You never know what we'll churn up in cleaning a stall
Simply wondering. Does anyone remember:
More specifically, just what do you remember? Anything about their agenda? Or their record? Or has it come down to hair style and bluster?
Miss any of them?
Simply wondering. Just for perspective.
We knew it was coming, but it still comes as a shock. As one conservative tweeted last night, the Republican Party has lost its mind. Or another, more bluntly, “voted to die.” Some said the GOP has even endorsed Putin or at least invited him to speak. And those were the ones who were seeing more or less clearly. Compare that to, say, Chris Christie, who’s still lusting after some crumbs from the table. Is it purely pathetic or worse, tragic? Time will tell.
This is nothing like the party I grew up in, where reason and civility were honored and respected. At least on the surface, in our small part of the world, when Dwight D. Eisenhower was in command. But now?
Donald Trump has had pretty much of a free ride up to this point, but now he’ll finally have to start facing the facts, which aren’t adding up to his boasts. Just how much is he really worth? How bad has his business leadership been? Why is he afraid to release his income-tax statements — or, for that matter, how soon before the public demands to see his emails, too? As for his claims to the Art of the Deal? His co-author’s outing him as a phony.
As I’ve previously explained, the experience of living in New Hampshire, with its test-market role in the presidential campaign season, instills an alertness for the unexpected trip-up that fatally rips through a candidate’s mask. Trump evaded that possibility by largely refusing to engage in the face-to-face encounters with everyday voters here. His not-too-frequent events were largely stage-managed shows, rather than the two-way conversations of Granite State tradition. He never exposed himself to anyone to any significant degree.
His big trip-up — the one that somehow unpredictably takes hold or, as we say in the news business, “has legs” — may be emerging from his staff’s attempt to paint him as a compassionate and caring person. The notion of currying sympathy by having his (third) wife come out from her wall of privacy to say something that would soften his image might have worked. Who knows, maybe the thick accent would have been seen as charming and counter his stream of blasts at immigrants and their American-born children. Or maybe it would harden the perception of hypocrisy. That part was a risk, and it’s hard to tell how it functioned. Instead, the discovery of the lines brazenly stolen from Michelle Obama’s 2008 address in what Melania insisted was a speech she wrote herself now casts questions on all of the positive attributes she tried in invoke. After the cruelty of Trump’s attacks on Ted Cruz’ wife and family, few are likely to show mercy on Trump’s, no matter how much privacy she expects. Remember, this Republican crowd hates President Obama and the First Lady, yet Mrs. Trump turned to them as models to emulate. You can’t have it both ways. Let’s be honest, Michelle Obama is a paragon of intelligence, decency, and tasteful style, hardly what’s come out after Melania’s speech on the opening night in Cleveland as it points to organizational dysfunction in her husband’s campaign staff — his blaming Hillary Clinton’s camp for uncovering the plagiarism rather than his own failures is all too telling in its own way. You’re letting Melania go prime-time without the standard safeguards? From there it’s a short leap to falsehoods about her own accomplishments, from the failure to complete college, as she’s claimed, to the success of her modeling career before Donald came along. Oh, how long before the flood of questions of whether she’s fit to be First Lady, especially in comparison with Hillary’s success there.
It will be fascinating, maybe even painful, to watch Melania’s role in the coming months. Her absence from his side will be noted, as will her silence when she’s in public in his presence. And then if she opens her mouth?
This will not be pretty. But then neither is the nomination.
I’m not sure any lover could have accompanied me all the way in the repeated moves from the orchards of Washington state to the seacoast of New Hampshire. The Rust Belt relocation came in part because my now ex-wife’s only aunt and uncle lived there, and we needed to be near family; as it turned out, what I really got from that stopover was an experience of Old-Order Quakerism and the swirl with another, in the aftermath, who I later followed to Baltimore.
Curiously, without her, I could have relocated anywhere in the Northeast while working as a field representative, but I wouldn’t have developed any of the Mennonite sides that continue. Events often are a mixed bag, aren’t they?
All of that got stirred up returning to the recorded files years later, well into my remarriage. You know, that part about applying to schools.
Just about the time you think the academic institutions know every intimate detail of your life and history, they want yet another detail. At least our younger one was accepted at her only early choice, which also came through with a huge scholarship.
Such a relief, after the tony prep school she’d applied to a few years earlier.
As said, all the details. I was beginning to think they knew more about me than I did. Ever feel humiliated? Or simply groveling?
Throw the Tea Party
Overboard!
There’s something pathetically tragic in New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s fall from good graces in the Donald Trump camp, and I hope the situation grows in public awareness.
As news stories surface regarding the reason Christie was knocked from the vice president spot on the ticket, it becomes obvious he won’t even be considered for the other top plum he desired, Attorney General.
The reason?
As the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, Christie successfully prosecuted Charles Kushner, who pleaded guilty to 18 counts of illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering in 2005. Kushner was sentenced to two years in prison. Oh, there were sordid details in what included a nasty family fight for the Democratic Party supporter. All of which might have given the Trump ticket some creds in its upcoming battle with the Clintons.
Alas, Kushner is the father of Trump’s son-in-law, Jared – the husband of Ivanka, a husband-wife team that makes up his two closest advisors. And Jared, by all accounts, adamantly opposed Christie, no matter what he might have brought to the race.
Think about it. Christie is denied a spot because he’s fought illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and witness tampering. What does this say about Trump himself? His values? His practices? Even, now, his family?
For months now, Christie has been the most prominent Republican official in Trump’s camp. And now he’s cast as a pariah? For acting in the public interest? For fighting corruption? What kind of Justice Department do you think Trump would permit? One based on retribution, no doubt. One-sided, at all costs. Makes me think of Nixon’s back in the Whitewater years. Makes me also see John Kasich as a successor to another Ohio Republican of personal integrity, Bill Saxbe, who had the courage to stand up to Nixon and in the end, helped take him down.
You might see it as a warning to others to stay away from this platform. Why would any other elected Republican want to rally around this ticket? It’s an ominous sign, indeed. Please stay tuned, as they say. To something other than Fox.
The other day, as we returned to our car in the supermarket parking lot, my wife noticed a small magnetic tag stuck to the back fender. It said:
~*~
So you support a Socialist. This means you …
~*~
Others were amused by this reaction to my Bernie sticker, but I find myself quietly enraged on so many fronts it’s hard to know where to begin.
The utter ignorance and arrogance of this SOB are the first things to fuel my fire. How dare he call me stupid? How dare he assume any of my beliefs, actually? How dare he try to silence my right of free speech and, I’ll add, religion! How dare he call me an enemy of the Constitution?
I’m deeply bothered by the way he smears one word into other concepts with no room for clarity of definition or precise thinking. Supporting a democratic-socialist does not make me one, any more than supporting a reasonable Republican candidate would make me a racist, gun-totin’ warmonger or right-wing nut job. I see through both Marxism, on one side, and the multinational corporate conglomerates now ruling the world, on the other. (I could claim a college minor in economics, by the way. How about him?) (Oh, my, why do I assume the offender’s male?) And, yes, I do support some collective action – the way politically conservative apple growers in Washington state long ago banded together for united marketing and quality control, as well as the federal water system they realize is essential for their precious irrigation.
As for his “facts,” he could use a class about the perils of propaganda. If anyone’s been brainwashed, duped, or indoctrinated, he should look himself in the mirror. Which leads to an even bigger issue.
There’s no room for discussion in his limited, fear-driven, ideological mindset. He’s cornered in a box. There’s no way to admit error or correct a course of action or even see whose pawn he’s become.
There are times I fear for the Republic, where threats to liberty keep rising from his side of the spectrum.
That’s why I have the Bernie sticker.
~*~
By the way, I’ve read my Bible, complete. Leviticus 25:10 (inscribed on the Liberty Bell) is guilty of all of his charges regarding the redistribution of wealth. (Jubilee is the redistribution of all wealth every 50 years.) Or leap ahead to Jesus telling the rich young man to sell all he has and give it away (Matthew 19: 16-24 and Mark 10: 17-31). Argue with God, if you can. But watch what you accuse the Holy One of being. Good luck.
HOPE
OR
HOPELESS
That’s the real equation.
Is it true that Donald Trump’s hairstylist is among his finalists for vice president?
Makes as much sense as anyone, so far. Would anyone else dare get that close?
Donald Trump’s refusal to release his income-tax filings naturally spurs suspicions. What’s he trying to hide? What’s he afraid they’ll show?
What, you think he’s squeaky clean? Please! The fact-checkers have found little in his outrageous claims that’s really true. We don’t need a liar-in-chief, we need someone we can trust.
So Trump’s financial dealings are bound to be fair game as the campaign spirals on.
For one thing, they give us a clearer view of how a candidate handles money. The Obamas, as we discovered, are really quite frugal, even conservative. Trump, on the other hand, seems to employ a lot of sleight-of-hand, as his loans-to-donations-to-himself demonstrate. (How many times can you count the same dollar, anyway?)
Well, we can assume the accountant-types will have a feast with whatever is there, as will the tax experts and financial gurus and businessmen large and small.
In the meantime, it’s fodder for the pundits.
Among the possible reasons Trump won’t release his income-tax filings? Are there clues to indicate:
Well, right or wrong, it’s a start. The facts will either support his claims or knock them flat.
Any other wags want to weigh in?
Don’t blame Obama.
Not with this do-nothing Congress.
Some folks just like a mess. Especially one of their own making.
Jnana's Red Barn 