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Chicago Riot Stops Donald Trump; Ray Reviews Final GOP Debate
This is Ray Mossholder
The Republican debates have now come to an end and if rioters in Chicago tonight have their way, so will Donald Trump.
Last night the debate made each of the four candidates look far more presidential than they have in any earlier debate.
There were several reasons why they did.
First, it was almost insult free. No one brought up Trump University or the Donald’s hands; no one said “Breathe, Donald, breathe.”
And when the rare moments of disagreement came, it was about policies and substance; not slapstick gotcha moments that got Marco Rubio into so much trouble with his wife and children after the debate last time, because they were so embarrassed by how their husband and father had acted. Marco ceased and desisted last night.
After the debate, Marco Rubio told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer “I’ll never go back into that gutter again. I regret that very much.” He said not only his own family but his faith in Christ was being compromised whenever he was insulting Trump.
It was so unusual for the former on–stage Republican food–fighters to be at a kind of truce that at one point Donald Trump said, “So far I cannot believe how civil it’s been up here!”
It was also obvious last night that Marco Rubio wasn’t thinking about Donald Trump’s hands or his digits, but about the front runner’s delegate digits that have been leaving Marco in the dust in the Republican race until now.
Marco knows as a Senator who represents Florida in Congress, that he has to win his state to be considered at all seriously by any other state that hasn’t voted yet.
John Kasich knows the very same thing about Ohio. He would look very bad to the rest of America if he couldn’t win the state where he is governor.
Of course, there is a major difference between how Rubio has debated and Kasich has debated in nearly all of the debates.
Rubio has, until last night, let his mouth lead him, while Kasich has been civil all the way.
The only real problem with Kasich in the debates has been his “I” trouble.
Kasich has tried hard to carry his viewers back nineteen years when he was in Washington “and” he boasts “I solved the very kind of problems – from the national budget on – that America is facing today.”
But America, whether Kasich becomes president or not, is a very different country than it was in the late 90s.
A reality check shows that the only way Marco Rubio or John Kasich could win the presidential nomination now would be in a brokered Republican convention.
That’s why Donald Trump and Ted Cruz told both of them a couple of times each that they ought to drop out and let it become a two-man race.
So far, at least until this coming Tuesday, neither Rubio nor Kasich want at all to do that. They may not even want to do it at anytime after that.
Tiptoe was the style of each of the candidates last night. Even when Jake Tapper of CNN asked Donald Trump about the report of violence at Trump rallies, Trump simply answered that he didn’t approve of them.
Trump explained that his rallies often consist of crowds of more than 20,000 people and that he seldom even knows when someone is being ejected.
It’s certain that at any earlier debate there would have been a piling on by Rubio and Cruz regarding that very statement. They simply said they didn’t agree with violence in general.
Donald Trump, as in every debate, was the center of attention. His cool demeanor last night will help him gain votes. But he was asked some really difficult questions.
For example, he has said in the past that he approves of waterboarding captured terrorists and far more.
Reminded by a moderator that waterboarding itself is against the law, Trump answered “We have to obey the laws. But we have to expand those laws.”
He reminded the questioner that Isis and other terrorist organizations chop off heads or put people in cages and leave them underwater for an hour before they pull them up dead. And the terrorists find no problem in that at all.
Asked about how Trump would strengthen Social Security that will run completely out of money in twenty years, Trump answered that he would have Germany, Japan and South Korea pay for the continued military support they have been given free for so many years.
Ted Cruz promised to end Common Core, declaring that it is one of the federal government’s prime educational programs.
But a fact check shows that Common Core is not a federal, but a state-by-state choice that is controlled by each state’s local school districts.
John Kasich has praised Common Core in his state of Ohio and has said it is accomplishing great things there. Former candidate Governor of New Jersey Cris Cristie says the same.
Ted Cruz, who has declared that in his first day as president he will abolish Obamacare and cancel all of the executive orders President Obama has made, also said that he would eliminate five major agencies, accounting for twenty-five programs, and that that would result in 500 billion dollars in government hands immediately.
Marco Rubio did attack Donald Trump last night on Trump’s statement “Islam hates Americans”. Trump held firm, saying “A lot of them do”. And he accused Rubio of trying to be politically correct.
Marco then gave perhaps the best line of the night with his retort: “I’m not interested in being politically correct. I’m interested in being correct.”
He then went on to talk about the United States depending on the support of Muslims to fight Isis, and he said there are loyal Muslim American soldiers who are adherents of Islam.
Rubio reminded everyone that in Arlington national Cemetery there are not only crosses over so many of the graves, but also crescent moon’s over other graves.
One thing we may find if Donald Trump is elected president is that we won’t always approve of his negotiations. A classic case in point is a peace treaty between Israel and Palestine that many Christians know the Bible says won’t last.
But every time that subject is brought up, I can see Trump salivate.
Unquestionably, one of the greatest negotiators in America – author of the powerful best-selling book The Art of the Deal – it must seem to him that it would be a HUGE achievement if he could pull off such a treaty, a signing that other presidents and negotiators before him have not been able to achieve.
A couple of things that may have made Donald Trump’s fan club a bit uneasy was when he said he would call for a massive troop deployment to Syria.
And also when he called the student protest in China’s Tiananmen Square “a riot” rather than a massacre. Students had protested about it slow-moving government. Thousands of students in China had gone on a hunger strike in early April 1989. They then formed a massive sit-in in Tiananmen Square. The premier of China declared martial law. Suddenly, and without warning, Chinese soldiers began shooting into the square and hitting at least 200 of the students. The most remembered event of that whole hideous event happened on June 5th of that year when a man in a white shirt stood alone in front of a military tank. He blocked a tank from moving forward. Students pulled him out of the way before he could be run down by the tank. It seemed to many last night that Trump was giving his approval to the Communist government rather than to the students.
It is still possible that Marco Rubio could win as a favorite son of Florida on Tuesday. He does have greater strengths in some areas above the other three.
His expertise is foreign policy, and he rattles off with ease answers to very difficult questions about Syria, Libya, Iraq, and every other war-torn country in the world.
Marco, obviously referring to Trump, said “Presidents can’t just say anything they want. It has consequences around the world.”
That was when he was referring to Trump’s comments about Muslims and America’s need to have their support in the Middle East to help annihilate the terrorists
Rubio also knew who his audience was. Miami has a vast Cuban population. That’s why it was especially wise that he criticized President Obama’s opening of diplomatic and economic relations with Cuba.
The Floridian candidate then said “Here’s a good deal – Cuba has free elections. Cuba stops putting people in jail for speaking out. Cuba has freedom of the press….And you know what? Then we can have a relationship with Cuba. That’s a good deal.”
The crowd applauded enthusiastically.
There was one more plea during the debate from Donald Trump for the Republican Party to unify. Meanwhile, three more very powerful people have or are scheduled to endorse him.
First, former neurosurgeon and a candidate until just a week ago, Doctor Ben Carson. Standing on a Palm Beach, Florida, stage, just before 9 AM this morning, the doctor said, “Getting involved in the political process is something I never intended to do. But I listened to the people.
“It’s about the people of America….What I have been seeing is political operatives or political parties trying to exert themselves and wipe out the voice of the people. We can’t allow their attempt to disrupt the will of the people.”
Carson then said why he was endorsing Trump “He is actually a very intelligent man who cares deeply about America. There are two Donald Trump’s, the one you see on the stage and the one who sits there, who is very cerebral. And that’s the Donald Trump you’re going to start seeing more of.…Expect to see a lot more alignment, philosophically and spiritually than I ever thought. As boomers begin to see the real individual there, and those who are helping the individual, I think they will see how much he deeply cares for America.”
At the press conference, Carson was later asked “Why Trump, and not Senator Ted Cruz?”
He answered “One of the real factors for me is what will happen if we allow the political operatives to succeed in their endeavor to stop Donald Trump. I think it would fracture the party. I feel that Mister Trump is willing to do what needs to be done to break the strangle–hold of special interest groups.”
Doctor Carson said his endorsement of Trump has nothing to do with Ted Cruz sending out false information about his supposedly dropping out of the race in Iowa. He said “I’ve completely forgiven him. That’s the duty one has as a Christian.”
Carson was asked whether he was promised an administrative role in a Trump cabinet.
He answered that that has not been discussed and was not his motivating factor for endorsing Trump.
Trump said after Ben Carson spoken that America should expect to see Doctor Carson playing a key part in his administration.
Two more endorsements that are scheduled to take place at Trump rally at the Peabody Opera House in downtown St. Louis, Missouri, should help him.
The first will be ninety-one-year-old Phyllis Schlafly. She calls Donald Trump “the last hope of America”.
Schlafly is one of the great ladies of the Christian conservative movement in America. She became a national leader in 1964 after writing the book A Choice Not An Echo.
Phyllis Schlafly is CEO and Chairman of the Board of Eagle Forum, and
a foremost leader of the pro-family movement.
Accompanying Phyllis Schlafly will be the president of Eagle Forum who is also going to give his endorsement to Donald Trump, Ed Martin. Eagle forum has led an outstanding pro–family movement in America since 1972.
The significance of having Doctor Ben Carson, Phyllis Schlafly and Ed Martin endorsing Donald Trump is that not one of them would be doing it if they didn’t believe Donald Trump is a man with tremendous conservative values.
While I’ve been writing this Campaign 2016 report, a bulletin has come in: Donald Trump was forced to cancel his signature Chicago campaign event tonight because of violence outside that led to safety concerns to the massive crowd that had planned to be inside.
The event was scheduled in the Chicago Pavilion at the University of Illinois. Beforehand, dozens of University of Illinois faculty and staff had petitioned University administrators to cancel the rally. They warned it would create “a hostile and physically dangerous environment” for students.
Trump supporters and the hostile crowd screamed at each other; his supporters yelling “Trump! Trump! Trump!” There was an equal amount of Trump fans and protesters. When the cancellation was announced, a triumphant cheer went up from the protesters accompanied with heavy swearing at Trump. (Donald Trump himself had been alerted earlier and had avoided coming to the University. He tweeted “I don’t want anybody hurt.”) The rioters then began screaming “We want Bernie! We want Bernie!”
Sixty-four-year-old Dede Rotman, a protester, carried a sign that read “Build A Wall Around Trump. I’ll Pay For It.”
Chicago community activist Quo Vadis said hundreds of protesters had positioned themselves in groups around the arena, and that they planned to demonstrate the moment Trump took the stage. He said “Our plan is to shut Donald Trump all the way down.”
Whether this riot and the millions of dollars that will still be spent by the Karl Rove-ites of the Republican Party in order to shut Trump down will work, remains to be seen. We should know some of the answer by Wednesday, following the four state vote this Tuesday. But if these kinds of riots continue throughout the rest of his campaign, Trump may just have to go on television and radio and let his message keep being heard there.
With this happening now, consider what may happen in Cleveland at the Republican National Convention in July!
This is Ray Mossholder at the Campaign 2016 news desk in Fort Worth, Texas. I’ll be back with a roundup of news and more of Campaign 2016 very soon.
Chicago Riot Stops Donald Trump; Ray Reviews Final GOP Debate
Chicago Riot Stops Donald Trump; Ray Reviews Final GOP Debate