I hope I’m not posting this twice - just had a “fat finger” error.
You raise some fair points. Perhaps it was somehow impossible or illegal for a network to make a donation tied to ratings on a specific event, and that whole idea has been dropped as a result. But that is speculative. Possible I suppose, but speculative.
Certainly any negotiations required to televise his rally tonight must have been executed quickly. But the greatest deal maker who has ever lived shouldn’t have a problem with that, in fact he should be able to use the pressure as an advantage to get what he wants. If Trump wanted a network donation for vets and could legally get it, he could have simply walked away from TV coverage of his rally. TV cameras aren’t necessary to raise money for vets, but they are necessary for his campaign. Which reminds me of the second question I asked you.
Certainly the networks have milked Trump’s star power for ratings and revenues. I applauded Trump and Carson for requiring the 2 hour limit. But surely we don’t think the Republican nominee should be arguing that a private corporation is making too much money; Sanders and Hillary can make that argument, but it’s not a Republican or conservative argument.
And that demonstrates why I actually do consider Trump to be a hypocrite. He has been all over all sides of each issue and we simply don’t know what he’s going to say next, other than whatever benefits him at the moment. We can’t even trust him to stick to the fundamental belief in private property, as demonstrated by my case above, and perhaps by his absolute defense of Eminent Domain for needs which are clearly not in the broad public interest. On a personal level he is quick to resort to personal insult, and even quicker to complain about other people insulting him.
I don’t think Trump is purely a hypocrite on the veterans issue. He has truly done good work for them and I’m sure he has been sincere and will do more good work for them in the future. But the event tonight is tied up too much in his own political best interests for me to see it as altruistic.
It occurred to me that you are engaging in casting doubt on the reasoning of others for their lack of evidence of Donald Trump’s motives for hosting an event for veterans, yet you have no evidence of your own as to his motive, only a ‘feeling’.
Links for facts and history have been provided to you of the sincerity of Donald Trump towards veterans. You might also note his father was a great supporter of veterans as well. So it’s not a mystery as to the source of his passions. Yet you hand wave this history as somehow not consistent with his event scheduling of tonight.
Yet you have zero evidence yourself of your own perceptions questioning his motives. But the evidence is overwhelming that he is a friend to vets and will always find time, any time, to meet with them. I think you’re just sore because he would not put up with the ambush planned for him. You’re just sore that he’s a lot smarter than you expected or wanted him to be.
In reply, see my tagline. This is an election like no other. As freepers, we must support whomever gets nominated from the R side, and refrain going forward from giving ammunition to the Democrats, which is what these endlessly repeated talking points from the Cruz side (hypocrisy, mixed motives, insults, yada yada) are doing.
Rest assured I do not regard this candidate as perfect. Many on here seem to think such a virtuous man could possibly exist and still want to run for possibly the dirtiest job in the world. But the Bible on which they base their claims has already stated that no one is without sin. Most of us have the luxury of a cover of privacy that he has not had for the past 50 years, because we have not been in the public eye raising the money that he has which is affording him the independence to call out the corruption in the GOPe as well as the Dems, the current administration’s goals to flood us with refugess, the donor class and the media.
For that diagnosis and sharp focus on the issues to be answered by this election, and for that alone, we owe him a great debt of gratitude. Civil gratitude is not the same as worship, so don’t start.