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In the coming weeks we’ll be looking at the reported Elon Musk-Donald J. Trump interview that is to take place Monday, August 12. We’ll also be talking about the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, which begins a week later, on August 19.

_____

…meanwhile…

(President Biden expressed doubts ex-President Trump would accept a loss, in an interview taped for CBS Sunday Morning. Scroll down the center column for details.)

Ukraine Takes Kursk – Although not officially connected to Ukraine’s invasion of the western Russian region of Kursk, a column of Russian military vehicles and personnel “was destroyed” there, The Kyiv Independent reports Friday, citing Suspilne and the independent Russian media outlet Agentstvo. Kursk Oblast is the location of the Ukrainian military’s incursion this week into Russia.

The report was corroborated by pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Rybar, which said that a local resident who filmed the attack handed the video over to Ukrainian media but has been arrested by Russian authorities. In the BBC’s report on the incursion, a reporter says Russian media have been unusually frank in reporting on Ukraine’s success in the region.

•••

That Mar-a-Lago Presser – Ex-President Trump’s hour-long press conference at Mar-a-Lago Thursday was “rambling and chaotic” according to NPR’s Morning Edition and by now you’ve heard the highlights.

This one stands out: “Nobody’s spoken to crowds bigger than me. If you look at Martin Luther King, when he did his speech, his great speech, and you look at ours – same real estate, same everything, same number of people if not – we had more.”

That’s right, Donald J. Trump was comparing the peaceful 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom to his January 6, 2021, speech at the Ellipse leading up to the attack on the US Capitol. He described his White House departure in the presser as “peaceful.”

The country is in mortal danger if Trump does not win the November 5 presidential election, he said, predicting war and a depression on the level of the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Asked about his remarks before the National Association of Black Journalists last week suggesting that his Democratic challenger, Vice President Kamala Harris changed her ethnicity, Trump called her “very disrespectful” of both her mother’s Indian heritage and her father’s Jamaican heritage.

Describing Harris’ appeal, Trump said; “She’s a woman. She represents certain groups of people.” (Direct quotes per The New York Times.)

--TL

_____________________________________________

THURSDAY 8/8/24

Trump Agrees to Three Debates -- Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump announced at a "rare" Mar-a-Lago press conference that he has agreed to three debates with Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris (per Politico). They are to be on Fox News September 4, ABC on September 10 and NBC on September 25.

•••

It’s About Cars? – President Biden is pretty sure Donald J. Trump will resist defeat in the November 5 presidential election. On CBS Sunday Morning Robert Costa asks Biden if he’s “confident there will be a peaceful transition of power in January of 2025?”

“If Trump loses, no I’m not,” the president responds. “I’m not confident at all. He means what he says. We don’t take him seriously. He means it. All this stuff about if we lose it’ll be a bloodbath … Look what they’re trying to do in the local election districts where the people count the votes … putting people in place where they’re going to count the votes.”

The full interview runs Sunday morning, August 11, between 9 am and 10:30 am Eastern time.

Republican reaction: Trump defenders say his statement earlier this year that there “will be a bloodbath” was a warning about the US auto industry if Chinese automakers are allowed importation without serious tariffs (Biden has imposed a 102.5% tariff on Chinese-built EVs). The former president’s comments came after the United Auto Workers’ leadership endorsed the Democratic ticket.

Flashback: In the Trump-Biden debate in late June, the one that led to Biden stepping down from his re-election campaign, CNN’s Dana Bash asked Trump three times whether he will accept the results of this November’s election.

After some evasion and downplaying of his role in the January 6^th attack on the US Capitol, when Bash asked; “yes or no?” on that third attempt, Trump replied, “absolutely” he would accept results if the election was “fair and good.”

NOTE: Don’t miss Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s commentary, “Letter from the President” in the right column.

•••

Reports: Ukraine Pushes Into Russia – Ukraine forces launched on Tuesday “an ambitious operation” across Russia’s western border at Kursk Oblast in large numbers,” The Kyiv Independent reports, citing a mix of sources. Officials in Kyiv have so far been silent about the offensive.

But Russia’s defense ministry says the invasion involves a Ukrainian force likely involving 100s of troops and dozens of vehicles, according to the report. A “visibly frustrated” Vladimir Putin called the offensive a “large-scale provocation” and accused Ukrainian forces of shelling residential areas, in a short, televised address on Wednesday.

The Independent reports no official announcements from Kyiv. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has spoken to his commander-in-chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, and said “details would follow later.”

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

(President Biden expressed doubts ex-President Trump would accept a loss, in an interview taped for CBS Sunday Morning. […]

Letter from the President

By Stephen Macaulay

I never knew how important we were here at The Hustings.

That is, the other day I received a letter with this in the space where the return address would otherwise appear:

Donald J. Trump

President of the United States

Now I know that it is a sign of respect that former office holders often are called by their former titles.

But the position on the envelope could cause something of an issue.

That is, it seems as though this is a statement of present condition, as though he is currently president of the United States.

What if there was some problem delivering the letter to my address and it had to be returned to sender?

Wouldn’t it be reasonable that the postal worker would figure the president is at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW and so send it to Joe Biden?

Inside the envelope was, of course, a lengthy screed that, fundamentally, exhorted me to send money to an address that isn’t on Pennsylvania Avenue. Money that would, so it argued, permit Donald J. Trump to return to that address and, what’s more, save the country.

Or that would be more appropriately put: Save the Country!

You may be thinking, “Getting a solicitation from a politician is no big deal. Who doesn’t get them?”

And you would be right.

But what made my letter from Donald J. Trump, President of the United States, special was that it included the “MAGA VICTORY SURVEY.”

The survey was printed not only with my name and address, but an eight-digit Personal Identification Code. Does that mean that there are tens of millions of others who have gotten a survey? I’d like to think not.

The instructions tell me that upon completion I am to “submit this form along with your contribution to the TRUMP NATIONAL COMMITTEE in the postage-paid RUSH RETURN ENVELOPE provided and return immediately.”

I understand why the committee is in caps and boldface; I wonder about the return envelope’s status.

The four-page MAGA VICTORY SURVEY includes 17 questions, although #17 is a bit of a ringer as it is actually a “PERSONAL SUPPORT FORM” that asks:

“Will you support the Trump National Committee’s efforts to regain the White House, win a Republican Majority in the U.S. Senate, strengthen our Republican Majority in the U.S. House, and elect Republicans across America in this November’s elections?”

The box followed by YES! includes recommended donation amounts starting at $2,024. There is also a $47 option: “A symbolic gift of $47 signifies your commitment to making Donald Trump the 47^th President of the United States this November.”

There is a “No” option: “I want the Democrats to take over the White House.”

It is surprising that it isn’t followed by “TRAITOR!”

There is a third box:

“While I support the Trump-Republican agenda, I cannot donate at the suggested levels at this time. Enclosed is my gift of $15 to cover the cost of processing my Survey.”

To quote Donald J. Trump, “Sad.”

However, if it is costing the Trump National Committee $15 per survey — I mean, Survey — and there are tens of millions out there, it seems they might have found a more cost-effective processing house.

Anyway, for those of your who didn’t get a letter from

Donald J. Trump

President of the United States

here’s the sort of questions you’re missing:

Who do you think should set the U.S. policy agenda?
1. President Trump b. Joe Biden c. Deep State bureaucrats

Note how the current president is simply referred to by his name. (And it should be noted that this was printed pre-Kambala.)

3. Please rank the following issue priorities in terms of importance to you (with

1 being the most important, 5 being the least important),

Stamping out inflation
Restoring law and order in America’s crime-infested cities
Rooting out Deep State bureaucrats and draining the Washington Swamp
Negotiating America First free trade agreements
Securing our boarders, building the Wall, and deporting illegal immigrants

I know what you’re thinking: Ones across the board!

And it goes on from there, including witch hunts, Lunatic Left policies, invasion, harsh mandates, unelected Deep State bureaucrats, and more.

You can only imagine the mental “Four more years! Four more years!” chant that is going on among the tens of millions as they fill out their MAGA VICTORY SURVEY.

One curious thing, however.

There is fine print.

It indicates that Trump National Committee (‘TNC’) is “a joint fundraising committee of Donald J. Trump for President 2024, Inc. (‘DJTFP’), the principal campaign committee of Donald J. Trump, and the Republican National Committee (RNC).”

Of the money sent (“not deductible for federal income tax purposes”), the distribution will be 10% to the RNC and “90% to DJTFP, which will designate the funds first to its primary election account, then it its general election account, and finally to its recount account.”

“Recount account”?

Are the folks at Donald J. Trump for President 2024, Inc., nervous about something?

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

The Market, Musk Interview, DNC Coming Up

After dropping 1,034 points Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average clawed back 294.39 points Tuesday to finish at 38,703.27, which looks like a “correction.” We will have to watch Wall Street for at least the rest of the week to figure out what effect the market might have on the newly minted Kamala Harris/Tim Walz Democratic ticket.

Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump is unlikely to wait, but Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay has something to say about that, in the right column.

We are looking ahead to an interview of Trump by Tesla/Starlink/SpaceX chief Elon Musk, possibly on his social media platform, X-Twitter. It is to take place Monday, details to come.

The following Monday, August 19, the Democratic National Convention begins.

We invite you to Comment on these and other news items and political issues. Email editors@thehustings.news and list your political leanings in the subject line.

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‘Creepy, and Weird as Hell’

Harris and Walz Tour – Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris – it’s official now – continues her tour of seven battleground states begun Tuesday in Philadelphia when she introduced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate. The Dem pair knock off two more battlegrounds Wednesday by visiting Eau Claire, Wisconsin and Detroit (per NPR’s Morning Edition).

In a jam-packed stadium rally in Philadelphia introduced by veepstakes first runner-up Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania, Walz proved himself ready to be Harris’ affable, Midwestern dad-attack dog, telling the ebullient crowd about the Trump-Vance Republican ticket, “You know you feel it. These guys are creepy, and yes, weird as hell.”

As if setting out to confirm the “creepiness,” GOP vice presidential candidate JD Vance will follow Harris/Walz for the first three days of her swing state tour, Business Insider reports. Vance, who Wednesday described Walz as “one of the most far-left governors,” said he would agree to a vice presidential debate after the Democratic National Convention, which begins the week of August 19.

•••

Another Squad Defeat – With $8.5-million backing from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s United Democracy Project Super-PAC, Wesley Bell defeated “Squad” member Cori Bush in the Democratic primary for Missouri’s 1^st District House seat (AP). Bell, the St. Louis County prosecuting attorney, faces Republican primary winner Andrew Jones in the heavily Democratic district.

In Missouri’s heavily Republican 3^rd District, Donald J. Trump-backed candidate Bob Onder defeated Kurt Schaefer in the GOP primary, AP reports. Both are former state senators, and Onder is also a physician.

Lucas Kunce won Missouri’s Democratic primary to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Josh Hawley in November.

In Michigan Tuesday, Rep. Elissa Slotkin won the Democratic primary to replace retiring Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D). Slotkin faces Republican primary winner Mike Rogers in November.

In Washington state, Raul Garcia won the Republican primary to challenge Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell (The New York Times).

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

If Joe Is Sleepy, Was Trump Comatose?

By Stephen Macaulay

Although I am as concerned as the next guy about looking at my 401k right now, the dubious economic understanding exhibited by Donald Trump about the stock market is in full form.

As he put it this week on Truth Social: “STOCK MARKETS CRASHING. I TOLD YOU SO!!! KAMALA DOESN’T HAVE A CLUE. BIDEN IS SOUND ASLEEP. ALL CAUSED BY INEPT U.S. LEADERSHIP!”

A word about Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., the company that brings you Truth Social: In March it was trading at a high for the year of $66.22. It is now at $26.98.

That’s a decline of about 60%.

Not good.

Shouldn’t the proprietor have more than a little something to do with the value of one’s company?

On Monday, August 5, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,033.99 points.

That is a decline of 2.6%.

Not good.

But let’s go back to when Donald Trump was president.

On March 12, 2020, the DJIA fell 2,352.60 points.

That’s a decline of 9.99%.

Again, not good.

On March 16, 2020, the DJIA fell 2,997.10 points.

That’s a decline of 12.93%

That’s really not good.

If Biden was sound asleep when there was this week’s decline, then Trump must have been in a coma in March 2020.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Write to Us

The Hustings is designed to bring left and right together in civil, fact-based discussion of current political news. You are welcome and encouraged to comment on our news/news aggregate and analysis, whether you’d like to make a prediction on who presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ running mate should be or whether you think the next presidential debate should be September 10 on ABC News, or September 4 on Fox News.

What about Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s reversal of a plea deal with three 9/11 masterminds? What about June’s Labor department report showing tepid job growth in June? Was the Federal Reserve slow in planning to lower interest rates? Is the Biden administration to blame?

What do you think of Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s column on the right criticizing Trump’s plan to “drill, drill, drill” for oil on his first day in office?

Enter your Comments in the space made for them in this column or the one on the right (depending on your political leanings), or email us at editors@thehustings.news and please indicate whether you generally lean conservative or liberal in the subject line.

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Take This Walz

Democratic presidential nominee has chosen Minn Gov. Walz as her running mate, AP says.

UPDATE: Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris has chosen Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate, sources tell The Associated Press. Walz has been credited with tagging the Trump-Vance ticket as "weird" (an epithet some Democrats worry could backfire as Hilary Clinton's "deplorables" did eight years ago) and he joins the campaign without any of the sort of baggage that began to weigh down veepstakes finalists Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly.

Philly Rally -- Democratic presidential candidate (yes, it's official now) Kamala Harris will announce her running mate at a rally in Philadelphia Tuesday evening. Yes, the purple-state campaign kickoff hints it will be Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. But Politico Playbook reports Tuesday morning that "most Democrats we pinged last night said they believe the chances of Harris picking Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz are higher than chances of her picking" Shapiro. Playbook says this is a "reversal" of the expectations of a few days ago.

Kamala ‘Crash’? – Many economists dismissed Monday’s global stock market “crash” as overreaction to last week’s tepid jobs report. The unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, still very low historically, but only 114,000 jobs were added to the economy.

Did the Federal Reserve make a mistake in maintaining its interest rate of 5.25% to 5.5%? Is it too late to catch up and cut the rate between its last scheduled meeting in late July and its next, in September?

In The Atlantic Daily Derek Thompson writes that we shouldn’t pay much attention to Monday’s stock market, in which the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1,034 points, to 38,703.27.

The Japanese market had its worst day since the crash of 1987, and Thompson cites 1.) “recession fears” due to the Fed’s reluctance to cut rates after the Consumer Price Index came down to 3%, within a point of the target; 2.) major tech companies Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta investing too much into artificial intelligence, which some analysts fear potential profits will be too low to justify; 3.) Japan’s central bank keeping its rates too low, resulting in a relatively cheap yen.

The Wall Street Journal reports in a headline that “cracks in the economy pose a risk to Harris’ momentum” and quotes Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump writing in Truth Social “TRUMP CASH v. KAMALA CRASH.” (There’s that woman’s first name/man’s last name thing again.)

While the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan Act, bipartisan infrastructure bill and Inflation Reduction Act can be credited for keeping unemployment low, it’s the Fed that determines monetary policy and thus sets interest rates. In times of high inflation, the Fed must try to bring the CPI down without triggering increased unemployment and potentially a recession. For what it’s worth, Trump tried to influence the Fed during his administration and has indicated he would do so again if he wins another term.

•••

Google This, Pal – Ruling on a suit by the Justice Department and several states, a district court judge has ruled that Google has acted illegally to maintain a monopoly in online searches (per The New York Times).

“Google is a monopolist, and has acted as one to maintain its monopoly,” Judge Amit P. Mehta of the US District Court for the District of Columbia said, in a 277-page ruling. The suit accuses Google of maintaining the monopoly by paying such companies as Apple and Samsung to automatically make Google the search engine for smartphones and web browsers.

--TL

_____________________________________________

...meanwhile... MON 8/5/24

Any Minute Now – All-but-officially official Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris is expected to name her running mate, possibly by the time you read this. The vice president surely will name her choice for vice president on the ticket by Tuesday, when she begins a campaign tour of purple states in Philadelphia.

Meanwhile … That kick-off city has led many – in Pennsylvania, anyway – to predict that the commonwealth’s popular governor, Josh Shapiro, will be the man. But Pennsylvania could spoil not just Shapiro’s chances, but also that of Sen. Mark Kelly (AZ). Read why we predict Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota will be Harris’ choice on our Substack, here.

•••

But Not on ABC News – Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump “declared” on Truth Social Friday he will not attend a September 10 debate on ABC News he had previously agreed to with President Biden. Trump instead wants to debate presumed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris September 4 on Fox News. Unlike the ABC debate, the Fox debate would have a studio audience, presumably consisting of pro-MAGA voters.

“I’ll see her on September 4^th, or I won’t see her at all,” Trump Truth Socialed.

Last week Trump told ABC News’ Rachel Scott in his contentious appearance before the National Association of Black Journalists’ annual convention in Chicago he believes she works for a “fake news” organization.

The Harris campaign believes Trump is running scared with the prospect of having to debate the vice president in place of Biden, whose poor performance in a June debate led to his handing over the Democratic campaign to Harris.

“Donald Trump is running scared and trying to back out of the debate he already agreed to and running straight to Fox News to bail him out,” Harris campaign communications director Michael Tyler said, per The New York Times.

•••

9/11 Plea Deal Blocked – Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin reversed a plea deal the Defense Department had reached with three Guantanamo Bay prisoners accused of plotting the September 11 attacks (per Newsweek). Under the deal, 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two other defendants were to get life in prison and be let off from the death penalty in exchange for allowing families of the terrorist attack’s victims to ask questions.

While some victims’ families were relieved to have the chance to put the two decade-long cases behind them, others were upset there would be no chance for the death penalty.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Drilling Down on Dumb

By Stephen Macaulay

Once, the Republican Party seemed to be constituted of businesspeople. The Republicans would make money and the Democrats would give it away, was pretty much the notion.

But now the Republican Party seems to be full of people who know nothing about business and economics but plenty about imagined grievance.

At least their leader, Donald Trump, when it comes to issues related to energy, is either willfully ignorant or simply speaks in the context of things that are transactionally beneficial to Donald Trump.

And his supporters cheer.

Trump lets loose with the “drill, baby, drill” mantra. He makes it seem as though there is an insufficient amount of oil drilling going on in the United States. (Funny thing: he seems to underestimate the US across the board. For example, when he talks crime, he doesn’t indicate that in 2020, his final year in office, the violent crime rate in the US was greater than it is in 2024: 398.5 per 100,000 people under Trump, now down to 380.7 per 100,000 people last year under Biden.)

As for the oil drilling, you’d think that there are all manner of horrible regulations and restrictions on how and where drilling can occur, placing the US oil production in trouble.

Guess what?

In 2024 the US produces more crude oil per day than any other country in the world.

As in:

US: 12.8 million barrels per day
Russia: 10.5 million barrels per day
Saudi Arabia: 10.2 million barrels per day

Break out the “USA! USA! USA!” chant.

And again, in 2020 the US produced 11.3 million barrels per day.

Or a 12% increase in oil production under Biden.

Now to be fair, in 2020 there was COVID (and let’s not get into Trump’s pathetic response to that: After he was released from the hospital in October 2020 for COVID treatment, in his first speech, when there were some 220,000 Americans dead from the disease, when there was an increase in hospitalizations, he said: “It’s going to disappear. It is disappearing.”), so petroleum demand was down.

This is how much oil the US produced pre-COVID, when he was in office:

2017: 9.3 million barrels per day
2018: 10.96 million barrels per day
2019: 12.23 million barrels per day

For Trump, peak oil was 12.23 million barrels per day. For Biden peak oil was in 2023, 12.9 million barrels per day.

Yes, Sleepy Joe had more petroleum pumped that Trump.

But here’s a thing.

As people have known since even before Adam Smith (once a hero of the Republicans, now someone forgotten) explained it:

There is supply and there is demand.

And if the supply greatly exceeds the demand, then the producer has to reduce the cost of that commodity, which means the producer doesn’t make as much as it will when demand exceeds supply.

There is something else that needs to be taken into account: Petroleum is a global commodity.

A given oil company is looking to sell its product wherever it can make the most

money — regardless of where it comes from.

In the World According to Trump, there should be oil derricks damn near everywhere.

Hell, put one on the White House lawn if there’s oil below.

But for the oil companies, they’re not in the least bit interested in oversupplying the market.

So (1) the US leads in oil production and (2) oil producers have no incentive to vastly increase their output.

The “drill, drill, drill” may be good for crowd chants, but as for actual policy. . .?

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What’s Left

Scroll down the page (by using the trackbar on the far right) for reader discussion about who should be presumed Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ running mate. The vice president has confirmed she will announce her choice ahead of a campaign swing through swing states scheduled to begin in Philadelphia next Tuesday.

Harris and her choice for veep will proceed through Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Nevada and Arizona.

As always, we are interested in your thoughts on this, and other political news and issues posted in the center column.

Please add your Comments in this column, or the right column if that’s how you lean, or email editors@thehustings.news and please indicate whether you lean liberal or conservative in the subject line.

We also encourage you to email your comments, criticisms and recommendations for The Hustings via that same email address. We will not publish those comments unless you ask us to.

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…meanwhile…

The US economy added just 114,000 jobs in July and the unemployment rate rose 0.2 points over the previous month to 4.3%, the Labor Department reported Friday. This cooling in the job market comes a day after tech stocks were slammed and Intel announced it would lay off 15% of its staff. While an interest rate cut expected from the Federal Reserve in September is a potential boon to the Harris presidential campaign, some economists now worry it will be too late to prevent some level of downturn. Job gains last month came in health care, construction, transportation and warehousing, while the information sector lost jobs. [Bureau of Labor Statistics.]

Harris Snags Nomination -- Vice President Kamala Harris has formally secured the Democratic nomination for president, 12 days after incumbent Joe Biden announced he was stepping down from his campaign. Harris needed at least 2,350 states' delegates' votes to pass the threshold, but she will not officially accept the nomination until Wednesday, when the virtual voting period is closed, according to The Hill. Delegate voting had begun 9 am Thursday, and Harris ran unopposed.

Meanwhile ... Barack Obama's 2008 campaign manager, David Plouffe, has joined Harris' campaign as senior advisor, Politico Playbook reports. Plouffe will have his work cut out for him; Trump has a 1.1-point lead over Harris, 47.6% to 46.5%, based on 97 polls, according to The Hill.

•••

Blinken: Maduro Opponent Won – Edmundo González won last Sunday’s election for president of Venezuela, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says, and he called on President Nicholás Maduro to begin negotiations to ensure a peaceful transition of power, The Washington Post reports. After last Sunday’s elections, Maduro had claimed without allowing access to ballots he had won, 51% to 44%, which lead to widespread protests across the country. According to the government’s own records, González won the election by a ratio of 2:1.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

What’s Right

Scroll down this page (with the trackbar on the far right) to read Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s recent columns on the whirlwind race for president in just the last month.

• In“Weird” Macaulay writes about the Harris campaign tactic that attempts to portray the Trump-Vance campaign as far beyond out-of-touch.

• In “About Kamala & The Wall” he writes about the Trump-Vance campaign’s attempts to hang the “border crisis” on the current vice president.

• In “Too Slow, Joe,” Macaulay criticizes the current president for dragging out his decision to step down from the race, and the effect it could have on the Democratic Party’s timing.

You surely have noticed by Macaulay’s columns that our pundit-at-large is a “never-Trumper” conservative.

Be sure to read the reader comments under “Undemocratic Democrats,” and you’ll see that we welcome comments from pro-MAGA conservatives, too. We encourage your civil comments no matter where you stand on the right or the left. Please add your Comments in this column, or the left column if that’s how you lean, or email editors@thehustings.news and please indicate whether you lean conservative or liberal in the subject line.

We also encourage you to email your comments, criticisms and recommendations for The Hustings via that same email address. We will not publish those comments unless you ask us to.

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Trump Warns of His Authoritarianism?

Editors:

Now some are wondering whether his french fry burp actually covered saying he's "*not* a Christian"?

Hearing it with both possibilities in my mind I believe Trump said "I'm a Christian," but had a bit of french fry burp back up on him. I don't believe he'd ever tell such a group he's not what they want him to be. I also wonder about the "won't have to vote" thing. I am incapable of seeing him as someone with a plan containing more than a week's specifics, unless it was about manipulating a particular piece of real estate's value. If I had to guess, he caught one phrase from some sycophant/offspring's summary of 2025 visions and tossed it out there (it had to do with voting, after all, which I doubt he's ever liked). The largest danger to me is he'll win and die, leaving it to Vance.

--Hugh Hansen

__________________________________________

If you lean left and you are worried – or not so much -- by Donald J. Trump’s latest talk there will be no need for Christians to vote in 2028 if they help elect him this November, this is your column. Click on the headline above and go to the Comment section in the column, or email editors@thehustings.news and indicate your political leanings (regardless of your opinion on this specific subject) in the subject line.

If you lean right – whether Trump’s comments worry you or not – please see the right column on this page. You may enter your comments in the appropriate lines after clicking on the headline, “Could There be Any Reasonable Explanation?”

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…meanwhile…

President Biden speaks Thursday about the historic prisoner swap with Russia. Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, Vladimir Kara-Murza and Alsu Kurmasheva were among those released by Vladimir Putin. (White House photo.)

UPDATE II: A Kremlin bureaucratic formality requires those released from prison, such as in Thursday's prisoner exchange, must formally request clemency in a letter to Russian leader/dictator Vladimir Putin. Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was to serve 16 years for a made-up espionage charge asked the Russian government in his letter for an interview with Putin, Axios reports.

A much darker revelation came earlier from National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who in a Thursday press briefing said the US had sought the release of dissident Alexei Navalny, according to Axios. Navalny died under mysterious circumstances while held in a Russian prison last February.

Clarification: We have noted that Gershkovich, the highest profile prisoner in the exchange, and retired US Marine Paul Whelan were released Thursday. We also listed British-Russian anti-Kremlin journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza, but did not mention his Pulitzer Prize-winning work as a Washington Post contributor. A fourth release by Russia to America is Alsu Kurmasheva, of Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Liberty.

UPDATE: The US-Russia prisoner swap actually involved a seven-nation exchange that took place in Ankara, Turkey, The New York Times reports. In addition to WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich, retired US Marine Paul Whelan and Russian-British journalist and Kremlin opponent Vladimir Kara-Murza, Russia released several allies of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who himself died in a Russian gulag last February, reports The Atlantic Daily which notes that Russia got "what it wanted" in the exchange. That includes release of Vadim Krasilov, a colonel from the Russian intelligence service who was serving a life sentence in a German prison for carrying out a Kremlin-ordered hit on a dissident in Berlin, a Russian money launderer serving time in an American prison and two Russian spies caught in Slovenia.

Gershkovich, Whelan to be Released in Swap -- Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich (above) and retired US Marine Paul Whelan and a third American will be released from Russian prisons by late Thursday in what CNN and the BBC describe as a "massive prisoner swap," according to the Biden administration. Gershkovich and Whelan both had been sentenced to 16-year prison sentences for espionage.

•••

Will it be Shapiro? -- The Harris campaign has confirmed to The Philadelphia Inquirer that the vice president will kick off her tour through swing states next Tuesday in Philadelphia, with her choice for running mate. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is native of a Philadelphia suburb, adding to speculation that he is Harris' lead choice to run for vice president on the Democratic ticket. But the Inquirer adds that Harris' swing state campaign next week will go through Arizona, home to Sen. Mark Kelly, who also is seen as a top candidate for the job. Harris and her running mate also will tour western Wisconsin, Detroit, Raleigh, North Carolina, Savannah, Georgia and Las Vegas, the campaign told the newspaper.

•••

KSM to Plead Guilty in 9/11 Case – Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two others charged with plotting the September 11 attacks have agreed to a plea deal in which they will avoid the death penalty, according to NPR’s Morning Edition. They also will have to answer questions from victims’ family members about why they did what they did. Nearly 3,000 died at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and aboard an airliner in rural Pennsylvania.

It is not known whether KSM, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi will remain at Guantánamo or will be transferred to prisons in the US. It is also not known what prompted the plea bargains – President Biden was not involved according to the National Security Council, NPR reports, but the cases had not been going well for prosecutors, especially regarding evidence gathered via torture during the Bush 43 administration.

And it’s not completely over: the cases of 30 more men held at Guantánamo remain.

•••

Fed Cut, Not Yet – A week after the June numbers for the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, once obscure outside Federal Reserve nerds, dropped to 2.5% were released, Chairman Jerome Powell says the Fed could cut interest rates at its next meeting in September to avoid weakening the labor market, The Wall Street Journal reports.

“The broad sense of the committee is that the economy is moving closer to the point at which it will be appropriate to reduce our policy rate. A reduction in the policy rate could be on the table as soon as the next meeting in September.”

That’s potentially good news for Vice President Harris’ presidential campaign, if consumers notice substantial relief in mortgage and car loan rates, and credit card interest.

With the Fed’s hold Wednesday, the policy rate remains between 5.25% and 5.5%, though PRI’s Marketplace reports that the rate being offered consumers by banks may already be coming down.

--TL

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WEDNESDAY 7/31/24

NABJ Interviews Trump – What did the Trump campaign hope to get from the ex-president’s interview at the National Association of Black Journalists’ convention in Chicago, Wednesday? The campaign had claimed to be winning over Black voters from President Biden, but Donald J. Trump said nothing to advance that cause, what with Vice President Harris as her opponent.

Rachel Scott of ABC News began by asking Trump about his false claims that former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley and former President Obama might not be American citizens and thus disqualified for the job, that Trump told four congresswomen of color to “go back to where they came from,” though they are American citizens, that the ex-prez has used words like “animal” and “rabid” to describe Black district attorneys and has called Black journalists “losers,” saying their questions are “stupid” and “racist,” and noted Trump had dinner with known white supremacists at his Mar-a-Lago resort.

“Why should Black voters trust you after you use language like that?” Scott asked.

“Well, first of all, I didn’t think I’ve ever been asked a question so … in such a horrible manner. First question. You didn’t even say ‘hello, how are you?’ Are you with ABC? Because I think they’re a fake news network. And I think it’s disgraceful. I came here in good spirit. I love the Black population of this country. I’ve done so much for the Black population of this country. Including employment, including opportunity zones with Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, which is one of the greatest programs ever for Black workers and Black entrepreneurs.”

Trump did get one audience member’s off-screen applause when he said he saved “broke” historically Black colleges and universities (HSBCUs). And, of course, it could only get better from there, right?

Well, the headline on the story by Kadia Goba, the Semafor political reporter who joined Scott and Fox News’ Harris Faulkner on the Chicago NABJ stage, reads that “Trump falsely says (Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris ‘turned black’ after previously promoting her Indian heritage…”

Meanwhile, Politifact conducted real-time fact-checking during the one-hour interview.

Terry Marsh, assistant professor of media at Norfolk State University told Politico it is “probably the most unusual presidential interview I’ve ever seen. He seemed to avoid answering questions that are important to this group of people. His motive was just to explain his agenda. I’m confused why he came.”

Vice President Harris is in talks with the NABJ to speak to the group virtually, after their convention, according to USA Today.

--TL

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Escalating War – Hamas has accused Israel of killing Ismail Haniyeh, its top political leader, in an airstrike on Tehran Wednesday where he was attending the swearing-in ceremony of Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, NPR’s Morning Edition reports. Hamas called Haniyeh’s killing “a dangerous event,” as Israel’s war on the militant Palestinian group has spilled out past Gaza into southern Lebanon.

Israel officials had no comment on the attack.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Channel News Asia during a visit to Singapore that the US is not involved, and was not aware of the airstrike, which came hours after Israel said it killed a top commander of Hezbollah in an airstrike on Beirut. That strike on Lebanon was, in turn, retaliation for a rocket strike from Lebanon on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights last weekend, which resulted in at least 12 fatalities, mostly youth and teenagers, according to The New York Times.

Qatar had hosted Haniyeh in US-backed Gaza ceasefire talks, according to NPR.

Haniyeh’s killing, political assassinations, continued targeting of Palestinian civilians in Gaza undermine mediation efforts when “one party assassinates the negotiator on the other side,” said Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohanned Al Thani.

•••

Project 2025 Director Leaves – The director of Project 2025, Paul Dans, is stepping down from the Heritage Foundation-led campaign from which the Trump campaign is trying to distance itself, The Hill reports.

“When we began Project 2025, we set a timeline for the project to conclude its policy drafting after the two party conventions this year, and we are sticking to that timeline,” said Kevin Roberts, Heritage Foundation president.

Project 2025 would place the entire executive branch of the federal government under direct control of the president under the unitary executive theory. Donald J. Trump denied knowledge of the project prior to the Republican National Convention, despite its connections with numerous associates of the ex-president. Dans was chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management in the Trump administration.

--TL

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TUE 7/30/24 ...meanwhile...

Vice – With much of the world’s attention turned to the Paris Olympics and other summer activities, the punditocracy is concentrating on running mates from both parties.

On the Democratic side, Vice President Kamala Harris, little more than a week into her campaign ahead of a formal virtual nomination by August 7, two key candidates to become her running mate have dropped out. Gretchen Whitmer has formally removed her name from consideration, saying she will fill out her remaining two years as Michigan’s governor. She also will serve as co-chair of Harris’ presidential campaign.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper also has removed his name from consideration, in part because Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, a “GOP firebrand” according to The Washington Post would become acting governor. In addition, Cooper has not been “formally vetted” to become Harris’ running mate, an anonymous source told the WaPo.

The veepstakes … That leaves Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, according to Politico. With Cooper formally out of the running, Beshear is the remaining red state governor still in the mix.

Meanwhile … “Mayor Pete” Buttigieg is campaigning hard for Harris’ veepstakes. He has gotten much attention among Democrats recently for his Fox News appearances, where he calmly and cheerfully explains why anti-Democratic tropes on the network are misinformed, a role he explained to Jon Stewart Monday Night on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.

Meanwhile, at the Trump campaign … Hard to believe Donald J. Trump would admit to a mistake and remove Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) as his running mate, but some Republican lawmakers believe he has turned out to be “a magnet for controversy” and negative press, The Hill reports. Some GOP senators and congress members believe Trump should have chosen a woman, or a “person of color,” like Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), who was key in writing Trump’s 2017 tax bill.

“I don’t think Trump likes any discomfort – he can create discomfort himself – but he doesn’t like external discomfort coming in, and J.D.’s struggling,” a Republican senator who remained anonymous told The Hill. “I would assume he’s not very happy.”

•••

Leo Says Biden Amendment Would “Pack the Court” – Attorney and right-wing activist Leonard Leo, the mentor to Justice Clarence Thomas considered largely responsible for the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority, rarely appears in public. But he took to Fox News Digital Tuesday to criticize President Biden’s No One is Above the Law Constitutional amendment announced Monday at the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas.

Saying the amendment has virtually no chance of adoption, Leo argued it would “really politicize the institution,” adding that it “is really just another attempt to pack the Supreme Court and to attack the integrity of the court without any real basis.”

--TL

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MON 7/29/24 -- Biden Pitches Constitutional Amendment

President Biden commemorates the 60^th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act Monday at the LBJ Library in Austin, Texas, where he will announce a “bold plan” to reform the US Supreme Court and “ensure no president is above the law.”

Look for Biden’s proposal to be the focus of his remaining half-year in office, as he pushes to ease democrats’ and Democrats’ fears about the potential for authoritarian executive rule after SCOTUS in its 2023-24 term gave presidents, former or current, broad immunity for “official” acts.

Biden will propose the No One is Above the Law Amendment according to the White House, which would make “clear no president is above the law or immune from prosecution for crimes committed while in office,” and states “the Constitution does not confer any immunity from federal criminal indictment, trial, conviction, or sentencing by virtue of previously serving as president”:

No immunity for crimes a former president committed in office: Biden “shares the founders’ belief that the president’s power is limited – not absolute – and must ultimately reside with the people.”
Term limits for Supreme Court Justices: The sitting president would appoint a justice every two years to spend 18 years in active service on the Supreme Court.
Binding Code of Conduct for the Supreme Court: Biden “believes that Congress should pass binding, enforceable conduct and ethics rules that require justices to disclose gifts, refrain from public political activity, and recuse themselves from cases in which they or their spouses have financial or other conflicts of interest.” SCOTUS justices would “not be exempt from the enforceable code of conduct that applies to every other federal judge.”

Biden originally intended to commemorate the 60^th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act earlier in July but delayed the event after the July 13 assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania against Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump.

Biden’s speech, scheduled for 3 pm Central time (4 pm Eastern) is a closed event, though you can watch the live stream here.

•••

Venezuela Election Looks Fishy – Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US has “serious concerns” after Venezuela’s National Electoral Council named Nicolas Maduro winner of a third term in elections held Sunday. Elvis Amoroso, president of the council and a close ally of Maduro announced after hours delay that Marduro had 51% of the vote to opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez’s 44%, NPR’s Morning Edition reports.

Opposition leader Maria Corino Machado insisted Gonzalez had 70% of the vote to Maduro’s 30%. Machado cited several exit polls, including one by Edison Research, of the US, that showed Gonzalez over Maduro 65% to 31%. Maduro, first elected president in 2013 following the death of his mentor, Hugo Chavez, is widely unpopular in Venezuela.

Gonzalez, a 74-year-old retired diplomat took over the opposition campaign from Machado after the Maduro regime banned her from running, according to NPR.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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SAT-SUN 7/27-28/24 -- Trump: Last Vote for Christians

GOP presidential candidate Donald J. Trump suggested to a Christian group Friday night that this November’s election would be the last for which they would ever need to vote. Ostensibly, he apparently was trying to make it easy for a segment of conservative Christians who do not care to go to the polls.

The nefarious explanation is that Trump expects to be American dictator not just for a day, January 20 and will end presidential elections as we know it.

Give him the benefit of a doubt, and perhaps Trump means he’ll fix everything conservative Christians want – including establishment of Christian nationalism in the US -- so there will be no reason for Christians to vote again in 2028.

In either case, here’s your chance to enter your warning or try to ease worries, as a Citizen Pundit, for what you think Trump meant Friday at the Believers’ Summit hosted by the far-right youth-oriented political group, Turning Point Action, in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Here is what Trump told the Believers’ Summit about voting, according to The New York Times:

“You won’t have to do it anymore. You know what? Four more years, it’ll be fine, you won’t have to do it anymore, my beautiful Christians.

“I love you, Christians. I’m a Christian. I love you, you got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not going to have to vote.”

--Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Weird

By Stephen Macaulay

One of the things that Democrats in support of the candidacy of Kamala Harris are doing is to refer to Donald Trump and his sidekick JD Vance as being or of having beliefs or notions that are, vis-à-vis the people who are located within bigger part of the bell-shaped curve, “weird.”

Strange. Odd. Out of step.

Let’s take a portion of a Trump stump speech theme, something he has said on more than one occasion, so it is not like nitpicking out of context.

Allegedly, Trump visited a recreational boat manufacturer in South Carolina.

Trump said he was told by someone at the company that “They” — and as “They” are not identified, it must be the Feds, because the governor of South Carolina is a Republican and legislative assembly is dominated by Republicans — “want us to make all electric boats.”

Let’s let that go. There is no proposed legislation for that. But as electric vehicles are seen by Trump as being related to environmental issues, and as he seemingly thinks environmental concerns are irrelevant, it is good for his brand to use this fantasy.

Now, let’s go full Trump:

“He [the person at the boat company] said ‘The problem is the boat is so heavy it can’t float.’

“I said, that sounds like a problem.”

Fair point. A boat that can’t float isn’t exactly useful. But there are electric boats. And they do float.

Someone might point out to Trump that the Boeing 757 he uses weighs over 255,000 pounds — and it flies!

To continue:

“He said, ‘Also, it can’t go fast because of the weight’ and they want to now have a 50 mile or a 70 mile radius. You have to go out 70 miles before you can really start the boat up, and you go out at two knots. That’s essentially almost like two miles an hour.

“I say, ‘How long does it take you to get out there?’

“’Many hours. And then you’re allowed to go around for 10 minutes, but you have to come back because the batteries only last for a very short period of time.’”

Now that is certainly too tangled to figure out. You have to go 70 miles before you can accelerate the boat, but 70 miles is the limit the boat can travel? And it takes “many hours” to “go around for 10 minutes”?

Even if this was the case, would anyone buy the boat?

Trump:

“So I said, ‘Let me ask you a question.’

“And he said, ‘Nobody ever asked this question.’”

Probably because it is a nonsensical question. But Trump continued:

“And it must be because of MIT. My relationship to MIT. Very smart. He goes. I say, ‘What would happen if the boat sank from its weight? And you’re in the boat and you have this tremendously powerful battery, and the battery is now underwater, and there’s a shark that’s approximately 10 yards over there.’

“By the way, a lot of shark attacks lately. You notice that? A lot of shark.”

In case you’re wondering: Trump had an uncle who was a professor at MIT. The uncle died in 1985. Just imagine if he played Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

Trump goes into a shark-attack digression:

“I watch some guys justifying it today. ‘Well, they weren’t really that angry. They bit off the young lady’s leg because of the fact that they were, they were not hungry, but they misunderstood what, who she was.’

“These people are crazy. He said ‘There’s no problem with sharks. They just didn’t really understand a young woman swimming,’ — no, really got decimated and other people too, a lot of shark attacks.”

Ah, yes. . . .

Anyway, back to that electric boat:

“I said, ‘So there’s a shark 10 yards away from the boat, 10 yards or here. Do I get electrocuted? If the boat is sinking, water goes over the battery, the boat is sinking. Do I stay on top of the boat and get electrocuted? Or do I jump over by the shark and not get electrocuted?’

“Because I will tell you, he didn’t know the answer. He said, ‘You know, nobody’s ever asked me that question.’

“I said, ‘I think it’s a good question. I think there’s a lot of electric current coming through that water.’

“But you know what I’d do if there was a shark or you get electrocuted? I’ll take electrocution every single time. I’m not getting near the shark!”

Now let’s realize this is at a political rally. Presumably an event where he is trying to persuade people to vote for him.

So what does he do?

Does he explain what his goals to improve the lots of those listing are? Does he work to inspire them with images of a brighter future?

No, he talks about electric boats with bizarre capabilities, about how smart he thinks he is, and about sharks.

Again, while this was from a speech in Las Vegas it was not the only time he brought up sharks. Clearly the man has some issues vis-à-vis electricity, sharks and other things people don’t really spend a whole lot of time thinking about. And note how he raises the sinking boat and hungry sharks to a level of catastrophe, just like things he otherwise gets worked up about: the unfortunate situation at the border is an “invasion.” (The people who are getting over the border are killing innocent Americans, presumably after they’ve brought over kilos of fentanyl. Odds are, more of them are taking tremendously tough jobs like picking fruit in the Central Valley and the only thing they’ve brought over are the clothes on their backs.*)

And we could go into some of the things that Vance has said that are out of the mainstream of thinking (e.g., adults with children should have a number of votes predicated on their progeny, which, in effect, makes offspring and spouses somewhat, well, not what one would ordinarily consider them as being for a certain segment of the populus.)

So calling Trump and Vance “weird” is arguably definitional.

But Tom Friedman, in The New York Times, interprets that in another way:

“It is now a truism that if Democrats have any hope of carrying key swing states and overcoming Trump’s advantages in the Electoral College, they have to break through to white, working-class, non-college-educated men and women, who, if they have one thing in common, feel denigrated and humiliated by Democratic, liberal, college-educated elites. They hate the people who hate Trump more than they care about any Trump policies. Therefore, the dumbest message Democrats could seize on right now is to further humiliate them as ‘weird.’”

No, that is the dumbest interpretation of what is going on.

Electric boats, sharks, cat ladies, and things like that discussed in the context of politics are weird.

And the “white, working-class, non-college-educated men and women” Friedman refers to are not being called “weird.” Trump and Vance are.

These men and women were undoubtedly raised by parents and teachers who taught them things about what’s right and wrong, good and bad, sensical and nonsensical.

To finally have people point out that what Trump often says (think of all of the crazy things he said about COVID or about the “love letters” between him and the leader of a country that President George W. Bush, a Republican, identified as being part of the Axis of Evil) is outside the norm. Weird.

Some people are not going to be moved no matter how Trump and Vance are described.

But those who can be moved, those who have had doubts but not certainty, may see the fundamental weirdness at play and when it is being called out and identified by others, it may have an effect on their willingness to acknowledge what they fundamentally know. (And speaking of things fundamental in the Judeo-Christian society, presumably a certain number of the people who Friedman describes attended Christian services while growing up and are aware of the Ten Commandments, including the first three which are: “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall make no idols. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain” and Trump saying of himself back in 2019, “I am the chosen one” goes over the line Commandments-wise, again, outside the norm).

Referring to Trump and Vance as weird while providing instances of their weirdness doesn’t serve to humiliate anyone other than the people involved.

In Friedman’s logic, calling Trump “old and weird” would be offensive to AARP members, not something that is mainly objectively measurable.

*(This is not to excuse illegal immigration in any way. But it does bring to mind one of the ways to at least minimize the number of people coming over. These people are, to a large degree, coming from another country because they believe there is a better opportunity for them in the U.S., with “opportunity” equaling “job.” So why not resurrect the idea that employers on this side of the border must establish electronic records for each and every employee on their staff and if there are discrepancies found — and this can be done by random checks — then they pay huge penalties and the illegally employed individual is sent back. By cutting demand (i.e., employers not interested in hiring illegals), the supply will be reduced.)

Macaulay is pundit-at-large.

Could There be Any Reasonable Explanation?

Whether you are a never-Trumper conservative worried you might not be able to vote again if the ex-president wins this November’s presidential election, or you are pro-MAGA and believe the reaction to his comments to the Believers’ Summit hosted by Turning Point Action, in West Palm Beach, Florida are being overplayed, this is your column.

Click on the headline above and go to the Comment section in the column, or email editors@thehustings.news and indicate your political leanings (regardless of your opinion on this specific subject) in the subject line.

If you lean left – whether Trump’s comments worry you or not – please see the left column on this page. You may enter your comments in the appropriate lines on there after clicking on that headline, “Trump Warns of his Authoritarianism?”

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