US Election: 2016

[CountDC]

It is both scary and funny to think of Trump as president.

At least he is making it interesting rather than just being politically correct. 

Soooo - how do I escape to the states?  OUTCAN didn't work.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

It is both scary and funny to think of Trump as president.

At least he is making it interesting rather than just being politically correct. 

Soooo - how do I escape to the states?  OUTCAN didn't work.

Become a professional comedian. All the funny people in the US are Canadian ;D

 

[Bird_Gunner45]

Ahhhh, there it is. if you don't agree with me, you are racist and a xenophobe. Kinda like invoking Godwin into a discussion. :

No, but have you listened to Trump? The man is an idiot. I vote conservative but am tired of mouth breathers like him saying stupid things about banning Muslim immigration, building a wall between Mexico and the US, and all of the other non sense he spouts.

They make conservatives look uneducated, which we all aren't and amplify all the worst aspects of conservatism without adding any value.

The counter argument you offer is getting old too. If Trump says xenophobic, racist, and generally stupid things than that makes him xenophobic,  racist, and stupid. If ypu have am argument to actually counter that he isn't than we can debate that.

The more people like Trump stay in the limelight the more you guarantee a democratic victory in the US and liberal victory in Canada.

 

[Bird_Gunner45]

Ahhhh, there it is. if you don't agree with me, you are racist and a xenophobe. Kinda like invoking Godwin into a discussion. :

Here's a gallery of racist quotes against blacks only for you to start your defense of him not being a racist. My favourite is that laziness is a trait in blacks. It really speaks to his understanding of racial dynamics and institutional racism.  Time to move to the US just to vote for this guy....

http://gawker.com/the-collected-quotes-of-donald-trump-on-the-blacks-1719961925

 

[PuckChaser]

Only 1 of those quotes is racist. First one is highlighting the obviousness of affirmative action policies. "You're Fired" is racist? Come on.

 

[Bird_Gunner45]

Only 1 of those quotes is racist. First one is highlighting the obviousness of affirmative action policies. "You're Fired" is racist? Come on.

Debateable,  but how many blatantly racost things do you need to say yo be a racist? This doesn't even include his comments on Mexicans. 

I don't get the "you're fired" thing either...

 

[CountDC]

No, but have you listened to Trump? The man is an idiot. I vote conservative but am tired of mouth breathers like him saying stupid things about banning Muslim immigration,

In the context of events in the world of today saying he would ban muslim immigration on its own is not racist as it has been portrayed.  Call it over reaction to a security concern if you want.  Now if he also includes removal of all muslims already in the country living a normal life like any other american then you have a case for racism. 

I agree with PuckChaser that there is only one of the quotes that is "racist against black" and note that is your term not the articles writers. 

 

[PuckChaser]

He's an older guy without a filter. The appealing part about Donald Trump, and what I suspect is drawing a lot of support to him, is that he's not owned by anyone. No one is financing his campaign, he doesn't follow any special interest groups, he just wants (in his mind), what's best for America. He's finally a true anti-politician, who can finance his own campaign and rage against the political correctness that plagues politicians.

I don't agree with a lot of things he's saying, but its a different culture in the US. You need to read between the lines. His comments ref: Mexicans are just an extension of the frustration from illegal border crossings, and Obama policies allowing those illegal aliens to be forgiven for that crime. Same thing with the Muslims. He's expressing the frustration, and throwing wild ideas out there to try to stem the tide of Islamic extremist attacks. No one else is doing anything other than blaming guns, he's at least "brainstorming out loud" and trying to get the public to talk about it. He's not afraid of being called a racist, because that's how the Left likes to shut down debates. Look no further than CBC removing its comments on First Nations issues: Any dissent to question our policies is racist, therefore all comments were racist and needed to be shut down.

 

[Bird_Gunner45]

He's an older guy without a filter. The appealing part about Donald Trump, and what I suspect is drawing a lot of support to him, is that he's not owned by anyone. No one is financing his campaign, he doesn't follow any special interest groups, he just wants (in his mind), what's best for America. He's finally a true anti-politician, who can finance his own campaign and rage against the political correctness that plagues politicians.

I don't agree with a lot of things he's saying, but its a different culture in the US. You need to read between the lines. His comments ref: Mexicans are just an extension of the frustration from illegal border crossings, and Obama policies allowing those illegal aliens to be forgiven for that crime. Same thing with the Muslims. He's expressing the frustration, and throwing wild ideas out there to try to stem the tide of Islamic extremist attacks. No one else is doing anything other than blaming guns, he's at least "brainstorming out loud" and trying to get the public to talk about it. He's not afraid of being called a racist, because that's how the Left likes to shut down debates. Look no further than CBC removing its comments on First Nations issues: Any dissent to question our policies is racist, therefore all comments were racist and needed to be shut down.

I understand what you're saying about things like the CBC and agree. Questioning race politics is not in itself a bad thing.... I just believe that Trump calling Mexicans rapists and saying blacks are lazy is legitimately racist.

North America needs to continue to debate immigration laws, the war on terrorism, etc but it needs to be done in rational ways. Grouping all Muslims together, for example, when the Muslim world is massive and diversified, shows a lack of education/understanding and detracts from any argument that the person may have had. Shutting down honest debate, a la CBC, is just as bad.

I guess I just wish the right could find a well spoken person to express my beliefs of individual freedom, financial prudence, and a focus on equality of opportunity vice equality of outcome. Instead, "we" get the Trumps of the world. Shouldn't conservatives demand better? THAT'S my issue.

 

[Jed]

I understand what you're saying about things like the CBC and agree. Questioning race politics is not in itself a bad thing.... I just believe that Trump calling Mexicans rapists and saying blacks are lazy is legitimately racist.

North America needs to continue to debate immigration laws, the war on terrorism, etc but it needs to be done in rational ways. Grouping all Muslims together, for example, when the Muslim world is massive and diversified, shows a lack of education/understanding and detracts from any argument that the person may have had. Shutting down honest debate, a la CBC, is just as bad.

I guess I just wish the right could find a well spoken person to express my beliefs of individual freedom, financial prudence, and a focus on equality of opportunity vice equality of outcome. Instead, "we" get the Trumps of the world. Shouldn't conservatives demand better? THAT'S my issue.

That is my issue as well.  Difficult to find these types of individuals when the Mainstream Media is stacked against you.

 

[Kilo_302]

In the context of events in the world of today saying he would ban muslim immigration on its own is not racist as it has been portrayed.  Call it over reaction to a security concern if you want.  Now if he also includes removal of all muslims already in the country living a normal life like any other american then you have a case for racism. 

I agree with PuckChaser that there is only one of the quotes that is "racist against black" and note that is your term not the articles writers.

Trump is either racist himself, or cynically using these issues to draw support from the fringe right. And somehow you're defending the man while quoting Hendrix in your signature. Cognitive dissonance and the right go hand in hand like, well racism and the right.

 

[Bird_Gunner45]

Trump is either racist himself, or cynically using these issues to draw support from the fringe right. And somehow you're defending the man while quoting Hendrix in your signature. Cognitive dissonance and the right go hand in hand like, well racism and the right.

Donald Trump is a moron, full stop. Donald Trump represents the entire political right no more than Elizabeth May represents the entire left.

This comment shows all the narrow minded characteristics of Trump. Congratulations

 

[GAP]

Gee....I don't know.....May comes close......

 

[CougarKing]

Vancouverites just won't let the "Trump tower" controversy go...

Vancity Buzz

60% of Vancouverites want to dump Trump from tower name
By
Jill Slattery
9:39 AM PST, Fri December 18, 2015

Canadians’ views on Donald Trump’s run for the Republican Presidential candidate are becoming a hot topic north of the 49th parallel, mostly due to two contentious towers in Vancouver and Toronto baring Trump’s name.

A recent poll by Angus Reid has found that over half of Canadians think these towers should lose the Trump branding, a sentiment largely spurred by the business-tycoon’s controversial proposal to ban all Muslims from entering the United States.

A statement issued by Trump on December 7 called for a “total and complete shutdown” of Muslims entering the U.S. until the government can identify “what is going on” in relation to the “horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad”. While his comments were applauded by some for bringing politically incorrect issues into the forefront, many were appalled at Trump’s generalizations.

Included in that group are two-thirds (67%) of Canadians who disagree with Trump’s statement and agree his beliefs are “bad for society”, according to Angus Reid. Nearly half disagree “strongly”. Some 37% of people agree with Trump’s argument “because he’s bringing ‘politically incorrect’ topics into public discourse”.

In Vancouver, where the Trump Tower is within months of completion, a majority 60% believe his name should be removed from the skyline, including such heavy-hitters as Mayor Gregor Robertson and Premier Christy Clark. The Premier stayed somewhat mum on her opinion, but revealed that she didn’t think it was “good business” to have the Trump brand around.

But Robertson was much more bold on the issue.

In a letter addressed to president and CEO of Holborn Group, the developer of Vancouver’s Trump Tower,  Joo Kim Tiah, Mayor Robertson blasted Trump for his “hateful positions and commentary,” and says his brand has no place in Vancouver.

“As Mayor, I’m proud that Vancouver is known throughout the world for our steadfast commitment to diversity, equality, and freedom from discrimination and hatred. Vancouver is enriched by that diversity,and being a city where people can live and thrive regardless of their gender, sexuality, faith, or ethnicity,” reads the letter.

“In contrast, Donald Trump’s hateful positions and commentary remind us all of much darker times in our world’s past – and it is incumbent upon all of us to forcefully challenge hatred in all of the ways that it confronts us.”

Robertson’s sentiments echoed more than 50,000 signatures on a Change.org petition asking to dump the Trump branding.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[a_majoor]

I guess this will make you feel better then:

https://pjmedia.com/diaryofamadvoter/2015/12/16/trump-goes-full-fellini

The Donald Goes Full Fellini at the Venetian
BY ROGER L SIMON DECEMBER 16, 2015

The familiar basso from a thousand Italian (and American) films boomed out across the painted cloudy sky and ersatz canals at Las Vegas' Venetian Tuesday night as the faithful streamed into yet another Republican debate at the hotel's theatre that looks built for a roadshow version of La Traviata.

As we all know, the Venetian's gondolas are phonies.  But what about the originals? La Serenissima may be among the most beautiful cities in the world but everything there seems to be done "for affect" as well. It's all a stage set.

As was the debate Tuesday night, because, for all the back and forth, the chills and semi-thrills, the Rubio-Cruz-Paul contretemps,  the desperate pleadings of Jeb Bush, the reminder by Chris Christie of what might have been if he hadn't kowtowed to Lord Obama, Carly Fiorina telling us again that she has met Putin, Frank Luntz and all his focus groups and all the thumb-sucking wise men and women in all the ships at sea and CNBC, as they say about a mile up the Strip from the Venetian at the Monte Carlo, "les jeux sont faits."

No more bets, ladies and gentlemen.  The game is over.  Donald Trump has won the nomination.

Everyone acknowledged as much, heads nodding around me in the press room, when, nearly at the end of the debate, Hugh Hewitt served up by far the most serious, in the sense of fateful, question of the night by asking Trump to answer finally whether he will support the Republican candidate under any circumstances.

The Donald smiled, stared straight into the camera with the practiced skill of a Cronkite or a Murrow, though more playful and, one reluctantly admits, winning, and acknowledged that, yes, he will.  He has been treated well by all concerned and even come to like and admire many of the candidates on the stage with him.  Murmurs of approval all around.

And then he administered the coup de television. Looking square into the lens at America he promised to beat Hillary Clinton in November.  And he did so in full recognition by all concerned, barring force majeure, he already was the nominee and everybody knew it.  He was taking a graceful bow.

Game, set, match, tournament and whatever they say in bocce.

The final statements, including and especially Donald's, were irrelevant.  Everyone was headed for the Spin Room - where it went Full Fellini.

Well, not at first.  For five or ten minutes there was the usual milling around with various porte paroles or spox, as they're called on Twitter and the NY Post, standing around under vertical signs for their candidates, answering questions for them.  These guys and gals seem to be chosen in the manner of replacement talk show hosts, so that they don't upstage their masters.  Enough said.

But finally the actual candidates started to straggle in.  It was then that it went Full Federico Fellini.  As in the maestro's La Dolce Vita, when there was a purported sighting of La Madonna, everyone, normal folk and paparazzi, started rushing to the far corner of the large room.

Cue Nino Rota --  The Donald had entered in the company of his wife Melania, indeed a vision out of Fellini. Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée, one of them.

People were practically falling over each other for a view, pushing cellphones skyward, jumping up and down craning their necks for a view. Was I at a Republican debate or the Cannes Film Festival?  This wasn't American politics anymore.  It was Roman politics.  Caesar's Palace come to the Venetian.

All hail, Caesar!  All hail, Trump! Was history moving forward, backwards, sideways -- it was hard to tell. But we were all on a boat going somewhere, a gondola, and The Donald was our gondolier.

 

[a_majoor]

Lets not forget the Democrats as well. The only thing that will make that race even better is if a Federal prosecutor finally gets around to writing the indictments for Hillary's crimes before the convention:

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/263733-team-sanders-we-will-go-to-court-if-dnc-holds-our-data

Sanders threatens to sue DNC
By Ben Kamisar

Sen. Bernie Sanders's (I-Vt.) campaign manager said it would take the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to federal court Friday afternoon if it does not lift the suspension to the campaign's voter database.

"If the Democratic National Committee holds our data hostage ... we will be in federal court this afternoon seeking relief," said Jeff Weaver, the campaign manager. He added that the party had an "inappropriate reaction" to reports that a Sanders campaign staffer accessed Hillary Clinton voter data.

The DNC suspended its access to the party's voter database, which includes the Sanders campaign's own data, after revelations that a campaign staffer obtained private data from rival Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

Weaver told reporters that the campaign alerted the DNC about this problem two months ago, when it believed that some of its data had been "lost to one of the other campaigns."

In an interview with CNN's "Wolf" immediately after the Sanders campaign's press conference, DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz denied that Sanders's voter information had been compromised two months ago, as Weaver claimed.

She brushed off the threat of legal action. "The Sanders campaign doesn’t have anything other than bluster to put out there," she said on CNN.

"We are following the agreement that both parties entered into. ... I'm confident that this is the decision that they would expect from us and it’s the same decision that we would make if the shoe was on the other foot."

She said the party's investigation found that the Sanders campaign "not only viewed it, but they exported it and downloaded it." 

News of the suspension comes the day after Sanders landed endorsements from the Communications Workers of America union and from the progressive Democracy for America (DFA). It also comes just a day before the third Democratic debate, which Sanders's spokesman Michael Briggs slammed on Friday for being scheduled for a time when interest is likely to be low.

By suspending the Sanders campaign from access to its own database, the DNC was "actively attempting to undermine our campaign," Weaver said, accusing the party of tilting the scales for the Clinton campaign.

"Clearly in this case it looks like they are trying to help the Clinton campaign," he said.

“I don’t know the motivation of every single person at the DNC, but you look at the pattern of conduct,” Weaver continued. “We’ve obviously had concerns about the Saturday night debate schedule and its impact on the ability of campaigns to get their message out.

"We are taking on the establishment and I'm sure that there are people in the Democratic establishment not happy with the success that Sen. Sanders has had."

All three Democratic candidates have access to the DNC’s voter file. It acts as a two-way street, allowing candidates to rely on the party’s data to help target voters while also sharing campaign-specific data with the party. While the party is able to see the master file, candidates are not supposed to be able to access data obtained by their rivals.

Wasserman Schultz informed DNC members in an email obtained by The Hill earlier Friday that the Sanders campaign had access to “voter targeting data” from Clinton’s campaign for about 45 minutes, emphasizing that no financial, donor or volunteer data was exposed.
The letter, which was sent out to all reporters just as the Sanders press conference got under way, adds that the error did not lead to any public exposure of the data, only between the campaigns, and that the DNC’s vendor is investigating what went wrong and if anyone else had improperly accessed the data.

It also lays out the stipulations for Sanders to regain access to the voter file — “until the DNC is provided with a full accounting of whether or not this information was used and the way in which it was disposed.”

Clinton's camp has largely remained quiet throughout the controversy, releasing a short statement by spokesman Brian Fallon two hours after the Sanders press conference.

“We were informed that our proprietary data was breached by Sanders campaign staff in 25 searches by four different accounts and that this data was saved into the Sanders' campaign account," the two-sentence statement said. "We are asking that the Sanders campaign and the DNC work expeditiously to ensure that our data is not in the Sanders campaign's account and that the Sanders campaign only have access to their own data.”

Democracy for America, the major progressive group that endorsed Sanders on Thursday, panned the DNC’s decision in a statement.

"The Democratic National Committee's decision to attack the campaign that figured out the problem, rather than go after the vendor that made the mistake, is profoundly damaging to the party's Democratic process,” said Charles Chamberlain, executive director of Democracy for America.

“DNC leaders should immediately reverse this disturbing decision before the committee does even more to bring its neutrality in the race for President into question."

Josh Uretsky, the fired Sanders staffer, told ABC News in an interview that his actions were not nefarious and that he had tried to investigate the failure while being sure to leave a record of his actions to prove his honest motives.

“The breach was in no way our fault. I saw it and attempted to investigate and attempted to do it in a transparent manner,” he told the network, adding that he does not believe the campaign took any data or tried to “gain anything out of it."

“We saw a security breach and we tried to assess it and understand it. … I knew full well that I was creating a record that the administrators could see.”

-- Jonathan Easley contributed

 

[Kirkhill]

Tammany Hall is starting to look like an exemplar of probity these days.

Bring back the honest ward heeler.

 

[Kilo_302]

Yet more evidence that some Trump supporters are taking the wrong (or is it right?) message from him, and the media is barely covering it. You cannot be on the fence on this issue. If you support Trump, you're supporting the kind of bigotry that leads to threats like this.

http://usuncut.com/news/william-celli-trump-supporter-tried-to-kill-muslims-with-bombs/

NEWSMedia Silent as Trump Supporter Arrested Stockpiling Arsenal of Bombs to Kill MuslimsCarol Schaeffer | December 21, 2015
The media loves covering Trump. And they love covering terrorism. Why have they completely ignored this story?
Facebook
Twitter

It took three days for police to respond to a neighbor’s report about a bomb, which indicated that Richmond, California resident William Celli, 55, intended to harm the local Muslim community with a homemade explosive. The same day police received this tip, the New York Times released a report indicating that crimes against Muslims have tripled since the San Bernardino and Paris attacks.

Celli has frequently posted on his Facebook that he is a Trump supporter, claiming he will follow “this man to the end of the world.”

Police arrested Celli on December 20th and charged him with the possession of an explosive device and making criminal threats.


Mainstream media coverage has followed Donald Trump’s bombastic anti-Muslim rhetoric for weeks. Since the attacks on Paris and San Bernardino, the threat of Muslim extremism has been a ratings-boosting topic for many 24-hour news cycles. Yet the subject of white domestic terrorism and right-wing extremism is hardly considered part of the same problem.

Trump has been at the forefront of the 24-hour news cycle since his proposition to bar Muslims from entering the United States following the San Bernardino attack. Yet the All-Trump-All-The-Time mainstream media coverage failed to report that one of his supporters was planning a terrorist attack of their own.

If you go to Google News and search for “Trump supporter bomb,” this is currently the full coverage across the internet. Only a handful of alternative, albeit credible, news sources.

Photo of Google search results on Trump supporter with bombs - 5 articles total.
Google search results for this story show the mainstream media’s silence on the matter.

According to a tally from the New America Foundation, white right-wing extremists were the most dangerous terrorist groups in the United States. Despite the fact that more Americans have been killed by white supremacists than Muslim extremists since 9/11, “white terrorism” is still a disputed term.

According to a preliminary report released by a leading Muslim civil rights organization, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the number of violent incidents against American mosques in 2015 is the highest recorded since the institution began tracking such cases nearly six years ago.

“Of the total of 71 incidents to date in 2015, 29 occurred since the November 13 terror attacks in Paris.” said CAIR in a Facebook post, “Of those 29 incidents, 15 occurred prior to the December 3 San Bernardino killings and 14 took place after that attack.”

 

[cupper]

I think that this mental case would have done it regardless of what Trump says to gain supporters. Social media and the internet has just made it easier for people to find like-minded individuals and information sources that support their points of view.

 

[CougarKing]

Should we have expected anything less from "the Donald"?

Agence-France-Presse

Trump under fire for sexism after vulgar Clinton jibes
AFP
December 22, 2015

Washington (AFP) - Republican frontrunner Donald Trump found himself accused of sexism again Tuesday after he coined a vulgar new term of abuse while attacking rival Hillary Clinton.

Whipping up a raucous crowd of supporters in Michigan on Monday night, Trump's scorn for his democratic rival took a sexually graphic and personal turn.

Recalling the 2008 presidential race, in which Hillary lost out to Barack Obama in the battle for the Democratic nomination, Trump appeared to reach for a Yiddish term.

(...SNIPPED)