Blfenton, I was just in Canada and it was interesting to read the papers regarding the upcoming election, the long campaign (a fraction still of the US!), and the cost limits on campaigns, and whether the limits would be applied in this longer campaign. But of course, our own elections are timed by the constitution; my CDN DH has been very patient in explaining the parliamentary system to me.

I do think the Donald strikes a chord with people because he says the things some people think, but that only the buffoons would say. The polls are one thing, I really think that if the election WERE held today, he would not win. It's funny to imagine voting for him, but scary to imagine if he won.

And media gives him airplay because people always tune in to see a train wreck.

Maybe the people that are canvassed are saying.

"NONE OF THE ABOVE"

Run TRUMP Run

kswl2 speaks for me. I want him to run as an independent! I just cannot believe that people are so disengaged from the political process to take him seriously, but if polls are to be believed, 20-25% of the American people do! We are in trouble!

Terriks, love the shoes, a perfect fit!!!

New Yorkers have been watching Trump and his nonsense for about 30 years now. If you want to know what he's really about, here is an article from 2006 -- nearly ten years ago -- that lays it out quite well. The best bit comes near the end when Trump explains how he truly regards women. I've met him. No sense of humor just a lot of self-serving hot air. He's running but he isn't inspiring the best from our country -- he's exploiting the worst. That isn't Presidential. It's how he does business.

http://www.unz.com/article/show-me-the-money/

I agree with everything Lynn said above except the last line. Pickings are thin. I'm not a 100% sure how accurate the polls are as I think a large amount of people just voted in Trumps favor as retaliation against Fox news and what they saw as a rig. Most people are undecided this early in the game.

Maybe there's a method to his madness. He has publicly stated in the past that the economy does better under the Democrats. His seems to be a well-thought out plan to make sure a Democrat DOES get in the White House.

Maybe there's a method to his madness.

I don't think he's that strategic...I just think he's a loose cannon.

It was tongue in cheek, Annie Deighneigh.

What is a much bigger mystery to me than Trump is the persistent faith in what polls say. Honestly, if you get called by a pollster during dinner or you get a popup on the internet asking you take a poll, do you do it? Really? And even if the sample weren't so skewed, anyone can force a poll to say anything they like by the way they phrase the questions.

In the 19th century everyone believed in phrenology. Polls are the phrenology of our era, and I will never understand why anyone pretends they have any validity for anything at all.

Well I think we can agree the Luntz focus group panel was a bust. That ...at the last of the rest made it all look like there was an agenda. I think the polls are in some part a retaliation to that.

I agree with bpathome. Everyone secretly loves watching a train wreck. I can't believe he's being taken seriously by anyone, even if you hate the status quo and want it shaken up. Can you imagine this guy having to speak with a leader from another country with which we have tenuous relations? You can't take this guy anywhere.

I think it was his goal to get attention, any attention. I expect him to continue to act aggressive but he will probably do so a tic more diplomatically . The polls whether you believe them or not will not show a true picture until he comes up with his policy plans etc.

He's right up there with Honey Boo Boo and the Kardashians. Unfortunately, their popularity exists because they make us feel better about ourselves.

I highly doubt it would come to Trump running as an Independent. The Republican powers that be and The Donald would strike a deal where the powers could feel that they had at least some control. I could see an agreement over either Carly Fiorina or Dr. Ben Carson as Vice.

Trump is clickbait. When so much of the media is online, the press judges the importance of a story by the number of clicks it gets, not the actual contents. And with news staff cuts, there is much less effort on the part of the media to do actual work to explain issues. in an interesting, as well as informative, way.

Have to disagree, not everyone enjoys watching a train wreck. I know I don't nor do a lot of people I know. And people who don't enjoy watching train wrecks tend to wonder what the h*ll the draw is and why doesn't the train wreck go crawl under a rock. He gives me the willies.

I rather agree with lukki. I am completely mortified that this is what we have come to in our politics. It is not the stuff of honorable, respectable people and the rest of the world must be wondering what in the world is going on here with the Republican Party.

I think I'll ask some of the U.k family and report back.

Can I just hibernate until after the election?

terriks - I'm thinking....no. (hee hee)

(Way OT - I heard on the radio yesterday that LOL is passe and that hee hee or ha ha are the new and modern LOL so I tried it out.)

You're right too Cyn, the world no longer sees this country as a leading force but more as a joke. It's embarrassing to say the least. And if this is the only "stradegy" a party can use to gain votes, neither party deserves to win.

The world hasn't seen us as a leading force for a long long time.

I think that LOL has been passe for a while, LOL. I know that my twenty something kids would never use it.

It would be interesting to be in New Hampshire. By the time CA has a primary, it feels like it's over already and voting is just symbolic. The thing I tire of is hearing the same thing over and over from the candidate as they travel around. I suppose people like someone who might say anything at any time that's not scripted.

I used to write tee hee all the time and my kids and everyone else acted as though i were embarrassing them. Guess i was just waaay ahead of the curve, lol. Its nice to be ahead of popular culture in something.

The world is increasingly seeing the United States as a joke. We have elected some of the worst scum in history to out highest office. The ONLY thing you can say good about Trump is he makes more sense than the rest of the front runners in both parties. That is just really sad. Really scary when you think about it.

We have hit rock bottom with our current president, possibly the worst since Harding, almost 100 years ago.

I'm very tired of voting for the lesser disaster of a candidate. It would be nice to have a candidate that was worth voting FOR (excuse the grammer).

It is sad that we now hear that Jimmy Carter is having serious health issues, probably the best human being to be President in recent history even if he was far out of his depth as President.

Yes, I was really sad when I read that Former President Jimmy Carter has cancer. I remember when he was in office, I don't think he was so much out of his depth as people perceived him to be, I just don't think the world was ready for his level of integrity and conviction. His positive traits weren't appreciated during his presidency, but at 90 he is still going strong and his legacy will be a tough one for any president after him to match.

gregbradley, the fact that you disagree with a President's policies does not by definition make that President a bad President. I wish that political discussions were about the issues rather than the people presenting them.

gregbradley - Please take the toxicity elsewhere. This is a very civilized forum which has been most successful in having excellent controversial discussions because people do not disparage with words like "scum."

I do disagree that the 'world' sees us as a joke now. Quite the opposite, I think. They respect our president and feel respected in return. If you read many foreign newspapers, although they do cover Trump et al, that is not their main focus. This administration has made an incredible amount of headway in foreign policy and is highly respected as a partner rather than a bully. His policies averted economic disaster (yes, still a ways to go, but we would be in dire straits had we gone the austerity route), created jobs, has sought to create coalitions abroad, combatted terrorism, and more. I am not embarrassed one bit by him, but I am proud to be an American again.

Carter was most definitely not out of his depth in the Presidency (graduated near the top of his class at the US Naval Academy, nuclear engineer, admitted to the nuclear submarine program by future-Admiral Hyman Rickover who was demanding like few others). People have forgotten the Camp David Accord which he brought about against huge odds. Odd that so many people view goodness and thoughtful decision-making as a sign of weakness in both these men. I think many people do not recognize integrity and character when they see it or perhaps they just don't value it. That latter would be very sad.

Oh, and Greg, not only will we excuse your grammer [sic], but we will also excuse your spelling. We are nice like that.

"Odd that so many people view goodness and thoughtful decision-making as a sign of weakness"

Well said cyn427.

Just to clarify, my comment was not not pointed at our President but rather at the behavior of the media, the celebrities and the way some people (like Trump) conduct themselves. To a lot of regular folk, this country is viewed as a circus and Trump is for sure a clown.

lukkirish -- Good point I think. Also -- slightly off topic but perhaps not exactly -- I am noticing that normal people are starting to behave as if they live in Hollywood and try to dress like movie stars for the red carpet. Or copy very exaggerated TV style for every day. I think our culture is being retuned to reflect reality show values. I find it bizarre and sad.

Bingo! Rococo, you nailed it but I don't find it bizarre and sad, I find it to be very destructive and counter productive. I'm not always good at articulating my thoughts but I couldn't agree with you more. Feed back I hear from family and friends out of the country is that instead of being portrayed as one of the hardest working countries in the world, which we are, we are viewed as spoiled and self indulgent. I think behavior like Trumps, the way the media pushes the likes of the kardasians, beiber and cyrus in our faces, a congress that can't get along or even show common respect to the leader this country, who btw "we the people" voted into office, why would they think otherwise? It really bothers me.

Perhaps I`m too close to the situation being just north of you guys but I know you`re not Trump (I`m from the country that inflicted beiber on the world - you think I`m proud of that ?!) just as I know you're not the Kardashians. I know you're hard working just as we are and I also know that countries are not perfect. None of them. Not mine, not yours.

The vast majority of people around the world are hard working, respectful, of strong morals, and caring people.

Yea, your congress doesn't get along but we have an election coming up in October and there will probably be a minority government (a government that didn't get more than 50% of the seats) and then watch the cat fighting start. When we have a majority government, what they say goes. No argument. But we don't have a split legislative branch as you do.

We have always been disliked for our World policing and policies. That did greatly improve when Obama first became president and up to the start of his second term. Now opinions have dropped (not as bad as Bush days) but the ebb has in part to do with unmet expectations. For me...I wish we would stop giving other countries money. What's the point if they are going to dislike us anyway. We can't afford it and China is owning us. I am nowhere near picking someone for president but since we are damed if we do and damed if we don't I'm starting to not care. Maybe if we concentrate on our own business and dept we can get somewhere. I like a lot of what Carson says. However, in some ways if he were elected I worry he would become shark bait within our government (unless he has another side I have not seen).

@lukkiirish - Thing is, what the "media" pushes these days is what the numbers or metrics tell them people are reading. Then they give more. It's no different than Trump talking about his ratings. He is getting high poll numbers, which translate into ratings for Fox and the others, so they push him.

Metrics rule today on all media including news sites. If I hear one more news anchor reference what's "trending on Twitter" I will scream. Who cares? It's like listening to local gossips and it's not always even true. Besides, it's being seeded by special interests. D.U.H.

Metrics are tracked by the hour. So editors no longer exercise their judgment on stories --,as I was allowed to do not all that long ago. If I was sick of reading about xyz or whomever the publicists were pushing, I would give it a rest. It gets old after 2 days anyway. Today, that doesn't happen because metrics=success and affect ad rates, ratings, viewship page rank and all the additional google goodies.

So the folks at google -- not the media really -- are responsible for why we keep hearing about the Kar-trash-ians, Trump and the lost planes ad nauseum not to mention Taylor Swift, Channing Tatum and other avatars of good taste.

The non-functioning congress in this country is a disgrace. I would fire them all at the risk of sounding like Trump. But, due to jerrymandering congressional districts and the ever more restrictive voter i.d. laws, the political parties and their money have been able to create safe seats. So representatives and even some senators will get elected no matter what they don't do. And then they laugh all the way to the bank because they get the best health care for life, pensions for life and all types of other special considerations including "security" improvements to their personal property. And hard working people who are forced to watch every penny, downscale their lives and aspirations are paying for this and unable to stop it.

When lobbyists are writing our legislation our democracy has slipped away. We are now living in a plutocracy -- there is no other definiton I know. Every time I hear someone talking about losing their "liberty" over some restriction put into place to combat abuse it is horrendously ironic. Liberty -- at least as I experienced it growing up -- is a thing of the past. We live in a surveillance state controlled by corporations that provide services which once afforded privacy. No longer.

There are many things which have improved our lives. Our access to information. OTOH, things which once were simple have now become overwhelmingly complex and time consuming. But expectations have become very skewed, bad or destructive behavior is seen as entertaining, and some people are made to feel if they don't have a movie star-worthy life they being cheated.

The politics are in our faces right now and it's the same thing over and over because unless we stop clicking on it, it won't go away. So Trump goes down to the border and bloviates but there are more Latinos in NYC then any other city. But in NY, he doesn't come in contact with anyone who isn't white and rich. He's the geezer in the bubble. Clueless.

For me, the best defense against all this cr*p is to stay informed. Many on this particular part of HoDec are very well informed. It's unusual and terrific. I think these days reading through the ideology and marshaling facts are ways each of us can help preserve what's left of this country's integrity. Otherwise, I fear there will be an uprising that will make the '70s anti-war protests look like bridal showers.

There won't be an uprising. It's the frog in the pot of boiling water process which is taking place in this country.

Metrics rule today...Metrics are tracked by the hour. So editors no longer exercise their judgment on stories

Precisely. And the same is wrong with the political system. Instead of having party bosses who know the candidates and know the issues nominate the candidates, we have tracking polls and primaries selecting candidates based on hair style or pancake flipping ability. All of them necessarily become liars as, to get the nomination they have to appeal to the ultra wing of their party, yet to win the election, they have to swing centrist to attract the opposite party. So the entire process suffers as trust for all candidates erodes....not to mention the impact of negative ads.

How much news coverage is about what the candidates have to say about policy and how much is polls, polls, polls. It would be so interesting to see, if they spent 2 weeks not publishing a single poll and instead broadcast policy positions, which candidates would be supported. Of course, it's difficult to get policy positions out of any candidate. As long as they are Mom and apple pie, they appeal to everyone, but as soon as they take a stand on an issue, they lose half their following...so the candidates too are happy with the focus on superfluous things.

The big mystery to me is how Trump can appeal to the working class masses, when he himself is nothing but a born rich, live rich guy who has destroyed a lot of jobs and businesses with each of his 4 bankruptcies, sticking many businesses and workers with his debt and going unpaid.

The mystery to me is Trumps recent talk about sending the illegals back AND their U.S born children. It is in our constitution that those born here are U.S citizens. What is to happen to these children? Although in some instances documentation is waived so they can go to school and have temporary health care when arriving back in Mexico it seems a bit dicey. I'm so far not hearing a solution where the innocent children of the illegals aren't horribly affected. It's not their fault. A few weeks ago Trump was all about sending the bad ones back and those that were here as good citizens could stay after some paperwork, checks and such. There are thousands and thousands of these children in the U.S. now. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/18/us-born-children-migrants-lose-rights-in-mexico_n_1683704.html

I want spending limits. I want campaign time limits. I want one day without hearing anything about any candidate. And I'd take all the days until the week before the election to not hear anything from or about any of them. It's all BS anyway.

wow...all I can say is I adore you Rococo, reading your post felt like the release of the vent I've had trapped inside for years. Everything you so perfectly wrote is spot on and I'm sure most people would agree. I try to stay informed but only as in glazing over the top, why? Not because I don't care, but because most of it literally makes me ill. I'm always worried about the future and it's tiring to always feel this way. Something needs to give.

justerrilynn, are you aware that here in CA we have Chinese birthing houses? Someone sets up a large house for the use of pregnant Chinese women. The women come when they are 7 months pregnant, give birth in our hospitals and many times lie about their financial status and do not pay the medical fees. They come here for only one reason ... to have their Chinese child be born in the USA. They then return to China and return years later when they want to take advantge of an American education, etc. These are truly anchor babies and not what these birth right laws were supposed to achieve.

http://ktla.com/2015/03/03/feds-raid-20-socal-locations-in-alleged-chinese-birthing-house-maternity-tourism-schemes/

An older article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/03/maternity-hotel-chino-hills-california-chinese-women-birth_n_2231596.html

The Mexican parents put their kids in the situation you described in the article. Many of the ones in the article chose voluntarily to return to mexico for different reasons. The parents returned wthout doing research about what documents they needed for their children. Most countries give automatic citizenship to a child born to a LEGAL resident, even if the child is born overseas. I know this to be a fact as I have parents of 2 nationalities and was registered as a citizen of the second country, although I wasn't born there. I am also a naturalized US citizen now, so I actualy have 3 passports. My kids are American born, but I have a right to apply for them to get my other 2 nationalities. It isn't America's fault that Mexico has laws that do not support their own citizens and their foreign born children.

I think when you come here legally and jump through all the hoops that that entails, you see ILLEGAL immigration and anchor babies from a different point of view.

Hi Chispa, thanks for the read. I am all for immigration but I think it a shame the illegals did this to their children. A real shame.

Well, in fairness, Americans do this, too. Some people in my family owned a very large chunk of the Baja peninsula and my cousins always went to Mexico to give birth so their kids would be Mexican citizens and able to own property there. And they sure weren't the only ones.

My DH is a Swedish Citizen; when he came to the United States, he came on a visitors visa. When he decided to stay, we then used every penny we had to hire an attorney to ensure it was done legally. As with the majority of legal immigrants, since moving here in 1999, my DH has followed all the laws, paid all his taxes, and been a thriving member of the community. When people who have paid their dues and done things by the book see others who haven't be rewarded with breaks that essentially say it's ok, it doesn't matter that you broke the law, show us you did it for at least x amount of years and we will reward you with legal residency, it's bewildering.

Years and years ago, I lived on a ranch in Mexico for 8 months, our house was made of rock and mud, no running water, we washed clothes in the river, cooked on a sheet of metal over a fire and basically lived off the land. I get the poverty in Mexico and why people want their children born here first hand but at some point a line has to be drawn. Why should people who have already broken the law be entitled to skirt through loopholes to take advantage of the benefits we pay taxes to provide? When a child is born to a family who is here legally, he/she absolutely deserves to have any rights afforded to them by our laws, but as harsh as it may sound, I don't think that children born to parents who are here under illegal circumstances should be entitled to those same benefits. And as a side note, many times the immigrants coming here illegally also tend to break many other laws we have in our country. Everything from drunk driving and driving without insurance to working without the proper documents or violence and we reward them. It's bewildering. Granted, there are legal immigrants who break laws as well, but the numbers are not anywhere near as big.

Is that graph for LEGAL immigrants only or all? It would be hard to make a graph with illegal immigrant numbers because the US has no way to track those numbers accurately.

It was based on data collected around adolescent criminal offenders so would presumably include illegal and legal immigrants, though the study does not specifically address legal status, as best as I can determine.