Tag Archives: Donald Trump

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‘Smart’ to avoid paying taxes? OK, how do we fix what’s wrong?

tax-return-form

Thomas Friedman asks “How could we?” elect someone who says things he says.

The New York Times columnist, naturally, is referring to Donald J. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee who keeps spouting rhetoric that’s either ridiculous, false, ludicrous … or all of it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/opinion/trump-how-could-we.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

Let me focus on one of the statements Trump has uttered that makes no sense at all.

Friedman writes: “How do we put in the Oval Office a man who boasts that he tries to pay zero federal taxes but then complains that our airports and roads are falling apart and there is not enough money for our veterans?”

Yes, Trump has bragged about how he uses tax laws to his benefit … even though he denies saying it. He denied saying it Monday night — when the entire nation heard him say it into a microphone that was working quite nicely.

So, does he suggest that while he works to avoid paying taxes that others are to foot the bill to fix all those infrastructure things he says are falling apart?

Veterans’ care? Who pays for that if Trump seeks to avoid shouldering the tax bill required to give veterans the health care they need?

Hmmm. Well, as a veteran myself, I believe I now shall express my personal disgust and revulsion at what Trump has said about whether he’s going to pay his fair share of taxes.

Is it smart? Well, I guess so if you’re just a rich guy. It’s pretty damn stupid, though, for someone who is running for president of the United States of America.

national news, political news

Trump on fatness: Kettle, meet pot

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Donald J. Trump keeps talking about  other people’s weight.

The Republican presidential nominee is quick to criticize women particularly. Fat pigs, large posteriors, those kinds of things.

OK, I am very leery of mentioning this here, given that I do not possess a GQ model’s physique.

Then again, neither does Trump.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/donald-trump%e2%80%99s-weight-problem-he-can%e2%80%99t-stop-talking-about-%e2%80%98fat%e2%80%99-people/ar-BBwKT8z?li=BBnb7Kz

It’s this kind of insensitivity and utter lack of self-awareness that drives me crazy about this guy, Trump.

How on God’s Earth does this clown get away with obsessing over others’ physical appearance? How does he get away with ridiculing others’ appearance? How can his supporters continue to give him a pass for this kind of ghastly personal behavior?

national news, political news

Trump takes low road while seeking high road

ClintonTrump-Split_jpg_800x1000_q100

Donald J. Trump sought — in yet another awkward pronouncement — to make nice with Hillary Rodham Clinton by saying he could have said something “very negative” about his opponent. He chose not to that. I guess he wanted us to believe that he is such an oh, so decent human being.

The Republican presidential nominee’s comments came during the joint appearance at Hofstra University.

Afterward, he told reporters that he was referring to Bill Clinton’s marital infidelity. He said “Chelsea was in the room” and he didn’t want to make her feel uncomfortable.

So, there you have it.

Trump said during the event he showed restraint; then he told reporters later — on the record — precisely to what he was referring.

He chose not to say something, then he said it.

It reminds me of when then-Sen. Walter Mondale was asked during the 1976 presidential campaign whether Watergate would be an issue in the contest between Democrat Jimmy Carter and Republican President Gerald R. Ford.

“No,” said the Democratic vice-presidential nominee with a huge smile, “I am not going to mention President Ford’s pardon of Richard Nixon.”

That is the disgraceful non-denial route that Donald Trump is taking these days.

national news, political news

When in doubt, go with your gut

vote1

A young friend of mine is going to vote this year for the first time in her life.

She is 23 years of age. She is torn over this election. Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump? After visiting with her for a few minutes Tuesday, I concluded she is likely to vote for Trump.

But she said something I want to share here.

My friend said she is reluctant to vote for anyone without knowing all there is to know about the candidates, their views on public policy, their philosophy or their world view.

“I just don’t know what to do,” she said.

Her biggest concern about Clinton? Benghazi. My friend believes Clinton was responsible for the deaths that occurred there during that fire fight on Sept. 11, 2012. We tussled a bit over what Hillary knew in the moment, what she should have known and what she could have done to prevent it.

I told her later I’ve been voting for president since 1972. I cast my first vote that year with great pride and anticipation. That vote — the first one — still means more to me than all the other ballots I’ve cast.

“I voted for the guy who lost … big time,” I told her, “but it meant a great deal to me.”

When in doubt, I ended up telling my friend, “go with your gut.”

It doesn’t really matter that voters get their arms around every detail of every issue. All that matters, in my view, is that they feel comfortable in their own gut and heart with the choice they make.

national news, political news

How do you define a presidential ‘look’?

Donald-Trump-Bad-Hair-Photo-1

NBC News’s Lester Holt sought an answer Monday night to something that Donald J. Trump had said about Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Trump had declared that Clinton doesn’t have “the look” to be president, Holt said. What did he mean?

The Republican nominee then said he meant to say “stamina.” Democratic nominee Clinton, of course, beat his brains out with her response about her stamina near the end of the 90-minute joint appearance at Hofstra University.

Back to the “look” issue.

I have to ask: What does a president look like?

I believe I know what the “look” issue is meant to convey. It’s all about Clinton’s gender. To suggest it means anything other than a sexist attack on a candidate is to commit yet another lie.

Stamina? Let’s not go there, either.

If presidents these days are supposed to have some kind of mysterious “look,” then Trump needs to define it for us.

Well, Donald? Do you have the “look”?

national news, political news

‘Hillary is an accomplished debater’

donald-trump-flickr-cc

This will surprise no one, but I’ll mention it anyway.

The Texas Panhandle — the unofficial Ground Zero of the state’s Republican Party — is full of voters who are going to cast their ballots for Donald J. Trump for president of the United States in just 41 days.

I know a few of them. They’re friends of mine.

One of them sought to spin their guy’s miserable debate performance last night this way: “Hillary Clinton clearly is an accomplished debater. Trump? Well, he’s not.”

So, there you have it. Clinton’s debating skills won the day over Trump.

I told my friend that the issue wasn’t just debate experience. It was, indeed, that knowledge and preparation are essential for anyone who seeks to become commander in chief, head of state and president of the greatest country on Earth.

Trump was profoundly unprepared to deal with Clinton’s knowledge. That he spun off into those ridiculous riffs about President Obama’s place of birth and his attack on a former Miss Universe only proved beyond a doubt that this guy does not have the focus, discipline and — intellectual stamina — to compete head-to-head with the former secretary of state.

The most graphic irony of the 90-minute encounter last night to my eyes and ears clearly was that the candidate whose “stamina” has been questioned by Trump and the Republicans was the one who maintained her cool and composure.

Donald Trump was the one who ran out of gas in the final 15 minutes. His incoherence was quite startling.

Did this debate change any minds among voters? Oh, probably not. As my wife noted, Trump has been saying these outrageous things all along, but those GOP primary voters keep hanging with the Republican nominee.

Trump is now blaming the microphone and the “unfair” questions posed by moderator Lester Holt of NBC News for his utterly miserable performance in front of tens of millions of Americans.

Oh, boy.

national news, political news

Trump’s unfitness on full display … in front of us all

clinton-and-trump

I watched Hillary Rodham Clinton and Donald J. Trump duke it out last night … and then went to bed.

I slept well and awoke this morning fairly refreshed for the new day — and comfortable in the belief that Trump never will be elected president of the United States of America.

You know about my bias. The Republican candidate for president — in my view — is the most singularly unqualified person ever nominated to seek the highest office in America.

By golly, he demonstrated his unfitness in front of tens of millions of Americans.

Here is Washington Post columnist Jonathan Capehart’s review of what we saw. https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/09/27/donald-trump-bombs-on-the-ultimate-reality-tv-show/?utm_term=.0423edc88f7f

Capehart and I are on the same ideological page. I just want to share it with you because he summarizes cleanly and with crisp precision the amazing spectacle that Trump provided.

His lack of preparation for this joint appearance was, in its way, breathtaking in the extreme.

We had heard how he had taken “unconventional” measures to prep for this event. There were no mock debates. He apparently didn’t read any briefing books or policy papers. No one coached him on how to behave when Clinton was answering the questions posed by moderator Lester Holt.

He calls himself a “great negotiator” who will fix flawed trade deals and will persuade our allies to pay their fair share for their own defense?

Give … me … a … break!

The occasionally raucous affair last night served as a precursor for the two additional presidential encounters awaiting Clinton and Trump.

Will the GOP nominee be any better prepared for Nos. 2 and 3? Well, he had a lot of time to get ready for the first one.

He didn’t bother, which tells me all I need to know about whether he’s ready for the most important job on Earth.

national news, political news

Yes, Hillary hits it out of the park

clinton-trump-debate

I have no idea what the public opinion polls are going to do in the wake of what has just ended at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.

But what I saw — and I’ll admit my bias up front — is a serious manhandling of Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump by his Democratic opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Trump lost control of himself. He became, quite literally, incoherent as he talked about whether he supported or opposed the Iraq War, or about nuclear policy, or why he continued to promote the birther argument that Barack Obama isn’t a U.S. citizen.

Clinton? She was in control the entire way.

My favorite answer came to Trump’s assertion — which evaded the question from moderator Lester Holt — that Clinton lacked the “stamina” to be president. Her response was to suggest that if Trump can travel to 112 countries and subject himself to 11 hours of congressional testimony — as she had done — then he could talk about stamina.

This first encounter was testy in the extreme. My guess is that the next two of them are going to become progressively more so.

Bring out the brass knuckles.

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Arnie’s death somehow overshadows that other event

arnold-palmer

I’m feeling strange this afternoon.

My intention had been to focus on tonight’s presidential joint appearance between Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton and Republican Donald J. Trump.

Yes, I know what you’re thinking. I’m a political geek/nerd/junkie. I love this stuff. I cannot help myself.

My plan was to get myself psyched up — so to speak — for the 90-minute made-for-TV special. No commercials, too! How about that?

Then the sad news broke yesterday. Arnold Palmer died at 87 in a Pittsburgh hospital.

Arnie was gone! He was one of my all-time favorite pro athletes. I agonized with him when he lost big golf tournaments. I cheered when he won them. I loved watching him smash a golf ball with that self-taught, non-textbook style of his.

I had the pleasure of meeting him once, in 1981, at a golf tournament in Orlando, Fla. He was past his golfing prime by then. That didn’t matter to those of us gathered around the practice tee to shake his hand and get his autograph, both of which he delivered with a smile and some brief small talk.

I keep reading the tributes from his peers, his golfing descendants, the reporters who covered him.

They sadden me. In this vague, unexplainable way I always thought Arnold Palmer was indestructible.

Well, he wasn’t.

So I’m going to watch this Clinton-Trump verbal slugfest tonight. However, I’m expecting to struggle to stay focused on what these two politicians say to — and about — each other.