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Clinton versus Trump and Sexual Assault: How to Assess the Their Town Hall Debate

10/13/2016

The Sunday night debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump has to be assessed in the context of the Trump’s claim of having made multiple sexual assaults. On Friday a videotape surfaced in which Trump was heard claiming, in lewd language, that he had attempted, but failed, to seduce a married woman. In addition, he bragged that he kissed women on the mouth and groped their genitals without their consent because as a media star, they could not repel his actions. By Saturday, these behaviors had been roundly condemned and a number of Republicans, some of whom had previously supported Trump, announced they could no longer support him.

To deflect the charges of sexual assault against him, Trump began to raise the issue of Bill Clinton’s philandering and charge that Bill Clinton was guilty of rape while Trump himself was only guilty of using lewd language. To reinforce the rape charge against Bill and support the claim that Hillary helped silence and intimidate women charging Bill, Trump brought out four of the women alleging sexual predation by Bill in a bizarre staged event prior to the debate. Only Trump seemed oblivious to how his predatory sexual behavior and his use of four women as illustrative decoration, both represent the objectification of women.

Joe Scarborough: Precision Spin-doctoring for Donald Trump and the Republican Party

10/7/2016

As Donald Trump was securing the Republican Party nomination for President, Joe Scarborough (and Mika) found many opportunities to act as a spin-doctor (a master manipulator of interpreting events to surreptitiously influence opinion) for Donald Trump. Following Trump’s nomination and continuous misstatements, Joe’s spinning for Trump slowed considerably.

Besides their personal relationship, Scarborough’s spin for Trump seemed based on a desire to stop Hillary Clinton at all costs and the belief that the Republican Party needed a boost of populism to be viable in future election cycles. Following some of Trump’s more racist statements, however, Scarborough distanced himself from Trump, and refrained from spinning for him. As Hillary seemed about to break away from a tie with Trump, however, Scarborough would again begin Spinning for Trump.

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.

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