Friday, August 7, 2015

Donald, Please Run as an Independent!



Donald Trump has the Republican Party and the presidential candidates by the part of the male anatomy located below the belt.  Thursday night during the debate, The Donald was asked if he was not the Republican nominee for President, would he take a vow not to run as a third party candidate.  He declined to commit.  Everyone knows, even The Donald knows, that if he runs as an Independent, it will assure the Democrats win the presidency. 

In other words, Trump is trying to bully and blackmail his way to the White House so he can paint it gold and write TRUMP across the top.  Trump is saying quite boldly, “If you say or do anything to hurt my chances of ruling the free world, I will make sure the Republican Party is a laughing stock in this country.”  Either way, the Republicans are between a rock and hard place.  If Donald Trump is the nominee, Republicans lose.  If he is a third party candidate, the loss for the Republicans will be devastating.

I wish I cold be a fly on the wall at the Republican National Headquarters.  Reince Prebius, Chairman of the Republican Party is staring at all the unused “talking points” memos. The candidates are reacting in their own way. He shouts,  “It’s my job to tell you what to say! You can’t call women pigs. You can’t call all Mexicans rapists,.   You can’t say that a former POW is not a hero.   Prebius is on the phone with his boss, Roger Ailes, President of Fox News.  “I thought you said you would finish him off in your Fox News Primary!”  But The Donald is an energizer bunny.  He beats his own drum and never stops.

While watching the second tier debate (the kids table), I was struck by how mean and caustic the candidates were, especially Carly Fiorna.  They knew they had to “break out”.  They knew they had to do something to attract attention.  So, they used the old trick of saying something with such force and authority that people would believe them.  Carly Fiorna is at the bottom of the polls in the Republican field of 17 candidates.  She has a lot of men to beat before she gets her chance at Hillary Clinton.   Yet, she spent her time in the debate, not differentiating herself from the 16 men, but by doing a hatchet job on Hillary. Why?  It was a rehearsal for the Republican nomination for Vice-President. Who better to cut a woman up than another woman?

This presidential primary is unprecedented in many ways.  From the sheer number of candidates to the amount of money being raised, we’ve never seen anything quite like it in American politics.   Due to the Citizen’s United ruling from the Supreme Court, candidates are running around trying to find a “Billionaire” to finance their campaign.  That way, they won’t have to bother with mere millionaires and smaller donors.  For instance, 95% of Ted Cruz’ 38 million in contributions came from 4 donors. 

One reason the Republican Party does not know what to do with Trump is because Trump does not have a billionaire to order him around. That’s ‘cause “He ARE one!”  During the debate, Donald Trump bragged that when he gives his money to a candidate, he expects them to do what he says, when he says it.  He even went so far as to say, “They do it!”  I’m sure the more the donor gives, the more they can ask for in return.  Of course we already knew that, but we have always ignored or denied that’s the way our political system works.  It stung me when I heard the truth expressed so unabashedly.

I would like to take this opportunity to say farewell to someone I’ve never met but feel he is my friend. I have spent untold hours laughing and learning from him.  He is irreplaceable in my life.  I am speaking of  Jon Stewart who left Comedy Central’s Daily Show last Thursday after sixteen years.  Now I have to re-adjust my entire daily routine.  I have nothing to look forward to at 11:00 p.m. each night.  I may be forced to go to bed earlier, like a normal, non-retired human.

Marilyn Langford

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