A rebuttal

Oct 20, 2020
Oct 20, 2020 Updated Apr 13, 2025
24

Editor,

I am rebutting the Oct. 16 letter “Here’s the deal” by Ed Kahl.

(24) comments

Ray Fowler Oct 21, 2020 11:52am

Tafhdyd

Our comments passed each other in cyberspace earlier this morning. I'll send more after lunch.

Tafhdyd Oct 21, 2020 1:43pm

Ray,

I noticed the same when I looked a while ago. First things first. I sincerely hope that your medical issue is resolved satisfactorily to the point that we can once again discuss the issues over cocktails. I also hope that you are going to a real doctor, not a doctor Trump doctor.

I do want to comment on Trump's financial picture mentioned previously. From information available in the NYT articles after they got a copy of his taxes (no comment on how they did) it seems that he was starting to have a decrease in income from before he ran for president. He has a long history of borrow and buy and refinance and mis-manage and file for bankruptcy in many cases. Some of his losses may be due to his true character showing to the world and people deciding to book hotels and events at places other than Trump labeled properties because they don't like him. Side note on that. Last year we took an Alaskan cruise which included everything. RT air, overnight hotel and transfers from airport to hotel to ship. The hotel happened to be the Trump hotel in Vancouver so we canceled that portion of the trip and paid our own transfer from the airport to a different hotel and to the ship for an additional cost of about $400. For those that say put your money where your mouth is or talk with your wallet, yes I do. Back to the finances. One way he pockets taxpayer money is with his regular trips to his own golf clubs and charges full rate to the secret service for all rooms, meals, golf cart rental etc. That from the guy that griped about Obama golfing all the time. He has doubled the trips in one term than Obama took in two terms.

More importantly is the source of his loans and financial dealings that he refuses to disclose. It is a concern for the national security of America. If they involve China, Saudi Arabia and Russia how can he pull the trigger on tough actions if they have him by the short hairs?

He is also losing money in his hotels due to the drastic reduction of travel from the pandemic. The resulting loss is part of his own doing by not treating the virus as he could have rather than down playing it. Even now at his rallies the other day he said we are thru with the virus, it is on the downhill side, we have turned the corner. Sure thing, as many states are showing fast increases and Europe is lighting up again with the virus.

Terence Y Oct 21, 2020 2:27pm

Nice try, Grandpa Taffy. So you happily turn a blind eye to the Biden crime family and their crimes that have been and will continue being exposed? The money from the CCP? The $4 million Biden's son received from the Ukraine and the $3.5 million from the mayor of Moscow to Hunter? Yes, I believe we need to worry about foreign influence - on the Biden's. Nice diatribe, but your TDS bias is showing.

Tafhdyd Oct 21, 2020 2:59pm

Terence,

Don't forget to take your meds while you can still get them under the great Obama care.

Tommy Tee Oct 21, 2020 5:42pm

Sorry, Teary-Ence. Your Republican Senate investigated it already and found no crime.

An election-year investigation by Senate Republicans into corruption allegations against Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son, Hunter, involving Ukraine found no evidence of improper influence or wrongdoing by the former vice president, closing out an inquiry its leaders had hoped would tarnish the Democratic presidential nominee. Another nothing burger. Keep panicking and don't hyperventilate.

Ray Fowler Oct 21, 2020 4:59pm

Tafhdyd

Thanks for the well wishes. I feel like a ping pong ball getting batted around by an endocrinologist and a cardiologist (with a surgeon waiting in the wings to take on the winner). It'll all work out.

An interesting mix of analysis and anecdotes...

Trump's financial picture... no surprise that COVID has hit a family business with hotels. I'm not a numbers guy but my sense of it is that Donald Trump continues to use the business model that has worked for him in the past... borrow, buy, refinance then start over. While it seems to work for him, getting out of real estate and into tech years ago would have been a better move. While I admire you for sticking to your principles and going out of pocket to complete your travel arrangements, travel taking a big hit has been responsible for much, much more of his losses. Most people will take the package deal instead of paying out of pocket like you did. Remember what Bob Dylan said... "Money doesn't talk, it swears." Most people are OK with only paying the bare minimum tax they owe... if there's an exemption or deduction somewhere, take it. And most everyone in business will charge whatever they are allowed to charge for goods and services. Anyone out there shaking there head and saying "Not me!" I have one word for them... seriamente? Plus, Donald needs more time on the links than Barack... have you seen his slice?

Source of loans and financial dealings that he refuses to disclose. Uh, are we talking about Donald or Joe? And the Bidens' (more than one) financial dealings are a concern for national security. If they involve Russia and China, how can Joe pull the trigger on tough actions if they have him by the short hairs? Does that look a lot like what your wrote about Trump? Yes.

Finally, the guy who benefits from travel starts to shut down travel during the pandemic. Doesn't make sense unless he taking action against the spread of COVID. No one was real clear about what to do in the early days of COVID showing up. Trump may have questioned recommendations, but doctor after doctor said he followed the science. Again, no one is really clear on what is the exact and only course of action. Masks? No masks? Even WHO... no fan of the Donald... now says lock downs are bad. And the numbers are all over the map. I personally have been tested for COVID six times. Does Gavin count me as one person with six tests or six persons with one test? No one knows...

While the president was restricting travel with China in late January, the Dems could only focus on impeachment. Nancy P was inviting people to Chinatown for celebrations in mid February. Bill d B was telling everyone to have dinner and see a show in NYC in mid March. Of course, Joe will criticize Donald's handling of the pandemic, but just what was Joe's plan in those early months?

Tafhdyd Oct 21, 2020 5:13pm

Reasonable response. We will see how it shakes out in November. Good luck with the Doctors.

Ray Fowler Oct 20, 2020 10:02pm

Mr. Fernandez

Profound. Well said.

I agree. The comments section is an opportunity to share ideas, but we must all guard against reducing it to sloganeering. I hope to see lively debate sprinkled with a little repartee. If there is truly more than binds us together than separates us, we can see it here...

Ray Fowler Oct 20, 2020 7:02pm

Tafhdyd

Hey! I'll look tomorrow for your thoughts. Always glad to read them.

For clarification, I was not speaking to the basic qualifications for federal office, but rather Senator Harris' record re: tepid support for police reform, herding drug offenders off to prison, and using her position to keep wrongfully convicted persons in prison. There are other miscues. I might... might... vote for Joe Biden if you were the VP candidate... but with Kamala Harris on the ticket, no way.

I questioned Mr. Wright's claims, and would like to hear his responses to race issues, the CTA, his belief that the president is not pushing for a COVID vaccine as well as Mario Cuomo and nursing homes...

Tafhdyd Oct 21, 2020 9:59am

Good morning Ray,

I will toss a couple more items into the qualification discussion. I only mentioned the federal requirements to be president because I thought those were the only qualifications Donald has. I didn’t say there are no issues with Senator Harris, I also don’t approve of some of her doings as SF District Attorney and State Attorney General but there are other things that do deserve some merit. As District Attorney she increased the felony conviction rate from 50% to 76% and had a 90% conviction rate for felony gun violations along with a 87% rate on homicides.

She worked on consumer protections as Attorney General and recovered over a half billion dollars for false claims from two large healthcare companies for Medi-Cal and Medicare. She also pushed the five largest banks to pay 18 billion up from the 2-4 billion offered by them in the National Mortgage Settlement in the mortgage fiasco of 2010.

We all know that Trump is always hyping law and order and support of the police. His actions speak louder than words at his campaign events. A number of cities that have submitted bills to the Trump campaign to help cover costs for police and fire overtime and extra services needed at rallies have been waiting months and even years with no payments coming. That fits in with his MO of stiffing contractors and vendors over the years without even mentioning his corrupt bankruptcy policies. I am sure you remember the three young girls that were dressed in red, white and blue that performed at a Trump rally in 2016, I think they were called the USA Freedom Kids. They even filed suit because he stiffed them also.

In closing I would ask why someone would vote for Trump? A person devoid of good moral character… honesty, nope, empathy, nope, loyalty, nope and good behavior or habits, nope.

Ray Fowler Oct 21, 2020 8:40pm

Hey, Tafhdyd

I'll probably be out of commission tomorrow (Thursday), but we'll have another candidate's debate to chew on before the weekend. We can pick this up Friday.

Ah! Some common ground... we're both not too impressed by DA and later AG Harris, but as you said "there are other things that do deserve some merit" with respect to Senator Harris' record. Agreed, and we have more common ground.

Hmmm... you say Donald's only qualifications were being a citizen, over 35 years old and able to fog a mirror. Four presidents have been elected without having been elected to a previous office. You don't think executive experience at the levels Donald has achieved is a legit qualification? IMO, too many politicians... on the left and right... would have us believe that mere mortals could not possibly aspire to high office. Look at the impact Ocasio-Cortez has had on Washington as a freshman representative. She had no prior experience. A better example might be Rex Tillerson. He was an engineer by trade and a top multinational corporation boss. I think he did a good job as Secretary of State. Maybe because he was not an experienced politician. Then, Trump being Trump... Tillerson was fired. I think that was a mistake. Maybe we get to noteworthy foreign policy accomplishments in the Middle East and the Balkans a year or two earlier if Tillerson was still leading the state department. Luego

willallen Oct 20, 2020 10:02am

•"The left would “indoctrinate our children with a hatred of America”: I hardly know what to say to this paranoid, delusional nonsense."

Read the front page story about ethnic studies in today's DJ. Will be interesting to see what groups are covered. Two bits Ellis islanders will be lumped with WASPs and "Anglos," whatever that is.

Ray Fowler Oct 20, 2020 9:33am

Hello, Brian

I disagree with Tommy and Just Mike...

You have touched on some very important topics, but in my view, your commentary appears to be largely just leftist talking points. That's OK. That's how you feel... but where is the substance?

Is systemic racism the cause of black kids dropping out of school at alarming rates or the cause of young black men murdering other young black men (in Chicago, over 3450 people have been shot this year and 465 blacks died as a result) or the cause of skyrocketing teenage pregnancy in black communities? Is racism worse now than it was in the 1960s? I have asked these same questions in this forum. The answer is not hoisting a BLM placard and start chanting death to police.

You assert Donald Trump has nothing to do with the development of a COVID vaccine. Theodore Roosevelt did not build the Panama Canal, but his administration was key to getting that project underway. John Kennedy did not put a man on the moon but his administration was important to that achieving that goal. Are you trying to say that the current administration is not committed to pouring resources into development of a COVID vaccine?

Nursing homes and COVID... it was a mistake to send COVID patients to nursing homes, particularly in New Jersey and New York. Thousands died as a result. I don't know if nursing home residents were locked in but their friends and families were locked out. Some of the residents who were without financial resources or without a support network had no choice but to remain in a facility. However, the choice to move known COVID patients into those same facilities was not made by them, and thousands of them died as a result.

Yes, our kids are being indoctrinated with a leftist agenda. The leadership of teacher unions have chosen a dangerous path. Now, I'm sure we could agree that many, many educators love their job and are committed to providing the best educational experience possible. That cannot be said about teacher unions. In LA, last summer, a teachers union demanded defunding the police, universal health care, tax increases before they would return to the classroom. What do those demands have to do with classroom learning? The CTA has been distributing posters for two and half years that now appear in public schools. The posters promote BLM, abortion, and open borders. Now, before I go any further... such a leftist agenda is OK for those who believe in such core values. But it is not OK to push that agenda in public schools to the exclusion of any other point of view. That's indoctrination pure and simple. Such programming is designed to influence how our youth should feel about issues, and it discourages thinking about issues. In other words, "Four legs good, two legs bad."

It's easy to see you support Joe Biden for president. That is your choice. But after pointing out what you consider to be flaws in Joe Biden's opponent, why do you support a candidate who refuses to comment on court packing, court nominees, the electoral college and adding states to the union? Why do you support a candidate who was mum on the topic of law and order until polls revealed that staying mum was a mistake? Why do you support a candidate that tells blacks they ain't black if they vote for Donald Trump and who as vice president for eight years did very little if anything to correct conditions in black communities noted above? Why do you support a candidate who selected someone who opposed police reform, sent many, many blacks to prison for drug offenses, and who actually blocked the release of wrongfully convicted persons? And finally, after nearly three years of left wing harangues about Russia influencing American politics, would you support a candidate who has allowed his family to become rich with payoffs from Russian officials?

Wilfred Fernandez Jr Oct 20, 2020 2:39pm

Mr. Fowler,

Rather than offer a rebuttal to Mr. Kahl, Brian provides a diatribe of logical fallacies. While you offer a graceful way out for him, I won't hold my breath for a response. Though I would indeed relish it.

Ray Fowler Oct 20, 2020 4:29pm

Hello, Mr. Fernandez

Thanks. I do not know Brian Wright. He may be like others who take the time to submit an LTE but then they don't check the comments section. If so, that's his choice.

I hate to sound like a broken record, but I have addressed the tragic situation in black neighborhoods as well as leftist indoctrination in our schools in the past, and I am still waiting for responses on those topics.

If Mr. Wright responds, I would like to hear why he believes the current administration is not involved in the development of a vaccine in a meaningful way and whether he believes transferring known COVID patients into nursing homes with vulnerable populations was OK.

Yes, I would also like to hear Mr. Wright's defense of Joe Biden refusing to share Joe's viewpoints on important election issues as well as Mr. Wright's explanation re: how Joe's running mate's record qualifies her for the VP nomination, and finally, what does Mr. Wright have to say about Joe and Joe's son with respect to cash paid to the Bidens by foreign (Russian) financiers? Let's not forget money paid by China... Now, we can add another question to the mix... what does Mr. Wright have to say about social media giants squelching news regarding the Russian payoffs?

Tafhdyd Oct 20, 2020 5:56pm

Ray

Short on time tonight but I will get back to you if I can. Senator Harris's qualifications are she is a natural born citizen, she is 35 years of age and she has lived in the United States for 14 years. What other qualifications are needed? Those are the only things that qualified Donald.

Wilfred Fernandez Jr Oct 20, 2020 6:41pm

Hello Mr. Fowler,

I am grateful American patriots had the wisdom to elect President Trump. In those same patriots I have faith that President Trump will be re-elected despite the best efforts of media, academia and politicos in government. The latter represents a minority thinking of the body politic. Thank God our founding fathers had the foresight the rest of the world doesn't.

As I see it, you and I will not have civil discourse with folks who acquire their understanding of current events solely from media sources and haven't the time nor inclination to research and reflect on subject matter using critical thinking. As opposed to emotional rants filled with invectives and ad hominem attacks.

For those in the audience let it be known; I do not suffer fools and choose not to be disagreeable with fellow patriots. I welcome and learn from what and how others think. After all, a man cannot know what he does not know.

Terence Y Oct 20, 2020 7:49am

So Mr. Wright (kind of an ironic last name when you’re so wrong), you’re okay with the death and destruction perpetrated by the Democrat left? Good to know you admit BLM and Antifa goons are supported by Dems. So you’re okay with making the elderly choose between being homeless or going back to a COVID riddled nursing home? Maybe these folks could quarantine at your house. I hardly know what to say to this paranoid, delusional nonsense of a letter. Not really, I could blast holes in these false assertions all day. I know America would rather NOT have brain-dead Biden as a president or in any office. BTW, there are treatments for TDS – obey your name and vote for the Right candidates.

Tommy Tee Oct 20, 2020 7:30am

Excellent letter, Brian. I agree with your points 100%. Mr. Kahl's alternative reality is baseless and delusional. Trump is a detriment to our health and well being. Bring honesty, integrity, and compassion back to the White House.

Dirk van Ulden Oct 20, 2020 6:54pm

Yes, let's elect Biden who was given kick backs from his son Hunter. Where did honest and transparent Biden get his bucks to buy a multi-million dollar villa? He was broke when he left the White House. Your news sources are not reporting a breaking scandal about the Bidens. However, it is too late to change your mind so you will have to suffer the consequences.

Tommy Tee Oct 21, 2020 7:45am

Funny--with corrupt Trump and his family enriching their lives while in the White House. You hypocrites are a real kick.

Tafhdyd Oct 21, 2020 8:15am

Tommy Tee,

Funny isn't the word for it. I was laughing so hard when I read it I didn't get a chance to say the same thing when your comment popped on the screen. Let us not forget that Donald's entire life is a con job and a scam using other peoples money, including the taxpayers.

Ray Fowler Oct 21, 2020 10:10am

Tommy with a cc to Tafhdyd...

Good morning, gentlemen.

Wow, Tommy... some holes in your argument. Donald Trump and his family were wealthy before he entered politics; Joe Biden and his family have accumulated a lot of wealth as a result of Joe's political career.

I was hoping yesterday’s letter writer, Brian Wright, would address the following items related to his letter: why does he support a candidate who refuses to comment on court packing, court nominees, the electoral college and adding states to the union? Why does he support a candidate who was mum on the topic of law and order until polls revealed that staying mum was a mistake? Why does he support a candidate that tells blacks they ain't black if they vote for Donald Trump and who as vice president for eight years did very little if anything to correct the horrible conditions that exist today in black neighborhoods? Why does he support a candidate who selected someone as a VP running mate who opposed police reform, sent many, many blacks to prison for drug offenses, and who actually blocked the release of wrongfully convicted persons? And finally, after nearly three years of left-wing harangues about Russia influencing American politics, would he support a candidate who has allowed his family to become rich with payoffs from Russian officials? Now, we can add another question to the mix… how does he support a candidate who refuses to answer questions about Russian payoffs and what does Mr. Wright have to say about social media giants squelching news regarding those same payoffs?

I don’t know what is going to happen on November 3, but let’s say Joe Biden is successful. One day, he will hang up his political spurs… all elected officials do. Do you think his personal wealth will be less or more as a result of being elected? I’m fairly confident it will be more.

You cannot say the same for Donald Trump. NBC News… certainly not a conservative leading news organization… reported that Donald Trump has lost over a billion dollars in personal wealth since running for the presidency. And according to Forbes, "Much as he's trying — and he's definitely trying — Donald Trump is not getting richer off the presidency."

How does that fit into your observation that Donald Trump is enriching himself while in the White House?

FYI... I will be out of commission tomorrow (and maybe over the weekend) due to some medical issues.

JustMike650 Oct 20, 2020 7:23am

Great share, Brian. I applaud your post and values. You will be rewarded on Nov. 3rd.

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