Paul's Political Insights: Fair & Balanced

DISCLAIMER:  I composed much of this before we left for MN, but I think it's still relevant. The recent revelations re:  Planned Parenthood & ever-emerging details re:  the treaty w/Iran deserve a separate entry.

OUR FRONT RUNNERS

Excerpts from Omaha World Herald (some obviously dated):

(7/8) "Clinton blames right for her trust problems. Hillary Clinton says there is an obvious reason so many Americans are skeptical of her trustworthiness. It's the handiwork of what she once termed the 'vast right-wing conspiracy' against her & her husband." [Remember, when you point your finger at someone, you have 3 fingers pointing back at you!]

(7/12) "Fact Check Clinton's Claim on Her Emails. "Everything I did was permitted. There was no law. There was no regulation. There was nothing that did not give me the full authority to decide how I was going to communicate. Previous secretaries of state have said they did the same thing ... Everything I did was permitted by law & regulation. I had one device. When I mailed anybody in the government, it would go into the government system." (Former Secretary of State Clinton, Interview w/CNN, 7/7/15) . . . "With her very careful language, Clinton skirts some of the important issues concerning her private email account. She appears to be arguing her case on narrow, technical grounds, but that's not the same as actually complying with existing rules as virtually everyone else understood them." {emphasis added} [Key words:  "virtually everyone else."]

(7/12) "Fact Check Trump on Immigrants & Crime. "When Mexico sends its people,they're not sending their best. They're not sending you. They're not sending you. (sic) They're sending people that have lots of problems, & they're bringing those problems w/us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people." (Real estate mogul Donald Trump, presidential announcement speech, 6/16/15). "Trump's repeated statements about immigrants & crime underscore a common public perception that crime is correlated w/immigration, especially illegal immigration. But that is a misperception; no solid data support it, & the data that do exist negate it." {emphasis added}  [I think I've made my opinion re: Donald Trump clear in at least one previous post. While he may not be a true conservative, he is pompous & distracting.]

(7/18)  "Clinton, Sanders shine brightest in first gathering of Democratic hopefuls. Hillary Clinton scored some of the funniest lines of the night Friday, while Bernie Sanders won the "fire in the belly" award as all five Democratic presidential candidates took the stage Friday in [Cedar Rapids, IA] . . . She noted wryly that the Republican front-runner in recent polls was New York businessman Donald Trump--drawing a fair share of snickers & laughs from the audience. 'Finally, a candidate whose hair gets more attention than mine . . . '" [Seriously? Funniest line of the night!? Dept. of Imaginary Conversations:  Hillary reporters' pool reporter #1:  "Did you just hear that line? Hilarious!" Reporter #2:  "Seriously, that has got to be the funniest line of the night!" Reporter #3:  "I can't stop laughing!" Reporter #4:  "She is so gosh-darn funny. I may pee my pants." Fox News reporter:  "Are any of you by chance planning to vote for Hillary?" Reporters 1, 2, 3, 4 (in unison):  "Of course we are. She'd be the first woman president!" Reporter #1:  "And besides, she's really funny." Reporter #2:  "The funniest line of the evening." Reporter #3: "Not 'fire in the belly' hilarious, but still the funniest." Reporter #4:  "Do you think she'd autograph these pants?"] 

"AND ON THE GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE FRONT" BONUS FEATURE

From the Norfolk Daily News (7/24):  "Expectations come up short with Lake McConaughy water levels. Mother Nature apparently didn't get the memo. (emphasis added) This was expected to be another below-average, but respectable, year for Lake McConaughy [located in the Nebraska panhandle, near Ogallala]. So said the engineers who manipulate the massive reservoir--Nebraska's largest lake--to keep both corn-growing farmers & beach-loving families happy. It was projected that North Platte River runoff into Lake McConaughy from Rocky Mountain snowpack in WY would amount to about 1/3 of normal this spring . . .
          "Then heavy, late-spring snow & rain fell in WY's eastern desert plains. And it rained more. And more. Then it rained again. The lake rose 5' in May. At peak flows in June, the N. Platte delivered about 7X more water than normal into Big Mac. Then over 2' more the next week. By the end of the month, McConaughy was a rare 13' higher & 2 mi. longer than it was May 1. And the signature, white-sand beaches that draw upward of 1,000,000 visitations a year were under water." {emphasis added} [Yes, climatologists & their computer models can accurately forecast global climate change, giving humankind the ability to control global climate. Wait, I might be confusing meteorology w/climatology, as Al Gore has reminded his critics in the past. And I definitely don't want to be on the wrong side of the Pope. But wait! I'm a Lutheran!! My head is spinning. It's all so confusing for a non-scientist like me.