I’ve never seen anything like this in a major party nominee. Seemingly inciting violence against his foe in vague words that his team actually must try to walk back:
“If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks,” Mr. Trump said. He added: “Although the Second Amendment people — maybe there is, I don’t know.”
That is simply outrageous. This man should be shunned. For starters, Hillary Clinton has every right to refuse to debate him. He does not deserve the stage.
David Gergen on CNN last night: “This is wrong. It is wrong to raise the issue of violence. It is against the law to threaten any federal official. … Dog whistles go to crazies.. It’s a shameful statement to be making.”
Jonathan Wackow, former Secret Service, CNN: “These statements have ramifications. .. What about that one person who says maybe this is my moment.”
Jeffrey Toobin on CNN: “What Trump said today is certainly the kind of comment that would merit a visit from the Secret Service.”
Former CIA/NSA Dir. Michael Hayden on Trump: “If someone else had said that he’d be in the back of a police wagon.”
CNN recapped the Trump economic speech and Elizabeth Warren decapitated it:
In addition to tax cuts, Trump also proposed a moratorium on financial regulations, which conservatives say hinder economic growth.
“Cut regulations massively,” @realDonaldTrump? No rules & no accountability means people get ripped off & markets blow up. Remember 2008?” Warren said. “A ‘moratorium’ on agency regulations means stopping new rules on shady payday lenders & too-big-to-fail banks, @realDonaldTrump.” …
“W/o rules, @realDonaldTrump, too many huge banks juiced profits by cheating ppl on mortgages, credit cards, etc, then crashed our economy,” Warren said.
We have all seen the “Daisy” commercial multiple times. Obviously the Republican candidate for President in 1964 was dooming us all to a nuclear conflagration unless we would have the good sense to vote for Lyndon Baines Johnson. We have all heard the quote “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.” The man was capable of anything, and we were all afraid.
In the wake of the Kennedy assassination and the loss of “Camelot”, this was a risk we could not take. The end result was a political wipeout never seen before.
More than a half century later, I am longing for a Republican party that was that sane and remembering a man whose reputation was in many ways the opposite of what was presented to the public. To put it simply, Barry Goldwater was a good man. Compared to the current Republican candidate and the party as it exists, he would be a worthy opponent but more than likely he also now would be a Democrat. Why do I believe this? Because of his actions after that overwhelming defeat.
After Goldwater again became a senator, he urged Nixon to resign at the height of the Watergate scandal, warning that fewer than ten senators would vote against conviction if Nixon were impeached by the House of Representatives. The term “Goldwater moment” has since been used to describe situations when influential members of Congress disagree so strongly with a president from their own party that they openly oppose him.
The GOP now has a candidate thoroughly rejected by whatever bit of sanity left in the party … a massive meltdown and “Goldwater moment”.
All of the above was on the political front, but Barry Goldwater was a whole man. He was a ham radio operator who regularly “chatted” with other aficionados all over the globe. He was a photographer well known for his images of his beloved Arizona and the indigenous people and he was so “conservative” that he rejected the concept that intrusive religion had any part in politics and was a strong advocate of gay rights and freedom of religion: “You don’t need to be straight to fight and die for your country. You just need to shoot straight.” … and: “I think every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right in the ass.”
So right now, I’m missing Barry. I’m missing the Republican party of my childhood. I hate what the GOP has become and I think Senator Goldwater would be ashamed. This year he would have also been a truly great GOP candidate.
I enjoyed the many campaigns from June 2007 to the election in 2008. I went back and forth between Hillary and Obama until caucus day. I went with Obama only because he was the professor and steady. HRC was the politician and steady too, but there was that little extra excitement with Obama. *
The intervening election was so-so. Romney was the perfect Republican. White, male, rich, and out of touch with his base. And Obama did the expected.
Now we have something even more exciting. In a way I am happy I never have met nor have been in a room with the weird guy with a dead, dyed orange, muskrat, on his head. He is even out of touch with other millionaires, but his status is questionable. Now that his real income and wealth is being talked about he may want to try and become a federal employee, okay retirement and healthcare plans (considering what the Republicans are doing to us), but with the joy of helping others make America better by preventing bugs and disease from entering our country.
There is one problem with this race though. Too bad if you get into a “take a drink” for every stupid thing the gas bag says. You would start the day with a couple of good ones. By lunch you would be sucking in water for balance.
Cocktail Glasses
Dinner and you need help finding your phone to call for a taxi. After dinner and trying to focus on the televisions. You are now wondering why you have two televisions because when you left in the morning there was only one and something. But you are committed to the game and pass out after chugging a bottle of Tanqueray.
The polls are now looking like 400 electoral votes for HRC, and that is the conservative view. Can she run the table? George Washington did it. For fun you can go to a site and play with the map and numbers. I have Hillary at 451 to the large stink 83. You can also see a couple of good websites to visit and subscribe too. Lots of info.
If the guy under the poor dead and dyed orange possum does keep on going until November it is possible he will sour so many people, especially the thirty percent which are hard core Republicans, that he too could give do the thing that has not really happened in a few years, a complete run of the electoral votes. Which would give the Dems the House, Senate and WH for the first time since the last time the Repubs were nasty, nasty.
What it comes down to is the guy is a disaster as a human. I have not found anything about him funny. No laughs. The other day a co-worker and I discussing some issue which involved outhouses, which led to a lot of laughs. Two holers, three holers, seats and no seat splinters. . . But even though I would compare the guy to something, there is no laugh when you talk about him.
However, the Republicans elected him to run and the Republican leadership supports him. But, when his Chernobyl hits I will want a lot of popcorn – and gin.
*I gave my tickets, in the politicians section away. I picked up a ticket which put me in the upper upper deck of Mile High Stadium. It was a most beautiful Denver August night, warm and dry. I sat with those who were not the privileged. I sat with people who saw in Obama a bit of themselves. If it were Hillary on the stage these Dems would not be where they are. They spoke Spanish and saw in a man of color their dreams. We cheered together. We laughed together. We cried together. I had more fun with these people who were strangers as we met for the first and last time, than I would have down in front with the other politicians who I knew.
