IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY........... AND INTO THE FACT-FREE ZONE......

Wow!  What a performance last night!  But, didn’t you get the feeling that there were two realities being presented on stage at the Hofstra Presidential Debate?  One, as described by Hillary Clinton, that appeared to be well grounded in history, fact, and vision… and, the Trump “alternative reality” - loaded with conspiracy, bombast, attempts to disrupt his opponent, and lies.  In my view, Trump was really out there – sort of on another planet in a galaxy far, far away.  

Trumpology – a system of thinking and basic beliefs that are like looking in a carnival mirror – reality is distorted and, as presented by Trump, is loaded with false statements, outright lies, and confused conclusions.  This magical thinking cannot be the basis of sound decision-making that is the necessary foundation of presidential action.  Here are some recent examples from Trumpworld.

                -Ted Cruz Dad was involved with Lee Harvey Oswald in the assassination of JFK;

                -Global warming is a “hoax” launched by China;

                -President Obama was born in Kenya; Hillary started the “birther” movement;

                      Barak Obama is a secret Muslim;

                -US taxes are the highest in the world (they are not);

                -Trump opposed the invasion of Iraq (he said on tape that he supported it);

                -Trump opposed the invasion of Libya (he said on tape that supported it);

                -Trump’s microphone at the debate wasn’t working and was tampered with (85,000,000
                       viewers who watched the debate know that it was working just fine);

                -Trump said that Hillary had no child care plan (she did - nearly 1 year before Trump);

                -Trump’s states that he wants to grow US jobs (his ties and other products are made in

                      China, India, and elsewhere);

                -When “Stop and Frisk” in NYC was suspended by the incoming Mayor, Trump insisted   

                      that the number of murders “dramatically increased.” The murder rate decreased;

                -According to Trump, Ford Motor Company is “shutting their small-car division” in 

                      Michigan and sending those jobs to a “giant” plant in Mexico.  Ford corrected the 

                      record immediately by commenting that the small-car plant in Michigan was set to

                      manufacture another model of Ford cars and that not one job at that plant will be 

                      eliminated. A new plant is being built in Mexico;

                -Putin is a “great leader” in Russia and we should have supported Saddam Hussein in Iraq

                      because he kept the lid on the simmering violence that came after his departure. Putin
                      is a despot, an enemy of the USA, and is  threat to our long-time allies.  Hussein, was
                      just a murderous head-case, dictator, and terrorist;

                -Vince Foster, then an Assistant White House Counsel who was found dead near the

                      Potomac River in DC, was killed by Bill and Hillary Clinton.  Nonsense, of course; 

                -Trump said that he knows more about ISIS than the Generals, “trust me.” (Oh, boy).

                We did, however, learn some interesting information last night that we did not have before.

1.     TRUMP ADMITS THAT HE PAYS NO TAXES.  When under attack from Hillary for not having disclosed his tax returns, Trump initially said that he couldn’t because he was “under audit.”  He gave that answer during the Republican Primary debates last spring.  Later, he admitted that the release of his returns was not prohibited by law, but, he was advised by “his attorneys” that he should not release his taxes until after the audit. Hillary prodded him to agree to release the returns by suggesting that he must be hiding something, giving several examples.  One, that he doesn’t make as much money as he claims.  Two that he doesn’t give as much to charity as he claims.  Three, that his financial transactions and monies owed might be an embarrassment because of who he owes and how much.  And, fourth, how much he pays in taxes.  Hillary suggested that he was hiding the fact that he pays no federal tax at all!  As Hillary was following that up with comments saying, “no money for vets, for education, for roads, etc, Trump clearly said, “that makes me smart.”  He didn’t deny Hillary’s allegation.  He didn’t say something like, “I pay my fair share”, or “I pay what I owe”, or, “Of course, I pay federal taxes like everyone else.”  Nope.  Trump just had to boast about how brilliant he is by saying, “that makes me smart” – virtually admitting and confirming the charge that he does not pay taxes like you and me.  
                    
      I don’t know about you, but that really ticks me off.  If he – and others of high wealth like him – do not pay their fair share of the costs of governance, inevitably, it costs me more.  And, Donald’s solution to our unequal tax system?  A massive tax cut – some 60% - for the upper tax brackets and a corporate tax reduction from 30% to 15% - a 50% decrease - dramatically increasing the deficit and the national debt and crippling the federal government.

2.     TRUMP GOES SOPRANO.  Responding to the charge that his statements regarding NATO and living up to our international treaty obligations, he clearly stated – and then repeated – that we should protect those who “pay us” to do so.  Sounds like something that Tony Soprano, or the New York Mob on Mulberry Street would be proud of – the protection racket.

3.      TRUMP APPEALS TO THE AFRICAN AMERICAN VOTE?  Moderator Lester Holt asked both candidates what might each do to “bridge the racial divide” that is infecting America right now. 

Trumps response was to fall right back into a “lock ‘em up” statement.  He said that the answer is in increasing the police, instituting “stop and frisk”, adopting more effective “tactics”, and essentially, locking up more or the perpetrators.  Reminded that the question was about Black Americans, Trump doubled down on his response.  Evidently, in Trump’s mind, all crime comes from Black Americans (or sometimes illegal immigrants, of course), and the solution to bridging the racial divide is to lock Blacks up thereby separating Whites from Blacks by bars and barbed wire adding more and more African-American males to the rolls of the incarcerated. Not really too much a surprise for someone like Trump who said 2 weeks ago that 81% of murders of While Americans were committed by Black Americans.  Actually, according to FBI statistics, 82% of White murders are committed by White perpetrators, 15% by Blacks.

4.      TRUMPUS INTERRUPTUS.  True to form, the Donald tried his “bully” tactic on Hillary, but to no effect.  Trackers in the media counted how many times each candidate interrupted each other.  Interruptions are designed to “rattle” the opponent or break their train of thought.  Either that, or they are evidence that the interrupter has a serious lack of self-control. Trump interrupted Clinton 51 times; Clinton interrupted Trump 15 times.  You decide whether these interruptions were strategic to throw Hillary off her game or evidence of a lack of Trump self-control.

5.      THE TEMPERAMENTAL DONALD? At the end, Trump made yet another gross statement in claiming that the best attribute that he would bring to the Presidency is his “temperament.”  Donald claimed that his temperament is far superior to Hillary’s temperament and his “best asset.”  The audience roared with laughter.  Donald seemed not to understand what they were laughing at……  Is this a mental health issue?

Most scientific polling done after the debate found that Hillary won the debate by a wide margin.  CNN reported that the margin was 62-27 in favor of Hillary.  The Drudge Report open dial-in poll indicated Trump won with 80% to 20% for Hillary.  One has to wonder who “dialed in” to Drudge, mostly watched and read by right-wing conservative Republicans and the Alt. Right.  And, anyone who watched the debate from start to amazing finish, knows who came away as “Presidential”, competent, level, knowledgeable, and ready to be President.  She was wearing a red pants suit without orange hair.

THE TEFLON DONALD: WHY DOES NOTHING STICK?

I am located in NY State.  And, for those who know how the New York City media outlets work – from the NY Times, the Daily News, and the NY Post to every TV network - the focus is on what goes on in NYC - the nation's largest city, the nation's financial center, and the arts capital of the USA too.  This has been so prevalent for so long that many Americans think that New York City is the Capital of New York, and not Albany.  And, I am sure that some Americans think that New York City is the nation’s capital too. Maybe we should have a Presidential debate on education in civics and US geography as well.  Some years back – before the TV hit, “The Sopranos”, the media was focused on the arrest and trials of the head of a NYC crime family, John Gotti.  Ever the top-shelf dresser, Gotti headed the Gambino crime family.  Top gangsters in the Mafia was referred to as "Capo" and "the boss" in the game was “the Don.”  He acquired the nickname, “the Teflon Don” after he was acquitted in three high-profile trials in the 1980s.  He was finally convicted in 1991 and sent to prison. He died in prison of throat cancer in 2002, so he was unavailable to run for the presidency in the 2016 race.  Instead, we have another “Don”, The Donald... Donald Trump.  And, boy, is he TEFLON.

Since his 2015 announcement that he would seek the office of the Presidency as a Republican, Donald Trump has cluttered the political landscape – and the media in print and on air – with the most outrageous and “politically incorrect” statements and positions than any other candidate for office would have ventured.  Trump was so off the mark of reasonableness that most analysts thought he would quickly became an “also ran.”  Mexican immigrant rapists…. Deport millions…..  Slurs against women ….. Attacking a Federal Judge because of his Mexican heritage.  Encouraging violence against opponents in his rallies.  Monitor, register and do “extreme vetting” of Muslims, and close the gates to further Muslim immigration…. Ethnic and racial discrimination…  “Bomb the shit out of them!”   Secret plans to grow the economy, grow the military, eliminate the minimum wage that prevents us from being "competitive", cut taxes on the wealthy, cut corporate taxes in half and more, and all without increasing the deficit. I think that the last proponent of this sort of economic package was either Calvin Coolidge or Warren Harding. All outrageous statements.

And, then there is the foreign policy arena. Trump has said that he “knows more about ISIS than the Generals.”  Really?  And, that we should have “taken the oil” from Iraq – an act illegal under both US and International Law and the Rules of War.  He said that we should encourage South Korea and Japan to develop nuclear weapons and, simultaneously, prevent North Korea from developing their own.  And, that we should re-evaluate our involvement in the decades-old NATO Alliance which, in his view, has outlasted its usefulness and cost us far too much money. And, that we should consider recognizing the Crimea, a part of the Ukraine seized by force by Russia, as a part of Russia.  And, who really wants to defend Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania anyhow?  And, is Poland really that important?  Never mind that all of those nations are a part of the NATO alliance and that we are pledged to defend one another if attacked by Russia. (Holy Moly!). Never mind an attack from Russia on our allies, the Donald is having a “bro-mance” with Putin, describing him as a “great leader.”  Trump said that “if Putin says good things about me, I will say good things about him.”  Maybe Trump would prefer an alliance with Putin against Europe, drop the NATO Alliance altogether, forget all about the Cold War, and open yet another Trump Tower in Moscow complete with Russian caviar and vodka.  Wow!  Do you really want this guy to have the nuclear codes? And, that is why dozens of national security leaders - Republicans all - signed an "Open Letter" criticizing his foreign policy statements and his dangerous pronouncements.  Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates described Trump as "beyond repair" and encouraged voters to cast their ballots for Hillary Clinton.

In his personal life, Trump has suffered 7 bankruptcies but never lost a nickel, says that he gives “millions” to charity over the years but will not release any records to support that contention, and, unlike every other candidate for President in the last 40 years, refuses to release his income taxes because….. errr…..  either he is under IRS audit (which does not prevent disclosure of his returns), or that the campaign thinks that the information in his return will “distract from the main message of the campaign”, according to Donald Trump Jr.  In any case, his campaign spokesman said that the public isn’t interested in his tax information in any case.  What do you think?  Inquiring minds want to know.  What is this guy hiding? 

Any one of these statements or policy positions or hiding his financial information (did he get a really, really large “gift” from some Russian Oligarchs?), or business failures would likely have resulted in the crash and burn of any Presidential campaign.  But, not Donald Trump.  Even support from David Duke, and hiring the head of Alt. Right publication, Breitbart – Stephen Bannon - loaded with racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, Birtherism, (at this writing Trump still will not admit that president Obama was born in the United States), and a full basket of conspiracy theories like the 9-11 World Trade Center attack was a “false-flag” dark operation conducted by the US Government in order to inflame the electorate so that the government could invade the Middle East and seize the oil assets that exist in Iraq - all Breitbart "facts", didn't put a dent in Trump's support.  After all, what did Sadam have to do with Osama Ben-Laden who was hiding in Afghanistan? And, what ever happened to the WMDs?  Maybe we can find them on the Dick Cheney ranch in Wyoming.  See how easy it is to construct a conspiracy theory?  Maybe there are alien babies in the Whitehouse basement???And, then he associates himself with Roger Ailes, a recent refugee from Fox News after the network paid out more than $4,000,000 in settlement of a sexual harassment suit against Ailes.... with more to come I am sure.  And, Trump brings him in as an advisor?  Well... he is a pal of Roger Stone, a long-time Republican operative... and "swinger" - exposed in 1996 for placing newspaper ads seeking "swinging couples" for he and his wife to party with.  Of course, you say, that was "back in the day" as well.  That behavior continued at least until 2008 according to print sources and admitted by Stone, a self-described Libertarian and "Libertine."  Given Trump's unguarded statements on the Entertainment Tonight bus with Billy Bush about his approach to women, seems birds of a feather do flock together....  But, what can you expect from someone - Trump - who thinks that Ted Cruz' father was somehow involved with Lee Harvey Oswald in the assassination of JFK!

So, after all of the insults, all of the cracked theories and mis-statements, the many hair-brained policy positions and wrong-headed notions about people, politics, and priorities that would have sunk any other candidacy for President, Donald Trump stands in a virtual tie with Hillary Clinton as I write this column. Weird staff changes take place, policy shop researchers quit, and his new crew - Steve Bannon of Breitbart, Roger Ailes formerly of FOX News and "swinger" Roger Stone - appear.... How can he survive that, you ask?  How can that be?  Really! Still in the race?  Didn't sink in the polls?  And, tied with Hillary?  TEFLON...... can't be anything else....I may have further comments on this topic - The Teflon Donald - in the days ahead.  Meanwhile, what do you think?  And, while you are thinking about that.... please pass the pasta......