Archives for 2016

Round Two For Trump… Second Verse Same As The First?

October 7, 2016 By John DeProspo Leave a Comment

The second presidential debate will be held this Sunday at Washington University in St. Louis.

While Trump and his surrogates tried to spin his first debate encounter with Hillary Clinton as a win, the consensus among analysts was that he got his clock cleaned. Not only did his poll numbers sink nationally, but he lost ground in many of the key battleground states he needs to win to get to the 270 electoral votes necessary to reach the White House.

Trump’s handlers are spreading the line that he will be a more prepared, polished debater this time around. Advice on how he can turn things around is popping up everywhere.

“Look and act calm,” advised Jo-Renee Formicola, a political science professor at Seton Hall University in New Jersey. “Be a gentleman. Smile.”

Republican pollster Frank Luntz believes that during the town-hall debate, Trump “needs to empathize and sympathize with the voters and forget that Clinton is standing next to him.”

There is a decent chance we may be treated to a more presidential performance by Trump in round two (well, at least temporarily!). Maybe Trump can replicate the smooth performance his running mate, Mike Pence, gave during the vice presidential debate earlier this week?

But Trump has shown that against a seasoned debater like Hillary Clinton, he will undoubtedly revert to form once she starts getting under his thin skin. Look for Trump to go “off script” and make some wild statements or crazy accusations against Clinton … the kind that will send some of his campaign staff packing!

Beyond the misplaced optimism of Trump’s people, some political observers are clearly delusional.

“He’s proven to be a quick study during the campaign and reports of Trump’s debate obituary could be greatly exaggerated,” said Aaron Kall, director of debate at the University of Michigan.

Kall noted that President Obama got negative reviews after his first debate against Mitt Romney in 2012, but then rallied in a town hall debate to change the trajectory of the race.

There is only one small problem with this Romney/Obama analogy.

In a memorable vice presidential debate between Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle, the Democratic nominee told his opponent, after he had likened himself to JFK, “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”

It is safe to say, Donald Trump is no Barack Obama.

The second verse could be worse than the first.

Photo | newsday.com

Sharing Is Caring … A Reader’s Comment

October 6, 2016 By John DeProspo 6 Comments

Articles on this site generate a variety of comments. While some are ill informed, cringeworthy and even downright nasty, the majority are positive and constructive.

Occasionally, a well-written, well thought-out comment comes along like the one below by Will A Kelly. I have taken the liberty of posting it in its entirely. No editing. I believe it is worth the read:

Dear Mr. Trump,

It’s taken me a while to realize this and to admit it, but I’m grateful to you.

For the past few months, I’ve spent a good deal of time lamenting your campaign and the poison it has so effortlessly generated. I’ve watched our country imploding, our public discourse become polluted, our political climate grows ever more corrosive, and wrongly assumed you were to blame.

It’s only lately I’ve come to understand that you haven’t manufactured our current national ugliness—you’ve simply revealed it.

By saying the irresponsible, mean-spirited, ignorant things you say so freely and so frequently, you’ve given other like-minded people license to do the same. You’ve opened up the floodgates for our corporate sewage to flow fully. People no longer conceal their vile mess, they now revel in it, they broadcast it and retweet it.

You’ve made bigotry and racism socially acceptable again and that has been a kind of twisted gift because it’s allowed me to really see people; not as they pretend to be on the surface—but in the very depths of their wounded, weaponized hearts.

Over and over as your campaign has persisted, your supporters would tell me that they like you because you “speak your mind”. It wasn’t until recently that I’ve realized that you speak their minds. You’ve given credence to their prejudices and made those prejudices go mainstream.

Thanks to the terrible ground you’ve broken, politicians, pastors, friends, and strangers, both in person and on social media now regularly out themselves as hateful, intolerant, and malicious—and they remind me just how close they are to me, just how deep the sickness in us runs, and just how far we have to go together.

You’ve emboldened people to be open about things they used to conceal for the sake of decorum, and though it turns my stomach, I know that this is the only way we can move forward; to have that cancerous stuff exposed fully so that it can be dealt with. Our progress as a nation is predicated on authentic dialogue, no matter how brutal and disheartening that dialogue is.

In other words, you’ve let us know what we’re really dealing with here and while it’s been rightly disturbing, it’s also been revelatory. That’s the thing about that kind of harsh light: you’re forced to see everything. Beauty and monstrosity equally illuminated.

Now don’t get me wrong, I think you’re the least qualified, least knowledgeable Presidential candidate we may ever have had participate this far into the process, and if you somehow were elected I’d fear gravely for the world my children would inherit—should it survive your Presidency at all. I believe you’re reckless, bitter, and completely reprehensible; the very worst kind of bully.

But whether you win or lose, you’ve already allowed me the blessing of Truth; about me, about you, about other candidates, about our nation.

And in the process, you’ve also shown me that I am not alone in resisting you and this ugly thing you’ve revealed about us.

You’ve generated an equally loud, equally passionate response to it and this is where I find my hope these days.

I find it in those for whom equality isn’t just a cheap buzzword, it’s the most precious of hills to die on.

I find it in those people who refuse to be silent in the face of our impending shared regression.

I find it in those willing to be bolder in defending the inherent value of all people.

I find it in the growing army of those who will not tolerate hatred as a core American value.

I find it in those who reject violence as our default response to dissension.

I find it in the ever rising voice of people who will not let malice and bitterness represent them in the world.

Today I find my hope in those who, like me, will not be complicit in allowing bigotry and intolerance to become a source of national pride because we’ve seen where that leads.

Yes, Mr. Trump, you’ve unearthed our hidden sickness and you’ve allowed it to go viral.

You brought every awful thing about us out into the open.

You will NEVER Get My Vote!

Image courtesy of Gualberto107 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

VP Candidates Remind Women Roe v. Wade Is Very Much At Stake

October 4, 2016 By John DeProspo 4 Comments

Tonight’s one and only debate between Republican Mike Pence and Democrat Tim Kaine will be talked about for a day or two … and then forgotten. There were no memorable zingers historians will quote years from now.

The best that can be said is that for most of the debate, over an array of issues, each candidate held his own. There were no outrageous gaffes from either candidate that could reflect badly on the person at the top of the ticket.

But towards the end of the debate, when each man of faith was asked how he juggles his religious beliefs and public service, viewers were treated to a stark difference between the two men.

Tim Kaine replied, “For me the hardest struggle in my faith life was the Catholic Church as against the death penalty.” Kaine went on to say when he ran for governor of Virginia, a capital punishment state, he promised to uphold the law and he did.

“It is really, really important that those of us who have deep faith lives don’t feel like we can just substitute our own views for everybody else in society,” said Kaine.

Mike Pence never answered the question asked him. But he did talk about his strong pro-life position.

“For me the sanctity of life proceeds out of the belief, that ancient principle, when God says before you were formed in the womb, I knew you,” said Pence. “My faith informs my life. I try and spend a little time on my knees each day.”

“But it all for me begins with cherishing the dignity, the worth, the value of every human life,” Pence added.

“It is not the role of the public servant to mandate that (their religious views) for everybody else,” Kaine replied. “We respect Roe v. Wade. Governor Pence wants to repeal Roe v. Wade.”

Putting it as simply as possible, Kaine said, “ That is the fundamental difference between a Clinton/Kaine ticket and a Trump/Pence ticket that wants to punish women who make that choice.”

Referring to abortion, Kaine asked Pence, “ Why don’t you trust women to make this choice for themselves?”

Pence did not answer that question either.

For a Trump campaign that is having a difficult time attracting more female voters, this exchange on abortion rights surely won’t help them. Women will be reminded that Roe v. Wade could be just one conservative Supreme Court justice away from being overturned.

Donald Trump’s favorite Supreme Court Justice? Clarence Thomas.

Photo | insider.foxnews.com

This Time, VP Debate May be Worth The Watch

October 3, 2016 By John DeProspo 4 Comments

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The one, and only, vice presidential debate will be held tomorrow at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.

While vice presidential debates are normally as exciting as watching paint dry on a wall and as useless as an ejection seat in a helicopter, this debate between Republican Mike Pence and Democrat Tim Kaine could prove the exception to the rule.

Historically, vice presidential debates don’t move the needle much. A review of voter preferences before and after the eight vice presidential debates held between 1976 and 2008 “reveals that past vice presidential showdowns have had almost no influence,” a Gallup analysis found.

But it is safe to say there is nothing normal about this year’s presidential contest.

If for no other reason, it will be fun to watch the deeply religious Mike Pence defend someone being labeled the most vile, despicable and morally bereft candidate ever to seek the White House.

Mike Pence, if you recall, is the Indiana governor who signed one of the nation’s most odious anti-LGBT bills into law. All in the name of “religious freedom,” of course!

If we’re lucky, we may be treated to Lloyd Bentsen moment.

For all those too young to remember, Lloyd Bentsen was Michael Dukakis’s running mate in 1988. During the vice presidential debate with George H. W. Bush’s VP pick, Dan Quayle, Bentsen delivered one of the most memorable zingers of all time.

The young, unseasoned Dan Quayle foolishly likened his political experience to that of John F. Kennedy in one of his answers.

Not skipping a beat, Bentsen brilliantly retorted,” “I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”

Proving that vice presidential debates do not amount to a hill of beans, even Bentsen’s winning performance against the dim-witted Quayle could not help Dukakis win the election.

If the Clinton campaign has any sense, it will advise Kaine to speak as little as possible. Let Pence try to defend the indefensible.

Photo | thisdayinquotes.com

Trump: “If Hillary Can’t Take Care Of Her Man…”

September 30, 2016 By John DeProspo 6 Comments

After Monday night’s first presidential debate, excitement is rapidly building for round two to be held on October 9 at Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri.

Anticipation has grown now that Donald Trump has declared it’s “no holds barred” next time around. The Republican nominee told Fox News he would “hit her harder” in their next encounter by raising the subject of former President Bill Clinton’s infidelities.

Two of Trump’s most trusted advisors, Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich, have come up with what they believe is the perfect attack line against Hillary Clinton: “If she can’t take care of her man, how can she take care of the country?”

Giuliani and Gingrich know a thing or two about women who cannot satisfy their husbands. Each is on his third marriage.

Some Trump aides are counseling against bringing up the former president’s affairs and blaming his cheating on Hillary.

One Trump staff member, who chose to remain anonymous, said it is “just stupid to blame the victim. A man cheating on a woman is: 1) the man’s fault, 2) not in any way representative of the woman’s character, and 3) inexcusable.”

Many political analysts agree blaming a wife for her husband’s infidelity is a losing proposition. It will alienate women and could make Hillary a more sympathetic figure.

Donald Trump, however, is not a man guided by sound advice but by his gut instincts. Playing dirty and punching below the belt is what helped him defeat his 16 primary opponents. He sees no reason to change tactics now.

Trump knows he will have a hard time securing the women’s vote no matter what so he is looking to nail down the large, all-important “philanderer” vote.

Even Vladimir Putin called Trump ”brilliant.”

Photo | moommontchronicle.com

Eric Trump Praises His Dad For Not Acting Like A Dirtbag … For Once

September 29, 2016 By John DeProspo Leave a Comment

Eric Trump lauded his father for having the “courage” not to get into the gutter during last Monday’s first presidential debate.

Some kids will never forget when their dad taught them to throw a baseball or catch a football but at age 32, Eric Trump will “always remember” when is father so bravely refrained from mentioning former President Bill Clinton’s infidelity during the presidential debate.

Said Trump’s third child, “I mean, he very well could’ve looked down — and he said it when he came off the debate stage, ‘I wasn’t gonna respond to that question because I saw Chelsea [Clinton] in the front row and I just wasn’t gonna go there out of respect for her.’ That was a big moment for me and probably will actually become … something I’ll always remember.”

What made the moment so memorable to Trump’s last child with Ivana Trump was the shear fortitude it must have taken for his father to break character and not to be his usual disrespectful self.

The young Trump said he thought it took “a lot of courage in so many regards” for his father to take “the high road” instead of retaliating against Hillary Clinton when she attacked him for his past poor treatment of women. “I’m really proud of him for doing that,” said Trump’s second son.

I wonder if all that praise will go out the window after the second presidential debate.

Donald Trump has threatened to change tactics for the upcoming debates. The Republican presidential candidate told Fox News Tuesday morning he “may hit her harder” at the next debate, though he didn’t provide specifics.

In December, Trump told TODAY that Bill Clinton’s infidelity would be “fair game” for him to bring up if the Clinton family accused him of being awful to women.

“There was certainly a lot of abuse of women,” Trump said of Bill Clinton’s time in office. “You look at whether it’s Monica Lewinsky or Paula Jones or many of them. That certainly will be fair game. Certainly if they play the woman’s card with respect to me, that will be fair game.”

While Eric Trump may be proud of his father for temporarily taking the high road, this whole issue of marital infidelity is one that Trump himself is very familiar with.

Perhaps it wasn’t “courage” that prevented Trump from attacking Hillary for her husband’s cheating (as if that has any bearing on her ability to be an effective leader) but knowing the well-prepared Hillary would have been ready to hit him back with all his many well-publicized “indiscretions.”

Photo | abcnews.go.com

Donald Trump Too Smart To Pay Taxes À La Leona Helmsley?

September 28, 2016 By John DeProspo 2 Comments

In what was arguably the most surreal moment during Monday night’s first presidential debate, Donald Trump, in effect, admitted to not paying taxes.

The well-prepared Hillary Clinton knew the moderator, Lester Holt, would bring up the issue of Trump’s returns and she was ready to pounce.

After Trump repeated his stock answer that he cannot release his returns while under IRS audit, Clinton said, “… maybe he doesn’t want the American people, all of you watching tonight, to know that he’s paid nothing in federal taxes, because the only years that anybody’s ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license, and they showed he didn’t pay any federal income tax.”

At that point, Trump just couldn’t help being Trump. He had to get a word in edgewise.

“That makes me smart,” interjected the Republican presidential candidate.

But he wasn’t finished.

Clinton went on to add, “So if he’s paid zero, that means zero for troops, zero for vets, zero for schools or health. And I think probably he’s not all that enthusiastic about having the rest of our country see what the real reasons are, because it must be something really important, even terrible, that he’s trying to hide.”

Clinton speculated, “and maybe because you haven’t paid any federal income tax for a lot of years.”

Trump, well-known for doubling down on his blunders, reinforced the belief he does not pay taxes by implying such a civic duty is a waste.

“It would be squandered, too, believe me,” said the purported billionaire.

Donald Trump brings to mind another flamboyant New York real estate developer who years ago was convicted of tax evasion, Leona Helmsley. Known as the “Queen of Mean,” she was notorious for stiffing her employees and contractors. A woman of immense wealth, she took pleasure in “nickeling and diming” just about anyone, from her housemaid to major construction companies. But her greatest joy, of course, was stiffing the U.S. Treasury Department. She will forever be remembered as having bragged, “Only little people pay taxes.”

Leona Helmsley was convicted and received a 16 year sentence. However, she was required to serve only 19 months in prison and two months under house arrest.

Why the media hasn’t made Trump’s admission of possible tax evasion a bigger story is hard to understand. In a normal world, a politician who refuses to release his tax returns and brags about being too smart to pay taxes would be the target of a criminal investigation and not be one step away from becoming the chief executive of the land.

Photo | hlntv.com

Trump Runs Out Of Gas During Home Stretch

September 26, 2016 By John DeProspo 4 Comments

Donald Trump has attempted to make Hillary Clinton’s lack of stamina a major campaign issue. She’s weak, she’s sick, she’s doesn’t have the fortitude or endurance to be president of the United States.

Like a good long distance runner, Hillary laid back during the start and middle of the debate, then shifted into a gear even some Democrats doubted she possessed.

“I don’t believe Hillary has the stamina,” Trump claimed, as he once again sipped on his glass of water, a la Rubio.

As if anticipating Trump’s charge, Clinton replied, “ Well, as soon as he travels to 112 countries and negotiates a peace deal, a cease fire, a release of dissidents, an opening of new opportunities in nations around the world or even spends 11 hours testifying in front of a congressional committee, he can talk to me about stamina.”

The debate audience, breaking a major ground rule, erupted into applause.

There can be very little doubt that as the debate wore on, Clinton got stronger while Trump seemed to fade. It didn’t help Trump that the last debate topic was on national security, perhaps his weakest subject.

As he rambled on about NATO, Japan and North Korea, his answers became more disjointed and incoherent. After a great start, where Trump more or less held his own, he just couldn’t fake his way through complicated, thorny national security issues.

Of course, Trump supporters will claim their man won the debate while Hillary supporters will give her the thumbs up.

It’s unlikely many minds were changed after the 90-minute debate.

But among the roughly 10% of so-called “undecided voters,” many pundits are expecting to see a slight movement towards the “steady at the helm” Clinton.

Kudos to NBC’s Lester Holt. He did an admirable job moderating the debate and handling Trump’s many interjections. He simply let Trump be Trump.

One down, and two to go.

Photo | abcnews.go.com

Top Seven Trump Lies To Look For During First Presidential Debate

September 24, 2016 By John DeProspo Leave a Comment

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With just two days before the first presidential debate, Hillary Clinton’s campaign has released 19 pages of Trump lies, all confirmed by Politifact.

It is a safe bet that many of the lies Trump keeps spouting will make their way to the debate stage. Whether Lester Holt, the debate moderator, will call out Trump on his many “prevarications” remains in doubt. But you know Clinton will be ready to jump on any fabrication Trump tries to pawn as fact.

Here is a list of what the Clinton campaign singled out as Trump’s most brazen lies, calling them Trump’s 7 Deadly Lies:

FALSE: Trump opposed the Iraq War. Washington Post: Trump: “I was totally against the war in Iraq.” // Four Pinocchios.

FALSE: Trump opposed intervention in Libya. Factcheck.org: Donald Trump on Libya, May 20 interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”: I would have stayed out of Libya.” // False.

FALSE: Clinton supports open borders. PolitiFact: Trump says Clinton wants to create ‘totally open borders.’ // False

FALSE: Clinton wants to get rid of the Second Amendment. ABC News: “Claim: Hillary Clinton wants to abolish the Second Amendment” // False.

FALSE: President Obama and Clinton founded ISIS. Washington Post: “Is Obama the founder of ISIS?” // Absolutely not.

FALSE: Clinton would allow 620,000 refugees into the U.S. with no vetting. Washington Post: Trump: “This includes her plan to bring in 620,000 new refugees from Syria and that region over a short period of time.” // This is an “invented figure.”

FALSE: Trump will make Mexico pay for the wall. NPR Fact Check: Trump: “And Mexico will pay for the wall. 100 percent.” // Mexican President “would not pay” for the wall.

If you have some time to kill and would like to see the list of lies in it’s entirely, click here.

Content courtesy of realtimepolitics.com

Photo | sociallyurban.com

Monday Night Football … Or First Presidential Debate?

September 22, 2016 By John DeProspo 5 Comments

This coming Monday, September 26, the first presidential debate will take place at Hofstra University, Hempstead, New York. Americans will get to see the Democrat, Hillary Clinton, go mano a mano against the Republican, Donald Trump.

Well, that is what everyone was expecting until debate moderator, Lester Holt, announced the three debate topics he will be covering during the 90-minute event: (1) America’s Direction, (2) Achieving Prosperity and (3) Securing America.

Seriously? Could you come up with more vague or esoteric topics?

Why not just give the candidates paper and pen and ask for an essay on how they spent their summer vacation!

Each one of the subject areas leaves so much room for BS and allows the candidates to just offer up talking points that the event might just turn into one giant snooze fest.

This is made even more likely by having the mild-mannered moderator, Lester Holt, running the show. Don’t expect him to be tough on the candidates. It’s just not his style. Perhaps this was the price NBC had to pay to make Trump happy. It is a well-known fact Trump and Holt have been friends for years.

The Commission on Presidential Debates, a bipartisan organization that manages the events, has clearly dropped the ball, not only by picking the milquetoast Holt, but by not having a better debate format.

I’m afraid if you want two adversaries going at it with all they’ve got, you will have to opt for Monday Night Football on ESPN. If you want drama and excitement, the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints present a compelling matchup.

Photo | thehill.com

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