Donald Trump is only half the problem; we are the other half
In case you missed it (and I’m not sure how you could have) Donald Trump is running for president. Let me say that again Donald Trump is running to be the president of the United States of America. If you believe that or take that seriously then to quote one of my favorite country songs: “I got some ocean front property in Arizona. If you’ll buy that, I’ll throw the Golden Gate in free.” Trump is no more running for president than I am throwing my hat in the ring to be the next pope and he has about the same chance of winning as I do of becoming the next pope. Here’s the thing about the Donald, he loves attention. He says and does outlandish things because it gets him attention. I’m not discounting the fact sometimes what he says is spot on but that’s not the point. Guess what? We (the people talking, writing, gabbing about him) are giving him exactly what he wants and we are making a mockery out of what should be a serious discussion about the issues while we do it. There is such a thing as too much information and maybe a precursor to being president should be have a reality show so you can see the temperament of leaders and not the measured scripted persona that campaign consultants want us to see but unfortunately for Trump we’ve seen him unscripted and I can tell you this is not the man I want in the Oval. Heck, I’m not sure I’d want him on in a cabinet level position. So as the media salivates and us bloggers continue to blog just remember that however entertaining Trump is he isn’t taking this race seriously and we shouldn’t take him seriously.
Donald Trump has no regrets about ’16 kickoff speech
Donald Trump has no regrets. The bombastic real estate mogul and reality television star said Wednesday he has no second thoughts about anything he said in his blustering — and oft lampooned — 45-minute campaign kickoff speech. That includes a remark that portrayed immigrants from Mexico as “bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some, I assume, are good people.” It drew condemnation from the Mexican government as “biased and absurd.” “I know the speech went well. There’s nothing in there I didn’t mean,” Trump told The Associated Press in an interview. “I did it with no notes, no teleprompter. I like going off-script a little bit,” Trump said. “I meant everything I said, and I think a lot of it resonated with different groups of people.” Trump made the comment about immigrants while boasting about his ability to fortify the U.S. southern border, saying “nobody builds walls better than me, believe me.” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
LSU Administrator top choice for new University of Alabama president
Trustees are selecting a new president for the University of Alabama. The board’s agenda for Thursday includes consideration of Stuart Bell as the successor to Judy Bonner. Bell is currently the provost and executive vice president at Louisiana State University. Alabama system Chancellor Robert Witt is recommending him for the top job in Tuscaloosa. Bell has said he’s excited about the possibility and looks forward to discussing the position with trustees. He would start at Alabama next month if approved. Bell was the only person recommended for the presidency following a four-month search by an advisory committee. He has three engineering degrees from Texas A&M University and previously taught engineering at Alabama. Bonner is retiring after less than three years. She’s the first woman to hold the presidency at Alabama. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Democrats worry Jeb Bush’s Latino connections could hurt Hillary Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton‘s campaign probably didn’t need a reminder of how crucial Latino voters could be to her presidential campaign. She got one anyway from Jeb Bush. The former Republican governor of Florida spoke fluent Spanish during his 2016 campaign kickoff this week, at which he introduced his wife, a native of Mexico, to an adoring crowd that cheered as he effortlessly deflected an attempt by immigration protests to interrupt his speech. “Ayúdennos a emprender una campaña que les da la bienvenida,” Bush said, which can be translated as, “Help us run a campaign that welcomes you.” Clinton will address the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials on Thursday in Las Vegas at a time when Bush’s bilingual pitch is prompting quiet pangs of concern among some Democratic strategists. They worry that a campaign that successfully presents Bush as the product of his Hispanic-infused South Florida home could cut into their party’s sizable demographic advantage with Latino voters, particularly in hard-fought states such as Florida, Colorado and Nevada. Bush comes across as “genuine and comfortable in his own skin,” said David Axelrod, a former strategist to President Barack Obama. “If he hangs tough and survives (the primary), Democrats should be sober. He would be a formidable opponent.” Bush may be the white scion of a political dynasty with deep roots in New England, but he has adopted Hispanic culture as his own. He made his career in the bilingual mecca of Miami, Spanish is his primary language at home, and he brags about buying cilantro to make Latin cuisine for his wife. On the campaign trail, Bush switches seamlessly between English and Spanish when answering questions, his skills in the language honed during the two years he spent in Venezuela as a young man. He also travels with Raul Henriques, a fresh-faced “body man” recently hired because Bush wanted a Spanish speaker. Republicans think Bush could help their party close a yawning political gap among Latino voters. GOP nominee Mitt Romney won just 27 percent of the Latino vote in 2012, the smallest margin in a decade. President George W. Bush, who had far weaker ties to the Hispanic community than his younger brother Jeb, earned as much as 40 percent of their vote during his 2004 re-election race. Maintaining a broad Democratic advantage among one of the country’s fastest-growing minority groups will be essential to Clinton’s path to the White House. Almost 28.2 million Hispanics will be eligible to vote in the 2016 presidential race, an increase of about 17 percent over 2012, according to an analysis of census data by the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. Clinton advisers have long singled Bush out from the rest of the crowded Republican field as a possible threat, arguing that his personal connection to the Latino community could help his campaign make inroads in several battleground states. “If Republicans were to win Florida and Ohio and Colorado, it’s hard to total up 270 for Democrats,” longtime Clinton confident Harold Ickes told reporters in November. For months, Clinton and her team have worked hard to develop and deepen relationships with Hispanic leaders. In May, she tapped Lorella Praeli, a leading immigrant-rights activist brought to the U.S. illegally as a young person, to lead outreach to Latino voters. Less than a month after announcing her plans to enter the race, Clinton called for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Her position left little political wiggle room for Republicans open to an immigration overhaul, Bush included, who favor granting legal status for some of the 11 million workers in the country illegally but not full citizenship. “We should offer hard-working, law-abiding immigrant families a path to citizenship,” Clinton said during her kickoff speech last weekend. “Not second-class status.” Campaigning in Iowa on Wednesday, Bush said he would support citizenship for some immigrants brought to the country illegally as children and a pathway to legal status for their parents, a step Obama took by executive order three years ago. But Bush’s efforts to woo Latinos may be complicated by the Republican primaries, where a vocal conservative minority holds outsized influence. In an indication of the potential toxicity of the issue to his primary bid, Bush had no plans to mention immigration during his Tuesday kickoff speech. But he couldn’t resist responding to the chants of protesters heckling him from the crowd with a pledge to tackle immigration legislation. “I believe what I believe, and I believe in comprehensive immigration reform,” he said in Iowa the following day. “People don’t agree with me in my own party, not everybody, but, trust me, there are a lot of people that have a differing view.” Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
“Off-the-grid” veteran Tyler Truitt scorned by Huntsville, supported by many
U.S. Marine Corps veteran Tyler Truitt has met a few stumbling blocks in his quest to live, along with his girlfriend Soraya Hamar, more or less “off-the-grid.” None have been so decisive or seemingly final as the recent word that has come down from the city of Huntsville’s municipal code enforcers, who have condemned his single-wide trailer — complete with a functional generator powered by solar panels, composting toilet and 550-gallon tank full of reserve rain water — as dangerous and unlivable. The 27-year-old veteran says he is not harming his neighbors or anyone else by refraining from hooking up to municipal water and electric utilities. Truitt, who works at an Alabama military garrison at Redstone Arsenal, just wants to live a lifestyle free of debt that allows him to conserve natural resources and go back to school to finish his degree without incurring student loans. “They’re taking a big option away from families that can’t afford to build a fancy house,” Truitt told AL.com. “I have looked and didn’t see anything (in Huntsville’s Code of Ordinances) which says I’m not allowed to use off-grid utilities. They claim that it’s not sufficient to use off-grid utilities because it’s not a ‘permanent’ source of power.” The city, however, sees it differently. Huntsville is choosing to enforce requirements in city ordinance that “occupants of a residential dwelling have safe, potable, running water and electricity,” said Kelly Schrimsher, on behalf of Mayor Tommy Battle. The city said Truitt would be free to live as off-the-grid as he wants out on unincorporated land in surrounding Madison County, but that where Truitt runs afoul of the law is his failure — or in his phrase, a conscious act of “civil disobedience” — to secure the proper permits and comply with city-limits building code. “We encourage green environmental living, and we request interested citizens go through proper channels,” Schrimsher said. “Our departments stand ready and willing to guide them through the appropriate permitting process.” Others not just in Alabama but across the country are speaking out about Truitt’s experience and the rights they believe protect his choice. A Facebook page “Stand With Taylor For Liberty” has more than 1,000 likes and a GoFundMe account set up on his behalf. The story has been picked up by several national constitutional groups concerned about the apparent violation of Truitt’s property rights with one commenter on the Facebook page drawing similarities to this case and the showdown at the Bundy Ranch. Truitt’s first court appearance on the building code violations is set for July 29. As of now, Truitt said he intends to resist the city’s coercions. “Sometimes you have to take a stand for what you think is right,” Truitt said.
