Category Archives: political news

national news, political news

Check out this poll … from Texas, of all places!

clintontrump-split_jpg_800x1000_q100

OK, as long as we’re talking about public opinion polls that are all the rage as the presidential campaigns heads for the stretch …

A WFAA/SurveyUSA poll puts Donald J. Trump up by 4 percentage points over Hillary Rodham Clinton … in Texas!

Trump, the Republican nominee, is reeling after revelations of that hideous recording of him boasting of what he tried to do and what he could do with — or to — women. Clinton, the Democratic nominee, is now beginning to put some distance between her and her foe in the campaign’s final weeks.

https://www.texastribune.org/2016/10/13/poll-trump-leads-clinton-only-4-texas/

I’m not going to suggest that Clinton will win Texas’s 38 electoral votes. The WFAA/SurveyUSA survey, though, suggests some movement away from the GOP nominee in a state that has become as reliably Republican as they come.

And get this: The survey contains a 4 percent margin of error, which makes the Clinton-Trump contest in Texas a virtual dead heat.

Huh? What the hey?

Isn’t this supposed to be one of Trump’s “firewall” states, where he actually could shoot someone — as he once boasted — and still retain his supporters?

It is fascinating in the extreme that with all the utterly miserable statements Trump has made during his entire presidential career — which comprises this campaign — that a video and audio recording of Trump’s vulgar references to women has turned voters against him.

It wasn’t enough that he ridiculed Sen. John McCain’s service during the Vietnam War; or that he mocked a reporter with a physical disability; or that he said a U.S.-born federal judge couldn’t preside over a case involving Trump University because of his Mexican heritage; or that he would ridicule a Gold Star family because of their Muslim faith.

Oh, no. None of that stuck.

He talks dirty about women? He boasts about his attempts to commit “sexual assault”? His constant berating of women’s appearance? Yep, now he’s done it. Clinton has been talking about Trump’s “unfitness” for the presidency. There it is, in plain view.

Now we’re talking some serious erosion of political support — even, apparently, in Texas.

Maybe …

national news, political news

FLOTUS lights up Trump

Here is Michelle Obama’s full speech delivered today in Manchester, N.H.

I’ve already offered a brief comment on it.

I just thought it would be worth showing it in this venue to give you an idea of just how powerful it is. She speaks about the conduct of Donald J. Trump, the Republican nominee for president of the United States.

The first lady has made no public mention of continuing her public service career in elective office.

My very strong sense is that she ought to consider seeking such an office to continue to speaking out as she has done with this speech.

Take a few minutes and listen to what she said today. Michelle Obama’s husband, the president of the United States, said today at a rally later in Ohio that he married this woman to “improve the gene pool.” He got a lot of laughs when he said it.

This speech tells me the president spoke the absolute truth.

national news, political news

Where have the issues gone?

hillary-clinton-and-donald-trump

Is it just me or has anyone else out there noticed something about the presidential campaign’s home stretch?

It’s the absence of issues debate.

Republican nominee Donald J. Trump opened his campaign more than a year ago declaring his intention to “build a beautiful wall” across our southern border; he said he would make Mexico “pay for it,” to which Mexico said, in effect, “over our dead body.”

Then came the ban on Muslims entering the United States; Trump then pledged to “knock the hell” out of the Islamic State. Then came the pledge to invalidate the North American Free Trade Agreement.

We aren’t hearing anything about those or other issues from Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Clinton opened her campaign vowing to work on behalf of women and children. She vowed to continue building international alliances. Clinton pledged to put her husband, Bill Clinton, in charge of crafting economic policy and to improve economic growth to “benefit all Americans.”

We’re talking now about temperament and fitness, about sexual behavior or misbehavior, a candidate’s “stamina.”

It’s personal, boys and girls — and it’s damn ugly.

It is so ugly I want it to end right now.

national news, political news

Michelle Obama emerges as potent political weapon

michelle-obama

The political world is buzzing this evening over a speech delivered earlier in the day by a woman who hasn’t been elected to a public office, nor is she seeking one.

The speech came from first lady Michelle Obama, who took up the cudgel for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton.

She stood before a crowd in Manchester, N. H., and blistered Republican nominee Donald J. Trump over his behavior toward women.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/300918-michelle-obama-becomes-clintons-most-powerful-weapon

“This is not normal. This is not politics as usual,” Obama said at one point. “This is disgraceful. It is intolerable.”

There was a whole lot more.

She peeled the bark off of Trump without naming him specifically. Everyone knew of whom she spoke.

I am reminded of something I said to members of my family … and perhaps to a few friends back in 2009 when Barack Obama took office as the 44th president of the United States.

My thought then was that the first lady would emerge as the president’s secret weapon. She would become his most potent political ally. Indeed, her public approval ratings have loomed far greater than the president’s have during his entire eight years in the White House.

Well, now she has emerged as Hillary Clinton’s most effective surrogate.

The first lady was taking aim at that infamous video recording of Trump talking with Billy Bush about what he does, or would like to do, to women.

“This was not just a lewd conversation, that wasn’t just locker room banter,” the first lady said. “This was a powerful individual speaking freely and openly about sexually predatory behavior and actually bragging about kissing and groping women — using language so obscene that many of us were worried about children hearing it when we turn on the TV.”

Michelle Obama has taken this stuff personally. As she should.

As for Trump and how he might respond to this blistering barrage, he needs to take great care.

“I can’t think of a bolder way for Donald Trump to lose even more standing than he already has,” said deputy White House press flack Eric Schultz,  “than by engaging the first lady of the United States.”

local news, political news

AMM: Flash in the pan? Yeah, probably

amm

Two groups have taken the lead on opposing sides of Amarillo’s next big municipal election challenge.

Unite For Amarillo is favoring the seven propositions on the ballot that would pay for some extensive infrastructure improvements.

SaveAmarillo.org has formed to oppose the measures.

I am on the sidelines, offering commentary from the peanut gallery. I plan to support the propositions.

I also am wondering: What has become of the Amarillo Millennial Movement?

You remember AMM, yes? A young Amarillo woman, Meghan Riddlesburger, became the face and voice of this “movement,” which arose from nowhere to support the ballot measure that sought voter approval of the multipurpose event/ballpark venue the city plans to build in downtown Amarillo.

The measure passed. The Amarillo Globe-News honored Riddlesburger as a Headliner of the Year for 2015. She took a lot of flak from those who opposed the MPEV measure. The criticism was unduly harsh, unfair and it was hurtful … bordering on hateful.

Then she left the city for new opportunities in Fort Worth.

AMM’s status? As near as I can tell, it evaporated the moment the young woman departed Amarillo.

This is a disappointment for me. I actually bought into the notion that AMM represented a legitimate “movement” of young people dedicated to improving their city’s quality of life; that they were motivated to get behind the MPEV as a lure for other young people to stay here after getting their education.

Some of us — I include myself in that group — saw AMM as a potential deterrent to the “brain drain” that has been depleting the city’s intellectual wattage.

Here we are, a year after the MPEV vote. The city is asking residents for permission to improve its quality of life on a whole array of fronts: street repair, Civic Center expansion, park improvements, police and fire protection enhancements; athletic fields; municipal office improvements. The City Council broke the $340 million package into seven components and has asked its constituents to vote on them separately.

Where in the world has become of AMM, if it ever actually existed in the first place?

national news, political news

Time to give Trump a bit of a break

I’m not usually prone to cut any slack for the incompetent, unqualified and unfit Republican nominee for president of the United States, Donald J. Trump.

I’ll do so here, although I’m not going to give him a complete pass.

donaldtrumpgetty

He was blabbing at a rally this week and urged his supporters to be sure to vote “on Nov. 28.”

The media are having a blast. They’re laughing out loud that Trump would make such a mistake. The election occurs on the Eighth of November.

Is this a big deal? Is it h-u-u-u-g-e?

It’s no bigger of a mistake, I suppose, than Sen. Barack Obama declaring during his first run for the presidency in 2008 that the U. S. of A. comprised 57 states.

D’oh! Sen. Obama knew better than that. He must have been tired.

I’m guessing Trump has grown a bit weary, too, having to fend off all the criticism of his behavior, his insults, his statements about women … all those kinds of things.

So, he goofs on date of the election. B … F … D, man.

I’m quite certain there’ll be plenty more grist to toss at Trump over the next four weeks.

national news, political news

This image burns deeply

trump-mocks-reporter

Of all the images we’ve seen during this wild, wacky and weird presidential election, perhaps none resonates with more people than the one of Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump mocking a reporter.

You see the picture here. Trump is gesturing in a way that mimics Serge Kovaleski’s disability. Kovaleski is a reporter with the New York Times; he suffers from arthrogryposis, which inhibits movement of his joints.

Trump and Kovaleski got into a beef over an article the reporter wrote in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Trump used the article to contend falsely that “thousands of Muslims” cheered the collapse of the World Trade Center.

But here’s the thing: While criticizing Kovaleski’s response to Trump’s false assertion of what he reported initially, the candidate decided to flail his arms around to mimic the reporter’s disability.

It was an unconscionable and profoundly stupid demonstration of insensitivity.

Concern over this act by the candidate was tossed aside by his supporters during the GOP primary campaign as being overblown and overhyped.

Well, here’s a video showing Trump doing what his primary supporters said was, well, no big deal:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxd76wco5lQ

You can be the judge of what you see here.

I’ve made mine already. What I see is someone who purports to want to become the leader of the greatest nation on Earth.

To my eyes and ears, this individual — Trump — isn’t qualified to clean the White House toilets.

national news, political news

When will speaker really walk away from Trump?

694940094001_5164431143001_examining-speaker-ryan-s-history-of-support-for-donald-trump

U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan’s endorsement of fellow Republican Donald J. Trump had the look of a shotgun marriage when he announced it some weeks ago.

Then the bad news began pouring forth.

The continued ignorance on all policy matters; the terrible debate performance with Democratic nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton, followed by a second less-than-stellar performance; the report of a huge business loss and the notion that it allowed Trump to avoid paying federal taxes for 18 years … and then the release of those video recordings of Trump suggesting he had had committed sexual assault on women.

Republican members of Congress began unendorsing Trump almost overnight.

Ryan disinvited Trump to a campaign invite in Wisconsin. Then he said he cannot “defend” the nominee and said he won’t campaign for or with him. He said he would concentrate fully on protecting the GOP majority in the House of Representatives.

But the speaker hasn’t yet pulled his endorsement of Trump.

Let’s remember that Ryan’s initial statements about Trump had to do with whether the nominee adhered to “true conservative principles,” to which Ryan said he is most faithful. The speaker called Trump’s proposed ban on Muslims entering the country a “classic” form of bigotry.

He waffled and wavered over an endorsement. Then he delivered it.

Now, though, his colleagues in the GOP House caucus are running like frightened rabbits from Trump.

The speaker doesn’t strike me as someone who frightens easily, but seriously … it’s fair and logical to wonder when he’s going to end a political relationship he never seemed comfortable consummating in the first place.

http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/s-e-cupp-paul-ryan-smart-article-1.2827124

national news, political news

It’s come to this: sexual conduct will decide this election?

trump-rampage-continues-republic

It’s down to the wire between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.

With all the issues that separate the parties’ presidential nominees — trade, climate change, jobs, war and peace, terrorism — we’re left now to decide this election on … sexual misconduct.

The allegations are pouring in now.

The New York Times has published more stories about women alleging that Trump groped them. Trump is vowing to sue the newspaper. The Washington Post released that hideous video recording of Trump talking to “Access Hollywood” about his attempts to seduce a married woman and what he can get away with because of his “star” status.

Trump is now threatening to stay away next week from the final debate with Clinton because, he says, the debate format is “rigged.”

The GOP nominee’s poll numbers are plummeting. Meanwhile, Clinton’s team is airing feel-good TV ads extolling her work with children and women’s issues.

Trump’s own words — heard on the video recording — have caused many of his congressional supporters to revoke their endorsements, resulting in a virtual declaration of war against the Republican Party by its own presidential nominee!

Who in this world ever would have thought that could happen? Even in this utterly nonsensical election year?

I don’t know about you, but I am looking forward to watching this circus act come to an end on the Eighth of November.

national news, political news

Pence almost channels McCain … almost!

Republican vice presidential candidate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence speaks at a campaign rally, in Denver, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, the Republican nominee for vice president of the United States, had a chance the other day to do something his running mate, Donald J. Trump, keeps refusing to do.

A supporter in a crowd to which Pence was speaking and threatened a “revolution” if Democratic nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton wins the presidential election. She talked of Clinton’s “corruption” and insisted that she and other Trumpsters would rise up in revolt if their ticket loses the race.

Pence then waved her off. “Don’t say that,” he said, walking away.

Now, at one level I find Gov. Pence’s mild admonition refreshing and necessary. He told the woman that “there will be a revolution on Nov. 8,” meaning — in his view — voters would elect the Trump-Pence ticket.

Sure thing, governor. Whatever you say.

However, he could have done something more, something akin to what Sen. John McCain did while running for the presidency in 2008.

Sen. McCain, the GOP nominee in that contest, was told by a supporter eight years ago that Sen. Barack Obama wasn’t an American, that she doubted his legitimacy as a candidate.

McCain shut her down. He told her point blank that Obama is a patriot, a fine American, a “friend” of his with whom he has serious policy disagreements.

That is the kind of response we have needed to hear more of from President Obama’s critics. Instead, we have witnessed Trump laugh such nonsense off. He doesn’t challenge these ridiculous assertions from his fervent supporters. Indeed, his own rhetoric foments talk of “revolution” and promotes the scurrilous accusations that the current president somehow isn’t the legitimate head of state.

I’m glad that Gov. Pence reacted in the manner that he did.

My only wish is that he would have channeled Sen. McCain’s own response to a similarly ludicrous assertion in an earlier campaign.