Tag Archives: Donald Trump

Perry drops out of campaign

Texas Governor Rick Perry made his final appearance (in office) at a Texas GOP convention on Thursday, June 6,2014 in Fort Worth, Texas. (David Woo/The Dallas Morning News)

And then there were 16.

OK, it doesn’t sound much different from 17, which was the number of Republicans seeking to become president of the United States.

Today, though, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry “suspended” his campaign. He’s out of money, out of staff, out of momentum.

“When I gave my life to Christ, I said ‘your ways are greater than my ways, your will superior to mine,’” Perry said in a speech in Missouri. “Today I submit that His will remains a mystery, but some things have become clear. That is why today I am suspending my campaign for the presidency of the United States.”

It wasn’t supposed to be this way for the one-time Texas political juggernaut. He said he’d learned his lessons from his short-lived and disastrous 2012 GOP primary campaign. He just didn’t figure out how to cope with all the other who outflanked him on the right — which is tough to do, given Gov. Perry’s own conservative credentials.

But they did. And, of course, a guy named Trump has sucked all the air out of the proverbial room.

Perry’s out

You probably think I’m crying crocodile tears over Perry’s departure. OK, maybe a tear or two are of croc variety. But I am disappointed he didn’t do better this time out.

I believe in redemption and I hoped Perry could redeem himself from that hideous “oops” moment four years ago.

It isn’t meant to be.

As for his “suspending” a campaign, I wish political flacks could come up with another word for it. To “suspend” something connotes a temporary condition.

Hey, here’s another way he could have said it: I quit.

Has Trump done it now … finally?

Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, speaks at CPAC in National Harbor, Md., on Feb. 26, 2015.

Just about the time I think Donald Trump has made the single public utterance that dooms his campaign, the polls surprise me.

He’s been brash, tasteless and thoughtless. He’s crossed so many lines of good behavior, it’s as if those lines never existed in the first place.

The latest, though?

He made fun of a fellow Republican presidential candidate’s appearance. The other person also happens to be the only woman running in the GOP primary field, Carly Fiorina.

He talked about Fiorina’s face and asked “Would you vote for that?” Trump said the next day or so that he was referring to her “persona.”

Sure, Donald.

I learned long ago, perhaps when I was a boy, that there are two aspects about someone that are off-limits: their name and their appearance.

I got kidded a lot as a kid about my name. It’s an ethnic name and some folks found it hard to pronounce. So, they’d poke fun at my name. I didn’t get it a lot, but I got ribbed about it some of the time.

As for my appearance, if my fellow junior high or high school pukes made fun of my looks, they did so behind my back.

If Trump — the GOP “front runner” in this presidential campaign — can get away with saying what he said about Fiorina, well then I’m going to worry greatly about those who keep standing behind someone such as that who seeks to become the head of state and government and commander in chief of the world’s greatest nation.

This individual disgraced the presidential campaign a long time ago.

Trump dishes out another insult … poll standing to rise?

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Donald Trump has added another Republican presidential primary rival to his list of personal insult victims.

And, hey … it happens to be the only woman in the field of 17 GOP candidates.

On the receiving end of a Trump insult is Carly Fiorina. Trump decided to make fun of her physical appearance.

Look at that face,” Trump said. “Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?” Trump reportedly bellowed while watching his Republican presidential rival on the news. “I mean, she’s a woman, and I’m not s’posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?”

OK, here’s the point of this brief post: If the public response follows form, Trump well might see another spike in his poll numbers. That’s how it’s gone for this guy: He says something patently nasty, the victim of the barb responds … and Trump gets a poll boost.

My question now is this: What in the world has become of American voters, most notably Republican Party primary voters who think it’s all right to be personally insulting?

Doesn’t the Golden Rule apply any longer? Do we no longer seek to treat others the way we’d insist that they treat us?

And what about the notion among some of the more conservative voters out there that the United States is a “Christian nation” comprising people of deep faith who are committed to religious principles?

Are these same folks now going to applaud Donald Trump for tossing aside “political correctness”?

 

Trump: Military school was like serving in military

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Do you remember when Donald Trump chided Sen. John McCain for being captured during the Vietnam War?

He said that McCain is a “hero” only because he was taken prisoner by North Vietnam. “I like people that weren’t captured,” Trump said.

He did not know what he was talking about.

Now comes a biography about Trump in which he says that his enrollment in a pricey military prep school was just like serving in the military.

Here’s a flash for Trump: No. It’s not.

Trump got deferments throughout the Vietnam War, which in some circles would classify him as a “chicken hawk.” He was sent to New York Military Academy to correct some behavioral issues, according to the book titled “Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success.”

Did it work? Well, that might remain an open question.

But to suggest that a military school gives one the same training as the actual military is pure hooey.

Why? Because high school military cadets do not face the prospect of going to war upon completion. Therein lies arguably the difference between what Trump went through as a child and what actual war heroes — such as John McCain — went through upon graduation from one of the nation’s service academies.

It’s at best a stretch to equate one’s military school upbringing to what actual soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines went through.

Actual veterans — notably some of us who actually went to war while Trump sat it out — well might take offense at what they’ll read when “Never Enough” hits the book shelves later this month.

 

 

Conservative talk show host finds friends on the left

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Hugh Hewitt is feuding with Donald Trump.

Hewitt is a well-known and high-demand conservative radio host. Trump, well, I’m guessing you know who he is.

An interesting back story may be developing here as Hewitt and Trump duke it out rhetorically. It is that Hewitt is finding new friends and allies — in the liberal media.

Trump’s description of Hewitt as a “third-rate radio announcer” came after Trump fluffed a question from Hewitt over his knowledge of an Iranian terror group leader. Hewitt said he wasn’t asking a “gotcha” question, but Trump said he did exactly that.

Hewitt isn’t a fly-by-night right-wing blowhard. He’s a savvy political analyst. He also is one of the go-to guys among conservative mainstream media talkers.

Now, though, he’s finding allies among those in the other conservative media outlets — those that tilt to the left. They’re taking up for Hewitt and defending him, just as many of them have defended Fox News’s Megyn Kelly in her feud with Trump.

Come to think of it, I’ve been defending them, too.

I’m proud to stand with them.

 

Speak ‘American,’ Sarah? Really?

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I do enjoy listening on occasion to Sarah “Half-Term Governor” Palin as she tries to make sense of what’s being said along the campaign trail.

She recently stood behind Donald Trump’s criticism of Jeb Bush for speaking Spanish to a crowd of supporters. Bush’s wife is Mexican and the Republican presidential candidate is fluent in the language.

Trump said Bush should emphasize that English is the preferred language in this country.

Then came Palin, who wanted to weigh in.

“It’s a benefit of Bush to be able to be so fluent, because we have a large and wonderful Hispanic population building America, and that’s a great connection he has with them,” Palin said. “On the other hand, I think we can send a message and say, ‘You want to be in America, A, you’d better be here legally or you’re out of here. B, when you’re here, let’s speak American.”

She seemed to catch herself, saying a moment later that Americans need to speak English.

Still, does she take strenuous issue with those who prefer to speak, umm, Mexican?

Let’s all speak American

Show us the money, Donald

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Tom Brokaw had it exactly right this morning while discussing the appeal of Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy among Republican voters.

The time for “bombast” is over, said the veteran NBC-TV newsman during a discussion on “Meet the Press.” Trump needs to provide detail, he said.

For example, according to Brokaw, Trump needs to explain specifically how much it’s going to cost the country to deport 11 million illegal immigrants.

Then he said that as a successful real estate mogul, “He’d throw someone out of his office” if an individual came to him with a great real estate deal — but had no numbers to back it up.

Republican voters, Brokaw believes, might be ready to demand that Trump “show us the money.”

 

One’s own words taste badly

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Have you ever noticed that the taste of your own words is, well, quite bitter?

You want to spit them back. But you can’t. You have to ingest them and they sit in the pit of your stomach like the proverbial rock.

I’m having to do some of that these days as I look upon the Republican Party presidential field and wonder: How is it that Donald Trump remains such a commanding figure in that field?

I made a prediction earlier this summer that I am now having to choke down.

  • I said Trump’s campaign had ended effectively after he denigrated John McCain’s Vietnam War service and the heroism he demonstrated while being held as a prisoner of war for more than five years.

“I like people who aren’t captured, OK?” Trump said.

It was tasteless.

What happened then? His poll numbers went up!

  • Then came the GOP joint appearance with nine other candidates. Fox News’s Megyn Kelly asked Trump to react to suggestions that he is anti-woman, that he’s made highly offensive remarks about women, calling them all kinds of unflattering names. “Only Rosie O’Donnell,” Trump said.

After the event, he went after Kelly, demanding she apologize to him. For what?  For asking a perfectly legitimate question?

That would doom his candidacy, or so I thought. Silly me. His poll standing went up even more.

  • He held a rally and started criticizing a close aide of Hillary Clinton and called her husband — former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner — a “perv” and a “world-class sleazebag.” Yes, Weiner — aka “Carlos Danger” — who sent images of his manhood to women other than his wife behaved in a disgusting manner.
  • Then he stumbled over a question from well-regarded conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt about the leader of a terrorist organization. He then accused Hewitt of tossing a “gotcha” question at him and went on TV the next morning to call Hewitt a “third-rate radio announcer.”

At every turn, Trump’s answers to problems have been shallow, callow and hollow. He has presented nothing — not a single thing — of substance.

But his poll numbers? They keep going up.

Yep, this might be the year when conventional wisdom — which usually requires some actual seriousness from candidates for the presidency of the United States is tossed aside.

That means folks like yours truly are going to choke on their own words. I’m tellin’ ya, they don’t go down well … at all.

 

 

 

Non-pols fare best among GOP faithful

Image #: 21630241    Dr. Benjamin Carson, director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, speaks to the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, March 16, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS HEALTH)       REUTERS /JONATHAN ERNST /LANDOV

As long as we keep talking about polls and their importance — or non-importance — allow me this brief observation.

Many commentators and analysts are suggesting that the top two Republican presidential primary candidates have one thing in common: They aren’t “career politicians.”

I refer to real estate mogul/reality TV star Donald Trump and esteemed neurosurgeon Ben Carson. They’re running first and second in most of the reputable polls.

Let’s not stop there. A third candidate also seems to be surging. The name? Carly Fiorina. Her background? Former CEO of Hewlitt-Packard. Fiorina, though, did run for the Senate in California, but she got thumped by Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer. However, Fiorina doesn’t talk about that on the stump; instead, she talks about her business acumen and the many personal acquaintances and friendships she has with foreign dignitaries and/or heads of state.

The rest of the GOP field is languishing in single digits. Their background? They’re all “career politicians.”

Some analysts have wondered when we can throw every bit of conventional political wisdom out the window.

That time might have just arrived.

Oh … my.

Trump shows again why he’s unfit for presidency

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump listens to a question at a news conference at Trump Tower, in New York, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015. Trump ruled out the prospect of a third-party White House bid and vowed to support the Republican Party's nominee, whoever it may be. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Donald Trump keeps doing and saying things that, in any normal political cycle, would signal the death knell to his presidential campaign.

Here’s the latest.

He went on Hugh Hewitt’s radio talk show. The two of them were talking about this and that. Then Hewitt — a savvy and smart radio commentator — asked Trump if he knew who name of the guy who lead the Qud movement in Iran. Trump said he thought Hewitt said “Kurds.” He didn’t know the name of Qasem Soleimani, the Qud leader.

Trump stumbles

OK, so then Trump stumbles on the question. He cannot name the terror leader. Then he blasts Hewitt for asking a “gotcha” question.

He  went on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” the next day and ripped into Hewitt, calling him a “third-rate radio announcer.” For the record, Hewitt is one of the go-to guys in conservative talk radio and is considered a highly credible interviewer; indeed, his show is a favorite for conservative candidates.

What does all this mean? It means Trump (a) needs to study current geopolitical relationships, (b) needs to stop impugning others’ integrity when he cannot answer questions on issues of the day and (c) needs to start assembling at least a modicum of detail to the answers others are seeking as he proclaims his ambition to “make America great again.”

This man cannot possibly be seen as a serious candidate for commander in chief, head of state, head of government and leader of the free world.

Somehow, though, he maintains that front runner status among Republican primary voters.

Which prompts me to ask: Have they lost their ever-lovin’ minds?