Trump treads tired GOP road to Philadelphia

Presidential campaigns are about policy but also about symbolism. In 1980, Ronald Reagan kicked off his in one of the unlikeliest places in the country: the Neshoba County Fair in Philadelphia, MS. That backwater northeast of Jackson, would never have been on the Reagan radar except for its grotesque place in history for the 1964 murder of three civil rights workers there. Reagan made sure the 30,000 white Mississippians heard his pledge to protect states rights; his coded way of saying he had their backs in their effort to keep their foot on the backs of black Mississippians. The ploy did not go unnoticed as Reagan swept the Solid Democratic South (except for Jimmy Carter's home state of Georgia) which changed parties in response to Democratic led civil rights legislation.

thirty-six years on we're confronted with possibly the most implicitly racist presidential candidkate in history; that of the white nationalists' hero Donald J. Trump. Whether implying all Mexicans are rapists and a Mexican judge can't grant him justice, implying no Muslims can be trusted and must be kept out of America, or feigning ignorance of well known KKK veteran and sympathizer David Duke who endorsed him, Trump's racist chops are undeniable. And guess where Trump surrogate and namesake Donald Jr. made a campaign appearance three days before the official campaign start following the Democratic Convention? Yep, that obscure backwater in a solid Trump state that doesn't need a single Trump appearance; Philadelphia, MS.
Junior fired up the mostly all white crowd by defending their support for the Mississippi flag taken down at the Democratic Convention in the more tolerant Philadelphia, because it still contains the Confederate Battle Flag within. "I believe in tradition. I don’t see a lot of the nonsense that’s been created about that (flag). I understand how some people feel but … there’s nothing wrong with some tradition.” If supporting continuation of the the Old White South was not enough, Junior expressed amazement about retracing Reagan's 1980 footsteps in Philadelphia, even noting the "similarities of the campaigns."

No overt racism for the Trump clan this election season. It's all about dog whistles and symbolism. The aging demographic of dead-ender white folks who've never recovered from eight years under a black president and dread the prospect of eight years under a female, get the Trump boys' message load and clear.

To paraphrase W.C. Fields, 'all things considered...I'd rather not be in Philadelphia, MS.'

Media, public should channel Spike Lee film title

Donald Trump's presidential campaign is certainly the least presidential in the 17 I've followed since liking two classy candidates, Ike Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson in 1952. His is possibly the worst for a major party candidate in American history, having not come across one in my study of history who presented such a major threat to the stable functioning of American democracy should he have been elected. His behavior is so buffoonish, infantile, hate filled and dishonest, I'm still in disbelief he was nominated, much less he's inexplicably in contention. Sensible, decent Americans are shocked at his insane public call for Russia to hack into Hillary Clinton's emails. The withering criticism that provoked, including legitimate concern it was treasonous, prompted Trump to claim he was only being sarcastic. Anyone hearing his poisonous words yesterday knows that is bunk. This is simply the Trump shtick; pivot to some preposterous diversion when called out for campaign lunacy that would get just about any other candidate and his hat tossed tossed out of the presidential ring. When a disabled reporter called him out for his vicious, racist lie that his TV projected thousands of Muslims celebrating across the river in NJ as the Twin Towers collapsed, Trump's pivot was to mock the reporter with a grotesque parody of his disability. As dreadful as it was, the pivot worked, putting the focus on Trump's disgraceful insensitivity instead of his racist lie.

Cable news made the Trump candidacy plausible by feasting on the rating bonanza he presented instead of calling him out on his compulsive race baiting, lies, character assassination and utterly un-presidential behavior. He kicked off his campaign playing the birther card, using innuendo instead of outright assertions. He went totally berserk hinting at a connection between rival Ted Cruz's father and the JFK assassination. A hate filled, fearful and uneducated public has kept his candidacy alive.

Both have 102 days to come to their collective senses and 'do the right thing'.

"Politics too ugly"? Sandack has nothing on Obama

Former state rep Ron Sandack (IL-81) offered the most bizarre reason ever for an abrupt resignation from state office when he said last week his decision was prompted by 'cyber security issues'. Then he offered that his Twitter and Facebook accounts had been hacked and he received uncomplimentary robocalls; again raising mystifying incredulity. In his third swinging strike he proclaimed:
“I wasn't looking forward to an ugly general election as it were; this additional stuff added undue pressure. It made my family uneasy and made me re-evaluate my priorities. Politics has gotten too ugly. I don't need it, and my family doesn't deserve it.”

Memo to Rep. Sandack: You have no idea what 'too ugly' is. Go ask President Obama about 'too ugly.' He'll educate you how it feels to have the N Word hurled at you and your family; be labeled a monkey, a Muslim, an un-American, a traitor, a foreign born illegitimate president. That's on a good day. He'll tell you that when you have the back of 40,000,000 uninsured poor, you have to get past 'too ugly'. He'll tell you that promoting wage parity for women, achieving livable wages for the working impoverished, preventing immigrant families being busted up by draconian immigration policies brings a bushel of 'too ugy' served up with relish every day by your party.

We'll probably never know why you up and quit. Maybe it's simply that having the back of a heartless governor who decimates the social safety net to promote an anti people agenda which has no chance of succeeding, is not very much fun.

Don't let the door hit your back as you turn your back on public service. There are folks out there willing to eat bowlfuls of 'too ugly' to help their constituents achieve a decent life.

Cyber security, endless talk, haunt Illinois House 81st

State Rep Ron Sandack (IL-81) jumped off the fast rising 'up' escalator in Illinois Republican politics, resigning from his Illinois house seat because he'd been trolled on social media and received hurtful robocalls. Oh, my goodness gracious, how nasty can politics get? Yet, Sandack relished social media, using Facebook and Twitter extensively to politic, and even appearing on cable show Comedy Central to promote Governor Rauner's anti union, anti teacher, anti social services 'turnaround' agenda, spiraling Illinois' needy into the ground like corkscrews. Sure seems Sandack has been hoisted upon his own petard.

As chattering as Sandack was, look out if he's replaced by GOP wonder boy David S. Olsen, the 27 year old Downers Grove resident who's never met a public job, or a speech opportunity he didn't love. Olsen, who works full time as ethics and compliance analyst for BP Corporation, moonlights as Vice Chair and board member at College of DuPage, Downers Grove Village Commissioner, and Vice Chairman of the Downers Grove Republicans. That sure gives Olsen plenty of talking ops...and talk he does, endlessly, in stream of consciousness rambling that would put the worst insomniac to sleep in seconds. Just attend a COD Board meeting to catch Olsen's shtick. Audience folks look at each other and ask, "What is he talking about." Olsen can't wait to replace Sandack on the GOP ticket, even promising to resign his Downers Grove commissioner post. His fellow commissions will now be able to get a word in edgewise at village meetings. Illinois House members won't be so fortunate.

Trump's NATO lunacy masks NATO's threat of nuclear war

Can you imagine this statement from Brit Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain on September 2, 1939:
"We've considered sending aid to the beleaguered Poles under attack by Nazi Germany, but due to Poland's tardiness in paying for the common defense, we've decided to just wish them luck".

That scenario is precisely the logic employed by Donald Trump in stating NATO countries under Russian attack would get aid depending on their accounts payable status. But Trump's cluelessness about NATO distracts us from confronting the real issue how NATO endangers world peace by needlessly inflaming tensions with Russia.

Such tensions have been relentless for nearly 20 years now when the US and NATO allies reneged on their 1990 pledge not to expand NATO into Warsaw Pact countries after the Soviet Union collapsed. Since then, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Albania have all all been gobbed up by the NATO Pacman. Seven years later NATO reneged again, this time injecting military forces in former Warsaw Pact countries. Hey, if it involves Russia, any agreement to promote peace can be ignored if it furthers US re-igniting the Cold War. Just last month, NATO positioned 4 battalions in Romania and Poland, claiming they did not constitute 'significant' forces proscribed by NATO guidelines. In 1999, NATO unnecessarily intervened in the Yugoslav civil war resulting in carving out the new country of Kosovo from Serbian rule. In 2002, the George W. Bush administration withdrew from the Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty, in place since 1972, resulting in recent deployment of anti ballistic missile systems on Russia's doorstep in Poland and Romania. The Obama administration further exacerbated Russian fears of encirclement by greenlighting the February, 2014, coup in Ukraine, which tossed the duly elected Ukraine president simply because he did business with Russia. Another expressed reason for supporting the coup was to encourage regime change against Putin in Russia. No wonder 78% of Crimean legislators and 95% of Crimean voters opted to reunite with Russia. To top off US and NATO saber rattling, Obama is championing a $1 trillion upgrade of America's 7,000 nukes, an insane action that belies his calls to eliminate nuclear proliferation and stockpiles.

Russian President Putin has saved Americas' bacon in the Middle East twice recently; helping broker the Iran Nuclear Agreement and assisting the US to resolve the Syrian crisis without resort to war. Yet NATO pays back Russia with endless provocation which could easily spin out of control into nuclear war. Such a powder keg is no place to install a foreign policy imbecile like Trump who views even the life and death matters of foreign policy tripwires as a version of Monopoly where the player with the most money at the bell wins. Under Trump, that bell could easily be nuclear Armageddon.a

Rauner apology tour - Round 2

About the time I was calling out Gov. Rauner yesterday for using a stand in to make an insincere, excuse laden apology to Chicago teachers and principles for calling them incompetent and virtually illiterate, Rauner was publicly issuing a personal apology... albeit at the point of a virtual gun. Six teachers ambushed Rauner as he did a photo op signing of two educational bills at the Thompson Center yesterday. As Rauner beamed for the cameras, a teacher piped up

“Gov. Rauner, we are teachers and we are not illiterate. We challenge you to a readout — books and literature on educational justice and civil rights,” “Will you accept that challenge? It's important that we educate you about what we really do every day, 'cause obviously you don't really know.”

One by one other teachers chimed in and were led away. Rauner then ignored a reporter who requested he respond to the protesters. When the Q & A started, Rauner finally capitulated and offered:

“The remark I made in that email five years ago was both inaccurate and intemperate,” and I apologize. I am a strong advocate for teachers. Always have been, always will be.”

Let's see. It took six teachers getting tossed from a public event and reporters going to their defense that finally elicited an apology. Though starting well, Rauner ended it by claiming he's always been a strong advocate of teachers... something I'm sure Chicago teachers ain't buying. .