Just when you thought the Democratic nomination race was dull, sources claim that Vice President Joe Biden will enter the race for the Democratic nomination for President with and announcement in 48 hours.
In another show of media objectivity, tonight’s host for the Democratic Presidential Debate, CNN’s Anderson Cooper is listed as a past member of the Clinton Global Initiative – a project of the Clinton Foundation. Also listed of course was ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, who was forced to make an on-air apology for failing to disclose contributions to the Foundation. Membership in the Initiative is by invitation only and costs $20,000. Spokespersons for CGI reported that members of the media were not required to pay $20,000. While we now Stephanopoulos contributed to the Foundation, it is unknown if Cooper did also.
It is certainly clear that by membership, Cooper allowed the Clinton’s to use his name for fundraising. Already, CNN has reported that Cooper does not want a debate where the candidates attack each other, even though that was the express intention of CNN for the Republican debate. CNN and Cooper have demonstrated a complete lack of objectivity for this charade of a “debate.”
For those who have praised Putin for going after ISIS, let’s be clear. He isn’t attacking ISIS. He’s attacking the moderate opposition forces – like the people we spent $40 million training that trained 4-5 guys. However, just as clear, Obama is doing nothing to defend Syrians against Russian attacks – just as he did nothing while Ukraine was carved up like a Thanksgiving turkey.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told Republicans that he would not be able to secure the 218 votes needed to be elected and that he has decided to drop his candidacy to replace John Boehner (R-IL), who is stepping down as Speaker of the House and leaving Congress at the end of the month. There are two remaining candidates who have announced bids to replace – Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Daniel Webster (R-FL). The Republican Freedom Caucus, consisting of about 40 of the more conservative House members, has endorsed Webster. The Republican House Caucus tweeted, “Today’s leadership election has been postponed until a later date.”
In the latest episode in the drama that is the Trump campaign, Trump asserts he will indefinitely not appear on Fox News citing unfair coverage. This of course is a renewal of the feud where Trump claimed that he was treated unfairly in the first Presidential debate, particularly by Fox’s Megyn Kelly who questioned Trump regarding his comments about women. He initially boycotted Fox, but then claimed he had a conversation with his “good friend” Roger Ailes, CEO of Fox News, and that the issue was resolved.
Later, when Megyn Kelly returned from vacation, he lashed out at her on Twitter criticizing the show and saying “The bimbo is back.” Fox publicly stood by Kelly and attacked Trump’s comments. Trump agreed to lower the vitriol of his Twitter comments and resumed appearances on “friendly” shows – Greta Van Susteren’s “On the Record” and Sean Hannity’s “Hannity.”
Despite Trump’s promise to turn down the volume, he continued to attack Megyn Kelly, Fox cancelled a Trump appearance on Bill O’Reilly’s show “The O’Reilly Factor” and issued this statement:
“At 11:45am today, we canceled Donald Trump’s scheduled appearance on The O’Reilly Factor on Thursday, which resulted in Mr. Trump’s subsequent tweet about his ‘boycott’ of FOX News,” the statement reads. “The press predictably jumped to cover his tweet, creating yet another distraction from any real issues that Mr. Trump might be questioned about. When coverage doesn’t go his way, he engages in personal attacks on our anchors and hosts, which has grown stale and tiresome. He doesn’t seem to grasp that candidates telling journalists what to ask is not how the media works in this country.”
Trump has continued tweets on Twitter criticizing media coverage of him and his comments – especially Fox – and claims that he is the one boycotting them.
While Trump has been masterful at getting himself in the news, this tactic is stale and old. His numbers are in decline and no amount of whining will change that. Van Susteren and Hannity completely pandered to him, giving him mountains of free coverage almost nightly. Others at Fox were not as enamored by Trump and objectively reported on Trump – which he viewed as “unfair coverage.”
It’s time to move past the summer of silliness and get down to the business of selecting a serious candidate. A candidate who cries every time someone doesn’t speak well of him isn’t serious. It’s time to get past the reality show and get back to reality.
Scott Walker is out of the race. He is announcing the suspension of his campaign for President in a press announcement at 6:00 P.M. EDT in Madison, WI. His New Hampshire campaign chair, Cliff Hurst, announced that he is endorsing Marco Rubio for the Republican nomination for President and will serve as New Hampshire state co-chair of the Rubio campaign. New Hampshire is home to the first Presidential primary next February.
Full Story on the Cliff Hurst endorsement.
Scott Walker has called a press conference in Madison at 6:00 P.M. EDT. It is widely expected that he will announce that he is withdrawing from the race for the Republican nomination for President. Walker, an early favorite of many conservatives, who once led the field in the polls – especially in the crucial early caucus state of Iowa – has dropped to less than 1% in the last CNN poll. If he quits, he will be the second Republican to drop from the race. Rick Perry announced his withdrawal from the race on September 11th.
Voter Gravity, a polling company that targets smartphone users, released a poll today that shows Fiorina with 22 percent support among Granite State GOP primary voters. She has a 4-point edge over Donald Trump, who has 18 percent support. Ben Carson came in at 10 percent support – followed by John Kasich, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.
Of course, one “flash” poll targetting smart phone users doesn’t confirm that the Trump juggernaut is derailed. However, there is no question that the debate impacted several candidates. It grew Carly Fiorna’s stock from minor league to major player. The Donald is not “untouchable.” Ben Carson may not be the Trump alternative.
A few hours before being expected onstage, Donald Trump cancelled a speaking engagement with the Heritage Action Presidential Forum citing a “significant business transaction” that had been delayed. Losing no time, Governor Bobby Jindal, Trump’s most vocal foil of recent, tweeted the following:
Today is now what we have called Patriot Day, as a remembrance to those lost to our nation from the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. For most of us that date, and the event, is etched upon our memories. Prior to that date, people often talked about remembering where they were and what they were doing when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated – except those of us who were too young or not yet born. We now speak of memories like that regarding the September 11th attack. All of us, except the youngest among us, remember where we were and how we heard the events of that day and all that followed.
It was a loss of innocence. These kind of things weren’t supposed to happen here. They happened in other places, but not here. Yes, there had been prior attacks. There was the bombing of the Trade Center in 1993 and the bombing in Oklahoma City in 1995. However, this was different. Those seemed to be isolated incidents. This was an orchestrated attack. A group of people actively wanted to kill us and had lived and worked among us. We lost almost 3,000 people. Our financial center appeared to be crippled. The stock market shut down. Our nation’s capital was under attack. The airlines all shut down. The skies were empty. There were no contrails in the sky.
The days that followed were troublesome still. Between the events of that day and the anthrax attacks that followed, none of us felt safe. We all knew that the world had changed. There would be many changes in the way we live and travel. However, 14 years removed, the memory becomes more distant. I read from some postings in social media today that we should “let it go.” Have we moved on? Is it something we just “get over” and “move on”?
Those posts trouble me. How do you just “let go” of an event which profoundly shaped our culture and our lives? How does it serve the memories of the victims and their families to just “let it go”? How does it serve the memories of the heroes of that day?
On that day, 2.977 people started a day like any ordinary day, only to have no other days. They went to work or boarded planes. On that day, children suddenly became fatherless and/or motherless. On that day, married people suddenly became widows and widowers. On that day, parents lost their children, families became smaller, lovers lost their partners and friends lost friends. New York City lost some of its finest first responders. The New York Fire Department was decimated while they, along with officers of the New York Police Department and the Port Authority, rose as heroes to perform their duty, losing their lives trying to save the lives of others. They did not ask to be heroes. They performed their duty. Ordinary citizens aboard a plane bound for San Francisco, who did not ask to be heroes, rose in defiance giving their lives to save many others.
As nation we have experienced devastating loss before, but this was no natural disaster. This was a purposeful attack upon us by those who opposed our values, culture and freedom. Our response was swift and certain. Is this something we can just decide to “let it go”? I suppose if you don’t care about those who experienced devastating and personal loss, you can do that. I suppose if you are not concerned about our future and the freedoms that we have, then you can do that. I suppose if you are not amazed at the stories of heroism on that day on board a plane in Pennsylvania, in the Towers or at the Pentagon, you can do that. I cannot do so.
We remember because we value relationships and empathize with those who experience loss. We remember because we know the preciousness of the freedoms we enjoy. Despite our divisions over politics and divisive issues, at the end of the day, we are all Americans. When we are attacked, we can and do come together. We remember because in the face of absolute evil, we saw people rising up to express as Abraham Lincoln said, “the better angels of our nature.” We remember the loss. We remember the fear. We remember the courage. We need to remember these things. As is oft said, he who ignores the lessons of history is doomed to repeat them. However, our memory should not merely be prompted out of fear. We must remember the stories of courage. We must honor their memory and preserve their stories to inspire future generations who did not experience this event which has so shaped us.
The words of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg still echo truth of the importance of our memories of tragedy and courage:
It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
This is why we remember and why we must never forget.