Dr. Bornstein Hijinks

"On Monday," The New York Times editorial board writes,

a spokesman for Mrs. Clinton said she would release additional health information in coming days. For his part, Mr. Trump said he would make public “very, very specific” records, a remarkable promise coming from someone who has resolutely stonewalled on his tax returns. Should both candidates honor these pledges, and provide plenty of detail, the winners will be the voters.

Hillary Clinton's recent bout with pneumonia has put into sharper focus the health of the 69-year-old former Senator and of the 70-year-old con artist who opposes her.

God, however, is in the details.  The Clinton campaign will release considerably more information than it has but- because HRC is a normal, conventional candidate- will be accused of holding some back.  The Trump campaign has signaled it will do something different.

In a celebrity culture in which one of the major party candidates was known to much of the country primarily for being a "reality" TV star, it probably is not stunning that Donald Trump has announced that he will announce the results of some sort of physical examination on The Dr. Oz Show.

Dr. Oz is not quite the quack some people make him out to be but his concerns have been for a long time more commercial than... well, almost anything. One health care blogger explains

Oz’s flock listens to Oz because he is Mehmet Oz. He is a brand. They couldn’t care less that he is from Columbia. He got his break not because of the number of publications or the impact factor of his publications, but because he was endorsed by Oprah Winfrey.

It's only fitting that Donald Trump would choose that venue to release records, or results, or whatever he will claim they are, in another effort to punk Americans.  Similarly, the letter in which the candidate was proclaimed by his gastroenterologist(!) (photo from NBC News) to be in incomparable physical condition read

To Whom My Concern:

I have been the personal physician of Mr. Donald J. Trump since 1980. His previous physician was my father, Dr. Jacob Bornstein. Over the past 39 years, I am pleased to report that Mr. Trump has had no significant medical problems. Mr. Trump has had a recent complete medical examination that showed only positive results. Actually, his blood pressure, 110/65, and laboratory test results were astonishingly excellent.

Over the past twelve months, he has lost at least fifteen pounds. Mr. Trump takes 81 mc of aspirin daily and a low dose of s statin. His PSA test score is 0.15 (very low). His physical strength and stamina are extraordinary.

Mr. Trump has suffered no form of cancer, has never had a hip, knee, or shoulder replacement or any other orthopedic surgery. His only surgery was an appendectomy at age ten. His cardiovascular status is excellent. He has no history of ever using alcohol or tobacco products.

If elected, Mr Trump, I can state unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency."

The relatively few critics not intent on helping Trump make his run competitive noted that the document was addressed "to whom my concern," with praise of  "extraordinary" physical strength and stamina, referred to favorable tests as yielding "only positive results," and compared the subject's health to that of 44 presidents, many of whom Dr. Bornstein may not have personally examined.

That suggests the letter was written by the candidate himself, who at times has described himself in almost superhuman terms. However, decades ago in Harvard Medical School Bornstein reportedly was an excellent student

who laughed and joked with his friends while making his way through lectures and rotations. Medical school was taxing — for the first two years, Bornstein and classmates spent 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, in the classroom, a classmate recalled. Bornstein would sit with a group of friends during the lectures.

“He had long hair. He was irreverent. He sat mostly near the back of the room — where most of us did — and paid varying degrees of attention to what was being said at the time,” said Dr. Edward Hurwitz, who was friendly with Bornstein in medical school.

"I think it was easy for him," commented a friend and colleague of Trump.

Dr. Bornstein, if he in fact wrote the letter himself, composed it swiftly while his patient's limousine was outside awaiting the candidate. If he did, though, he calculated that the ludicrous letter would be taken as a joke and would make Trump appear as even more of a cartoon figure than he obviously is. He calculated wrongly, however, not realizing that a media more concerned with balance than with fairness, objectivity, or fact would give a pass to a candidate so absurd as to try to pass off to voters as valid such farcical information.









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Upton's Exploitation Of "9/11"

Even supermodels and actresses deserve their opinion, and Kate Upton gave hers in a Facebook posting and on Instagram:

In my opinion, the national anthem is a symbolic song about our country. It represents honoring the many brave men and women who sacrifice and have sacrificed their lives each and every single day to protect our freedom. Sitting or kneeling down during the national anthem is a disgrace to those people who have served and currently serve our country. Sitting down during the national anthem on September 11th is even more horrific. Protest all you want and use social media all you want. However, during the nearly two minutes when that song is playing, I believe everyone should put their hands on their heart and be proud of our country for we are all truly blessed. Recent history has shown that it is a place where anyone no matter what race or gender has the potential to become President of the United States. We live in the most special place in the world and should be thankful. After the song is over, I would encourage everyone to please use the podium they have, stand up for their beliefs, and make America a better place. The rebuilding of battery park and the freedom tower demonstrates that amazing things can be done in this country when we work together towards a common goal. It is a shame how quickly we have forgotten this as a society. Today we are more divided then ever before. I could never imagine multiple people sitting down during the national anthem on the September 11th anniversary. The lessons of 911 should teach us that if we come together, the world can be a better and more peaceful place #neverforget.

Inasmuch as Ms. Upton is a celebrity rather than a politician, her opinions likely will spark insufficent outrage.  "Patriotism," it was traditionally noted, "is the last refuge of a scoundrel" and Upton, uncomfortable with dissent, advises all to "put their hands on their heart and be proud of our country for we are all truly blessed."   She doesn't mention what she thinks or feels about a major party presidential candidate who argues that "poverty and violence at home, war and destruction abroad" characerizes what she refes to as "the most special place in the world."

Sitting or kneeling down during the national anthem is not a disgrace to those people who have served, especially because it is unrelated to the military. Some NFL players chose to sit on September 11 because the games, held on Sundays, were by coincidence this year played on September 11.  If the NFL were as offended by the protests as was Ms. Upton, it could have postponed them, though it would have come at enormous expense. That is, however, when the games were played, which appears not to concern Ms. Upton.

It is disturbing that Upton believes that the right to protest should be exercised in this special and blessed place only by individuals she agrees with or who don't interfere with her enjoyment of an athletic event. She believes some people should "use the podium they have (and) stand up for their beliefs" but only after"the song is over."

Alas, notwithstanding current practice at concerts, sitting during a song is not prohibited by law, and the Kaepernickians have chosen to take their stance not by making rude gestures, shouting over the song, or throwing a football during the Star Spangled Banner, but rather by a tasteful, quiet, even respectful display.

That might be contrasted with some of the images (not posted for prurient interests) of Ms. Upton on her Facebook page.  Though flattering, they are quite proudly displayed by someone who characterizes sitting quietly as "a disgrace."

Most significantly, Upton fantasizes "Recent history has shown that it is a place where anyone no matter what race or gender has the potential to become President of the United States." This may be termed the "we elected the black guy president, now can you liberals please shut up?" argument. In the country in which neither race nor gender is an impediment, a demonstrably, arguably uniquely, qualified woman now is in danger of losing a presidential election to a male candidate who remarked "There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever." Upton may want to reconsider that gender thing.

 As demonstrated by the presidential campaign of an individual who thinks so little of the USA that his slogan is "Make America Great Again," we have ceased to "work toward a common goal." Upton appears unaware the protestors are not trying to divide Americans but to draw attention to what they believe is unconscionable treatment toward minorities. If- as it is clear- Kate Upton disagrees with that perspective, she should state clearly, loudly if she chooses, her disagreement with their view of the connection between race and law enforcement practices. Alternatively, she is using "September 11" as a prop.. That has been done before (see  "Iraq, War In"), with disastrous consequences.









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Reciprocity Requested

Rumors hinting at Hillary Clinton's imminent demise have been roiling social media for a couple of months and got a boost on August 21 when former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani appeared on Fox News and complained

She doesn't need to campaign. She has The New York Times, she has the [New York] Daily News, she has ABC, she has CBS, she has NBC. She has an entire media empire that constantly demonizes Donald Trump and fails to point out that she hasn't had a press conference in 300 days, 200 days, 100 days, I don't know how long. Fails to point out several signs of illness by her. All you got to do is go online. All you have to do --

Asked by the host whether "claims about her health" are "speculation at best," Giuliani replied "Go online and put down Hillary Clinton illness and take a look at the videos for yourself."

The rank speculation gained new currency early Sunday when

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton left the 9/11 memorial ceremony early on Sunday morning in Manhattan because she felt "overheated," her campaign says.

But a video being shared thousands of times on Twitter Sunday also appeared to show Clinton barely able to stand and almost collapsing before getting in a vehicle to leave the ceremony.








CNN, with a keen nose for sensationalism, went into overdrive because that's what it does with a national or international tragedy.  However, several hours later, we learned

Hillary Clinton was diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday, her doctor said in a statement Sunday after the Democratic nominee left a 9/11 memorial ceremony due to what her campaign said was overheating.

"Secretary Clinton has been experiencing a cough related to allergies. On Friday, during follow up evaluation of her prolonged cough, she was diagnosed with pneumonia," her doctor, Lisa Bardack, said. "She was put on antibiotics, and advised to rest and modify her schedule. While at this morning's event, she became overheated and dehydrated. I have just examined her and she is now re-hydrated and recovering nicely."

Bardack examined Clinton at her home in Chappaqua after she returned from New York City on Sunday afternoon

That leaves a few questions unanswered- both about this incident and Clinton's overall health.

Those questions could be answered with a press conference and release of Clinton's full medical records.  Trump could offer his opponent a challenge- I'll show you mine if you show me yours.  The beauty in it for him is that if Mrs. Clinton ignores or ridicules the challenge or turns him down, he has called her bluff.

Alternatively, Trump might take the initiative and release his own full records. If they show no problems, that would stand in stark contrast to his opponent, who has exhibited difficulties not uncommon for individuals in the late stages of middle age. It would be a boon to his campaign, so much so that if the Art of the Deal guy does neither, an obvious question would demand an answer: what does he have to hide?








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Accuracy Insufficient

Hillary Clinton, relaxed and in her element at a Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender event in Manhattan, NYC, contended

You know, just to be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right?

The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamaphobic -- you name it.  And unfortunately there are people like that. And he has lifted them up. He has given voice to their websites that used to only have 11,000 people -- now have 11 million. He tweets and retweets their offensive, hateful, mean-spirited rhetoric.

There is both advice both obvious and simple for the worst campaigner among major party presidential nominees of my lifetime:  when you start out with "Just to be grossly generalistic," immediately stop.

Trump co-campaign manager Kellyanne Fitzpatrick Conway tweeted "Come to an event, talk to real people who aren't donors. Or better: have Hillary apologize."  Clinton aide Neera Tanden responded "let's make a deal: your campaign apologizes for calling Mexican immigrants rapists and we'll talk."

Both responses were clever and misleading.  Apologies, generally insincere and failing to express actual regret for the action, are way overrated. And the more exact analogy to Clinton's statement- simultaneously accurate and offensive- is a far different remark made by her opponent.

"Well," Donald Trump observed of Vladimir Putin at the Commander-in-Chief Fiasco headed by Matt Lauer, "he does have an 82 percent approval rating, according to the different pollsters, who, by the way, some of them are based right here. Look, look…"

That's somewhat true, reflecting the result of one recent poll and of one taken many months ago, and unsurprising because media is tightly controlled in Russia and dissenting opinions are not widely disseminated.

That's really irrelevant, however. Trump coupled the statistic with a favorable comparison of the authoritarian with Barack Obama, a president whose election he has strongly implied is illegitimate. That renders a largely accurate statement deeply offensive.

Similarly, Hillary Clinton's comment was both accurate and offensive, as well as politically tone-deaf.

There is little doubt that a majority of Trump supporters is either sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, or Islamaphobic, which is all actually actually maintained by Clinton. There is disagreement about what constitutes sexism, homophobia, xenophobia, or Islamaphobia, and determination of the breath and depth of such sentiment therefore difficult. Nonetheless, Judd Legum presents results from four surveys, two taken in February and two in May, of sentiments among GOP primary voters toward Barack Obama's birthplace, Obama's religion, banning homosexuals from the USA, and white racial superiority.

While only (only?) 16% of Trump primary voters believed whites are racially superior to blacks, fully 31% of them would have supported banning gay people from the country. And in May, 71% supported blocking all Muslims from entering the USA, clearly reflecting phobia- fear- of Islam.  No doubt there is overlap between the 71%, the 31%, and the 16%, but none of the surveys pertained to sexism.

No doubt a majority of Trump voters (and a far lesser number of Clinton voters) would fall into at least one of the four categories, or "baskets," in Clinton's terminology.

Nonetheless, like Trump's claim about Putin's support inside Russia, that's not good enough. Neither statement should have been made and Mrs. Clinton needs to emphasize that the problem posed to the nation is Donald Trump, not his supporters.








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Give Lauer An Assist For Trump's Lay-Up

Did you hear the one about the "court system (for alleged cases of sexual assault in the military) practically doesn't exist?"  How about Hillary Clinton saying "the vets are being treated essentially just fine?"  And what of Trump opposing the war in Iraq?  And that President Obama's reception in China, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia  represented “the first time in the history, the storied history of Air Force One” when “high officials” of a host country did not appear to greet the president? (Video below is of President Reagan's 1988 trip to Moscow, in which he was met at the airport by President Gromyko rather than the more powerful Prime Minister Gorbachev, whom he is seen greeting later.) Or that under this President "the generals have been reduced to rubble?"

Donald Trump can be blamed for those lies. However, he cannot be faulted for contending that Vladimir Putin's popularity in Russia is at 82%, for that appears to be true. Good luck to the 18% who admitted they don't like him.

Blaming the candidate for swinging at the 0-2 hanging curve thrown to him by moderator Matt Lauer is optional. This remarkable exchange ensued on Wednesday evening:


LAUER: You recently — you recently received two intelligence briefings.

TRUMP: Yes, I did.

LAUER: Did anything in that briefing, without going into specifics, shock or alarm you?

TRUMP: Yes. Very much so.

LAUER: Did you learn new things in that briefing?

TRUMP: First of all, I have great respect for the people that gave us the briefings. We — they were terrific people. They were experts on Iraq and Iran and different parts of — and Russia. But, yes, there was one thing that shocked me. And it just seems to me that what they said President Obama and Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, who is another total disaster, did exactly the opposite.

It was bad enough that Lauer asked the candidate to reveal his impression of a briefing given to only two human beings and which is expected to be completely confidential.  Invited to slam his opponent, the incumbent President, and current Secretary of State, Trump did not disappoint.

Further, Lauer gave Trump license to speak in generalities, to condemn opponents without offering any specifics. Trump, naturally, implied: I know things which no one else knows and it looks really, really bad for Obama and Clinton.

Anyone can make a mistake. But then Lauer compounded it by asking "Did you learn anything in that briefing — again, not going into specifics — that makes you reconsider some of the things you say you can accomplish, like defeating ISIS quickly?"

Lauer could not be so naive as to think that Donald Trump, who has never admitted error before, would say "oh, yes, I'm reconsidering because they showed me how I was wrong."  Again, the candidate did not disappoint, responding

No, I didn’t learn anything from that standpoint. What I did learn is that our leadership, Barack Obama, did not follow what our experts and our truly — when they call it intelligence, it’s there for a reason — what our experts said to do. 

This is beautiful.  Lauer could not question Trump's claim. Hillary Clinton, as was necessary, took the high road and simply noted that everything told in such briefings must be held confidential. Even the fact-checkers could not question Trump's statement because they are not privy to the information given.

It was a wonderful question for Donald Trump to receive, and he took the low road because he's Donald Trump. (Had he done otherwise and refused comment, the question would have been a waste of time and breath.)

Trump was Trump. Matt Lauer, he of the $28,000,000 salary and the Today Show, should not have been selected to moderate the "Commander-in-Chief Forum," which exposed him as a terrible interviewer on serious matters.  There should be repercussions but for a guy who asks Hillary Clinton seven(7) questions about e-mails, there will not be.

















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Giuliani Lies, Bringing Obama Birth Issue Back

"I come not to bury Caesar, not to praise him," Shakespeare's Marc Antony famously proclaimed. However, I come to praise Donald Trump, not to bury him. Steve M. acknowledges

I could be wrong, but I don't think Trump could bring himself to walk back birtherism, not even if Kellyanne and Ivanka and Jared got on their knees and begged him to. It's what made him as a political figure. And most of the voters in his base are birthers.

That is the nub of it. Trump never would have become a political figure were it not for doubting that President Obama was born in the USA. Hence, he pushed the idea, popular on the right, that Barack Obama was not a legitimate President.  He should stand by it, even unto (political) death. To reverse himself now would- or at least should- strike neutral poltical observers as crass opportunism. He deserves credit for not walking back a claim which forms the very basis of his candidacy.

But as I type this, the Trump camp probably is formulating a statement on the subject, occasioned by the skewering of surrogate Rudy Giuliani by Hardball's Chris Matthews during the 7:00 p.m. Eastern hour on MSNBC. The New York mayor, under intense questioning by Matthews, both stated and restated that Trump now has said that Obama was born in the USA and insisted that Trump now believes the occcupant of the White House was born in the country.

Expect that the Trump campaign will go back and forth on this, much as it has on deportation of illegal immigrants. Steve M., noting that vice-presidential nominee Pence now has acknowledged that Obama was born in the USA, laments that the campaign is having it both ways. In fact, not only is that true of the campaign; it is true of Pence, who has said Obama was born in Hawaii, but not explicitly stating "this country." And make no mistake about it: to much of the far right, Hawaii- the most ethnically and culturally diverse in this country- is not Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, or Idaho. Or even Massachusetts.

But don't expect much questioning of Trump about his remarks in April, 2011 when

Possibly-serious Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is giving few details about the investigation he claims to have launched in Hawaii to get to the bottom of where President Obama was born, but the business mogul told CNN Thursday Americans will be "very surprised" by what he has found.

"We're looking into it very, very strongly. At a certain point in time I'll be revealing some interesting things," Trump said on CNN's American Morning.

Trump first claimed earlier this month he had sent investigators to Obama's home state in an effort to find out if the president was indeed born there, as he says he was and several media organization's independent investigations have confirmed.

"I have people that have been studying it and they cannot believe what they're finding," Trump told NBC then.

The President later released his long-form birth certificate, for which Trump took credit in his characteristically humble manner (below).  However, we're still waiting for results of that investigation. Regrettably, the media isn't, and is unlikely to press Trump about it even now that former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani,  presumably speaking for the candidate, has brought the issue back into the limelight.

















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The Brilliance Of Pence

People are impressed. Kurtis Lee of The Los Angeles Times writes


Donald Trump won't talk about his role as a so-called "birther," those who have questioned the citizenship of President Obama....

But his running mate wants to end the conversation. 

"I believe Barack Obama was born in Hawaii. I accept his birthplace," Indiana Gov. Mike Pence told reporters on Wednesday, declining to say if he thinks Trump should apologize. 

Earlier this week, Trump, with Pence at his side aboard the Republican nominee's plane, refused to answer questions about his past comments in which he consistently speculated that Obama was not born in the United States.

Similarly impressed by the apparent distinction between the two men, CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin argued "His running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, clarified on Wednesday that he, for one, believes that Obama was born in the United States.  Why doesn't Trump follow in the steps of Mike Pence and say, 'All right, you're right, he was born in the U.S.? Done, over with. Stop asking me.'"

Even The Huffington Post, which adds to any article about Donald Trump the disclaimer that he is a "serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misognyist, and birther." Under the heading "Mike Pence Believes Obama Was Born in America. Turmp Still Won't Say," we read

Breaking from his running mate Donald Trump on Wednesday,  Mike Pence stated correctly that President Obama was born in the United States. The GOP vice presidential nominee noted that while he has disagreements with Obama, they do not involve the President's birthplace.

So we get "his running mate wants to end the conversation;" Pence "clarified on Wednesday that he, for one, believes that Obama was born in the United States;" and "Mike Pence stated correctly that President Obama was born in the United States."

Each statement has two things in common. They are adoring, and are all wrong.

Mike Pence did not say Barack Obama was born in the United States. He said Barack Obama was born in Hawaii, which is the 50th state.  Reporters everywhere are assuming that because Hawaii entered the Union before Obama was born that Trump's running mate is acknowledging the current President was born in the United States.

But Pence, eyeing 2020 after a Trump defeat in two months, is doing no such thing. He is conceding only that Barack H. Obama was born in Hawaii- and to many Republican votes, that's not the same thing.  Following a disturbingly under-reported survey taken in August, 2009, Public Policy Polling observed

After we conducted polls over the last couple of weeks finding significant numbers of 'birthers' in North Carolina and Virginia, we decided to take the question national but also drum down more specifically on where exactly the people who think Barack Obama wasn't born in the United States do think he's from.

The answer is that 62% of Americans think Obama was born here, while 24% think he was not and 14% are unsure.

10% of the country thinks that he was born in Indonesia, 7% think he was born in Kenya, and 1% think he was born in the Philippines. 

That leaves 20%, which includes at least some people who correctly believe that Obama was born in Hawaii, but who don't consider Hawaii to be part of the United States. You read that right- 6% of poll respondents think that Hawaii is not part of the country and 4% are unsure.

It's hard to say what the rest of that 20% thinks. We did ask them if they thought Obama was born in France and while less than half a percent of respondents did, two thirds of that remaining 20% said they 'weren't sure' whether Obama was a Frenchman.

The figure of 6% is actually misleadingly low.  While 6% believed that Hawaii is not part of the USA, 14% were unsure where he was born. It can be surmised- without speculation- that a portion of that 14% had heard that he was born in Hawaii and didn't quite know what to make of it. It is highly likely that more than 6% of the respondents suspected both that Obama was born in Hawaii but not in this country but expressed uncertainty because they were confused or believed their opinion might not sound right to the pollster.

And that was respondents overall; surely the percentage of Republicans and GOP-leaning Independents was higher, a bloc Pence will be especially concerned about than Democrats after November, and is more interested in even now. Further, saying an individual was born in Hawaii does not provoke the same visceral reaction as saying he or she was born in America; the Hawaiian Islands are still visualized as a somewhat exotic location (as depicted in opening, below).

The media has been played. That Mike Pence is slicker than he appears.















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