The author says of this book, Ho’s Rants - - “For the last ten years I have written a BLOG of mostly political with some other commentary in http://hojo2rants.blogspot as well as a number of individual BLOGs on many subjects. This book is a collection of these presented in roughly chronological order, oldest ones first. This is a large book of 596 pages.
I consider myself politically and socially as a realist as opposed to any other of the ISTs and ISMs so many people identify with. There is a long description of my beliefs and ideas early in the book. I see PC, Political Correctness, as an effort by elitists (another IST I am not and that I detest) to control the masses and coerce them into thinking and speaking as these elitists want them to.
I much prefer to make my own decisions about what I do and say with consideration for the balance between truth and hurtful comments for others. Should any of my words offend, ask yourself if this is because others have told you to be offended (PC) or if you merely disagree with my comments. Sometimes the truth is not pleasant and can even hurt. I try never to deliberately speak a truth that will offend a particular individual, but sometimes it happens.”
Published 2015 - Released in October 2015.
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Excerpt
PART I
Statement of My Current Basic Beliefs and Principles
Howard Johnson - July 17, 2015
The following statements are a collection of my current basic beliefs relating to interactions with other individuals. I provide it so you can better understand the basis and origin of what I have to say. It explains how I see myself and how to understand my words. I call it my Survival Guide for Senior Years.
I am a believer in myself and those individuals I trust.
I trust no politician, political operative, political activist, government official, celebrity, elitist intellectual, or media reporter or talking head I do not know personally, and few of those I do. I trust no Muslim, ever. Their religious principles make this imperative.
The current actions of their extremists, the hatred and especially their murders of those who do not follow their religion, the silence and even support so called moderate Muslims continue to express in response to the atrocities and evil actions of their extremists are completely unacceptable in my eyes.
I trust and admire the rational opinions and logical judgements of those looked down on by elitists, the so-called common people. Their wisdom is far greater than that for which they are given credit. However, I do not trust their opinions or judgements when based on emotions, because they are often influenced and persuaded by those described in the previous paragraph.
Far too often I hear people aping the words they have heard over the media, mostly the dictates of the New York Times. They have let the media do their thinking and defining for them. I expect that from liberals and all those on the left because that is just who they are, mental lemmings blindly following the crowd and rarely thinking for themselves. Unfortunately, I often hear the same type of things said by many of those who overtly oppose liberalism. They too have let the media mislead their thinking and define people and situations for them.
I do not expect anyone to understand any of that which they do not know. I do not even expect them to understand much of what they do know.
I see politics, religion, pseudo science, ethnicity, and culture as powerful belief systems often used by unscrupulous individuals to control others for their own purpose.
I am not a follower of or beholden to any ism, ist, group belief system (religious, political, cultural, or other), political party, union, corporation, peer group, boss or officer (political, union, corporate or other organizational at any level), grant committee, dean or head of faculty, or any similar person or organization. This is why I am free to express my own opinions without disrespect, concern for, or apologies to anyone or any group. I will change my own beliefs to fit new realities and knowledge when and if the new information or understanding requires it.
I consider myself a truly independent and quite liberal individual, a realist who knows what it means to conserve, an equal opportunity supporter or detractor. Realism and being a realist are the only ism or ist I believe in and best describes my political philosophy. Because of this, I know my words and opinions may offend, but it is never my intent to do so. There are exceptions, of course.
I am not ever in any way controlled, intimidated or cowed by any kind of political correctness. I believe it to be a creation of the many narcissist members of the entertainment world and in particular the TV news media. These self-serving hypocrites use PC to coerce people into speaking and thinking the way they determine. It is one more system elitist intellectuals use to try to control others, especially the gullible, unthinking lemmings so many people, including Americans, have become.
I will not accept as a fact, any words, concepts or ideas that do not meet the tests of logic, reason and/or hard science as I understand them. My opinions and beliefs are subject to change when and if new information makes a change necessary. I see the inflexible, closed mind - the mind of the fundamentalist of any flavor: religious, political, social, cultural, or other, right, left, or in the middle - as an evil curse on the individual whose mind is closed for any reason.
I no longer have patience for certain things, mostly personal things, not because I've become arrogant, but simply because I reached a point in my life where I do not want to waste time with what displeases me or hurts me. I lost the will to please those who do not like me, to love those who do not love me, to smile at those who do not want to smile at me, and be around those who cause me pain. I have a strong will to please those who like me, love those who love me, smile at all but those detractors mentioned earlier, and be around those who bring me joy. I no longer spend a single minute on those who lie, fake affection, or want to manipulate. I decided not to coexist anymore with pretense, hypocrisy, dishonesty, political correctness and cheap praise. I have no patience for cynicism, excessive criticism and demands of any nature. However, I do solicit and encourage constructive criticism of my professional actions, especially my writing. I seek that which will improve and add value to my work
It is clear to me that thousands of free and independent individuals and groups working in a favorable competitive environment, under a capitalist system with limited government in a democratic republic, are infinitely superior in every conceivable way to a central decision making collectivist body or government of any kind. The bigger and more powerful the government, the less freedom individuals have to grow and improve their life and the lower will be the standard of living under such government. Examples of this reality abound now and throughout history for at least the last 3,000 years. Freedom works. Collectivism works solely for those running the system and leads to impoverishment, dependency, and ultimately some form of slavery for the masses.
I believe in treating all individuals with respect and honesty. These both deserve, and I will expect, respect and honesty in return. However, I see no reason to be bound to do the same when faced with disrespect or dishonesty.
I try to deal with each person with consideration in all of these things —Howard Johnson - 2012
“There are many who find a good alibi far more attractive than an achievement. For an achievement does not settle anything permanently. We still have to prove our worth anew each day: we have to prove that we are as good today as we were yesterday. But when we have a valid alibi for not achieving anything we are fixed, so to speak, for life. Moreover, when we have an alibi for not writing a book, painting a picture and so on, we have an alibi for not writing the greatest book and not painting the greatest picture. Small wonder that the effort expended and the punishment endured in obtaining a good alibi often exceed the effort and grief requisite for the attainment of a most marked achievement.” —Eric Hoffer
My expressed opinions may or may not be in accord with the thinking of those who read my words. This includes my views on both of the no-nos of human verbal interaction, religion and politics. Because both areas can be emotionally charged and can be quite devoid of rational thoughts, there is an opportunity to offend, bring to anger, and damage feelings. Those from many emotional persuasions will surely find themselves pricked by barbs from many directions.
I have much respect for the knowledge and wisdom found in the words of many human beings. I even include those deemed foolish and unwise by the multitudes, those whom elitists and intellectuals see as far beneath them in intellect, or brainpower. This even applies to those who populate flyover country. Genius or mentally challenged, corporate president or ditch digger, priest or sinner, person of any age, sex, culture, race, wealth or education—each of these and others have their own set of knowledge from which can be gleaned words of wisdom and truth if one listens.
I do not judge the worth of a person by any of these criteria. To do so is among the greatest faults of those who shut off all sources of knowledge and understanding that could be gained from those with whom they do not see eye to eye. It extends to even the lowliest among us. This fault is exhibited by political or religious elitists who refuse to be involved in communications of any kind that does not agree with or conform to their personal belief system. As a result, their inbred concepts shut out more and more good, even profound knowledge because it does not fall within the limitations of their beliefs, or confirm them. This is why political correctness is the political equivalent of fundamentalist beliefs in the broad field of religion including Islam and Atheism. All of these are belief systems driven by emotion, and not necessarily based in reality. One man’s belief is another man’s anathema.
In 1969, I gave a talk on personal communication at the American Dental Trade Association annual meeting in Chicago. The following comment is from that talk. I used one of my own strong beliefs to illustrate the often hidden but immense value of listening to what even the lowliest among us has to say.
In the areas of human thoughts and ideas, I much prefer to choose my own belief systems based on knowledge, experience, and logical thought processes, rather than adopt those of others. This does not mean I shun the wisdom or counsel of others. It means I accept such only after checking it through my own understanding of how the universe works. That may seem crazy to some. I address the following saying to them:
Those who dance are thought insane by those who can’t hear the music. —Angela Monet
Hopefully, you will hear and enjoy some of the music of my heart, soul, and imagination which have been liberally poured into these pages. A few comments from Howard Johnson for before you start reading these words:
Virtually all of the words that follow are taken as originally written, unedited, from the original BLOG. Some spelling, punctuation, grammar, and typos may have been edited, but the thoughts and ideas expressed—the words and their meanings have not.
I have tried to mark all quotes and my own comments for clarity so there is little doubt as to who is saying what. Generally I will mark my own short comments inserted in the words of others with (parentheses and bold type.) There may be places where italics and bold italics are used. These will usually be indicated by instructions within the piece. Please excuse those places where this is not clear.
I have tried to be as factual as possible where factual information is included. I try not to mix facts and opinions, a common human failing which can add to emotional confusion. Remember, it is often a reality that one man’s facts are another’s fantasy and visa versa.
Here is one of my favorite quotes that should be considered by all who read this book.
“Perception, ah yes, perception, it is what drives our decisions, controls our emotions of love, anger, joy, disappointment, friendship, hatred, virtually everything we think or react to. Perception overrules facts, logic, and reality. Whether from love, avarice, or foolishness, and no matter how removed perception is from truth, it still rules us and determines our life decisions. We do not live in a real world, but live totally in a world created by and subject to our perceptions.”
—Howard Johnson, 1960
“Blessed are the flexible - for they shall not be bent out of shape.” — Michael McGriffy, MD 1975
PART II
BLOGs are in date order, from latest, September 17, 2015 to earliest, September 18, 2005, a ten year period.
Thursday, September 17, 2015
HJ NOTE: Thomas Sowell is one of my favorite thinkers who is a pleasant, observant realist in stark contrast to the ridiculous, unrealistic liberal LaLa Land dwellers of the political left including most of the media. There are a number of his quotes at the end of this seminal piece. The significant thing about most of his quotes is that they have held true throughout history.
Opportunity versus Outcomes - an Op Ed by Thomas Sowell
A hostile review of my new book — “Wealth, Poverty and Politics” — said, “there is apparently no level of inequality of income or opportunity that Thomas Sowell would consider unacceptable.”
Ordinarily, reviewers who miss the whole point of a book they are reviewing can be ignored. But this particular confusion about what opportunity means is far too widespread, far beyond a particular reviewer of a particular book. That makes it a confusion worth clearing up, because it affects so many other discussions of very serious issues.
The book does not accept inequality of opportunity. Instead, it reports such things as children raised in low-income families usually not being spoken to nearly as often as children raised in high- income families. The conclusion: “It is painful to contemplate what that means cumulatively over the years, as poor children are handicapped from their earliest childhood.”
Even if all the doors of opportunity are wide open, children raised with great amounts of parental care and attention are far more likely to be able to walk through those doors than children who have received much less attention.
Why else do conscientious parents invest so much time and effort in raising their children? This is so obvious that you would have to be an intellectual to able to misconstrue it. Yet many among the intelligentsia equate differences in outcomes with differences in opportunity.
A personal example may help clarify the difference. As a teenager, I tried briefly to play basketball. But I was lucky to hit the backboard, much less the basket. Yet I had just as much opportunity to play basketball as Michael Jordan had. But equal opportunity was not nearly enough to create equal outcomes."
Nevertheless, many studies today conclude that different groups do not have equal opportunity or equal “access” to credit, or admission to selective colleges, or ' to many other things, because some groups are not successful in achieving their goal as often as other groups are.
The very possibility that not all groups have the same skills or other qualifications is seldom even mentioned, much less examined. But when people with low credit scores are not approved for loans as often as people with high credit scores, is that a lack of opportunity or a failure to meet standards?
When twice as many Asian students as white students pass the tough tests to get into New York’s three highly selective public high schools — Stuyvesant, Bronx Science and Brooklyn Tech — does that mean that white students are denied equal opportunity? '
As for inequality of incomes, these depend on so many things — including things that no government has control over — that the obsession with statistical “gaps” or “disparities” that some call “inequities” is a major distraction from the more fundamental, and more achievable, goals of promoting a rising standard of living in general and greater opportunity for all.
There was never any serious reason to expect equal economic, educational or other outcomes, either between nations or within nations. My book examines numerous demographic, geographic, cultural and other differences that make equal outcomes for all a very remote possibility.
To take just one example, in the United States the average age of Japanese Americans is more than 20 years older than the average age of Puerto Ricans. Even if these two groups were absolutely identical in every other way, Japanese Americans would still have a higher average income, because older people in general have more work experience and higher incomes.
Enabling all Americans to prosper and have greater opportunities is a far more achievable goal than equal outcomes.
Internationally, the geographic settings in which different nations evolved have been so different that there has been nothing like a level playing field among nations and peoples. . .
Comparing the standard of living of Americans at the beginning of the 20th century with that at the end shows incredible progress. Most of this economic progress took place without the kind of heady rhetoric, social polarization or violent upheavals that have too often accompanied heedless pursuits of unachievable goals like the elimination of “gaps,” “disparities” or “inequities.”
Such fashionable fetishes are not helping the poor. —Thomas Sowell, September 17, 2015
HJ NOTE: The liberal Democrat War on America has been going on for many years. In 1965, Democrats under the leadership of that great moralist, Senator Ted Kennedy, passed an immigration law that has since brought 59 million foreigners into our nation. These mostly poor, ignorant, non English speaking people with virtually no understanding or respect for our Constitution, bloc vote Democrat, and support and use government welfare programs exteensively. This act brought in the poorest of the poor, peasants from backward cultures with their high birth rates who will be dependent on government welfare for generations to come. Add to this all of the illegal immigrants that have entered our country under a government that does little to enforce existing immigration laws. I wonder how many illegal immigrants voted for Obama in the last election? Many of the problems addressed in these BLOGs are directly related to this influx of poor, ignorant, dependent people.
This is a Democrat designed system for buying votes with taxpayer money. They win elections. You pay for their votes. The nation suffers. —HJ 2015
Following is a collection of Thomas Sowell quotes. Dates are shown where known.
The liberal Democrat party in the US has a record of failure, corruption, lies, hatred, deceit, and greed so blatant that only an intellectual could ignore or evade it. (There are countless examples of the results of this all over the country. The city of Detroit is but one of countless examples.)
The most fundamental fact about the ideas of the political left is that they do not work. Therefore we should not be surprised to find the left concentrated in institutions where ideas do not have to work in order to survive.
It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong. Know-it-alls in the school system do not lose one dime or one hour's sleep if their bright ideas turn out to be all wrong, or even disastrous, for the child. — 18 August 2000
People who think that they are being "exploited" should ask themselves whether they would be missed if they left, or whether people would say: "Good riddance"? — 29 April 2002
What the welfare system and other kinds of governmental programs are doing is paying people to fail. In so far as they fail, they receive the money; in so far as they succeed, even to a moderate extent, the money is taken away. — 1980
Racism has never done this country any good, and it needs to be fought against, not put under new management for different groups. — June 2009
It may be expecting too much to expect most intellectuals to have common sense, when their whole life is based on their being uncommon -- that is, saying things that are different from what everyone else is saying. There is only so much genuine originality in anyone. After that, being uncommon means indulging in pointless eccentricities or clever attempts to mock or shock.
Before the Iraq war I was quite disturbed by some of the neoconservatives, who were saying things like, "What is the point of being a superpower if you can't do such-and-such, take on these responsibilities?" The point of being a superpower is that people will leave you alone.
— September 2004
If the battle for civilization comes down to the wimps versus the barbarians, the barbarians are going to win.
One undeniable accomplishment of Bill Clinton's presidency was that it kept Jimmy Carter from being the worst U.S. president in history. 15 August 2002
Nothing could be more jolting and discordant with the vision of today's intellectuals than the fact that it was businessmen, devout religious leaders and Western imperialists who together destroyed slavery around the world. And if it doesn't fit their vision, it is the same to them as if it never happened. — 8 February 2005
When I see the worsening degeneracy in our politicians, our media, our educators, and our intelligentsia, I can’t help wondering if the day may yet come when the only thing that can save this country is a military coup. — May 1, 2007
Intellectuals may like to think of themselves as people who "speak truth to power" but too often they are people who speak lies to gain power. — February 19. 2008
If you have always believed that everyone should play by the same rules and be judged by the same standards, that would have gotten you labeled a radical 60 years ago, a liberal 30 years ago and a racist today.
Some of the biggest cases of mistaken identity are among intellectuals who have trouble remembering that they are not God. — February 19. 2008
Too often what are called "educated" people are simply people who have been sheltered from reality for years in ivy-covered buildings. Those whose whole careers have been spent in ivy-covered buildings, insulated by tenure, can remain adolescents on into their golden retirement years. — May 5, 2004
Virtually no idea is too ridiculous to be accepted, even by very intelligent and highly educated people, if it provides a way for them to feel special and important. Some confuse that feeling with idealism. — October 15, 2005
Some of the most vocal critics of the way things are being done are people who have done nothing themselves, and whose only contributions to society are their complaints and moral exhibitionism. — October 15, 2005
Although I am ready to defend what I have said, many people expect me to defend what others have attributed to me — September 3, 2007
As far as party primaries are concerned, both Republican and Democratic Party primaries are dominated by the most zealous voters, whose views may not reflect the views of most members of their own respective parties, much less the views of those who are going to vote in the November general election.
In recent times, each election year has seen each party's nominee selected - or at least subject to veto - by its most extreme wing and then forced to try to move back to the center before the general election.
This can only undermine the public's confidence in the integrity of the candidates of both parties. — March 25, 2008
One of the painful signs of years of dumbed-down education is how any people are unable to make a coherent argument. They can vent their emotions, question other people's motives, make bold assertions, repeat slogans-- anything except reason. — September 3, 2007
Right after liberal Democrats, the most dangerous politicians are country club Republicans. — August 26, 2008
Republicans won big, running as Republicans, in 2004. But once they took control of Congress, they started acting like Democrats and lost big. There is a lesson in that somewhere but whether Republicans will learn it is another story entirely. — August 26, 2008
When we hear about rent control or gun control, we may think about rent or guns but the word that really matters is 'control.' That is what the political left is all about, as you can see by the incessant creation of new restrictions in places where they are strongly entrenched in power, such as San Francisco or New York. (Or Detroit) — 26 August 2008
Anyone who has actually had to take responsibility for consequences by running any kind of enterprise — whether economic or academic, or even just managing a sports team — is likely at some point to be chastened by either the setbacks brought on by his own mistakes or by seeing his successes followed by negative consequences that he never anticipated. November 2008
'Global warming' is just the latest in a long line of hysterical crusades to which we seem to be increasingly susceptible. — March 15, 2007
Both history and contemporary data show that countries prosper more when there are stable and dependable rules, under which people can make investments without having to fear unpredictable new government interventions before these investments can pay off. — Sept 11, 2012
It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, medication and a government bureaucracy to administer it. (chapter: "What society expends?")
Freedom has cost too much blood and agony to be relinquished at the cheap price of rhetoric."
— 1987
Facts do not "speak for themselves." They speak for or against competing theories. Facts divorced from theory or visions are mere isolated curiosities. — 1987
Competition does a much more effective job than government at protecting consumers.
The case for the political left looks more plausible on the surface but is harder to keep believing in as you become more experienced
Understanding the limitations of human beings is the beginning of wisdom.
The key feature of Communist propaganda has been the depiction of people who are more productive as mere exploiters of others. — chapter, Is Reality Optional? 1993
Much of the social history of the Western world over the past three decades has involved replacing what worked with what sounded good. In area after area - crime, education, housing, race relations - the situation has gotten worse after the bright new theories were put into operation. The amazing thing is that this history of failure and disaster has neither discouraged the social engineers nor discredited them. — 1999
When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.
I have never understood why it is "greed" to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else's money.
People who pride themselves on their "complexity" and deride others for being "simplistic" should realize that the truth is often not very complicated. What gets complex is evading the truth.
Those who believe that "basic necessities" should belong to people as a matter of right ignore the implication -- that people are to work only for amenities, frivolities, and ego. Will that mean more work or less work? And if less, where are all those "basic necessities" coming from that the government is supposed to hand out?
Many of the dangerous things that drivers do are not likely to save them even 10 seconds. When you bet your life against 10 seconds, that is giving bigger odds than you are ever likely to get in Las Vegas.
Most problems do not get solved. They get superceded by other concerns.
People who talk incessantly about "change" are often dogmatically set in their ways. They want to change other people.
Maturity is not a matter of age. You have matured when you are no longer concerned with showing how clever you are, and give your full attention to getting the job done right. Many never reach that stage, no matter how old they get.
One of the most ridiculous defenses of foreign aid is that it is a very small part of our national income. If the average American set fire to a five-dollar bill, it would be an even smaller percentage of his annual income. But everyone would consider him foolish for doing it.
Letters from teachers continue to confirm the incompetence which they deny. A teacher in Montana says that my criticisms of teachers are "nieve." No, that wasn't a typographical error. He spelled it that way twice.
If I could offer one piece of advice to young people thinking about their future, it would be this: Don't preconceive. Find out what the opportunities are.
Some of the people on death row today might not be there if the courts had not been so lenient on them when they were first offenders.
If you don't believe in the innate unreasonableness of human beings, just try raising children.
Time was when people used to brag about how old they were -- and I am old enough to remember it.
One of the grand fallacies of our time is that something beneficial should be subsidized.
In the summer of 1959, I worked as a clerk-typist in the headquarters of the U.S. Public Health Service in Washington. The people I worked for were very nice and I grew to like them. One day, a man had a heart attack at around 5 PM, on the sidewalk outside the Public Health Service. He was taken inside to the nurse's room, where he was asked if he was a government employee. If he were, he would have been eligible to be taken to a medical facility there. Unfortunately, he was not, so a phone call was made to a local hospital to send an ambulance. By the time this ambulance made its way through miles of Washington rush-hour traffic, the man was dead. He died waiting for a doctor, in a building full of doctors. Nothing so dramatized for me the nature of a bureaucracy and its emphasis on procedures, rather than results. — 2011
Saturday, July 25, 2015
The Brouhaha over Trump and McCain
I never thought much of Donald Trump in the past, nor did I watch any of his TV shows. I guess, like most Americans, I let the media define him for me. Then came the brouhaha over illegal immigrants and John McCain. I too accepted the media’s interpretation of his words, at first. Big mistake. Then I dug down and discovered what he actually said and put it in context.
I realized the media, lead by the NY Times, was doing a hatchet job on Trump with lies and innuendo, just like they do with most Republicans and especially conservatives. Politicians should never be candid only politically correct to satisfy the media. Trump’s candid remarks, may at times be a bit troubling, but they certainly are refreshing. They certainly are not nearly as bad as the hate filled commentary of our liberal President and his allies. Of course, the media never mentions that or their bald faced lies.
I have gained a lot of respect for Trump as a result. He has gone way up in my opinion. Would I vote for him against Hillary? Of course. But then I would vote against her anyway for almost any other human that breathes. The guy who mows our lawn for example. If Obama and his far left cohorts haven’t already destroyed this country, Hillary would most certainly apply the coup de gras.
Here’s some of the reasons:
Politics - The New York Times - HJ Note: I have marked all of the lies of the NY Times by marking them bold italics. My own comments, corrections and clarifications are in bold.
Donald Trump Says John McCain Is No War Hero, Setting Off Another Storm (NY Times lie. He never said that or anything similar.)
By Jonathan Martin and Alan Rappeport July 18, 2015
AMES, Iowa — Donald J. Trump has made his name in politics with provocative statements, but it was not until Saturday, after the flamboyant businessman turned presidential candidate belittled Senator John McCain’s war record, (Another NY Times lie. He never belittled his war record.) that many Republicans concluded that silence or equivocation about Mr. Trump’s incendiary rhetoric was inadequate.
Mr. Trump upended a Republican presidential forum here, and the race more broadly, by saying of the Arizona senator and former prisoner of war: “He’s not a war hero. He’s a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.” (The NY Times lied big time when they added their own words, “He’s not a war hero.” Trump did not say it.)
Mr. McCain, a naval aviator, was shot down during the Vietnam War and held prisoner for more than five years in Hanoi, refusing early release even after being repeatedly beaten.
Mr. Trump and Mr. McCain have been engaged in a war of words over the past week, since the Arizona senator said that Mr. Trump was riling up “crazies” in the party with the inflammatory remarks about illegal immigrants from Mexico.
Yet Mr. Trump’s comments on Saturday drew condemnation from his rivals and senior officials in the party at a scale far greater than the response to his portrayal of Mexican immigrants as rapists. (That last is patently untrue. He did not portray Mexican immigrants as rapists. He said that there were rapists and other criminals among the illegal Mexican immigrants. A statement that is true. The NY Times deliberately left the term illegal out.) The response was an indication of the reverence many Republicans have for military service and sacrifice. But it was also something more: their best opening yet to marginalize Mr. Trump. (Another NY Times deceptive trick. Every politician of any persuasion tries to “marginalize” every one of their opponents every chance they get.)
After weeks when many of them treaded lightly around Mr. Trump, who once again Saturday refused to rule out a third-party run, Republican leaders seized the opportunity to unambiguously speak out against a candidate they see as effectively hijacking their primaries. (Trying to win is not hijacking.)
Yet for all the outrage among party elites, some attendees at the Christian conservative conference where Mr. Trump made his comments were not nearly as offended, a reminder of the chasm between the Republican power structure and its grass roots. (Not so, it’s a reminder that some of the attendees actually listened to the remarks and did not accept the NY Times edited version, which the rest of the media immediately picked up and repeated verbatim without checking the facts.)
With his attack on Mr. McCain, Mr. Trump, whose caustic (factual) language about immigration has lifted him in early polls, created a new, revealing litmus test for how the Republican presidential hopefuls are handling the bombastic real estate mogul.
Several of Mr. Trump’s Republican opponents immediately denounced his comments, and one said the remarks disqualified him from the presidency. (They must not have heard the actual comment but accepted the NY Times revision of his words as gospel, which it certainly was not.)
“Donald Trump owes every American veteran and in particular John McCain an apology,” said Rick Perry, the former Texas governor, upon taking the stage. Mr. Perry argued that Mr. Trump’s comment made him unfit to be commander in chief. (He too must not have heard the actual comment but accepted the NY Times revision of his words as gospel. Methinks he could have damaged his chances by speaking out without checking the facts.)
Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said that anybody serious about being president would not be disrespectful of prisoners of war, and predicted that the early nominating states would render an unmistakable verdict on Mr. Trump’s candidacy. (If that happens, the lies of the NY Times and the rest of the media will be largely responsible, as usual.)
“Here’s what I think they’re going to say: ‘Donald Trump, you’re fired,’ ” Mr. Graham said to laughs and applause.
For Mr. Perry and Mr. Graham, both retired Air Force officers who have struggled to get traction in the race, Mr. Trump’s comments represented an opportunity to highlight their own military service and demonstrate to primary voters that they would not tolerate any impugning of a veteran. (Trump did not impugn McCain, even though the NY Times lied and said he did.)
As telling was the difference between how Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas reacted to Mr. Trump. Both are running aggressively in Iowa and pursuing the sort of conservative voters who are now considering Mr. Trump.
Mr. Walker, who leads in early Iowa polls, had previously resisted criticizing Mr. Trump. But in a sign of how quickly Mr. Trump’s provocation reshaped the expectations of how candidates should treat him, Mr. Walker immediately changed course after Mr. Trump questioned Mr. McCain’s military record. (He did not question McCain’s military record. Another NY Times lie, repeated by Walker, a bad mistake, trusting the NY Times.)
“I unequivocally denounce him,” Mr. Walker said at a campaign stop in Sioux City, Iowa. (He too, must not have heard the actual comment but accepted the NY Times revision of his words as what Trump said, which it certainly was not.)
Mr. Cruz, who poses a threat here on Mr. Walker’s right, was more cautious. He told reporters before his remarks here that Mr. McCain is “an American hero,” but added that he would not “say something bad about Donald Trump.” (He may have been one of the few who actually listened to Trump and heard what he really said.)
Mr. Cruz’s reluctance to confront Mr. Trump was perhaps best explained by the reaction to Mr. Perry’s denunciation: While many in the crowd applauded, the ovation did not last long and nobody in the audience of nearly 3,000 stood to show their approval. (They must have heard Trump correctly.)
“It was not important to me,” said Rose Kendall, an attendee from Burlington, Iowa, of Mr. Trump’s comment on Mr. McCain. “He said that because John McCain talked him down.”
Many Democrats noted that there had been far less opprobrium for Mr. Trump after he began his candidacy in June by saying of Mexican immigrants: “They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime. They’re rapists and some, I assume, are good people.” (All of which is very true of illegals.
Note the NY Times did not say illegal immigrants. This makes the quote a lie. The quote has also been edited and not reported correctly.)
Republicans also treated the businessman more delicately in the 2012 campaign, when Mitt Romney, the party’s nominee, sought and publicly accepted Mr. Trump’s endorsement even after the businessman had questioned whether President Obama was born in the United States. (A question that has never been adequately answered and certainly not proven.)
Speaking to reporters after his turn on stage, Mr. Trump tried to soften (Trump said clarify, NY Times reported he said soften, the meanings are quite different) the remarks, saying that any United States veteran who was a prisoner of war was heroic. He also shifted his comments to assuage (appease, mollify, pacify, placate, NY Times word meanings) veterans, saying that Mr. McCain had failed to address their needs. (Trump has worked to support veterans.)
“I’m with the veterans all the time,” he said. “I consider them heroes.”
Asked about his own military draft status, Mr. Trump, 69, said that he received medical deferments from the Vietnam War because of a bone spur in his foot. Mr. Trump could not recall which foot was afflicted.
Yet Mr. Trump’s awkward and ill-suited remarks about religion and marriage here may have done more damage to his candidacy, at least with Christian conservatives. (The man is too candidly honest about his beliefs and person to be a politician. Unlike politicians, he does not cater to the PC crowd. Also, he’s one of those hated businessmen, a capitalist.)
“I’m a religious person,” Mr. Trump offered. “I go to church. Do I do things that are wrong? I guess so.”
Mr. Trump also struggled to answer if he had ever sought forgiveness from God, before reluctantly acknowledging that he had not. “If I do something wrong, I try to do something right,” he said. “I don’t bring God into that picture.” (If he were a true politician, especially a liberal one, he would never have been so candid admitting that, or any of the admissions that follow. This is quite refreshing in anyone seeking elective office. If he behaved like virtually all politicians, he would have lied and given the PC answer to appease the media. I really like that in him.)
And Mr. Trump raised eyebrows with language rarely heard before an evangelical audience — saying “damn” and “hell” when discussing education and the economy — while also describing the taking of communion in glib terms. “When we go in church and I drink the little wine, which is about the only wine I drink, and I eat the little cracker — I guess that’s a form of asking forgiveness,” Mr. Trump said. (Candid once more. Candid is the opposite of Politically Correct.)
If all that was not enough to roil the button-downed crowd, he also described his three marriages in starkly frank terms, conceding that he had difficulty finding a work-life balance.
“It was a work thing, it wasn’t a bad thing,” Mr. Trump said. “It was very hard for anybody to compete against the work.”
Despite his marital problems over the years, Mr. Trump said that he was always available to his children and that he did his best to have dinner with them on most nights even when his work was grueling. He worked hard, he said, to instill good values and steer them away from drugs, alcohol and cigarettes.
“I was actually a great father,” Mr. Trump said. “I was a better father than I was a husband.”
It was these comments, not his attack on Mr. McCain, that prompted the most muttering and unease in the audience.
“Well, I was turned off at the very start because I didn’t like his language,” Becky Kruse, of Lovilia, Iowa, said of Mr. Trump, not mentioning his comments about Mr. McCain. Ms. Kruse said she likes Mr. Trump’s hard line on immigration and came to the event considering him. “I was not too impressed,” she said, noting Mr. Trump’s comment about not seeking God’s forgiveness. “He sounds like he isn’t really a born-again Christian.” (He said he was a Presbyterian. He never ever professed to be a “born again Christian.”)
Find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via Facebook,Twitter and the First Draft newsletter. (If you can wade through all the BS.)
A version of this article appears in print on July 19, 2015, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: No Hero, Trump Says of McCain, Stirring Outrage. (More lying words by the NY Times.)
A last HJ comment: It’s a sad commentary that Americans get by far the largest portion of their news from the media. For most Americans, the media defines people, events and opinions. Few people bother to check the accuracy of the nightly news or ever hear about the things they deliberately do not mention. I should more accurately say deliberately suppress. I have also noted that apologies and corrections for erroneous front page stories are always buried deep in the bowels of later editions, never given front page status. This is especially true if the correction is beneficial to Republicans, conservatives or any on the right, or detrimental to Democrats, liberals or any on the left.
Letters to the editor, St Augustine Record, July 25, 2015
Threat’s not immigrants, It’s Ann Coulter’s vitriol
Editor: On July 13 Ann Coulter pounded out another inane and vitriolic column against illegal immigrants. Out of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants (more like 20 million) in our country) she managed to select about a dozen alleged murderers, rapists, drug dealers and burglars as proof of the overwhelming crime wave emanating from immigrant people who are not her idea of deserving. (She said illegal immigrant, he did not. Big difference.)
She and Donald Trump may rant and rave about these people. However, I doubt if they have any first-hand knowledge of them and their families: their wishes, anxieties and dreams.
I do!
For the past 12 years, I have worked as a volunteer in a farming community largely populated by Mexican immigrants. (Legal or illegal?) I have literally met thousands of these folks and have gotten to know many families quite well. They are no different from the Italian, German, Irish, Oriental and various religious groups that left (their countries) for a better life. Their kids are as American as apple pie, with the added benefit of a second language. The people I have met are hard-working, honest and family-oriented. I am sure somewhere in their community there are some law breakers. Doesn’t every community have its share?
But the hate-filled paragraphs of Ann Coulter are meant to inflame, not to inform. This column was particularly misleading and mean, covering millions of innocent people with a broad brush of evil. Comparing immigrants to ISIS is the true evil. — Al Moser
(No, it did not compare immigrants to ISIS. It compared illegal immigrants to ISIS. A completely different meaning.)
HJ Note: If Al Moser had been referring to legal immigrants, he may have been right, but Coulter and Trump were referring strictly to illegal immigrants. The actual crime statistics of that group are appalling and well documented. Of course the media hides those facts routinely. But then since illegals saw nothing wrong with breaking the immigration laws to get here, why should they then see anything wrong with breaking other laws they wish to abrogate? What’s an occasional robbery, drug deal, murder or rape anyway? No big deal. They do that all the time in Mexico. (Or Venezuela, or Honduras, or Columbia, or Iraq, or Pakistan etc. etc.) I responded with my own letter to the editor. It was published a few days later.
Editor: On July 25 you published a letter from Al Moser berating Ann Coulter and Donald Trump for their comments about illegal immigrants. About illegal immigrants he said, “They are no different from the Italian, German, Irish, Oriental and various religious groups that left (their countries) for a better life. Their kids are as American as apple Pie.” That’s balderdash. There is one huge, obvious and irreconcilable difference. They are illegal! They are criminals who disobey our laws to get here and stay here. They are clearly scofflaws. The high school kids in California who took down the American flag, stomped on it, and raised the Mexican flag, cursing in Spanish and shouting “Atzlan (most of the southwest, TX, NM. AZ, and CA) is Mexican.” as well as all the members of MECHA, are certainly not, “as American as apple pie.” Sure, there may be some illegal immigrants who might become good American citizens, but they still broke the law to get here. That’s a monstrous insult, a slap in the face to all the legal immigrants like the Italian, German, Irish, Oriental and others including Mexicans and Latin Americans who did obey the law, entered the country legally and applied for citizenship. Ask them what they think of illegal immigrants.
Posted by HoJo at 11:26 PM
