Tag Archives: Hillary Clinton

national news, political news

Paging Dick Cheney … hello?

Vice President Dick Cheney, speaks at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Thursday, April 10, 2008, in Washington. Bush administration officials from Vice President Dick Cheney on down signed off on using harsh interrogation techniques against suspected terrorists after asking the Justice Department to endorse their legality, The Associated Press has learned. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Is it me or does anyone else wonder what’s become of Dick Cheney?

The former vice president — from 2001 to 2009 — has been so very quick since leaving office to jump back into the political fray. He’s been critical of President Obama’s foreign policy, of Vice President Joe Biden, and oh yes, of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Well, the Republicans have their nominee. Donald J. Trump — who appears to be a classic Republican In Name Only — is now doing political battle with Democratic nominee Clinton.

But wait a sec, man? Cheney’s been nowhere.

I think I might have a clue. It’s because two of his former bosses, President George W. Bush and President George H.W. Bush — whom Cheney served as defense secretary — can’t stomach Trump’s candidacy. They despise the man for the way he’s run for the presidency, not to mention for the way he brutalized John Ellis “Jeb” Bush — W’s brother and Poppy’s son — during the 2016 GOP primary.

Whatever, the Bush family’s loathing of Trump seems to have silenced a loyal Bush guy.

Don’t misunderstand me here. I don’t necessarily want to hear from the former vice president. It’s not that I find his political world view all that appealing.

I guess I’m just miffed that Dick Cheney’s silence had robbed me of some material on which to respond.

media news, national news, political news

Now … who will get my local paper’s endorsement?

2 Comments

th

This just in … The Houston Chronicle has endorsed Hillary Rodham Clinton for the presidency of the United States.

The Chronicle said in its editorial that it normally waits until the end of the campaign to make its recommendation. It backed Mitt Romney in 2012.

This year, it’s different, according to the Chronicle. The paper’s editorial board has made up its mind. The nation needs a “steady hand” in “these unsettling times.” The hand doesn’t belong to Republican nominee Donald J. Trump.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/7/29/1554307/-Houston-Chronicle-endorses-Hillary-Clinton-for-President-says-Trump-is-danger-to-the-Republic

I don’t know why I should care, but I do wonder who will get the backing of my local newspaper, the Amarillo Globe-News, where I worked for nearly 18 years. I quit my job there at the end of August 2012.

I have no contact with the AG-N’s editorial board, which comprises the publisher and its director of commentary. I can only offer an educated guess how they’ll go, given the paper’s history of backing Republicans for president — and given the paper’s corporate ownership, which has a visceral loathing of Hillary Clinton.

My guess is that a lot of newspapers are going to weigh in early — and perhaps often — on this race. They’ll decide, perhaps as the Houston Chronicle has decided, that there’s no reason to wait. Whether they’re favoring Clinton or Trump, let’s get it out there on the record, they might surmise.

As for the Amarillo Globe-News, they’re likely to preach to the proverbial choir by backing Trump, who’s likely to carry on the Republican tradition of capturing a majority of votes in Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle.

The serious stunner would be if the G-N backs Clinton.

Don’t look for hell to freeze over.

My interest will lie in how the paper makes its case for Trump and how much of this individual’s record it will ignore.

https://highplainsblogger.com/2016/06/good-luck-editorialists-in-making-your-decision/

 

national news, political news

Now a Gold Star Mother draws Trump’s fire

trump

Donald J. Trump has criticized a U.S. senator’s heroic war record.

He’s mocked a reporter with a serious physical handicap.

He has ridiculed women as “pigs,” said Mexican immigrants are rapists, drug dealers and murderers.

Now he’s gone after a Gold Star Mother and her husband whose son was killed in combat in Afghanistan. And, oh by the way, the family in question is a Muslim family.

Khazir Khan delivered remarks the other evening at the Democratic National Convention in which he said Trump had sacrificed nothing. Khan and his wife, Ghazala, sacrificed their son, a U.S. Army captain who died when a bomb exploded in 2004.

How did Trump respond to this criticism? He said he’s “sacrificed a lot” by building structures and employing “tens of thousands” of people. Then the GOP presidential nominee decided to take on Ghazala Khan, who didn’t speak at the DNC, leaving that task to her husband.

Trump said Mrs. Khan likely wasn’t allowed to speak, continuing his harangue against Muslim tradition that puts men at the forefront while keeping women in the background.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-draws-backlash-for-comments-on-slain-soldiers-father/ar-BBv3xzN?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp

Well, suffice to say the criticism has come from leaders in both political parties. Jeb Bush’s former communications director called Trump’s remarks “inhuman.” Hillary Clinton’s campaign boss John Podesta asked, “Is there nothing sacred?”

Nothing is off limits to Trump. Nothing at all.

The most stunning aspect of Trump’s response was his equating his construction projects to the sacrifice borne by the parents of young American heroes who give their full measure of devotion.

This individual is simply un-bleeping-believable.

national news, political news

Trump might get his wish after all

cover-chelsea-and-ivanka-600x300

Donald J. Trump says he wishes his daughter Ivanka and Chelsea Clinton weren’t such good friends.

That churning in my gut tells me he might get his wish before this presidential campaign ends.

Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, says he plans to “take gloves off” as he campaigns against Democratic nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Big surprise, eh? Hardly.

But what about Ivanka and Chelsea? And their husbands, for that matter? The in-laws of the two nominees happen to be friends, too.

I’ve thought this might become one of the more interesting back stories of this campaign as Mom and Dad battle it out to see who voters will elect to become the next president of the United States of America.

I don’t know too much about Ivanka Trump, other than what I’ve read recently about her, that she’s an intelligent and engaging young woman.

As for Chelsea, well, we’ve all sort of watched her grow up before our eyes. She, too, is intelligent and engaging.

My curiosity, though, might be drawn to whether she’s able to compartmentalize her relationships the way her parents so famously have been able to do.

Bill Clinton got impeached by the House and was put on trial in the Senate, which acquitted him of the charges brought by House members. He was able to continue working through the rest of his presidency with the very men and women who voted to impeach and to convict him.

Hillary Clinton then ran for the Senate in 2000, promising to reach across the aisle to work with Republicans who wanted her husband kicked out of office. Who became one of her best friends in the Senate? Republican John McCain, who was among those who voted to convict the president.

Did their daughter inherit that ability to put the nastiness aside to preserve her friendship with the daughter of a famously crass politician who’s shown quite an ability to say just about anything to and about his political foes?

We’re about to find out.

national news, political news

More than a ‘dime’s worth of difference’ this time

George-Wallace

The late George Wallace once decided to run as an independent candidate for president because he said “there ain’t a dime’s worth of difference” between Democrats and Republicans.

Suffice to say that the segregationist Alabama governor — who actually was a card-carrying Democrat — couldn’t make such a claim today.

The Democrats have concluded their nominating convention one week after the Republicans concluded theirs.

And, oh brother, is there a difference between the two major parties’ presidential nominees — Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald J. Trump.

I guess I’ll start — and finish for the purposes of this post — with temperament.

Trump’s temperament could be summed up in any number of hideous statements he has made for the past year. Let me single out just one, which he said today.

It had to do with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an avowed non-friend of Trump. He spoke at the Democratic convention and declared “I’m from New York and I know a con when I see one.”

The “con,” of course is Trump.

So, what was Trump’s response to Bloomberg’s criticism?

He called him “Little Mike,” poking fun at the ex-mayor’s shorter-than-Trump’s physical stature.

There you have it. He cannot argue substantively about anything, so he is left to make ridiculous, petulant statements about someone’s physical attributes.

This well might be the very thing we’ll hear from this individual for the next 100 days until Election Day.

And yet …

This guy continues to draw support from voters who, by golly, are infatuated with someone who “tells it like it is.”

The campaign likely will far surpass the negativity of campaigns conducted during any living American’s memory.

Pay attention, though, the quality of the retorts, rebuttals and rejoinders you’ll hear from Trump and Clinton.

Yep. There’s far more than a dime separating these two candidates.

national news, political news

Now … let’s measure the bounce

th1WB6RMI3

Steve Schmidt is a dedicated Republican strategist and smart fellow who helped manage Sen. John McCain’s campaign for the presidency in 2008.

I believe he has laid out with clarity what American political junkies need to wait for in the next few days.

It is that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton needs a significant post-convention “bounce” to put her in a position to make history by becoming the first woman elected president of the United States.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/clintons-pledge-steady-hand-at-moment-of-reckoning/ar-BBuZdrd?li=BBnb7Kz

Schmidt said on MSNBC tonight that Clinton must lead GOP nominee Donald Trump by a large margin by the “middle of next week” or else “Democrats are going to be in trouble.”

So, we’ll wait for the public opinion surveys that well might tell us where this campaign is heading.

For my money, I thought Clinton’s acceptance of her party’s nomination did what she wanted it to do. I believe she wanted to cast herself as the anti-Trump. She did continue the brightness vs. darkness theme, painting the country in much more vivid hues than the Republicans did at their convention this past week.

Here we go.

Let’s hold on — with both hands — for what looks like will be a wild ride to the finish.

national news, political news

Democrats channel The Gipper

BBuYGTG

I can almost hear the phrase that it’s “morning in America.”

Yes, that well might be the Democrats’ mantra as they plow through the final day of their presidential nominating convention.

“Morning in America.” That was the theme of President Reagan’s re-election campaign in 1984. Democrats sought to paint the country in dark and frightening terms. They failed. Reagan won in a 49-state landslide.

What a change in roles, a reversal of what we’ve seen for so many years.

It’s been Republicans who’ve stood next to The Flag, who’ve spoken to Americans’ basic love of country. This year? That role belongs to the Democrats, who are countering Republican nominee Donald J. Trump’s dark portrait of the country he seeks to lead.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/for-trump-and-clinton-a-partisan-role-reversal-on-the-state-of-the-nation/2016/07/28/2cd6a51e-54de-11e6-b7de-dfe509430c39_story.html?postshare=9371469750811484&tid=ss_tw

Democrats are about to hear from their presidential nominee, Hillary Rodham Clinton, as they adjourn their convention and hit the campaign trail to wage political battle with Trump and the Republicans.

She’ll speak to her steadiness. She is likely to remind us of some of the statements that have come from Trump — such as how our military is a “disaster,” how our leaders are “stupid,” how the country is lost, desperate, despairing.

I am pretty sure we’re going to hear something quite different tonight from Clinton, who’ll echo the sentiments expressed for the past three days from those who’ve said that America is “still the greatest nation the world has ever known.”

Don’t you remember when Democrats bemoaned our future? Don’t you recall the Republican rejoinder? It was that the nation’s “best days are ahead.” Well, this campaign is going demonstrate how the roles have switched.

Democrats can thank Donald Trump for their resurgence and uninhibited joy they now are able to express about their country.

I guess the question that we’ll get answered once this year’s ballots are counted is whether Americans see their country as a dark place of doom we heard from Republicans or whether they have embraced the optimism and hope we’re hearing from Democrats.

national news, political news

Democrats do their job … on both fronts

BBuYGTG

Presidential nominating conventions historically aim to do two things.

They seek to paint their nominee as more qualified than the other party’s nominee and they seek to illustrate why the other guy is the wrong choice for the country.

It must be said: The Democratic National Convention — to my ears — as accomplished its mission.

The Democrats brought out the all-stars Wednesday night to do their job.

Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, is unfit for the job he seeks. You heard it time and time and time again from the big hitters in the heart of the Democrats’ lineup.

Former Defense Secretary and CIA Director Leon Panetta said Trump has no plan to make us safe; Vice President Joe Biden reminded listeners that Trump has always put himself first; vice-presidential nominee Tim Kaine wondered out loud whether Trump is hiding anything by refusing to release his tax returns.

Perhaps the big surprise was that former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a self-described independent and billionaire businessman, told us how Trump parlayed his inheritance into a business that has resulted in repeated failure.

Then came the cleanup hitter, President Barack Obama, who well might have given the speech of his political career as he tore into Trump, reminding voters that Americans comprise a nation of people who don’t want to be “ruled.” The country is a family of achievers, believers and optimists, he said. The darkness and dystopia painted by Trump and the Republicans have no basis in reality.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/winners-and-losers-from-the-third-night-of-the-democratic-convention/ar-BBuYgTk?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp

Oh, and then the big hitters turned their love toward Hillary Clinton.

And it was Obama who told the cheering crowd that no candidate ever has been more qualified to serve as president than the party’s newest presidential nominee. Her husband, the 42nd president, cheered right along with the rest of them.

Political conventions often in recent times have turned in snooze fests. Not this year. Both of them generated their share of excitement, unpredictability and tension.

Trump got a decent bounce out of his GOP convention. It’s Clinton’s turn now to wait to see how the public responds to her event.

Her task tonight, though, is h-u-u-u-g-e.

She’s got to follow the president of the United States.

national news, political news

Trump’s dark picture turns on beacon for Democrats

Biden-1

Vice President Joe Biden just finished speaking to the Democratic National Convention crowd.

I now shall echo something that MSNBC’s Chris Matthews just said about Biden’s speech. It is that Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump’s dark, foreboding and gloomy picture of America has given Democrats license to yell “USA! USA!” at their national convention.

It’s “cool to be corny,” said Matthews, who added that Trump has “opened the door” for Democrats to cheer their country.

What does all — or any — of this mean to the outcome of the election?

I haven’t a clue.

All of what we’re hearing tonight and likely Thursday at the DNC is that the nation that Republicans have described — a country in decline, with a military that’s a “disaster” — is one that I do not recognize.

national news, political news

Heed this guy Kristol, Democrats

kristol

William Kristol doesn’t want Donald J. Trump to be president of the United States.

The founder of the Weekly Standard conservative publication has been at the forefront of the Never Trump movement. He’s a neo-conservative ally of the Bush family and is a former chief of staff to Vice President Dan Quayle.

It’s with that backdrop that I offer his warning to Democrats: Do not take Trump lightly.

I don’t know if he’s singing Trump’s praises or is seeking to gin up Democratic Party enthusiasm behind their nominee, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Kristol told Politico: “She’s up like 5 points over Trump, who has made all these mistakes and he has more room to grow, I think, because he could reassure people if he runs a semi-intelligent, semi-normal campaign, whereas what’s she going to do? I mean, there’s no reintroduction of Hillary Clinton that could be possibly be made at this point, I think.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/bill-kristol-democrats-trump-226089#ixzz4FdvbzfvU

My hunch is that Clinton’s team and the Democratic Party brass has no intention of taking Trump lightly as they commence their campaign this fall.

Still, it doesn’t hurt to hear such advice from someone on the other side who, truth be told, is a sort of closeted ally.

As Politico reported: “Kristol, like most mainstream Republicans, underestimated Trump badly and assumed he would burn off like a bottom-shelf casino hangover and reason would prevail.”

So far, though, reason hasn’t yet prevailed in the Republican Party, as Trump’s nomination for president has shown. It’s that lack of reason, in my view, which should give Democrats reason to go full-bore after the GOP nominee.