Tag Archives: Donald Trump

political news

Trump won’t apologize? Shocking, I’m tellin’ ya

Donald Trump says he won’t apologize for denigrating John McCain’s service during the Vietnam War.

He won’t say he’s sorry for telling an audience in Iowa that McCain’s status as a war hero is “only because he was captured. I prefer people who weren’t captured.”

He won’t take back the statement that has offended other military veterans — not to mention those who also were captured by enemy forces and subjected to torture, not just in Vietnam but in all wars dating back to World War II.

This digging in by Trump perhaps might the most unsurprising aspect of the firestorm that has erupted on the 2016 presidential campaign trail.

You see, to apologize means that the person doing the apologizing needs to feel shame for what he or she said.

Donald Trump is shameless to the max. His sole purpose in making outrageous statements is to get people talking about him.

I consider Trump to be a political buffoon and an embarrassment to the Republican Party, whose presidential nomination he’s seeking.

However, I do not think he’s a stupid man. I am quite certain he knows precisely what he’s saying and he expects precisely the reaction he gets when he says these things.

Should he take back what he said about Sen. McCain — the GOP’s 2008 presidential nominee? Of course he should.

First, though, he’s got to reveal some shame.

I do not expect him to do that. Neither should anyone else.

political news

This is when Donald Trump’s candidacy died

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Mark it down.

The weekend of July 18-19 is when Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy came to a screeching halt.

That’s the good news.

The bad news — which in reality is good news — is that (a) he doesn’t realize it, (b) he’ll refuse to realize it and (c) he’ll stay the course for as long as he can.

Trump decided to self-immolate his campaign by declaring to a conservative audience that he preferred U.S. military veterans “who weren’t captured.” That was his inimitable way of denigrating the heroic service of another Republican presidential candidate, 2008 GOP nominee John McCain.

Sen. McCain, of course, was captured by North Vietnam when his plane was shot down in 1967. He suffered grievous injuries, which weren’t treated properly his captors.

He spent more than five years in captivity. He came out in 1973, along with hundreds of other POWs, after the United States agreed to a negotiated end to the Vietnam War.

Trump, though, didn’t serve in the military. He got those deferments, allowing the war to swallow up millions of other young Americans.

He didn’t have a chance in hell of being nominated by the Republican Party, let alone getting elected as the 45th president of the United States.

This latest bit of verbal excess just seals the deal.

If his chance of nominated was next to nil before, it’s now really at — or below — that level today.

But, heck, don’t drop out, Donald. Some of your GOP foes think you’ve disgraced yourself enough. Get out, man, they’re imploring him.

Stay in, Donald. Another fellow GOP candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, thinks The Donald deserves to be heard. I do, too.

However, he’s going to find it harder and harder to get his message heard above the laughter — and the boos.

media news, political news

Yes, John McCain is a hero

I think I’ve officially heard all there is to hear.

Of all the things that have poured out of Donald Trump’s mouth, he finally said more than most Americans can handle.

He actually said that U.S. Sen. John McCain does not qualify as a war hero. He really and truly denigrated the service McCain performed for his country.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/donald-trump-attack-on-john-mccain-war-record-is-new-low-in-us-politics/ar-AAdbgjc

Is there anything that Trump will not declare off limits? Has this political buffoon said enough?

I am not a political fan of Sen. McCain. I do not like his world view. I didn’t vote for him when he ran for president in 2008. But as God himself is my witness, I truly admire this man’s service. I consider him to be a heroic figure.

And for Trump to ignite the firestorm that he’s ignited through utterly careless musings about someone who — in what passes for his political judgment — criticized him for earlier statements, well, that goes so far beyond the pale it defies Americans’ ability to express their rage in harsh enough terms.

Not only that … yes, there’s more, Trump did not serve in our nation’s military. He obtained student deferments during the Vietnam War. By my standard, Trump qualifies as a “chicken hawk,” who has zero standing to comment on someone who did serve — and did so with remarkable valor and, oh yeah, heroism.

McCain never has leaned on his service during the Vietnam War to promote a political cause. He was shot down over Hanoi in 1967; he suffered serious injuries as he parachuted into a lake in the middle of the city. He was taken captive, thrown into a cell, beaten nearly to death, suffered other forms of torture. He was placed into solitary confinement, brought out, beaten and tortured some more and then returned to solitary.

He was given a chance for an early release as a POW; the North Vietnamese thought they could get political mileage out of releasing young McCain early, as his father was a senior naval officer who helped shape U.S. war policy in Vietnam. McCain declined to be released. His payback for refusal? More torture.

That doesn’t qualify him as a hero?

Donald Trump has lost his marbles.

Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, another GOP presidential candidate and an Air Force veteran, said Trump’s attack on McCain is a “new low in American politics” and demanded that Trump “immediately withdraw from the race for president.”

Aww, heck. Trump ought to stay in the race — and keep shooting off his mouth.

International news, national news

Better take a hard look at border security, eh?

Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez is accused of killing Kate Steinle in a horrific act of random violence.

It happened in San Francisco, a “sanctuary city.”

Lopez-Sanchez was in this country illegally. What’s worse — and a lot worse, at that — is that he’d been deported four times, sent back to Mexico. His fifth illegal re-entry resulted in Steinle’s shooting death.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/07/15/immigration-sanctuary-shooting-steinle-lopez-sanchez-editorials-debates/30100967/

This case has resonated on several levels, each of which is worthy of comment.

First, there must be some head-knocking occurring at Immigration and Naturalization Service, Border Patrol and Homeland Security offices. How in the world does someone keep getting into this country after getting caught and deported multiple times?

Second, it is time to re-examine this whole concept of “sanctuary city,” which is aimed at giving immigrants a way to avoid being captured by federal immigration authorities. As USA Today said in an editorial: “San Francisco is one of nearly 300 cities and counties across the country with sanctuary laws or policies aimed at separating federal immigration enforcement from local policing, in order to build trust between immigrant communities and local police. The reasoning goes like this: If immigrants, including millions of undocumented ones, see local police officers as a tool for deportation, they will not report crimes or come forward as witnesses, even when they are victims, and public safely will suffer.”

That reasoning did not work in this tragic case.

Third, President Barack Obama has been oddly silent about Steinle’s death. Why is that, Mr. President? Your critics make a valid point that you should be leading the nation in mourning the death of a young woman whose life was taken by someone who shouldn’t have been here in the first place.

Am I going to join the Donald Trump amen chorus in implying that most illegal immigrants are here to commit the kind of act that Lopez-Sanchez is accused of committing? Not on your life.

But the system failed us badly. A young woman’s family is grieving. A nation needs answers.

media news

Dylan Ratigan … I have found you!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGvhR_6iTuY&list=PLPVve34yolHZgq75xDfZtni_xDubfmbcy&index=1

Do you remember a guy named Dylan Ratigan?

He used to have a talk show on MSNBC. He’s not a flaming liberal, which is what conservatives say about MSBNC’s talking heads. He’s more of, um, an equal-opportunity critic. During the financial crisis of late 2008 and early 2009, he coined the term “banksters” to describe the financial geniuses who got the country into the mess it found itself.

Ratigan had his show. Then he was gone.

I’ve been missing the guy ever since.

Well, I recently located a YouTube link with some snippets of Ratigan’s rants. They’re called “The Real Ratigan.”

The link is attached to this blog post.

One of the segments mentions how Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are the only two of the current crop of presidential candidates who tell us what’s in their hearts and on their minds. They don’t give us “poll-tested talking points.”

He likes that about both men.

I wish Ratigan would be a tad more visible and more in demand as a “contributor” to whichever network is willing to have this guy share his views on politics, policy and the state of affairs in the United States.

political news

Trump once praised ‘universal health care,’ too

Here’s a quick addendum to an earlier blog post.

I mentioned how Donald Trump had flipped-flopped on a number of positions.

I forgot to mention his views on universal health care.

‘Meet the Press’ tracks Trump’s flip-flops

He used to favor universal health care; now he opposes it, particularly in the form of the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

I get that pols occasionally change their minds. President Obama used to oppose gay marriage; he now supports it. Secretary of State John Kerry voted for authorization to go to war in Iraq before he opposed it.

But check out the link from today’s “Meet the Press” segment attached to this post about The Donald.

Pretty amazing … in my oh-so-humble view.

political news

Trump: flip-flopper extraordinaire

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LAS VEGAS, NV - APRIL 28: Chairman and President of the Trump Organization Donald Trump yells 'you're fired' after speaking to several GOP women's group at the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino April 28, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Trump has been testing the waters with stops across the nation in recent weeks and has created media waves by questioning whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)

Donald Trump’s true identity might be a little harder to determine than we thought.

“Meet the Press” today took note of some important changes in Trump’s political evolution.

* He used to be “pro-choice” on abortion. He said in 1999 that he detested abortion, but insisted that obtaining one should be the woman’s prerogative. Today? “I’m pro-life,” he says.

* Trump once said that he admires and likes Hillary Rodham Clinton; he also expressed affection for her husband, former President Bill Clinton. He now calls her the “worst secretary of state in the nation’s history.” He probably speaks differently of the former president as well.

* The Donald once said that Barack Obama was a man of considerable accomplishment. These days he says the president is feckless and has been a disaster.

Those are just three examples.

The Republican Party presidential candidate needs to explain himself. Trust me on this: His Republican opponents are going to be ready to pounce. If hell freezes over and he gets the GOP nomination next summer, well, just wait until the Democrats get him in their sights.

national news, political news

Goldberg gets it about The Donald

Donald Trump is taking fire not just from liberals but from conservatives.

Amazing, if you ask me.

OK, you didn’t ask, but I’ll offer my opinion anyway.

The latest broadside comes from Jonah Goldberg, who I consider to be one of the better, smarter conservative pundits around. I always enjoy reading his world view, even though I generally disagree with it.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/421045/donald-trump-fraud

But where it regards The Donald, well, young Jonah is on point. You need to read his essay here. If you’re in the right frame of mind, as I happened to be when I read, you’ll laugh out loud. No kidding!

Here’s a tiny bit of what he wrote:

“… what I find so gaudy about Trump is his constant reference to the fact that he made a lot of money, and his expectation that it somehow makes him immune to criticism or means that he’s a better person than his GOP competitors, never mind yours truly.”

I’ve already taken note of Trump’s continual references to how rich he is. Some of my own critics have wondered if I’m envious of his wealth. No. I’m not.

His yammering about his wealth — which some have suggested isn’t nearly as immense as he says it is — simply drives me crazy. One more tidbit from Goldberg: “He’s a bore who overcompensates for his insecurities by talking about how awesome he is, often in the third person. Jonah can’t stand that.”

And yet, in this wacky world of ours, his boastfulness is getting traction by those who think it all translates into leadership.

Another key point in Goldberg’s essay is how thin-skinned Trump is, how he bristles at criticism. Trump has fired back at his critics, such as Goldberg, which puzzles the young columnist, who wondered why someone who considers himself to be “master of the Universe” would get upset anything anyone said about him.

We’ve clearly entered a new age, or perhaps been transported without our knowledge into a parallel political universe.

The behavior that The Donald is exhibiting is precisely the kind of thing that in another time would have resulted in his being laughed off the political stage. The prancing and preening he does would be grist for ridicule from serious politicians.

These days they’re taking this guy seriously.

And with good reason. The Donald is at or near the top of every public opinion poll of Republican voters.

I believe Jonah Goldberg has a point: The Donald’s fans need an intervention.

political news

What? I’m sticking up for Ted Cruz?

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) gestures as the key speaker at the annual Reagan Republican Dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday, October 25, 2013. (David Peterson/MCT via Getty Images)

I’m feeling oddly out of sorts these days.

Why? Well, I’m feeling a bit of sympathy for a patently unsympathetic politician: U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

Readers of this blog know that I do not intend to vote for Sen. Cruz for president of the United States. But two things have happened in recent weeks that make me want to stand with him.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/ted-cruz-feud-new-york-times-119981.html?hp=t4_r

He’s now feuding with the New York Times over the paper’s refusal to include his new memoir, “A Time for Truth,” on its list of best-selling books. It’s selling like crazy, being scarfed up from book shelves by supporters who want to read the junior senator’s words of wisdom and how he intends to rescue the United States of America.

Cruz and his allies say the NYT snub is pure partisanship. The liberal publication won’t give this conservative pol the time of day, let alone list his memoir on its vaunted best-seller list.

Cruz’s feud is going win him more friends on the right. I won’t join his campaign, but it does seem a bit churlish on the Times’s part to exclude him from the best-seller list.

The second aspect involves The Donald, who’s bringing up the “birther” controversy all over again. Sen. Cruz is the target this time. Donald Trump said that because Cruz was born in Canada, he’s not qualified to serve as president. “Natural-born citizen,” in Trump’s mind, means he a candidate must be born in the U.S.; that’s how he interprets the Constitution.

Trump is wrong.

Cruz’s mother is an American citizen. That grants him U.S. citizenship by birth. Cruz could have been born on Mars — which is where I sometimes think is Trump’s place of birth — and he still would be qualified to run for and serve as president in the highly unlikely event he is elected next year.

Trump tried to pull the birther stunt on Barack Obama, even though the president actually was born in Hawaii. He’s at it once again with Cruz.

Hey, I’m just trying to be fair here. I might dislike Cruz’s philosophy and don’t want him elected president of the United States. However, I know mistreatment when I see it. Cruz is getting a bum deal from the New York Times.

As for the birther crap that comes from Donald Trump’s pie hole, well … enough said on that.

political news

The Donald presents so many avenues of disgust

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DonladTrumpHair

There’s so much to detest about Donald Trump.

I almost don’t where to begin.

His anti-immigrant rant? As the grandson of immigrants — yes, legal immigrants — I was appalled at his description of Mexicans as “rapists, drug dealers and murders,” and “oh, yes, some good ones.”

How about his birther stance? He still thinks President Obama was born in a foreign country, despite having an American mother, which qualifies him for the office he’s held for nearly two full terms. Now he’s going after Ted Cruz, who actually was born in another country, but his mother is an American as well.

I’m beginning to settle on one aspect of Trump I find most annoying. It’s his insistence that he’s “really rich.”

He brags about it. He boasts of all the money he has. He seeks to parlay that good fortune into what he’d do as president, which is create jobs. “I’m a great job creator,” he says.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/dump-on-trump-119932.html?hp=lc1_4

How do you suppose his boasting about wealth is going to play to the very people he wants to win over if he is to have a prayer of being nominated by the Republican Party, let alone elected president of the United States? My guess is that it won’t play well — at all.

He’s going to brag on TV about his wealth. Imagine being a single parent, struggling to make ends meet. You’ve got several children who need food, clothing and shelter. You can barely provide any of that. And then you’re going to hear someone who wants to become your president keep bragging about his material wealth, about all those tall buildings that have his name on them, all his bling, glitter.

How does that make you feel?

I’m a middle-class guy. I’ve had a nice life. My wife and I don’t need too much to consider ourselves successful.

All that boasting makes me crazy!

He’s going after his fellow GOP candidates. They’re returning fire aggressively, as are the Democratic candidates.

I will await with great anticipation the first Republican presidential joint appearance to see how The Donald handles the blistering he’s going to get.

From now on, though, shut up with the “I’m really rich” crap, OK, Donald?