Third World Has Come To America

Trump Campaign Pays Trump Businesses Big

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has paid his family's businesses more than $8.2 million, according to a POLITICO analysis of campaign finance filings, which reveals an integrated business and political operation without precedent in national politics.

In all, the Trump campaign’s payments to Trump-owned businesses account for about 7 percent of its $119 million spending total, the analysis found.

Trump, on the other hand, appears to have structured his businesses in a way that lets the campaign use them without legal restriction. And he certainly doesn’t appear to feel any embarrassment about flouting political norms that typically compel candidates to distance themselves from their businesses during campaigns.

Quite to the contrary, Trump has used the campaign itself as a marketing platform to promote everything from the difficult-to-find Trump Steaks to his golf courses and a new Washington hotel.

Trump, who in 2000 predicted “I could be the first presidential candidate to run and make money on it"

The degree to which Trump or his corporations may be benefiting from his campaign is unclear, partly because the financial and legal structures of his businesses — and their relationships with his campaign — remain opaque. Trump has stubbornly refused to release his taxes, which could shed light on the issue.

One of Trump’s primary election victory speeches in March, held at Mar-a-Lago, was widely lampooned as an infomercial for Trump-branded steaks, water, magazines and wine.

And last week, he lured the political press corp to his new Washington hotel by promising a revelation about his longstanding allegations that President Obama was born overseas, which he finally disavowed. Before getting to that, though, he took the opportunity to promote the hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue in the Old Post Office.

This is what happens in Third World dictatorships. You acquire power and then you enrichen yourself with that power.

Trump is shameless, would you say?

She Is In A Bigger Harvard Test Room

I was taking a law school admissions test in a big classroom at Harvard. My friend and I were some of the only women in the room. I was feeling nervous. I was a senior in college. I wasn’t sure how well I’d do. And while we’re waiting for the exam to start, a group of men began to yell things like: ‘You don’t need to be here.’ And ‘There’s plenty else you can do.’ It turned into a real ‘pile on.’ One of them even said: ‘If you take my spot, I’ll get drafted, and I’ll go to Vietnam, and I’ll die.’ And they weren’t kidding around. It was intense. It got very personal. But I couldn’t respond. I couldn’t afford to get distracted because I didn’t want to mess up the test. So I just kept looking down, hoping that the proctor would walk in the room. I know that I can be perceived as aloof or cold or unemotional. But I had to learn as a young woman to control my emotions. And that’s a hard path to walk. Because you need to protect yourself, you need to keep steady, but at the same time you don’t want to seem ‘walled off.’ And sometimes I think I come across more in the ‘walled off’ arena. And if I create that perception, then I take responsibility. I don’t view myself as cold or unemotional. And neither do my friends. And neither does my family. But if that sometimes is the perception I create, then I can’t blame people for thinking that.

Essentially what Clinton is saying is that the stiltedness of her public persona is a kind of self-preservation tactic born out of years of brutal misogyny. 

She is still being yelled at. The yelling is being done by the media. Email. Benghazi. Whitewater. And the yelling is being done by the loudmouth dumbo running for president. Get rid of your bodyguards? Is this guy kidding me?

She is being yelled at and her supporters, men and women, need to step in and respond. We are the proctors. This is a democracy. She is not doing this for her. This is not just about America. This is about the women across the globe.

Barack Obama was about 500 years of world history. Hillary Clinton is about 5,000 years of world history.

It's Not Her, It's Us

Gallons of digital ink have been spilled trying to figure out why Clinton struggles so much with likability. But perhaps the problem isn’t with her at all. Maybe it’s with us.

Black Women Need Clinton

Barack Obama was race, Hillary is gender. Black women need both.

Secretary Clinton, you're no Barack Obama 

No matter how much Donald Trump throws these inequities in our faces, most African-Americans will never vote for him. Polls currently show Trump with only 1 percent of the black vote.

But that doesn't mean that black voters, particularly women, will turn out for Clinton with the same voraciousness as they did for Obama. And just because Obama plans to turn Clinton's election into a referendum on his political legacy, it doesn't mean African-Americans will take the bait.

Clinton has to win over black voters on her own merit. And to do that, she must convince black women, in particular, that they won't get buried underneath the shattered glass when she breaks through the ceiling.

Syria: Time For Adult Behavior

US, Russia take Syria battle to new heights 

Larvov and Kerry's speeches laid bare their widely divergent views of a war that has killed up to a half-million people, contributed to Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II and allowed the Islamic State to emerge as a global terror threat.

Economically speaking Russia is a Second World country, India is Third World. But Syria is a tragic choice for theatrics between the two former Cold War military rivals. The right thing has to be done. The tragedy has to come to an end.

Trump’s Only Appeal Is Racism And Sexism

The guy's numbers don't add up. His round up and deport everybody plan runs into the hundreds of billions, just on logistics. The political meltdown around the idea also has to be factored in. He has been selling the wall like it were the Brooklyn Bridge.

The dude lacks basic knowledge. He doesn't know the difference between the nuclear code and the air conditioner.

He will be the oldest person ever to become president. And he eats burgers and burgers only. This fast food maniac is a heart attack waiting to happen. His cholesterol levels are as high as one of the Trump Towers.

He has disdain for democracy itself, not just Mexicans.

The guy is offering nothing but hatred. This guy is but David Duke who got half a billion from his father and a billion in tax breaks. And that adds up to less than his net worth. No, he has not been creating wealth in the private sector.

But he is a more rabid sexist more than anything else. He is peddling the thought that only men can look presidential. He is talking about "wide shoulders."

Mussolini has come to America.

America Is Ageing And Immigration Is The Solution

Looks like immigration is not only America's past but also its future. America has an ageing population. The only way to keep the economy vibrant is by not only legalizing those already here but welcoming more people.

Hillary And Young Women

Hillary becoming president is different from Indira Gandhi or Benazir Bhutto becoming Prime Minister, or even Margaret Thatcher. The gender churn that I see following Hillary like a tornado's tail, I did not see with the others. There seems to be a basic structure to sexism that seems to be the exact same across cultures and income brackets and so this churn has global implications and I am uber interested. And to me the most surprising part is why aren't at least 80% women rallying behind Hillary? Gender is more defining for women than race is for black men. Hillary Clinton is not any more dishonest and untrustworthy or unreal than Barack Obama. She is definitely more qualified now than Obama was in 2008 and Bill Clinton in 1992, and I am safely quoting Obama on that.

Barack Obama was the most promising president when he started in 2009. Let's face it. There was no other black president track record. It was 100% promise, 0% track record. And even now, eight years later, a black man needs to be super duper qualified to become president. This country remains racist. Trump is proof.

Hillary is the most qualified presidential candidate since the country was founded. The Clintons have attracted so much venom on national stage because these are people from modest backgrounds. There are not too many dynasties in Arkansas. Call it classism. Bill Clinton's origins are quite Democratic.

Martin Luther King had to struggle also against black folks when he fought segregation. Sexism has widespread female support.

If Hillary is at least equally qualified to Barack Obama is it not unfair he became president first? Strictly chronological logic wise, yes. It was unfair. Obama is still a young man. But in terms of race and gender it makes more sense Obama went in first. Being president does not shield you from racism. Hillary needed to see. And she saw. In many ways gender is a tougher nut to crack. The gender churn of the election campaign will likely be eclipsed by the gender churn she will see in office. The churn might be global. But it has to be that way. Gender will be a persistent topic. I don't know of a better way to make progress on gender except by talking about gender. Sometimes it might make tactical sense to talk about other policy issues to make progress, but mostly there will be no avoiding it. And the progress will depend less on how enlightened her views are and more on how much 160 million women are willing to engage and make the call.

This is not about symbolism. This is about making concrete, measurable progress on gender.

Domestic violence is the number one security threat on the planet right now and has been for a long time. There are education, health and micro credit issues. There is plain basic democracy.

This is one planet, one world. No walls are possible or even desirable. On that note, as they say in New York, there is a bridge on the East River I would like to sell Donald Trump.

Women have to want a first female president. How can you not? I so badly wanted a first black president I had precisely zero personal expectations of Barack Obama. He could have snoozed for eight years and I would not have broken a twig. Because a first black president was such a major breaking of barrier. A first female president is a much bigger breaking of barriers. Sexism is sickness. It is a heart disease. It drags everybody down, not just women. Hillary Clinton getting into the Oval Office liberates both men and women. Young men, take note.

Donald Trump is a sick human being. This guy is not just offended by Mexicans and women, he is offended by the very idea of democracy. This is the fascist the founding fathers predicted might come along. And now he is here.

If Donald Trump becomes president, 2016 will be  for America what 1945 was for Britain. America as you know it is over. Britain remained a democracy. America is not going to be that lucky. Modern fascism does conduct elections.

In my personal memory the choice has never been more stark in an American election. And my readings of history say the same thing. Not in the time of Napoleon, not in the time of Hitler, America never flirted with fascism until now.

All human beings have been created equal by the Creator. That eternal spiritual truth was put to test by putting a black man in the White House. And it is time to put a woman in there. Because all human beings have been created special.

Young women and women in general don't struggle with Hillary. What they struggle with is their internalized sexism. The culture is so steeped in sexism, the media in this country is so saturated with sexism, it is but understandable that women have internalized much of the sexism. But they do have to struggle against it. You can kick the can down the road, but for how long?

Emails and Benghazi and pretty much every slob of mud thrown at her for decades now has been facts-free sexism, completely unhinged from facts and logic. The FBI found no wrong doing on emails. Respect the verdict, or fire the FBI. There is not a third option. A population that could not load Windows onto a computer is all riled up about the deep intricacies of one email server that has caused precisely zero harm. On Benghazi, go after the Department Of Defense. If that is not good enough for you, go after the president. The common sense thing would be, though, to hold Al Qaeda responsible.

There was nothing to Whitewater, absolutely nothing, nada, zilch.

Hillary Clinton is a dream candidate. She by now probably knows every side to every issue. She really really knows her stuff. She knows the policy stuff, she knows the politics. She probably knows half the world leaders by name. Most world leaders on stage have already worked with her. That is surreal.

It is tougher to be president of America than it is to be a surgeon. Donald Trump is GED. Don't take this guy to your surgery table. Unless you happen to be suicidal. In that case most definitely keep this dude at bay.

Hillary would be a great person to have as president even if she were male. She just knows her stuff. You could think of her as a political astronaut. She is a rocket scientist when it comes to public policy.

She is much appreciated globally. Like there was this time when Obama was more popular in Canada than in America. Send him over here, they kept saying. God heard them and gave them Justin.

One hopes Hillary's rise in America will see women rise up to high political offices all over the world. Japan might be next after Germany, Britain and, hopefully, America.     

Senator Elizabeth Warrior

Senator Elizabeth Warren's Native American last name must have been Warrior. It got anglicized to Warren. She should perhaps reclaim her original last name, like Calcutta went back to being Kolkata, and Bombay reverted to Mumbai and Bangalore is now Bengaluru again.

The name change can wait. But the fight is now. She is 100% committed to seeing the first woman president. She should tweet a few times a week from now until that magic day in November. That will be enough to neutralize the venom and irrationality and megalomania that is Donald Trump. No one does it as good as Warren. She gets the theatrics just right.

I thought this guy was just stupid. He is a fascist. The only thing more dangerous than a fascist is a stupid fascist.  

America And Democracy

America is not just another country like Ireland. It is an idea. The idea is democracy. The idea is that all human beings have been created equal by the Creator.

America was founded with the goal of a total spread of democracy. What is the progress report? It snatched western Europe from the fascists and Eastern Europe from the communists, but is that it? White America saved white Europe. Is that it? Does democracy have a white skin? Does equality have a skin color?

Human beings have been created in the image of God, all human beings, everywhere.

This has to become a country where blacks and Latinos and Asians and women of all stripes feel equally at home, otherwise this country is going to fail at its founding mission of a total spread of democracy.

Nobody more un-American has ever run for the presidency of the United States than the clown Donald Trump. Clowns can be dangerous. Trump is proof.

Muslims have to feel at home in America before democracy will spread in the Muslim countries. America is that kind of a country.

Christians For Hillary

Christians feeling disenfranchised by a Republican Party hijacked by Donald Trump and who feel like they have hit a political stalemate by revisiting abortion and same-sex marriage every election now have an opportunity to leave the GOP and champion for issues such as, poverty, human rights, gun control, and climate change which are surprisingly led by Democrats.

Hate toward another human being created in the image of God is a violation of the greatest commandment, “to love the Lord with all your heart mind and soul and to love your neighbor as yourself.” 

Christians have always believed in protecting God’s creation and today more Christians are taking a stand on climate change.  Christians arestrong advocates of helping refugees and have broken away from their political base on the Syrian refugee crisis to voice their concerns, sending a clear message that neither party should politicize people in need.