Thought of the Day – July 28, 2016

Everyone agrees that during the primaries, when Ted Cruz denigrated “New York values,” Trump’s response – when he talked about the first responders on 9/11 – was a brilliant, spontaneous put down.  While I’m willing to concede its brilliance, in light of the recent e-mail hacking, I’m beginning to wonder just how spontaneous it was.  Did the same people who hacked the Democratic National Committee manage to get an advance peek at Cruz’s debate prep?  Was Trump ready and waiting to pounce?

Thought of the Day – July 27, 2016

Whoever hacked the files of the Democratic National Committee may know how to break into a computer, but they don’t know much about leaking sensitive documents.  Better to let the data out in dribs and drabs over the course of the Democratic convention, thus building interest.  By dumping them all at once, they insured that this will be a short-lived story.  Not smart.

Thought of the Day – July 21, 2016

An optimist thinks Hillary, who is far from a natural politician, will make a better president than she is a candidate.  A pessimist thinks Trump, who is essentially a salesman and dealmaker, will make a better candidate than president.  His book, after all, is called The Art of the Deal, not the Art of Governing.

Quotation of the Day – July 12, 2016

“Humans smile with so little provocation.” – Spock’s response to Kirk’s request that he smile more; thus revealing that Spock (or his creator, Gene Roddenberry) assumed that behavior typical of Americans was also typical of all humans.

Thought of the Day – July 9, 2016

Bill Clinton’s airport meeting with Attorney General Lynch has been misinterpreted.  They didn’t put the fix in regarding Hillary’s e-mails, or at least not the way everyone thinks.  First, they knew in advance that the FBI director was not going to recommend bringing charges.  That meant the investigation was essentially over – the only way it could be prolonged would be if Lynch herself made that determination.  Which obviously she didn’t want to make, but might come under pressure to make.  So she agreed to meet with Bill for half an hour and chat about the weather and the family.  When word of the meeting leaked out, she would be forced to recuse herself.  Thus rendering it impossible for her to overturn Comey, which was exactly the intended outcome.

The only fly in the ointment was the news that Hillary is considering keeping Lynch on as AG.  That looks awfully like a quid pro quo.