Neo

Correct ... He's had failures, too. Having successes and failures are part of business. I've had both. I wondered about him being a savant not implying that nothing's failed. I was referring to my inability to see what skill set made it work. I don't really think he's a savant. Ok, ok, I'll bite ...

Acknowledging lots of you: I'd take away Trump's mobile device and attach a Telepromter to his visor. Train wrecks aren't funny when there are people aboard. I'm musing, and don't know enough about all of his strategies, but I wonder sometimes if he's not some goofy business savant. He's had success in a business attracts the best of the best. However, I don't see a skill set when he talks. Policy neutral comment. Sometimes I disagree with him. That's normal. But I often see him as uninformed and unthoughtful. I disagree with HRC, but never see her as uninformed, except when she wants me to! Even then, I don't really see it.

No PM

Bill Clinton is intoxicating. What I dread is the HRC hangover I'm left with when the buzz wears off.

I see what you did, there.

I'm sorry you found my analysis didn't go as deeply into the issue as yours did.

I think I mentioned debt. In fact, I added to the potential conflicts of interest. I went further. What disqualifies? Rock star.

Fun fact: “Every nation has the government it deserves.” (“Toute nation a le gouvernement qu’elle mérite.”) Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821) ... writing about Russians under Czar Alexander I. Insight into a national character?

The one thing I've never figured out is the willingness to accept authoritarian rule. I think that's ingrained in the culture, somewhere. Perhaps it's a czarist legacy. I've never studied its history in a scholarly way. I've only consumed its culture. My classroom? Tolstoy, Gogol, two world war accounts, composers, Tikhonov and Fiddler on the Roof! Now, I'll invite slings and arrows ... HRC personifies, in my small mind's eye, the party apparatchik unique only for her Herculean desire to ascend to the nomenklatura.. Surrendered is the wrong word. I agree. K9 mentioned it, above. Better said would be "shed one yoke for another". They ceded only in the sense that they didn't reach for Liberty. If they surrendered, they surrendered only an opportunity that America seized. Russia banished a czar and embraced an omnipotent government. There's something in between. This is interesting, but tangential. I have no problem with Trump doing business overseas. Well, the last guy's been at it for years. I don't know his strategy, either.

They are very different, indeed. The great expanse. Russia is indomitable. Napoleon learned, Hitler forgot. They weren't the first and second. This is a cool, not scary, thing when I think about it. There's something in between. The world saw an experiment along those lines begin in the late 18th century.

I support vetting ... for both candidates.

I think Russians are awesome. Their culture is magnificent. The values of its people inspire me. Its government, however .... if only they'd not surrendered so much liberty to the collective so many generations ago ....

Of course! I mentioned 'em.

It mustn't be ... But I'll respect the criticism or praise if it's assigned or handed out with the same standards to each candidate. That's nuance.

Debts ... Ahhhhh ..... how about his family foundation? If he discloses no debts, does this go away? Can a President invest overseas? Can he own, say, an international mutual fund in an IRA? Can he have a car loan from HSBC? There's plenty to be concerned about with Trump. If owning assets overseas is a problem, no one's eligible. I own a Sony TV. Blind trusts. President Obama whispered "I can be more flexible after the election" to Medvedev near an open mic. I hear he's one of the greats. This is a reach, "We got caught being dirty in emails. Let's pull Russia in." Which party traffics in fear and xenophobia? I'll be back later. I'm going to listen to Rachmaninoff's 4th and get another chapter of Anna Karenina under my belt. Delicious stuff.

Wait, which is it? We reset with Russia, share commerce, contracts and arts ... or we insinuate those who do aren't to be trusted? I respect the Post, but I remember the giggling when Romney called Russia America's greatest geopolitical foe. Is Trump's reset wrong and HRC's right? I'll respect either point of view once we decide what it is. Do we want links with Russia or not?

While I am not a fan of option two, I completely agree with PA's description of what an option two should require. I "voted" for Bush's leadership into Iraq and Afghanistan. I won't revise my history, as wrong as I was. The deficit funding of the excursion, due to both increased spending and tax cuts, went against my thinking at the time. It still does. Wars are no less free lunches than college educations or cell phones. Cakes and eating .... If you're in, you're in. Austerity time. That'll prioritize a nation.

Watch auto-correct when typing pannies. I almost posted something earlier that would've been very embarrassing.

I like, see, support your entire first option. My impatience is associated with how quickly, how effectively, those non-western forces are stepping up. I acknowledge it ain't easy. My impatience does not move me to option two.

I like this. I read "both" as you do.

I like your construct better. I went with Bernie:Hillary::Mexicans:Donald. There's some logical appeal to mine, but there's more humor in yours.

Democrats are a humorless lot. Nope, authentic. It was awesome July's closed. Spurious will not be considered..

By the way ... from time to time people use a word that's uncommon, they use it correctly, and they use it in the exactly perfect moment and context. These moments are game seven, down by three, two out, two strike, bottom of the ninth, bases loaded home runs. K9's choice of "specious" earns my Usage of the Month award. It's only the 26th, but I'm declaring July closed!

I must've failed in my attempt to juxtapose building walls at the DNC Convention with the concept of building a wall at the RNC Convention. Both are headlines. It's the kind of interesting word and concept intersection that catches my attention, even if to no profitable end. I thought it was kinda funny, without malice. I didn't really expect Bernie supporters to pay for it. See, I don't really think helpfully suggesting would ..... never mind. Buy "powdered wig" stock. We breed!

Well, I don't think it was me who called it a divide originally. I think it was 3,294 hours of media coverage in multiple formats and across party lines. It's the "object" of the 13 gazillions "unity" messages, again from both parties. I made an observation without conclusion. I think the "topic" originated across the country. It is if you're this Republican and any I've ever discussed it with. You're a deep thinker, but I'm not sure you recognize human-being Republicans. I'll introduce you to three at the SS meet up, all of whom believe in freedom of religion and have loving friends of many faiths.