Watch Tonight’s Presidential Debate Streaming Live – Trump, Clinton – 9:00 pm ET

Watch Tonight's Presidential Debate Streaming Live - Trump, Clinton - 9:00 pm ET

Monday, September 26, 9:00 pm ET – Finally Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump meet in person face to face, for a live debate.

Watch Presidential Debate Streaming Live (NBCNews / Youtube)

 

Photo: By Donald Trump August 19, 2015 (cropped, resized).jpg: BU Rob13 Hillary Clinton by Gage Skidmore 2.jpg: Gage GFDL or CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Watch Commander-in-Chief Forum Streaming Live – Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump

Watch Commander-in-Chief Forum Streaming Live - Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will sit down with Matt Lauer to answer questions about their fitness to run the nation, in a forum broadcasted by NBC News and MSNBC at 8 p.m. ET , and hosted by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA.) Hillary Clinton will speak first, as determined by a coin toss. The event precedes the formal debates, starting September 26.

Watch the Commander-in-Chief Forum (NBC.com)

 

 

Photo: By Donald Trump August 19, 2015 (cropped).jpg: BU Rob13 Hillary Clinton by Gage Skidmore 2.jpg: Gage [GFDL, or CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons (both images resized)

What does Donald Trump need? Better advisors.

Donald Trump needs better advisors

Donald Trump appears, in some ways, to be struggling. His knowledge of foreign policy has been revealed, more and more of late, to be sorely lacking. He cherishes his family, and uses his children as de facto political advisors. To be sure, they are polished and well-educated–Ivanka Trump is practically a super star, and all his kids spoke remarkably well at the RNC the other week. They are assets. But are they enough? No!

To succeed politically, and project a lasting image of subject mastery, Trump needs truly excellent, highly accurate information, and quality advice from top-level experts in foreign relations, military strategy, economics and science. His background as a developer in Manhattan has not prepared him adequately for this arena. In contrast, Hillary Clinton’s extensive record of public service, including the U.S. Senate and her tenure as Secretary of State, has prepared her well for the Oval Office.

She demonstrates clear understanding and mastery of these critical subjects, and of the complex and subtle political system that gets work done in Washington. Trump may be a Washington outsider, but he can’t succeed with the knowledge-base of a Washington outsider. He must study up. And he needs help to do so.

Donald Trump is clearly riding a populist wave of rebellion, which catapulted him into his lofty but precarious position as Republican Presidential Nominee for 2016. Voters in a candidate’s base during populist elections are long on passion, but generally short on facts and reason. To win the swing voters and independents, who put more thought into their vote and who don’t vote based on party affiliations and loyalty, need to see understanding, skill and mastery in Trump’s platform, speeches, and demeanor. Skilled professional advisors can help him develop these attributes, quickly.

One of the most blatant Trump gaffs demonstrating his need for better advisors occurred during the DNC. Khizr Khan spoke that the convention, but his wife, overcome by grief over the death of her son, a military veteran, chose not to. Trump went on the attack, admonishing her, pointing to her status as a muslim woman as the reason why she didn’t speak. Here Trump missed the obvious human element, by missing the fact that she was overcome with grief, and with it a chance to demonstrate that he has a much needed sense of empathy and understanding for others. He also completely failed to characterize Islam accurately.

And yet, Muslim women do speak in public. They aren’t banned from such activities by their religion. Though they are greatly restricted in Saudi Arabia, the Muslim world is diverse, and policies vary widely. In fact, Muslim women have lead both Pakistan and Bangladesh, having won the highest political offices in those lands. Trump’s knowledge of Islam is lacking, and he relies on tired stereotypes rather than fresh, accurate information, and a broader understanding that comes with experience.

This is embarrassing for the Trump campaign, and could be devastating for the nation, since important political and military agreements and alliances must be made and strengthened in the muslim world during a Trump Presidency. The wrong decision, based on poor information, and a flawed understanding of the relevant regions, could prove very costly to the U.S., and could ultimately lead to loss of life, even open war. It’s clear in this case that quality advisors who know about Islam and the different regions of the world from whence Muslims emigrate, would have helped Trump immensely in this case. And this is just one example.

Though Donald Trump’s love of family and loyalty to his current team is admirable, it is ill-advised and he needs to shape up. He needs to hire the best political advisors and strategists, and subject experts, that money can buy, which he is of course in an excellent position to achieve. He needs to learn, study, and master they myriad policies, facts and theories relevant to the topics of importance to voters: the economy, terrorism, our allies and enemies around the world, and so much more. To do so will energize his campaign and strengthen his weaknesses in the eyes of voters. To fail will mean failure in the general election and a Clinton Presidency, or worse, during his Presidency, in light of a Trump victory.

 

Photo: CNN (screen capture)

 

 

Democratic National Convention (Thursday)

Hillary Clinton, DNC 2016 - Thursday

Wednesday is the closing day of the DNC, and Hillary Clinton will speak to the assembled delegates, and the Nation. Tonight the speakers include numerous politicians and human rights activists, including members of the LGBTQ community. For a complete list of the convention program and speakers, click here. 

Watch the DNC Live (www.demconvention.com)

 

Photo: by Gm2587CC BY-SA 4.0 (wikimedia commons)

Watch the Democratic National Convention – Live Stream Online

Bernie Sanders - DNC

Watch the DNC live online. Today’s speakers include: Bernie Sanders, Michelle Obama, Senator Elizabeth Warren, among others.  At a time when party unity is critical, tensions are high following the hacking scandal that outed favoritism for the Clinton campaign among high ranking DNC staffers. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, the head of the DNC, has resigned in the wake of the scandal, and will not take the podium at the convention.

It will be interesting to see how these tensions play out on the convention floor, tonight and throughout the week. Though Senator Sanders has thrown support behind Clinton, many of his followers remain loyal and are not ready to make the switch.

Watch the DNC Live (www.demconvention.com)

Photo: Nick Solari [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Senator Tim Kaine, Hillary’s new running mate

Ted Kaine, Democratic VP Pick

Hillary Clinton has chosen Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, as her running mate. The 58-year-old Senator hails from working class mid-western roots. An excellent student, he eventually attended Harvard Law School.

He was the former Governor, and Lt. Governor, of Virginia, as well as a Mayor, City Councilor, and Civil Right’s attorney. Kaine has a solid liberal voting record in the Senate, but he’s considered a political moderate who could help bring independents and moderate republicans to the table.

Kaine is fluent in Spanish, and spent time in Honduras as a missionary. He’s a practicing Catholic who, like the late Ted Kennedy, supports abortion rights. He’s also the first Senator to give a complete speech in Spanish to the Senate, and he recently addressed an audience in Spanish while campaigning with Clinton. Hispanic voters are a major voting demographic that’s key to winning the 2016 Presidential election.

Learn more about Senator Tim Kaine (CNN)

 

Photo: CNN (screen capture)

 

Hillary Clinton’s e-mails: extremely careless, not criminal (FBI)

Hillary Clinton

The results of the FBI’s in-depth probe of Hillary Clinton’s use of a private e-mail server during her tenure as Secretary of State in the Obama Administration were released today. The FBI found that though Clinton’s behaviors and practices were extremely careless, they did not rise to the level of criminality. The FBI recommends to federal prosecutors that no charges should be filed.

There was strong push-back from right wing groups and blogs across the internet and throughout the media. Many allege a cover-up, and point to a recent closed meeting between former President Bill Clinton and the current Attorney, General Loretta Lynch, to support their claims. Many also contend that other people in government face legal prosecution for far lesser breaches of security, and ask why should Clinton be any different.

The news is bittersweet for the Clinton campaign. Although a recommendation for indictment would have been devastating for the campaign, the FBI’s characterization of Clinton as “extremely careless” is fodder for her critics, particularly Donald Trump, along with a large array of conservative leaders, journalists, social media activists, and pundits. Now Clinton can move forward with her campaign, but she will likely deal with the fallout from the FBI’s less-than-stellar assessment of her decisions and actions, right up until the general election in November.

Learn more about the FBI investigation into Hillary Clinton’s e-mail server (CNN)

 

Photo: By Lorie ShaullOwn work, CC BY-SA 4.0, commons.wikimedia.org
image resized and sharpened

War of words over proposed Muslim ban: President Obama, Clinton, Trump

Today, in the ongoing the aftermath of the tragic nightclub attack in Orlando, Florida, the media was filled with heated exchanges between President Obama, and Hillary Clinton, on one hand, and Donald Trump, on the other.

Both Democrats pounced on the presumptive republican nominee, who had doubled-down on his proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States. Trump has long cited potential dangers from terrorists that might sneak in with law-abiding refugees and other visitors as a reason to severely restrict Muslim immigration into the U.S., including refugees from Syria. Read more

Could Hillary Clinton’s history making as a first female President be a self-inflicted wound?

This editorial just in from long-time Face Activities member, Gill:

In a speech last night before a roaring crowd of supporters, Hillary Clinton recognized the significance of the moment at hand. Addressing the enthusiastic convention goers, she shouted:

“According to the news, we are on the brink of an historic…unprecedented moment.” (BBC) Read more

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