Stink Bombs, Part 2

:)

From Is Birther Donald Trump a Democratic Sleeper Agent? by Robert Schlesinger, March 29, 2011:

But with a GOP primary field composed of professional politicians who know better than to tread beyond winks, nods, and dog-whistles, who benefits the most from a GOP candidate willing to go full birther? With Trump in a presidential debate (the first one will be May 2) making birtherism his signature issue, the rest of the GOP field will be forced to weigh in definitively and either alienate the rabid base (the people who vote in Republican primaries and, according to one recent poll, are majority birther) or risk alienating centrist voters. The Democratic National Committee's opposition research department must be licking their collective chops. They couldn't have invented a better sabotage candidate than Trump: Unserious enough to actually wave the bloody birth certificate, but wealthy and famous enough that he's impossible to ignore.

Now, do I believe that Donald Trump is really a Democratic plant? It's tempting to say that I'm just raising questions about the Donald in the same spirit that he is about the president. But I'd put it this way: This conspiracy theory requires as big a suspension of disbelief as does contemplating President Donald Trump.

Now Birthers' Ranks Plunge: Poll:

(Newser) – A year ago, 20% of Americans thought the president was foreign-born; now, it's half that, a Washington Post poll finds. Surveyed after President Obama released his "long-form" birth certificate, just 10% of Americans now believe he was likely born outside the US. What's more, 70% say he's a Hawaii native, compared to 48% in an April 2010 Post-ABC poll. Overall, 86% say he was born in the US or call that their "best guess," the Post notes.

Meanwhile, among those who hold that he's foreign-born, nearly everyone says it's just their "suspicion." Only 1% see "solid evidence" to support the idea, compared to 9% a year before. The false belief has plummeted most sharply among his opponents; while 31% said he was born abroad last year, just 14% believe it now. Last year, 35% of conservative Republicans thought Obama was born elsewhere; now it's 16%.

Donald Trump made a big splash by jumping into the US Presidential race talking about President Obama's birth certificate.

Then, Obama's team released something that supposedly answers all the questions, and Trump climbed back out of the pool and went his way. The question itself has lost momentum and is being more effectively ridiculed.

Trump set the question up, and Obama's team knocked it down.

Almost as if it were planned that way...?

It is a legitimate question to ask whether someone running for (or serving as) President is actually legally qualified. And, regardless of where you stand on whether Obama is legally qualified, there are other legitimate questions that also need to be asked.

For example, politicians get money from PACs that are associated with foreign organized crime and even terrorist organizations. Then, these politicians push agendas that harm America's interests in the world, but which benefit certain foreign powers, such as Turkey or Kosovo. Shouldn't these policies and shouldn't this financing be questioned?

Now, though, thanks to Trump's maneuver, any question can be ridiculed more effectively by comparing it to the birther issue: questions about 9/11, about why we are supporting Ouattara in Côte d'Ivoire, about what is up in Libya, about how things are going to play out in Egypt and what impact that will have on Israel's security, about our funding for Pakistan when Pakistan is a de facto state sponsor of terrorism... all ridiculous, now. The controlled press in this country, owned by the Donald Trumps of the world, now have even more ammunition to ridicule any inconvenient question raised. Long gone are the days when the press might have pursued something like the Sibel Edmonds case.

"The Donald" - Why did anyone on the Republican side ever take this guy seriously?

Are we so desperate for a leader who will save us that we need to jump at any proffered bait?

Have we, the People of the United States of America, no heroes among ourselves?

The elites offer us the same pathetic choices, and we begin to argue over which of them is better. We argue within our parties, we argue across party lines, about which brand is the best. But all these brands are the same product, made in the same place.

Why do we go along with it all? Conformity?

"The Donald" contributes to political campaigns. And, he does so in a big way.

He gives to both Democrats and Republicans - understandable, so that whoever wins, he has the access that his money buys.

And, when a guy like "The Donald" starts moving money, it comes from a variety of directions, it goes through a variety of channels, and it arrives at a variety of locations. Campaign finance laws are no obstacle; they merely define what kind of a convoluted course the money takes.

Trump Donation to Democratic Senatorial Compaign Committee, Non-Federal, 2002

Trump Donation to Democratic Senatorial Compaign Committee, 2008

Trump Donation to Democrat Senator Harry Reid, 2009

Trump Donation to American Crossroads, 2010

That is why laws in this country are so complicated; politicians put in plenty of loopholes and wiggleroom for their patrons to do exactly as they please. The law only really applies to us little people; and, increasingly, no one even cares if the law is Constitutional.

It should by now be obvious to anyone that Donald Trump is a stink bomb. Who threw him?

:)