Trump Scores, Obama Scores Even Bigger, Trump Is "Carnival Barker"

People don’t believe that Donald Trump’s hair is real,  much less that his presidential candidacy is real.  But Trump today scored a victory in his bid for credibility when President Barack Obama released his long form birth certificate in an attempt to reaffirm that he was born in the USA.  

Trump had brought this issue back into the media, embarrassing the Republican establishment.  A Gallup poll showed about a quarter of Americans believed that the President was “definitely” or “probably” born in another country. Obama did not mention Trump by name, but he did say, "We do not have time for this kind of silliness."  Silliness - that’s The Donald in one word, but far from unique.

Obama tried again. He went on to say that Americans would not be able to solve pressing problems "if we get distracted by sideshows and carnival barkers.”.

Carnival barker! That’s The Donald in two words. Brilliantly succinct.

In a New Hampshire press conference, Trump rushed to take credit for the release of the birth certificate, as he should. He told the press, “I’m very proud of myself because I've accomplished something that nobody else has been able to accomplish."  

Obama has in one fell swoop elevated a buffoon to the status of a real contender, complicating the Republicans' attempt to take the Presidency next year.  If Trump were to compete with Obama next year, Obama would easily win.

The birth certificate release won’t stop Trump from pursuing his complaints about Obama’s education.  I'll post on that once I have the guts for explaining Trump's darker side. The mainstream media tends to avoid this bitching about Barry's education as it is downright unpleasant.

Back to something lighter. Trump had semi-promised George Stephanopoulos (ABC, Good Morning America) that he would now release his tax returns once Obama had released his birth certificate.

Sure, sure – there’s a better chance of Al Gore being elected President.

Now, can we have proof that The Donald’s hair was born in this country?

Dumbest Guy in the Room. (Is that still true if the 'Jersey Shore' cast is there too?)

The Donald has said that he would impose a 25% tariff on all imports from China. Subsequently and even more ridiculously, he amended this to a 25% to 40% tariff range. He may be a billionaire, but he is also a dunce who hasn’t heard of the World Trade Organization. America would of course be subject to retaliatory measures and penalties if it did what Trump is suggesting.  He’ll say anything to get attention, of course. I’m starting to think that he’s the Democratic Party’s Manchurian candidate – in this case, programmed to upset any possibility of the Republicans winning in 2012.

He has in the past contributed more to the Democrats than the Republicans.  (The Dem recipients even include Charles Rangel.) Trump’s excuse is that he works in New York City, and has no choice.

Trump hasn’t voted in the NYC primary elections since 1989, according to the New York City Board of Elections. Is he a man who gives a damn?  He did furiously deny this accusation, but apparently, he also didn’t vote in some presidential primaries.

In case you - like me - think that Trump isn’t serious about his candidacy, be aware that conservative columnist and Fox News commentator Charles Krauthammer has called Trump “destructive” and compared him to Al Sharpton (nice one Chucky, or is that comparison about their hair?). Incidentally, Robert De Niro last night compared Trump to a car salesman.

Trump phoned Krauthammer and persuaded him that his candidacy was serious. Krauthammer now believes Trump is definitely campaigning for the Republican nomination.

Trump has been working the phones. He called Eliot Spitzer (CNN, In the Arena) on Friday to complain that he was worth much more than Spitzer’s on-screen speculation. Trump claimed that he was worth much more than the Forbes estimate of $2.7 billion The Donald also told Spitzer that he’d release his financial records when he formally enters the campaign.

I’ve seen the Forbes figure as $2.4 billion, but never mind. In any event, Forbes calls him 153rd richest in USA. Forbes also calls him the ‘Dumbest Guy in the Room’ for his suggestion to  George Stephanopoulos (ABC, Good Morning America) that the US should ‘reimburse’ itself for the money spent on the Iraq war by seizing the Iraqi oilfields – by military force.

Of course, if he had to win, it might not be all bad. In Melania Trump, we’d have a former Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover model as First Lady. I had first thought that Sarkozy might then visit the White House more often, but I now recall that Trump dated Carla Bruni!


 

The Donald's Extra Gift For The Dems

Now just suppose Trump's will really try and secure the Republican 2012 presidential nomination and is not just hyping to increase The Celebrity Apprentice ratings.

Sure, that's far-fetched, but let's just fantasize. The Republican establishment will try and crush the nom. If they fail, Trump runs for president without even a tiny chance of winning. Obama then walks the race in 2012, winning say 56% to Trump's 43% or so. A landslide by modern standards. A gift for the Democratic party.

But if the Republican succeed in ensuring that Trump is not nominated, there's a even bigger gift for the Dems. Trump claims he will run as an independent if he doesn't secure the Republican nomination. That's an even bigger gift for the Dems in splitting the Republican vote.

Trump as Ross Perot - oh, bring it on.

(To recap that history, Perot split the vote in 1992, electing Clinton. He tried to repeat the favour in 1996, although his contribution that year was irrelevant as Clinton slightly out-polled Dole and Perot combined.)

Newsweek: Trump Trails Obama By Only Two Points

It seems Newsweek can't afford decent pollsters, or can't resist a misleading set of polls. (OK, they're not alone in that.)

Their recent poll shows Trump trailing Obama by only two percentage points (43-41) in a straight match. I refuse to supply a link to what is complete garbage. Gaddafi is about the only politician who couldn't handily beat Trump in a straight match.

The supposed buzz about Trump is more about a Howard Beale moment - y'know the "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore" line from the 1976 movie, Network. (Although the support for Charlie Sheen is a more exact equivalent to Howard Beale.)

The Newsweek numbers are not nearly duplicated elsewhere and can be safely ignored.

Donald Trump And His Fans

Yup, The Donald - who claims that Obama was not born in the USA - at first produced a birth certificate which the New York City Health Department said was not an official document. Then he did come up with the real thing, utterly spoiling the grand irony of it all. Swine!

Pollsters say that Trump and Huckabee are tied for hypothetical second place for the Republican presidential nomination for 2012. These chuckabees have 17% each, Romney has 21%.

Eric Cantor, Republican majority leader in the House, is a little peeved at The Donald pressing the birther issue as he knows it undermines Republican credibility with the key voters - those in the middle.

Cantor told CNN that he didn't "think Trump was really serious" in bringing up the birther issue.

You and I know differently.

By the way, arch-conservative Ann Coulter is also not a fan of The Donald. She told Fox that "Obama has produced his birth certificate" and that "every responsible, conservative organization" has rejected this conspiracy theory.

At this rate, the Dems have a lock on 2012.

The Donald Is "Beauty"

I like the Apprentice. Its an entertaining show. But is The Donald presidential material?

We'll examine just how suited Donald Trump is to the Oval Office in this blog.

First, a note of pure class.

The Donald says, "Part of the beauty of me is that I'm very rich. So if I need $600 million, I can put $600 million in myself. That's a huge advantage...over the other candidates."

Sure he's rich, but what strikes me in that quote is that he refers to the "beauty of me".

Is it just me? Am I the only one who does not find The Donald a thing of "beauty"?

Or am I missing the point? Is The Donald planning a campaign based around his "beauty"?

Ah, he is planning to appeal to beauticians. Maybe that's not it.

Wait, beauty is perception, yes - but beauty is also projection!

Now we've got it. The Donald is outstanding at projection!

I look forward to The Donald's beautiful presidential campaign. May he spend a billion or two of his own money and bankrupt himself as he did in 1991, 1992, 2004, and 2009. Am I missing any here?

And I haven't even mentioned his hair yet.