Random Friday Thoughts. Iowa Debate. Trump Veterans Show, Iowa Caucus, Flint Water - New Video of the Week Feature

Debate Moderators

Iowa Debate:  I hate to admit this but I missed most of it.  Not because Trump wasn't there but because I was at my daughter's volleyball practice.  I heard about an hour and I've seen a lot of clips.  It seems like Ted Cruz missed Trump the most.  He got a feel of what it's like to be in the hot seat as the frontrunner.   I love what Fox did in playing clips of the candidates taking positions that are polar opposites of their current positions and asking them to explain.   Most debates don't do this because the candidates negotiate that out, but kudos to Fox.  I have a suspicion that the real reason Trump did not attend the debate is that somebody at Fox tipped him off to the format.  Can you imagine with all the crazy stuff he has said?   I heard someone on television say it was like the bully was on vacation and everybody felt it was safe to come outside and  play.  That's certainly what it looked like.  Jeb Bush was a different person without Trump there to beat up on him.   Rubio and Rand Paul both had what by far were their best debates of the campaign.   Everybody except Cruz should hope that Trump skips all the debates.

Trump Veteran's Show:  I'll give Donald Trump one thing, he has balls.  To skip the last debate

before the Iowa caucuses is risky, although I agree with Trump in that I don't think there's anything he can do to lose most of his supporters.  Anyone who is supporting Donald Trump isn't going to be swayed by him discussing policy, he hasn't talked specific policy during his entire campaign.   In lieu of debating Donald decided to throw a benefit for veterans that he claims raised $6 million.   This will be interesting if anyone decides to do some real reporting.  I've been involved in a few fundraisers and anyone who has will tell you getting pledges is the easy part.  The hard work is in collecting those pledges and making sure the money gets distributed where it's supposed to.   Organizations who raise money every year, like the American Red Cross, have issues with this.  If Donald Trump can prove that he actually collected $6 million and most of it ended up helping veterans, I would be shocked.  This event was put together in 24 hours.  There is no way he could have set up a 501 3c tax deductible charitable organization in 24 hours so the contributions will not be tax deductible.   That might not matter to Donald with his $1 million dollar pledge, but my guess is to some of the other pledgees it might.  I do think it was a politically brilliant move.  But it does bring to mind the issue of wealth inequality in our company.  Trump raised $6 million with 24 hours planning while 8,000 kids in Flint Michigan under the age of 6 drank poisonous water to save $36,500 a year.   What were those people doing with that extra $6 million last week?  Why hadn't they already thought of donating that money to veterans' groups or other good causes; cancer research, a cure for AIDS, autism, clean water in Flint?  All in all, a great move for Trump.

Iowa Caucus:   I talk about this every week, and the only thing that has changed this week is I think Bernie is running out of steam.   Unless something happens over the weekend, I think Hillary will win in Iowa on the Democratic side.   At least that's what the polling indicates.   I think Team Clinton's aggressive attacks on Bernie this week have had an effect.  I don't mean Hillary herself, but her surrogates on the ground and in the media.   There has definitely been an increase of negative press on Bernie this week, and if you don't think it was being fueled by Clinton surrogates then you just don't know the Clintons.  This race has been stacked against Sanders from the beginning, from DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz's limited debate schedule with horrible time slots to lining up superdelegates for Clinton before the first debate, the Democratic National Committee has been little more than a Clinton SuperPac in the Democratic Primary.  It appears that although Sanders has certainly fought the good fight and brought Hillary a little to the left, he will come up short in Iowa.  If he does that's probably the end of any legitimate chance he has to win the nomination.  To date Sanders has declined to go negative on Clinton, it will be interesting to see if he continues to keep it clean when he's staring at defeat on Monday.

On the GOP side, I think Ted Cruz was right in the debate last night.  If Trump wins I don't think there is any way the GOP can stop him from getting the nomination.  And I'm pretty sure he wins Monday night.  Something to think about for the GOP; if Trump or Cruz dropped out of the race I'm almost certain most of their voters would go to the other candidate.  That means something like 60 to 70 percent of Republicans who are being polled in these primary races prefer a buffoon who refuses to discuss specific policy or a guy that virtually everybody in the Republican Party hates.   What does that say about the future of the party?  None of the guys who are supposed to be "legitimate" threats to win the nomination (Rubio, Jeb, Christie), seem to have a chance.  On a personal note, I was glad to see Proof of Life for Ben Carson last night.  I really was worried about him, lol.  

Flint Water:  It's clear now that somebody needs to go to prison behind this colossal foul up.  The latest thing I read this week was that Michigan state officials actually sent clean water to a building with state employees in Flint in January 2015, well before they admitted to the Flint Residents that there was anything wrong with the water.   How Governor Snyder can remain in office in good conscience baffles me.  I think if the Governor really wants to show that he understands the seriousness of the situation in Flint that he should move his office and live in Flint until the water is drinkable again.   That would be leadership.    I won't hold my breath.   I'm still waiting to see what the Federal government will do to make this situation right, and that includes President Obama.   This did occur on his watch.

Video of the Week:  Rachel Maddow shows pipes from a house in Flint, Michigan.

Until next week.