Tag: Las Vegas

Last Chance in Vegas: The Final 2016 Presidential Debate (A KJ Analysis)

On By kingsjesterIn PoliticsLeave a comment

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Tonight, the two political candidates who actually have a chance to win the Presidency of the United States of America will participate in one final debate to be held in the city of Las Vegas, Nevada.

This morning, the following assessment of that debate appeared in the Las Vegas Review Journal, written by Ben Botkin…

The final round for Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump will unfold in Las Vegas, a city known for high-stakes wagers.

The third of three presidential debates will be the last chance for either candidate to deliver a knockout blow in front of a large prime-time audience before the Nov. 8 election.

Wednesday’s 90-minute debate at UNLV, if it’s anything like the first two, will be a no-holds-barred event that takes the definition of political blood sport to a new level.

It will give Trump, the Republican nominee, a chance to try turning around his political fortunes, particularly in key battleground states such as Nevada.

It will give Clinton, the Democratic nominee, a chance to further solidify her lead in national polls.

RAUCOUS, WILD EXPECTATIONS

In the second debate, Trump called Clinton the “devil” and warned that a Trump-led White House could lead to her going to jail. Clinton supporters expect more of the same Wednesday.

“The first two debates were just warm-ups for what might be the most raucous and wild debate in American history,” said Jake Thompson, an associate professor and debate coach at UNLV.

Thompson said Trump didn’t appear prepared in the first two debates, and Clinton “faces a very difficult challenge in debating Donald Trump in that he’s an unpredictable candidate to debate against.”

Trump will enter the stage without the support of some prominent GOP leaders who have distanced themselves from the real estate mogul.

“He has adopted a scorched-earth strategy,” said Erik Hertzik, chairman of the political science department at the University of Nevada, Reno. “Unrepentant, in your face, willing to take on anybody, and that includes the elected GOP leadership. He’s gone big-time after (House Speaker) Paul Ryan and the Republican establishment.

“I think he’ll come out guns blazing against Bill Clinton and his infidelity,” Herzik said. “I don’t think that will be very effective.”

It’s an approach that endears Trump to his base of support but runs the risk of alienating undecided voters in Nevada and across the nation, political observers say.

 
“‘I’m going to lock you up’ is an applause line for his base,” Herzik said, referring to Trump’s warning to Clinton that she risks jail if he’s elected. “But for many that watch, this includes Republicans and independents and Democrats, it’s like wait a minute, that’s what third-world countries do.”

Trump’s supporters are confident the debate can showcase their candidate favorably.

Michael McDonald, chairman of the Nevada Republican Party, said the debate moderator, Chris Wallace of Fox News, will ensure the debate is fair.

“There’s a lot at stake here in Nevada,” McDonald said. “I think that both candidates will be at the top of their game. I know for a fact Mr. Trump is preparing.”

McDonald said Trump can prevail in a debate that’s focused on issues, such as national security and bringing jobs to the U.S. rather than on tabloid-style news.

“I think when you get down to it, you either have an intelligent debate or you have a National Enquirer debate,” McDonald said, invoking the name of a tabloid known for salacious news stories.

DEMOCRATS: LOOK FOR SUBSTANCE

Roberta Lange, chairwoman of the Nevada State Democratic Party, said the debate will help build enthusiasm in advance of early voting, which starts Saturday in Nevada.

Clinton will be able to talk about her experience, plans for job creation and immigration reform, Lange said.

“If you want substance,” Lange said, “you should be looking to Hillary Clinton because she will be bringing substance to the floor.”

The debate’s tentative list of topics includes fitness for president, immigration, the economy, debt and entitlements, the Supreme Court and foreign hot spots.

With almost three weeks to go before Election Day, it’s difficult to make predictions.

The election is volatile, and plenty still could happen to turn the tide in either direction, said Barry Jackson, a strategic adviser at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, a national law firm. Jackson’s career includes stints as a director of strategic initiatives in the White House during the George W. Bush administration and chief of staff for Republican former House Speaker John Boehner.

“None of us know how this is going to turn out,” said Jackson.

Jackson plans to participate in a panel discussion in Las Vegas on Thursday after the debate with a colleague at the firm, former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska.

“I think both candidates need to come knowing they’re going after the 10, 12, 13 percent” of voters who are undecided, Begich said.

In Clinton’s case, she needs to show compassion and connect with people, he said. In Trump’s case, the GOP nominee needs to demonstrate substance, he said.

If anything, the debate will be unconventional. Part of that is because Trump isn’t an elected official with a policy record to scrutinize. That leaves reporters with his personal life, business dealings and comments he has made on “The Howard Stern Show” in the 1990s.

HOPE AMONG DEBATERS

The strangeness of the election gives debate professionals hope that future presidential debates — beyond 2016 — will reflect the values of their trade.

“My earnest hope is that this is not the new normal,” Thompson said. “I think that in this election cycle we have a very odd election cycle.”

For a university debate team, competitors are expected to show proper decorum, Thompson said.

“We have rules on my debate team, and those rules call for respecting opponents and treating the institution of debate with respect, and it appears there is a distinct lack of respect between these two candidates,” Thompson said.

Threats to jail Clinton and assertions that the election is rigged all run counter to the American value of a peaceful transition of power, Thompson said.

That doesn’t mean, however, that the solution is to have fewer presidential debates.

“The only way to repudiate claims that the election is rigged or other silliness like that is a strong and ringing endorsement of our democratic traditions,” Thompson said.

Actually, “Perfesser”, we’re a Constitutional Republic.

Evidently, the “Perfesser” has not been paying attention to the news, or else he would see that evidence of planned voter fraud is already showing up in several states.

Also, about that “proper decorum” thingy…

The “Perfesser” must not have been watching the Vice-Presidential Debate in 2012, When “Crazy Uncle” Joe Biden acted like a madman, talking over Paul Ryan and showing his posterior for the entire debate.

Also, “Perfesser”, is it proper decorum to have someone associated with your “Foundation” come forward after 30 years to accuse your opponent of “improper sexual behavior”?

But, I digress…

This election has boiled down to a choice between The Queen of Mean, Hillary Clinton, the wife of a Former President, who believes that she MUST be elected President, simply because it is HER TURN and Donald J. Trump, an American Entrepreneur, Billionaire, and Citizen Statesman, who genuinely LOVES America and her people, instead of viewing us all as racist, misogynist, xenophobes.

And, therein lies the secret of Donald J. Trump’s successful campaign for the Republican Presidential Nomination and, despite what the Democrat-weighted national polls say, being a hair’s breath away from becoming President of the United States of America.

What Trump did, with his refusal earlier in the campaign to “act more presidential”, was to implement a strategy.

Trump has always been a “people person”.

That is the reason that, when he was still a contributor to Fox News, he would speak to everyone in the building, from the maintenance crew, on up the ladder.

As Sam Walton, the Founder of Walmart, knew, you don’t inspire people by acting imperious and above it all.

“Mr. Sam”, until his health would no longer allow him to do so, would travel to Walmart Stores in his old pickup truck, with a tie and a baseball cap on, visiting the employees, in order to find out how his stores were doing.

He knew that the only was to be successful and to stay in touch with the public, was to be out among them, and speak to them honestly and directly, as one would speak to a friend.

The Political Establishment, of both parties, lost that concept, a long time ago.

Bypassing the borders to communication, historically determined by both political parties and the Main Stream Media, is a concept which I first witnessed being employed by a Presidential Candidate in the 1980 Presidential Election, named Ronald Wilson Reagan.

While I am not comparing the two, I am noting that this strategy has proved and is proving effective, in the case of both Presidential Candidates.

As the polls show, and will continue to show, Trump has struck a resonant chord in the hearts of Average Americans, living here in the part of America, which the snobbish Political Elites refer to as “Flyover Country”, but which we refer to as “America’s Heartland”, or, quite simply, “HOME”.

Why is Donald J. Trump so popular with average Americans?

The reason is very simple: WE’RE ANGRY.

Our palpable anger is one which has been building since January of 2009, when a Lightweight, who has as much in common with average Americans as a Martian would, was inaugurated as President of the United States of America.

That anger, a result of his anti-American actions and resulting policies, which have affected Americans’ daily lives, has been exacerbated by the Republican Elite, who, in their desire to “reach across the aisle” and “go along to get along”, have distanced themselves from those who elected them to Congress in the first place.

Meanwhile, average Americans, like you and me, remain mired up to our necks in an abysmal swamp of bills and taxes, living paycheck-to-paycheck, afraid to make a move, for fearing of drowning in an ocean of debt.

Seemingly forgotten, in all of the forgotten promises, made by Barack Hussein Obama, are the almost 95 million Americans, who are no longer, largely through no fault of their own, participating in our Workforce.

You want to talk about anger and frustration?

Try looking for work, when you are over 55 years of age.

Anger has played an important part in the forging of this great country, which will be lucky to survive Obama’s final year in office.

It was anger that formed our country….an anger over being held captive to “Taxation Without Representation”…an anger which, as a prime example of history repeating itself, Americans are experiencing, even as I type this blog.

It is this anger, which has propelled Donald J. Trump to this moment…and those who prefer the Washingtonian Status Quo know it.

That is why the Republican Establishment, at least some of them, have hitched a ride on “The Trump Train”.

If they had not accepted the reality of his Primary Victory, and the fact that Americans are angry, they would have gone down to defeat again in 2016.

They would have never achieved victory by once again trying to push the Jello of “Liberal Moderation” up a hill.

Hence, the failed campaign of Jeb! Bush.

In summation, the American people are tired of Political Correctness and anti-American political expediencies being forced down our throats by both political parties and trumpeted by their lackeys in the Main Stream Media.

Donald Trump, for all of his brashness and braggadocio, is a breath of free air and, quite frankly an anomaly. He’s not a professional politician. He is a businessman who wants to become a public servant.

Does Donald J. Trump need to “tone it down” in this Final Debate, in terms of speaking “truth to power”?

Judging from the water cooler talk here in Realityville, after he cleaned Hillary’s clock in the last debate , NO.

Only if he wants to sound like a Professional Politician.

The stark reality is the fact that the reason that he will once again take the National Stage in a Presidential Debate tonight is that Americans have had our fill of Professional Politicians, their aloofness, failed promises, and their poor performance in office.

Just like Hillary Clinton’s.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Middle East American Embassies Attacked. Obama Heads to Vegas.

On By kingsjesterIn Politics3 Comments

Americans are in danger in the Middle East…and Obama has voted “Present”…again.

WTOP.com has the story:

Intelligence experts and U.S. government officials are starting to view the attack in Libya that killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others in Benghazi as a coordinated attack.

Congressman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., went as far Wednesday to say the attack had all the hallmarks of al-Qaida.

“This was a coordinated attack, more of a commando style event. It had both coordinated fire, direct fire, indirect fire,” Rogers said following an intelligence briefing on Capitol Hill.

Other sources, including officials at the Pentagon and the State Department, are also discussing the possibility that it was a planned operation, and some say several developments support the possibility.

The incident does not appear to be a random mob scene, but rather an opportunity that militants seized, sources say. The attackers used a rocket-propelled grenade, a weapon not traditionally carried by protesters, but commonly used by terrorists.

The attack is believed to have come in two waves. The first wave got inside of the compound, and a second wave penetrated a secure location inside the building. This development raises questions about how the attackers knew the location of that secure facility, sources say.

They also knew that Obama had outsourced the security of the Embassy to Libya. That worked out well, didn’t it? Well, better late than never, I guess:

WSJ.com reports that:

The U.S. responded to the assault by dispatching two Navy destroyers, dozens of Marines, federal investigators and intelligence assets to Libya to protect Americans and help hunt the suspected religious extremists who carried out the attack late Tuesday.

And, as I write this post, news comes of more unrest outside the Egyptian Embassy:

Egyptian security forces have used tear gas on a raging crowd of demonstrators near the US Embassy in Cairo. Several dozen people have reportedly been injured as the police dispersed the stone-throwing demonstrators.

Riot police have managed to push a group of several hundred protesters back in Cairo’s side streets near the embassy.­

Some of the protesters have been injured, state news agency MENA reported, giving no further details. Witnesses reporting the incident on Twitter said as many as several dozen people may have been injured.

The incident comes just a day after some 2,000 demonstrators gathered around the US embassy, while a group of the most conservative protesters tore down the American flag and replaced it with a black banner bearing the traditional Islamic message, “There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is His Prophet.”

Four participants in Tuesday’s demonstration who had climbed the wall of the embassy were arrested and transferred to the prosecutor’s office. Police are still looking for others involved in the incident.

“Arab Spring” is in full bloom. How absolutely lovely:

The American embassies in Algeria and Tunisia warned of more protests Wednesday, following attacks by protesters in neighboring Libya in which the U.S. ambassador and three embassy staff were killed.

Ambassador Chris Stevens and the three other Americans died in an attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi by armed protesters angry over a film by a California filmmaker that ridiculed Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.

In an emergency message, the embassy in Tunis warned Americans to avoid crowded places, saying that even gatherings “intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence.” The embassy in Algiers had similar advice.

The Algiers embassy said unspecified groups were using online social networks to organize demonstrations “to protest a range of issues” there Wednesday. The statement out of Tunis cited “media reports” indicating protests were planned, but said the embassy remained open.

So, what did the Leader of the Free World have to say Wednesday morning, before he jetted to Las Vegas for a Campaign Fundraiser? I’ll give you a clue: It was positively…uninspiring:

Every day all across the world, American diplomats and civilians work tirelessly to advance the interests and values of our nation. Often, they are away from their families. Sometimes, they brave great danger.

Yesterday, four of these extraordinary Americans were killed in an attack on our diplomatic post in Benghazi. Among those killed was our ambassador, Chris Stevens, as well as Foreign Service Officer Sean Smith. We are still notifying the families of the others who were killed.

And today, the American people stand united in holding the families of the four Americans in our thoughts and in our prayers.

The United States condemns in the strongest terms this outrageous and shocking attack. We’re working with the government of Libya to secure our diplomats. I’ve also directed my administration to increase our security at diplomatic posts around the world. And make no mistake, we will work with the Libyan government to bring to justice the killers who attacked our people.

Since our founding, the United States has been a nation that respects all faiths. We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others.

But there is absolutely no justification for this type of senseless violence. None. The world must stand together to unequivocally reject these brutal acts. Already many Libyans have joined us in doing so, and this attack will not break the bonds between the United States and Libya. Libyan security personnel fought back against the attackers alongside Americans. Libyans helped some of our diplomats find safety, and they carried Ambassador Stevens’ body to the hospital, where we tragically learned that he had died.

Campare and contrast that to Republican Presidential Candidate, Mitt Romney, who, by the way, has supposed to have been receiving daily foreign intelligence breifings from the White House, but has not.

I’ll hand it to Mitt. He acted more like a U.S. President than Obama did:

Americans woke up this morning with tragic news and felt heavy hearts as they considered that individuals who have served in our diplomatic corps were brutally murdered across the world.

This attack on American individuals and embassies is outrageous. It’s disgusting. It breaks the hearts of all of us to think of these people who have served during their lives because of freedom and justice and honor.

We mourn their loss and joined together in prayer that the spirit of the almighty might comfort the families of those who have been so brutally slain. Four diplomats lost their life including the US ambassador. And, of course, with these words, I extend my condolences to the grieving loved ones who have been left behind as a result of these who have lost their lives in the service of our nation and I know that the people across America are grateful for their service and we mourned their sacrifice.

America will not tolerate attacks against our citizens and against our embassies. We will defend also our constitutional rights of speech and assembly and religion.

We have confidence in our clause…in America. We respect our constitution. We stand for the principles our constitution protects.

Regarding our present CIC, who, as I write this post,  is either chowing down on Wagu Beef and arugula, or rolling craps at his fundraiser in Vegas…

Former Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin nails him to the wall…again:

It’s about time our president stood up for America and condemned these Islamic extremists. I realize there must be a lot on his mind these days – what with our economy’s abysmal jobless numbers and Moody’s new warning about yet another downgrade to our nation’s credit rating due to the current administration’s failure to come up with a credible deficit reduction plan. And, of course, he has a busy schedule – with all those rounds of golf, softball interviews with the “Pimp with the Limp,” and fundraising dinners with his corporate cronies. But our nation’s security should be of utmost importance to our Commander-in-chief. America can’t afford any more “leading from behind” in such a dangerous world. We already know that President Obama likes to “speak softly” to our enemies. If he doesn’t have a “big stick” to carry, maybe it’s time for him to grow one.

Ouch. That’s gonna leave a mark.

This malignant tumor overtaking the Middle East, known as “Arab Spring”, is the fault of one President Barack Hussein Obama, and his hench-woman, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. 

Their lack of spines and their quest to appease the Muslim Brotherhood, has brought us full circle, back to a Foreign Policy situation eerily similar to 1979.

God help us.

Moochelle’s Vegas Trip: Let Them Eat Arugula!

On By kingsjesterIn Uncategorized4 Comments

President Barack Hussein Obama has had a testy relationship with Las Vegas during the three years of his reign…err…presidency.

Boston .com has the story:

President Barack Obama has a Sin City problem that won’t go away.

Obama is counting on Nevada’s support for re-election next year. He easily won the Las Vegas Valley in 2008 and will probably win the largely Democratic, urban center again next year.

But some Nevada state officials and residents of this economically ravaged state have been fuming over comments they perceived as rants against the tourism industry since he first made them two years ago, and Republicans are hoping that fury will point voters in their direction.

The friction resurfaced as Obama visited a Las Vegas neighborhood Monday as part of a nationwide tour to sell his jobs plan. The stop came as Republican presidential candidates, business titans and former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman maintain that Obama has twice disparaged Las Vegas tourism — this Western swing state’s largest employer.

The jabs are notable because casino-dependent Nevada has the highest unemployment rate in the nation, and Obama can’t afford to have voters blame him as his Republican rivals try to convince the nation that they would do a better job of turning the stalled economy around. Nevada’s unemployment remained steady at 13.4 percent last month.

“He said it more than once,” said former Nevada Gov. Bob List, a national Republican committeeman. “You can’t un-ring the bell. You have to live with what you say. It just shows a lack of understanding of the engine that drives the state.”

The feud began in 2009, when Obama admonished corporations using federal bailout money: “You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer’s dime.” A year later, Obama warned families against gambling away college tuition: “You don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.”

The call for financial responsibility didn’t sit well with some Las Vegans, and Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Nevada all lashed back at the time. Even Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Obama’s most prominent ally in Congress and Nevada’s senior senator, told Obama to “lay off Las Vegas.”

With Obama campaigning for a second term, the president’s critics are eager to call the outcry to mind.

“Perception is reality,” said Republican Rep. Joe Heck, who represents southern Nevada. “After those statements were made, we had conventions call and pull out, so it did in fact cost Las Vegas business.”

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who won Nevada’s caucuses in 2008, pointed to Obama’s Vegas statements while campaigning here last week. He reminded voters of them in a statement sent out before Obama landed in Nevada Monday.

“My guess is it did not help when he talked down Las Vegas as a convention city, did it?” Romney told dozens of supporters gathered at his campaign headquarters in Las Vegas last week.

Obama tried to make amends Monday during a fundraiser with business leaders at the Bellagio casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

“I love coming to Vegas,” he said. “The only people who love coming more is my staff. I would not be surprised if some of them missed the plane accidentally.”

But the president did not allude to the tensions when he later spoke on a residential street in Las Vegas. In all, he spent only three hours in Nevada Monday.

Amanda Hulsizer, 31, said she appreciated that Obama stopped by her street, but she said he hadn’t completely redeemed himself for his earlier comments.

“You don’t only blow money in Las Vegas, you can just as easily blow money in California at Disneyland,” she said after the president’s speech. Her husband lost his job on the Las Vegas Strip.

Las Vegas saw 3.3 million visitors in August, 2.8 percent more than the same month last year, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. But gambling revenues were down 6.7 percent for the same period in Clark County, home to the glittering Las Vegas Strip and the vast majority of Nevadans.

Just like his promises, it seems that all of Obama’s opinions come with an expiration date, also.

ABCnews.go reports that.

It’s spring break for the Obama daughters and mom has taken them West for the week. Michelle Obama and her daughters visited Mount Rushmore Wednesday to see the monument where four U.S. presidents are immortalized in stone on the soaring mountainside.

Now the Obamas have arrived in Las Vegas for a private family visit.

At the depths of the recession, President Obama seemed to disparage Las Vegas visits, at one point warning hard-pressed Americans, “You don’t blow a bunch of cash in Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.”

There is lingering dismay in the Las Vegas travel and tourism industry but, during the political campaign, Obama has been a frequent visitor on official and political trips to the swing state of Nevada.

The first lady’s private schedule with Sasha and Malia in Las Vegas is short. They travel on to California for publicly announced events, including a San Francisco political fundraiser Friday, the Saturday commissioning of a new Coast Guard ship in Alameda, and then a chance to meet music sensation Taylor Swift.

Michelle Obama is to present Swift with an award at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards in Los Angeles.

Bless Taylor Swift’s big ol’ Christian heart.  I know she’ll be gracious in accepting the award from Moochelle.

“You can’t go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayer’s dime.”

The president told corporations that they couldn’t…but, evidently, it’s okay if his family does.