A Closer Look at Donald J. Trump in Simple Terms

My discussions with Trump supporters are such that I can't get a word in edgewise.

So, I would like to state here what I want to say to them, but they won't listen.

I'm 63 years old, so I am close to Trump's contemporary, in age.

Let's discuss me and Viet-Nam. I came of age during the Viet-Nam War era. I was politically active in 1968, even though I was only 16 years old. I stood against the War. I believed then, and believe now, that there were Patriots on both sides of that issue. Protesters lost they're lives and they're freedom fighting for what they believed in and so did those brave soldiers who went to war. In 1970, as a student in Massachusetts, my draft number was 104. Every man today remembers their number in the year they turned 18. The call, in my Congressional District, came up to 94. I don't know what I would have done if it reached me, but the War was winding down, so that decision never had to be made.

I describe this, because Donald Trump likes to act like some sort of savior to veterans and an ardent worrier should the time come. 5 deferments for the guy who is 5 years older than me, meaning his number did come up, and he made his decision. If he rallied against the War I would respect that, for, after all, the War was wrong. The War was the defining issue of our generation.

Instead, here is Trump's take of what he did during that period of American history: "I've been so lucky in terms of that world (contracting Sexual Transmitted Diseases from sleeping around). It's a dangerous world out there. It's scary, like Viet-Nam. Sort of like the Viet-Nam era. It was my personal Viet-Nam. I feel like a great and brave soldier."

Some Patriot.

Then we move to illegal immigration. There are so many stories of his importing foreign workers to his American businesses that not to see his hypocrisy is mind boggling. The best example is his use of 200 illegal Polish immigrant workers hired to demolish a building so he could erect his signature project "Trump Towers". He paid these undocumented workers $5 an hour, worked them 7 days a week, without overtime. He was caught and brought to court. He settled for a reported $1,000,000.

Some advocate against illegal immigration.

Finally, Trump's diatribes against outsourcing and vilifying America's trade deals. I buy American as often as I can. I hate our trade deals so much, I voted for Perot, Twice. But I never have read a word from Trump, in real time, of his criticism of NAFTA or the trade deals at the time that really mattered, from 1988 to 1994.

Instead, we see that he had no trouble putting profit ahead of Patriotism, as he outsourced his own line of clothing and work to foreign countries, like China and Mexico

It all comes down to this. For the 50 years that Donald Trump has been an adult American citizen, he can't point to a single day that he put this country first.

I have been asked by some of my more intelligent friends, "what historical figures remind you of Donald Trump."

My answer is, "he seems like a cross between Adolf Hitler and Bernie Madoff"

I guess that would make Donald Trump the equivalent of Adolf Madoff

My 2 Anti-Trump Commercials

I am 63 years old and remember quite well the turbulent and violent year of 1968. That's what this is starting to feel like. Also, I am not too tech savvy. I can work a cell phone and an email, but that's just about it and I have no grand-children to teach me.

But, I have a great idea for a couple of commercials and I was hoping that somebody here would like my ideas and run with it.

Here it is:

Commercial One:

30 Seconds (or, maybe, even 15);

Split Screen. On the left side is old footage of Hitler at Nuremberg. At the podium, raising his arm and then his massive audience raising theirs, in the Hitler oath of allegiance. All in black in white. On the right side of the screen, with color removed, so the shot is also black and white, is Donald Trump. Hand raised in an oath, with his large crowd with their hands raised in the same pledge. Both sides look eerily similar. However, the only voice you hear is Adolf's, in German, no sub-titles, but you hear him say "Adolf Hitler" and the crowd reply in kind. You still see Trump, on the right side of the split screen, mimicking the Furor. The scene then fades and the words appear in white lettering on black background, no voice over, just silence. The words on the full screen read "Don't think for a moment that it can't happen here."


Commercial Two:

Footage of Trump urging his audience to violence. The scene of the black girl being jostled and Trump yelling "out, get them outta here". Then another of Trump saying "I'd like to punch him in the face" and the footage of the sucker punch to the African-American walking in the aisle. Trump talking about taking "them out on a stretcher" and Trump urging the crowd on by saying he would pay for the legal bills. You know all the footage.

Then a black and white image of a very good Abraham Lincoln look alike with a tear coming out of his eye and trickling down his face. The picture freezes on Abe's face with a voice over of, say, one of those highly recognizable voices. The voice proclaims, "what do you think, he would think?."

The Raw Primary Numbers Show Hillary the Most Popular Candidate for President

I thought I'd look at the numbers of actual voters to see just how popular Donald Trump really is.

Actually, it's Hillary by a wide margin.

Total Votes for Hillary Clinton: 4,993,944
Total Votes for Donald Trump: 4,333,901
Total Votes for Ted Cruz: 3,428,425
Total Votes for Bernie Sanders: 3,280,260

When we exclude states that have only voted for one party or caucus states that count votes differently for each party, the totals are:

Total Votes for Hillary Clinton: 4,936,431
Total Votes for Donald Trump: 4,095,949
Total Votes for Ted Cruz: 3,314,554
Total Votes for Bernie Sanders: 3,199,589

Source: New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/us/elections/primary-calendar-and-results.html?_r=0

Why Do the Pundits Miss the Point on Trump's Hitler-Like Pledge?

I watched Joe Scarborough say this morning on MSNBC that he didn't think the Trump pledge was a big deal, after all, newly sworn in immigrants also raise their right hands to pledge, and nobody thinks they're Nazi's.

Then I just heard another moron on Fox News say that people in court raise their right hands in court, and certainly that's not Fascist.

Don't they get it? The Trump pledge is akin to Hitler's because it is a mass pledge to an individual.

A pledge to God, country or an organization is not a mass pledge to an individual, and is generally acceptable.

A pledge to an individual is not acceptable, except to your spouse.

Dopes

Bill Maher Translates a Hitler Speech into English

Most Trump Voters Support Him Because of an Envioremental Issue

Bigger Tree

Why Are Mainstream Republicans Acting Shocked?

After more than a decade of campaigning by using racist "dog whistles" to energize their base, why are so called "Mainstream Republicans" acting shocked that the dogs are barking?

To Christian Evangelicals---The 7 Deadly Sins Were Written to Describe Donald Trump

Historical and modern definitions as described by Wikipedia

(1). Main article: Lust (Deadly Sin)


Lust Sankt Bartholomäus church (Reichenthal), Pulpit (1894)
Lust, or lechery (Latin, carnal "luxuria&quot , is an intense and uncontrolled desire. It is usually thought of as uncontrolled sexual wants, which leads to adultery, rape, bestiality, and other unnatural and immoral sexual acts. However, the word was originally a general term for desire. Therefore, lust could include the uncontrolled desire for money, food, fame, or power.

In Dante's Purgatorio, the penitent walks within flames to purge himself of lustful thoughts and feelings. In Dante's Inferno, unforgiven souls of the sin of lust are blown about in restless hurricane-like winds symbolic of their own lack of self-control to their lustful passions in earthly life.


(2). Main article: Gluttony (Deadly Sin)

Gluttony (Latin, gula) is the overindulgence and overconsumption of anything to the point of waste. The word derives from the Latin gluttire, meaning to gulp down or swallow.

In Christianity, it is considered a sin if the excessive desire for food causes it to be withheld from the needy.[19]

Because of these scripts, gluttony can be interpreted as selfishness; essentially placing concern with one's own interests above the well-being or interests of others.

Medieval church leaders (e.g., Thomas Aquinas) took a more expansive view of gluttony,[19] arguing that it could also include an obsessive anticipation of meals, and the constant eating of delicacies and excessively costly foods.[20] Aquinas went so far as to prepare a list of six ways to commit gluttony, comprising:
Praepropere – eating too soon
Laute – eating too expensively
Nimis – eating too much
Ardenter – eating too eagerly
Studiose – eating too daintily
Forente – eating wildly


(3). Main article: Greed (Deadly Sin)

Greed (Latin, avaritia), also known as avarice, cupidity or covetousness, is, like lust and gluttony, a sin of excess. However, greed (as seen by the Church) is applied to a very excessive or rapacious desire and pursuit of material possessions. Thomas Aquinas wrote, "Greed is a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things." In Dante's Purgatory, the penitents were bound and laid face down on the ground for having concentrated too much on earthly thoughts. Hoarding of materials or objects, theft and robbery, especially by means of violence, trickery, or manipulation of authority are all actions that may be inspired by Greed. Such misdeeds can include simony, where one attempts to purchase or sell sacraments, including Holy Orders and, therefore, positions of authority in the Church hierarchy.

As defined outside Christian writings, greed is an inordinate desire to acquire or possess more than one needs, especially with respect to material wealth.[21]


(4). Main article: Sloth (Deadly Sin)



Sloth (Latin, acedia) can entail different vices. While sloth is sometimes defined as physical laziness, spiritual laziness is emphasized. Failing to develop spiritually will lead to becoming guilty of sloth. In the Christian faith, sloth rejects grace and God.

Sloth has also been defined as a failure to do things that one should do. By this definition, evil exists when good people fail to act.

Edmund Burke (1729-1797) wrote in Present Discontents (II. 78) "No man, who is not inflamed by vain-glory into enthusiasm, can flatter himself that his single, unsupported, desultory, unsystematic endeavours are of power to defeat the subtle designs and united Cabals of ambitious citizens. When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."

Over time, the "acedia" in Pope Gregory's order has come to be closer in meaning to sloth. The focus came to be on the consequences of acedia rather than the cause, and so, by the 17th century, the exact deadly sin referred to was believed to be the failure to utilize one's talents and gifts.[citation needed] Even in Dante's time there were signs of this change; in his Purgatorio he had portrayed the penance for acedia as running continuously at top speed.


(5). Main article: Wrath (Deadly Sin)


Wrath, by Jacques de l'Ange
Wrath (Latin, ira), also known as "rage", may be described as inordinate and uncontrolled feelings of hatred and anger. Wrath, in its purest form, presents with self-destructiveness, violence, and hate that may provoke feuds that can go on for centuries. Wrath may persist long after the person who did another a grievous wrong is dead. Feelings of anger can manifest in different ways, including impatience, revenge, and self-destructive behavior, such as drug abuse or suicide.

Wrath is the only sin not necessarily associated with selfishness or self-interest, although one can of course be wrathful for selfish reasons, such as jealousy (closely related to the sin of envy). Dante described vengeance as "love of justice perverted to revenge and spite". People feel angry when they sense that they or someone they care about has been offended, when they are certain about the nature and cause of the angering event, when they are certain someone else is responsible, and when they feel they can still influence the situation or cope with it.[22]



(6). Main article: Envy (Deadly Sin)



Envy (Latin, invidia), like greed and lust, is characterized by an insatiable desire. Envy is similar to jealousy in that they both feel discontent towards someone's traits, status, abilities, or rewards. The difference is the envious also desire the entity and covet it.

Envy can be directly related to the Ten Commandments, specifically, "Neither shall you desire... anything that belongs to your neighbour." Dante defined this as "a desire to deprive other men of theirs". In Dante's Purgatory, the punishment for the envious is to have their eyes sewn shut with wire because they have gained sinful pleasure from seeing others brought low. Aquinas described envy as "sorrow for another's good".[23]


(7). Main article: Pride (Deadly Sin)


Building the Tower of Babel was, for Dante, an example of pride.
Pride (Latin, superbia), or hubris (Greek), is considered, on almost every list, the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins: the source of the others. It is identified as believing that one is essentially better than others, failing to acknowledge the accomplishments of others, and excessive admiration of the personal self (especially holding self out of proper position toward God); it also includes vainglory (Latin, vanagloria) which is unjustified boasting. Dante's definition of pride was "love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one's neighbour". In Jacob Bidermann's medieval miracle play, Cenodoxus, pride is the deadliest of all the sins and leads directly to the damnation of the titulary famed Parisian doctor. In perhaps the best-known example, the story of Lucifer, pride (his desire to compete with God) was what caused his fall from Heaven, and his resultant transformation into Satan. In Dante's

Everyone Seems to be Missing the Point on the KKK and Trump

The point isn't just that Donald Trump is reluctant to distance himself from David Duke and the KKK, although that's abhorrent enough.

No, the point is, why do David Duke and the Klan feel compelled to support Trump in the first place.

I Agree with at Least 4 Republicans Running for President

When Donald Trump calls Jeb Bush a liar and Jeb Bush calls Trump a liar, when Trump calls Ted Cruz a liar and Cruz calls Trump a liar, when Marco Rubio calls Cruz a liar and Cruz calls Rubio a liar, I have to admit, I agree with all 4 of them on this issue.