Donald J. Trump has a Serious Medical Affliction: Foot in Mouth Disease

Trump: Size 10 Shoe Strong Possible 

Two key issues today that run in tandem about my accurate caricature of Donald J. Trump, who has become the GOP banner carrier and de factor Republican Party leader with his nomination for President:

First Issue from The Hill: Just imagine if these 50 top Republican national security officials are against Trump, how millions of others must feel or have felt all along.

Today (Monday, August 8, 2016) they penned a letter warning that Donald Trump doesn’t have the experience to serve as president and would jeopardize the country’s safety (The New York Times).

The letter, signed by aides and Cabinet members of past GOP administrations included that of George W. Bush and Richard Nixon. They declared that none of them (the officials) will vote for the GOP nominee because they “are convinced that he would be a dangerous president and would put at risk our Country’s national security and well-being, saying specifically:

“Mr. Trump lacks the character, values, and experience to be President. He weakens U.S. moral authority as the leader of the free world. He appears to lack basic knowledge about the belief in the U.S. Constitution, U.S. laws, and U.S. institutions, including religious tolerance, freedom of the press, and an independent judiciary.”

Some of those prominent officials include:

• Michael Hayden (former director of both the CIA and NSA,
• Michael Chertoff (former Secretary of Homeland Security for both Mr. Bush and then President Obama),
• John Negroponte (former director of National Intelligence under Mr. Bush,
• Tom Ridge (former first Director of HSD under Mr. Bush and former governor of PA.

Others who had served as trade representatives, national security advisers, and ambassadors were the other signers.

Second Issue from here and other sources: This ties into the part I highlighted above (in red), with this headlines:

Trump comments about Somalis stir outrage from Minnesota to Maine

Highlights:

Donald Trump’s comments about Minnesota Somalis and from here have drawn outrage among Muslim Americans in those two states (MN and ME) that have large refugee populations.

For example, at a rally in Maine, Trump quoted a 2015 Washington Times article about Minnesota’s resettlement of Somali refugees, saying the state has become a “rich pool of potential recruiting targets for ISIS and other Islamic terror groups.”

Note: Since 2014, there have been at least nine Minnesota men arrested for allegedly plotting to join ISIS in Syria – punishment has to date for all nine has been swift:

In June, three: Guled Omar (21), Mohamed Farah, and Abdirahman Daud (both 22), were found guilty by a federal jury.

Six others had already pleaded guilty to the terror charges.

Trump continued his pitch: “It’s happening. It’s happening. You see it and you read about it. You see it. And you can be smart, and you can be cunning and tough, or you can be very, very dumb and not want to see what’s going on, folks.”

Minnesota’s Somali community — population estimated to be at more than 70,000 — was quick to condemn Trump’s comments and so did Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison (D), the first Muslim to be elected to Congress. He called Trump’s comments “nonsense.”

So, the caricature stands as a stark reminder of what country has to ponder and measure between now and November 8, 2016. Stay tuned, and as always thanks for stopping by.

I honestly think this is the GOP’s Trump dilemma: