NATO: Trump's America-First Mercenaries vs. Eisenhower's "Strength Through Unity"

by Nomad

Trump's past comments on NATO suggest that he would like to radically restructure the organization into something like a private security business. His critics say this is the worst time for such a dangerous power-play. On the other hand, nothing could make Russian president happier.

Back in 2013, Donald J.Trump -the tireless tweeter- appropriated Eisenhower's quote for his own obscure purposes.

“A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.” - Dwight D. Eisenhower

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 10, 2013

It was, of course, before his announcement to run for president. Back before, he began to win primary after primary and, with the soul of Republican Party on the auction block, before the nomination of his party.

The Trump of 2013 wasn't much different than the Trump we see today. This tweet can, therefore, be written off as yet another pathetic example of Trump's absolute lack of circumspection.

After all, what person could better represent the arrogance of privilege than the billionaire business who can tell an audience (with a straight face) that a paternal loan of a million dollars was a "small loan?"
Is there a better man to represent the privilege of white male culture than Trump? And has there ever been a presidential candidate who so openly and so blithely put his business interests above all other principles?

As we reach the end of what has been a bizarre election, (to say the least) it's hard to point to any principles that Trump values. He has defiantly trashed any pretense that he is a principled type the moment he stepped onto the national stage.

The Power to Discern Right From Wrong

Quoting a respected Republican president like Eisenhower is actually a dangerous thing for Trump to do. It naturally invites comparison.

Arthur Miller on Disbelief and Denial

by Nomad

Here's Why Trump's Choice For His Finance Manager Should Make Your Blood Boil

by Nomad

If you -or somebody you know- happened to be one of the thousands of victims of home foreclosure in the wake of the economic meltdown of 2008, here's why Donald Trump's choice for his finance manager, Steven Mnuchin, is a slap in your face.

In fact, all Americans ought to be furious.

Trump's Wall Street Hypocrisy

Days after locking up the Republican presidential nomination in May, Donald Trump named Steven Mnuchin as his national finance chairman.

The press release states that Mnuchin "has previously worked with Mr. Trump in a business capacity and brings his expertise in finance to what will be an extremely successful fundraising operation for the Republican Party." 

In many ways, it was a bewildering and disturbing choice for a candidate who had consistently portrayed himself - to his angry middle-class supporters- as a bitter foe of Wall Street excesses. 

Indeed, Wall Street once trembled at the possibility of Trump getting the nomination. Months before, in September 2015, one political strategist put it like this :

"He has bought into the populist rhetoric that Wall Street is greedy and makes too much money...He sounds more anti-Wall Street than Elizabeth Warren."

That was, of course, before Trump was officially crowned the Republican nominee. After the GOP nomination was sealed up, Trump surprised everybody by jumping in bed with the very people he had castigated.

Goldman, Sachs in the Mnuchin Bloodline

After all, Mnuchin's connections to Wall Street are practically genetic. His father, Robert E. Mnuchin, spent a greater part of three decades on Wall Street at Goldman, Sachs & Company. He was, in fact, one of the pioneers of the institutional equity trading business in the 1960's. Before his retirement in 1990, Robert Mnuchin was "one of the most important figures in the equities business."

(Incidentally, Investopedia cites a crash in equity trading as major factors in two periods of economic decline, the Great Depression of 1929 and the Great Recession of 2008.)

The Shocking Scam behind Donald Trump's Tax Plan for Small Businesses

by Nomad

Trump wants you to think he is a friend to small business owners. But the truth is that Trump is Trump, and his critics suspect he's still trying to scam small business owners.   

Perceptions and Facts

In a 2013 study, Pew Research Center found that your personal view of the economic situation has very much to do with your party affiliation. 

When it comes to the basic question of whether the economic system is more secure today, Democrats perceive that things are getting better and Republicans, on the other hand, see little progress.

The objective measures of economic recovery tend to take a back seat to our political prejudices. A behavioral economist will tell you that, when it comes to the economy, perceptions count almost as much as facts. 

In the United States, there are 28 million small businesses. Since 1995, small businesses have generated 64 percent of new jobs. Suffice to say, promoting and developing small businesses is a big part of any economic recovery. 

Therefore, the perceptions of small business owners are an important indicator of the progress of the economic growth.

How Evangelicals are Convincing Followers to Vote for Trump and Betray their Faith

by Nomad

For Right Wing evangelicals, the GOP nominee Donald Trump presents a lot of problems. By any measure, he is not an ideal choice. Despite his shortcomings, some members of the Christian Right seemed determined to say or do anything to persuade their followers to vote for Trump, even if that means betraying Christianity's core principles.

God's Guy

You might remember the name David Barton. Due to his tireless campaign to misinform Christians, this evangelical political activist, and author- I can't call him a historian- has been the subject of a post in the past.

In years gone by, Barton has made a lot of barmy pronouncements. He once stated his belief that United States borders were drawn by God, thereby condemning illegal immigration as a sin against God. He has said that intolerance of gays is a sign a nation is undergoing a spiritual revival and that 

Jesus opposed the minimum wage. 

At one time he was considered one of the 25 most influential Evangelicals and a hero to millions.

Barton's books have pushed the idea that the founding fathers intended the United States to be a Christian nation. Barton's dubious scholarship stirred up so much controversy that the publisher was forced to pull one of them from the bookstore shelves.
It wasn't so much that his ideas were too hot to handle; Barton was, to put it bluntly, accused of making things up. His Christian publisher, Thomas Nelson, found that "basic truths just were not there." 

That's a polite way of saying Barton's books were a pack of lies.

Before his death in 2012, former Republican Senator Arlen Specter wrote in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy that Barton’s “pseudoscholarship would hardly be worth discussing, let alone disproving, were it not for the fact that it is taken so very seriously by so many people.” 

That's always been the problem with evangelicals like Barton. For certain weak-minded citizens, his powers of persuasion can be compelling.  

That rough profile brings us to his present mission. 

A week back, Barton told his radio program audience that in this election, good Christians should simply accept that Donald J. Trump is "God's guy."