Hugh Hewlitt said that he admires Ted Cruz for endorsing Donald Trump, after Senator Cruz is on the record calling Mr. Trump a bully, a sniveling coward and a narcissist among other things. Surprise, surprise; it turns out that Ted Cruz gave up his principles and is just another politician. That's almost forgivable compared to Hewlitt saying he admired him for it.
It's just another example of why we have no respect for anything he in particular says. He's a complete cynical, political opportunist who referenced the very fact that he worked for Richard Nixon, which goes to show that when it comes to political courage he'll duck, run, and save his own skin. Is this the kind of commentary he gives his listeners, really?
Conversely, Republican strategist Mike Murphy is sitting across the table exemplifying what it is to be a principled Republican, who accurately rebutted Hewlitt's entire Supreme Court argument because the very premise relies on trusting Donald Trump.
Our trust deficit with Donald Trump doesn't necessarily have to do as much with Supreme Court choices as it has to do with everything else - foreign policy, immigration, security, the economy on down the line - all of which are a probable conflicts of interest for Trump unless it can be verified to the contrary with the release of his tax returns.
Let's be clear, neither candidate can take the high road when it comes to transparency, but Mr. Trump not releasing his tax returns is particularly problematic, especially since he's based his entire campaign on being a successful businessman. If voters are judging him on the simple fact that he has a lot of money therefore he must be successful, but having no interest in knowing how he makes that money and the amount of taxes he probably doesn't pay seems at the very least negligent in your responsibility as a voter.
Publicly undisclosed personal financial motivations, in this context, could dictate Trump's decisions on policy, policy that may not be in the best interest of The United States.
And that's what tomorrow night's debate is going to come down to - little talked about policy. Today's "Meet The Press" basically served as the kick-off of pre-game political festivities for the debate, and with all the talk about gamesmanship and attacks and temperament, detailed policy prescriptions and how the candidates command them will be the most telling for us.
We would presume in this column to give advice to candidates on what they should or shouldn't say/do during the debate, nor will we speculate what will happen. However, what we will say is that in a 90-minute debate, knowledge of policy is going to dictate which candidate gets the upper hand, which one attacks more effectively, and which one passes the commander in chief test.
Given that, we also agree with Democratic strategist Stephanie Cutter when she explained that the candidates need to put forth something positive, especially in an election such as this with a celebrity candidate who incidentally is quite negative. It's a crucial point that gets overlooked in political discussions because it's not as entertaining, frankly, but during the debate it's what viewers really respond to the most, and remember.
In the run-up to the World Series of politics that are these debates, with game one tomorrow night, there was one point that Republican strategist Steve Schmidt made with regard to gamesmanship that we thought was quite telling. On the news that the Clinton campaign was going to invite Mark Cuban to the debate, the Trump campaign, Mr. Trump himself, responded that Gennifer Flowers would be invited. Mr. Schmidt explained that the Clinton campaign tried to bait Mr. Trump and he went for it, it worked. Easily, we might add.Will Sec. Clinton be able to do the same to Mr. Trump, in the moment? Can Mr. Trump in response to an attack from Sec. Clinton not come off sounding sexist? We're excited to find out!
We'll be commenting.
Panel: Doris Kearns Godwin, presidential historian; Gwen Ifill, PBS News Hour; Mike Murphy, Republican strategist; Hugh Hewlitt, Salem Radio Network
One More Thing...
In reference to the panel, we want to firmly state that Gwen Ifill should be moderating one of the debates. With all due respect to the other moderators, Ms. Ifill is head and shoulders above the rest. Not to mention the fact that the 'P' in PBS stands for public. PBS should be hosting one of the debates.
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Thursday, September 22, 2016
9.22.16: Why Do The Police Shoot People?
Why do the police shoot people?
Seems like a pretty simple question, but through this perhaps naive query comes a myriad of answers, we guess.
However, we keep thinking that the base reason as to why police shoot people is because they are afraid of being shot themselves. Doesn't that make too much sense?
As we've said before in this column, we as an American society have been completely irresponsible with gun ownership. The senseless gun violence of individual on individual and of course police on civilian, especially African-American males is out of control. It is certainly not what we would consider advanced citizenry.
America is in complete gun denial. Instead of doing anything to stem the tide, we have forty-five states that allow open carrying of handguns. For what purpose is this necessary? Protection? Seems like when you shoot someone with a handgun, you're either going to jail or you'll be shot and killed yourself. Some protection.
The can be no dialogue when shots are being fired so saying that we need to have a dialogue is a sadly futile exercise.
Some would say that it is their God-given right to own a gun. To that we would remind that killing another person is a mortal sin; we read that somewhere. If that is the case then why would God put in your hand the instrument to commit that mortal sin?
With regard to Second Amendment, the phrase that rings out is "well-regulated militia." We've allowed our society to become militarized, hence we are the militia, but we are certainly not well-regulated. It has to change or it will only get worse, which you can take as fact.
Lastly, well-regulated doesn't necessarily mean denying people ownership, and we're not for that. But what it should mean is that you have to jump through hoops to get one just like there are certain requirements to own a car.
But who are we kidding? Sensible and fair gun laws in this country are just a fantasy just like it's fantasy that individuals and police will stop shooting.
This one base answer is right in front of our faces, so big that we can't even see it.
Seems like a pretty simple question, but through this perhaps naive query comes a myriad of answers, we guess.
However, we keep thinking that the base reason as to why police shoot people is because they are afraid of being shot themselves. Doesn't that make too much sense?
As we've said before in this column, we as an American society have been completely irresponsible with gun ownership. The senseless gun violence of individual on individual and of course police on civilian, especially African-American males is out of control. It is certainly not what we would consider advanced citizenry.
America is in complete gun denial. Instead of doing anything to stem the tide, we have forty-five states that allow open carrying of handguns. For what purpose is this necessary? Protection? Seems like when you shoot someone with a handgun, you're either going to jail or you'll be shot and killed yourself. Some protection.
The can be no dialogue when shots are being fired so saying that we need to have a dialogue is a sadly futile exercise.
Some would say that it is their God-given right to own a gun. To that we would remind that killing another person is a mortal sin; we read that somewhere. If that is the case then why would God put in your hand the instrument to commit that mortal sin?
With regard to Second Amendment, the phrase that rings out is "well-regulated militia." We've allowed our society to become militarized, hence we are the militia, but we are certainly not well-regulated. It has to change or it will only get worse, which you can take as fact.
Lastly, well-regulated doesn't necessarily mean denying people ownership, and we're not for that. But what it should mean is that you have to jump through hoops to get one just like there are certain requirements to own a car.
But who are we kidding? Sensible and fair gun laws in this country are just a fantasy just like it's fantasy that individuals and police will stop shooting.
This one base answer is right in front of our faces, so big that we can't even see it.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
9.18.16: Trump Winning Strategy - Manipulate TV Media (And They're Letting Him Do It.)
We say without any 'chest pumping' that the explosion in Manhattan with not bring fear or alter New York life, and it is in these instances where the public has complete trust in the NYPD and its terrorism task force to bring justice to this latest high profile act of terror.
The other acts of terror should be noted in St. Cloud, MN and in Seaside Park, NJ because if there is any connection we see if as a coordinated call for random acts on that day that, thankfully, didn't go as planned.
More to come...
As it relates to the presidential candidates, both answered true to their nature with Hillary Clinton taking the more cautious approach - wait and see - holding for more information whereas Donald Trump declared it a bomb before NYC officials identified it as such. In this instance Donald Trump could say he was right, but this isn't about being right. More it shows that Mr. Trump is quickly to draw a conclusion and vocalize it without all the facts. It's not a presidential approach.
Chuck Todd asked VP candidate Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) why the race is so close, bringing up the trust and transparency issues dogging Sec. Clinton. Sen. Kaine cited a divided country and acknowledged that their campaign always thought the race would be close. A weak answer so we'd like to expand on it a bit. It is true that we are a divided country, in which for the exception of a large and significant soft middle [read: swing/independent voters] a respective 40 percent on either side will not vote for the other, but this year is different with Mr. Trump as a candidate. First establishment Republicans are quiet but ultimately will not vote for Donald Trump. Secondly, millennials and Bernie Sanders supporters overall right now are not enthusiastic for Hillary Clinton.
The general loathing of both candidates has been exacerbated by the major media outlets that is completely confused as to its role. Major media's, including Fox News - yes, general consensus is that Hillary Clinton is the more qualified and better person to be president, despite deep distrust between the two parities. But at the same time, they can't take their camera'ed eyes off of Trump and in turn his message gets amplified, like at Friday's 'birther' announcement that completely TV media for a bunch of chumps.
Perfectly staged, Mr. Trump showcased and promoted his new Washington DC hotel, which he'll have to sell to honestly establish a blind trust for his business interests. Included in the presentation were statements of endorsement from high-ranking veterans to claim the high ground like Kellyanne Conway did in today's interview. He capped off the 30-minute infomercial with the 5-year series conclusion, "Barack Obama was born in the United States. Period."
Disgraceful on so many levels only made even worse by saying that Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign started the conspiracy theory of 'birtherism,' which we agree with Cornell Belcher as described as a 'soft place for racism,' that Mr. Trump took comfort for 5 years. Despite all Ms. Conway's effective deflecting of the question, there is no excuse or adequate answer she can give. Obviously Mr. Trump will not give an apology to the president, or anyone for that matter, but what about to 60 percent of his supporters who incorrectly believe that the president was not born in this country? What does he say to them? "I lied to your face, but it's no big deal, right? Believe me." And his supporters seem to simply reply, "OK."
Oh, brother.
Not to mention that Alex Castellanos said that there is an 'otherness' to Barack Obama's presidency, which just reinforces these racist dog whistles. Mr. Castellanos talks smoothly but what comes out is garbage.
All this despite Mr. Trump changing his position on the following issues that Mr. Todd correctly outlined.
But Upper West Side supporters (a liberal area of Manhattan), as Mr. Todd noted, are freaking out, and for good reason because as election day gets closer, Republicans are becoming more fired up and Sec. Clinton's candidacy hasn't inspired the same. They're freaking out so much that Maureen Dowd, no Clinton lover by any stretch, described how they'd like Trump censored and Mrs. Clinton's message promoted. She also explained that the resume argument doesn't always mean that the individual will make the right decision, a la Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, and Clinton's hasn't excited the base. Where her campaign is really relying on that experience is at the 'vote moment,' where an individual is at the ballot box and has a moment of pause. It's mostly applicable to prospective Gary Johnson/ third party supporters. But it's not anything you can count on. It's an uphill climb for Clinton's message to inspire when your opponent is handed the media megaphone more often.
Throughout the Republican primary and now in the general, Mr. Trump has effectively controlled and played the media like no other candidate in modern history, and it's this kind of manipulation that's attractive to people like Steve Bannon from Breitbart.
The saving grace for Sec. Clinton could be the debates, but only if she soundly wins the first one. Right now for her, it's the key to the whole race.
Panel: Katy Tur, NBC News; Maureen Dowd, The New York Times; Alex Castellanos, Republican Strategist; Cornell Belcher, President of Brilliant Corners
The other acts of terror should be noted in St. Cloud, MN and in Seaside Park, NJ because if there is any connection we see if as a coordinated call for random acts on that day that, thankfully, didn't go as planned.
More to come...
As it relates to the presidential candidates, both answered true to their nature with Hillary Clinton taking the more cautious approach - wait and see - holding for more information whereas Donald Trump declared it a bomb before NYC officials identified it as such. In this instance Donald Trump could say he was right, but this isn't about being right. More it shows that Mr. Trump is quickly to draw a conclusion and vocalize it without all the facts. It's not a presidential approach.
Chuck Todd asked VP candidate Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) why the race is so close, bringing up the trust and transparency issues dogging Sec. Clinton. Sen. Kaine cited a divided country and acknowledged that their campaign always thought the race would be close. A weak answer so we'd like to expand on it a bit. It is true that we are a divided country, in which for the exception of a large and significant soft middle [read: swing/independent voters] a respective 40 percent on either side will not vote for the other, but this year is different with Mr. Trump as a candidate. First establishment Republicans are quiet but ultimately will not vote for Donald Trump. Secondly, millennials and Bernie Sanders supporters overall right now are not enthusiastic for Hillary Clinton.
The general loathing of both candidates has been exacerbated by the major media outlets that is completely confused as to its role. Major media's, including Fox News - yes, general consensus is that Hillary Clinton is the more qualified and better person to be president, despite deep distrust between the two parities. But at the same time, they can't take their camera'ed eyes off of Trump and in turn his message gets amplified, like at Friday's 'birther' announcement that completely TV media for a bunch of chumps.
Perfectly staged, Mr. Trump showcased and promoted his new Washington DC hotel, which he'll have to sell to honestly establish a blind trust for his business interests. Included in the presentation were statements of endorsement from high-ranking veterans to claim the high ground like Kellyanne Conway did in today's interview. He capped off the 30-minute infomercial with the 5-year series conclusion, "Barack Obama was born in the United States. Period."
Disgraceful on so many levels only made even worse by saying that Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign started the conspiracy theory of 'birtherism,' which we agree with Cornell Belcher as described as a 'soft place for racism,' that Mr. Trump took comfort for 5 years. Despite all Ms. Conway's effective deflecting of the question, there is no excuse or adequate answer she can give. Obviously Mr. Trump will not give an apology to the president, or anyone for that matter, but what about to 60 percent of his supporters who incorrectly believe that the president was not born in this country? What does he say to them? "I lied to your face, but it's no big deal, right? Believe me." And his supporters seem to simply reply, "OK."
Oh, brother.
Not to mention that Alex Castellanos said that there is an 'otherness' to Barack Obama's presidency, which just reinforces these racist dog whistles. Mr. Castellanos talks smoothly but what comes out is garbage.
All this despite Mr. Trump changing his position on the following issues that Mr. Todd correctly outlined.
But Upper West Side supporters (a liberal area of Manhattan), as Mr. Todd noted, are freaking out, and for good reason because as election day gets closer, Republicans are becoming more fired up and Sec. Clinton's candidacy hasn't inspired the same. They're freaking out so much that Maureen Dowd, no Clinton lover by any stretch, described how they'd like Trump censored and Mrs. Clinton's message promoted. She also explained that the resume argument doesn't always mean that the individual will make the right decision, a la Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, and Clinton's hasn't excited the base. Where her campaign is really relying on that experience is at the 'vote moment,' where an individual is at the ballot box and has a moment of pause. It's mostly applicable to prospective Gary Johnson/ third party supporters. But it's not anything you can count on. It's an uphill climb for Clinton's message to inspire when your opponent is handed the media megaphone more often.
Throughout the Republican primary and now in the general, Mr. Trump has effectively controlled and played the media like no other candidate in modern history, and it's this kind of manipulation that's attractive to people like Steve Bannon from Breitbart.
The saving grace for Sec. Clinton could be the debates, but only if she soundly wins the first one. Right now for her, it's the key to the whole race.
Panel: Katy Tur, NBC News; Maureen Dowd, The New York Times; Alex Castellanos, Republican Strategist; Cornell Belcher, President of Brilliant Corners
Monday, September 12, 2016
9.12.16: Thank You Mr. Trump, Sincerely
"I hope she gets well soon... I hope she gets well, gets back on trail and we'll see her at the debate."
Analysts would say that Mr. Trump showed discipline and just got out of the way of the story, but when he said the above on "Fox and Friends" in the manner in which he said it; sincere or not so much you decide, he was the only one to wish Sec. Clinton well.
He repeated it and expanded on this during the course of the day, probably because Mr. Trump took note of the positive reaction in the press from the positive gesture. And maybe perhaps because of that it become more sincere.
What evs... He's the highest profile politician to say so.
Deplorables aside, thank you Mr. Trump.
Analysts would say that Mr. Trump showed discipline and just got out of the way of the story, but when he said the above on "Fox and Friends" in the manner in which he said it; sincere or not so much you decide, he was the only one to wish Sec. Clinton well.
He repeated it and expanded on this during the course of the day, probably because Mr. Trump took note of the positive reaction in the press from the positive gesture. And maybe perhaps because of that it become more sincere.
What evs... He's the highest profile politician to say so.
Deplorables aside, thank you Mr. Trump.
Sunday, September 11, 2016
9.11.16: Where Is Our Decency? / 9/11 Anniversary
We find it incredible that a former First Lady of the United States, Senator from New York and Security of State becomes ill and no where in press coverage or in the Twitterverse do we see anyone showing any sympathy or well wishes. Instead we see stories about how she 'hid' her illness and that speaks to transparency issues or that her health jeopardizes her campaign, etc. Truly, if it were anyone else, the reaction would be completely different.
Whether you agree with Sec. Clinton's political positions or not, she has served and represented this country and all its citizens at the highest levels so let's show some common decency, shall we? On Friday, a doctor determined that Sec. Clinton has pneumonia and that she was dehydrated. Why would that be? From campaigning for 15 months straight and shaking thousands of hands in the process? Maybe Sec. Clinton needs a little R&R that she should take without the press's cynical speculations. We say, "Take a few days, rest up and be well." We would apply this to Mr. Trump as well if it were to happen to him, though we vehemently disagree with his candidacy in general. It's just the right thing to do.
Is Sec. Clinton supposed to call up all the press outlets and announce at full volume that a doctor just said that she had pneumonia? Really? Also on Friday, Sec. Clinton used the word 'deplorable.' Well, it applies here.
Wow, this campaign just sucks. There, we said it.
We didn't agree with George W. Bush on many of his policies, but he was OUR president and then nor now would we wish to see him ill. And that brings us to say this about a comment Mr. Trump made about Vladimir Putin being a better leader than OUR president Barack Obama. If in the face of the international community or in front of a clear adversary, if you don't have the back of the President of the United States, an office you seek to hold, then you don't have the back of the United States itself, and all its citizens. We don't support a man for President of the United States who thinks that Vladimir Putin presents a good leadership model. Period.
We need to think more instead of just being angry, which we all know is completely counter-productive.
***
It gives us no pleasure to admonish so many, but it's the 15th anniversary of 9.11, and we dishonor the memories of all the people who died and all the heroes (first responders) that were born that day by wishing the worst for fellow Americans. The glimmer of hope that horrible day brought us was that it showed us that we, as Americans, can come together as one. Let's honor the memories of 9.11 by showing that side of ourselves again.
I had been living and have since lived in New York when that tragic day arrived. These are the never before seen photos I took on September 12, 2001.
Sunday, September 04, 2016
9.4.16: The Least Worst of the Candidates
By the time we write our next column, there will be less than two months until the election day, or as Chuck Todd reminded us that today there are 65 days until the November 8th. Unless something utterly extraordinary happens during the debates (like Sec. Clinton breaking down and crying - Mr. Trump might), short of getting arrested, Hillary Clinton looks to be the next president of the United States.
Going to the last first, The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza broke down the race in the most American manner, a practical one. With both candidates historically unpopular, you're going to go with "the least worst choice." And as much as Alex Castellanos, who now appeared on today's program and is now advising Mr. Trump, would like to think the least worst is not Mr. Trump, it isn't. Wow, there are a lot of 'negatives' in that last sentence, which is indicative of this political season, for sure.
However, we'd like to keep the focus on the practical perspective, and that what you saw from Gov. Mike Pence (R-IN) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in their respective interviews. Chuck Todd said that Mike Pence seemed to have made his peace with what it means to be Donald Trump's running mate. But so has Sen. Sanders made a peace... with the fact that Hillary Clinton is the nominee instead of him.
Chuck Todd explained that Gov. Pence would leave the explaining to Donald Trump's decisions to Mr. Trump, such as having advisors like Roger Ailes and Steve Bannon or the fact that the candidate's immigration position on 11 million undocumented people is still unclear. Conversely, Sen. Sanders in his interview said that it wasn't about the candidates but about the American people and moving the country in the direction more akin to his own vision, despite his previous argument that Sec. Clinton is too close to Wall Street and that she has incredible trustworthiness issues with the electorate due to an ever-evolving email scandal. As NBC's Kristen Welker said, it's not the content of the stories at this point, but the fact that the stories keep breaking. Yet, Sen. Sanders is heading out to campaign for Mrs. Clinton.
In the practical sense, it's easy for these two public officials to be at peace with their stance because if your like Mike Pence, you think that Hillary Clinton is the most dishonest politician Richard Nixon, a sentiment that he stated twice. But if you're like Bernie Sanders then Mr. Trump is the most xenophobic and unqualified candidate in our lifetime.
So which is it?
We keep thinking that a potential Trump presidency is like standing at the edge of the rocks above a reservoir before you jump. You look down and you wonder if the jump is too high, is the water where I'm going to land deep enough, are there rocks just below the surface that I don't know about or is my body going to smack the water and break my back? And when it comes right down to it, a potential Clinton presidency by comparison is deciding that you don't have to jump at all. Don't be fooled though because not making the leap has its own drawbacks as well because it means your headed back down the road from which you came.
The above question still needs an answer.
Chris Cillizza said that this past Wednesday where Mr. Trump traveled to Mexico to meet with its president showing that he had statesman-like capability then traveling to Phoenix where he was supposed to give an immigration policy speech that turned into a xenophobic, alt-right rallying cry as a microcosm of his campaign.
We call that an unpredictable nightmare of a presidency. That one day gave us a clear window into what it would be like if Mr. Trump were president. On the international stage he says one thing and then comes back and says completely the opposite. At the end of this particular day, Mr. Trump decided to just tell people what they wanted to hear and not how things really are. Another way to term it is 'empty rhetoric.' We know that a day like Wednesday - a complete embarrassment if that was a U.S. president - wouldn't happen if it were Sec. Clinton in that situation. Being honest here.
In the fight for the least worst, Sec. Clinton wins because we know a lot more about Hillary Clinton's emails than we do about Donald Trump's finances and until he releases his tax returns, Chuck Todd is correct that Mr. Trump can not claim any moral high ground on transparency.
Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC News; Maria Teresa Kumar, MSNBC contributor; Alex Castellanos, Trump Campaign Advisor; Chris Cillizza, The Washington Post
Going to the last first, The Washington Post's Chris Cillizza broke down the race in the most American manner, a practical one. With both candidates historically unpopular, you're going to go with "the least worst choice." And as much as Alex Castellanos, who now appeared on today's program and is now advising Mr. Trump, would like to think the least worst is not Mr. Trump, it isn't. Wow, there are a lot of 'negatives' in that last sentence, which is indicative of this political season, for sure.
However, we'd like to keep the focus on the practical perspective, and that what you saw from Gov. Mike Pence (R-IN) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in their respective interviews. Chuck Todd said that Mike Pence seemed to have made his peace with what it means to be Donald Trump's running mate. But so has Sen. Sanders made a peace... with the fact that Hillary Clinton is the nominee instead of him.
Chuck Todd explained that Gov. Pence would leave the explaining to Donald Trump's decisions to Mr. Trump, such as having advisors like Roger Ailes and Steve Bannon or the fact that the candidate's immigration position on 11 million undocumented people is still unclear. Conversely, Sen. Sanders in his interview said that it wasn't about the candidates but about the American people and moving the country in the direction more akin to his own vision, despite his previous argument that Sec. Clinton is too close to Wall Street and that she has incredible trustworthiness issues with the electorate due to an ever-evolving email scandal. As NBC's Kristen Welker said, it's not the content of the stories at this point, but the fact that the stories keep breaking. Yet, Sen. Sanders is heading out to campaign for Mrs. Clinton.
In the practical sense, it's easy for these two public officials to be at peace with their stance because if your like Mike Pence, you think that Hillary Clinton is the most dishonest politician Richard Nixon, a sentiment that he stated twice. But if you're like Bernie Sanders then Mr. Trump is the most xenophobic and unqualified candidate in our lifetime.
So which is it?
We keep thinking that a potential Trump presidency is like standing at the edge of the rocks above a reservoir before you jump. You look down and you wonder if the jump is too high, is the water where I'm going to land deep enough, are there rocks just below the surface that I don't know about or is my body going to smack the water and break my back? And when it comes right down to it, a potential Clinton presidency by comparison is deciding that you don't have to jump at all. Don't be fooled though because not making the leap has its own drawbacks as well because it means your headed back down the road from which you came.
The above question still needs an answer.
Chris Cillizza said that this past Wednesday where Mr. Trump traveled to Mexico to meet with its president showing that he had statesman-like capability then traveling to Phoenix where he was supposed to give an immigration policy speech that turned into a xenophobic, alt-right rallying cry as a microcosm of his campaign.
We call that an unpredictable nightmare of a presidency. That one day gave us a clear window into what it would be like if Mr. Trump were president. On the international stage he says one thing and then comes back and says completely the opposite. At the end of this particular day, Mr. Trump decided to just tell people what they wanted to hear and not how things really are. Another way to term it is 'empty rhetoric.' We know that a day like Wednesday - a complete embarrassment if that was a U.S. president - wouldn't happen if it were Sec. Clinton in that situation. Being honest here.
In the fight for the least worst, Sec. Clinton wins because we know a lot more about Hillary Clinton's emails than we do about Donald Trump's finances and until he releases his tax returns, Chuck Todd is correct that Mr. Trump can not claim any moral high ground on transparency.
Panel: Kristen Welker, NBC News; Maria Teresa Kumar, MSNBC contributor; Alex Castellanos, Trump Campaign Advisor; Chris Cillizza, The Washington Post
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
8.28.16: How Low Can We Go? The Political, Presidential Limbo
You could glean from Chuck Todd's emphatic "If it's Sunday..." that he didn't like it one bit that Sunday's edition of "Meet The Press" had been preempted twice during the Olympics, but this is what happens when the Sunday political 'Program of Record' has a weekday edition. And it was a crucial week to be back given the recent political commentary, one that we have rarely if ever witnessed.
There is no doubt that this year's campaign season reeks a God-awful stench brought on by name calling, charges of racism, mental and physical health prognostications, and the absence of any meaningful discussion of policy. Policy, what's that? On today's very show, former senior advisor to President Obama, David Plouffe, called Donald Trump a 'psychopath.' There's a label for you.
The only policy that we can think of on the docket was immigration so if we're going to put labels on someone, like Donald Trump for instance, we would say 'schizo,' because he's changed or nuanced his stance on immigration so many times in one week that we really have no idea where he stands on this issue. Hugh Hewlitt said it didn't matter as long as Mr. Trump didn't give up on what Hewlitt called his 'north star' of immigration policy proposals, which is building the wall. A bad analogy from Mr. Hewlitt to say the least. Mr. Trump is due to give a 'major' speech on immigration on Wednesday to clarify his position, which in and of itself illustrates that he's in fact changed at least some of his positions, hence the need for clarification.
But here's the rub: The North Star is real, look up and you'll see it. The wall that Mr. Trump wants to build is pure fiction. It will not happen. Will not.
And as nonsensical or offensive you think Mr. Trump is, can or could be, he's not the most infuriating person in politics. That distinction belongs to today's interview guest RNC Chair Reince Priebus, who squarely gives you answers he knows are intellectually and sensibly dishonest. He knows better. However, we understand why he defends Mr. Trump... Because he's been the architect of him getting the Republican nomination. For that fact alone, he should go because he's been a disaster lacking leadership of that political party.
Mr. Priebus agreed that the immigration issue is not a simple question and that Mr. Trump is reflecting on it. But he also assured that Mr. Trump's policy would be tough, fair and humane. Tough like in rounding people up out of their homes? Fair, as in breaking with the Constitution and giving people a religious test to stay in this country? Humane, as in breaking families apart?
And if Mr. Trump's position reflects anything close to what the 'gang of 8' in the Senate proposed with even a path to legal status, his core will blow a gasket. When asked about birth right citizenship, Mr. Priebus didn't really give a definitive answer in the context of the immigration discussion. And he doesn't know where Mr. Trump is on the issue.
It's clear that Mr. Trump has left the entire Republican party twisting in the wind and Reince Priebus let it happen. It's difficult to listen to because we can not believe that he believes what he says. He said that he's really proud of what the party was doing in Mr. Priebus's home state of Wisconsin and that Mr. Trump was very in tune with what is going on in the state. Mr. Trump has no idea what's going on in Wisconsin and Priebus knows it. So he's reduced to making false accusations about Sec. Clinton giving away state secrets, and that's his argument.
But in politics, and here is where Mr. Trump gets it wrong, is that it's not just about the argument, it's about the positive messaged solution that you deliver. And his immigration speech will not be that. What kind of message is "what do you have to lose" when reaching out to the African-American community? That kind of message is hopeless and in effect turns more people away than it would ever convert.
You go around the panel and the discussion is how innuendo has been mainstreamed, that it's a resentment election (maybe), and the banality of how 'provocateurs are entrepreneurs.' Joy-Ann Reid described the week as one long continuous 'Sarah Palin rally' (just punch us in the gut). The governor of Maine, Paul LePage, went off the rails with expletives in a voicemail to a state representative, who called him a racist. On the other side of the coin (kinda), Illinois Senator Mark Kirk (R) called the president, our president, a drug dealer. Andrea Mitchell, who's seen it all, is herself astonished to use words coarse and vulgar to describe the presidential race, but that's where we are.
We've been doing the limbo underneath the lowest common denominator successfully for some time now, but now this is ridiculous.
Panel: Joy-Ann Reid and Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Hugh Hewlitt, Salem Radio Network; Robert Costa, The Washington Post
There is no doubt that this year's campaign season reeks a God-awful stench brought on by name calling, charges of racism, mental and physical health prognostications, and the absence of any meaningful discussion of policy. Policy, what's that? On today's very show, former senior advisor to President Obama, David Plouffe, called Donald Trump a 'psychopath.' There's a label for you.
The only policy that we can think of on the docket was immigration so if we're going to put labels on someone, like Donald Trump for instance, we would say 'schizo,' because he's changed or nuanced his stance on immigration so many times in one week that we really have no idea where he stands on this issue. Hugh Hewlitt said it didn't matter as long as Mr. Trump didn't give up on what Hewlitt called his 'north star' of immigration policy proposals, which is building the wall. A bad analogy from Mr. Hewlitt to say the least. Mr. Trump is due to give a 'major' speech on immigration on Wednesday to clarify his position, which in and of itself illustrates that he's in fact changed at least some of his positions, hence the need for clarification.
But here's the rub: The North Star is real, look up and you'll see it. The wall that Mr. Trump wants to build is pure fiction. It will not happen. Will not.
And as nonsensical or offensive you think Mr. Trump is, can or could be, he's not the most infuriating person in politics. That distinction belongs to today's interview guest RNC Chair Reince Priebus, who squarely gives you answers he knows are intellectually and sensibly dishonest. He knows better. However, we understand why he defends Mr. Trump... Because he's been the architect of him getting the Republican nomination. For that fact alone, he should go because he's been a disaster lacking leadership of that political party.
Mr. Priebus agreed that the immigration issue is not a simple question and that Mr. Trump is reflecting on it. But he also assured that Mr. Trump's policy would be tough, fair and humane. Tough like in rounding people up out of their homes? Fair, as in breaking with the Constitution and giving people a religious test to stay in this country? Humane, as in breaking families apart?
And if Mr. Trump's position reflects anything close to what the 'gang of 8' in the Senate proposed with even a path to legal status, his core will blow a gasket. When asked about birth right citizenship, Mr. Priebus didn't really give a definitive answer in the context of the immigration discussion. And he doesn't know where Mr. Trump is on the issue.
It's clear that Mr. Trump has left the entire Republican party twisting in the wind and Reince Priebus let it happen. It's difficult to listen to because we can not believe that he believes what he says. He said that he's really proud of what the party was doing in Mr. Priebus's home state of Wisconsin and that Mr. Trump was very in tune with what is going on in the state. Mr. Trump has no idea what's going on in Wisconsin and Priebus knows it. So he's reduced to making false accusations about Sec. Clinton giving away state secrets, and that's his argument.
But in politics, and here is where Mr. Trump gets it wrong, is that it's not just about the argument, it's about the positive messaged solution that you deliver. And his immigration speech will not be that. What kind of message is "what do you have to lose" when reaching out to the African-American community? That kind of message is hopeless and in effect turns more people away than it would ever convert.
You go around the panel and the discussion is how innuendo has been mainstreamed, that it's a resentment election (maybe), and the banality of how 'provocateurs are entrepreneurs.' Joy-Ann Reid described the week as one long continuous 'Sarah Palin rally' (just punch us in the gut). The governor of Maine, Paul LePage, went off the rails with expletives in a voicemail to a state representative, who called him a racist. On the other side of the coin (kinda), Illinois Senator Mark Kirk (R) called the president, our president, a drug dealer. Andrea Mitchell, who's seen it all, is herself astonished to use words coarse and vulgar to describe the presidential race, but that's where we are.
We've been doing the limbo underneath the lowest common denominator successfully for some time now, but now this is ridiculous.
Panel: Joy-Ann Reid and Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Hugh Hewlitt, Salem Radio Network; Robert Costa, The Washington Post
Sunday, August 21, 2016
8.21.16: State of the Candidates and the Race
While "Meet The Press" is still being preempted by Olympics coverage and the fact that we're in the midst of a steamy August, we thought we'd weight with a short post on the state of the candidates and the race.
And the prognosis is negative.
Sec. Clinton's email troubles are just getting worse with judges ordering written answers, the FBI impartiality under attack, politically sophomoric comparisons to Colin Powell, and the Republicans gearing up for another 'juicy' hearing. Not to mention the political debacle that is now the Clinton Foundation providing more smoke surrounding the notion of the 'pay for play' politics that Mr. Trump is barking about. And where there's smoke, there's a Republican hoping for fire.
And the prognosis is negative.
Sec. Clinton's email troubles are just getting worse with judges ordering written answers, the FBI impartiality under attack, politically sophomoric comparisons to Colin Powell, and the Republicans gearing up for another 'juicy' hearing. Not to mention the political debacle that is now the Clinton Foundation providing more smoke surrounding the notion of the 'pay for play' politics that Mr. Trump is barking about. And where there's smoke, there's a Republican hoping for fire.
Judge: Clinton must answer written questions from Judicial Watch about use of private emails
Judge orders Clinton to answer questions on email use
And this opinion piece...
Hillary Clinton shouldn’t drag Colin Powell into her email mess
Worsening troubles in the worst kind of problem because it involves email and servers. With already all the hacking we know about, this kind of political (at the least) vulnerability leaves you open to an embarrassing information drop at any moment by an agent you can not chase. But we'll also say this, in their typical short-sighted approach, Republicans think the hacking of the DNC is a political win, not ever collectively stopping and thinking that this is an attack on all of us. The sad thing is that establishment Republicans do understand this, but the conservative constituency doesn't want to hear about it.
Compounding this will be the inevitable multi-committee hearings by a Republican-controlled House thus straggling the effort to get any meaningful legislation passed in a would-be first term of a Clinton presidency.
However, within the political world we currently reside, any reasonable person will also excuse all of this (do you believe?) because her opponent is Donald Trump. Simply stated, The Republican Party should be ashamed of themselves for nominating Mr. Trump. The candidate has demonstrated in his rhetoric that he embraces the worst of our American values. With Mr. Trump, we're disgusted with what we know (what he's said) and we're also disgusted with what he hasn't said. And we're talking about his businesses.
And this opinion piece...
Mr. Trump needs to disclose his tax returns because with his businesses hundreds of millions of dollars in debt to the Bank of China, the resignation of his campaign manager Paul Manafort over his ties to Russian oligarchs and other foreign dictators, and Mr. Trump's own alleged business ties to Russian. Only his tax returns will shed light on any doubt of Donald Trump acting as president not in the best interest of the country but his business first.
Between what he's said and what we know he willfully doesn't choose to tell us or disclose and on top of the fact that we know he knows nothing about foreign policy, we feel that Mrs. Clinton can change (hopefully, has changed) the way she uses her email. In other words, we'd rather deal with the hearings.
Ugh.
Sunday, August 07, 2016
8.7.16: Running Away From The Big "Buts"
The big "but."
It's the big "but" that keeps collective rationality in a constant state of anxiety.
Hillary Clinton leads in the polls by 8 or 9 points depending on which one you read because of her obvious superiority in knowledge and the ever more important, temperament. But, she's behind Donald Trump - a candidate, it had been calculated, tells a lie approximately every five minutes in his public speeches - in polls focused on "trustworthiness and straightforwardness."
To reinforce this notion, Sec. Clinton, herself, gave an inexplicable answer to Fox News's Chris Wallace when she said, " My answers were truthful, and what I've said is consistent with what I have told the American people..." Simply, not true. Sec. Clinton was not truthful with the American people, and it became a situation that required the FBI to come in and get the truth. So was Mrs. Clinton truthful with them. Director Comey has said as much.
Essentially, Mrs. Clinton wasn't truthful with the public not because of something technically illegal or unprecedented but because she fully well knew that it would be politically damaging and also play into a well established negative narrative about her and her family.
It begs the valid question of if something like this will happen when she's in office, and for all Republicans it's not a matter of if but when - a valid concern.
However, there's another "but [a huge one]," and that is Donald Trump who in our estimation is no better than Sec. Clinton on this front. And all things being equal on this, heading into the presidency, we have more faith in the fact that if a President Clinton was found to do something illegal, was impeached, and hence driven from office that she would leave the scene. We have no faith in Donald Trump accepting the penalty of an impeachable offense. How twisted is that?
Admittedly, that's a bit of hyperbole, but there is some truth in it. What is really happening - slowly and frustratingly - is that the American electorate is still wrapping its collective head around the fact that this is how our politicians are, right now [this election]. As difficult as it is to look beyond it, you see the other factors of knowledge and temperament acting as the deciding ones, in which again Sec. Clinton handily leads.
A telling reflection of this is that Republicans are clearly in an "every man/woman for him/herself" mode when it comes to dealing with Donald Trump's presidential candidacy, especially if you're up for reelection in the fall. Late week, Donald Trump formally endorsed House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), but the problem is that it was completely unconvincing given Mr. Trump's initial vindictive refusal of withholding these very endorsements at the beginning of the week. And what a disastrous week it was for Trump.
Even in the hard-hitting politics game, The Trump campaign has consistently been blowing it. Sec. Clinton in response to a poor answer to Chris Wallace followed it by using phrases like "I short-circuited" and "I need to clarify better," in response to her email troubles, which is inexcusable a year after all this scrutiny began as noted by Yamiche Alcindor of The New York Times. To know all of Donald Trump's idiotic self-inflicted wounding statements of this without having to list them is clearly a blown opportunity to turn the press's attention squarely toward your opponent. At best, Mr. Trump could possible concede a draw, but in reality he lost the week, one in which he should have won but instead turned it into a week that probably lost him the election. We tend to agree more with Joy Reid that over the 'Olympic break' these awful, but accurate, perceptions of Mr. Trump will further become 'baked in.' Conversely, Hugh Hewlitt's nicely amusing assessment that Mr. Trump has to begin 'season two' of his campaign after Labor Day; however, the certainty of that happening is highly doubtful.
With all of Mr. Trump's bi-polarity in what he says - saying one thing now and another later - it's enough to fear putting the nuclear launch codes in his hands, and issue that should never be when discussing presidential candidates, but here we are.
It's not surprising to hear Republicans yell, "Runaway, runaway!"
Panel: Joy-Ann Reid, NBC News, Yamiche Alcindor, The New York Times; Hugh Hewlitt, conservative radio show host; Mark Halperin, Bloomberg Politics
A Couple More Things...
We really didn't touch on the interviews of the day and we'd be remiss and negligent if we didn't make a few comments.
With regard to Senator Tim Kaine, the entire point that he's on the ticket is to fill the trustworthy void for Sec. Clinton. In the colloquial sense, he's a "true boy scout." He gave a cogent answer on his TPP stance, one that the Clinton campaign should stick to which was that he was for it, only if the labor and environmental protections could be and would be enforced. They were fixed so he no longer supports it - delivered reasonably.
Counter that with Retired Lt. General Michael Flynn who if you listened carefully argued for something very dangerous, which was the none disclosure of what America is doing militarily - numbers of troop deployments, target cities, etc. However, with troop numbers, in particular the American public has the right to know because it's being done in our name. Lt. Gen. Flynn supported Mr. Trump's argument that NATO members have to pay their bills, but only a more tepid stance in affirming that the United States would stand by its collective commitments to the treaty [i.e. having another country's back if it's attacked]. It was not reassuring given Mr. Trump's insinuations that the United States wouldn't honor those commitments.
And as for Governor Rick Scott (R) of Florida - inadequately handling the Zika crisis and running a pro-Donald SuperPAC - what else is new?
Rick Scott in charge on the front lines of this nation's collective health protection against a virus we haven't stopped - scary to say the least.
It's the big "but" that keeps collective rationality in a constant state of anxiety.
Hillary Clinton leads in the polls by 8 or 9 points depending on which one you read because of her obvious superiority in knowledge and the ever more important, temperament. But, she's behind Donald Trump - a candidate, it had been calculated, tells a lie approximately every five minutes in his public speeches - in polls focused on "trustworthiness and straightforwardness."
To reinforce this notion, Sec. Clinton, herself, gave an inexplicable answer to Fox News's Chris Wallace when she said, " My answers were truthful, and what I've said is consistent with what I have told the American people..." Simply, not true. Sec. Clinton was not truthful with the American people, and it became a situation that required the FBI to come in and get the truth. So was Mrs. Clinton truthful with them. Director Comey has said as much.
Essentially, Mrs. Clinton wasn't truthful with the public not because of something technically illegal or unprecedented but because she fully well knew that it would be politically damaging and also play into a well established negative narrative about her and her family.
It begs the valid question of if something like this will happen when she's in office, and for all Republicans it's not a matter of if but when - a valid concern.
However, there's another "but [a huge one]," and that is Donald Trump who in our estimation is no better than Sec. Clinton on this front. And all things being equal on this, heading into the presidency, we have more faith in the fact that if a President Clinton was found to do something illegal, was impeached, and hence driven from office that she would leave the scene. We have no faith in Donald Trump accepting the penalty of an impeachable offense. How twisted is that?
Admittedly, that's a bit of hyperbole, but there is some truth in it. What is really happening - slowly and frustratingly - is that the American electorate is still wrapping its collective head around the fact that this is how our politicians are, right now [this election]. As difficult as it is to look beyond it, you see the other factors of knowledge and temperament acting as the deciding ones, in which again Sec. Clinton handily leads.
A telling reflection of this is that Republicans are clearly in an "every man/woman for him/herself" mode when it comes to dealing with Donald Trump's presidential candidacy, especially if you're up for reelection in the fall. Late week, Donald Trump formally endorsed House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), but the problem is that it was completely unconvincing given Mr. Trump's initial vindictive refusal of withholding these very endorsements at the beginning of the week. And what a disastrous week it was for Trump.
Even in the hard-hitting politics game, The Trump campaign has consistently been blowing it. Sec. Clinton in response to a poor answer to Chris Wallace followed it by using phrases like "I short-circuited" and "I need to clarify better," in response to her email troubles, which is inexcusable a year after all this scrutiny began as noted by Yamiche Alcindor of The New York Times. To know all of Donald Trump's idiotic self-inflicted wounding statements of this without having to list them is clearly a blown opportunity to turn the press's attention squarely toward your opponent. At best, Mr. Trump could possible concede a draw, but in reality he lost the week, one in which he should have won but instead turned it into a week that probably lost him the election. We tend to agree more with Joy Reid that over the 'Olympic break' these awful, but accurate, perceptions of Mr. Trump will further become 'baked in.' Conversely, Hugh Hewlitt's nicely amusing assessment that Mr. Trump has to begin 'season two' of his campaign after Labor Day; however, the certainty of that happening is highly doubtful.
With all of Mr. Trump's bi-polarity in what he says - saying one thing now and another later - it's enough to fear putting the nuclear launch codes in his hands, and issue that should never be when discussing presidential candidates, but here we are.
It's not surprising to hear Republicans yell, "Runaway, runaway!"
Panel: Joy-Ann Reid, NBC News, Yamiche Alcindor, The New York Times; Hugh Hewlitt, conservative radio show host; Mark Halperin, Bloomberg Politics
A Couple More Things...
We really didn't touch on the interviews of the day and we'd be remiss and negligent if we didn't make a few comments.
With regard to Senator Tim Kaine, the entire point that he's on the ticket is to fill the trustworthy void for Sec. Clinton. In the colloquial sense, he's a "true boy scout." He gave a cogent answer on his TPP stance, one that the Clinton campaign should stick to which was that he was for it, only if the labor and environmental protections could be and would be enforced. They were fixed so he no longer supports it - delivered reasonably.
Counter that with Retired Lt. General Michael Flynn who if you listened carefully argued for something very dangerous, which was the none disclosure of what America is doing militarily - numbers of troop deployments, target cities, etc. However, with troop numbers, in particular the American public has the right to know because it's being done in our name. Lt. Gen. Flynn supported Mr. Trump's argument that NATO members have to pay their bills, but only a more tepid stance in affirming that the United States would stand by its collective commitments to the treaty [i.e. having another country's back if it's attacked]. It was not reassuring given Mr. Trump's insinuations that the United States wouldn't honor those commitments.
And as for Governor Rick Scott (R) of Florida - inadequately handling the Zika crisis and running a pro-Donald SuperPAC - what else is new?
Rick Scott in charge on the front lines of this nation's collective health protection against a virus we haven't stopped - scary to say the least.
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