Detestable Donald Trump- a New York echo opinion

An echo opinion letter published in The Buffalo News, a New York state newspaper.

An echo opinion published in The Buffalo News:

As the (#fake) “leader” of the free world and (presumably) the most powerful man in the western hemisphere, (the stupid!) Donald Trump has an obligation and responsibility to set an elevated example of morality and principle, while representing and defending the broad diversity of these United States.

Instead, he plays to the most detestable and base aspects of our societal flaws.

He fortifies and encourages the worst characteristics of our human nature to divide, separate and isolate while he promotes xenophobia and intolerance.

Regardless of how well the economy may be doing for some, or how low the unemployment rate may be (thank you President Barack Obama), overtly telling over ten thousand lies within the past two years is unconscionable, and economic well-being in no way justifies his excessive indiscretions.

I am far from alone in my concern that if the heat and pressure continue to back him into a corner and the prospects for impeachment or removal from office loom heavier and more plausible, there is little doubt that he will resort to creating a military conflict (Iran looking most probable right now) to divert the attention away from him.

If Obama had been alleged of doing any one of the things Trump has been queried of doing Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, and the Republican leadership would have to be tied down and tranquilized for fear of them injuring themselves in spasms of uncontrolled indignation.

The (the 21st century version of the right wing GOP KuKluxKlan...) Rush Limbaughs, Sean Hannitys, and Marc Theissens of the world can only hope to reduce the severity of his reckless image and his influence on the office of the presidency and our Democracy using their hollow propaganda and jargon to reach the simplest of minds in the voting public; fortunately, most of us recognize skewed partisan fabrications when we hear them.

Just as the outcome of the 2018 election was pivotal, the 2020 election results will be crucial!

I don’t want to think that the America I grew up believing in and honoring was just a transitory illusion vulnerable to the destructive capabilities of a misguided, prejudiced and greedy megalomaniac. (In other words, Vote Blue no matter who!)

James Galbo from Buffalo, New York

In MaineWriter opinion, Donald Trump is a #fake_potus!

A Donald Trump world view - brilliantly articulated from Great Britain

He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart.

#Quora: Nate White Hilariously Answers the Query –”Why Do British People NOT Like Trump?”

MaineWriter....In other words, making Donald Trump feel unwelcome....again.

Brits fly a Trump Baby balloon over London which makes the POTUS “feel unwelcome”…

“Why British people not like Donald Trump?”

Nate White, a witty writer from England wrote the perfect response.

“A few things spring to mind…

Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem.

For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honor and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.

So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever.

I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humor is almost inhuman.

But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.
Trump is a troll.

And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers.

And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface.

Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront.

Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul.

And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist.

Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that.

He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat.
He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully.

That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead.

There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think

‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:

Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.

You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss.

After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form;

He is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit.

His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum.

God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid.

He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart.
In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish:

‘My God… what… have… I… created?
If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.”

The Tennessean newspaper echo- "Trump owes Boy Scouts an apology"

Trump flubs Scouts address: Letters to the editor, July 29

Representative Diane Black alert!

Boy Scout Oath:

"On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight."

President owes Boy Scouts an apology

President Trump owes an apology to the Boy Scouts of America.

Donald Trump committed the cardinal sin of offending his hosts at the national jamboree, on Monday.

Every U.S. president is the honorary president of the Boy Scouts, which is an apolitical organization that always invites whoever is president to its quadrennial jamborees.

I am volunteering at the jamboree, and I was hopeful that President Trump would rise to the occasion and offer the Scouts a message about living by the Scout oath and Scout law, serving their communities and working for the common good.

President Trump squandered the opportunity (indeed, obligation) by addressing the approximately 40,000 Scouts, leaders and volunteers as if we had come to a campaign rally.

He bragged about his election, criticized the media, mocked his predecessor, basically threatened a Cabinet member to accomplish a task or get fired, and rambled about other off-topic subjects.

It was an embarrassing display of self-centeredness, and the few uplifting and encouraging comments were just that — few.

As he spoke, I recited the points of the Scout law (trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent) to myself and could apply none of them to President Trump.

(MaineWriter: What I'd like is for the media to ask is how Rex Tillerson, former leader of the Boy Scouts, felt about the Donald Trump failed jamboree speech?)

Disappointment doesn’t come close to expressing how I feel. President Trump trampled an American institution and should be ashamed. I hope his behavior does not diminish anyone’s interest in Scouting.

Tom Adkinson is a freelance writer and retired public relations practitioner in Nashville.

Trump flubs Scouts address

I was shocked to hear some Boy Scouts at their national jamboree in West Virginia cheer while our POTUS slammed his former opponent for the presidency, our former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. I thought, “How unlike Boy Scout behavior.”

I also felt it would be one more bad behavior event of his and disregarded, if noted at all. The next day I was pleased to see that former and current Scouts, parents and the Boy Scouts organization itself spoke out. The Boy Scouts of America stated it is wholly nonpartisan and does not promote any political position, candidate or philosophy. Yet at this event young men played along with his rant on Clinton, and as usual, he also insulted Barack Obama. Within this fallout have been requests that the Boy Scouts formerly instruct troop leaders to denounce this behavior and explain why it is wrong to these young men.

Ita Hardesty-Mason, Kingston Springs, Tennessee

Scientists revolt- use real data to count people

When it comes to counting the number of people in a crowd, it's always a good idea to start with the number of persons at "1" and continue with additional digits, until all are included in the final tally. In reality, it makes no sense to claim a crowd size, without the verification of having somebody who does a "count". Obviously, some crowds are too large to count; but other attendance indicators can be counted, like checking to see if all parking lots are full to capacity or by issuing numbered tickets to events.  

Empty seats at inauguration of Donald Trump January 20, 2017- evidence of low crowd size.

Unfortunately, Donald Trump made up the numbers about his inaugural crowd size. Among his first executive orders as POTUS was to randomly declare that his inauguration crowds were huge. Nevertheless, even people who can't count have the ability to see when the event photographs showed empty seats. Rather than admit to the pictures of empty seats, Donald Trump ordered the Park Service to remove the evidence from social media. 

In other words, the first executive order Donald Trump gave after his inauguration was to tamper with evidence.  There's no way he serendipitously made up that kind of judgement. In fact, it's probably so routine for Trump to change facts in his favor, that he didn't even consider how he might be wrong. Moreover, in his selfish corporate world, nobody dared to tell Trump otherwise, until the media forced the issue. (Classic, "Emperor has no clothes".)

Thankfully, scientists are rightly obsessed about speaking "facts to power", in spite of protracted efforts by revisionist Donald Trump and right wing extremists.

Scientists, reported in "Mother Jones" evaluated the
Anti-Trump "Science Protesters". They finally released their thoroughly fact-checked crowd estimates. (By Rebecca Leber)

When protesters descended on Washington, DC, last month for the March for Science, they carried signs that were straight-to-the point: "What do we want? Evidence-based science. When do we want it? After Peer Review." And unlike the Donald Trump administration they were protesting, organizers were careful to apply scientific rigor to how they calculated the number of people who participated in the march.

As a result, it took organizers an unusually long time—three weeks—to come up with their estimate for how many people took part in the April 22 marches in Washington and 600 other cities worldwide. In a blog post published Monday, organizers approximated that nearly 1.1 million people had protested around the world, with the largest marches taking place in DC (100,000), San Francisco (50,000), Los Angeles (50,000), Chicago (60,000), and Boston (70,000).

Their patience was a marked contrast to how President Donald Trump handled his inauguration crowd size. Trump spent his first weekend as president insisting that far more people attended his swearing-in than were actually there and attacking anyone who disagreed. Trump told the CIA on that Saturday that he drew "a million-and-a-half people." In his first address to reporters as White House press secretary, Sean Spicer angrily claimed, "That was the largest audience to witness an inauguration, period." Photographs proved these assertions to be untrue, but the White House didn't budge. Trump aide Kellyanne Conway even coined the term "alternative facts"—a phrase widely derided by the pro-science marchers—when she was defending the White House's claim that Trump drew a larger crowd than President Barack Obama had in 2009.

March for Science organizers decided to take their time tabulating their crowds after volunteer Kate Gage suggested that they should "science the shit out of the numbers"—which Gage said was meant neither as a reference to Trump's crowds debate nor to Matt Damon's character in the movie The Martian. 

"We really wanted to emphasize that it was a march about science and data and evidence," explained Gage, a former policy adviser in the White House's International Science and Technology office during the Obama administration. Scientific rigor was critical, she said, because the march "was organized by scientists, in a way and a scale we haven't seen before."

Crowd counting is an inexact science, and the volunteers who organized the marches acknowledge the shortcomings of their methodological choices. The DC march was particularly challenging, said Kishore Hari, the DC march coordinator (and a co-host of our Inquiring Minds podcast), because the National Park Service doesn't release crowd estimates and the rainy weather that day prevented the use of satellite imagery. In the end, comparing crowd density to the area's known capacity, they estimated 100,000 attendees.

While the DC march count had its limitations, the other marches used a variety of methods. Most marches used hand counts, but for larger, moving groups, hand counts can be prone to error, so organizers had to rely on other methods. Rufus Cochran, an engineer and co-chair of the Indianapolis march, spent a few nights reading about different methodologies. Here's the approach they settled on in Indianapolis, as described in a blog post on the March for Science's website:

At the beginning of their event, pictures of the square were taken with reference landmarks visible. Using this and other pictures, the organizers estimated a fairly consistent density across the square. The organizers then drew an outline of the area using MapChecking.com and combined that with state crowd density still data from Professor Keith Still, a crowd estimation scientist. They settled on a likely density of 2 and 3 people per m2 resulting in an attendance calculation of just under 10,000. Given that more people arrived after this picture was taken and there were people at the periphery beyond the borders of area, this estimate is likely conservative.

"Researching and building on existing technologies is very important," Cochran told me. "A lot of the methodology is people making best-educated guesses." He said his aim was to use "a methodology that is transparent and repeatable."

Keith Still, a crowd size scientist who provided estimates for the Inauguration and Women's March, says that the methods used by the March for Science organizers were acceptable. "Crowd counting has been around for a long time, we don't use a static process as it is fraught with inaccuracies," he said in an email, noting that some methods for determining density are crude and highly variable. "Without images, it would be difficult to assess the accuracy of the crowd count in the March for Science, but the information on the blog is reasonable. By that I mean, the figures are typical of this sort of event (and not over inflated)."

(MaineWriter:  I can predict this. When Donald Trump is impeached, the crowd size and the television ratings for the vote will exceed all the numbers thrown around about the inauguration.)

Iranian prisioners released "wheels up!" going home

Jason Rezaian
Amir Hekmati
Saeed Abeedini
Matthew Trevithick 
Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari
Released!

Ali Rezaian, brother of Washington Post Tehran Bureau Chief Jason Rezaian (shown in picture frame), talks about his brother's imprisonment in Iran while testifying before the House Foreign Affairs Committee on June 2, 2015. Iranian media outlets are reporting that Rezaian has been released.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Republicans are waking up this Sunday morning in Janaury, without anything new to increase fear in their campaign to upstage the successful administration of President Barack Obama.  
Iran frees Post reporter, 4 other Americans, officials say, reports The Washington Post

After decades of animosity, international negotiations with the once dangerous Iranian nation have now been overcome and American prisioners are in the air, flying to their long prayed for freedom in Switerzerland. This is an historic juncture for Iran, for the US and for the future stabilityof the Middle East. "Wheel's up!" was the clarion call when the American prisioners were finally in flight.

Republicans should acknowledge this accomplishment! Their fear campaign to accumulate attention for their 2016 presidential campaign cannot continue.  

VIENNA (Austria- WP report) — The United States and Iran moved into a new era of international relations Saturday, with the implementation of a landmark agreement on Iran’s nuclear program on a drama-filled day that also saw the release of imprisoned Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and four other Americans.
(CNN- reports) Iran has freed four U.S. prisoners as part of a prisoner swap, including Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, Marine veteran Amir Hekmati and Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, senior U.S. administration officials said Saturday, confirming reports first published in Iranian media.

A fifth man -- described as a recently detained student named Matthew Trevithick -- was separately released, U.S. officials said.

The announcement comes on a day when the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, announced Iran is in compliance with a July deal to restrict its nuclear program. As a result, at least some international economic sanctions against Iran were lifted.

As part of the deal, Iran agreed to release of Rezaian, Hekmati, Abedini and a fourth detainee identified by U.S. officials as Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari in exchange for clemency for seven Iranians indicted or imprisoned in the United States for sanctions violations, the officials confirmed.  (6 of the 7 are dual citizens.)

It's impossible to understand how Republicans can continue to harp on negativity without offering their ideas for creating a more progressive Americaa. Rather, the grumpy Republicans (Grumpy Obstructionist Party) cotninues to stoke fear, rather than optimism.  

Congratulations to the successful presidential administrationof President Barack Obama #POTUS44

After seven successful years of President Obama's administration, where leadership has withstood overwhelming obstructioism, it's time for Republicans to stop running against him. Rather, Americans must demand for Republicans to explain how they can provide even better leadership for the future. If they can.

Headlines should credit President Obama

A quick review of recent headlines should have a postscript attached to each one. Each headline pertaining to national policy should have a "POTUS +" or "POTUS -" addenddum. 

The designation would alert major media outlets, like NBC, to credit or not the President of the US with an accomplishment or missed opportunity. In the absence of such a designations, it seems like media are only blaming the POTUS when something of national interest goes wrong, but the same news sources forget to credit his accomplishments.

For example:

A leader of the al-Shabab Islamist group was killed by a US air strike on Monday, Somali officials say. The intelligence chief, named as Abdishakur, was part of a unit responsible for suicide attacks, security officials said.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-30635240

POTUS +

Fill'er up! Missoouri's gasoline prices lowest in the nation. 
The free fall in gasoline prices has notched another milestone — Missouri and Oklahoma are the first states since 2009 to report average prices below $2 a gallon, according to AAA.
Missouri claimed bragging rights with the lowest average statewide price of $1.92 a gallon on Tuesday, followed by Oklahoma’s $1.98. The Midwest overall has the lowest regional prices, while the highest are in the Northeast.  

Potus +

ore here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/business/article5195142.html#storylink=cpy

Russian ruble currency in free falll; economic sanctions contribute to decline in Russian economy.

POTUS +

Blog readers get the point of this exercise. Therefore, it makes sense for major news media to pick up the trend, as well. 

It's beyond tiring to watch non news stories take up precious media time. Consider how Syrian refugees are under enormous stress, having been dislocated from their homes; women and children live in fear of Islamic terrorism throughout the Middle East and millions of American immigrants worry about deportation, because Republicans don't believe in compassionate immigration reforms.
These are the news stories our major networks should be focused on, rather than on entertainment news.

Moreover, when news stories reflect positively on the President of the United States, this fact should be just as important as if the reverse situation were evident. 

Especially note Fox News, the rapid responders when blame is due, but mute about POTUS successes. Fox News, of course, gets a double minus Rotten Tomatoes rating for their ability to create yellow journalism, while getting away with calling it "reporting".  NBC news gets a - (minus) in my rating because of the irritating giggling prevalent on the morning Today Show, plus the way the Peter Pan live theater special received the status of headline news.

Let's given President Obama credit when it's due and criticism when he doesn't measure up to expectations. But, the news media should stop creating negative news about President Obama while giving puff pieces headline status.

Maine's Governor LePage - Another Embarrassment

LePage allegedly told a group of Republicans that President Barack Obama "hates white people."

People involved, or who were there, when this ugly and completely unnecessary incident allegedly occurred, can't confirm or deny it happened; and that's enough of a problem to continue the litany of embarrassments connected with Maine's Governor Paul LePage.

This time, two Republican lawmakers are speaking, albeit anonymously, to the press: 

LePage said Obama "hates white people".

Maine Governor Paul LePage

Two Republicans say the governor made the remark during a fundraiser in Belgrade last week.

By Eric Russell erussell@pressherald.com  Staff Writer

Gov. Paul LePage told a group of Republicans last week that President Obama "hates white people," according to two state lawmakers who say they heard the remark directly.

The comments were allegedly made by the Governor during a Maine Republican Party fundraiser on Aug. 12, at the home of John and Linda Fortier in Belgrade (ME). 

According to the invitation, the fundraiser was a "meet and greet" for LePage and first lady Ann LePage, and an opportunity to meet Rick Bennett (R-Norway), the new party chairman.

Both Republican lawmakers confirmed the comment when asked by a Portland Press Herald reporter, but asked their names be withheld for fear of political retribution.

Each said LePage talked about how Obama could have been the best president ever if he had highlighted his biracial heritage. LePage said the president hasn't done that because he hates white people.

"Yeah, he said it," said one of the lawmakers. "It was one little thing from a speech, but I think most people there thought it was totally inappropriate."

Bennett, who was elected in July to succeed Richard Cebra as Maine Republican Party chairman, did not return multiple calls for comment about the story Monday.

No video or tape recording evidence has yet been produced to substantiate or disclaim whether or not this incident happened. Nevertheless, Governor LePage has yet to stand up and completely deny it happened. His reticence, not forcibly denying it, is an embarrassment to all Americans, but especially to Maine people, who are so not like the face our current governor portrays about Mainers to the nation.

Governor LePage has a history of making inflammatory comments:

• In September 2010, before he was elected, he told a group of fishermen at a forum: "As your governor, you're going to be seeing a lot of me on the front page, saying 'Governor LePage tells Obama to go to hell.'"

• In January 2011, shortly after he was sworn in, he declined an invitation to an event hosted by the NAACP in Portland. When asked what he would tell the group if it questioned his decision, LePage replied, "Tell them to kiss my butt."

• In July last year, he compared the Internal Revenue Service to the Gestapo, the Nazi police.

• In June of this year, he said Maine Assistant Senate Majority Leader Troy Jackson would be "the first one to give it to the people without providing Vaseline."

Indeed, if the governor did, in fact, say that Obama hates white people, it would top the governor's list, said Mark Brewer, a political scientist at the University of Maine.

Speaking as a Maine citizen, having lived in this beautiful state since 1979, I want to apologize to the American people and especially to President Barack Obama.  Maine is not like Governor LePage.  Our nation deserves much better than to have our office of the Maine Governor desecrated by one man who has demonstrated his deficit in basic social skills.  

Dear Governor LePage, if you didn't make this ugly statement about the President of the United States, I call on you to publicly deny it and say so.  Moreover, you should apologize to all Maine people for your litany of outrageously embarrassing statements.  

If you can't apologize, then I'll just do it for you.  

President Obama's POTUS Campaign Ads

President Obama speaks for himself in a new and effective political campaign ad.

Political strategists working for President Obama's reelection figured out how to break through the clutter of harping television advertisements, where predictable rhetoric clutters the viewers minds to purposefully create anxiety about candidates. Rather than pile on partisan hype, President Obama's just released campaign ad is simple, straightforward, reassuring and personal. In the narrative, he speaks directly to the American people, rather than through voice overs or through talking head surrogates, filtered by imagery.

In other words, President Obama speaks to us as President of the United States. (In "twitter-shere", he's called the POTUS.) This plain speaking political strategy cuts through the noise, and clutter of multiple negative political action committee ads from the trio New Majority Agenda, Crossroads America and the Republican National Committee. It's a meaningful communications strategy, because the President's credibility as our nation's leader shines through the narrative.

President Obama is likable, say the pollsters. People are willing to listen to him- which is the first hurdle in any political campaign. If people are willing to hear what you have to say, then you'd better capture their educable moments.

Obama's smile and personality easily engages audiences. He's a convincing public speaker, which is precisely how he launched himself into the national limelight, in the first place. President Obama's electrifying oratory introduced him to Americans during the 2004 Democratic National Convention, when he gave his now classic speech, "We're not red states and blue states, we're the United States".

Democrats desperately need a winning strategy, given the deluge of money Republicans are willing to throw at political action committees to defeat President Obama, because he's not one of them.

President Obama is the right candidate to put in front of middle class people in political ads because he's credible, likable and, most important, he's Presidential. His newest ad convinces us to listen to him. If we listen, we're more likely to vote for him - because, of course, he's the POTUS!

Nevertheless, in November, voters need more than political action committees or POTUS ads to help select the right national leadership. Political advertising notwithstanding, Romney's campaign is floundering due to the lack of a candidate. If Romney continues "not to show up" by avoiding direct questions about his taxes, the sources of his wealth, or why he thinks millionaires and billionaires should get tax breaks, while the middle class pays the nation's bills, then voters will have only one responsible candidate to choose.

POTUS!

Obama does how up! In social media, TV interviews, doing his own campaign ads and he even tweeted Michael Phelps to congratulate him on his extraordinary championship showing at the London Olympics.  He's proving consistent leadership against a barrage of money, in spite of Tea-Party budget spoilers and hypocritical politicians who speak sound bites, like parrots, rather than lead - like House Speaker John Boehner and his GOP lemmings.

But, for the moment, while Americans enjoy summer and the enthusiasm of London's Olympic games, the POTUS ads are in tune with the optimism of the season, by spotlighting the spirit of competent presidential leadership.