If Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, as Carly Fiorina says, are “fighting for the soul of the Republican Party,” sign me up for the Aretha Franklin for President Campaign. First, neither of them has a bit of soul. Second, neither of them has a true vision for the party or the country other than they should lead them.
As Trump takes his impossible quest for the nomination to probable, he laid out his foreign policy “vision” yesterday and, while I am no expert in foreign policy, I can pretty much see the contradictions in many of his points. For example he’s going to reduce our $19 trillion deficit in eight years but he’s going to “rebuild” our military. Trump, like others, cites the diminution in the numbers of ships and other hardware without acknowledging that war has changed and we don’t need as many battleships as we used to. Wars are fought on a different level with different weapons these days. And how can you reduce our deficit to zero in eight years yet spend billions on the military? Where do you cut?
Or, he’s going to prove to the world that America can be a trusted friend but he is going to bail on international alliances if certain countries don’t belly up to the bar with their fair share of the funding. Now that's a trustworthy ally. And a short-sighted one because those alliances not only protect our partners in the alliances, they protect us too.
Donald, this is not a real estate negotiation. There are intricate and complicated issues intertwined in international politics and diplomacy. Success is not measured in dollars and cents. It’s measured in good sense and judgement and positive results. And security.
Trump oversimplifies issues so they are understandable to the folks who support him but he isn’t telling it like it is (as they think) because it is not about laying out a smarter political position to win support. It’s about laying out a position to win support to move the country and world forward, not backward. That is a far higher standard than the calculations Trump makes.
Donald Trump being on the brink of the GOP nomination is frightening, but it is reality. His only true opposition is Ted Cruz who, in another demonstration of his judgement yesterday not only named a vice presidential candidate as his candidacy is falling into the abyss, but named Carly Fiorina who’s only success so far at elective politics is getting off a good line in a presidential debate. She lost her bid for the Senate in California, a state Cruz apparently thinks she can help him in. Repeat: she lost her Senate bid…in California. And she won one delegate during her presidential bid. One.
The Republican Party truly is in disarray when these are the final two battling for the party’s presidential nomination. Cruz’ only chance is to keep Trump from a first-ballot victory so Cruz can, maybe, pull off the nomination in later ballots. And poor John Kasich, a capable guy, is the third man on the date, fighting for a chance to maybe pull off the nomination on the 8th ballot at the convention. Lord save me. But, truth be told, I’m glad he’s holding on for dear life because at least he gives me hope in the immediate future of the party. At least he is a voice of reason. Albeit it barely heard voice.
As theWashington Post points out this morning - https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-republicans-still-must-not-rally-around-trump/2016/04/27/432f1aca-0c96-11e6-8ab8-9ad050f76d7d_story.html - keeping Trump from the nomination and, lacking that, from the Oval Office is a moral obligation for the Republican Party. He is not qualified to work on the White House staff, let alone lead the country. He knows nothing of governance; nothing of diplomacy; nothing about the ins and outs of what a government’s job is or how it operates. He has little respect for the Constitution, saying he will change free press freedoms to better suit his tastes.
It is not a business, Donald. You can’t run it like you would your real estate operations. The “deal” isn’t the only thing at stake – lives are – and I’ve yet to hear you factor that into your equations. I hear about dollars but not about people. That's one thing that makes the job of governing difficult -- you need to provide services and protections and manage a budget. Far more complicated with far greater responsibilities and consequences than if you fail in a real estate deal.
How will you make the lives of Americans and the tranquility of the world better other they saying “believe me, I’m the only one who can do it.” I don’t believe you. I need to be shown how you plan to do it. I do not trust that you have the expertise, experience, compassion or skills to do it. You have to prove it to me. You haven’t even come close so far.
Your best argument against Hillary Clinton is that she’s “playing the woman’s card,” whatever that is. Are you playing the “man’s card,” whatever that is?
One challenge with democracy is you have to vote for the choices you’re given. Looks like our choices will be Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Not my first two choices to lead the country. But, as the Post said, out of moral duty, it cannot be Donald Trump who thinks the most powerful person in the world is akin to being the most powerful person on a reality TV show.
Reality has to settle in at some point.
As Trump takes his impossible quest for the nomination to probable, he laid out his foreign policy “vision” yesterday and, while I am no expert in foreign policy, I can pretty much see the contradictions in many of his points. For example he’s going to reduce our $19 trillion deficit in eight years but he’s going to “rebuild” our military. Trump, like others, cites the diminution in the numbers of ships and other hardware without acknowledging that war has changed and we don’t need as many battleships as we used to. Wars are fought on a different level with different weapons these days. And how can you reduce our deficit to zero in eight years yet spend billions on the military? Where do you cut?
Or, he’s going to prove to the world that America can be a trusted friend but he is going to bail on international alliances if certain countries don’t belly up to the bar with their fair share of the funding. Now that's a trustworthy ally. And a short-sighted one because those alliances not only protect our partners in the alliances, they protect us too.
Donald, this is not a real estate negotiation. There are intricate and complicated issues intertwined in international politics and diplomacy. Success is not measured in dollars and cents. It’s measured in good sense and judgement and positive results. And security.
Trump oversimplifies issues so they are understandable to the folks who support him but he isn’t telling it like it is (as they think) because it is not about laying out a smarter political position to win support. It’s about laying out a position to win support to move the country and world forward, not backward. That is a far higher standard than the calculations Trump makes.
Donald Trump being on the brink of the GOP nomination is frightening, but it is reality. His only true opposition is Ted Cruz who, in another demonstration of his judgement yesterday not only named a vice presidential candidate as his candidacy is falling into the abyss, but named Carly Fiorina who’s only success so far at elective politics is getting off a good line in a presidential debate. She lost her bid for the Senate in California, a state Cruz apparently thinks she can help him in. Repeat: she lost her Senate bid…in California. And she won one delegate during her presidential bid. One.
The Republican Party truly is in disarray when these are the final two battling for the party’s presidential nomination. Cruz’ only chance is to keep Trump from a first-ballot victory so Cruz can, maybe, pull off the nomination in later ballots. And poor John Kasich, a capable guy, is the third man on the date, fighting for a chance to maybe pull off the nomination on the 8th ballot at the convention. Lord save me. But, truth be told, I’m glad he’s holding on for dear life because at least he gives me hope in the immediate future of the party. At least he is a voice of reason. Albeit it barely heard voice.
As theWashington Post points out this morning - https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-republicans-still-must-not-rally-around-trump/2016/04/27/432f1aca-0c96-11e6-8ab8-9ad050f76d7d_story.html - keeping Trump from the nomination and, lacking that, from the Oval Office is a moral obligation for the Republican Party. He is not qualified to work on the White House staff, let alone lead the country. He knows nothing of governance; nothing of diplomacy; nothing about the ins and outs of what a government’s job is or how it operates. He has little respect for the Constitution, saying he will change free press freedoms to better suit his tastes.
It is not a business, Donald. You can’t run it like you would your real estate operations. The “deal” isn’t the only thing at stake – lives are – and I’ve yet to hear you factor that into your equations. I hear about dollars but not about people. That's one thing that makes the job of governing difficult -- you need to provide services and protections and manage a budget. Far more complicated with far greater responsibilities and consequences than if you fail in a real estate deal.
How will you make the lives of Americans and the tranquility of the world better other they saying “believe me, I’m the only one who can do it.” I don’t believe you. I need to be shown how you plan to do it. I do not trust that you have the expertise, experience, compassion or skills to do it. You have to prove it to me. You haven’t even come close so far.
Your best argument against Hillary Clinton is that she’s “playing the woman’s card,” whatever that is. Are you playing the “man’s card,” whatever that is?
One challenge with democracy is you have to vote for the choices you’re given. Looks like our choices will be Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Not my first two choices to lead the country. But, as the Post said, out of moral duty, it cannot be Donald Trump who thinks the most powerful person in the world is akin to being the most powerful person on a reality TV show.
Reality has to settle in at some point.
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