Is Our Democratic Republic At Risk From Forces Both Foreign and Within?...

We are moving this running post up to front page this evening where it will remain until January 3'rd 2017 when we will return to single posts, hopefully on a daily basis. There is much to do in getting the TRUTH out about Donald J Trump, a dishonest, totally self absorbed, and dangerous individual. He may be the president on January 20th but that does not mean thoughtful and concerned people shouldn't challenge Trump at every turn and fight his agenda whenever it runs contrary to their interests and those of their family. More to come.

BTW, be sure to read today's entry, 12/28/16, below. this is just one example AND, it is just the beginning.

You've probably noticed the brief posts of late. Posts with very short commentary by the weblolg administrator followed by an article that goes into the subject in much greater detail. This has been done purposefully following the rancorous 2016 election, and because its Christmas Time, soon to be a New Year.  This posting format will continue until January 3rd 2017.  

December 21, 2016

12/28/16 @ 7:10 PM - Just another way Donald Trump plans to screw folks,  in this case it is the retired people.  Trump's pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) wants to allow "balance billing", something strictly prohibited for Medicare patients. In short it will cause medical coats for seniors to sky rocket. Read the details in the linked article below.            

The Republican plot to devour retirees' nest eggs

Just another way El Donaldo and his posse of millionaires and billionaires are planning to "Make America Great Again".

12/27/16 @ 12:30 PM - If there was ever any doubt it has been erased. President elect Donald J. Trump, the man who criticized other  in fact is bigly guilty of the same. Follow the linked article for details.

Trump rewards big donors with jobs and access

12/13/16 @ 1:20 PM - What the hell, lets turn the thread into an open space free for all of divergent ideas, no matter how ridiculous they may seem to some. After all, when ya can't beat em join em!

Have at it! Just be sure to observe commenting policy, or, comment post will be deleteds upon detection.



12/14/16 @ 7:25 PM - Follow the linked title from VOX for some interesting insights into The Word Salad President and his more often than not rambling almost incoherent sentences.

Trump says the press mangles his “beautiful flowing sentences.” We asked linguists to weigh in.

12/15/16 @ 10:40 AM - Follow the linked title from t.pix for a clearer picture into the potential tragedy that awaits the USA under a Trump administration. History provides many clues.

"Prevent Tragedy Before It's Too Late": Read the Statement 1,200 Scholars Just Released About Trump

More @ Mother Jones.



12/16/16 @ 10.30 AM - I've said since the beginning of Donald J. Trump's run for the presidency he was a threat to our civil liberties and our democratic republic. Apparently more folks are waking up to this reality. Unfortunately is may be to late. Follow the linked New York Times article for more.

Is Donald Trump a Threat to Democracy?

12/20/16 @ 9:45 AM - With the electoral college making Donald J. Trump's minority election to the United States presidency official we are now looking at the American rightwing solidifying its control over our lives.

 From the following linked article it looks as though Trump will be receiving plenty of help, encouragement, and support from some far right European elements.

Austrian Far-Right Politicians Travel to Moscow to Grease Ties Between Trump, Putin

12/20/16 @ 12:30 PM - Big h/t goes out to Progressive Eruptions who posted the following linked article this morning. This is not what America wants. We fought a world war against it. Now we have American citizens supporting this horrific mentality. NOT IN AMERICA must be our battle cry! We must defeat this vile pox and strench on our national idenity.

One month, 8 days. That's how long it took after electing Trump for Neo-Nazis to feel confident enough to start openly targeting Jews in America. Not online like they've been doing for years, but in the real world. This dangerous escalation is just the beginning:

Complete article BELOW THE FOLD.



12/21/16 @ 11:00 AM - It seems that president elect Donald J. Trump, the man who was going to drain the swamp has had a change of heart. Reports are that he is going to stop using the catch phrase that was a campaign staple. When you really think about it it  makes perfect sense that he would stop using it. With our three branches of government now safely in the jaws of the alligators (reepublicans) we're sure he no longers feels the need to drain the swamp. Follow the linked article for the full story.

Gingrich: Trump doesn't want to 'drain the swamp' anymore

12/22/16 @ 10:00 AM -  The internet has always had its share of individuals as well as groups that regularly disseminate false information for the purpose of misleading people. America now has a president elect, Donald J. Trump who is using social media (Twitter) for that very purpose, misleading Americans aa well as the rest of the world. 

The Washington Post has created a nifty tool designed to address one of the novel problems of our political era: a president-elect who persistently uses Twitter to spread lies. A web-browser extension for Chrome and Firefox, RealDonaldContext annotates some of Trump’s tweets with fact-checking from the Post. For instance, last month Trump tweeted, “In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.” Below that, if you use the extension, is a note saying, “This is incorrect or false,” with this explication: “Trump didn’t win in a landslide in any sense—but more importantly there is absolutely no evidence that there were a significant number of votes cast illegally, much less ‘millions’ of them.”

RealDonaldContext meets a genuine need, given the importance tweeting plays in Trump’s media strategy and the frequency with which he lies. Trump’s authoritarianism is manifest in his attempt to impose a false reality on the world, which will become all the more dangerous when he assumes power. Thus, fact-checking his tweets is not only essential journalism, but an act of resistance—a reminder that Trump can’t make a lie come true by fiat alone.

Yet fact-checking, while necessary, is also only a partial solution. Trump’s core supporters, and the Republican Party that has decided to appease them, have proven willing to swallow his lies wholesale; they are immune to fact-checkers. Moreover, the problem with Trump’s tweets isn’t just that they often contain falsehoods, but that they are deliberate provocations with the potential to cause real conflict.

To continue reading this important information follow the linked article below.

Trump’s Tweets Are a Threat to Our National Security

Christmas 2016... A Time To Reflect As We Prepare For 2017

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

Merry Christmas

May Your Holiday Be Everything You Wish It To Be

Your Thoughts Are Welcome...

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

Following is some info on the nominees Trump has picked to fill his cabinet. Please feel free to leave your comments on any or all of them.

Compliments of The Washington Post.

Interesting, Principled, Outside The Box, and, Willl Have No Impact...

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Purveyor of Truth

From The New York Times opinion page.

Why I Will Not Cast My Electoral Vote for Donald Trump

DALLAS — I am a Republican presidential elector, one of the 538 people asked to choose officially the president of the United States. Since the election, people have asked me to change my vote based on policy disagreements with Donald J. Trump. In some cases, they cite the popular vote difference. I do not think presidents-elect should be disqualified for policy disagreements. I do not think they should be disqualified because they won the Electoral College instead of the popular vote. However, now I am asked to cast a vote on Dec. 19 for someone who shows daily he is not qualified for the office.

Fifteen years ago, as a firefighter, I was part of the response to the Sept. 11 attacks against our nation. That attack and this year’s election may seem unrelated, but for me the relationship becomes clearer every day.

George W. Bush is an imperfect man, but he led us through the tragic days following the attacks. His leadership showed that America was a great nation. That was also the last time I remember the nation united. I watch Mr. Trump fail to unite America and drive a wedge between us.

Mr. Trump goes out of his way to attack the cast of “Saturday Night Live” for bias. He tweets day and night, but waited two days to offer sympathy to the Ohio State community after an attack there. He does not encourage civil discourse, but chooses to stoke fear and create outrage.

This is unacceptable. For me, America is that shining city on a hill that Ronald Reagan envisioned. It has problems. It has challenges. These can be met and overcome just as our nation overcame Sept. 11.

The United States was set up as a republic. Alexander Hamilton provided a blueprint for states’ votes. Federalist 68 argued that an Electoral College should determine if candidates are qualified, not engaged in demagogy, and independent from foreign influence. Mr. Trump shows us again and again that he does not meet these standards. Given his own public statements, it isn’t clear how the Electoral College can ignore these issues, and so it should reject him.

I have poured countless hours into serving the party of Lincoln and electing its candidates. I will pour many more into being more faithful to my party than some in its leadership. But I owe no debt to a party. I owe a debt to my children to leave them a nation they can trust.

Mr. Trump lacks the foreign policy experience and demeanor needed to be commander in chief. During the campaign more than 50 Republican former national security officials and foreign policy experts co-signed a letter opposing him. In their words, “he would be a dangerous president.” During the campaign Mr. Trump even said Russia should hack Hillary Clinton’s emails. This encouragement of an illegal act has troubled many members of Congress and troubles me.

Hamilton also reminded us that a president cannot be a demagogue. Mr. Trump urged violence against protesters at his rallies during the campaign. He speaks of retribution against his critics. He has surrounded himself with advisers such as Stephen K. Bannon, who claims to be a Leninist and lauds villains and their thirst for power, including Darth Vader. “Rogue One,” the latest “Star Wars” installment, arrives later this month. I am not taking my children to see it to celebrate evil, but to show them that light can overcome it.

Gen. Michael T. Flynn, Mr. Trump’s pick for national security adviser, has his own checkered past about rules. He installed a secret internet connection in his Pentagon office despite rules to the contrary. Sound familiar?

Finally, Mr. Trump does not understand that the Constitution expressly forbids a president to receive payments or gifts from foreign governments. We have reports that Mr. Trump’s organization has business dealings in Argentina, Bahrain, Taiwan and elsewhere. Mr. Trump could be impeached in his first year given his dismissive responses to financial conflicts of interest. He has played fast and loose with the law for years. He may have violated the Cuban embargo, and there are reports of improprieties involving his foundation and actions he took against minority tenants in New York. Mr. Trump still seems to think that pattern of behavior can continue.

That is what a right thinking and principled conservative or libertarian understands. We need many, many, many more just like him.

Full story BELOW THE FOLD.

The White Nationalists Spin...

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FreeThinke

Joy to the World, The Donald's come.
Let us shout out with Joy.
Let every heart prepare him room
And Human Nature sing
And Human Nature sing.
Salvation has come at last;
Our hearts take wing.

Poetry for the alt-right from a white nationalist.

The Fear Of The Trumpistas...

Rational Natation USA
Purveyor of Truth

America, the great melting pot of the world as well as a beacon of hope and freedom for millions is changing. Fear, the fear of a continued and growing diversity within the USA has griped many Caucasian Americans, and, one result of this is the election of Donald J. Trump. Nationalism driven by ethic or racial identity is dangerous and it is ugly. History holds many examples.

THE HILL - A rapidly aging white population and fast-growing younger minority groups are speeding demographic changes across the nation, hastening a political divide likely to have long-term ramifications.
 
The percentage of the U.S. population that is white has decreased from 79.6 percent in 1980 to 61.9 percent in 2014. The percentage of Latino Americans has increased from 6.4 percent to 17.3 percent over the same time period, while both the African American and Asian American populations have grown, too.

There are growing signs that the rate of change is increasing. The number of non-Hispanic whites who died in 2014 outpaced the number of white births in 17 states, according to a new analysis from the University of New Hampshire. That’s the largest number of states to experience a natural decrease in the white population in American history.
 
Only two states, Maine and West Virginia, experienced more deaths than births — an indication that Latino and African American populations are growing at a fast clip in most states.

Full article BELOW THE FOLD.

Trump and White Nationalism...

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Purveyor of Truth

These peole are, and have been, Trump's strongest supoerters. White nationalist that would make Aldilf Hitler proud. The vidoe below is chilling because it runs against America's finest values. As FDR said during a very dark time in America, we have nothing to fear but fear itself. Our bigest fear in Ameica today ought to be the fear Trumpism will stick and is here to stay.

VOX - The so-called “alt-right” is a loose online movement made up mostly, though not entirely, of white nationalists. They’ve gotten famous recently for being some of Donald Trump’s earliest and most vocal backers, seeing him as the first presidential candidate in modern history open to their ideas about the need to protect the white race — by reducing the numbers and influence of African Americans, Hispanics, Muslims, and Jews.

At a November 19 conference of the National Policy Institute, a white nationalist “think tank,” the organization’s leader, Richard Spencer, saluted Trump’s victory: “Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!” Footage of the speech, taken by the Atlantic, is quite chilling.

SKIP

The alt-right’s priority, first and foremost, is preserving America’s status as a white-majority nation. To that end, they want Trump to follow through on the most extreme immigration ideas he’s discussed — such as deporting millions of undocumented immigrants and banning Muslim immigration. These steps, they think, will slow what they call the “dispossession” of America’s whites.

But the alt-right wants Trump to go even further. They want him to slash rates of legal immigration and defund groups that advocate for immigrants, like La Raza. Ultimately, they want Trump to push the boundaries of acceptable opinion to the point where the nakedest of naked racism becomes permissible in mainstream public discourse.

Under President Trump, those goals are plausible, even if unlikely. That means we need to understand the ideology of the alt-right — and the things its members will be working to enshrine in federal law.

SKIP

“The policies onto which [Trump] has stumbled, in a kind of innocent, America First way, are ones that will slow the dispossession of whites,” Taylor told me. “I’m very much in favor of him implementing those policies, for whatever reasons.”

The policy that Taylor is most excited about is Trump’s idea of deporting every undocumented immigrant, all 11 million of them. This isn’t quite an official campaign policy — it’s something Trump floated repeatedly in TV interviews but that his campaign has attempted to downplay. Official policy is that they’ll start by deporting the roughly 2 to 3 million with criminal records and then will see how things stand with the rest.

Taylor doesn’t believe Trump will follow through on the full deportation plan, though he says, “If he actually did those things, I’d very much applaud.” Nonetheless, he believes a few high-profile deportation raids on innocent families could go a long way.

Full story BELOW THE FOLD.

Chomsky Talking About President Elect Donald J. Trump With Al Jazeera...

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For those with the ability to maintain an active mind and consider political and social views across the spectrum the Chomsky interview is interesting as well as accurate on many levels.



An abbreviated video and article can be found BELOW THE FOLD.

Election 2016 Irregularities In Three Swing States...

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

President elect Donald J. Trump may very well have known what he was talking about with his rigged election scenario. Our country's leaders, as well as the people, should DEMAND a complete and thorough investigation and recount.

(CNN) - Hillary Clinton's campaign is being urged by a number of top computer scientists to call for a recount of vote totals in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, according to a source with knowledge of the request.

The computer scientists believe they have found evidence that vote totals in the three states could have been manipulated or hacked and presented their findings to top Clinton aides on a call last Thursday.

The scientists, among them J. Alex Halderman, the director of the University of Michigan Center for Computer Security and Society, told the Clinton campaign they believe there is a questionable trend of Clinton performing worse in counties that relied on electronic voting machines compared to paper ballots and optical scanners, according to the source.

SKIP

There were widespread concerns about hacking ahead of this month's election, including the Obama administration accusing Russia of attempting to breach voter registration data. But election officials and cybersecurity experts said earlier this month that it is virtually impossible for Russia to influence the election outcome.

A former Clinton aide declined to respond to questions about whether they will request an audit based on the findings.

Additionally, at least three electors have pledged to not vote for Trump and to seek a "reasonable Republican alternative for president through Electoral College," according to a statement Wednesday from a group called the Hamilton Electors, which represents them.

Full article BLOW THE FOLD.

Additional stories HERE, HERE, and HERE.

Con Man Extraordinaire...

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Purveyor of Truth

President elect Donald J. tRump, prhaps America's biggest con man, is surrounding himself with the very folks he railed against during his populist campaign for the presidency. So much for truth, integrity, and the "American Way".

As many often warned, and many folks ignored, caveat emptor. Now it's too late. Enjoy the ride.

NEW YORK — Christmas has arrived early for Wall Street in the early days of the Donald Trump era.

A populist candidate who railed against shady financial interests on the campaign trail is now putting together an administration that looks like an investment banker's dream.

Former Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin has been seen at Trump Tower amid rumors that he’s the leading candidate for Treasury secretary. Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross appears headed to the Commerce Department. Steve Bannon, another Goldman alum, will work steps from the Oval Office. If Mnuchin drops out, as some rumors suggest he may, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon remains a possibility as Treasury secretary, and will serve as an outside adviser if he doesn't get the job.

It’s a restoration of Wall Street power — and a potential flip in the way the industry is regulated — perhaps unparalleled in American history.

“You would have to go back to the 1920s to see so much Wall Street influence coming to Washington,” said Charles Geisst, a Wall Street historian at Manhattan College. “It’s the most dramatic turn-around one could imagine. That’s the truly astonishing part.”

Evidence of Wall Street’s improved prospects is everywhere.

The Dodd-Frank financial reform law that bedeviled the industry for years and cost banks untold billions could soon get burned to the ground. Bank stocks are soaring. Trump is going around Manhattan promising to lower rich people’s taxes.

Full story BELOW THE FOLD.

Assessing Responsibilty...

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ASSOCIATED PRESS

Hillary Clinton’s campaign had basic assumptions about key battleground states that turned out painfully wrong.

When all is said and done the largest responsibility for the election of tRump the narcissist rests with the Clinton campaign itself. Whether it be arrogance bred of over confidence or a simple lack of energy on the part of the candidate herself is anyone's guess. Regardless of reasons results remain the same and our nation is the biggest loser.

WASHINGTON ― In the closing weeks of the presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton’s staff in key Midwest states sent out alarms to their headquarters in Brooklyn. They were facing a problematic shortage of paid canvassers to help turn out the vote.

For months, the Clinton campaign had banked on a wide army of volunteer organizers to help corral independents and Democratic leaners and re-energize a base not particularly enthused about the election. But they were volunteers. And as anecdotal data came back to offices in key battlegrounds, concern mounted that leadership had skimped on a critical campaign function.

“It was arrogance, arrogance that they were going to win. That this was all wrapped up,” a senior battleground state operative told The Huffington Post.

Several theories have been proffered to explain just what went wrong for the Clinton campaign in an election that virtually everyone expected the Democratic nominee to win. But lost in the discussion is a simple explanation, one that was re-emphasized to HuffPost in interviews with several high-ranking officials and state-based organizers: The Clinton campaign was harmed by its own neglect.

In Michigan alone, a senior battleground state operative told HuffPost that the state party and local officials were running at roughly one-tenth the paid canvasser capacity that Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) had when he ran for president in 2004. Desperate for more human capital, the state party and local officials ended up raising $300,000 themselves to pay 500 people to help canvass in the election’s closing weeks. By that point, however, they were operating in the dark. One organizer said that in a precinct in Flint, they were sent to a burned down trailer park. No one had taken it off the list of places to visit because no one had been there until the final weekend. Clinton lost the state by 12,000 votes.

A similar situation unfolded in Wisconsin. According to several operatives there, the campaign’s state office and local officials scrambled to raise nearly $1 million for efforts to get out the vote in the closing weeks. Brooklyn headquarters had balked at funding it themselves, arguing that the state already had a decent-sized footprint because of the labor-backed super PAC For Our Future and pointing out that Clinton had never trailed in a single poll in Wisconsin.

The campaign’s state office argued additionally for prominent African-American surrogates to help in Milwaukee. “There are only so many times you can get folks excited about Chelsea Clinton,” explained one Wisconsin Democrat. But President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama didn’t come. Nor did Hillary Clinton after the July Democratic convention. She would go on to lose the state, hampered by lower turnout in precisely the place that had operatives worried. Clinton got 289,000 votes in Milwaukee County compared to the 328,000 that Obama won in 2012.
“They had staff on the ground and lots of volunteers, but they weren’t running a massive program because they thought they were up 6-7 points,” said the aforementioned senior battleground state operative.

SKIP

As Democrats begin to repair their party and learn from the shortcomings of the Clinton campaign, one of the primary arguments being made is that candidates have to show up if they expect to win. Obama said as much in a recent press conference when he tied his success in Iowa to the sheer number of stops he made in the state while campaigning. And the data strongly suggests that this was a vulnerability for Clinton. As the Washington Post reported, Clinton’s campaign and outside groups supporting it aired more television ads in Omaha during the closing weeks than in Michigan and Wisconsin combined. And as NBC News reported, during the final 100 days of the election, Trump made 133 visits to Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, Michigan and Wisconsin while Clinton made 87.

On the margins as well, campaign operatives say the Clinton campaign’s failure to have a footprint did real harm. In Pennsylvania, for example, the campaign had a healthy canvassing operation and was flush with volunteers, many of whom poured in from New York City and Washington, D.C. But according to one longtime grassroots campaign operative who was involved in the 2016 cycle, leadership was focused predominantly on turning out their own voters and not on persuading others to come on board.

This was a perfectly logical strategic decision, considering the massive voter registration advantage that Democrats enjoy in the state. But it meant that the Clinton campaign wasn’t able to anticipate the surge in Trump support in the rural areas because they weren’t having conversations with voters there.

Read the complete article HERE.

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

Following is an excerpt from an article in today's Boston Globe. It speaks to the concerns millions upon millions of Americans have following the election of Donald J. Trump to the presidency of the "United States of America". The author, Michael A. Cohen nails it.

Between now and Jan. 20, when Donald Trump takes the oath of office as America’s 45th president, many Americans will wish for him to be a successful president.

Not me.

I don’t want Trump to succeed. I want him to fail spectacularly.

I say this not because I don’t accept the outcome of last week’s election or because I don’t recognize him as my president. Trump won fair and square and will be the president for at least the next four years.

But make no mistake — success for Trump would be a disaster for America. If his campaign promises are to be taken at face value, his success would mean that tens of millions of Americans may lose health care insurance. It would mean a step back on fighting climate change that could have a catastrophic, even apocalyptic effect on the planet. It would mean a shredded social safety net and little federal attention to voting restrictions and structural racism in America’s criminal justice system. It would mean global instability and a weakening of American’s leadership role in the world. It would mean acquiescence to an assertive Russia and a weakening of the international institutions that help to maintain global order. It would mean disastrous trade wars and a domestic agenda that would do more to harm the people who voted for Trump than help them. It would mean mass deportation — and a humanitarian catastrophe — for millions of undocumented immigrants.

And even if Trump were inclined to reverse the threadbare policy positions, any kind of success for Trump means a tacit acceptance of the hatred and mistrust that he has sown in this nation over the past 16 months. It would mean making acceptable nativist, racist, and xenophobic hate. It would mean that the Trump supporters who have over the past week spray-painted swastikas on churches and schools or publicly accosted women, Jews, and people of color would be validated. It would mean looking the other way at misogyny and sexual assault and the mocking of the disabled. And it would mean zero accountability for a politician who has not only violated every imaginable democratic norm, but who lies and deceives practically every time he opens his mouth.

Success for Trump means normalizing the ascendancy of Stephen Bannon to a position of extraordinary political power within the halls of the White House. Under Bannon, the right-wing Breitbart News became the forum for white nationalists, Islamophobes, misogynists, and anti-Semites. You hear lots of people talking about the need for Americans to come together over the next few weeks and months. But how, as a Jewish-American, am I supposed to “come together” with a president who holds me in such disrespect that he appoints an anti-Semite to a position of such political power? I can’t, and I won’t.

What gives me fleeting hope is the knowledge that millions of Americans — a majority even — feel as I do. They are angry. They are scared for the future. They are holding their children just a little tighter and perhaps looking over their shoulders in ways they hadn’t done before. Like me, these Americans want Trump to fail. They want him to be rejected and have his ugly vision of American defeated. For many of them, Trump’s success is an existential threat.

Full article BELOW THE FOLD.

Deficits and the National Debt Apparently No Longer Important...

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Frankly how anyone believed the tRump rhetoric on budgetary and tax matters is a mystery. Yuuuge infrastructure and defense spending, erecting a yuuuge beautiful border wall, and yuuuge tax cuts while braying about fiscal responsibility. Sounds like a repeat of the GWB and BHO years.

Giant infrastructure plan, major tax cut on the agenda — and so is a huge increase in the debt.

Donald Trump campaigned heartily on a spending splurge and nothing he’s said since his shocking election suggests he will reverse course. | Getty

POLITICO - A serious case of fiscal amnesia may soon be sweeping the GOP.

For eight years, Republicans hammered President Barack Obama for exploding the national debt. But now a GOP-led spending spree is coming, with Donald Trump riding to the White House on trillion-dollar promises and a Republican Congress that looks likely to do his bidding. It’s a potential echo of the last time Republicans ran Washington, when then-Vice President Dick Cheney memorably remarked, “Deficits don’t matter.”

Trump campaigned heartily on a spending splurge and nothing he’s said since his shocking election suggests he will reverse course. Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, meanwhile, are papering over divisions with the man who frequently tossed party orthodoxy aside on the trail.

“There is now a real risk that we will see an onslaught of deficit-financed goodies — tax cuts, infrastructure spending, more on defense — all in the name of stimulus, but which in reality will massively balloon the debt,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

The non-partisan group estimated Trump’s campaign proposals would increase the national debt by a whopping $5.3 trillion over the next decade. That would make the debt as a share of the economy rise from nearly 77 percent to 105 percent, a potentially dangerous level for the government.

Not all of the promises Trump made on the trail will be enacted, of course, but even just a few would mean a flood of red ink. A top Trump priority — major infrastructure spending — is one of them.

One thing republicans are not is fiscally responsible. All talk and no show. Prepare for greater fiscal instability and ballooning budget deficits and a continued rapidly expanding national dept.

Read the rest of the story BELOW THE FOLD.

It Is Time To Act, HRC Won The Vote Of A Majority Of Americans...

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Purveyor of Truth

SHE WON THE POPULAR VOTE.

There is no reason Trump should be President.

On December 19, the Electors of the Electoral College will cast their ballots. If they all vote the way their states voted, Donald Trump will win. However, they can vote for Hillary Clinton if they choose. Even in states where that is not allowed, their vote would still be counted, they would simply pay a small fine - which we can be sure Clinton supporters will be glad to pay!

SKIP

Mr. Trump is unfit to serve. His scapegoating of so many Americans, and his impulsivity, bullying, lying, admitted history of sexual assault, and utter lack of experience make him a danger to the Republic.

Secretary Clinton WON THE POPULAR VOTE and should be President.

Click on the post body to read the complete write up an go to the petition. There are already 4,000,000 signatures of patriotic Americans counselling the electors to do the right thing.

Please take the time to read and digest The Troubling Reason The Electoral College Exists. It is a simple fact many of us may have forgotten.

Leslie E. Carpenter Jr, 1932-2016

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Leslie E. Carpenter Jr

Father, Grandfather and Great Grandfather

A man Of many Talents Who Lived His Life

Honestly and Lived It With Dignity Until the End

 He Did It His Way

On Saturday, November 5th at 5:36 PM , I lost my father and best friend. He was 84 years young and as he lay dying he continued to talk about the future as though he might live another 5 or 10 years. Of course he knew he was going to leave this world but true to his word he continued to talk about what he would do tomorrow. That was always my dad's outlook on life, and death.

While he understood we would grieve his passing he asked us all to be happy for him as well. He said many times, Whether I live or die I can't lose, for if I live I'm surrounded by a loving family and my many friends, but if I die I will be with the love of my life. He missed my mother terribly and while not religious in the conventional sense he held on to a deep spirituality and knew he would be reunited with his love.

His positive upbeat attitude when facing death the last couple of weeks touched all around him. His hospital doctor, Dr. Lui and he developed a special relationship and the entire nursing staff and nurses aid staff treated him more like a friend than a patient. My dad had that effect on all that met him, and, it didn't take too long before it happened.

My father was an exceptional man and his experiences in life are far too numerous to mention and likely I'd miss a few for sure. But here's a sample... a pilot at 16, a supervisor at 19, a professional photographer, a deputy fire chief of a volunteer fire department, served on the board of a private golf course, started and ran BOSS (Boost our Southwick Schools) with my mother ~ an organization to support and raise money for the public school's extra curricular activities, owned and operated Barb's Sport Center with my mother, was a manager and general manager with a national company that produced paper and corrugated products, consultant and vice president, a thespian who played the part of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, a writer and a teacher by example.

I could go on and on but will close by saying my father taught me much, and he, alongside my mother brought me and my three siblings up to be independent, hard working, honest, forthright, trustworthy, and to simply be the best we could be. He always said, never forget where you came from son and always walk around in someone's shoes awhile before you criticize them. I'll continue to try dad, and, whenever I find myself facing difficulties to stop and ask, WHAT WOULD DAD DO.

Thank you dad, I love you. Rest in peace, say hi to mom, and give her my love.

Herr Drumpf Shocks The World, and, Real Americans...

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Russia's Putin pleased as Trump win shocks world

This comes as no surprise, and we know those who worship authoritarian leadership, the type Herr Drumpf is comfortable with, must be estatic that ex KGB operative Putin is pleasesd with the outcome of our election. Putin undrestands Herr Drumpf by far better than his blind supporters.

Good Night America. From this day forth it shall be known as Amerika.

Click the above link to read article.


UPDATE:  11/10/16  12:15 pm

HRC has surpassed Herr Drumpf in popular vote tallying. America will, once again be led by a pResident with a minority vote.

The Amerikan people who voted for a narcissistic authoritarian whose only interest is in his brand. A vike individual who successfully lied to the American people and a large enough segment of the Amerikan people believed him to enable him to secure an EC victory. And so, he was elected to the most powerful job in the world.

Think about THAT, and, good luck.

The tRump Conspiracy...

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

Certainly there has never been anything quite like 2016. A year when truth is viewd as a lie and lies are viewed as truths by many. When up is down and down is up, a year when a certain major political party presidential candidate and his surrogates, all as corrupt and unethical as ever we have witnessed, are fomenting pie in the sky conspiracy theories for the sole pupose of manufacturing unrest. All to be used after the election to fabricate phoney reasons for refusing to accept ellection results and then to challenge the legitimate defeat of a narcissistic, unqualified, divisive, and dangerous candidate for the presidency of The United States of America.

Media Matters For America - ALEX JONES (HOST): What happens if they steal it in front of God and country? James and then Roger.

JAMES O’KEEFE: I think what happens is the people will revolt. People will -- people are -- I saw it over the last two weeks. I’ve never seen anything like this.

JONES: I agree.

O’KEEFE: We are witnessing a populist revolt on social media. People don’t give a crap what The New York Times says, they don’t believe them anymore. So if you have 50 to 100 million people in this country who have no one to speak for them what’s going to happen to those people? I think that’s a powerful movement of people that are going to literally revolt. It’s not going to be with pitchforks, I think it’s going to be on social -- I think it’s going to be on media, I think they’re literally going to revolt if --

JONES: And I think we’re already seeing that. Mainstream media admits everybody hates us, we’re losing subscriptions, we’re losing sponsors, they’ve gone from being absolutely not trusted to being absolutely hated. Roger, what happens next?

ROGER STONE: The important thing Alex is, we just can’t have a supposition based on circumstantial evidence that this was stolen. You need hard evidence that would be admissible in court. And that is why we at StopTheSteal.org are trying to create a legal record. That’s why we’re doing these exit polls so they can then be compared. Within an hour of the polls closing we hope to have an entire analysis, and we will be able to hand Donald Trump or the Republican National Committee -- if they’re really for Donald Trump -- a package that shows that this election was heisted if it indeed is heisted. Again, don’t get distracted by voter fraud. It’s significant but that’s not the ball game.

On a brighter and considerably more sane reality... Who will win the presidency?

UPDATE - 10/28/16

Continuing to undermine the institutions of our democratic republic the Trumpster preaches to his choir of blind followers.

The Washington Post - Donald Trump’s claim that the 2016 presidential election is “rigged” against him has become a central part of his closing argument to voters in the final days of the campaign, as the GOP nominee insists that a growing range of “corrupt” public institutions are to blame for his sharply narrowing path the White House.

As he heads into a potential loss on Nov. 8, Trump has expanded the scale and scope of his accusations to include Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, the media, establishment leaders from both parties and unidentified “global financial powers.”

“When the people who control the political power in our society can rig investigations like [Clinton’s] investigation was rigged, can rig polls, you see the phony polls, and rig the media, they can wield absolute power over your life, your economy and your country and benefit big-time by it,” Trump told a crowd this week in St. Augustine, Fla. “They control what you hear and what you don’t hear, what is covered, how it’s covered, even if it’s covered at all.”

The “power structure” he describes, according to a review of his speeches this week, includes banking institutions, the judiciary, media conglomerates, voting security experts, Democratic tricksters, scientific polling and also perhaps military leaders. He has also accused Clinton of meeting “with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty to enrich these global financial powers, her special-interest friends and her donors.”

By emphasizing such rhetoric, the GOP nominee — who has a history of circulating unsubstantiated accusations — has sown distrust in basic democratic institutions among his supporters. A USA Today/Suffolk University poll released this week found that more than two-thirds of Trump supporters think the election results could be manipulated and 43 percent say corruption will be to blame if he loses.

Simply put the state of the American political system is not good nor is it totally honest. The present state of the GOP and the Trump campaign is deplorable.

Full article HERE.


UPDATE -  10/30/16  9:45 AM


Here's the latest from the guy to pay attention to, Nate Silver.

I’ve heard from people who wonder whether Friday’s news – that FBI director James Comey was investigating additional emails that may be pertinent to Hillary Clinton’s private email server — might have come too late in the campaign to be reflected in the polls, and therefore in our forecast, before Election Day. While the situation isn’t ideal, there’s probably just enough time left to measure the initial impact. In the past, major developments in the campaign have generally taken somewhere around a week to be fully reflected in our forecast, give or take a couple of days depending on the volume of polling. Because we expect there to be an awful lot of polling during the remaining 10 days of the campaign, and because our forecast is designed to react fairly aggressively to late polling shifts, we should have a pretty good read on the initial reaction to the news by the middle of next week.

But while I’m not that worried about the model having enough time to account for the reaction to the FBI news, I am worried about whether it will capture the reaction to the reaction as the story continues to develop. The thing about Friday’s news is that it left a lot of questions unanswered. Comey’s letter to Congress was cryptic, and his motivations for sending it were uncertain. There are conflicting reports about whether the emails include messages to or from Clinton, how many emails there are, whether they’re new or something the FBI has looked at already, and whether the FBI requires a court order to investigate them in more detail. Even the reporting that the investigation pertains to devices owned by ex-Congressman Anthony Weiner and his wife, Clinton aide Huma Abedin, is based on anonymous sourcing. There’s a lot we don’t know.

It seems to me as though there are four basic courses the story might take. As a framing device, I’m going to conceive of these as four strategies available to the Clinton campaign, although of course the campaign isn’t the only actor here – the Trump campaign, the FBI, the news media, down-ballot candidates and so forth also have some choices to make.

Strategy No. 1: Demand more details from Comey

Strategy No. 2: Rile up Democratic partisans by attacking Comey and other targets

Strategy No. 3: Let it go

Strategy No. 4: Drop an opposition research bomb on Trump

Our personal preference here at RN USA would be HRC opt for strategy #4. After reading the rest of the article here we welcome your thoughts as to what you think HRC's best strategy would be.

BTW, in case you missed it, Nate now has it at 81.1% HRC and 18.9% tRump. Tightening but a huge gap for tRump to close.

Women Overwhelmingly Support Clinton Over Trump...

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

FiverThirtyEight - We could be looking at the largest gender gap in a presidential election since at least 1952: Men are favoring the Republican nominee, Donald Trump, in typical numbers, but a historically overwhelming share of women say they will vote for the Democrat, Hillary Clinton.

As my colleague Nate Silver has pointed out, women are winning this election for Clinton. Between the historic nature of Clinton’s candidacy, Trump’s record of misogynistic comments and now the Trump tape and allegations of sexual assault against Trump, American men and women are incredibly split on the 2016 election. But that split isn’t symmetrical. In an average of the most recent live-interview polls from each pollster to test the race in October, Clinton holds a 20-percentage-point advantage among women, and Trump is winning more narrowly among men.

Apparently women at large are less easily fooled by republican con man DJT, as well as being significantly more rational on the presidential choice before us.

Complete article can be READ HERE

The Truth Of DJT's Despicable Character...

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth


First Lady Michelle Obama saying it exactly right. America is better than Donald J. Trump and we cannot put this dangerous life form into any position of authority over us. PERIOD.




Read article HERE.


UPDATE:

This probably won’t cost him the election — because Trump was already losing. It’s important to remember that Trump has been running behind Clinton for almost the whole campaign, and he had fallen into roughly a 5-percentage-point deficit after his poor performance in the first presidential debate — and before the latest round of scandals. That deficit is fairly hard to come back from even under the best of circumstances. To make it to the Oval Office now, Trump would have to make one of the greatest comebacks in political history while navigating a minefield of scandals and leaks, making his task even harder. But as far as FiveThirtyEight’s forecasts are concerned, the first debate still looks like the turning point in the race. <-------- b="" click="">

UPDATE #2:

tRump is planning and putting into place his response strategy to the numerous allegations of sexual misconduct and assault. Not suprising is that\ he lays it at the feet of a Mexican billionaire and The New York Times colluding to undermine his campaign.

tRump must have spent a lot of time in The Twilight Zonbe. Which could explain his dwelling in an alternative universe.

Trump to claim Carlos Slim was behind sexual assault stories Trump to claim Carlos Slim was behind sexual assault stories
8 Hours Ago | 00:33
Donald Trump will claim Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim was part of a cabal dredging up allegations the Republican nominee touched women inappropriately, The Wall Street Journal reported.

According to the report, which cited an unnamed Trump adviser, Trump planned to claim that Slim, a New York Times shareholder and Clinton Foundation donor, was trying to boost Hillary Clinton's campaign by damaging Trumps. The adviser said Trump could launch the attack as early as Friday, the report said.

A spokesman for Slim denied that the media mogul had interfered in the U.S. election, while New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. said Slim had never sought to influence the newspaper's coverage, the WSJ reported.

A Clinton campaign press secretary called Trump's claim a "deranged right-wing conspiracy theory," the report said.

The Slim family owned around 17 percent of The New York Times Co. Class A shares as of March, although the Sulzberger family controls the company, the report noted. <-- b="" click="">

UPDATE #3  10/15/16  @ 7:45 PM:

We received the following via e-mail yesterday. Sometimes humor is a very effective way to convey truth. The quote that follows surely fills that bill.

"To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”

"To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.”

-David Sedaris

Where There Is SmokeThere Is Usually Fire...

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

When you see smoke with increasing intensity you can rationally believe there is fire. Unless of course you are a Trumpista or Trumbot. In which case you'll either spin the story so it is HRC's or WJC's fault, the media is in HRC's hip pocket, it's all fabrications and a conspiracy to bring down a "great man" who will Make America Great "Again", so what - compared to Bill tRump is just a piker, or, some other derivative and combination of similar theme.

Following are links to stories that cause reasonably intelligent folks to at the very least question Donald J. Trump's fitness to be president of our Already Great Nation. Click on selected story to read.


Physically Attacked by Donald Trump – a PEOPLE Writer’s Own Harrowing Story

Two Women Say Donald Trump Touched Them Inappropriately

Palm Beach Post exclusive: Local woman says Trump groped her

A Fifth Teen Beauty Queen Says Trump Visited Dressing Room

Miss USA Contestant Details Unwanted Encounters With Trump

Ex-Trump exec on assault allegations: 'I do believe it'

Miss Washington 2013 says Donald Trump groped her

EXCLUSIVE: Donald Trump Makes Lewd Joke to Young Girls in 1992: 'I'm Going to be Dating Her in Ten Years'

A Timeline of Donald Trump's Creepiness While He Owned Miss Universe

7:00 PM 10/13/16, This just in... Trump Faces Another Accusation — This Time, He Looked Up Models’ Skirts


Have at it folks. This is an open thread and for a period of time comment moderation will be OFF. Comments with rude, crude, or filthy language will be deleted immediately upon detection. So will off topic pointless blather.

Frankly, and we've hesitated saying this openly until now, tRump is a pig, a jack ass, a desicable man, and is devoid of any morals whatsoever. Therefore, in our opinion he is unfit fit to lead anything, with the possible exception of being the lead pipe to the city sewer system.

Tonight's VP Debate, Mike Pence With the Unenviable Position of Defending The Donald's Madness...

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

Watching the VP debate tonight should be interesting. More so to see Trump's reaction to his running mate's performance than the actual debate itself.

tRump has undoubtedly moved presidential politics to new lows and all indications are he intends to take them lower.

Sadly the republican party will suffer s a whole, But they've done the damage to themselves as really have no one to blame but themselves.

Tim Kaine isn’t Mike Pence’s only opponent Tuesday night in the only debate between the vice-presidential hopefuls — Pence also has to cope with the big shadow cast by his party’s standard-bearer, Donald Trump.

That’s one reason Democratic members of The POLITICO Caucus — a panel of swing-state activists, strategists and operatives — are more optimistic about Kaine’s chances of delivering a winning performance than Republicans are about Pence’s.

Virtually all Democratic insiders surveyed last week, 97 percent, expect Kaine to get the better of Pence at Longwood University. In comparison, fewer than three-quarters of Republicans, 74 percent, think Pence will win.
“Pence will have to defend Trump and his year-plus of inflammatory comments,” said a New Hampshire Republican, who, like all insiders, completed the survey anonymously. “Kaine won't.”

“Kaine in a blowout,” an Iowa Republican predicted. “He has a personality. Pence does not. His attempts to explain Trump are among the most tortured I've ever seen. … Pence goes about it with all the passion of a dead fish skittering along the concrete at [Seattle’s Pike Place] Market.”

Other Republicans who thought Kaine would outperform Pence were critical of the Indiana governor’s style.
“Kaine may have better appeal, if only because Pence is too ‘Cracker Barrel’ for moderate, upper-middle-class suburban constituencies,” a Michigan Republican said.

“Tim Kaine is the relatable neighbor next door,” an Iowa Republican added. “Mike Pence is the guy you feel the need to impress in church.”
But the majority of Republicans have faith in Pence, who is in his first term as Indiana governor after serving six terms in the House.

“He's a really good communicator and engaging personality,” a Pennsylvania Republican said. “Tim Kaine isn't either.”

That doesn’t mean those Republicans covet Pence’s position: defending Trump, who plucked Pence out of Indianapolis less than three months ago.
“The only reasonable person in the race is Pence,” a Virginia Republican said. “However, he will have the unenviable task of defending Trump.”

Read the full article HERE . For more check this out .



UPDATE - 10/12/16 12:35 PM




We should be VERY thankful for women voting and hope they turn out in droves. Women have the power to save America from a raving maniac on November 8, 2016.

America is depending on you ladies.


Read complete article HERE.

Locomotive Breath, OR, an Ode To Donald Trump... (The All Time Loser)

And, The All Time Winner Has Got Him By The Balls!

Click -------->>>> Who Will Be President?

UPDATE - 10/2/16

As a growing majority of Americans see Trump as the lying, ill informed, manipulative old man that he really is.

Americans see Hillary Clinton as the winner of the first presidential debate by a near-record margin in ABC News/Washington Post post-debate polls, with nearly half saying Donald Trump got his facts wrong and one in three saying he outright lied. His unpopularity grew slightly.

While views of both candidates remain broadly negative, 64 percent of Americans now express an unfavorable opinion of Trump overall, up 5 points from its pre-debate level. Fifty-three percent see Clinton unfavorably, not a significant change.

Trump's pre-debate unpopularity had matched its low for the campaign, suggesting the debate may have slowed momentum in his favor. Clinton, for her part, saw a +4 gain in favorability to 45 percent, not large enough to be statistically significant but her best since early August, just after the conventions.

Their weak favorability ratings aside, 53 percent of adults say Clinton won the debate, while just 18 percent say Trump won, with the rest either calling it a draw or expressing no opinion. The wide gap in views of who won, compared with the slight movement in favorability ratings, reinforces findings in past years that debates tend to have relatively little direct impact on views of the candidates, although they can exert more subtle influence on the race.

But Trump also is on the short side of other results in this poll, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates. Fifty-four percent say Clinton mainly got her facts right in Monday’s debate; just 29 percent think Trump mainly stuck to the facts. And while 21 percent think Clinton intentionally lied, 32 percent say that about Trump.

The view that Clinton won extends across demographic groups other than Republicans; the only difference is the degree. Even among Republicans, fewer than half, 45 percent, say Trump won, while 83 percent of Democrats pick Clinton. Independents go 50-14 percent in Clinton's favor. And even conservatives see Clinton as the winner, if by a comparatively narrow 40-27 percent.

There are other divisions. Men say Clinton won by 48-19 percent; among women it's 58-18 percent. Whites divide by 44-26 percent in Clinton's favor; nonwhites pick Clinton by 72-5 percent. And while whites who lack a college degree divide 35-29 percent between Clinton and Trump, that expands to 58-21 percent among whites with a four-year degree.

Results are similar among registered voters; they pick Clinton as the debate winner by 51-21 percent over Trump. And Clinton's favorable-unfavorable rating among registered voters is 43-55 percent; Trump's, 37-61 percent.

Click on the above text for full article.

Temporarily...

We Hope Republicans Continue To Enjoy the Clown Car That Trump Has Turned the GOP Into

We also Wish Conservatives Much Luck In Rebuilding Conservatism Into a Rational Philosophy Once You Dump Trump (Drumpf) 

Just a little fact check.

Fabricating BS - The Trump Campaign, the NRA, and the NRC...

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth


More BS from the NRA, NRC, and the Trump Fabrication Factory. Of course the Nuge is found at the center shoveling the brown stuff.

In Trump’s ad, Nugent says, “The Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, the Ten Commandments, the golden rule. We the people, choosing our own pursuit of happiness: It doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world. Hunting, fishing, trapping: We the people own these precious renewable natural resources. It’s a way of life, which is why conservation is the greatest success story in the world here in America. Hillary Clinton is against all these things. She will destroy the freedom that is uniquely American. Donald Trump will safeguard the things that make America the greatest place in the world.”

Nugent is promoting the Trump ad on his Facebook page, just hours after claiming victims of a September 17 stabbing spree at a Minnesota mall are “pathetic” and “embarrassing” because they were unarmed.

At the end of the ad, Trump says, “Political correctness, Hillary Clinton, and Washington insiders are trying to take away our Second Amendment rights and they’re really trying hard like never ever before. That’s wrong, and it won’t happen when I’m president. I will protect your rights. I will protect your Second Amendment.”

SOURCE


Clinton's actual  positions on firearm issues and gun control:

I support Brady Bill and closing the Charleston loophole

Reverse gun manufacturer immunity; let them get sued

Don't shield gun manufacturers from lawsuits: I vote that way

Rein in idea that anybody can have a gun anywhere, anytime

Balance lawful gun ownership & keeping guns from criminals

Give local police access to federal gun tracking info

Let states; cities determine local gun laws

Against illegal guns, crack down on illegal gun dealers

Get assault weapons; guns off the street

Prevent unauthorized firearm use with "smart gun" technology.

SOURCE

I believe weapons of war have no place on our streets. We may have our disagreements on gun safety regulations, but we should all be able to agree on a few things. If the FBI is watching you for suspected terrorist links, you shouldn’t be able to just go buy a gun with no questions asked. You shouldn’t be able to exploit loopholes and evade criminal background checks by buying online or at a gun show. And yes, if you’re too dangerous to get on a plane, you are too dangerous to buy a gun in America. 

Hillary, June 13, 2016

No where does HRC say she does not support the right of citizens to lawfully keep and bear forearms for lawful purposes. Only rightwing wingnuts believe otherwise.

The RNC and Trump Campaign Defining Republican Dishonesty as They Push America Left...

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

HRC, Michelle Obama, and Kaine have it exactly right. Pence, Conway, Priebus, and Christie as usual have it  exactly wrong. With the RNC and the Trump campaign institutionalizing racism there really is no where to go but left.





Read the full Washington Post article BELOW THE FOLD.

Via: Memeorandum

Rational Nation USA
Purveyor of Truth

Here at this weblog we find ourselves in complete agreement with the following.

September 17, 2016 By Taegan Goddard

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates writing in the Wall Street Journal:

Mrs. Clinton has time before the election to address forthrightly her trustworthiness, to reassure people about her judgment, to demonstrate her willingness to stake out one or more positions on national security at odds with her party’s conventional wisdom, and to speak beyond generalities about how she would deal with China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, the Middle East—and international trade. Whether and how she addresses these issues will, I believe, affect how many people vote—including me.

At least on national security, I believe Mr. Trump is beyond repair. He is stubbornly uninformed about the world and how to lead our country and government, and temperamentally unsuited to lead our men and women in uniform. He is unqualified and unfit to be commander-in-chief.

Via: Memeorandum