Some consider the Nation’s Capital as “Fantasyland on the Potomac”. Other outsiders are “Fed Up” with the Federal City. It's better to consider D.C. as “the District of Calamity” (sic).
UPDATE 01/07/2018 2018 12:00
After the media firestorm over his quotes about President Trump in "Fire and Fury" now Steve Bannon tells Axios hat he regrets comments to Michael Wolf and that he fully supports the President and his agenda. Too little, too late, too dubious.
As Tucker Carlson reported on the Podesta Group's connection to Paul Manafort, who was just indicted by the Mueller Special Counsel, the Fox News host revealed how Tony Podesta tried to coerce sanitized coverage of the Mueller Russian Coercion probe via lawfare.
As Carlson noted, this sort of intimidation tactic is a favorite tool for the Podesta Group.
It seems that Hillary's army is using standing orders to intimidate and obfuscate. Hillary activists on social media pushed back on the Russian scandals by demanding to know EXACTLY what she did wrong regarding Uranium One. Of course, this is impossible to tell when government documents were stored on personal servers (violation of law on classified documents) and then shredded or wiped clean at Secretary Clinton's discretion (violation of customary State Department procedure as well as the Government Documents statutes). These missing documents may detail how the Clinton Foundation received large donations (which was a violation of the Clinton/Obama Memorandum of Understanding in 2009) and former President Clinton received vastly inflated speaking fees from Russian interests right after the approval process. But since we can't say EXACTLY what Mrs. Clinton did, we should feel intimidated to even mention it at all. But for a conspiracy, one does not have to directly point to any particular action.
Now that Steve Bannon has been named the Trump Campaign's CEO over Paul Manafort, Shapiro offered colorful commentary on CNN of Steve Bannon's character: a turd tornado.
But Shapiro notes that the appointment of Steve Bannon makes sense as Trump will hear what he wants and will go down swinging.
Bannon is the third effective Trump Campaign Lead in three months (Lewandowski, Manafort and Bannon). All have been brawlers. Time will tell if the new Trump management can keep the candidate on message and expanding the base of potential voters rather than continuing to alienate groups, banish the base and squander campaign opportunities by going off-message.
Well, it's after the balloon drop at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, and the song remains the same. Trump continues to eschew party unity by denigrating his fellow Republicans, steps on his own message by doubling down on bizarre conspiracy theories about his opponent's families and wantonly alienates important voter segments by viciously counter-punching at every perceived slight.
Continually Smearing Cruz
Fox News panelist and Weekly Standard writer Stephen Hayes chronicled several of the general election missteps in the immediate aftermath of the RNC in CLE. It is mind boggling that after a smooth convention in Cleveland that stressed party unity that Trump used a press conference the next day to revive the rumor that Senator Ted Cruz's father Rafael was involved in the conspiracies around the assassination of JFK in 1963 because it was published in the National Enquirer.
So instead of capitalizing on the image of GOP unity or putting forth a focused general election campaign message, people chattered about this crazy conspiracy talk. That stepped on his message. Now Trump may have wanted Cruz to acquiesce and kiss the ring (before he held the news conference saying that he didn't want the endorsement) but to use this tact to disparage Cruz's political future was stupid and leaned towards the loony.
Cruz supporters did not appreciate attacks on the leading Republican challenger. Going against Cruz for perceived sins of the father seems scummy. And to use a questionable National Enquirer photo expose shows that he's not serious. Trump may have been trying to forgo a challenge to re-election in 2020 but first he need to be elected. In the event that Trump is successful in November, he will need every vote in the Senate to have his Supreme Court nominations approved. Alienating a legislative ally is not smart.
The Wrath of Khan
{L] Ghazala and [R] Kzir Khan at DNC in Philadelphi
Another Trump faux pas was continued attacks against the parents of a Gold Star family who lost their son in 2004 who spoke against him at the DNC in Philadelphia. Rather than respect the sharp critique of Khazi Khan who's son was sacrificed in preserving America's liberty, Trump went after the family. First, Trump questioned why the Pakistani immigrant's wife was silence, giving a dog whistle to those wanting a Muslim ban. Then Trump questioned if Kahn was giving the speech. Trump surrogate Roger Stone suggested that Khan may be part of the Muslim Brotherhood. That would be a neat trick for a Pakistani family to join an Egyptian based organization. When Mr. Kahn appeared on morning television shows, Trump live tweeted that it was all about Islamic Terrorism.
Thus Trump slanders the family and conflates Muslim with Islamist terrorists. Pro-tip: If you are going to sympathetic foes, have the good sense to leave it to your surrogates. And reign in your attack dogs to not be too outrageous in their indictments. In Trump parlance: Get smart.
So Trump revived the racist perception of the Muslim ban, displays what can be interpreted as religious bigotry about propriety of women speaking, conflates Muslim with terrorism and seems to denigrate the sacrifice of the Khan's son in pursuit of scoring political points.
Many people have taken verbal pot shots at former President George W. Bush's War in Iraq. Grieving mother turned political activist Cindy Sheehen would often give the 43rd President an earful for the mess in Mesopotamia. But Bush would grieve with the families, silently take their verjuice and then make policy without attacking Gold Star families.
With Trump's continued attacks on the Khans, Gold Star Family organizations are clamoring for an apology from Trump. Thus Trump's thin-skin and instinct to always attack is alienating a segment of voters who would be likely to support him. Considering the way that Trump was booed by crowds in Denver after Trump denigrated General John Allen (who also spoke at the DNC) as a loser, maybe Trump doesn't think that he needs the military vote anyways.
Many establishment Republicans and anti-Hillary activists are trying to convince principled conservatives to give in and vote to Trump, because the alternative is so much worse. Maybe. But Trump is not making it easy to make that Hobson's choice. Trump continues to act impulsively, engaging his mouth before his brain, picking stupid fights and then doubling down, pursuing a short term strategy for momentary ratings. These are not hallmarks of leadership in America.
Stephen Hayes was spot on about Trump's failed pivot to normalcy. It is unbecoming of a leader. No wonder Hillary Clinton's campaign will now focus on how Trump is unfit for leading America. Now that the GOP nominated him, they are going to have to spend the next hundred days trying to minimize the damage from unpredictable, impolitic and sometimes untenable ejaculations from their nominee. Good luck.
One of the virtues which Manhattan mogul Donald Trump has capitalized upon to become the front-runner in the 2016 Republican Presidential race is a perception that the blustery billionaire "tells it like it is". Even Mark Cuban, who has had some public dust ups with the Donald, has praised Trump for giving honest answers instead of prepared answers.
Well, this straight shooting image has been impeached by a Trump Senior Aide as he wooed the RNC Rules Committee in Florida. Paul Manafort, Trump 2016's recently named Convention Manager, told the GOP party establishment that during Phase One of the campaign, Trump is projecting an image one stage to appeal to voters. But that his image will change and a softer-side will come out.
After Trump convincingly won the New York Primary, it seems that he thought that the Trump campaign tried to implement Phase Two with a revealing NBC Today Show Townhall, in which Trump vowed to raise taxes on the rich (including himself), change the RNC Pro Life platform to make exceptions (which would please his friends at Planned Parenthood) and Trump urged North Carolina to accept Transgenders Bathrooms (because it was hurting business and not a problem).
Towards the Transgender topic, there was a firestorm on social media, and Trump relented during another friendly interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity, in which Trump clarified that he believed in States' Rights. Perhaps they implemented Phase Two too soon. Such much for a candidate to tells it like it is and does not pander to anyone.
Trump supporters seem imbued with anger about the establishment and politicians lying to them. This probably explains Trump's mantra against "Lyin'" Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and the new sobriquet against "Crooked" Hillary Clinton (D-NY). Trump's flip flop on transgenders in bathrooms challenges his projected anti-politically correct image as well as the perception that he stands firm. Those mesmerized in the Trump cult probably will believe whatever Trump tells them today, but it plays poorly in expanding his base, particularly for the general election.
Thoughtful primary voters have wondered about Trump's pro-life conversion. Trump took three purportedly pro-life positions in one afternoon, including the modest proposal of punishing the aborting mother, sound like a pro-life parody from Planned Parenthood. It was bad enough that Trump settled on the status quo, but the Trump Today Townhall creates a loophole so large that it threatens abortion on demand until parturition. Pro Lifers probably were not already keen on Trump but his vacillation on an issue of monumental proportion for the last 44 years does not project an image of thoughtfulness or stability.
As for Paul Manafort, his claim to fame was helping wrangle up delegates for President Ford in the quasi-contested 1976 convention in Kansas City. Manafort seems to have pushed Corey Lewandowsky back to being Trump's body man (a role he relished regarding manhandling Michelle Fields). Manafort managed to keep Trump tame on social media for a fortnight and temporarily curtail insulting opponents.
But Manafort's style may be anachronistic. Forty years ago, it would have been easy to lobby the RNC's meeting without being noticed. But when there are diffuse information platforms which reach millions at the touch of a button, this pandering would not go unnoticed. Of course, smart phones make any off-the-record chats suspect. So Manafort's revelations were not to remain secret long.
Wooing waivering delegates may be more complicated than in the '76 campaign. If Trump needs to win more than two score of delegates for a first round victory, he does not have as much leeway as President Ford to shower favors on waivering support, as nice as golfing at Mar-a-Lago may be. Hugh Hewitt has pointed out Paul Manafort's relative dearth of twitter contacts. So who cares? Well, during a contested convention in an information age when a campaign may have to immediately reach out to 2474 delegates, not being Twitter savvy is a liability.
As Manafort joined the Trump organization, a desperate plea was sent out to allies in Washington to register to become delegates. Two problems with that missive. Firstly it was sent to Washington DC prospective delegates (which held its Caucus on March 12th) instead of Washington state. Secondly, the email was sent the day after the deadline. Oops.
While it is unclear how much input Manafort had on Trump's decision to spend $20 million between now and the California primary on June 7th, it seems like a spending strategy from yesteryear. As Jeb! learned in this cycle, dumping a ton of money with carpet bombing commercials may not nudge the needle up. Trump recently hired a California campaign point person two months before the crucial Golden State primary. Cruz has been working those fields for a year. So earned media from friendly sites (like Fox News, Breitbart and Drudge et ali) and profligate paid media may help grease the skids but it does nothing to Get Out the Vote via organization.
Not to mention Paul Manafort experience as being a Washington lobbyist, who has some uncomfortable Saudi, Pakistani and Russian mob connections. Lobbying for foreign interests may be lucrative and par for the course for established Washington insiders, but it runs counter to a Populist, anti-establishment "Throw the bums out" mantra to "Make America Great Again". Moreover, Manafort's cozying up to the GOP Establishment and claiming that Trump is just doing a schtick in Phase One of the campaign obliterates the aura of authenticity.
Manifort may be heralding Trump 2.0 but based on the recipe formulation, it may go over like New Coke, with customers yearning for "The Real Thing".
Fox News panelist and Weekly Standard writer Stephen Hayes chronicled several of the general election missteps in the immediate aftermath of the RNC in CLE. It is mind boggling that after a smooth convention in Cleveland that stressed party unity that Trump used a press conference the next day to revive the rumor that Senator Ted Cruz's father Rafael was involved in the conspiracies around the assassination of JFK in 1963 because it was published in the National Enquirer.
