Mark Rubin

Superman aka Trump: Got it All Covered!

July 23, 2016
Mark Rubin

More than 55 years ago President John F. Kennedy offered these words near the end of his inaugural address:

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

And on July 21, 2016, Superman aka DJT (Donald J. Trump) told us he’s got it all covered.

My, how we will have fallen if we elect Mr. Trump. Leave aside Mr. Trump’s dystopic, fear-filled picture of the world. Ignore his ignorance and lack of interest in governance and policy. Forget about the

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Hillary Clinton. Not Lesser. Not Evil.

July 17, 2016
Mark Rubin

[Note: This post has been percolating for days. Thanks to RF for noting that he is tired of the lesser of two evils narrative as it relates to Hillary Clinton, which brought the thoughts together.]

Last week the Curator mentioned Understanding Hillary: Why the Clinton America Sees Isn’t the Clinton Colleagues Know, written by Ezra Klein for Vox on July 11. I read the piece with interest, for I have friends who know Hillary Clinton very well. They report on her warmth, kindness, and smarts. But for smarts, these attributes do not appear readily for those of us who only know the public woman.

Mr. Klein focuses on Mrs. Clinton’s skills, and, in particular, her ability to listen. Listening

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Emails and Hillary Clinton / Put a Fork in This One!

July 7, 2016
Mark Rubin

Hillary Clinton served as the U.S. Secretary of State from January 21, 2009 through February 1, 2013. She has not been the Secretary of State for 1252 days. That is a few days more than 40 months. Using a private server to send and receive emails was not a secret during her four years in office. It’s also been a known fact since then to many, many people. Time to put a fork in this one!

I offer the foregoing facts because I can’t get my mind around the notion that open and obvious acts—taken over years, and years ago—support a prosecution. That challenge raises two issues for me. First, what is the purpose associated with criminal laws? Second,

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Who Is He? Nate Silver … More

July 2, 2016
Mark Rubin

So I posted Who Is He? Nate Silver on Thursday, June 30. In it I included this paragraph:

FiveThirtyEight.com posted its first general election analysis, Who Will Win the Presidency?, within the last couple of days. It says Hillary Clinton, has a 79.2% chance of winning. Unpacking this analysis matters. First, a 79.2% chance of winning does not mean Ms. Clinton will win 79.2% of the votes. Rather, it means an election, held 100 times, would see Ms. Clinton winning about 80 times.

On July 1, in the evening, regular reader SC wrote me privately—for sure, because he didn’t want to embarrass me—about my statement. Paraphrasing his several words, he wrote “Wrong!” And, after checking in with my

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Nuance, Complexity, and Not Being F*cking Stupid

June 26, 2016
Mark Rubin

We focus on nuance and complexity and not being f*cking stupid today. During the 2004 U.S. Presidential election campaign then Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) used the word nuance to describe his position on the Iraq War. Bad move. No President John Kerry … although it turns out Secretary Kerry got much closer to the right position—blah, blah, blah, flip flop, blah, blah—on Iraq than President George W. Bush. (With a snicker, on several occasions President Bush said “We don’t do nuance in Texas.” Right-O, Mister President.)

NPR reported on Friday that two most asked questions on Google in the United Kingdom, after Brexit prevailed, were:

What does it mean to leave the EU? And

What is

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Guest Blogger Steve Caine: Ms. Clinton v. Mr. Trump

June 24, 2016
Mark Rubin

 

Ms. ClintonMr. Trump

The pundits say: Trump is imploding, Democrats are gleeful, and Republicans are in panic mode. I hate to throw cold water on those rosy / dire predictions but over-confidence can have very negative consequences. If you want a Democrat in the White House next year be wary and focused.

In Part 1 of this two-parter I said this election cycle most brings to mind 1980. I’m not predicting a similar outcome, but I am concerned. (For young people, in 1980 President Jimmy Carter ran against former California governor Ronald Reagan in the general election.) And I’m still focused on 1980!

Donald J. Trump and Ronald Reagan differ in important ways: Mr. Reagan had been a two- term governor, with

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Judge Gonzalo Curiel and Donald J. Trump

June 6, 2016
Mark Rubin

Donald J. Trump has taken out after U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who happens to be the judge in Low, et al. v. Trump University, LLC, et al. and Cohen v. Donald J. Trump. The basic facts, for anyone who hasn’t been following the situation, are laid out well in Why Is Donald Trump So Angry at Judge Gonzalo Curiel?, written for The Atlantic on June 3, 2015 by Matt Ford.

Mr. Trump is a jackass, going after the judge in his case in public while it’s pending. Judge Curiel holds a lifetime appointment. The case is his, unless he recuses or gets disqualified. And about federal judges, there’s an old joke: What’s the difference between G-d

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