This ad for Lyndon Johnson is uncanny and is making the rounds on social media. I also have included here two other ads that are also deja vu all over again material.
Goldwater lost in a landslide. I hope the GOP doesn’t repeat the past this year. As a lifelong Republican who was a child when Goldwater lost, I don’t recognize the party of my lifetime. My more liberal friends will tell me that I have been in a fog, but I say Ronald Reagan wouldn’t be in the majority among today’s GOP rank and file.
This man scares me. I think my party made a mistake.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiG0AE8zdTU[/youtube]
Which Goldwater (Trump) are you for?
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyP_hWvqchU[/youtube]
KKK members endorsed Goldwater. This is also an eerie similarity to Trump today.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hcpedQmOyo[/youtube]
Tag: donald trump
Polls: Kasich v. Clinton is Best Shot for GOP in November Election
En masse, Republican primary voters may not be acting in the best interest of the party’s chances in the November election. Real Clear Politics tracks all kinds of polls, including how each GOP candidate does against the likely Dem nominee Hillary Clinton. John Kasich consistently polls higher than the other three candidates despite being fourth place in the current delegate count. Even though he has amassed the most votes, Donald Trump consistently loses to Clinton in a head to head match up.
So when Donald Trump says Clinton doesn’t want to face him, I think he is overconfident. In current polling among Republicans, Trump leads, followed by Cruz, Rubio and Kasich. However, the same polls show Trump losing to Clinton with Kasich showing the largest winning margin over Clinton followed by Rubio, and Cruz.
If you check the polls back into 2015, all GOP candidates consistently lost to Clinton in most polls conducted in 2015. However, Kasich, Rubio, and Cruz have risen to a winning position in 2016. In other words, they have closed the gap, with Kasich showing a larger margin of victory on average than Rubio and Cruz. Trump on the other hand has only won 5 out of 47 polls against Clinton and has consistently trailed her up to and including the most recent polling. For the full analysis, see the Real Clear Politics pages for each candidate:
Kasich v. Clinton
Rubio v. Clinton
Cruz v. Clinton
Trump v. Clinton
How Are Mark Driscoll and Donald Trump Alike?
Anyone who has ever taken or given a Wechsler Intelligence Scale will recognize my title as having the form of the Similarities portion of the test. Those taking the test are given two different terms or things and asked how they are alike. Since the exact questions are a carefully guarded professional secret, if I tell you more I will have to see about broadening the laws on torture or something.
Writing in the New York Times op-ed section yesterday, Christianity Today‘s managing editor Katelyn Beaty wondered how Donald Trump and dictatorial church pastors are alike. She used our pal Mark Driscoll as exhibit A. Although I get what she is going for and as much as I don’t understand how Driscoll manages his brand, I think Mr. Trump is the scarier proposition.
Beaty tells us that there is a strong correlation between being a church pastor and narcissistic personality disorder. She might be right. At the 2015 American Association of Christian Counselors conference, R. Glenn Ball and Darrell Puls reported that “Narcissistic Personality Disorder in active clergy in the PCC is between 500% to 3000% higher than is found in the general population.” PCC stands for Presbyterian Church in Canada and those are big numbers.
Yesterday, I taught the familiar social psychology experiment conducted by Stanley Milgrim (more recently replicated by Jerry Burger) in which two-thirds of subjects thought they were shocking a person in the next room at dangerous levels because a researcher in a lab coat said it was necessary. We are a lot like sheep with many clergy and politicians willing to be our shepherds. When the shepherds are narcissists, the sheep are more like pawns.
Human nature being what it is, we must take care. I want to commit appropriate conformity for the good of others but I must keep my wits about me, whether in church or at the ballot box. Blind conformity or failure to question those we like and agree with can lead us astray.
How about some open forum on this article?
2019 update: Was I right or what?
It Is Too Late Mr. Trump, You Disqualified Yourself Last Night (Updated – After Disavowal Tells MI Crowd He Would Use Torture)
UPDATE: What does Trump really mean? He plays to the crowd as is obvious from this footage today, after his campaign issued a statement saying he would act legally as president.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEmWtkAuYLk[/youtube]
This is ridiculous. The crowd reaction is sickening.
………………………..
Last night in the GOP debate, Donald Trump made what was in my opinion the biggest mistake of his campaign by telling the audience twice that the military would disobey the law to obey him, in essence to commit war crimes. Watch:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqpvpVEHyBI[/youtube]
In my mind, this disqualified Trump as soon as he said it. Any candidate who asserts a right to violate the law and commit the nation to a war crime platform should be step aside.
Predictably, not long ago, Trump realized how badly he had hurt himself and he issued a statement vowing not to violate the law regarding torture or war crimes.
“I feel very, very strongly about the need to attack and kill those terrorists who attack and kill our people. I know people who died on 9/11. I will never forget those events. I will use every legal power that I have to stop these terrorist enemies. I do, however, understand that the United States is bound by laws and treaties and I will not order our military or other officials to violate those laws and will seek their advice on such matters. I will not order a military officer to disobey the law. It is clear that as President I will be bound by laws just like all Americans and I will meet those responsibilities.”
Well, that’s a relief, right?
No. Sorry. It is not clear that Trump has any intention of being bound by laws. That Trump would even contemplate the actions he promised just last night is enough to disqualify him. Those who support Trump have been warned. To maintain support for Trump, his supporters must own this.
As an aside, I am disappointed with the other three GOP challengers. They heard Trump say he would order soldiers to disobey the law and they still said they would support him if he was the nominee. All three of them should have said no, we won’t support a person who vows to commit war crimes.
Trump University at the Better Business Bureau
Tonight in the GOP Debate, Trump University came up. Aided by Megyn Kelly, Marco Rubio made a point to bring out the ongoing nature of the case. Trump characterized the situation as a minor civil case. The facts seem to be different than Trump portrayed. Curious, I checked out the Better Business Bureau page as well as the most recent court action. Here is what I found:
Government Actions
NY AG Sues Trump Entrepreneur Initiative, Seeks $40M in Restitution for Consumers
Date of Action: 8/24/2013
The following describes a pending government action that has been formally brought by a government agency but has not yet been resolved. We are providing a summary of the government’s allegations, which have not yet been proven.
On August 24, 2013, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced that he has filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump, The Trump Entrepreneur Institute — formerly named Trump University LLC (“Trump University”), and Michael Sexton, former President of Trump University for engaging in persistent fraudulent, illegal and deceptive conduct in connection with the operation of Trump University. Between 2005 through 2011, the lawsuit says that Trump University operated as an unlicensed educational institute that promised to teach Donald Trump’s real estate investing techniques to consumers nationwide but instead misled consumers into paying for a series of expensive courses that did not deliver on their promises. The petition filed in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan details the advertisements run by Trump University in major newspapers across the country and the direct mail solicitations sent to entice consumers to attend a free workshop. These ads prominently displayed Donald Trump’s photograph and signature, or were styled as letters written by Trump himself. The suit says the advertisements were replete with false claims, including claims that consumers would learn “from Donald Trump’s handpicked instructor a systematic method for investing in real estate that anyone can use.” Other ads promised “my handpicked instructors will share my techniques” or “learn from my hand-picked expert” and “just copy exactly what I’ve done and get rich.” Despite Trump University’s advertised claims, consumers attending free seminars did not learn Donald Trump’s real estate techniques. Instead, the lawsuit alleges that Trump University’s instructors made multiple misrepresentations to convince consumers to sign up for a $1,495 three-day seminar. And instead of providing all of the promised services, instructors then used the three-day seminars to pitch consumers an expensive Trump Elite mentor-ship programs costing $10,000 to $35,000. The New York Attorney General’s lawsuit seeks full restitution for the more than 5,000 consumers nationwide who were defrauded of over $40 million in the scheme.
In October 2014, New York State Supreme Court Justice Cynthia S. Kern ruled that Mr. Trump is personally liable for operating a for-profit investment school without the required license. She also tossed out some of the New York AG’s claims and ruled that some evidence is beyond the statute of limitations. Judge Kern ruled that several major aspects of the fraud lawsuit will be decided at a forthcoming trial.
On March 1, 2016, The Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department held that the New York State Attorney General is authorized to bring a cause of action for fraud under Executive Law §63(12), overruling a lower court’s decision on this cause of action.
Here are the findings referred to in the last paragraph just above. The fraud charges will be tried. This will drag on throughout the election.