Trump Was a Bore Last Night, the Worst Thing He Could Be
Tuesday, September 27, 2016
My debate with Sen. Joe Ward in 1972.
The below is from my first book "The Good Bits,"
describing my debate with Senator Joe Ward (D-Fitchburg, MA) when I was running
against him in 1972. Someplace I have a better photo of the debate (where I
have my eyes open!), framed, and packed away with my office stuff. The ones
below look like it was so easy I was napping! Like Trump in the first debate,
and to a lesser extent Clinton ,
Joe interrupted me frequently when I was speaking. I politely let him spear--I
don't think rudeness plays well with the voters watching. ~Bob
*****
Joe Ward
was considered the best speaker in the Senate. One Boston paper headlined my victory, “Silver
Tongue Stilled.”
Still, no
one but me thought he’d accept a challenge to debate. I knew he didn’t want to
appear frightened of a young, inexperienced challenger. Whatever I might have
said about Joe, he was a fighter. By luck, I found a used book about the
Ward-Volpe governor’s race in 1960, The Complete Politician. Ward lost
that race by being too aggressive, by going on the attack in ways the public
thought unfair. And he had a temper.
So a debate was set, in Gardner , Massachusetts Mount Wachusett
Community College
Joe came in full of confidence and
without checking the rules carefully. When told they were going to flip a coin
to determine who went first, he replied, “Oh, let the challenger go first.”
Very generous, of course, but it meant he went second, and could hit me without
rebuttal, going into the question phrase.
But since it meant I got the
closing statement at the end of the debate, I agreed.
I had three issues: government
reform, taxes and being a full-time senator, and I knew to “stay on message,”
as the politicians now say. But a hidden issue was Joe’s law practice. The word
on the street was that if you lost your driver’s license, for $500 Joe would
get it back. This was perfectly legal. If you gave Senator Hall $500 to get
your license back, it would be an illegal bribe. But if you gave it to Senator
Ward, an attorney, it was a legal fee. And if he was more effective with the
court or registry of motor vehicles due to his public office, well, welcome to
democracy.
Of course, we couldn’t prove this,
so I couldn’t say it. But hints are fair, right?
We hammered away at each other,
with me working hard to get him angry. When it came time to make my closing
statement, I judged his mood, took a breath and a chance, and closed with, “I
want to promise you one thing. When you bring your problems to Senator Hall,
you won’t have to bring your checkbook.”
Boom! Joe leaped up and began
yelling at me. The cameras kept grinding. The moderator tried to tell him that,
under the rules, I had the closing statement. He kept yelling. I offered my
hand, which he refused, on camera, calling me a “snide, slimy young man.”
I resisted the impulse to kiss him,
though I couldn’t have been happier with the outcome.
Reporters asked me about my closing
statement. I said I thought there was an inherent conflict of interest between
accepting legal fees to represent clients before courts and state agencies, and
accepting pay as a senator to set the budget (and pay!) for those courts and
agencies.
The next day we demanded an
apology, in ads and news releases. The debate was a hot topic of conversation,
and every cable station in the district re-ran it. Thousands watched. Suddenly,
one mistake by the incumbent, and I’m a serious candidate.
Joe was 89 when he went to his
reward in 2003. He never did apologize for the name-calling. But I didn’t
really mind.
Monday, September 26, 2016
One down and the future to go
So, the first debate is history. I saw no knock-out blows,
no major mistakes. And nothing that would convince me to vote for either
candidate. I'm still planning to write in Evan McMullin. And early voting has
started in Wisconsin --we
saw folks lined up to vote today at the library before the debate.
The Donaldcrats will say he won because he sounded less like
a head case than he has in the past. The Hillbilleries will say she won because
she came across as strong and healthy. I'd call it a draw.
But what matters is what the polls say. We shall see. ~Bob
My debate experience
Both keep interrupting each other. I think that hurts them with the average, perhaps swing voter. In 1972, my opponent, Sen. Joe Ward, agreed to debate me to everyone's surprise. He interrupted me, but I listened politely when it was his turn to speak. But when it was my turn, i got him angry and he blew up at the end. Later he refused to debate again, so I had the best of both worlds. That debate won me a seat in the state senate in a 4-1 Dem district, last won by the GOP in 1938. I held it 5 terms and the GOP woman I endorsed after me held it for 5. Debates matter, but you have to think how the undecided viewers see what's going on.
The Debate
I'm watching the debate, painful as it is. During the long
segment on the economy, woeful economic ignorance was on display by both
candidates. They may know (or not) that their positions are ignorant, but they
know the vast majority of people are ignorant of basic economics, so they are
free to con votes with pie-in-the-sky because people, being ignorant, will vote
for things that will hurt them badly in the long run.
Both are against Free Trade, because that is popular. Just
as it was popular for Hoover
to sign the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Bill, which killed international trade and
turned a bad recession into the Great Depression. See:
Tariff disaster
offers a lesson on the folly of protectionism. By Thomas Sowell
As to NAFTA, see:
No, Mr. Trump, NAFTA
Was Not a ‘Bad Deal’
And while the deficit of $19T or $20T is bad, worse is the unfunded liability,
which may run from $87T to $240T. But neither one dares to talk about that,
because dealing with it will be very politically painful. See my short piece:
It doesn't matter who you vote for in November. By Robert A. Hall
Fixing this will be so painful no politician dares move on
it at all. But letting is ride is going to be far more painful. I believe we
face a fiscal and economic collapse followed rapidly by a political and social
collapse. Since I published this book a few years ago, every thing has gotten
worse, plus there are factors, all negative, I didn't address:
The Coming Collapse of the American
Republic
All royalties
go to a charity to help wounded veterans. For a free PDF of this 80-page book
you can read on your computer, write me at: tartanmarine(at)gmail.com.
Given
these candidates we are doomed. As a protest:
I have decided to
vote for Evan McMullin for President.
~Bob
Good slaves
One of the many things that worries me about the future of
our country, a future I won't be here to see, is that for the first time in American
history we have a substantial share of the population who will make good
slaves. The Dependent Generation is so used to government taking care of them,
they will be unable to take care of themselves, and will readily give up their
freedom to be taken care of.
Trump won't say
Things Trump has said
in the past that I predict he won't say in the debate
(Some paraphrasing, but you can look it up.)
Hillary Clinton is my friend. She works hard, was a great
Secretary of State and will be a great president.
My sister, a radical pro-abortion judge, would be great on
the Supreme Court.
I'm 100% pro-choice, even on partial birth abortion.
Mitt Romney lost because the GOP was too harsh on immigrants.
The Dreamers have convinced me.
I wish no one had a gun.
I don't regret giving money to Hillary Clinton, Harry Reid, Nancy
Pelosi or Rahm Emanuel.
Oprah would make a great Vice President.
Obama was 100% right on the executive pay cap.
I like people who didn't get captured, okay?
Sex was my personal Vietnam . I'm like a brave soldier.
I had more military experience in prep school than most guys
get in the service.
Lying Ted Cruz and Little Marco Rubio.
Everything I've said so far is just a suggestion.
I personally hand-picked the instructors at Trump University
Ted Cruz's father was involved with JFK's killer.
Look at the hospitality award I received from Joey No Socks.
I will release my income tax returns.
Book Recommendations
Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary
Roach
This book was recommended to me by Natalie, one of my
physical therapists at the Madison VA. It is both very interesting and very
funny. Mary Roach is a humorist, but one who goes to great length to research
the subjects she writes about and interviews many experts and people with first
hand knowledge, to get her facts straight. She also participated in many
experiments to get both a feel for the subject and bring her readers a deeper
understanding. Vets will especially like that throughout Roach displays her
deep respect and admiration for veterans and members of our military. The humor
is at her own expense, or about the situations, never directed to diminish the
troops or veterans. Trigger Warning: many of the topics covered will be
disconcerting to those with powder puff personalities or snowflake
sensitivities. But for those who want an understanding of the efforts to better
protect our troops, I highly recommend this book.
Outnumbered: Incredible Stories of History's Most Surprising
Battlefield Upsets by Cormac O'Brien
A gift from my brother Mark, I greatly enjoyed this overview
of some of histories most surprising battles. It is both well researched and
well written. The battles covered were a balance between those I had read a
great deal about (Agincourt, Rorke's Drift, Chancellorsville )
and those I had heard little or nothing of. Those who studied military history
at West point or Annapolis
may find little new here, but for the average history buff, this is a great
review of several important and interesting conflicts.
Misunderstanding Islam
Jordan: Murderer of Christian charged with insulting Islam was Muslim cleric
Excerpt: “The gunman was arrested at the scene has been identified as Riyad Ismail Abdullah, a 49-year-old imam who recently returned from making the Hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.” How did an imam, someone who has dedicated his life to understanding Islam properly, get the idea that he should murder people who are perceived as insulting Islam? Could what our leaders tell us about how Islam is entirely peaceful be false? Could such an injunction really be part of the religion?
It's okay...Allah Approves!
Mother-of-three, 26, 'abducted and raped by a gang of six migrants from Iraq, Syria and Bahrain after her drink was spiked'
Interview
Sunday morning, UpFront with Mike Gousha broadcast an interview with Evan McMullin on why Wisconsin voters should choose him over the other candidates.
Expectations
Expectations for the first debate are really low. If Trump
gets through it without peeling a banana with his feet or Hillary doesn't have
the be carried off in a stretcher, their fanatics will claim a big win.
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Cover Me Veterans
Cover Me Veterans -
new charity in Madison Wisconsin.
At the quarterly luncheon of the Wisconsin Chapter, Third
Marine Division Association on September 24, 2016, we had a speaker, Heidi
Sigmund, PhD, a psychologist at the Madison ,
VA.
In her own time, Dr. Sigmund has started a 501c3 charity,
and is president of Cover Me Veterans. Her woke with this charity is entirely
on her own time, completely separate from her work at the VA. CMV seeks to
reduce the number of suicides among veterans. Since they tend to be gun
suicides, they are making available "gun skins" which go on the grips
and magazines, personalized with something the vet cares about like family
photos, to make him--or her--think twice. These are provided to veterans at no
charge.
Their website is www.covermeveterans.org.
They are working to expand nationally. their website says: "Cover Me
Veterans™ seeks to intervene in the act of suicide by placing a personally
relevant and meaningful image on an individual’s firearm.
This powerful reminder will strongly encourage the Veteran
to think twice before ending his or her life."
She reports an excellent response so far. Check out their
website.
Bonnie and I made a contribution and the Wisconsin Chapter
contributed $200 to their efforts.
If you know vets who might be in the danger zone, please
pass the information about this organization to them. ~Bob
The Liberal's Checklist for dealing with terrorism.
The Liberal's Checklist for dealing with terrorism.
1. Claim the incident was an accident.
2. when that collapses, claim it was deliberate, but nothing
to do with terrorism.
3. When that falls apart, claim is was by a lone wolf,
nothing to do with international terrorism.
4. When it comes out that the terrorist claimed allegiance
to the Islamic state, was a devoted, very religious Muslim, had been
radicalized at his local mosque, inspired by ISIS or al Qaeda, and shouted
"Allah Akbar" as he murdered, claim it has nothing top do with Islam
or religion, that we will never know his motive.
5. Rinse and repeat as necessary.
Go. Sheriff!
Sheriff David Clarke takes down drunk and aggressive passenger on NC-bound flight. By M.D. Kittle
Black man tells the truth
Facts from a black man: How Savage Are Blacks In America & Why Is Everyone Afraid To Discuss It?
India
India: Officials deny permission for Hindu festival for fear of offending Muslims
The principle is always and everywhere the same: in Muslim countries, one must conform one’s behavior to Muslim sensibilities. And in non-Muslim countries, one must conform one’s behavior to Muslim sensibilities.
Welcome to progressive Europe
Fight back or die: Turkish migrant gang ATTACKS locals during reign of terror across entire Dutch city
Hispanic?
Washington state: Turkish Muslim, Arcan Cetin, arrested for murder of five people inside Cascade Mall. By Ribert Specer, JihadWatch.org
The initial reports about this killer said he was “Hispanic.” From the photos of him that were released, that always seemed to be more politically correct wishful thinking than reality.
Surprise!
CAUGHT: Mall massacre suspect ID'd as Turkish immigrant with violent past
Mass media put it out that witness described shooter as "a Hispanic male." One glance at the blurry video and I thought, "He is Middle Eastern." Guess what? Now ID'd as an "immigrant from Turkey." Right. Really Hispanic. --Barb
Religious Faith
Team Obama launches a shocking broadside against religious faith. By Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein
Saturday, September 24, 2016
The Facts on Ford and Mexico
Howes: Leave it to
pols to get it wrong on Ford ,
Mexico
Excerpt: Yet here we have the Republican nominee predicting
Thursday that the Dearborn automaker will “fire
all of their employees in the United
States ” — and a CNN anchor asking Ford CEO
Mark Fields whether Trump’s allegation is true.
Seriously?
“It’s really unfortunate when politics gets in the way of
the facts,” Fields replied, reciting a litany that is not news to followers of
Ford or the Detroit-based industry. Reality simply doesn’t support Trump’s
cockamamie narrative flogging Ford’s year-long perpetuation of its
small-cars-to-Mexico story.
The United States
is not “losing” more than 4,000 jobs at Michigan Assembly in Wayne
because Ford will build small cars in Mexico . United Auto Workers members
here will build what Fields called two “very exciting new” products: the
compact Ranger pickup (a sop to meet federal fuel economy rules) and what is
expected to be a revived iteration of a Bronco SUV.
The number of union jobs lost in the States to this move is
zero. Why do you think this compacts-to-Mexico gambit, dropped in the middle of
last year’s national contract talks, didn’t emerge as a strike-worthy issue
with the UAW? Because union leaders and the rank-and-file know how the industry
works, and what they would get, far better than the smart people running for
president.
Second, Ford wouldn’t be moving its Focus, C-Max and related
hybrids south of the border if more customers wanted those vehicles. But in a
world of $2.25-a-gallon gas, surging American energy production and the
increasing fuel-efficiency of new crossovers and SUVs, customers don’t need
small cars to get the economy they seek.
... Finally, both Trump and Clinton are voicing opposition to the
Trans-Pacific Partnership and a willingness to reopen the North American Free
Trade Agreement. The prospect of greater trade restrictions means the
automakers could consider producing vehicles in countries with more liberal
trade policies, i.e., Mexico .
The Case Against Trump
The case against
Donald Trump. By Ryan Cooper
Excerpt: Donald Trump would be an absolute disaster of a
president — so bad it's almost impossible to grasp. But allow me to try.... Trump
constantly (and inadvertently) reveals his staggering ignorance of the most
basic facts of government and recent history. Trump didn't
knowthat Russia had
annexed Crimea . He didn't
know what Brexit was. He didn't know that the Trans-Pacific Partnership does
not include China. He is very obviously a guy who gets his news from
half-watching cable TV and the racists
in his Twitter mentions. When he does talk policy, his positions shift on a
daily basis: First he wasagainst
huge tax cuts for the rich, then he was for them even
more than his primary opponents. First he was against
raising the minimum wage, then he was for it, then he said it should be up
to the states. First he said Japan should
have nuclear weapons, then they shouldn't. And on, and on, and on.
>
Worth reading
The Week Magazine Editor's letter (Worth Subscribing to, a balanced
news magazine.
The media is biased, and is doing a horrible job of covering
the presidential election. That is perhaps the only statement you could make
that both liberals and conservatives would applaud. A new Gallup poll finds
that just 32 percent of Americans surveyed said they have “a great deal” or “a
fair amount” of trust in the media—an all-time low. Coverage of Donald Trump’s
norm-shattering candidacy apparently strikes Republicans in particular as
unfair: Their confidence in the media has plunged from 32 percent last year to
just 14 percent. But in recent weeks, worried Democrats have become just as vocal
in their anger, blaming the media for “false equivalence” in its coverage of
Hillary Clinton’s various self-inflicted wounds. (See Talking Points.)
So is the media biased against Trump or against Clinton ? First, let’s
consider the term “the media.” It used to refer to the country’s major
newspapers, magazines, and broadcast TV networks, which strive for
fairness—admittedly imperfectly. But “the media” now includes websites, talk
radio, and cable TV networks that are openly partisan and cater to a bitterly
polarized nation’s prejudices. If you have your sensibility shaped and
reinforced by MSNBC, Paul Krugman, and Vox.com, then you have no doubt
that the rest of the media has placed far too much emphasis on negative stories
about Clinton .
If your worldview is based on what you hear and see on Fox News, Rush Limbaugh,
and Breitbart.com, you are certain that the media is out to get Trump.
(One complicating factor: Most of the columnists at National Review, The
Wall Street Journal, and other traditional conservative publications are horrified by
Trump.) Every week, I get emails from the Trump tribe with “bias” in the
subject line, and another bunch from hyperventilating Clinton supporters slugged “false
equivalence.” What does this tell us? Draw your own conclusions. But bias,
methinks, is often in the eye of the beholder.
William Falk, Editor-in-chief
Charen: Who will protect us from a President Trump or Clinton?
Charen: Who will protect us from a President Trump or Clinton?
Excerpt: So the institutional guardrails are quite rickety. In the end, the only true guardians of a liberal republic are the people themselves. They must prescribe minimal standards of decency. I will be voting for Evan McMullin, the only candidate (of five) who doesn’t pose a threat to our national welfare.
Conservative counter-reformation
Grand New Party? Evan McMullin hopes to start a conservative counter-reformation.
Heard it all?
(Sorry about the weird line breaks, not there when posted.) From
my friend Del : Just when you think you've heard it all .... the never-ending font of truly
creative thinking by some "progressive" will come along to further
expand your appreciation of the ridiculous. So... the idea of science, the
careful, structured, objective search for knowledge and understanding, is
flawed because it assumes there is a valid, definitive answer. This is now
condemned as a rigid way to stultify young minds, who should be encouraged to
find whatever answer they feel somehow serves them best.
OK, I will start by saying that in my own opinion there is
no way for mere human minds to comprehend all of reality fully and perfectly.
In the course of human discoveries over the centuries various theories have
come and gone, some found to be just false, others as a base for even more
exploration of understanding how the universe works. Certainly many kinds of
learning are subject to a great deal of uncertainty and lack of precision,
psychology is a good example. But physics either leads to actual understanding,
or the bridge collapses, and for sure you don't get men to the moon and back.
Biology and medicine aren't always perfectly accurate, but people live for many
more years because of heart surgery who otherwise would have died. If that
isn't a good enough in terms of objective knowledge of how the human body
works, then I guess there is no point in any further discussion.
There is so very much we don't know, so much we have no
mastery of, so we cannot fall into any silly arrogance about how fantastic we
are as masters of the universe. But the universe does have rules in it that we
can learn about and understand at least some of, and the centuries of advancing
science have given us some solid, objective understanding. Denigrating the
concepts of science and objective understanding is a really remarkable step for
a highly educated person and teacher to take. (Sorry, I think I'd advise
students to find some other courses than hers to take.) --Del
https://pjmedia.com/trending/2016/09/23/feminist-study-objective-truth-scientific-method-are-sexist/
'Feminist' Study: Objective Truth, Scientific Method Are Sexist
Friday, September 23, 2016
Now we need one for Hillary
Should be an entertaining night, in a gut-twisting way. Trump has an advantage, in that everyones expectations are low. Hillary has to avoid fainting.
Hey, Lester Holt: We Made a Cheat Sheet of Trump’s Favorite Lies for You
Why am I not surprised?
Figures: Trump received $1.6 million from Secret Service. The agency pays to travel with all presidential nominees, but in Trump’s case, that money went to one of his companies. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/09/donald-trump-secret-service-campaign-travel-payments-228553#ixzz4L7rrF7ha
Bowing to the Saudis
President Obama vetoes bipartisan bill that would let families of 9/11 victims sue the government of Saudi Arabia, setting up a showdown with Congress where lawmakers on both sides of the aisle aim to override the president's decision.
Cruz will vote for Trump
Sen. Ted Cruz announces he will vote for Donald Trump, coming around to back the Republican nominee months after their bitter primary contest.
Alienating too many donors and the GOP establishment, thinking of 2020. ~Bob
McMullin for President
Evan McMullin: A Sane Alternative
http://theresurgent.com/evan-mcmullin-a-sane-alternative/
No lives matter to these people
So, Two blacks dead, one by a black cop, one by a black protester: Police announce arrest in shooting death at Charlotte riot
Evan McMullin's Immigration Plan:
Evan McMullin's Immigration Plan: Our immigration system must secure our borders and enforce our laws
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