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No Longer A Laughing Matter
ast year at this time the
prospect of Donald Trump becoming President of the United States seemed about as realistic as David Duke being selected as Louis Far- rakhan's replacement over the Nation of Islam. Today though, as much as it pains me to admit, that idea no longer seems so far-fetched.
This is mainly due to the fact that Hillary Clinton can't seem to get out of her own way. Somehow she's managed to turn what was supposed to be a cakewalk victory into the toughest competition of her life.
Her main problem appears to be her inability to capitalize off of Trump's continuous slip ups. Every time he places his head inside of a noose she al- lows him to wriggle free while
taking his place in the process. From the email scandal she can't get away from, to the ill- advised comments she keeps making about segments of the voting population and the questions that continue to sur- face concerning her health, Clinton has made it a habit of steadily giving Trump ammu- nition to use against her. And, like in any big fight, when the clear favorite lets the underdog hang around too long there's always the potential for a huge
upset.
Clinton's path to the
White House wasn't suppose to be this difficult. Beating an ob- noxious, racist, pompous-ass, who has suspicious ties to a Communist dictator, should have been easy.
The former madam secre- tary couldn't have handpicked
a more ideal opponent if she was granted three wishes by a genie. But, ironically, she comes off as incapable of tak- ing advantage of the opportu- nity.
With the election just a lit- tle more than a month and a half away, it's still hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that she's blowing it this badly. I mean Trump has done everything he can to give her the most powerful seat in the world gift wrapped. Unfor- tunately, she hasn't shown that she possesses enough strength to pick it up.
There was a time when the idea of "The Donald" being referred to as "Mr. President" was nothing more than a bad Saturday Night Live Joke. But, now that this freak show has gained some momentum and is coming closer to becom- ing a possible reality, I'm be- ginning to realize more and more that the end result we're facing could never be any less funny.
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Health And A Powerful Presidency
hen Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton coughed
and stumbled during her attendance at a recent 9-11 memorial ceremony and was later diagnosed with walking- pneumonia many onlookers worried.
So, we decided to review the health records of some of our nation’s past presidents. You would be amazed at what we found.
Let’s begin with Andrew Jackson, America’s 7th president who suffered from rotting teeth, chronic headaches, failing eyesight and bleeding lungs as well as an infection from bul- let wounds received from two separate pistol duels.
Then recall Woodrow Wilson, who suffered from a series of strokes, causing blindness in his left eye, paralysis on his left side and forced him to serve his remaining presidential years in a wheelchair.
But perhaps most secretive was Franklin Delano Roo- sevelt whose bout with polio resulted in total paralysis of both his legs.
Let’s also mention John F. Kennedy, picture of youth and vitality, who suffered from life-threatening Addison’s dis- ease, which caused him to develop a serious drug addiction.
Pres. Kennedy’s maladies could be followed by President Ronald Reagan (oldest man to seek presidential office) who struggled with prostate cancer, skin cancer, joint disease and ultimately Alzheimer’s disease. And they weren’t the only ones.
Lincoln suffered from deep depression, Harding spent time in a sanitarium, and Dwight David Eisenhower had Crohn’s disease.
So, why don’t we know this part of history? The answer is simple. Times have changed. Transparency is now the norm. However, if health had been the deciding factor, more than half of America’s presidents would never have taken office. So what if Hillary coughed?
The National Museum Of African- American History And Culture: Telling America’s Story
BY MARC H. MORIAL President and CEO National Urban League
“It is the purpose of the Na- tional Memorial Association; to erect a beautiful building suit- able to depict the [N]egro’s con- tribution to America in the military service, in art, litera- ture, invention, science, indus- try, ect.—fitting tribute to the Negro’s contributions and achievements, and which would serve as an educational center giving inspiration and pride to the present and future genera- tions that they may be inspired to follow the examples of those who have aided in the advance- ment of the race and Na- tion..” — National Memorial Association, 1915
t has taken over a century,
but African-American his- tory will at long last occupy a permanent and prominent space in our nation’s capital.
What has now manifested into a museum occupying five- acres of land on the National Mall, was originally envisioned as a memorial meant to recog- nize African-American contribu-
tions in our nation’s history.
In 1915, a group of Black Civil War veterans collected money and created a movement to support the creation of a na- tional “Negro Memorial.” Pres- ident Calvin Coolidge signed legislation establishing a com- mission to plan its construction — with Congress refusing to fi- nance the project. The Great De- pression, new national priorities, inevitable political ob- struction and fading interests, stalled the project for genera- tions, but on September 24, the once deferred dream of African- American war veterans will be- come a reality that makes its home mere steps away from the Washington Monument. Commissioned to share the painful history and, oftentimes, unsteady progress of Black men and women on American soil, the mandate of the National Museum of African American History and Culture goes be- yond carving out a niche for Black history within America’s grander history, or mainstream-
ing the Black experience. Through its 11 inaugural gal- leries, visitors will experience African-American history from
slavery’s Middle Passage, to the election of our nation’s first Black president, to the police vi- olence and racial unrest that has given rise to the Black Lives Matter movement.
But rather than act as a warehouse of “firsts” and a cat- aloger of the challenges the Black community has faced, the museum—devoted exclusively to the African-American experi- ence—will become an active par- ticipant and voice in our nation’s ongoing conversation and un- derstanding of our unique American experiment and expe- rience.
NMAAHC is a museum that “seeks to understand American history through the lens of the African-American experience,” or as Lonnie Bunch, the founding director of NMAAHC describes it:
The defining experience of African-American life has been the necessity of making a way out of no way, of mustering the nimbleness, ingenuity and per- severance to establish a place in this society. That effort, over the centuries, has shaped this na- tion’s history so profoundly that, in many ways, African-Ameri- can history is the quintessential American history. Most of the moments where American lib- erty has been expanded have been tied to the African-Ameri- can experience. If you’re inter- ested in American notions of freedom, if you’re interested in the broadening of fairness, op- portunity and citizenship, then regardless of who you are, this is your story, too.
Trump And Clinton: The Science Of Lying
umerous social psychology research studies indicate
that “people lie, and lie often.” According to the Har- vard Business Review, “people tell, on average, one or two lies every day.”
Half of people who are negotiators lie when making deals. Guess what, while many of us assume that we can tell when someone is lying, another study found that “people can cor- rectly identify whether someone is telling a lie only 54% of the time . . . not much better odds than a coin flip.” So, when considering how Donald Trump criticizes Hillary Clinton’s lies and compares how many lies they both tell, we consulted PolitiFact’ “truth-O-Meter” scorecards.
Scorecards show Trump has made 132 false statements (lies) compared to Clinton’s 33 false statements.
To the contrary, Trump has made only 37 true and mostly true statements compared to 125 true and mostly true state- ments made by Hillary.
When we also compare each candidate’s transparency, Trump has refused to release his personal income tax re- turns and his foundation’s tax returns, while Clinton has re- leased both returns.
Therefore, who truly acts like they are hiding something? Could Trump be hiding business income gained from Russian or other non-friendly nations? Could they show how he used tax loopholes to avoid paying taxes (placing goats on a golf course in New Jersey to qualify for farmland tax relief)?
Yes, it is sad that voters have to choose between who tells the most lies and who has been the most transparent with information on their taxes and foundation reports.
Consequently, when you consider that research shows 60 % of Americans lie (B. B. King says, “Everybody lies a little!”) every ten minutes, Trump and Clinton are in good American company of liars. However, maybe they need to consult the philosophy of actor Ossie Davis’ Purlie Victorious who said, “I ain’t never told a lie I didn’t mean to make come true, some day.”
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