nonpolitical and nonpartisan–have said that the Russians are hacking into email accounts. I worked in the federal government, and I can tell you for a fact that most people who are federal employees are nonpolitical. The civil service is meant to guarantee the nonpolitical quality of the nation’s basic functioning. The federal government is not like Chris Christie’s flunkies who caused a “traffic problem” in Fort Lee, NJ, to punish a mayor who wouldn’t endorse him. The political appointees come and go. The civil service has a duty to serve whoever is in office.
I don’t doubt the Russians are hacking our systems. We are also hacking theirs. What I doubt is the approach of Hillary and the DNC blaming “Wikileaks” on the Russians and saying they will “take military action” against these “attacks.” And the meanwhile, they own up to nothing of their own words — the content of the wikileaks. They are not playing smart about the wikileak hacks because they are trying to avoid losing votes and party support.
Ed,
Exactly what would we get by hacking the Russians. They are leaking documents from the Dems to try to help Trump. They also hacked Colin Powell, who is not in office. They could hack into our election machines. What exactly could we get by hacking them?
Simple. Intelligence.
The U.S. is hardly “hands off” there.
This is getting to the edge of my personal knowledge, but I have information around here somewhere about governments constantly attempting to spy and hack each other — I’ll try to pull it up and link later. Is it difficult to believe the U.S. intell agencies do this to other countries? They do it to their own citizens.
Check out this short media clip posted by NBC today: https://twitter.com/NBCNightlyNews/status/787063275771101184
I quote directly from the middle of the report:
“U.S. cyber operatives have long been active inside Russia itself, trying to unlock the cyber doors the Russians work hard to secure — feeding information back to CIA headquarters at Langley (VA). Inside Langley, CIA super-hackers use that information to direct drones and specialized low-flying satellites over Russia, and even submarines positioned off the Russian coasts.”
Ed,
Well, that explains why the Russians are hacking into our electoral process and trying to elect that super-smart Trump, who would destroy NATO and step aside asPutin reassembles the USSR. As Putin once said, the disintegration of the USSR was one of the greatest tragedies of the 20th century. Time for a stooge in the White House.
Diane, it would easy to stop Russia from hacking into our electoral process.
Use paper ballots and a secure/open counting process, like other Democratic countries. There would be nothing to hack.
But that would make it difficult for U.S. parties to manipulate votes.
Our voter machines are extremely vulnerable. If the U.S. government cared so much about its own elections, it could easily use this remedy.
If you’re talking about something like WikiLeaks — in that case, it wouldn’t be the Russians bringing down our politicians, it would be the truth of politicians’ own words and strategies disillusioning the public. Maybe politicians should serve their own people better, and be more honest and humble, if they want to be elected?
Ed,
In an earlier post, I described my experience as a member the the National Commission on Reform of the Electoral Process. Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford were co-chairs. Part of the focus was voting machines. Independent tests showed that the most reliable voting machines were those used in New York City. The voter steps behind a curtain, switches the levers next to the names of the candidates, then exits by pulling a lever that records the votes and opens the curtain.
But the commission said the machine was obsolete even though it was 100% accurate and no hanging chads.
It was herd mentality believing that electronic touch screens are the wave of the future. The political parties were not trying to “rig” the election. That’s a falsehood perpetrated not the bitter lunatic in the GOP ticket.
If he can’t win, he wants to destroy the country and its institutions. He shouldn’t be in jail, he should be in a mental institution.
Diane, I have collected quite a bit of evidence that votes were systematically manipulated in multiple 21st century American elections, including the recent democratic primary. I will post all this as a part of my report on Hillary Clinton, or maybe I will write a separate report on election integrity (there’s so much stuff to do and this is all on my free time). Do I believe Hillary played any part in this likely manipulation in the democratic primaries, for example? Maybe, maybe not — probably not. But Hillary is not the only one who wants Hillary to be president. Some of the most powerful political and business forces also want Hillary to be president. And it is quite easy to hack our machines, or manipulate the votes at several possible points.
And when people say the democratic primary was rigged, they don’t just mean vote manipulation, they’re talking about a multitude of other things including mainstream media and journalism collusion and corruption, campaign money laundering, mass amounts of deleted and altered voter registrations, closing of polling locations, rigging of debate schedules and moderators and questions, and plenty of other things that all added up to make sure Bernie Sanders wouldn’t have a “fair” chance.
Agreed with Trump on the mental institution, but then, why is he what half of Americans admire?
Trump is most honest, ironically, when he is talking about Hillary’s dishonesty, and our political and media corruption. He is closest to telling the truth when he is attacking the democratic party and mainstream media. It’s all very strange.
Have you watched “Hacking Democracy”?
“The film investigates the flawed integrity of electronic voting machines, particularly those made by Diebold Election Systems, exposing previously unknown backdoors in the Diebold trade secret computer software. The film culminates dramatically in the on-camera hacking of the in-use / working Diebold election system in Leon County, Florida – the same computer voting system which has been used in actual American elections across thirty-three states, and which still counts tens of millions of America’s votes today.
In 2007 Hacking Democracy was nominated for an Emmy award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism – Long Form” ~ Wikipedia
“Use paper ballots and a secure/open counting process, like other Democratic countries. There would be nothing to hack.”
I thought the computerized voting was supposed to solve the problems of cheating during that “secure/open counting process.” I tend to agree that perhaps we should return to paper ballots, but the chances to cheat are only multiplied by the number of places where ballots are counted. …then there are those pesky cemeteries that seem to vote in close elections.
The most important idea for ballot counting is that the process is open to the public and open for audit. Electronic machines, and certain laws, make this very difficult.
Politics (from Greek: πολιτικός politikos, definition “of, for, or relating to citizens”) is the process of making decisions applying to all members of each group. More narrowly, it refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance — organized control over a human community, particularly a state.
Not going to comment further on this topic but claiming that our intelligence agencies on “nonpolitical” is really straining the definition of of the word. This blog is about education so I will not pursue this further other than to quote Eisenhower-
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final
sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities.
I love this blog and respect your viewpoint, Diane. Peace, Out.
Ray. Despite your first phrase, I suspect you are actually a Trump supporter. What exactly did HRC say that was “warmongering”.? Uncompromisingly aggressive posture? Can you explain exactly what you mean by that?
Are you an agent of Putin, as Trump clearly is? (Jill Stein is as well.)
Trump supporter? Really? As to “warmongering” did you hear her make any mention of a diplomatic solution involving Russia, amid all the talk of no boots on the ground and no fly zones (which could lead to direct armed conflict with Russia)? I didn’t. Re: “agent of Putin,” why don’t you get your head out of the fog of anti-Russian propaganda and try to get some idea of where Putin might be coming from? The US is posing an existential threat to the leader of a nuclear- armed regime through the actions of NATO and our trade policies, and somehow you are totally comfortable that it will all end well? What s the basis for your belief? Maybe you can start educating yourself at sites such as consortiumnews.com to understand what might really be at stake. Perhaps you can also give me a reputable source for your assertion that Stein is somehow an agent of Putin.
I get weekly emails that the people suffering in the Ukraine need assistance. I don’t consider myself a “warmonger” but the situation of Putin interfering in our elections and the propaganda that he pushes through those following Trump , hacking into sensitive files etc. I don’t think that Clinton or Kerry are aggressors here in being honest about what they see in foreign policy; I know a lot of people criticize Kerry but my 60 year old ex-marine nephew says “pay attention; he has actually been there” (in wars)…. So please don’t attack others for being “ostrich” like …. We had a Ukrainian student visit our phone banking in Lawrence MA this week and one high school teacher interviewed him thoroughly on what is going on. I am not a history major so I won’t go into their long discussion. But I would wonder whose head is in the sand…. I had visited Moscow and Leningrad some time ago so I am not current except for what I know about the Ukraine at this point in time from news and the history of Poland and Ukraine in BloodLands and Black Earth.
Maybe you can start educating yourself at sites such as consortiumnews.com to understand what might really be at stake. Perhaps you can also give me a reputable source for your assertion that Stein is somehow an agent of Putin.
jeanhaverhill@aol.com
Wait, What? Stein is somehow an agent of Putin.
hahahahaahah
Ray,
Putin is coming from the KGB.
And Bush, Sr. was CIA. What’s your point?
Ray,
The US is a democracy with a Constitution that protects our rights. We have elections for those who govern us. We have the rule of law. People are guaranteed due process of law.
The Soviet Union was a brutal dictatorship ruled by one tyrant for decades. No freedom of the press, no freedom of speech, no freedom of religion, no rule of law, millions of people were arrested on flimsy charges and sent to the Gulag or murdered. The USSR ruled over its satellite nations by force and without the consent of the people.
Have you ever read any histories of the Cold War or the Soviet Union? Are you aware that Stalin murdered as many people as Hitler? I recommend a book by three French historians titled “The Black Book of Communism.”
Do you really see no difference between the KGB and the CIA? No difference between George HW Bush and Putin?
Are you aware that Putin has jailed and murdered his political critics?
Are you aware of the journalists who have been murdered in Russia since Putin took power?
Maybe you are joking.
See my comment above about demonizing. It solves nothing. What do you propose as a solution to Putin, that the US go in militarily and remove him? It may work in Guatemala, but not Russia.
Ray,
Is it ok with you if we express disapproval of Putin hacking into our election machinery? Can we say we don’t like political murders? Can we say we disapprove of Putin’s homophobia?
or would you consider that “demonizing” kind and gentle Vlad?
If they were both arrested tomorrow morning, many people in this country and around the world would applaud. I’d personally be ecstatic. Never have the words “Do over!” sounded better to me. We brought this on ourselves or have complacently allowed it to be done to us.
I appreciate the need to believe that Trump is THE monster in this race. But somehow, he did get the nomination over a host of experienced (albeit heinous) politicians. Imagine what would be written and said in the campaign by now had Ted Cruz or some of the others in the Republican field been nominated. No, it wouldn’t be the same. But do you really think the commentary in the media and from the general public would be vastly better and more substantive?
I can’t speak for anyone else, but what I read online from “average Joes and Janes” is far more scary than what comes out of Donald Trump’s mouth (most of the time: he did outdo himself with the comments about the Central Park Five, as far as RECENT remarks of his go). Yes, he’s creepy and sexually/emotionally disturbed and I’m not going to try to compare/rate his garbage with/against that of Bill Clinton or Anthony Weiner or countless other politicians who seem to be damaged or inappropriate or whatever when power/money and sex cross paths.
What troubles me far more is that we couldn’t manage to nominate Bernie Sanders (we being the Democratic Party). That the game certainly appears to have been fixed from the minute Obama was nominated in 2008. And that there are millions of Americans who either don’t find Trump reprehensible or don’t find Hillary Clinton reprehensible (or perhaps just not reprehensible enough when faced with Trump as the apparent “only” alternative.
Something is seriously wrong with this country, with the political system, with the entire operation of our government. I watched THE BIG SHORT last week. My son watched it last night. We both had the same reaction: absolutely gripping and brilliant, and absolutely sickening and depressing.
That’s precisely how I feel about this election, minus the gripping and brilliant parts.
The biggest problem is with our voting process. What worked when the Constitution was conceived/written doesn’t work in America today. There had to be an electoral college because people didn’t live in large cities or in close proximity with one another. There was no way to communicate to large audiences of the “public” so the “power people” had to make decisions based on what was good for America at that time. So much has changed and our election process must also change to reflect the wants/needs of the citizens of the nation.
There are several biggest problems.
One of them has to do with a disengaged population. This has been accomplished largely by political, economic, social design. It benefits the powerful (especially the GOP, but also the democrats, and those hugely wealthy interests that are “behind the curtain” of both parties) to have a bunch of politically apathetic people who think their vote doesn’t matter. Then they are more free to design policy in their own interests — example: TPP. If there wasn’t a huge push back, TPP would have already happened. Think of all the things that have been legislated because there was no pushback, and/or because the wrong person got into office.
Another problem is with the electoral system itself, even beyond the electoral college. It is relatively simple to move to a different kind of voting system, such as ranked choice, that would allow third parties to be viable without the spoiler effect. This doesn’t happen, though, because the two parties are in control, and why would they change something that benefits them so much? As a general rule, power concedes nothing without a demand, and there’s been little demand to change this. It would take a lot of demand to change this.
Also, the asinine rules for getting on the televised debate stage keep out any threat to the two major parties. Guess who controls the debate stage threshold? Democrat and Republican officials.
Don’t get me started on electronic voter machines. They are easily compromised, and most likely, have been compromised frequently. I’m not sure if all other first world democratic countries use paper ballots only, but I do know that most of them do.
Then the media, which is ultimately owned by five or six corporations, which is the greatest tool for disinformation, misinformation, and disengagement. The mainstream media is our nation’s finest method of thought control, maybe even worse than grades and educational standards.
Of course, the campaign finance system is broken. Citizens United only made a bad thing worse. Money has controlled politics for a long time. Difficult for a politician to go against his/her donors who have granted so many favors.
Basically, what Michael Paul Goldenberg said.
Are you ready to build a new world, or are we still going to tweak around the edges?
I agree with Bernie Sanders when he says… I don’t think this is the country we should be living in. We are not great, and Donald Trump won’t change that. We would have to do it ourselves…
If you have not ventured into the rabbit hole (have not swallowed the red pill, so to speak) all you have to do is think about the questionable Bilderberg meetings where much that happens on the world stage is discussed, even set into motion, without journalists present (save their bosses of the major media) to report on these secretive meetings.
The world is not ruled by the parties or candidates we vote for, but by, as Daniel Estulin (who writes about Bilderberg) states, a One World Company Ltd. In other words by the multinational corporations.
Take a listen!
It’s important to note that Bernie did not become a Democrat until just before he started his campaign to become the Democratic candidate.
See the problem there?
There was no “fix.” Clinton won the Democratic nomination fairly.
WHat’s wrong with this country is multi-faceted.
One, the financial sector has become way too big and powerful. And they (big banks, Wall Streeters, hedge-funders) have rigged the market in their favor.
Two, supply-side economic policy (now the economic orthodoxy of the Republican Party) has contributed to big deficits and debt, enriched the already rich and increased income inequality, and helped to off-shore millions of jobs.
Three, Americans are apathetic about democratic governance, at all levels, and establish at the levels – state and local government – closest to them.
Four, American public education has become far too focused on “college and careers” rather than critical reflection and democratic citizenship. We are seeing the terrifying consequences.
democracy, you are exactly right. From 1-4.
Just not before 1-4 when he/she said the Democratic nomination was won fairly — contradicted by his/her own immediately previous implication that the Democrats were biased against Bernie because he formally became a Dem for his presidential run.
I’ve posted several times in the past exactly why the nomination was not won “fairly,” and don’t wish to re-hash it all, but the DNC and media bias played no minor role, nor did electoral fraud consisting of widespread removal of voter registrations and closing of polling stations. I personally believe even the voter machines were rigged in many cases, but that argument is not even necessary to see that the primary was “rigged” strongly against Bernie Sanders. Why is it so hard to believe? Lots of powerful people didn’t want him to be president, some in politics, some in media, some in business and finance — and these people did what they could to stop it from happening.
I guess if you have to believe our elections are fair and free, to sleep at night, maybe that’s what you need? I hope that maybe one day, you, Diane, will acknowledge that Bernie Sanders was cheated. Was it enough to cheat him out of the nomination? We’ll never know exactly how many votes were lost, and how it could have happened differently, but we do know Bernie was marginalized and his voters disenfranchised, sometimes legally, sometimes less so. Again, the media narrative is that so many Bernie supporters feel cheated because they are simply whiny baby sore losers, not because of anything real. That is much like the media narrative that teachers are only striking because they are greedy, whiny, sore losers. It is important to look at who is saying these things and why, and consider maybe the complaining of “a rigged game” is about many real things that really did happen.
Anyways, I’m not here to engage further in any debate about this, just re-stating my case and moving on.
Well stated. We have to work to get the money out of politics and make our country work for all citizens.
Interesting that just like Trump, you like to believe in conspiracy theories. There is absolutely zero evidence that the democratic nomination race was “rigged”. Bernie Sanders and his campaign have not charged that at all. Only Donald Trump makes such a charge. But I guess it is fun for some to believe in conspiracy theories.
Why do you say “the game was rigged” since Obama’s nomination? Now you seem to believe the right-wing anti-Obama conspiracies? Is he actually a Kenyan Muslim? What crap!!
NO, HILLARY CLINTON IS NOT REPREHENSIBLE! The false equivalency equating her with Trump is TOTAL BULLSHIT. Nothing similar at all. Only a stupid mind could believe that. Totally contrary to facts.
Exactly. And for anyone who is still unable to grasp who Trump is… here are tthree links that will SHOW how dangerous he is.
Trump and the Nuclear Keys – ”
We assume that presidents will grasp the power of the nuclear arsenal at their disposal and show the utmost restraint in using it. Donald J. Trump is of a radically different ilk and temperament from past presidents. If I were back in the launch chair, I would have little faith in his judgment and would feel alienated if he were commander in chief. I am not alone in this view. A vast majority of current and former launch officers in my circle of friends and acquaintances tell me they feel the same.” READ AND LEARN!
Donald Trump’s Weird World –
“Though allegations about Russian interference in the election have circulated for some time, the Obama administration on Friday formally accused Russia of stealing and disclosing emails from the Democratic National Committee and other institutions”When Hillary Clinton raised this, Mr. Trump came to Russia’s defense: “Maybe there is no hacking. But they always blame Russia. And the reason they blame Russia because they think they’re trying to tarnish me with Russia. I know nothing about Russia.”
“To profess not to know at this point is willful misrepresentation,” one senior United States official told NBC News. Presidents can choose to disregard an intelligence finding, but at this point, why would Mr. Trump feel he has better information or analytical ability than a “high confidence” conclusion by the country’s intelligence professionals? Why would he not want to acknowledge a threat and address it?”
“For most of this campaign, Donald Trump’s admiration for Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, and his willingness to act as a Kremlin apologist on issues ranging from Syria to the computer hacking of individuals and political parties have been sources of bafflement and dismay. Mr. Trump’s alarming performance at Sunday night’s debate deepened these concerns.”
“Mr. Trump again denied that the Russians were doing anything to manipulate the presidential election despite powerful evidence to the contrary. And he again laid bare his cockamamie and uninformed view of the bloody civil war in Syria and his refusal to acknowledge Russia’s role in making it worse.
Mr. Trump has no foreign policy experience. He has, however, received two briefings from American intelligence agencies that should have alerted him to the challenges facing the next president but apparently have not. All of which raises unsettling questions about whether the Republican nominee for the most powerful job in the world is Mr. Putin’s poodle, stubbornly naïve, totally clueless or, as some have ominously suggested, protecting undisclosed business interests in Russia.”
And there is this”“Threat to Jail Clinton Smacks of ‘Tin-Pot Dictators’ EXPERTS Say!” – (because such men throw their opponents in jail when they reach power! http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/11/us/politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-special-prosecutor.html
I won’t pretend to understand all of the animus aimed at Hillary Clinton. She is far from perfect but I cannot imagine a more qualified candidate than Hillary. Donald Trump has always sickened me. His “antics” have been asinine for years. What concerns me is the following he has and that he became the Republican nominee. He was chosen by the usual democratic process receiving the votes required. I don’t understand how he could run for the office of President of the United States of America as a Republican. He has never held any office that I am aware of as a member of any political party. Surely bylaws are being rewritten by our major political parties to prevent this from happening again.
Just when you think things can’t get any stranger…
Ed Detective, you can believe any conspiracy theory you want, just like Trump and his supporters do. But there are NO facts to back up your conspiracy theories.
That is why they are theories, Mike! They are hard to prove, in large part because the corporate media is complicit and ignores and omits facts, but that does not mean those theories are false. If you want to take the red pill, watch this interesting introduction to what else is beyond our daily view. We live such a sheltered, spoiled life that we are ignorant of the corruption and collusion all around us. Maybe it’s not conspiracy, but simply horrific depravity in humans that cause it; the result is the same!
It’s not Hilary’s “qualifications” that make it hard to support her against Trump (which I do), it’s her character. Supposedly Harry Truman once joked, “In politics, sincerity is everything. Once you can fake that, you’re in.” She can’t fake it.
I think Mr Goldenberg has hit the nail on the head, and also Ms Cartwheel’s last two sentences: the people who run this country have abandoned their posts. They’re supposed to be the ruling class! But they seem to have taken a permanent vacation.
doug1943: perhaps you were thinking of that old Marxist axiom—
“The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.”
Along with other words to live by:
“Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them… well, I have others. ”
And just to clear up any confusion that’s Groucho, the famous Marx.
😎
Krazy TA– You may be Krazy, but many thanks for the funny Groucho quotes.
My G-d, we ALL need a good laugh…esp. after the debacle (yes, re-naming the debates) last night.
Yes, & I was wondering what all that “sniffing” is about (not thinking coke, but wondering, nonetheless)–last debacle then yesterday’s. I’m guessing that’s what happens when he gets nervous…
Doug, how interesting that you have fallen for all the Republican propaganda for 25 years attacking HRC’s “character”. The fact that those attacks are not factual seems to make no difference.
YUCK is right! Trump is really and truly insane.
Hey, Reoublican Party, you took the cake for sure this time. Trump is “on” something. Look at his behavior. Leople think this is normal for him, after all we all expect him to be disgusting, spoiled, irrational, weak ego, insulting, and just plain nuts! Well folks, ask the question: What’s Trump “on?” Trump as a presidential candidate. Really? This is absurd to the MAX.
As far as I know, Trump has stated that he does not drink and that he does not like to feel out of control. I doubt he is taking street drugs. He may have allergy, or many people on Viagra report having a problem with a runny nose. Healthline states, “Some potential side effects of Viagra are headache and runny or blocked nose.”
Good one retired teacher :0).
Retired teacher,
You are generous and kind
I don’t believe anything Trump says
I have never seen anyone doing cocaine but he looked like it
Ms. Ravitch, You’ve missed the point(s) regarding why the sexual exploits of former President Clinton are relevant. Mr. Trump’s words about women are abhorrent, but they are words. President Clinton acted on his compulsions and actions are certainly a greater reflection of character than words. More to the point Hillary Clinton not only defended her husband, but demonized the women who were abused. She purports to defend women and has clearly stated that women should always be believed when reporting sexual harassment, abuse, or rape. When the time came to stand by her own principles she failed miserably and Mr. Trump is right to call her on it. Hillary Clinton does indeed have a public and a private position on this and so many issues. ( Check the speech transcripts released yesterday by Wikileaks.)
someluckydog, I agree with a few of your statements however, I have my doubts that “but they are just words” is accurate. Again they are my doubts.
I have participated in the democratic process since 1972 when I voted for George McGovern. I began my commitment to the Democratic Party when I worked to raise money (a bake sale!) for Bobby Kennedy’s campaign. His death has had a permanent impact on my feelings about many things. Jimmy Carter is the president I most admire. Clearly there was a disconnect there, he only made it once to the inauguration.
I voted for Bill Clinton twice and came to revile him while he was in office. His behavior was disgraceful and in my opinion he should have resigned. That being said, his work since his presidency has been admirable and has lessened the sting for me. He was terribly, terribly wrong as have been many men who served as president.
Most of us have done a few things of which we are not proud. Even Jimmy Carter had a momentary, self-confessed, lust lapse. At the very least Bill Clinton apologized to the nation. Donald Trump hasn’t gotten quite that far in his journey.
Defending a wrong by stating that someone else also did wrong is hardly a defense of character. I would be appalled if any of my friends said or did anything approximating anything you wrote in your post. I’m a high school teacher and I know that at some point today some kid is going to say that it’s okay to do the things that Trump said because that guy is this close to the Oval Office.
Shameful defense of shameful behavior.
Trump’s comeback reminded me of my own kids’ argument for why they should be allowed to do something: “But everyone else is doing it!” When they really wanted to bring it home, they would insert the name of some approved friend for “everyone.” Of course I used the response of parents for millennia: “If Joey jumped off a cliff, would you?” Trump just strikes as someone who never developed emotionally beyond middle school, no insult to middle schoolers intended.
In the Commander in Chief forum, Trump was asked why he admires Putin, a man who has ordered the murder of journalists and dissidents, who invaded a neighboring country, who has shut down the free press. Trump’s answer: Obama has done worse.
It seems to be his standard comeback. Somebody always did “it” too and/or more.
Deflect, blame someone else, change the subject. The first question last night was whether the candidate thought he or she was a role model. He launched into a tirade about ISIS.
he has been compared to 12 year olds in the NY Times
I could not have said it better than Nick Kristoff
That Seventh-Grade Bully Is Running for President “
I must have been channeling him. He does say it much better.
On the contrary, I think you missed the point. Bill Clinton had concensual sex with consenting women. Certainly, his wife has the right to question the motives of the women who chose to have sex with a married man and father. Trump talks about ALL women as sexual objects/toys. And no one should throw the word rape around without and record or proof. That is dangerous to true victims.
Are you impervious to facts? On Howard stern he bragged how he is allowed to watch th miss universe contestants in the nude. His sense o f ‘permission’ is right OUT THERE. I wonder how many women were forced or coerced into allowing him to rape them. They will come out of the wood work, and b e stifled by his money.
https://thinkprogress.org/trump-sexual-assaults-dcdec45b9d64#.29yf2i7f2
These women are not throwing around anything but reality.
“They are words” — that describe ACTIONS. He didn’t say what he’d LIKE to do. He said what he DOES.
Stop minimizing it.
you are correct daniel; it is criminal intent ; similar to when he incited audience to assassinate HRC — that is political assassination.. and it needs to be described that way. A famous psychiatrist in Boston has a book “Doing Things With Words”…. if Trump doesn’t act out his words (which he probably did ) then he incites vulnerable, impressionable, impulsive young males to do it for him… A lighter version in Games People Play is “let’s you and him fight” ….
They are more than just words, they reveal character. Trump has been accused of sexual assault as least three times. And remember, Bill Clinton is not running for president, Hillary Clinton is. Of course a wife is going to try and save their marriage after consensual affairs. Most of what you say is alt-right rhetoric to try and build false equivalences. If you thing Bill Clinton’s disgusting behavior was bad, you have to be consistent and condemn Trump as well.
Paul Krugman: Let’s be clear: a candidate for president promised to put his opponent in jail if he wins. Everything else is secondary.
Exactly. Trump revealed that he wants to be dictator. The choice is now clear. Democracy or dictatorship. I’m voting for Hillary Clinton.
Apologies for the aside, but a Harvard and a MIT professor just won the nobel prize in economics.
“Hart, 68, was born in London and studied at University College London, Cambridge University and Warwick University, before receiving his Ph.D. from Princeton. He has been a professor of economics at Harvard since 1993.
His work has helped understanding which companies should merge and the right mix of financing and when institutions such as such as schools should be privately or publicly owned, the academy said in a statement. ”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/2016-nobel-prize-in-economics_us_57fb6158e4b0e655eab5c2fd?section=&
Does anyone know more about the research of these professors? The red flag is there.
He may be the worst but Hillary, for all her intelligence, is corrupt war criminal and is bought and paid for by the military-industrial complex she serves.
What a choice we have. I’m voting for Jill
Toni,
Go ahead and vote for Stein. If it is a close election, your vote will help Trump. Just hope that he never gets close enough to you to grab you by your p—-y. He likes that. What a world leader he would be. What a representation of the coarsest, most bestial, most bigoted element in our society.
Dear Diane! I am surprised you react so hostile to a person wanting to vote her conscience! Heck that is what we all should do.If you vote for someone you cannot in good conscience support, you lose your integrity! The way I see it, no matter whether Trump or Hillary is in the White House, this country is going to hell in a hurry, why be complicit in it by voting for that? A vote for either Hillary or Trump is condoning the corrupt political/oligarchical system. Bernie could have changed all this had he been sane enough to run as an independent!
BERNIE is a brilliant man, and IF he did what he did, he saw a really good reason for doing it. You were willing to trust him to be your president, but because he did not do what you think she should have done, you are throwing a hissy fit.
So, don’t vote. After all, in a democracy you are free!
BUT watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkJR2LEihQY
Conny,
I don’t tell anyone how to vote.
I tell you how I am voting.
Trump is an insane fascist. He has no respect for law or democracy. He sounds like a petty tyrant and demagogue.
I am voting for Hillary. She will disappoint me on some issues, but she is smart, intelligent, well-informed, and experienced.
For me, it is not a hard choice.
When Trump is on TV, I make sure my grandchildren are not watching. He is a vulgar nut.
Exactly. Me ,too. But, Trump not merely vulgar, he is a very, very dangerous man.
I watched the Frontline piece on their early history…. fascinating. A look at Hillary as he moved into her life, and him. When one watches the influences that effected both of them, it is clear WHO they are. I think we are going to see him self-destruct before our eyes, as he is unable to bear the humiliation and the defeat that is coming his way.
No matter who wins, the aftermath could create such discontentment and unrest among the losing party’s voters that a civil war could break out, leading to martial law. So we could even have a dictatorship under Hillary. And just maybe, Obama has already paved the way for it, according to this article.
“Obama has militarized almost every federal agency. In September 2013, 70 federal agents in full body armor, carrying M-16s raided one person’s gold mining operation in a tiny Alaska town. They were from the Environmental Protection Agency looking for violations of the Clean Air Act.
After this incident it was found that Obama had created law enforcement branches in over 70 federal agencies. It is estimated that there are over 120,000 law enforcement agents in the federal government who are not part of traditional law enforcement branches — CIA, FBI, DEA, ATF, DHS, DOJ, and Treasury Department.
These law enforcement branches Obama has created are not comprised of just one or two security guards. Obama has armed these agencies to the teeth. Maj. Gen. Jerry Curry, a 40-year, decorated, military veteran, wrote an op-ed for the Daily Caller pointing out how, in addition to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s purchase of 46,000 hollow-point bullets, the Social Security Administration (SSA) bought 174,000 hollow-point bullets.”
http://www.commdiginews.com/politics-2/ben-carson-might-obama-cancel-the-2016-election-28523/
Conny,
I don’t consider Ben Carson an authority on government matters. He was a great pediatric surgeon.
I think any person’s opinion is worthy of consideration if it is based on facts, and although none of us can be sure a fact is a fact, because all of our information is second hand, we can be open to them and use our own minds to determine whether it could be factual. That is why I shared the article, not because of what Carson thinks, but because of what Obama has done.
I respect Ben Carson as a pediatric neurosurgeon. His political views are shallow and bizarre.
It is a free country and people are free to vote their conscience, but in battle ground states, that could mean a president Trump who just might grab the German chancellor’s private parts… if she weren’t a fat pig and ugly.
Here is what Ralph Nader wrote.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ralph-nader-voters_us_57f55aa4e4b0b7aafe0ba7f1?utm_hp_ref=must-reads&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Must%20Reads%20100916&utm_content=Must%20Reads%20100916+CID_b396b436f76eaacbb0736425ecab2cfd&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=Dont%20make%20the%20same%20mistake%20we%20did
Ralph Nader Supporters Warn Third-Party Voters: Don’t Make The Same Mistake! | Huffington Post an excerpt
“Those of us who voted for Ralph Nader in 2000, most of us, if we had to do it over again, would not do it,” said Kurt Ehrenberg, 58, who served as Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) New Hampshire political director but now solidly backs Clinton. “You feel, in some small way, responsible for all this stuff that George W. Bush was able to do because he was elected president ― even though it was the closest race in my lifetime and there’s still some question as to whether, if all the votes had been counted, Bush would’ve won.”
“If you think there’s no difference between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, then you’re not paying attention,” said Joe Rospars, who was the chief digital strategist for both of Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns and voted for Nader in Virginia when he was 19. “I don’t think that I’m just an old person now saying what an old person would have said to me 16 years ago. … Voting for Jill Stein in a battleground state or Gary Johnson for any reason is just not a useful way to operate the electoral system.”
This article is about Ralph Nader supporters as far as I can tell. It is not what Nader himself said. He has said he will not vote for Hillary, and you know he will not vote for Trump.
I write him down an ass.
It’s too bad that the DNC and the elites in the party were working behind the scenes for eight years to ensure a flawed candidate was nominated through a corrupt primary process.
We get what we deserve.
Trump says and does what he does because it gets reactions – predictably, every single time. It seems a bunch of educators would understand that there comes a time to start ignoring the kid who’s acting out just to get attention and stop giving him that attention. Having apoplexy because Trump is outrageous (which he is) is only making him more outrageous. The media need to look in the mirror when they wonder who created this monster.
And, yes, there has been shockingly little said this whole campaign about issues that actually affect all of us – and that’s true of both candidates.
Dienne,
If Trump were to quit receiving the attention that you mention, he might succeed in winning the election. The more he is allowed to garner the attention for outrageous behavior, the more likely he will fail in his quest for the presidency. Keep ’em coming Trump!
No, because the people who are voting for him are doing so in spite of or even because of his antics. The more the media covers every outrageous thing, the more of a hero (or anti-hero if you must) he becomes. You are not going to convince Trump’s supporters not to vote for him because of these outrageous stunts. You might, on the other hand, convince some apathetic people that there’s something interesting going on and get him more voters. Name recognition generates voters – why do you think Hillary beat Bernie? Why do you think Jill Stein can’t make headway? If the media would shut out Trump like they’ve done to Sanders and Stein, he’d have no chance.
Trump has explained that the media love him because he boosts their ratings. He is an entertainer, a freak show, an uninhibited wild man who lets out the beast within. It has been estimated that the media gave him $2 billion in free publicity. They helped to create this monster. He legitimates bullying, bigotry, and out of control actions that endanger us all.
Well, I know several people (all of them women) who were thinking of voting for him early in this race who have changed their minds. His behavior does not inspire confidence or respect.
Opinion by David Leonhardt
Op-Ed Columnist
Dear New York Times Reader,
He lied about a sex tape.
He lied about his lies about ‘birtherism.’
He lied about the growth rate of the American economy.
He lied about the state of the job market.
He lied about the trade deficit.
He lied about tax rates.
He lied about his own position on the Iraq War, again.
He lied about ISIS.
He lied about the Benghazi attack.
He lied about the war in Syria.
He lied about Syrian refugees.
He lied about Russia’s hacking.
He lied about the San Bernardino terrorist attack.
He lied about Hillary Clinton’s tax plan.
He lied about her health care plan.
He lied about her immigration plan.
He lied about her email deletion.
He lied about Obamacare, more than once.
He lied about the rape of a 12-year-old girl.
He lied about his history of groping women without their consent.
Finally, he broke with basic democratic norms and called on his political opponent to be jailed — because, in large part, of what he described as her dishonesty.
This is the second time I’ve summarized a presidential debate by listing Donald Trump’s untruths, and there’s a reason. The country has never had a presidential candidate who lies the way that he does – relentlessly.
Yes, virtually every politician, including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and George W. Bush, strays from the truth at times. To be fair, virtually every human being does. But Trump is fundamentally different.
His gamble is plain enough: He believes he can fool a lot of the American people a lot of the time. He has decided that lying pays.
It’s up to the rest of us to show him otherwise.
What I’m reading: As you know if you’ve been reading this newsletter, I’m sometimes critical of my own profession. The media is far from perfect, and we should grapple with our shortcomings.
This morning, however, I want to salute my peers – at Politico, Politifact, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, NPR, The New York Times and many other places – who have answered Trump’s fabrications with facts….
And that about sums it up.
So, why does anyone support Trump?
And what does it say about Republicans that Trump is their candidate?
Quite simply, voting for Jill Stein is abdicating your duty to prevent a psychopath from gaining the White House. Jill Stein can’t win and no one gives a flying damn about your protest vote. Conscience? Really? My conscience directs me to prevent a man who threatens to arrest his competitor if he becomes president, just one of many other troubling issues that Trump raises. Throughout most of the debate, Trump had this menacing, scowling and glowering expression on his face, even his movements and pacing were menacing. Hillary is a war monger? Trump is OK with the idea of using nuclear weapons not to mention he is so erratic and unpredictable (not in the good sense of being unpredictable).
If we did not have a two-party system, a vote for Stein would be reasonable as she would have a chance to win. But we have a system where it is one or the other, Hillary or Trump. A vote for Stein is a non-vote for Clinton and increases the likelihood Trump is elected. I don’t think Hillary is the perfect candidate. But compared to Trump, she is the best candidate.
Clinton will get whatever she wants as president because she is the establishment’s choice; congress will hand her WWIII. Trump, as president, will not get what he wants, but he is also a dangerous choice because of his blatant bigotry. However, I think we can survive 4 years of bigotry, but we cannot survive war with Russia. A vote for Jill Stein is a vote that will give the Green Party funding from the federal gov’t. if she wins at least 5% of the vote. Her platform is similar to Sanders’ but better. I really think that Trump may win the popular vote, but the electoral college will hand the presidency to Clinton. Vote your values, please. We must begin to turn the tide for the good of our nation. The oligarchy, duopoly cannot sustain America.
Nonsense. If elected, Clinton will likely have at least a Republican House and possibly a Republican Senate.
Under no circumstances should that bullying con man Trump be elected. If he doesn’t scare you, your bmnerves are at stronger than mine.
A liar, a bully, a tax dodger, a draft dodger, ignorant, and mean of spirit. His brain and his heart are in the gutter. God forbid he should drag the whole nation down to his level.
A President has approximately 8 minutes to decide to launch a nuclear counterattack. There is no Congressional debate or declaration of war. The President’s order goes directly to the top general in charge of the nuclear arsenal, who executes the order from his Commander in Chief. Yes, WWIII is a terrifying thought.
Now consider Trump’s impulsive temperament and complete lack of self-control. Add to that a lack of empathy and a history of disproportionate response to even the slightest perceived slight. Finally, the man is unbalanced, vindictive, amoral, and angry. He is a dangerous choice for more than his bigotry. He should not be in control of the U.S. nuclear arsenal let alone anything else.
Trump has not said how he will handle Russian aggression. Putin is challenging the U.S. in many areas of the world. Putin will play a President Trump because Trump is not that bright and a buffoon.
Vale math, it seems that what you say about a nuclear attack is not true, according to the following.
“there’s a chain of command that involves the Secretary of Defense who could refuse to relay the order (his codes —or those of the Asst. Sec. Defense in his absence— are required to launch) and then quickly call the Cabinet and Congress to report that the POTUS had gone crazy. The Cabinet can declare the President unfit in a letter to Congress.”
https://www.quora.com/If-the-US-President-at-the-spur-of-the-moment-decided-to-launch-a-nuclear-missile-as-a-first-strike-attack-could-anyone-stop-him
Here is a first hand account from the man in the silo who gets to use the Nuclear Keys.
Trump and the Nuclear Keys – The New York Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/12/opinion/trump-and-the-nuclear-keys.html?em_pos=large&emc=edit_ty_20161012&nl=opinion-today&nlid=50637717&ref=headline&te=1&_r=0
Read it and consider what we know about the belligerent, easily provoked child, the bully, who believes his celebrity status entitles him to do as he pleases, who cannot get out of his own way long enough, to NOT use coke when he is debating to become PRESIDENT.
Do not make an argument for a monster
http://billmoyers.com/story/second-presidential-debate-monster-calls/
with the instincts of a dictator,which he unabashedly shows to the nation
I am married to a person who was at the end of the command chain, and I assure you he (rather they) would not get a direct phone call from the president himself. In other words, what I shared with you about that chain of command that has to be followed, still stands. The president does not push the button, there are many people in between his command and the execution and the execution requires more than one person.
Conny,
Donald Trump should be nowhere near the White House except as a tourist. He should not have access to nuclear codes. He is a fascist, he has a thin skin, and a hot temper. He has the temperament of a spoiled child. Make him angry and he will blow you or your nation away. I understand that you loathe Hillary but please stop making excuses for that bully and pervert running on the GOP line.
Diane, I actually loathe no one, not Hillary, or Trump. That is simply no longer part of my nature. I am merely trying to focus on what’s real, rather than what everyone likes to believe by hearsay through biased media sources; good or bad. And regarding Trump launching a nuclear attack, I imagine he’ll follow in Obama’s footsteps and will prefer to use drones.
Keep imagining Connie. Because if watching this insane and ignorant child-man, has not shown you the danger, then nothing can.
I do still get angry Susan, but mostly terribly sad, when I think of what humankind is capable of inflicting, on children especially, and on animals and the natural world too, and at the same time being incapable of changing those inflictions. We always hope that the right people in government; federal, state or local will help make things better, but refuse to acknowledge that the political system is so ruled by corruption and collusion that nothing will change. A healthy society stands or falls by the way its children are treated and raised. Most aren’t cared for, at least not in the way a child needs and deserves. The result is that many will be emotionally damaged in some way and become the next generation of afflicted, addicted, (not just to substances) individuals who in turn are incapable of nurturing their own children. And that is how we end up with people like Trump and Hillary, and so many others in society who have no integrity.
I agree completely with you.
I try not to be cynical, but I know who is in charge of this nation, and that the New World Order is engineering a goal catastrophe to keep the billions occupied, and reduce the population, which to them are serfs.
I have little faith that Hillary will change much, but I know one thing, an ignorant, insane, ego-maniac must not reach the executive office.
I worry what will happen after Trump, as the GOP reels from the destruction that they caused this past decade. I love that photo of trump pointing his finger at Clinton. an except from this http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/12/opinion/trumpism-after-trump.html?em_pos=small&emc=edit_ty_20161011&nl=opinion-today&nl_art=5&nlid=50637717&ref=headline&te=1&_r=0 “But what NEXT? “If the United States escapes a disaster Nov. 8, it will have done so narrowly. Donald Trump, a dictator-in-waiting with a brat’s temper and a prig’s scowl, has won the support of tens of millions! Everyone knows, not least his supporters, but ” they feel the tectonic plates shifting downward, not only of America’s place in the world, but also of production, employment, livelihoods. Precariousness is the new normal. There is something rotten in the state of the West. Everything is visible, including the immense wealth of the rich.Tossed here and there people revert to nativism, nationalism and ethnocentrism — in a word, to Trumpism.It now behooves America, whatever the outcome next month, to address the anger mixed with fear. His rise is a warning sign. If the warning is not heeded Trump may fail next month but another Trump will arise.”
and BTW have you seen this? http://www.newsweek.com/2016/09/23/george-w-bush-white-house-lost-22-million-emails-497373.html
So why even post on our political process? You have no faith in the possibility of improvement. The system is broken and beyond redemption in your view. Of what value is your opinion to those of us who still believe in progress and change from within our system? Whether you approve or not we are in the midst of an election that actually matters to some of us. You say you want to deal with what is real. Well then deal or go have coffee with others that are convinced of the futility of it all.
Now that I think about it, that is one reason I will vote for Hillary even though I am not sure I approve of her. She has been handed a multitude of opportunities to call it quits after potentially humiliating defeats and yet she has persevered. Some of the compromises she has made to do so are not to my liking but I do understand and applaud her for it. Even as president, the flexibility to accept less than what you want is an essential attribute. There are times for that proverbial “line in the sand” and there are times to save your energies for another day.
” Of what value is your opinion to those of us who still believe in progress and change from within our system?”
Only you can answer that. I am a big believer in freedom of thought and speech and discussion, as that is the only way to become enlightened, about others, oneself, the political system, anything you can think of. Why would you want to quash anyone’s opinion simply because it is different from yours?
You suggested ” go have coffee with others that are convinced of the futility of it all.”
Do you have any idea how few people believe that it is futile? Hope reigns supreme; it’s what keeps people going. Most people dare not accept that things will not change. It requires them to step outside of the cave (Plato) and they would rather stay inside and be fooled by the shadows on the wall than to unshackle themselves and go into the light.
“Do you have any idea how few people believe that it is futile? Hope reigns supreme; it’s what keeps people going.”
Exactly my point. Hope is also what leads to change. Your posts about the utter corruption of our system do not inspire hope. Or perhaps you posit a transformational change that involves the destruction of the old? In that case, you are sounding very much like some reformers we have been fighting who are looking for transformational change in education while denigrating everything they see as traditional and stultifying if not actually controlled by stakeholders only interested in maintaining their government monopoly.
“Your posts about the utter corruption of our system do not inspire hope.”
I hope you will read this blog post of mine.
http://exploringtherabbithole.blogspot.com/2014/10/advocacy-waste-of-my-time.html
Conny,
You are far too pessimistic. The reformers have killed your will to fight back. Yes, there can be a paradigm shift, but it won’t happen if knowledgeable people like you lose hope and give up.
My philosopher daughter once said, “People need do the right thing, because it is the right thing to do.” The emphasis is on doing the right thing regardless of outcome, and that for most that is the hardest thing to do! I do not know if you read my blog post I shared yesterday, Diane, but here it is again. It summarizes my education advocacy even before NCLB infected education. And, although I consider myself now retired, I still try to enlighten people via Facebook groups, including my district’s FB site.
Seems to me you have confirmed what I guessed. You have given up. I don’t expect I will ever have a major impact in my neck of the woods and occasionally I want to say the heck with it. If you have come here to regain your sense of hope, great, but if not, don’t try to take everyone else down with you. I don’t know what is going to happen; I can only hope. I do know that change will be a lot longer in coming if we all give up. It’s all right to be angry and frustrated, depressed and sad. It is not all right to suggest that anyone else should adopt that position. If you truly believe that the cause is lost, then get on with your life and leave the cause to those who still have hope. I doubt your efforts have been totally in vain. Someone heard you even if you don’t know it. I had someone close to me tell me to lay off the political advocacy and just do what I was good at–work with kids. I came very close to telling that person where to shove it. I’m not involved in the discussion for what I will get out of it. I’m out to pasture, but I can still try to plant a few seeds. You can, too.
2old2teach,
Agreed.
We can’t fight without hope. If we don’t fight, we lose.
We can’t allow the Waltons and other billionaires and ALEC and the Tea Party types to privatize our public schools.
We will never back down.
” It’s all right to be angry and frustrated, depressed and sad. It is not all right to suggest that anyone else should adopt that position.”
I merely tried to convey that unless we do something drastically different that involves many parents and community members; not just the handful of parents on any school or district committee, nothing will change drastically. How many parents nowadays think it is normal that there is no more time for play in kindergarten? How many people in the community even know there is no more play? Most parents do not even know anything about what their children learn in school or how it is taught. Sadly, they still trust schools are doing okay, and yet, look how horrible most have gotten. It’s not just the testing; it’s the rigidity and lack of true teaching and learning. It’s also the use of computers and tablets; digital and dry erase, which because of the markers used, pose a health hazards to children! You got me angry again 🙂
Conny,
It is right to be angry. But then turn that anger into activism, not withdrawal.
I hear you, Diane. I will seriously consider. As my daughter once shared in an article about her for CAGT
“I have not figured out what precisely I wish to accomplish in such a large, complex world,” says Ava, “but my personal path is relatively clear; I must strive to seek and accept the truth as well as help others to see it.”
And yes, that is what we all need to strive for.
YES! We fight because we can’t let them beat down the teaching profession, destroy public education, and harm children.
Think of the civil rights movement. They fought for decades before winning, and they are still fighting because the fight is over.
Think of the Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto. What chance did they have against Nazi arms? Yet they fought because they had to.
So many examples, so much reason to stir yourself, shake off the sense of defeat and fight back.
Diane, do you have any suggestions for how to best fight in my city where nobody does?
Conny,
To begin with, find your allies.
Contact Carol Burris at the Network for Public Education to see if there are any members in your city. Connect with them.
Come to the next annual meeting of the NPE, which will be held in Oakland in mid-October (not so far from you).
You will be inspired to meet others just like you who fight on against tremendous odds. We draw strength from one another.
That’s a start.
Carol is at cburris@networkforpubliceducation.org
Thanks, I will contact Carol to see what can be done locally.
Follow this blog. So many activists and bloggers, and teachers and academics explain what is afoot on their stage . Go to the NPE and Follow Anthony Cody at LIVING IN DIALOGUE and of course go to my series where I post the most crucial reports from Diane and others.
And never be afraid to tell the truth.
Thanks Susan. I have already been in the fold so to speak; know of Anthony’s blog and the movement, the opt-out movement of Peggy Robertson here in Colorado, Susan Ohanian, etc. I really need ideas on how to mobilize people locally. I contacted Carol at NPE to see if someone is doing anything around here.
Conny,
Reach out to Jeanette Deutermann, the lead organizer of parents in Long Island. You would be amazed at the way opt out terrifies state officials. I am convinced it is our most powerful tool. It has changed the dynamics in NY.
Write her at jeanettedeut@gmail.com
Thanks, I will write Jeannette. What do you think might happen if we (also) get parents to understand that overuse of computers and tablets in the classroom is not leading to better learning, but is even detrimental to children?
http://nypost.com/2016/08/27/its-digital-heroin-how-screens-turn-kids-into-psychotic-junkies/
Begin to fight back. Don’t agonize, organize.
Contact Rachel Stickland in CO to learn about strategies to fight data mining of children
Colorado education activist and author, Angela Engle shared that “74% of Colorado districts had PARCC participation rates below 95% in 2015-16. (See: http://tinyurl.com/h6nsuf4 pages 19-20) She said, “If that is not a vote of “no confidence,” I don’t know what is!”
Have you been in touch with Angela? Even something that feeds your spirit. A progressive school where you could volunteer? Tutoring?
Yes, I know Angela personally. I helped set up Uniting4Kids as a Facebook group in which to unite various education organizations/researchers/activists to form an umbrella group and raise their voices as one. She then set up an organization by the same name. I helped her to more easily get in touch with numerous organizations and people, but it soon dawned on me that many did not really want to “unite for kids”, even though all of them would have retained their autonomy. I feel that had so many groups/researchers/authors united for kids under one umbrella the message sent would have been much harder to ignore.
Conny, have you been in touch with Jeannie Kaplan of Denver?
I applaud you. We can only door best to tell the story, get it out there, because th media is in the pockets of the oligarchs and the cabals they run. They know that they have to control what people know, and that begins with taking over the schools. They spin their lies in the media they own, but we have the internet to organize and to learn what others are doing. You should look at Jo Marly and BATTS– the Bad Ass Teachers Association, see who they do it.
2Old2Teach: it’s about making friends and building relationships; you have far more of an impact than you are aware of; responding to : “I don’t expect I will ever have a major impact in my neck of the woods and occasionally I want to say the heck with it. ”
we go back and do phone banks and door to door; one of the graduation speakers at my alma mater said “we give our kids too much stuff; give them who you are” and that is what you do for me here so it does have an impact.
“…we give our kids too much stuff; give them who you are”
Thank you, Jean. You do the same for me.
And of course it won’t change if everyone who knows what is going on is wrong quits! You are entitled to be tired. It took a long and orchestrated effort to get us where we are now; it may take as long, if not longer, to recoup since the “bad actors” have not quit. I may very well be dead before any large scale, noticeable change. Are you going to stop guiding your grandson because you might be gone before you can see what he becomes? Just keep planting seeds (maybe only with your grandson); they will germinate even if you don’t get to pick the fruit.
P.S. The fumes from whiteboard markers were enough to give me headaches!
Just learned about this!
“..when young children spend too much time using a computer, their brain development suffers and.. the deficits are irreversible and cannot be made up for later in life.
South Korean doctors were the first to describe this phenomenon, and dubbed it digital dementia – whence the title of Spitzer’s book. Simplistically, the message can be summed up this way: the Internet makes you dumb. And it is of course a message that outrages all those who feel utterly comfortable in the digital world.”
http://www.worldcrunch.com/tech-science/does-the-internet-make-you-dumb-top-german-neuroscientist-says-yes-and-forever/digital-dementia-manfred-spitzer-neuropsychiatry/c4s9550/
Connie, I see the forces at work. I cannot look away. Some of us fight on even when we know we are fighting a losing battle… this is the definition of the greater fool, our Don Quijote types https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KDSyLT9qKc
Susan, you may have seen my daughter’s quote which validates what you said. She also said the one below. She has suffered from existential depression ever since she was 15; she’s 32 now. It is through her I began learning about giftedness. I was the president of the local affiliate of the Colorado Association for Gifted and Talented for almost a decade and worked closely within the district with the GT Director, and sadly no improvement or help for failing gifted students (this was before NCLB) 😦
“In a world that’s doomed, every act of kindness becomes precious.”
Geez, I though that the second link you shared, actually was by Bill Moyers and as I was reading I was thinking that he sure had sunk to a low level, but then I noticed it is someone else who is doing the opining. I’m sure Moyer has his own criticism regarding Trump, but surely would voice them more rationally.
Michael Winship writes on the Moyers’ blog at Moyers’ invitation. He is a respected writer.
Even respected writers can fall short if they choose to use hyperbole. If you want to convince Trump supporters why he is bad for the job, you need to be calm and convincing, and choose sound reasons and words; not invoke their ire.
From the third article in your link. “Eric H. Holder Jr., with his successor as attorney general, Loretta Lynch, has criticized Donald Trump’s threats against Hillary Clinton”
Really??? 🙂 It is so easy to jump onto the bandwagon of “experts”, many, if not all, part of the ruling elite, the establishment, including the very biased media. I would like to hear from critical thinkers who are not part of the circus.
Improving the country (let alone world!) will not come from either candidate, or local leaders and legislatures. It can only come from giving every child the care and nurture it deserves to grow up with compassion for itself and others. Now that we have entered the digital entertainment age, that is not likely to happen. Instead of human interaction, kids now have digital devices to spend time with, even as babies, and also in school!
Perfectly stated, Diane. I also think it is a typical scenario of bullying. He set his weapons ( the women) in plain sight but not in reach. There was no clear way if or how he would use them. He could have placed knives there. He is a bully first class!
Current voters’ evaluations of Hillary and Donald are too subjective. We need an A through F grading system for candidates seeking office. What we need is Competency Based Election! Enough of this “forming opinions” based on what political aspirants “say” and do in “debates”. Friedman loving economists, paid for by hedge fund billionaires, can conjure up some algorithms to determine who merits which executive and legislative job. Silicon Valley tech billionaires can sell taxpayer funded, governmental institutions some software and hardware to run the assessments. Standards can be created by a whole host of people, as long as those people know little or nothing of political science.
Once we get Donald and Hillary on Chromebooks all day, every day, we’ll have enough data to analyze their abilities to do the job, and their humanity. It won’t matter how many women and teachers the candidates objectified and abused. Without the data, there is no accountability, no objectivity. And I think, I assume, once we have the data it will become clear that the best solution will be to scrap democratic elections wholesale and sell the White House and Capitol Hill to a charter management operator who could then rent the facilities to the taxpayer at double the value.
Let’s not stop there. Both candidates and their running mates must take the PARCC and SBAC. We have to see if they are ‘office’ ready.
We can’t stop there. We must require both candidates and their running mates to take the PARCC and SBAC to make sure they are ‘Office Ready’
I am disappointed in last night’s debate. Not one education question was asked. Is education not important anymore?
Cheryl,
Education has not come up in any of the debates and was barely mentioned during the primaries.
So according to the media and our dear politicians, education is not important. Yet they are the first to tell teachers what and how to teach. Sad.
I do not believe anything said by either candidate last night was as disgraceful as what has been done to the citizens of St. Louis, mostly by democrats, but with quietly enthusiastic support from republicans.
In 2007 there was a school board, starting to deal with problems caused by arrogant, corrupt characters. That was necessary in order to step up the efforts on behalf of students.
This school board was not going to stand aside on behalf of the charter industry. People in St. Louis have not been able to vote for a school board with decision making power since 2008, and they remain disenfranchised regarding their children today. Hints are given that maybe soon, they will regain the right to vote. The school board continues to be elected, but it is not yet considered safe enough to be allowed meaningful power. Neither Clinton’s e-mail deletions, nor Trump’s careless quip about putting Hillary in jail are as real as the 12 bullets fired into the ex-student preparing the lawsuit against the public school a decade ago.
Too bad there has been no time to debate whether Trump’s voucher and increased charter ideas are good ones, which have nothing to do with re-segregation.
Joe, you are so right about St. Louis. I followed what was happening there and it is a stain on democracy. I hope someone will write a book or a long article about it, because I can’t get to St. Louis to do the basic research.
Because this site does not re-produce the actual link, Go to this address http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/10/opinion/campaign-stops/trumps-second-debate-in-brief.html?ref=international&_r=0
and see the link to each subject that follows “he lied about.”
This is by David Leonhardt who says: “This is the second time I’ve summarized a presidential debate by listing Donald Trump’s untruths, and there’s a reason. The country has never had a presidential candidate who lies the way that he does – relentlessly.
Yes, virtually every politician, including Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and George W. Bush, strays from the truth at times. To be fair, virtually every human being does. But Trump is fundamentally different.
His gamble is plain enough: He believes he can fool a lot of the American people a lot of the time. He has decided that lying pays.
It’s up to the rest of us to show him otherwise.
What I’m reading: As you know if you’ve been reading this newsletter, I’m sometimes critical of my own profession. The media is far from perfect, and we should grapple with our shortcomings.
This morning, however, I want to salute my peers – at Politico, Politifact, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, NPR, The New York Times and many other places – who have answered Trump’s fabrications with facts. I encourage all of you to dig into the links above. ”
All the news you need from the presidential debate
He lied about a sex tape.
He lied about his lies about ‘birtherism.’
He lied about the growth rate of the American economy.
He lied about the state of the job market.
He lied about the trade deficit.
He lied about tax rates.
He lied about his own position on the Iraq War, again.
He lied about ISIS.
He lied about the Benghazi attack.
He lied about the war in Syria.
He lied about Syrian refugees.
He lied about Russia’s hacking.
He lied about the San Bernardino terrorist attack.
He lied about Hillary Clinton’s tax plan.
He lied about her health care plan.
He lied about her immigration plan.
He lied about her email deletion.
He lied about Obamacare, more than once.
He lied about the rape of a 12-year-old girl.
He lied about his history of groping women without their consent.
Finally, he broke with basic democratic norms and called on his political opponent to be jailed — because, in large part, of what he described as her dishonesty.
The full Opinion report from The Times follows, including Maureen Dowd, Roxane Gay, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Andy Rosenthal, Will Wilkinson and others on the debate.
Diane: I love you dearly but it’s time to stop airing our negative reactions. The campaign is over. Hillary, as a role model, showed women and girls everywhere how to react to the worst kind of man – with dignity, grace and facts. Let’s applaud her. And start laying the groundwork for overhauling the Department of Education, Obama’s worst legacy.
Regan,
I won’t contain my negative reactions until the election is over and the menace of Trump is safely past us. Hillary responded to his looming, threatening presence and his demeaning remarks with dignity. But he still has the rabid support of racists, bigots, xenophobes, misogynists, and all those people hoping for a return to the “good old days” when white supremacy prevailed everywhere and good jobs were plentiful–before technology eliminated many of them and greedy pigs like Trump and Steve Jobs outsourced their manufacturing to low-wage countries. His supporters still can’t get over the reality that a black man was elected president or that women have equal rights.
Regan,
The campaign is not over.
I think longtime journalist Bob Schieffer said it best, moments after the debate wrapped up: “How…have we come…..to THIS?” His amazement, his absolute dismay at the damage that is being done to our democracy by Donald Trump, says it all. The clip is only 29 seconds.
As soon as I leave this site I intend to once again donate money to an organization that is working day and night to defeat Trump. I see their ads all the time on the Scranton, PA station we can tune in here at the house.
I will do whatever I can to defeat Trump -including voting for Hillary Clinton.
Sorry, but Bob Schieffer was one of those mainstream journalists who never pushed very hard for answers on the war in Iraq.
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/11/11/bob-schieffer-george-w-bush-and-the-echoes-of-t/201528
Neither did I. And, I sure wish I had. Still love Schieffer’s comment on the debate.
To Toni, and all those who think Jill Stein and the Green party is a good choice.
RE Jill steinWhy the Green Party Has Destroyed Itself with Jill Stein
View at Medium.com
This is a small excerpt
A vote for Jill Stein is a vote for Trump.
Jill Stein and the Green Party are encouraging voters to turn away from the only Democrat who can ensure the United States continues its essential participation in global climate talks.
We are no longer in a situation where we can sit around and wait for the “Green Party,” as they falsely refer to themselves, to destroy the two-party system, demand impossible changes instantly, and do nothing but pound their fists on the table until that change happens.
Jill Stein laughs it off and says, oh, Congress won’t “let” Trump do that. Well, Congress is dominated by Paul Ryan and the science-deniers of the Freedom Caucus. All Ryan really needs to build an unstoppable juggernaut is a conservative Supreme Court, which he will get if Trump is elected.
Jill Stein and the Green Party are lying to you. They’re telling you that one side is “just as bad as the other.” They are planting the dangerous idea that the “ corrupt system must be brought down” and rebuilt from scratch before anything worthwhile can happen. It’s a pernicious lie.
Even if you do not support Hillary Clinton herself, it is a lie to teach young voters that “both sides are the same” — especially with regard to the environment. One party will go to Paris and work hard to scale back emissions and one party will not. It is as simple as that.
16 years ago the American people had a chance to elect Al Gore. Not only would we have had a Democrat in the White House who would not have invaded Iraq (wasting trillions of dollars and destroying millions of lives), he would have been a Democrat who would have put climate change at the top of his agenda. Gore knew over a decade ago that we were headed for potentially irreversible global warming — a term that simplistic people couldn’t understand. (“Why does it snow if the world is warm?”)
red more at the link
Right. Hillary “Frack the Planet” Clinton cares deeply about climate change. Or, maybe she will just after she passes TPP. People who insist on looking at Hillary’s words rather than her long history of actions are delusional.
What about the supreme court, social issues, abortion, gay rights, climate change, taxing the rich, our social safety net? Trump is a climate change denier, has no problem using nukes on his perceived enemies and is really on board for the GOP trickle down nonsense. It’s Hillary or Trump, there’s nothing in between.
Dienne, you are truly delusional, with your demonization of Hillary Clinton, not listening to progressive leaders such as Diane Ravitch, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren, and helping Donald Trump (who denies that climate change even exists) with his presidential bid. The Donald thanks you. (I do not.)
Mike, Dienne is clueless, always… she lives in her own mind.
The people in this discussion who know most about Hillary Clinton are me, Dienne, and Michael Paul Goldenberg.
The people who think “it’s all a conspiracy against Hillary” claim we have no facts, but actually, are unable to face the facts and logic we have continually presented.
What surprises, and especially worries, me about so many people on the left of the political spectrum (and according to this insightful quiz, I place there myself, in the far bottom left even), is that they are often as closed-minded as they accuse those on the right as being!
https://www.politicalcompass.org/uselection2016
Conny, most on this blog are liberals. That is “left” in American politics, but not so left in world politics. Liberal is center to slightly left of center.
The vast majority of us left of “liberal” have no trouble believing and understanding that Hillary Clinton is terrible. However, most will also admit that Trump is worse. That is my view of the leftist consensus.
The difference between leftists and liberals is that liberals see Hillary as not-so-bad, or even “good,” while leftists see her as a main player of neoliberalism (the end game of capitalism). Leftists believe capitalism itself is wrong, that’s what makes us leftist. If you don’t like capitalism, there’s no way in hell you’re going to like Hillary Clinton, who at best is offering to tweak around the edges but in other ways will continue the downward spiral of U.S. imperalism/exceptionalism and a government owned by the wealthy.
Those on the mid to far left tend to acknowledge Clinton is preferable to Trump, but would absolutely not believe electing Clinton is moving in the right direction — just moving in the wrong direction more slowly and quietly.
Political Compass places Bernie’s 2016 campaign at the center-left, where Hillary says she is, and puts Hillary in the spot where Republicans used to go. (Now the Republican Party is on the extreme right, as exemplified by Trump, Cruz, Rubio, etc.) This is supported by Hillary’s own past words and policy preferences.
I noted recently that Political Compass has a few different analyses of Bernie Sanders. His 2016 presidential campaign is center-left, but elsewhere they place him further left (and downward). That’s because his presidential platform was a compromise; U.S. government and politics have shifted so far right that a platform of social democracy (rather than Bernie’s heart-felt democratic socialism) seems about as far “left” as we can go right now in the public political arena. What Bernie’s presidential campaign offered to the United States was basically a centrist platform for the rest of the world. To most European countries, for example, a public healthcare system is not “radical,” it’s just basic common sense. Same with higher education and so many other things, like paid leave and big banking regulations.
I’d be interested in seeing where Diane locates on the politicalcompass test.
This feels more like a psychological test than a political survey. And most of the questions can’t be answered unless there were also options for “It depends” and “What the hell do you mean?”
Just do your best, FLERP 🙂
One’s political views are, in a big way, a test of one’s psychology and personal beliefs.
Of course the test is not to be taken perfectly literally, and it’s voluntary, and it’s not high-stakes 😉
Economic Left/Right: -5.38
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.41
With the caveat that I don’t know what at least a third of the questions mean.
FLERP, do you believe in capitalism as an economic system?
Yes, I do. Of course, it’s the only one I’ve ever known.
I learned more accurately about your political/economic beliefs with that one question (and your answer) than by looking at your numeric test results. Just saying to the ed reformer people.
You might be interested in learning about other systems.
Check out What is democratic socialism?
What would you say are some examples of democratic socialist economies?
The Netherlands used to be, but that was long ago. The Socialist Party is trying hard to win seats in the coming election and they stand a good chance. But, according to this, not a single EU government can call itself a democratic socialist economy, not even the Scandinavian countries!
This is from 2012 and I fear it may be worse now, due to the refugee problem in many countries.
https://www.politicalcompass.org/euchart
My working definition of capitalism is an economic system where property may be privately owned and transferred, where there is such a thing as a private “business owner” that owns the means of production and pays workers wages, and where private business owners can make a profit. There was a time in the 20th century when the Netherlands didn’t have a system like that?
I misinterpreted what you meant.
It seems plausible that it was Holland that invented capitalism, and you are right that there never was a time in which the country was without, but in latter years almost all that was once governed by government, including health care, has been privatized.
actually, they were more like Venice in the early trade routes and bringing tolerance to communities because it actually helped trade. Why do you think the Puritans from ENG left and went to Holland; and the famous philosophers who were developing newer forms of thinking to improve the lot of mankind. It was other nations where the ancient domination systems thrived for 2000 years. I can provide you more than one reference but I have to get back to my phone bank and talking to people and ringing doorbells.
Yes, and up until now Holland has been very tolerant of others, except now with the increase in Muslims into the country. It will be interesting to see which part (left or right) will win the most seats in the next election.
I met with a Dutch scholar two days ago who told me that Amsterdam is now 30% Muslim. Europe is now facing its own crisis of tolerance.
Diane, here some interesting information from 3 years ago, related to Muslims in Holland
“In March, the Dutch public broadcasting system NOS television reported that the Netherlands has become one of the major European suppliers of Islamic jihadists. According to NOS, about 100 Dutch Muslims are active as jihadists in Syria; most have joined the notorious Jabhat al-Nusra rebel group.”
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4129/islamization-belgium-netherlands
Conni,
I remember the barbaric murder of Theo Van Gogh. And the outspoken Dutch politician.
Yes, Diane, very shocking! And there was also Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a Somali-born Dutch (now also naturalized American) activist, author, and former Dutch politician, who while still in Holland needed protection around the clock because she is so outspoken against Islam. She was the one who collaborated with van Gogh on the movie that got him murdered.
I don’t know of any modern examples, but nor do I know of any great national school systems except for Finland. Doesn’t make me give up the dream — or that we shouldn’t work toward it.
If you have the chance, Ed, visit Finland. See their schools. What we do is all wrong. Jeb Bush lectured st the Harvard Graduate School of Education on Thursday and described his privatization, for-profit approach as “student-centered.” I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
I plan on visiting Finland when I can. I have only studied it (extensively) from afar. I completely agree that they have the right approach to education “reform,” and we have the wrong approach. We are on two opposite ends of the scale. Our end is called “profits,” theirs is called “people.”
Do you know of any non-modern examples?
I understand the idea that, as a general matter, markets should be subject to some state regulation — to my knowledge, that is a completely uncontroversial idea even among the most laissez-faire economists. And I understand the argument that markets should be subject to specific regulations — that is a practical argument about policy that need not (and almost always does not) hinge on whether one “believes in capitalism.”
Do you believe that there should be no private ownership of businesses? Or that business owners should not be permitted to take as profit the amount of revenue the business generates in excess of the business’s costs, including the cost of employee wages? When I say I “believe in capitalism,” I am essentially saying that I do not believe either of those two things would be a good idea. Do you disagree?
“Do you know of any non-modern examples?”
I know a few, including Revolutionary Catalonia growing out of the Spanish revolution, and the beginnings of the USSR (pre-Stalin) growing out of the Russian revolution.
“Do you believe that there should be no private ownership of businesses?”
The problem with private business is that it is (by definition) hierarchical and autocratic. It inevitably leads to mass inequality and anti-democratic institutions, and wealth leads to the capturing of political power as well, which leads to what we see most clearly in our own country right now: a hierarchical and oligarchic society. With private business, the motive is profit for a few, and the business owners will do whatever they can to make that profit, as we’ve seen, which generally involves paying workers the lowest wages they can for the greatest amount of work. This is what Karl Marx and others call “exploitation.” Even the good-hearted boss is exploitative, because he/she seeks profit as the first priority. If profit is not sought, in a competitive economy the business will eventually fold. In an economy dominated by private ownership, the heaviest burden is on those who can fend least for themselves.
I believe the workplace should be run democratically, not top-down in accordance with whoever happens to own the initial resources. In a socialist economy, leaders would be permissible if they are elected through democratic means, and they would be held accountable through worker decisions. In our capitalist economy, workers make little to no decisions about what they’re doing for most of their days (their jobs). If “businesses” are owned by all those who work in them, however — rather than a few “bosses” — I believe that would lead to a better quality of living for individuals and a better society. Abundance may still exist in a socialist society, but they are shared by all rather than a few, and since it is not a few people making the unilateral business decisions (CEO, etc) the business is more likely to be humane, as well as considerate of things like the earth’s environment.
This isn’t going to happen tomorrow or next year. But it can be a goal to proceed toward. Power should be shifted, and wealth re-distributed, from its massive accumulation at the top toward the bottom, where most people are. Unions must fight for more control over what workers are doing in their workplaces. We must make it a law that big money does not buy our political process, and then always hold that law in place with social and political pressure, moving toward a society that is more egalitarian in and out of the workplace. The public domain should be protected and expanded, especially in critical areas such as healthcare and education. No, I do not think the American entrepreneur, or the great “philanthro-capitalist,” is going to bring world-wide human prosperity, or an end to poverty and hunger and sickness. It can only happen through massive democratic actions and policies, not minimal power concessions while the power structures are retained. We should not rely on powerful benefactors and some of the most ambitiously greedy individuals to run the world, and that includes within the economy. That’s why I prefer socialism to capitalism. It’s about democracy in our daily lives, not just around the edges or at the ballot box.
I’m not a Nobel prize-winning economist or historian, but I don’t know how instructive those examples are for the U.S. economy in 2016. Although they would seem to suggest that the transition you hope for is not one that happens as an incremental, peaceful legislative process. At a minimum it would require massive state seizures of property and businesses. At worst, there would be a lot of violence. In any event, quite a roll of the dice with a lot of lives in the balance.
They aren’t necessarily instructive of what will happen, but they could be. I’m not the one who will determine if there will be a revolution or not, or how peaceful (or not) a transition will be. Capitalism already is “a roll of the dice with a lot of lives in the balance.”
My score is Economic Left/Right -8.17 and social libertarian/authoritarian -7.49. I’m almost a Buddhist monk 😉
Exactly my reaction, Flerp. I needed an “it depends” choice as well. The survey was much too black and white. I stopped taking it when it wouldn’t let me move ahead without answering a question. Not being able to read the entire survey before answering bothered me. Perhaps they feel they have to control the way everyone takes it in order to get responses generated in a standard way. That control makes the survey useless to me.
You said “And most of the questions can’t be answered unless there were also options for “It depends” and “What the hell do you mean?”.
Yes, tough at times, but that forces you to think harder about any position you have.I actually liked that challenge, but then, I enjoy introspection which Socrates urged everyone to practice!
“…but that forces you to think harder about any position you have.”
It forces you to think but it still forces you to put your thinking into a simplistic black and white framework. Perhaps that is valuable for what the survey is trying to do, and it might be valuable for identifying trends in large groups of people.
For instance, before you identified yourself as a resident alien, I had a suspicion that you were not from the United States. The Netherlands as your home base made a lot of sense.
2old2teach, that is easy to say after confirmation 🙂 What made you think I am not from here?
I can’t point to one thing although if I went back through all of the posts maybe I could. I guess I sensed a detachment from our political process, a sense of other. Yes , I could get my jollies from claiming some superior insight into your character, but this not a playground where everyone chimes in “I knew it!”.
I just went back an red the post where you identify yourself, and I really look like I made my decision “post post.” I also went back and reviewed some of your other posts. I did not know Tsarion, but your interest in him perhaps explains my “other” reaction.
Thanks for your reply 2old2teach. I would not say I am detached from the political process other than that I cannot vote, but I certainly have grown cynical about it. Have also seen quite a bit of corruption/collusion during my active education advocacy/activism days, and how my local newspaper editor thinks it is okay to leave pertinent info out of people’s letter’s to the editor. Dealing with our local Board of Education has also eroded my belief in people’s integrity. Standing up for teachers in our district and bringing to light something that the superintendent wanted to keep from the BOE had me branded by her as being aggressive. She and the board kicked me to the curb, but I digress.
cx:read
Bottom line is you don’t sound like you have any skin in the game. It is an intellectual exercise. Perhaps Americans talking about the Netherlands’ political process might sound the same way.
To say I have no skin in the game is not true considering that I left Holland almost 35 years ago, and live here along with my American husband, American kids and American grandson 🙂
I, too, have children and grandchildren that I worry about. The big lesson I have drawn from this campaign season is that we all have to be more involved. While we were sleeping, the country has almost lost its democratic form of government. Hillary started out as a much more liberal individual who has bowed to expediency over the years. I am hoping she will return closer to her roots if she wins the election. If she does, it will be a slow and incremental change. She is not into banging her head against a brick wall. I admire her for her resilience. How many of us could take the years of abuse and humiliation she has endured? I know many people on this blog will find me woefully naive and wrongheaded. So be it. Trump scares me; I can’t find anything redeeming about him. I do know that we have to pay closer attention to what our elected officials are doing. I wish we had a media that we could rely on to give us an honest picture of political affairs, but we are going to have to rebuild a responsible media as well whose masters are not focused solely on the bottom line.
you are correct; I keep saying we don’t have a charter problem in MA we have a democracy problem, If they eliminate school committees (one of our important local governance structures) that is an attack on democracy. Eliminating governing structures and destruction of states also takes away “citizenship” and people can be more easily exploited by “state” (which stalin and hitler proved with their tactics of collective farms, destruction of state structures, replacing governance with their “brown shirts” and storm troops and creating destruction as we saw in Warsaw and other cities. My response today is two more local businesses Athens Pizza Restaurant and Chicken Connection placed lawn signs and window signs “Not on #2” so please continue the canvassing and the phone bank and don’t get on the computer to argue with Marc or Dmitri. They have new race-baiting ads out this weekend to make me look like a privileged “caucasian” teacher denying resources to the underprivileged. No mention about the real estate in MA which is fostered by real estate people who sell million dollar homes at interest only loans (predatory lending) to move people in Wellesley, Wayland, Dover/Sherborn et. Or the highly funded persons from the corporations making this into a fight of parent against parent.
“The big lesson I have drawn from this campaign season is that we all have to be more involved. While we were sleeping, the country has almost lost its democratic form of government.”
Could not agree more with you, but I think it is an impossibility to get more people involved. Many are in such bad shape financially with worries and stress that they have no energy to do anything but subsist. Then there are others who have no big financial worries, but still suffer from stresses in their life regarding loved ones’ mental health or physical illnesses and needs. Just this morning I read in the book The Creature from Jekyll Island about the major part the Federal Reserve system plays in our country’s financial woes.
I think you’ll find this enlightening. It should be watched by every American.
When was this mythical time when people did not face stress? The Civil Rights movement didn’t occur because blacks felt comfortable. It was stress that finally got the U.S. into WWII. We needed an incident to get us to commit. The Great Depression forced changes. Perhaps it will take a crisis; perhaps we are close to reaching that point now. We are due for a course correction. There is a tendency to not want to rock the boat, but when the boat starts sinking, people start bailing.
Yes, there have been stresses throughout history, but people in the past (like when I grew up in the 60s and 70s) also had more time to be social, be face to face, spend more time as a family, watching the same programs on television, or before television, listening to the same radio shows. Now people are alienated from each other, even at home with their own family members. They reach out to people they don’t know on-line, as I am doing, and you are doing, “meeting” here on Diane’s blog, but in the mean time my husband is in another room with his PC and my daughter is downstairs with her iPad. Today we have more stresses from all the technology around us. We no longer allow ourselves down time, alone, with family, or in nature, and many cannot even stand to be away from their digital activities for more than one minute. All this does have a negative effect, especially on the children growing up “without” close contact with loved ones, or experiences in the community. My heart aches any time I see children with a parent paying attention to their iphone instead of to them!
I share your dismay at the invasion of tech into what used to be time engaged with other “real” people. We seem to have trouble with establishing reasonable boundaries perhaps pushed into excess by the constant barrage of new tech toys.
I still fight against the smartphone revolution. I recently replaced by old flip phone with one, but I have yet to use it. My land line serves me for most purposes. I will carry it if I travel any great distance for emergency purposes and to coordinate airport pickups during the holiday season when our airport is a parking lot. I have no need to chat while I drive and when I was a young mother I actually cherished that time in the car when no one could reach me. I have an almost visceral reaction when I see people walking down the street on their phones. I still startled when someone next to me starts talking into the ether, their eyes fixed on a horizon that has nothing to do with what is in front of their faces.
Now we find schools pushing social emotional learning, listening and speaking skills, all those interpersonal skills that are being extinguished by the disconnect tech can create between people. Since the tech push, everything in school that used to promote interaction is being replaced by a program to learn those skills. I would not be at all surprised if they don’t come out with online training in social skills with avatars, so they collect data on “student growth” more efficiently!
I do not regret the chance to talk with people of different persuasions on this blog although I would prefer a face to face chat over coffee. I am still anxiously awaiting the development of transporter technology. 🙂
See, we do have common ground 🙂
I am a grandmother now of a six year old boy and was fortunate to help care for him since he was 18 months old when his mom went back to work. We (my husband and I) see him just a couple times a week now because he started kindergarten in August. My son (the boy’s father) and I wanted him to still be in my care, at least until he really had to go to school at age six, so he could have skipped kindergarten, but his mom did not want that, despite the amazing enrichment he received from me all these years. Needless to say, in our house there is no computer playing or movie watching, just the occasional Thomas the Train shows on PBS when he was younger. Thankfully at his own homes (shared custody) use of computer is minimal too, although he sure has seen more 3D movies, than I wished. As far as that goes it is harder to be a grandparent than a parent!
I have three little granddaughters, 4, 2, and 1. They all live far away, so I don’t get to see them too often or have the relationship you have with your grandson. When I left the littlest one this summer after almost two weeks, I finally got her to snuggle in my arms. I never wanted to let go. I can’t give up for them or for the kids I still tutor. I can’t give up because, as corny as it may sound, I believe that public schools are essential to having the kind of country I think most of us want to have.
I agree with you, but I just do not see how we can get the public schools that are child and learner friendly, again. My heart aches when I see some PR videos of my district, this one in particular, which is the one my son attended when it was vibrant (before the drastic changes in 2006). It was still reasonably okay for a while after that until the school took away the half hour of Friday fun where kids and teachers connected through games, and teachers sharing their hobbies/skills with students. That is when the school died, and years later, with the influx of technology, this is what it looks like. I find it ironic they dare use Socrates’ quote which was actually first used by Plutarch albeit as a different analog.
Believe me, I know exactly what you are talking about. My kids made it through before the data gurus began to take over. Just plant the seeds, Connie.
I’ll keep on gardening! 🙂
I have this argument with many friends, and brilliant people where I write, in that I feel free to express my deeply held belief that we are up against the most incredibly powerful cabals in all of history. Wealth once owned only by kings, gives these oligarchs and dictators ACCESS. One only has to look at the shambles of a Supreme court that gave ‘personhood’ to corporations, and ended our elections, not to mention the power of our Congress to do anything we the people need.
But I am a greater fool, and will fight on in the only way I know, by writing, even knowing the odds are dismal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KDSyLT9qKc
For sixteen years– as I tried to get the teacher’s story told — I have followed the teacher activists like Lorna Stremcha, https://www.facebook.com/lessonslearnedinamontanaclassroom/photos/np.1475506601992954.1476611960/1777867745834429/?type=3&theater Karen Horwitz http://www.opednews.com/author/comments/author40790.html and Lenny Isenberg http://www.perdaily.com/2014/06/lausds-treacherous-road-from-reed-to-vergara–its-never-been-about-students-just-money.html
I wrote this a decade ago (for all the good it did)
http://www.perdaily.com/2011/01/lausd-et-al-a-national-scandal-of-enormous-proportions-by-susan-lee-schwartz-part-1.html
Yes. In my heart of hearts, I see a very dismal future for the middle class, and none for the poverty stricken or those in war-torn nations.
Yes, I know the facts about the speed of climate change, and I see nothing that is being done can avert it in time to stop catastrophic events.
This does not mean that I will not fight.
I spend five hours each day, and do not get utside in this gorgeous weather until 2 PM; I read deeply, and spend hours writing the introduction, and then the commentary with links to support everything I say when I post the words of brilliant people and journalists. This is why I know so much about what is afoot!!!!!!
I have introduced/posted 2057 pieces to political, scientific, philosophical and educational pieces in newspapers and media.,
You can see this at QuickLinks – Author’s Page for Susan Lee http://www.opednews.com/author/quicklinks/author40790.html
and the commentaries at http://www.opednews.com/author/comments/author40790.html
But, it really bugs me that people JUDGE and condemn THE TRUTH-TELLERS.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but not to those that alter the facts. It pains me when people condemn trust-tellers, and cast them as doom-sayers who kill hope.
Observable reality is, for me, the truth… and I tell it like it is. How can we fight what we do not acknowledge.
“Observable reality is, for me, the truth… and I tell it like it is. How can we fight what we do not acknowledge.”
I’m with you on that, and that is why I wrote that blog post about my experience as an involved advocate for quality education, not really to discourage those that fight, but to show them that we need to come up with a way to inform a community.
Teachers have seen the negative changes more than most of the parents. Most parents remain blissfully unaware about the toxicity in many schools under these reforms.
Just wanted to tell you that I find your comments most interesting. Thanks for the fabulous links. Here are two links that I think are MUST READS.
How Dictatorships Are Born – BY Roger Cohen
Burning Down the House – BY TIM EGAN
I write at Oped news. http://www.opednews.com/author/author40790.html
You might be interested in my serieshttp://www.opednews.com/author/series/author40790.html
and if you click on the QUICKLINKS BUTTON, you can see the over 2000 articles I have hosted, wonderful views on what is afoot in the world.
you can message me there privately if you wish to correspond by email, as I do with a number of people at this site.
http://www.opednews.com/populum/messagesend.php?to=40790&from=40790&a=n&o=&entry=%2Fauthor%2Fauthor40790.html&submit=Send+Message
Thanks Susan, I will gladly check everything out including your OpEdNews
Susan, in case you have not seen this article by Chris Hedges…
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/donald_trump_the_dress_rehearsal_for_fascism_20161016
Yes, I read it at Oped
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Donald-Trump-The-Dress-Re-by-Chris-Hedges-Corporate_Donald-Trump_Fascism_Republican-161016-740.html
Ed, I’m glad you browsed the political compass site and suggest that Diane takes the quiz. I find it eye-opening and would say that many here would score in the green quadrant, yet they will vote for someone who is diametrically opposed to their views!
I have shared the quiz many times, but hardly anyone is willing to respond to it, or, if they have taken it, do not dare not share the result, due to cognitive dissonance, perhaps?
Conny, are you voting for Trump?
No Diane, I am not a Trump supporter, nor a Hillary supporter; in fact I cannot even vote as I am a resident alien. Perhaps that is why I watch this circus in a more calm, non emotional manner than so many Americans who were raised here, and who have never known anything but two parties to choose from, which makes every election very divisive!
In my native Netherlands there are many diverse views and opinions in parliament.There you vote for one of several parties first, and second for a person within that party, usually one of many!.The ones with the most votes each get to have a seat in parliament depending on how many seats their party won during an election. What I like about this, is that even a party with one seat, is going to be heard during debates, and accordingly can persuade others to consider an idea or criticism.
Conny said: “My score is Economic Left/Right -8.17 and social libertarian/authoritarian -7.49.”
That’s about what I score on that test.
My core political-economic belief is that the excesses of capitalism should be restricted, and slowly eroded, until it can be replaced entirely.
It is bound to happen sooner or later, Ed, but in my opinion as a complete societal collapse, I fear. People are not willing to change if it means they will suffer even a little, so they keep their eyes closed.
What Trump supporters need to understand is that while Trump is not part of the traditional establishment which has become a corporatocracy, he is part of a more primal establishment that abuses power even more.
In fact, it is from this primal establishment that the corporatocracy has been built.
here is Today’s editorial from the NY Times re the debate. It nails the way he followed her around, and his incredible hypocrisy. “SNIFFING AND GLOWERING TRUMP PROWLED BEHIND HER.”
“Donald Trump boiled his decadent campaign down to one theme during the presidential debate on Sunday night: hatred of Hillary and Bill Clinton.
“With knock-kneed Republican officeholders showing signs of summoning the nerve to desert him, Mr. Trump labored to demonize Hillary Clinton — blaming her even for his own failure to pay taxes — and to remind his core supporters that he is all that stands between her and the presidency.
“If he were in charge, Mr. Trump told Secretary Clinton at one point, “You’d be in jail.”
“When Mrs. Clinton called Mr. Trump out for his failure to apologize to the minorities, immigrants and women he’s offended, he responded by promising vengeance. Should he win, he said, he would unleash a special prosecutor to investigate her.
“Sniffing and glowering, Mr. Trump prowled behind Mrs. Clinton as she presented herself again as the only adult on stage, the only one seeking to persuade the great majority of Americans that she shares their values and aspirations. Mr. Trump, by contrast, fell back on the tricks he has learned from his years in pro wrestling and reality television, making clear how deep his cynicism goes.
“Just before the debate, desperate to shift attention from his pattern of harassment, Mr. Trump sat hunched over a blank notepad in a hotel meeting room, encouraging four women to face the cameras and tell their stories of sexual victimization. “You went through a lot,” Mr. Trump coaxed one of the women flanking him, as he bent their allegations against Bill and Hillary Clinton to serve himself. The women’s claims deserved to be investigated and aired, and they have been, repeatedly.
“During the debate, Mr. Trump struggled once again to coherently explain his policies, instead wandering down twisting, shadowy alleyways in muttering pursuit of his various claims about Mrs. Clinton, including that she, not he, was responsible for his birther lie about President Obama. He complained that the moderators were ganging up on him and failing to question Mrs. Clinton about her private email server — immediately after they had done just that.
“Mr. Trump probably performed well enough to silence the 11-hour whispering campaign among Republicans about somehow ejecting him from the ticket. That means the G.O.P. will continue asking Americans to vote for a candidate who is debasing and trivializing our politics. During the debate, it seemed somewhere between poignant and futile to hear the moderators invite undecided voters to ask about his plans for the nation.
“When Mr. Trump so grandly accepted the Republican nomination in July, he said, “I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people that cannot defend themselves.” By then, though, he had already campaigned for months by beating up on vulnerable Americans, including minorities and the disabled. Only in recent days has the Republican establishment started to acknowledge the magnitude of his hypocrisy.
“The videotape disclosed Friday provided gruesome evidence that the Republican standard-bearer has for years used his powerful status to prey on women. Other revelations followed, including that in 2005 he told Howard Stern on his radio show that, when he owned the Miss Universe pageant, he made a practice of “inspecting” naked contestants backstage. “You know, they’re standing there with no clothes. … And you see these incredible-looking women, and so, I sort of get away with things like that.”
“Now, as he struggles to close the biggest deal of his lifetime, a woman is getting the better of him. That’s not surprising, but it is apt.”
Diane I AGREE! I AGREE! Jerry Hausman >
I sent a twitter photo of Trump LURKING BEHIND, Hillary to a friend and I wrote this:
“Of all the things that disturbed me ,it was how he stalked her. How he stood behind her and tried to physically intimidate her. This picture demonstrates this, the captions says: “Trump tries to prove he isn’t a threat to women by lurking behind Clinton!”
The NY Times labeled it ‘prowling.’ ttp://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/10/opinion/mr-trump-goes-low.html?emc=edit_th_20161010&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=50637717
“And remember ON the Howard Stern interview in 2005, where he claims that he made all the Ms Universe contestants stand in the nude for him…because he could do that?
“This man is a horror, and to all of women who were assaulted by powerful men, his ‘lurking’ sends a chill. I suspect, that out there, are many women who were raped by him, but too afraid or ashamed to come forward.
“This man is a stalker. He makes me physically ill.”
MY FRIEND WROTE BACK:
“It’s creepy and must be giving both Secret Service security details the heebie-jeebies. How to you protect one presidential candidate from another one who looks psychopathic and homicidal as he rambles around the stage shadowing his rival while he sniffles from his latest hit of coke?
“I wonder if the SS does a weapons check for the two candidates to make sure DT doesn’t have a concealed weapon on him.
“All the way through the 2nd debate as DT continued to sniffle and look like he was semi-conscious and deaf to all the questions from the moderators and audience, I kept expecting him to pull out a short barreled revolver and shoot Hillary in the back of the head. And if he did, the Deplorables that support DT would cheer and throw open-bar celebrations across the country and demand that DT be exempt from murder charges or they riot and burn Ameica’s cities to the ground.”
Yes, Susan, I had the same thoughts about Trump. He was lurking and looming behind Hillary with threatening movements and that dour, unsmiling expression. I wouldn’t be surprised if this man goes totally bonkers at some point because he is such an object of almost universal ridicule by our leading comics, such as Colbert, Oliver, Letterman, Stewart and most of the late night hosts. Trump seems to do the sniffing, snuffling and huffing only during the debates; I have not heard him do that during his other speeches, unless I missed it. Strange. I am so disgusted that these Stein supporters actually think that Hillary is worse than Trump or equal to Trump. What planet do they live on? If Trump wins, the Stein voters will share part of the guilt and shame on them.
I, too, think we are going to see a meltdown!
I found this from the HuffingtonPost (June 29, 2016) and just wondered why no one else has picked this up…..
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lisa-bloom/why-the-new-child-rape-ca_b_10619944.html
I didn’t get the impression that Trump was “looming over” Clinton during the debate. I thought she owned the stage. She walked everywhere and didn’t let his physical space get in her way. I was proud of that. Trump, on the other hand, stayed mostly by his chair or on his half of the stage. He as stiff, uncomfortable, and spoiling for a fight she wouldn’t give him.
I worry that nothing will dissuade his supporters at this point. They are beyond reason.
In case anyone has not seen Trump’s education platform, it is truly horrifying, unprecedented. I will post below a quote from it, and also a link to the page, although I don’t know if the link will work.
“DONALD J. TRUMP’S VISION
Immediately add an additional federal investment of $20 billion towards school choice. This will be done by reprioritizing existing federal dollars.
Give states the option to allow these funds to follow the student to the public or private school they attend. Distribution of this grant will favor states that have private school choice, magnet schools and charter laws, encouraging them to participate.
Establish the national goal of providing school choice to every one of the 11 million school aged children living in poverty.
If the states collectively contribute another $110 billion of their own education budgets toward school choice, on top of the $20 billion in federal dollars, that could provide $12,000 in school choice funds to every K-12 student who today lives in poverty.”
https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/education