It’s November 4, 2016, the eighth anniversary of Barack Obama’s election as President, the 100th birthday of Walter Cronkite, and four days before the election.
Today’s edition of 20 Questions Friday deals with the matter at hand. These are questions you can ask yourself or anyone who’s undecided or anyone deluded into thinking that Trump should get their vote.
Enjoy the weekend.
— Today’s October jobs report show the unemployment rate at 4.9%. What will it be on Nov. 3, 2020, the next scheduled Election Day?
— The U.S. economy is growing at an annual rate of 2.9%. Do you really think an advanced economy can grow much faster than that?
— The Dow Jones industrial average, even after seven days of worrying about this election, is just shy of 18,000. How much do you think it’ll drop if Trump wins?
— Do any of their hundreds of customers look at the nice people who run my favorite authentic Mexican takeout place in Park Ridge, N.J., and see rapists and drug dealers?
— Does anybody raised by responsible parents ever mock or put down people with disabilities?
— Are people captured while fighting for the United States just weak links in a chain that it’s just as well, or are they patriots we honor and support, even if we disagree over the war in which they fought?
— Do you think women have minds and hearts, or are they just the sum of your assessment of their physical parts?
— Has anyone who takes the relationship with his or her spouse marriage seriously been threatened in any way by the legality of same-sex marriage?
— Do you take consolation every April 15 that – while paying taxes can be painful – at least you know that some soldier is getting a paycheck, some pothole is going to get filled, some aid is going to a place ravaged by disaster and that some of the research to fight cancer can continue?
— Have the libel laws in this country, dating back to the precedent set in the trial of John Peter Zenger in the 18th century, worked well enough to maintain the freest news media in the world?
— It’s been more than three weeks now. Where’s that “imminent” Trump lawsuit against The New York Times about the stories of women claiming he committed sexual misconduct?
— Do you really think Melania Trump’s pet cause if she became First Lady would be cyber-bullying when one of the most notable cyber-bullies would be in the White House living quarters?
— How honest can the first presidential candidate in 40 years to hide his tax returns be?
— Do you really think that the cretins backing Trump would want to stop at railroading Hillary Clinton into prison? Why not Bill? Or her aides? Or President Obama?
— Shouldn’t the person who leads our country in times of crisis be thicker skinned than to be offended by Alec Baldwin’s impression on “Saturday Night Live”?
— Are any of you who hire landscapers ready to mow your own lawn when the workforce used in many cases ends up on a one-way ticket to Ciudad Juarez? Are any of you with elderly family members ready to spend hours tending to them because their caregivers are on their way back to a place they fled?
— Has Trump said anything about the Iraqi assault on Mosul now that it’s making faster progress than expected? Do you think maybe he doesn’t know more about fighting ISIS than the generals masterminding this campaign?
— Do you think Chris Christie can speak to the issue of government integrity when both the prosecution and defense in the Fort Lee Bridgegate trial said he was responsible for snarling George Washington Bridge traffic for spite?
— Are the lives of the people who support Trump as joyless as his rallies look? Has anyone ever associated the word “joy” with Trump?
— Will next Wednesday be windy, the result of collective exhaling that American democracy barely survives, or will it be a cold, gray portent of the future?
Great questions…the problem we are facing is Trump supporters refuse to read or do the research. The anyone can hope for is the undecided voters vote Democrates.
Had an hour and a half phone call with my son John today. He raised many of these questions.
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