Fox News First: GOP breaks down in Motor City

DETROIT –  Well, that happened.
In a presidential cycle of history-making firsts, we have now had the first candidate ever to brag about the size of his, ahem, presidential timber on a debate stage.
“I guarantee you there’s no problem. I guarantee you,” Donald Trump said to dispel any thought that all this talk about his small hands meant that “something else” was small as well.
Not that it matters particularly in a presidential cycle that has seen more insults, more putdowns, more small-mindedness, and more trolling than every previous primary season combined.
The saying favored by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was, “When you’re going through hell, keep going.” But for Republican voters, it just keeps going and going and going …
The reasonable question for the GOP now is what chances remain to defeat Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee. As we know, party unity is the perhaps most important asset either side can take into a general election, and Republicans are way past the point of disunity.
It will, of course, matter how the nominating process ends. The two paths forward for the Republicans involve either Trump becoming inevitable eleven days from now with knockout wins in Florida and Ohio or, alternately, five rugged months of state-by-state fighting followed by a contested convention.
As for the first possibility of the quick Trump victory, Thursday’s debate showed important signs of a shift. None of the other candidates on stage took even passing shots at one another. Every attack was aimed at Trump.
You can call it the start of the Romney Plan. Earlier in the day, the 2012 Republican nominee laid out an indictment of Trump as a candidate who could not win a general election, and who, if he did, would still be an unacceptable commander-in-chief.
But Mitt Romney also laid out a strategy for his party. Romney said that as a voter he would choose whichever candidate in his state had the best chance of defeating Trump.
That means Marco Rubio in his native Florida, John Kasich in Ohio, where he serves as governor, and perhaps Ted Cruz in Michigan where evangelical voters are a powerful force in the western part of the state. And it also means the candidates can’t attack each other on stage or in their priority states.
The Romney Plan certainly seemed to be in effect here. And since earlier in the day, John Kasich associated himself with Romney’s thorough thrashing of Trump, there’s reason to think that he might tacitly be on board.
But will all that matter?
Next week’s contest here in Michigan as well as Idaho and Mississippi will start to tell the tale.
For Republican voters, however, who watched mouths agape at locker room talk from their frontrunner, and a series of brutal attacks on his record and character from his opponents, despair is setting in.
Much of the fight on the Republican side is centered on who can beat Clinton. The growing fear among GOP voters is that the answer might be: “None of them.”
[GOP delegate count: Trump 319; Cruz 226; Rubio 110; Kasich 25; Carson 8 (1,237 needed to win)]

Rivals spar with Trump on trust at GOP debate – but all vow to support nominee

Donald Trump’s rivals teamed up at Thursday’s Fox News Republican presidential debate in a concerted effort to cast him as a political salesman willing to say anything and take any position to win the nomination – but in the end, pledged to support the GOP nominee, even if it's Trump. 
Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and John Kasich all pledged to support the eventual nominee. And Trump, who has occasionally threatened to mount an independent bid, also vowed, “Yes, I will” support the nominee.
The moment of unity in Detroit was a break from the otherwise tense and personal debate. At other times, the Republican front-runner repeatedly was challenged, by the moderators and his rival candidates, on his alleged inconsistencies.
Trump defended his statements, one after another – for instance, saying “I changed my tune” from welcoming Middle East refugees to suggesting the U.S. can’t take them, after learning new information.
“I have a very strong core," he said, while adding: “I have never seen a successful person who wasn’t flexible.”
But his rivals argued this “flexibility” raises questions about whether Trump really would deliver on his promises.
“There’s a difference between flexibility and telling people whatever you think you need to say to get them to do what you want them to do,” Rubio charged, claiming once again that Trump is “trying to con people.”
Ohio Gov.  Kasich, without naming Trump directly, suggested voters are tired of politicians telling them “what they want to hear” and not delivering.
At other times, Trump was kept busy swatting down attacks on his character, his readiness to be president and his business record.
“He has spent a career convincing Americans he’s something that he’s not in exchange for their money," Rubio said of the front-runner.
“This little guy has lied so much about my record,” Trump answered. “... You haven’t employed in your life one person. I’ve employed tens of thousands of people.”
The sustained attempt by the three other candidates to challenge Trump’s authenticity comes as they scramble to disrupt his march to the nomination – following the Super Tuesday contests where Trump padded his sizeable delegate lead.
Once again, the debate saw Cruz and Rubio hitting Trump from both sides – including pressuring him to release a reportedly secret tape of him speaking bluntly about his immigration policies to the New York Times editorial board.
Trump said he’s not going to release the tape. He admitted he’s “changing” and “softening” his position on certain visas for highly skilled workers, but said he’s also “not very flexible” on his proposed U.S.-Mexico border wall.
Cruz called the Times tape issue “troubling” and questioned whether he told the editorial board he doesn’t believe what he says on immigration.
“You can resolve this issue very quickly by simply releasing the New York Times tape,” he said, questioning whether he’s “lying” to the public.
“You’re the liar,” Trump said. “I’ve given my answer, lyin’ Ted.”
Trump also tangled with Cruz after accusing Cruz of being the primary supporter of Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.
Cruz rejected the claim, and when Trump tried to interrupt, said, “Breathe, breathe, breathe.”
Rubio quipped, “When they’re done with the yoga” -- and when brushed off by Cruz, added: “Well, [Trump is] very flexible, so you never know.”
Trump also moved to deflect criticism about his former Trump University, which is the subject of several court cases. He called them a “minor civil case” he could settle.
This led to another tense exchange with Cruz, who said, “Donald, learn not to interrupt … count to 10.”
Kasich, meanwhile, defended his campaign, claiming he’ll turn it around soon – and would earn “crossover votes” in a general election.
Cruz also confronted Trump over his past financial contributions to Hillary Clinton’s campaigns – challenging his decision to send four checks for her 2008 presidential bid.
“Why did you write checks to Hillary Clinton to be president in 2008?” Cruz asked. “It wasn’t for business.”
Trump countered, though, that “it was for business.”
“We’re doing many, many deals outside of the United States,” Trump said, justifying his donations to Clinton’s 2008 campaign.
But he said he also supported Ronald Reagan and other Republicans and maintained that the “last person” Clinton wants to face in November is him.
Trump faced off Thursday against a narrowing field of Republican rivals, as his battle with the GOP ‘establishment’ hit new levels of intensity. Just hours earlier, 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney ended any semblance of sitting this one out and delivered a scathing speech against Trump’s candidacy. The address, in which Romney called Trump a “phony” who would sink the country into recession, underscored how divided the party truly is over Trump’s rise.
Trump, at the top of the debate, hit back at Romney,, calling him an “embarrassment” and asserting he’s just trying to get “back in the game.”
“He was a failed candidate. He should have beaten President Obama very easily,” Trump said. “I guess he wants to be relevant.”
Rubio, meanwhile, defended his shift to leveling personal attacks at Trump – which he started doing at the most recent debate.
“Donald Trump has basically mocked everybody with personal attacks,” he said. “If there’s anyone who’s ever deserved to be attacked that way, it’s Donald Trump.”
Rubio, though, said he’s ready to get back to the issues.
Trump then made an off-color joke when responding Rubio’s jab at his supposedly small hands.
“He hit my hands. Nobody has ever hit my hands. .. If they’re small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there’s no problem.”
Despite resistance to Trump from senior GOP figures, Super Tuesday showed primary voters once again breaking in huge numbers for Trump’s campaign – delivering him seven state victories out of 11 and building his already-substantial delegate lead over his rivals.
The field thinned again after Super Tuesday, with retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson saying he sees no path to the nomination and – while stopping short of suspending his campaign – sitting out Thursday’s debate in Detroit.
Each of the remaining candidates is continuing to campaign, undeterred by Trump’s dominance on Super Tuesday and his delegate lead.
Cruz won three states, including his home state of Texas, on Tuesday. Rubio won his first, in Minnesota. Kasich has not won any, but is banking on his home state’s primary on March 15.
Cruz has openly applied pressure on the two other candidates to consider dropping out, arguing that he is the only candidate who can take on Trump in the remaining primary contests.
Rubio, though, has enjoyed substantial support from fellow GOP lawmakers and is banking on a comeback in his home state on March 15 as well.

College President Cartoon

Oberlin College president appears to defend controversial professor in letter

Birds of a feather flock together.

The head of a prestigious Ohio school appeared to have defended a professor whose Facebook posts blaming Israel and Jews for everything from 9/11 to the creation of ISIS created an uproar earlier this week.
Oberlin College President Marvin Krislov said in a letter to the college community Wednesday that professor Joy Karega’s posts on social media affected him on a personal level and also challenged his professional beliefs, according to The Chronicle-Telegram.
“I am a practicing Jew, grandson of an Orthodox rabbi. Members of our family were murdered in the Holocaust,” Krislov wrote. “As someone who has studied history, I cannot comprehend how any person could or would question its existence, its horrors and the evil which caused it. I feel the same way about anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Regardless of the reason for spreading these materials, they cause pain for many people — members of our community and beyond.”
He didn’t mention Karega’s name in the letter, but said backing the right to freedom of speech was parallel to the college’s mission.
“Cultivating academic freedom can be difficult and at times painful for any college community. The principles of academic freedom and freedom of speech are not just principles to which we turn to face these challenges, but also the very practices that ensure we can develop meaningful responses to prejudice.
“This freedom enables Oberlin’s faculty and students to think deeply about and to engage in frank, open discussion of ideas that some may find deeply offensive. Those discussions — in classrooms, residence halls, libraries, and across our campus and town — take place every day here. They are a vital part of the important work of liberal arts education at Oberlin and in our country,” he added.
Karega is an assistant professor of “rhetoric and composition” at Oberlin College. She claimed on social media that the Jewish state secretly planned the Sept. 11 terror attacks, the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris and that Mossad, Israel’s national security agency, former Islamic State.
Critics argued that Karega needed to be fired immediately.
“This is the worst kind of anti-Semitic rhetoric,” said Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, director of the Shurat HaDin—Israel Law Center, an Israeli-based civil rights organization. "It is not acceptable for the dean to hide behind academic freedom and claim this is freedom of speech.

Oberlin College | StartClass

“She (Karega) is not a tenured professor," she added. "She needs to be thrown off campus immediately.”
Karega received her Ph.D. from the University of Louisville in 2014. She said in a statement on her Facebook page, that she will use the push back she’s received for material for her new book. She also criticized the “anti-Semitism call-out culture.”
“… I can generate articles for days on what I can describe as "antisemitism call-out culture" and some of its accompanying practices. I don't have to tell some of you that these recent activities in my own professional life have handed me a LARGE body of data (emails, voicemail messages, tweets, Facebook inbox messages, etc.) that will shed light on and provide insight into how and to what extent anti-Blackness rhetorics show up in “anti-Semitic call-out culture and practices,” she wrote.

Trump unveils seven-point healthcare reform plan

Nearly one week after Sen. Marco Rubio skewered businessman Donald Trump on his healthcare reform plan, the Republican frontrunner Wednesday released his seven-point plan to repeal Obamacare and implement his own policy.
Trump posted the plan on his website. It slammed the Affordable Health Care Act, saying it has “tragically but predictably resulted in runaway costs, websites that don’t work, greater rationing of care, higher premiums, less competition and few choices.”
He assured voters that his policy "will broaden healthcare, make healthcare more affordable and improve the quality of the care available to all Americans.”
Trump offers several reforms in his healthcare plan and urges Congress to act. He also vows to restore Americans’ faith in the government and economic liberty to the people.
The first thing Trump touches on in his outline is to eliminate the individual mandate. Trump says no one should be required to buy health insurance if they don’t want to.
As he touched on in the last GOP debate while he was arguing with Rubio, Trump wants to modify a law that inhibits the sale of health insurance across state lines. By doing that, he says, will allow full competition in the market and “consumer satisfaction will go up.”
The third bullet point calls for individuals to deduct insurance premium payments from their tax returns under the current tax system.
“As we allow the free market to provide insurance coverage opportunities to companies and individuals, we must also make sure that no one slips through the cracks simply because they cannot afford insurance. We must review basic options for Medicaid and work with states to ensure that those who want healthcare coverage can have it,” Trump added.
His fourth bullet point focuses on young individuals who can afford high-deductible insurance plans. He introduces Health Savings Accounts or HSAs.
“These funds can be used by any member of a family without penalty. The flexibility and security provided by HSAs will be of great benefit to all who participate.”
Trump wants “price transparency from all healthcare providers.” He says individuals should be able to shop around for the best prices for any sort of procedures, exams or checkups.
The sixth bullet point says state governments can manage the administration of Medicaid to residents without the “fear of federal overhead.” Under Trump’s plan states will receive incentives to eliminate fraud and waste.
In the final bullet, Trump calls on Congress to step away from special interests and “do what is right for America.” He wants to remove barriers to entry into free markets for drug companies that offer safe and affordable products.
Further, Trump also touches on illegal immigration and said that offering healthcare to illegal immigrants costs the U.S. $11 billion per year. He said if the immigration laws were enforced, “we could relive healthcare cost pressures on state and local governments.”
Reforming Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program and mental health programs are also on Trump’s to-do list as president.

Report: Clinton campaign 'reminded' of election law after Bill strolls into polls

The Clinton campaign was “reminded” of Massachusetts election laws Tuesday after the former president wandered into a Boston school and began shaking hands with voters and polling workers.
According to The Boston Globe, Bill Clinton strolled into the Holy Name Parish School in West Roxbury alongside Boston Mayor Marty Walsh. But state law restricts electioneering (soliciting for or against any person, party or ballot question) within 150 feet of a polling place.
A video shows Clinton shaking hands inside the school gym where the voting was taking place, and reports say he was glad-handing everyone -- even kissing an old woman on the head - and stopped at a bake sale near the entrance and bought a cup of coffee. At one point, according to MassLive.com, he was asked by a woman inside to pose for a picture.
“As long as we’re not violating any election laws,” he said. The report said he spent 45 minutes at the West Roxbury location. It was one of several stops he made in Massachusetts, where his wife was locked in a Super Tuesday primary battle with opponent Bernie Sanders. Massachusetts is one state where the Vermont senator has given the former first lady a fight, according to the polls.
MassLive.com said Bill Clinton did not take press questions, nor did he appear to mention the election. At one point a woman told the former president that she had voted for Republican Ted Cruz, but that her 98-year-old mother voted for Hillary Clinton. He then took a piece of paper out of his pocket and wrote the mother a note.
While the Boston Globe confirmed with the Secretary of State’s office that the campaign had been “reminded” of the 150-foot rule, it was not clear when or where the reminder took place.
When asked by by Fox News whether the ex-president was violating election rules, a spokesman for Secretary of State Brian McNiff said simply, “I don't know. He was just in there shaking hands and there's no law against that."
He did mention that there were problems with traffic being obstructed and "quite a crowd in New Bedford" when Clinton stopped there earlier, but it did not shut down the polls.

DOJ reportedly grants immunity to former State Dept staffer in Clinton email probe

The Justice Department has reportedly granted immunity to a former State Department staffer who worked on Hillary Clinton’s private email server.
A senior U.S. law enforcement official told The Washington Post on Wednesday that the FBI secured the cooperation of Bryan Pagliano, who worked on Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign before setting up the private server at her New York home in 2009.
Current and former agents told the newspaper that agents will likely want to interview Clinton and her senior aides about the decision to use a private server, and whether any of the participants knew they were sending classified information in emails as part of the ongoing investigation.
Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas called the latest developments on the Clinton investigation "ominous" in an interview with Fox News' Megyn Kelly on "The Kelly File," and that it meant the process was moving to "a whole other level." "That suggests the legal jeopardy is getting greater and greater," he said Wednesday.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Monday in an interview with Fox News that the Justice Department has no deadline for concluding the Clinton email investigation and that it’s being handled “like any other review,” even with the presidential election just months away.
Lynch said on "Special Report with Bret Baier" that the investigation is being handled by the agency’s “career independent lawyers” and that they will “review the facts and the evidence and make a determination in due course.”
Lynch, nominated by President Obama to the attorney general post in 2014, also said the agency would look “efficiently, fairly, thoroughly, without any kind of artificial deadline” into whether Clinton broke any laws as secretary of state by using a private email server for official communications.
Lynch was steadfast in declining to discuss specifics about the Clinton case -- including whether Clinton has been interviewed, if a grand jury had been convened, which departments within the agency are involved and whether she would ultimately decide whether the case will go forward.
“We handle it in the same way, and that's what I'd like to convey to the American people,” she said. “We owe it to the citizens and we owe it to anybody who may be involved in the matter.”
She also declined to comment on Clinton's then-chief of staff Cheryl Mills maintaining her top secret security clearance despite sending information that's now being classified to the Clinton Foundation.

"That suggests the legal jeopardy is getting greater and greater," he said Wednesday.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said Monday in an interview with Fox News that the Justice Department has no deadline for concluding the Clinton email investigation and that it’s being handled “like any other review,” even with the presidential election just months away.
Lynch said on "Special Report with Bret Baier" that the investigation is being handled by the agency’s “career independent lawyers” and that they will “review the facts and the evidence and make a determination in due course.”
Lynch, nominated by President Obama to the attorney general post in 2014, also said the agency would look “efficiently, fairly, thoroughly, without any kind of artificial deadline” into whether Clinton broke any laws as secretary of state by using a private email server for official communications.
Lynch was steadfast in declining to discuss specifics about the Clinton case -- including whether Clinton has been interviewed, if a grand jury had been convened, which departments within the agency are involved and whether she would ultimately decide whether the case will go forward.
“We handle it in the same way, and that's what I'd like to convey to the American people,” she said. “We owe it to the citizens and we owe it to anybody who may be involved in the matter.”
She also declined to comment on Clinton's then-chief of staff Cheryl Mills maintaining her top secret security clearance despite sending information that's now being classified to the Clinton Foundation.

Texas Voter Cartoon

Trump is now unstoppable. It's game over for Cruz, Rubio, Kasich and Carson

Game over! This was a rout, America. Winning seven states and the vast majority of delegates is a landslide. Donald Trump and the millions of his supporters have changed American politics and the Republican Party for the foreseeable future.
The nomination is within his grasp and if he does what he said he would do Tuesday night: "[I will] be a unifier!" he may be a very viable candidate against Hillary Clinton in the fall.
After his victories Tuesday night in multiple states and his second place finish in others , Trump is in an unstoppable position. Whether the junior senators from Texas and Florida choose to pursue him, it doesn’t matter, the end is near.
Trump, who is an unconventional candidate, to say the least, has tapped into the anger and frustration across America and has mobilized voters to turn out in record numbers.
Love him or hate him, be inspired by him or be appalled by him, Trump has totally dominated a political cycle like no other politician I’ve seen in decades.
I admit I was a total skeptic, like many others.
At first, I didn’t think he would run.
Then I thought there was no way he could beat the all-star cast of elected officials running against him.
Then I underestimated his lack of substance and trite answers in the debates.
Then I underestimated his lack of a real campaign.
Then I was convinced the political establishment was going to spend millions and take him out. And like the Energizer bunny he just keeps going and winning!
Trump is getting stronger by the day and his supporters are locked in and not going away. And no one has mastered the media like this since Teddy Roosevelt and his rough riders.
What's ahead is a Republican Party that either becomes part of his movement or splinters into many pieces. No matter what Trump does or says, the nomination is his for the taking.
Winning politics is a game of addition. Trump needs to be more careful in his words and in his thoughts. He needs to be a more gracious winner.
He has convinced many voters that he is a leader and a change agent. Now he needs to add substance and surround himself with some advisers who can add to that substance.
Thursday night’s GOP debate should be taken to a higher plane. All sides need to back away from the name calling and argue over the differences in policies.
All the candidates need to tell us how they will make the United States a better place and how they will beat Hillary and the Democrats this fall and why they should.
In the very near future, the Republican leadership of the Congress and the nation’s Republican governors need to sit down and do a "Trump negotiation" session.
Why? Because they need to see if they can find common ground to run on.
Trump is the ultimate salesman and he needs to sell these guys on his candidacy and convince them that together they can make it work.
If not, a holy war lies ahead that will destroy the Republican Party as we know it. And worse, Hillary Clinton may end up becoming president. -- Just as I underestimated Donald Trump, Republicans will be foolish if we underestimate Hillary Clinton.
My last advice is this: Mr. Trump, if you’re going to reward Governor Christie for his endorsement by letting him introduce you, get him off the stage once he's done.
No one seemed more unhappy than Christie watching you speak in Florida Tuesday night and frowning throughout your press conference.
A gracious loser he's not!

After disappointing Super Tuesday, Kasich turns focus to Midwestern states

Ohio Gov. John Kasich maintained that the Republican presidential race was moving to his "home court" after a series of largely disappointing results in the Super Tuesday contests. 
Kasich had followed up a second-place finish in the New Hampshire primary by placing fifth in the South Carolina primary and the Nevada caucuses. On Tuesday, runner-up finishes in Vermont and Massachusetts were canceled out by fourth-place finishes in Texas and Virginia, as well as fifth-place finishes in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
In a speech to supporters in Mississippi, Kasich used a college basketball analogy to discuss his plan for the upcoming races.
"We're almost to March Madness," Kasich said, "and you know what they all struggle for, home court advantage.
"We're heading north right on to my home court with Michigan, and then, I’ll tell you now, we will beat Donald Trump in the state of Ohio."
Michigan holds its primary March 8, with Ohio voting March 15. A total of 125 delegates are at stake in the two Rust Belt states. However, at least one recent poll has shown Kasich trailing Trump among Republican voters in the Buckeye State, while most Michigan polls show Trump in the lead by double digits.
Even if Kasich does pull off the double victory, it's unclear how he would capture enough delegates to catch Trump, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz or Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, all of whom recorded victories on Tuesday.
Retired neurosurgeon Dr. Ben Carson beat out Kasich for fourth place in a number of Southern states, but that was about the only good news for his beleaguered campaign.
Addressing supporters in Baltimore Tuesday, Carson vowed to keep fighting, telling supporters that the political system was "rotten to the core" and said Republicans and Democrats alike had "weaved such a complex web."
"I am not ready to quit trying to untangle it yet."