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Zorro
Zorro's Journal
Zorro's Journal
September 1, 2020
In recent years, Republicans have enjoyed a big advantage with military personnel and veterans. By painting Democrats as weak on defense and wrapping themselves in the flag, they have outmaneuvered Democrats in states with a significant number of military or former military voters, including reserve forces and National Guard members (e.g., Texas, Florida, Virginia).
It came as a shock, then, when the Military Times reported on Monday: “In the latest results — based on 1,018 active-duty troops surveyed in late July and early August — nearly half of respondents (49.9 percent) had an unfavorable view of the president, compared to about 38 percent who had a favorable view. Questions in the poll had a margin of error of up to 2 percent.” Forty-two percent had a very unfavorable view of President Trump. The bottom line: “Among active-duty service members surveyed in the poll, 41 percent said they would vote for Biden, the Democratic nominee, if the election was held today. Only 37 percent said they plan to vote to re-elect Trump.”
There are plenty of reasons that military and ex-military might dislike Trump, who infamously got five deferments to get out of serving in Vietnam. Trump failed to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin on bounties put on the heads of U.S. troops. He has smeared the intelligence community, betrayed national security by extorting Ukraine, used the military as props for border security, attacked our NATO alliance, groveled before Putin, abandoned the Kurds when bugging out of Syria, pulled troops out of Germany and attacked voting by mail — a principal way in which troops overseas vote. He commuted the sentences of convicted war criminals, an insult to every military man or women who upholds his or her oath. He smeared and removed Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman from his White House post after he testified truthfully about Trump’s call with Ukraine’s president. He skipped a commemoration ceremony for those killed in World War I because it was raining. He used the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, to try to legitimize his gassing of peaceful protesters. He insulted the late John McCain and all POWs because he said he doesn’t like people who get captured.
The Military Times poll confirms some of their concerns. For example, “Only about 17 percent of those surveyed felt the White House has properly handled reports that Russian officials offered bounties for Afghan fighters to target and kill American troops, an issue Trump has dismissed as unreliable intelligence. Nearly 47 percent disagreed with his statements.” When it comes to deploying troops domestically to quell protests, as Trump has suggested repeatedly, 74 percent of respondents were opposed. Interestingly, “Troops agreed with Trump’s assessment of China as a national security threat (nearly 87 percent called it a significant concern) but ranked Russia (81 percent) well above Iran (58 percent). Only about 21 percent of troops saw immigration as a significant national security issue, but 48 percent identified white nationalists as a concern.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/01/troops-tell-us-what-they-think-trump/
The troops want a new commander in chief
Opinion by Jennifer RubinIn recent years, Republicans have enjoyed a big advantage with military personnel and veterans. By painting Democrats as weak on defense and wrapping themselves in the flag, they have outmaneuvered Democrats in states with a significant number of military or former military voters, including reserve forces and National Guard members (e.g., Texas, Florida, Virginia).
It came as a shock, then, when the Military Times reported on Monday: “In the latest results — based on 1,018 active-duty troops surveyed in late July and early August — nearly half of respondents (49.9 percent) had an unfavorable view of the president, compared to about 38 percent who had a favorable view. Questions in the poll had a margin of error of up to 2 percent.” Forty-two percent had a very unfavorable view of President Trump. The bottom line: “Among active-duty service members surveyed in the poll, 41 percent said they would vote for Biden, the Democratic nominee, if the election was held today. Only 37 percent said they plan to vote to re-elect Trump.”
There are plenty of reasons that military and ex-military might dislike Trump, who infamously got five deferments to get out of serving in Vietnam. Trump failed to confront Russian President Vladimir Putin on bounties put on the heads of U.S. troops. He has smeared the intelligence community, betrayed national security by extorting Ukraine, used the military as props for border security, attacked our NATO alliance, groveled before Putin, abandoned the Kurds when bugging out of Syria, pulled troops out of Germany and attacked voting by mail — a principal way in which troops overseas vote. He commuted the sentences of convicted war criminals, an insult to every military man or women who upholds his or her oath. He smeared and removed Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman from his White House post after he testified truthfully about Trump’s call with Ukraine’s president. He skipped a commemoration ceremony for those killed in World War I because it was raining. He used the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark A. Milley, to try to legitimize his gassing of peaceful protesters. He insulted the late John McCain and all POWs because he said he doesn’t like people who get captured.
The Military Times poll confirms some of their concerns. For example, “Only about 17 percent of those surveyed felt the White House has properly handled reports that Russian officials offered bounties for Afghan fighters to target and kill American troops, an issue Trump has dismissed as unreliable intelligence. Nearly 47 percent disagreed with his statements.” When it comes to deploying troops domestically to quell protests, as Trump has suggested repeatedly, 74 percent of respondents were opposed. Interestingly, “Troops agreed with Trump’s assessment of China as a national security threat (nearly 87 percent called it a significant concern) but ranked Russia (81 percent) well above Iran (58 percent). Only about 21 percent of troops saw immigration as a significant national security issue, but 48 percent identified white nationalists as a concern.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/09/01/troops-tell-us-what-they-think-trump/
September 1, 2020
HILLSBORO, Ohio — Ohio has long been considered a reliable bellwether for presidential election outcomes, and recent polling has President Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden more or less tied. Many analysts consider the Buckeye State a toss-up. In 2016, pre-election polling underestimated the size of Trump’s win there, and the same could happen in 2020. A recent NPR analysis observed, “There’s an argument for putting Ohio in the toss-up category, strictly based on the closeness of polling. But this is a state Trump should win based on demographic and voting trends.”
What these polls might not be capturing, however, is a series of recent scandals involving Ohio Republicans. These events might give anti-Trumpers reason to hope the president’s prospects here are in jeopardy.
On July 21, the Republican speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, Larry Householder, was awakened by federal agents converging on his southeastern Ohio farmhouse. They were there to arrest him in connection with a $60 million racketeering and bribery investigation. Four others — lobbyists and Householder associates — were also arrested around the state in connection with the probe.
According to the criminal complaint, Householder funneled millions of dollars in contributions from Akron-based electric utility FirstEnergy Solutions into a non-reportable account. He then used the funds both for personal expenses and to support the 2018 election of Republican lawmakers — dubbed “Team Householder” — who would be loyal to him, back his bid to become speaker and then push for legislation providing a $1 billion taxpayer bailout for two nuclear power plants in northern Ohio.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/08/31/ohio-republicans-are-embroiled-scandal-could-they-lose-election-trump/
Ohio Republicans are embroiled in scandal. Could they lose the election for Trump?
Opinion by Gary AbernathyHILLSBORO, Ohio — Ohio has long been considered a reliable bellwether for presidential election outcomes, and recent polling has President Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden more or less tied. Many analysts consider the Buckeye State a toss-up. In 2016, pre-election polling underestimated the size of Trump’s win there, and the same could happen in 2020. A recent NPR analysis observed, “There’s an argument for putting Ohio in the toss-up category, strictly based on the closeness of polling. But this is a state Trump should win based on demographic and voting trends.”
What these polls might not be capturing, however, is a series of recent scandals involving Ohio Republicans. These events might give anti-Trumpers reason to hope the president’s prospects here are in jeopardy.
On July 21, the Republican speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, Larry Householder, was awakened by federal agents converging on his southeastern Ohio farmhouse. They were there to arrest him in connection with a $60 million racketeering and bribery investigation. Four others — lobbyists and Householder associates — were also arrested around the state in connection with the probe.
According to the criminal complaint, Householder funneled millions of dollars in contributions from Akron-based electric utility FirstEnergy Solutions into a non-reportable account. He then used the funds both for personal expenses and to support the 2018 election of Republican lawmakers — dubbed “Team Householder” — who would be loyal to him, back his bid to become speaker and then push for legislation providing a $1 billion taxpayer bailout for two nuclear power plants in northern Ohio.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/08/31/ohio-republicans-are-embroiled-scandal-could-they-lose-election-trump/
September 1, 2020
In nature, an animal is most dangerous when cornered and wounded. The same is proving true in the closing months of President Trump’s term.
Trump botched the coronavirus pandemic, bungled the economic recovery and flubbed the handling of civil rights demonstrations. Members of his own family denounce him. He faces a seemingly insurmountable deficit against challenger Joe Biden.
And so the president is trying to provoke a race war on the streets of America.
“We’ve arrived at a moment in this campaign,” Biden said during a visit to a rehabilitated Pittsburgh steel mill Monday, that “we all knew . . . we’d get to — the moment when Donald Trump would be so desperate, he’d do anything to hold on to power.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/08/31/cornered-trump-tries-foment-race-war/
Trump is acting like a cornered animal. America needs a human being.
Opinion by Dana MilbankIn nature, an animal is most dangerous when cornered and wounded. The same is proving true in the closing months of President Trump’s term.
Trump botched the coronavirus pandemic, bungled the economic recovery and flubbed the handling of civil rights demonstrations. Members of his own family denounce him. He faces a seemingly insurmountable deficit against challenger Joe Biden.
And so the president is trying to provoke a race war on the streets of America.
“We’ve arrived at a moment in this campaign,” Biden said during a visit to a rehabilitated Pittsburgh steel mill Monday, that “we all knew . . . we’d get to — the moment when Donald Trump would be so desperate, he’d do anything to hold on to power.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/08/31/cornered-trump-tries-foment-race-war/
September 1, 2020
In recent days, President Trump and allies have offered a fulsome defense of a presidential economic record.
Alas, the presidential record they’re describing isn’t Trump’s. It belongs to his predecessor, Barack Obama. And perhaps also to Obama’s second-in-command, Joe Biden.
Team Trump, in promulgating the myth of Trump’s economic genius, has recently doubled down on a false narrative: that Trump inherited a recession and magically turned it into a boom. This is almost the exact reverse of events of the past 3½ years. In reality Trump inherited from Obama an expansion — one that, in retrospect, turned out to be the longest in U.S. history — and converted it into a bust.
Not just any bust; a possible depression, at least for the working class.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-boasts-about-a-great-economic-record-too-bad-its-obamas/2020/08/31/1eebc59a-ebb8-11ea-b4bc-3a2098fc73d4_story.html
Trump boasts about a great economic record. Too bad it's Obama's.
Opinion by Catherine RampellIn recent days, President Trump and allies have offered a fulsome defense of a presidential economic record.
Alas, the presidential record they’re describing isn’t Trump’s. It belongs to his predecessor, Barack Obama. And perhaps also to Obama’s second-in-command, Joe Biden.
Team Trump, in promulgating the myth of Trump’s economic genius, has recently doubled down on a false narrative: that Trump inherited a recession and magically turned it into a boom. This is almost the exact reverse of events of the past 3½ years. In reality Trump inherited from Obama an expansion — one that, in retrospect, turned out to be the longest in U.S. history — and converted it into a bust.
Not just any bust; a possible depression, at least for the working class.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-boasts-about-a-great-economic-record-too-bad-its-obamas/2020/08/31/1eebc59a-ebb8-11ea-b4bc-3a2098fc73d4_story.html
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