Tag Archives: Mexican government

Trump engages in another game of chicken

The president of the United States seems to have an addiction to the game of chicken.

He keeps throwing down challenges to those in the legislative branch of government to do his bidding … or else!

The latest or else is a big one.

Donald Trump wants Congress to provide money to build a wall along our southern border, or else he’s going to force a shutdown of the federal government. That’s right, the president of the United States is holding the entire federal government hostage to a political promise he made to voters en route to his being elected to the nation’s highest office.

This is a grotesque form of political extortion.

For starters, the president doesn’t possess unilateral authority to shut down the government. Congress plays a huge role here by appropriating money for public projects. If Congress chooses to increase the debt ceiling, for example, without setting aside wall construction money, the president can veto it — but then he risks being overridden by Congress.

The way I see it, members of Congress — particularly the Republican leaders who run the place — don’t like being dictated to by the president. They understand that Trump does not, which is that they share in the responsibility of governing the United States of America. They know what Trump doesn’t know, or refuses to know, or simply is too damn ignorant to figure it out.

I’ve long opposed construction of a “big, beautiful wall” along our border. It won’t prevent illegal immigration; there are myriad eminent domain issues to resolve; a wall won’t prevent illegal immigrants from tunneling beneath it.

And I need to point out, too, that a key part of Trump’s campaign promise to build the wall contained this provision: Mexico is going to pay for it! Mexican government officials say categorically, in plain English and Spanish, that they will not pay a nickel for the wall.

Now the president is going to foist the cost of this monstrosity on U.S. taxpayers, the very people he said he wouldn’t have to bear this burden? And if the wall isn’t included in congressional action, that he’s going to shut down the government and, thus, deny citizens access to services they might need?

I’m not issuing a medical diagnosis here … but the president is a loon.

Is ‘liar’ the worst political insult?

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 18:  Carly Fiorina, former CEO of the Hewlett-Packard Company, speaks at the Heritage Foundation December 18, 2014 in Washington, DC. Fiorina joined a panel discussion on the topic of "And Now for a Congressional Growth Agenda".  (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Let’s take a break from the Donald Trump blather.

I want to discuss Carly Fiorina, who I thought killed it at the GOP “undercard” debate Thursday night. My hope is that the former business mogul makes it to the A Team roster at the next Republican debate.

But she said something that’s worth exploring. She has called Democratic frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton a “liar.” She said Clinton has lied about what she knew at the time of the Benghazi attack in September 2012; she has lied about the email matter.

I was reminded a bit by a scene from one of my favorite films, “The Cowboys,” starring John Wayne.

In the scene, Wayne’s character crosses paths with a gang of cattle rustlers led by Bruce Dern, who tried to persuade The Duke that he and his men are experienced at driving cattle, which is what Wayne did with a bunch of youngsters. He tells Wayne that he worked with this and that rancher. But Wayne knows better and confronts Dern, telling him that one of the men he claimed to work for had died years earlier.

Dern then tries to back away from his false claim, telling Wayne that he had just gotten out of jail and was trying to turn his life around. “I don’t care about that,” Wayne tells him, “but what I can’t stand is a liar.”

He tells Dern and his men to beat it.

Calling someone a liar is about as serious as it gets. It speaks to the character of the individual who receives the accusation.

It can be hurtful if the individual who gets pegged as such believes he or she has been truthful. It’s no fun being hit with that term and believe me, I know how it can raise the hackles of those who receive the label.

I cannot predict how Carly Fiorina’s intensely personal attack on Hillary Clinton is going to play out. That was only one of the things she said during the debate this past week. I thought on the whole she acquitted herself very well and likely has risen to the front rank of GOP candidates.

And as John Heilmann said this morning on ABC News’s “This Week” talk show, given the talk about Trump and his recent statements about Megyn Kelly and all the attention that has come to him regading his views on women in general, it would be wise indeed to ensure that Fiorina is included in the next found of first team debaters.

As for the “liar” accusation, someone will need to press Fiorina on specific evidence she has that Clinton lied about Benghazi or the email controversy. This shouldn’t be the kind of accusation that gets flung out there without proof.

Perhaps she’ll do better at answering that question than Trump did when he was asked Thursday night to provide credible evidence that Mexico’s government is “sending” criminals into the United States.

Trump still in front … but only for now?

Of all the moments worth mentioning from Thursday night’s Republican Party Top 10 debate, one — in my mind — stands out dramatically.

It involves Fox News moderator Chris Wallace and, you guessed it, Donald Trump.

I give Wallace great credit for seeking a specific answer to a specific allegation that Trump has leveled at Mexico’s government, which is that the Mexican government is “sending” illegal immigrants across the border, into the United States, where they are raping and murdering Americans.

Twice last night he sought some specifics from Trump, who early in the morning after the debate remains — I’m betting — the GOP frontrunner.

When he failed to provide specifics to the first question, Wallace gave him another 30 seconds to specify what proof Trump had to back up his allegation.

Trump finally said he’d “been to the border last week” and talked to Border Patrol officers who told him “that’s what is going on down there, whether you like it or not.”

So. There you have it.

Border Patrol agents told him. That means it’s true, yes?

It was an entertaining and edifying exchange between a loudmouth entertainer seeking the presidency of the United States of America and a moderator seeking some detail in one of the more outrageous allegations that has come from a candidate’s mouth.

And yet, this guy somehow is getting away with this stuff?

I’m going to stand by my belief that Trump’s candidacy likely died when he made light of Sen. John McCain’s Vietnam War record. Events such as what we heard when Chris Wallace asked him twice to provide proof of a claim that Mexico’s government is “sending” illegal immigrants into the United States only highlights Trump’s unfitness for public office.

The big question remains: When will the GOP faithful realize it, too?