Category: politics

Trump University Court Documents Reveal Art of the Hard Sell

I have been reading (and cringing) through the court documents related to the Trump University fraud case. They do not paint a flattering picture of the failed educational venture. Mainly with this post, I want to link to the site where the documents are archived and encourage readers to explore the business dealings of the presumptive GOP nominee.
Searchable Trump University Documents
Just a nibble of what’s there. What should a Trump U. seminar salesman do if the potential buyer wants to discuss the matter first with a spouse? Buy it first, then talk.
TrumpUSpouse
The whole approach is to do anything possible to separate the person from their money. Tell the audience Trump hand picked you when in fact he didn’t and so on.
When one adds in Trumps donations to state AGs who didn’t pursue a fraud case against Trump U., I think this case is poison for Trump’s chances in the general election.

Bill Kristol Settles on David French for His Renegade Party

A former conservative think tank lawyer and National Review columnist (and Patheos evangelical blogger) David French is apparently at the top of the Renegade party ticket. From Twitter:


French seems like a nice man and worked hard for Romney in 2012, but as a serious let’s-get-this-thing-into-the-House-of-Representatives candidate, I don’t see it.
He also has theocon cred which for me is a problem. As Right Wing Watch pointed out today, he also has lauded David Barton as a historian – pretty much a serious question mark on his discernment.
One can still hope that delegates wake up at the GOP convention and say #neverfascism.

Eric Metaxas and the Strange Hitlery Tweet

This so wrong on so many levels:


So many good replies:


Eine dummkopf.
Now Metaxas is up there with those folks who call Trump “Drumpf.”
Then I thought of Mark Noll’s sentence: “The scandal of the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind.”*
*Perhaps Metaxas was attempting a joke. In any case, it was a lame attempt. Given his support for David Barton, it is hard to tell when one can take him seriously.
Update: Now Metaxas says he was joking. Alan Noble (Christ and Pop Culture) provides the appropriate commentary.

Rolling Stone Examines Evangelical Reactions to Donald Trump

Writing for Rolling Stone, Sarah Posner examines a variety of evangelical reactions to Donald Trump’s status as presumptive GOP presidential nominee. Yours truly is quoted along with several other conservatives grappling with what it means to live in a Trumpian universe.
Some highlights:

  • Trump might get 50% of the evangelical vote says Tobin Grant. That prediction compares unfavorably to Mitt Romney’s 79% of the evangelical vote in 2012.
  • Denny Burk, professor at Boyce College told Posner: “I think that Trump is uniquely disqualified.”
  • Although time is running out, about 40 conservatives are planning some kind of move to counter Trump according to Erick Erickson. Lord, haste the day.
  • Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse has resisted calls to become a third-party candidate.
  • Fellow Patheos blogger John Mark Reynolds blames rampant conspiracy thinking for some of Trump’s support.

I pointed out that religious leaders who oppose Trump aren’t getting very far in offsetting the Trump tide. Evangelicals who support Trump are tossing the Republican political establishment aside and ignoring many of their religious leaders as well (e.g., Russell Moore). The way the quotes are presented, it may sound like I am blaming them, but that isn’t the case. Like many others, I am amazed how this election season has turned everything upside down.
It is disturbing to see evangelicals Ben Carson, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry, and others contradict themselves so dramatically in the name of party unity. Perhaps this unity worship is why Erick Erickson predicts many evangelicals will vote for Trump, although not enough to win. Although I agree, I don’t feel confident. In this political environment, it feels like the sand shifts frequently which as we know isn’t a good place to build a house.
 

Trump Says He Won't Release Tax Returns After He Said He Would Release Tax Returns

From Donald Trump's Twitter page.
From Donald Trump’s Twitter page.

For months, Trump said he would release his tax returns. Then he said he was getting them ready. Then he said he would release them once his audit was complete. See RedState for the details.
Now Trump says he won’t release them. Nothing is preventing him but himself.
As Jennifer Rubin points out, GOP delegates can apply some pressure. Trump may have opened himself up to a contested convention, delegates or not. Delegates should abstain unless Trump provides the information.
This is another promise broken and he hasn’t even gotten to the convention.