Month: August 2016

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Domestic Policies Donald Trump Donald Trump News Politics

I Will Always Tell You the Truth… And Other Lies…

Republican presidential candidate, businessman Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Columbus, Ohio, Monday, Nov. 23, 2015. (AP Photo/Paul Vernon)
AP Photo/Paul Vernon

Which, of course, is an absolute lie, no matter who says it. But the fact that it was Donald Trump, all-of-a-sudden apologizing and blabbering on about how in the heat of a campaign he might have said some nasty things about, oh, African-Americans, women, Hispanics, judges, pollsters, Bush, Republicans etc., makes it doubly ironic and self-defeating.

This is the Trump Pivot; the moment in the campaign where he gets serious and presidential and wants to be judged by what he says from this point forward and for us lowly voters to forget what got him the Republican nomination in the first place. That would be hate, accusation, blame, xenophobia, denial, sexism and blaming the victim. The only thing that would make his standing worse in the eyes of many Americans is if he publicly insulted the family of a fallen United States soldier because of some ethnic slur or ignorant remark.

Oh, wait.

And then the first issue he publicized was Hillary Clinton’s health. Which turns out to be rather fine, thank you very much. And that came straight from her doctor. But I guess if you’re going to deny climate change, you might as well double down and dismiss all scientific inquiry. So go ahead and smoke, right?

There will be no Trump Pivot. His new Breitbart-led campaign will be the height of cynicism and chock full of the right’s 1990 greatest hits list, which includes the Clintons murdering Vincent Foster, trying to manipulate the money supply and all of the other untruths that the fringe has been dying to run on since 1994. Dump in a heavy dose of Benghazi and e-mails, and you pretty much have the Trump campaign’s tactics right in front of you. It’s the campaign the far right has wanted to run since the Reagan era began, but the party kept nominating politicians who actually had ideas. Not good ones, but actual governing experience. With Trump, they have their perfect front man–a huckster who only cares about spreading his name and enough ignorance to just say stuff and hope that it leads the news cycle.

The truth will unfortunately have to wait its turn, if it comes at all.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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Featured

Trump Supporter Ejected from Trump Rally “because of his dark skin” – Video

Way to reach out to the minority voter guys. That’s how you do it!

An 18-year-old Charlotte college student who was ejected from Thursday’s Donald Trump rally says he went from avid backer to disillusioned opponent after Trump’s security accused him of being a known protester.

Jake Anantha, who registered as a Republican and planned to cast his first presidential vote for Trump, was wearing a Trump shirt when police removed him from the Charlotte Convention Center before the rally began. He and his father, Ramesh Anantha, say they believe he was profiled because of his dark skin.

“It’s unbelievably ironic,” said Ramesh Anantha, whose parents immigrated from India. He says his son, as a young person of color appearing at a rally where the Republican presidential nominee touted his support for people of color, “should have been looked at as a perfect Trump supporter. He should have been somebody they’re putting up on stage.”

Kirk Bell, communications director for Trump’s North Carolina campaign, said Friday morning he’s looking into the incident and will respond.

Video

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Donald Trump Featured Jews Politics

Trump Adviser – “I fired the Jews!”

These are the types of people advising Donald Trump… although… Trump had previously stated in an interviews that does not rely on advisers, he watches television for advise and advises himself… 

Joseph Schmitz, named as one of five advisers by the Trump campaign in March, is accused of bragging when he was Defense Department inspector general a decade ago that he pushed out Jewish employees.

The revelations feed two themes that his opponent Hillary Clinton has used to erode Trump’s credibility: That he is a foreign policy neophyte, and that his campaign, at times, has offended Jews and other minorities.

Schmitz, who is a lawyer in private practice in Washington, says the allegations against him are lies. All three people who have cited the remarks, including one who testified under oath about them, have pending employment grievances with the federal government.

Daniel Meyer, a senior official within the intelligence community, described Schmitz’s remarks in his complaint file.

“His summary of his tenure’s achievement reported as ‘…I fired the Jews,’ ” wrote Meyer, a former official in the Pentagon inspector general’s office whose grievance was obtained by McClatchy.

Meyer, who declined to comment about the matter, cited in his complaint another former top Pentagon official, John Crane, as the source and witness to the remarks. Crane worked with Schmitz, who served as inspector general between April 2002 and September 2005.

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Donald Trump Politics

Trump’s Campaign Chair Resigns Amidst his Russian Ties

Remember a few days ago when Donald Trump stood on stage and swore up and down that all was well in his campaign? That the campaign is the happiest it’s ever been? Well that too, was a lie.

Just hours after Donald Trump shook up his campaign leadership, installing the leader of a conservative blog site to run his campaign operations, Paul Manafort – the man who was responsible for turning Trump from a primary candidate to a general election candidate – sent in his resignation. 

Trump issued a statement on Manafort’s resignation in which he said he was “very appreciative for his great work in helping us get to where we are today.” Trump in particular praised Manafort for getting Trump’s campaign through the “delegate and nomination process.”

Manafort, who saw his role as campaign boss diminished this week when Trump appointed Breitbart News boss Stephen Bannon as his new campaign CEO, has been taking fire after multiple reports have revealed his connections to a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine.

Earlier this week, a leaked memo revealed that Ukrainian authorities have accused Manafort of organizing protests against a NATO military exercise in Ukraine on behalf of the pro-Russian Party of Regions. One American soldier who was in Ukraine at the time revealed that protesters organized by Manafort threw rocks at NATO troops en route to the training exercise.

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Donald Trump Politics

Former Bush Official – Hillary Clinton “would be a far better President” than Trump “could ever be”

Former Bush official and former U.S Treasurer, Rosario Martin, said on Wednesday that although she is a Republican and worked in a Republican White House under George Bush, she will not be voting for the Republican candidate in 2016, but will instead vote for Hillary Clinton.

“I have disagreed with and criticized Hillary Clinton’s positions, but I have come to the conclusion that she would be a far better president than the Republican candidate could ever be,” Rosario Marin said.

“She understands that words spoken from the White House have consequences, that sarcasm is not a strategy when dealing with delicate world situations, that our friends and foes listen to every word spoken by our president and react accordingly,” Marin added.

“There is too much at stake both domestically and abroad to have a thoughtless individual at the helm of the most important economy in the world. My party and its standard-bearer leave me no choice; on November 8, I will vote for Hillary Clinton.”

Marin, who is Hispanic, said she could not tolerate GOP nominee Donald Trump’s rhetoric on immigration and the Hispanics.

“I have come to the devastatingly painful realization that my party right now doesn’t want my vote nor that of my community,” she said. “Evidently it is not important, or not as important as some other voting bloc. So, for me to consider the unthinkable — to vote for a Democrat — has been a profound soul-searching process.

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Donald Trump Politics

Donald Trump Admits – His Campaign is in Deep DoDo

In a rare show of humility by the boastful billionaire, Donald Trump is acknowledging his presidential campaign faces challenges and could ultimately fall short, Yahoo News reports.

The Republican presidential nominee is straying from his signature bravado as he campaigns in the battleground state of Florida, even telling a gathering of evangelical ministers Thursday he’s “having a tremendous problem in Utah.” The same day, the reality show star acknowledged his lack of political correctness could cost him the election if Americans reject his blunt approach.

“We’re having a problem,” Trump told the ministers, adding the next president could get to nominate up to five high-court justices. “It could cost us the Supreme Court.”

Trump’s campaign planned to sit down with RNC officials in Orlando on Friday. But both Republican Party officials and Trump’s campaign said the meeting was focused on Florida campaign operations, and not tensions between the campaign and the GOP. The officials weren’t authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity.

After trouncing 16 challengers in the Republican primary, Trump is encountering worrying signs as his campaign moves into the general election. Democrat Hillary Clinton’s lead over Trump in national polls has widened in recent days, while a growing number of fellow Republicans have declared they won’t support their own party’s nominee.

Categories
Politics terrorist attacks

Rudy Giuliani Somehow Forgot the Terrorist Attacks on September 11th

He was the sitting mayor of New York when terrorists boarded two planes and took down both towers at New York’s World Trade Centers. On that same day, terrorists also boarded a plane and attacked The Pentagon, totally demolishing one side of the building. Still on September 11, 2001, even more terrorists hijacked another plane that crashed in Pennsylvania, killing everyone on board. These four attacks killed almost 3,000 people on American soil, and injured another 6.000.

But Rudy Giuliani, the sitting New York Mayor at the time of those four attacks, has gone bonkers. He has apparently forgot what happened under his watch and under the Republican leadership of George W Bush. Giuliani, an avid supporter of Donald Trump, lied to an audience before introducing Trump at a speech on national security, telling them that there were no “successful” terrorist attacks in the eight years before Obama took office.

“Under those eight years, before Obama came along, we didn’t have any successful radical Islamic terrorist attack in the United States. They all started when Clinton and Obama got into office,” Giuliani said.

Again, almost 3,000 people died and another 6,000 were injured. If this is not the definition of “successful,” I don’t know what is.

Now I get the politics – cast the blame on Obama and hope your listeners can’t make the connection. But when you were the sitting mayor of a city that suffered the worst terrorist attack in its history, and when almost 3,000 people died under your watch, lying that there were no “successful” terrorist attack is extremely farfetched and absolutely delusional. Giuliani needs to go sit down somewhere.

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Donald Trump Politics

145 CEOs Slam Donald Trump in Open Letter

One hundred and forty-five CEO’s and leaders in the tech industry wrote and signed a letter condemning Donald Trump for his irresponsible rhetoric and the disasters his policies would cause if he is elected president in November.

“We believe in an inclusive country that fosters opportunity, creativity and a level playing field. Donald Trump does not. He campaigns on anger, bigotry, fear of new ideas and new people, and a fundamental belief that America is weak and in decline.”

Here is a small sample of the letter, published on Huffington Post.

We are inventors, entrepreneurs, engineers, investors, researchers, and business leaders working in the technology sector. We are proud that American innovation is the envy of the world, a source of widely-shared prosperity, and a hallmark of our global leadership.

We believe in an inclusive country that fosters opportunity, creativity and a level playing field. Donald Trump does not. He campaigns on anger, bigotry, fear of new ideas and new people, and a fundamental belief that America is weak and in decline.  We have listened to Donald Trump over the past year and we have concluded: Trump would be a disaster for innovation.  His vision stands against the open exchange of ideas, free movement of people, and productive engagement with the outside world that is critical to our economy—and that provide the foundation for innovation and growth.

Let’s start with the human talent that drives innovation forward.  We believe that America’s diversity is our strength.  Great ideas come from all parts of society, and we should champion that broad-based creative potential.  We also believe that progressive immigration policies help us attract and retain some of the brightest minds on earth—scientists, entrepreneurs, and creators.  In fact, 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children.  Donald Trump, meanwhile, traffics in ethnic and racial stereotypes, repeatedly insults women, and is openly hostile to immigration.  He has promised a wall, mass deportations, and profiling.

Categories
bridgegate Domestic Policies Donald Trump News Politics

Lock Him Up

Don’t you just love politics and politicians? Here’s a group of people who seemingly do not ever consider that what they say about their opponents will even happen to them. And yet…
This week’s ridiculousness comes, not surprisingly, from the Trump-Christie branch of what used to be one of America’s great political parties; the GOP. These days it’s difficult to see how they were able to elect George W. Bush, much less get through a week without one of their candidates self-destructing.

The once-and-never-again national candidate, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey is on even thinner ice (consider that image) concerning the traffic jam at the George Washington Bridge that not only killed his presidential chances, but is also resulting in crater-like approval numbers across the state. Now we have some evidence that Christie “flat-out lied” when he said that his political team knew nothing of the bridge closure. He’s denying it of course, and I can’t see that this would lead his leash holder, Donald Trump, to dump him as his transition boss since at this point it looks like Trump’s transition might be to a different floor on Trump Tower, as opposed to a move-in at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

The bigger issue, though, is that it was a during Christie’s speech at the Republican Convention that  the crowd chanted that Hillary Clinton should be locked up for, well, unspecified crimes against, um, someone. Now Christie has leapt the queue and is looking more likely to be the one facing an actual indictment. Not that I expect one, but still. Christie has no one to blame but himself after endorsing Trump and tying his political future to a man who, at best, will lose the presidency for himself and the Senate for his party. Christie’s fall is a monumental one, and after November he will be the lamest duck in the land as the Democrats jostle to pick someone to replace him.

In the meantime, the road projects are still stalled, NJ Transit still has one train track in and out of Manhattan, the public employee pension system is still massively underfunded, property taxes are sky high, and social services are lagging. Yet Christie still finds time to campaign for a candidate who accused Christie of knowing about the bridge closure and who Christie hopes will save him from a life of retired bliss in…Mendham. A nice town, to be sure, but certainly not where Chris thought he should be.

Outside the state, Donald Trump is mystifying the political press with his antics, which include saying that president Obama and Hillary Clinton founded ISIS, then saying, as most ignorant people do, that he was just being sarcastic, questioning the need to get his supporters out to vote in November, saying again that the only way Clinton can win, this time in Pennsylvania, is by cheating, and by traveling to those hotbed competitive states, Maine and Connecticut  instead of, say, Ohio or Florida where Trump absolutely must win in order to be elected (shudder).

If anything, these two gentlemen deserve each other, and it looks like they’ll destroy each other in the process.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

Categories
Donald Trump New York Politics

“We Blame Donald Trump” for NY Man’s Murder 

When you preach hate and intolerance, getting blamed for acts of violence due to hate and intolerance is the obvious conclusion. And today, after two Muslim men were shot in Queens New York, Donald Trump is being blamed.

A Q​ueens, NY imam and his assistant were both shot by a lone gunman on Saturday as they left prayer services at the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid Mosque in Ozone Park.

The New York Daily News reported that both men were shot in the head at around 1:50 p.m. in broad daylight. Police have not released the victims’ names, only reported that one man is dead and the other is seriously injured.

Outside the mosque a group of congregants gathered to grieve and commiserate.

“That’s not what America is about,” said resident Khairul Islam to the Daily News. “We blame Donald Trump for this…Trump and his drama has created Islamophobia.”

Witnesses said the two men were walking together when a single gunman walked up to them and opened fire. The shooter is described as “tall and dark-skinned, carrying a large handgun, and wearing a dark blue shirt and short pants.”

“People being shot in the head in broad daylight is unheard of,” said Millat Uddin, a 25-year resident of the neighborhood to the Daily News. “Killing people brutally, like they’re an animal.”

“All of a sudden I heard five shots,” said a witness, “I knew it wasn’t firecrackers. And then the commotion of the emergency (vehicles), and that’s when I knew…When I came here, they were doing CPR to both of the people on the ground.”

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Donald Trump Politics

Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine Release More Taxes – Trump Still Hides His

What are you hiding Donald? Why shouldn’t the American people know the truth about your finances? Must be some sick secrets you are trying to hide.

Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Tim Kaine, released a new batch of their own income tax returns on Friday, ratcheting up the pressure on her opponent, Donald J. Trump. 

The income taxes of Mrs. Clinton, along with her husband, former President, Bill Clinton, showed an adjusted gross income of $10.6 million for 2015, revealing how during the campaign the Clintons have reined in their moneymaking efforts after many years of lucrative speeches, book deals and business endeavors. Mr. Kaine, the Virginia senator, and his wife, Anne Holton, reported income of $313,441 for 2015.
But aside from their earnings, the latest showing by the Democratic candidates was intended to put a spotlight on Mr. Trump’s failure to release his returns. 

The New York businessman has declined so far to release his income tax data, saying that will not do so while he is facing an audit from the Internal Revenue Service — a highly unusual move for a major party candidate. Mike Pence, the Indiana governor and Mr. Trump’s running mate, has not made public his tax data during the campaign. 

Mrs. Clinton’s spokeswoman, Jennifer Palmieri, said in a statement the release sets a “stark contrast” with Mr. Trump, whom she accused of “hiding behind fake excuses.”

“He has failed to provide the public with the most basic financial information disclosed by every major candidate in the last 40 years,” she said. “What is he trying to hide?”

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Donald Trump Politics

Dixie Chicks Singer Slam Republicans for Continued Backing of Trump – Tweet

Oh yea, I remember this. The poor singer was practically run out of the country by Republicans and conservatives for talking about then president, George W Bush!

Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines is lashing out at Republicans for the party’s response to Donald Trump calling for “Second Amendment people” to stop Hillary Clinton.

“I get banned for not liking Bush and now Trump can practically put a hit out on Hillary and he’s still all over the country radio! Hypocrites!” Maines tweeted early Thursday.

In March 2003, Maines met with a serious backlash when she spoke out against the Iraq War at a concert in London and said she and her band were “ashamed” of President George W. Bush.

“Just so you know, we’re on the good side with y’all. We do not want this war, this violence, and we’re ashamed that the president of the United States is from Texas,” Maines said at the time.

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