By Mano Ratwatte –
Mano Ratwatte
Why does the US Presidential election matter? It matters because USA remains the world’s only real super power; both economic power wise and militarily. It also matters because as of late both India and Sri Lanka have clearly signaled their orbit into the US sphere of influence. For Sri Lanka, it matters because if the USA gets the military toe-hold it desires in this Indian Ocean Island(with Indian acquiescence) it will clearly follow that ISIS and other Islamic terrorist groups too would harm Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka has a US$9 billion trade deficit with the world , ut maintains a large trade surplus with the United States. In 2012 Exports to the United States, Sri Lanka’s largest single-country market, were projected to be US$2.2 billion in 2012, or 20% of total exports (the EU and UK are 33% and 10%, respectively). The United States is also Sri Lanka’s largest single-country market for garments, taking in almost 40% of total garment exports (the EU and UK are 50% and 23%, respectively).Trump talks about tariffs and protectionist measures that are likely to impact Apparel exporting nations too. ISIS and Al Qaeda in Iraq all stemmed from the idiotic Bush-Blair invasion in 2003 and the global chaos unleashed by neo-conservatives. Same could be said about Libya under Obama and Hillary, and now where there was no ISIS, there is great chaos and ISIS in Libya! Does Sri Lanka need another round of terrorism; this time from a global movement, if US establishes bases in Sri Lanka?
This year’s election will be the country’s most racially and ethnically diverse ever. Nearly one-in-three eligible voters on Election Day (31%) will be Hispanic, black, Asian or another racial or ethnic minority, up from 29% in 2012. True, the nation’s 156 million non-Hispanic white eligible voters in 2016 far outnumber the 70 million eligible voters that are racial or ethnic minorities, their growth lags that of minority groups. As a result, the non-Hispanic white share of the electorate has fallen from 71% in 2012 to 69%. 
Both candidates, in this writer’s opinion are of less than desirable calibre. One is an obvious demagogue who has been making up stories, and speaking unchallenged mistruths swallowed with enthusiasm by his mass of overwhelmingly white fans; he has a massive block of predominantly lesser educated white blue collar voters. His ability to insult Hispanic and Mexican Americans and even insulting an American born Judge who just happened to be of Mexican heritage and women is phenomenal. He is a thin skinned bully and inside each bully really is a coward who backs down when he is challenged.
The other, has had a chronic inability to speak the truth and was stingingly rebuffed by the FBI but escaped indictment; and she was responsible for US foreign policy debacles in Libya and Ukraine. Clinton(HC) is viewed as the ultimate insider and a woman who is chronically secretive, having an “us against them” attitude and also someone who said things like “We will bring them to heel” back when her husband was President and signed tough crime laws many African Americans believed were specifically targeted at them.
Both have said many dumb things in recent times not even the worst Sri Lankan clownish politician would not say. “I will erect a beautiful huge wall and Mexico will pay for it”-Trump giving way to massive election erections for him. Clinton insulted the nearly 100,000 coal miners in critical states in March by saying (in the context of the transition to cleaner energy), “We’re going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business.” That is a very offensive arrogant elitist thing to say about people who work hard in dangerous jobs to support the US economy. HC was paid millions giving closed doors speeches to companies like Goldman-Sachs, who were responsible for the destroying the economy. According to public records, Clinton gave 92 speeches between 2013 and 2015 and collected $21.6 million dollars in just under two years; a coal mine worker earns an average wage of $21.63 per hour risking his life. Disconnect?
Trump is no better; being a Billionaire who has milked and worked the system and continues to lie and appeal to baser instincts of certain voter groups, to his advantage. He is appealing to tribal instincts with absurd China bashing too. Trump with glamorous Golf courses for the rich, never showed a concern for the working class until he decided to run for office; yet people are excited about how an elitist brash boastful Billionaire ostensibly represents them. The median income in the US is approximately $52,000. Yet Trump’s outsider candidate posture resonates with millions of uneducated white Christian working class voters (half of whom Mrs. Clinton referred to as Deplorables) and ignoring the fact that he lies more than Mrs. Clinton. They love his demagoguery.
A lot is being said about how critical the Latino or Hispanic vote would be this year. However, if you look at voter participation, then here are the facts. A record 11.2 million Latinos voted in the 2012 presidential election, but Latinos’ voter turnout rate continues to lag other groups significantly, according to an analysis of new Census Bureau data by the Pew Research Center. Overall, 48% of Hispanic eligible voters turned out vote in 2012, down from 49.9% in 2008. With all the Racial bashing their participation this year is expected to rise and favor HC but right now the race is too close. It will once again come down to a few battleground states and white voter enthusiasm for Trump.
What analysts are noticing during this election cycle it is Trump’s voters who are most enthusiastic akin to how young voters were so enthusiastic about Obama in 2008. During the primary season, young educated white Democratic party’s voters were far more enthusiastic about Bernie Sanders. HC has an uphill battle earning their trust as well; they are not likely to come out in the same numbers as they did for President Obama or Bernie. Her campaign’s attempt to blame Gen Colin Powell for her email fiasco lowered her image in the eyes of many.
The following table shows the ethnic breakdown percentages by candidate.
If the current white voter enthusiasm for Trump holds(they just got more galvanized by Clinton’s comment about “deplorables”), it may just be enough to overcome the massive lopsided black voter margins enjoyed by Obama in the few states that matter and are hotly contested. Even if Mrs. Clinton holds the same margin, what will matter is the total number of black voter participation in key states like Pennsylvania and Ohio and total number of Hispanic voter participation in states like Florida. Thus, it is anyone’s guess as of now but if this writer were a betting man, he might still give Mrs. Clinton a distinct edge if she can ensure the same rate of black voter participation as in 2008 and 2012 in the key states. Going into this, Clinton has an advantage because both California(55) with the largest number of electoral votes and NY with 29 going to Democrats; Texas has 38 electoral votes and that is solidly Republican so the path to the magic number of 270 electoral votes favors Clinton so far . Yet on September 16th most polls show the race to be a dead-heat.
In the Confederate states even with the massive Obama surge in 2008 less than 20% of Whites voted for Obama. For example in former US Ambassador Robert Blake’s state of Alabama, only 19% of the White vote went to President Obama. And if anyone says race does not matter, they’re being untruthful. All the old Confederate states except N.Carolina (NC went to Obama in 2008 but went to Romney in 2012) have been going to Republicans in large numbers in many election cycles now; but those states did not carry enough electoral votes to elect the Republican. The battleground states once again are going to be Ohio(18), Pennsylvania(20), Florida(29), and perhaps Colorado even though it gets only 9 electoral votes. Given the historic trends, looking at the 2004 election might also be helpful. There the incumbent George W Bush beat the current Secretary of State Kerry(Table B). Poor Kerry, a war hero and twice Purple heart winner was Swiftboated by the rightwing and he never recovered from the Flip_Flop allegations about the Iraqi war.
The African American vote is a captive vote for the Democrats; but because the total number of blacks who voted in the states that mattered was lower in number, Kerry lost Colorado, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and the Election! In the 2012 presidential election, 64% of non-Hispanic white eligible voters cast ballots, as did 67% of black eligible voters; in contrast , the turnout rate was only 48% among Hispanics. What matters is just not the margin but critically, the total number of voters of each demographic who show up to vote. Right now, the African American(black) voter enthusiasm level for the Democrat is definitely at a lower level than for it was for Obama. One main reason is was obviously “ one of ours/අපේ කෙනෙක්” and President Obama was a historic first; he created American history more than 140 years after the civil war ended. Educated millennial Black votes and suburban upper class socially liberal white voters around Philadelphia are critical in Pennsylvania for her to win. President Obama won Pennsylvania because of the massive turn out of urban black voters and also because it is a Northern state he won about 44% of the White vote. He also won about 41% of the white vote in another Northern union state :Ohio.
Some analysts believe Clinton is not likely to get the same number of black votes as Obama did. Yet the Democrats have a better structured, data driven ground operation that Trump does to bring out the vote. What matters will be early voting trends and the ground game on November 8th in critical block by block campaigns in critical states. With Trump campaigning as the “Law and Order” candidate, the white voter turnout might be much higher than in the past 2 election cycles as well. There is a backlash against the Black Lives matter movement amongst whites as well. Attacks on police has made people angry. Then, the question to ask is will Trump’s white voter enthusiasm offset this anticipated drop in total number of black voters cast or will Trump’s advantage be offset by a larger turn out of Hispanic voters in the states that they make a difference?
This writer fears violence, and various obstacles that Republican controlled States have placed to reduce the number of eligible votes cast by minorities. The Federal courts have already stuck down many State Voter ID laws that discriminate against poorer minorities that Republicans introduced. Will certain polling areas where there are significant numbers of minority voters “run out of ballot papers” or voting machines “Fail”. The USA will remain a politically and racially (deeply) divided nation even after November 8th ; many like this writer are thinking of voting their conscience by voting for Gary Johnson the Libertarian candidate out of disgust. If Donald wins, will his signature Wall be Erect? Or will it be flaccid if Clinton wins? National polls are a dead-heat as of now.
References and Citations
http://www.state.gov/e/eb/rls/othr/ics/2013/204735.htm
Native Vedda / September 21, 2016
Mano Ratwatte
“US Elections Will It Lead To A Wall Erection?”
Can Trump get it up given his age?
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jim softy / September 21, 2016
Dumb native Veddo:
Can Trump get it up given his age?
Those two candidates tell a lot about the present situation. How about the other candidate shows initial symptoms of Parkinson ?
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arancha / September 22, 2016
Native Vedda ,
Trump is bound to win and the Banda island Rat_wattes are trying to creep into power base though they have been funding clinton foundation to the core – the cheese lovers.
He is missing the sexy Hindu Nagaland students but plays poker with Punjabi and Kochi makers of high_oiled porrats froth tea
radala,are trying the same old trick, same old people-maithuna, My3
always the same old in the same old smelly bottle
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Gajaweera / September 22, 2016
Some non sequiturs and nonsense here. Don’t seem to well versed in English. In other words your comments don’t have anything to do with what that fellow wrote nor does it make sense. Sounds like a typical Sinhala Rajapakse hit man. I don’t agree with this article but why don’t you refute the data and write your own analysis? Your hatred shows. The article doesn’t interest me as much as your unrelated Indian things. What has this article got to do with india?
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arancha / September 22, 2016
“Some non sequiturs and nonsense here. Don’t seem to well versed in English.”
Say heeHaw, heehaw buruva, Mara(මැර)palanaya
Hingannage Thuwale – or the beggar’s wound.
If a message posted is understood that is the main thing on these forums-and anyone who can merely highlight spelling mistakes and highlight grammatical errors needs to get a life.
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arancha / September 22, 2016
AUGUST 31: Are there secret Trump voters out there, not counted by polls?—FOR POLLSTERS LIKE ME WHO SAMPLE FROM VOTER LISTS, NORTH CAROLINA IS A STATE WHERE WE HAVE A GREAT DEAL OF CONFIDENCE IN OUR RESULTS
in most cases even wife does not know that muslim man is voting for Trump.
“It’s become socially desirable ‑ especially if you’re a college-educated person in the United States of America ‑ to say that you’re against Donald Trump,” Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway told a British news show last week.
“We call them undercover voters,” she told McClatchy in an interview this summer before joining the campaign. “It’s a combination of things. Some are just tired of arguing with family, friends and colleagues in their larger social circle.”
She added, “Would-be Trump voters are being told constantly he can’t win, he’s not electable, he’s embarrassing. She’s got it in the bag. They don’t want to publicly get into argument.”
Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/election/article98915057.html#storylink=cpy
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Rajash / September 22, 2016
Native
Brilliant comment. you beat me to it.
perhaps he will force all Mexican woman to erect it for him….not sure if he can achieve it within one term given his age
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arancha / September 22, 2016
“not sure if he can achieve it within one term given his age “
you never tried a `rusty nail` it keeps you warm in winter and the `ir` like a yogi when he performs.
Rather, sadly and tragically, Donald Trump does not drink alcohol because he lost his dear brother, and his father’s namesake, to alcoholism.He has gone on record to state, “I’ve never understood why people don’t go after the alcohol companies like they did the tobacco companies. Alcohol is a much worse problem than cigarettes.”
construction would be world record like Boris broke the Chinese record of 100 days before time. Tech is there and he knows it- did you not watch him with BS at the border. entrepreneurs of that category don’t speak much- creator of apprentice- he chased Sugar away back to london as soon as he arrived.
SO please try Jeb if you need Mexican babes.
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Sylvia Haik / September 23, 2016
The “Wall” is a complete red herring for the benefit of the lowly educated Republicans, the core supporters of Donald Trump. Firstly, the difficulties they encountered with the USA border property owners when they began to erect a mere fence. There is still a golf course which is on the wrong side of the fence. Secondly, the conservative estimate of the cost for a 10-foot wall, let alone a 35-foot wall, is over $60 Billion and Mexico will not pay nor the American government can afford it. Finally, the illegal migrants it would be designed to stop, do not cross over from the south but come by air with legal visas and overstay.
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Marrikar / September 24, 2016
“”The “Wall” is a complete red herring for the benefit of the lowly educated Republicans, the core supporters of Donald Trump.””
Jihadi woman living off the sweat of England. So Hillary wnet to bog because she was so educated to belch and fart with the similar statement.
How did pavement premadasa present garments as the industry while the educated scorned that it was prostitution?? Apparel is today’s Lankan main export item. Who is Omar?? Premadasa personal assistant was Mohamed of Hulftsdorp, the commission kaka not even Aloy mudalali.
ISIS- You know nothing about rapid building construction- 12 hrs it reaches the strength of 21 days which means low cost only 20% of labour. He is a man who grew up on construction.
The russians have been selling rocket engines to USA since the Apollo was grounded. The Next Apollo leaves in early 2017 with 3D printed engine costing 5 times less, carries 10 times the load and construction time 15 days for any component that takes 3 months to do via extrusion.
3D printing No welding even for under-Garments.
You are school teacher thanks to Bad-Udin Mohamed and unfair sponger to England which you admitted indirectly on CT (NV asked you that question- I read all and understand but have met none).
Now you say `I am atheist` convenient because only Catholics/Christians use that term.
there is no god there is no Allah but you conveniently sit on your mind if you any- Iguana settler at Ceylon- your name is Moro from Morocco’
Happily Pagen
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arancha / September 24, 2016
GROUND ZERO Building awarded to uneducated at 2D literature.5th standard only
This should interest Lankan’s- CEO of Company that laid the sewer lines of colombo Mario-C(he used to go down into the sewer at colombo too and he was a showler by profession. He still does not have an e-mail account but Fax only. Like Premadasa no education.
Italian/Canadian He was awarded the most prestigious building of our times and even Obama Hussein never objected.
Basement water proofing and total construction of basement- if that goes wrong the building comes down or shows signs later.
it is a matter of trust and GOOD experience not years of just experience.
school teacher stop uttering satanic verses because they did not follow your 2 Dimension literature when the world that we see is 3D (retina sees 2D and the mind makes it 3D.
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Urologist / September 21, 2016
Mano,
At his age his ” wall ” should be flaccid.But hold it ,you are talking about Trump’s “wall” and not just any other “wall”.So be prepared for the unusual! May be Ivana could be more accurate!
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Trevor Jayetileke / September 21, 2016
The Elections in the US on the 8th November 2016 leaves the Voters with what we call “Hobson’s Choice”., but the US will remain the Economic Engine of the World. Jesus I pray please save the US and the World., as you are the only “Hope” we have in this Mad but Wonderful Planet Earth.
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jim softy / September 21, 2016
The trugh is american do not like both candiates and they do not have a choice. there is a possiblity for the first time, there will be an alliance.
One will promote Racism. But, that won’t work. Becuse, it is immigrent who keeps the country floating with GDP. So, they need new immigrents.
The other will promote War which will bankrupt the country.
Remember Suez Canal conflict which made bankrupt Britain goes to the bottom.
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Native Vedda / September 23, 2016
jim softy dimwit
“Becuse, it is immigrent who keeps the country floating with GDP. So, they need new immigrents.”
If true why don’t you invite more immigrants into this country in order to flooat this island’s GDP? Don’t you believe this island is much stronger than USA?
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sbarrkum / September 21, 2016
I think the Hispanic vote for Trump is going to surprise.
The general assumption is that Hispanic voters want more immigration.
More likely legal Hispanic Citizens want less immigration.
Basic, I (Hispanic) got a piece of the pie, and dont want
more Hispanics to immigrate and end up having a lesser piece.
Do you think Jaffna or Hill Country tamils will support
immigration from Tamil Nadu let alone India.
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Sylvia Haik / September 21, 2016
The moment Trump advocates “profiling” as part of his extreme vetting to root out the illegals, he lost the votes of the people who are visibly non-white i.e. Hispanics and Blacks, which is a very significant electorate. Profiling is already legal in Arizona and some Southern States and the Hispanics and the Blacks know exactly what it means to be unnecessarily harassed and stopped and searched for no reason.
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arancha / September 21, 2016
Take a step back and think for once what percentages the non whites have.
Test: in a state 30% of the Hispanics who ticked `white` did not even have European blood.
America is in a spin unelected Pres.Truman was in a spin himself after dropping big/small. He saw filthy 3rd world Bharat and partitioned.
The folk of England had to protest to Queen Victoria about Nawab/Nabob Welshman Clive – Harem!! sex birds in Burka. That is how Maratha’s lost to English East India Company too- the generals were entertained in harem. Sex birds and i_slam humanity- Check London achieves on 3rd Maratha war and the whole of sub-lost.
November 2015 Trump on CNN promised to undo the spin.
Trump knows what he is about. Multinational Media milking the world- hillary billary the liar wants to be like anglo-saxon virgin Queen of the world- too late now to be sorry.- bush jr who wanted to be – london was shut for traffic- 4hours.
Republican Hindu Congress main funders of Trump campaign.
Life is a tragedy- The bards 7 plays. Accept practical world- every day is not X’mas. You love infidel land – for milk, honey but hate the the providers in your heart what a shame.
contemplate on Saṃsāra.
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DilSinjiAriyabandu / September 22, 2016
FiveThirtyEight.com is the most reliable polling statistical analytical website run by Nate Silver. They do poll of polls and the race is very close. The polls are extremely tight and young people are not breaking for Hillary as they did for Bernie. So it all goes down to turn out.
The GOP’s Jewish Donors Are Abandoning Trump
In recent years, Republicans have made inroads into the overwhelmingly Democratic constituency of American Jews. But this year, Republican Jews — or Jewish donors to the Republican party, at least — are abandoning their party’s nominee at a stunningly high rate.
In 2012, 71 percent of the $240 million that Jewish donors gave to the two major-party nominees went to President Obama’s re-election campaign; 29 percent went to Mitt Romney’s campaign, according to our analysis of campaign contributors, which used a predictive model to estimate which donors are Jewish based on their names and other characteristics. This ratio of support mirrors how Jewish voters cast their ballots in 2012.
So far in 2016, of all the money given to major-party candidates by donors who appear to be Jewish, 96 percent has gone to Hillary Clinton and just 4 percent has gone to Donald Trump.
To understand what’s going on here, some context is useful.
In 2008 and 2012, about 70 to 75 percent of voters identifying as Jewish supported President Obama. A recent poll of Jews suggests that 76 percent of those voting for a major-party candidate are leaning toward Clinton. These numbers make Jews one of the most pro-Democratic constituencies in American politics.
But there are also active constituencies of Republicans, including Orthodox Jews, the majority of whom favor Republicans, as well as Jews who are dissatisfied with Obama’s handling of Israel, though there is overlap between these groups. And as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has moved to align himself with Republicans in the U.S., Jews who are supportive of Netanyahu’s policies in Israel may be following suit.
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arancha / September 22, 2016
Go tell your story to boat people we know who we are.
Guardian letters by readers in march.-Emails compiled by Amber Jamieson of guardian
Trumps daughter convert to Judaism like Maddona the queen of Pop who changed the way women think today- she leads others follow. Trump talks less He is enterprise you have to watch. you have no experience.
********
The gay Arab Muslim student (20, Missouri)
‘My parents are horrified’
As a gay muslim, the Republican Party has not been kind to me, to say the least. However the Democrats almost arrogantly expect me to hand my vote to them because of who I am, which insults me.
I am a son of immigrants but we have always followed the law to the letter. Donald Trump’s discussion on immigration is extremely relevant. I even support the temporary ban on Muslims, even though I still have many law abiding family members in Syria who deserve the opportunity to come to the US and escape the horrors of the war. We don’t vet these people properly. To let them in willy nilly is ludicrous.
Ironically enough, Trump may be the best thing for moderate average Muslims
Trump will break the poisonous bonds that hold America and the cult state of Saudi Arabia. Clinton would never do that; she would continue supporting Saudi Arabia while bombing Islamic countries left and right.
My parents are horrified at the thought of a Trump presidency. They say things like “Trump is going to round up all the Muslims and put them in camps.” For all his bombastic remarks, Trump will not attack innocent Muslim countries. Ironically enough, he may be the best thing for moderate average Muslims. He isn’t our enemy, he is the enemy of the globalist Wahhabi cult that has propagated mass violence and murder through out the world.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/03/secret-donald-trump-voters-speak-out
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Jayantha / September 22, 2016
Arancha, Babble Babble Babble. No value. No Value No Value.
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arancha / September 22, 2016
jayanta, Why is your tourist industry kuddu business sleepy?
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Ranbandu / September 21, 2016
Mano, the data on demographics and voting pattern is presented well and useful. Thank you. However, you have described Mr. Donald Trump with the following unsavory terms.
“One is an obvious demagogue who has been making up stories, and speaking unchallenged mistruths swallowed with enthusiasm by his mass of overwhelmingly white fans; he has a massive block of predominantly lesser educated white blue collar voters. His ability to insult Hispanic and Mexican Americans and even insulting an American born Judge who just happened to be of Mexican heritage and women is phenomenal. He is a thin skinned bully and inside each bully really is a coward who backs down when he is challenged.”
I believe it is very unfair. Mr. Trump is a good strategist, those who understand strategic management will not characterize Mr. Trump as you have done. There is a strong correlation between what he has said openly about Mexican and other illegal and Muslim visitors to the USA and the negotiation techniques. It is difficult for many to understand the approach.
Nevertheless, lot of pundits said similar unsavory things about Mr. Narendra Modhi, when he was campaigning to be the Prime Minister of India. Don’t forget he was banned from the USA. He was a persona non grata. What do you say to him now?
Mano, it may be the opinion of visible minority, that Mr. Trump is a demagogue, but I, among the minority in this part of the world view Mr. Donald Trump as a great strategist and he will surpass the achievement of Ronald Reagan. We need leaders like Donald Trump, It is high time Sri Lankans also come out of their slumber and look for a leader like Mr. Modhi and Mr. Trump to lead the Sinhala Buddhist country on earth.
By the way irrespective of what you have said, I predict Mr. Donald Trump to be the 45th President of the USA, I wish him all the best.
It is time for those who entered the USA or any other country under different ruses or looking for greener pasture -EITHER PUT OR SHUT UP-
Ranbandu
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Mano Ratwatte / September 22, 2016
Actually the race is very much a dead heat now. And Trump has pulled ahead in Ohio. Republicans need Ohio to win the election and no Republican has in recent years won the WhiteHouse without winning Ohio.
As for Legal Immigrant American Citizens like myself I am not sure why people should not be part of the amazing Great American Political debate and as you say shut up and be quiet. Why>? when we take an oath to become citizens of this amazing nation we vow allegiance to the American way. I believe the First Amendment is the most amazing thing here. I have always been fascinated by global politics even as a kid. So here is the First Amendment for you in case you forgot it. Thanks otherwise. Like I said IT DEPENDS. It depends on voter turn out. Recent Terrorist attacks are an advantage to Trump because of palpable fear. Fears about decline in the middle class , specially the white middle class are also real.. So it depends on if the enthusiasm brings out more Trumpistas than Ds. In the D camp Hillary is in trouble because most Bernie Sanders anti corruption voters are not enthused by her.
So here goes the First Amendment and Thanks for your constructive criticism not the absurd ad hominem diatribes by someone else here. As for the Export data, it came verbatim from US State dept webpage and all I could get at that moment was 2012 data from them and Not “media manipulated” as someone said. Oh well. But then again, I have always been a fan of the quote attributed to Voltaire(rightly or wrongly) ” I may not agree with what you say; but I defend to my death your RIGHT to say it” . That is a cornerstone and a sine qua non of a vibrant real democracy. Thanks again Ranbandu
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
People were murdered by other fellow Americans even after 14th and 15th amendements were passed after the civil war.
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jim softy / September 22, 2016
As for Legal Immigrant American Citizens like myself I am not sure why people should not be part of the amazing Great American Political debate and as you say shut up and be quiet. Why>? when we take an oath to become citizens of this amazing nation we vow allegiance to the American way.
So what are hindrances for fighting for a homeland there for you with some fake history ?
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retsel / September 24, 2016
Jimsofty,
many moons ago when I said hide the tiddledywinks playing under my bed. Your response confirmed you were American national same with Eusense (borrowed California name of innovator IT company)
Rat’s love cheese and their favorite game `hide and squeak.
look at his support on this thread? They are 90% school teachers like him.
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Ranbandu / September 23, 2016
Hello Mano;
you are correct in saying:
“Republicans need Ohio to win the election and no Republican has in recent years won the WhiteHouse without winning Ohio.”
Remember, Mr. George Bush won Ohio by a 2.1% margin of victory by polling 2,858,727 votes in 2004. Having been to Ohio several times, I understood that the Industrial workers (Unionized labor) favored Mr. George Bush; mainly for his stance on Trade policies, Security and Moral values. Out of three issues Mr. Trump has clearly stated his position and objectives on Trade and security matters clearly. It may not be palatable to the antagonists including Muslims and other affected minorities in the USA.
On the matter of position of minorities, it must be noted; the Indian Hindus outnumber all the other South Asians combined in the USA. These Indian Hindus favor Mr. Donald Trump.
Mr. Trump’s victory will be a good sign and it will encourage other countries such as Sri Lanka to dump the traditional politicians trying to gain power through “Wishy Washy” trade policies, security policies, judicial policies and fiscal policies.
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retsel / September 24, 2016
“Wishy Washy”
they are wishy washy plucking peaches by the beaches – coco_nuts that the Portuguese brought to the island up_to 1970.
2now judge of self.
The Invisible Woman
As Trump hogs the spotlight, Clinton has to find a way to be heard.
BY JEET HEER
September 23, 2016
When Hillary Clinton engages with comedians, as she did last Friday on Jimmy Fallon and Thursday with Zach Galifianakis, she plays the straight woman: the low-key, earnest, unflashy foil who lets the other guy make all the blatant jokes and reserves for herself only a few sly witticisms. That might be a natural role for a presidential candidate to take, but it stands in contrast to her rival Donald Trump, who is never shy about mugging for the camera. Clinton’s approach to comedy is consistent with her broader approach to campaigning, where she prefers to project seriousness and avoid flamboyance. That’s a sensible strategy, given Trump’s inexperience and unpredictability, but the downside has become apparent lately.
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Since securing the Democratic nomination, Clinton has been the invisible woman of American politics—paradoxically on the cusp of an astonishing historical achievement (becoming the first woman president) while most of her speeches and policies are ignored. The media has focused heavily on Trump, with Clinton only able to break through when she attacked the Republican nominee (as in her speech on the alt-right and her comments about Trump’s “deplorable” supporters). Even the negative attention of Clinton has been Trump-driven: It’s unlikely that the outsized coverage of her bout with pneumonia and of the Clinton Foundation would have occurred if there wasn’t an apparent imperative to balance out the critical news of Trump’s bigotry and shady business practices.
So how can Clinton get her own message out? There are a few proven campaign tactics she has yet to try—including one that Trump employed to great effect in the primary—and barring those, the political calendar may work in her favor soon enough.
The source of Clinton’s invisibility is Trump’s unparalleled dominance of free media, particularly the television networks and cable news, which often set the tone of the media more broadly. In an age of declining viewership and ever more fragmented media, Trump is ratings gold. During the Republican primaries, he won in part because he received unprecedented free media while his rivals found it impossible to get their messages heard. This has continued in the presidential race. When Clinton and Trump hold dueling rallies, Trump gets more press.
As Paul Fahri reported in The Washington Post on Tuesday:
Trump’s campaign attracted 822 minutes of screen time on the nightly news broadcasts of ABC, CBS and NBC between Jan. 1 and Labor Day, according to the Tyndall Report, which has tracked broadcast news since 1987. It’s unlikely that another presidential candidate in history has ever gotten more, says Andrew Tyndall, the newsletter’s proprietor.
Clinton’s campaign commanded just 386 minutes, which includes 89 minutes spent on the investigation of her emails as secretary of state.
That’s a big coverage “gap.” Roughly speaking, Trump has gotten more than twice as much network attention as Clinton.
The “gap” is even wider when one considers that Trump has set the terms of debate, with the political and media conversation dominated—depending on the day—by his racism, sexism, birtherism, nationalism, or affection for Vladimir Putin. The election has been fought on Trump’s terrain of tabloid outrage rather than Clinton’s terrain of policy disputes. This means there’s been little discussion of Clinton’s signature issues of criminal justice reform, paid family and medical leave, raising the minimum wage, debt-free college, and more.
Beyond Trump’s mastery of free media, there’s also a gender dimension to Clinton’s invisibility. She’s often been praised, by Ezra Klein among others, for her ability to listen, but the flip side is that she has had trouble, as women often do, being heard over the brash man in the room. Trump’s clownishness attracts an audience which ignores Clinton’s wonkery. She has been forced to play the role of the straight woman, Margaret Dumont to Trump’s Groucho Marx.
So how can Clinton amplify her voice to overcome Trump’s? On the Keepin’ it 1600 podcast, former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe suggested she call on her “army of surrogates,” including Barack and Michelle Obama, Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, and people in “the entertainment world.” Using celebrities to bypass the traditional media is a strategy that worked well for Obama, and one that Clinton is starting to imitate by appearing on Zach Galifianakis’s Between Two Ferns, having the cast of West Wing re-unite in Ohio, and getting Joss Whedon to cut an ad with “a shit ton of famous people” urging a vote against Trump.
Clinton might also find it useful to pick fights not with Trump, but with the media for not covering policy. Working the refs is often effective, even at the risk of a backlash. There’s a risk, of course, that Clinton would be labeled a complainer, and that she might incite even more critical coverage of her emails. But the risk would be worth it if her attacks brought widespread attention to how one-sided the coverage has been in this election—a complaint that currently seems confined to the Acela corridor.
When Clinton does take center stage, she dominates. Her last such opportunity was the Democratic National Convention, which gave her a strong bounce: A week after the convention she was 8 percent ahead of Trump in Huffington Posts’s aggregated polls. Clinton’s best shot of changing the dynamics of the media coverage, then, may be the debates, which begin Monday. While frontrunners usually have more to lose than gain from debates, facing off with Trump might give Clinton a chance to be heard. And unlike Trump, she’s had many one-on-one debates against formidable opponents like Barack Obama and Bernie Sanders—and she won quite a few of them.
But Trump will be unlike any opponent she’s ever faced. She can’t let him set the terms of Monday’s debate in the way he’s done with the media broadly. If she can force him to fight in her corner, the media might finally get the word out about what she stands for.
Jeet Heer is a senior editor at the New Republic.- the old socialist newspaper of USA with state of the art comments section.
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Gabber Singh / September 25, 2016
Mano Ratwatte ,
“””Both have said many dumb things in recent times not even the worst Sri Lankan clownish politician would not say. “I will erect a beautiful huge wall and Mexico will pay for it”-Trump giving way to massive election erections for him.”””
(I don’t write well for scum on Ct on purpose you MF’s)
When I take on the thread all the rats go into hide and squeak- stealing cheese.
Boris Johnson is a journalist and iguana like on this thread said he would never do it Olympics – he completed it even faster than the Chinese(100 days before) and cheaper than the Chinese to British standards- Go check it out with Xi or the Olympic committee of China- so the youth of China respect him.
Mischief making Rat in the 3rd world ignorant as can be.
bigoted school drop out SirMao from Banda island seduced the nation for vote to make wealth- `weeping widow`
All you socialists in the 3rd world know is to kiss smelly Chinese ass borrow till you drown then beg and construction of the substandard.
.
your photo speaks a lot about you too like gossip P.E. on CT.
Mario Collavino the Italian who still shovels snow at home.
Go see if you have any self respect left punjabi tatte
call yourself fing american on pin padde.
A couple of years ago I have been there by accident driving to Maryland via New York
He performed at Colombo courtesy Premadasa and it was a pleasant surprise- i have never spoken to him as it is not necessary since I am in different industry of eng. but I have observed
You think you know India better than us because you took letters from SirMao to Indira to have alu porats?
We live in the west permanently and if you talk bad about the west I would do you viper rats.
When mario collavino the 5th std educated CEO can beat even his highly educated sons(with state of the art office) also in construction to Construct Ground Zero What the F are you blabbering from your cycle shop politics wrapped in a ambude- the Italians are the inventors of present day undergarments.(from 19th cent) without which in your Sarema it would be a `erection`(ir) sight. not Construction site.
You live colombo 5 in the paddy field of yesteryear where he laid the sewer lines Go see his office at Canada
he has won many awards-
fing linguist (bla bla bla cannot understand seated on mind arts students are only good for revolution and kill and gobble gobble belch fart. greatest happiness movement of the bowels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrVzn9N-3qM
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arancha / September 22, 2016
The Sociopath Next Door.
Is the empath the opposite of the sociopath? Yes and no.
“Why does the US Presidential election matter?” paccha bahu!!
what is the greatest happiness? movement of the bowels not guns or faith.
– `rice from the moon` authors alla battala.
The government’s high debt payments and bloated civil service have contributed to historically high budget deficits and low tax revenues remain a concern. Government debt of about 72% of GDP remains among the highest in emerging markets-
( GDP (official exchange rate):
$82.1 billion (2015 est.)
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$223 billion (2015 est.) Sell the country to pawn broker.
.- Lanka’s main export destination USA. World bank/CIA
Exports – partners: US 26.1%, UK 9%, India 7.2%, Germany 4.3% (2015)
Exports – commodities:textiles and apparel, tea and spices; rubber manufactures; precious stones; coconut products, fish
Imports – partners:
India 24.6%, China 20.6%, UAE 7.1%, Singapore 5.9%, Japan 5.7% (2015)
Imports – commodities: petroleum, textiles, machinery and transportation equipment, building materials, mineral products, foodstuffs
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arancha / September 22, 2016
Manooooo, goo baaye where is your cousin CBK viper for longer stick??
Mano your stats are media manipulated – from `atlas media for SL`eg.
The top exports of Sri Lanka are Tea ($1.38B), Non-Knit Women’s Suits ($594M),…TEA IS not the highest any more.
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Lester / September 22, 2016
“This year’s election will be the country’s most racially and ethnically diverse ever. Nearly one-in-three eligible voters on Election Day (31%) will be Hispanic, black, Asian or another racial or ethnic minority, up from 29% in 2012.”
That is why Trump will not win. He will lose the electoral vote in most of the big states. Places like California have lots of ethnic minorities.
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retsel / September 22, 2016
Sinhala Buddhist (Puddhu) Muslim basher using promoting Jewish propaganda.
slippery slitherer – depota naya
Salaried school teacher cat is out of bag,
General `trolls` but you are `pook` please refer appropriate dictionary boaster that you are from academic UK. (stated CT.
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Lester / September 22, 2016
The Jews have 300 nuclear bombs on rockets, planes, and submarines. Your Sunni brothers have dynamite strapped to their backside. Want to guess who is more intelligent?
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retsel / September 22, 2016
sinhala puddhu,
“”Want to guess who is more intelligent? “”
Say heehaw, heehaw, buruva!
You behave like kid- lets see who is greater till he loses his marbles.
The first part of that to Israel had to be transported from Sweden for completion. you have not read even novels?? Tomorrows war need not be with nukes that destroy land for long- how is Hiroshima?? how do Japanese carry nuclear material in open buckets without fuss with general clothing.? how is it that they are going ahead full steam with nuclear energy soon after Fukushima??
Atal Bihari (was defense minister when they manufactured the nuke) he was laughing at the stimulated images the yankee media, (psyco warfare; people in india too gave two hoots) was showing when Musharraf threatened. once bush agreed to remove the sanction `unfair trading partner` he negotiated to provide logistics on SAAD16 which was drawn by Eng projects of India 2000 hectares.
I know the Jewish folk that matter: have you read the trilogy of professor S.Sand- UK/USA Jews run Israel puppet on a string; we are manufactures and we sell Eng. components to them for long. similarly in the middle east- you learn to chew what you are capable of school teacher.
We do not take sides on principal especially in war games-
smile and the world smiles with you.
school teacher who was sent on scholarship and did not return on time.
poor scholarship boy have you paid the tax payer his money ??
honestly, I enjoy what you write especially about I_slam humanity.
there is a class guy on internet living at new york (white) he dislike racism and hits the Jews supporting china-pseudo name- Iv’Bigun he is 1st world class hunter he uses Da language too total rhymes He comes on yahoo when ever its to do with china.
we are win win crowd like todays equinox.
enjoy yourself mr pook.
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Lester / September 22, 2016
Nobody likes Muslims. So, you can continue to spam my posts on CT with rubbish, but it won’t change the facts. Your friend Hitler, who you called a “very brilliant man” died in a bunker with a bullet to the brain. Now the Jews are on top of the world. You want another Holocaust but they have 300 nuclear bombs and you have a three-wheeler to give the tourists rides. Did they teach you basic math at the masjid?
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retsel / September 23, 2016
pol kuddu silva has joined the `rats` in search of cheese.
obiviously greedy school teachers.
Margaret Thatcher — ‘The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.’
kayate
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Lester / September 23, 2016
Government school failure & lorry driver retsel is angry at his teachers from 40 years back. Whose fault you failed? Any Jews involved?
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retsel / September 25, 2016
Say heehaw, heehaw Sinhala puddhu `de silva` where is your namesake nalin – the 3 blind mice.
Hoole the structural engineer had self-respect and knew what he would get so he left.
Pol kuddu silva,
Another one bites the dust
Another one bites the dust
And another one gone, and another one gone
Another one bites the dust
Hey, I’m gonna get you too
Another one bites the dust…..
If you were asked 10 questions engineering clock chess you would never answer one ambude putte.
⏽ 23FD….
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Kaseem / September 22, 2016
retsel
Babble talk Babble talk and inferiority complex showing no? What is the point if there is any you are trying to make? Is that dude wrong to do an opinion and an analysis based on data? or is it a problem he is singala american? what value are you adding to this article that should have been ignored because it is not even directly related to SL? or some inferiority complex over your own lack of achievement ? or a complex with small hands like what Trump has? queer
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retsel / September 22, 2016
Why the balla in the tomb is not letting you go to your imaginary heaven.
Do the grunt, grunt belch and fart it would jettison to space- then you can catch the space plane
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Agnos / September 22, 2016
Lester,
Trump will not win. But your analysis is musleading and ignores the way the presidential election is based on electoral colleges. California has been a Democratic leaning state, so even if 100% of the minority vote is for Hillary, it won’t change the electoral college results. The election will be determined by a few battleground states. On that, Ratwatte is right.
But Hillary was right about the basket of deplorables. Even if that remark energizes their base, they will still lose.
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Lester / September 22, 2016
Agnos:
I think you misread. I said Hillary will won most of the States with the largest number of electoral votes. Electoral votes refers to the Electoral College, as opposed to the popular vote. In fact, if Hillary wins just California and Florida, the election will be a blowout for the Democrats.
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Mano Ratwatte / September 22, 2016
Yes the Electoral college votes is what matters. That is why I carefully Qualified my comment with as of now the path to 270 gives Hillary an advantage because of CA and NY . But now it seems Trump is pulling ahead in OH. No Republican in recent times(we cannot count Reagan’s landslide) has won the White-House without OH and FL I think. FL will be a close fight again because outside the large metropolises, the Republicans hold a massive advantage in the Northern part of FL and also the panhandle. Trump has to win OH and if he wins FL then this becomes a tighter race but still with a small advantage to Hillary if she wins WI, MI and also PA. PA is the battleground. This race will probably also see large turnouts and voter issues. Key parts of the Civil Rights act were deemed not needed in 2013. That is causing a lot of fear amongst Black Congressional delegates.
If you recall in 2000, Gore won 500,000 more popular votes but that does not matter. It all depends on who carries the key states. If you simply look at a map and color it blue for D and red for R then you can see R still gets more states but those are the under-populated states in the Middle and Deep south. South went R after LBJ signed the Civil Rights act in 1964 and he knew he will lose the Dixiecrats to Rs.
Thanks for your comments. They are actually useful not like the ludicrous nonsensical insults by a few with some grudges or odd attitudes. As for my personal view, I like Gary Johnson on principle but he cannot win but still sometimes is winning the only thing?
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retsel / September 22, 2016
“But now it seems Trump is pulling ahead in OH. 2
It was well know that if in this period (last stages sept/oct)
Us had any terror strikes He was going to win.Hillary prepared her speech ahead, and here rat-watte is pulling the string desperately- how is harry and the funding??
Viper does not work kutte??
palgala ja be.
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Lester / September 22, 2016
Mano Ratwatte:
Interesting points. Gore should have won Florida. There was some issue with the ballot machines. The final outcome was decided by the Florida Supreme Court. From what I understand, Florida has a lot of minorities, which may be why Obama won that state in the last election. Trump will surely win Ohio. It won’t help in the end, since he has isolated every ethnic minority and also women. The GOP does not like him, given his frothy relations with Cruz and Rubio, so it may be the case that some traditional Republicans simply abstain from voting altogether.
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retsel / September 23, 2016
pol kuddu silva the pook.
Less than 5% of university teachers read anything outside the syllabus.
1979- Time magazine conducted a world wide survey of university teachers.
Both of you are outside that category and fall in the common denominator of Political crap talk- check it out prove otherwise paid servants.
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retsel / September 22, 2016
Mr Pook
” Florida” too late now to be blue.
10 days back she was trailing at Florida- Cubano Rubio fixed it Now folk are asking if he wants it next.
Jeb is worried about family fortunes `mum is the word.
life is a moment in time
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DeepCut / September 22, 2016
“”US Elections Will It Lead To A Wall Erection?”
Why only from follow up posters Howlers from CT .(CT please keep record for a good laugh at annual staff celebration)
CT `erection`?? ha ha construction
measurement of `in` has several stages
The most accurate measurement of the human `in` comes from several measurements at different times since there is natural minor variability in size due to arousal level, time of day, room temperature, frequency of exey activity, and reliability of measurement.
The Construction of Great wall is so simple with the available technology- It will be world record completion time. Drying times can be reduced with grade mixtures to 12 hours when the strength of 21 days is achieved.
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BBS Rep / September 22, 2016
Who gives a f..k about elections or erections in the US.
Gnanasara is doing his level best to bring his boss MARA to power in Sri Lanka. This is real and current. Anti Muslim feelings in Sri Lanka has taken root. Soon it will reach fever pitch. It is only a matter of a short time before riots and pogroms and the mass mopping up of Muslim resistance by the army in Sri Lanka will take place. And MR will be back in power. Remember, MARA has been doing the temple and sangha rounds for a long time now. Most temple dwelling racist monks are in his pocket. BBS and Ravana Balaya are in his pocket. Also remember there are a lot of military men who still venerate MARA and GOTA. They dream of returning to the good old days when they got away doing anything and everything bad. When MARA comes back to power whatever happens in the US elections is of no relevance. The Chinese will be back in larger numbers and throw money at the MARA brothers with no care for accountability.
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Aadivasi Aththo / September 22, 2016
Hello Mano,
Your article is timely and it triggers a discussion on the ramifications of the Presidential elections in the USA. Yes; definitely ramifications on the USA and country such as Sri Lanka. Just like the USA, Sri Lanka also has encountered issues affecting national security and threat to national identity, its character (sovereignty and Unitary status),its heritage and religion.
I believe Mr. Donald trump has stood clearly to defend these values of the USA. He has given very forthright or candid answers on all the issues unfortunately we the Sri Lankans also have come to experience in recent decades.
Our identity, SINHALA; the hybrid race of SINHA and HELA established in 543 BC is disputed by certain minorities. Our foremost religion Buddhism and its sacred places are desecrated by the same minority, Defenders of our freedom; security forces are humiliated. Above all, traditional politicians have been exploiting the situation to improve their electability and it is akin to the approach used by Mrs. Clinton. Mrs. Clinton expect to get a “block vote” from the minorities hoping that the votes of whites will be divided at the middle or with 40-60 split. Isn’t this similar to what our Sri Lankan politicians are known to play.
I believe Mr.Trump as the 45th President of the USA is highly desirable. It will present arguably the most convincing option for Sri Lankan, especially the founders of nation, SINHALA people to follow. It will be the correct example to follow to break away from the politicking of dubious traditional politicians occupying the seat of power and the other vulture-like politicians roaming the corridors of power in Sri Lanka.
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Mano Ratwatte / September 22, 2016
This also maybe of interest to some of you. I did not touch on issues of the election but only on demographic behavior in previous elections. So this is really going to be interesting. No matter how much Wahabi Jihadis hate the US i is still a constitutional democracy striving towards a more perfect union as the preamble of our constitution says. Glad to say I volunteered at a Voter registration drive yesterday on a College Campus and we signed up 43 new kids. Doing sort of my civic duty but also it was fun.
But with terrorism,illegal immigration, the decline of the white middle class and also the mood against the establishment, this would have been a one-horse race to use a phrase if Republicans had a really good candidate like Kasich. Kasich is a smart principled man,
But it is their’s to lose. Now NC is also in the R column and HC is in trouble. I bear no water for either. Do not like HC because of foreign policy and the email thing, but unlike some of my birther type racist former faculty colleagues who kept wanting to delegitimize Obama’s presidency, WHOEVER is the winner, All Americans brown or any other hue, immigrant or born here should hope that person succeeds. If the US sneezes the world gets the flu. Having said that it does not mean SL should just open itself to global terrorism.
This is a good update from CNN today. You can see the orange man surging. North Carolina with its riots is also now shown leaning towards Trump. Beauty of freedom of speech is exactly that. Freedom of speech even to Trolls! This one I hope Ranbandu and others who actually made valid points will read too. This will be a fascinating election and it gives political beasts figurative erections. pun intended
http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/22/politics/road-to-270-electoral-college-map-4-september/index.html?adkey=bn
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Agnos / September 23, 2016
Democrats are not worried about such reported polls. There will be debates coming soon where Trump cannot read from a TelePrompter and will reveal his vacuousness. And there have been recent reports on how Trump illegally used some of his charity funds to pay for his legal defense, which is prohibited as self-dealing. His failure to release his taxes, hiding something, self-dealing, repeated bankruptcies and his many real scandals are much worse than the alleged problems with Hillary, such as the private email server. But her minor negatives are blown out of proportion while the many grave illegal actions by Trump are dismissed by the “deplorable” people who are his support base.
But as the election day gets close, the fear of electing such an utterly unfit man for President will galvanize many Democrats who have been unenthusiastic about Clinton because of her establishment status. Trump will not be elected. Even if Hillary loses OH & FL, she will still win comfortably in PA and VA and that will be enough for her to clinch the Presidency.
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Lester / September 23, 2016
Mano Ratwatte:
“But with terrorism,illegal immigration, the decline of the white middle class and also the mood against the establishment, this would have been a one-horse race to use a phrase if Republicans had a really good candidate like Kasich. Kasich is a smart principled man…”
Spot on. Kasich has a good record (as Governor) and is also a good negotiator. Wonder why Trump didn’t go after Kasich? Because the weak spots were Cruz, Bush, and Rubio. Trump exploited these weaknesses to the max in the debates; did you see Rubio sweating? Unsurprisingly, Trump’s popularity is his refusal to bend to convention. Some of his ideas are obviously radical, yet his honesty is refreshing, in a bizarre way. Whereas Cruz, Bush, and Rubio were simply toeing the party line. Kasich did not offer anything new, unfortunately. He highlighted his strengths, which is fine, but unlike Trump, he didn’t exploit the other candidates’ weaknesses.
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retsel / September 24, 2016
US election: Ted Cruz endorses Trump for president –
CANADIAN BORN FOLLOWS THE CUBANO
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-37457694
23:00 hrs GMT Sept 2016
Defeated Republican presidential hopeful Ted Cruz has endorsed Donald Trump in the race for the White House.
The Texas senator fought Mr Trump in a bitter primary battle, marked by mud-slinging and personal insults.
Mr Cruz said he would fulfil his promise to vote for the Republican nominee and that electing Hillary Clinton would be “wholly unacceptable”.
He drew ire at the Republican National Convention in July, when he was booed off stage for not endorsing Mr Trump.
“This election is unlike any other in our nation’s history. Like many other voters, I have struggled to determine the right course of action in this general election,” Mr Cruz announced in a Facebook post.
`Rats` love cheese- my friend English Ratcliff (from the mountains and the sea)admits it in speech without a drink.
favorite game of rats?? Hide and squeak.
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Diogenes / September 22, 2016
Mr. Please dont talk about erections. The last goverment also went to dogs because of erections – of Fathers & Sons!
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Riyaz / September 22, 2016
This gives good data.
http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-election-forecast/?ex_cid=rrpromo
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Ranbandu / September 24, 2016
Hi Mano,
Professor Allan Lichman has predicted the outcome of the Presidential election on September 24th – Washington Post
..”Nobody knows for certain who will win on Nov. 8 — but one man is pretty sure: Professor Allan Lichtman, who has correctly predicted every presidential election since 1984″- Washington Post
I am very happy to see this news as I viewed Mr. Donald Trump as the winner at the outset of the presidential campaign, and shared my thoughts with you on 21st September in this blog.
But I am reminded of that popular proverb used in America; “It ain’t over till the fat lady sings”
You spoke about ramifications. Yes; ramification on psyche of Sri Lankans, especially the Sinhala Buddhists in Sri Lanka- Though the dubious political leadership denies and continue to ignore the reality, the Sinhala –Buddhists are attacked in their own motherland from many directions. Our identity (Sinhala) is challenged and disputed, our roots and origin are ridiculed, our religion demeaned, our Buddhist sacred places are desecrated, our Buddhist monks are ridiculed publicly and attacked, our young women are humiliated and cajoled to marry undesirables, our lands are being acquired through sophisticated network of ill gotten funds, our lives have been equated to money/profits earned from us, Our school children are systematically introduced to drugs and narcotics , our security force personnel are humiliated , we the Sinhala people cannot freely choose a place to live within our motherland and the list goes on.
Today all the above injustices inflicted on the majority Sinhala-Buddhists are taking place under the very nose of leaders of the “Power Sharing Government”. Some of these issues or challenges are similar to what the majority American whites are facing. We the Sinhala-Buddhists have been duped by the traditional politicians for too long, in fact from 1953. – Our majority Sinhala-Buddhist voter base has been kept always divided by the politicians under different ruses; be it Dharmista palanya, Mahinda Chinthanaya or Yahapalanaya. Motives behind these catch phrases were/are the same and they are very insincere.
So we should be able to learn a good lesson from Mr. Donald Trump if he becomes the 45th President of USA. In my opinion he should be the winner mainly because he does not think like the traditional politicians , he is a good strategist.
Ranbandu
September 23rd 2016
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Agnos / September 25, 2016
You conveniently ignore the fact that Lichtman had harsh criticism for Trump and says his model that has worked for a few decades may not work with Trump.
Dream on. Some of the Sinhalese nationalists from SL and Hindu nationalists from India are just as ignorant and bigoted as the deplorables who form the support base of Trump.
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Ranbandu / September 25, 2016
Hello
You are looking for some excuses to avoid inevitable.
“Some of the Sinhalese nationalists from SL and Hindu nationalists from India”
Obviously you are not a Hindu or a Buddhist, it is OK no harm done.
However, you seem to enjoy living in and dreaming under the notion of “uncertainty” knowing what is INEVITABLE. Very sorry to say the dream will be a nightmare for you.
/