Trump refuses to debate; calls Fox's moderator 'lightweight'

[Publicus]

Trump knows the more time he spends in debate the more he exposes himself as having no policies, no programs, no consistent philosophy or knowledge, expertise, experience, facility to be potus.

Say what one will against Ted Cruz, but reality is that Cruz pierced right through Trump with his "mano-on-mano" challenge of only he and Trump debating. While Cruz would be ideological and express conservative philosophy and principles, all Trump could do was shout "Canada" while having nothing of substance or content to offer.

If Trump wins Iowa, it will validate his need to avoid and not participate in debates for the rest of the way to the nomination.

If Trump does get the nomination, it would set the precedent for him not to debate HR Clinton in the fall/autumn election campaign. Trump well knows better than anyone else that he knows nothing and that debates of one-on-one will expose that absolutely and fatally to his candidacy.

Trump needs to stage alternative ostensibly credible events during what otherwise would be the debate time. This ruse with veterans instead of the debate is the first clear indication of the fact. There's a lot more duplicity and shiftiness in Trump than we've even had a hint of to date.

Trump is a vacuous blowhard.

[Chicog]

Here's one endorsement Trump won't be welcoming. (Although you never know with him).

In an essay to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Anne Frank's stepsister accused Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump of "acting like another Hitler."

Eva Schloss, now 86, was a friend of Frank's in Amsterdam after their families fled Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Her mother, Fritzi, would marry Otto Frank, Anne's father, after World War II.

"If Donald Trump become(s) the next president of the U.S. it would be a complete disaster," she told Newsweek on Wednesday. "I think he is acting like another Hitler by inciting racism."

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/27/politics/anne-frank-donald-trump-adolf-hitler/

Edited January 28, 2016 by Chicog

[Jingthing]

Mr Mod,,,,, please

Time for a poll, expat Americans only,

Do you really want Trump as your next President?

I really need to know as I need time to find a suitable hole to hide in

It can't be limited to Americans, so why bother?

There are polls in the U.S.

If Trump is nominated, there is a chance he could be elected president.

Likely, no. Possible, yes.

[Chicog]

It seems the reason Trump has pulled out is because he tried through his campaign manager to threaten Fox and specifically Kelly, but they refused to kow tow.

He knows how damaging it would be to him to be asked direct and relevant questions.

So he's going to go and do some veterans thing just for show, and non-Fox stations are queuing up for it as expected.

He was very sensitive on O'Reilly this morning, especially when O'Reilly said that when he first announced he was running, people thought that he was a buffoon.

You can imagine the response that got.

In a call on Saturday with a Fox News executive, Lewandowski stated that Megyn had a “rough couple of days after that last debate” and he “would hate to have her go through that again.” Lewandowski was warned not to level any more threats, but he continued to do so. We can’t give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees. Trump is still welcome at Thursday night’s debate and will be treated fairly, just as he has been during his 132 appearances on FOX News & FOX Business, but he can’t dictate the moderators or the questions.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/fox-responds-to-trump-dropping-out-hes-still-welcome-but-there-are-conditions/

Edited January 28, 2016 by Chicog

[GinBoy2]

<snip>

A pretty stupid skit...couldn't even get through it all...and instead of mocking Trump and his supporters as rubes, maybe the Coastal elites should listen to some of the fears and concerns of their not so elite fellow citizens.

Well I guess i'm a coastal 'elite'.

Californian born & breed, except of course I'm slightly the wrong color, speak two languages, one of course is anathema to the 'real' true Americans from that non elitist middle America.

Maybe if you could actually get your small minded head around the fact that the US is not some version of 'Little House on the Prairie' and that there are are indeed non elitist voices that don't agree with you, which maybe don't look like you but still have a voice then maybe, just maybe you might understand why Trump is so toxic to so many of us

Exactly the attitude I'm talking about...most of trumps supporters are worried about their jobs...2/3rds of Americans don't have college degrees and their wages have been stagnant for decades. That's why many gravitate to extreme candidates, who blame their problems on "others," be they Trump or sanders, because both mainstream parties have long since been captured by the cultural and financial elites.

BTW, fyi, I was born in Children's Hospital in San Francisco and lived all my years in the Bay Area before moving to Thailand, so I guess that qualifies me as "coastal" too but I don't ignore the concerns of other Americans. Get out of your bubbles and see conditions outside the glittering metropolises...even in the Central Valley of California...it's pretty bleak.

I grew up in Tulare County...I know very well what life is like outside the SF bubble!

Whatever fairground barker act trump is peddling, I guarantee he has no real interest in making the lives of people of Tulare County or it's like across the US any better. Trump is a bigot, charlatan, racist and part of the super rich that have destroyed real democracy in our country.

The true genius of the man is that he has conned the really disposed into buying into his story, turning one group of disposed against another, using a mixture of half truths, bigotry and racism.

Anger and hopelessness has been manipulated by despots throughout history...I guess it's our turn!

Edited January 28, 2016 by GinBoy2

[dunroaming]

But Fox is the platform for the republicans! Why would Trump want to fight with them?

[Publicus]

Candidate debates are the Trump Achilles heel.

Trump didn't know what the (US nuclear) triad was in debate and he showed directly in front of the camera he had no clue.

Trump can't do debates that have a manageable number of participants.

During the 2 hour 30 minute debate, for instance, Trump spoke a total of 17 minutes. He bashed candidates individually one after the other. He hammered media to specifically include questioners as well as media generally. He blasted Hispanics, Muslims etc etc while mouthing he'd make America great again blah blah blurp blurp.

The guy is bluster when he's making a speech, however, Trump becomes a vacuum when he's asked a specific question of policy, policy making, programs or programmatic development, regions of the world and their leaders; US constitutional issues etc. Trump knows only the stock stuff, such as making accusations of 'political correctness', reducing everything to personality among other political tripe.

He can't say what he'd do as potus cause he still doesn't know. He can't explain or discuss anything, Trump can only wisecrack, insult, attack personally, deflect attention from his own vast and barren brain.

Debates are his weakness. It is in the public debates, or due to Trump's absence from them, that The Donald can be taken down by the very mass media to include the MSM he hates so passionately.

Eureka.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Publicus

[Cory1848]

This guy has a very large set of Cojones on him man. he starches any acceptable and known

boundaries of you can or can not say when you're running for presidency....

No he doesn't, he has no cojones at all. He's an insecure little boy with a lot of money.

[bark]

Megyn is hot. Trump is a lunatic.

It may just be war paint and kind lighting. Plus I'm fairly certain that she's farting in this photo.

If she was, I don't think you would care !

[blazes]

No matter what we think of Trump, one thing is clear: he shows the importance of money in American politics. That is, in getting you to the Prize.

Being super rich, he can say what he likes. Being comparatively "poor", the other candidates have to beg for funds from lesser millionaires who will want 'payback" if the recipient ever becomes president.

The problem for Trump is that being super rich will cease to be 'useful' the moment he steps into the Oval Office. Then, as Eisenhower warned us all, the "military/industrial complex" takes over.

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

Que Bloomberg to enter as an independent. He has the cash the experience and more smarts than all other candidates on both sides combined.

If Bloomberg enters the race Trump will probably just quit as he is too much of a pussy to go up against someone like Bloomberg.

Trump's only legitimate claim to fame (as you can't count the shock factor value of his big mouth legitimate) is that he says he has so much money he can't be bought.

bloomberg has more money and a head on his shoulders. Bye Bye Trumpsky.

[Publicus]

Bloomberg is a strong candidate but he said he'd get in only if the nominees were Sanders and Trump.

Trump and Clinton are the odds-on favorites to win each party's nomination. HR Clinton is very strongly so and much more likely (at this point and all along) than Trump's odds in his R party had been.

So chances of Bloomberg getting into the race are slim and none and Slim already left town.

[aTomsLife]

Trump is afraid as he knows he is a poor orator and will probably make a fool of himself

Why would this time be different from previous times? So far he has done well in the debates.

Yes, he has done well in the debates and he will probably do well in not debating. He seems to be able to fall in a pile of crap and still out smelling like a rose.

I don't care for him, but he is pure genius.

Yes, when he gets called on one of his lies he just ignores that, and nobody seems to care.

In other words, he's becoming a successful politician.

[NeverSure]

If Megan is so lightweight, what are you afraid of Trump?

Megyn is a two-bit bimbo. Trump is beotch slapping her and winning big.

[Jingthing]

#donaldducks

[Denim]

So much shit has passed under the bridge and blocked it that people will readily vote for a huge turd in the hope that the weight of it will somehow clear the blockage.

Time will tell the veracity of this belief.

[Denim]

So much brown stuff has passed under the bridge and caused a blockage that many people are prepared to vote for a megaturd in the hope that the weight of the solid bullsheet will be enough to clear the blockage and return things to normal...whatever that is.

[boomerangutang]

More proof, if any were needed, that Trump is not presidential material. I wouldn't even like to see Trump in any government position (maybe that's why he's never been elected to anything). Can you imagine Secretary Kerry or former secretary Kissinger or former Sec. of State Clinton not showing up at a serious discussion because they had a problem with a strong-willed woman in attendance? Trump is a satire of himself. He paints himself as a tough guy, but wilts at attending a debate where a particular woman may be a moderator. What a wimp.

Oh, you are so wrong. Trump is a master at controlling the news cycle. He gets more publicity for free than the others can buy, even funded by their super pacs.

Getting publicity by acting outrageous is cool? He could pull down his pants on stage and take a dump: that would get him a lot of publicity also. Is that what it's about?

Trump wrote The Art of The Deal. Never believe that what you see is what you get. He knows exactly what he's doing and he'll get far more positive attention from this than he would by attending the debate.

Trump is one up and Fox is one down on this one. Who else would have the guts not to mention the savvy to realize just how much attention this will get him? People love to see someone punch a bully in the nose and that's what Trump is perceived by most as doing.

Every time we think that Trump has shot himself in the foot, he rises in the polls.

Cheers.

Imagine for a moment that Trump is president. He's got a meeting with one or another national leader. But right before the meeting, he's got a problem with that person's personality or hair color, or their attire. Trump decides to miss the meeting. There's a sound bite with Trump meeting with a reporter and telling the reporter his breath smells awful (the words he used). America doesn't need an immature, quick-to-anger person at the helm. It needs a mature person as prez. It also doesn't need someone like Cruz who is quick to press launch buttons for N bombs for any group that angers him. Turn sand to glass. Tough and poetic, Cruz, but I sure don't want you with your finger on the button. Less-so hot-headed, quick-to-anger Trump.

I wouldn't say he's quick on his feet.

He cycles through the same cliches time and time again.

"Amazing"

"Huge"

"Find out whats going on"

And his absolute favourite that he seems to drop in every other sentence (Neurolinguistic programming coach anyone?):

"Believe me".

He's got the vocabulary and emotional maturity of a 5th grade bully. I think his most famous phrase is: 'he/she is a loser.'

It reminds me of my godson, when he was in 4th grade. Whenever he was frustrated by something or someone, he would yell, 'that's stupid!' 'he's stupid!' 'she's stupid!' He's 31 now, and a lovely mature responsible young man. But he went through that fixation when he was a young JD schoolboy. Trump never grew out of that immature mentality.

[boomerangutang]

Bloomberg is a strong candidate but he said he'd get in only if the nominees were Sanders and Trump.

Trump and Clinton are the odds-on favorites to win each party's nomination. HR Clinton is very strongly so and much more likely (at this point and all along) than Trump's odds in his R party had been.

So chances of Bloomberg getting into the race are slim and none and Slim already left town.

I think Cruz will get the Republican nod. Similarly, I think Hillary will get it for the Dems, though I prefer Bernie.

Trump can't go far with only the reactionary red neck vote. He will burn out like a Scud missile.

[NeverSure]

Imagine for a moment that Trump is president. He's got a meeting with one or another national leader. But right before the meeting, he's got a problem with that person's personality or hair color, or their attire. Trump decides to miss the meeting. There's a sound bite with Trump meeting with a reporter and telling the reporter his breath smells awful (the words he used). America doesn't need an immature, quick-to-anger person at the helm. It needs a mature person as prez. It also doesn't need someone like Cruz who is quick to press launch buttons for N bombs for any group that angers him. Turn sand to glass. Tough and poetic, Cruz, but I sure don't want you with your finger on the button. Less-so hot-headed, quick-to-anger Trump.

Trump has managed to navigate the difficult waters and people of NYC very successfully. Take note that he has a good reputation there. Even his own employees don't diss him.

No one could climb the mountain that Trump has without excellent people skills. He is certainly a top negotiator. He has met with many of the top people from all over the world and not just survived but thrived.

Your imagination is getting carried away. Trump knows exactly what he is doing and it's working. He is far from an "immature, quick to anger person". He is a very calculating person.

If he can handle China and Putin with 1% of the finesse he's using on Fox News he'll be brilliant. He's burying a major network news organization and coming out looking like the good guy. Who else would have that ability?

Cheers.

[mania]

Mr Mod,,,,, please

Time for a poll, expat Americans only,

Do you really want Trump as your next President?

I really need to know as I need time to find a suitable hole to hide in

I think you would find most Americans have not had a president they wanted for many decades

We are always asked to choose between which is least worst

If it were a truly democratic process the ballots would include ..."None Of The Above"

If the majority chose None Of the Above ...then so be it & back to nominating someone the people actually want

Not what the two broken wings of the same corrupt bird which are controlled by the same select few want.

The only reason we Americans have ( are given) this farce of a vote is to give us hope that we actually have a choice...yet many know it is no such thing.

Many of us became expats for this very reason

So in answer to your poll....None of the above

Edited January 28, 2016 by mania

[boomerangutang]

I think you would find most Americans have not had a president they wanted for many decades

I'm not one of your 'most Americans.' I liked Bill Clinton, and I like Obama, ...both two-term presidents. I saw a video where Obama was thanking his campaign workers for a job well done after his 2nd victory. He came across as one of the most decent people I've had the opportunity to witness speaking. There are of course other reasons I like those two presidents, but that was just one gem that stuck out.

Imagine for a moment that Trump is president. He's got a meeting with one or another national leader. But right before the meeting, he's got a problem with that person's personality or hair color, or their attire. Trump decides to miss the meeting. There's a sound bite with Trump meeting with a reporter and telling the reporter his breath smells awful (the words he used). America doesn't need an immature, quick-to-anger person at the helm. It needs a mature person as prez. It also doesn't need someone like Cruz who is quick to press launch buttons for N bombs for any group that angers him. Turn sand to glass. Tough and poetic, Cruz, but I sure don't want you with your finger on the button. Less-so hot-headed, quick-to-anger Trump.

Trump has managed to navigate the difficult waters and people of NYC very successfully. Take note that he has a good reputation there. Even his own employees don't diss him.

No one could climb the mountain that Trump has without excellent people skills. He is certainly a top negotiator. He has met with many of the top people from all over the world and not just survived but thrived.

Your imagination is getting carried away. Trump knows exactly what he is doing and it's working. He is far from an "immature, quick to anger person". He is a very calculating person.

If he can handle China and Putin with 1% of the finesse he's using on Fox News he'll be brilliant. He's burying a major network news organization and coming out looking like the good guy. Who else would have that ability?

Cheers.

"No one could climb the mountain that Trump has without excellent people skills."

Like telling an interviewer repeatedly, "your breath smells awful" ...???

Does his excellent people skills also dazzle with the several women he's divorced?

...or what about when the banks want him to pay back loans, and he goes in and shouts at the loan officers, "Do you know who I am?! I could have your ass on a hot cake griddle. Do you know that if you insist I pay back my loan that I will have to lay off 5,500 people tomorrow! Do you want that on your conscience? You can't make demands on me. I own you and your bank."

[Trouble]

Trump knows the more time he spends in debate the more he exposes himself as having no policies, no programs, no consistent philosophy or knowledge, expertise, experience, facility to be potus.

Say what one will against Ted Cruz, but reality is that Cruz pierced right through Trump with his "mano-on-mano" challenge of only he and Trump debating. While Cruz would be ideological and express conservative philosophy and principles, all Trump could do was shout "Canada" while having nothing of substance or content to offer.

If Trump wins Iowa, it will validate his need to avoid and not participate in debates for the rest of the way to the nomination.

If Trump does get the nomination, it would set the precedent for him not to debate HR Clinton in the fall/autumn election campaign. Trump well knows better than anyone else that he knows nothing and that debates of one-on-one will expose that absolutely and fatally to his candidacy.

Trump needs to stage alternative ostensibly credible events during what otherwise would be the debate time. This ruse with veterans instead of the debate is the first clear indication of the fact. There's a lot more duplicity and shiftiness in Trump than we've even had a hint of to date.

Trump is a vacuous blowhard.

While obviously stating your opinion of Trump, you make some interesting points.

I have not made up my mind about presidential candidates on either side. Sure I have my opinions but I am forced to wait on what is left of the political candidates when California has its primary election in June. The whole process of deciding on Republican or Democratic candidates is a rigged process in general. By the time the Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada are over, candidates on both sides will have dropped out. So in essence the people in 4 states having little population will have decided who will remain in the top tier. Kind of a pathetic that the people in places like California, a very populous state, voting in June will most likely be voting probably for only the one candidate in each party remaining in the race. The whole system is flawed to begin with.

That aside, and while I fully agree that Trump is not the most polished individual around and he is horribly deficient in the debate forum and lacking in being able presenting policies, programs, etc., in that forum, I also think Trump knows this. You are right about a one on one with Cruz as no doubt Cruz would express all the conservative philosophy and principles that Trump in my opinion cannot express properly and further has no desire to express because Trump is not as far to the right as Cruz. Seems like Trump is about bringing American back to a good economic footing not forcing America back to "conservative/evangelical" views. I do not believe that Trump is a stupid man and that while maybe he lacks the wherewithal to express his ideals in a public debate forum, he has more depth that some give him credit. After all he certainly has been an astute businessman. I am hoping that eventually Trump can meld some of his conservative views with his more unexpressed liberal views and be a more interesting candidate. Yes Trump is brash, has a big ego, but he also seems to say what he thinks in this era of political correctness and many find it refreshing. Most Americans have been so subdued in to political correctness wherein things cannot be debated openly. I think that is why Trump is attracting his following. People are fed up with political correctness, the kowtowing of politicians to every group fearful of riling up adverse reaction. I think many like the way he is shaking up the process. Too some degree Bernie is doing the same on the Democrat side. A year ago one would have thought the Hillary was the anointed one which in itself was a kind of pathetic joke on Democrats. Nothing like bringing out a retread instead of new fresh blood with some new ideas.

I believe that Trump is a realist of sorts. Jobs have shifted out of the USA, we have huge trade deficits, a national debt that has doubled under Obama's watch, more people on food stamps and welfare then ever and while the Administration touts reduction in unemployment, one only has to look at the fact that everywhere one goes to shop these days, more and more people are working part time and in fact businesses purposefully hire part time so as to avoid the rising cost of providing health care. So whether Trump succeeds or not in his quest will be up to the voters but at least on the Republican side there has been a field of candidates to like or dislike and a choice.

While you state he should stay away from debates with Hillary because he knows nothing, I would say maybe he should stay away and not give her a forum. Maybe he has a better strategy than people give him credit. Trump is not a debater, it is definitely not his best forum. Hillary is good at it but says little of substance. Honestly Bernie is a more articulate person while Hillary waffles. Bernie states what he thinks while, she seems to have shifted so as not to show any divergence with Obama policies. Bernie is striking at the Democratic establishment the same way Trump is doing to the Republican establishment. My worst fear is that in the end nothing will have changed for the better. If nothing else Donald and Bernie have made it a much more interesting process this year.

[Publicus]

Donald Trump is the Republican answer to Nikita Khrushchev.

His advisers talked him out of the debate after he'd told 'em he wuz gonna pound his wig on the podium while Cruz wuz speaking.

Prezidente Temper Tantrum Trump.

This is an insult to Khrushchev, who, if you remove the rabidly anti-communist blinders from the '50s, was one of the more effective, and reasonable Soviet premiers. Focusing on the shoe-pounding incident, and, "We will bury you", ignores his many accomplishments and accommodations in that era.

Trump is a buffoon, and the only scary thing about him is that there are so many uneducated, unsophisticated cretins in the US who take him seriously. Idiocracy, indeed.

" Ow my balls!"

This is an insult to Khrushchev

You got that right and so did I thx.

The serious deficiency of the post is to omit the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis caused by the Soviet Russian Premier Khrushchev who surreptitiously placed nuclear armed missiles on the island to bring the world to the brink of World War III.

The world had never come closer before or since.

The only reason WW III didn't occur was the wisdom and courage of President Kennedy and the fact Khrushchev, in the word of then SecState Dean Rusk, "blinked." So yes, this is what comes to mind when one soberly considers Donald Trump in the White House with his finger up his on the red button and his mouth in full gear.

Ow he's nuts!

Edited January 28, 2016 by Publicus

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

He still stands no chance for the presidency..........no matter what he does.

Just stay tuned....

THIS is not a reality TV show. THIS is an election for The President of The United States of America. Yes... Stay tuned to see Trump split the votes by running as an Independent. Trump is a conspiracy. He has imploded the Republican party with their own media machine. Can't get no better than that.And it Doesn't matter who is the Retroublican nominee, they will lose the general election because they always... Always step on their own Dicks by alienating their party from voters. With Retroublicans having this history of stepping on their own Dicks and Donald knocking their Dicks in the dirt, it guarantees the Democratic nominee Hillary, Bernie or even Mickey Mouse, will win by a landslide.

[Publicus]

Trump knows the more time he spends in debate the more he exposes himself as having no policies, no programs, no consistent philosophy or knowledge, expertise, experience, facility to be potus.

Say what one will against Ted Cruz, but reality is that Cruz pierced right through Trump with his "mano-on-mano" challenge of only he and Trump debating. While Cruz would be ideological and express conservative philosophy and principles, all Trump could do was shout "Canada" while having nothing of substance or content to offer.

If Trump wins Iowa, it will validate his need to avoid and not participate in debates for the rest of the way to the nomination.

If Trump does get the nomination, it would set the precedent for him not to debate HR Clinton in the fall/autumn election campaign. Trump well knows better than anyone else that he knows nothing and that debates of one-on-one will expose that absolutely and fatally to his candidacy.

Trump needs to stage alternative ostensibly credible events during what otherwise would be the debate time. This ruse with veterans instead of the debate is the first clear indication of the fact. There's a lot more duplicity and shiftiness in Trump than we've even had a hint of to date.

Trump is a vacuous blowhard.

While obviously stating your opinion of Trump, you make some interesting points.

I have not made up my mind about presidential candidates on either side. Sure I have my opinions but I am forced to wait on what is left of the political candidates when California has its primary election in June. The whole process of deciding on Republican or Democratic candidates is a rigged process in general. By the time the Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada are over, candidates on both sides will have dropped out. So in essence the people in 4 states having little population will have decided who will remain in the top tier. Kind of a pathetic that the people in places like California, a very populous state, voting in June will most likely be voting probably for only the one candidate in each party remaining in the race. The whole system is flawed to begin with.

That aside, and while I fully agree that Trump is not the most polished individual around and he is horribly deficient in the debate forum and lacking in being able presenting policies, programs, etc., in that forum, I also think Trump knows this. You are right about a one on one with Cruz as no doubt Cruz would express all the conservative philosophy and principles that Trump in my opinion cannot express properly and further has no desire to express because Trump is not as far to the right as Cruz. Seems like Trump is about bringing American back to a good economic footing not forcing America back to "conservative/evangelical" views. I do not believe that Trump is a stupid man and that while maybe he lacks the wherewithal to express his ideals in a public debate forum, he has more depth that some give him credit. After all he certainly has been an astute businessman. I am hoping that eventually Trump can meld some of his conservative views with his more unexpressed liberal views and be a more interesting candidate. Yes Trump is brash, has a big ego, but he also seems to say what he thinks in this era of political correctness and many find it refreshing. Most Americans have been so subdued in to political correctness wherein things cannot be debated openly. I think that is why Trump is attracting his following. People are fed up with political correctness, the kowtowing of politicians to every group fearful of riling up adverse reaction. I think many like the way he is shaking up the process. Too some degree Bernie is doing the same on the Democrat side. A year ago one would have thought the Hillary was the anointed one which in itself was a kind of pathetic joke on Democrats. Nothing like bringing out a retread instead of new fresh blood with some new ideas.

I believe that Trump is a realist of sorts. Jobs have shifted out of the USA, we have huge trade deficits, a national debt that has doubled under Obama's watch, more people on food stamps and welfare then ever and while the Administration touts reduction in unemployment, one only has to look at the fact that everywhere one goes to shop these days, more and more people are working part time and in fact businesses purposefully hire part time so as to avoid the rising cost of providing health care. So whether Trump succeeds or not in his quest will be up to the voters but at least on the Republican side there has been a field of candidates to like or dislike and a choice.

While you state he should stay away from debates with Hillary because he knows nothing, I would say maybe he should stay away and not give her a forum. Maybe he has a better strategy than people give him credit. Trump is not a debater, it is definitely not his best forum. Hillary is good at it but says little of substance. Honestly Bernie is a more articulate person while Hillary waffles. Bernie states what he thinks while, she seems to have shifted so as not to show any divergence with Obama policies. Bernie is striking at the Democratic establishment the same way Trump is doing to the Republican establishment. My worst fear is that in the end nothing will have changed for the better. If nothing else Donald and Bernie have made it a much more interesting process this year.

One respects a thoughtful and well presented survey post that Donald Trump is himself incapable of in its substance, tone, manner. It certainly is a better organised and considered statement than Trump himself has presented or, one easily could argue, could ever present. Likewise of the typical Trump supporter or advocate.

So don't waste your time on Donald Trump. He is not qualified to be potus, CinC.

Trump does not debate any longer because he cannot take his campaign to where you took it.

Trump doesn't know the (US nuclear weapons) triad from a pentagon or an octagon. He knows nothing about government, governance, public policy or public policy making. He is absent any knowledge of the Constitution. He is wholly deficient in international diplomacy, law, institutions, their history or major players.

Trump is spoken well of by the tyrant Chekist Vladimir Putin and he scares the CCP Dictators in Beijing as a wild American perched on his wild hoofs-up horse at the cliff waving his ten-gallon hat in the air and smiling.

He knows nothing about nuclear weapons, armament, disarmement, proliferation. He says he gets his military advice from generals he sees on television being interviewed. Trump identifies ethnicities and members of religious groups for vilification as entire groups "until we find out what's going on."

Disaffected Americans at home or abroad need to remain in the mainstream of American society, politics, culture and to recognise the major correction to be made in the present USA is for each side of the divide to sit and reason together, treat one another with respect, be rational, reasonable, negotiate in good faith and with honor, to accept compromise. The whole system from government to marriage is predicated on these precepts enshrined in the Constitution by the Founders.

In short, the more thoughtful people who do identify the socio-cultural challenges of contemporary American political economy need to move toward the center, not be enticed out to the extremes.

Edited January 28, 2016 by Publicus

[Publicus]

He still stands no chance for the presidency..........no matter what he does.

Just stay tuned....

THIS is not a reality TV show. THIS is an election for The President of The United States of America. Yes... Stay tuned to see Trump split the votes by running as an Independent. Trump is a conspiracy. He has imploded the Republican party with their own media machine. Can't get no better than that.And it Doesn't matter who is the Retroublican nominee, they will lose the general election because they always... Always step on their own Dicks by alienating their party from voters. With Retroublicans having this history of stepping on their own Dicks and Donald knocking their Dicks in the dirt, it guarantees the Democratic nominee Hillary, Bernie or even Mickey Mouse, will win by a landslide.

Pretty accurate if roughly stated except for Trump running as an Independent.

If Trump loses the nomination, which he is currently favored to win, it would be too late to run as an Independent.

Any candidate needs to register with each of the 50 states (and DC) to get on the ballot of each state. The state runs all of its elections, each of 'em and every one of 'em. (The state has always been the basic unit of government in the United States. Three-quarters of the states voted in Constitutional Convention to create the United States and made it superior to a single state.)

Consistent with the Constitution, each state can and does have its own particular election requirements all of which include nominating petitions requiring a number certain of signatures and has filing dates that are firm. A note from a psychiatrist for instance (!) does not permit exceeding a state's requirements to include filing deadlines.

And rather than the Republican party suffering some conspiracy, it is getting karma for its campaigns, campaigning, actions in government over the past 30 years or more. It is justice; due justice. Finally and at long last.

It's the old colloquialism that what goes around comes around.

[NeverSure]

"Being politically correct takes too much time. We have too much to get done!" - Donald Trump, Twitter, 1/28/16

[wooloomooloo]

The Donald has outfoxed the Fox. GOP nomination coming up next.

Clinton will be shaking in her boots and no doubt about it.

[Publicus]

"Being politically correct takes too much time. We have too much to get done!" - Donald Trump, Twitter, 1/28/16

The right has its political correctness and Trump represents and embodies the fact.

Everything Trump says is politically correct on the right and to the right. The politicallycorrectspeak of all the rightwhingers is reactionary and rear guard. It is rooted in the injustices and inequities of the dark shadows of history which is why the rightwhingers are political mushrooms who thrive in the slimy moss.

Cruz is no better than Trump. Carson is a fringe political lunatic. Christie is a thug lawyer in a tent suit. Rubio grovels. Kasich thinks he is pure. Rand Paul is a principled marginal. John Ellis "Jeb" Bush is a loser who suffers from the fact his father was a failure and his brother was a lying war criminal who spoke the ultimate right wing political correctness.

The right has its own political correctness it fails to recognise as such as it points in all other directions. Others point their own finger back at the sanctimonious politically correct rightwhingers in their own language and rhetoric.

All the right knows is to whinge whinge whinge.