Saturday, August 8, 2015

FOX News’ Award Winning Debate Performance


Thank you Roger Ailes and Fox News for what I believe to have been the best damn soap opera on television Thursday night. We expected dramatics and the viewer received a Vaudeville show.


With the days leading up to the Aug 6 debate GOP officials practically begged the candidates not to attack each other and to focus on Hillary, Obama and Democratic policy. However, candidates accepted the gun powder handed out by the FOX News moderators and shots were fired in Yosemite Sam style.

There was guns, booze, fire trucks, hookers and, well, um, no wait that was the Bachelor Party but it was exciting and memorable.

In all honesty I truly enjoyed listening to all the candidates at both debates; however it’s always the day after, when Media has dissected every question/answer, every wince/sigh, every fidget/itch and every outburst to determine the winners/losers of the affair. And just as I expect the rebuttals of the night are glorious!

I find it interesting of the about face of FOX News many have done the morning after. Claims of ambushes and “Jeb loving” have been tossed on the very far Right websites and social media like this one on the Facebok Teaparty page:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10206642716242530&set=gm.910238592344559&type=1&theater

The Liberal Left who is normally at the pointed end of the pitchfork by the Right has embraced and giggled at the current backlash but also defended FOX News.

Yes it’s fair to have constructive criticism about a moderator but the name calling being tossed at Megyn Kelly is way out of line, especially by Conservatives who normally save the name calling for Liberal moderators.

Kelly did her job, period. So suck it up and pull up your big boy pants.

As a moderator you want to get the candidate to further their thought/policy belief and she did what many had hoped, to get Trump to answer for his bold yet childish outbursts and how his actions have clearly begun to characterize a Trump Presidency.

Face it, you gotta have thick skin to be a politician, especially a President and Trump’s skin is transparent.

As expected, Donald Trump stated that he does not debate well and he proved himself correct. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with some of his statements, he hit a few things on the head but he threw himself under the bus as well.

When asked about his political donation history, he admitted it’s a broken system as he gives money too many politicians for future favors. Yet the joke was on him when he stated he gave to all those on stage only too have Marco Rubio speak first too say “Not me, he gave to Charlie Crist (he’s opponent)” as others chimed in afterwards.

Co-Moderator Chris Wallace asked Trump about his business bankruptcies of the past. Trump didn’t even let Wallace get the full question out before interrupting to say “he never filed bankruptcy.” Yes everyone should know that he has never personally filed, but his company have, 4 times to be exact.

Too me and (I’m positive for Wallace as well), the point of the question was simply how can you say that you can correct the US debt issue when in the past your own company had to file bankruptcy to correct its debt?

Many viewers jumped at this question as an ambush of Trump’s character, but they are wrong.


This is one of the problems I had with Mitt Romney in 2012; he never spoke of how he learned from a failed business venture, as if every venture was a success. I call bullshit on that, because there had to be some failure or misstep, not every venture was rosy, so what did you learn?

And this is the problem with Trump; he acts like Romney as if every business action was a success. Had Trump easily stated something like “my business partners and creditors advised bankruptcy laws are there for a reason to help re-organize business missteps and I followed their advice” I would’ve understood. But nope he had to ramble about a corruptive system. Mind you a corrupted system that he took advantage of 4xs in 15-20 years.

And this is why I say Trump is out of the GOP campaign by November because he can’t handle the heat when he can’t control the flame. He’s elaborated if he drops out of the GOP campaign, he’ll take his golden ball home and run as an Independent.

Pathetic golden spoon fed baby. Yet I see he will not lose much in the polling numbers and still be on top come the CNN 2 night affair come September.

If anything, Jeb(!) won’t drop in the polls either. Jeb(!) did just what he needs to do, take the Romney stance and play it low. Romney coasted thru the debates, never saying anything too controversial, explained his past actions and survived. Yes Romney lost debates to Cain, Santorum and Bachmann, but he ended up eventually winning the party candidacy as the last man standing.

I truly enjoyed the debate performances of Fiorina, Carson and Kasich as well. All will make gains in the polls and stay in the top 10. Well Fiorina should’ve been in the Top 10 on August 6th, but now has gained momentum even though her “not the only woman in the race” tagline is running thin.

If I were to guess what the Top 10 shall look like by the next polling data release, it should be:

1.Trump 2.Bush 3.Walker 4.Kasich 5.Huckabee
6.Rubio 7.Cruz 8.Christie 9.Fiorina 10.Carson

It’s not a stretch to see gains and losses after one debate that clearly had no real winner, no matter what a candidate’s flock states. It’s only August and it’s a long road to go full circle back to Cleveland in 11 months.

That’s it, Slap the political tap on some Fox’s Nob brew, pass the stale popcorn and damn you Jon Stewart just when people need their campaign laughs you go and retire! To quote Sen. McCain, Goodbye Jackass!

Cheers!


Wednesday, August 5, 2015

The Speed-O Campaign of Trump



While vacationing with family in Cancun last week, I came to a conclusion that a Trump presidential candidacy equals that of a Speed-O; it’s useless & unbelievably uncomfortable to witness.

Now I say this only because too many males of all walks of life, size and age were proudly (but humiliatingly) wearing a Speed-O and the only two English speaking channels to view were FOX News and CNN International. All of which was too much for the human mind to consume and damaging to the retina. Every time I turned around there was a Speed-O or Trump or (I swear) Trump wearing a Speed-O.

Regardless of one’s opinion of Trump of the 2016 campaign, either as a Republican or as an Independent, he'll be around for some time. Yes, it’s been floated of a possible 3 horse race in 2016, it just depends if the RNC hands over their candidacy to Trump or not. Personally, I believe he’ll drop out by the end of November in some sort of inglorious belligerent spectacular way.

But then again, I thought Rick “Spaz” Santorum wouldn’t last 4 months in the 2012 campaign.

What truly gets me is the reaction of people, both Media and Regular Schmuck that have fallen for Trump’s shtick in this race. They love the brash, tough guy act, but are they truly listening? I believe not because much of his words are no different from other past/current candidates, just he uses less words to explain.

For instance, despite his tough talk on Illegal Immigrants that has been disgustingly replayed since he announced, has recently come out for “Revolving Door Amnesty.” For those that do not understand the concept or have not paid attention to Trump’s actual words, he has stated this concept during a CNN interview with Dana Bash:

"You’re supposed to come in legally. I would get people out and I would have an expedited way of getting them back into the country, so they can be legal. Let them be legal." (Donald Trump July 29, 2015)

That’s not being tough, that’s opening a pathway to possible citizenship and/or green card visa work privilege. A concept not too far from that of Sen McCain and others in the GOP.

But to take that a step further, it’s a call to change the current H-1B Visa policy. Mind you, it was only a few days ago that it was reported that the US is on track to give out close to 30 million(!) visas between now and 2025, a mere 10 years away.

As we worry about US citizens losing their jobs to foreign shores like that of Nabisco laying off 600 employees at their Chicago plant to go to Mexico, the idea of new H-1B Visa acceptance is a push by big business. Those immigrants can be hired at lower wages and no benefits to be paid which equates to profits. It’s also a policy of current candidate Carly Fiorina as well, but unfortunately her voice in this race has become hushed due to lack of coverage.

Not to mention Trump's call to bring back manufacturing jobs from China has many Economists chuckling as,again it's about cheap labor and profit margins. Add to the debate that many manufacturing positions in the US are also becoming automated leaves me to wonder how he plans to force manufacturers to hire.

But hey, Trump's a golden spoon tough guy from Queens, New York and he'll take on ISIS as President.

The idea of bombing ISIS is one uttered by Trump and Company as well, however it’s a tactic being used as the US is leading the current coalition in airstrikes. The one issue with bombing ISIS as many love to regurgitate is they are not a country, but a group.

The plot to bomb ones enemy away is truly no longer an option. Think about, bomb the enemy's capital and they crumble. But when that enemy is a worldwide entity, one can bomb one area only to have that enemy pop up across the globe.

Yet Trump's true idea is of bombing the oil fields held by ISIS in the Middle East, followed up by using US military to protect those oil fields as US corporations rebuild them.

"If I win, I would attack those oil sites that are controlled and owned -- they are controlled by ISIS," Trump said. "I wouldn't send many troops because you won't need 'em by the time I'm done."(Donald Trump July 10, 2015)

Um, and how does that affect the current cost of oil?


Well prior to 2003, the price of oil fluctuated around $25/barrel and soon doubled within a year. By August 2008, the cost of oil hit $141/barrel. Yes those numbers rose because of other incidents in the Middle East but the main cause was the Iraq war in that time frame.

As oil prices have dropped, are we prepared to see oil prices rise again or are we in belief that the current North American output will stay at it’s current height even with the lack of refineries?

He's stated on Day #1 of a trump presidency he would Repeal Obamacare. (Yawn) Again identical words of the other candidates that are normally followed with creating State exchanges so a business in Iowa can buy health insurance in Missouri.

The main issue with Trump is he just talking and cannot answer how he would achieve his goals. Best example happened the other day during an interview with FOX News' Bill O'Reilly who asked "How are you gonna pay to build a border wall?"

After some deflection and repeatedly being asked Trump finally stated he would make Mexico pay for it.

Are they paying for this in Pesos or US Dollars?

And yet again, I revert back to the issue of oil because Mexico is the #3 oil exporter to the US. How would he control the price of oil if Mexico decides to cut production or exports to the US?

It's easy to talk tough and promote oneself, something Trump excels at doing, but can he walk his talk outside of a boardroom and the constant threat of lawsuits which he regularly spews?


Unfortunately it's the Media partisan talking heads that have truly pushed Trump's numbers to double digits. Those like Ann Coulter that once called him a "clown" when he floated the idea of a Presidential run in 2012 now bend over and throw roses at his feet.

"I think Trump is a clown, I expect the enthusiasm for him is based on two things: that the rest of at least the declared candidates aren’t exciting anybody, and there’s name recognition. And he has come out like gangbusters against the Obama administration like an establishment politician probably wouldn’t."(Coulter 2011 speech George Washington University.)

As the countdown clock for the Aug 6 debate winds down, RNC head honcho Reince Pribus has come out to say that the candidates need to focus on attacking Hillary Clinton, the Democrat establishment and President Obama, while doing everything they can not to attack each other.

Well there goes Trump's gamer plan as that's all he can do, besides telling everyone how rich he is.

That's it, Slap the Political tap, pack away your Speed-O, and pour a shot of I.C. Shore Whiskey every time Trump deflects by answering "I'm rich and build things" because we got roughly 10 months till the RNC Convention and seeing Trump pinatas hanging in downtown Cleveland.

CHEERS!