Hot Tempered Hustings

During the Miami Republican Presidential Debate, Donald Trump was asked about violence associated with some of his campaign appearances.  Trump deflected any responsibility for rowdiness at rallies. However, Trump seemed to justify supporters "swinging back" at political protesters at his events.

These assertions come at the heels of an assault alleged by Breitbart News reporter Michelle Fields by Trump spokesman Corey Lewendowski.   Breitbart News corporately refused to stand by their conservative reporter concerning the Trump spokesman incident.  And Trump social media warriors sought to savage the credibility of Fields. But CSPAN videotape documents Lewindowski's thuggery. 

The Breitbart News' lackluster support of Fields prompted Breitbart News spokesman Kurt Bardela to resign.   Bardella blames an ugly cycle of behavior which seems to follow the Trump campaign and Breitbart News seems to minimize. It should be noted that some Breitbart News staffers think that an infusion of cash during the summer of 2015 might pay for favorable coverage of the Trump campaign.

Another Trump rally in North Carolina was infamous for a Trump supporter sucker punching a protester as he was being escorted from the venue.

 

The 78 year old assailant later was quoted as saying: "The next time we see him, we might have to kill him. We don't know who he is, he might be with a terrorist organization." He has been charged and given a $25,000 bond.

A Trump rally at the University of Illinois- Chicago had to be cancelled for security reasons because of a riotous atmosphere. As is typical in campaigns, Trump issued far too many tickets, leaving a bunch of supporters out on the streets.  There were protesters outside the venue. But a number of Black Lives Matter activists and Bernie Sanders partisans agitated inside the event causing chaos.

Although Trump did not get the optics of a mass rally in the Windy City, Fox News Channel gave Trump a friendly twenty minute phone interview while airing the chaos on the streets and the hall. Trump claimed that everyone was angry about no jobs, despite indications that protesters were socialists and social justice agitators.

Much to Trump's credit, he spoke in calming tones and did not further insult the opposition. But Trump spokesperson Katrina Pierson followed by claiming these were examples of Alinsky-like tactics and giving justification to push back on organized chaos.

 While Trump should not be held accountable for the actions of every crazy supporter, he sets the tone for the campaign.  New Trump surrogate Dr. Ben Carson vexed that it might be a long hot summer. As seems that such anarchy and unrest only seems to be attaching to Trump's campaign, these hot tempered hustings and mixed messages may eventually boil over into violence, which  sullies the  American political hot stove. 

Ben Carson on Trickle Down Ethics

Trump Confuses Obama with Carson

According to Politico,  Republican Presidential hopeful Donald Trump repeatedly confused the names of Dr. Ben Carson with President Barack Obama while at a South Carolina rally.

Trump echoed a favorite attack which supposedly champions Ben Carson's case that he was "cheated" by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) in the Iowa Caucuses.  However, in this instance, he kept inserting the name Obama.

Trump's crowd corrected him and this one one time that the Donald did not double down on a mistake and he quickly corrected himself on the stump, yet the Manhattan mogul slipped up again.

In the swing of the primary fight, campaigning for President is exhausting. It is understandable that one might make a verbal miscue, especially with names that sound alike.  Even former Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) would interpolate Obama's name with Osama bin Laden, despite his eventual strong support of  Obama's Presidential campaign.. But such a faux pas is  premised on a something that seem alike--by sound, character or sight.

How on earth could Trump associate Barack Obama with Dr. Ben Carson? That's a yuuyge (sic) mistake. It seems that Carson has made quite an impression on his newest, best buddy Donald Trump.

Grand Old Party Debate Drinking Diversions

Puckish political junkies who are not working a spin room for their boss can take the opportunity like a Presidential Debate to create a spin room of their own with Debate Drinking games. 

The third Republican Debate in Bolder Colorado is being hosted by CNBC.

Although skilled candidates will answer the questions they want, not what is asked, this debate is supposed to be about economic issues, so old GOP Debate Drinking Game Cards may not suffice.

The wags at Reason.tv created a viral video celebrating Republican Debate inspired cocktails. 



Should some think that their satire was too sharp, they did the same thing for the Democrat debate. Too bad that the Joe Biden concoction never caught on.

But don't forget about the Trumptini as much of the electorate has already forgotten its originator. 

It is likely that RINOs are Winos but they are closet drinkers at this point of the primary process, unless it is at a Cocktail Party on Capitol Hill. 

No doubt that most of these mocktails would be more savory to the GOP than the Bull Moose Cocktail.

N.B. As Ben Carson is Seventh Day Adventist, he abstains from alcohol so his mocktail should not consist of absinthe but be made of absent. 

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. 

Dr. Ben Carson on Secular Progressives

Dr. Ben Carson: "I used to be a flaming liberal"

Dr. Ben Carson gave a revealing interview with Genevieve Wood of the Daily Signal.

h/t: Daily Signal

Dr. Ben Carson on the Charleston Church Shooting

Dr. Ben Carson on the Baltimore Riots

The video of the unidentified other who saw her son rioting in the streets of Baltimore then chased him down and slapped him upside of the head was emblematic.

Dr. Ben Carson's Cultural Crusade Seems to Trump Campaign Success

Dr. Ben Carson, the inchoate Republican presidential candidate, is proud that he is not the typical politician.  His cultural comments prior to formally announcing his candidacy underscore that point.  

Carson got into trouble in March when conducting as he announced his Exploratory Committee during an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo on whether homosexuality is a choice. Dr. Carson cited the prison gay phenomenon.  That's provocative for a pundit but foolish for a Presidential candidate, as the topic is outside the bounds of the Executive Branch and is rife for ridicule.

Dr. Carson is continuing his social commentary.  During an appearance on a black oriented radio station, Dr. Carson condemned hip hop culture as turning away from traditional values which had helped African-Americans endure slavery, Jim Crow laws and the scourge of segregation.  When pressed on the pronouncement, Carson clarified that he condemned the hip hop community which dismisses anything to do with Jesus Christ.  

Hip Hop with a bowed head is hard to imagine, as the genre projects raw energy of anger and a spirit of escalation. The recent remake of Annie  (2014) which was produced by Will Smith has been criticized for bringing hip hop's materialistic ethos to the silver screen. But Dr. Carson's  broad condemnation of the hip hop community can be aptly be challenged by pointing to a breakout hit early in Kanye West's career "Jesus Walks" in which the lyrics cautiously seek God's wisdom in dealing with urban issues in a seedy secular society.

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Weighing the pros and cons of hip hop is an interesting if inflammatory discussion point, but it is peripheral in discerning who should occupy the Oval Office for four years.

Then Ben Carson wrote penned an op/ed for the Washington Post's spring cleaning series boldly standing against selfies.  For a serious candidate, such a piece could be construed as humanizing or more cynically as a way to garner earned media. However, with Carson's string of peripheral points, he is losing his credibility of being a thoughtful, soft spoken voice.

Many Christian conservatives pined for Dr. Carson to represent them.  His media over the past month seem to be pivoting more towards social commentary rather than a religious appeal. It is frustrating to see an appealing candidate marginalize himself by continually straying into social commentary in the proto-campaign rather than build a solid foundation to construct a political platform for the primaries.  From this political animal's vantage point, considering faith and hip hop culture or lamenting about narcissism of selfies are not the way accomplish that objective.

Dr. Ben Carson on America as a Judeo-Christian Nation

Dr. Ben Carson on Benghazi

In a wide ranging interview with World Net Daily, Dr. Ben Carson expresses the hope that Americans will save their constitutional Republic by rising  above the distractions and educate themselves so as not to be so easily manipulated. 

 Otherwise, we risk living in a pre-fascist or pre-revolutionary state where warring factions stop communicating with each other. The chaos which ensues when conflict begins leads the masses to beg for authority to take charge, which surrenders our personal liberty. 

 h/t: World Net Daily