DONALD TRUMP AND THE WILL TO WIN!

Donald Trump and the Will to Win

So now after all the media and sore loser hooraw against the idea, Mr. Donald Trump is the elected presidential nominee for the Republican Party, duly chosen by the people with a majority of delegates far exceeding the required number for a win.

No way around it unless you are that cold eyed guy who used to be in the Sen. Ted Cruz campaign before Sen. Cruz fired him.  MSNBC quickly picked him up as an erstwhile commentator and now he was on the air advocating changing the Republican Convention rules to allow an ‘open’ vote on the first vote.  This way the nomination could be jerked away from Mr. Trump and gifted to someone more malleable towards the existing power structure.  And to hell with the Republican electorate who elected Mr. Trump. 

With so many delegates obligated to him by the massive vote for him, Donald Trump will officially become the nominee and the opportunity for new people to be heard is immense, as ‘party insiders’ lose their powerbase and are forced to more on to other endeavors. 

I like the populism and the surging knowledge levels among the people as the communication revolution sweeps the nation.  The population is less dominated by TV and alternative ideas flood the Internet.  The negative political media coverage of Mr. Trump was counteracted by the fact that Mr. Trump was already known in entertainment media and his reputation as a fair guy was established, and slanted negative stories did nothing to change the opinion of the electorate.   The political media attacks actually made them look bad because they were so obviously biased for other candidates.  Nobody likes unfairness, especially those who have so little defense against it.  And they vote too.

Get out the vote!  How often have I been told that in political meetings!  Now the Republican Vote is burgeoning due to Donald Trump and the Republicans should become in action what they are in fact.  Defeating Hillary Clinton is possible with party unity plus some Independents, some Bernie supporters, and anybody else who feels the present trend is not helping the nation meet the challenges of the future.  So many of us worked to get out the vote but Donald Trump is actually doing it and we can win in November.   

Donald Trump Rally Tucson March 2016

The Donald Trump Rally in Tucson Saturday 19 March 2016

Mikki and I heard about the rally on Facebook and so decided to go down to the Tucson Convention Center to check it out.  We arrived at the parking lot about 12:30, saw a line going in so we paid our $10 to park and located parking places towards the back of the lot.  Mikki was pulling into a parking place in an area where there were several more, when we were startled by a woman screaming at us.  Mikki opened the window to hear her and evidently we were using ‘her’ parking place she had staked out.  I pointed to a space just opposite for her to use and Mikki pulled on into the space.  This woman screamed with her face all contorted that we would have smashed windows when we returned.  This was a white woman in her fifties in a beige PT Cruiser with a black convertible top.  Unbelievable!  We reported the incident when we walked by the ticket shack.  We wondered if we looked like Trump supporters and if that engendered the hostility.  We had no banners or signs or bumperstickers but I tend to get a little wary. 

So we hiked around the side of the convention center to the front door of the arena, where the front lot was filled with cars and chanting demonstrators who began marching alongside the line forming to get into the Trump event.  Maybe 12 feet separated the two lines.  The demonstrators/protestors were a mixed bag of adults rather than families, shouting at the tops of their voices so that the sound reverberated off the brick wall filling the air with so much noise that nobody could talk.  They carried signs like ‘dump Trump’ and then many signs like ‘fuck Trump’ and other expletives.  There were maybe about 100 protestors and probably more who were less active.  I started flashing the old peace sign or the even older victory sign and a woman about my age stuck her middle finger right in my face.  Obviously an ageing hippie who lost her peaceful way.  The protestors were crowding the entrance but we could still get through.  I heard that the protestors blocked off the entrance after we got in, denying the people who wanted to see Trump their civil rights to assemble and listen to a man exercising free speech.  It’s the old liberal way of taking rights away from those they disagree with.

The people waiting to see Donald Trump included many family groups, college students, and other adults of all ages.  I saw Veterans and the elderly and babies.   We took a seat close to an exit high up on the east side of the arena, which gave a good view of the event and the audience, if a bit on the small side.  I wished for binoculars.   The audience was admonished to treat protestors with respect and no violence and just wait for them to be ushered out of this private event.  I think that is the key.  The protestors can go to the event and listen and would be allowed to do so but if they became the event instead of the guy who paid for it, then they would be ejected. 

The man who was hammered offended an airman, always notoriously short tempered around here even in the good old days.  I’m not sure what offended the airman, but the protestor carried a sign with a Confederate flag across Trump’s face and his cohort was wearing a Klan outfit, which was swiftly discarded when the fight broke out.  Some people don’t like Klan shit and I guess this airman didn’t like it.  Or maybe the protestor threw an elbow first.   The sign was actually an unfair, untrue smear of a man’s character.  Those protestors must have a habit of showing up at private parties, taking them over and using them for their own purposes, which was to prevent freedom of speech and assembly.  I heard the airman was charged with a misdemeanor and released, which is SOP around here for that sort of thing. 

I applaud the Tucson Police Department and their patience in handling the whole rally.  Nobody was hurt and order was kept.  I heard by word of mouth that the protestors rushed the front doors in a futile attempt to thwart security and get inside, but they were discouraged.  I heard only two people were arrested. 

After listening to a soft rock concert as the people filtered in, we prayed for peace and did the pledge and a beautiful young woman sang a heartfelt national anthem to start off the show.  Former governor Jan Brewer, Treasurer and Trump Arizona campaign manager Jeff Dewit and Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio spoke before Donald Trump took the stage.    He’s like a showman and a politician combined.  I don‘t know who provided the sound system, but it was superb, filling every corner of the arena with clear sound.  The crowd cheered and chanted USA USA and Trump Trump, a polite respectful crowd of about 5,000-6,000.  I noted many who did not participate but who politely listened.

Mr. Trump spoke for about an hour, touching on immigration, interest rates for savings, veterans’ care, trade deals and other economic topics.  He told the sneaky snake story while security was removing protestors with ‘fuck Trump’ signs, who were attempting to shout down Mr. Trump, which was difficult due to the excellent sound system.  Crank it up!

I saw CNNs Dana Bash describing the Tucson Trump rally as ‘violent’, which is a huge exaggeration.  If the other Trump rallies described at violent were violent like this one was, then CNN ought to be more circumspect in reporting.  That Bash woman overuses the same words like Isis attacks and Republicans attack each other, like it’s one and the same.  ‘Violence’ at Trump rallies is the same ‘violence’ committed by Isis???  Give us a break from this slanted, vicious news coverage. 

We watched as the rally broke up while more music played as the crowd disbursed peacefully.  We headed for the southside of the building.  It was amazing that all of the protestors were gone!  Thank you TPD and our new police chief.  We hiked back to the parking lot and found our vehicle unharmed, so we went home for a few drinks and TV.    

I wanted to go hear Bill Clinton on Sunday speaking just a few blocks away but had planned a family dinner party and could not go in favor of Easter egg dying with the grandkids.  More important.  I heard Bill Clinton raised a crowd of about 1,200 while Bernie Sanders attracted 4,000 and Donald Trump 5,000 – 6,000. 

But at the dinner party, I talked to a retired military couple who were interested in the rally and politics in general.  They seemed freaked out about Mr. Trump because he is vague and they want to know who his advisors are and his other policy stances which they think are lacking.  So today Mr. Trump released the names of consults on foreign affairs.  I’m sure we will hear more about it but I hope the news coverage is fair. 

I hope that is not too much to hope for.                                                                                -DP Niemi, Tucson

Republican Primary Debates

Thoughts on the Infamous ‘Debates’ held by Biased Networks and Biased Journalists

The media hostile to certain candidates is soooo disappointed at their lack of control over our electoral process, even to the point of featuring a RNC past chair talking about dislodging candidates from front runner positions as if that were the way to win a national election.   Maybe that’s why we lost.  The idea of the RNC is to back the candidates the people want, not the candidates they want the people to want.  I’m tired of RNC chairs, pundits and PACs choosing our candidates for us.  Could it be that the media wants Republicans to choose weak candidates so the Democrats can retain power? 

The Internet Age has brought unprecedented literacy to the populace in the form of cell phones with full internet capability.  The media is still operating like the Dark Ages when the church controlled all the information.  The media does not control the information anymore, except for the stories they choose to highlight or manufacture and they are apparently unaware that the population does not believe everything they say.   This educated populace now has the whole internet to learn from.  And people use this capability every day, using Facebook and other systems that disseminate information.  We are no longer dependent on what the media chooses to serve us!  And we know when they are lying, spinning, slanting and otherwise jacking with news stories BECAUSE WE ARE EDUCATED. 

How about the non-story of Vice President Biden running for president?  This drug on for months as the media blasted this man with their opinions and even bringing his family into it.  This ‘story’ emphasis was hurtful at worst and a time waster at best.  The media even kept Vice President Biden in the polls when he was not running.  Why did they do that?  To siphon off support for Bernie Sanders?  To make Hillary look good?

When John Boehner announced his resignation, the liberal media went crayzy with rabid speculation about the demise of the Republican Party, the need to bring in an outsider to restore order among the Republicans, and in general criticized the whole party and predicted ongoing chaos.  The draft Paul Ryan movement immediately caused a media circus and I don’t know how Speaker Ryan or others shut them up about their endless negative speculation.   The media bashed John Boehner, bashed the process of choosing a new speaker, and bashed everybody who expressed an interest in the position.  The process to choose a new speaker was actually quite orderly and fair, despite the media prediction of fatal Republican disharmony.   Some of the media even found negativity in Speaker Ryan’s insistence on spending time with his family, which reflects true Republican family values. 

As for the MSNBC debate debacle, the media really showed their rears.  That business station blew it by allowing John Harwood to ask unvetted questions since he obviously was there to push a negative agenda towards Republicans.  Why did they trust that man?  It was a set up but hopefully Harwood has trashed his own ‘career’ by abusing his position as a journalist.  Did the Democrats pay Harwood for his hostility?  Since Harwood damaged himself by asking vicious ‘social’ type questions and lying on the air, what did he actually get out of his miserable performance???   

I avidly watched this flawed debate, hoping that CNBC would ask good business and economic questions that would show the knowledge of the candidates.  Donald Trump did shine when talking about the economy, which may have been the reason so few of those types of questions were asked.   Why was the focus on personal questions rather than political, military and economic issues?  Becky Quick and Carlos Quintanilla are experts in economics, so why did they focus on areas out of their expertise?  Why didn’t they ask questions about interest rates, the Federal Reserve and foreign trade?  What a missed opportunity!  Were they given questions or did they make them up?

How about a Democrat and a Republican debate moderated by Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin and Hugh Hewitt?  The Democrats would never agree to that, claiming bias in advance.  Maybe somebody could ask if Hillary rode in on her husband’s coattails?  Or about Monica?   Those questions would be considered rude but it is open season on Republicans flying away from the podium?  Harwood is evidently academically deficient in that he phrases questions in emotional terms, rather than using a systematic approach using facts to frame the question.  The emotional attack questions are easy to dream up and require no research or learning.

I like the idea that the candidates are taking over the debate terms and conditions.  As Donald Trump pointed out, the networks are making money on the debates.  The networks then want to dictate all concerning the debates, leaving the candidates at their mercy to answer every stupid question asked, while the networks rake in the money. 

How about a debate focused on issues instead of personalities, histories, criticisms, infighting and personal agendas?  And why can’t the candidates sit down at desks while debating?  All this standing looks too much like a cop show criminal lineup.    

Possible debate topics

• Discuss the Middle East. 
• How do you view cooperation with the Russians in the Middle East?
• Please briefly explain your tax policy. 
• Explain job creation and maintenance.
• Explain economic sustainability.
• What would you do about the problems in the Veterans healthcare?
• What about organized labor?
• What about Common Core?
• What about climate change?
• What about the infrastructure?
• What about the Bill of Rights?
• And many more but how many could be discussed by all who volunteer in a two hour span?

Or let candidates choose one of those topics to expound on and others to common upon.  The isolated question debate structure where they all get different questions is not a debate.  A true debate has to have interchange among the candidates on the same topic.   Divide and conquer.  Let’s all get together and actually talk about the issues and compare ideas.  And then the viewers can see for themselves all the ideas.  I would even give the candidates the topics in advance.  A debate is when you come prepared to discuss and defend your positions on the issues. 

Let’s have a real debate!