4742

As is isolationism. And we know how well that worked.

4743

My great uncle was in a Japanese POW camp; his ship sank off their coast. When he was returned, his upper-arms were so small you could place your thumb and finger around them. He spent his entire life not buying anything Japanese… and one of the things he did before he dies was tell my twin sister his WW2 story for her High School paper. In that, he stated he regretted that he couldn’t let go of the past and anger. He was sorrowful that he still had that in him, and he was nearly starved to death… and felt sorrow he never let it go.

These Trump supports don’t have that direct connection, no real reason to hate and they still do… and hate with pride.

4744

This is who I think of when I think of trump.

4745

Well, not necessarily. Most Fascist regimes saw war as something to be praised and pursued. If you look at Mussolini’s writings and speeches it’s very focused on war and going to war and how great it all is. Both Germany and Italy were very war-like and expansionistic.

4746

I was thinking more about American isolationism as an issue in the 1930s.

4747

If for no other reason, I’m now 100% against him just to keep the whole time travel dream alive!

4748

Every single day I am further appalled that Trump is an actual candidate. He answers every question talking about how his poll numbers are high. How does he tweet stuff like:

Watching biased Charles @krauthammer, a @FoxNews flunky who didn’t know that I won every debate, in particular- the last one.

Even though I beat him in the first six debates, especially the last one, Ted Cruz wants to debate me again.

And not be laughed out the room.

4749

Everyone was isolationist – in effect – in the 30s. Or at least head-in-the-sand. The French built a wall (and in effect they made the Germans pay for it too, if you consider reparations :)) and didn’t bother to learn how to use their vastly superior armored force because you know, would the Germans dare to go through Belgium twice in one century? Unthinkable! The British thought this Mr. Hitler was nothing to worry about if you just gave him a little bit here and there. And come on, how could Japan of all countries be a threat to the mighty British Empire? With India right there and Singapore being utterly invincible? And the Russians were busy killing themselves off and making secret deals with Hitler too. So I don’t blame the US with its then grossly inferior army for having no more prescience than anyone else.

4750

Not exactly. The French built the Maginot Line in order to funnel Germany through Belgium and protect Alsace-Lorraine.

In short, it let France choose the battleground. The Belgian border is where the French were preparing to fight, it’s where they wanted to fight (because it would force Belgium to help them AND could be reinforced by the English), and it’s where they did fight. It’s also where they lost, but not because an attack there was unexpected. Rather, they were expecting to fight a long, static war along the border, just like in the previous war. But the Germans had invented a hard counter to trenches.

4751

So, trump ditched out on the debate, supposedly to raise money for veterans.

But it turns out the money raised just goes to his own personal foundation, not a veteran’s organization.

4752

I thought the money was being divided between something like 22 veterans’ groups.

4753

The largest veterans groups said they wouldn’t take money from Trump, but Timex is correct - the money first goes to Trump’s foundation.
*
Really cool model at 538 on changing voter turnout based on demographics and how that changes the numbers. Interestingly enough, taking voter turnout to 100% across all demographic groups - you get the same results (based on the 2012 election.) Turning up Hispanic, Asian and black voter turnout substantially (75%) while keeping non-college white vote the same is a large boon for Democrats. It’s more problematic for the Republicans: Keeping voter turn out the same among minority voters, the non-college white vote would have to go to 85% for Republicans to win the election. That bodes well for those that don’t want to see a Trump presidency.

4754

Didn’t occur to me, but just saw this quote:

Imagine if Hillary skipped a debate and said she was going to raise money for vets instead, & then all the $ went to the Clinton Foundation.

4755

His last attempt at raising money for veterans didn’t go so well, I have no faith that it will have done better this time around.

Last summer, shortly after Trump said McCain was no hero, he had the big rally on the Naval ship, charging up to $1000 per person to see him speak there. They money raised was for Veterans for a Strong America. Problem is, Veterans for a Strong America consisted of only a single person. Trump’s people said they gave the money to this charity, and the ‘charity’ did not say where the money went. Shortly after, the organization was disbanded by the government for failing to follow the rules for being a nonprofit. Shockingly, a new charity sprouted, Vets for a Strong America (notice, completely different!), also consisting of one guy.

Fortunately this is not where the money last night is headed, or maybe it is, there is no accountability but it’s fun to throw the word ‘veterans’ around.

4756

Trump may have been shrewd to skip the debate. The rest of the candidates ganged up on Cruz with Trump absent and Cruz is getting bad press over his performance now. Everything seems to fall Trump’s way.

4757

Shockingly, a new charity sprouted, Vets for a Strong America (notice, completely different!), also consisting of one guy.

This cracks me up. I’m amazed that Trump’s team would fail so massively in terms of due diligence.

It really destroys his argument that “he’s a business man, and knows how to do stuff.”

Clearly he doesn’t, because this is pretty basic stuff that he’s failing to do.

Trump may have been shrewd to skip the debate. The rest of the candidates ganged up on Cruz with Trump absent and Cruz is getting bad press over his performance now. Everything seems to fall Trump’s way.

Maybe. I think a lot of Iowa voters don’t really like that he ditched them. However, if Trump HAD been there, I think Megyn Kelley would have ruined his face, because she was asking some really tough questions. With the actual video to back them up, so he couldn’t pull his normal bullshit of “I didn’t say that.”

Although it’s funny that after the debate, Kelley was interviewing Cruz and she asked him AGAIN the question about his supporting the immigration bill (with his amendment), and he was like, “I didn’t say I supported the bill. I said I supported immigration reform”. And she was like, “No, you said you supported the bill.” and he’s like, “No I said…” and she said, “No. That’s what you said. I played the video. I can play it again if you want.”

Honestly, it’s rare that TV journalists actually stand up for themselves like that, and it earns her some respect for me. Folks shouldn’t be allowed to just lie like that.

It did hurt Cruz in that he got picked on more, but I think the ultimate beneficiary may end up being Rubio, by making the whole thing close between them all.

4758

When one goes down the others tend to benefit, so if Cruz starts to sink it does help Rubio. Thing is, if Trump wins Iowa, which wasn’t expected in the not-too-distant past, it will give him a lot of momentum. Cruz losing support probably helps Trump more than Rubio.

I am glad they are showing clips of the candidates saying things they later refute. I will have to give a nod to the Daily Show for demonstrating how effective that can be.

4759

Trump is already getting all sorts of praise for all the veteran’s he hasn’t helped.

4760

Network news is reporting that he raised $6m and designated it to several veterans groups. In looking for a link for that I came across this…

That move drew controversy because, as the website noted, the donations would be routed through Trump’s private foundation, the Donald J. Trump Foundation. That charity has given just $57,000 to veterans groups while giving more than $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation. (RELATED: Donations To Trump’s Pro-Vet Website Go To His Personal Charity, Which Gave To The Clinton Foundation)

Kinda weird that Trump funnels donations through the Clinton Foundation. :)

4761

Hillary should publicly thank Donald Trump to donating the money from his recent event to her foundation.