Chuck Todd on Nutty Conspiracy Theories

Chuck Schumer Sends a Message about the Trump Presidency

Schumer's critique might be more credible if the Democrats did not slow roll nearly everything from the 45th President in the Senate. It is understandable that Democrats vote in lock-step for them on legislation, but demanding full debate on each and every Presidential appointee is the politics of obstruction.  Moreover, prior to the Inauguration, Schumer expressed willingness to work with the Trump Administration only if he abandoned all of his Republican colleagues, which Mr. Trump has not yet been willing to do.

But Chuck Schumer's tears may make a tasty mocktail in the West Wing and makes for compelling copy during friendly questioning with Chuck Todd on Meet the Press.

Is It Trump's Festivus?

Considering Donald Trump's Marketing Mentality

Trump on the Constitution, Suicide Pacts and Religious Liberty

As Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump (R-NY) pivoted on his GOP primary promise to ban Muslims from entering the US "until we know what the hell is going on", Trump made some interesting inferences on Meet the Press.  

Trump analogized that adherence to the Constitution is not a suicide pact. Despite Mr. Trump's extolling the Constitution is great, something which he loves and cherishes as he lives under it, there is a clear understanding that it can be suspended if it threatens the life of the nation.  While President Abraham Lincoln did effectively suspend parts of the Constitution (e.g. habeus corpus) during the Civil War, that was controversial in a war time environment and temporary.  To be charitable, Mr. Trump's incoherent articulation of how and why such a drastic measure could be invoked was not elucidated on Meet the Press. 

While aides to Donald Trump seem to have influenced their leader to modify the Muslim ban (which would have been unconstitutional), they failed to educate him on how zealous adherence to sharia law could be incompatible with the American Republic's pluralistic and secular rule of law.

Some might think that a territorial ban solves the problem of "immi-vasion".  But those who are jihadi inclined or zealous sharia proponents are not just coming from Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.  France, the United Kingdom and Germany had plenty of citizens who may have attitudes which mirror the ones who would be banned from a problemed territory approach.

What is disconcerting is Mr. Trump's blithe blather about cherishing the Constitution while laying the groundwork for super-ceding it.  Moreover, Mr. Trump's understanding of religious liberty seems to be confined to preaching politics from the pulpit, rather than living one's faith beyond the church doors. Trump may rightly be considered about sharia in America (and terror which seems to be attached with it through militant jihadists), crack downs on religious liberty might extend to other creeds either in fairness or judicial invoked equanimity

On Campaigns Circulating Sleaze

During the Easter weekend, there was sturm und drang over a racy National Enquirer hit piece on Republican Presidential hopeful Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) which alleged that he had five mistresses.  This was a curious charge as Cruz detractors had previously pushed perspectives that Cruz was an earnest evangelical political geek with no game.  Now we are to believe that Cruz was the ultimate player, juggling call girls, co-workers and teachers. Right (sarc).

If one looks more closely at the tabloid sensationalism on Cruz, there are some telltale signs of a political hit piece. The National Enquirer could not get any of the accusers to publicly step forward. However, the graphics showed five women with eyes blocked out.  One of the alleged victims outed by the National Enquirer was Katrina Pierson, the Trump national campaign spokesman.  Curiouser and curiouser.

Katrina Pierson did  work on Cruz' 2012 Senate campaign.  But Pierson developed a reputation of being an erratic spotlight seeker who had a grudge that the Texas Senator would not endorse Pierson in her bid to unseat Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX 32nd) in the 2014 primaries. Kind of convenient for an anti-Cruz activist to sidle herself with Trump and be exploited in an adulterous allegation.

Another supposed victim of Cruz's infidelity "cruising" based on National Enquirer photos is Amanda Carpenter, Cruz's former Senate Press Secretary and political pundit who supports Ted Cruz. There have been loads of libelous innuendo and accusations launched against Carpenter.  Carpenter eviscerated an on camera ambush by Trump surrogate Adriana Cohen on CNN. But that has not stopped Trump trolls on social media from smearing Carpenter.  It must be another isolated incident of spurious slut shaming by Trump types.

A third mythical mistress of Cruz was said to have ties to Carly Fionina's campaign and previously worked for Mitt Romney.  This allowed Trump-eteers to claim that Fiorina was bought off in a "sweetheart deal" and Fiorina's support was tainted. 

While Trump claims that he did not start this rumor but it was "little" Marco Rubio's henchmen, that isn't the whole story.  It's true that this Cruz affair allegation had been shopped to the media for months, no one bit because it was preposterous. Yet when Trump started sagging in the polls, Trump's good buddy National Enquirer CEO David Pecker, decided to push the piece.  Hence the Twitter hashtag #TrumpLovesPecker which went viral on Good Friday.

[L] GOP Presidential Hopeful Donald Trump [R] National Enquirer CEO David Pecker 

Trump tried his modus operendi of being the paralepsis politician who brings up scandal allegations by others and hopes that they are not true, while simultaneously spotlighting the smear.  This time, the lamestream media, who have been pandering to the Trump chaos circus for huge ratings and picking a weak GOP nominee, isn't playing along like normal.  Meet the Press host Chuck Todd noted that Trump seemed more likely to have planted the story than any truth to the charge on Cruz.

What is really curious that Trump types seize upon infidelity allegations against Cruz when their dear leader has bragged about his many affairs with married women as well as his misogynistic musings. 

Some Trump supporters  have bragged about how Trump will redefine culture.  This is manifest in championing political incorrectness and political pugnaciousness. But the attempted troll party takeover of the GOP seems to be more than just about anger and animus against progressivism. There are overtones of the politics of personal destruction and intimidation against opponents. Celebrating campaigns circulating sleeze is seeking power without principle and it epitomizes much of what is objectionable about Trump's campaign.

Dr. Ben Carson Equates Abortion Attitudes to Slavery

As Dr. Ben Carson was surging to the top of national political polls for Republican primary preferences, he was interviewed on Meet the Press by Chuck Todd.  Dr. Carson dared to gently touch a third rail of politics, by comparing attitudes about abortion to slavery in antebellum America.

These viewpoints are nothing new, as he stated them publicly a couple of years ago at the Value Voters Summit.  What is notable is that Carson was not popularly pleasing an evangelical crowd but standing firm to his values with a soft spoken voice as the general populace gives his candidacy scrutiny.

Dr. Carson's strong pro-life values are in contract with Donald Trump's evolutionary anti-abortion ethos.  In 1999, when Trump was reading himself for a presidential run through the Reform Party, he declared that he was "very pro choice".  As he toyed with a run for the Republican Presidential nomination for the 2012 cycle, Trump told CPAC 2011 that he was pro-life.  In the 2016 primary campaign, Trump claimed that he was pro-life because of personal friends testimony during a primary debate.  Later, Trump clarified that he believed in abortion  in cases of rape incest and the health of the mother (which is little different than current late term abortion loopholes).  Maybe if Trump repeats that mantra often enough, like "I'm a Presbyterian" his followers will be believe it.

As Planned Parenthood funding continues to be under assault, it is likely that the Lamestream Media will spin Dr. Carson's principled comparison to an outrageous "War on Women" meme. But at least we know where Carson stands and based on his history doing neo-natal pediatric brain surgery, he has credibility for his strong stance.