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1barney67
Steve Hayes is often a voice of reason. For Hayes, the two most important subjects in the election, upon which he bases his vote, are national security and the debt. "A Trump presidency would be disastrous on both scores."
1) Debt
"Trump opposes entitlement reform, and it's unclear whether he even understands the central role entitlements play in our mounting debt. ...Trump has said repeatedly that he won't touch entitlements. 'The only one that's not going to cut is me.'"
2) National Security
"Trump says he'll be strong and frequently pronounces himself 'militaristic.' But he doesn't seem to have even a newspaper reader's familiarity with the pressing issues of the day. He was nonplussed by a reference to the 'nuclear triad'; he confused Iran's Quds Force and the Kurds; he didn't know the difference between Hamas and Hezbollah. The ignorance would be less worrisome if his instincts weren't terrifying. He's praised authoritarians for their strength, whether Vladimir Putin for killing journalists and political opponents or the Chinese government for the massacre it perpetrated in Tiananmen Square."
"To the extent he articulates policies, he seems to be an odd mix of third-world despot and naïve pacifist. He favors torture as opposed to the enhanced interrogation techniques of the previous administration—for punitive reasons—and he has called for targeting the families of America's enemies and confiscating the oil in Iraq. But he has waffled on whether the United States should be fighting ISIS at all and has said he wouldn't rip up the Iran nuclear deal."
http://www.weeklystandard.com/no-trump/article/2001405
1) Debt
"Trump opposes entitlement reform, and it's unclear whether he even understands the central role entitlements play in our mounting debt. ...Trump has said repeatedly that he won't touch entitlements. 'The only one that's not going to cut is me.'"
2) National Security
"Trump says he'll be strong and frequently pronounces himself 'militaristic.' But he doesn't seem to have even a newspaper reader's familiarity with the pressing issues of the day. He was nonplussed by a reference to the 'nuclear triad'; he confused Iran's Quds Force and the Kurds; he didn't know the difference between Hamas and Hezbollah. The ignorance would be less worrisome if his instincts weren't terrifying. He's praised authoritarians for their strength, whether Vladimir Putin for killing journalists and political opponents or the Chinese government for the massacre it perpetrated in Tiananmen Square."
"To the extent he articulates policies, he seems to be an odd mix of third-world despot and naïve pacifist. He favors torture as opposed to the enhanced interrogation techniques of the previous administration—for punitive reasons—and he has called for targeting the families of America's enemies and confiscating the oil in Iraq. But he has waffled on whether the United States should be fighting ISIS at all and has said he wouldn't rip up the Iran nuclear deal."
http://www.weeklystandard.com/no-trump/article/2001405
2barney67
Hayes's third point.
3) The Insults
While covering the election in Iowa, Trump let this one fly: John McCain is "not a war hero," Trump bellowed. "He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured."
If you don't know the story of John McCain's time in Vietnam, and you should, here's Hayes's very brief summary: "He was shot down flying combat missions on October 26, 1967. He was taken captive with a broken right leg and fractures in both arms. He was beaten and tortured repeatedly, in part because his father commanded the U.S. forces in the Pacific."
When confronting Trump repeatedly to get him to clarify his remarks, Trump replied, “The people that don't get captured I'm not supposed to like? I like the people who don't get captured and I respect the people who do get captured.”
Hayes asked Trump whether he had read any accounts of McCain's ordeal, to which Trump replied, "It's irrelevant."
Flabbergasted, Hayes writes, "It wasn't just that Trump was willing to mock the heroism of a prisoner of war, it's that he was willing to do so without any understanding of what had happened."
Then Hayes mentions more insults.
• “Suggested that Megyn Kelly asked tough questions at a debate because she was menstruating.”
• “Ridiculed the face of a female rival, Carly Fiorina, and then lie about it when he was caught.”
• “The man who has had harsh words for hundreds of people over the course of his campaign over even the most trivial perceived slights couldn't find the words to condemn David Duke or the Ku Klux Klan when asked three times to do so directly.”
• “Mocked the disability of a journalist who had criticized him. 'The poor guy, you've got to see this guy,' Trump said, before flailing in a manner that resembled a palsy tremor."
I admit to being surprised the other night when Trump opened the debate by talking about his penis.
Not exactly Lincoln/Douglas, is it?
http://www.weeklystandard.com/no-trump/article/2001405
3) The Insults
While covering the election in Iowa, Trump let this one fly: John McCain is "not a war hero," Trump bellowed. "He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured."
If you don't know the story of John McCain's time in Vietnam, and you should, here's Hayes's very brief summary: "He was shot down flying combat missions on October 26, 1967. He was taken captive with a broken right leg and fractures in both arms. He was beaten and tortured repeatedly, in part because his father commanded the U.S. forces in the Pacific."
When confronting Trump repeatedly to get him to clarify his remarks, Trump replied, “The people that don't get captured I'm not supposed to like? I like the people who don't get captured and I respect the people who do get captured.”
Hayes asked Trump whether he had read any accounts of McCain's ordeal, to which Trump replied, "It's irrelevant."
Flabbergasted, Hayes writes, "It wasn't just that Trump was willing to mock the heroism of a prisoner of war, it's that he was willing to do so without any understanding of what had happened."
Then Hayes mentions more insults.
• “Suggested that Megyn Kelly asked tough questions at a debate because she was menstruating.”
• “Ridiculed the face of a female rival, Carly Fiorina, and then lie about it when he was caught.”
• “The man who has had harsh words for hundreds of people over the course of his campaign over even the most trivial perceived slights couldn't find the words to condemn David Duke or the Ku Klux Klan when asked three times to do so directly.”
• “Mocked the disability of a journalist who had criticized him. 'The poor guy, you've got to see this guy,' Trump said, before flailing in a manner that resembled a palsy tremor."
I admit to being surprised the other night when Trump opened the debate by talking about his penis.
Not exactly Lincoln/Douglas, is it?
http://www.weeklystandard.com/no-trump/article/2001405
3krolik
>2 barney67: I admit to being surprised the other night when Trump opened the debate by talking about his penis.
As a blustering, thin-skinned male narcissistic, in many ways he's often talking about his penis, albeit less directly. He has been for years. The debate example just brought the subject closer to the surface.
Anecdote from real conversation with some friends, a few summers ago in Chicago, when we were looking from the east toward the Wrigley Building:
"That used to be the prettiest skyline. I loved that skyline. But the Trump Tower gets in the way and ruins everything."
"Yeah. Now everybody has to look at Donald's dick, whether they want to or not."
As a blustering, thin-skinned male narcissistic, in many ways he's often talking about his penis, albeit less directly. He has been for years. The debate example just brought the subject closer to the surface.
Anecdote from real conversation with some friends, a few summers ago in Chicago, when we were looking from the east toward the Wrigley Building:
"That used to be the prettiest skyline. I loved that skyline. But the Trump Tower gets in the way and ruins everything."
"Yeah. Now everybody has to look at Donald's dick, whether they want to or not."
