Why Trump ain't fit for president

I didn't watch any of the would-be Republican presidential dreamers debate as it occurred Thursday, and I'm glad.


For if I had, I suspect I would still be repulsed. As it turns out, reading the wrap-ups and reports that came from Cleveland pretty much confirmed what I suspected.


DONALD TRUMP IS a dink, and anybody who takes his campaign (whether as a Republican or a political independent) seriously is in need of serious mental help,


Much of the public attention is going toward Megyn Kelly, the blonde Fox News anchor who presided over the debate and tried to call out Trump on some of his more misogynistic quips of recent past -- only to have him tell her basically she (and all other women) need to get over it.


Personally, I was amazed by his comments about the intelligence level of the U.S. government, which he seems to think is being conned by the Mexico government into accepting people into this country whom Mexico would just as soon be rid of.


I'm sure he'll try to defend his nonsense talk by saying he was actually praising Mexico; but in such a back-handed manner that it came across as the ultimate of insults to my ethnic brethren.


ALTHOUGH I'LL ADMIT it was totally in line with the kind of rhetoric he has been spewing about immigration and Mexico. I'm glad he didn't try to do some sort of back-talk that tried to apologize (but not really) for his past comments.


It seems that Donald Trump, the New York real estate developer who has had a hand in erecting so many ugly structures upon our society, is determined to be the 21st Century equivalent of Pat Buchanan.


Back when Buchanan tried running for president, he tried appealing for votes to those xenophobes amongst us who are determined to vilify Mexico as the root of all evil. Trump seems to want those voters now.


I don't dispute that those kind of people exist, and that they will vote. But Trump has now established himself as the loudmouth with the foreign-bashing spiel -- and the guy who probably thinks all people from Latin American nations are really "Mexicans" who "ought to be illegal" within the boundaries of the United States.


HE MAY GET some votes from older-generation Cuban exiles who have always resented the fact that they do not dominate the image of Latinos in this nation. Maybe even a stray Puerto Rican or Dominican.


But he can forget about the nonsense-talk he has spewed about winning the Latino vote. It's not going to happen!


What Trump is is an un-apologetic buffoon who wants to be able to spew insults upon everyone not like himself, then dump further trash-talk upon them when they try to defend themselves.


Just like the way he dealt with Kelly when she mentioned some of the insulting comments he had made about women in the past. It's her problem, he said. While probably believing that the Miss USA pageant that he owns will be great source material to provide the future first lady of a Trump administration.


HE CERTAINLY DOESN'T think it is his problem, even though anyone with sense would realize this is just a trash-talker who's a bully and who wants to believe that he's being bullied by everyone who refuses to give in to him.


Which is why I expect the Republican operatives and their voters ultimately will dump Trump. Although I also think he will run as an independent because he won't want anyone else telling him what to do during a campaign season.


And when he ultimately loses, he may well top Richard Nixon's 1962 concession speech for California governor -- the one where he said we, "won't have Dick Nixon to kick around any longer."


Let's just hope that a Trump political defeat some time next year won't result in a political comeback some six years later!


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Blagojevich legal request not unusual, but also not likely to be granted

During the just over a quarter-of-a-century that I have been a reporter-type person and have covered legal proceedings, I have come to the realization that judges bear a strong resemblance to King Louis XVI.

BLAGOJEVICH: Yet another legal appeal

Or at least the version of the French king that was portrayed by Mel Brooks in “History of the World, Part I.”

THE GUY WHO behaved in whatever a manner his whim felt appropriate, constantly telling us, “It’s good to be the king.”

Judges base their decisions on the law, but are given the authority to make their interpretations based on what they think the law means. That is the Democratic way – they serve as a check on political people who exceed their authority.

So it shouldn’t be a surprise that the nine justices who comprise the Court of Appeals in Chicago (who oversee cases throughout the Midwestern U.S.) probably won’t be all that enthused about the request made this week by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

A three-judge panel recently rejected many of the grounds upon which Blagojevich was challenging his criminal convictions on multiple charges – the ones that got him nearly a 14-year prison term out in Colorado.

BLAGOJEVICH ASKED FOR the entire appeals court to reconsider that ruling. Which makes sense from Blagojevich’s point of view – he wants out of prison sooner rather than later.

He’s following the legal procedure, give the Court of Appeals a chance to reconsider before he takes the matter to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Which is probably less likely to take this case seriously than the Court of Appeals.

If judges are like Mel Brooks' King Louis XVI,...

Judges usually want to respect the actions of their judicial counterparts. They would prefer to think that all legal people have an appreciation for the law. But they will take actions to alter them if they feel it absolutely necessary.

SO WHAT’S LIKELY to happen with Blagojevich’s request for a rehearing?

Blagojevich is taking the viewpoint that the rules under which he was found guilty are so strict that no political person could avoid conviction – unless they manage to avoid the glare of a prosecutorial type.

 

... does that make Blagojevich just like Brooks' piss boy?

“The jury instructions used to convict me in my case are not the law. It makes the standard so low that any politician can be jailed at the whim of an ambitious prosecutor,” Blagojevich wrote, in a statement published by a public relations firm that is working toward his eventual release from prison.

Of course, there are some people whose view of electoral politics is such that they probably like the idea of everybody being put away behind bars – they’re usually the type who can’t stand the idea of anybody’s ideas other than their own being represented.

NOT THAT I’M convinced Blagojevich’s appeal is going anywhere. Because judges by nature have that “It’s good to be the King” mentality to them.

They’re not required to rule on the merits of Blagojevich’s request. They could just as easily issue a brief statement saying “no” and leave it at that. They certainly don’t have to explain why they don’t think this case is worth reconsidering.

And the chance that Blagojevich can convince a majority of the full Court of Appeals? It’s a long-shot. I don’t know that the bulk of the justices are willing to suddenly think that Milorod is a victim – when the reality is that the bulk of society is more than willing to wish that Blagojevich get the harshest of penalties possible (and is upset that the judicial panel went so far as to strike down five of the charges for which he was found guilty).

But then again, the best stories are the ones that come totally out of left field – so unexpected that everyone’s initial reaction is silence! Then shock, and anger. Furious anger!

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Pure partisan politics at work

I’ve been going out of my way to avoid writing about the lawsuit filed against Illinois state government from back in the days when Tammy Duckworth was a state official.

DUCKWORTH: Decade-old trivia?

Specifically, she was head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs for a time back when Rod Blagojevich was governor. A couple of people who were either fired from their jobs or refused raises claim Duckworth did so purely for political reasons.

DURING THE PAST decade, there have been lawsuits filed in the federal and state court systems by those employees, and judges have been inclined to reject both of them. That led people to alter the lawsuit slightly, and file it again in the state court system – specifically in the Southern Illinois-based court where the initial incidents occurred.

Now I’m not claiming to have first-hand knowledge of what Duckworth did or did not do. Maybe on some level, Duckworth did act inappropriately (although I’m suspicious because of the fact that multiple judges have said “no”).

But what I think stinks about this case is the fact that most of what I know about it comes from countless e-mail messages I have received from Republican sources whose point in sending them out was to let us know what a sleazy character Ms. Duckworth truly is.

And those messages always make a point of telling us that Duckworth likely will be the nominee for U.S. Senate who challenges Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., in the 2016 election cycle.

AS THE CHICAGO Tribune reported on Tuesday, the lawsuit will have several hearings in court this year – but won’t actually go to trial until April. By then, the primary election will be over.

Which makes me suspect that the people now leading the effort are merely using the plight of those one-time state workers to score political points for their own interests..

This lawsuit is about whatever trivial tidbits can be rooted out to try to throw the Duckworth campaign out of whack. I don’t think the GOP political operatives are even interested in defeating Duckworth at this point.

KIRK: Needs a weakened opponent?

They want her to have to go through a primary election cycle getting stained with so much in the way of nasty factoids becoming attached to her that she theoretically winds up in the general election cycle against Kirk as a flawed candidate.

IF DUCKWORTH WERE to lose the primary to the one-time Cook County prosecutor Andrea Zopp, that would be the GOP fantasy come true – because then those Republicans who are racially inclined would then dig out their nasty tricks against the African-American woman.

Which would be a challenge for Illinois voters to overcome, but one that I’m sure they would. Some political people just can’t accept that the old rules against race just don’t firmly apply to our modern-day society.

This is so political because it is likely there won’t be a ruling until after the primary election is over. The actual ruling doesn’t matter.

The courts could easily decide for a third time that the lawsuit doesn’t have much merit. But the political dirt could still stick. Which wouldn’t do the one-time employees any good, but would help the political operatives immensely.

THIS IS ALL because of the fact that Kirk is considered vulnerable – and not just because of questions about his health following a stroke or some of the dumb comments he has made. Let’s not forget that Kirk is not the conservative ideologue on social issues that some Republicans desperately want.

He’s not exactly someone that the party faithful are going to eagerly await their chance to vote for. So for Kirk to win, the opposition has to be taken down to a level where she gets less support than the incumbent senator does.

Which is why we’re hearing tales about decade-old happenings from people who have their own axes to grind.

And the only people who will really benefit are those who believe elections are about getting fewer people to cast ballots – provided they’re the “right” people who vote in an appropriate manner.

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EXTRA: The Top Ten

Real estate developer Donald Trump.

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

WISCONSIN GOV. SCOTT Walker.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Neurosurgeon Ben Carson.

 

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, R-Fla.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

AS FOR THE rest, Fox News Channel has deemed them not worthy of prime time. They will be part of a late-afternoon program on Thursday, but the evening debate will only contain the Top Ten – as put together by an average of five recent presidential polls that really only show no one candidate has gained a huge share of support.

Not even Trump – who at best has only about one of every five Republicans, and no Democrats, thinking he deserves to be taken seriously.

Then again, I still think Trump will wind up running an independent campaign that will attract the kind of people who usually don’t bother to vote. Not enough to actually win a presidential election.

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Who knows who will really run for president come the 2016 election cycle

I’m not getting too worked up over the debate controversy over whether the Fox television network is unduly influencing next year’s Republican presidential primary with the rules over whom is going to be allowed to partake in their Thursday debate.

BUSH: The front-runner?

With 17 people on the GOP side officially expressing delusions of someday becoming U.S. president, Fox has said it will allow only 10 to be included.

THOSE 10 WILL be the ones who rank on top in an average of five polls. Which could result in some people who might theoretically deserve a review being excluded from inclusion.

Which will result in the public perception that they’re not really in the campaign.

Considering that several polls are showing the real estate magnate Donald Trump at the top of most polls, he’ll probably wind up getting one of those spots. There are those who feel he’s taking a spot away from a more qualified person.

Personally, I think any campaign Trump winds up running will be as a political independent – that way he can make it all about himself and not have to put up with political operatives telling him he doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about.

BECAUSE ‘THE DONALD’ doesn’t take such insolence lightly!

For what it’s worth, it doesn’t surprise me to learn that a broadcast-mentality would not think it worthwhile to have every single candidate in their debate program.

FIORINA: The legitimate business exec

I still remember back in the days when I was a reporter-type person in Springfield, Ill., and a local TV type told me it was irresponsible to have all the candidates in a debate. Weeding out the fringe candidates who have no chance of winning a primary is part of the job, I was told.

I believe that if a candidate gets on the ballot, they deserve to be included – so that their stupid comments can shoot them down in the minds of the electorate and cause them to lose.

GRAHAM: The political pro

BUT AT THIS stage, we don’t have anyone on a ballot. It is still that early. I’m figuring that Fox thinks it will be impossible to include 17 people and give them all time to say anything significant.

Although I wonder if even 10 candidates creates that situation. I doubt we’re going to learn much about anyone, particularly since the focus now is on Trump and how the others will counter him.

RUBIO: The Cuban w/o Latino support

Trump’s money allows him to buy public perception, particularly since the story line being pushed is if any of the other candidates can boost themselves up to the Trump level in the election cycle.

The only reason I don’t get too bothered is because I’m realistic enough to know that most of the candidates who don’t get included in the Thursday debate will likely have faded out and be long-forgotten by Election Day.

HECK, EVEN MANY of the ones who make the debate (we’ll be told Tuesday night which ones will be included) will not actually be on the ballot come Nov. xx, 2016.

CHRISTIE: Noo Yawker for those who hate N.Y.

At this stage, a debate is more about comic relief – as Saturday Night Live once phrased it, a presidential debate is a “chance to avoid saying something stupid.” Thursday’s program is not about educating the electorate about candidates.

It’s more about making people think that the Fox News Channel is at the heart of the campaign action, and that we ought to pay mind to their political spin when deciding what to believe.

Besides, I can already hear the rants about the proposed CNN debate (which says they will split the program into two so they can include all 17 people) – all the people who get put into the program without Trump will complain that they’re on the political “B” team.

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WALKER: Campaign has $5M in Ricketts family cash

EDITOR’S NOTE: Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Neurosurgeon Ben Carson. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina. Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore. Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Former New York Gov. George Pataki. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Former Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Penn.  Real estate developer Donald Trump. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. The photographs used here are the ones I think are worthy of consideration. Not that I'd be inclined to vote for any of them.

What if we’re too lazy to change shopping habits by bringing own bags?

I got my first look this weekend at those new plastic bags that supermarkets like Jewel will be encouraging people to use because they’re more durable than the flimsy plastic bags that have become ever so common in our society.

These bags aren't 'nice' any more in Chicago

My reaction was to think these bags are barely more durable than the ones we’re already using (except for those people who always went out of their way to ask for “paper” instead of “plastic”).

I’M NOT SURE I’m going to go out of my way to save these bags and keep reusing them, just because they won’t tear after one use like the current plastic bags.

I’m wondering how many people are going to rant and rage in coming weeks about being forced to use these new bags. How long until someone tries to create a Constitutional dilemma about whether their rights are being trampled just because someone wants to try to bolster the environment and the amount of trash that winds up spending decades sitting in a landfill somewhere?

In my case, I was in a suburban-based Jewel supermarket when I saw the new bags. Which means that, unlike Chicago, nobody was forcing anybody to use them. Jewel officials merely put them out as a suggested alternative.

Unlike city residents who won’t be offered the flimsy bags, even if by chance they’d rather have them.

PERSONALLY, I HAVE a hard time getting worked up about this issue.

When I go grocery shopping, the last thing I want to think about are the bags that I’m going to use to haul my goods away.

Although I’ll admit that when I did think about this issue, I’m inclined to ask for a paper bag. Unless it’s literally just an item or two – in which case I’ll just take the flimsy plastic.

Decades of Chicago trash are buried under this mound at the city's far southern edge

I’m fortunate enough to live one block from a Jewel supermarket, so I can literally walk to the store and save the cost of using gasoline if all I need is a couple of items. Along with the reduction in fumes the automobile emits into the air.

I’M INCLINED TO think that’s my contribution to the better environment – rather than having to keep in mind the need to bring my own bags so I can package my own goods and carry them away.

The supporters of this change – which took effect in Chicago on Saturday – say it’s just a matter of encouraging people to change the way they think about things.

The day will come, they say, when it will seem strange that people didn’t bring their own bags with them whenever they shopped for food.

Which is why some aldermen in Chicago say they’re concerned that the new ordinance they approved is already in need of revision. They think these new plastic bags of slightly more durable plastic are going to be treated the way we’ve become used to treating the flimsy, old plastic bags.

THEY’LL GET DUMPED into the trash can and ultimately wind up in a landfill somewhere. Although because they’re of a thicker layer of plastic, it will take even longer for them to deteriorate.

Who knows; Chicago may well celebrate its Tri-centennial in 2136 with someone thinking they’re being an archeologist by digging into a landfill – and finding an intact plastic bag that someone tossed into the trashcan this weekend.

Will that turn this weekend’s waste into the next century’s historic artifact?

Because I don’t care if someone says these new bags are capable of being used up to 125 times – I can’t think of anyone who would want to use it that many times before moving on to another.

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EDITOR’S NOTE: One of the customs of Cubans living in Havana is that people carry around flimsy plastic bags with them, on the off-chance that they stumble across a store that is carrying some goods they happen to actually desire. Somehow, this is one custom I can’t see catching on in the United States.

The Yankees are coming! The Yankees are coming! Does anybody still care?

One of the highlights of the Chicago White Sox season is in town for the weekend – the New York Yankees make their annual visit to the Second City.

Not everybody in Chicago boo-ed Damn Yankee Alex Rodriguez on Friday. Photographs by Gregory Tejeda

It’s a phenomenon common to all the cities that have baseball franchises in the American League – the Yankees come to town to do their part to demoralize the local sporting fan populace.

AS IN THE Yankees administer a butt-whomping (13-6 on Friday) that causes local baseball fans to whine and cry about the unfairness of life. Or, by chance that the Yankees have an off weekend, they bolster the locals into thinking they have achieved something of significance.

They “beat” the Yankees before going back to being mediocre for the remainder of the season. They earned their bragging rights for the season.

So what happens now that the White Sox are getting their crack at the Yankees; and have their attendance bolstered (just over 30,000 seats sold Friday) by the Yankee hoards from the Midwest who want to have their crack at seeing their team live? Images of the Babe, Mickey Mantle and Derek Jeter will fill their heads in place of Mark Texiera, Stephen Drew and C.C. Sabathia.
 

Rodriguez replica jerseys abounded the ballpark

I was amongst that crowd. My brother and I were at U.S. Cellular Field for the Friday night game, and it will be interesting to see if the beatings the White Sox gave to the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox in recent days will continue.

HECK, THE WHITE Sox could be a team with a winning record if they can keep up their winning ways.

A father and son rooting for A-Rod

 

Then again, those winning ways could come to an end this weekend and the White Sox would revert back to a team that thinks a .500 winning percentage and a third place finish for 2015 would be dreams come true.

I did find it interesting to see that Jeff Samardzija is listed as the Sunday afternoon pitcher for the White Sox against the Yankees. If that actually happens, then it means all the talk about last-minute deals prior to Friday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline was worth nothing.

The spirit of the Babe and Mick were in Chicago

It doesn’t surprise me, since I suspect the pieces that the White Sox could deal away in hopes of gaining a youthful prospect for future seasons aren’t worth much.

THE WHITE SOX would likely wind up with some other team’s ballplayer suspects who will get themselves released from a minor league affiliate come spring training of 2016.

Still, it will be interesting to be on hand for what could be one of the last significant series of the White Sox’ 2015 season. Some might argue the Chicago Cubs series coming up in mid-August will also draw attention.

But that has the potential to be a three-game set between two third-place teams that fall short of making playoff appearances. Which might be a big deal to the overly-local scene that wants to think Sox/Cubs is equal to a World Series.
 

Fans left flowers at the ballpark statue of Billy Pierce, the Go-Go era star pitcher who died Friday

It just isn’t. Although I think if we ever got a real Sox/Cubs match-up in the World Series, that could be one of the most intriguing ever – although I still remember the 2000 Yankees/Mets match-up that had some people whining about how overly-parochial the fan bases were being

BUT THAT MATCH-UP does appear to be a fantasy for now. The Cubs are likely to fall short this year, and the White Sox would have to struggle to come close to a playoff appearance. I’m not sure which team’s fans are more delusional about the chances.

Oh heck, it’s the Cubs’ fans who are delusional. They always are, about everything.

But regardless of what happens on the playing field this weekend, it soon won’t matter. It may already be running second to the sporting activity that began this week in Bourbonnais.

The delusions of summer training camp and pre-season football for the Chicago Bears will take place, with the first pre-season game against Miami on Aug. 13. In fact, Chicago Bears fans may well be the only ones more delusional than our city’s baseball fans.

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