About Second Place

By Stephen Macaulay

As of August/early September JD Vance had a favorability rating of 36% among Americans and Tim Walz edged him out by 5%, at 41%, according to Gallup.

This means that Walz was tied with Mike Pence in 2020 and Vance was tied with Mike Pence in 2016.

Mike Pence is likely not voting for either of the two men.

But what Gallup also found was that 19% of U.S. adults don’t know who Walz is and 17% don’t know who Vance is.

Which puts the two men squabbling on TV with each other in perspective.

What’s more, the citizens of Houston, Detroit, Baltimore, Kansas City, Atlanta, and San Diego all had something else to view last night that was a solid concern of more than a slice of their populations: Major League Baseball playoff games.

The last time the Tigers were in the playoffs, for example, Obama was president.

While John Nance Garner is the name of an individual that only Ken Jennings might get (“Who was the 32nd vice president?”), his comparison of the office to a bucket of warm spit is equaled by Will Rogers’ lesser-known “The man with the best job in the country is the vice-president. All he has to do is get up every morning and say, ‘How is the president?’”

Vance and Walz could have wrestled in a bucket of warm spit for nine minutes rather than the 90 spent talking and the effect might have been better.

It is commonly said that the purpose of a vice-presidential candidate is to serve as an attack dog for whoever is running for the top job. It is a shame that Don Rickles died in 2017 because he would have been superlative in that role.

But last night the two men were not attack dogs so much as somewhat-civil surrogates for their partners in politics.

Walz looked uncomfortable at the start, as though he wished he was wearing a Cabella’s cap and fishing at Lake Winnibigoshish.

Vance was his usual basilisk-like self.

The outlets that did fact-checking of what the candidates said pretty much indicated that Vance held forth with a litany of lies, although there was the tendency to be more euphemistic about what Vance said (“Misleading”? Really?). All I can say is that Vance must spend a whole lot of time in the confession booth.

While Walz wasn’t exactly a choir boy in some of his answers, The Washington Post’s fact checker seemed to go out of his way to throw shade at Walz, as though they were afraid the multiple “This is false” declarations appended to Vance’s lies would be a bit much for the readers.

Walz claimed:

“Donald Trump had four years. He had four years to do this. And he promised you, America, how easy it would be. ‘I’ll build you a big, beautiful wall, and Mexico will pay for it.’ Less than 2% of that wall got built, and Mexico didn’t pay a dime.”

And the Post assessed:

“The percentage is exaggerated. About 458 miles of a border barrier was built during Trump’s presidency, but most of it (373 miles) was replacement for existing primary or secondary barriers that were dilapidated or outdated, according to a January 22, 2021, report by Customs and Border Protection. About 52 miles was new primary wall, and 33 miles was new secondary wall. Trump had promised to build 1,000 miles of barrier, so even taking the lower numbers gets Trump 8.5 percent.”

Well, that’s one way of slicing the numbers. Another way is this:

The length of the border between the U.S. and Mexico is 1,954 miles. When Trump talked about his Wall, he didn’t mean fixed up portions or secondary structures. It was going to be a sight to behold, one that would strike fear into the hearts of anyone who dared gaze at it with a notion of trying to surmount it. (Fear, incidentally, is what the Trump-Vance team is big on when it comes to other countries.)

So Trump built 52 miles of wall. Which is 2.66% of 1,954.

Still, the overall assessment is that it was a tie.

In other words, fairly irrelevant.

Although there are those who claim there are those who are undecided or independent who’d be swayed one way or another — get serious:

  1. People vote for the person running for president, not the vice president.
  2. There was a lot of good baseball on last night.

Macaulay is pundit-at-large for The Hustings. A never-Trump conservative, his commentaries most often appear in our right column.

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WEDNESDAY 10/2/24

Ohio Normal Meets Minnesota Nice

By Todd Lassa

How to summarize Tuesday’s debate on CBS News Tuesday night between Republican veep nominee Sen. JD Vance of Ohio and Democratic veep nominee Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota? 

It was nothing like Veep the TV show, except for the almost self-referential -self-stereotyping of Minnesota nice by Walz, who started out shaky and nervous on the way to finding a bit of sympatico with Vance on a couple of issues. He even apologized a couple of times for interrupting Vance and CBS News moderators Norah O’Donnell and Margaret Brennan.

Walz’s presence strengthened while discussing the abortion issue as Vance tried to advance Trump’s argument that it is all about states’ rights and falsely claimed the first Trump administration strengthened universal health care rather than repeatedly attempt to appeal Obamacare.

Walz and Vance agreed on the need to build affordable housing, 3 million units according to Walz, while Vance insisted it’s an immigration problem and consistently blamed Vice President Harris for letting in millions of illegals in the past three-and-a-half years. 

They agreed housing should not be commodities for financial institutions to manipulate and that local and state regulations that stifle construction of such housing should be eased, though neither knew how. Nor did either candidate mention how NIMBY is the key issue in stifling affordable housing construction.

Vance did raise the problem of the Harris/Walz home-building program triggering real estate inflation with up-front downpayment aid for, the Republican senator suggested, illegal aliens, which would pile on to the inflation for which he said Kamala Harris also is responsible. 

Vance noted the Trump-Vance solution is to seize federal lands and build the needed housing on it. Vance also repeated Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” mantra, prompting Walz to ask; “Are we going to drill and build houses on the same federal land?”

Vance and Walz agreed on the need for federal money to pay for paid medical leave “to make families stronger,” according to Vance. 

“I think there is a bipartisan solution here,” Walz responded. Trump/Vance seeks a $5,000 child-care tax credit while Harris/Walz have called for $6,000 for newborns followed up with $3,000 for children more than six-months old. Vance added a “school choice” style element in the way early child care is provided, saying churches and small-town communities should be eligible to receive such federal monies.

Though vice presidential debates are considered inconsequential auditions for a job not worth a bucket of warm spit, both Vance and Walz offered more substance and detail on policy proposals than Trump and Harris did in their single meeting. 

Whereas Vance repeatedly criticized Harris for failing to do anything about illegal immigration and inflation while she has been President Biden’s veep, Walz called out the Trump administration’s tax cuts mostly for the rich and its resulting $8 trillion increase in the federal debt. The Democrat cited warnings from economists -- including economists from the Wharton School (Trump’s alma mater) – that the Trump/Vance proposed tariffs would spur much higher inflation than we’ve had since the pandemic.

Without using the word “tariff,” Vance said the heart of Trump’s plan is to cut taxes, “but penalize companies that are shipping jobs overseas.”

Vance and Walz argued, civilly, it must be said, over the January 6th Capitol insurrection and freedom of speech. 

Vance cited Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as Trump supporters. Walz said the Harris campaign’s support ranges from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to former veep Dick Cheney to Taylor Swift. (Expect an all-caps Trump response to the latter on Truth Social.)

Finally, Walz pressed Vance on Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and noted that Mike Pence was not on the stage with him as a result of those efforts.

“Did he lose the 2020 election?” Walz asked Vance.

“Tim, I’m focused on the future. ...” 

Who won?: Did JD Vance win this one, or at least soften his image enough to improve his low favorability ratings, or was Tim Walz the winner? Email your thoughts about the vice-presidential debate to editors@thehustings.news and please, indicate your political leanings (those on the left are allowed to admit Vance won, and those on the right can give the win to Walz) in the subject line. Or simply enter your comments in the left or right column.

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WEDNESDAY 10/2/24

Vance Was Rock-Solid

By Rich Corbett

As a conservative voter, my reaction to the vice-presidential debate is that Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) was rock-solid. He reinforced Republican strength when it comes to the economy, border and foreign policy stability. 

Vance was likable, polite, connectable, professional and convincingly competent. By Vance answering the moderators with … “you asked the question, so I’ll answer the question” … it reminded voters just how few answers we have received from Kamala Harris on her flip-flopped positions. As a running mate, he definitely is an asset to former President Donald Trump. 

As for Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), he did no harm to Kamala Harris. He was good enough on the Democrat positions in talking about health care and abortion, but less convincing that Trump is a “threat to democracy” or that Americans would see much change from the last three-and-a-half years. His defense over his past embellishments such as a visit to Hong Kong and Tiananmen Square in his non-answer, “I’m a knucklehead at times,” was memorable, but a reminder that politicians mislead — lie — if they think it will benefit their political future. 

If voters came to the debate not knowing JD Vance or with a negative impression, he likely improved his stature and may have advanced the Trump/Vance ticket. For Tim Walz and his “neighborly guy” image, it disappeared to what seemed artificial anger over January 6th. He appeared far more nervousness than Vance and had difficulty in defending himself and Harris, but quickly deflect into to blaming Trump. It was a hard sell after three-and-a-half years of Biden/Harris. 

Corbett is a longtime reader and a contributor to The Hustings’ right column.

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WEDNESDAY 10/2/24

Veep Debate: Vance v. Walz

Tune in CBS News at 9 pm Eastern time Tuesday, October 1, when Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) faces Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) in the campaign season’s only vice-presidential debate, from New York City. NPR also will carry the debate live. 

Then come to The Hustings for analysis and help us choose the debate’s winner. Use the Comment section in this column if you lean left (regardless of who you think won the debate) or the Comment section in the right column if you lean right (again, regardless of who you think won the debate).

Or email editors@thehustings.news and indicate your political leanings in the subject line. 

Meanwhile, check out Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s latest commentaries from the never-MAGA right, including “Advantage: Intellectual Arteriosclerosis?”, “Where Have You Gone, Edward Gibbon?”, “The Art of the Fraud” and “First Impression.” 

Don’t miss guest contributor Kate McLeod’s left-column take on the Harris-Trump debate, “No Debate Inflation.”

More left and right commentaries on the September 10 presidential debate, including a pro-Trump column by guest contributor Rich Corbett, can be found on page 2.

Be sure to subscribe to our free newsletter at thehustings.substack.com.

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MONDAY 9/30/24
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Veep Debate Day

Jimmy Carter, 39th president of the United States, celebrates his 100th birthday Tuesday.

MONDAY 10/1/24

It's War -- Iran launched missiles toward Israel about 7:30 pm local time Tuesday, Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari confirmed, according to The Hill. Iran's attack came just after the US warned that one was imminent.

•••

Israel’s Incursion – It’s not all-out war in Southern Lebanon yet, as the Israeli military pushed its ground incursion there to target Hezbollah militants that it says pose an immediate threat to Northern Israeli communities, NPR’s Morning Edition reports. 

Meanwhile … The US has expressed support for Israel’s “limited operation” and continued to push for a diplomatic resolution, Haaretz reports. At the same time, Russia has strengthened ties with Hamas, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

While Blinken and the US are determined to prevent all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah, some analysts believe it is too late for that, especially because of the positive effect last Friday’s airstrike killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has had on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s popularity among Israelis.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_______________________________________________

MONDAY 9/30/24

Friends, Enemies, Interests

By Todd Lassa

America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests.  – Henry Kissinger

If Israel is not a permanent “friend” of the United States, it has been a close interest for a very long time, 76 years, and in turn it has been dealing with the same enemies in its region for much of that time.

Last Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the United Nations he had intended on staying home where he had a war to fight rather than attend the annual General Assembly, but “after I heard the lies and slanders leveled at my country by many of the speakers at this podium, I decided to come here and set the record straight. I have decided to come here to speak for my people. …

“The truth is, Israel seeks peace. Israel yearns for peace. Israel has made peace and will make peace again,” he continued. Shortly after, the Israeli Defense Force began dropping bombs on Lebanon. The next day one of those bombs killed Hassan Nasrallah, feared and much-hated leader since 1992 of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia group backed by Israel’s greatest enemy, Iran.

Nasrallah’s death will not be lamented by anyone who shared that UN podium with Netanyahu. A terrorist in the eyes of Israelis, and not just the hardliners to Netanyahu’s right, Nasrallah wanted every Muslim to join in the struggle to destroy Israel as a nation, according to his obituary in The New York Times. Already, his death at the hand of Israel has boosted Netanyahu’s standing and popularity there, according to NPR’s Morning Edition, which points out that two weeks ago, Hezbollah had a stronger army than Lebanon’s.

Escalation of Israel’s attacks on Southern Lebanon to all-out war is, explicitly, what the Biden administration does not want, as these bombings distract from Israel’s relentless bombing of Gaza. Although Iran is said to prefer to avoid direct conflict with Israel, its leaders have pledged revenge on Nasrallah’s death.

Realpolitik dictates it is not in the Biden administration’s interests to sanction its friend/interest Israel with any meaningful withholding of arms deliveries. Netanyahu knows he will not see change whether the next administration is led by Donald J. Trump or Kamala Harris.

Elsewhere in New York last Friday … Ukraine does not enjoy such a luxury. At Trump Tower Friday, the ex-president, with an uncomfortable-looking President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his side, said if he wins the November 5 election, repeated the campaign pledge that he will quickly negotiate a solution that is “good for both sides.”

Trump spoke to the press at his tower before the two entered a private meeting where the Ukrainian president outlined his plan for ending the war with Russia.

“We have a very good relationship,” Trump continued. “I also have a very good relationship with President Putin, and you know, I think we’re going to get it resolved very quickly.”

Zelenskyy tried to assert that Trump’s relationship with Ukraine is better than Trump’s relationship with Russia, but the Republican president let it be known where his interests — his friendships? — lie: “Ah, I see. But it takes two to tango.”

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MONDAY 9/30/24
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Advantage: Intellectual Arteriosclerosis?

By Stephen Macaulay

Right for America, a super PAC backing Donald Trump for president, is running a $37.2-million TV ad buy concentrating on Pennsylvania, Georgia and Arizona, according to Axios.

A focus of the ads is on how Kamala Harris has changed her views on things, like fracking, since she ran for president for the 2020 election.

The 2020 Harris campaign officially began on January 21, 2019.

The 2020 Harris campaign officially ended on December 3, 2019.

Not much of a campaign.

But here’s the thing: Harris is doing what most of us do when we get additional information about something:

She changed her opinion about it.

Certainly part of her action is predicated on political considerations.

But let’s say it is 50-50: a changed opinion/playing for votes.

Now let’s compare this with Donald Trump who has made claims about things—lots of things—and then simply ignores them when they don’t come to be.

Arguably his most famous has to do with immigration at the southern border.

More specifically, the Wall that not only was he going to build, but that he was going to have Mexico pay for.

The amount of Wall that he built was, well, not much in the grand scheme of things.

And as for the Mexican government putting up even recycled rebar. . .well, that didn’t happen, either.

Unquestionably the number of illegal immigrants from below the southern border was a fraction under Trump than Biden, but it had little to do with the Wall, which was in effect nothing more than a political symbol. (The existing walls and fencing that were there when he took office undoubtedly helped reduce some of the illegal border crossings, but that was something already in place and far more comprehensive than anything than happened under his watch.)

Then there is the issue of tariffs.

Trump announced at a rally in Michigan recently, “Tariffs are the greatest thing ever invented.”

He has long supported tariffs.

Yet economists—pretty much across the political spectrum—realize that tariffs are taxes on consumers.

Trump looks at it as though it some somehow the tariffs are paid for by the exporting country.

Which is simply not the case.

So rather than protecting the consumer or the domestic producers of whatever it is that tariffs are applied to (and apparently, he’d like them to be applied to everything), tariffs simply increase costs at the local cash register.

It sounds good.

But rather than a surefire way to increase economic well being for American citizens, it is a Three Card Monte: no way you can’t pick the queen.

So given all of the information available about the essential ineffectiveness of tariffs, did he change his mind about them?

Of course not.

Does he change his mind about anything, or does he exhibit mental arteriosclerosis?

What’s better: someone with the mental aptitude to change her mind or someone who is set in their ways, something not uncommon for those pushing 80.

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MONDAY 9/30/24
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Left and Right

As the United Nations wraps up its annual General Assembly in Manhattan Friday, we seek your comments – whether you lean to the left or to the right – on the serious issues that have come up this week, including …

•Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s argument for continuing and expanding Israel’s fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon, as war in Gaza continues to grind on (see center column).

•President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s peace plan for Ukraine and its defense against Russia (see center column, again).

•President Biden’s final UN General Assembly address (scroll down this page using the scrollbar, to Thursday’s center column, then scroll down with the center scrollbar to Wednesday’s page). 

There’s also thorough coverage of the Federal Open Market Committee’s interest rate cuts in the center column.

Further down the LEFT COLUMN this page, don’t miss …

•“No Debate Inflation” by Kate McLeod.

•“MVP Performance from Harris and Team” by contributing pundit Ken Zino.

Pundit-at-large Stephen Macaulay has been burning up the RIGHT COLUMN this page, with …

•“Where Have You Gone, Edward Gibbon?”

•“The Art of the Fraud”

•“First Impressions” and

•“There’s Reality, Then There’s Trump”

As always, we welcome and encourage your civil comments on our content from the center, left and right columns. Email editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line.

You can sign up for our free Substack newsletter here.

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FRIDAY Sep. 27, 2024

Netanyahu Speaks

MONDAY 9/30/24

It’s All About Iran, Again – When he speaks before the United Nations General Assembly Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will emphasize more than ever that Iran is the international community’s primary antagonist, Haaretzpredicts, even as Israel proceeds toward all-out war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Netanyahu’s speech comes after he dismissed the international community’s insistent – futile – proposal of a three-week ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

•••

On Zelenskyy, Harris and Trump – The White House’s short readout of Vice President Harris’ meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Thursday indicates no movement on Zelenskyy’s request to be able to launch US missiles into Russia. Instead, it reiterates “the importance of continued, strong US support for Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression, President Zelenskyy’s plans for victory, and efforts to secure a just and lasting peace based on the will of the people of Ukraine and the UN Charter.”

Biden’s announcement … Harris’ meeting with Zelenskyy followed President Biden announcing additional aid of nearly $8 billion to Ukraine for long-range strike weapons, air defense and additional F-16 pilot training, according to TheWarZone, which adds that $5.5 billion will come from Presidential Drawdown Authority and $2.4 billion from the Ukrainian Security Assistance Initiative.

Meanwhile … At gilded, American flag-bedecked Trump Tower, Donald J. Trump announced he would meet with Zelenskyy in New York Friday morning. 

“America is paying only a small fraction of the money the United States of America is paying,” Trump told reporters, “and we have an ocean between Russia and ourselves. They don’t.”

The Republican presidential nominee reiterated his administration’s success in forcing European members of NATO to “pay up” on their dues, and repeated that he knows Vladimir Putin “very well” and will make a peace deal with Russia and Ukraine “very quickly.”

Poland’s view … NPR’s Steve Inskeep interviewed Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski in New York for Morning EditionFriday.

“We will continue to support Ukraine irrespective to anything anybody does. Europe has contributed to Ukraine even more than the US,” Sikorski asserted. “Your assistance is crucial because it’s weighted towards military assistance, which is what Ukraine needs most.”

The European Union “transfers roughly 1.5 billion euros per month” to Ukraine to pay officials wages and pensions, he said. “On this one, we’re really not a free ride. We’ve really rallied around.”

Sikorski said Poland believes continued support for Ukraine eventually will result in victory against Russia, as Putin does not have infinite resources, including troops. 

“This is a colonial war. Hopefully Europe’s last. It’s been going on for too long, two-and-a-half years, but most colonial wars take about a decade. Anything shorter than that will be a bonus. Personally, I think that Russia will start running out of resources in about 18 months to two years,” he said.

Sikorski further asserted that like Poland and the rest of Europe, Ukraine’s defense has widespread, bipartisan grassroots support in the US. 

“When people hear about Putin’s war crimes, stealing children to be Russified? I mean, how sicko do you have to be to do that?”

Presumably, Trump, who knows Putin “very well,” understands.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

FRIDAY Sep. 27, 2024

Comment: Zelenskyy Campaigns for Dems

Editors:

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is getting $8 billion more US tax dollars from Biden? No wonder Zelenskyy is campaigning for the Democrats. 

Today’s US political left seems to prefer sending billions more to support the war, rather than working toward peace as they did decades ago. We’re at the point the funding serves little purpose but to continue the killing on both sides (I’m having Vietnam déjà vu). The country has truly gone dystopian, now that the liberal Democrats are the war hawks and Republicans are the ones talking about finding peace.

--Rich Corbett

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

FRIDAY Sep. 27, 2024

Write to Us

There’s lots to discuss in the left and right columns, including the House’s apparently popular attempt to keep the federal government solvent past next Monday, September 30. We also are eager to hear from you on …

•The Federal Reserve’s half-point interest rate cut. Is it enough? Too much? Too little? Too late?

•Will Donald J. Trump’s so-far unwavering support of gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson lose the ex-president the state of North Carolina this November?

•How badly will the International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ refusal to endorse a presidential candidate hurt the Harris/Walz ticket?

Hit the Comments section in this or the right column, appropriate to your political leanings. Or, email editors@thehustings.newsand please indicate your political leanings in the subject line, so we post them in the appropriate (left or right0 column.

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MON 9/23/24

…meanwhile…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets with President Biden at the White House Thursday after Biden announced a new slate of military weapons and $8 billion in additional aid (NYT).

FRIDAY 9/26/24

NYC Mayor Charged – Federal prosecutors have charged New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) with bribery, fraud and campaign finance offenses in what they say was a scheme to solicit illegal contributions from foreign donors, The Wall Street Journal reports.

•••

Zelenskyy’s Peace Formula – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets, separately in Washington with President Biden and with Vice President Kamala Harris  Thursday, following his address to the United Nations General Assembly. His “Peace Formula” presented to the General Assembly Wednesday calls for upholding the UN Charter guaranteeing Ukraine’s right to sovereignty, for the withdrawal of Russian occupiers and to hold those responsible for war crimes accountable, prevent “ecocide” and prevent a second and third phase of the Russian invasion.

“If someone in the world seeks alternatives to any of these points or tries to ignore any of them,” Zelenskyy said, “it likely means they themselves want to do a part of what Putin is doing – the point they ignore reveals the desire they are hiding.”

•••

Federal Funding Extended – The House, then the Senate, Wednesday passed a mostly clean extension of current spending levels to December 20, sending the federal budget to President Biden’s desk for spending and sending Congress members home to their campaigns. Roll Call described it as “rapid-fire votes in both chambers” and it extends the budget until after the winner of the November 5 presidential campaign presumably, hopefully, is named.

The House passed the extension, 341-82 under suspension of rules, then the Senate passed it 78-18. Senate Appropriations Chair Patty Murray (D-WA) called the bill a “straight-forward, bipartisan compromise.”

--TL

______________________________________________

Biden's Final UN Address

WEDNESDAY 9/25/24

‘There is so much more I want to get done,’ President Biden told the United Nations in his final address to its General Assembly, Tuesday.

Biden Out – In his ultimate address to the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, President Biden said the world is better off now than four years ago with a more engaged United States (per Politico). He called on Israel and Hamas to reach a long-negotiated ceasefire agreement. 

But that prospect continues to dim as Israel continues its bombing campaign on Hezbollah in Lebanon, where the death toll has topped 560, according to The Associated Press. Israeli forces Wednesday shot down a Hezbollah missile launched over Tel Aviv, NPR reports.

Meanwhile, back in New York … “Our task, our test, is to make sure that the forces holding us together are stronger than those pulling us apart, that the principles of partnership that we come here each year to uphold can withstand the challenges, that the center holds once again,” Biden said. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the UN General Assembly Wednesday.

•••

Haitian Group Files Charges Against Trump/Vance – The Haitian Bridge Alliance has filed charges against Donald J. Trump and Sen. JD Vance (R-OH) for repeatedly claiming without evidence that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were capturing and eating their neighbors’ pets, The Columbus Dispatch reports. Ohio law allows private citizens seeking an arrest of prosecution to file an affidavit with a prosecutor or judge for their review. 

“Trump and Vance falsely claim Haitians are a danger to Springfield,” Guerline Jozef, executive director of the Haitian Bridges Alliance said in court documents, the Dispatch reports. “Now, many in Springfield face actual harm from threats that have even resulted in closures and lockdowns of government buildings, hospitals, schools and colleges. Trump and Vance caused a massive disruption to a community and city that deserved better.”

The Haitian Bridge Alliance asked the court to either issue Trump and Vance arrest warrants or refer the matter to the prosecutor’s office. The alliance’s attorneys said the behavior of the GOP nominees for president and vice president meets the threshold for probable cause and that police and prosecutors would have filed charges against anyone else for such behavior by now.

•••

Tightest Race Since ’76? – Since 1876, that is. 538 said Wednesday that Vice President Kamala Harris has a 57-in-100 chance of winning the November 5 election (down from 62-in-100 last Sunday) to ex-President Donald J. Trump’s 42-in-100. Hold your celebration, Democrats – 538 calls that “essentially a toss-up,” and potentially the tightest presidential race in 148 years. In that earlier election, Democrat Samuel J. Tilden led Republican Rutherford B. Hayes in the popular vote but lost the Electoral College 185 to 184.

--TL

_______________________________________________

TUESDAY 9/24/24

Biden’s Last Address – President Biden addresses the United Nations General Assembly at its annual meeting in Manhattan for his final time Tuesday, where he will try to “assuage” world leaders nervous about the implications of isolationist Donald J. Trump winning the November 5 election, Roll Call reports. 

What will Washington’s role be in addressing multiple world conflicts under a second Trump presidency? The former and would-be future president insists these conflicts wouldn’t have begun in the first place if he had won the 2020 presidential election he insists he actually won.

Zelenskyy’s next address … Amidst fears that a successful Trump administration would apply The Art of the Deal to end Russia’s war on Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the UN General Assembly on Wednesday, where he will ask to use long-range missiles to strike deeper into Russia. Tuesday morning on ABC’s Good Morning America he said Russia’s war on Ukraine is “closer to an end” than many believe.

•••

War With Hezbollah in Lebanon – Whatever the Israeli government wants to call it, since pagers and two-way radios Hezbollah leaders were carrying started exploding last week, the skirmishes along the Israel-Lebanese border has become a full-blown war. The Israeli Army has begun striking Beirut, targeting a senior Hezbollah commander, Haaretz reports, while Hezbollah says it fired at several military facilities, including an explosives factory, in Northern Israel. Most of about 50 rockets fired from Lebanon into Northern Israel were intercepted, according to the report.

•••

Two Debates, or Not Two Debates – Donald J. Trump has declined a second debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, despite claiming he won the first one on September 10. Harris “gladly” accepted CNN’s invitation for a debate on October 23, which Trump says is “too late” because early voting has already begun in several states. But pundits on CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins Monday said they believe Trump, whom is widely considered to have lost that September 10 debate, eventually will capitulate in part because he improved in his second debate with Joe Biden four years ago and because the vice presidential debate between Tim Walz and JD Vance on October 1 would leave his running mate with the last word.

•••

Truth Social Watch – Stock price of the Trump Media & Technology Company, owner of the ex-president’s social media site Truth Social, dropped to $14 per share last Thursday as investors feared he would sell his shares as soon as allowed, Axios reports. The week earlier, Trump tried to assure investors he would not sell his shares, even though that could net about $3 billion to help pay $355 million in fines in his New York civil fraud case (which his attorneys are appealing) plus $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll for her successful civil defamation lawsuit.

On Monday, however, Trump Media fell another $1.40 per share, or 10.33%, to $12.15. That’s off by 30.37% year-to-date leaving a $2.432 billion market cap, of which the ex-prez holds about 60%.

--TL

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MONDAY 9/23/24

Diverting a Shutdown – Congress wants to go home for its election year break by Friday, and has until next Monday to pass a budget, or rather a budget extension, before the end of the fiscal year to avoid a federal government (partial) shutdown. We were predicting Congress would have to work through next weekend, and now that prediction appears to have been overly pessimistic. 

Which is a roundabout way of saying that House Republicans have introduced a 12-week, 49-page extension that both parties, in both chambers, like – or at least they like it enough to push it through and pass it this week, with a House vote by Wednesday and a Senate vote shortly thereafter, according to Roll Call. The House Rules Committee is to begin the process at its meeting Monday at 4 pm. 

Last week the House sunk by 220-202 vote Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) six-month continuing resolution, which had included the superfluous SAVE Act, requiring voters in federal elections to be US citizens. 

This latest, more promising CR extends the budget only to December 12, into President Biden’s full-press lame duck period, but it also includes a $231 million in new appropriations for the Secret Service, to provide additional protection for presidential candidates.

•••

Robinson Staffers Quit – Four key staffers for Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s campaign for governor of North Carolina have quit over a CNN KFile investigation that the candidate called himself a “black Nazi” on pornography website “Nude Africa,” where he also supported reinstation of slavery. CNN reported the posts were made between 2008 and 2012. 

The resignations were from Robinson campaign manager Chris Rodriguez, general consultant Conrad Pogorzelski III, finance director Heather Whillier and deputy campaign manager Jason Rizk, according to The Washington Post.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news
MON 9/23/24

Where Have You Gone, Edward Gibbon?

Our nation turns its lonely thoughts to you. . .

By Stephen Macaulay

A caution about polling. No, this has nothing to do with the missed call in the 2016 presidential election, the one where Hillary Clinton was days away from measuring the drapes for the Oval Office.

Although Donald Trump hasn’t heard of (“people tell me. . .”) a poll that he’s not winning in and Kamala Harris supporters are absolutely chuffed to see her leading by mainly the margin of error, polls really need to be taken with a grain of salt approximately the size of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial.

Why?

Consider this:

According to a recent YouGov poll, 9% of US adults think about the Roman Empire “at least weekly.”

You know, that political structure that was done and dusted after some 500 years in 476.

Men, perhaps not surprisingly, think about the Roman Empire more than women do: 

13% to 6%.

Presumably they think of Viva Bianca or Katrina Law from the Spartacus TV show, although technically, Spartacus was under the Roman Republic, not yet an empire.

Still, the YouGov poll found that 52% say they learned about the Roman Empire from movies or TV shows, neither of which is particularly precise about dates and the differences between emperors and consuls.

One might argue that Donald Trump is more interested in becoming the former rather than the later, a distinction with a big difference. But not if you’re someone spending a percentage of each week thinking about the Roman Empire.

However — and I must confess that I am incredulous about this — there could be some good news out of the poll’s findings:

Athens is generally considered to be the cradle of democracy, and it tops the list of historic regions with 54% considering Ancient Athens as “very or somewhat favorable,” besting the Roman Empire by 5%.

The Visigoths and the Huns tie for last, at 14%. There is no indication about the amount of time spent thinking about them.

What do Americans “who know at least a little about the Roman Empire” most admire about it?

Roman buildings and roads top the list at 75%.

In other words, “infrastructure.”

Given that the Trump Administration had plenty of “infrastructure weeks” and little in the way of infrastructure execution, and given that the Biden Administration’s $891-billion Inflation Reduction Act and $280-billion CHIPS Act are putting fresh concrete on the roads and facilitating the construction of chip foundries, if people like infrastructure, this could be advantageous to Harris.

And there is a cautionary finding: 61% of the respondents believe the cause of the fall of the Roman Empire was infighting among Romans.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news
MON 9/23/24

Is the Fed’s Rate Cut Enough?

The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee went for a half-point interest rate cut, the maximum expected by economists. Is it enough? Too much? A talking point for the Harris/Walz campaign? What would Donald J. Trump, who wants to wrestle control of the Fed from the Fed, do? Discuss.

Email your comments to editors@thehustings.news and please indicate your political leanings in the subject line. Or enter your comments in this column or the one on the right, if you lean conservative. 

Meanwhile, why not sign up for our free Substack newsletter? At The Hustings substack site you will find commentary by Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay and others. You will also find exclusive content, including these columns…

•“Normalizing Orbán”   

•“Harris Will Have to Own Bidenomics”

• “Three Social Media Billionaires Walk Into a Crowded Theater and Yell, Fire!”

•“Of Fluoride, Precious Bodily Fluids and Whale Juice”

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WEDNESDAY 9/17/24

…meanwhile…

“In light of the progress on inflation and the balance of risks, at today’s meeting the committee decided to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by ½ percentage point, to 4-¾ % to 5%,” Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday.

Go Vote – … if you are registered in Minnesota, South Dakota or Virginia, where early voting starts Friday, per Ballotpedia. 

•••

About North Carolina – Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Stein, North Carolina’s attorney general, has been well ahead of the Republican candidate, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson in the polls for quite some time, leading some pundits to argue the key swing states in the presidential election are Pennsylvania-Georgia-North Carolina and not Pennsylvania-Michigan-Wisconsin. 

Now comes an investigative scoop by CNN’s KFile that Robinson, whom ex-President Trump has called “Martin Luther King on steroids” called himself a “black NAZI” on a pornography website, “Nude Africa,” between 2008 and 2012. Robinson also has expressed support for restoring some form of slavery to the US. According to the thoroughly researched report, Robinson often used the pseudonym “minisoldr” “all over the internet,” including the pornography website. CNN says the gubernatorial candidate, a strict cultural Christian conservative regarding LGBTQ+ issues “liked to watch transgender pornography.”

The sober anti-Trump argument is that Trump’s popularity among his faithful is never jarred by other candidates that lose badly in their campaigns – think 2022 Republican candidate for senator from Georgia, Herschel Walker. The flip side of the argument is that North Carolina Republicans will avoid the polls November 5, so they won’t be there to vote for Trump, either. The Bulwark’s Marc A. Caputo argues that Republican North Carolinians avoiding the polls because of Robinson will be enough for Vice President Harris to win the state, and thus the Electoral College.

Of course, that still leaves Pennsylvania and Georgia.

What do you think?... Will Robinson’s scandal be enough to sink Trump’s chances? Is it really Pennsylvania-Georgia-North Carolina, or Pennsylvania-Michigan-Wisconsin? Leave your comments in the left- or right-column, or here, or email editors@thehustings.news.

--TL

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THURSDAY 9/19/24

Haitian Leader; 'We Can Do Better' – These words by Haitian community leader Viles Dorsainvil about the made-up stories by Donald J. Trump and JD Vance about neighbors' pets in Springfield, Ohio, to Leila Fadel on NPR’s Morning Edition Thursday bear repeating …

“I would say to them that they think that they are leaders. Leaders have to have the behavior of a leader. Through the rhetoric that they are putting out … please, before they say anything, try to check the veracity of it. … Stop dividing a community or a nation. Stop dividing the country that all of us love. We can do better. We can keep moving forward together with words of unity and encouragement. We are here to work. We are here to contribute to boost up the economy. Words matter.” 

Trump and Vance have put people “in a very difficult situation in the past week,” he added.

At a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina Wednesday, vice presidential candidate and senator from Ohio JD Vance said that Vice President Harris’ “blanket immunity” giving Haitian refugees temporary legal status in the US is not legal, and suggested that Trump will deport them if he wins in November.

•••

Not Truckin’ for Harris – The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, known for a long time as the union for long-haul truck drivers but now including an Amazon Division, has declined to endorse Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (per Newsweek). The Teamsters have declined to endorse Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump as well, though it has released internal poll results from July 24 to September 15 that show Trump leads Harris 59.6% to 34% among its rank & file. Its April 19-July 3 poll showed President Biden leading Trump, 44.3% to 36.3%.

“The Teamsters carry a lot of weight,” Trump told Fox News Wednesday. “The Democrats cannot believe … it was always automatic that Democrats get the Teamsters, and they said we won’t endorse the Democrats this year, so that was an honor for me.”

For the record, the last Republican candidate the Teamsters endorsed was George H.W. Bush in 1988. The union backed Bill Clinton in 1992, did not endorse anyone in 1996 then backed every Democratic candidate – including Hilary Clinton in 2016 and Biden in 2020 – until now.

•••

Johnson’s CR Fails – Slings and arrows for Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) from both sides of the House aisle after his continuing resolution to fund the government six months past September 30 was defeated, as was widely predicted, 220-202 Wednesday. 

Johnson “succeeded in spending a week dividing his party and leveraging his already miniscule leverage with the Senate,” said Punchbowl News. The House and the Senate have targeted Friday, September 27 as the deadline to leave for home, which means they no doubt will have to work that weekend to prevent a federal government partial shutdown on the following Monday.

Three Democrats voted for the bill, which contained the redundant SAVE Act rider that would require voters in federal elections to be US citizens, but 14 Republicans voted against it, Roll Call reports. 

No matter which party takes the House majority after the November 5 election, it’s a good bet that Johnson will not be speaker for the 119th Congress next January.

--TL

Fed Lowers Interest Rate by ½%

WEDNESDAY 9/18/24

UPDATE -- The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee (FOMC) has cut its target interest rate by ½% to the 4¾% to 5% range, while reiterating it continues to seek a 2% Consumer Price Index "over the long run." The August CPI was 2.5%, fueled by lower energy prices.

"The Committee has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%, and judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are roughly in balance," the FOMC said in its press release. It said it also "will continue reducing its holdings of Treasury securities and agency debt and agency mortgage-backed securities."

It’s Rate Cut Day! – The Federal Reserve will announce an interest rate cut by late this afternoon. The question everyone has been waiting to have answered is “by how much?” A quarter point or a half point? 

•••

No Question – Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) short-term funding bill, with SAVE Act attached will not pass the House when introduced Wednesday. The SAVE Act would redundantly require proof of US citizenship for voter registration.

The question now is, what will Johnson do next? Punchbowl News reports; the Speaker has been so cagey about his plans that even his Republican allies have no idea. The hope of Republicans and Democrats is, the next continuing resolution, which must pass both chambers before the end of September to avoid a federal government shutdown, will extend funding until after next January 20th’s presidential inauguration.

•••

Florida Charges – Gov. Ron DeSantis has launched a state investigation into an apparent assassination attempt on ex-President Trump at his Florida golf course near Mar-a-Lago. DeSantis, who you might remember challenged Trump for the Republican presidential nomination early this year, raised the possibility the state of Florida could charge suspect Ryan Routh with attempted murder, according to Politico.

Routh faces Justice Department charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, though the DOJ is expected to issue further charges against him.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news
WEDNESDAY 9/17/24

The Art of the Fraud

By Stephen Macaulay

Reality is hard. Fiction is easy.

“If I have to create stories so that the American media actually pays attention to the suffering of the American people, then that's what I'm going to do, Dana, because you guys are completely letting Kamala Harris coast.” — JD Vance to Dana Bash, 9/15/24

So there you have it.

He makes stuff up.

Oh, he claims he’s doing it on behalf of the Americans who are suffering.

But are they really?

Or is he making that up, as well?

Bash called him on the lack of substantive evidence regarding the consumption of pets in Springfield, Ohio.

She cited authorities who said it was bunk.

He claimed he’d gotten some phone calls.

But when asked to provide proof, he pushed back and went back to decrying “illegal aliens,” even though Bash pointed out some of them are in the US legally under what is known as “Temporary Protected Status.”

Vance referred to it as “a magic amnesty wand” wielded by Kamala Harris.

One could imagine that Vance might know that TPS is part of the Immigration Act of 1990 — passed by Congress. 

What’s more, Harris has nothing to do with deciding who gets it.

The Department of Homeland Security makes the determination whether a country receives a TPS designation for a number of factors, including on-going armed conflicts, environmental disaster, or extraordinary and temporary conditions in the country.

The countries with the TPS designation are: Afghanistan, Burma, Cameroon, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Haiti, Honduras, Nepal, Nicaragua, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, Venezuela, Yemen.

You may recognize some of them from the “shit-hole countries” then-President Trump described in 2018.

Of course, it is easier for Vance to make things up than actually do the work of understanding laws.

If he isn’t creating his own version of reality, then he’s saying things that he later claims are “jokes.” And he won’t take back his jokes. Is this because he is a frustrated comedian? Does he actually think anyone finds them funny?

Vance and his ticket-mate have demonstrated, time and time again, not only their unwillingness to take responsibility for the things they say, but apparently revel in their ability to flat out lie.

Yes, the sort of people that we want to be role models for our children.

Read Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s commentaries at Substack on The Hustings.

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news
WEDNESDAY 9/17/24