Last Best News (https://montana-mint.com/lastbestnews/tag/donald-trump/page/7/)
A spokesman for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign defended his statement on Monday that Hillary Clinton “lacks the mental and physical stamina to take on ISIS” by saying that Trump was referring to policy differences. “Mental and physical stamina” is a synonym for “policy”? OK, I thought: It is official. Words no longer mean anything at all. It’s kind of a relief. Continue Reading →
New York magazine has an infernally long but rewarding story about everything wrong with the media today. Based on interviews with more than 40 journalists, the article gives 53 reasons, with examples, of how the media screw up. If you are insufficiently depressed, it’s worth a look. Even if you aren’t, you might take a moment to skip down to No. 29, under the heading “Whoever the subject, the press can be cruel.” Marin Cogan describes traveling to Montana to interview former Gov. Brian Schweitzer, then a bit of a national media darling with possible presidential aspirations. Continue Reading →
In a rare act of political courage, or of political opportunism, U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., became an early and strong supporter of Donald Trump. Initially, this required ignoring or explaining away Trump’s assertion that John McCain was no war hero and the accompanying implication that prisoners of war in general are losers unworthy of our admiration. Now it requires that Zinke somehow excuse Trump’s attack on a Muslim family who spoke at the Democratic National Convention about their son, a U.S. soldier who died an undeniably heroic death fighting in Iraq. In a guest column in Saturday’s Billings Gazette, Zinke tried to get over the hurdle by accusing Trump’s presidential opponent, Hillary Clinton, of equally reprehensible behavior. He wrote: “Both of our candidates for president have picked fights with and said extremely regrettable things to the families of service members who paid the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our great nation. Continue Reading →
After spending the Republican National Convention in Texas, I can’t shake the feeling that the whole thing happened there. That is, of course, ridiculous. The convention was in Cleveland, Ohio, not Cleveland, Texas. (more…) Continue Reading →
Over the past months there have been numerous opinions by those in the know about why Donald Trump will be not successful in the primaries and, then, not successful in the presidential race. If the track record of these pundits is anything to go by, Trump has an excellent shot at winning the presidency. (more…) Continue Reading →
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the Supreme Court justice known to her fans as the Notorious RBG, has apologized to Donald Trump. He apologizes to no one. According to news reports, Ginsburg, 83, called Trump a “faker” and admonished him for failing to release his tax returns. She also said this to the New York Times: “I can’t imagine what this place would be—I can’t imagine what the country would be—with Donald Trump as our president. For the country, it could be four years. Continue Reading →
On this Fourth of July, let’s count our blessings by reading a truly funny piece of work from Robert Kirby, a columnist for The Salt Lake Tribune. One blessing is freedom of speech, which gave a couple of out-of-staters staying in a Butte hotel the right to display their monumental jackassery, to demonstrate the essence of what it is to be a supporter of Donald Trump. That same freedom allowed our columnist, who “sensed an opportunity to make things worse,” to directly confront the Trumpsters and expose them for the mindless bigots they were. There is also freedom of the press, which allowed the Tribune to publish Kirby’s column. And now we all have the freedom to laugh (this right has more to do with the Declaration of Independence than the Constitution, but hey, it’s the Fourth of July) at Kirby’s brilliance. Continue Reading →
Former Montana Gov. Marc Racicot, also the former chairman of the Republican National Committee, is making waves for his anti-Trump op-ed in the Washington Post. The piece is interesting both for what it says and what it does not say. For starters, it is full of the kind of grandiloquent Hallmarkian sentiments Racicot was known for when he was governor. (more…) Continue Reading →
The recent vote in the United Kingdom to leave the European Union has sent economic shock waves around the world. UK Prime Minister David Cameron did not have to hold a referendum on Britain’s staying in the EU, but he thought people would vote to stay and thus give public approval to the partnership. (more…) Continue Reading →
I wrote a couple of weeks ago about how cities like Billings seem to be islands of optimism and innovation in a sea of political dysfunction and pessimism. Recently—better late than never—I finally got around to reading a similar argument, made by James Fallows in the March issue of The Atlantic. It was similar only in terms of some of Fallows’ conclusions. His lengthy piece, unlike my column, involved a good number of case studies, actual statistics and lots of good reporting. (more…) Continue Reading →
