July 20-21, 2016
Jul 20 00:48 Johnson vs. Feingold, Round 2 Jul 20 04:29 Donald Trump Jr. wows RNC Jul 20 05:55 Christie prosecutes, pillories Hillary Jul 20 10:18 Twin Cities reputation undeserved? Jul 21 01:10 Ted Cruz's misplaced priorities Jul 21 15:42 Roger Ailes resigns
Prior Months: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
Prior Years: 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Johnson vs. Feingold, Round 2
Like much of this week's theme at the Republican National Convention, Ron Johnson's speech was about national security mistakes made by liberals.
Sen. Johnsons started his speech by highlighting Hillary Clinton's infamous line where Mrs. Clinton said "What difference, at this point, does it make?" Then Sen. Johnson explained what difference it makes, saying "It makes a difference to the young Yazidi woman I met who was captured and brutalized by ISIS barbarians, the joy of life hauntingly absent in her eyes.
It makes a difference to the travelers, passing through airports in Brussels and Istanbul, who just wanted to get home to their family and friends. It makes a difference to the ordinary Americans sharing holiday cheer at a Christmas party in San Bernardino."
Having delivered some tough body blows to Mrs. Clinton, Sen. Johnson turned his fire towards his own opponent this November, saying "In Wisconsin, I'm running against Russ Feingold, who, even after 9/11, voted against giving law enforcement the tools they need to help stop international terror. During his eighteen-year Senate career, he also voted against authorizing our military eleven separate times." It isn't coincidence that Sen. Johnson just released this video:
Sen. Feingold isn't hawkish, though he's trying to sound more hawkish now. Feingold's attempt to sound more hawkish sounds rather feeble :
At the time, he said, while he did not oppose everything contained within the bill, he did not believe it struck "the right balance between empowering law enforcement and protecting civil liberties."
Feingold said Friday he stands by his vote, reiterating that the bill didn't contain enough standards to protect Americans' civil liberties. He added that he would support increasing resources for U.S. intelligence programs and the FBI.
Feingold didn't worry about Americans' civil liberties when he co-sponsored McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform that gutted Americans' right to political free speech. I suspect that Feingold's answer is just a dodge to avoid looking pathetic.
This makes Feingold sound totally wimpy:
He's been basically trying to highlight any terrorist attack for political gain throughout this campaign. So it's no surprise that this ad would have been produced, and that's the problem with politicizing something that shouldn't be politicized - is you might run into a situation where there's a terrorist attack, and it's a little embarrassing to have an ad up that really isn't appropriate at this time.
The truth is that we can't tolerate politicians that won't fight terrorists with everything in the United States' arsenal. That's apparently what Mr. Feingold is attempting to do.
Posted Wednesday, July 20, 2016 12:48 AM
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Donald Trump Jr. wows RNC
Had Donald Trump given the speech that Donald Trump Jr. gave at the Republican National Convention, the party would've been united by mid-February and Donald Trump Sr. would've locked up the nomination on March 1. The GOP presidential nominee spent most of his time projecting an image of strength. Tuesday night, Donald Trump, Jr., projected strength and policy expertise that his father hasn't shown yet.
Early in his speech, Donald Trump Jr. said "The other party gave us public schools that far too often fail our students, especially those who have no options. Growing up, my siblings and I we were truly fortunate to have choices and options that others don't have. We want all Americans to have those same opportunities." The crowd immediately responded with enthusiastic applause.
The applause got louder when Trump Jr. said "Our schools used to be an elevator to the middle class, now they're stalled on the ground floor. They're like Soviet-era department stores that are run for the benefit of the clerks and not the customers, for the teachers and the administrators and not the students. You know why other countries do better on K through 12? They let parents choose where to send their own children to school. That's called competition. It's called the free market. And it's what the other party fears."
That was just the start of the policies Mr. Trump Jr. rolled out. The next policy goal was hard-hitting if you read Mr. Trump Jr.'s speech:
The other party gave us a regulatory state on steroids. Dodd-Frank was a thousand pages long and it's already spun off 22,000 pages in regulations. Imagine trying to digest all that before you even open your doors for business. That doesn't help consumers. What it does is destroy small business in favor of big businesses who can afford the vast number of lawyers and accountants needed to comply. Dodd-Frank is consumer protection for billionaires .
If Donald Trump Sr. puts Donald Trump Jr. in charge of making speeches explaining how regulators kill jobs, Mrs. Clinton won't be able to fight that, especially in Rust Belt states, the Midwest and in the Mountain West.
Then Donald Jr. took a machete after Hillary Clinton's foreign policy/national security credentials:
Let me tell you something about risk. If Hillary Clinton were elected, she'd be the first president who couldn't pass a basic background check. It's incredible.
If Donald Jr. wants a career in politics, it's easy seeing him succeeding. Tuesday night, he fired up the crowd while telling the nation watching on TV what a Trump agenda would look like.
Posted Wednesday, July 20, 2016 4:29 AM
Comment 1 by Bob J. at 20-Jul-16 09:26 AM
[They're like Soviet-era department stores that are run for the benefit of the clerks and not the customers, for the teachers and the administrators and not the students.]
If there's anyone who knows about the Soviet era, it's his dad, judging by the way this convention is being run.
Christie prosecutes, pillories Hillary
It's easy to believe that Chris Christie was a US prosecutor in a previous career before politics. His
Early in his speech, Gov. Christie said "Over the last eight years, we have seen this Administration refuse to hold her accountable for her dismal record as Secretary of State. Well, tonight, as a former federal prosecutor, I welcome the opportunity to hold her accountable for her performance and her character." At that point, it was unmistakable what Gov. Christie was going to do. It was obvious that he was going to prosecute Hillary Clinton within an inch of her political life.
The first case he prosecuted was Libya, saying "In North Africa, she was the chief engineer of our disastrous overthrow of Qaddafi in Libya. Libya today after Hillary Clinton's grand strategy? Libya's economy in ruins, death and violence in the streets and ISIS now dominating the country. Hillary Clinton, as a failure for ruining Libya and creating a nest for terrorist activity by ISIS guilty or not guilty?"
The next count Gov. Christie prosecuted Mrs. Clinton on was Boko Haram:
In Nigeria, Hillary Clinton amazingly fought for two years to keep an Al-Qaeda affiliate off the terrorist watch list . What happened because of this reckless action by the candidate who is the self proclaimed champion of women around the world? These terrorists abducted hundreds of innocent young girls two years ago. These school girls are still missing today. What was the solution from the Obama/Clinton team? A hashtag campaign!
Christie was just getting warmed up. Later, it was onto prosecuting Hillary over Syria:
In Syria, she called President Assad a "reformer" and a "different kind of leader". With 400,000 now dead...think about that. Four. Hundred. Thousand. Dead. At the hands of the man Hillary defended. We must ask this question: Hillary Clinton, as an awful judge of the character of a dictator-butcher in the Middle East guilty or not guilty ?
Each time Gov. Christie asked the people in the hall if Hillary was "guilty or not guilty", they responded with an emphatic statement of "guilty."
Later, Gov. Christie said "In Russia, she went to the Kremlin on her very first visit and gave them the symbolic reset button. The button should have read, "delete" she is very good at that because she deleted in four years what it took 40 years to build. The next year, she said our goal was to strengthen Russia. Strengthen an adversary led by a dictator who dreams of reassembling the old Soviet empire? What a dangerous lack of judgment. Once again, as a flawed evaluator of dictators and failed strategist who has permitted Russia back in as a major player in the Middle East is Hillary Clinton guilty or not guilty?"
One of the goals of this convention is to turn Hillary's supposed strength, foreign policy, into a weakness. Thanks to Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie, they're well on their way to accomplishing that.
Posted Wednesday, July 20, 2016 5:55 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 21-Jul-16 01:20 PM
How smooth these days is the bridge traffic between New York and New Jersey on Port Authority bridges?
Christie is damaged goods, as is Newt, which explains why Trump was reduced to Pence and Jeff Sessions, and choose wrongly.
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 21-Jul-16 03:46 PM
Christie's 'prosecution' of Hillary was spot on, though.
Twin Cities reputation undeserved?
For years, the Twin Cities drew high marks as two of the best cities in America to live in. They rate high in "their green spaces, culinary scene and jobs. High median incomes, low unemployment and poverty rates and affordable housing" contribute to the Twin Cities' high ratings. Apparently, there's a secret for the Twin Cities' high ratings. According to this article , the secret is "you have to be white."
Politico Magazine then adds that "Twin Cities, it turns out, are also home to some of the worst racial disparities in the country. In metrics across the board - household income, unemployment rates, poverty rates and education attainment - the gap between white people and people of color is significantly larger in Minnesota than it is most everywhere else. Earlier this year, WalletHub used government data to measure financial inequality among racial groups in each state and found that in 2015, Minnesota ranked dead last overall."
It's wise to take this article with a grain of salt because the article is written with a definite lefty perspective:
It seems illogical that inequality could thrive in one of the country's most liberal states, home to past progressive icons like Paul Wellstone and Hubert Humphrey.
~~~~~
Academics, activists and researchers offer different conjectures as to how Minnesota achieved the ignominious title of "Worst in the Country," for racial differences in wealth, status and education. Their analyses told a story of misguided attempts at desegregation, ignorance surrounding the state's racist history and a systemic negligence that prevents communities of color from partaking in the state's prosperity.
Actually, it isn't difficult to imagine that there's income inequality in the Twin Cities. Education Minnesota is a powerful lobbyist that essentially intimidates DFL politicians into following Education Minnesota's agenda to a T. That includes DFL politicians voting against meaningful school reforms. Education Minnesota prides itself in opposing school reforms.
I wrote this post to highlight the Board of Teaching's corruption:
Ramsey County Judge Shawn Bartsh "blasted the state's Board of Teaching for suddenly stopping a program that allowed experienced teachers, often from out of state, to get teaching licenses through an alternate method called 'licensure via portfolio.' The judge ordered the agency to resume the program, as required by law."
Many of these teachers want to teach in the inner city, where their help would help shrink the achievement gap significantly. Instead, the EdMinn-influenced Board of Teaching ignores laws it doesn't like.
With corruption like that, it isn't difficult to see why income inequality is so prominent in the Twin Cities. It would surprising not to find income inequality in a place like that.
Posted Wednesday, July 20, 2016 10:18 AM
Comment 1 by Rex Newman at 20-Jul-16 07:52 PM
Not only do you have to be white, you have to be liberal as well to fully participate. An unqualified Republican will never head the Metropolitan Council, but an unqualified Democrat can. Ditto for the MnSure board or University regents. Liberals dominate the public sector in general, meaning higher pay, fewer hours, better security, premium health care, and lifetime pensions.
Comment 2 by Chad Q at 20-Jul-16 09:18 PM
Calculated inequality set up by a racist political machine to keep them voting democrat for the next 200 years.
Ted Cruz's misplaced priorities
In his primetime speech Wednesday night, Ted Cruz self-destructed because he put a higher priority on political opportunism than he put on keeping his promise. The opening of the speech was actually pretty good, drawing lots of applause from those in the hall. Unfortunately for Sen. Cruz, to use a gymnastic metaphor, he didn't stick the dismount. Actually, that's being charitable.
Last night, Ted Cruz showed, above all else, that he's a political opportunist masquerading as a principled conservative. Let's be clear. It isn't that I think Sen. Cruz isn't a principled conservative. It's that I think he's a political opportunist first and foremost. Let me explain.
At the first debate last summer, Ted Cruz raised his hand and pledged to support the nominee whoever it was. Amanda Carpenter, appearing on CNN's panel, said that Sen. Cruz should have the right to renege on that promise after Trump criticized Sen. Cruz's wife and after Trump all but accused Sen. Cruz's father of being part of the team that assassinated JFK in 1963. That's a fair argument that reasonable people can see from the other person's perspective.
If Sen. Cruz wanted to be a principled conservative and not endorse Donald Trump, the thing to do is to say outright that he wouldn't support Trump in a statement, then explain why he wasn't endorsing Trump. That would've been the honorable thing to do.
Instead, Sen. Cruz wanted to have it both ways. He didn't want to endorse Trump but he definitely wanted a primetime speaking slot at the Convention in the hopes of positioning himself for a presidential run in 2020.
In the end, the activists in the hall booed him:
After getting booed off the stage, Sen. Cruz tried visiting Sheldon Adelson's booth. It didn't go well:
On the donor suite level, people approached Cruz and insulted him, a source told CNN's Dana Bash. One state party chairman reacted so angrily that he had to be restrained. Cruz, who has long sought the support of GOP megadonor Sheldon Adelson, was turned away when he tried to enter Adelson's suite.
Andy Abboud, a senior aide to the Las Vegas casino magnate, said Cruz was initially invited to come up to visit the Adelsons, but when he failed to endorse Trump the invitation was rescinded. "When he didn't endorse, they were stunned and disappointed," Abboud told CNN. "We could not allow Ted Cruz to use the Adelsons as a prop against Donald Trump," he added. "The Adelsons support Donald Trump and made that clear. They like Ted Cruz, but there was no way the Adelsons were going to be the first stop after not endorsing. That would be disrespectful to our nominee."
I can't help but believe that there's now a ton of bad blood between the activists in the hall and Sen. Cruz. If Donald Trump doesn't win this November, those activists will blame Sen. Cruz's speech as being a major contributing factor for that loss.
Michael Reagan's tweet and Gen. Michael Flynn's tweet said it all. First, here's what Michael Reagan said:
Was Cruz thinking about 2020 not 2016. Is that why he didn't endorse? How does that unite the Republican Party. Sad and Selfish
Here's Gen. Flynn's tweet:
I'm sorry, but tonight Ted Cruz demonstrated he is willing to place self before country.
I'll just add that, as a strategist and as an opportunist, Sen. Cruz isn't too bright.
Posted Thursday, July 21, 2016 1:10 AM
Comment 1 by eric z at 21-Jul-16 01:16 PM
"Last night, Ted Cruz showed, above all else, that he's a political opportunist masquerading as a principled conservative. Let's be clear. It isn't that I think Sen. Cruz isn't a principled conservative. It's that I think he's a political opportunist first and foremost."
Gary, we knew that all the time.
His spouse is deep Goldman Sachs, National Security Council during Bushco II times reporting directly to Condi Rice, Special Assistant to U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick, and as economic policy advisor to the 2000 George W. Bush presidential campaign. secondary education in 1990 at Monterey Bay Academy, an Adventist boarding school about 150 miles north in La Selva Beach, California, worked for two other mainstream too-failed-to-be-big investment banks, JP Morgan Chase, and Merrill Lynch, and from 2005-2011 Heidi Cruz was an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was a member of the Independent Task Force on North America that in 2005 published a report entitled "Building a North American Community.
"North American Community," as in NAFTA.
Gary, open your eyes.
As conservative a household as Hillary is and Nelson Rockefeller was. Only lying about it. Also, a household as opportunistic as the Clintons. Only lying about it.
Comment 2 by Gary Gross at 21-Jul-16 03:48 PM
NAFTA isn't the villain. Piling on tons of counterproductive regulations have hurt the economy far more. Letting in tons of illegal aliens that drive wages down hurt, too.
Roger Ailes resigns
Moments ago, Fox News announced that Roger Ailes resigned as Chairman and CEO of Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network . They also announced that "Rupert Murdoch will assume the role of Chairman and acting CEO of Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network." Murdoch then issued a statement saying "Roger Ailes has made a remarkable contribution to our company and our country. Roger shared my vision of a great and independent television organization and executed it brilliantly over 20 great years. Fox News has given voice to those who were ignored by the traditional networks and has been one of the great commercial success stories of modern media. It is always difficult to create a channel or a publication from the ground up and against seemingly entrenched monopolies. To lead a flourishing news channel, and to build Fox Business, Roger has defied the odds.
His grasp of policy and his ability to make profoundly important issues accessible to a broader audience stand in stark contrast to the self-serving elitism that characterizes far too much of the media. I am personally committed to ensuring that Fox News remains a distinctive, powerful voice. Our nation needs a robust Fox News to resonate from every corner of the country. To ensure continuity of all that is best about Fox News and what it stands for, I will take over as Chairman and acting CEO, with the support of our existing management team under Bill Shine, Jay Wallace and Mark Kranz."
Ailes built an amazing company in the 1990s. He grew FNC in the 2000s. He'd started building a credible news agency in the 2010s. Unfortunately, he allegedly mistreated women. I'm not going into that. That's for a jury to potentially decide.
Posted Thursday, July 21, 2016 3:42 PM
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