Amerika -izbori 2016

[Mileva]

Pratite li sta se desava?

[mac]

Pomalo, koliko Džon Stjuart dozvoljava. Hilari je glavni kandidat demokrata. Kod republikanaca tipujem na Marka Rubia, iako je mlad, jer nije som kao Ted Kruz, a nije ni neprijatno blizu demokratama kao Rand Pol. Rand Pol bi bio okej, cenim. Da Hilari pobedi bila bi prva žena predsednik, i ja podržavam žene, samo što bih nekako voleo da prva žena nije Klinton. Ima boljih žena za to, kao što su Nensi Pelosi i Elizabet Voren, ali ko mene pita. Ova Elizabeta nije samo potpuno čestita, i čovek i po, nego još i podseća na Anet Bening kad je očijukala na filmu sa predsednikom Majklom Daglasom. Ali ko mene pita.

Elem, tek je počelo, čekamo ostale pajace da se pojave. I naravno Tramp. Kris Kristi (rep.) misli da ima neke šanse, ali smešan je u tim očekivanjima. Ako se ne obruka kao Rik Peri prošle godine, smatraću to uspehom za njega.

[Ugly MF]

Zasto bi?
Ameri su par godina pre obame indoktrinirali populaciju kroz Morgan Frimena i Deni glovera i jos par filmova i serija da crnac treba biti prcednik u USA.
Imali smo od skora par slucajeva sa zenskim precednicama, testirali s u u'rvatskoj, i voila!

Merkel tamo, Klintonka vamo, nista prostije, a svi komplet finansirani od istih para MMFa i ostalih sto vladaju demokratijom.
Cemu polemike?

[Albedo 0]

tradicija kaže da je republikanac budući pobjednik, tako da su Hilari uvalili vruć krompir, da izgubi pa u penziju

[Mileva]

I ja sam zena, ali nisam odusevljena idejom da Hilary bude predsednica samo zato sto je zena, a zena do sada nije bila na tom polozaju (u Americi). Videla sam njen promo  video i malo mi izgleda fake. Sa druge strane ovaj republikanac Marco je opasna konkurencija. Mlad je, dete emigranata sa Kube, iz srednje radnicke klase, kako kaze okrenut buducnosti. Bice interesantno pratiti, mada ja za sad nemam favorita.
Sto se zena tice nadala sam se da ce Condoleezza Rice da se kandiduje, ali nije (jos uvek).

[mac]

Ja sam Rubia spazio već tamo 2012. godine. Linkovi na toj temi ne rade, ali njegova gostovanja na Daily Showu su skupljena na ovom linku, koji nadam se neće zastareti za 2-3 godine: http://thedailyshow.cc.com/guests/marco-rubio . Obratiti pažnju da su sva tri njegova gostovanja proizvela "produžen intervju", to jest bili su toliko zanimljivi da ga je Džon svaki put ispratio do kraja narativa, i traju po 20-30 minuta, umesto standardnih 5-10.

[Albedo 0]

ne pratim nešto naročito, ali u svjetlu rukovanja Obame sa Kastrom ovaj Rubio djeluje kao iz keca u kec. Uglymfova opaska o kulturalnom kondicioniranju kroz prikaz crnih predsjednika na filmu ili TV-u gotovo se preslikava i kod Stjuarta

znači Rubio će biti drugi rimokatolik na tronu SAD, novi Kenedi, jelte... a i baš je swadak

[eddie coyle]

Rubiju ne daju velike sanse koliko sam ja razumeo, ipak je on kubanskog porekla, ne znam kako ce to proci kod republikanskih glasaca. Generalno kad se uzme u obzir cela istorija predsednickih izbora u Americi, osim Kenedija i Obame svi ostali pobednici su uglavnom bili WASP-ovi

[Albedo 0]

da, ali Latinosa ima više nego crnaca, a svakako zajedno glasaju za iste, prošli put za Obamu, ovaj put za Rubia, to ti je glatkih 30% glasova, i da napabirče još 15% od Poljaka i ostalih Slovena, i po koji WASP da im da, pobjeda je tu

mislim da je prošlo vrijeme u kojem neki bijeli kauboj može da osvoji tako lako mjesto predsjednika, mora da se ulaguje Afro i Hispano-Amerikancima, a realno i ovi hoće malo svoje da vide na vrhu

[mac]

Republikanci imaju velike probleme sa osiromašenim delom stanovništva, koje neće da glasa za njih. Moraju da se dovijaju na razne načine, prekrajajući granice izbornih jedinica, ali to može tako samo kod glasanja za kongresmene, i tu su za sada uspešni. Kad je glasanje za predsednika u pitanju onda tu nemaju rešenje. Buš mlađi im je dobro smestio svojim diletantizmom, a razni republički kongresmeni to još bolje cementiraju i raja ih više ne voli. Rubio je tu da pokupi te glasove niže klase. Ako su republikanci ludi nisu baš i glupi.

[eddie coyle]

To stoji, protestanti  polako ali sigurno gube primat u SAD. Doduse republikanci i nemaju neki bogat izbor kandidata za predsednika, jedno vreme je fugurirao Kris Kristi kao neki potencijal, prikupio je simpatije posle uragana Sendi ali ga je onda ujebao onaj skandal sa zatvaranjem nekog mosta cini mi se...

[Mileva]

Ja sam Rubia spazio već tamo 2012. godine. Linkovi na toj temi ne rade, ali njegova gostovanja na Daily Showu su skupljena na ovom linku, koji nadam se neće zastareti za 2-3 godine: http://thedailyshow.cc.com/guests/marco-rubio . Obratiti pažnju da su sva tri njegova gostovanja proizvela "produžen intervju", to jest bili su toliko zanimljivi da ga je Džon svaki put ispratio do kraja narativa, i traju po 20-30 minuta, umesto standardnih 5-10.

Hvala Mac , ali video klipovi sa intervjuima mi se ne otvaraju. Pre 5+ Godina sam Jim Stewarta gotovo religiozno gledala. Sto njega sto The Colbert Report. Onda su postali sve popularniji, a meni nekako sve manje interesantni pa tako nisam ni videla ove intervjue. Potrazicu ih na youtubu.

[Dybuk]

Nedostajace mi Obama 

Randy Marsh - Obama Songs (South Park) - german version

[Mileva]

Hmmm, svidja mi se sta ima da kaze u vezi obrazovanja
Marco Rubio: The Education System Needs Disruption

[Albedo 0]

ma dobro to američko ''siromaštvo'', no privlačenje latinske Amerike je više nego korisno, i realno, to je Bžežinski propagirao još devedesetih, da se zaokruži ''novi svijet'', pogotovo što je potpuno izvan kontrole SAD, koja se zamajavala sa Bliskim istokom, pa sad i Rusijom.

Konsolidovaće odnose sa sad već jakom Južnom Amerikom, koja ima tolike milione svojih rođaka u SAD-u, još predsjednik Latinos pride, Bog da ih vidi. Sve je sasvim logično, u teoriji je perfektno da Hispano-Amerikanac bude novi predsjednik, ko jebe Hilari.

[Ugly MF]

a i kao da to ima neke veze, oboje rade za istog finansijera, ljudi, aman...
ko jos podrzava sisteme u kojima bogatasi ne vladaju sirotinjom, zakonima , drzavom, demokratijom, izborima...?

[Dybuk]

Nadam se da smo svesni da je njihova spoljna politika steady as she goes...to ukljucuje i nas. Tako da nam je maltene svejedno koja frakcija ce pobediti. Nisam pratila, ali ne bih tipovala na ovog hispano amerikanca, koliko god kvalitetan program i nastup imao.

Ja mislim da je Amerikancima (delom) muka Obama experimenta, ne mogu ga ocima videti, te Hilari kao demokrata nema bas neke sanse. Njeno je pasalo, cini mi se.
Stekli su se uslovi za povratak konzervativnijeg politicara, i ko god im ostavi oruzje i tradicionalne vrednosti na miru, glasace za njega. Samo da nije 'socijalista' (njihova kvalifikacija) kao Obama.
No dobro, videcemo. Kao sto rekoh, meni je licno svejedno.

[mac]

Hvala Mac , ali video klipovi sa intervjuima mi se ne otvaraju. Pre 5+ Godina sam Jim Stewarta gotovo religiozno gledala. Sto njega sto The Colbert Report. Onda su postali sve popularniji, a meni nekako sve manje interesantni pa tako nisam ni videla ove intervjue. Potrazicu ih na youtubu.

Kako to izgleda kad se ne otvaraju? Probao sam i na drugom brauzeru gde nemam neke dodatke, i ide prvo reklama, a onda video. Jesi li u Srbiji? Oni imaju neka ograničenja na sajtu, i ne možeš da gledaš cele epizode ako nisi u SAD, ali možeš pojedinačne klipove. Možda imaju još neka ograničenja ako si, šta znam, u Severnoj Koreji. Šta ćeš tamo uopšte?

Edit: Internet Explorer ne otvara video, nego na dnu prozora pita da li želim da otvorim "mediaplayerprime 2.10.16.swf". Ne znam šta se sad IE buni, ali fleš mi lepo radi na Firefoxu i Chromeu. A YouTube radi u IE. Go figure.

[Albedo 0]

nije u Koreji nego u Dubaiju!

[mac]

Liberali su se izgleda uplašili Rubia. Evo članak, ovlaš pročitao, i vidim samo uvredljivo etiketiranje, a od rezonovanja niš. Samo jednu stvar su pomenuli koja ima smisla, a to je da je Rubio možda "zec" za Džeba Buša. Napraviće se situacija da njih dvojica budu glavni kandidati, a onda Džeb pokupi kajmak. Moguće je.

http://gawker.com/get-to-know-marco-rubio-the-biggest-idiot-running-for-1697567638

[mac]

The plot thickens. Na demokratskoj strani Berni Sanders narušava Klintonkinu hegemoniju. Retorika mu je skroz socijalna. Narod se izgleda uželeo promena.

Ako izuzmemo Trampa (a ne bi trebalo) na republičkoj strani trenutno najpopularniji je autsajder Ben Karson, crnac, neurohirurg, posvećeni hrišćanin. Jedini republički kandidat koji može da makne Trampa, ako bi ostali samo njih dvojica.

Bilo bi interesantno da ova dvojica prevagnu. Narod bi profitirao ko god od njih dvojice da pobedi.

[tomat]

Kako stoji  Deez Nuts?

[mac]

Slabo. Captain Crunch ga pretekao.

[Meho Krljic]

Heh, Mark Rubio oće dispadne kul, ispadne smešan, ali to je nekako simpatično:

"If you play 'Minecraft,' you're basically writing code when you're converting a hammer into a pickax," Rubio said. "Kids might not realize they're coding, but that's going to be almost a basic proficiency just because of the way they grew up."

[Meho Krljic]

D plot tiknz:
  John McAfee: For today, for the future — here's why I'm running for president   

John McAfee is one of the most influential commentators on cybersecurity anywhere in the world. His new venture — Future Tense Central — focuses on security and personal privacy-related products. McAfee provides regular insight on global hacking scandals and internet surveillance, and has become a hugely controversial figure following his time in Belize, where he claims to have exposed corruption at the highest level before fleeing the country amid accusations of murder (the Belize government is currently not pursuing any accusations against him).
This is not politics as usual. It is not in my nature, and it is not in our best interests.
The last few days have been amazing. I am humbled by the outpouring of support and encouragement that I have received. I did 27 interviews yesterday and today looks to be about the same. I have found that the issues we are bringing up are resonating. America cares about these things. Officially, my complete presidential platform is forthcoming, but I wanted to share on Digital Trends a number of reasons why I am running for president and founding a party.
Our government is in a dysfunctional state. It is also illiterate when it comes to technology.
Technology is not a tool that should be used for a government to invade our privacy. Technology should not be the scapegoat when we fail to protect our digital assets and tools of commerce. These are matters of priorities.
We live in a world that is defined by technology, and in these times, we need leadership that truly understands this responsibility and the opportunity that lies before us.
Our country is not prepared for a cyberwar that has already begun. We haven't seen anything yet. It is not ready to protect the precious assets of technology that we depend on as a people. We fail at that at an alarming rate. It is not ready to protect our infrastructure, which sits on a precipice of threats. I can change that. I will change that, and it has to happen.
Related: John McAfee: How no one got laid on Ashley Madison
Our government was designed to be for the people, by the people. Somehow, we have strayed from these original designs. Today's government is about powerful people and powerful conglomerates of corporations and lobby groups. Americans have been brought to their knees by this Orwellian machine. If you think you're not a subject or it doesn't affect you, look at our debt. Our future has been pre-spent and sold. We should all be outraged, and many are.
Years ago, in an environment where the computer industry was faced with a coming reality of threats, I started a computer security company and an industry was born. How innocent we were.
Related: John McAfee explains how to uninstall McAfee Antivirus
An entire sea of threats is lurking today, and it endangers all of us. Our failures to deal with this are based on policy, on economics, on a lack of efficiency, and a lack of priorities. This is where the Cyber Party comes in.
The Cyber Party is the spark we need to awaken the people from their deep slumber. Demand more from your government. Demand honesty. Demand freedom.
The goal is to bring these issues to light not only today, but long after this generation of people are gone. You are a person. You are human. You have rights. The world has changed and as time goes on, the effects of technology in our lives will only become more pronounced. You have a chance to dictate whether technology is used against you or whether it is used for the good of all.
If you care about security, if you care about privacy, if you care about an efficient government that is not beholden to massive buyouts, then we have something in common.
Finally, I would like to add that not only will we get action on these matters, I can assure you that we will win.
Visit us at www.mcafee16.com and visit our party at www.cyberparty.org.

http://youtu.be/sMz6GV3b1ys

[mac]

Berni Sanders, socijalista, zavodi masu na hrišćanskom koledžu

http://gawker.com/bernie-sanders-in-the-lake-of-fire-and-brimstone-1730429978

[Karl Rosman]

Ima dobrih.


http://www.wired.com/2015/09/asktrump-backfire/?mbid=social_fb

[Meho Krljic]

Čim DOB povede Krekdov podkast, odma je to bolje:

  Why Nothing About The Presidential Election Matters

[mac]

Autor je nezadovoljan trenutnim izborom kandidata na strani demokrata. Možda bi voleo da uleti još neko?

http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/no-seriously-dissolve-the-united-states-1736629448

[mac]

http://youtu.be/pfmwGAd1L-o

[Father Jape]

Ne verujem koga su uzeli za Bernija. Savršeno.

[mac]

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/04667t/the-daily-show-with-trevor-noah-post-debate-exhilaration

[Meho Krljic]

Trampe, Srbine!
Trump: We'd be better off if Hussein and Gadhafi were still in power

Donald Trump believes the world would be better off if Saddam Hussein and Moammar Gadhafi were still in power.
"One hundred percent," Trump said when asked by Jake Tapper on CNN's "State of the Union" if the Middle East was safer under the ruthless dictators' rule than it is now.
"People are getting their heads chopped off," the real estate mogul continued. "They're being drowned. Right now it's far worse than ever under Saddam Hussein or Gadhafi."
Hussein, the former Iraqi president, was captured during the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003 and later convicted for the 1982 killings of 148 Iraqi Shiites. He was executed in 2006.
"Iraq used to be no terrorists," Trump said. "Now it's the Harvard of terrorism. If you look at Iraq from years ago ... I'm not saying [Hussein] was a nice guy — he was a horrible guy. But it was a lot better than it is right now. Right now Iraq is a training ground for terrorists."


Gadhafi was ousted during a 2011 uprising and was later captured and killed by rebels.
"Right now Libya, nobody even knows Libya," the former "Celebrity Apprentice" star said. "Frankly, there is no Iraq and there is no Libya. It's all broken up. They have no control. Nobody knows what's going on."
Trump said the situation in the Middle East deteriorated during the Obama administration.
"I mean, look what happened," he said. "Libya is a catastrophe. Libya is a disaster. Iraq is a disaster. Syria is a disaster. The whole Middle East. It all blew up around Hillary Clinton and around Barack Obama. It all blew up."
So what would he do differently?
"The Trump doctrine is simple," he said. "It's strength. It's strength. Nobody is going to mess with us. Our military will be made stronger."


Appearing on ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos" Sunday, Trump boasted about a foreign policy prediction he made before 9/11.
"In my book, written in 2000, I was the one that predicted Osama bin Laden was trouble and you better do something about him," Trump said. "Well, guess what? 19 months later, he came down and knocked out the World Trade Center, killed thousands of Americans. I put it in a book. In fact, a couple of your competitors were saying, 'Whoa ... Trump actually mentioned Osama bin Laden and that we better do something about him or we're going to have problems.'"
The Republican frontrunner also discussed a pair of recent polls that show him trailing Ben Carson in Iowa.
"I was in Iowa three days ago," Trump said. "We had such an unbelievable turnout that I find it really difficult to believe that I'm in second place."
Not that he plans on changing his approach.
"I'm being divisive right now because I want to win," Trump said. "I know how to win; that's what I have to do. Ultimately if I do win, I'm going to be a great unifier, George. I will be a great unifier for the country. The country right now is terribly divided by a president that doesn't know how to lead, and he's a very divisive person. I will be a great unifier. You will be surprised to see that, but you will see that."

[Meho Krljic]

Tramp i dalje dropuje noulidž. Ispada da i dalje važi da samo dvorska luda može da primeti kako je car go i te fore:

Donald Trump left Joe Scarborough stunned after being asked about Vladimir Putin killing journalists

During a Friday-morning interview with Donald Trump, MSNBC host Joe Scarborough was baffled by the Republican front-runner's embrace of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"Sure, when people call you 'brilliant' it's always good. Especially when the person heads up Russia," Trump told cohost Mika Brzezinski when asked about Putin praising him as "very talented" the day before.

Scarborough pointed to Putin's status as a notorious strongman.

"Well, I mean, it's also a person who kills journalists, political opponents, and invades countries. Obviously that would be a concern, would it not?" Scarborough asked.

"He's running his country, and at least he's a leader," Trump replied. "Unlike what we have in this country."

"But again: He kills journalists that don't agree with him," Scarborough said.

The Republican presidential front-runner said there was "a lot of killing going on" around the world and then suggested that Scarborough had asked him a different question.

"I think our country does plenty of killing, also, Joe, so, you know," Trump replied. "There's a lot of stupidity going on in the world right now, Joe. A lot of killing going on. A lot of stupidity. And that's the way it is. But you didn't ask me [that] question, you asked me a different question. So that's fine."

Scarborough was left visibly stunned.

"I'm confused," the MSNBC host said. "So I mean, you obviously condemn Vladimir Putin killing journalists and political opponents, right?"

"Oh sure, absolutely," Trump said.

Several of Trump's Republican presidential rivals criticized the billionaire businessman on Thursday for saying it was a "great honor" to receive Putin's praise.

Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, questioned Trump's foreign-policy knowledge. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina suggested Trump visit Ukraine, where the Russian state has backed separatist rebels. And Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said he was "really glad not to win the Putin primary."

But Friday during his "Morning Joe" interview, Trump said he always "felt fine" about Putin and touted the Russian president's poll numbers. Putin's position in his country is bolstered by the Russian government's control over much of the Russian news media.

"I always felt fine about Putin," Trump said. "I think that he's a strong leader. He's a powerful leader ... He's actually got a popularity within his country. They respect him as a leader."

Trump contrasted Putin's numbers with President Obama's.

"I think he's up in the 80s. You see where Obama's in the 30s and low 40s. And he's up in the 80s," Trump said. "And I don't know who does the polls. Maybe he does the polls, but I think they're done by American companies, actually."

[Dybuk]

Deni Krejn!

[Meho Krljic]

Još samo da počne da se vadi na mad cow disease.

[Dybuk]

Znas!

[Meho Krljic]

Sasvim slučajno. Ne gledam ja dovoljno televizije da bih bio u toku al Boston Legal sam gledao.

[Meho Krljic]

Hillary Clinton's latest attack on Bernie Sanders shows she's a rotten candidate

At some point, you cannot blame the national mood or a poor staff or a brilliant opponent for Hillary Clinton's campaign woes. The latest Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll shows that Clinton, who once led Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) by double digits, is only 2 points ahead of Sanders. Clinton is down 9 points since the DMR/Bloomberg's December 2015 poll. That means the race is within the margin of error (4.4 percent).
Clinton responds as she usually does — poorly. Her attack on Sanders from the left on guns makes sense. She actually has his record to work with, on an issue about which the base is engaged. Her attack over health care makes no sense whatsoever. Clinton is dinging Sanders for a universal health-care plan that she says would require a big tax hike. Huh? This is Sanders, the darling of the left, who has always wanted true, single-payer health care. The idea that Sanders — "the democratic socialist" — would be coming up with a dastardly plan to undermine or take away universal health care, from the left's perspective, is inconceivable.
Left-wing Salon has this to say:

After years of the right wing trying one scheme after another to take away Obamacare, it jars the senses to watch Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton accuse her primary rival, Bernie Sanders, of wanting to take away Obamacare. Sanders, she now insists, would do so from the left by instituting a program — single-payer healthcare — that would be

more progressive than the Affordable Care Act. It did not help that the campaign sent out the wooden Chelsea Clinton to attack Sanders. ("It's a typical Clinton campaign move. Have a bad week at the polls? Overreact with a terrible, transparent attack that anyone with an IQ north of negative can see through. The fact that this move might alienate the Sanders supporters she'll need later on if she wins the nomination does not seem to enter the calculation.")
Over at U.S. News & World Report, Clinton elicits more hisses and boos. "A single-payer system, like it does in many other countries, would cover everybody, period. To say otherwise is either willfully misunderstanding how it would work or simple scaremongering. . . . he's sliming Sanders with the accusation that he wants to take health insurance away from people. It's a garbage attack, and makes even less sense considering that she's going to need Sanders' supporters come November when she (as is still very likely) becomes the Democratic nominee. (Democrats, incidentally, really like single-payer, as do independents.)"
The Nation, in endorsing Sanders, sounds like right-wing talk show hosts whining about establishment Republicans:

[T]he limits of a Clinton presidency are clear. Her talk of seeking common ground with Republicans and making deals to "get things done" in Washington will not bring the change that is so desperately needed. . . .  She rejects single-payer healthcare and refuses to consider breaking up the big banks. We also fear that she might accept a budgetary "grand bargain" with the Republicans that would lock in austerity for decades to come.

In short, at a time the left — like the right — wants to fight against compromise and corruption, Clinton is fighting the beloved Sanders in just the same terms the GOP would.
It's baffling why she thinks this would help when she is at risk now of losing both Iowa and New Hampshire. Her loyalists say it's good for her to get a challenge in the primary. In theory that is right, but if it comes at the expense of further depressing the left-wing base (which hasn't liked the Clintons for years), it's a really bad thing.
So we come back to Hillary Clinton, the candidate. At some point, even Democrats might concede she is unlikable, regarded as dishonest and untrustworthy and, to boot, politically tone-deaf. In the Clinton marriage, Bill got all the political talent, it seems. One can speculate that as the Clinton circle got smaller out of fear and paranoia, the number of people willing to level with her shrank dramatically or disappeared altogether. When she has a dumb idea or gets panicked and starts flailing away — as she did in 2008 — it appears there is no one to stop her. Left to her own devices, she's a poor candidate. Maybe VP Joe Biden should have gotten in after all.

[mac]

Druga polovina teksta u originalu nije precrtana..

[Dybuk]

[Albedo 0]

šta će da radi ako pobijedi Mira Marković...

[Dybuk]

Leaving Russia and moving to Siberia. Moze i obrnuto.

[Meho Krljic]

Druga polovina teksta u originalu nije precrtana..

Suviše sam lenj da bih dalje čačkao po postu i pokušavao da ga odcrtam. Ima link pa nek se klikće.

[Meho Krljic]

Bernie Sanders' radical past: How the Vermont firebrand started wearing a suit and gave up on taking over big companies

In July 1985, Bernie Sanders traveled to Nicaragua, where he attended an event that one wire report dubbed an "anti-U.S. rally."
The leftist Sandinista government was celebrating the sixth anniversary of the revolution that saw it take power from an American-backed dictator, Anastasio Somoza. Sanders was in a crowd estimated at a half million people, many of whom were clad in the Sandinistas' trademark red-and-black colors and chanting "Here, there, everywhere/the Yankee will die."
Onstage, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega accused the U.S. government of "state terrorism" for supporting the rebels who were seeking to overthrow him. The Sandinistas and the CIA-backed Contras would fight into the next decade, with allegations of human rights abuses on both sides. At the 1985 rally Sanders attended, Ortega vowed the Sandinistas would "defend the revolution with guns in hand."
Sanders was being hosted by the Sandinistas as part of a delegation of American "solidarity groups." He told reporters their decision to show "support" for the Nicaraguan government was "patriotic."
"We want to show support for a small country trying to be independent, and we want to tell the truth to the American people when we return," Sanders said.
Sanders was in the midst of a revolution of his own. Four years earlier, in 1981, he won a shocking victory by only 10 votes to become mayor of Vermont's largest city, Burlington. Sanders was elected on a socialist platform and led a mayoral administration that he boasted was "more radical" than any other in the country.
And he had a vision. Sanders believed his work in Burlington could spread socialism throughout America. In April 1985, the Los Angeles Times published a lengthy interview with Sanders in which he outlined his plan to spark "radical change."
"I think from one end of this country to the other, people are ripe for political revolution. Fifty percent of the people do not bother voting in the presidential and statewide elections," Sanders said. "The vast majority of those not voting are low-income people who have given up on America. The whole quality of life in America is based on greed. I believe in the redistribution of wealth in this nation."
Sanders went on to suggest his mayoral administration had demonstrated "the people's contempt for conventional old-fashioned Democratic and Republican politics.
"The radical change in America that must come has to begin on a local level, and it is happening now in Burlington. Then it will spread to state and national levels," Sanders said, adding, "Of all the 50 states, I believe Vermont more than any other has a good chance of electing America's first socialist governor. Now that I have proven that I am a good mayor, perhaps the time will be ripe ... for me to run for the highest office in the state."
Sanders ran for Congress rather than governor after leaving Burlington's City Hall in 1989. But today, his dream of bringing his values to higher office and a national audience is closer to fruition than at any time his life.
A two-term incumbent U.S. senator, Sanders is within striking distance of frontrunner Hillary Clinton in this year's Democratic presidential primary, with recent polls in Iowa showing the two neck and neck and a Sanders lead in New Hampshire.
As Sanders journeyed from the fringes of Vermont's political scene to the national stage, many aspects of his agenda and even rhetoric have remained remarkably consistent. However, an extensive examination of his statements and views at the beginning of his political career shows Sanders has moderated some of his positions over the years.
Among other things, during the 1970s and '80s, Sanders regularly called for public takeovers of various businesses, including utilities and the oil industry. Sanders advocated seizing money from corporations and from one of America's richest families. And, as a mayor, Sanders made forays into foreign policy that included meetings with representatives of hostile nations, rebel groups and Canadian separatists. 
Yahoo News first reached out to Sanders' presidential campaign to discuss this article last week. In addition to inquiring about Sanders' past support for nationalizing various industries, Yahoo News asked about Sanders' presence at the Sandinista rally. This included a request for the campaign to confirm whether a report in the alternative weekly Seven Days that claimed the trip to Nicaragua was paid for by the Sandinista government was correct. The campaign declined to comment. Yahoo also contacted the campaign of Sanders' Democratic primary rival, Hillary Clinton, which has become increasingly critical of the Vermont senator as the race tightens. It declined to comment as well.  Sanders is now vying to be the Democratic Party's presidential nominee, but his record reflects just how far outside of the two-party system he started out. In fact, throughout his early career, Sanders expressed distaste for both Democratic and Republican politicians. His first campaigns were long shot bids as a member of the Liberty Union Party, a radical, anti-war group that he helped found.
Under the Liberty Union banner, Sanders ran for one of Vermont's U.S. Senate seats in 1972. He ran for the state's other Senate seat in 1974. Sanders, who served as Liberty Union's chairman, was also the party's candidate in Vermont's governor's races in 1972 and 1976. In all four campaigns, Sanders attracted support in the single digits.
In interviews at the time, Sanders was fairly open about the fact he did not expect to win any of these races. Rather, he suggested the Liberty Union Party could serve as a force to mainstream socialist ideas ahead of an eventual national shift.
During his Senate campaign in 1974, the local Bennington Banner quoted Sanders telling attendees at a Liberty Union event about what he hoped to accomplish with his long shot candidacy.
"You have a reason to knock on doors," Sanders said. "It's a good way to organize and educate people. ... Talk the issues. People can't see alternatives. Our job is to open their eyes and give them a vision."
At a press conference for his second gubernatorial bid in 1976, Sanders predicted it would have a "national impact" if the Liberty Union candidates had a decent showing at the polls because it would show voters there were alternatives to the traditional party system.
"He said voters sense that Democratic politicians have similar views about such issues as rising utility rates, an unfair tax system, low wages, and high unemployment," UPI reported.
Some of his pitch to voters was quite similar to his current platform. As a Liberty Unionite, Sanders railed against income inequality and — decades before the Occupy movement — what he described as a system that privileged "the wealthy 2 or 3 percent." As he does now, Sanders called for progressive reforms to taxes and campaign finance.
Other parts of Sanders' Liberty Union platform went well beyond anything he is currently advocating. In 1973, UPI reported that Sanders urged Vermont's congressional delegation to "give serious thought to the nationalization of the oil industry."
The following year, the Bennington Banner reported Sanders' Senate campaign was focused on "two prime issues." The first was rate increases for electric and telephone service, which the paper said Sanders sought to confront with "public takeover of all privately owned electric utilities in the state." Sanders' plan for public ownership of utility companies involved the businesses being seized from their owners.
It was a view he would carry forward into his 1976 gubernatorial bid: That year Sanders said the Liberty Union platform called for a state takeover of utilities "without compensation to the banks and wealthy individuals who own them." 
These weren't the only assets Sanders suggested should be seized from the wealthy.
Sanders' second main theme in his 1974 Senate race was what the Bennington Banner called his "own pet issue," the "incredible economic power of the Rockefeller family." As a presidential candidate and member of Congress, Sanders has assailed the influence billionaires and megadonors hold over American politics and media. However, his plan for the Rockefellers went much further, with Sanders implying he would push to have the family's fortune used to fund government programs. In a 1974 press release, Sanders said "the incredible wealth and power of this family must be broken up." The Rockefellers' billions should be "used to create a decent standard of living for all people" by being redirected toward government social programs for the elderly or lower taxes.
Sanders was in the middle of running on an anti-Rockefeller platform in August 1974 when reports began to emerge that President Ford planned to nominate Nelson Rockefeller to be his vice president after the impeachment and resignation of President Nixon. Sanders was apoplectic and sent a letter to Ford urging him to pick someone else because "the Rockefellers are already the richest and most powerful family in the world." Sanders warned that the appointment "could be the beginning of a virtual Rockefeller family dictatorship over the nation." Rockefeller was officially nominated about a week later and went on to become vice president.
In late 1977, Sanders left the Liberty Union Party. His departure came after the group endangered its major party status by failing to hold local caucuses required by state law. Sanders said the situation showed the party failed to live up to a promise to supporters that it would remain active beyond campaigns and  "would not disappear from the scene the day after the election."
But Sanders didn't drop out of Vermont politics — or stop advocating for private assets to become public property. In 1979, he penned an opinion column for the Vermont Vanguard Press about another industry he felt was ripe for a public takeover — television.
The editorial, titled "Social Control and the Tube," called for people to "address the control of television as a political issue, and organize to win." Sanders argued the owners of commercial television stations sought to "intentionally brainwash people into submission and helplessness" through "constant advertising interruptions" and "the well-tested Hitlerian principle that people should be treated as morons and bombarded over and over again with the same simple phrases and ideas." He said the television industry was designed to "create a nation of morons who will faithfully go out and buy this or that product, vote for this or that candidate, and faithfully work for their employers for as low a wage as possible." Sanders suggested a public takeover of the airwaves could remedy the problem.
"The potential of television democratically owned and controlled by the people is literally beyond comprehension because it is such a relatively new medium and we have no experience with it under democratic control. At the least, with the present state of technology, we could have a choice of dozens of channels of commercial-free TV," he wrote, adding, "At the moment serious writers are, by and large, not allowed to write for commercial television for fear they might produce something that is true and hence, upsetting to the owners of the media. Under democratic control, people with all kinds of views could make their presentations, and serious artists would be encouraged to produce work for the tube."
Sanders had a chance to pursue public control of television broadcasting, as well as his fight against utility companies, when he became mayor of Burlington in March of 1981.
Though he identified as a socialist, Sanders ran as an independent when he won his shocking upset. According to the Associated Press, Sanders made it to City Hall with the help of "a coalition of college professors, poor people, labor unions, neighborhood groups and students."
"The decisions in this city are not going to be made in the offices of banks and big businesses any more," Sanders warned after his victory.
Still, Sanders promised he would be "extending the olive branch" to Burlington's business community and political establishment.
"I'm not looking for war," Sanders said.
Sanders might not have been spoiling for a fight, but he sure got one. He began his mayoralty with only two supporters on the city's 13-member board of aldermen. The rest were Democrats and Republicans who vehemently opposed Sanders. In his first months in office, the aldermen blocked Sanders' appointments. He also accused city officials of firing his secretary and even opening his mail. One day Sanders' rust-covered car was ticketed when he parked in his special mayoral spot.
"I guess now what I expect is that the Democrats on the board are going to attempt to make every day of my life as difficult as possible," Sanders said at a June 1981 press conference about the rejection of his appointees. "That's fine. We will reciprocate in kind and we will work vigorously to carry out in one way or the other the mandate we were elected to carry out."Burlington's new mayor was a lot for some of his constituents and colleagues to get used to. Sanders is a Brooklyn native with a decidedly confrontational and prickly demeanor. The New York Times reported on an incident that took place a little over six months after he took office when Sanders essentially insulted a room full of charity workers. Sanders had been invited to speak at the 40th annual Chittenden County United Way fundraising drive. When he stood up to speak at the banquet, Sanders let the attendees know he didn't support their work.
"I don't believe in charities," Sanders said before explaining that he felt government should be responsible for social programs.
Gary De Carolis was one of Sanders' Progressive Coalition allies on the board. De Carolis spent six years in Burlington city government during the Sanders administration and grew to be "close friends" with him, he told Yahoo News. According to De Carolis, Sanders' initial battles with the aldermen were "brutal," "very nasty" and "unbelievably loud."
"Most nights you went in there and you knew it was going to be hell," De Carolis explained. "You had to stand up for what you believed in ... it was not pretty."
De Carolis attributed the anger at Sanders to the city's Democratic establishment losing power to an independent socialist.
"Most times he had, in a sense, the law and the statutes of the city behind him," said De Carolis. "A lot of what was coming at him was total anger for the loss of power from the Democratic Party."
Sanders' appearance may have stood out almost as much as his policies. Multiple articles about the early days of his mayoral administration allude to his casual and even sloppy personal style. Sanders reportedly purchased a suit an hour before his inauguration and lived in an apartment that De Carolis described as "a mess." In 1982, Knight-Ridder news service spoke to James Burns, one of Sanders' rivals on the board of aldermen. Burns said he didn't "get along too well" with the mayor and went on to mock Sanders.
"He's quite crude," Burns said before imitating the way he claimed Sanders would slouch at meetings. "It doesn't put forth an executive image, when you see someone slinked in a chair."
Still, in spite of the rocky start, Sanders eventually won over the board — literally. By 1985, six of the aldermen were members of Sanders' Progressive Coalition. During his four terms in office, Burlington's socialist mayor presided over a prosperous economic climate and his treasurer discovered a $1.9 million surplus that had gone unnoticed in the budget. Though Sanders installed a new tax on money spent at hotels, restaurants and bars, he pushed for lower property taxes. Sanders also audited the city's pension fund and initiated competitive bidding for many government contracts.
'I am a socialist," Sanders told the New York Times in 1987. "But what we're doing here is not socialist. It's just good government."
Sanders also began dabbling in mainstream politics. He endorsed his first Democratic presidential candidate, Walter Mondale, in 1984. Sanders even wore a suit sometimes. De Carolis said Sanders would dress up for his visits to the State House in Montpelier. The Associated Press pointed out Sanders wore a suit for a debate when he was running for re-election in 1983 though the reporter said aides had to help Sanders fix his tie before he went out onstage.
"I used to dress up a little bit better than Bernie," De Carolis recounted. "He used to say to me, 'Gary, you got to teach me about these ties and all this nice coordinated clothing.'"
Of course, Sanders still pursued a staunchly progressive agenda while he was mayor. He continued battling with Vermont's utility companies. He charged them new fees for excavating on city streets and pushed for them to raise commercial rates in order to lower costs for residential clients. And while he didn't try to seize the local television industry, Sanders sought to establish a city-owned and -operated cable system to compete with the private Green Mountain Cable Television network.
Sanders was an early crusader against gentrification. During his eight years in office, Sanders fought for rent control and tenants' rights. He also battled to secure public space on the Lake Champlain waterfront when developers wanted to use the land for high-end housing. Almost immediately after being elected in 1981, Sanders declared, "luxury condominiums will not be the priority of this administration."
"We have a city that is trying to help a developer build $200,000 luxury waterfront condominiums with pools, and health clubs, and boutiques, and all sorts of upper-middle-class junk five blocks from an area where people are literally not eating in order to pay their rent and fuel bills," Sanders said. 
The waterfront park Sanders pushed for was eventually built. In fact, it's where Sanders stood when he held a rally to launch his presidential campaign last year.  Along with fighting development on the lakefront, Sanders also established anti-pollution programs and a community land trust. Other progressive achievements during the Sanders administration included a law requiring women to get 10 percent of city-funded trade jobs, a 1985 resolution supporting gay rights, and programs that allowed city employees to have input on personnel policies including sick leave.
Still, Sanders' most radical actions as mayor had little to do with Burlington. While in office, Sanders pursued a foreign policy agenda independent of and at times at odds with the aims of Washington. This included engagement with controversial international political groups and countries that had hostile relationships with the United States.
Sanders found multiple ways to involve himself in the war between the Sandinistas and the Contras in Nicaragua. In addition to traveling to the country and attending Ortega's rally, Sanders's Progressive Coalition on the board of aldermen passed a 1985 resolution pledging Burlington would defy President Ronald Reagan's embargo of Nicaragua. Sanders also established a sister city relationship with a Nicaraguan town, Puerto Cabezas.
His actions drew such attention that the "Doonesbury" comic strip infamously nicknamed Sanders' city the "People's Republic of Burlington" after he took office. Along with visiting Nicaragua, UPI reported, Sanders traveled to Cuba and the Soviet Union during his years as mayor. And on Dec. 6, 1981, Sanders went to Canada for the policy convention of the Parti Québécois, the separatist party that led the Canadian province of Quebec. At that gathering, which reportedly was also attended by representatives of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the PQ voted to push for independence from Canada even if it required breaking economic ties.
Sanders' diplomatic efforts also included welcoming dignitaries to City Hall in Burlington. In 1985, the Los Angeles Times noted "politicians from France, England, Mexico, Scandinavian countries, visitors from the Soviet Union and China, and representatives from the Irish Republican Army have stopped by Sanders' office during the past four years." Sanders also told the paper about his unusual idea for confronting Cold War tensions.
"A handful of people in this country are making decisions, whipping up Cold War hysteria, making us hate the Russians. We're spending billions on military. Why can't we take some of that money to pay for thousands of U.S. children to go to the Soviet Union?" Sanders asked, adding, "And, why can't the Soviets take money they're spending on arms and use it to send thousands of Russian children to America? We've got to start breaking down the walls of nationalism. We've got to get people to know one another."
De Carolis, Sanders' friend and ally in city government, said Sanders was able to delve into foreign policy because he focused on Burlington first and constituents were happy with basic services.
"If you're going to take on bigger national and international issues, you better take care of the home front first," De Carolis said. "He was very good about making sure the streets were plowed, the sidewalks were in good repair, all those things that concern people every day of their life. He was great about that, and that afforded him the opportunity to develop relationships with various countries around the world."
Sanders left the mayor's office in 1989 after deciding not to run for re-election. He was followed by Peter Clavelle, whom UPI described as his "hand-picked successor." Sanders, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1988, won a House race two years later, beginning his career in Washington. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2006.
As a presidential candidate, Sanders has maintained the relentless focus on income inequality and tax reform that was a hallmark of his earlier career. Still, there's no question he also has moderated some of the views he espoused at the start of his political career.
Sanders was an independent in Congress and an opponent of the two-party system. Today, his very presence in a Democratic presidential primary signals a shift in his longstanding position and a softening of his views. He also has stopped calling for the nationalization of industries. In November of last year, as his campaign gained steam, Sanders gave a landmark speech defining his "democratic socialist ideals." In the address, he explicitly said he does not "believe government should take over the grocery store down the street or own the means of production."
Washington writer Harry Jaffe, author of the new book "Why Bernie Sanders Matters," suggested that this turn away from advocating for the public takeover of industries has been the biggest change in Sanders' platform over the years.
"The basic socialist plank is ... public control of the means of production," Jaffe said. "He believed that because he said it and I quote him as saying that. ... He's totally changed that."
Indeed, leftists have criticized Sanders for no longer supporting nationalization of industries and openly speculated about whether his current brand of "democratic socialism" is socialism at all.
"Once Bernie Sanders made it clear that he wasn't a socialist in the classic terms, he's pretty much stayed true to ... his basic positions ... that there's too much of a difference between the rich and the poor," Jaffe said. "He's been pretty straightforward on that. I think he's been pretty straightforward on the universal health care."
Jaffe described the situation as a "deal with the devil" Sanders made as he sought higher office.
"Bernie Sanders is not stupid. He's a very canny, canny political operator. He just really is smart and he's expedient," said Jaffe. "He made a deal with the devil. It's a very, very slick and small deal in that, you know, he said, 'OK, I will come off of my hardcore socialism, but I'm going to stick very tightly to the rest of my basic belief system.' ... He certainly did that."
Sanders' foreign policy ideas are also far more mainstream than they were when he was mayor of Burlington. Jaffe cited Sanders' votes to approve increased defense spending — even though they came begrudgingly — as another area where his views have "moderated." Though Sanders has heavily focused on the fact he voted against the Iraq War, Sanders has voted to authorize military force in other instances. Jaffe said this is another shift for a politician who began his career extremely "skeptical" of war.
"He voted a couple of times for troop involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq," Jaffe said. "He's going to shove his first vote in front of Hillary Clinton forever because he did vote against the Iraq War, but after that, he did vote for troop engagement."
Though his campaign has promised he would "move away from a policy of unilateral military action, and toward a policy of emphasizing diplomacy," Sanders is not opposed to military action. In Congress, he voted to authorize NATO bombings in the Kosovo War in 1999 and in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 attacks. Since the start of the Iraq War, Sanders has voted to approve funds used to finance that conflict, leading to criticism from the left. As Sanders ran for Senate in 2006, the website of the Socialist Worker newspaper described those votes as "betrayal."
When asked if Sanders has moderated his views since the early days, his old friend De Carolis allowed that facing past political fights may have led Sanders to temper his positions somewhat.
"Knowing what he's been through the last 20 or 30 years, maybe to a degree but not much," De Carolis said.
"What you hear today is very much what you heard back then," he said.
However, Sanders' ally has noticed one major difference. These days, Sanders generally wears a suit and tie.
"If there's anything that's changed, it's that he dresses much nicer now," De Carolis said.

Takođe:

Bernie Sanders goes off on debate moderator: 'That question annoys me'

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) criticized NBC moderator Andrea Mitchell for a question about former President Bill Clinton's White House sex scandal.

During the Sunday-night Democratic debate, Sanders saying recently that the former president's indiscretions were "totally disgraceful and unacceptable." And he was irritated that Mitchell even asked about it.

"That question annoys me," Sanders said.

Sanders complained that the media put too much pressure on him to attack the former secretary of state.

"I can't walk down the street — Secretary Clinton knows this — without being told how much I have to attack Secretary Clinton. Want me to get on the front page of the paper? I make some vicious attack. I have avoided doing that, trying to run an issue-oriented campaign."

"You didn't have to answer it that way, though," Mitchell said, referring to Sanders answer about Bill Clinton's indiscretions.

"Then if I don't answer it, that's another front-page story," Sanders responded.

He added: "His behavior was deplorable. Have I ever said one word about that issue? No I have not. I'm going to debate Secretary Clinton and Governor O'Malley on the issues facing the American people, not Bill Clinton's behavior."

[tomat]

Bernie Sanders related

http://youtu.be/JhudugDROn0

takođe, pogledati intervju koji je Killer Mike imao sa Bernie Sandersonom u svojoj berbernici.

[Meho Krljic]

Donald Trump said he'd kill terrorists' families at a rally. His crowd went wild.

[Meho Krljic]

 Republican Cruz beats Trump in Iowa presidential race, Rubio takes third place

              DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) - U.S. Senator Ted Cruz beat billionaire Donald Trump in Iowa's Republican presidential nominating contest on Monday, upsetting the national front-runner in the race to be their party's White House nominee.
              Cruz, a conservative lawmaker from Texas, won with 28 percent of the vote compared to 24 percent for businessman Trump. Marco Rubio, a U.S. senator from Florida, came in third place with 23 percent, making him easily the leader among establishment Republican candidates.
On the Democratic side, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in a virtual tie with rival Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist U.S. senator from Vermont. With 88 percent of the precincts reporting Clinton led with 49.9 percent to Sanders' 49.4 percent.
              Former Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, who had trouble gaining any traction in the Democratic race, planned to suspend his campaign. He won 0.6 percent.
              Cruz's win and Rubio's strong showing could dent the momentum for Trump, whose candidacy has alarmed the Republican establishment and been marked by controversies such as his calls for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States.
Rubio said, "They told me I needed to wait my turn, that I needed to wait in line. But tonight here in Iowa the people of this great state have sent a very clear message."
              The results could have ramifications in upcoming races.
"There is now blood in the water for Donald Trump," said Republican strategist Ron Bonjean. "Ted Cruz proved he could successfully beat back Trump attacks because he had a great ground game and identified well with evangelical voters."
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said he was suspending his campaign for the Republican party nomination. Huckabee won the Iowa caucus in 2008.
               (Writing by Jeff Mason; Editing by Howard Goller)

I sad (mada mati na umu Salonovu načelno levičarsku orijentaciju):

  Donald Trump is a fraud: Report confirms the billionaire's presidential bid is a long and calculated con job

Everything Trump has done during the campaign is designed to dupe the media into funding his marketing strategy                             

Donald Trump's presidential campaign feels whimsical, like a practical joke or publicity tour gone awry. But it turns out the Donald is running a long con. A new report in Politico suggests Trump has been plotting this stunt for years, and he knew exactly what he had to do to succeed.According to the report, Trump was approached two years ago by GOP operatives who wanted him to run for governor of New York. To their surprise, he declined but added that they would be useful when he ran for president. "I'm going to walk away with it and win outright," Trump told the group, "I'm going to get in and all the polls are going to go crazy. I'm going to suck all the oxygen out of the room. I know how to work the media in a way that that they will never take the lights off of me."
Trump knew all along that his celebrity and media savvy were sufficient to support his campaign. Although they didn't believe him, Trump told the Republicans in that room in 2013 that he would dominate the race without spending much on paid advertising. From the report:

"'You can't run for president on earned media,' one attendee recalled telling Trump. The billionaire looked up, and paused for a long moment. 'I think you're wrong,' Trump said. 'Are you going to do all those little events at the Pizza Ranches?" another person asked, referring to the Iowa fast food franchises that are a staple of presidential campaign stops. 'Maybe a little,' Trump replied. 'But it's really about the power of the mass audience.'"

Trump was right. The ability to control the narrative, to dominate the coverage, is all it takes. Trump's amorality coupled with his gift for self-promotion has turned the Republican presidential race on its head. He's made the race about him, and anytime he isn't the main story, he lurches back into the headlines with an outrageous comment about women or Muslims or Mexicans or disabled people – anything to win the news cycle.
The biggest takeaway from the report is that Trump is indeed a professional huckster. And whatever else he is, he's not stupid. He doesn't believe half the absurdities he utters on the campaign trail either. As the report makes clear, everything he's done and said was designed to dupe the media into funding his marketing strategy.
Trump's a TV man; he understands the landscape. He knows interesting is preferable to informed or reasonable or lucid. Which is why he eschews talking points or scripts and instead riffs on stage like a stand-up. Trump's free-wheeling approach means he could say literally anything at any moment, and that's the kind of thing people want to watch. The bit about Mexicans being criminals and rapists, for example, was entirely improvised during Trump's announcement speech, and while it was an egregious thing to say, the sheer craziness of the remarks won him a week's worth of headlines and catapulted his campaign.

"Trump didn't foresee the furor his Mexico comments would generate; it was a reaction that built slowly and broke into a fever pitch," Eli Stokols and Ben Schreckinger write. "But even if he didn't predict what exactly would kick off the media frenzy, he had planned all along to offer the media a candidacy it couldn't resist covering." This is what Trump has done from the beginning: say something offensive, watch the media pounce, and allow the saturated coverage to fuel his insurgent campaign.
Trump's strategy is nearly perfect. On the one hand, he's tapped into a vein of resentment in the country, and in a way no serious politician could. And on the other hand, he's free to say whatever he wants, no matter how controversial, because doing so breathes more oxygen into his campaign. Even more advantageous, he's entered the race at an ideal time. The public — for good reasons — no longer trusts Washington. Trump is a hack who can't fix anything, but people make bad decisions when they're anxious or angry, and Trump is offering them an alternative to the status quo. This is what demagogues do, and it usually works.
As a candidate, Trump appears uncontainable. His risk tolerance is unmatched, and that gives him a freedom no other candidate enjoys. He can offend anyone, promise anything, and circumnavigate the entire process without ever having to apologize. Not apologizing, as the Politico writers note, only bolsters "a candidate who appeals to voters fed up with political correctness and establishment niceties." It also forces the other candidates to play his game, to react to the tone he sets and the issues he raises.
Everything Trump does has to be seen in the broader context of his media-centric strategy. No one should ask if Trump believes what he says; it's impossible to know. If he does believe something he says, it's a happy coincidence, because his campaign is an experiment in modern marketing, not an expression of his political worldview.

[Meho Krljic]

Hillary Clinton is going to really regret saying these 4 words about Goldman Sachs



Hillary Clinton spent an hour talking to CNN's Anderson Cooper and a handful of New Hampshire voters in a town hall on Wednesday night. For 59 minutes of it, she was excellent — empathetic, engaged and decidedly human. But, then there was that other minute — really just four words — that Clinton is likely to be haunted by for some time to come.

"That's what they offered," Clinton said in response to Cooper's question about her decision to accept $675,000 in speaking fees from Goldman Sachs in the period between serving as secretary of state and her decision to formally enter the 2016 presidential race.

The line is, well, bad.  More on that soon. But, the line when combined with her body language when she said it makes it politically awful for her.

Clinton's reaction when Anderson asked if she had to take so much $ from Goldman

https://t.co/HXAn6r1gJk pic.twitter.com/NAZLC9fiAF
— Tal Kopan (@TalKopan) February 4, 2016 
Here's the full video.

Clinton is both seemingly caught by surprise and annoyed by the question all at once. Neither of those is a good reaction to what Cooper is asking. Both together make for a uniquely bad response.

Here's the thing: I'm not sure there is a great answer, politically speaking, for Clinton on the question of her acceptance of huge speaking fees from all sorts of groups — from colleges and universities to investment banks. She took the money because these groups were willing to pay it. And who wouldn't do the same thing in her shoes?

[Clinton, Sanders talk meaning of 'progressive' in first one-on-one debate]

The problem is that you can't say that if you are the front-running candidate for the Democratic nomination, a front-runner facing a more-serious-than-expected challenge from a populist liberal who has made your ties to Wall Street a centerpiece of his campaign.

So, yes, Clinton was in something of a box when Cooper put the Goldman question to her. But, let's not let her off so easily. Are you telling me that Clinton and her team had no idea that the speaking fees, which Bernie Sanders put into an ad in the final days before the Iowa caucuses, might come up in the course of an hour-long conversation in New Hampshire?

If so (and I don't believe this to be the case), that's total political malpractice. Rather, I think what happened is something similar to Clinton's reaction during a testy exchange a few months ago with reporters over her email server: She got annoyed and freelanced.
The server and the speaking fees are two story lines that Clinton clearly believes are ridiculous.  Sure, she shouldn't have used only a private email address and server while serving as secretary of state. But that error was a small one, not the sort of huge deal that Republicans and the media are trying to turn it into. And, sure, $675,000 is a lot of money to take for speeches but she is a former first lady, senator and secretary of state. It's not out of the ballpark that someone with that résumé would be compensated at such high levels.

That's what Clinton truly believes. And she's not good — as she made plain with her answer last night — at hiding her disdain/skepticism when questioned about it. But, politics is all about playing up your strengths and taking attention away from your weaknesses. The amount of money Hillary and Bill Clinton made from speech-giving — more than $25 million in 16 months — is a weakness. Period. It undercuts the idea that she is a committed fighter for wage equality or a voice of the 99 percent trying to level the playing field with the one percent.

In short: Clinton needs to find a WAY better answer to questions about her speaking fees than "that's what they offered." And soon.

[Meho Krljic]

http://trumpdonald.org/