How disgusting can Donald Trump get?

At the Democratic National Convention, Khizr Khan, father of Capt. Humayun Khan, a Muslim-American soldier killed in Iraq, challenged Donald Trump, “What have you sacrificed?”

Trump’s reply: “I think I've made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs, built great structures. I've had tremendous success. I think I've done a lot.” He forgot to add he also made millions and millions of dollars for his “sacrifice.”

Personally, I found that absolutely reprehensible. Reprehensible, because how can you equate creating jobs and making millions with losing a son in battle as a “sacrifice”?

Personally, because I did make a sacrifice for my country.  I gave up three and a half years of my life to wear the uniform of the U.S. Navy right out of college and put off my career to serve.  Donald Trump got numerous student deferments, then on graduation, a medical deferment for a “bone spur” and when questioned about it he couldn’t remember what foot it was on.

Donald Trump believes he can justify and excuse all his ethical shortcomings and dubious morals by citing how much money he has made.  Asked about whether he has had any dealings with Russia he replies that once he bought a Florida house in foreclosure for $40 million and sold it to a Russian for $100 million as if that had any relevance to the question.  He deflects any direct question to find a way to boast about how much money he makes.   As if huge amounts of money exonerates him from providing factual answers.

When confronted with his disgusting mocking of a reporter with disabilities he countered that he builds ramps for the disabled in his buildings.  In other words, he seems to feel that if he spends money on something (which of course involves making money for himself) that justifies anything he says no matter how obnoxious.

Nothing, absolutely nothing matters to Donald Trump except his ego and how much money he has.  So for him, hey, what’s one dead soldier compared to his “sacrifice” of having a “tremendous success”? 

Plagiarism by any other name...

Well there is plagiarism, and there is stupid plagiarism and there is the stupid blatant plagiarism that Republican politicians insist is not plagiarism at all.  Yes, I am talking about Melania Trump’s Convention Speech which really would have been utterly boring, totally predictable in its praise for her beloved Donald, and gotten very little comment except she happened to use word for word some comments made by Michelle Obama eight years ago.

Then we got stories that Melania wrote the entire speech herself, oops wait, no she worked with some speech writers for a couple months, oops, maybe somebody should be fired for not checking the entire text carefully,  oops…

Then we got the official party spin delivered by Paul Manafort, who is now running the Trump campaign.  In a press conference he somberly declared that this was just a typical Democrat political dirty trick since they were the fist to bring this issue up (as if the press and commentators would have missed it) and added:   "This is once again an example of how when a woman threatens Hillary Clinton, she tries to demean her and take her down."  Now this is totally preposterous!  Nothing Melania said even remotely referenced Hillary.  What does Melania Trump’s plagiarism have to do with her threatening Hillary?  Has the Republican Party truly gone insane?

Read the following and judge for yourselves:

Michelle Obama in 2008::  “And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values: that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you’re going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them, and even if
you don’t agree with them. And Barack and I set out to build lives guided by these values, and pass them on to the next generation. Because we want our children — and all children in this nation — to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.

Melania Trump in 2016:  “From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life: that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise; that you treat people with respect. They taught and showed me values and morals in their daily life. That is a lesson that I continue to pass along to our son, and we need to pass those lessons on to the many generation to follow because we want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.”

It is blatantly obvious that Melania’s comments used complete phrases that are word for word for word copies from Michelle Obama’s speech.  If you want me to believe this is pure coincidence I will flatly tell you, you’re stupid not me.

I have a degree in journalism and made a living in various aspects of writing for 45 years  so don’t try to tell me anything about plagiarism.

Now we’ll get all the Trump campaign  crap that it really was not plagiarism, the content and Melania’s sincerity is all that matters, standard norms of writers’ integrity do not apply to the Trump family blah, blah, blah…

But one thing I noted that I have not seen any others comment upon.  In Michelle’s speech she said “Barack AND I were raised with so many of the same values…”  Melania stated that her values were instilled in her by her parents so we can assume they are not necessarily shared by her husband.  So forgetting the plagiarism, her speech explains nobody instilled any values in Donald and that’s why he has no values at all.

Where are the Presbyterians for Trump?

The Donald just nominated Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate.  Why? Because Pence is a former Roman Catholic alter boy turned born-again Christian, and an anti LGBT, anti-abortion, devout social conservative and is intended to help reinforce the GOP’s appeal to Evangelicals who have been flocking to Trump in droves which, in and of itself, is rather strange.  This is just another example of how phony Donald Trump is.   

After all, Trump professes to be a Presbyterian, a somewhat liberal leaning church which actually accepts abortion in nearly all cases, does not oppose contraception, ordains women, and accepts gay marriage.   As a former Presbyterian myself, I just wonder how the Presbyterian Church feels about their illustrious fellow church member Donald Trump playing their church as the “religious card.”  .

I have not seen any “Presbyterians for Trump” rallies. Why have we not heard a word from the Presbyterian Church on what it thinks about where Trumps stands on vilifying Mexicans in particular, Hispanics in general, banning Muslims from the country, killing terrorists’ families, reinstating torture, bombing the “shit” out of ISIS and all the other things he stands for which seem to run counter to the most noble precepts of Christianity?

Of course, Presbyterians are not that big a voting block although Pew Research finds them the oldest average age denomination and predominantly white. So Trump thumps his Presbyterian bible, names Pence as his VP, and goes after the Evangelicals who hate gays, oppose abortion, and want to base our nation’s civil laws on “God’s law” and teach the Bible in public schools.  If you don’t know what I am talking about or don’t believe me just read the newly established Republican Platform and you will see what I mean.  There is also a plank about appointing Supreme Court Justices who “uphold family values” which is Republican code for legalizing bigotry.

This is not really a discourse on Presbyterians nor Evangelicals.  It is an observation on how unnerving it is that the Republicans keep injecting religion into our supposedly secular—you know, separation of church and state—nation.  I am also questioning why more moderate, rational religions passively stand back and let the radical religious right take over our nation’s laws through their manipulation of the Republican Party.

So where the hell are you Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians and the other so-called main stream religions?  You are letting the radical right-wing bigoted Evangelicals dictate the political agenda in the name of your God and your Jesus.  Why don’t you stand up and ask yourselves WWJD?

I am running for President

After careful consideration, I have decided to run for President.  I am prompted to do so by a new development in my life that establishes me as being presidential.  Last week I started a new round of cancer treatment involving pembrolizumab which is the same stuff they gave to Jimmy Carter that cured his brain melanoma.  Therefore, regardless of what you thought of Carter, he actually was a President, so since the drug was given to him I conclude I can now consider myself presidential by association.  As a plus, it may do something to improve my brain. 

The drug is one of those new-ultra-trendy concoctions that boosts your immune system so it can detect and destroy the microscopic melanoma cells that are running around inside me and not visible on CT or PET scans.  While there are numerous side effects, my doctor says my hair will not fall out this time so I will not look like Florida Governor Rick Scott in photo ops.

  

Another reason for my Presidential bid is the slogan I came up with:  “One of the other contenders with the ridiculous hair could be even worse that me!”  It’s not very catchy but it is reassuring.

 

Now that my presidentiality has been established, I am sure you are curious about some of my other qualifications.  I know I can get along with Congress because two years ago I made a great deal on a used car so nobody can say they wheel and deal better than me.  When it comes to foreign policy, I lived in Europe for 15 years, I speak Italian and I make a fantastic spaghetti alla carbonara.  I’ll challenge both Trump and Hillary to a carbonara cook off any day.

I can eliminate the immigration problem by simply stop using the term “illegal immigrants” as justification for deporting 11,000,000 people.  We’ll just call them “long term de facto non-native born residents,” then they will not sound so sinister.  I will also propose building a wall around Donald Trump which I am sure I can get Mexico to pay for.

I will be announcing more policy statements in the coming days I just wanted you to know that I am officially running for President.  I hope I can count on your vote.