Skip to content

Beyond the Clinton GOP Talking Points

The Republicans and Fox News have been so successful at painting Hillary Clinton as a scandal-plagued hack politician that even liberals often repeat the GOP talking points. Unfortunately, propaganda works, even when you think it won’t.

Which is why this article by Jon Favreau is so interesting. Favreau was Obama’s speechwriter during the 2008 election. After Obama won and picked Clinton as his secretary of state, Favreau got to know Clinton. And he admits that he was surprised to find out that Clinton was “far different than the caricature I had helped perpetuate.”

Favreau’s article resonated with me, because I was a fervent Obama supporter in 2008. In fact, helping him get elected was one of the main reasons I started this blog. And yes, that biased me against Hillary Clinton. In addition I was never overly enamored of Bill Clinton during his presidency.

But watching the Republicans throw trumped up scandal after scandal at her started me thinking and made me examine how I felt about her as a politician. After all, why are the Republicans so scared of her? I have to say that I now think she will make an excellent president. Favreau does a far better job than I could in articulating why.

UPDATE: An article in Politico (of all places!) also highlights how Clinton has matured and mellowed as a politician, even since 2008. Watching her, I get the feeling that it isn’t just about winning anymore. Maybe, just maybe, she is taking a tip from John Kennedy and asking what she can do for her country. And ironically, not making it about winning may be the only way for her to actually win.

Share

Late Night Political Humor

“After doing poorly in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, Jeb Bush announced that he’s dropping out of the race. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz are both hoping to pick up Jeb’s supporters. Then Jeb said, ‘Joke’s on you — I didn’t have any supporters!'” – Jimmy Fallon

“George W. Bush was a little confused why Jeb quit because he was losing. Because as far as George W. Bush is concerned, you still become president even when you don’t get the most votes.” ” – James Corden

“Jeb Bush has dropped out of the presidential race. When reached for comment he said, ‘Oh NOW you wanna talk to me?!'” – Seth Meyers

“Jeb Bush spent $130 million and didn’t win a single state. Jeb spent yesterday commiserating with his campaign manager Nicolas Cage.” – Conan O’Brien

Jeb Bush announced that he will suspend his presidential campaign after it failed to meet expectations. And you just know that Jeb’s in therapy right now, saying, ‘My brother was a two-term president. And I lost to the guy who fired Bret Michaels on ‘The Apprentice’.” – James Corden

“John Kasich over the weekend said lots of women have left their kitchens to work on his campaign. Yeah, that will certainly help the upcoming election of 1956.” – James Corden

“A photo has emerged from the 1960s of Bernie Sanders getting arrested during a civil rights protest. Meanwhile, another photo emerged from the ’60s that shows Donald Trump’s wife, Melania, not being born yet.” – Conan O’Brien

“Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump won this weekend in Nevada and South Carolina, respectively. Because Americans are ready for compassionate, principled, experienced leadership OR the opposite.” – Seth Meyers

“The other big news is that Donald Trump won all 50 delegates in Saturday’s South Carolina primary. So if you’re paying attention, this is the official point when people go from saying, ‘Oh, this is kinda fun!’ to saying, ‘Oh my God, this is really happening!'” – Jimmy Fallon

“Donald Trump was declared the big winner in the South Carolina primary by himself weeks ago, and the voters said, ‘Yeah! OK! That sounds good!’ So now the obvious question is, will he ever not win? Yes, Trump is unstoppable. He’s like Godzilla with less foreign policy experience.” – Stephen Colbert

“After winning in South Carolina, Donald Trump boasted that he got the votes of ‘tall people, short people, fat people and skinny people.’ Then Trump said he ‘got some votes in a box’ and ‘some votes from a fox’.” – Conan O’Brien

“Analysts say that Donald Trump’s GOP rivals are running out of time to defeat him. This is not according to the electoral schedule — it’s according to the Book of Revelations.” – Conan O’Brien

“I thought he was just doing this to promote his reality show or sell more steaks. When he announced his intention to be president, it never occurred to me that his end game was to BE president.” – Stephen Colbert

“While Donald Trump was speaking at a rally in Atlanta, the lights suddenly went out and Trump said he actually liked it more in the dark. Then Melania Trump said, ‘Join the club’.” – Jimmy Fallon

“When asked about the possibility that Mexico might not agree to pay for his border wall, Donald Trump said, ‘The wall just got 10 feet higher’. People in Mexico were like, ‘OK, well, our tunnels are exactly the same.'” – Jimmy Fallon

“Reverend Al Sharpton called Donald Trump the ‘white Don King’. Today, Sharpton apologized and said, ‘I’m sorry, I meant the orange Don King’.” – Conan O’Brien

Share

Trump Bumper Sticker

Keith Knight
© Keith Knight

With apologies to P.T. Barnum, there’s a racist sucker born every minute. Trump only came close to cementing the Republican nomination on Tuesday, but he certainly cemented Republicans as the party who would vote for a serial con artist for president.

In the John Oliver video posted a few days ago, the thing that really got to me was the short clip of Trump selling steaks in pretty much exactly the same way he is selling himself as president. And the same way he sold his “Trump University”. It is just one more attempt to take your money.

It is almost enough to make you feel sorry for the Republican party, except that they are even more to blame than Trump, as they created a 1984-like political climate where lying is routine, hatred is a family value, greed is a virtue, anger is admired, and winning is everything.

Even if Trump doesn’t become president, I fear we are losing our way.

UPDATE: Seth Meyers on Trump’s win:

Share

Moving to Canada

According to Google Trends, people searching on the phrase “move to Canada” reached its highest point ever in Google history on Super Tuesday. Searches on “how can I move to Canada” jumped 1,150 percent.

Before this, the largest spike in similar searches was back in 2004, when George W. Bush won re-election.

Share

Springtime for Trump?

In a newly updated version of “The Producers”, Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane star as two political consultants who hatch a crazy scheme to make a lot of money. But it somehow backfires.

Where did they go right? Far right?

Share

Late Night Political Humor

“President Obama was spotted at a steak restaurant in D.C. this week with Morgan Freeman and Tom Hanks. They didn’t even order anything. They just closed their eyes and listened to Morgan Freeman read the appetizers.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Tomorrow is the South Carolina primary, and this week Donald Trump has been telling supporters that if he wins South Carolina he thinks he could, quote, ‘Run the table’. Yeah. And if he doesn’t win, he’ll flip over the table like an angry New Jersey housewife.” – Jimmy Fallon

Share

John Oliver Demolishes Drumpf

John Oliver takes on Donald Trump. Or should I say Drumpf? Hilarity (and a fantastic rant) ensues.

This segment should be required watching for anyone who even thinks Trump would make a good president.

And be sure to use the hashtag #makedonalddrumpfagain and visit donaldjdrumpf.com.

UPDATE: According to an article in the NY Times, search data from Google Trends shows that the most searched for candidate name today is “Donald Trump”. But neither “Marco Rubio” nor “Ted Cruz” are in second place. Instead, it is “Donald Drumpf”. Never underestimate the power of humor to change the world!

Share

Late Night Political Humor

“When asked about Donald Trump, Pope Francis said that people who build walls are not Christians. And Donald said, ‘Of course I’m a Christian. Do you know how many carpenters named Jesus I have working for me?'” – Jimmy Fallon

“Pope Francis stated that he did not think that Donald Trump is a true Christian because of Trump’s beliefs on immigration. I know you’re thinking there goes the Pope’s chance of being on the next season of ‘Celebrity Apprentice’.” – James Corden

“If I told you two years ago that Donald Trump would be in a fight with the Pope you’d think I was insane. I mean this makes Taylor Swift versus Kanye West look like nothing.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“Do you know how wrong you have to be for a Pope to dislike you? I mean the Pope’s entire thing is literally forgiveness. Pope John Paul hung out with the guy who tried to assassinate him and now Pope Francis is like, ‘I can’t with this Trump guy. I can’t.'” – James Corden

“The Pope is in Mexico and on his way home he was asked about Donald Trump, and the Pope said, ‘A person who thinks only about building walls wherever they may be and not building bridges is not a Christian.’ Which of course is nonsense — Donald Trump made it very clear that his favorite book is the Bible.” – Jimmy Kimmel

Donald Trump responded to criticism from Pope Francis today, and said the pontiff will wish Trump was president ‘if and when’ the Vatican is attacked by ISIS. Though I think what he meant to say was, ‘That’s a nice Vatican you got there. It would be a shame if somethin’ was to happen to it.'” – Seth Meyers

“Trump fired back saying the Pope will wish Donald Trump were president if the Vatican is ever attacked. I have to say, the one time I think people will wish Trump was president is if Ted Cruz is president.” – James Corden

“In South Carolina, things are looking up for Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz for the first time is ahead of Donald Trump in a national poll. Of course Trump is suing the poll.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“The poll is what they call an outlier. Every other national poll shows Trump with a big lead. In fact, it’s such an outlier, it might just be a liar without the out.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“During a CNN town hall last night, Ted Cruz was talking about how much he likes singing and even treated the crowd to a little Stevie Wonder. Stevie Wonder was like, ‘Even I know that dude is white.'” – Jimmy Fallon

“Ben Carson said during last night’s town hall that he shoots pool to relax. Oh, he shoots pool? Because based on his energy level, I would have guessed heroin.” – Seth Meyers

“Over on the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders is getting the support of students at Hillary Clinton’s alma mater, Wellesley College. Now Hillary Clinton is trying to get the support of Bernie’s alma mater, Jurassic Park.” – Jimmy Fallon

Share

Vote!

Some interesting facts about the primary contest so far.

First is that polling has become much more difficult. For example, in South Carolina every major poll except one predicted that Hillary Clinton would beat Bernie Sanders by between 18 and 30 points. The lone dissenting poll predicted that she would win by 50 points, so many people dismissed it as an outlier.

But Clinton won by 47 points. Why were all the other polls so far off? The biggest problem is that so few people even bother to vote any more. In South Carolina only 12.5% of registered Democrats voted in the Democratic primary. Many people (like young people) who told the polls that they supported Bernie Sanders didn’t bother to go to the polls on Saturday.

One way of looking at this is that with 12.5% turnout, if you do vote your vote counts for eight people.

Another interesting statistic is that if you just look at the actual number of people who have voted (or caucused), Clinton has already received more votes (448,766) than Donald Trump (420,315).

This means that if slightly less than 30,000 additional people had voted for Trump, he would have received more votes than Clinton. In a close race, especially one with low turnout, a small number of additional votes can have a huge (yuuge) impact.

Super Tuesday is tomorrow, so make your vote count and actually vote.

Share

Changing the Rules

The Nightly Show

We seem so willing to give up our rights in exchange for a little safety, by forcing technology companies like Apple to install backdoors in their encryption. But not for gun rights. Think about how many lives would be saved if we just tightened up a few loopholes in gun laws, like the loophole that lets anyone buy a weapon at a gun show without any background check, or registering the gun.

Don’t get me wrong. I think the second amendment gives us the right to own guns. I just don’t understand why other rights guaranteed by the constitution seem to be less important to us. The government bent over backwards to let the whack jobs at the wildlife sanctuary in Oregon parade around with their weapons and play tin soldier militia. But tap our phones and our response is a collective yawn.

As usual, it is always about money. Gun manufacturers (via the NRA) whip up the crazy base. And finally, Apple (and other technology companies) are objecting to the government crippling encryption, because it will hurt their brand.

Maybe 1984 already happened, and nobody noticed.

Share

Late Night Political Humor

“Hillary Clinton had a coughing fit during a speech and the crowd actually chanted her name as she opened a cough drop. She got applause for choking — or as Jeb put it, ‘Must be nice’.” – Jimmy Fallon

“After his big win in New Hampshire, they say Hillary’s team is trying to dig up dirt on Bernie Sanders. You know what you call someone who digs up dirt on Bernie Sanders? An archaeologist.” – Jimmy Fallon

“The big decision for Sanders will be picking a vice president. It’s important because whoever he chooses is just a prostate away from being the next president of the United States.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Bernie Sanders has been fighting an uphill battle against Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is battling with anyone who makes eye contact with him. Which means the only one who’s safe is Ben Carson.” – Seth Meyers

“What is going on with the Republicans? I watch these debates. Trump attacks Cruz. Rubio goes after Bush. Bush gets into a fight with Trump. Remember the good old days when the Republicans were all united against the poor and the minorities? What happened?” – Jimmy Fallon

“Pope Francis loudly scolded a fan in Mexico yesterday after the man grabbed his arm and pulled him down. And after hearing that the Pope yelled at a Mexican, Donald Trump converted to Catholicism.” – Seth Meyers

“Donald Trump said at a recent campaign rally that he has ‘never met a human being who’s lied’ as much as Ted Cruz. Then Melania said, ‘You tell ’em, handsome!'” – Seth Meyers

“When Barack Obama was asked if Donald Trump could be president, he said, ‘I continue to believe Mr. Trump will not be president. And the reason is because I have a lot of faith in the American people.’ A president with faith in his citizens? I trust everything this guy says.” – James Corden

“President Obama said he believes Mr. Trump will not be president because the American people ‘recognize that being president is a serious job. It’s not hosting a talk show.’ Maybe I don’t get to do ‘serious’ stuff like pardoning a turkey on Thanksgiving but I’ll tell you something, Mr. Obama: Every minute of every day I’m thinking about how to keep Americans safe from Matt Damon.” – Jimmy Kimmel

“After saying he would never ditch his glasses, this week Jeb Bush appeared wearing contact lenses. Most people actually do look cooler without glasses, but Jeb looks like a turtle who has lost his shell.” – James Corden

“Is anyone else worried that Jeb got rid of his glasses the same week he got a gun?” – James Corden

Share

Election, Eh?

Share

Late Night Political Humor

Apparently some prostitutes at a Nevada brothel have launched a campaign for Hillary Clinton called ‘Hookers for Hillary’. Yeah, they want to donate money to the Clintons – or as they call it, ‘Giving back’.” – Jimmy Fallon

“According to the latest national poll, Hillary Clinton’s lead over Bernie Sanders has narrowed to ten points. Also narrowed, Hillary Clinton’s eyes.” – Seth Meyers

“Marco Rubio is being criticized for opening his new campaign ad with the slogan ‘It’s morning again in America,’ but showing stock footage images of Vancouver, Canada.” – Seth Meyers

“Actually during his speech at the rally, George W. Bush said his brother Jeb is the guy who can fix the problems that inflame our country’s frustrations. Or in other words, Jeb is America’s Preparation H.” – Jimmy Fallon

“Several political experts have put together a short list of who they believe president Obama is considering for the Supreme Court nomination. Meanwhile, the GOP has put together their own short list.” – Seth Meyers

Share

Emperor Trump?

Tom Tomorrow
© Tom Tomorrow

Could anyone have imagined a presidential election this bizarre?

It is almost like they invented a new propaganda technique. It is the political equivalent of the “big lie” – an election that is so unbelievable the voters have no idea what to do or who to believe.

I mean, even “Emperor Trump” is starting to make sense to me. Help!

Share

The Worm in the Apple

Signe Wilkinson
© Signe Wilkinson

The dispute between Apple and the FBI will be going on for a while.

The government can’t even protect their own secrets. And yet they ask us to trust them to put backdoors into the devices that contain our passwords and other details about our most private information, including our health, wealth, and safety.

The bottom line is that compromising digital encryption on a single phone, for evidence that may or may not exist, will make us much less safe in the long run.

Think about it. Did torture make us safer? Would installing video cameras everywhere (including inside people’s homes) to watch everyone’s movements and actions make us safer? Would giving up all of our rights make us safer?

Share