Forethought and Consequences: Trump, Rove and the Unimaginable Dangers of an Impulsive President

by Nomad

Rove's Rant

Raw Story recently ran a piece about American Republican political consultant and policy advisor Karl Rove's take on Donald Trump. On Friday afternoon's Fox Business News, Rove had a lot of bitter whiny things to say. The term used was an "epic rant." 

He dared to ask the question whether Trump actually wants to win. If so, how can anybody explain the daily gaffes and the misjudgments and, well, the nonsense? What the hell is going on? In particular, the former George W. Bush chief-of-staff deplored how easily Trump could be distracted and baited.

Rove cited example after example in which the GOP nominee could (plausibly) have turned his campaign around. Visibly angry, Rove pointed out that Trump squandered those opportunities, picking an unwinnable fight with Gold Star families, and making outrageous and ignorant claims about Obama and ISIS. 

 As Rove once wrote:

“The most precious asset any presidential candidate has is time.” 

Trump has been wasting much time on petty spats that more intelligent candidates would have avoided like the plague. Not only has he wasted time with unimportant squabbles, Trump has also wasted even more time making ridiculous remarks that he must spend further time walking back from. Either he has later blamed it on the unfairness of the media for exaggerating or, even more ridiculously, taking his too seriously. 

None of this should be happening. Yet it is.

Rove then said much more important about the deficiencies of Trump:

“And why? He felt compelled to do it. He ought to get control of his impulses and keep focused on the main target. Otherwise, you’re going to have more of these Republicans saying ‘why do we want to stand by this guy when he just keeps going after the wrong target.'”

Langston Hughes on Democracy

by Nomad

How Rudy Giuliani is Keeping His Poisonous Legacy Alive with Donald Trump's Campaign

by Nomad

The other day, the New York Times gave this warning to former New York City mayor and avid Trump supporter, 72-year-old Rudy Giuliani:
Rudy's ardent support for Mr. Trump could come at a cost to his legacy.

That's what happens, I suppose, when you attempt to defend indefensible things. Former Giuliani aides, the article claims, are concerned about their ex-boss' unquestioning loyalty to the Republican nominee.

They cited his unsubstantiated questioning of Hillary Clinton’s mental and physical health.  He has also championed Trump's promise to build an “impenetrable physical wall” on the country’s southern border and to severely restrict immigration from Muslim countries. (When Trump was pressed for specifics, he began to sound more and more supportive of what is presently being done by the Obama administration.) 

So strident - some would say delirious- has been Giuliani's support for Trump, the editorial boards of some newspapers have raised the possibility that Rudy is "unhinged."

But then, in this election, how on earth could you know? 

Republican Teddy Roosevelt's Timely Warning about GOP Nominee Donald Trump

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Sovereignty and Due Process : A Tale of Two Traffic Stops in Mississippi

by Nomad

Here's a post about two traffic stops in Mississippi and two very different outcomes. How much did race play a factor in how the incidents were handled? When it comes to allegations of police brutality, are we missing the big picture about the violations to every citizen's right to due process?

When Slidell Mississippi police officers pulled over the green Ford Ranger, it was just a routine traffic stop. They had observed the driver violating several traffic laws on Fremaux Avenue.  

It was immediately clear that the driver, 54-year-old James Doyle Webb, was going to be a problem. He refused to give the police his driver’s license, registration or insurance. Instead, he declared himself a "sovereign citizen" and demanded the officers’ names and badge numbers, according to the Slidell police department press release. The police obliged Webb and yet, when the officers again requested to review Webb's papers, he refused to recognize to cooperate in any way.