kanesrealm

The first rule of politics is never underestimate your opponent. Every Republican candidate did this concerning Donald Trump. Not one of them took him on aggressively from day one. The presumptive nominee, Jeb Bush, allowed Trump to define him as a low energy clueless dolt for weeks before attempting what repeatedly was a weak counterattack. The rest of them ducked for cover hoping not to be a target. Trump chose Bush as his first victim because he knew that strategically he had to dispatch him quickly. Trump has repeated this pattern each time a new person rose in the ranks. But still the field failed to take his candidacy seriously. Donald Trump has been threatening to run for President since 1996. The Republican Party in theory should have a massive oppo research file on him but they don't. The reason is as simple as underestimating him and also repeatedly going to him for political donations. Like any smart businessman he has spread the wealth over both major parties and indiv...

Last night the remaining five Republicans debated on CNN live from Houston, Texas. I wouldn't exactly call it an exercise in intellectual engagement but more of a National Geographic special, "when animals attack." Like a pair of rabid dogs Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz tried to double team and take down the lion, Donald Trump. Like all rabid dogs they can't be trusted and also bit each other. Contrary to the analysis of some pundits who are so afraid of a Trump victory, he was not harmed by the lesser jackals on stage. He proved without question that he can take a punch. It continues to amaze me how so many "experts" who are immersed in politics everyday still don't get the Trump phenomenon. He doesn't have to provide details about his policies. His supporters don't care about Trump University, undocumented workers building Trump Towers or being fined forty years ago for using Polish workers. No one, including me, cares about his tax returns. If Ru...

One of the tactics being employed by the Clinton Campaign is to suggest that Bernie Sanders is anti Obama. This is for the purpose of motivating what they believe to be the Obama coalition, including African Americans, to vote against Sanders. It might seem like a good idea, but it's not. Clinton is wrapping herself around President Obama in spite of her own disagreements with him. For the Democratic Primaries it may be successful but in the general election this fall her portrayal as a third term of Obama will backfire. The Republicans are already emphasizing it and Clinton is giving them plenty of ammunition. What we know for certain is that Barack Obama has no coattails to ride. Bernie Sanders is not anti Obama but he has criticized him when he feels it's warranted. That is part of his authenticity. He has been attacked for his suggestion in 2011 on a radio program and in response to a question, that Obama should potentially face a primary challenge. There is nothing wrong ...

Here we go again. Candidate Obama made a huge (HUGE) deal about closing GITMO during the 2008 election. President Obama has done damn little to address it and now in the final year he wants to stir the hornets nest. He's not likely to succeed nor should he. By the gods (of which none exist) would someone please point out the fact that the terrorist suspects at GITMO are on American soil. Over and over again those opposing it's closing say the same thing, "we don't want these people on American soil." Guantanamo Bay is a military base and just like an Embassy it is considered to be American soil in the eyes of international law. An attack on such facilities/soil is an act of war. Guantanamo Bay is not the issue and it never has been. The geographical disposition of these suspects is irrelevant. Is there anyone with a functioning brain that believes we cannot safely confine these prisoners in our maximum security facilities including military prisons right here in...

Winning the Presidential nomination of the two major parties is about the acquisition of delegates. In the Democratic Party this is a fairly complex endeavor and it's deliberately designed to be. The major media is engaged in a daily repetition that Hillary Clinton can't be beat, that Bernie Sanders just doesn't have a path to the nomination. Let's review some facts. As I write this Sanders and Clinton are tied with 51 delegates each. Clinton won Iowa by a mouse fart, Sanders crushed Clinton in New Hampshire and not because he's from Vermont. Clinton just won the Nevada Caucuses. She will in all likelihood win South Carolina especially now that she has the full support of Rep. Jim Clyburn who is an iconic figure in that State. Clinton has done a masterful job of spinning the narrative in the African-American community that Bernie Sanders has not been in their corner and has only recently took interest in their issues, this in spite of the fact that his support for...

When last we metaphorically met Jeb Bush was plotting his long-term plans to take the nomination through a strong showing in South Carolina. He dropped out within a few hours of the polls closing. It couldn't have been an easy decision but it was the right decision, the man who would be king finally realized it was never going to happen. Ben Carson finished in an even weaker position and he has failed to catch fire in anyway in any of the contests so far. Here's the big reveal, he never will. He too should have already dropped out but he just can't bring himself to end his vanity campaign. Perhaps he thinks he can be a Vice-Presidential contender but that too is not going to happen. He wouldn't bring anything of value to the ticket. John Kasich is simply never going to build the enthusiasm necessary to succeed. He will be irrelevant, if not gone, after Super Tuesday. Ted Cruz came in third in South Carolina, proving that his alleged strength with evangelicals is not...

Pope Francis appears to have criticized Donald Trump before leaving Mexico after his official visit. To be clear the Pontiff did not specifically name Trump. His statement was anyone seeking to build walls is not a Christian. We all know he meant Trump but frankly it could be widely applied across the political spectrum to Republicans and Democrats alike. The Pope's comments seem a bit off here. Vatican City is the world's smallest sovereign state, ironically a dictatorship. It has a formal government including a State Department with Ambassadors  throughout the world. It has a security apparatus which is not always apparent but can respond rapidly if needed. You cannot simply go there and live just because you want to, they have rules, very old rules. Every country has the right to enforce control of their own borders and to set it's own immigration policies. There are many Democracies in the world that have far stricter policies than the United States. As to criticisi...