America's Founders Worried About The Appeal of Trump Style Thug Leadership

Facebook co-founder donates $20 million to defeat Trump Politico

Dustin Moskovitz, who joined Mark Zuckerberg in co-founding Facebook before going on to found Asana has committed $20 million -- with his wife Cari Tuna -- to elect Democrats this fall. "The polarization in America today has yielded a race that is about much more than policies and ideas," Moskovitz wrote in his essay titled "Compelled to Act.", published on Medium. "It has become a referendum on who we want to be -- as individuals, as a nation and as a society." 

The $20 million will be divided among the Hillary Victory Fund, the DSCC, and the DCCC, the League of Conservation Voters Victory Fund and For Our Future PAC. 

Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and the Thug Theory of Leadership The Daily Beast

The Founding Fathers warned about the danger of this “strongman” school of leadership since the earliest days of our democracy. Alexander Hamilton cautioned “There are seasons in every country when noise and impudence pass current for worth; and in popular commotions especially, the clamors of interested and factious men are often mistaken for patriotism.”

“Noise and impudence” is certainly one way to describe The Donald’s campaign style. Its nationalist, know-nothing appeal is emotional. Especially in times when people feel out of control—for example, when the forces of globalization are shaking every old tribal certainty—some folks gravitate to the guy who is strong and wrong. They are soothed by tough-guy theatrics that divide the world into us against them. They take comfort in the bully because they believe he’s got their back. Of course, bullies are scared and self-interested creatures themselves and they have no friendships, only interests.

John Adams argued, “without the great political virtues of humility, patience, and moderation… every man in power becomes a ravenous beast of prey.” But humility, patience, and moderation are emotionally unsatisfying for people who need to feel the overwhelming force of power to believe its real.

Donald Trump has successfully exhausted our ability to be shocked VOX

Indeed, what Donald Trump said at Wednesday night's poorly-moderated by Matt Lauer Commander-in-Chief Forum was shocking. But as Matthew Yglesias makes clear, we are not shocked. If President Obama had said one-third of the statements made by the Republican candidate, Washington would be in the throws of impeachment proceedings. 

Yet, Trump rolls along down the campaign trail, with his vice presidential running mate Mike pence also praising the leadership skills of Russia's Vladimir Putin. Simply stated, the fast-moving Trump train should be running off the rails, but it defies the laws of physics on every turn. 

Hillary Clinton Headlines September 9, 2016

Stephen Colbert calls Matt Lauer a complete disgrace to journalism VOX

Trump's shot at top brass rankles military circles Politico

Hillary Clinton's Patriotism The New Yorker

Polls: Trump and Clinton deadlocked in Florida, Ohio Politico

The Hillary Clinton email story is out of control Washington Post

AP deletes Clinton Foundation tweet Politico

Super-PAC Works to Elect Hillary Clinton One Community at a Time Mother Jones

On the One Hand, the Media's Coverage of the Trump-Clinton Forum Was a Disaster Slate

Matt Lauer Under Fire For Devoting A Third To Clinton's Air Time To AGAIN Talk Emails

Matt Lauer Fields Storm of Criticism Over Clinton-Trump Forum New York Times

I went to bed last night having really thrown in the towel on American media and their double standard for how they treat Hillary Clinton. The utter cake walk that Matt Laurer gave Donald Trump -- letting him deny statements easily provable about his support for the Iraq war left me speechless, chagrined and understanding just how strong the boys club is in America. Trump could say anything that he wanted, and Laurer just kissed his butt like a devoted lap dog. At least this morning, there is some solace in reading that there has been an eruption against Laurer -- although it should be noted that Laurer is also criticized by Republicans who believe he wasn't tough enough on Hillary. ~ Anne

Chelsea Clinton accuses Trump of 'sad, misogynistic, sexist rhetoric' Politico

"In her first public campaign event since the Democratic National Convention, Chelsea Clinton did not mince words when asked about the Republican nominee's verbal attacks on her mother.

In response to Trump's assertion that Hillary Clinton does not have a "presidential look," Chelsea Clinton said she hoped “that everyone can see that as the sad, misogynistic, sexist rhetoric that I hoped we had moved beyond in the 21st century, certainly in 2016.”

Trump camp tries to clarify his 'I love war' comment Politico

The 30-second ad out Tuesday, titled "I Love War," features Trump uttering the phrase, "I love war, in a certain way," at a rally last November, while featuring snippets of him remarking that he "knows more about ISIS than the generals do" and calling "nuclear, the power, the devastation ... very important to me."

"I love war, putting nuclear weapons on the table. The Clinton camp says that's irresponsible," ABC's George Stephanopoulos remarked to Kellyanne Conway at the start of their interview on "Good Morning America."

Conway responded that what is actually "irresponsible" is "taking little, cherry-picking little snippets of what he said and not giving the full context of the sentence let alone the speech."

Related: Why ISIS Supports Donald Trump TIME

Soledad O'Brien calls out CNN for 'normalizing' white supremacy with Trump reporting The Grio

“If you look at Hillary Clinton’s speech where she basically pointed out that what Donald Trump has done — actually quite well — has normalized white supremacy,” O’Brien -- who used to work at CNN -- told host Brian Stelter on Sunday. “I think she made a very good argument, almost like a lawyer. Here are ways in which he has actually worked to normalize conversations that many people find hateful.

“I’ve seen on-air, white supremacists being interviewed because they are Trump delegates,” O'Brien continued. “And they do a five-minute segment, the first minute or so talking about what they believe as white supremacists. So you have normalized that.

Dallas News Editorial Board: We Recommend Hillary Clinton for President Dallas Morning News

 "There is only one serious candidate on the presidential ballot in November. We recommend Hillary Clinton.

We don't come to this decision easily. This newspaper has not recommended a Democrat for the nation's highest office since before World War II — if you're counting, that's more than 75 years and nearly 20 elections. The party's over-reliance on government and regulation to remedy the country's ills is at odds with our belief in private-sector ingenuity and innovation. Our values are more about individual liberty, free markets and a strong national defense.

We've been critical of Clinton's handling of certain issues in the past. But unlike Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton has experience in actual governance, a record of service and a willingness to delve into real policy."

Hillary Clinton Headline Sept. 7, 2016

A US Senator just called for Homeland Security to investigate Trump's model Agency Mother Jones

Poll: Arizona a toss-up for Clinton, Trump The Hill

Clinton launches Spanish-language TV ads The Hill

Donald Trump wants you to trust him, blindly Washington Post