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Main Stream Media’s Short-Lived Infatuation with Mike Pence

10/7/2016

The Main Stream Media (MSM) declared Mike Pence, the Republican, the winner of the Vice-Presidential debate immediately following it on Tuesday. They argued that Pence was the winner because he didn’t interrupt, seemed unflappable, and generally presented himself in more “Presidential” manner than Tim Kaine. Some observers found this judgement to be so bizarre, they attributed it to simple MSM bias in favor of Republicans.

In spite of this rush to judgement by most of the MSM, a few pundits noted that Pence (1) threw Donald Trump under the bus when he failed to defend Trump’s many lies; (2) contradicted Trump’s Syrian strategy, and (3) distanced himself from Trump by telling numerous lies.

Trump Asks Not What He Can Do For His Country

10/5/2016

This week the New York Times published the image of a part of Donald Trump's 1995 tax return, revealing that Trump, who has sharply criticized the US tax system, would use the system to save himself from complete financial ruin after his business failures had cost him nearly 1 billion dollars.
Hillary Clinton and others had already explained that the most likely reason he refused to release his tax returns was because it would reveal that he was not as wealthy as he claims and that he may not pay federal taxes. The NY Times produced the visual confirmation.

Hillary had also said that perhaps the return would show that he wasn't charitable. Thanks to the reporting of Washington Post's David Fahrenhold, we have seen how Trump has illegally solicited donations made by others to his supposedly charitable foundation to support political and business objectives that have nothing to do with charity.

Surrogates Rudolph Giuliani, Chris Christie, and Kellyanne Conway have been vocal in claiming that Trump is a genius for how he used tax code to stiff the US population. As an extremely wealthy man, he could still contribute to the country he claims to love by showing some charity and generosity through benevolent gifts. Instead he has used that process to cheat and deceive.

The German Communist party enabled Hitler's rise - - by not voting against Hitler's party because of political purity. Those who support Trump have objective proof that he is a liar and a cheat. Political party loyalty does not exonerate those who ignore such warnings.

How to Score the First Clinton vs Trump Debate

10/4/2016

In the lead up to Monday’s Presidential debate, the Main Stream Media delighted in playing zingers from previous debates. Some pundits have actually constructed explanations of why previous candidates with the best zinger won both the debate and the election. Despite the simplicity of the zinger explanation the best way to score the debate is as a function of whose strategic goals were best met.

Hillary Clinton’s primary goal is build enthusiasm among Democratic voters, especially among millennials who were key to Obama’s victories and ensure the viability of the coalition he built. Of course, her secondary goal is to minimize or at least refrain from arousing any additional hatred from Trump’s natural constituency while she rebuilds the Obama coalition.

Recruiting Cops with the Right Stuff

9/26/2016

Part of the aftermath of the police shootings in Tulsa and Charlotte is the advice pundits have offered to reduce the use of excessive deadly force by police. Quite rightly most pundits have called for better management and community policing procedures, implicit bias reduction and de-escalation training, and rigorous enforcement and prosecution of illegal behavior.

A Change Election for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump

9/16/2016

This is a change election, but not the kind of change election political commentators usually cite. Change elections usually refer to elections in which the primary consideration in voting for a significant percentage of voters is removing a current office holder or administration from office. This election, however, is going to be an election in which the winner is very likely going to be the candidate who is most able to change their persona.

Donald Trump has proven himself to be racist, vindictive, erratic, self-indulgent, narcissistic, and a pathological liar. He has garnered the support of a significant portion of voters who either agree with Trump or, at least, don’t mind his character flaws. Nonetheless, he has not captured enough supporters who applaud or accept his flaws to win the election. As a result, he has tried to downplay his flaws.

Hillary Clinton also suffers from some flaws: withdrawn, secretive, defensive, risk-averse, and seemingly a part of the establishment forever. The winner of this election may well be the candidate who is most able to change their persona.
On first glance, it may seem that Trump, the reality performer, is the one most capable of change. However, Trump’s personality may make it less possible for him to change than Hillary. Consider Trump's admission that President Obama was born in the U.S., made at the behest of his campaign staff. His admission seemed reluctant and unenthusiastic. He may have been better off not making it if it could not have been more heartfelt.

Hillary, on the other hand, has a very smart campaign staff and seems able to take their advice. She obviously does not like interacting with the press but has managed to incorporate meetings with the press into her daily routine. Above all, Hillary’s flaws seem to be the result of experience rather than personality.

Hillary admits that she is not good on a stage; we all agree that Trump delivers to his audience. But after January 2016, Americans may want a President, not an act. We have to hope that voters will consider the role of President. Voters may, in fact, want changes to be cautious and controlled.

Donald Trump’s Unresolvable Conflict of Interest

9/15/2016

TrumpGolfDubai.com

The Main Stream Media seem fixated on equating the Clinton Foundation to the Trump Foundation, perhaps because they share the word “foundation.” The appropriate point of comparison, however, is the potential for conflict of interest. Those concerned about the potential for President Hillary Clinton’s conflict of interest believed that contributions to the Clinton Foundation by foreign magnates or government officials could be exchanged for a favor, even though the Clintons had never received any salaries or money from the Clinton Foundation and the Foundation had typically disbursed 90 percent of its contributions.

Alternatively, those concerned about Donald Trump’s potential conflict of interest cite long-term contractual relationships between foreign entities and Trump’s businesses that result in millions of dollars of revenues. Kurt Eichenwald in his Newsweek story (9/14/2016) found that the South Korean Daewoo Group was paying the Trump Organization $8 million a year from 1999 until its bankruptcy in 2005. After Daewoo’s re-organization following the bankruptcy, the Trump Organization continued to maintain its financial relationship with Daewoo. It should be noted that the on-going relationships between Trump’s businesses and foreign entities are not exchanges of money for products, but rather on-going service contracts that would be affected by any number of Presidential actions. For example, Daewoo’s bankruptcy affected the flow of money to Trump and Trump’s call for South Korea to develop its own nuclear deterrent could lead to a financial windfall for Daewoo and presumably increase the flow of money to Trump.

Daewoo Trump World. Photo: Haeahn Architects

The long-term service contracts that Trump has with foreign magnates and government officials means that some kind of a “blind trust” would be totally ineffective in resolving Trump’s conflict of interest. Further, there is no way of shielding the Trump Organization from the largesse of foreign leaders seeking to win favor with the President or entangle the U.S. in the fate of their countries.

Hillary Clinton’s Emails and the Commander-in-Chief Forum

9/8/2016

NBC’s Commander-in-Chief Forum suffered from numerous shortcomings. Matt Lauer, whose forte is clearly asking chefs every spring how to grill salmon, was clearly out of his depth, either because he was too enthralled with Donald Trump or too ignorant of national security issues to ask incisive follow-up questions. Lauer also interrupted Hillary Clinton numerous times while allowing Donald Trump all the time he needed to voice his lies and inanities.

Why Do Some Voters Support Donald Trump? The Limits of Identity Politics: The Lies Trump’s Black Surrogates Tell

9/7/2016

photo by Reuters- Agrippa

One aspect of identity politics (that is, political activity based catering to cultural, ethnic, gender, racial, or religious interests) involves the mechanics of campaigning. It rightfully includes the candidate signaling various self-identified groups that they are recognized, their problems understood, and their votes wanted.

Trump’s recent expedition to a black church has allowed Trump and his black surrogates to engage in a more insidious form of identity politics: proposing a solution to social problems specific to an ethnic community. Trump and his surrogates, for example, have attacked Hillary Clinton and Democrats for ignoring the blacks, except when asking for their votes. Specifically, Trump has hammered Democrats for failing to provide blacks with job opportunities, a grievance also voiced by many black leaders who are Hillary supporters.

Another Pathetic Morning Joe Meme

8/19/2016

One of Morning Joe’s favorite memes is that in the years he and Mika Brezinski have known Donald Trump, he has never heard him say anything racist, misogynistic, or xenophobic or witness him act in a bombastic or bullying manner. Of course, Joe does not count Trump’s full page ads in the Daily News and the New York Times to call for the death penalty for teenagers who were accused and subsequently confessed to the rape of a white jogger in Central Park. Also, Morning Joe may have missed the racism attached to Trump’s claim the President Obama was born in Kenya and thus, not eligible to be President.

Assuming that these two examples, as well as the discrimination case that the Justice Department won against Trumps, should not be considered because they occurred in public, then Joe may be right. Joe and Mika may never have heard a racist word from Trump’s mouth. Nonetheless, Joe should realize that many people, and almost all sociopaths, have the ability to manage their interpersonal impressions they give to others and disguise the unpleasant aspects of their personalities they show others. Of course, it is unclear how close Joe and Mika are to Donald, but perhaps Donald was merely managing the impression he showed to them. In any event, by this time we certainly know what Trump is.

Hillary Clinton Needs to Take Her Emails off the Table

8/19/2016

The Clinton campaign needs to take the accusations FBI Director James Comey levelled against Hillary Clinton off the table. That is, the Clinton campaign needs to provide a narrative to counter the one that Comey, Trump, and the right wing are pushing. Namely, that Hillary Clinton does not care about U.S. security requirements and is so careless she was willing to risk the lives of American servicemen for her on convenience. (See Hillary Needs Joe Biden to Refute James Comey’s Negative Opinions about Her.) Three points have become clear since Comey’s initial statement and subsequent appearances before Congress. First, Hillary Clinton did not send any emails correctly marked as classified (i.e., contrary to classification procedures, they were only marked with a “C” in the next and no header indicating classified material to follow); two or three emails were incorrectly marked as classified. Moreover, the two or three emails that were incorrectly marked as classified with a “C” in the text, were not classified and thus, should not have been marked as classified.

Second, Clinton was following the recommendation of former Secretary of State Colin Powell to follow his practice and use private email for non-classified material. Although the State Department’s email system had improved enough by Secretary’s Clinton’s tenure so that private email was not required, Powell’s recommendation does explain, in part, why she used private email. Third, the experience State Department officials that sent Secretary Clinton emails that contained classified material did so after having chosen NOT to use the classified email system that all State Department officials, including Secretary Clinton, have access to and are supposed to use for classified material.

Unless the Clinton campaign pushes an alternative narrative, Secretary Clinton will be handicapped if she chooses to hold a press conference because of the barrage of email questions she will face. Further, if a counter narrative is not pushed before the debates, Donald Trump will trumpet her email controversy as an all-purpose way of avoiding questions and a way of shifting attention from his own inadequacies. Just as the nine Benghazi reports clear Secretary Clinton and take that issue off the table, another email narrative is needed to take to take it off the table.

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