It is often said, that in the "fog of war", unexpected events take place. Things become confused, unclear, out of focus. Our crystal clear view of the enemy somehow becomes clouded by other distractions and we risk making wrong decisions or execute the wrong actions. Distraction and dis-information are the tools of the infiltrator, the means of the manipulator, and the stock in trade of the "trickster." Donald Trump has shown himself to be all of those things and more. He has become the "great deceiver" as a candidate for the presidency in 2016.
Trump displayed his mastery of deception and mis-direction during the Republican primary election cycle earlier this year. Ever the showman, Trump has mastered the three-card-Monte - and is doing it again - RIGHT NOW. Today, Trump accused Hillary of running a hate-filled campaign of division. WOW! What a whopper! After more than 12 months of campaign activity, Donald Trump has established himself as the Master of Disaster, and the primary source of divide and conquer. He began with an attack on Mexicans, expanded the attack to all immigrants, displayed the total absence of respect for women (recall the Megyn Kelly, Carlie Fiorina comments and the Matthews interview when Trump stated that women should be "punished" for terminating a pregnancy). Needless to say, as recently underscored by US Senator Elizabeth Warren, Trump cannot believe that he could possibly lose the election to a woman. African-Americans soon followed Latinos on the Trump hit list and, of course, Muslims who he announced should be barred from entry to the US and all others already here should be registered, provided with an ID card and their Mosques "monitored." Some Trump folks have gone so far as to demand that all Mosques be closed! The list goes on and on.... If anyone has unabashedly led the "divide and conquer" strategy, it certainly has been Donald Trump. His hate-filled campaign pitting whites against immigrants, building a wall, deporting 11,000,000 immigrants, including citizen children, and institutional discrimination against all Muslims, is about as Un-American as you can get.
But, Trump's attack on Hillary, based on her recent comments at a NYC fund-raiser when she said that, though generalizing, "you can put half of Trump's supporters into ... the basket of deplorables. Racists, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it. And, unfortunately, there are people like that and he has lifted them up." Trump has called for a total retraction of every comment that she made and an apology to the American public. The Clinton campaign responded by saying that Hillary "misspoke" and that she regrets saying that "half" of Trumps supporters were in the "basket of deplorables." If it were me, I would have taken a page out of the Trump book and doubled down on my comments. The reason? Many Trump supporters are, in fact, voters who do indeed fit one of more of the categories in the "basket."
Poll data during the entire cycle has documented the attitudes and beliefs held by those who self-identify as Trump supporters. So, lets see what.... and who.... are "deplorable."
1. Deport millions of immigrants - and their US citizen kids - who are guilty of nothing other than having the American Dream. Deplorable! 52% of Trump supporters say that they do not support illegals staying in the US, the "Wall" should be built (84%), illegals exported (52%), and immigrants are a burden for the nation. Xenophobic?
2. President Obama isn't "legitimate" because he was born in Kenya - or somewhere else - and
not in the US - the "Birthers." And, that President Obama, a practicing Christian, is a secret Muslim. Deplorable! 70% of Trump supporters are "Birthers" and 2/3rds believe that he is really a Muslim.
1 in 5 think that Barack Obama is an agent of a foreign power! Racist?
3. All Muslims should be banned from entering the US, those here should be subjected to
"extreme vetting" and be issued "ID cards", and Mosques should be closed. Deplorable! 87% of
Trump supporters want to bar Muslims from entering the country, 67% think that Muslims should be heavily "scrutinized". Islamophobic?
4. Ban gays and lesbians from entering the country? Deplorable! 1/3rd of Trump supporters
say that they want to ban homosexuals, transsexuals, lesbians, etc from entering the country. Homophobic?
5. African-Americans (immigrant too) are more violent, commit more crimes, and are "lazier"
than the rest of "us." Deplorable? 50% of Trump supporters believe that Black Americans, and
Latino immigrants are more violent and apt to commit criminal acts than "regular Americans"
and 40% think that they are "lazier" than the rest of us. Racist?
I could go on... but, what can you expect of a crowd that thinks that the president is secretly an agent of a foreign power? Or that the outrageous murders of school children in New Town and Sandy Hook were faked with actors? Or, that the Moon landing in 1969 was nothing more than a staged film on a Hollywood set? Or, that Senator Cruz' father had something to do with the assassination of JFK? In the age of the Internet, conspiracy theories abound, seek out adherents, reinforce each other and develop a "universe" of believers. And, these folks all believe that the "government is lying" about all of it. Therefore, the government has no credibility whatsoever in their eyes. Oh, by the way, this includes Area 51. The point, however, is that GOVERNMENT LIES. And, that is how an Internet start up - Breitbart - and other Alt. Right websites, spew out unsupported theories, "facts", and theories presented as fact. These include the story that 9-11 was an inside job planned and executed by the US Government to get us to invade Iraq. And, as Trump himself said, "thousands of Muslims celebrated in Jersey City, New Jersey as the Twin Towers came down." Never-mind that there is no evidence that such a thing happened and that the FBI reported that no such "celebration" actually took place. There was a report that some "celebrating" took place in Patterson, NJ. That was investigated by the FBI and was found to also be a rumor with no basis in fact whatsoever. Trump also said that he lost "hundreds of friends when the towers came down" yet he could not name just one. He pledged to donate $10,000 (pocket change for a billionaire) to the Twin Tower Fund, and didn't. Maybe he really didn't want to contribute to the government plotters who actually set the explosives that brought the Twin Towers down, and not the two airplane attacks. Wow! Talk about an alternative universe...... and the "fog of war." Clutter the airwaves with all of this... and things get confused, muddled, and mask the sad truth.
So, perhaps the debate really isn't whether a large number of self-identified Trump supporters hold some or all of these "deplorable" views. According to numerous polling organizations like the Pew Foundation, as well as numerous non-partisan publications and media outlets that conducted their own research, large numbers of Trump supporters subscribe to such beliefs. Maybe the discussion should be who else, other than these mis-guided folks, support the outrageous Trump campaign and its absurd candidate, Donald Trump? Sadly, they are Americans who love their country but feel disenfranchised, ignored, and left behind. They are angry, for sure. Angry at candidates for office who make promises only to get elected and later either forget them or break them. And, angry at their economic status and the facts that the government has done nothing to address their struggles and their pain. As Hillary said, we need to understand these angry Americans and address their issues, adopt plans to lift them up, address their needs, and to help them to advance in an opportunity-ladened society. The sting of disappointment felt by these millions of Americans of all shapes, sizes, ages, religions, and skin tones, is real, is painful, and is desperately in need of a solution. We cannot stand by and let a generation of Americans be cast adrift on the rocks of economic ruin without hope and without help. These conditions are not their fault. Rather, this is the result of poor planning, poor policy, and Republican engineered gridlock in Washington, DC. The cure isn't name calling, but a unity of purpose. And, where might we seek some clear guidance in addressing these issues? The normal answer is, the candidate's platform and the Party Platform.
Hillary's campaign and the DNC, have published numerous and detailed plans to address economic issues and more in their respective platform documents. Her plans are specific and, where costs are evident, include ways to pay for the action taken. For a full description, see her plans located at Hillary's web site. Trump, on the other hand, has no published plans but for his bombast about a "great wall", something or other about deporting those illegals here, banning Muslims, opposition to increasing the Minimum Wage, and dramatically decreasing taxes on corporations and the wealthiest in our society (more trickle down...) that will somehow magically make jobs grow. Why, he even continues to refuse to release his tax returns.
Comparing family charities, research into the giving history of the Trump Family Charity found just 1 gift of $10,000 to the PAL in NYC in 2009. Yesterday, Mike Pense said that Trump has given "tens of millions of dollars" to charities during his career.... but, so far no proof has been found to support that claim. Of course, Trump has said that he has given "millions" as well. Trump did purchase a 6-foot tall painting of himself at a 2007 Gala for $20,000 in Trump Foundation money. Otherwise, no evidence or any proof of any giving has been discovered.
Trump did write a Foundation check for $25,000 to support the re-election campaign of the Florida Attorney General, Pam Bondi, in 2014. Bondi was then seeking her second term as Attorney General. She was also considering whether or not to join a civil suit against Trump University after receiving numerous complaints by students enrolled there. Two weeks after receiving the $25,000 donation from the Trump Foundation (a charity), she decided not to pursue the suit against Trump. Hmmmmmm....... Sometime later, the Trump Foundation was fined for using charitable dollars for a political contribution which is strictly prohibited by both state and federal law. He had to refund the money using his own cash. What do you think are the chances that Florida AG Bondi would have filed charges against Donald in this matter?
If all of this sound a bit strange.... you are likely right. If you can blow away the "fog", you will find a substantial set of proposals offered by the Clinton Campaign - detailed, costed out, and funded. On the Trump side, you will find more fog, no clarity, changing positions to appeal to whatever audience is listening, and an absurd tax decrease on the wealthy and corporations that will cost trillions in increased deficits and debt over the next ten years according to a several economic analyses. Trump opposes increasing the Minimum Wage, funding for unemployment, welfare, and job training, a woman's right to choose and control her own body, freedom to marry, Planned Parenthood funding, solutions for the student debt crises, and many other pressing issues that the nation faces. The future of the nation hangs in the balance. One can only hope that the electorate sees clearly come election day. So, in the end, does the Trump campaign boil down to a "basket of deplorables"? Or, a "basket of bulls*&t? You decide....
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