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[jlemonsk]

Donald Trump on Waste

Donald Trump loves to go on Twitter and talk about waste. It is usually, but not always, in reference to some “loser” wasting time and/or money. Here is a list of some of the things that Trump finds wasteful:

10/31/15: Gov. John Kasich’s time and money on the campaign trail. Wasting time & money!

10/31/15: Going on John Oliver’s “very boring and low rated show.” Waste of time & energy!

10/7/15: Stuart Stevens’ book, assuming it “as bad as his horrible political advice to Mitt Romney.” Waste of money.

9/1/15: The Club for Growth, who made the “crazy request” of Trump for a million dollars. Waste of money.

8/8/15: “‘Politically correct’ fools in our country.”  Waste of time and energy on nonsense!

7/23/15: Being on Anderson Cooper’s show and talking to “really stupid talking heads likeTim O’Brien-dumb guy with no clue!” Waste of time.

7/22/15: “Dopey writer O’brian” going on Anderson Cooper to talk about Trump or his wealth. A general waste.

4/27/15: “These politicians and political clowns” when they say they can “save Israel.” Addressed specifically to Sheldon Adelson, waste of your time.

4/17/15: George Will getting being on tv. “He’s exhausted, boring and not even a little relevant!” Addressed specifically to Bret Baier, waste of good air-time!

2/10/15: David Axelrod trying to “sell his third rate book.” Addressed specifically to Bill O’Reilly for having him on the air: a general waste.

10/16/14: Russell Brand, in general. Addressed specifically to Katy Perry on marrying the “loser”: a general waste.

10/13/14: Reading Vicky Ward’s “poorly written & very boring book on the General Motors Building. Waste of time.

10/7/14: Real estate taxes are “far too high” in Briar Cliff Manor, Westchester. Waste of money.

Arming Syrian ‘rebels’ when we have “millions in our country unemployed.” Waste of money.

7/11/14: Aid to Mexico. Waste of money.

7/14/14: The Iraq war. Terrible waste of lives and money.

7/12/14: The Iraq war. Should “take the OIL or get out fast!” Waste of lives and money.

5/16/14: NobamaCare.” “Never will work and can’t work.” Waste of time and energy (“except that it is hurting people (& economy)).

4/4/14: Letting Michael Smerconish on air. “Jeff Zucker must be losing his touch!” Waste of time and money.

3/31/15: Windmills. Waste of money, time and other resources.

2/5/14: Dealing with global warming “ and so many other truly “STUPID” things.” Should “focus on lower taxes.” Waste of money.

12/27/13: Being late or unprepared. Waste of time.

12/18/13: Feeling sorry for yourself. Waste of time.

12/13/13: Focusing on the “global warming con” when “it’s snowing in Isreal (sic) and on the pyramids in Egypt.” Waste of money.

10/22/13: Using the ObamaCare website. Waste of time.

9/5/13: The Iraq war. Waste of blood & treasure.

9/2/13: Anthony Weiner’s run for mayor. Waste of money & time-go get a job!

8/26/13: Suing Trump. Waste of money.

8/20/13: Karl Rove being on TV. Waste of airtime.

7/24/13: Trolls on Twitter (!!!). Waste of time and energy!

7/18/13: Non-binding resolutions about ObamaCare (as opposed to “actually defund”ing it). Waste of time.

7/17/13: Feeling sorry for yourself. Waste of energy.

7/9/13: Karl Rove trying to “push amnesty through the House.” Waste of money.

7/1/13: Amnesty for illegals and spending money “in Africa.” Waste of money.

6/30/13: Obama traveling to Africa. Waste of taxpayers money!

6/28/13: Wind turbines. A general waste.

4/26/13: The Iraq war. “China is taking all the oil.” A general waste.

4/25/13: Twitter haters & losers. Waste of time.

3/19/13: Mark Cuban. Waste of time.

3/19/13: The Iraq war. “That country is falling apart… (and I told you so!).” Waste of lives and money.

3/13/13: Not doing your homework or poor planning. Waste of other people’s time.

2/26/13: Karl Rove being on TV. “Why does Bill O’Reilly keep putting” him on his show. Waste of time.

1/24/13: Wind farms. A general waste.

1/14/13: Agreeing with President Obama (!!!) about Afghanistan. Waste of money.

1/11/13: Afghanistan. Waste of billions and troops.

11/5/12: Voting for Governor Gary Johnson. It’s like “voting for Obama.” Waste of a vote.

10/11/12: Report on Lance Armstrong. Waste of taxpayer money.

10/9/12: Greece being on the euro instead of their own currency. Waste of time.

10/2/12: Solar energy. Waste of money.

9/12/12: The Pentagon “going ‘green’”. Should be using the “best & easiest fuel for our military.” Waste of money.

8/23/12: Solyndra. Waste of money.

8/21/12: Afghanistan. A complete waste.

9/29/11: Meeting with Jon Huntsman. Waste of time.

Footnote: I tried to capture all typos in quotes perfectly. Might have missed a few because my spell checker is a bit too smart for my subject. When Israel is misspelled, it’s not on my end. Thanks for your understanding.

For a full list, check out Trump talking about waste in his own words.

[jlemonsk]

Though inadvertent, Trey Gowdy went on Meet The Press and ultimately spoke truth about the Benghazi hearings.

Congressman Trey Gowdy (R-SC), Chairman of the House Select Committee on Benghazi, went on Meet the Press to discuss Hillary Clinton’s testimony.

At one point, he admitted that the hearing’s “penultimate objective is to avoid the next Benghazi.”

Which sounds good. Except penultimate doesn’t mean final—it means second-to-last. So either Gowdy misused the word or he admitted something much more ominous. Which do you think it is?

[jlemonsk]

WORT-FM is the Best!

I am a long-time listener/supporter/fan of wortfm, a listener-supported, Madison-based radio station that has been on-the-air and commercial free since 1975.

This past Friday, they found a way for me to love them even more.

I was listening to Muddy Acres, as I do pretty much every Friday. ‘Friend and neighbor’ Chris Powers announced that he was giving away tickets to see Larry Keel at the Stoughton Opera House to the third caller. I’m a long-time fan of Keel and the Stoughton Opera House would be a magnificent theater to get to see him, so naturally I grabbed my phone.

It rang 7 or 8 times before sending me to a voicemail, which politely informed me that all representatives were currently busy. I hung up and tried again. A few rings in, I got someone on the phone. I asked if I was the 3rd caller and they informed me that I was not. Oh well.

A few minutes later my phone rang—I recognized WORT on the caller ID. I answered. They asked if I had just tried to call in to win Larry Keel tickets. I said I had. The person on the other end excitedly yelled: congratulations!

Not sure if the original winner decided they weren’t available, or if another set of tickets emerged, but I’m going to see Larry Keel at the Stoughton Opera House! And WORT showed me that it was in fact possible to love them more.

Hope to see you at the show.

[jlemonsk]

Trump’s Role in the Debate

I was once asked by a political campaign to help their candidate with debate prep. Along with my candidate, there were several very intelligent, articulate and qualified candidates running. And then there was Robert (not his real name). That’s where I came in.

Robert was a one-issue candidate. He did not have a website, a Social Media presence, a staff or a platform. What he did have was a single economic idea, though it was not particularly well-thought out, specific or even implementable, given the powers of the office he was seeking. He also had a penchant for the bizarre.

He had run for numerous offices in the past, never making a dent in the polling or the final vote tally. But he had secured enough signatures to run this time around, and he was going to be in the debates.

My campaign had a problem. How do you prep for a debate—a real debate against smart and competent opponents—while also preparing for the crazy that Robert was sure to bring to the table?

The answer: they asked me to put on my best crazy hat and do my damnedest to throw the candidate off.

I watched every tape I could find of Robert, I transcribed long, rambling speeches and statements, I scoured the internet for his musings, and in the end, I played Robert throughout the debate prep process, in all his oddness and glory.

In keeping to form, I alternated wildly between silent and verbose, between deferential and outright rude. No matter what the question, I pivoted to my single idea. It didn’t matter if the subject was gay marriage, taxes or education, I was going to talk about one thing: my idea.

Throughout prep, I went out of my way to ensure that the candidate could never know what to expect. At times I sided with him, forcing him into a corner by appearing to be an ally (remember when Brandi Maxxxx, the local Pawnee porn star, kept pulling that on Leslie Knope during her city council debates?). At times I spoke almost literal nonsense (often directly from statements Robert had given in previous speeches or debates). At other times, I belittled the candidate in a way that was uncomfortable for everyone in the room. But it was my job. No angle—however hostile or awkward—was left unexplored.

In the end, the campaign decided that there was little choice but to ignore Robert, no matter what he said or did. When it was time for the real debates, this helped keep my candidate’s performance steady, even as the evenings invariably took strange turns.

Robert was polling at less than 1%. But he had the time to stand in front of grocery stores and gas stations collecting signatures from people who just didn’t care enough to say no. This had secured him a place on the ballot, and thus a spot in the debates.

What if, instead of preparing to debate Robert, the campaign had needed to prepare to debate a world famous celebrity, one worth TEN BILLION DOLLARS? What if this celebrity’s primary issue excited the base and any disrespect shown to him—whether through disagreement or sidelining—was an affront that he would never ignore or forgive? What if it was all but guaranteed that the stories written about the debate the next day would inevitably be about him, and how every one else had interacted with him?

Well, I’m not sure what the strategy would be then. I just know I wouldn’t want to be an adviser to Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker or anyone else preparing for a debate with someone like that.

The point is, Robert should never have been in the debates. He took up precious time. He meant well, certainly, but he lowered the level of discourse. No matter what the topic, he made the conversation less thoughtful and nuanced. In the lead up to this week’s Fox News debate, I have been thinking a lot about Robert.  

Donald Trump has a website, a Social Media presence, a staff and a platform (sort of). Mostly he just has money. A lot of money.

But for Trump, every issue is black and white. People who don’t agree with him are “dummies” or “losers.” He has ideas, but no plans (Mexico isn’t going to pay for the wall, and he can’t bring jobs back to America when he doesn’t even produce his own goods here). He talks ad nauseam about “the Mexicans,” “the Chinese” and “the Saudis.” He tells us constantly how they’re beating us, that he likes them, that he sells them condos. It’s an endless repeat. There’s no statistics or facts, there isn’t even really a proposal.

He wrote the Art of the Deal. He’s worth a lot of money. He’s loved by many people. These refrains seem to be the heart of his campaign.

How is the GOP going to have an honest debate about the particulars of the Iran Deal when Donald Trump is taking all the oxygen from the stage simply repeating the fact that that he is the world’s best negotiator, so of course he could have done it better.

When they talk about immigration, he’ll talk about building a wall. How can Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio hope to discuss real plans?

He loves the vets and he’s going to be the best President there has ever been to them. I support that 100%. But what does that mean? How can Scott Walker articulate a proposal to fix the VA while Trump is controlling the conversation simply by being angry about it.

Elections are hard. They take passion. But they’re also about ideas.

Donald Trump has passion, but he doesn’t seem to have any real ideas. What he does have is our attention. And come Thursday, he is going to be on stage, ensuring that the Republicans vying for their party’s nomination don’t actually talk about anything.

Even Robert is out there somewhere, yelling at his television, wondering what the hell Donald is talking about.

Follow me on Twitter @jlemonsk

[jlemonsk]

Keeping Donald Trump From the Debates (In A Way That Grover Norquist Would Approve)

In a few days, 10 lucky GOPers are going to take the stage for the first debate of the 2016 election cycle. Unfortunately, there are quite a few more GOP candidates then there are podiums on the Fox News stage.

Seven contestants will not be offered the chance to stand up publicly, in order to rail against Obamacare, the Iran Deal, immigrants and whatever might be the scandal de jour. (The media? Planned Parenthood? Cecil the Lion?)

Slate has compiled a comprehensive guide to who is in, who is out, and who has their fingers crossed that they can make the cut-off for participation. Of those who are “nervous” down to those who would need a miracle, we have four current or past governors, two current or past senators and the only woman running for the Republican nomination (Carly Fiorina). Also, the only two candidates vying for the seat with military experience (Senator Lindsey Graham and Governor Rick Perry).

Here is what is clear: 10 men will participate in the debate. Enjoying the platform, front and center, will be the manliest man around: Donald Trump. He’s polling significantly higher than his next nearest opponent. In a crowded field, he has managed to control all of the oxygen in the race.

Many in the GOP—both amongst his opponents and within the leadership—think he’s a “distraction,” and that he shouldn’t be in the debates at all. But they don’t have the final say. Or really any say.

Fox is hosting the first debate, and they seem to have tried to create hurdles intended to keep Trump from participating. First there were the polling requirements. He flew past those. Then there was the requirement that in order to qualify, candidates first had to file “all necessary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission.” Many thought that Trump would refuse to file his personal financial disclosure and thus be kept out of the game on a technicality. Wrong! He submitted his paperwork. Included with it was this little gem: “As of this date, Mr. Trump’s net worth is in excess of TEN BILLIONS DOLLARS” (emphasis his!).

At a Republican Governors Association just last week, there was an idea floated “to urge three leading candidates — Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor; Mr. Walker; and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida — to band together and state that they would not participate in any debate in which Mr. Trump was present.” Obviously, this isn’t happening.

So that’s that. He has done everything right, he has pushed past all obstacles, and now he’ll get to take his place, front and center, in the first debate.

But here’s a thought. Republicans LOVE pledges. From the Pledge to America to their literal pledge not to raise taxes, from a pledge to oppose any bill funding Planned Parenthood to RNC Chairman Reince Priebus declaring this week that all candidates should pledge that they won’t make a third party run.

This third-party run exclusion pledge could be relevant to the debate debacle. Donald Trump has played particularly coy about the possibility that if he can’t run as a Republican, he’s not ruling out running as an Independent. Here’s the quote:

“I’ll have to see how I’m being treated by the Republicans. [If] they’re not fair, that would be a factor.”

Since then, he’s backtracked a bit on the idea. But it seems it will really all come down to him deciding whether or not he has been offended. And Donald Trump is easily offended.

So here’s the idea: make eligibility for the first debate contingent on signing a pledge not to run as a third party candidate.

Would it be binding? Of course not, nor is Grover Norquist’s pledge not to raise taxes. But it is still damn effective. Should Trump decide to run as an Independent, after signing a pledge that he wouldn’t, it would certainly be a cudgel in the pockets of the GOP leadership as they strive to convince his base that their guy (or Carly!) is more suited to the job than Hillary (or Bernie!?).

Whatever happens, it’s pretty clear that debate night is going to be a celebration… for the democrats.

Follow me on Twitter @jlemonsk