Why should Trump sell off his businesses?

In the early days of our country, those who were our leaders had businesses. They weren’t corporations, but they certainly were rather large for the times. George Washington had many businesses, one of which was making whiskey, and Washington made decisions that benefitted his whiskey business by making it hard, almost illegal, for the average person to make whiskey themselves without the government coming after you. This lead to the infamous Whiskey Rebellion. Google it if you're not familiar with it. Does anyone hold this against Washington today? Not one bit. It’s just a footnote in history.

Jefferson had a large plantation and many slaves. It could be said that Jefferson could have favored policy that benefitted his plantation and his slave holdings. Did anyone ask Jefferson to divulge of all of his holdings when he became president? Of course not. That was not how things were understood in early America. In early America, our leaders were meant to be citizens, not career politicians.

Why should Trump sell all of his businesses? If Trump passed legislation that required people to use Trump’s services, or if he used his position to purchase land that would not otherwise be available to him, or if he funneled money through his business (like Hillary has been doing with her foundation), then there would be a conflict of interest. However, if Trump took a pro-business stance that helped all businesses, his included, then what is wrong with that? America elected a businessman.

There are many who think this will place Trump in a constitutional conflict as the constitution has a provision about accepting foreign money. The theory on this is that if Trump accepts any money through his hotels from foreign governments, who I suppose may rent rooms from Trump, that this would throw him into a position rife for impeachment.

The section in question is found in section 9, Article I of the Constitution.

 "No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State."  

I have read up on this and there’s a good piece in the New York Times about this. You can read about it by clicking HERE. In short, George Washington accepted two gifts from France without consulting Congress and nothing happened to him. It seems the law is on Trump’s side, even if some of our citizens aren’t.

What is truly lacking in this country is a good understanding of the founding of America. A good history of the early years, an understanding of why things were designed the way they were, and just civics in general is sorely lacking in America. When I was younger, I remember arguing with my father about the way things should have been instead of why they were the way they were, and Dad told me that I would have made a good shit-house lawyer, meaning, someone who could argue a point quite well, even if the facts of the matter weren’t on my side. That’s what we see a lot of these days due to our woeful lack of civic understanding.

In short, should Trump not divest all of his business interests, while it may seem inappropriate to those who don’t understand historical precedent, it is not illegal.

 

 

The Clinton Playbook – “Change the story, polish, minimize, and spin”

Hillary Clinton is sick. Let’s not beat around the bush about it. There have been rumors of her illness for some time, especially since she hit her head and had a concussion in 2012. What happened to her on 9/11/2016 was not a case of simple dehydration or pneumonia as her and her campaign have stated.

Watch the video of her. She is fine, hugging, kissing, and schmoozing people. Then there are photos of her with her doctor or nurse, squeezing fingers and the next thing we see is Clinton standing at the street, waiting for her ride, which is against all Secret Service protocol as it leaves Clinton as a ‘sitting duck’ on the side of the street. All the while, nobody is panicking. This is obviously something that Hillary’s entourage is accustomed to. Even Bill Clinton let it slip to Charlie Rose that this has happened many times. He then back-tracked and CBS edited the interview to take that part out. It is apparent that whatever is wrong with Hillary Clinton is not what we are being told.

Surprise Surprise! This is the Clintons that we’re talking about!

Hillary appeared a couple of hours later, coming out of Chelsea’s apartment, and looked so much better. Pneumonia, really? Pneumonia isn’t something that leaves you fine one moment, on death’s door the next, and then an hour or two later you’re fine.

No, pneumonia is a killer. Those afflicted with cancer and AIDS often die from pneumonia. The elderly take pneumonia shots because pneumonia kills so often.

Pneumonia caused by bacteria or virus is contagious. Here Clinton was out hugging and kissing folks. Was she told that her pneumonia was non-contagious or did she not care about spreading it about? The types of non-contagious pneumonia are from inhalants, fungus, and aspiration issues. Is this the type of pneumonia that she had? To be honest, I doubt she has pneumonia. She would have been in terrible shape to begin with if she had. I’m more apt to believe dehydration, but even then, it would be a stretch. It wasn’t that hot. Water is plentiful, and she wasn’t doing anything physically strenuous.

Why the lies? It’s because that’s what the Clintons do. I don’t know why that is. Some people rob banks. Others murder people. Some people just lie because that’s who they are; liars. That’s the Clintons for you.

Bill Clinton was the master at this. Hillary isn’t quite as good, but it isn’t for lack of trying. Below, I have posted a video from 1992. Here, Bill Clinton is facing criticism for his, “I didn’t inhale” comment. The two situations are slightly different, but in both cases, Bill and Hillary use the same tactics. First, they try and restructure the truth into a version that creates a new narrative. They polish this narrative up. It’s a narrative that allows them to minimize what they said. After that, they spin like a crocodile in a death roll.

First, Hillary;

Hillary comes out of Chelsea’s apartment two hours later looking refreshed and claims to the media that she feels fine. She even finds a kid to hug. This changes the narrative from, “Hillary is ill” to “Hillary is not ill”. But, at this point, it may not have been apparent to Hillary that video of the event was captured and then released to the public. At this point, the official story was, “She was dehydrated.” Her appearance on the street reflects this narrative.

Then, as it became apparent that video of the situation was leaked, it then became, “She was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday.” She sure didn’t act like a woman who had pneumonia, but, this allowed Hillary to again change the narrative and make herself look like a warrior, someone who just works and works and works, even when sick with potentially fatal pneumonia! That’s the polish folks. Even Christiane Amanpour used apologetics to explain how great Hillary was when compared to other past American leaders, and then Amanpour retorted, “Can’t a girl have a sick day?” How effective. It makes Clinton look like a victim and in today’s society, we’re all supposed to feel sorry for the victims. Everyone wants to be a victim these days it seems…..

Then, later in the evening, knowing that damage control must be done, she goes on Anderson Cooper and furthers her story stating that as soon as the van doors shut and she got some water, she was perfectly fine. Really? Then why not come back out and greet people some more? Why cancel your trip to California? But, this is part of the minimization tactic on this Clinton play. She even used her husband’s famous phrase, “I didn’t think it was a big deal.” Really? Boy, a female John Wayne we have on our hands here!

Finally, she spins it. She goes into stating that Trump needs to release his health information and that he hasn’t done this or he hasn’t done that. Guess what? It wasn’t Trump who collapsed and then told lies about it! Not once has Trump shown any ill health. But, this is the spin to redirect attention. It’s almost a psychological tactic if you ask me. Don’t look in this hand, look in this other one….

Compare this to her husband’s appearance on Arsenio Hall in 1992. First, Bill tells the story differently than it actually happened. This allows him to put some personal Clinton shine on it and it makes the story capable of handling the bullshit that he’s about to make the story carry.

He then minimized it by using very similar words that Hillary just used the other night, “I didn’t think it was a big deal,” from her to his, “..it is not a big deal.” Then they both spun. First, Hillary spun it into re-directing attention to Trump and claiming that he needed to be scrutinized too. Bill spun and started talking about sending kids to college.

In short, they change the story. They polish it. Then they minimize their part in it, and then they spin. On the video, you'll have to fast forward to the 23:55 mark. Here’s the video below and below that, is the transcript from the pertinent section:

 

Here is a link to the actual time where the transcript below comes from: https://youtu.be/ckHfgqK_hcU?t=23m55s

“Here’s the deal, when a politician says something, if you’re a politician, the cynicism about politicians is so great that people thought, “Well, this guy calculated this whole answer, and he calculated it so that he thought, ‘Well, maybe he won’t burn me quite as bad if I say I didn’t inhale?’.” That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of.

They asked me a question that I didn’t know they were going to ask and I gave an honest answer. And that, “I didn’t inhale.” was a nervous after-thought. I was sort of laughing about it after 22 years. I mean, that’s all that was going on and I was sort of laughing in my mind about it, but I got beat-up about it, ‘cause everybody thought that I calculated this answer.

You know, maybe I should…maybe I should be more calculating than I am? But, you know, if, you folks are never going to get good politicians, uh, really good public officials, if all you want is somebody that calculates every word they say, every deed they do; and their whole life becomes like a robot, or an automaton, you know. I did something when I was younger. I told the truth about it and I made a mess of telling about it because, I guess, I’m still kind of embarrassed about it after all these years.

But it is not a big deal, and it sure…and it was made into a federal case. I got more publicity on that … than my idea about how to send every kid in America to college, who wants to go, which I think is more important to the election and to the future of this country.”

(Applause)

(Smug smirk) (Drink of water)

My advice to Ted Cruz

It is probably too late to change your speech, but if there is time, I make the following suggestions:

1.    You do not have to endorse Donald Trump. You can tell the American public that while you have disagreements with Donald, he is a better alternative than Hillary Clinton.

2.    You should admit that you still have political aspirations. You had a great following who faithfully showed their support for you on the floor of the convention and more. Let your followers know that you still represent their wants, dreams, and hopes.

3.    Explain to the country that while you may disagree with Donald Trump and have political aspirations to be president yourself, that the threat of Hillary Clinton is so great, and your love of country so strong, that you’re willing to concede that Donald Trump would be a better choice for the next 8 years than Hillary Clinton.

4.   You should be a great unifier and ask your supporters to stand behind Trump this election to ensure a brighter future for our children, and the rest of us.

5.    You should end the speech by explaining that you will do your part to help Donald Trump run this country and that you will continue to represent all those who supported you.

If you do this, you have the potential to give one of the greatest speeches given at a convention in a very long time. In doing so, you do not concede anything, yet, you look selfless, as a patriot, putting love of country above your own aspirations. You’re also not knocking Donald Trump, you’re hitting Hillary Clinton, and you’ll be viewed as a great statesman and unifier.

An observation on Graham's Support for Cruz

Have you noticed that Graham only supported Ted Cruz after it was too late for Cruz to garner enough delegates to clinch the nomination? Only a miracle would have to happen for Cruz to get the nomination outright. If he thinks he'll get support from the establishment at a brokered convention, he's sadly mistaken. The only reason they support him now is because he can prevent Trump from clinching the nomination, nothing more, nothing less. Once he fulfills his role as spoiler, he'll lose the establishment support and be left out in the cold.

Cruz cannot win the nomination by delegates alone barring a miracle.
Cruz will not get the establishment support at a brokered convention.
The establishment will take control at a brokered convention and both Donald Trump and Ted Cruz will be left out in the cold.
John Kasich only plays the spoiler at this point. What will be his reward from the establishment? I don't see the keys to the White House being handed to him. Maybe a VP nod instead?  Maybe a cabinet post?
I fully expect to see Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, or Lindsey Graham steal the nomination at the convention.
The Republican Party will split and revolt.
If Trump does garner enough delegates to win the nomination, the establishment will sabotage intentionally to lose the election.
Look to what happened to Jessie Ventura in Minnesota many years ago as an example of a Trump presidency. He will face heat from both left and right.
If anyone can bring change to the Republican Party, it will be with Donald Trump because they cannot freeze him out financially, and he is superior at manipulating the media.
Trump will either change the party or the party will split in half.

Why Cruz Won’t Be President in 2016

Today, there’s news that the GOP Elite have met and discussed stopping Trump at all costs. Even Lindsey Graham came out today stating that he’s going to do everything in his power to help Ted Cruz. This is the same man who just a short time ago stated that choosing between Trump or Cruz is like choosing between being shot or poisoned. Don’t think that Graham has changed him mind on that. He hasn’t. In fact, he knows that helping Cruz now won’t do anything to help Cruz become president. All it will do at this point is ensure a brokered convention.

At this point in the game, the only real way for Ted Cruz to garner the needed delegates to clinch the nomination is for Donald Trump to leave the picture. Barring something tragic, it just isn’t going to happen. Trump is here to stay. Barring an absolute miracle of all miracles, Cruz will not be able to reach the magic number. Kasich couldn’t catch it even if Cruz and Trump both left the race today.

What this means is that the push that we’re going to see behind Cruz will be nothing more than an attempt at a brokered convention, one in which Cruz will be shut out. It’s coming down to the “prisoner’s dilemma” at this point.  Cruz cannot win. Trump has a hard time winning. Do they work together? In order to do so, Trump would have to offer Cruz something big in order to ensure his exit from the race. If Cruz stays in, not only does he run the risk of Trump not getting enough delegates, he ensures he receives nothing more than a pat on the back while the Republican Elite install their own pick, flush with cash and without any damage from the primary process. Both Trump and Cruz will stand there battered and a little more broke than when they started.

Kasich on the other hand is a darling of the GOP Elite. I don’t know what he’s been promised, but I doubt he’ll get the presidency. He’s just a tool for the Elite as well. He may very well get a VP nod, or a cabinet position, but they won’t hand him the keys to the White House.

At this point, it is imperative for Trump and Cruz to make a Reagan and Bush style team. Cruz may not like being VP, but it’s better than he’ll get if he stays in. If he thinks that the backing of the GOP Elite means that the Elite are behind him in the traditional sense, he’s sadly mistaken. The Elite despise Cruz too, and the only way they can avoid an anti-establishment candidate at this point is to back Cruz and force brokered convention. The question is, does Cruz understand this? I’m sure Trump does. Kasich is a willing tool.

 

My advice to Trump ……. Broker a deal.

Now we’ve had our three debates, we are settling into the winter season before the first caucuses and primaries. You tout that you are a deal maker. You say that you will be a great leader for this country. You say that you will be a great world leader. Your first goal should be to become the leader of the GOP. You need to step up to the plate, broker deals with your contenders, and get them to fall in line behind you. You need to listen and address their concerns. You’ll probably have to kick some money to them for their campaign debts if they have any, and show us that you can take charge of the GOP and set its course. By the time the first caucus in Iowa happens, you should have a majority of your opponents out of the race, backing you, especially if you are a deal maker as you claim. I have little doubt that you are the deal maker you claim to be, but it’s show time.

You also need to do something about the GOP leadership. If you want to be president and come from the GOP party, you need to take charge of it. You need to do some back room dealing to get someone other than  Reince Priebus as chairman and you need to call Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan (if he indeed becomes Speaker) to your Trump Towers for meetings, and broker deals with them to support you, and start working on policy that you’d like to see them work on while you are going through the process of being elected. You claim to be a great leader. Then you already know this is the route you need to take. Start leading!

Here are my thoughts on your major contenders in the race;

Dr. Carson – Nice guy. What position could you offer him in a Trump administration where he would feel like he’s using his God given talents? He’ll be a tricky one to appease. I’m sure you can figure something out as Dr. Carson is a very intelligent man and you do seem to have some nice rapport with him.

Jeb Bush – Well, let’s face it. The Bush’s are powerhouses in the Republican Party. You’ll probably have to appease them. Maybe an ambassadorship to Mexico or some important South American country? Maybe a cabinet post where he can feel important without having much influence on America? If you don’t appease Bush and his family, they will work against you behind the scenes. It’s no different than how Obama had to handle Hillary.

Chris Christie – If there ever was a good candidate for Attorney General! The only problem is that he’ll go after states where there’s legal marijuana and that isn’t popular. Of course, as leader of the GOP, you could push for a party platform change and push for the feds to get out of the marijuana business altogether and leave it to the states like alcohol. Christie seems like a straight shooter. The only reason he’d go after marijuana is because he feels he needs to follow the law. Christie a good man, one you should utilize in your administration. He’s just not right for president. He could do the job, but he’s not the best option.

Ted Cruz – Now there’s a man that would be loyal to you and serve you well. Being a Texan, he’d be good in your cabinet, dealing either with energy matters, or financial ones. But, there is a better candidate for financial matters…..

Rand Paul – He would make a great Secretary of the Treasury. He could then audit the Fed and help get America financially strong again. Financial matters are the Paul family’s strong points.

Carly Fiorina – If you didn’t broker a deal with her, it might look like you don’t appreciate women. She might make a good Ambassador to the United Nations as she is quite articulate, and would do a great job representing America on the world stage.

Mike Huckabee – Here’s a guy you should seriously consider as your VP. I have another candidate that would also work well as your VP, but Huckabee is very Reaganesque and would appear great on camera. He is also highly intelligent, very articulate, well liked, and he won the Iowa caucus in 2008. He also has experience dealing with the Clintons. He’s very popular in the South.

Marco Rubio – Ambassador to Cuba. Need I say more?

Bobby Jindahl – He’s also a really good guy. To be  honest, he’d be a good guy to take over Reince Priebus’s position in the party. He’s young. He’s a hard worker. I think it would be a great position for him if he’d accept.

Rick Santorum – What to do with Rick? Does it matter if you appease Rick? He does have some pull with the social conservatives. It would be better to have him on board than not. I’m sure you can strike a deal with him.

Rick Perry – Yes, Rick is out of the race, but he was a very good guy. He was a very successful governor in Texas and his talents should be utilized. If you didn’t use Huckabee as a VP, Perry would also be good in that position. Perry is probably the most like you out of all of the other Republican candidates, at least in personality. Where I think Perry would work best though is as Secretary of Defense. Perry has bonafide military experience as a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force, and seeing that the future of defense will be in air power, including drones, he would be a great fit.

The rest of the candidates are such small potatoes that if you get a majority of the ones listed above, the others will fall in line. Jeb is your biggest concern right now because he has all that establishment money behind him. It’s one thing to beat him, but if his people are unhappy, they will do everything in their power behind the scenes to destroy you. You’ll probably have to also meet with all the movers and shakers behind the Republican party, including the Koch Brothers, and assure them that if you’re president, they’ll still be rich. They just won’t be able to control politics for awhile from their office in Wichita, Kansas. They’ll have to run for president themselves, like you, or else mind their own business.

Granted, I’m just throwing out options regarding the candidates above, but I’m serious when I say that you should be working right now to build a coalition. The mainstream media and the democrats are counting on the Republicans to tear each other to shreds over the nominating process. Just like what happened at the final Republican CNBC debate, wouldn’t it be nice if the Republicans would work together instead of against each other? I’ve said it before – you claim to be the deal maker. Then make it happen! Show America that you can do what you say!