BloggeRhythms

Instead of sitting here scratching my head, wondering about the apparent Trump phenomenon in the polls, it’s now become much clearer that the statics continually reported in the media aren’t worth the time it took to type them.

 

Steven Shepard @politico.com, sub-headed his article this morning: “As pollsters confront unprecedented obstacles, the biggest name in the business backs away.”

 

Mr. Shepard goes on to write that: “Gallup has been the country's gold standard for horse-race election polling ever since its legendary founder, George Gallup, predicted Franklin Roosevelt's landslide reelection in 1936.

 

“But after a bruising 2012 cycle, in which its polls were farther off than most of its competitors, Gallup told POLITICO it isn't planning any polls for the presidential primary horse race this cycle. And, even following an internal probe into what went wrong last time around, Gallup won't commit to tracking the general election next year.”

 

Therefore, what Gallup is saying is that with all their years of experience, capabilities and technical resources, they don’t trust their own poll results and thus, won’t be providing them any longer.   

 

Gallup’s conclusions certainly make sense when you look at the presidential polls, whereas the current leader knows next to nothing about what he’s campaigning about.

 

On Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier” last night, Trump took a swipe at former President George W. Bush, saying he had been a “disaster” and entering the Iraq War was “one of the worst decisions ever made.”

 

What Trump seems to have forgotten, or never knew to begin with, is that there were four coordinated terrorist attacks on U.S. landmarks by al-Qaeda on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001.

 

Additionally, prior to 2002, the UN Security Council had passed 16 resolutions on Iraq, including resolution 1441 on November 8, 2002, offering Saddam Hussein "a final opportunity to comply with its disarmament obligations" that had been set out in several previous resolutions.

 

According to Wikipedia, “Resolution 1441 stated that Iraq was in material breach of the ceasefire terms presented under the terms of Resolution 687. Iraq's breaches related not only to weapons of mass destruction (WMD), but also the known construction of prohibited types of missiles, the purchase and import of prohibited armaments, and the continuing refusal of Iraq to compensate Kuwait for the widespread looting conducted by its troops during the 1990–1991 invasion and occupation

 

At the same time, a a joint resolution passed by the United States Congress in October 2002, authorized military action against Iraq. 

 

In the House of Representatives, 215 Republicans and 82 Democrats voted in favor of the resolution, totaling 297 for with 133 against. 

 

In the Senate 48 Republicans voted favorably with 29 Democrats joining them, making the total 77 for, 23 against, with no exemptions.

 

Which means that “W” Bush had huge support for the actions taken against Hussein, not only from both political parties, but the rest of the free world via the United Nations. It also suggests that Trump do some homework before he shoots off his over-used mouth.

 

In the same interview Trump said, “"I think eminent domain is wonderful if you're building a highway and you need to build as an example, a highway, and you're going to be blocked by a hold-out or in some cases, it's a hold-out, just so you understand, nobody knows this better than I do, I built a lot of buildings in Manhattan and you'll have 12 sites and you'll get 11 and you'll have the one hold-out and you end up building around them and everything else." 

 

Spoken like a true real estate developer who thinks his projects are more important than those owning property they want to keep for whatever reason. However, even the Founding Fathers realized that citizens have the right to protect their property from seizure, which is why eminent domain is the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, saying: “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” 

 

And naturally, what someone like Trump thinks is “just compensation,” versus the little old widow owning the house on the corner he wants is a whole different story. 

 

Which brings us to today’s update on Bill Clinton’s wife.

 

Ed Henry @foxnews.com, writes that, “State Department officials are pressing Hillary Clinton's personal lawyer David Kendall to confirm -- again -- whether the former secretary of state really did turn over all official emails, according to Justice Department documents filed as part of a watchdog group's lawsuit against the State Department.

 

“State Department official Patrick Kennedy raised this question with Kendall in an Oct. 2 letter -- obtained by Fox News -- demanding to know why there appears to be a gap of at least two months during which Clinton may not have turned over official emails to the department.”

 

What’s most important here is that this just isn’t additional coal on Bill’s wife’s email fire. And that's because this inquiry comes from the State Department, which means it more than likely has the blessing of the White House. And, if that’s the case, it indicates that the POTUS would prefer a different candidate and leads to the ongoing question: Joe Biden, Mayor Bloomberg, and Starbuck’s chairman and CEO, Howard Schultz, are you reading this? 

 

That's it for today folks.

 

Adios