Hillary

The Republican Flatform

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The big news this week in America was the Republican National Convention. If there’s one boon to the economy in Cleveland, strippers are raking it in, as Republicans are known to drop cash like crazy at strip clubs during the convention. So Trumps plan to stimulate the economy is already taking effect. Except for this poor girl.

I’d love to talk about what went down during the convention, as the hottest topic was the fact that Melania Trump’s speech was plagiarized. We’re not entirely sure who she plagiarized her speech from, as the debate rages whether it was first Lady Michelle Obama or My Little Pony’s Twilight Sparkle. I couldn’t actually make that up if I tried.

Twilight Sparkle speaks out against plagiarism.

We’ve finally gotten a look at the Republican platform, and it’s pretty vague and under whelming. Their website is still hosting the platform from 2012. Right now, the platform indicates stimulating the economy, tightening security, international trade, building a wall to deal with immigration from Mexico, and a return to the good ol’ fashioned values of the 1950’s nuclear family by having the most anti-LGBTQ platform to come from Republicans. We’ll go in order.

The republican economic platform has one of the usual tropes; lower taxes. Even of this has never worked to stimulate any economy, it’s still paraded out as the base of every conservative platform. No surprises here. Except Trump has flip flopped on this issue. At first he was going to cut taxes for everyone. Then he was going to raise taxes on the rich. He was musing to raise the minimum wage to $15 dollars across the nation. Then he’s going to let the states decide. The Republican platform doesn’t have a firm footing when it comes to wages and taxes.

What is something worth mentioning is the way the wave of self employed ‘gig workers’, like Uber drivers. While Hillary has mentioned that she’s completely against these so called entrepreneurs, the Republican platform has absolutely embraced them. Even though many civil servants have, from policy makers to mayors, have derided companies like Uber for being unsafe, unlicensed, and illegal, it’s really no surprise the republicans have embraced this unregulated new industry. The jury’s still our whether or not these new companies are actually good for the economy.

Now we get into one of the major points of the republican platform; security and safety. Even though violent crime has been falling for decades, the republican party still wants you to understand that you are not safe. Ever. Conservatives will decry crime is rampant in on streets, children are at risk, and that Satan himself is risen and is selling Meth for blowjobs. Even if this is statistically untrue. It’s always been one of my major concerns with most conservative platforms, the selling of fear in exchange for votes.

International Trade.

China.

Trump has made a point of wanting increased protectionism. He’s not a big fan of NAFTA or the TPP, and purportedly wants to create new trade deals. He’s been incredibly vocal about China, mentioning rampant piracy and intellectual property theft. His proposals so far are making a lot of nations nervous, as the world economy is already weak and the last thing it needs is Trump swaggering through and making an already poor situation worse.

Next up is the famous Trump wall. If you’re a contractor or civil engineer down south,  you’re probably salivating over the prospects of a massive wall that borders Mexico. The cost of this wall would be so absolutely staggering it could very well bankrupt the nation, especially one determined to lower taxes and take in less revenue. Even if Trump’s supporters are under the impression it might be an allegory for stricter border, the Donald is adamant it’s going to be a an actual, physical wall. If Trump is going to be elected, I’m suggesting that everyone buy shares in concrete and mortar suppliers, as that industry will explode.

Regarding the LGBTQ community, the Republicans have pretty much solidified their platform with these words; Fuck gay people. That pretty much sums up how they’re going about it.

Here’s the crazy thing. Trump doesn’t really need a platform to contend in this race The latest polls show he’s right behind Hillary after the convention. His supporters don’t care. The problem with that is if you implemented even half of what Trump is proposing, then you’d have an economic catastrophe.

Trump isn’t a politician or a leader. He’s a weasel in a suit. He wants to make America great again, but unless the Republicans shore up some better ideas, then the only thing that’s going to be great is the next depression.

Sincerely,

The Illustrious Mr. Charlton

p.s. This is going to be a crazy election year.

 

Trouble in Turkey

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This week has been a parade of entertainment in the Western world, as we continue to gawk at the spectacle that is the Trump candidacy. Colbert and Stewart are back in full form, Trump’s entrance song at the RNC was written by a gay man while the platform singles out the LGBTQ community, and Melaina Trump decided the best way to give a speech was to give someone else’s speech a go. Right now, everyone is having a bit of a laugh at the whole spectacle, while crossing their fingers that the next president of the most powerful nation on Earth isn’t a reality show celebrity with zero political experience.

At the same time, Turkey has declared a state of emergency.

Recently, the Turkish army staged a coup, an attempt to overthrow the government. If you understand anything about Turkish history, you’ll know this happens somewhat frequently. Turkeys military has often intervened in the governments affairs, in 1960, 1971, 1980, and a half-coup in 1997. This is somewhat to be expected, as the military in Turkey doesn’t have to answer to politicians. In the case of civil unrest, weak civilian leaders, or in a state of emergency, the military is allowed by law to step in and take control of the government, albeit temporarily. It’s written into the Turkish constitution.

There was another attempt at a coup recently, and it failed.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has declared a three month state of emergency after the failed coup, and has began a purge of civil service staff and security forces. More troubling is that any member of Academia is barred from leaving the country, and Erdogan has demanded that all the Deans of 1577 Universities resign. Understand that when a country decides to go after everyone who went to University, you know the country is in some serious trouble.

And it’s not just those who oppose Erdogan who are being targeted. A number of his closer staff have been arrested or have been given the boot. These moves are incredibly paranoid, similar to the purges of other regimes such as Russia during the Stalin years, or North Korea every time a new Leader is given the seat of power.

There’s been a lot of talk comparing it to other dictatorships, which is certainly what Turkey is looking like these days. People mention Stalin, the rise of Hilter and the Third Reich, the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot, the Chinese cultural revolution of Mao Zedung. All of these revolutions have something in common, which is an attempt to control the populace by limiting the knowledge they have access to.

Anytime a mention of science or reason getting pushed aside for a political reasons, I get a little nervous. It’s the first step in having a less educated populace. A less educated populace can be convinced to support a system that doesn’t have their best interests in mind.

The truth is, almost every government in some way wants to limit the amount of information you have access to. The former Conservative government in Canada barred environmental scientists from discussing their findings. The current Liberal government is keeping tight lips regarding the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The battle between Hillary and Trump is the battle of two people who have absolutely no problem lying to the populace, whether it’s about classified emails or the dream of a massive wall with no hope of getting built.

If you’re a regular citizen, you might feel hopeless at the current prospects of the planet. First, I want you to know that things aren’t nearly as bad as the seem. If you’re reading this, then you probably have shoes on your feet, some food in your stomach, and most importantly an internet connection. You have the power to be informed. I don’t want you to get angry, I don’t want you to be upset. Politics already has enough passionate people, and as far as I’m concerned, the only place passion belongs is your trade, your art, and what you do in the bedroom. If you see something that makes you mad, whether it’s a meme, a news article, or a video, understand that someone worked at that to make you feel that way. They manipulated you into feeling something by not giving you all the information.

If you want to make a difference, a real difference, then stop buying into the bullshit. Stop letting your heart make decisions regarding politics. That’s what your brain is for. Start asking questions, start researching what you read, start talking about it. If you’re really worried about what’s going on in the world, start by getting the facts first. The facts are out there, you just have to wade through the bullshit.

Sincerely,

The Illustrious Mr. Charlton

p.s. My entrance theme song would be silence. Man, THAT would throw people off.

Shillery Clinton for President

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There’s a certain consistency to who I am and what I do, and I think people have finally said, ‘Well, you know, I kinda get her now.’ I’ve actually had people say that to me.

Hillary Clinton

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton was born in 1947, growing up in the Chicago area. She graduated from the prestigious Yale Law School, earning a Juris Doctor. Hillary has worked in politics in most of her life, and previously was known as the first Lady of Arkansas, then the first Lady of the United States, where her husband was the Governor, then the president. She was the Secretary of State and is now running for the position of leader of the Democratic party, in which she’ll be up against Donald Trump.

The Secretary of State is not a small position. Next to the President, it’s considered to be the most powerful person in the United States. Hillary has held that position from 2009 to 2013. A lot happened in those years. The Arab springs, the releases of the information from WikiLeaks, the Libyan Civil war and the toppling of Gaddafi were some of the major events that she presided over in her tenure. Although some label her as a warhawk, overall she didn’t do a terrible job. Except when it came to email security.

Hillary used her personal email server to send classified and sensitive information. The FBI are currently investigating whether or not charge should be laid. Hillary states this was done to make things easier for her, in that she would only have to carry one phone.

Her position as Secretary of State aside, let’s focus on the Juggernaut that is the Hillary Clinton campaign. Where the Donald Trump’s campaign is mainly self-supported, and the Bernie Sanders’ campaign is a grassroots movement, Hillary Clinton’s campaign is a well oiled, well funded machine. Her ties to Wall Street are apparent, as she has given numerous speeches to firms like JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, etc. The same companies who were accused of rigging the housing market crash.

Make no mistake, Hillary is firmly entrenched in the oligarchy that continues to drive a wedge between the haves and the have-nots. Never has the population had such of view of exactly where the puppet strings go. Hillary said she would release the transcripts of her Wall Street speeches when the other candidates did. Right now, the only two people left in the race besides Hillary is Trump and Sanders. Trump is considered a joke among many in the financial sectors, and Sanders is the candidate currently combatting big money in politics. Neither Trump nor Sanders were paid to give a talk to the banking elite.

The American people are tired of liars and people who pretend to be something they’re not.

Hillary Clinton

There’s good reason people are nervous that she’s leading the pack in the democratic nomination against Bernie Sanders. The polls are saying that Sanders has a better shot of defeating Trump, at least at the time of this writing. Superdelegates were created to combat a nominee would would win the primaries, but lose to the republican nominee. Now, it seems, they are being used against that ideal, to prop up a career politician with ties to both the banking institutions and big media.

The issue with Hillary’s campaign is that it lacks authenticity. The longer she campaigns and the more we find out, we see another candidate, like Trump, who wants to be president for the sake of being president. The second age to the Clinton White House dynasty. She says she represents the people, but makes backroom deals with institutions that bet against the average American citizen. How can she claim to combat big money in politics when she’s made a living taking it?

Bernie Sanders has trailed behind Clinton for most of the campaign, but has been sweeping up in the last few states. He’s also appealing to some of the superdelegates, in an attempt to change their tune. Hillary’s presidential campaign, even if she’s successful against Sanders, could be mired in the email scandal. Is it possible for a presidential candidate to be effective when they’re also involved in a legal dispute of this magnitude? Where classified information has possibly been compromised?

We must stop thinking of the individual and start thinking about what is best for society.

Hillary Clinton

I would love to see a woman in the White House. What I would love to see more would be a dramatic shift in the culture of money in politics in America. And unfortunately, I don’t think that Hillary Clinton is the person who is going to bring about that change.

Sincerely,

The Illustrious Mr. Charlton

p.s. A plane crashes with both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Who survives?

p.s.s. America