A Sure Strategy for a Libertarian Win

Dear Friends,

We awoke this morning to learn that Donald Trump went on a nasty Twitter tirade overnight against yet another private citizen. This time, it was former Miss Universe Alicia Machado.

Trump body-shamed this woman for her weight when she was just 18, and now, 20 years later, he's still trying to defame her.

Hillary Clinton baited Trump in Monday's debate over his foul treatment of Ms. Machado during her reign. He owned the pageant and was her boss then. Twenty years later, he simply can't let the issue drop.

It's totally gotten under his skin, and he's on some kind of crazy vendetta, which isn't the first time it's happened in this campaign.

This man is not a serious candidate for President of the United States.

I'm actually starting to think that former Governor Howard Dean is absolutely correct about Trump using cocaine. What kind of nut bar is up at 3 a.m., tweeting about how the American public needs to look at a sex tape?

A tweaker, that's who.

And what about all that snorting and sniffing during Monday night's debate and his minutes-long incoherent rambles?

Dean is a physician, and I trust his analysis...at least a good measure more than anything that comes out of Donald Trump's mouth.

I do, however, trust everything that one candidate says. Libertarian Gary Johnson has won me over on that issue.

In fact, people of New Mexico, his home state, have been known to call him. 'Honest Johnson'.

He may not even realize it yet, but Bill Weld is the one guy still in
this race who would be the best person to occupy the  Oval Office.  

One problem--his vice presidential candidate is the more impressive of the two and is far more electable.

It's very clear to many people that, in the current climate, former Massachusetts Governor Bill Weld could easily beat either of the two major party candidates.

It can actually still happpen, and here's how:

Gary Johnson should pledge to us that if  he's elected, he'd immediately resign. Bill Weld would then become President. Weld would, in turn, appoint Johnson as his VP. Simple.

And if Gary Johnson says that's how it would go down, you can put it in the bank.

It IS the best option, Gary, and I know you're reading this.

Please. I implore you. Save our country!

You'll go down in history as a true American hero.

Johnson Is a Real Person

Good Thursday morning, Friends,

Gary Johnson is a total breath of fresh air.

In a town meeting broadcast from the University of New Hampshire yesterday, he and Libertarian running mate Gov. Bill Weld had an hour of face time with Chris Matthews on MSNBC.

How would you respond to this? "Name your favorite foreign leader."

That question caught Gov. Johnson by complete surprise as it would most anyone on live TV under some very hot lights and knowing you have a split second to respond.

His initial reply was, "I'm sorry, but I'm having another Aleppo moment," referring to the gaffe that nearly sank his campaign, and then said something like "I'm having a brain fff..," when he was interrupted by Weld.

So, if you can name me, you win the grand
prize. It's all in pesos.

Johnson eventually said he liked the former president of Mexico, and after Matthews pressed him with "which one," Johnson said he just couldn't remember his name.

Weld quickly interjected, "Fox."

Yep. That's who he meant, Vicente Fox.

But what was so nicely human about the kerfuffle was Johnson freely admitting again that he's human and makes mistakes. And he doesn't know everything.

What he did know was everything he should have known about the complicated situation in Syria, the massacre that is happening in Aleppo, and how he'd address the situation. In other words, he had boned up.

So that's two things in Gary Johnson's favor. He admits when he's wrong, and he finds out what he needs to know.

I can't help but like Gary Johnson. He is a real person. And he has an impressive resume.

Even though the two-term Republican New Mexico governor is now officially a "Libertarian," politically speaking, he has very moderate ideas...and he's basically a pacifist.

He and Weld plan to present a balanced federal budget during their first 100 days in office. That's a third thing to like about them.

When you add Johnson's administrative experience to that of two-term Massachusetts governor Bill Weld's, they make one of the most formidable duos to run for the presidency in many elections.

Together they have 16 years as elected chief executives and promise us the first co-presidency.

This team makes a laughing stock out of the Republican offering, and has as impressive credentials as the Democrats do--without Hillary Clinton's baggage.

Quite frankly, the only drag on this ticket is that it has an 'L' next to it rather than a 'D' or 'R'.

Shame on the media for paying so little attention to Johnson and Weld and giving so much coverage instead to an absolute charlatan.

We're in crunch time. There are just 40 days until the election. It's time for the media to pay attention to substance rather than the shiny object that's been dangled in front of them for the last 15 months.

I am going to do something on the order of Gary Johnson. I'm going to admit I made a mistake in endorsing Hillary Clinton after Monday's debate. I'm retracting that for now.

I want to see more of Johnson and Weld...a lot more.

The New American Civil War

Good morning again, Friends,

We are a nation divided and polarized. And our presidential politics illustrate just how deep and festering this division is.

Instead of bringing us closer together as a people, this presidential election is tearing the country apart.

The tenor of the election has become so divisive and nasty that whomever wins will have to contend with nearly half the population that is extremely upset to the point of acting upon it.

This is especially true of Donald Trump's 'Second Amendment' people  to whom he has already implicitly recommended assassination as a remedy to a Hillary Clinton victory.

This is chilling enough, but what is even more so is how Trump has singlehandedly destroyed the dignity of the most prestigious and important job in the world.

Even Donald Trump's stand-in from his reality show "The Apprentice" is
embarrassed by his former boss' lack of decorum.

What is wrong with this man? Why would he want to annihilate what took hundreds of millions of Americans 240 years to build?

No matter what Donald Trump says, America is great and has never been greater. That's a fact.

Take it from me.  Yesterday marked two years since I returned from living in Israel for three. That's another first-world democracy, but I'm counting my lucky stars that I'm back in Las Vegas...buhlieve me.

We have problems for sure, but our system gives us the mechanism to fix them. And, by and large, our country makes a genuine effort to be on the right side of history.

What makes America great, along with its enormous wealth and its resilient people, is its institutions. And implicit in those institutions is a set of protocols, which give the institutions integrity.

The country's chief executive is an institution that not only comes with a long list of protocols, but the protocols have traditionally extended to the process of getting the job.

Things like releasing your tax returns and your health records easily come to mind. And Donald Trump has thumbed his nose at those and most others.

Importantly, included in the protocols is an understood code of behavior. We want our President to be generally ethical and honest. The President is supposed to be, after all, a role model for our kids.

And we want our leader to be dignified.

Donald Trump is not.

He is vulgar and petty.

And he is adored for it by millions.

Half of the population is not only offended by him, but also increasingly by the 'basket of deplorables' who support him.

This polarization will only be exacerbated by the election's result, whichever way it goes. The nation is deeply split and is in dire need of a true leader.

Up until now, we've been embroiled in just a nasty war of words--a domestic cold war. History tells us it could escalate.

A Madman in the White House?

Good morning, Friends,

I really don't care what any of the other pundits say. I know what I saw last night.

I saw a relaxed, polished, practiced, prepared, and yes, likable candidate debate an easily rattled, unstable, unglued and unhinged opponent.

I saw one candidate absolutely triumph and the other completely crumble for nearly an hour. It was a national embarrassment that some disingenuous analysts are actually trying to tell us was the polar opposite of what we witnessed.

Donald Trump thought he could come to the most important political event of his life without actually fully preparing for it. He made a YUGE mistake.

His apologists are saying they regret that he "missed a lot of opportunities." I would say he missed showing up for the debate.

On an intellectual level, Hillary Clinton tore him to shreds. I predicted this would happen months ago.

As my wife and I watched the two nominees trade barbs last night, two words kept popping into my mind when the respective candidates spoke: cogent and unhinged. I couldn't stop myself from yelling them out loud at the screen.

Guess who was whom.

Cogent.

Unhinged.

Trump had a strong first half hour. He legitimately blasted Hillary's flip flop on the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement, which she once actually called "the gold standard," and which she now opposes for what appears to be political expediency.

But he started falling apart 39 minutes in, when Hillary nailed him on the 'birther' issue, and from then on she didn't take her foot off the gas.

Slamming Trump's 'birtherism'  and his sudden reversal on it was her first homerun.

NBC's Chris Matthews said she hit four more, including cajoling Trump into admitting that he's paid no income taxes for years, which he said showed he was "smart."

She also scored by hammering him on creating his 'business empire' on the backs of thousands of small vendors who provided services for which he then refused to pay. His response; "Maybe I wasn't satisfied with their work."

And he was caught flat-footed in countering Hillary's charges of his misogyny. He actually said and believed that most Americans supported him calling Rosie O'Donnell a "fat pig" and all his other physical insults of her.

Through it all, we could see on the split screen that Hillary comported herself with poise and dignity. Trump was fidgety, dry mouthed and sweaty, making weird facial expressions and seeming to shrink in physical stature while his suit grew larger.

By the end of the 90-minute event, he looked tired, beat up and rumpled.

Ironically, at the nadir of his pitiful performance, which included several incoherent rants that moderator Holt wisely let Trump run with, the nominee said his best quality was his "temperament."

There was an audible chuckle over that from the audience, though they had been instructed in advance to remain silent.

But the most chilling and frightening part of the entire evening was Trump's ignorance of the worldwide nuclear threat and our country's decades-long efforts to contain nuclear weapon proliferation.

Angling to have his finger on the nuclear trigger, Trump showed he was completely clueless about what that really means. This was startling.

Donald Trump revealed himself to be a madman who is so thin skinned he cannot even stand up to relatively easy questions from mild-mannered debate moderator Lester Holt.

After praising him last night, Trump complained this morning that Holt (also a Republican) was "unfair" to him.

Would Trump similarly whine about contentious world leaders, who'll be considerably more prickly than Lester?

Let's hope enough voters' eyes were opened last night that we don't ever get to that point. I know mine were.

I'm now squarely supporting our only genuine option for President of the United States--Hillary Clinton.

A Few Thoughts About Tonight

Sorry for the late post, Friends,

I was out of town and away from my computer this morning on some personal business.

So much anticipation has built up overnight, and we're just a couple of hours from the first presidential debate.

I have a feeling that whomever you support will be the winner in your opinion, and that's generally how it goes.

Donald Trump will win over most of the recalcitrant of his party, and many younger non-aligned voters, if he acts like the President for 90 minutes.

Hillary Clinton will have to come across as likable for an hour and a half to win over the same group. That will be harder for her than Trump's task is for him.

The opinion in general that the bar is low for Trump and high for Hillary, and it's hard to disagree with that.

So you don't think I can be politically correct and presidential for 90 minutes?
F*ck you. Just watch me!

I've had a tough day, so I'm just going to sit back and watch it all unravel on TV. I hope you all enjoy the debate as much as I do.

I also hope it exceeds all of our expectations and provides some historic moments.

Being completely politically correct, which may be  the last time today you see it happen, let me say, "May the best person win."

See you in the morning.

A Tip of the Hat to Richard W.

Welcome to a big week, Friends,

Here's a question. What kind of moron lets someone question his citizenship, wipe the floor with his reputation by calling him a liar, his wife ugly and his father part of a plot to assassinate JFK, then turns around and endorses that same someone for President?

The answer: any loyal Republican.

Hats off to Richard W. Hatch.

He called it.

Richard W. "Dick" Hatch, the grand old man
of politics.

Regular readers will know who this late gentleman of the Old South and political maven was. I've written about my old boss at UNC Public TV before.

I've named the phenomenon, which ol' Richard W. first observed and studied for a lifetime, 'The Hatch Principle' in his honor.

In it, the perennially fractured GOP dependably congeals for elections, then blows apart again thereafter,

And it's certainly proving true for Donald J. Trump.

Just look at who came around last week--none other than Senator Ted Cruz--his much-maligned principal opponent who had the temerity to diss the GOP nominee at his own coronation.

If Cruz can turn around and give Trump a full-throated endorsement, that means any Republican can and probably will...vote for him at least. This includes Ohio Governor John Kasich and the Bush family.

Trump will have as much GOP voter support as did both John McCain and Mitt Romney--in the neighborhood of 90+ percent.

He should get that and then some, and the majority of his supporters are extremely enthusiastic about him. They WILL turn out and vote.

This is Hillary Clinton's big challenge.

The Hatch Principle only applies to the Republican party. And though Hillary has general support among Democrats, it's not 90 percent, and it's lukewarm at best.

The Clinton and Democratic machines will have to work extra hard to turn out their base to the polls (which includes physically driving thousands of voters there), or Trump can start measuring the White House marquis for another one of his trademark signs.

'Nuff said.

Barring  a complete breakdown on the debate stage tomorrow night, and that's not likely, Trump could be on a glide path to a smooth landing at Reagan National.

One caveat. I've had to remind myself not to underestimate Donald Trump. I also need to do the same for the Clinton machine.

Will There Be a Debate Meltdown?

Whew, it's Friday, Friends,

With slightly more than three days until the first presidential debate, one candidate is preparing while the other is out stumping.

The former wants this job, is perhaps more qualified for it than any other candidate in history, and has dedicated her life to getting it.

The latter can't believe he's even gotten this far, loves the celebrity, but could care less about getting the job.

I have been pointing this out for months, and if you're a regular reader of this blog, you know that.

Well, Hallelujah. This morning on MSNBC, Evan McMullin supporter and well-known Conservative editor of the Weekly Standard, Bill Kristol agreed with me.

Rumor has it that this is how Donald Trump is preparing for
Monday night's big debate. 

Kristol's hoping for that one historic moment on Monday night when Trump absolutely crumbles, showing the world to be the huckster he is. But neither he nor I really believe that's going to happen.

An extremely skilled debater, Hillary Clinton will do her best to get under The Donald's skin, but I believe even he can control himself enough for 90 minutes to not get too rattled.

Her mastery of policy and technique will prove no match for Trump's showmanship.

Rather than ever reveal what an empty suit he actually is, if pressed, Trump will use his considerable media skills to turn the most-watched debate ever into a circus.

He's looking to make whatever happens become the narrative for as long as he can make it last. Good or bad, it doesn't matter. He doesn't believe in bad publicity. Just as long as it's about him, it serves his ends.

What are his ends?

Well, Bill Kristol thinks it's all about Trump's celebrity, but that's just part of it.

As he's been running for President, The Donald has simultaneously been building his next YUGE venture. If you're a regular reader, you know I've already given it a name: Trumpbart -- America's new Alt Right news empire.

He's already got his complete management staff assembled--among them Roger Ailes, Steve Bannon, and David Bossie. And he's been courting talent like Sean Hannity and Greta Van Susteren.

Buhlieve me, Friends, this is going to happen.

It would be great to watch the emperor sans clothes on Monday night, but I'm not banking on it. We're more likely to come away with some outrageous and memorable one liners.

It should also be pretty obvious who the genuine candidate is, and who's simply the greatest reality TV star of all time.  

The A**hole Quotient

It's Thursday, Friends,

As the Queen City of Charlotte, NC faces another restive night, we are just four days away from what portends to be the most watched, and possibly most important, presidential debate in American history.

Damage caused by rioters to North Carolina's largest and very upscale city last night is reported to exceed that of last year's Baltimore riots. And, as in Baltimore, the riots were spurred by the death of an innocent African American at the hands of the police.

The mistreatment of African Americans by the police and how to fix the problem is sure to be a topic of the upcoming debate. It may even be question number one.

We'll certainly get a good feel for how each candidate will respond as president to this continuing and most sensitive of crises.

The debate will be revealing.

But I really wanted to talk about something that happened this morning, which perhaps will slip by because of everything else that's going on.

Donald Trump was endorsed by one of history's biggest jerks--former Indiana Hoosier basketball coach Bobby Knight.

Yes, he won a lot of big games, but he was just as well known for his temper tantrums.

He went berserk at his team's lackluster performance in a February 23, 1985 home game against Purdue, and threw a folding chair clear across the court and right at the handicapped seating section.

He is what I would call your everyday a**hole.

How did I not get included in this list? I endorse
Donald Trump, and I'm probably the biggest a**hole
of them all! (Ann Coulter caught in rare moment speaking
 truthfully)

I've noticed that when it comes to being backed by people who virtually anyone would put in this category, Donald Trump is pitching a shutout.

Take former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke, for example. Or perhaps campaign executive director and former Breitbart News CEO Steve Bannon. No one would ever call him a nice guy.

Then, there's Bridgegate bully Governor Chris Christie, frisk 'em all Rudy Giuliani, lock 'em all up Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and the campaign's newest addition--Citizen United's David Bossie.

Need I go on?

Oh yeah, I forgot the candidate himself.

I can't think of anyone one else in--or endorsing-- any of the other four campaigns (including Evan McMullin's), who has this kind of reputation.

Though Trump can't control support from the likes of  David Duke, he actively courts and surrounds himself with many other POS's, and this speaks volumes about his character.

There are few in his circle who aren't tainted. Two of those, Mike Pence and Kellyanne Conway, seem to constantly be in damage control mode.

Let's hope it won't, but if the election were actually to hinge on the A**hole Quotient, Trump would be the hands-down winner.

Pick Your Poison...A Liar or a Liar

Good Wednesday morning, Friends,

Maybe we want a president who'd rather ask for forgiveness than permission.

Forging forward unauthorized and accepting the consequences is a common pattern of behavior. I've personally had superiors in the business world who've lived by that mantra and who recommended it to all of us subordinates.

Sometimes, it's the only way to break deadlocks and get things done.

But it isn't an ethical or even always legal way to behave. And it's not appropriate for the leader of the greatest constitutional democracy in this latest iteration of human history. We are, after all, a nation of laws.

That's why Donald Trump funneling donors' money through his charitable foundation to pay his personal business liabilities is disturbing and appears to be illegal.

What's the difference between this and whatever comes out of Donald Trump's mouth?
Nobody votes for this.

Trump hadn't given a dime of his personal money to charity since 2008. He was finally cornered into donating $1 million of his own cash to a veterans' group in February, when he held a fundraiser to snub the GOP primary debate.

Other than a subsequent gift of $100,000 to a family of Louisiana flood victims, the only money Trump has given to charity for nearly a decade has been what he loves to call "OPM--Other People's Money."

Using OPM is what curricula of so-called "schools" like Trump University promote to desperate people as a way to spin a fortune out of total b.s.

It actually works for some...usually those with the most sociopathic personalities.

They are willing to say anything at all, with total conviction, and do whatever it takes to achieve their goals.

And  willingness to say anything to further one's ends mirrors the GOP nominee's personality.

I think even many of Trump's supporters see this quality in him...but they don't care. Many actually admire it.

If they were in his shoes, they'd behave exactly the same way. And they worship Trump's nihilism. Facts be damned!

Hillary backers equally accept or simply deny her egregious behavior.

She's been surreptitious for decades, and her private email server debacle is just the latest example of it. At her age, she's not likely to change.

But there is a difference between the opponents. I believe Hillary Clinton knows the difference between a lie and the truth...between fact and fantasy.

For Trump, those lines are completely blurred. That's far worse.

Hillary Back on Trail, Polls Swing

Happy Tuesday, Friends,

Maybe we're getting a glimpse of how this election will wind up. For certain, we are getting a clear picture of a key feature of it.

No matter where any of three of the four candidates are percentage wise, Donald Trump is mired at between 40 to 42 percent. He can't, or maybe doesn't want to, budge the needle.

Meanwhile, with Hillary Clinton back on the campaign trail in earnest, her numbers have moved five points past The Donald in this morning's NBC/Survey Monkey poll, which is one of the more reliable.

This is beyond the margin of error, and indicates a swing. The Clinton campaign must be breathing a sigh of relief.

The results of Donald Trump solidifying his base, while not reaching out beyond it, are finally being seen.

The bevy of Democratic heavyweights, including both President Obama and First Lady Michelle, who have been campaigning for Hillary are also having their effect, along with the large cadre of top Republicans endorsing her.

Perhaps sanity is returning.

It didn't help that Donald Trump, Jr., a chip off the old block and an instrumental part of his father's campaign, had several enormous gaffes in the past week that may have actually chinked his dad's armor with undecideds.

You may have heard about his retweet of a white supremacist cartoon with mascot Pepe the Frog, or his "gas chamber" comment, which rattled the Anti-Defamation League. Yesterday on social media, he compared Syrian refugees to a bowl of Skittles.

Junior memed about it, "If I told you three would kill you, would you grab a handful? That's our Syrian refugee crisis."

When you can buy anything in the world you want, people and Skittles take on
pretty much equivalent value. 

That didn't go over very well with 'a lot of people' including the vice president of Wrigley Co., Denise Young, who tweeted that re-Donald should know the difference between people and candy.

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

As you know, I'm not a Hillary Clinton supporter. But at least I wouldn't lose any sleep at night if she were in the White House.

It's obvious that Donald Trump gets some weird satisfaction over making people crazy. That's okay when he doesn't have any real power over them.

But think about putting your life in his hands. Now, think about putting your children's lives there.

Have a good day.

We're Screwed Now--Attacks Fit Trump's Narrative

Uh oh, Friends,

Boy do we have a big problem now.

The suspect identified as planting bombs all over the New York City metro area this past weekend is the epitome of what Donald Trump has been railing about since he kicked off his campaign.

We were all wondering if and when this kind of attack on our homeland would happen, and many people were praying it wouldn't before the election. Now we're screwed.

There is a terror cell loose in New York, and the one identified suspect is an Afghan refugee who is a naturalized American citizen--just what The Donald has been warning about.

Now it's happened.

All his arguments about being unable to vet refugees coming from the Middle East have been given a face and a poster child--Ahmad Khan Rahami of Elizabeth, N.J.

The fears Trump's been stirring up are suddenly justified, and he has instant credibility.

He can ride it for the next 50 days, and for all intents and purposes the election is over.

Every day that this latest dangerous threat is at large, the more support Donald Trump will accrue.

He'll lock in enough 'undecided' votes to break the current deadlock, and from here on, things can only get better for him--unless he really messes up.

For the next three weeks at least, and longer if the suspect(s) remains at large, the media will be riveted to this actual terrorist threat, that makes Trump look absolutely prophetic.

How can Hillary Clinton now continue to justify resettling more than half a million non-vettable Syrian refugees to the United States? The odds are virtually 100% that at least some will be terrorists.

Trump is calling for the United States to implement an Israeli-style security system and their use of  'profiling'.

How would you like to go through this every time you went to the
local shopping mall? Welcome to Israel.

I know from recently having lived there for three years that it works well. But the Israeli security system is repressive and antithetical to the freedoms that Americans have come to expect.

We really don't want the Israeli system in the United States, buhlieve me. But I think that's where we're headed.

Trump has been given a golden opportunity, and now the presidential race is his to lose. We'll soon see if he really wants the job.

I don't know, but "there are a lot of people who say" he really doesn't.  Let's hope they're right.

The Truth, The Whole Truth

Good Sunday morning, Friends,

The presidential campaigns may take a whole new direction as early as later today, if it's determined that any of three suspicious incidents in the last 24 hours turn out to be acts of Islamic terrorism.

In the meantime, we're still dealing with the fallout from Donald Trump's decision to finally drop the birther issue, thereby prolonging it.

Even though he tried to put his five-year reign as Birther-in-Chief  to bed with a one liner, declaring that President Obama was born in the United States "period," a 'lot of people' think he should have gone much further.

'I don't know, but many people say' he owes the President an apology.

He didn't need to preface his flip flop on a "lie" which blamed Hillary Clinton for starting the whole birther thing in the first place.

When does a half-truth become a full lie? Whenever either of the major party candidates
get ahold of it.

This was immediately and universally called out, but the question of Obama's birthplace was most likely first raised by Clinton confidant, staffer, former journalist, and reputed dirty trickster, Sydney Blumenthal.

What gives this credence is that the Obama administration officially banned  Blumenthal from holding any position in Hillary Clinton's state department as retribution for his nasty anti-Obama tactics.

Also, former McClatchy Washington bureau chief, James Asher, claims Blumenthal told him directly that Obama was "born in Kenya," though Blumenthal denies it ever happened.

But there it is, the whole truth, and Trump isn't exactly lying about who started birtherism.

The thing is, the Clinton campaign outright rejected using the argument, believing it was totally false and that Obama's citizenship wasn't in question anyway, regardless of where he was born.

But Donald Trump picked up the ball and (cynically) ran with it...for five years.

Since the day the president released his long form birth certificate from Hawaii in 2011, which should have put this nonsensical non-issue to rest, Trump repeatedly and disingenuously built his political career on it.

It was a conspiracy theory just meaty enough to stitch a contingent of Alt Right "deplorables" together as his base. Throw in a cadre of ultra nationalists, exuberant over his proposal to deport 11 million illegal immigrants, and you've got a movement.

Ironically, both these issues have virtually dissolved for his campaign. However, the movement has hung together--now more of a cult of personality and big enough to give Trump a lead in the polls.

With yesterday's bombings in New Jersey and New York, and the lone wolf stabbing attack of eight at a mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota, we'll see if the polls keep moving toward the candidate who loves to demagogue terrorism.

We've got a one-on-one debate coming a week from tomorrow, and that's fortunate. There won't be any distractions and nowhere to hide. Trump and Clinton will have to prove their mettle.

The candidate of substance will emerge. That's the truth.

So, Is it Going to Be Chicken or Fish?

Thankfully, it's Friday, Friends,

The campaign has boiled down to a binary race as the majority of voters seem to be saying they want to work within the conventional framework for this very unconventional election.

While Libertarian Gary Johnson's Aleppo gaffe didn't hurt him in the polls, he didn't help himself either, and he won't get the 15% poll average he needs to make the first national debate.

One thing is for certain, Johnson will never forget what Aleppo is again.

Frankly, I love the Johnson/Weld ticket. But the reality is that with so little time left until Election Day, they don't have a legitimate chance.

So, at least the first debate, which is now just 10 days away, will be between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton exclusively.

Thank you for this, Donald Trump. You did the country a real service. You telegraphed
to us years ago that someone who does things like this should never be President.

As you know if you're a regular reader, I can't support either candidate. In my opinion, both are too flawed to even have made it this far and don't belong anywhere near the Oval Office.

But as President Obama said, "We have a choice--chicken or fish."

I may want steak, but I'm not gonna get it. So, if I want to eat at all, I'm going to have to choose between two things I don't want.

I must admit, Hillary Clinton gave one heck of a good speech in Greensboro, N.C. yesterday. It was full of substance and policy. I had to pinch myself because it almost seemed like we were in a normal election.

In contrast, Donald Trump gave a scripted "economic policy" speech in New York City. He stuck to the script, but it was pretty short on exactly how he'd achieve his goals of creating 25 million new jobs, cutting taxes by trillions, and attaining 4% annual economic growth.

The speech was full of "only I can do it's" and "buhlieve me's." It didn't explain how his plans would not wind up creating a three trillion dollar deficit as most economists predict. Nor was the deficit even mentioned.

I'm not a Buhliever.

The presidential race is in a dead heat. In fact, today's LA Times/USC Tracking poll, though usually an outlier, actually gives Trump a six-point lead.

I think the country is floundering right now with the unpopular choices it faces. I believe, though, that all that will change after the first debate, and the candidate of substance will emerge.

I also believe in an American electorate that usually does the right thing, even if many of us are still truly hurting from the recession and simply want any kind of radical change.

When push comes to shove, I feel that enough Americans would rather build on the progress we've made in 240 years, than tear everything up and start over.

That is the essence of the choice we face in November.

So, do you want chicken or fish?

Five Things 'a Lot of People Say' About Donald Trump

Happy Thursday, Friends,

Buhlieve me, there are YUGE things about Donald Trump you don't get from the news. I've heard what so 'many amazing people say' about him everywhere I go, and they're big time--enough to make you flap your arms for exercise.

So this morning, with the presidential race in a dead heat, I decided to post the top five things those elusive 'many people' are saying about him. Or, as an homage to the candidate himself, I might just be making them up.

Anyway, here they are. Enjoy:

1. Trump's spray-on tan has a brand name. It called "Orangu" Tan.

When he blushes, as he did yesterday after a black preacher stopped him short for trying to give a political speech in her Flint, MI church, he turns blaze orange.

2. He has completely embraced the criticism that his hands are abnormally small.

To emphasize they are the proper size for a man half a foot shorter than himself, he now has his jacket sleeves lengthened by two inches to make them look even tinier.

3. The Donald is incredibly cheap. Not only does he give exclusively OPM (Other People's Money) to charity, but he buys all his clothes at The Mens' Wearhouse and has his tailor sew Armani labels in them.

"Someday, I'm going to marry that woman!"

4. He has a God complex.

Trump instructed all of his children to marry Jews, and the three oldest have followed his instructions. Even 21-year-old Tiffany has a Jewish boyfriend, and so far, Trump has eight Jewish grandchildren.

There is a method to this madness.

After he's incinerated the world in his third year as President, he, his staff, and his family will be the only ones left on earth.

He intends to repopulate the world starting with the 12 Tribes of Judaism, of which he will be the patriarch.

Makes sense.

5. He's somewhat clairvoyant.

When he was 21, The Donald made his first trip to Eastern Europe with his dad, Fred.

While touring the Slovenian countryside, they were invited to attend the Christening of a newly born baby girl.

Virtually everyone in the village was at the ancient ramshackle Orthodox church for the ceremony, and Trump was extremely moved. He then got a close look at the tiny infant they were there to name.

He was absolutely smitten.

To this day, nearly 50 years later, villagers claim they clearly overheard Donald Trump say, "Someday, I'm going to marry that woman!"

Do I need to tell you what they named the baby?

Trump Trying to Lose, Hillary Fades Anyway

Good Wednesday, Friends,

No tax returns and now no medical records--that's what we're getting this morning from the Donald Trump campaign. The hubris of this man knows no limits.

He supposedly wants us to hire him as President, but he doesn't want to give us the information we need to make an intelligent hiring decision.

Could his latest refusal to disclose vital information be the straw that finally breaks the back of The Donald's candidacy? He's been tipping his hand that he's trying really hard to lose, but he can't seem to shake off his 'deplorable' supporters.

Maybe this morning's latest affront, the announcement that no medical records will be forthcoming on Thursday after promising they would be, will finally close the deal for him.

Trump really likes the run-up to becoming President, but he doesn't actually want the job. That entails actual mind-numbing work--outside the presence of his adoring followers. What fun is that?

He really just wanted to be the world's biggest celebrity anyway, and he's already achieved it.

He's also established himself as the potential king of a new Alt Right media empire.

With Steve Bannon and David Bossie presently on staff, and Roger Ailes lurking in the shadows, Trump has already assembled the key players around him to make it happen.

Yes, 'many people' say he ran because he wanted to show his cadre of billionaire friends, virtually all of whom happen to be Jewish, that although he could never be a full member of their club, he was more than their equal. He'd prove it to them by becoming the most powerful man in the world.

And as this morning's polls show, the numbers are all moving in Trump's direction. The race is in a virtual dead heat, and I don't know how a candidate as disliked and as maligned as Hillary Clinton can turn that around.

And who's missing from this picture? Ah yes, that so-called
candidate, what's-her-name. No matter, the guy to Obama's
left will do just fine.

Watching President Obama stumping for her yesterday, it was almost as if the crowd was about to start chanting "four more years." They loved him, and he could easily walk into a third term if the law would allow it.

But can the enthusiasm for Obama translate into the same for Hillary Clinton? That's an open question, but my guess is no.

Thanks to another Russian hack, we learned yesterday that former Secretary of State Colin Powell sent out at least one email calling Trump a "national disgrace," and another calling Trump's 'birther movement' "racist."

General Powell confirmed the emails' authenticity.

Maybe this will help The Donald in his quest to lose. By now, though, we should know not to assume it won't increase his support.

That leaves voters in a pickle of a binary choice.

Here's a thought. Maybe President Obama could exert his hefty influence over Hillary Clinton and persuade her to bow out of the race for some honorable reason--like unforeseen health issues.

Certain winner and candidate-in-waiting Joe Biden can handle four years in the Oval Office to protect the President's legacy.

It's still not too late.

A Nation Divided Against Itself...

Good morning, Friends,

As we now know, Hillary Clinton is at home in Chappaqua, N.Y., recuperating from bacterial pneumonia. She wouldn't even have mentioned she was serverely ill, if she hadn't passed out in public on Sunday. Transparency personified.

At a Donald Trump rally in Asheville, N.C., last night, another one of Trump's rabid supporters threw a punch at a non-violent protester in the crowd. What else is new?

This country is polarized. A full third of it each is respectively and unflinchingly backing one of the two most-flawed candidates to run for President in the last century.

Hillary is proving to be one new loathsome surprise after another. While hiding her serious illness, she went on her customary rant against Republicans at an exclusive LGBT fundraiser Friday night.

In it, she astoundingly called half of Trump's supporters "a basket of deplorables."

This was red meat for an audience of ardent Dems. But unlike on all the other occasions Hillary delivered this same scripted message to a roomful of donors, this fundraiser was open to the media.

Someone on her staff failed to adjust the candidate's remarks for this not-so-subtle difference, and the obvious happened.

Her private message to her sycophants went viral.

In politics, you can hammer your opponent with everything you've got, but it's suicide to criticize your rival's supporters.

This message from the Other Side is directed to Hillary Clinton and
Donald Trump. "Remember well my words. Don't diss the voters!"

It's amazing to me that an "experienced" politician with such "good judgment" would not have known this and would have ever let those words escape her lips...even in "private."

Trump was correct in calling this the biggest political error of Hillary's campaign.

This was truly Hillary's 47% moment.

Her "deplorables" comment was such powerful ammunition for Trump that he was able to disregard that she intentionally hid her illness from the public--something he normally would have demagogued.

As I've been saying for more than a month Hillary's lead was evaporating.

This morning, the most recent poll shows the race in a virtual dead heat and moving in Trump's direction.

Regardless of who wins the election, we're going to wind up with millions of people who are furious over its outcome.

And as we've seen as recently as last night, the intensity of their emotions can lead to violence...on either side.

I implore the two camps to remember the sage words of Abraham Lincoln, "A nation divided against itself cannot stand."

 

The Biggest Hillary Lie

Good Monday morning, Friends,

Yesterday's commemorations of the worst foreign attack in history on the American homeland were extremely moving.

For those of us who have lived much of our lives before 9/11/01, the memorials were important touchstones to the horrible day that completely changed the world.

And yesterday's events, 15 years later, may have changed our world again.

It became clear yesterday that Hillary Clinton's health problems are far more serious than anyone in her campaign cares to admit.

Don't worry, I'll be out campaigning again tomorrow.

In fact, 68-year-old Hillary passed out during the memorial service at Ground Zero, and was whisked away to "her daughter's apartment."

It was only then that her campaign was all but forced to admit the candidate had been diagnosed with pneumonia two days earlier.

So yet again, we unpleasantly learn of another Clinton failure to disclose.

Today, Hillary has canceled her busy schedule in California and is at home in bed taking antibiotics. Her campaign says she is "recovering nicely."

So the media is reporting. But without hearing it from Hillary's doctor holding one hand on the Bible, is there any reason at all we should believe this prognosis?

Methinks one lie too many has already been told by the Clinton team.

Pneumonia/Influenza is the fifth leading cause of death in Americans over 65. It's especially virulent for those who ignore their doctor's orders to stay in bed--and for those whose immune systems are already compromised.

We're well aware of her serious concussion, blood clots, and several falling events. Even in the best case scenario, it takes weeks to recover from this serious bacterial infection.

And Hillary is not the best case scenario.

Let's cut to the chase. I've said in several posts that due to her many issues and for the good of the country, Hillary Clinton should be a patriot and step aside.

The Democratic party can replace her easily with anyone they choose until the end of September. After that, election laws make it more difficult.

I've been calling for the party to draft Joe Biden for months. He's been a YUGE hit on the stump campaigning for Hillary, and he would roll over Donald Trump.

Maybe now Joe's time has finally come.

In Memoriam

Dear Friends,

In memory of the 2,996 souls lost on this day 15 years ago, I'm setting politics aside for today. Let's pray for a more peaceful world. See you tomorrow.

Two Months Away from Disaster

The weekend is here, Friends,

Everyone seems to calculate differently how far away from election day we are. Some count today. Some don't. Some count election day itself. Some don't.

But one thing is for certain. We're within 60 days of disaster.

Here's where we stand. We've got a narcissistic and manipulative pathological liar, who loves strong dictators, running against another smooth liar who's enriched herself off public service and plays by her own set of rules. 

Other options are a man who has no grasp of world affairs, a female medical doctor who believes in Utopia, and a little-known former spy who won't be on the ballot in most states.

How did a nation of such excellence wind up in this situation with these choices?

That's a rhetorical question. I don't have the answer.

Wouldn't it be great if a candidate's face turned into this every time
they lied or insulted your intelligence? Voting would be much easier.

I believe that Donald Trump is not a serious candidate, and he doesn't really want to be President. It's too much like a really hard job. So, he's simply going through the motions and doing his utmost to offend as many people as possible.  

But true to his now-famous quip about shooting someone on 5th Avenue, he's having a hard time casting off voters. 

No matter what he says or does, Trump's been maintaining about 40% support. 

Fortunately for our country, this is probably not enough to win a multiple candidate race but definitely not enough in a binary one.

Trump is unconcerned. He's already lined up his next, less demanding venture--The 'Trumpbart' news empire. I've talked about it in two earlier posts.

Just look who Trump has in his stable: ex-FOX CEO Roger Ailes, ex-Breitbart News Network CEO Stephen Bannon, Alt Right guru David Bossie, and FOX News celebs like Sean Hannity, Greta Van Susteren, and Bret Baier who have "man out" clauses in their contracts.

That clause allows them to exit FOX News if Ailes leaves the network for any reason. And Van Susteren already has.

This morning we learned of another affront that would destroy any other candidate. Trump gave an interview to RT Russian television in which he praised the country's strongman dictator, Vladimir Putin. 

As I said earlier, Trump's behavior is treasonous, and any other U.S. citizen would probably be having a serious sit down with the FBI if they'd been saying the same things on national TV.

Libertarian Gary Johnson may have harmed himself beyond repair yesterday when he admitted on national TV that he didn't know what 'Aleppo' was. He failed Presidential Politics 101. 

But all the publicity showered on him over the gaffe, which he'd never received before, may ironically help him in our current crazy environment. He got the most serious media attention he'd received yet. 

We'll have to watch next week's polls to see if Johnson actually got a bounce. He'd been slowly moving up toward the 15% he needs in five national polls to be on the debate stage with Clinton and Trump. But he's still about four points shy.

My gut tells me he won't make it, but I really hope I'm wrong.

Ultimately, we may be left with Hillary Clinton as our only option to Donald Trump. I take some solace in knowing she's at least not a maniac.

Gary Johnson Goes Down in Flames

Good morning, Friends,

While everyone is rehashing Donald Trump's outrageous performance at the Commander-in-Chief Forum last night, not many are paying any attention to a major gaffe that finishes Gary Johnson as a candidate.

Asked this morning on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe', "What would you do about Aleppo?" Johnson responded, "And what is Aleppo?

A brain fart, right?

No.

I'm so busy campaigning for peace, I forgot to find out where the wars are.

Johnson honestly had no knowledge of Syria's largest city, which has been under government siege for weeks. The Syrian air force chlorine bombed it yesterday, and a non-stop aerial campaign has killed thousands of women and children there.

The story was on the front page of virtually every newspaper in the world.

How could a man running for President of the United States not know about it?

Johnson's parting words on his way out of 30 Rock were, "I guess I have to get smarter."

With just 61 days until the election, it's a little late.

No one can accuse MSNBC's Mike Barnicle of throwing a 'gotcha' question at Johnson. The discussion was about his foreign policy.

The former two-term governor came across as totally clueless. Obviously he has no one keeping him up to speed, and  as a third-party candidate, he's not getting intelligence briefings. He would not be ready for the job on day one.

Johnson's gaffe is a disqualifier. He can't be President.

But after watching Donald Trump's treasonous praise of Vladmir Putin and calling our generals "reduced to rubble" last night, I believe he's not only unqualified to be President; he should be measuring the window in his new room at the federal penitentiary.

Hillary Clinton is full of knowledge and experience. She's also full of something else.

Jill Stein is...well, she should probably change her party's name from the Green to the Utopia party.

We've got a major problem, Friends. Our choices are pretty grim.

Trump's Lack of Depth Chilling

What a Wednesday, Friends,

The major-party candidates will have their first face-to-face tonight in New York City. NBC News is hosting a Q&A forum on 'military and defense' aboard the floating museum--the U.S.S. Intrepid.

I hope Donald Trump performs identically to what he did yesterday in his "town meeting," which was emceed by his retired general buddy, Michael Flynn.

Not only did the promised town meeting turn out to simply be Flynn asking Trump pre-scripted questions, but it was also chilling.

Trump showed himself to be as naked as those tiny phallus-ed statues of him that cropped up in cities around the country a few weeks back.

And just in case you didn't get a chance to see any of these works of art, here's
one that got some attention in New York City. Unfortunately, the sculpture
has more detailed plans than the actual candidate.

General Flynn asked him repeatedly how he would handle ISIS. Trump answered by deflecting the question off onto how Hillary Clinton's policies got us into this mess. He'd then go off on some crazy rant for several minutes.

He actually seemed to lose his audience of military veterans several times.

I noticed some staring off into space looking either bored or confused. I could not tell which.

Flynn looked appalled. And, with noticeable exasperation, he implored Trump to give him some kind of direct answer, noting that this was important to our troops who were still in harm's way in the Middle East.

He got no coherent response, just another off-topic tirade.

He then asked Trump directly, "Are you for regime change in Syria?"

Trump must have heard, "How are you going to fix the economy?" because that's pretty much where he went with that answer.

Honestly, Friends, at that point I had a moment I can only describe as chilling and physically sickening. I had an OMG realization that Donald Trump was a total fraud.

I'm not being overly dramatic. Friends, I got so viscerally frightened by this man, I felt like I was going to puke.

He is a total empty suit! He has NOTHING!

Now, we're learning that Trump's heretofore "secret plan" to defeat ISIS is that he's going to "tell his generals to come up with a comprehensive plan in his first 30 days in office." What an outrage!

I understand the country's desire for change. I want to see it myself. But change for change's sake is not necessarily good.

My wife describes Donald Trump as a "crazy maker." And if you pay any attention to how he behaves, you'll see how apt her description is.

Friends, if we elect this man to the White House, he will set the world asunder.

Hillary Loses Lead While Off 'Raising Money'

Good morning, Friends,

If it wasn't in the past, politics is now simply all about the money.

The money has become so important, in fact, that Hillary Clinton risked her lead in the polls to drop out of sight for more than a week to raise an obscene amount of it.

And the inevitable happened. Donald Trump went ahead in the polls. First, in two outliers but this morning in the highly-respected CNN/ORC poll.

Last Tuesday and despite all her problems, Hillary Clinton still had a comfortable lead.

But during Hillary's long absence, Trump met with a foreign president, spoke at an African American church, gave a controversial immigration speech, generally stayed on message and was on the stump every day. He and his campaign had made the noticeable 'pivot'.

Meanwhile, in swing states like Nevada, we've been watching the same anti-Trump commercial on TV ad nauseum. If we don't know by now that he doesn't have the temperament to be President, we've probably been sticking to Netflix.

Fear-mongering commercials in this day and age can only help so much. Trump being out there and dominating the narrative keeps him at the top of peoples' minds. And he's isn't coming across as all that scary.

The polls bear that out.

I find that when the news is extremely depressing, it always helps
to look at a cute kitty.

Hillary's going to face a string of serious email and Clinton Foundation issues between now and Election Day.

She's lost the momentum, and it's going to be hard, if not impossible, to get back. I don't even know how she can turn things around while she's battling so many distractions.

And they'll continue to dog her into her presidency...if she's somehow elected.

I told my wife back in March of last year, when the email scandal first broke, that it wouldn't go away and would ultimately lead to Hillary's undoing. I'll let you be the judge of that prediction.

Though I'm starting to sound like a broken record here, I'll ask once again: Will Hillary be a patriot and step aside?

Joe Biden is looking mighty presidential on Hillary's campaign trail and seems ready to step in.

My guess is her ego's too big. She'll fiddle while the Democrats go down in flames.

Black Bishop Blows Dog Whistle for Trump

Happy Labor Day, Friends,

Much of this presidential campaign has been about 'dog whistle' politics--sending silent messages of encouragement to sometimes distasteful blocs of constituents.

In Donald Trump's case, it's been white supremacists--who embrace him--and specifically the former Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke, who is trying to run for the U.S. Senate as a Republican from Louisiana.

Of course, Trump has denied any courting of this bunch, no matter how much they publicly adore him.

But some of the campaign's dog whistles have been loud and clear--from its anti-Semitic tweet of a Star of David laid over hundred dollar bills and adjacent to an unflattering headshot of Hillary Clinton, to Trump's hiring of Breitbart News' Alt Right guru Steve Bannon as his campaign's executive director.

Well, unbeknownst to Donald Trump, and to apparently all of the media of which many happen to be Jewish, he was hoodwinked into sending another kind of dog whistle that was audible even to us poor-hearing humans.

The Bishop Wayne T. Jackson ceremoniously gave The Donald two gifts Saturday after the candidate delivered his speech extending an olive branch to the African American community.

One was a bible commonly used by Messianic Jews, or Jews who believe in Jesus Christ but who also maintain their Jewish identities. The other was what the Bishop described as a prayer shawl directly from Israel.

Here it is, Friends: the same exact "prayer shawl" that Bishop Jackson gave to Donald
Trump. These Orthodox Jews only put these on at special times. One is when they're praying
that Donald Trump won't be President.  

What no one in the media fully pointed out is that this was not just a prayer shawl. It was a Jewish tallit, which is quite different. It is an extremely special and sacred accoutrerment of the Jewish religion, only worn during certain rituals and at specific times of the day.

By not only unwrapping it but laying the tallit on Trump, Bishop Jackson sent a loud and clear dog whistle to the white supremacists, "He's ours now. He belongs to people of faith, and especially the Jews. So, get lost."

Sadly, the media seems to have intentionally come up short on the details of Bishop Jackson's gift. Virtually no one seems to have gotten the Bishop's message...yet.

After this post on a slow news national holiday, I think you'll be hearing a lot more about it.

Rabbi Greg Kanter of Charleston, S.C., this one's for you.

Transparency? What's That?

Happy day before Labor Day, Friends,

Aside from one public appearance, Hillary Clinton has completely vanished for more than a week. The media says she's been off fundraising, but in all honesty, they don't know where she is.

Her disappearance is highly unusual in the midst of such a heated presidential race and has given Donald Trump the opportunity to have the spotlight completely to himself.

Despite his public flap with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, he's pulled closer to Hillary in the polls. In fact, two polls now have Trump leading in the general election.

I'm not really sure what's going on with Hillary. Allegedly she will emerge on Labor Day and begin travelling with the press corps on her plane, which she hasn't been doing. This is supposedly intended to give the media more access to her.

We'll see if it really happens.

In the meatime, her absence is leading to quite a bit of speculation.

My thought is that she understands how deep her problems are, and that the nation can't bear four years of continuous scandal. She's been holed up strategizing with her closest confidants on how best to do the patriotic thing and bow out of the race.

The Republicans have already set the stage for her to use serious health problems as an acceptable excuse.

There's just a smidgen of a chance that that's what's happening, but we will never really know. Hillary has been as non-forthcoming as her opponent, who's so far declined to release his own health records--and more importantly, his tax returns.

This segues nicely into the topic of those three speeches Hillary gave to Goldman Sachs for $675,000.

This seems like a lot of cash, but it's only a fraction of what Hillary Clinton personally
"earned" from Goldman-Sachs to "talk" to them three times. Who says bullshit walks?

You're probably aware that she's repeatedly refused to release the transcripts, which raises the question, why? What could be in those speeches that she wants to hide from the public?

Perhaps the question should actually be: Were there really any speeches?

Is it possible that Goldman Sachs just slipped Hillary the money, and had her invoice them for the three exorbitant honorariums to cover their derrieres?

Surely by now, some enterprising reporter would have found someone who heard any of those three presentations and was willing to spill the beans.

That hasn't happened yet. But in this leaky world, I say it's virtually impossible for nothing to have come out.

You can't tell me that Goldman Sachs is such a tight ship that no one's ever talked anyone about those speeches for what's amounted to years now. Not one person who heard any of them has said a peep. Nonsense!

As an investigative reporter for decades, I know how ridiculous that really is.

It makes me believe there weren't really any speeches. And that makes it pretty easy not to talk about them.

Goldman Sachs simply gave Hillary two thirds of a million dollars for...well, it was obviously not for nothing. They wanted something.

If you can live with what that is, vote for her.

Where in the World Is Hillary Sandiego?

Fabulous Friday, Friends,

Donald Trump has been busy as a beaver in the last week crisscrossing the country and even beyond in campaign event after event, but where in the world is Hillary Clinton?

Thank God! No one recognizes me! I can actually walk around
and no one hates me. Do you think this brown wig and red hat and
coat are inconspicuous enough?

Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean claims she's been off "fundraising."

I guess the old adage, "You can't be too thin or too rich," is true.  At least the latter is for Hillary who raised a record amount of money last month. I guess she's trying to exceed August's $143 million in September.

With the election just a little more than nine weeks away, she must feel like she'll really need it against a candidate who's spending next to nothing and is doing everything he can do to lose.

I'm not kidding.

Hillary's got to be the second worst candidate to run for president in my lifetime. Barry Goldwater comes in a distant third. You can guess who the worst is, but Hillary's having a tough time beating him.

I don't believe she's off fundraising. I think she knows she's less repulsive to Democrats like myself the less she shows her face.

Donald Trump does a great job campaigning against himself anyway, so she may as well let him keep tightening his own noose. He seems to be quite adept at it.

Yesterday, half of his Hispanic surrogates walked away from his campaign after he betrayed them by doubling down on his hardcore deportation policy for illegal immigrants. He'd indicated to them a week earlier that he'd be softening his stance.

I guess that new slogan he'd been planning, "Trust in Trump," wouldn't be a good idea to launch right now.

I'm just wondering if Hillary's unexpected and clandestine hiatus doesn't actually have something to do with her health. She's been totally inaccessible to the media, which is highly unusual.

At her one public appearance this week before the American Legion, she looked gaunt, and her energy level seemed extremely low.

This could easily be a result of the rigors of the campaign. But the sad fact is, Donald Trump is a couple of years older than Hillary, and his schedule has been much tougher. He does come across as more vigorous.

This could be a deciding factor in two months.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Trump

Good Thursday morning, Friends.

Wow. Was I shocked when I watched Donald Trump standing side by side on the podium yesterday with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. He looked--and sounded--positively gracious and presidential. 

Trump had nothing but praise for Mexico and its people and called President Nieto (who compared him to Hitler) "a friend."

Later, he demurred to a reporter's question on whether Mexico agreed to pay for Trump's wall, saying simply that they hadn't discussed it, and they'd put it off for another day.

That's when the good Dr. Jekyll's facade began to crack. 

Shortly after their meeting, Nieto revealed to the media that he and Trump had indeed talked about the wall, and that he'd told him Trump plainly that Mexico wasn't going to pay...period...end of story.

Donald Trump says he doesn't read books. Considering then that
he's never read this one, it's uncanny the way his life is unwittingly
imitating art. 

It was perhaps Pena Nieto's showing up of The Donald that spurred the Mr. Hyde to come out of him last night in Arizona.

The old Donald was back with a vengeance with all his xenophobic demagoguery, and he threw his virtually all white crowd all the fetid flesh they were craving.

This morning, it's being reported that Trump's Hispanic surrogates are running away from him and not looking back. They didn't like the 'Mr. Trump' they saw last night in Phoenix.

Amazingly, the polls were tightening up between Trump and Hillary Clinton. This morning's Rasmussen Reports poll actually has Trump up by a point. 

Trump is doubling down on his gambit to win the presidency with exclusively white votes, though the math says it can't be done.

But the race-baiting 'Mr. Trump' that revealed himself again last night gets his base stirred up and excited...so excited they will flock to the polls in November to vote for him. 

Hillary's own problems are monumental, and there are more to come.

Conversely, the deeper Hillary's trust issues become, the more tepid become her supporters. And lukewarm supporters sit home.

I don't know how Hillary Clinton can even redeem herself at this point. She is such a weak candidate, there's virtually only one way that she can motivate voters to turn out to the polls. 

Keep pounding on the monster 'Mr. Trump' and frighten the bejeezus out of them.