Hillary lowers bar
It's not even Labor Day, and the presidential campaign of Democrat Hillary Clinton may have reached a new low. Last week, she released a video ad suggesting Republican Donald Trump is a tool of racists, white supremacists and neo-Nazis. At the end of it is the warning that "if Trump wins, they could be running the country."
The ad uses a Ku Klux Klan member who says he supports Trump, unconnected images of a Confederate flag and another unconnected image of a man performing a Hitler salute in an effort to tar the campaign.
"This type of rhetoric and repulsive advertising is revolting and completely beyond the pale," said Mark Burns, a pastor with ties to the Trump campaign. "I call on Hillary Clinton to disavow this video and her campaign for this sickening act that has no place in our world."
Trump said he had heard about the ad and believed Americans would see through it.
"When Democratic policies fail, they are left with only this one tired argument," he said. "'You're racist, you're racist, you're racist,' they keep saying it, 'you're racist.' It's a tired, disgusting argument, and it's so totally predictable. They're failing so badly. It's the last refuge of the discredited Democrat politician. They keep going back to the same well, but you know what? The people are becoming very smart. They've heard it too many times before. The well is dry."
Californialization
A video sampling by conservative videographer Mark Dice shows Californians having a teensy problem with what Hillary Clinton may have done before she ran for president. Sadly, these people, like so many others across the country, will base their presidential vote on what they see on Comedy Central, how the traditional media spins the campaign, a comment on Facebook or a blog completely devoid of facts.
It's sad to contemplate, but their responses were funny.
They included "I don't know," "I don't remember" and "I think Arby's? I don't know."
Two then opined, "Bill Clinton's wife."
The second of those, a swim-suited, expertly tattooed woman, thought a bit longer before delivering her well thought-out, carefully crafted retort.
"I don't know what her job was," she said, "but I think she'll be better than Trump."
Perhaps they'll forget to vote.
Trouble on the bloc?
Black Muslim leader, activist and President Obama supporter Louis Farrakhan is not down with all things Hillary.
In a radio interview last week, Farrakhan said he was none too happy with Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, for one reason, because she was secretary of state when Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi was killed in 2011.
"You've got to take responsibility for the hell you've been giving our people, not just America," he said. "Mrs. Clinton, your hand is bloody."
He also blamed her for destroying Haiti's rice crop and chicken production, because those staples of Haitian cuisine are now being produced in her old stomping grounds of Arkansas.
Farrakhan, once minister at mosques in Boston and Harlem, then went further off the graph.
"Stop lying to us that you love us," he said, meaning Muslims, blacks or, perhaps, both. "Let us go and give us some of this territory that we can call our own. And give us the billions of dollars that we can get started with, and the tractors, and the things that will make us an independent nation. You can do that."
It's unknown how many followers Farrakhan has, and, although he's hardly endorsing any other candidate, he could be influential in convincing some of his Muslim or black followers to vote against the would-be first female president.
How affordable is affordable?
West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin has attempted to make people believe he is a crusader for affordable health care, but the belief apparently doesn't run in the family.
Manchin's daughter, Heather Bresch, is chief executive officer of Mylan, the company that has raised the price of the EpiPen by 461 percent since 2007 while her salary climbed from $2,453,456 to $18,931,068 over the same period.
The EpiPen, a life-saving emergency shot, accounted for 40 percent of the company's operating profits in 2014.
Many of Manchin's colleagues on both sides of the aisles have been outraged over the price-gouging, and it could get interesting if Bresch is called to testify on Capitol Hill.
The senator, to his credit, at least provided a statement - albeit one that didn't say much - about the controversy.
"I am aware of the questions my colleagues and many parents are asking and frankly I share their concerns about the skyrocketing prices of prescription drugs," he said. "Today I heard Mylan's initial response, and I am sure Mylan will have a more comprehensive and formal response to those questions. I look forward to reviewing their response in detail and working with my colleagues and all interested parties to lower the price of prescription drugs and to continue to improve our health care system."