Link to Essay on Republican Party "Conscience Voting"

H ere is a link to an essay on Republican Party convention rules, specifically on the matter of delegates voting their conscience.  I believe you will find it to be quite helpful.


As a bonus, the preamble material on the issue of the viewpoint of the new Republican Association of 1855 on slavery is simply beautiful.  

This can be a time for a true learning and a re-focusing on our truest American selves -- if we make it so.

(This link may also be found under "Documents" on the header above.)

http://thisiscommonsense.com/pdf/Unbound_online.pdf

Effort to Stop Trump at Republican Convention Grows

Kendal Unruh, Stop-Trump Leader

Kendal Unruh, Republican activist extraordinaire reports the movement to stop Trump at the Republican convention is growing.  Originally there were said to be 30 delegates in fifteen states participating.  A later figure was at least 400 delegates.  And now the claim is even higher.

This is surely good news for the country, as a Trump with the imprimatur of a major political party in the U.S. would do grave harm to the nation politically and otherwise.

It is not hard to understand why so many delegates are no jumping onto the stop-Trump bandwagon.  Long-time and regular readers of the Musical Patriot are well aware of the reasons.

Indeed, it happens I have been won of the earliest and most consistent writers to say that Trump should and could be stopped.  The question was whether the media would allow it, given their penchant for supporting Trump's celebrity and ratings-increasing status.

Now, however, according to Ms. Unruh, the umbrella group Free the Delegates 2016 has pressed the media for fairness, apparently with some success.  If this is true, and along with increasing delegate interest, I continue to believe Trump can indeed be stopped.  It is very hopeful that the Unruh group is being led by experienced campaign workers and party officials.  (The article at the link below tells who.)


Find out how the campaign to stop Trump grew:
Effort to Stop Trump at Convention Grows

How will "Brexit" Affect the U.S. Economy?

Money printing by the Fed will boost the market, but not necessarily back to its highs. That money printing will also greatly increase anxiety among investors. Already, investors are voicing concerns that the market is too dependent on Fed stimulus. The Fed will be forced to react to that anxiety by printing more money which, of course, will only increase anxiety even more.

We will be talking more later about the longer term economic effects of Brexit on Britain and the world. 

                                                                                              --  Aftershock Publishing

Markets React With Great Concern

The Dow Jones market has shown fairly large volatility for the previous two sessions, creating concerns for the future.

Here at The Musical Patriot, the matter of an eventual major market downturn has been discussed several times in the past.  The feeling now is the "Brexit" vote will not be good for the market at least in the short term, and possibly for the long term.

Meantime, I have promised an analysis of the Republican Party as it relates to the British decision to leave the European Union.  Specifically, will this begin to clarify the thinking of Republican convention delegates as they flow to Cleveland next month?  

It is more obvious than it was before the British E. U. vote that there are weaknesses in the world economic order.  This is all the more reason to reject a certain New York mogul from any consideration for the Presidency.

Democrats Nearing Over-confidence Regarding Trump

Quick, Urgent Comments --

The situation with Donald Trump remains urgent.  Democrats must guard against over-confidence.  Hillary Clinton campaign must continue to respond rapidly to attacks.  Rank-and-file must not let up.

All Americans must remain vigilant.

Dangers of Democrats' Overconfidence Described

British Pound Said to Plunge to 30-year Low After "Brexit" Vote

Continuing to Blog "Brexit" Vote Fall-out:

British Pound Plunges in Wake of "Brexit" Vote

British E.U. Exit Prompts Concerns of Protracted Uncertainty

Quick Link --

Via CNN Money:

The Possible Fall-out of the British Exit from the European Union

Quick Headline

Dow Industrials Down Sharply After "Brexit" Vote

Financial markets down sharply after "Brexit" Vote

The World: Eyes Wide Open

Below is an excerpt from a speech Vladimir Putin gave recently.  In it he proposes a new partnership between Russia, the European Union, and China.   How many Americans are aware of this proposal?  Moreover, what is Donald Trump's position on this proposal?  Is he even aware of it? For that matter, what is Hillary Clinton's position on this rather startling initiative of the Russian leader?

It is this kind of issue the new President of the U.S. will have to address.  One may fairly ask, how can Donald Trump deal effectively with this kind of a situation when he can't even deal with the Republican Party?  

With the British voting yesterday to leave the European Union it is clearer than ever the world is changing.  It was once asked whether a 70-year-old would be too old to be President.  This doesn't only have to do with physical health.  It has to do with agility of mind.  Numbers of years can be an advantage for a person.  In this case it is a deterrent.  

Will the U.S. let Russia and the European Union progress toward some sort of economic alliance without us?  Answering this question will take informed, experienced leadership.  It should be obvious that Trump is not the right person for the job, to put it mildly.  

As early as June we, along with our Chinese colleagues, are planning to start official talks on the formation of comprehensive trade and economic partnership in Eurasia with the participation of the European Union states and China. I expect that this will become one of the first steps toward the formation of a major Eurasian partnership. We will certainly resume the discussion of this major project at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in early September....

Friends, the project I have just mentioned — the greater Eurasia project — is, of course, open for Europe, and I am convinced that such cooperation may be mutually beneficial. Despite all of the well-known problems in our relations, the European Union remains Russia's key trade and economic partner....

-- From Vladimir Putin speech at St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, 

June 17, 2016

Republican Effort to Stop Democratic House Sit-In fails

Quick Post

Republican efforts to stop a Democratic sit-in on the House floor failed overnight as the Democratic House members who began a sit-in yesterday continued their protest on Thursday.

The symbolism is profound, the ultimate effect unknown.  For now, great courage is being shown by the Democrats and they should be applauded.


House Democratic Sit-In Continues

Politico Claims Trump Is Building "Massive" Whip Operation to "Quash" Opposition at Convention

The Trump campaign appears to be fighting back against attempts by traditional conservative forces to deny him the nomination at the convention.

In this developing story, and with Trump's unpredictability, it is hard to know how serious this may actually end up being.   However, as I have long said, no one should underestimate Trump.

At the same time, of course, people like Romney, the Bushes, and many others should also not be underestimated.   The major problem here is the big media companies have wanted to keep Trump alive because he is a boon to their bottom lines.  This conflict of interests helps counter the power of anti-Trump forces.

At the same time, major donors are, in the main, refusing to donate to what increasingly looks like just another of Trump's business ventures.*  So, if money talks, money also stays silent.  If Trump really had billions of dollars to donate to his own campaign he would have done so by now, the thinking goes.  Instead, his companies are earning money off this campaign!  If Trump were not able to fund a full operation, his chances would be hurt.

But, again, what will the media do?  I'm not sure I have ever seen so many armchair pundits as now. The Internet is doubtless a cause of this.

In the meantime, there remain plentiful reasons to oppose Trump.  Not wanting to support another Trump business boondoggle is one of the latest.



Trump Tries Whip Operation to Quash Convention Opposition



*  Trump Campaign Financial Picture

(I will try to get more documentation on this issue soon.)

Work-Around During House Video Black-Out

You may be able to find a live video and audio feed of the House Democrats' sit-in at the link below.  

Periscope Provides Live Feed of House Floor During Black-Out

Trump Campaign Turmoil Sparks New Delegate Effort

As this story develops I will be posting relevant stories from reliable news sources.  Below is the first such post in this new series here.


GOP Convention Delegates Plan New Stop-Trump Effort

Republican Party Concern About Trump Simmers

As the old saying goes, "Where there's smoke, there's fire."  And there definitely is smoke, at least in the form of smoke signals, coming from Republican Party circles.

Is Trump campaign "wigging out?"

For the first time, power seems to be shifting away from Trump and his antique road show to Republican stalwarts such as Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney.  While long-time Republican politicians such as these have long been warning about Trump, their warnings are taking on new importance as an organized effort by delegates to stop Trump at the Convention continues to congeal.

Clearly the situation is quite fluid.  Those who have said otherwise are obviously not on the inside of the Party and in no position to speak for it.  Those who are on the inside, while perhaps not yet gaining the upper hand, are at least finding their hands.

What we are seeing is old time politics, not the media circus which we have had ever since Trump descended those stairs in Trump Tower a year ago.  It is a welcome change.  As I have said before, if Trump is sufficiently pressed, his weakness will be ever more apparent.  And as Lincoln said, "Let the thing be pressed."


Concern About Trump Mounts

Also see here:
Not a Single Republican Delegate Is Legally Bound to a Candidate


Photo graphic:   distractify.com

GOP Delegates Organize Effort to Adopt Conscience Clause at Convention

The Washington Post  is reporting that a group of Republicans is organizing to free, or unbind, delegates to the Cleveland convention so they may vote their conscience.  According to the news report whose hyper-link is below GOP'ers continue to be appalled by Trump verbal antics, the latest being his self-aggrandizing comments following the tragic shootings of last week-end in Orlando.

As I have maintained here for weeks the opposition to Trump in the GOP is real.  Now the opposition appears to be somewhat growing again, and getting organized.  The current approach, which is not brand-new, would allow delegates to vote for whichever candidate they thought could best lead the party in this fall's election.

Please do ignore the editorial comments in this report which declare stopping Trump to be "nearly impossible to pull off at this point."  We are in new territory and this is a creative process.  Almost no one thought going into the 1860 Republican convention that Lincoln would be the nominee.  The media should stop treating the process as if it were some kind of machine -- a body without a head -- which cannot be turned off its course.  That's not the way reality works, in spite of our highly technological society.  



GOP Delegates Seek to Do the Right Thing

Trump Slowly Losing GOP Support: Salon Magazine

Quick Post --

The online magazine Salon says Donald Trump is slowly losing G.O.P. support.  The latest is Gov. John Kasich of Ohio.   At the same time the G.O.P. is losing support amongst the American public according to polls.

Trends are important in U.S. politics.  If this keeps up most anything can happen.  America, it seems, is not ready for fascism after all.


Trump Slowly Losing GOP Support Says Salon Magazine