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Who will be watching? First one kicks off in 24 hours time.
The Democrats have pulled Joe back from his campaign trail recently to get him prepared, so hopefully it will be a decent exchange.
Unfortunately they don’t seem to have great confidence as they have spent the last month looking for any dirt they can dig up so Joe can use if he gets stuck.
It’s no coincidence that this vote influencing Facebook algorithm story is being shamelessly and inaccurately made into a race issue on the eve of the debates. So transparent and disingenuous, it’s a shame politics has come to this on this level where black people are being used in this way to score political points. I would be furious if I was them, but it does seem a lot of people are not falling for this one and calling it out for what it is.
People finally seem to be getting wise to this political race baiting which is refreshing to see.
It’s also telling that in the week of the debate they try and paint Trump as a tax evasion offender. I think that’s what they wanted the tax returns to show, they seem to have got annoyed when it turns out his tax returns were fine in accordance to what his companies profits were - but decided to run with it anyway. Any news is good news in their mind as it’s another thing Joe can use when in a tricky spot.
But I hope the discussions remain political and doesn’t turn into some form of gossip peddling reality TV episode.
Although I think there should be some kind of drinking game involved if it does turn that way, how many times Biden completely loses his thread of thought and blurts out “I mean, think about it...” you have to take a shot.
I will be watching with great interest anyway.
This post has been edited by an administrator
Swansea Independent Poster of the Year 2021 and 2022.
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 20:58 - Oct 26 by Gwyn737
And it’s looking likely he’ll lose.
Gwyn bach, when are you ever going to learn, not until the result comes in i guess, but even then you will be in denial and will try to come up with some conspiracy theory's.
0
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 22:22 - Oct 27 with 1487 views
It seems me replying to them on the other site has really put them over the edge. There is no safe space from common sense, they go over there to hide from it yet still get it from me by replying to them on here as I know they read it intently. I imagine this thread is how a lot of them are learning about politics.
Look at AceJacks comments here who has got progressively more giddy and and fanatic with every passing post. It seems he has taken it badly that I taught him that he was incorrect that the Proud Boys (led by a black man) are a white supremacist group... he then changed it to “neo-fascist” not realising that neo-fascists oppose such things as capitalism (so the complete opposite of the Proud Boys then...) .
What is it with these social media driven radical leftists who have started using terms they have seen once but have never understood? It’s embarrassing.
....so I dare not touch upon his basic lack of understanding of the Supreme Court in his latest drivel, or his complete lack of understanding of the word “fascist” - but he’s not alone with that.
Look at the meltdown on this one...
Hilarious and shocking in equal parts. That is the difference between the right and the left in a nutshell. One is logic and common sense and the other is emotional hyperbole where they forego human decency in order to push a point they fundamentally don’t even understand.
Scary.
If these children wish to talk ACTUAL politics instead of stuff they don’t understand after having seen in the leftist media, then they are welcome on this thread (assuming Keith would allow such people of course). But they can’t say they haven’t been given the chance to learn now at least.
[Post edited 28 Oct 2020 0:21]
Swansea Independent Poster of the Year 2021 and 2022.
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 23:41 - Oct 27 by Dr_Parnassus
Wow.
It seems me replying to them on the other site has really put them over the edge. There is no safe space from common sense, they go over there to hide from it yet still get it from me by replying to them on here as I know they read it intently. I imagine this thread is how a lot of them are learning about politics.
Look at AceJacks comments here who has got progressively more giddy and and fanatic with every passing post. It seems he has taken it badly that I taught him that he was incorrect that the Proud Boys (led by a black man) are a white supremacist group... he then changed it to “neo-fascist” not realising that neo-fascists oppose such things as capitalism (so the complete opposite of the Proud Boys then...) .
What is it with these social media driven radical leftists who have started using terms they have seen once but have never understood? It’s embarrassing.
....so I dare not touch upon his basic lack of understanding of the Supreme Court in his latest drivel, or his complete lack of understanding of the word “fascist” - but he’s not alone with that.
Look at the meltdown on this one...
Hilarious and shocking in equal parts. That is the difference between the right and the left in a nutshell. One is logic and common sense and the other is emotional hyperbole where they forego human decency in order to push a point they fundamentally don’t even understand.
Scary.
If these children wish to talk ACTUAL politics instead of stuff they don’t understand after having seen in the leftist media, then they are welcome on this thread (assuming Keith would allow such people of course). But they can’t say they haven’t been given the chance to learn now at least.
[Post edited 28 Oct 2020 0:21]
Death threats, and people wonder why many chose not to move to the new forum, and why others chose to return to this site. As you say they are perfectly able to post here and dispute anything if they have evidence, but seem lost given they know their oft normal response of name calling, will generally no longer be tolerated.
Ace flares up from time to time, but In fairness to him, I think as an ardent Labour Party member, he was deeply disturbed by how the Labour Party destroyed itself, so that many ordinary people, the bread and butter Labour voters, could no longer identify with what it had become. The straw on the Camels back, Sir Keir, the staunch remainer, unscripted at the Labour Party conference, slipping in the prospect of reversing the Brexit vote. There was a reason Corbyn sat on the fence on that one, that went well beyond his long and well established anti EU convictions.
However death threats are not to be tolerated (or even passively enabled) and certainly do not speak of balanced and civilised behaviour.
Maybe he also has in mind the US, where merely daring to display support for a political candidate on clothing, car pennant etc. can lead to serious verbal intimidation and physical attack, including stoning (biblical!), serious violent assault and murder. Perhaps an inspiration for his own shocking and ironic behaviour there.
Is this their own image that the EU want to build the world in, Totalitarianism here we come?
1
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 13:02 - Oct 28 with 1350 views
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 23:41 - Oct 27 by Dr_Parnassus
Wow.
It seems me replying to them on the other site has really put them over the edge. There is no safe space from common sense, they go over there to hide from it yet still get it from me by replying to them on here as I know they read it intently. I imagine this thread is how a lot of them are learning about politics.
Look at AceJacks comments here who has got progressively more giddy and and fanatic with every passing post. It seems he has taken it badly that I taught him that he was incorrect that the Proud Boys (led by a black man) are a white supremacist group... he then changed it to “neo-fascist” not realising that neo-fascists oppose such things as capitalism (so the complete opposite of the Proud Boys then...) .
What is it with these social media driven radical leftists who have started using terms they have seen once but have never understood? It’s embarrassing.
....so I dare not touch upon his basic lack of understanding of the Supreme Court in his latest drivel, or his complete lack of understanding of the word “fascist” - but he’s not alone with that.
Look at the meltdown on this one...
Hilarious and shocking in equal parts. That is the difference between the right and the left in a nutshell. One is logic and common sense and the other is emotional hyperbole where they forego human decency in order to push a point they fundamentally don’t even understand.
Scary.
If these children wish to talk ACTUAL politics instead of stuff they don’t understand after having seen in the leftist media, then they are welcome on this thread (assuming Keith would allow such people of course). But they can’t say they haven’t been given the chance to learn now at least.
[Post edited 28 Oct 2020 0:21]
Everyone is welcome here, no threats, no abuse and it’s fine.
A great believer in taking anything you like to wherever you want to.
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 12:48 - Oct 28 by chad
Death threats, and people wonder why many chose not to move to the new forum, and why others chose to return to this site. As you say they are perfectly able to post here and dispute anything if they have evidence, but seem lost given they know their oft normal response of name calling, will generally no longer be tolerated.
Ace flares up from time to time, but In fairness to him, I think as an ardent Labour Party member, he was deeply disturbed by how the Labour Party destroyed itself, so that many ordinary people, the bread and butter Labour voters, could no longer identify with what it had become. The straw on the Camels back, Sir Keir, the staunch remainer, unscripted at the Labour Party conference, slipping in the prospect of reversing the Brexit vote. There was a reason Corbyn sat on the fence on that one, that went well beyond his long and well established anti EU convictions.
However death threats are not to be tolerated (or even passively enabled) and certainly do not speak of balanced and civilised behaviour.
Maybe he also has in mind the US, where merely daring to display support for a political candidate on clothing, car pennant etc. can lead to serious verbal intimidation and physical attack, including stoning (biblical!), serious violent assault and murder. Perhaps an inspiration for his own shocking and ironic behaviour there.
Is this their own image that the EU want to build the world in, Totalitarianism here we come?
“Deeply disturbed” is probably correct.
The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 18:31 - Oct 28 by Kilkennyjack
Dr - what’s happening butt ? You are bolloxed mucker.
What’s happening with what?
The market since the end of the last debate has moved 8% towards Trump.
Finding polls which work on the very fact they are inaccurate to begin with to serve whatever you want them to say is a little pointless don’t you think?
Swansea Independent Poster of the Year 2021 and 2022.
More than two years ago, I published an anonymous opinion piece in The New York Times about Donald Trump’s perilous presidency, while I was serving under him. He responded with a short but telling tweet: “TREASON?”
Trump sees personal criticism as subversive.
I take a different view. As Theodore Roosevelt wrote, “To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or anyone else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about anyone else.”
We do not owe the President our silence. We owe him and the American people the truth.
Make no mistake: I am a Republican, and I wanted this President to succeed. That’s why I came into the Administration with John Kelly, and it’s why I stayed on as Chief of Staff at the Department of Homeland Security. But too often in times of crisis, I saw Donald Trump prove he is a man without character, and his personal defects have resulted in leadership failures so significant that they can be measured in lost American lives. I witnessed Trump’s inability to do his job over the course of two-and-a-half years. Everyone saw it, though most were hesitant to speak up for fear of reprisals.
So when I left the Administration I wrote A Warning, a character study of the current Commander in Chief and a caution to voters that it wasn’t as bad as it looked inside the Trump Administration – it was worse. While I claim sole authorship of the work, the sentiments expressed within it were widely held among officials at the highest levels of the federal government. In other words, Trump’s own lieutenants were alarmed by his instability.
Much has been made of the fact that these writings were published anonymously. The decision wasn’t easy, I wrestled with it, and I understand why some people consider it questionable to levy such serious charges against a sitting President under the cover of anonymity. But my reasoning was straightforward, and I stand by it. Issuing my critiques without attribution forced the President to answer them directly on their merits or not at all, rather than creating distractions through petty insults and name-calling. I wanted the attention to be on the arguments themselves. At the time I asked, “What will he do when there is no person to attack, only an idea?” We got the answer. He became unhinged. And the ideas stood on their own two feet.
To be clear, writing those works was not about eminence (they were published without attribution), not about money (I declined a hefty monetary advance and pledged to donate the bulk of the proceeds), and not about crafting a score-settling “tell all” (my focus was on the President himself and his character, not denigrating former colleagues).
Nevertheless, I made clear I wasn’t afraid to criticize the President under my name. In fact, I pledged to do so. That is why I’ve already been vocal throughout the general election. I’ve tried to convey as best I can – based on my own experience – how Donald Trump has made America less safe, less certain of its identity and destiny, and less united. He has responded predictably, with personal attacks meant to obscure the underlying message that he is unfit for the office he holds.
Yet Trump has failed to bury the truth.
Why? Because since the op-ed was published, I’ve been joined by an unprecedented number of former colleagues who’ve chosen to speak out against the man they once served. Donald Trump’s character and record have now been challenged in myriad ways by his own former Chief of Staff, National Security Advisor, Communications Director, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Director of National Intelligence, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and others he personally appointed.
History will also record the names of those souls who had everything to lose but stood up anyway, including Trump officials Fiona Hill, Michael McKinley, John Mitnick, Elizabeth Neumann, Bob Shanks, Olivia Troye, Josh Venable, Alexander Vindman, and many more. I applaud their courage. These are not “Deep Staters” who conspired to thwart their boss. Many of them were Trump supporters, and all of them are patriots who accepted great personal risks to speak candidly about a man they’ve seen retaliate and even incite violence against his opponents. (I’ve likewise experienced the cost of condemning the President, as doing so has taken a considerable toll on my job, daily life, marriage, finances, and personal safety.)
These public servants were not intimidated. And you shouldn’t be either. As descendants of revolutionaries, honest dissent is part of our American character, and we must reject the culture of political intimidation that’s been cultivated by this President. That’s why I’m writing this note – to urge you to speak out if you haven’t. While I hope a few more Trump officials will quickly find their consciences, your words are now more important than theirs. It’s time to come forward and shine a light on the discord that’s infected our public discourse. You can speak loudest with your vote and persuade others with your voice. Don’t be afraid of open debate. As I’ve said before, there is no better screen test for truth than to see it audition next to delusion.
This election is a two-part referendum: first, on the character of a man, and second, on the character of our nation. That’s why I’m also urging fellow Republicans to put country over party, even if that means supporting Trump’s Democratic opponent. Although former Vice President Joe Biden is likely to pursue progressive reforms that conservatives oppose (and rest assured, we will challenge them in the loyal opposition), his policy agenda cannot equal the damage done by the current President to the fabric of our Republic. I believe Joe Biden’s decency will bring us back together where Donald Trump’s dishonesty has torn us apart.
Trump has been exactly what we conservatives always said government should NOT be: expansive, wasteful, arbitrary, unpredictable, and prone to abuses of power. Worse still, as I’ve noted previously, he’s waged an all-out assault on reason, preferring to enthrone emotion and impulse in the seat of government. The consequences have been calamitous, and if given four more years, he will push the limits of his power further than the “high crimes and misdemeanors” for which he was already impeached.
Trust me. We spent years trying to ameliorate Trump’s poor decisions (often unsuccessfully), many of which will be back with a vengeance in a second term. Recall, this is the man who told us, “When somebody’s president of the United States, the authority is total.” I believe more than ever that Trump unbound will mean a nation undone – a continued downward slide into social acrimony, with the United States fading into the background of a world stage it once commanded, to say nothing of the damage to our democratic institutions.
I was wrong, however, about one major assertion in my original op-ed. The country cannot rely on well-intentioned, unelected bureaucrats around the President to steer him toward what’s right. He has purged most of them anyway. Nor can they rely on Congress to deliver us from Trump’s wayward whims. The people themselves are the ultimate check on the nation’s chief executive. We alone must determine whether his behavior warrants continuance in office, and we face a momentous decision, as our choice about Trump’s future will affect our future for years to come. With that in mind, he doesn’t deserve a second term in office, and we don’t deserve to live through it.
Removing Trump will not be the end of our woes, unfortunately. While on the road visiting swing states for the past month, it’s become clear to me how far apart Americans have grown from one another. We’ve perpetuated the seemingly endless hostility stoked by this divisive President, so if we really want to restore vibrance to our civic life, the change must begin with each of us, not just with the occupant of the Oval Office. Fortunately, past generations have lit the way toward national reconciliation in even harder times.
On the brink of a civil war that literally split our nation in two, Abraham Lincoln called on the people not to lose sight of one other. He said in his Inaugural Address:
We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
Heed Lincoln’s words. We must return to our founding principles. We must rediscover our better angels. And we must reconcile with each other, repairing the bonds of affection that make us fellow Americans.
Miles Taylor October 2020
It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. - Carl Sagan
0
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 05:07 - Oct 29 with 1193 views
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 12:48 - Oct 28 by chad
Death threats, and people wonder why many chose not to move to the new forum, and why others chose to return to this site. As you say they are perfectly able to post here and dispute anything if they have evidence, but seem lost given they know their oft normal response of name calling, will generally no longer be tolerated.
Ace flares up from time to time, but In fairness to him, I think as an ardent Labour Party member, he was deeply disturbed by how the Labour Party destroyed itself, so that many ordinary people, the bread and butter Labour voters, could no longer identify with what it had become. The straw on the Camels back, Sir Keir, the staunch remainer, unscripted at the Labour Party conference, slipping in the prospect of reversing the Brexit vote. There was a reason Corbyn sat on the fence on that one, that went well beyond his long and well established anti EU convictions.
However death threats are not to be tolerated (or even passively enabled) and certainly do not speak of balanced and civilised behaviour.
Maybe he also has in mind the US, where merely daring to display support for a political candidate on clothing, car pennant etc. can lead to serious verbal intimidation and physical attack, including stoning (biblical!), serious violent assault and murder. Perhaps an inspiration for his own shocking and ironic behaviour there.
Is this their own image that the EU want to build the world in, Totalitarianism here we come?
He’s not having a good time of it the poor chap, clearly.
I was also entertained with the way he decided to frame killing unborn children as “reproductive rights” too. I’m not sure if these guys are trolling with their leftist nonsense but something tells me they aren’t, which is scary.
For a start Roe vs Wade is very unlikely to be overturned regardless of ACB rightly being added to the court, secondly nobody is taking women’s productive rights away, women can reproduce or not reproduce - totally up to them. There is a small chance however that their choice to kill their child out of convenience may be taken away, and given the sheer numbers of people that do that, it’s hard to argue against.
More black children are aborted than born in New York City and their bodies sold to medical science to be tested on. Horrific really.
But hey, let’s not expect picket wielding lefties to welcome common sense.
[Post edited 29 Oct 2020 5:08]
Swansea Independent Poster of the Year 2021 and 2022.
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 05:07 - Oct 29 by Dr_Parnassus
He’s not having a good time of it the poor chap, clearly.
I was also entertained with the way he decided to frame killing unborn children as “reproductive rights” too. I’m not sure if these guys are trolling with their leftist nonsense but something tells me they aren’t, which is scary.
For a start Roe vs Wade is very unlikely to be overturned regardless of ACB rightly being added to the court, secondly nobody is taking women’s productive rights away, women can reproduce or not reproduce - totally up to them. There is a small chance however that their choice to kill their child out of convenience may be taken away, and given the sheer numbers of people that do that, it’s hard to argue against.
More black children are aborted than born in New York City and their bodies sold to medical science to be tested on. Horrific really.
But hey, let’s not expect picket wielding lefties to welcome common sense.
[Post edited 29 Oct 2020 5:08]
Shameful post
Absolutely based on lies. Fetal (or foetal) material cannot be sold for profit in the US. The UK laws prevent any sale. I checked this to be sure-but I chair a regulatory affairs committee for research which includes ethics if you wish to know why I am interested.
I have had you on ignore and back you will go, but had to respond to this. This may not be a personal view, but is how such work is framed in medical ethics and law.
0
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 09:42 - Oct 29 with 1146 views
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 08:07 - Oct 29 by Professor
Shameful post
Absolutely based on lies. Fetal (or foetal) material cannot be sold for profit in the US. The UK laws prevent any sale. I checked this to be sure-but I chair a regulatory affairs committee for research which includes ethics if you wish to know why I am interested.
I have had you on ignore and back you will go, but had to respond to this. This may not be a personal view, but is how such work is framed in medical ethics and law.
Well I am glad you have found the balls to post here instead of sniping and cowering on the other forum. Even if it does come with the with the pretence and caveat that “you have me on ignore” which of course exonerates you from having to reply to me as I tear your post apart. A tactic that is old as time itself and incredibly transparent.
You are of course wrong, as usual. Which part of my post is a lie exactly? Be specific, because every single part is a verifiable fact.
Foetal tissue IS SOLD by Planned Parenthood, sometimes at $60 per specimen which breaks the reasonable cost law. It may not be a comfortable fact to face for someone such as yourself which champions leftist agenda... but a fact it remains.
So you may need to do a little more research on that Prof.
Remember if you “had me on ignore”... but “had to respond to this”... suggests I was never on ignore in the first place. So I fully expect you will also see this reply too, but of course will not be able to reply because it proves you yet again incorrect.
I think you need another username, this one really is not appropriate.
[Post edited 29 Oct 2020 9:52]
Swansea Independent Poster of the Year 2021 and 2022.
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 09:42 - Oct 29 by Dr_Parnassus
Well I am glad you have found the balls to post here instead of sniping and cowering on the other forum. Even if it does come with the with the pretence and caveat that “you have me on ignore” which of course exonerates you from having to reply to me as I tear your post apart. A tactic that is old as time itself and incredibly transparent.
You are of course wrong, as usual. Which part of my post is a lie exactly? Be specific, because every single part is a verifiable fact.
Foetal tissue IS SOLD by Planned Parenthood, sometimes at $60 per specimen which breaks the reasonable cost law. It may not be a comfortable fact to face for someone such as yourself which champions leftist agenda... but a fact it remains.
So you may need to do a little more research on that Prof.
Remember if you “had me on ignore”... but “had to respond to this”... suggests I was never on ignore in the first place. So I fully expect you will also see this reply too, but of course will not be able to reply because it proves you yet again incorrect.
I think you need another username, this one really is not appropriate.
[Post edited 29 Oct 2020 9:52]
The courier cost alone of a biological sample is about $40.
You make an insinuation based on politics. I posted the ethics. As I said, this is the ethics and not a personal view. Its a nasty post that has huge racist overtones.
And WTF do you know about biological research, its ethics and costs.
Stop spreading the BS.
Fiery has you spot on
0
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 11:18 - Oct 29 with 1109 views
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 10:02 - Oct 29 by Professor
The courier cost alone of a biological sample is about $40.
You make an insinuation based on politics. I posted the ethics. As I said, this is the ethics and not a personal view. Its a nasty post that has huge racist overtones.
And WTF do you know about biological research, its ethics and costs.
Stop spreading the BS.
Fiery has you spot on
Can you explain to us what ethics has to do with the real world in absolutely any area, not just biological research? Are you really naive enough to believe that where profit is concerned ethics and rules do not go out of the nearest window at the first sight of dollars & pounds?
Bringing in accusations of Racism again, watch yourself mate.
0
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 11:27 - Oct 29 with 1104 views
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 01:07 - Oct 29 by DJack
A Statement Miles Taylor
Why I’m no longer “Anonymous”
More than two years ago, I published an anonymous opinion piece in The New York Times about Donald Trump’s perilous presidency, while I was serving under him. He responded with a short but telling tweet: “TREASON?”
Trump sees personal criticism as subversive.
I take a different view. As Theodore Roosevelt wrote, “To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or anyone else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about anyone else.”
We do not owe the President our silence. We owe him and the American people the truth.
Make no mistake: I am a Republican, and I wanted this President to succeed. That’s why I came into the Administration with John Kelly, and it’s why I stayed on as Chief of Staff at the Department of Homeland Security. But too often in times of crisis, I saw Donald Trump prove he is a man without character, and his personal defects have resulted in leadership failures so significant that they can be measured in lost American lives. I witnessed Trump’s inability to do his job over the course of two-and-a-half years. Everyone saw it, though most were hesitant to speak up for fear of reprisals.
So when I left the Administration I wrote A Warning, a character study of the current Commander in Chief and a caution to voters that it wasn’t as bad as it looked inside the Trump Administration – it was worse. While I claim sole authorship of the work, the sentiments expressed within it were widely held among officials at the highest levels of the federal government. In other words, Trump’s own lieutenants were alarmed by his instability.
Much has been made of the fact that these writings were published anonymously. The decision wasn’t easy, I wrestled with it, and I understand why some people consider it questionable to levy such serious charges against a sitting President under the cover of anonymity. But my reasoning was straightforward, and I stand by it. Issuing my critiques without attribution forced the President to answer them directly on their merits or not at all, rather than creating distractions through petty insults and name-calling. I wanted the attention to be on the arguments themselves. At the time I asked, “What will he do when there is no person to attack, only an idea?” We got the answer. He became unhinged. And the ideas stood on their own two feet.
To be clear, writing those works was not about eminence (they were published without attribution), not about money (I declined a hefty monetary advance and pledged to donate the bulk of the proceeds), and not about crafting a score-settling “tell all” (my focus was on the President himself and his character, not denigrating former colleagues).
Nevertheless, I made clear I wasn’t afraid to criticize the President under my name. In fact, I pledged to do so. That is why I’ve already been vocal throughout the general election. I’ve tried to convey as best I can – based on my own experience – how Donald Trump has made America less safe, less certain of its identity and destiny, and less united. He has responded predictably, with personal attacks meant to obscure the underlying message that he is unfit for the office he holds.
Yet Trump has failed to bury the truth.
Why? Because since the op-ed was published, I’ve been joined by an unprecedented number of former colleagues who’ve chosen to speak out against the man they once served. Donald Trump’s character and record have now been challenged in myriad ways by his own former Chief of Staff, National Security Advisor, Communications Director, Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Director of National Intelligence, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and others he personally appointed.
History will also record the names of those souls who had everything to lose but stood up anyway, including Trump officials Fiona Hill, Michael McKinley, John Mitnick, Elizabeth Neumann, Bob Shanks, Olivia Troye, Josh Venable, Alexander Vindman, and many more. I applaud their courage. These are not “Deep Staters” who conspired to thwart their boss. Many of them were Trump supporters, and all of them are patriots who accepted great personal risks to speak candidly about a man they’ve seen retaliate and even incite violence against his opponents. (I’ve likewise experienced the cost of condemning the President, as doing so has taken a considerable toll on my job, daily life, marriage, finances, and personal safety.)
These public servants were not intimidated. And you shouldn’t be either. As descendants of revolutionaries, honest dissent is part of our American character, and we must reject the culture of political intimidation that’s been cultivated by this President. That’s why I’m writing this note – to urge you to speak out if you haven’t. While I hope a few more Trump officials will quickly find their consciences, your words are now more important than theirs. It’s time to come forward and shine a light on the discord that’s infected our public discourse. You can speak loudest with your vote and persuade others with your voice. Don’t be afraid of open debate. As I’ve said before, there is no better screen test for truth than to see it audition next to delusion.
This election is a two-part referendum: first, on the character of a man, and second, on the character of our nation. That’s why I’m also urging fellow Republicans to put country over party, even if that means supporting Trump’s Democratic opponent. Although former Vice President Joe Biden is likely to pursue progressive reforms that conservatives oppose (and rest assured, we will challenge them in the loyal opposition), his policy agenda cannot equal the damage done by the current President to the fabric of our Republic. I believe Joe Biden’s decency will bring us back together where Donald Trump’s dishonesty has torn us apart.
Trump has been exactly what we conservatives always said government should NOT be: expansive, wasteful, arbitrary, unpredictable, and prone to abuses of power. Worse still, as I’ve noted previously, he’s waged an all-out assault on reason, preferring to enthrone emotion and impulse in the seat of government. The consequences have been calamitous, and if given four more years, he will push the limits of his power further than the “high crimes and misdemeanors” for which he was already impeached.
Trust me. We spent years trying to ameliorate Trump’s poor decisions (often unsuccessfully), many of which will be back with a vengeance in a second term. Recall, this is the man who told us, “When somebody’s president of the United States, the authority is total.” I believe more than ever that Trump unbound will mean a nation undone – a continued downward slide into social acrimony, with the United States fading into the background of a world stage it once commanded, to say nothing of the damage to our democratic institutions.
I was wrong, however, about one major assertion in my original op-ed. The country cannot rely on well-intentioned, unelected bureaucrats around the President to steer him toward what’s right. He has purged most of them anyway. Nor can they rely on Congress to deliver us from Trump’s wayward whims. The people themselves are the ultimate check on the nation’s chief executive. We alone must determine whether his behavior warrants continuance in office, and we face a momentous decision, as our choice about Trump’s future will affect our future for years to come. With that in mind, he doesn’t deserve a second term in office, and we don’t deserve to live through it.
Removing Trump will not be the end of our woes, unfortunately. While on the road visiting swing states for the past month, it’s become clear to me how far apart Americans have grown from one another. We’ve perpetuated the seemingly endless hostility stoked by this divisive President, so if we really want to restore vibrance to our civic life, the change must begin with each of us, not just with the occupant of the Oval Office. Fortunately, past generations have lit the way toward national reconciliation in even harder times.
On the brink of a civil war that literally split our nation in two, Abraham Lincoln called on the people not to lose sight of one other. He said in his Inaugural Address:
We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
Heed Lincoln’s words. We must return to our founding principles. We must rediscover our better angels. And we must reconcile with each other, repairing the bonds of affection that make us fellow Americans.
Miles Taylor October 2020
Character assassination is all the Democrats have left. This nice Miles Taylor chap is obviously rabid anti Trump and a RINO of the best order. He is not prepared to talk about his President's and parties record breaking performance on the world stage. A truly pathetic individual, just the sort of person that you like to quote.
[Post edited 29 Oct 2020 11:27]
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🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 11:45 - Oct 29 with 1092 views
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 11:18 - Oct 29 by A_Fans_Dad
Can you explain to us what ethics has to do with the real world in absolutely any area, not just biological research? Are you really naive enough to believe that where profit is concerned ethics and rules do not go out of the nearest window at the first sight of dollars & pounds?
Bringing in accusations of Racism again, watch yourself mate.
I forget you don’t believe in checks and balances. Ethics impacts every decision we make. Our own and the legislation. Tell the families of the Alder Hey scandal it did not matter. The reason we have the Human Tissue Act in the U.K. . Tell it to the black men who suffered in the Tuskegee experiment. Tell it to the family of Henrietta Lacks.
I stand by what i said.
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🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 12:34 - Oct 29 with 1081 views
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 11:45 - Oct 29 by Professor
I forget you don’t believe in checks and balances. Ethics impacts every decision we make. Our own and the legislation. Tell the families of the Alder Hey scandal it did not matter. The reason we have the Human Tissue Act in the U.K. . Tell it to the black men who suffered in the Tuskegee experiment. Tell it to the family of Henrietta Lacks.
I stand by what i said.
There you go assigning to me your completely wrong belief of what I think and my values.
I didn't say it didn't matter, but like I said in the real world it is ignored as are morals and consciences, that is why some people will do anything for money up to and including murder. So breaking a few rules means nothing to them.
[Post edited 29 Oct 2020 12:34]
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🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 12:48 - Oct 29 with 1074 views
🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 12:34 - Oct 29 by A_Fans_Dad
There you go assigning to me your completely wrong belief of what I think and my values.
I didn't say it didn't matter, but like I said in the real world it is ignored as are morals and consciences, that is why some people will do anything for money up to and including murder. So breaking a few rules means nothing to them.
[Post edited 29 Oct 2020 12:34]
Which is why ethical codes, approvals and legislation are there. To protect against exploitation of people for financial or other gain. We take governance very seriously. We don't behave like politicians and corrupt billionaires. And yes, we do stop activities we consider do meet our expectations of ethics. We have our faults like everyone though.
And I stand by that the post contained elements I find offensive from an ethical and moral standpoint.
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🇺🇸Presidential debate round 1 - “Matchday thread”🇺🇸 on 12:56 - Oct 29 with 1071 views
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