President Elect
- Not disclosing his tax returns. The American people still have no way to judge the degree to which his freedom of action may be compromised by his dealings with agents of foreign countries.
- Ditching media, even the protective pool, who serve as the eyes and ears of the American people.
- Threatening media for unfavorable coverage.
- Requesting security clearances for his children.
- Choosing to rely on his children for the operation of his business interests rather than establishing a truly blind trust.
- Including his children as part of his transition team. This is especially problematic as he had said previously they would be responsible for overseeing his business interests while Mr. Trump is President.
- Taking phone calls from foreign leaders without counsel from State Department, participation by State, or record of the phone calls.
- Taking meetings with a foreign head of state, without conventional protocol or courtesy, leaving the Japanese Prime Minister wondering where and when the meeting would occur.
- Allowing his daughter, Ivanka Trump, to attend meeting between Mr. Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
- Settling a long standing lawsuit for Trump University fraud with an award of $25M to over 6000 victims.
- Selecting a white nationalist as his Chief of Strategy.
- Not condemning hundreds of acts of violence and vandalism that have been carried out in his name since the election.
- Condemning American citizens for exercising their right to free speech under the First Amendment.
- Inviting foreign diplomats to stay in his hotel in DC, with enticements, which directly profits him and his family.
- Suing the federal government to lower his tax obligations on the Old Post Office Hotel in DC.
- Either enticing or coercing representatives of foreign governments, e.g. Kuwait, to stay in his hotel(s).
- Not divesting himself of investments that will pose a conflict of interest with serving in the office of President; the American people deserve to know that their President is acting in their best interests and not his financial self-interests.
- Attacking American companies, media outlets, private citizens via twitter for actions he finds displeasing.
Transition Team
- Not meeting with counterparts in US government agencies for over a week.
Candidate
- Not disclosing his tax returns. The American people had no way to judge the degree to which his freedom of action may be compromised by his dealings with agents of foreign countries.
- Calling for his followers, “Second Amendment people”, to act in the case of a Clinton win – a thinly veiled call for her to be assassinated.
- Promising to build a wall between the United States and Mexico as a means to solve illegal immigration, and have the Mexicans pay for it.
- Promising to ban entry of Muslims into the United States.
- Promising to establish a registry of Muslim Americans.
- Promising to deport several million undocumented immigrants immediately on taking office.
- Mocking a disabled reporter.
- Not condemning calls from his supporters to “Lock her Up” in reference to his opponent, Secretary Clinton.
- Calling for Russia to hack the emails of an American citizen.
- Not condemning acts of violence that were carried out in his name.
- Bragging about sexually assaulting women.
- Walking into the dressing room of a Teen USA pageant where young girls were not dressed.
- Not reading any of the briefing books on policy or personnel prepared for him by his transition team.
I owe a debt of gratitude to one of my twitter friends. He supports Sanders, I support Clinton. I asked him why he supported Sanders and why he doesn’t support Clinton. With the exception of my lovely neighbors at the Washington State Democratic caucus, this topic of discussion has generally not gone well. So my twitter friend has been brave to engage with me – and to his credit he has been thoroughly respectful. You know who you are – thank you!
So the reason I’m grateful is that he provided me very clear and thoughtful reasons why he does not endorse Secretary Clinton. He has also provided points of reference that align with his questions regarding what he believes to be unethical behavior by her. As a Clinton supporter, my first instinct is to dismiss his concerns as unfounded. Pouf! That was easy. But of course, it’s not that easy. Personal accountability is one of my core values. I cannot support someone to be President of the United States if she is unethical. So, I went digging for more information so that I could understand my friends concerns and decide for myself.
As a result of my search, I’m satisfied that Secretary Clinton’s financial dealings were not inappropriate. Furthermore, I’ve come to respect Secretary and President Clinton even more than before looking into the issue. Read More
I think Seahawks fans have an opportunity — and responsibility — to do more to help the Seahawks be successful.
Have you ever seen Pete Carroll chewing out a player after a bad play? No. Or, at least rarely. Officials? Heck yes. Players? No. There’s a reason for that and it’s connected to why the Seahawks have been so successful. The reason has to do with player confidence. The subject of player confidence is a critical part of the Carroll philosophy. In his book, Win Forever, the word “confident” or “confidence” appears 68 times. That’s a lot. Read More