Judge the Totality of Trump, Says Christie

Chris Christie, one of Donald Trump’s earliest and most vocal Republican establishment supporters, finally weighed in on the sex-talk tape heard round the world last Friday. Though I didn’t catch his comments on the Boomer and Carton Show on WFAN sports radio Tuesday morning, a Huffington Post story provided an impression of an obviously pained Christie waffling his way through an uncomfortably thin door of acceptance of an imperfect candidate. 

“I don’t think it’s immaterial, but I don’t think it’s the only way you should make a judgment,” he said, according to HuffPost (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/chris-christie-leaked-trump-comments-not-immaterial_us_57fce510e4b068ecb5e1a175).

WNYC public radio reported Christie said Trump should be “judged by the totality of his campaign.”

Fair enough. So far this campaign most everything Trump has said confirms and corroborates his despicable behavior, his lack of appropriate temperament for the presidency and his failure to understand basic policies that have been the bulwark of America’s world position: 

He has denigrated Mexicans as well as the entire Muslim world; He has undermined the legitimacy of our democracy, first by questioning the validity of an elected current president through his advocacy of the birther movement, second by questioning the impartiality of a federal judge because of his Mexican heritage, and third by seeding the idea that if he loses the election the results would be tainted by illegal activity; He has lauded dictators such as Vladimir Putin, Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong-un; His actions have encouraged fringe groups to expound their bigoted, racist philosophies while only begrudgingly disavowing their support; He has suggested that America’s response to aggression against any of our treaty allies would be based on a financial assessment of their contribution to our military expense; He has suggested nuclear proliferation in Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia; He has affronted prisoners of war for being captured and has criticized servicemen and veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder for not being tough enough; He has maligned a Gold Star family; He has verbally abused women who have criticized him including ex-primary candidate Carly Fiorina, newscaster Megyn Kelly and former Miss Universe Alicia Machado; He has intimated that Hillary Clinton cheated on her husband; He has mocked a disabled journalist; He has misrepresented Hillary Clinton’s position on the Second Amendment and not so coyly hinted that gun enthusiasts have a way of stopping her; He has deprived the American public of essential information to properly assess his suitability for office by refusing to release his tax returns, a practice all candidates have adhered to for the last 40 years and to which all federal appointees must comply.   

Moreover, as someone who often reminds people of his tenure as a former U.S. Attorney, Christie should know that Trump advocated war crimes by calling for torture of prisoners, the killing of innocent families of terrorists and the taking of oil resources of another sovereign nation (Iraq). On top of those whoppers, Trump also revealed his autocratic, despotic inner self during Sunday’s debate by saying he would jail his political opponent. And he recently challenged the overturned conviction of the Central Park Five. To Trump, the Central Park Five are guilty regardless of DNA findings to the contrary and a confession by the true assailant in the rape and assault case.  

How Christie, or any intelligent voter or politician, could support Trump after all that (and much more) is beyond my comprehension. 

But wait—Trump tweeted Tuesday morning, “It is so nice that the shackles have been taken off me and I can now fight for America the way I want to.” 

One can hardly imagine what vile venom will emanate from The Donald in the weeks to come before and most surely after the election.

Buffetted by Buffett: For those who might have missed it, Warren Buffett rebuffed Trump’s claims that he, too, has used the loss carry forward provision of the tax code to reduce his federal tax liability.

Buffett released his 2015 tax file even though he is under audit, as is Trump. 

“I have no problem in releasing my tax information while under audit. Neither would Mr. Trump — at least he would have no legal problem,” Buffett said in a statement. Trump has claimed he cannot release his returns while under IRS audit. http://usat.ly/2ekn1x6

Just Imagine: Gilda sent me this link of an interesting perspective on the sex-talk tape controversy. Imagine if Barack Obama had said what Trump said … http://nydn.us/2dRJCkl

Movie Metaphor: The movie Denial opens nationwide October 21. Based on the book, History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier, by Deborah E. Lipstadt, it is the story of a trial to expose the truth of the Holocaust denied by a vicious British anti-Semite. 

Denial might well be a movie metaphor for those who fail to see Trump’s misogyny, racism, bigotry, intolerance and lack of political competence and intelligence. 

Seeking Forgiveness: Yom Kippur begins Tuesday evening, ushering in a day of reflection, a time to seek forgiveness for one’s sins and transgressions, not just to God but even more so to one’s fellow human beings.

I will be in synagogue tonight and tomorrow. Given his history, it is too bad Donald Trump won’t be there as well.

I Didn't Knock on Warren Buffett's Door But Sam Walton Knocked on Mine

We drove by Warren Buffett’s house in Omaha Saturday afternoon (that “we” is not the imperial pronoun. It included Gilda, Ellie, husband Donny and Rachel, Donny’s mother). Buffett doesn't live in a gated or secluded community. He resides in the Dundee neighborhood in a nice but not overly substantial structure. Nothing outlandish to make the neighbors self-conscious about his status as the second richest person in America. Just like any other house in the well-to-do Dundee neighborhood. We resisted the urge to knock on his door.

It wouldn't have phased me if we had knocked and he'd have opened the door. It would have reciprocated for the time the richest man in the world, at the time Sam Walton, woke me up one morning by banging on my condo door.

It was the Sunday of the annual meeting weekend in Bentonville, AR, back in 1981. Stock analysts, the press and Wal-Mart guests were housed in condominiums at nearby Lakes of Bella Vista. Dressed in his tennis whites—Sam had been ranked fifth in the state among amateurs—he mistook my front door for that of the chairman of a Mexican retailer, a company Wal-Mart eventually bought.

Sam profusely apologized for waking me up at 7 am and got back into his beat up pickup truck to search for his tennis partner. He, of course, had been up for several hours. His daily custom was to get into the office early and be out by 6:30 to pilot his small propeller plane to the far reaches of his growing empire of stores.

I consider myself fortunate to have known and even befriended many of the merchant princes of the last half of the 20th century, chief among them Sam Moore Walton.

Class Warfare

Republicans are right. President Obama’s proposal to raise the taxes of rich people is class warfare. They’re damn right it is, and it’s about time.

It’s about time the president stepped forward and led a revolt against Republican insensitivity to the plight of the middle class and the working class.

Let’s be clear about one thing, however. Obama’s not the aggressor in this war. Republicans have been waging class warfare for decades, decades, at least as far back as FDR’s successful implementation of the Social Security Act, the setting of a national minimum wage and the formation of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The GOP has fought almost all attempts to protect and enhance the lives of working people and the middle class.

It’s class warfare when fat-cat Republicans carry the water for corporate America and the wealthy. It’s class warfare when they resist efforts to provide affordable health care to every citizen, regardless of their income. It’s class warfare when they try to dismantle social security, when they fail to provide adequate benefits to active and retired military personnel, when they work to overturn workplace and environmental protections, when they endeavor to cut back entitlement programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, Aid to Dependent Children, and school lunch programs.

Now, it could be argued Democrats started class warfare by passing all that progressive legislation. Guilty. With an explanation. Government has an obligation to care for and protect its citizens, not just in times of actual war but also when natural and man-made disasters jeopardize safety and even our existence. The Depression, poverty and discrimination fostered the need for corrective actions. Industry and private wealth have shown no continuous commitment to care for our countrymen, leaving it to government to hold the safety net for tens of millions of our citizens.

Obama’s problem is one of his own making. Instead of taking advantage of the strategic high ground his 2008 election provided, he has squandered his resources and allowed the GOP to outflank him and redraw the battle lines. Let’s face it—they have a much more effective PR campaign. They have defined Obama as the enemy of the common folk. Only now is he showing a determination to use his veto to exact the quid pro quo tax increase he has asked for in return for cuts in entitlement spending.

In this latest tussle over taxing millionaires, it’s hard to visualize a Republican-controlled Congress acquiescing, not when most members are millionaires themselves. They may be patriotic (well, maybe), but it’s doubtful they’re like billionaire Warren Buffett, willing to pay their fair share.