August 31, 2024

Is this what passes for a profile in courage in the Republican Party today?

In an interview with NBC News, Sen. J.D. Vance, Donald Trump’s running mate, said he believed Trump would veto a federal abortion ban.

Should we trust vague language like this from Vance? It’s easy to say he believes Trump would veto a ban. Any Trump Republican loyalist who believes in a woman’s right to make this very personal and often crucial health decision may talk themselves into believing this. But shouldn't Vance, Trump’s chosen second in command, be capable of speaking on this important issue with full confidence?

"Mr. Vance,” the NBC interview goes on, “also equivocated when asked repeatedly whether the mass deportations of undocumented migrants Mr. Trump has called for would involve separating families."

Vance’s slippery dodging of this straight-forward question on a policy leading inevitably to brutal personal tragedy tells us something important about the Trump ticket. It refuses to speak forthrightly, with conviction and honesty.

Voters shouldn't expect less from the candidates, Republican or Democrat.

— Gary Daily,

 

Letter: 'What are the chances ... '

To the Editor:

There’s good and bad news for educators in the United States.

Good in that Tim Walz, a teacher for twenty years, was chosen to be Kamala Harris’s running mate in 2024.

But the bad news continues and piles up. Online entrepreneur Charlie Kirk recently announced that President Joe Biden was dead. Outlandish, easily checked, this pronouncement was passed along 24 million times. This kind of gullibility on the part of the American public does not speak well for an education system leaving so many without a sliver of critical thinking skills.

We’ve had Donald Trump plowing and harvesting this ground for a decade or more. From his lying crusade against the now fully exonerated Central Park Five to his shared Obama Birther ignorance to yesterday’s (August 8) non-news conference when he lied with his usual arrogant confidence that “Nobody was killed on Jan. 6.”

Trump lives by and depends on lazy thinking, name calling, and outrageous lies cloaked in the cover of speculation.

Here’s a statement, in full, Trump recently put out on his online twitter account. Read it carefully and think to yourself: This man was once President of the United States and he is asking Americans to vote for him again.

“What are the chances that Crooked Joe Biden, the WORST President in the history of the U.S., whose Presidency was Unconstitutionally STOLEN from him by Kamabla, Barrack HUSSEIN Obama, Crazy Nancy Pelosi, Shifty Adam Schiff, Cryin’ Chuck Schumer, and others on the Lunatic Left, CRASHES the Democrat National Convention and tries to take back the Nomination, beginning with challenging me to another DEBATE. He feels that he made a historically tragic mistake by handing over the U.S. Presidency, a COUP, to the people in the World he most hates, and he wants it back, NOW!!!”

“What are the chances. . . “ is the tip off that lies and childish schoolyard smears are about to follow. Whether Trump is crafty or dangerously corroded mentally is beyond my or your pay grade. But really, can you read the above statement from Trump and honestly convince yourself he deserves your vote?

Gary Daily

August 15, 2024

Voters Need to Honestly Vet Trump

 

August 3, 2024

There seems to be more than the usual interest in the vice president selections this very important election year. This is a good thing. The choice and the process can tell us much about the candidates at the top of the ticket.

It’s certain the short list of Democrats for veep are being thoroughly vetted. Professionals in the press and media along with the growing army of instant online experts are sure to do follow-up inspections of the choice.

This vetting process usually includes digging into the personal, financial and criminal history of the potential candidate. Family and close friends and business associates are also researched. They might be vulnerable to blackmail or negative press reports. Advisors are reminding Harris of Billy Carter and Hunter Biden. Really small fish, but . . .

Donald Trump made his running mate selection and now he must live with it, not run away from it. It’s not clear how J.D. Vance was vetted, but as candidate Vance he is off to a rough start. There are a number of Republican Party leaders who are having buyer’s remorse. They remember Spiro Agnew slinking out of office in 1973. They remember how the David Stockman choice for veep hurt Ross Perot in 1992.

It’s worth noting Republican leaders didn’t vet their candidate for president in 2016, 2020 or 2024. They either joined the Never Trump group who left the party or they trooped down to Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring and shut up and do as told. That’s not vetting. That’s escaping out of principle or surrendering out of ambition and fear.

So we, the voters are left with the requirement to do an honest vetting, a digging into the personal, financial and criminal history of Donald Trump. No need to wander into conspiracy theories. Facts speak to us.

Trump is a convicted felon. Trump was found liable for sexual abuse. Trump is a con artist who bilked hopeful Trump University students out of their savings. Trump is the father of five children by three wives. Eight of Trump’s close allies have been sentenced to prison. And many who read his speeches report he’s an old guy who can’t string three sentences together into a coherent statement.

But a moment of charity and understanding of J.D. Vance is called for. Can’t you hear him defending himself to the leading Republican Party honchos who grimace at his being their vice presidential candidate? “Hey,” he’s saying, “I’m not as bad as you know who. I only have the childless cat ladies bad mouthing me.”

— Gary Daily,