Should I remain in bed, leave my country or fight against the dragon?
( see also the story by Wolfgang Hampel,
' Betty MacDonald: Nothing more to say ' )
Betty MacDonald's sister Alison Bard Burnett
Betty MacDonald's mother Sydney with grandchild Alison Beck
Betty and Don MacDonald in Hollywood
Mary Bard Jensen - and Betty MacDonald fan club fans,
great Betty MacDonald fan club news.
A new Betty MacDonald fan club contest!
Send us a mail with your answer, please: ( see questions below )
A, B, C or D?
You also have to answer this Betty MacDonald fan club contest question:
Betty MacDonald described Pike Place Market in her book ........................
Pike Place Market celebrated its 109th birthday on August 17, 2016.
Did you know Pike Place Market was almost demolished in the 1960s?
For Betty MacDonald fan club contest can you figure out why Pike Place Market was nearly torn down?
A. It was severely damaged by the Great Seattle Fire.
B. A tsunami hit Seattle, destroying parts of the Market.
C. Gold was discovered underground, beneath the Market.
D. A proposal was being seriously considered to replace the Market with a plaza that would include a hotel, an apartment building, four office buildings, a hockey arena, and a parking garage.
Deadline: November 30, 2016
Don't miss your chance, please to win the most interesting Betty MacDonald fan club items.
Wolfgang Hampel's literary event Vita Magica is very fascinating because he is going to include Betty MacDonald, other members of the Bard family and Betty MacDonald fan club honor members.
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel wrote a great story of Pike Place Market.
It's simply great to read Wolfgang Hampel's new very well researched stories about Betty MacDonald, Robert Eugene Heskett, Donald Chauncey MacDonald, Darsie Bard, Sydney Bard, Gammy, Alison Bard Burnett, Darsie Beck, Mary Bard Jensen, Clyde Reynolds Jensen, Sydney Cleveland Bard, Mary Alice Bard, Dorothea DeDe Goldsmith, Madge Baldwin, Don Woodfin, Mike Gordon, Ma and Pa Kettle, Nancy and Plum, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and others.
The next Vita Magica events will be on November 25 and November 29, 2016.
Don't miss Letizia Mancino and Wolfgang Hampel on November 29, please.
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel and Letizia Mancino are reading from her delightful book ' The cat in Goethe's bed '.
Linde Lund, our families, friends and I adore this funny sketch by Wolfgang Hampel very much although my German isn't the best.
I won't ever forget the way Wolfgang Hampel is shouting ' Brexit '.
Don't miss it, please.
It's simply great!
You can hear that Wolfgang Hampel got an outstandig voice.
He presented one of Linde Lund's favourite songs ' Try to remember ' like a professional singer.
Thanks a million!
Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli and our 'Italian Betty MacDonald' - Betty MacDonald fan club honor member author and artist Letizia Mancino belong to the most popular Betty MacDonald fan club teams in our history.
Their many devoted fans are waiting for a new Mr. Tigerli adventure.
Letizia Mancino's magical Betty MacDonald Gallery is a special gift for Betty MacDonald fan club fans from all over the world.
Don't miss Brad Craft's 'More friends', please.
Betty MacDonald's very beautiful Vashon Island is one of my favourites.
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel shared his unique Betty MacDonald satire Betty MacDonald: Nothing more to say.
As much as I enjoy Wolfgang Hampel's very witty story I'm still no able to believe the result of this election.
You might think I'm crazy but that's the way it is.
I don't understand the reason why so many people voted for a candidate like him.
It's really tragic!
Early on, Mr. Clinton had pleaded with Robby Mook, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign manager, to do more outreach with working-class white and rural voters. But his advice fell on deaf ears. ( see article below )
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel sent his brilliant thoughts.Thank you so much dear Wolfgang!
Hi Libi, nice to meet you. Can you feel it?
I'll be the most powerful leader in the world.
Betty MacDonald: Nothing more to say
Copyright 2016 by Wolfgang Hampel
All rights reserved
Betty MacDonald was sitting on her egg-shaped cloud and listened to a rather strange guy.
He said to his friends: So sorry to keep you waiting. Very complicated business! Very complicated!
Betty said: Obviously much too complicated for you old toupee!
Besides him ( by the way the First Lady's place ) his 10 year old son was bored to death and listened to this 'exciting' victory speech.
The old man could be his great-grandfather.
The boy was very tired and thought: I don't know what this old guy is talking about. Come on and finish it, please. I'd like to go to bed.
Dear 'great-grandfather' continued and praised the Democratic candidate.
He congratulated her and her family for a very strong campaign although he wanted to put her in jail.
He always called her the most corrupt person ever and repeated it over and over again in the fashion of a Tibetan prayer wheel.
She is so corrupt. She is so corrupt. Do you know how corrupt she is?
Betty MacDonald couldn't believe it when he said: She has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time, and we owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country.
Afterwards old toupee praised his parents, wife, children, siblings and friends.
He asked the same question like a parrot all the time:
Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?
I know you are here!
Betty MacDonald answered: No Pussy they are not! They left the country.
They immigrated to Canada because they are very much afraid of the future in the U.S.A. with you as their leader like the majority of all so-called more or less normal citizens.
By the way keep your finger far away from the pussies and the Red Button, please.
I'm going to fly with my egg-shaped cloud to Canada within a minute too.
Away - away - there is nothing more to say!
I can understand the reason why Betty MacDonald, Barbara Streisand, other artists and several of my friends want to leave the United States of America.
I totally agree with these comments:
This
is incredible! I'll You get what you pay/vote for and Trump is the
epitome of this ideology. America I won't feel bad for you because you
don't need my sympathy for what's coming but I am genuinely scared for
you. 'Forgive them lord for they know not who they do' or maybe they do
but just don't care about their future generations who will suffer for
this long after the culprits have passed away.
Daniel Mount wrote a great article about Betty MacDonald and her garden.
We hope you'll enjoy it very much.
I adore Mount Rainier and Betty MacDonald's outstanding descriptions
Can you remember in which book you can find it?
If so let us know, please and you might be the next Betty MacDonald fan club contest winner.
I hope we'll be able to read Wolfgang Hampel's new very well researched stories about Betty MacDonald, Robert Eugene Heskett, Donald Chauncey MacDonald, Darsie Bard, Sydney Bard, Gammy, Alison Bard Burnett, Darsie Beck, Mary Bard Jensen, Clyde Reynolds Jensen, Sydney Cleveland Bard, Mary Alice Bard, Dorothea DeDe Goldsmith, Madge Baldwin, Don Woodfin, Mike Gordon, Ma and Pa Kettle, Nancy and Plum, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and others - very soon.
It' s such a pleasure to read them.
Let's go to magical Betty MacDonald's Vashon Island.
Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund and Betty MacDonald fan club research team share their recent Betty MacDonald fan club research results.
Congratulations! They found the most interesting and important info for Wolfgang Hampel's oustanding Betty MacDonald biography.
I enjoy Bradley Craft's story very much.
Don't miss our Betty MacDonald fan club contests, please.
You can win a never published before Alison Bard Burnett interview by Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel.
Good luck!
This CD is a golden treasure because Betty MacDonald's very witty sister Alison Bard Burnett shares unique stories about Betty MacDonald, Mary Bard Jensen, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and Nancy and Plum.
Do you have any books by Betty MacDonald and Mary Bard Jensen with funny or interesting dedications?
If so would you be so kind to share them?
Our next Betty MacDonald fan club project is a collection of these unique dedications.
If you share your dedication from your Betty MacDonald - and Mary Bard Jensen collection you might be the winner of our new Betty MacDonald fan club items.
Thank you so much in advance for your support.
Thank you so much for sending us your favourite Betty MacDonald quote.
More info are coming soon.
Wolfgang Hampel's Betty MacDonald and Ma and Pa Kettle biography and Betty MacDonald interviews have fans in 40 countries. I'm one of their many devoted fans.
Many Betty MacDonald - and Wolfgang Hampel fans are very interested in a Wolfgang Hampel CD and DVD with his very funny poems and stories.
We are going to publish new Betty MacDonald essays on Betty MacDonald's gardens and nature in Washington State.
Tell us the names of this mysterious couple please and you can win a very new Betty MacDonald documentary.
Betty MacDonald fan club honor member Mr. Tigerli is beloved all over the World.
We are so happy that our 'Casanova' is back.
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel
and Betty MacDonald fan club research team are going to share very
interesting info on ' Betty MacDonald and the movie The Egg and I '.
Another rare episode (from March 21 1952) of the short-lived comedy soap opera, "The Egg and I," based on best selling book by Betty MacDonald which also became a popular film.
The series premiered on September 3, 1951, the same day as "Search for Tomorrow," and ended on August 1, 1952.
Although it did well in the ratings, it had difficulty attracting a steady sponsor. This episode features Betty Lynn (later known for her work on "The Andy Griffith Show") as Betty MacDonald, John Craven as Bob MacDonald, Doris Rich as Ma Kettle, and Frank Twedell as Pa Kettle.
Betty MacDonald fan club exhibition will be fascinating with the international book editions and letters by Betty MacDonald.
I can't wait to see the new Betty MacDonald documentary.
Another rare episode (from March 21 1952) of the short-lived comedy soap opera, "The Egg and I," based on best selling book by Betty MacDonald which also became a popular film.
The series premiered on September 3, 1951, the same day as "Search for Tomorrow," and ended on August 1, 1952.
Although it did well in the ratings, it had difficulty attracting a steady sponsor. This episode features Betty Lynn (later known for her work on "The Andy Griffith Show") as Betty MacDonald, John Craven as Bob MacDonald, Doris Rich as Ma Kettle, and Frank Twedell as Pa Kettle.
Betty MacDonald fan club exhibition will be fascinating with the international book editions and letters by Betty MacDonald.
I can't wait to see the new Betty MacDonald documentary.
Don't miss this very special book, please.
 |
Don't miss this very special book, please.
Vita Magica
Betty MacDonald
Betty MacDonald fan club
Betty MacDonald forum
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( English ) - The Egg and I
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( Polski)
Wolfgang Hampel - Wikipedia ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - LinkFang ( German ) Wolfgang Hampel - Academic ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - cyclopaedia.net ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - DBpedia ( English / German )
Wolfgang Hampel - people check ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Memim ( English )
Vashon Island - Wikipedia ( German )
Wolfgang Hampel - Monica Sone - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( English )
Wolfgang Hampel - Ma and Pa Kettle - Wikipedia ( French )
Wolfgang Hampel - Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle - Wikipedia ( English)
Wolfgang Hampel in Florida State University
Betty MacDonald fan club founder Wolfgang Hampel
Betty MacDonald fan club interviews on CD/DVD
Betty MacDonald fan club items
Betty MacDonald fan club items - comments
Betty MacDonald fan club - The Stove and I
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Betty MacDonald fan club organizer Linde Lund
Heide Rose and Betty MacDonald
Betty MacDonald fan club fan Greta Larson
Obama urges Donald Trump to stand up to Putin and warns of 'cyber arms race'
The US President and German Chancellor Angela Merkel mounted a
firm defence of globalism as they met for the last time before Mr Obama
leaves office
The Independent Online
Mr Trump has repeatedly expressed admiration for Russian President Vladimir Putin; the two men spoke by phone on Monday. “I don’t expect that the President-elect will follow exactly our approach,” Mr Obama said.
“But my hope is he does not simply take a realpolitik approach and suggest that ... if we just cut some deals with Russia, even if it hurts people or even if it violates international norms or even if it leaves smaller countries vulnerable, or creates long-term problems in regions like Syria, that we just do whatever’s convenient at the time.”
Mr Obama also said he had spoken to Mr Putin about cyber attacks, amid claims that Russia was responsible for hacks of emails from the Democratic National Committee and from Hillary Clinton’s campaign that caused significant damage to the former US Secretary of State’s presidential bid. Cyber warfare is “something we have to work on,” Mr Obama said. “We need to develop frameworks and international norms so that we don’t see a cyber arms race.”
In a joint article published on Thursday in the German newspaper Wirtschaftswoche, Ms Merkel and Mr Obama wrote that the world was “at a crossroads” but would “never return to a pre-globalisation economy”. Germans and Americans, they insisted, “must seize the opportunity to shape globalisation based on our values and our ideas”.
After meeting with Mr Trump at the White House last week, Mr Obama said that he believed the President-elect was committed to Nato, contrary to some of the Republican’s comments on the campaign trail. Speaking in Berlin, Mr Obama warned that without a “strong transatlantic alliance” the world would become “meaner, harsher [and] more troubled”.
Mr Obama praised Ms Merkel as "tough" and an “outstanding partner” on the world stage, noting that she “is perhaps the only leader left among our closest allies that was there when I arrived”. The German Chancellor, who has been in power for 11 years, will face an electoral challenge of her own as she seeks a fourth term in 2017, with the far-right Alternative for Germany party rising in the polls following a string of state election victories. “If I were German and I had a vote, I might support [Ms Merkel],” Mr Obama said.
The US President also pleaded with young people to remain engaged in the political process outside of election years, warning that democracy was under threat from a combination of low participation, online propaganda and extremist thinking.
“Do not take for granted our systems of government and our way of life,” he said. “Because we have lived in an era that has been largely stable and peaceful, at least in advanced countries ... there is a tendency to assume that that’s always the case. And it’s not. Democracy is hard work.”
- More about:
- Barack Obama
- Angela Merkel
- Donald Trump
- Vladimir Putin
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Losers: Clinton Campaign Ignored Bill’s Advice And Felt White Working Class Voters Weren’t Worth The Time
In February of 2016, The New York Times reported that everyone in Clinton land thought they were going to slaughter Donald Trump. It was hubris. It was typical elitism from the liberal elite. And in the end, the Trump campaign smashed the face of the Clinton operation with a brick, doused it in gasoline, and set it on fire. It was an upset that no one, except for white working class America and die-hard Trump supporters, saw coming, which explains the epic temper tantrums emanating from the Left. Old, sick Hillary lost and Donald Trump is now president-elect. But there was one person who potentially saw this coming: Bill Clinton. Bill, a governor from Arkansas who was able to tap into the economic distress of America’s working class and ride that to the presidency, saw that Trump was onto something. At the same time, his strategy to tackle this vulnerability failed miserably (via NYT 2/29/16):
Several Democrats argued that Mrs. Clinton, should she be her party’s nominee, would easily beat Mr. Trump. They were confident that his incendiary remarks about immigrants, women and Muslims would make him unacceptable to many Americans. They had faith that the growing electoral power of black, Hispanic and female voters would deliver a Clinton landslide if he were the Republican nominee. But others, including former President Bill Clinton, dismissed those conclusions as denial. They said that Mr. Trump clearly had a keen sense of the electorate’s mood and that only a concerted campaign portraying him as dangerous and bigoted would win what both Clintons believe will be a close November election.The problem here was Clinton’s email fiasco. You may say Trump is incapable of being president, but you had an unauthorized and unsecure email server that possibly put America’s secrets at risk. How is that presidential? It’s not. It’s possibly illegal. Moreover, the notion that Trump is so thin-skinned to the point where he would launch nuclear missiles is just not believable. It’s cartoonish in the extreme. Most of these attacks, especially the ones involving Trump’s remarks about women, bounced off voters outside urban areas; locker room talk became an acceptable reason. Also, the Clinton Foundation being under FBI investigation, the alleged unethical dealings, and the six-figure paychecks they received for speeches just undercut their whole working class hero line of attack. On that front, it’s hard for anyone to believe that you understand their economic hardship when you make in one 20-minute speech more than what most Americans earn in a lifetime. Yes, Trump is a billionaire, but he’s not shy about it.
That strategy is beginning to take shape, with groups that support Mrs. Clinton preparing to script and test ads that would portray Mr. Trump as a misogynist and an enemy to the working class whose brash temper would put the nation and the world in grave danger. The plan is for those themes to be amplified later by two prominent surrogates: To fight Mr. Trump’s ability to sway the news cycle, Mr. Clinton would not hold back on the stump, and President Obama has told allies he would gleefully portray Mr. Trump as incapable of handling the duties of the Oval Office.
There’s the permanent majority hubris at play here too. Clinton, Obama, and the Democrats think they have it made in national elections. The coalition consists of college-educated women, blacks, Hispanics, and the cities, except that we forget that the nonwhite vote only makes up roughly 30 percent of the electorate and these folks live in areas and states that aren’t competitive in national elections. California isn’t turning red and Texas isn’t going blue. Seventy percent of the electorate, on average, is majority white. A marginal swing could have a game changing impact on the election. The Clinton operation didn’t get that, which seems to be the most obvious fact. White votes matter. Black votes matter. Hispanic votes matter. They all matter when it comes to winning elections. It’s this mindset that I feel paints the Democratic Party as un-American. They worry about the groups that can get them a win, but they don’t care, literally, about any other group. So, out comes the big electoral cookie-cutter and the balkanization begins. Given the progressive vein of the party, whites are the problem with the country. All the sexism, racism, and misogyny comes from straight white males, right? Well, 53 percent of white women voted for Trump; 42 percent of all women voters cast their ballot for Trump. I don’t think it’s white people, Democrats. I think you just had a terrible candidate. The New York Times also noted that Clinton actually turned down an invitation to address the St. Patrick’s Day gathering at Notre Dame; something that Obama and Biden had attended in past years. The Clinton team turned it down; white Catholics weren’t a priority. The end result was the realization that perhaps a demographic that makes up 70 percent of the electorate sort of mattered…big league:
Last year, a prominent group of supporters asked Hillary Clinton to address a prestigious St. Patrick’s Day gathering at the University of Notre Dame, an invitation that previous presidential candidates had jumped on. Barack Obama and Joseph R. Biden Jr. had each addressed the group, and former President Bill Clinton was eager for his wife to attend. But Mrs. Clinton’s campaign refused, explaining to the organizers that white Catholics were not the audience she needed to spend time reaching out toClinton isn’t Obama. She’s far from it. Remember, Obama beat her in the 2008 primaries. She doesn’t have a message for hope or change. Heck, her time in Washington already disqualifies her from taking that mantle. And her email issues further disqualified her from higher office. There’s talk that FBI Director James Comey’s letter informing Congress that the bureau would review 650,000 more Clinton-related emails from top Hillary aide Huma Abedin cost her the election. The fact is the momentum towards Trump began prior to Comey’s October 30 letter. Also, it’s still her fault. If she hadn’t set up that unprecedented email system to conduct State Department business, none of this would have happened. The white working class formed the foundation of the Obama coalition and the Clinton campaign missed that fact. They missed the fact that Obama won these people because of the caliber of candidate he was; Clinton can’t come anywhere near him. She sucks. Democrats don’t have to win white working class voters; they just need to be competitive. They were not this cycle. If you have a solid turnout with nonwhites, college-educated women, young people, and get enough working class whites to vote Democratic, you can win an election.
[…]
But as the dust settled, Democrats recognized two central problems of Mrs. Clinton’s flawed candidacy: Her decades in Washington and the paid speeches she delivered to financial institutions left her unable to tap into the anti-establishment and anti-Wall Street rage.
And she ceded the white working-class voters who backed Mr. Clinton in 1992. Though she would never have won this demographic, her husband insisted that her campaign aides do more to try to cut into Mr. Trump’s support with these voters. They declined, reasoning that she was better off targeting college-educated suburban voters by hitting Mr. Trump on his temperament.
Instead, they targeted the emerging electorate of young, Latino and African-American voters who catapulted Mr. Obama to victory twice, expecting, mistakenly, that this coalition would support her in nearly the same numbers. They did not.
[…]
Mrs. Clinton had defeated Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in the primary race by rallying older African-American voters and Democratic women, but she seemed disconnected from the white working class that delivered Mr. Sanders’s victories in Michigan and Wisconsin. Mr. Trump won Wisconsin on Tuesday and appeared to have narrowly won Michigan, as well.
He won 67 percent of the vote among non-college-educated whites, compared with 28 percent for Mrs. Clinton, according to exit polls.
Early on, Mr. Clinton had pleaded with Robby Mook, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign manager, to do more outreach with working-class white and rural voters. But his advice fell on deaf ears.
The sophisticated data modeling Mr. Mook relied on showed that young, Latino and black voters would turn out as they had hoped. But while they favored Mrs. Clinton overwhelmingly, she could not run up the score with them like Mr. Obama had in 2012.
With voters 29 and younger, for example, Mrs. Clinton won by 18 points, down from Mr. Obama’s 22 points in 2012, and 29 points in 2008, according to exit polls conducted by Edison Research.
Instead, what we got was the revenge of the white working class, coupled with millions of Obama supporters who flipped for Trump this year. Moreover, 2012 analysts lowballed the actual working class vote total by 10 million. Trump wining a fraction of those voters would be enough to win the election. In the end, the Democrats thought white votes didn’t matter, though they were the glue to the whole 2008, 2012 operation; that they would get the same turnout with their traditional allies to break for Clinton; and probably spent an ungodly amount of money trying to find those voters who might breaking Clinton through big data operations. As two former senior advisers to Bernie Sanders mentioned that maybe organizing thousands of volunteers doing canvassing and going door-to-door would have given you a better gauge of the voter climate and the messaging Clinton used that was falling flat. In fact, Clinton’s turnout operation definitely turned out Trump voters. Amy Chozick, who wrote the article about Clinton’s miscalculations, showed a campaign tortured by her weaknesses. She can’t press the gender card too much on the first female president because it might alienate male voters. She also tried to run on unity, though record numbers of voters thought she was untrustworthy. As Kimberly Strassel wrote in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, what we got was a complete and total rejection of the Democratic Party from these very people Fallon, Mook, and others ignored:
One exit poll shows Mrs. Clinton won union households by 2 percentage points, when Mr. Obama carried them by 18. Of the 207 swing counties that went for Mr. Obama only once (in 2008 or 2012), Mr. Trump won 194. This is an utter abandonment of the Democratic Party that Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton led.Oh yeah, Trump won the Catholic vote as well.
The Trumps Are Already Monetizing the Presidency
On Sunday night, Ivanka Trump appeared on 60 Minutes. She was invited on to 60 Minutes
because her father is now the president-elect, and she a member of his
transition team. Shortly after the program aired, her jewelry company
sent the following missive to an email list of fashion journalists.
As
far as attempts to cash in on proximity to power go, this is pretty
mundane stuff. But it served as a potent reminder that the Trump family
is both willing and able to monetize the presidency in ways both
unpredictable and unprecedented.
Donald Trump owns a business that has elaborate ties to government agencies, both foreign and domestic. In one of the many heavy-handed symbols the past year of American politics has produced, the president-elect just opened
a new hotel blocks from the White House — which operates out of the
historic Old Post Office building, which the federal government still
owns.
Trump will now get to appoint the head of the bureau that manages that building, a bureau that has tens of millions of dollars in contracts with his company.
This presents a formidable challenge to a man who won the presidency while campaigning against corruption and the “politics of personal profit.”
It’s impossible for Trump to insulate himself against all accusations
of self-dealing. After all, as a billionaire business owner, he stands
to directly benefit from an array of garden-variety Republican policies —
tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, abolition of the estate tax,
and a Labor Department more concerned with appeasing management than
unions, to name just a few.
But
Trump has shown no concern whatsoever for maintaining any appearance of
propriety. He has decided to shield himself from conflicts of interest
by putting his assets into what he refers to as a “blind trust,” but is
actually an entity that would allow him perfect knowledge of the assets
he holds — and that would be managed by his children, who are also
informal advisers to his government, and who may be on the cusp of
receiving top-secret security clearances at his request.
Which is to say: an entity that is the opposite of a blind trust.
On Sunday, likely future secretary of State Rudy Giuliani (breathe in, breathe out) offered two radically different defenses of this arrangement.
“You
have to have some confidence in the integrity of the president,”
Giuliani told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “The man is an enormously wealthy man. I
don’t think there’s any real fear or suspicion that he’s seeking to
enrich himself by being president. If he wanted to enrich himself, he
wouldn’t have run for president.”
Tapper
then suggested that when the president-elect explains he will be
insulated from conflicts by a blind trust — and then sets up an entity
that is the opposite of a blind trust — that might raise real fears and
suspicions.
“You
realize that those laws don’t apply to the president, right?” Giuliani
replied. “The president doesn’t have to have a blind trust. For some
reason when the law was written, the president was exempt. I think he’s
in a very unusual situation.”
So, per Giuliani, we shouldn’t worry about Trump using the presidency to enrich himself because:
1. We should trust in his integrity (because, implicitly, nothing about his presidential campaign suggested an interest in using public power to promote private interests).
2.
Even if he did try to enrich himself, it would be totally legal,
because, “for some reason,” the president is exempt from
conflict-of-interest laws.
One of these reassurances is false. The other is true, but, also, the opposite of reassuring.
As
already mentioned, Trump will have abundant opportunity to enrich
himself through policy: Last July, the National Labor Relations Board
ruled against the Trump International Hotel Las Vegas, which was
challenging its employees’ effort to form a union. In November, the NLRB
ruled against Trump’s hotel again, for refusing to begin negotiations
with that union. Trump will now have the opportunity to appoint all five
members of the NLRB.
He will also get to appoint the head of the Internal Revenue Service, which is currently auditing Trump’s taxes.
Trump
can also profit off the presidency more directly — throughout his
campaign, the GOP nominee collected money from the Secret Service every
time its agents took a ride on one of his jets. While he will ride on
Air Force One as president, his children, who will be provided Secret
Service detail, will likely, often, travel aboard private planes,
thereby directing more taxpayer money into TAG Air Inc., Trump’s aviation company. TAG Air collected $6 million during the campaign.
The limits to Trump’s kleptocratic behavior are primarily political. However, the New York Times notes there is one legal restriction that Trump may have to wrestle with:
Perhaps most troubling for Mr. Trump, several ethics lawyers said, is a relatively obscure provision of the Constitution, called the Emoluments Clause, which prohibits any government official from taking payments or gifts from a foreign government, or even from sharing in profits in a company that has financial ties to a foreign government.
Mr. Trump has had business deals with foreign governments or individuals with apparent ties to foreign governments, including multimillion-dollar real estate arrangements in Azerbaijan and Uruguay. His children have frequently traveled abroad to promote the Trump brand, making trips to Canada, the United Arab Emirates and Scotland. Closer to home, the Bank of China is a tenant in Trump Tower and is a lender for another building in Midtown Manhattan where Mr. Trump has a significant partnership interest.
“Doing business with a foreign corporation, be it in Azerbaijan, Turkey or Russia, if is it owned in part or controlled by a foreign government — any benefit that would accrue to Mr. Trump could well be a violation of the Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution,” said Kenneth A. Gross, a political ethics and compliance lawyer in Washington.
Regardless, it will be up to the Democratic Party to make Trump pay a political price for his self-dealing.
The
possibility that Hillary Clinton had leveraged her family’s political
power to extract charitable donations from foreign governments — and
speaking fees from Wall Street banks — was viewed as so contemptible,
the Democratic nominee routinely trailed her opponent on the question of who was more likely to combat corruption in D.C.
Trump
and his family are all but certain to pursue schemes far more blatantly
kleptocratic than the Clintons ever dreamed of. Democrats must see this
fact as a (politically) lucrative opportunity — and milk it for all
it’s worth.
Trump Transition Team Descends Into Chaos As Nobody Wants To Join Administration
Trump is so desperate to have people join his team that he's seeking the Obama administration's help in filling roles.
Donald Trump’s transition team continued its descent into chaos on Tuesday after behind-the-scenes drama and a recent staff shakeup has reportedly stalled the entire process.
According to a report by The Huffington Post, Republicans and Democrats in Washington are now worried that the incoming administration will be “woefully ill-prepared” once Trump takes office in January. These concerns are bolstered by the fact that Trump transition officials were missing in action from a series of important meetings this week.
The report:
The disarray has left agencies virtually frozen, unable to communicate with the people tasked with replacing them and their staff. Trump transition team officials were a no-show at the Pentagon, the Washington Examiner reported. Same goes for the Department of Energy, responsible for keeping the nation’s nuclear weapons safe, where officials had expected members of the Trump transition team on Monday. Ditto for the Department of Transportation. Over at the Justice Department, officials also are still waiting to hear from the Trump team.The transition turmoil comes after unpopular New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was demoted from his role leading the process and replaced by Vice President-Elect Mike Pence. As of late afternoon on Tuesday, the transition remained on hold because Pence still hadn’t signed off on a memorandum that would allow Trump’s team to communicate with the Obama administration on how to hand over key functions of the government.
According to HuffPo, though, it goes well beyond the failure to sign a piece of paper. It also doesn’t help that many Republicans aren’t willing to assume critical roles on Trump’s team.
More from the report:
The transition dysfunction extends beyond failure to promptly execute a memorandum of understanding. According to several sources close to the Trump transition team and inside the Obama administration, the president elect and his staff have had difficulty finding able-minded Republicans willing to take on critical posts. One Democratic source, who like others would only discuss sensitive talks on condition of anonymity, said transition officials had been informally asking Obama political appointees to recommend Republicans to take over their jobs.That’s right – Trump is so desperate to have people join his team that he’s seeking the Obama administration’s help in filling roles.
While it’s true that presidential transitions aren’t always flawlessly managed, Trump seems to be bungling his in a way that may be unprecedented. Those who voted for Trump last week may have wanted to “shake things up” in Washington, but it’s likely this wasn’t what they had in mind.
If the new president-elect can’t competently run a transition team and staff his government, why should any of us believe he’ll be able to lead the free world?
Donald Trump ditches his press pool again, spurring sharp criticism
November 16, 2016: 12:21 AM ET For the second time in a week, president-elect Donald Trump has abandoned precedent and traveled without the "press pool," a small group of journalists assigned to cover his movements.
His surprise trip on Tuesday evening was met by sharp criticism from some journalists.Trump's press secretary Hope Hicks told journalists around 6:15 p.m. that there was a "lid" for the night -- a term of art meaning that no more news or travel was expected until Wednesday. Trump has been at Trump Tower for several days and has not been seen in public.
Later in the evening, however, Trump took his family to a nearby restaurant, the 21 Club, for dinner. The "pool" would have been ready to travel with him, but they were not notified. A Bloomberg staffer dining at the restaurant spotted Trump and tweeted a picture, sending journalists scrambling to catch up.
While Trump and his aides may delight in irritating journalists, the behavior breaks with well-established norms governing a president's relationship with the press corps. Those same norms are also applicable to the president-elect.
While presidents often agitate for more privacy and freedom, and occasionally slip the press, the "pool" of journalists is a fixture of Secret Service motorcades.
The reporters and camera crews view themselves as a "conduit to the American people, so that everybody in the nation knows where he is," NBC's Hallie Jackson said on MSNBC.
Jackson quickly made a reservation at the 21 Club so that she could verify Trump was there. She said he was seated in the main dining room with his family.
To be clear, journalists aren't seeking a seat at the dinner table with Trump. Normally the "pool" waits in a separate room or in a vehicle.
Former Bush administration press secretary Ari Fleischer wrote on Twitter that Trump's aides should have told the press corps where the president-elect was going, following normal protocol.
"A press van would normally be included in the motorcade," he wrote.
So what went wrong? Hicks told journalists that she did not know about Trump's travel plans. She reiterated what she said last week after Trump traveled to Washington, D.C. without a "pool" -- that the normal set-up will be put in place soon.
Related: Trump team promises press pool, but concerns remain
In an emergency, the "pool" quickly relays information, helping the president and his aides inform and reassure Americans. On a day-to-day basis, the "pool" keeps track of the president's whereabouts and how he spends his time -- useful information for the voters who elected him and the Americans who did not.
CNN's Sara Murray told Anderson Cooper on Tuesday night that this "appears to be yet another misunderstanding of exactly how much gravity his new title as president-elect holds. If something, God forbid, were to happen to him, that's a matter not only of public record but also a matter of national security, given that he is next in line to take the White House."
Last week the White House Correspondents Association called the president-elect's travel without journalists "unacceptable."
Full Speech: Trump Addresses Supporters
After winning the presidency, Donald J. Trump addressed supporters in New York City.
By THE NEW YORK TIMES on Publish Date November 9, 2016.
Photo by Eric Thayer for The New York Times.
Watch in Times Video »
Following is a transcript of Donald J. Trump’s victory speech, as compiled by Federal News Services.
TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you very much, everyone.
(APPLAUSE)
Sorry to keep you waiting; complicated business; complicated.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I’ve just received a call from Secretary Clinton.
(APPLAUSE)
She
congratulated us — it’s about us — on our victory, and I congratulated
her and her family on a very, very hard-fought campaign. I mean, she —
she fought very hard.
(APPLAUSE)
Hillary
has worked very long and very hard over a long period of time, and we
owe her a major debt of gratitude for her service to our country.
(APPLAUSE)
I mean that very sincerely.
(APPLAUSE)
Now
it’s time for America to bind the wounds of division; have to get
together. To all Republicans and Democrats and independents across this
nation, I say it is time for us to come together as one united people.
(APPLAUSE)
It’s time. I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans, and this is so important to me.
(APPLAUSE)
For those who have chosen not to support me in the past, of which there were a few people. . .
(LAUGHTER)
. . . I’m reaching out to you for your guidance and your help so that we can work together and unify our great country.
(APPLAUSE)
As
I’ve said from the beginning, ours was not a campaign, but rather an
incredible and great movement made up of millions of hard-working men
and women who love their country and want a better, brighter future for
themselves and for their families.
(APPLAUSE)
It’s
a movement comprised of Americans from all races, religions,
backgrounds and beliefs who want and expect our government to serve the
people, and serve the people it will.
(APPLAUSE)
Working
together, we will begin the urgent task of rebuilding our nation and
renewing the American dream. I’ve spent my entire life and business
looking at the untapped potential in projects and in people all over the
world. That is now what I want to do for our country.
(APPLAUSE)
Tremendous
potential. I’ve gotten to know our country so well — tremendous
potential. It’s going to be a beautiful thing. Every single American
will have the opportunity to realize his or her fullest potential. The
forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.
(APPLAUSE)
We
are going to fix our inner cities and rebuild our highways, bridges,
tunnels, airports, schools, hospitals. We’re going to rebuild our
infrastructure, which will become, by the way, second to none. And we
will put millions of our people to work as we rebuild it.
We will also finally take care of our great veterans.
(APPLAUSE)
They’ve
been so loyal, and I’ve gotten to know so many over this 18-month
journey. The time I’ve spent with them during this campaign has been
among my greatest honors. Our veterans are incredible people. We will
embark upon a project of national growth and renewal. I will harness the
creative talents of our people and we will call upon the best and
brightest to leverage their tremendous talent for the benefit of all.
It’s going to happen.
(APPLAUSE)
We
have a great economic plan. We will double our growth and have the
strongest economy anywhere in the world. At the same time, we will get
along with all other nations willing to get along with us. We will be.
(APPLAUSE)
We’ll have great relationships. We expect to have great, great relationships. No dream is too big, no challenge is too great.
TRUMP: Nothing we want for our future is beyond our reach.
America will no longer settle for anything less than the best.
(APPLAUSE)
We
must reclaim our country’s destiny and dream big and bold and daring.
We have to do that. We’re going to dream of things for our country and
beautiful things and successful things once again.
I
want to tell the world community that while we will always put
America’s interests first, we will deal fairly with everyone, with
everyone — all people and all other nations. We will seek common ground,
not hostility; partnership, not conflict.
And
now I’d like to take this moment to thank some of the people who really
helped me with this, what they are calling tonight, very, very historic
victory.
First, I want to thank my parents, who I know are looking down on me right now.
(APPLAUSE)
Great people. I’ve learned so much from them. They were wonderful in every regard. I had truly great parents.
I
also want to thank my sisters, Maryanne and Elizabeth, who are here
with us tonight. And, where are they? They’re here someplace. They’re
very shy, actually. And my brother Robert — my great friend. Where is
Robert? Where is Robert?
(APPLAUSE)
My
brother Robert. And they should all be on this stage, but that’s OK.
They’re great. And also my late brother, Fred. Great guy. Fantastic guy.
(APPLAUSE)
Fantastic family. I was very lucky. Great brothers, sisters; great, unbelievable parents.
To Melania and Don. . .
(APPLAUSE) . . . and Ivanka. . .
(APPLAUSE)
.
. . and Eric and Tiffany and Baron, I love you and I thank you, and
especially for putting up with all of those hours. This was tough.
(APPLAUSE)
This
was tough. This political stuff is nasty and it’s tough. So I want to
thank my family very much. Really fantastic. Thank you all. Thank you
all.
And Lara, unbelievable job, unbelievable.
Vanessa, thank you. Thank you very much.
What
a great group. You’ve all given me such incredible support, and I will
tell you that we have a large group of people. You know, they kept
saying we have a small staff. Not so small. Look at all the people that
we have. Look at all of these people.
And
Kellyanne and Chris and Rudy and Steve and David. We have got — we have
got tremendously talented people up here. And I want to tell you, it’s
been — it’s been very, very special. I want to give a very special
thanks to our former mayor, Rudy Giuliani.
(APPLAUSE)
Unbelievable.
Unbelievable. He traveled with us and he went through meetings. That
Rudy never changes. Where’s Rudy? Where is he? Rudy.
Governor Chris Christie, folks, was unbelievable.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you, Chris.
The
first man, first senator, first major, major politician, and let me
tell you, he is highly respected in Washington because he’s as smart as
you get: Senator Jeff Sessions. Where is Jeff?
(APPLAUSE)
Great man.
Another great man, very tough competitor. He was not easy. He was not easy. Who is that? Is that the mayor that showed up?
(LAUGHTER)
Is that Rudy? Oh, Rudy got up here.
Another
great man who has been really a friend to me. But I’ll tell you, I got
to know him as a competitor because he was one of the folks that was
negotiating to go against those Democrats: Dr. Ben Carson. Where is Ben?
(APPLAUSE)
Where is Ben?
TRUMP: And by the way, Mike Huckabee is here someplace, and he is fantastic. Mike and his family, Sarah — thank you very much.
General Mike Flynn. Where is Mike?
(APPLAUSE)
And
General Kellogg. We have over 200 generals and admirals that have
endorsed our campaign. And they’re special people and it’s really an
honor. We have 22 congressional Medal of Honor recipients. We have just
tremendous people.
A
very special person who believed me and, you know, I’d read reports
that I wasn’t getting along with him. I never had a bad second with him.
He’s an unbelievable star. He is. . .
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP:
That’s right. How did you possibly guess? So let me tell you about
Reince, and I’ve said this. I said, Reince — and I know it, I know. Look
at all those people over there. I know it. Reince is a superstar. But I
said, “They can’t call you a superstar, Reince, unless we win,” because
you can’t be called a superstar — like Secretariat — if Secretariat
came in second, Secretariat would not have that big, beautiful bronze
bust at the track at Belmont.
But
I’ll tell you, Reince is really a star. And he is the hardest-working
guy. And in a certain way, I did this — Reince, come up here. Where is
Reince? Get over here, Reince.
(APPLAUSE)
Boy oh boy oh boy. It’s about time you did this, Reince. My God.
(APPLAUSE)
Say a few words. No, come on, say something.
RNC CHAIRMAN REINCE PRIEBUS: Ladies and gentlemen, the next president of the United States, Donald Trump.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you. It’s been an honor. God bless. Thank God.
TRUMP: Amazing guy.
Our partnership with the RNC was so important to the success and what we’ve done.
So I also have to say I’ve gotten to know some incredible people — the Secret Service people.
(APPLAUSE)
They’re
tough and they’re smart and they’re sharp, and I don’t want to mess
around with them, I can tell you. And when I want to go and wave to a
big group of people and they rip me down and put me back down on the
seat. But they are fantastic people, so I want to thank the Secret
Service.
(APPLAUSE)
And law enforcement in New York City. They’re here tonight.
(APPLAUSE)
These are spectacular people, sometimes underappreciated unfortunately, but we appreciate them. We know what they go through.
So,
it’s been what they call a historic event, but to be really historic,
we have to do a great job. And I promise you that I will not let you
down. We will do a great job. We will do a great job.
(APPLAUSE)
I
look very much forward to being your president, and hopefully at the
end of two years or three years or four years, or maybe even eight
years. . .
(APPLAUSE)
.
. . you will say, so many of you worked so hard for us, but you will
say that — you will say that that was something that you really were
very proud to do and I can. . .
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Thank you very much.
And I can only say that while the campaign is over, our work on this movement is now really just beginning.
(APPLAUSE)
We’re
going to get to work immediately for the American people. And we’re
going to be doing a job that hopefully you will be so proud of your
president. You’ll be so proud. Again, it’s my honor. It was an amazing
evening. It’s been an amazing two-year period. And I love this country.
(APPLAUSE) Thank you. Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you to Mike Pence. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
Mr. Tigerli in China
Copyright 2016 by Letizia Mancino
translation by Mary Holmes
All rights reserved
Yes Betty, either or it seems he wanted to fly only with
Singapore Airways.
Boeing or Airbus, it’s just the same
isn’t it? Aren’t they both just fat birds with 500 passengers?
Yes, but Singapore Airlines has the
most beautiful airhostesses: delicate, fine, graceful… Mr. Tigerli had looked forward to the flight
so much!
So the little man was disappointed?
You just can’t imagine how disappointed
he was.
But thank God one of the hostesses was a
pretty Chinese girl. Mr. Tigerli purred loudly but she didn’t hear him because
the purring of the Airbus 380 was even louder.
The poor cat!
You’ve said it Betty. Mr. Tigerli was
in a very bad mood and asked me for a loud speaker.
I’m sure you can get one in 1st
Class.
“”Russian Girl” had even heard you over
the roar of the Niagara Falls” I said to Mr. Tigerli. “You are a very
unfaithful cat. You wanted to get to know Asiatic girls. That’s how it is when
one leaves one’s first love”.
And what did he say to that?
“Men are hunters” was his answer.
Yes, my dear cat, a mouse hunter. And
what else did he say?
Not another word. He behaved as if he
hadn’t heard me.
The Airbus is very loud.
I told him shortly “Don’t trouble
yourself about “Chinese Girl”. There will be enough even prettier girls in
China. Wait till we land in Guilin”.
Did he understand you?
Naturally Mr. Tigerli understood me
immediately. Yes, sweetheart, don’t worry. They will find you something sweet
to eat.
And he?
He was so happy.
No problem going through the immigration
control?
Naturally! Lots of problems. How could I explain to
customs that the cat had come as a tourist to China to buy shoes?
Fur in exchange for shoes…
Don’t be so cynical Betty!
Cat meat in exchange for shoes?
He came through the pass control with
no trouble!
Is this Mr. Tigerli?
 |
Betty MacDonald's Vashon Island is a paradise.
info to: Sandra Lorinda Traci Petr Dana Jana Michaela Rebekah Swiss Charrd Tru John Darsie Darsie Toby Jeanine Carol Justin Lila Daniel Mo Nika Steve Neal Jitka Jitka Tami Pete Laurie Maia Nancy Kelly Pam Mary Jan and all our other friends
www.bettymacdonaldfanclub.blogspot.com/
info to: Sandra Lorinda Traci Petr Dana Jana Michaela Rebekah Swiss Charrd Tru John Darsie Darsie Toby Jeanine Carol Justin Lila Daniel Mo Nika Steve Neal Jitka Jitka Tami Pete Laurie Maia Nancy Kelly Pam Mary Jan and all our other friends
www.bettymacdonaldfanclub.blogspot.com/
Take an illustrated day trip through Washington state’s largest city with artist Candace Rose Rardon.
gadventures.com
Linda White yes,if my health allows.I have a few problems but is something I have always wanted to do,especially as I reread her books.
Unlike · Reply · 1 · August 1 at 6:37pm
Linde Lund Dear Linda I'll keep you posted.
Like · Reply · 1 · August 1 at 6:42pm
Bella Dillon · Friends with Darsie Beck
I still read Mrs Piggle Wiggle books to this day. I love her farm on vashon.
Unlike · Reply · 1 · August 1 at 10:32pm
Lila Taylor Good morning...Linde Lund
Unlike · Reply · 1 · 18 hrs
