Trumpkins are locked in; time for Hillary to talk about herself

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My wife and I live in the heart of Trump Country, the Texas Panhandle.

Donald J. Trump is likely to carry this part of the world by a wide margin. We’ve just returned from more parts of Trump Country. We visited Enid, Okla.; North Platte, Neb.; Rapid City, S.D.; Lusk, Wyo.; and Colorado Springs, Colo.

We’re home now, recuperating from two weeks on the road.

Of all the locations where we stayed, we found something interesting in Lusk and Colorado Springs: both cities are served by Colorado media outlets; Colorado is a “battleground state”; therefore TV is full of ads from both Trump and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

I want to focus for a moment on the Clinton ads.

She’s going after Trump hard. The bulk of the TV ads we saw dealt with Trump’s feelings about women. You know to which I refer.

My thought is this: Trump’s hard-core supporters are locked in. Nothing that Clinton says about the hideous statements Trump has made about women is going to move them.

Three days out from Election Day, and it occurs to both of us that it’s time for Clinton to tell us what she intends to do if she’s elected president next Tuesday.

Trump’s advertising has been decidedly anti-Clinton. No surprise there. Trump doesn’t have a program. He doesn’t have any ideas that go beyond the usual platitudes and demagoguery.

Clinton, though, does have a record of working on behalf of children; she has worked to reform health care; she has served at the center of American foreign policy.

I think it would be helpful for her to tell us how she intends to improve our nation’s economic performance; how she intends to improve the Affordable Care Act; how she would strengthen our alliances.

I happen to believe that Trump is unfit to serve as president. Hillary doesn’t need to persuade me of anything regarding Trump — and she doesn’t have a prayer of converting the 40-plus percent of voters who already are aligned with Trump, who’ve stuck with him and will be with him for the duration.

Aw, what the heck. I’m not her campaign manager. She’s got a crack team already on board. Maybe they know what they’re doing, even if two voters who happen to live in the midst of Trump Country can’t figure them out.

Get ready for election night

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They say there’s a first time for everything … as in, well, everything.

I need not be too specific … if you get my drift.

My wife and I are going to do something for the first time — if my memory hasn’t failed me — on Tuesday.

We’re going to an election-night watch party.

Some friends of ours in Amarillo invited us to their home along with several dozen perhaps of their best friends to watch the returns roll in on this most consequential presidential election.

Our friends know of my utter, complete, well-documented disdain for the Republican Party’s presidential nominee. They figure I’m all in with the Democratic nominee.

I’m not really. Neither is my wife.

But here’s the thing. Americans are facing a dismal choice as they select the next president of the United States. One of these two people will take the oath of office next January.

Am I happy about the choices we have?

As I told friends my wife and I met for lunch Friday in Colorado Springs, Colo., if the choices had been, say, Vice President Joe Biden and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, that would have presented me with a much happier decision-making exercise. If Kasich had been the GOP nominee this fall instead of the clown the party nominated, then I likely would be casting my first-ever presidential vote for the Republican nominee.

Our friends say they want to surround themselves Tuesday night with friends who will want Hillary Clinton to be elected.

From my perspective, that might be overstating — in a fairly nuanced sort of way — my own preference.

Given the miserable nature of the GOP nominee, I would prefer Hillary to be elected.

With that in mind — and in my heart — we will go to our friends’ home in a couple of days and hope that Americans will make the right call in selecting the next head of state, commander in chief and leader of the greatest nation on Earth.

‘Scandals’ won’t end? Of course they won’t!

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The headline from the Washington Post was funny when I saw it.

Then I noticed who wrote the essay over which the headline was posted. Then I chuckled out loud.

“The Clinton scandals will never stop,” the headline blared. The byline belongs to Ed Rogers, a noted Republican operative.

If you add two plus two, you come up with four. So, if you believe what Rogers theorizes, then it all adds up. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton’s “scandals” won’t die because Republicans like Rogers won’t allow it … ever!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/11/03/the-clinton-scandals-will-never-stop/

Clinton has been in the public eye since before her husband, Bill Clinton, was elected president in 1992. The foes of the two politicians have been digging for dirt for longer than most of us can remember.

Whitewater, Vince Foster, sexual misbehavior, the Clinton Foundation, the Clinton Global Initiative, e-mails, “pay for play.”

I am sure I have missed something, but you get the idea.

The late Rev. Jerry Falwell once produced a video called “The Clinton Chronicles” that alleged that the Clintons were responsible for the murders of their political foes. How in the world he got away without being sued for defamation is beyond me.

If Clinton wins the election in three days, you can bet some serious American money that the “scandals” will stay in the news.

Republicans will make damn sure of it.

Irony clouds Melania’s message

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I hope y’all are sitting down.

I’m about to say something positive about Melania Trump, wife of the Republican presidential nominee who — in my view — is totally unfit and unqualified to occupy the office he is seeking.

She spoke this week about cyber bullying and said she intends to make that her signature issue if she becomes first lady.

The issue is a noble one. The goal is equally noble. She has articulated a serious problem in contemporary society. Children shouldn’t be bullied in any context, she said, particularly by faceless and nameless abusers who hide their identity in the vast reaches of cyberspace.

The problem, though, is the messenger. Melania Trump is married to a serial cyber bully. Donald Trump has used his Twitter account to bully and insult women, Gold Star parents, Muslims, Hispanics, immigrants … you name ’em, he’s bullied ’em.

The irony of Melania’s first lady theme is too obvious to ignore.

Still, the issue — standing alone and separate from the context in which she delivered it — is a worthy one.

No, Mr. Mayor … mountains are no obstacle

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This is the latest in an occasional series of blog posts commenting on upcoming retirement.

ROYAL GORGE, Colo. — A fellow I once knew, Malcolm Clark — who at the time I knew him was mayor of Port Arthur, Texas — once took a vacation to Wyoming and Montana.

When he returned, we visited briefly and I asked him: “How did you like all that splendor?”

“It was OK,” he said, “but all those damn mountains kept getting in the way of the sunrises and sunsets.”

If you’ve been to the Texas Gulf Coast, then you know how flat it is. Thus, Mayor Clark was used to seeing the sun settle all way to the horizon.

I thought of Hizzoner when my wife and I arrived at Royal Gorge, about 45 miles southwest of Colorado Springs. The mountains in the distance loom large and majestic. They make a spectacular sight.

Did I think of them as an annoyance? Not for a second.

Our travels have taken us to some amazing places already as we’ve loaded up our fifth wheel, fueled up our pickup we’ve named Big Jake and headed out to explore this wonderful continent of ours.

Royal Gorge is just one more stop on our retirement journey.

The place truly is breathtaking: a bridge spans the chasm more than 1,000 feet above the Arkansas River.

I could get mighty used to looking at those peaks.

Sure, the sunrises and sunsets on the Texas High Plains are equally breathtaking. I’ve noted before that whoever called Montana the Big Sky Country never laid eyes on the Texas Panhandle.

But … more travels await us. More mountain peaks will entice us.

They’ll never annoy either of us the way they  seemed to annoy Malcolm Clark.

Right-wrong track polls tell only part of story

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One of my social media friends thinks I spend too much time blogging about Donald J. Trump.

I heard him. So I think I’ll shift gears for a moment or two.

Those polls that measure whether Americans think we’re heading on the right or wrong track puzzle me. Take a look at the latest RealClearPolitics average of polls on that subject.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/direction_of_country-902.html

What these averages don’t necessarily say up front is whether Americans want the nation’s directly to veer sharply to the right or sharply to the left.

I generally pay little attention to these polls.

The RCP average says there’s a 30-plus percentage variance, meaning that about one-third more Americans think the country is heading on the “wrong track.”

No one has ever polled me on the subject. If one were to ask me, I’d say we’re doing just fine. I heard the U.S. Labor Department jobs report this morning and learned we added 161,000 non-farm jobs in October; the jobless rate declined to 4.9 percent; wages went up.

Is that a wrong track indicator regarding the economy?

I don’t think so.

Foreign policy issues? Well, we haven’t been hit by a major terror attack since 9/11. We keep killing terrorists around the world. Our alliances seem solid.

Federal budget policy? The deficit has been cut by one-third during the past eight years. Is it still too great? Yes. It’s heading in the “right direction.”

I’m digressing.

Right track-wrong track polls tell only part of the story.

Cubs’ celebration goes the right way

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Have you noticed what you haven’t heard about in the wake of the Chicago Cubs’ historic victory in the World Series?

It’s the apparent lack of violence as Cubs fans have celebrated their team’s big win over the Cleveland Indians.

We’ve heard of many instances over many years about fans’ enthusiasm erupting into violence as they “celebrate” their teams’ big victories. Cubs fans waited 108 years for this one, although surely no one today was around when the North Side team actually won the Fall Classic way back when.

They still have a parade to stage through the city. I’ll wish them well as they continue their partying and carrying on.

And the lack of violence? It seems genuinely poetic that it would be Chicago — the City With Broad Shoulders, the Windy City and the city with the terrible reputation for crime — would react in such a positive manner to this huge athletic victory.

I’m happy for them. I also am happy for the rest of the nation that can enjoy a bit of vicarious thrill as Chicago jumps for joy.

Trump’s ‘record’ demands his defeat

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Donald J. Trump’s reported rally in the closing days of this desultory presidential campaign is relying on the ignorance of those who seem to have forgotten what he’s said throughout his astonishing quest for the nation’s highest office.

He has lied … repeatedly. He has praised dictators. He has declared himself to be above the law. Trump has ignored due process as it relates to his political opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton. He has mocked disabled Americans, a notable prisoner of war, women, immigrants, a Gold Star family.

Check this out from the Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-only-way-trump-can-win/2016/11/02/1512d15c-a07c-11e6-a44d-cc2898cfab06_story.html

From the Post: “Most politicians are caught in falsehoods from time to time. Mr. Trump revels in them, and when caught simply repeats the lie, more loudly. Similarly, he trades in conspiracy theories that he must know to be false, the more lurid the better: that President Obama was born in Kenya, that Vincent Foster and Antonin Scalia were murdered, that Ted Cruz’s father was involved in the assassination of President Kennedy.”

In recent days, FBI Director James Comey has said he has uncovered more e-mails involving Clinton. He has presented zero hard evidence of anything untoward. Trump has convicted Clinton of corruption and of committing crimes.

The Trumpkins have bought into it … all of it.

As the Post notes, Americans who have been so critical of President Obama for an alleged lack of love of country have become infatuated with the notion that Trump vows to “make America great again.” More from the Post:

“It is mystifying that so many Republicans, after criticizing Mr. Obama for eight years for showing insufficient pride in the United States, would attach themselves to someone who has such contempt for the country, its institutions and its values. U.S. generals have been ‘reduced to rubble,’ the U.S. Army cannot fight, U.S. cities are ‘hell,”’U.S. wealth has been ‘stripped‘ away by global interests, the electoral system is ‘one big, ugly lie.’ To each of these disasters, Mr. Trump offers phony solutions (Mexico will pay to build a wall) or none at all. He has neither the interest nor the capacity to suggest actual policies.”

I hope Americans haven’t forgotten completely how this clown has behaved, the insults he has hurled in every direction and at everyone who opposes him. Is this the kind of individual we want representing the greatest nation on Earth?

Cyber bullying must stop … no kidding!

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Melania Trump said what?

She wants to make cyber bullying the top priority of her potential first ladyship?

Oh, the irony. The lack of spousal awareness. This is amazing!

Trump’s major solo speech today highlighted what she wants to do in case her husband Donald gets elected president next week.

Cyber bullying is her target. It’s got to end, she said.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/melania-trump-says-she%e2%80%99ll-fight-cyber-bullying-as-first-lady/ar-AAjREmA?li=BBnbcA1

OK, she can start at home. With her husband.

Donald Trump has used his Twitter account to call broadcast journalist Megyn Kelly a “bimbo.” He has used it also to allege the existence of “sex tapes” involving former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, about whom he has said many other unflattering things … also on social media.

She said this, among other things: “Our culture has gotten too mean and too rough, especially to children and teenagers,” Trump said Thursday afternoon in Pennsylvania.

Melania Trump, quite naturally, made no mention of her husband’s cyber-bullying history.

Trust me on this: The irony cannot possibly be lost on many of us who understand just how much her husband has contributed to the coarsening of political discourse.

Obscene tweet a ‘breaking point’? If only …

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Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller’s obscene tweet about Hillary Rodham Clinton is the “breaking point” for at least one Texas voter.

Is it for others who have been entrenched in the Donald J. Trump camp since the zillionaire business mogul announced his Republican presidential candidacy?

Do not take it to the bank.

http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2016/11/02/agriculture-commissioner-sid-millers-c-word-tweet-hillary-clinton-breaking-point

A tweet that went out under Miller’s name referred to Clinton as the “c-word.” It’s too vulgar to repeat. As Jacquielyne Floyd of the Dallas Morning News writes in her blog, Miller came up with a package of lame excuses: a staffer did it; someone hacked his account.

Miller said he didn’t do such a thing. The tweet was pulled down right away, which I guess is saying something about the commissioner.

Then again, this guy has been making a spectacle of himself ever since he took over the TDA office from fellow Republican Todd Staples in 2015. I wish Staples was still on the job, frankly.

Miller has emerged as Trump’s chief Texas cheerleader.

Floyd writes: “My weary, overworked outrage meter is idling in low gear, like persistent background static on the radio. I can only summon a tired wonder that Miller, whose newest contretemps is perhaps the most egregious but far from being the first rodeo of disgrace and embarrassment he has attended, is the kind of damage Texas keeps inflicting on itself.”

Texas, though, seems bent on inflicting these wounds. We have sent a number of folks to Congress who keep spouting off without engaging what passes for their brains.

Now we have an agriculture commissioner — who ought to be focused primarily on promoting Texas farm and ranch products and helping them improve their harvest yields and getting the most money they can from the livestock they send to market.

The voter — Kathleen Lyle of Rowlett — who was offended beyond measure by the tweet, wrote a letter to Miller. According to Floyd: “Lyle demanded an apology for every woman and every schoolchild in the state of Texas: “‘You are obligated to behave decently in public once elected,’ she told him.”

Floyd continued: “It was a letter that summed up not only one woman’s frustration over one elected official’s outrageous violation, but spoke for countless Americans who are appalled by the ugliness, the unhinged vulgarity, the puerile bullying shoutdown to which the political conversation has devolved.”

The tweet that went out under Sid Miller’s name is just the latest example of all the above.

If only more of us would feel as outraged as Kathleen Lyle.