#RED DONALD - A TWEET

Jay H. Ell

@JayIWriteWhatilike

A FAKE TWEET

Red Donald - a lot of people are now calling him Red Donald. People are saying it, they are calling him Red Donald. Red Donald, thats what people are calling him. Perhaps its because he is backing Putin taking over Ukrainian Crimea and wants to break up NATO which is Putin’s number one objective. Maybe people are saying Red Donald because he asked Russia to release Hillary’s hacked E mails. Also Russia delivered to Red Donald by hacking the whole Democratic Party. Maybe they are calling him Red Donald because his past campaign CEO was a highly payed lobbyist for the former Ukrainian Premier, a Putin surrogate. Is the reason all are calling him Red Donald because Eric Trump said that they had a disproportionate business position in Russia? Red Donald is what is out there and maybe they keep arguing that he is Red Donald because he has admired Putin and Putin says he admired him. Even so Jay H. Ell is not calling him Red Donald.

With acknowledgments to Morning Joe for the idea and of course to Donald J. Trump for his not as yet patented matrix for how to outrageously shock and smear and thereby dominate the media conversation in perpetuity. The genius  of this model is that like The Donald, Jay H. Ell has plausible deniability that he never called him Red Donald. The framework can be used again and again as he, who they are labelling, "Red Donald" does. As you never say anything really you can deny everything even when they show you the video.

Disclaimer:

Jay H.Ell does not tweet but it is out there in the market place that he is tweeter Jay. Even though he only writes a blog it is tweeting in the tweet world that he is tweeter Jay. Yes that is what is they are claiming that he is tweeter Jay and the people are saying that he tweeted and they are accusing him, tweeter Jay, of the #Red Donald tweet…….

ETHICS: TRUMP vs HILLARY

The barrage that Trump is leveling against Clinton has reached the heights of the Trump Towers. He claims that Hillary “covers up her crimes” and has called for a special prosecutor, “immediately, immediately, immediately”. In this surreal world that this election operates in, these hysterical cries, that are emanating from the self confessed “briber” Trump, are no longer bizarre. They are as commonplace as  discussion at The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.  One wonders if he and the Republican Party have delved into the possible outcome of his efforts. This especially as his campaign has unravelled and the only questions remaining are by how many electoral votes he will lose by and who will control the Senate and the House of Representatives. 

Before analyzing the impact Trump’s new offensive might have, the fact that these accusations of ethical impropriety are gaining so much traction, particularly from the millennials, heralds a new standard of behavior that is being demanded of public officials. Legally, however, almost anything goes. The recent Supreme Court unanimous decision vacating the corruption convictions of Virginia Governor for accepting gifts, money and loans in exchange for favors has narrowed the grounds for convictions of bribery and corruption dramatically. Some commentators claim that to have a successful prosecution now one has to have witnessed evidence of cash being handed over in return for a contract to undertake the “briber’s” wishes. So what is now at stake are the ethical rather than the legal standards that politicians should be held to. 

TRUMP AND ETHICS

As far as Trump is concerned he does not argue that he has bribed all his life as a matter of routine. He did so as part of doing business. His past is an unashamed unethical mess of gargantuan proportions. Four bankruptcies where small contractors and individuals by the ton got the shaft and endless stories of underpayment followed by legal muscle so not to pay a penny more than he had to. The liberal use of his name so as to con investors and purchasers that a project was his and when the investors lost their money or their deposit he was nowhere in sight. Then there is the most visible unethical con of them all in the form of the calumnies perpetrated by the for profit Trump University. Thanks to the class action suits, undertaken by Attorneys General, the scandal will explode in his face, sadly only after the election. 

So much for the Trump ethical run up to the election. He argues, “believe me”, that this behavior is a recommendation to be a President, because as someone who has gyped the system he will be the best one to put a stop to it!. Now his behavior during the election campaign has been so outrageous that how he can continue with a straight face is a testimony to his psychopathy. Firstly, his proud boast that he would self fund his campaign has turned out to be just an empty boast. His alleged generosity to charity is just that - “alleged”. Even the money publicly pledged to the Veterans in a grandstanding event had to be shaken out of him months later. Investigative reports show that the bulk of his campaign funds have found their way to Trump incorporated. Even all those small donations. Millions have been payed out to family travel much of which is charged to his own airline. His campaign headquarters are in Trump Towers and guess who is the landlord? And guess how much the rental has gone up this past few months? Five hundred percent. He bought $55,000 of books he had “written” and if he took royalties on this “sale” it is against Federal Election rules and would be illegal.

Each day Fact Finders ascertain that most of his key statements are out and out lies, so it is not surprising in his mandatory financial declaration he stated his debts were only $315 million. A three month study by the NY Times shows that it is at least $635 million and Fortune claims it is a billion. Ignoring the obvious misrepresentation he countered that his debt is minimal in relation to his assets. The most damning outcome of this study is that he owes the State Bank of China, an estimated hundreds of millions. Then he rants that he is going to put China in their place. He values his assets depending for whom the valuation is geared for. It is argued that he is not worth nearly the 10 billion he claims but no one will know before the election. A  biographer claims that his annual net income is less than $500,000 a year. Nor will the oft stated belief that he pays nothing in taxes become public knowledge because Trump has defied the most universally accepted ethical standard of Presidential elections that is to produce tax returns.

In short it is an oxymoron to say Trump and ethics in the same sentence.

THE CLINTONS AND THEIR FOUNDATION.

The perception has been since time immemorial that the Clintons have been crooked and as a political result they have been investigated up the ying yang. Up until the time they left the WhiteHouse and with Hillary’s sojourn in the Senate there had been no findings of wrong doing. Rather than mollify the accusers it has merely altered the libel to “the sleezes got away with it”. (Blog: Why Do They Hate Hillary?). The problems now all relate to “crooked” Hillary as Secretary of State with Benghazi and her e mails - which indicate her negligence and more recently a “pay for play” smear for donors to the Clinton Foundation. Both her and Bill have been hammered for their speaking arrangements with the not so veiled insinuation that the reason they were paid so much was because the recipients got favors of the type Donald Trump brags about getting. 

Benghazi, after over ten legislative investigations that yielded zilch, is not given much play now. Neither are the State e mails where Hillary’s negligence allegedly betrayed the country’s secrets. Even the money she got for speeches to Goldman Sachs is yesterday’s news - the Republicans even though they believe she lied are not risking yet another public relations failure with yet another “investigation". (The Donald owes Goldman several million anyway). Her newest alleged ethical failure is that 84 of the over 150 personal interviews she gave as Secretary of State were to donors to The Clinton Foundation. (The Clinton camp deny these statistics and say the investigation underestimated the number of interviews by 2000). The donor interviewees included Bono, Elie Wiesel, Melinda Gates and other celebrities. The Donald alleges that the Foundation is a private hedge fund for the Clintons. To date there is not an iota of evidence that anyone received any quid pro quo from these meetings but as the Clinton detractors would argue, “That is because they are so crooked and devious that they are never caught out”. So let Jay H. Ell move on to the Foundation.

The Clinton Foundation has now several divisions and is a 2 billion dollar project. It is most highly rated by Charity Watch, the agency that evaluates the integrity and performances of charities. They awarded it an A rating and considered it “exemplary.” The Foundation spends a record 88% of its donations on programs and has one of the lowest overhead costs in the charity world. Their cost to raise a $100 is $2, a figure that is the envy of similar operations. None of the Clintons have a drawn a salary for the work of the Foundation. Their results have been spectacular. It is been estimated that they have saved nearly 12 million lives. One of their projects was the widespread introduction of AIDS antivirals in Africa. The Clintons, together with Bono and Mandela pressured the drug companies to provide the drugs at cost. The rumor was that they threatened to get Indian companies to pirate the drugs if they didn’t play ball. Education, women’s initiatives, Haiti, Home Ownership in Detroit and on and on are the projects. 

There is no evidence of Foundation money laundering or individual gain just like there was no evidence of the donors getting any “pay for play” from Hillary. So the newest smear is one big crock and the facile media are going along with it. The media are not elaborating on the Foundation’s achievements and it’s ethical rating rather they are maintaining that Hillary has a “big problem”. Their priority is to keep this horse race going.

Incidentally the Clintons have released 15 years of tax records. The 2015 returns shows them paying tax in the highest bracket and donating 10% of their income to charity. They are really such a “wily hateful evil pair”. 

Where the Clintons have gone wrong, in Jay H. Ell’s opinion, is that Hillary should not have delivered highly payed speeches when she obviously knew she was going to be a Presidential candidate. Bill, for his part, having accepted nearly $18 million dollars for punting a for profit educational institution is inexcusable even though it is the University with the least opprobrium. In addition he also has been panned for his highly paid speeches.

MORAL AND ETHICAL EQUIVALENCY

The media’s mantra is that the only candidate Hillary could beat for Presidency is The Donald and the only Democrat Trump could triumph over was Clinton. How neat. How trite. How smug. How untrue. How unethical. One cannot compare a meeting with, an ally, the Sultan of Bahrain with being in hock for hundreds of millions to a Chinese State bank or cozying up to Putin when he has business interests in Russia. Nor is there an equivalency between outright profiteering on your own campaign versus using your position to collect money for charity. Likewise how does misleading investors that you are involved in a project that results in debilitating financial loss for compare to earning money from giving speeches?

Donald J. Trump has no morality or ethics whatsoever and will do whatever it takes to become President. In this Presidential endeavor he has no peer nor is there anyone else now or from the past one can compare his behavior to. If the media haven’t got it yet they have failed in their responsibility to society.

IMPACT OF TRUMP’S  ATTACKS ON CLINTON

By smearing Hillary, Trump is solidifying his base as if it needs anymore solidifying. He cannot win over any of Hillary’s base. If he is successful at limiting this fight to the two candidates’ bases he would lose as it has been shown again and again that his core is smaller than Hillary’s. However, if he persuaded those suburban Republicans and Independents that are flocking to Clinton in their droves to stay home rather than vote for her, Jay H. Ell believes he will contribute to handing the legislatures over to the Democrats. You see the big money donors have cried off Trump and all their money is going to the down ballot races. However, if these GOP Hillarycrats  and Independents stay at home rather than come out and vote for Hillary they can’t vote for the GOP down ballot Senators and Congressmen either. 

So this latest crude attack coupled with his two new senior campaign appointments are indicative of panic and an amateur attempt to cover all his bases. His new campaign manager is a middle of the road Republican and the new CEO is a fringe right wing operator. Both appointed in the transparent hope to appeal to the whole spectrum of the Republican Party. Then his insulting appeal to minorities to vote for him is yet another act of desperation. The final non sequitur is his backtracking on Latino deportation, the central pillar of his bigoted campaign. This is what Trump now really believes, “Believe me”.

As for ethics, Hillary and Bill really should set a different standard especially if they want Hillary to be a two term President. Their post WhiteHouse period with its massive legal bills are paid so the fees for speeches that are worth that amount of money should be donated to the Foundation. One does hope and pray that The Clinton Foundation does not become a casualty of Trump’s destruction and the media’s game playing. 

As for The Donald he is guaranteed to make money off his run. He can open a new media company with Roger Ailes at it’s head. His imprimatur has to be worth so much more now that he has received the most votes ever in a Republican Primary. Think of the deals he can now do in Moscow? Presumably he will go back to his old ethical standard and bribe whomever he likes, whenever he likes, in whatever country he likes. One fact is for certain the world will never be the same after the Trump hurricane has swept through it. Jay H. Ell hopes that the USA never sees the likes of a Trump again.

TRUMP AND THE CLINTON CONSPIRACY

A SATIRE

The Clintons faced a challenge - How to elect Hillary, who had negatives up the ying yang, and in the process at least win back the Senate which the GOP donors would try and keep out of Democratic hands at any cost. Now we all now how devious, crooked, dishonest, treacherous, murderous, ambitious and canny the Clintons are - after all for fifty years now they have got away with murder, lies, selling America to foreign agents, backing terrorists, peddling influence, being subservient to special intersts and subverting government in order to line their own pockets. 

They had defied all comers including special prosecutor Starr who had 80 million dollars and dictatorial powers to lock up anyone he liked, endless legislative hearings, (with even an impeachment hearing thrown in and, most recently, 10 Benghazi hearings costing $10 million to nail Hillary), FBI investigations and massive personally funded attempts to sink them. 

So even though it is rare for the President’s political party, after 8 years in office, to elect yet another President, let alone a shrew of a woman who the nation didn’t trust, they could do it because they were the Clintons.

THE CAUCUSING AS TO HOW TO GET HILLARY ELECTED

So the inner caucus met prior to Hillary announcing her candidacy - the Clintons, Begala, Podesta, Carville and for democracy’s sake Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. They needed money and of course that was never a problem to the Clinton mecernaries. It did mean that after she announced her candidacy Begala and Carville, who were going to form money grubbing Presidential Action Committees, could no longer sit in at these inner caucuses. They also needed an organization which was already in place and they could count on the Obama infrastructure.  Most important, they needed a Republican candidate that they could beat. Somehow if only they could push someone like Cruz or a Huckabee into the GOP leadership the task would be much easier. They needed a Bush, a Rubio or a Kasich like a hole in the head. It was indeed a problem. Then Bill, just to prove he hadn’t lost his touch, came up with Donald Trump.

TRUMP??

At first they all stared at him incredulously. Had Bill finally lost it? Nothing pointed to a loss of his marbles even though he dosed off from time to time. Bill then explained that The Donald had called and wanted to chat to him as a friend, man to man about something very serious. Bill had deferred as he wanted to run his plan by them all before getting back to The Donald. But the questions came in thick and fast and Bill, of course, had all the answers. How did Bill even know that Trump wanted to run? Baba answered patiently, because he had got this far by tolerating fools, “Trump announced publicly that he was giving the matter thought”. This time the maestro opined that he believed that the real estate mogul was serious and had already started campaigning. “What do you think that ludicrous birther episode, that went on forever, was really about”. But isn’t he a Democrat countered another. To which the First Black President countered dryly, “So was Reagan”. 

HOW TO GET TRUMP TO JUMP

But how to persuade him and then get him to say and act in such a way that Hillary would appear to be the country’s savior would be up to Bill. How could he even win the GOP Primary? To President 42 it was really a piece of cake. He had persuaded that lunatic Gingrich to eat out of his hands. The Donald would be piece of cake. 

“All I have to do is flatter him tell him how marvelous he is. Tell him that the reason I am helping him is that The Clintons have looked for an opportunity to pay back the Republican establishment that have made their lives such a misery over all these years. "Just continue to massage his ego”.

 Bill sagely added, “Don’t underestimate his skills to screw up. If his birther campaign is anything to go by. He doubles down and redoubles even when he has patently lost his case. In the end whatever happens he just concludes it all by declaring victory by some parameter that he decides upon. Like when Obama produced his long birth certificate. He claimed that he had had an investigation in Hawaii that would shock the world. He was going to announce the earth shattering outcome at a Press Conference. The world awaited and in the wake of Obama’s produced birth certificate Trump claimed that America owed him as he had forced a conclusion to the problem that never existed till he had created it. To this day he implies that he is unsure where The President was born”. 

"So he will go on forever" said the spinmeister confidently.

Bill the canniest politician of them all would feed into The Donald’s paranoia that the GOP Establishment would fight him, rig the Primary against him and that he would be running against them first and foremost. Then Bill would push his rationale for his "helping him". His central argument would be that if the Clintons had to lose they would rather lose to a straight shooter like the “blue collar” billionaire who at least was for the little man. 

 BABA GOES TO THE DONALD

When Bill finally “was available” to converse with The Donald he began at the beginning reminding the mogul that he had to win the Primary first. That his most serious challenge would be from the Repubican Establishment. They would be punting the GOP's, Growth and Opportunity Project which was an autopsy of the 2012 election. Their recommendations had been put forward as to what was needed to be done to win the 2016 election. The Donald was not "quite clear" as to the new policies. So he asked that Bill just "confirm" with him what these were. The Donald then strained to increase his attention span so as to listen. In low tones number 42 outlined the GOP recommendations - top priority was an almost hysterical appeal for the GOP to champion a new immigration policy otherwise they would lose the Hispanics and the White House for the foreseeable future. Logically, the GOP report’s second preference was to win over the minorities in general. The other determinations called for acknowledgment of the gays, back the GOP Governors in the blue states, listen to criticism and finally stop being the Party of the rich man. 

The Donald didn’t have the discipline not to blurt out his excitement at the opening he saw in the soppy GOP. He would take on the Establishment and their sell out to the Hispanics, the minorities and immigration. He would champion the blue collared white middle class and take on both Establishments on trade. He would appeal to the true Americans, who were the white majority, and cut the political correctness out by not kowtowing to the Hispanics whether they were legal or not. The GOP priorities had not included security and the radical Muslim fundamentalists nor had they addressed the home grown Muslim terrorists, which the Donald would laser like focus on. His message would be simple and clear. He would appeal to the whites to "Make America Great, (White), Again”.

 When Baba asked him about his election organization he responded bemusedly, “What organization? I don’t need any I can do it myself.  I will sell my message. I alone can save this country from the rapists, murderers, thieves and illegaIs. I am loved. I have the greatest TV following ever. I know how to attract the medias’ attention. I am a winner". 

BABA GOES BACK TO THE CAUCUS

Baba reported back. “He is clueless and a megalomaniac. He thinks the Republican base is the American electorate. He has not the vaguest idea of what it takes to win a national election. However, with the anger at Washington generally, the corporation outsourcing, the belief that it is the bad trade deals that are the main problem with the economy and the loss of high paying manufacturing jobs, he will resonate with the GOP base and blue collar whites generally. He is a demagogic, nationalistic bigot. But Hillary should not not take anything for granted - first the Primary and then the election - Remember what happened last time”. There was no argument from anyone least of all Hillary. She had learned the hard way that it ain’t over till it was over. 

AND THEN….

The rest is history. The Donald delivered - the gift that keeps on giving. He was magnificent - first smashing all comers to win the nomination and splintering the Republican Party.  Then he spectacularly crashed and kept crashing in Presidential prime time. 

The Donald like Old Man River, in flood, just kept thundering on with lie after lie, blunder after blunder and chutzpa after chutzpa like attacking Hillary’s and Bill’s tax returns while he refused to produce his own.

As for Hillary’s first term, the Republicans decided to have no legislative agenda so as to prevent a Hillary second term. They would continue to do nothing. They then were surprised that their base nominated Duck Dynasty’s Willie Robertson as the 2020 Republican Presidential nominee. 

The Republicans, of course, finally, got it right and blamed the Clintons for the whole thing. They walk on water you know.

MANDELA’S VISION RESURFACES IN SOUTH AFRICAN ELECTIONS

The twenty year old post apartheid Democracy of South Africa has just completed a round of local municipal elections across the whole country. These took place at a time when the country is in an existential crisis as to the direction it is going to take. (Blog: South Africa - Emerging Leader or Basket Case). The outcome was that the ruling ANC sustained substantial setbacks in a contest where much was at stake.

The misleading interpretation by the international newspapers is that the outcome reflects that Mandela’s African National Congress, (ANC), has received a setback. The  crisp point is that today’s ANC has as in much common with Mandela as Trump's Republican Party has with Abraham Lincoln. The fact is that the ANC have drifted further and further from the principles of the Party Mandela lead to victory in 1994, heralding what he labelled as the “Rainbow Nation”. Now the ANC is wracked with cronyism, wide scale corruption and attempts to pervert justice which climaxed in the most recent scandal where the whole party pitifully defended President Zuma’s gross malfiscience and his disgusting efforts to cover it all up. The latter built himself a residential compound using tax payer money for personal additions. Another recent Zuma impropriety was the firing of a Minister of Finance who appeared to be questioning financial deals. This had international implications with the currency weakening and the country’s credit rating dropping. Dissolutionment  and criticism has mounted, the most public face of this being Bishop Tutu, who partnered Mandela in setting South Africa on the road to peaceful change, who claimed that he was praying for a change in government.

To sum up, the upshot of the electoral results is a return to the values and vision that Mandela launched in his new South Africa, not a rebuttal of “his ANC”.

CURRENT CONTEXT OF SOUTH AFRICAN MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS 

It has to be realized what the ANC imprimatur represents and why it requires a massive attitudinal change and an emotional wrench for Black South Africans to abandon it. The ANC for a century has been in the forefront for fighting for the rights of Black Africans. The ANC and the name Nelson Mandela are synonymous. And at the end of the day Nelson Mandela’s ANC vision delivered. So possessive is the ANC of Mandela’s name and legacy that they attacked the opposition Democratic Alliance, (DA), for quoting Mandela as being supportive of the DA policies. They maintained that the DA were distorting reality as, by definition, Mandela supported the ANC. So the current ANC’s argument was that voting against them was akin to voting against Mandela.

 Currently South Africa has a highly regionalized system of Government. While these elections have no direct impact on national policy, as they are about the management of local affairs, they do serve as a barometer as to the anger against the present regime. Winning Cape Town and the Cape Province has become a stated priority of the ANC as these are strongholds of the DA. Cape Town is the second largest City in the country and both the City and the Province are highly efficiently run and there is rarely an accusation of corruption. These two legislative entities administrative records are in glaring contrast to those local bodies run by the ANC and the comparison is there for all to see. 

Notwithstanding the trampling of the rule of law by the apartheid Nationalist Party Government there was a network of non Governmental opposing forces, other than the Liberation Parties, that contributed to the ultimate non violent change that is still in place. These included a vigorous Press, an activist Church, Trade Unions, non government agencies such as the Institute of Race Relations, the Universities and the judiciary that were as independent as they could be. Mandela and De Klerk’s Constitution also set into motion checks and balances to avoid a repetition of the distortion of democracy into near totalitarianism that had taken place under the Apartheid Nationalist Government. Recently, the system groaning under Zumas’s excesses delivered when the Constitutional Court unanimously ruled President Zuma to have acted unconstitutionally in the matter of his residence and instructed him to refund the State. 

It was because of these circumstances that the Municipal Elections took on a larger significance than just focussing on local issues. It also has to be realized that Party affiliation in South Africa means just that. Election contenders are considered to be in full agreement Party policy - no Trumps or Bernies could just join in.  The DA, which is a party consisting of nearly all the whites that opposed the apartheid regime as well as an increasing number of South Africans of color. 

ELECTION RESULTS

In broad terms the ANC’s share of the vote dropped from 65% to 54%. The DA’s vote share was close on thirty percent which represents spectacular progress especially when it is recalled that its forerunner, the white Democratic Party, garnered less than 2% in the original 1994 Independence Elections. Notwithstanding the fact that the ANC still won by wide numbers in the rural areas the DA gained votes across the geographic spectrum. 

The DA gains were most pronounced in the cities. Particularly significant was the strides made in the original home of the ANC, the Eastern Cape. In the Metropolitan city of Port Elizabeth, now renamed Nelson Mandela Bay, the DA triumphed 46% to the ANC’S 41%. The DA’s support grew in more populated Eastern Cape Wards, in some instances increasing their share of the electorate from less than 1% in 2011 to over 40%. 

In 7 major metropolitan cities the DA could either govern directly, (2), or were in a favorable position to form coalition governments. It is reckoned by the DA that they were in a position to either govern or form coalitions in 50 other Councils. The biggest blow to the ANC was the shattering of their objective to govern Cape Town were they decreased their share of the vote to 24% in contrast to the DA racking up 66%.  

The Marxist Leninist group, Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters, doubled its share of the electorate to 11% and can be the king maker in several of the mayoral races where neither party gained 50% of the vote. 

A reality check still leaves the ANC way ahead with a 25% voter lead on its nearest rival, the DA. 

POST ELECTION COMMENT AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FUTURE

The most immediate external impact was the improvement of the South African currency, the rand. The South African rand which had received a pounding following Zuma’s attempt to replace the Minister of Finance with an ignorant yes man, moved up fourteen percent against the dollar in the days following the announcement of the results. 

As might be expected, Mmusi Mamaine, the leader of the Democratic Alliance, (DA), put a positive spin on the results hailing them as a tipping point in South African politics. The key point he emphasized was that the myth that the DA was a white man’s party had been dispelled. He claimed to be very optimistic about the future. He believed that the electorate had opted for change. Zuma, for once gracious, said that the elections illustrated that democracy was alive and well in South Africa. 

John Kane - Berman, of the Institute of Race Relations, that veteran of so many struggles, believed that the ANC spell had been broken and that the drubbing was more profound than the figures indicated. While the ANC had favored Black Africans in jobs and welfare their record of corruption and failure to deliver to the average African worker had taken its toll. Unemployment was on the rise and the ANC ’s failure to improve the situation had shaken their previously loyal constituencies. 

There is a consensus that this election was, in large part, a referendum on President Zuma. One commentator even likened his benefit to his opposition to that of Trump for Hillary. 

While the DA’s momentum cannot be denied, realistically the ball is still in the ANC’s court. If the powers that be in the ANC’s headquarters in Luthuli House cannot see the writing on the wall it will only get worse. All eyes will be on current Vice President, ANC’S Cyril Ramaphosa who was Mandela’s choice as his successor almost twenty years ago. He was a pioneer for the rights for the worker, being head of the Trade Union Movement COSATU. But a lot of water has flown under the bridge since then. Ramaphosa went into business and became a remarkably rich man and there is an undercurrent that he is part of the elite that this electoral protest was all about.

Whichever way this is spliced South Africa has passed a very important test and this augurs very well for its future. Mandela has to be smiling from a distance that all is not lost even though his ANC has lost its way. 

TRUMP - FOR WHOM THE FAT LADY WILL NEVER SING

It’s supposedly never over till the fat lady sings and while there is still a microphone, a camera, and an internet out there the fat lady will never ever sing as long as The Donald has an audience. Now that he indirectly recognizes that he is losing this election, he changes his explanation to “The elections are rigged”.  He expounds  that he will eliminate the likes of Kasich and Cruz, in the future when he will form Political Action Committees to attack them. Also he is threatening what might happen in the streets if he loses a "rigged" election, implying revolution as he will be the savior that has had the election stolen from him by the Establishment. The New York Times has on tape his consistent inciting the crowd and the aggression that then spills over into the streets. 

 It is fair to say that his free flowing consciousness has reached heights never imagined. This followed the outcome of his flat uninspiring convention in contrast to Hillary’s screaming success. The question is does he care what anyone says about him or as some are arguing is he just not capable of caring? His mental stability is being openly questioned in very respectable circles.

THE WEEK THAT WAS

The week that was reached new bizarre heights even for Trump. He attacked the family of a national hero, who had sacrificed his life for his army unit. The Donald went on and on for days exacerbating his crass insensitivity and boorishness. (He thought he would whip up the usual hysteria because the family were Muslim). He implicitly laughed off what is surfacing as the most egregious story of sexual harassment perpetrated by his friend Roger Ailes of Fox News, and then ejected a crying baby from a rally - presumably firing her. 

He is continuing lying on and on, even on minutia to the extent that it has to be pathological. He claimed that “The National Football Association wrote him a letter” which they humiliatingly denied to his face. Then he infuriated the Republican National Committee by refusing to endorse Senator John McCain, another American hero who he has called a loser. He then not only declined to back Paul Ryan, the de facto Republican legislative leader, who is entrusted to deliver the House to the GOP, he supported his opponent in his Primary. He was indifferent to the feelings of all those in the armed forces who were injured or died by accepting an offer of the Purple Heart medal and responding that he always wanted one and this was an easy way to get it. The litany is endless and not on the radar at the moment is his allying with Russia against NATO and the trail that leads to the Putin Government assisting him with the hacking of the DNC’s E - mails. When this hits the fan it will be quite a news day and it is going to be one helluva treasonous story.

AMIDST THE CHAOS HE JUST DOESN’T CARE

The Republicans are battling to hang onto the Senate, which would be an onerous task even if Trump had kept his trap shut because of demographics. Then if Hillary wins there is the coat tail effect even without The Donald’s help. He just won’t support the Republican ticket  because he doesn’t care, it is all about him. The stories being leaked are that his campaign professionals are going ballistic as well as is an “apoplectic” Reince Priebus, Chairman of the Republican National Committee. But The Donald still doesn’t care. There is talk of the RNC removing him as a candidate or hoping against hope that Trump will just call it quits. Either of the latter would be declared a victory by him by proving that it is indeed The Donald against the world and that just because he is paranoid doesn’t mean every one isn’t against him. But don't hold your breath waiting for him to exit as Jay H. Ell cannot see it happening.

 He is losing established Republican donors some, like Meg Whitman, going over to Hillary. He has been criticized by even Chris Christie and Newt Gingrich. His Vice President running mate , who incidentally is not running with him and seems to be in his own campaign, made an ostentatious point of endorsing Ryan.  Campaign workers of nearly every major Republican dignitary are abandoning ship and even stating they are voting for Hillary but none of this touches him. His beloved polls are also in the toilet -  how he loved to quote and magnify those that were in his favor, so he isn’t talking about them. Hillary is ahead by 6 to 10 percent that represents an over 10 percent swing since the conventions. Even Nate Silver the famed political forecaster has come out of his preconvention funk when he put Trump ahead about 51 to 49 now positions Hillary ahead, 73 - 27. Trump didn’t even taking swings at Clinton even after she tried  to nuance her e mail story - it is all about him. 

He has a script, which has only one name on it and he is sticking to it - Mr. Khan insulted him and he will not let him get the better of him even if he is now incurring the wrath of everyone including the Veteran Groups who are supposedly his biggest constituency. So while everyone pulls their hair out he blithely carries on giving interviews to anyone who will listen, tweeting and retweeting and dominating media cycle after media cycle - as he explained when Melania was getting all that bad press for plagarazing Michelle Obama’s speech - “Any publicity is good publicity”.

BUT TIMES ARE CHANGING AROUND HIM

The sycophantic fawning media however are now fearful of the monster they have created and are no longer treating him like a normal candidate except Fox News that is. (The latter are still regarding him more or less like a conventional candidate - don’t forget the Supreme Court Judges. He has after all consistently held onto forty percent of the electorate they point out. Lest we forget, he garnered 13 million Primary votes and he won. The reality is he has changed the GOP but that is another story that has been told again and again). The media are now hammering him not letting anything go but he is not phased. There is a growing consensus that he cannot be entrusted with the nuclear codes and is an embarrassment. Obama who normally plays it down the middle virtually screamed at the Republican Establishment to cut him lose. Morning Joe Scarborough let it out of the bag that Trump had months ago asked military experts why the US shouldn’t use nuclear weapons! The Republicans should ditch him unceremoniously now as they are going to have to sooner or later. This because as it becomes more and more obvious that he can’t win he is going to taunt and defy them till they do. This will feed into his narrative that it is he against the world because he supports the downtrodden masses. 

DONALD’S FAT LADY WILL BE IN THE WINGS FOREVER BECAUSE HE IS A WINNER

So those waiting for Trump to see the light it is not going to happen. It is like Waiting For Godot. All these futile pleas for him to get his act together are a waste of breath. He is what he is and worse. Also as the Fat Lady will never sing for Trump there is always a chance that he still might win….. All his life he has used and victimized others to feed his megalomania. He has been in denial at his failures. He has created his own mythical narrative. He has consistently said one thing and done another. For example he has attacked the outsourcing of jobs but his companies utilize and commission overseas goods. He is against the employment of foreign workers except when it applies to his own interests. He is against the fat cats but every indication is that he hasn’t paid a cent in taxes and robbed society blind. He is a hypocrite. 

He has misused and honed his God given talents of persuasion and entertaining and become a salesman selling dreams and fantasy while feeding into prejudice and hate. Whether it be in the form of Trump University or his latest and biggest con promising to recreate a manufacturing society that is long dead and jobs in industries like coal mining that society has to ditch to survive. Then he feeds into the uneducated’s paranoia that they are victims and he alone can bring them back into the Garden of Eden. He will do whatever it takes to feed his own narcissism even if it is accepting the gift of a Veteran’s Purple Heart earned in battle. This he does not even do with humility at what this has to mean to the soldier who is probably giving him his proudest procession. The veteran has parted with his trophy because he has been conned that this con will deliver. He will rid the country of the Mexicans, Muslims and the like who are ostensibly feeding of the fat of the land, raping robbing and murdering forcing the whites to become poor whites again.

AT THE END OF THE DAY 

But as it becomes increasingly evident to Trump that he can’t become President he will change the goal posts and declare victory at whatever he defines as victory - because one thing The Donald can never become and that is a LOSER. Jay H. Ell fears he will define victory as pandemonium in the streets proclaiming him as the savior. Jay H. Ell suggests that the Trump incited protestors gather around the Trump Towers in the land. The latter are symbols of greed, excess, exploitation by the one percent who pay no taxes.

By the way he remains ecstatic as he still dominating the news cycles. He has a new statistic to brag about - the high numbers of small donations his campaign is receiving. He has morphed from being the blue collared billionaire to the schnorrer billionaire. What happened to the white knight in shining armour who was going to finance his own campaign?

Hillary is left on her own to campaign in the wilderness. If you want to know what is going on with her try Public Radio or Public Television. She better stay focussed as she has to believe it is over when the Fat Lady Sings.