Foreign influence within the Trump campaign: A story all U.S. voters should be following. (Plus more..)

(Temporary post. Commentary:)

 "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers." (Source is linked)

...The United States Constitution, Bill of Rights, First Amendment:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Candidate for President of the United States Donald Trump. (No affiliation.):

It is not "freedom of the press" when newspapers and others are allowed to say and write whatever they want even if it is completely false!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2016

(A bit more, if you can stomach it. Off-site 8/15/16 article link, new window:
 http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/08/14/donald-trump-twitter-media-new-york-times-first-amendment-freedom-of-speech/88722370/)


"Where there's smoke there's fire?" A straightforward, "free-society press" summary (link below), exposing -- at minimum -- Donald Trump's campaign likely flunking the "smell test". Again.
....Note: We're talking about a foreign country's influence upon a U.S. presidential candidate/the 2016 presidential election.. (New window opens. No affiliation. The article includes opinion.):

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/08/the-manafort-dossier/495851/?

Additional, pertinent developments. Off-site 8/17/16 article link, new window opens: 
 http://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/AP-Sources-Manafort-tied-to-undisclosed-foreign-9147434.php

Another update: "Sneak...mystique....reek."   8/17/16 off-site article link, new window opens. No affiliation: 
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/17/us/politics/trump-chris-christie-casinos.html?

Update: Shadowy lobbyists, now directing the Trump campaign: ....Money first, everything else; way down the 'list'...(off-site 8/18/16 article link, new window opens) http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-advisers-lobbying-ukraine-russia-20160818-story.html




'Certain'-subject-matter update: Not a supporter of Edward Snowden, but will listen when he speaks of things such as the following. Off-site 8/16/16 article link, new window opens. (Not necessarily connected to/with the Trump campaign....or ....?): 

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/edward-snowden-alleged-latest-nsa-hack-could-be-warning-from-moscow/

(No affiliation)

Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins will not be voting for Donald Trump

(Temporary repost. Commentary:) 

News item: The respected moderate Republican senator from Maine cannot support candidate Donald Trump.

Off-site link to 8/8/16 Washington Post opinion piece from Sen. Collins. New window opens, no affiliation:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/gop-senator-why-i-cannot-support-trump/2016/08/08/821095be-5d7e-11e6-9d2f-b1a3564181a1_story.html

(Note: BTW,  per Wikipedia, Senator Collins had the highest approval rating of all Republican senators according to one 2015 poll. (The second-highest approval rating of all senators...) ....Reportedly honored in 2014 by one publication as "one of the ten most powerful women in Washington".)

Excerpting the first paragraph of Sen. Collins' opinion piece published by at Washington Post (link to full article. FWIW (not too much, really): I don't happen to agree with (most of) the last couple of paragraphs of the piece.):

 "I will not be voting for Donald Trump for president. This is not a decision I make lightly, for I am a lifelong Republican. But Donald Trump does not reflect historical Republican values nor the inclusive approach to governing that is critical to healing the divisions in our country....."

[Insert: Oh, BTW: "50 GOP foreign policy and national security experts denounce Donald Trump as potentially 'reckless''.. One off-site 8/8/16 news article link, new window opens:
 http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/08/politics/republican-national-security-letter-donald-trump-election-2016/]


(P.S. What "many people are saying"........#manypeoplearesaying)

(No affiliation with the poster:)

#ManyPeopleAreSaying Interesting that a guy who owned casinos complains about contests being rigged.

— Harold Itzkowitz (@HaroldItz) August 9, 2016

.
.



This video↓ has nothing to do with anything.....
...Maybe how certain flight attendants feel when top Republican leaders take down their own party's whack-job nominee:



(YT video link. No affiliation.)

More fearing, hating, fabricating.... from Republican alternate-reality-land

Temporary post. Brief comment: I'd prefer to move on to other topics but the clown nominated for POTUS by U.S. Republicans generates too much astounding copy, every day.

If sane, Donald Trump himself cannot possibly believe the lies, exaggerations etc. he spews forth. So it must be some combination of constant need-for-attention (ref. "all press is good press"), some need to con and/or disparage people, and/or that he really has little of substance to say....

Nevertheless: He's running for president/commander-in-chief: What he says and does has got to be examined:

Obama's disastrous judgment gave us ISIS, rise of Iran, and the worst economic numbers since the Great Depression!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 5, 2016

Ref.: U.S. jobs report↓ released on August 5, 2016. Off-site news article links, new windows open:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-adds-255-000-jobs-in-july-unemployment-rate-steady-at-4-9-1470400413

http://www.wcvb.com/money/us-july-jobs-report-what-to-watch-for/41063602?

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/05/nonfarm-payrolls-july-2016.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-bc-financial-markets-20160805-story.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/06/business/economy/jobs-report-unemployment-wages.html

U.S. wage growth is improving but could be better, no doubt. In the huge United States the overall jobs report will rarely (if ever) be "perfect". Compare Trump's Twitter fabrication (above) though, to the actual results, news reports.....

One more 'news flash': The U.S. president cannot just wave his (tiny) hands and eradicate ISIS (etc.) from the face of the earth. 
...Unless -- possibly -- you're a volatile loose-cannon, apparently ready to unleash the nukes upon provocation...

....or maybe a bit "out-of-sorts" that day....having an anger attack.....bad hair day.....just showing-off (e.g., for Putin)....etc., etc. 

Two pertinent news articles, new windows open, no affiliation:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/05/science/donald-trump-nuclear-codes.html?

http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/u-s-election-2016/1.735072







(YT video link. No affiliation/ownership.)

(GOP:) Problem? What problem?

  (*boom*  Haha...)

(Commentary. Parental guidance suggested:)

8/3/16 off-site article link, new window opens, no affiliation: http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/u-s-election-2016/1.735072

Here's the video discussed. No affiliation with the poster. FWIW: I don't know much about General Hayden:

Stunning. Trump asked 3 times in an hour national security meeting why we can't just use nuclear weapons

WATCH: https://t.co/viaFzW18vs

— Jesse Lehrich (@JesseLehrich) August 3, 2016

Oh, BTW: Your blogger's "alter-ego" (writer-type-person)  posted this brief article↓ over seven months ago:

(Off-site link, new window opens) https://medium.com/@vere/these-are-the-stakes-lbj-s-attack-ad-still-haunts-today-cdc1ea5f4e1c#.1ivognel0

(YT video link)




"Crisis? What crisis?" Courageous Republican leadership↓:



(YT video link. No ownership.)


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"Tough guys" understand that Donald Trump is all bluster. Not 'tough'. (I.e., physically or otherwise.):
(Press pause to stop autoplay. There's no affiliation/association with this tiny blog:)




(YT video link. No ownership.)

Yeah:..Been saying this right here for months

...Tiny little blog here. Rambling into the ether.
Good to know more and more others (I hope) are starting to perceive....

(No affiliation↓). Re GOP candidate for President of the United States, Donald Trump. (Emphasis added.):

“I was stunned by the callousness of his comments,” Mr. Hanna said. “I think Trump is a national embarrassment. Is he really the guy you want to have the nuclear codes?”

(Source 8/2/16 news article off-site link. No affiliation.)

FWIW:↓

*https://ridiculousnation.blogspot.com/2016/06/this-needs-to-be-explained-seething.html*



,,,Now we have this↓. I'm not a "shrink", but a whole team of those maybe should be dispatched ASAP for "meltdown" dude pictured below:

(Off-site 8/2/16 article link. New window opens:)  https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-sanity-mental-health-000000384.html

Respect: (Gold Star parents, the Khans.) Post updated.

(YT video link. No affiliation.)

(Originally written 7/28/16:) A (likely-)scripted... (Update: Maybe not...(off-site article link)) ...moment better than anything offered at the Republican gathering. (Though Melania's ripped-off speech was up there.) We'll see if Trump or the GOP (mindlessly) attempts to impugn this man, and/or if  D. Trump hastily thumbs through a section or two of the U.S. Constitution (belatedly) and passes that off as knowledge (via Twitter), for his dupes..... 

Update -- Bad temperament: ↓This volatile, thin-skinned bully cannot handle criticism or dissent. Off-site article links, new windows open: 

 http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/28/politics/donald-trump-dnc-response/

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-goes-after-democratic-conventions-clinton-boosters/

7/31/16 update/comment: As wondered-aloud above, we now know that candidate Trump has in fact "gone after" the Khans, to the disgust of many.  

>>>.. How much more will be tolerated from this "black soul"? <<<

Plus, a question of increasing significance: How does (or how will) the country respond to a major-party, top-ticket candidate who refuses to seriously address policy and governing issues? Choosing instead to spew-out insults via (social) media, launch rambling tirades, etc., à la the epic wing-nut on the right in the↓image below:

(Image is linked to source)

(P.S. Echoes of Palin-Katie Couric right here (off-site link, new window))

(Continuing:) I'm not generally a supporter, ↓but as John Kasich noted:

There's only one way to talk about Gold Star parents: with honor and respect. Capt. Khan is a hero. Together, we should pray for his family.

— John Kasich (@JohnKasich) July 31, 2016

GOP leadership -- and all Americans -- must repudiate this offensive Trump response. Failure to clearly denounce is to basically agree, and to support Trump's unworthy attack. (An abject, sincere apology to the Khans (for starters) from Donald Trump is necessary....  Which of course is highly unlikely..)

 “I’d like to say to Mr. and Mrs. Khan: thank you for immigrating to America. We’re a better country because of you. And you are certainly right; your son was the best of America, and the memory of his sacrifice will make us a better nation — and he will never be forgotten.”

-- Senator John McCain, attributed, off-site 8/1/16 article link





(Previously written:) P.S. Acknowledging that -- one way or another -- he accumulated great wealth. But is this how ↓Donald Trump "sacrificed"?



(YT video link. No affiliation.)

...More great "sacrifices".... (off-site link): http://www.mediaite.com/online/trumpsacrifices-blows-up-on-twitter-over-what-trumps-comment-about-what-hes-sacrificed/

Briefly imagining 'Mr. Sarcasm' Donald Trump, as Jokester-in-Chief

"Of course I'm being sarcastic..."

-- Candidate for President of the United States  Donald Trump, after publicly encouraging Russians (..."intelligence" agencies?) to track down (or 'hack') Hillary Clinton's deleted emails.

A definition of 'sarcasm':

the use of words that mean the opposite of what you really want to say especially in order to insult someone, to show irritation, or to be funny

("Sarcasm." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 28 July 2016.)

..."He was joking around. If he tells you I'm joking, you take him at his word." -- Attributed to Trump cheerleader Rudy Giuliani.


(Commentary:)

So, we have a candidate for the highest elected office in the land who -- without offering sufficient elaboration or context -- apparently enjoys popping-off the 'sarcasm'. No matter how irresponsible.

Who knows? When (political) reality means that nightmare-future-President Trump cannot fulfill the myriad of far-fetched "promises"↓  (..by himself)......Might it all be excused  - by him - as just "being sarcastic"?

(YT video link. No affiliation.)


A couple quick, imagined scenarios involving the oh-so-sarcastic 'comedian-in-chief Trump':

'President Sarcasm', via the secure computer-link 'hotline': "Vladimir, you knucklehead! 

...I hope we're able to find the 30,000 Russians that have gone missing in recent years under your regime. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by your corrupt oligarchs."

"Vladimir Putin": *transmission terminated*

(....A few moments later, ↓patched-in to the Oval Office:)

(Edited YT video link. No ownership.)

.......

'President Sarcasm', via Korean emissary Dennis Rodman: "Chairman Kim, you loser! 

...I hope we're able to find the 30,000 North Koreans that have gone missing in recent weeks under your regime. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by your sycophants."

"Kim Jong-un": *emissary terminated*

(....A few moments later, ↓patched-in to what's left of the Oval Office:)

(YT video link. No ownership/affiliation.)

Alternate reality: Double-down on guff, bunk and nonsense to concoct and sell "truthiness"

(Commentary:)

A "truthiness" definition:  http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=truthiness

Making facts irrelevant: Today's alternate-universe Trump campaign (partial) example (off-site story link, new window opens, no affiliation):
 http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2016/07/24/trump-to-haters-who-found-rnc-speech-totalitarian-im-running-against-hillary-not-rest-of-the-world/

(Another view of the July GOP convention speech. Off-site article link:
 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/22/us/politics/donald-trump-fact-check.html?)

...Suggested insight as to why the future would-be president of the United States keeps pulling 'b.s.' like that↑ (and this). (Off-site article link, new window opens, no affiliation:)

 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/21/us/politics/donald-trump-roy-cohn.html?

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....Oh. Here's an interesting, unambiguous song. Absolutely no affiliation, association, approval, agreement etc. with this tiny blog, whatsoever:



(YT video link)


(Off-site link:) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiAR8I8wRmk

He's nominated for U.S. president/Commander-in-Chief: Observation, monitoring, coverage now required.

(Commentary:)

Good news is Melania's speech got more publicity than any in the history of politics especially if you believe that all press is good press!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 20, 2016

(No affiliation)




(YT video link. No ownership.)


...'Buffoon' definition: (off-site link, new window opens)

 https://www.google.com/#q=buffoon+definition


'Buffoon', alternate description. (Off-site 7/14/16 news article link, new window opens, no affiliation:)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/07/14/so-mike-pence-has-been-a-huge-supporter-of-the-thing-donald-trump-says-is-terrible-for-america/