While they make up the bulk of his base, low-information-Fox-News-types are not the only Trump devotees.

Members of a secretive Hollywood group of right-wingers, Friends of Abe, are also admirers of “The Donald.” The group was formed in 2005 and has been described as a “stealth right-wing group,” “influential in conservative circles,” and “GOP support group.”

FOA keeps its list of members under lock-and-key (to avoid potential backlash in decidedly left-wing Tinseltown). But we do know that some of its founding and high profile “friends” include Gary Sinise, Kelsey Grammer, Patricia Heaton, Clint Eastwood, Jon Voight and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Lionel Chetwynd.

“It’s a growing movement, and word is getting out that there’s many of us in this business,” singer Pat Boone, an FOA associate, told The Washington Times in 2008. “If certain studio execs—hirers and firers—learn that this is a movement and growing, and that some of these people that they hire are of this inclination, these people could be unemployed.”

The hundreds of conservative members are invited to attend strictly off-the-record functions where Hollywood celebrities get a chance to mingle with political big wigs. The group has hosted and toasted such conservative luminaries as John Boehner, Dick Cheney, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter. Past events have included a speech by Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia.

This past July, FOA invited Donald Trump to address the group at a private dinner held at Los Angeles’ Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel.

Friends of Abe maintains they have zero interest in endorsing a candidate or commenting on a candidate’s controversial statements.

“We invited Mr. Trump for the same reason we invite all of our speakers: to give our members a chance to hear from movement conservatives without the filter of the media so they can reach their own conclusions,” the group told the Los Angeles ABC station.

At this point, I am sure you will never again think the same of some of the Hollywood celebrities that are members of this secretive right-wing group.

Gary, how could you do this to me?  I loved you in Forest Gump!”

Photo | telegraph.co.uk

Breaking News – More BS from Trump. Today, after this article was posted, the Washington Post reported Trump as saying Ted Cruz could run into trouble if he won the party’s nomination because he was born in Canada. This is only a few months after he said the opposite. Speaking of Cruz’s Canadian birth, Trump told ABC News in September, “I hear it was checked out by every attorney and every which way and I understand Ted is in fine shape.” If Trump were truly concerned about Cruz’s eligibility to run for president, he would ask not about where Cruz was born (there is no doubt he was born in Canada), but to prove his mother was an American citizen at the time of his birth. As reported in my article, I believe Trump knows full well that if a child is born of at least one American parent, he or she is considered a “natural born citizen” eligible to run for the presidency. The lawyers Trump referred to in September are right. If Cruz’s mother were an American citizen at the time of his birth, Cruz has no problem. The whole Obama “birtherism” stunt was a way to demean our first president of color. End of story.

Donald Trump “made his bones” during the last presidential election questioning Barack Obama’s birthplace. The line of attack was simple: if Obama was not born in the United States, he is not a “natural born” citizen and, hence, ineligible to be president. Trump, who became known as ” king of the birthers” believed Obama was born in Kenya.

Trump demanded our president produce his “long form birth certificate” to prove he was born in Hawaii. Of course, such a document was produced but the birthers labeled it a fake.

So here we are in 2016 with Donald Trump as the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination and not very much concern about the actual foreign birth of his closest Republican rival, Senor Rafael Edward Cruz. To many observers, it’s a puzzlement.

To me, this is no mystery at all.

The Constitution gives three eligibility requirements to be president of the United States: one must be 35 years of age, a resident “within the United States” for 14 years, and a “natural born citizen.” Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has never ruled on what “natural born citizen” actually means. The accepted law is that if someone is born of at least one American parent, no matter where, that child satisfies the “natural born citizen” requirement of the Constitution. Was there ever any question John McCain was eligible to run for president even though he was born in Panama?

I am guessing Donald Trump is smart enough to know Cruz’s mother is an American citizen born in Delaware. But wasn’t Obama’s mother also an American citizen born in Kansas? Of course! That is why the whole “birther” movement was, and is, nothing but a racist reaction to Obama’s status as the first African American president of the United States.

But since when have facts stopped Trump from smearing someone? After all, while the conventional understanding is that someone born of an American parent is deemed to be a “natural born citizen,” the Supreme Court has never weighed in on this topic. Fertile ground for a Trump attack, wouldn’t you think?

If Trump, or another of the other “birthers” wanted to create some havoc for Senor Cruz, they definitely could.

Cruz refuses to attack Donald Trump and visa versa. Why?

There is only one explanation for why Trump hasn’t aggressively gone there (besides our current understanding of the Constitutional requirements). Ted Cruz is part of Trump’s exit strategy. When Trump bows out of the race, and he will eventually, Cruz will be the heir to Trump’s fortune … his rabid base.

Photo | toprightnews.com

OK, 2015 is officially behind us and it’s only one month until the first presidential primary contest in Iowa: the caucuses. All the speculation, hype and polling will give way to actual voting.

But does the Iowa caucus really matter?

If recent history is any guide, the answer on the Republican side is “no.” Just look at the last two caucus winners: Mike Huckabee in 2008, Rick Santorum in 2012. Neither one could parlay their win into any kind of momentum. This is mostly due to the fact that evangelicals have an out-sized presence in Iowa; they made up 57 percent of Republican caucus attendees in 2012.

The Iowa caucus, however, has been a great predictor on the Democratic side. In 2000, it was Al Gore; in 2004, it was John Kerry; in 2008 it was Barack Obama (in 2012 President Obama ran unopposed.)

The latest Republican polling in Iowa has Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in a virtual tie. For the Democrats, various polls have Hillary Clinton leading Bernie Sanders anywhere from 9 to 18 points. Sanders is doing much better in New Hampshire, the second state to hold a primary. In three out of four polls, Sanders is leading Clinton from 2 to 10 points. In one poll, Clinton is leading Sanders by 3 points.

In a sign that it ain’t what it used to be for Republicans, establishment favorite, Jeb Bush, recently cancelled over $1 million of reserved advertising time in Iowa. Of course that hasn’t stopped Jeb’s super PAC, Right to Rise USA, from committing to spend $3.6 million between now and caucus day.

While Iowa will continue to be the first presidential primary contest (it’s written into state law), it is losing its luster as the be-all and end-all of presidential politics. So if you’re Ted Cruz (or Trump for that matter) I wouldn’t gloat about such a win, from such an atypical state. Just ask Santorum or Huckabee.

Image courtesy of sdmania at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It would be too easy cataloging all the lies that have come out of Donald Trump’s mouth since he entered the Republican presidential race. In fact, PolitiFact.com has awarded Trump’s statements “2015 Lie Of The Year.”

What’s harder to find are Trump statements that are actually true. Here is a list of my top five true Trump statements:

1. “Well, I would have never been in Iraq,” Trump said on Fox and Friends. “The Middle East has been totally decapitated. It’s a mess. The balance has been lost between Iraq and Iran.”
2. “We have spent $4 trillion trying to topple various people that, frankly, … if we could have spent that $4 trillion in the United States to fix our roads, our bridges and all of the other problems, our airports and all of the other problems we have, we would have been a lot better off — I can tell you that right now,” Trump said during one of the presidential debates.
3. “As Republicans, if you think you are going to change very substantially for the worse Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security in any substantial way, and at the same time you think you are going to win elections, it just really is not going to happen,” Mr. Trump said at a CPAC conference.
4. “Some people have hopes of passing amendments, but it’s not going to happen. Congress can’t pass simple things, let alone that. So anybody that’s making that an issue is doing it for political reasons. The Supreme Court ruled on it,” Trump said of same sex marriage in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
5. “How can you say you were safe under his brother when we just had the worst attack in the history of our country?’ You can’t say we were safe,” Trump said on CNN’s “New Day” in response to Jeb Bush’s assertion that his brother kept us safe.

Not everything that comes out of Trump’s mouth is a lie or an embarrassment. Occasionally the truth slips out.

If only the media highlighted Trump’s “trutherism” once in a while!