EXTRA: Could Pence make Middle East trip? Trump's holiday "surprise?"

PENCE: Middle East, or Indy, for holiday?

Vice President Mike Pence made a point of rescheduling his journey to the Middle East for mid-January, since he wants to be on hand for when the Senate takes its vote on the tax plan desired by President Donald Trump to benefit the more wealthy amongst us who feel ever-so-overtaxed.

Yet with the House of Representatives giving its approval Tuesday afternoon, making it possible for a Senate vote Tuesday night, it may seem that Pence could still make his overseas travel.

OR WILL HE prefer the thought of a Hoosier Christmas? Returning to his home state of Indiana for the holidays.

Trump's holiday surprise? His alter ego?

For the record, Republican leadership says they pushed to take the final vote on the Trump tax plan so that it could be sent to the president for final consideration prior to Christmas.

Which literally could make it possible that Trump acts to sign the measure into law on Christmas. His "gift" to Americans? Or his "screw you" to the majority of people who didn't vote for him!

Which would truly make Donald J. the 21st Century equivalent of the "Grinch who stole Christmas." It's just too bad we can't find a "Cindy Lou Who" who can shame him into a sense of decency.

  -30-

Start of a GOP tide sway against DJT?

I haven’t given any thought to impeachment of the president or any other scenario that would remove Donald J. Trump from his elected post prior to January of 2021 because I realize it’s not practical.

KINZINGER: First of GOP tidal wave?

Not that I’m at all satisfied with the performance of our nation’s president; although I’d argue he’s behaving about as incompetently as should have been expected. Anybody who thought he’d be better was thinking cluelessly.

BUT IT’S THAT I realize options such as “impeachment” are political maneuvers, which means we’d need to have a sense of unity amongst our government officials (particularly those in Congress) that Trump has to go – that we can’t afford to endure one more moment of him in office.

But I also realize that Congress’ current leadership is Republican, and that the election of Trump gave them what they have long desired (and honestly believe is the way government should always operate) – a condition where they can ignore the political opposition and do things their way.

In our modern era, it is the way of politics. We elect officials of the Republican persuasion who seriously see compromise as evil – which causes the Democratic Party opposition to get itself all worked up into righteous indignation in thinking they’re standing up for “the people” rather than themselves.

Meanwhile, we the people have to endure all the nonsense.

BUT THE POINT is that the Republican leadership will keep Trump in his post so long as he serves their needs, and will do whatever it thinks is required to prop him up and support him against the attacks of those of us in the majority who wonder how irrational a president do we have these days.

I’m sure Republican leadership thinks that all the Trump nonsense to date is merely stuff that irritates their Democratic opposition, which is something they probably take delight in seeing.

Which is why it is significant to see that Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., is now coming out and suggesting investigations of this Age of Trump. It’s a tiny little crack in the façade, and I’m sure Republican leadership will try to patch it over quickly before anyone takes notice.

 

PENCE: Thought of him as Prez scares people

But Kinzinger, who lives in Channahon, Ill. (just south of Joliet), is going public in saying he wants some sort of special prosecutor or independent commission to investigate Trump’s behavior. Later in the day Wednesday, the Attorney General's office named former FBI Director Robert Mueller to handle an investigation.

HE’S NOT COMING out and accusing Trump of anything, but he’s bothered enough by the endless rounds of stories concerning the presidential behavior that he wants to get at the truth.

If anything, it will be interesting to see if Kinzinger faces any kind of backlash from his own political party. As in, “Keep yer mouth shut!” and don’t give any encouragement to the opposition.

That probably will be the first reaction of many ideologue partisans who cast their ballots for Trump (the 46 percent) and most of whom remain committed to the man because they like the idea his presence infuriates their opponents – no matter how rational their opponents may be in the majority of our society.

But when we get the rounds of reports hinting Trump may have been careless enough to let classified national information slip to the Russian government, along with the latest New York Times report indicating he tried to pressure now-former FBI Director James Comey to quit investigating his national security adviser, this could be what causes a trickle to burst forth into a flood – turning that crack into a serious gouge in the wall.

OF COURSE, THERE’S one thing we should keep in mind. Removing Trump alone doesn’t change things. For his replacement would be the vice president.

 

TRUMP: Comical? Or terrifying?

And I know many a Hoosier resident who shudder in disgust at the idea of their state’s former governor, Mike Pence, becoming the occupant of the Oval Office at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, N.W. in D.C.

That could be what turns the comic relief government of the Age of Trump into a truly politically partisan era that seeks to ram its ideological leanings down the throats of the masses of our society.

Although there is one ultimate political truth; if we want to complain but can’t be bothered to vote in future elections, then perhaps we deserve whatever misery gets handed down upon us in the next couple of years.

  -30-

¿What gaffe will Trump give us come the Cinco de Mayo holiday?

The word is getting out on how badly the Trumpites managed to botch the ceremonial fluff this week related to Ireland and St. Patrick’s Day.

Which is odd because, as the Washington Post reported, so many of the prominent people allied with Donald J. Trump’s presidency are of Irish-American descent – even though Trump himself is German/Scottish-American.

It's a wonder Trump didn't dig this sign out to post at White House

OF COURSE, THEY’RE also the kind of people who go around screeching and screaming at every opportunity that they’re “Real Americans!!!!” and none of that hyphenated American talk that they want to believe is what’s wrong with our society these days. Even though I suspect the real issue is many of them don’t know what they are!

So maybe we should give them the benefit of the doubt that they really didn’t have a clue as to how vacuous they were being on Thursday when officials from Ireland were in Washington, D.C., for rituals long associated with the White House to acknowledge the long-standing ties between the two nations and to show just how far our nation has come from the days of “No Irish Need Apply.”

Then again, it would be totally in character for the Trumpites to think it all essential to snub other people. Perhaps they think it shows superiority and strength. I think it merely shows boorishness.

Then again, being a boor has been tied into the Trump persona for so long. It probably is second nature.

SO HOW BAD was the behavior? According to the Washington Post:

·        Vice President Mike Pence managed to create rolled eyes with his initial greeting of “Top of the Morning” to the Irish delegation.

·        Trump managed to recite an “Irish proverb” that no one in the Irish delegation recognized ("Always remember to forget the friends who proved untrue, but never forget to remember those who stood by you"), and it turns out may actually be a line written by a Nigerian poet -- a gaffe only The Donald is capable of making.

·        House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., made an attempt at a joke by pointing out all the golf courses Trump has owned on his properties – apparently thinking that Ireland and Scotland (where the game was created) are identical.

·        But Ryan topped himself when he tried offering up a toast, using a pre-poured glass of Guinness that had gone flat. None of that luscious foam that hard-core Guinness drinkers would insist is the mark of a real drink.

Tunisia officials showed Angela Merkel of Germany more respect than U.S.

About the only way Trump could top that last gaffe would be, if the next time he visits Chicago, he were to stop off for a hot dog and insist on no tomatoes or pickle spears, but lots of ketchup.

This, admittedly, is all trivial. But these ceremonial rituals usually are the things that are so heavily researched in advance to ensure that nothing goes wrong. Ineptitude is putting things mildly.

PERSONALLY, I THINK the Mike Pence gaffe is the worst, because this IS the man who would become president, should the fantasies of many people that Trump become bored with the presidency and resign were to actually come true!

Although the fact that Trump followed up his Ireland gaffes of Thursday with a Germany snub on Friday is purely pathetic.

For Friday was the day that Chancellor Angela Markel was at the White House. She got a private meeting with Trump, followed up with a public appearance by the two during which Trump refused her offer of a handshake.

Reports also noted that Trump wouldn’t even look Markel in the eye during the time they were together before the cameras – the moment in which the world’s eye was literally on the two.

I find this sign outside an Austin, Texas restaurant to be amusing

IT WAS POINTED out how Trump had been critical of Germany during his campaigning last year, what with the way that nation has accepted refugees from Syria. A move Trump has called “a catastrophic mistake” mainly because it makes his attempts at creating xenophobic U.S. policies on travel and immigration look all the more ridiculous by comparison.

You’d think that even someone with a limited world view of Donald Trump (be honest, those hotels he builds overseas are largely for Americans who don’t want to have to interact with foreigners when they travel abroad) would be able to find aspects of Ireland and Germany he could identify with.

TRUMP: Gaffes galore!

It makes me dread what we’re likely to get when Trump is forced to acknowledge the existence of May 5 and the Mexican holiday of that date. Maybe he’ll head back to the Trump Tower in New York for one of the now-infamous “Taco Bowls” they serve in their restaurant.

Which makes me think that for those who wish to disdain Mexico, the locals there and in Mexican-oriented communities in this country probably showed more respect for the Irish this week than our nation did.

  -30-

Impeach Trump? It won’t be for any reason we, the people, approve of!

I almost find it amusing to see certain politically-motivated people getting themselves all worked up into a lather over the concept of bringing the presidency of Donald J. Trump to an end via impeachment.
 

Maybe it's true; Julia Roberts is putting on weight

Going the route that the conservative ideologues tried – and failed, I might add – to use on Bill Clinton. Giving him the unceremonious boot out of office that would have tainted him for life, similar to how some of our parents’ generation wanted to do with Richard M. Nixon and his assorted crimes and misdemeanors against the people.

IF ONLY HE hadn’t have quit first, then been pardoned.

But back to the modern day, where it seems so many of us are offended at the concept of Trump’s presidency that, after only one month in office, we’re willing to semi-seriously engage in talk about his forcible removal from office.

Heck, the City Council in Richmond, Va. – the mind of the Confederacy of old that Trump probably thinks of as his base – took it upon itself to pass a resolution calling for presidential impeachment.

It’s just a resolution. It has no binding legal authority. One can argue that nobody cares what Richmond thinks about this issue. But it does come across as somewhat scary that Trump could have p-o’ed some people so quickly.

IT MIGHT HAVE made sense if the Chicago City Council had passed such a resolution – what with all the ridiculous pot shots Trump has taken at the city in recent weeks. Although I suspect the more creative political minds of the Second City will come up with a more humiliating outcome for the Trump legacy.

Redeemable at a future Trump hearing?

Something that forevermore taints the Trump name and reputation. Which, for all the times he insists on using his name as part of the buildings he builds and projects he completes is something obviously of importance to him.

My thoughts about all of this were triggered by an e-mail message I received Thursday from the Committee for Hispanic Causes – BOLD PAC.

The Washington-based group is trying to raise money to support its efforts meant to make people seriously contemplate impeachment for Trump.

Really???

BUT AS THE e-mail itself said of their plan to raise $1 million by Wednesday night, “We begged. We pleaded. And we failed!”

Of course, the group also made sure to tell me their records showed I had contributed nothing to their effort. Which was the point of the message; to give me one last chance to redeem myself in their eyes and cough up some cash. Something I still have not done, and am not likely to do.

Because while I am as critical of the Trump presidency and the circumstances by which it came about as much as anybody else, I question the point of focusing on his removal.

Not just because I could see how the concept of a “President Michael R. Pence” would be worse because it would put the federal government firmly in the hands of the conservative ideologues who are desperate to impose their will upon all of our society.

I DON’T DOUBT that it is possible the Republican leadership of Congress could turn on Trump and decide they want to remove him. But if that were to happen, it would be for reasons that the bulk of society would not approve of. Most likely for not being conservative extremist enough to satisfy the alleged alt-right that voted in large-enough numbers to create the Electoral College quirk that put Donald into office.

If there is to be a Trump removal, it won’t be for any of the reasons that progressive-minded people would want him out! Which is why I think it is a waste to focus too much attention on the idea of “impeachment.” I’m braced mentally for the idea of being stuck with Trump for the full four years and think the proper alternative is to focus attention on coming up with a solid presidential challenger come the 2020 election cycle who can undo the damage being done now.

At least we’re not at the point in our society that we’re talking about staging a coup d’etat. Or, with all the negative attention Trump has focused on Mexico, giving Donald a fate similar to the 19^th Century Emperor Maximillian – whom the French tried to impose on the Mexican people over their duly-elected President Benito Juarez.

Does anyone envision Trump's fate producing "great" art?

For those who don’t know your history, Maximillian died at the hands of a firing squad. Which may have made for an intriguing series of paintings by Manet, but isn’t the kind of scene we need repeated for the 21^st Century!

  -30-

EXTRA: Even with the sides changed, partisan politics will carry on

My e-mail Friday morning about an hour before the presidential swearing-in ritual contained a plea for cash from the Democratic National Committee.
 

TRUMP: The official presidential photo

Now that we have Donald J. Trump as our president, the party wants to have as ample a cash flow as possible to pay for their many efforts to counter the activities likely to occur in coming weeks, months and years.

FOR IT WILL be a busy time of political people trying to undermine everything that has occurred in recent years of the now-departed Barack Obama presidency. After spending eight years of obstruction, now the Republican partisans are going to try to erase the actions they weren’t able to stop from occurring in the first place.

Personally, I’m less bothered by the election of Trump himself. I think the man has the intellectual heft of a Glad bag, with most of his “policies” worthy of being stuffed in such a bag and left in the alley for weekly collection.

It is the Republican caucuses in both chambers of Congress who will gain power for their members of a conservative ideological bent because they now will no longer have a chief executive capable of standing in their way.

Of course, it could turn out that Trump becomes capable of standing up to people. At which time, I have no doubt that the GOP types will be more than capable of turning on Trump and depositing his political aspirations into the aforementioned Glad bag. They're backing him because they expect him to be their political lap-dog.

TRUMP IS GOING to learn the hard way that he is a business-oriented guy trying to play politics – and showing thus far that he has no real knack for it. He is the kind of guy who seems to think he can become a real life version of that clownish character he played on television.

 

PENCE: Would presidency be ideologue dream

The executive who goes about bellowing “You’re Fired!!!” at everyone who offends him.

The baseball fan in me wonders if Trump is the equivalent of the late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner – who may have put together a few championship ballclubs but also had a string of teams in the late 1980s and early 1990s where the Yankees (a franchise of baseball tradition and glory) turned to garbage.

Garbage that could easily have been stuffed into the aforementioned Glad bag.

IS THE UNITED States of America in the late 2010s about to become the equivalent of the 1990 New York Yankees – who were a 7^th Place (a.k.a., last place) team with a dreadful 67-95 record.

Newly-inaugurated President Donald J. Trump watching a ballgame with New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. I wonder if hard-core Yankees fans have the best idea of what the nation faces, considering how low the Yankees sank in the early 1990s back when Trump was a regular Yankee Stadium presence

Ironic, since back in that era Steinbrenner used to like to draw pseudo-celebrities to show up at his ballpark, and those people often included Trump himself. Since with all his gaudiness, he was capable of drawing some sense of flash to himself.

That is what we’re now headed for in these coming years. As for those who call for the impeachment of Trump, keep in mind that putting an ideologue like former Indiana Gov. Mike Pence into the top post might well be the fantasy come true of the hard-core conservatives who are celebrating Friday the departure of Barack Obama from the White House.

Now I don’t doubt there will be an opposition portion of our society that will try to reduce the amount of damage being done to our nation due to the politicking being celebrated today by that segment of our society who thinks it interesting that singer Jackie Evancho is performing at the Inaugural balls taking place in D.C.

WHILE MANY OTHERS are making a point of not going (Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., has been sending me and many others her partisan e-mail messages explaining her lack of a presence in Washington), and many may even be preparing for the marches to take place across the United States on Saturday – including Chicago.

I won’t be there, and not just

Should we buy stock for all the trash we'll generate?

because the management of the newspapers I do some work for sent us all a note informing us that such activity is considered inconsistent with a so-called objective news reporter.

Although I could say that the Dem political operatives already are aware of my absence, since just a couple of days ago I received an e-mail informing me their records showed I had never contributed a dime to their cause.

Should I feel guilt that my vote wasn’t enough – even though I’d argue the ballot is the ultimate political expression one can make to respond to the many Glad bags we’re going to fill up in coming years with all the nonsense our federal government is going to produce.

  -30-

EDITOR'S NOTE: I happened to be on the Internet at 10:59 a.m. (CST) looking at the whitehouse.gov website, filled with the Obama administration information. When my clock turned to 11 a.m. (Noon, in D.C.), I hit "refresh." The screen turned solid white. Another quick refresh, and I got to see the official website pronouncing "President Donald J. Trump" (and a campaign photograph of a crowd all excited about making America great again) take its place.

I’m better off with culture jolt to avoid thinking about the new president-elect

Friday was the day that the U.S. Senate formally confirmed the results of the Electoral College – which upheld the results of the general elections held back in November throughout the nation.

One of the centerpieces of the Art Institute collection. Photographs by Gregory Tejeda

It doesn’t matter now what flaws or quirks or screw-ups are uncovered in the future – Donald J. Trump really will be our president for the next four years.

I’M SURE THERE are some people who contrived all sorts of schemes they would have figured would deny the presidency to the one-time New York real estate developer. Others probably fretted away a day of their lives on Friday.

Personally, I didn’t bother.

I took advantage of the fact that my work load for the day was fairly slow. I wound up catching a commuter train into the Loop, taking a walk along that Great Street (a.k.a., State Street), then spent a good chunk of the day at the Art Institute of Chicago.

Which is a place I must confess I haven’t visited in many years. It may well be a decade or so since I last set foot inside that building.

TO THE POINT where I must admit it felt like a new experience to me – even though many of the paintings and sculptures I saw were ones that I knew were there. They were parts of the collection that make the museum world-renowned.

Does image move you? Or mention of Bill Murray?

And made for an afternoon I’m not likely to forget – particularly since it meant I didn’t have to get obsessed about the thought that we’re soon going to have the same nitwit who actually managed to come up with an architectural structure ugly enough that it makes the old Sun-Times Building that it replaced look interesting by comparison.

In fact, I only gave the presidential circumstances two bits of thought during the day. Once was when I saw a calendar that provides the next four years in full – giving us a literal countdown to the day in January 2021 that Trump (we hope) will no longer be president.

The other was the nitwit government official in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who admitted Friday afternoon that he made no effort to reach out to the president when it came to the airport incident involving a gunman on the loose.

Chicago the "most beautiful great city?"

INSTEAD, THAT OFFICIAL went out of his way to contact Donald Trump and Mike Pence. They won’t be executives-in-chief for another two weeks., but is seems some people are just waaaaaay too eager to have them take the oaths of office.

To the point where they probably are eager to act as though Barack Obama was never in public office to begin with. A thought that probably would bother me much more significantly than it does Friday night – except that I have my cultural jolt now.

Perhaps what it takes for all of us to be lightened up politically is a dose of Jules-Adolphe Brezon and his painting, “The Song of the Lark.”

Which, the museum made a point of telling us, was a work of art that both former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and actor Bill Murray felt some affection for.

IF ANYTHING, I wonder how much better off we’d be as a people in Chicago if we all managed to take an occasional jolt of the cultural amenities in our midst – but which many of us just take for granted.

Would the people in that painting have any interest in watching us?

If it isn’t a ballgame that serves up overpriced beers (seriously, $9?), some of us just won’t care.

At the very least, it would help us put aside the more miserable aspects of our existence.

Although I still have to admit one gripe -- $37 for a souvenir t-shirt?!? It almost has me eager for springtime and a ballgame, where I can likely get a cheap seat for less than that.

  -30-

Are we destined for “President Pence?” Should that scare us more than Trump?

Spending time as I do working as a reporter-type person on the other side of State Line Road, I have found a group of Democrats to whom the concept of the upcoming presidency of Donald J. Trump is not the most terrifying thought.
 

PENCE: From Indiana to U.S.A., could it happen?

For them to really get a jolt of fear down their political spines, it is the thought of “President Michael R. Pence,” their state’s former governor, ascending to the top post of the United States government.

PENCE GAINED HIS national infamy back when Indiana gave us a version of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act that went so far over the top, even the conservative elements that govern the Hoosier State (which is truly a Bizarro-world take on what we have here in Illinois) felt compelled to scale it back.

But it was the measure that would have put the law on the side of those people who wanted to cite their religious beliefs as the reason to discriminate against people who weren’t like themselves.

Particularly when it comes to those who differ based on sexual orientation issues. But it gave Pence a national reputation – one that helped bolster Trump’s chances of getting elected back when the conservative ideologues weren’t sure if they could trust the rich to be president.

Now, Trump is the president-elect, and Pence moves up to the position of being one step down from becoming U.S. president – should something happen that would prevent Trump from being capable of finishing his term.

WHICH IN THIS political environment may well be a real concept – and just because at age 70, Trump is one of the oldest men ever elected president of this country.

There are those who speculate how unlikely it is that Trump will finish out the four years of the term to which he was elected last month and which will begin in January.

Of course, there are different reasons for their speculations.

 

TRUMP: Will he finish what he starts?

Some believe Trump is just too much of a political amateur to realize what he has got himself into, and will either become frustrated or bored when he finally realizes that image of himself as being the guy who bellows “You’re Fired!” at everybody who displeases him just doesn’t work in government.

HE COULD EASILY turn out to be like Sarah Palin – whose government credentials prior to her 2008 vice presidential bid were being governor of Alaska. But she didn’t even finish out that one term – making it only about two years into it before using her newfound VP nominee status to justify moving on to more visible ventures.

Which in her case amount to being a political loudmouth who spews her thoughts to whomever will listen (and usually winds up giving the real majority of us a good laugh).

Would Trump quit when he realizes life in the White House and on Air Force One isn’t garish and gaudy enough to live up to his tastes?

Or there’s the more extreme option – one that says Trump will do something severe enough to warrant his impeachment. I can’t envision what it would be, but anything is possible in this unpredictable political climate.

I COULD ENVISION a scenario in which his alleged Republican allies, some of whom were never thrilled with his presence instead of a more-reliable GOPer, turn on him. Or it could be the ideologues who banded together to give him that likely Electoral College victory next week decide that he’s not keeping his word to impose all those tyrannical measures that Trump talked about during his campaign that THEY TRULY DESIRE!

 

CLINTON: We can only dream of her presidency

Saying he’s not likely to move to prosecute one-time Secretary of State Hillary Clinton like he said he would during the campaign is a serious broken promise – along the lines of “Read my lips, no new taxes” is to more rational people when discussing the legacy of the first President George Bush.

I state it in that sarcastic manner because on a serious level, the only “crime” that Clinton committed was having the unmitigated gall to think she had any right to seek the presidency in the first place.

People who think like that could easily turn on their guy, particularly if they think they have a more stable and reliable conservative voice in place in the form of Pence – of which the thought of him in the Oval Office does give shudders down the back of the progressive majority peeved that the Electoral College didn’t reflect their reality in this particular election cycle.

  -30-

In Trump’s take on “America,” this is what passes for subversive speech

“We sir, we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights. We truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and work on behalf of all of us. All of us.”
--Brandon Victor Dixon, the actor portraying Aaron Burr in “Hamilton”

  -0-

Will denouncing this become conservative cause?

These are the words of subversion, as deemed by President-elect Donald J. Trump, who is continuing in campaign mode these days, using his personal Twitter account to take pot shots at anybody who offends his sensibilities.

Which these days seems to be a majority of the populace – since let’s not forget that a majority of the popular vote did go to Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. Nearly 1 million more people wanted her in the White House as opposed to him.

BUT WE HAVE the Electoral College system, which is likely to give Trump’s campaign 290 votes to 232 for Clinton (with Michigan technically still up for grabs) when it convenes in state capitols across the nation on Dec. 19 and make it official that Trump is No. 45 in the historical order of U.S. presidents.

So we’re likely to get the kind of government for the next four years that will benefit the interests of those in our society who think the foreigners, minorities and other forms of degenerates have been receiving way too much and that it’s time for real people (a.k.a., themselves) to take things back.

I didn't realize Hoosiers were so delicate

Which is what Dixon meant in his statement made Friday during a New York presentation of the musical about our nation’s early history when he said many in our society are afraid that “your new administration will not protect us” and may, in fact, use people not like themselves to bash upon.

So as the so-called majority to relieve its tensions at the expense of others, I presume.

WHAT MADE THIS an instance is that the Friday night performance of the musical was one attended by Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Apparently, he was walking out of the theater while Dixon was making his post-show comments.

Who bothered to see this show?

But it has been reported that Dixon’s comments were carried out in the lobby of the theater, meaning that Pence definitely heard the message that was meant for his ears.

Which led to Trump’s Twitter comment (a Tweet from a twit?) who said that Pence was “harassed” by the “Hamilton” cast and that they created an atmosphere that altered the theater from being its usual “safe and special place.”

He insists that the cast should “apologize!” to Pence. Which is a notion that makes me laugh. It makes me wonder if Pence has a tushy made of candy. Is he too sensitive to insult?

IF SOMETHING THIS lame is really worthy of an apology, then I can’t help but wonder how many apologies Trump himself needs to issue to so many different groups for the nonsense he continuously spewed during his presidential campaign.

Not that I expect him to issue Apology One. Donald Trump is exactly the kind of guy who thinks the Constitution’s first amendment (the one guaranteeing freedom of expression) applies only to himself – as in he can insult anybody he wants to.

But if those people dare to stand up to him and try to answer back, then they have committed a grave offense for which they must be punished! Hillary Clinton’s “crime” for which she deserves to be “locked up” is for having the nerve to challenge Trump during the general election.

By Trump’s mind-set, she should have surrendered gracefully and made a plea to the electorate to accept Trump’s ascension to the presidency by acclimation.

Is this more the way conservatives want history?

WHERE HE CAN now reward the nativist ideologues amongst his supporters with positions of power where they could seriously try to implement their xenophobic ways upon our society – which would make Dixon’s statement ever so accurate.

Where I also suspect they can now think of the theatre community as a batch of sissies and dilettantes who would dare to disrespect U.S. history by presenting it in a multi-cultural, multi-racial manner – as “Hamilton” does!

Of course, just about anything “historic” usually causes these peoples’ eyes to glaze over – with many of them probably believing they saw something truthful in that sappy 1997 film with actor Leonardo DiCaprio dying in the Atlantic Ocean when the Titanic sank.

Maybe what really bothers Trump is the notion that his life is too insipid to ever become the material of a successful Broadway musical. Would anyone really want to see a show about a guy with a bad combover and overuse of tanning lotions, particularly if he’s boorish enough to think the way to a woman’s heart is by grabbing her most private of places?

  -30-

Will Latino vote be our savior and devastate Trump camp come Nov. 8?

I’m not surprised by the tidbit from this week’s vice presidential debate that had Republican running mate Mike Pence trying to dismiss his Democratic opponent Tim Kaine’s repeated criticism of GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump’s attitudes toward Mexico as “that Mexican thing.”
 

PENCE: Wants us to back off 'Mexican thing'

As in wanting us all to think that Trump’s comments aren’t significant, and that we should disregard what may well be the most outrageous views put forth by the New York real estate developer as he tries to become our nation’s president.

A PART OF me knows we shouldn’t take Trump too seriously with regards to his comments about Mexicans now living in this country being “rapists” and “drug dealers,” along with the idea of a federal court judge from Indiana not being fair to him in a lawsuit because the judge is of Mexican ethnic descent.

The part of me that thinks of electoral politics in a purely strategic manner knows this is something that Trump said to catch the attention of the segment of the nativists and xenophobes in our electorate who he thinks can put him over the top come Election Day.

Trump may not have as irrational a hang-up with regards to Mexicans, or Latinos in general, as his rhetoric would indicate. He may even think more highly of us than he does of fat chicks, or any other group that he has chosen to demonize. Who's to say which of Trump's nonsense-statements ought to be taken seriously?

In short, we’re the political punching bag being used so that Trump can get the support of the would-be voters whom Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has dismissed as the “basket of deplorables.”

WHICH MAKES THE significance of the 2016 electoral cycle that we determine whether such tactics can continue to work in our ever-evolving society.

 

A key factor come Nov. 8?

There once would have been a time when it would have appeared to be common-sense political science strategy to single out Latino voters – they didn’t vote in large-enough numbers enough to matter.

Which brings up the comparisons to George Wallace, the Alabama governor of old who made his own presidential bids trying to get the votes of those people who yearned to keep the segregated way of life in this country.

How else to interpret, “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!”

 

Too many similarities between Wallace and Trump

WALLACE LATER IN life said of his own racially-charged rhetoric that it was a lesson he learned early in politics when he lost a campaign because his opponent tagged him with a label of being too friendly to black people.

As Wallace put it, his offensive rhetoric was because, “I will never be out-niggered again.” Does Trump think he won’t be “out-beaner’ed” this time around and thinks there are enough votes of people who’d encourage such thought?

The reality is that those kind of people often do live in such isolation, and really want to believe they’re the only ones that matter. Which means a Hillary Clinton presidential victory could be an earth-shattering event to their mentality; with some of them, I’m sure, still trying to recover from the shock of the past year years of having a president with too much melanin for their sensibilities.

Then again, it does mean that as much as Trump thinks he has hard-core supporters, he also has outraged enemies.

PARTICULARLY FROM THE Latino vote, which the Miami-based Latino Decisions group has said will be nearly insignificant for Trump. They said Thursday his Latino support will be somewhere between 9.5 percent and 20.5 percent, with next to no Latinos bothering with Libertarian or Green candidates.

Not just Madonna's kid breaking a piñata

Which means Hillary gains Latino votes – largely because we find the GOP opponent to be too much of un pavo to take seriously, except perhaps as part of a Thanksgiving Day dinner. Which may be the way we celebrate a Trump defeat and being spared the misery of such an egomaniac gaining electoral office.

The study says Clinton could very well take more than 72 percent of the Latino vote – which is what her husband, Bill, took in 1996. Or the 71 percent that Barack Obama received in 2012. Actually, 76 percent to 82 percent is figured most likely. Many Latino activist-types may wind up being praised for saving us from xenophobes shoving a Trump presidency down our throats – even if it means backing the woman who aroused our laughter when she absurdly tried comparing herself to a Latina grandma.

If only Trump could have kept his mouth shut about Mexicans, perhaps he might have had a chance. But then again, an ego-less, non-arrogant Trump would be about as real a concept as the 2016 World Series champion New York Mets.

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The running mates debate; will Clinton or Trump benefit more from event

Tuesday will be the night that Indiana’s governor takes on Virginia’s senator in a head-to-head competition to try to get other people elected to political office.

For Mike Pence and Tim Kaine, whom most people outside of their home states had probably never paid any attention to prior to this summer, are the running mates.

THEY’RE THE VICE presidential picks chosen by the presidential nominees to be the ones who will be called upon to be the “Commander in Chief” of our country in the event that our newly-elected president dies, or is otherwise incapacitated.

And unlike the presidential candidates who will have two more debate appearances scheduled between themselves, we only give the vice-presidential hopefuls one debate.

The event at Longwood University (a Virginia-based school, I can already hear the Trump-type rants about the bias against his running mate, who is a Hoosier) will give us our lasting political impression of both men.

Heck, for most of us, it will be the first we’ve ever really thought of either official. Which means a gaffe by either man likely will live on forevermore. Just like how most of us only think of James Stockdale (paired up with ’92 candidate H. Ross Perot) as the guy screaming confusedly, “Who am I? Why am I here?

THIS TIME AROUND, the would-be third party candidates weren’t strong enough in the polls to warrant being included in the debates. So we won’t see a Libertarian or a Green on Tuesday.

It’s going to be the Kaine vs. Pence show.

Both of them are going to try to make it appear as though Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are completely rational public officials, while their opponent is a complete loon!

For those who wish GOP ticket were reversed

Of course, both men have some baggage that will make them susceptible to attack. If anything, that may be the issue where Pence is already exposed to heat.

BECAUSE HE’S THE Indiana governor who signed into law that measure meant to protect religious freedoms, but was really nothing more than a law providing cover for people to use religion as an excuse to harass people with whom they disagree.

By now, Pence had better be used to dealing with questions about this issue. I’m sure in his mind, he’s going to continue to stand up to criticisms just as he has been for the past year. So maybe he has the advantage in that he ought to be prepared.

Although Pence’s stance does hurt him among those gay rights activists who were willing to stand up for Trump publicly. It will be curious to see how much the mess of Indiana politics from 2015 winds up dominating Tuesday night’s debate session.

Of course, it’s not like Kaine doesn’t have his critics. He has made his own stance on Capitol Hill when it comes to the Hyde Amendment – which is the law used to justify cutting off any sort of federal funding that in any way would benefit a woman’s ability to abort a pregnancy.

CLINTON DOESN’T THINK much of that measure, but her pick of Kaine as a running mate is part of what makes him a moderating force for those who think she’s too liberal. Of course, others think she’s too conservative – and cite Kaine’s choice as a running mate as evidence of her own political leanings.

It will be interesting to see more liberal interests try to take off on Kaine to try to hurt Hillary; particularly those who may still have hang-ups about the fact that Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont didn’t get the Democratic presidential nomination.

The debate location

Then again, it may be the more conservative interests who are in agreement with Kaine who may bring the issue up – just to stir up discontent that they hope winds up backing Trump’s chances of Election Day victory.

Because in the end, voters will wind up casting their ballot based on their presidential preference. Their next debate appearance is Sunday at Washington University in St. Louis.

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