Huge queues outside restaurants across America after fast food chain offers 50,000 posts The positions on offer may be derided as McJobs but that did not stop thousands of people across the US queuing outside branches of McDonald’s in the hope of landing one of 50,000 posts being offered by the fast food chain. With the country still recovering from recession and unemployment running at close to 9% applicants flocked . The hiring event has been interpreted by industry experts an attempt by the company to improve the image of working there and to highlight its contribution to the US economy, as McDonald’s branches would usually hire staff for the summer at this time of year anyway. The fast food chain says more than $41.5m (£25.4m) will be invested in training the company’s new workforce and the addition of 50,000 potential workers translates into $54m more in payroll taxes contributed to the economy. The company has fought unsuccessfully to have the term McJob removed from the Oxford English dictionary, where it is defined as “an unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects”. Jan Fields, president of McDonald’s USA said the event was “an opportunity to invite more people across the country to join our team, and learn that a McJob is one with career growth and endless possibilities”. Fields began her career with McDonald’s in an entry level restaurant position. As about 90% of branches are franchises, the company does not control wages but it claims most of its jobs pay more than the minimum wage, which is $7.25 an hour and managers make between $32,000 and $50,000 a year. The fast food chain held its first one-day hiring blitz in Texas three years ago and its success prompted the company to roll it out nationwide. On Tuesday, it was offering both full and part-time positions in close to 14,000 US restaurants. Hundreds of people flocked to branches in Michigan, the Detroit News reported . With the unemployment rate in Michigan at 10.3% – above the national average – the Detroit News said older, unemployed job-hunters were competing with teenagers for the 2,200 jobs across the state. While jobs at McDonalds and other fast food chains were once seen as the preserve of teenagers entering the job market, or students working part-time while still at school, the US recession has contributed to an increase in the average age of a fast food worker to 29.5, up from 22 in 2000. Jimmie Anderson, 50, told the Houston Chronicle : “I need a job to help make ends meet.” At a branch in Cleveland, Ohio, the event was marred by a brawl between jobseekers in the car park, which left three people injured. Two women fought with each other inside a car causing it to jolt into reverse, ploughing into bystanders . McDonald’s Food & drink industry US unemployment and employment data Global recession Global economy United States Haroon Siddique guardian.co.uk
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Police issue warning after ‘viable incendiary devices’ sent to football club manager Neil Lennon and two well-known Scots Famous Celtic fans have been warned to watch out for suspect packages after four incendiary bombs capable of causing “real harm” were sent to Celtic manager Neil Lennon and two other senior figures. Sources said the crude but viable devices – which were sent to Lennon, his lawyer and a former Labour MSP over a six-week period from early March – used a potentially explosive liquid in a small bottle packaged up with nails. The terror campaign has led police to warn “many” famous Celtic fans, including – it is believed – a BBC presenter. Staff at the Glasgow club and postal workers have also been told to be vigilant. Police stressed that this was a precautionary measure and there was no evidence or intelligence that any other individuals were being targeted. “The advice is to make sure that they keep themselves safe,” said Chief Superintendent Ruaraidh Nicolson, head of community safety at Strathclyde police. The force is now putting in place much tighter security for the Old Firm match between Celtic and Rangers at Ibrox on Sunday 24 April – recent games between the bitter rivals have seen dozens of fans arrested and a violent confrontation between Lennon and the Rangers assistant manager, Ally McCoist. The police believe these incidents, which led to an emergency summit hosted by first minister Alex Salmond, have sparked off the letter-bombing campaign. The parcels were posted when reporting of Old Firm and sectarian tensions was at a height. Detective Chief Superintendent John Mitchell, head of Strathclyde CID, told a press conference the devices were very unusual but were “very definitely capable of causing considerable harm or injury to people.” Salmond said the attempted attacks were “despicable and cowardly” and added that the “lunatic element responsible for this outrage” would be prosecuted vigorously. “They will be dealt with using the full force of the law. We’re not going to tolerate this sort of criminality in Scottish society,” he said. Iain Gray, the Labour leader in Scotland, also condemned the attacks. “The people behind these sinister and potentially life-threatening acts need to be caught and brought to justice,” he said. “I am absolutely appalled at this development and hope that progress can be made on finding those responsible. Individuals who engage in this type of terrorism do not have the support of the public and are rightly seen as pariahs.” He added: “However, now is the time for calm heads. I hope that the whole community shows that this type of behaviour will not be tolerated in our country.” The chief executive of the Scottish Football Association (SFA), Stewart Regan, said the news was “depressing and deplorable”. He said the SFA was “horrified and saddened” by the attacks, and that sectarian hatred was an “unwanted poison” in football. The first device was sent to Lennon, a Northern Irish Catholic, on 4 March and was intercepted by Royal Mail staff. Police originally believed it was hoax – the package was said to be cruder than a second device addressed to Lennon which was found at Kirkintilloch sorting office on 26 March. Two days later a device addressed to Trish Godman, the former deputy presiding officer of the Scottish parliament who has just retired as a Labour MSP, was delivered to her constituency office. A fourth package was sent to Paul McBride QC, Lennon’s lawyer, last week having been posted in Kilwinning, Ayrshire. The police only realised the devices were viable and dangerous last week after forensic investigation; it is thought the liquid involved could explode after contact with air or sunlight. Mitchell said the police had not failed by initially downplaying the significance of the packages. “These devices were unusual. We’d never seen anything like them before,” he said. “The initial assessment was that they might have been a hoax. “That being said, we sent the devices for specialist forensic examination and because of that we’re now aware that they are viable devices.” Mitchell appealed for witnesses. He said: “Sending these types of packages through the post is a despicable and cowardly act – whoever has done this has put not only the person to whom they were addressed in danger but they’ve also put postroom staff in harm’s way. “We’re acutely aware of the alarm these incidents can cause, which is why we’ve got a full plan in place to give guidance to Royal Mail workers and postroom staff.” Mitchell said the “wide-ranging investigation” was focusing on a number of lines of inquiry, but the police had no clear evidence about who was responsible. “We’re keeping an open mind,” he said. Detectives were studying online Rangers fan forums where abuse and death threats against Lennon have previously been posted. Although the devices all appeared to have been posted in Scotland and there was no immediate evidence of paramilitary involvement, officers were talking to other forces including the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Mitchell said. “We’ve no information or intelligence to suggest that anyone else would be targeted. However, at this particular time, it would be sensible to take precautions.” Scotland UK security and terrorism Neil Lennon Celtic Rangers Scottish politics Alex Salmond Severin Carrell guardian.co.uk
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Internet service providers’ claim that new law infringes web users’ ‘basic rights and freedoms’ rejected by high court Government plans to curb illegal filesharing received a significant boost on Wednesday, as a judicial review of the controversial Digital Economy Act failed to halt the legislation. The UK’s two largest internet service providers, BT and TalkTalk, were dealt a blow as their judicial review of the DEA was thrown out of London’s high court on all but one of the legal grounds they had raised. BT and TalkTalk argued the act infringed internet users’ “basic rights and freedoms” and received insufficient parliamentary scrutiny. Plans to send thousands of warning letters to alleged illegal downloaders should now go ahead in the first half of next year. However, the ISPs immediately signalled they could appeal against the high court ruling. A spokesman for TalkTalk said: “We’re disappointed that we were unsuccessful on most of the judicial review. On the question of the proportionality of the act, we’re pleased the judge identified issues but disappointed that he felt that the evidence of the futility of the measures imposed by the act, and the cost and harm they will cause, is not sufficiently definitive enough at this stage to uphold our claim. “We are reviewing this long and complex judgment and considering our options, which may include an appeal to the court of appeal, or a request that the court of appeal make a reference to European court of justice. Though we may have lost this particular battle, we will continue fighting to defend our customers’ rights against this ill-judged legislation.” Under the act, rights holders will collect data about people believed to be illegally downloading film and music from filesharing sites. ISPs will then match the rights holders’ data against their customer database and send warning letters to those accused. Repeat copyright infringers could have their internet access slowed or even blocked under secondary measures in the act. However, this second phase is understood to be about 18 months away from being considered as part of the measures. Rights holders, including music and film industry companies and the Premier League, assert that illegal filesharing is costing UK businesses £400m a year in lost sales. The chief executive of the industry music trade body the BPI, Geoff Taylor, said: “This judgment gives the green light for action to tackle illegal downloading in the UK. “It confirms that the DEA is proportionate and consistent with European law. Shareholders and customers of BT and TalkTalk might ask why so much time and money has been spent challenging the act to help reduce the illegal traffic on their networks. “It is now time for BT and TalkTalk to work constructively with government and rights holders to implement the Digital Economy Act.” The high court judge, Mr Justic Parker, dismissed the ISPs’ argument that the previous Labour government, which rushed through the DEA in the dying days of the last parliament in April 2010, should have notified the European Commission; that it makes ISPs liable in damages for copyright infringement on their network; that it breaches data protection laws; and that it is a disproportionate response to copyright infringement. However, the ISPs’ contention that the DEA is unlawful because it forces them to foot 25% of the bill of the “mass notification system” and its appeals process was upheld. The ISPs will now no longer have to pay 25% of the costs of establishing an appeals body. But they will still have to foot 25% the cost of mass letter sending to internet users, with rights holders paying the remaining 75%. Parker said: “From the point of view of both copyright owner and subscriber, the DEA represents a more efficient, focused and fair system than the current arrangements. “Although it is difficult to predict the effect of measures such as those contemplated by the DEA, there are reasons for believing that such measures may well have a positive effect [on reducing illegal filesharing].” Filesharing Digital Economy Act Internet Computing Digital media Music industry BT Telecommunications industry Josh Halliday guardian.co.uk
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The self-appointed queen of gay culture has offended fans she claims to represent. Is it a sign that her star is on the wane? Have we reached a tipping point in the Lady Gaga saga? In the week that the singer graces the cover of NME for the first time, a backlash has already gathered steam in the gay community. Among her supposed heartland of gay men, there’s growing evidence of fans starting to turn on her – many of whom feel she has no right to declare herself as the ambassador of “queer culture”. Gaga, to be fair, didn’t have to try hard to be accepted as a “gay icon”. There’s a certain mainstream gay sensibility that tends to adopt blonde female pop stars as their own, and her relentless tweeting about gay rights, the impassioned stance against Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in the US military and yes, I suppose the dresses too, earned her a place as a credible advocate. But recently, the wheels seem to be falling off, and sadly not from that ridiculous motorbike . It started with the release of Born This Way. Any song built up with such a torrent of pre-publicity (my favourite tweet from that week: “Can’t wait for tomorrow’s exclusive reveal of the barcode!”) has to be pretty incredible to not get crushed under the weight of its own expectation. And it misfired on all levels. The gay blogosphere soon exploded into a flurry of backlash and counter-backlash , based mainly on a sense of disappointment with the song. At least that’s how it started. But as the world lived with Born This Way, a deeper disquiet began to emerge, and the heavy-handed way that the song assumed stewardship of an entire portion of humanity began to breed real resentment, from the forums to the dancefloor to the word on the street. Fact of matter: most gay people don’t consider themselves to be freaks and outsiders, as is suggested in the lyrics , but perfectly normal people whose sexual preferences just happen to be wired a certain way. And they won’t thank you for attempting to lead a Pied Piper march back into the ghetto with all the subtlety of a diamond-encrusted sledgehammer. Of course, when there are still gay teen suicides, same-sex couples being ejected from the John Snow , and Proposition 8 then we clearly haven’t won all of the battles against homophobia. But we’re a lot closer to the dream where sexual orientation doesn’t define a person, but is a quality of their personality no more or less significant than their political affiliation or the colour of their hair. As we march towards true equality, the whole idea of a “gay culture” becomes more and more meaningless as the world accepts the truth that gay people aren’t all the same. In the face of that, Born This Way was at best a backward step, in the middle a touch cynical and, at worst, downright offensive. It’s a shame because it was the first real misstep in an otherwise faultlessly judged career. But if Gaga really has alienated her most loyal fans, she may yet have more to worry about than a few religious zealots picketing her shows . Lady Gaga Pop and rock Gay rights Dan Martin guardian.co.uk
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Leaked report documents incidents at three plants during February considered serious enough to be reported to ministers There have been two spillages of radioactive waste and a breakdown in an emergency cooling system at Britain’s nuclear plants in the last three months, according to a report to ministers leaked to the Guardian. A brown puddle containing plutonium five times the legal safety limit leaked from an old ventilation duct at the Sellafield nuclear complex in Cumbria . This exposed “a number of shortfalls in the design”, says the report. Groundwater at the Torness nuclear power station near Edinburgh was contaminated with radioactive tritium (a form of hydrogen) leaking from two pipelines. At Hartlepool nuclear station on the north-east coast of England, the back-up cooling system was put out of action by a faulty valve. All three incidents occurred in February this year and are still under investigation by the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) , the government’s newly created nuclear safety watchdog. They were sufficiently serious to be reported to ministers under safety guidelines agreed in the wake of the Chernobyl accident in Ukraine 25 years ago. Disclosure of the incidents could further delay the government’s plans for a new programme of nuclear power stations, already being held up by a safety review prompted by the Fukushima accident in Japan. Critics will press for the incidents to be included in the review , being led by the executive head of the ONR, Mike Weightman. The Guardian has been provided with a copy of a report on the incidents sent to ministers on 18 April by Weightman. It was circulated to the energy secretary, Chris Huhne : the business secretary, Vince Cable ; the environment secretary, Caroline Spelman ; the employment minister, Chris Grayling ; the Scottish secretary, Michael Moore ; and the Scottish first minister, Alex Salmond . In a covering letter, Weightman says that a fourth incident involving contaminated ground at an unnamed nuclear site is still under investigation, and may be reported to ministers in the future. The criteria for reporting nuclear incidents, which takes place every three months , include leakages, breaches of safety limits and events where “safe operation may be significantly affected”. According to the ONR, the response to the incidents from the companies that run the three plants was “appropriate”. The plutonium spillage at Sellafield has been cleaned up, use of the leaking pipelines at Torness was suspended, and the faulty valve at Hartlepool was fixed. But the ONR is continuing to quiz the operators and monitor the plants, to try and make sure that similar mishaps do not occur again. A spokesman for the ONR told the Guardian that the report to ministers on the incidents is due to be posted online later today. The chair of the nuclear-free group of local authorities , George Regan, said that it was unusual for three incidents to be reported to ministers in one three-month period. There was only one incident in each quarter of 2010, three of them at Sellafield and one at Dungeness nuclear station in Kent. “With Fukushima very much in the public’s mind, we are particularly concerned to hear of a coolant incident at Hartlepool,” Regan said. “We will be urgently seeking clarification from the ONR on why these incidents occurred and whether they are of any relevance to the current safety review.” Nuclear power Energy Nuclear waste Rob Edwards guardian.co.uk
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Iconic Scottish bird struggling to survive due to habitat loss, climate and forestry fencing Conservationists have warned that one of Scotland’s largest and most iconic birds, the capercaillie , is in a perilous state after a new survey found its population is shrinking. The study has found that the capercaillie, the largest and heaviest member of the grouse family, is struggling to survive in many areas of the Highlands and its numbers are still worryingly low. In some parts of Scotland, around Loch Lomond and Glen Affric in the west, the capercaillie has now effectively disappeared thanks to a combination of habitat loss, forestry fencing and unsuitable climate. Its population is dramatically thinning out in Perthshire to the south and Deeside, Moray and Nairn to the east. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) estimate that over the winter of 2009-10 there were only 1228 individual birds remaining, down from an estimated (but unconfirmed) peak of up to 20,000 in the early 1970s. Its core territory has shrunk dramatically, with about 75% of the entire UK capercaillie population now living in a small but carefully-managed area of the Cairngorms around Badenoch and Strathspey. The capercaillie is one of the UK’s most distinctive birds, boasting a large fan-like tail and a throaty call. A member of the grouse family, adult males are roughly the size of a turkey and, unlike the bullet-like speed of its smaller cousin the red grouse, it has a slower, more ungainly style of flight. It is also notoriously reclusive, sheltering in native pinewood forests of the Highlands and venturing out to court, at large “leks”, or groups, in sheltered areas of the forest, only at dawn. As a result, the SNH surveyors were unable to do an accurate headcount, so conservationists are cautious about warning that its population is in sharp decline. The last survey, in 2004, puts its population at an estimated 1,980 birds. Yet the most worrying survey, in 1988-89, suggested there were just 1,073, triggering a concerted conservation campaign funded with £5m by the European Union. Pete Mayhew, of RSPB Scotland , said the study suggested the major concern was about the erosion of the birds’ most favoured habitat. Its shrinking range meant it was even more vulnerable. “We know we can manage a population in a fairly robust state if we get the management right,” he said. “But if you get it wrong, the population can be in a much more perilous state and even disappear.” RSPB Birds Wildlife Scotland Severin Carrell guardian.co.uk
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Paper expected to hit newsstands within the next few weeks priced at 30p Alexander Lebedev is poised to bring his brand of cut-price national news to the weekend market with the launch of a 30p Saturday edition of the i. Lebedev gave the greenlight to launch 20p weekday national newspaper the i in October last year in a bid to boost the flagging fortunes of stablemate the Independent and build on his portfolio of UK newspapers, which includes the London Evening Standard. After a shaky start , largely due to the bad weather before Christmas, the self-styled “essential daily briefing” has managed to build up daily sales of more than 170,000 fuelled by a multimillion pound ad campaign starring Dom Joly and Jemima Khan. The Independent publisher is now set to launch the i into the weekend market with a 30p Saturday version. It is understood it will hit newsstands on Saturday 7 May. Senior executives have been ecstatic at the success of the spin-off paper – particularly as there appears to have been little cannibalisastion of readership of the main Independent newspaper. Last month at a party celebrating the 100th issue of the i, Independent editor-in-chief Simon Kelner quipped the title was the “highlight of a long and not very glorious career” . The i recorded a slight month-on-month sales dip in March and executives are keen to maintain momentum with the incremental cost of producing a Saturday edition considered to be well worth the possible revenue gains. Saturday is considered to be the most profitable, and biggest-selling, day of the week for many national titles. For the Independent, which has seen its paid-for circulation in the UK and Ireland drop to less than 85,000, the launch has been something of a lifeline. The Independent has been negotiating to as much as double the amount it charges for advertising by bundling space in the 20p spin-off into deals based on the fact that the combined headline circulation of both titles tops 353,000. The total paid-for circulation of the two titles is 255,000. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook . i Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers Independent Print Alexander Lebedev Media business Mark Sweney guardian.co.uk
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Gold hits new record price as global economic fears push investors into seeking safe havens Gold has smashed through the $1,500-an-ounce barrier for the first time, pushed higher by worries about global inflation, the European debt crisis and the state of the American economy. Spot gold set a new record of $1,501.26 (£917) an ounce in Asian trading, underpinned by a weak dollar. Standard & Poor’s downgrade of America’s debt outlook on Monday sparked a new flight into safe-haven investments. The ratings agency lowered its credit outlook to “negative” from “stable,” pointing to fiscal problems in the US. This sent shares tumbling and came at a time of fresh fears over the eurozone debt crisis, with Portugal edging closer to a bailout and Greece under pressure at home to default on its debt . US treasury secretary Tim Geithner, however, shrugged off S&P’s warnings and sought to reassure Wall Street that the world’s biggest economy would hang on to its gold-star AAA rating. Jonathan Barratt of Commodity Broking Services described the latest move in gold as “sensational”. He told Reuters: “Everything’s feeding into this – sovereign debt, the weaker dollar, inflation and investment demand. It is unusual to do it in Asian time. It goes to show how much appetite there is in Asia for bullion.” Analysts at Barclays Capital believe gold could go up to $1,520 an ounce in the next two to four weeks. Many investors see gold and other precious metals as the best place to park their money in times of uncertainty. Spot silver hit a 31-year high of $44.34 an ounce. Brian Ostroff of Windermere Capital described silver as “gold on steroids” on Tuesday. Gold has gained 32% over the past year, while silver has more than doubled in value. Gold Commodities United States Global economy Economics European debt crisis US economy Julia Kollewe guardian.co.uk
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Police said to be linking timing of incidents to media coverage of Old Firm controversies involving Celtic and Glasgow rivals Rangers Parcel bombs intended to kill or maim have been sent to the Celtic manager, Neil Lennon, and two other prominent fans of the club – the manager’s lawyer and a senior Labour politician. The three devices, discovered at several locations in the west of Scotland over the past month, are considered dangerous, a senior police source has confirmed. One, addressed to Lennon at Celtic’s training ground, was intercepted by Royal Mail staff, but a second was forwarded to the constituency office of the Labour MSP Trish Godman, a former deputy presiding officer of the Scottish parliament and a Celtic fan. Her office staff became suspicious and alerted Strathclyde police. Detectives initially believed the parcels were elaborate hoaxes intended to distress their targets, but later decided that they were viable explosive devices. The third device was addressed to Paul McBride QC who, speaking at the Faculty of Advocates lawyers’ offices in Edinburgh, made outspoken attacks on the Scottish Football Association for its treatment of Lennon over alleged disciplinary offences. It is understood all the devices were all sent from within Scotland. Anti-terrorism branch officers were initially involved but have ruled out loyalist terrorist involvement. The device sent to McBride was apparently posted in Ayrshire. It was discovered in a letterbox by a postal worker and taken to a sorting office. Ministers in the Scottish government secretly convened a cabinet sub-committee meeting on Saturday to discuss the discoveries. News media were asked not to report the incidents to avoid prejudicing a police investigation. A source close to McBride said he was “appalled and disgusted at being targeted for voicing honest opinions and has nothing but praise for the way police conducted themselves in this inquiry”. Police sources told the BBC that the devices were liquid-based and not nail bombs, but were rudimentary and did not seem to have been made by someone with paramilitary training. There are reports that police are linking the timing of the incidents to media coverage of the Old Firm controversies involving Celtic and their Glasgow rivals Rangers, or Celtic’s complaints of discriminatory treatment. Police have warned one other high profile figure linked to the incident, the Glasgow-born BBC broadcaster Aasmah Mir, 39, who is an avid Celtic fan and married to Piara Powar, a director of the campaign group Football Against Racism in Europe (Fare), the Daily Record reported . Fare recently complained to Uefa about sectarian chanting by Rangers fans at European matches. Officers are expected to appeal for calm ahead of this weekend’s Old Firm clash. Previous games between the two sides this season have seen dozens of arrests for disorder and public order offences. The incidents mark a significant escalation in a campaign against Lennon, a Northern Irish Catholic, that has involved death threats, hate mail, bullets sent in the post and a previous letter bomb. Lennon, his wife and children have left their home and have been living under 24-hour guard at a secret location for some weeks. The former Northern Ireland player has been involved in repeated disputes with the Scottish football authorities and Rangers over refereeing decisions, the conduct of each team’s players and his own behaviour. Although he has not been directly been in disputes about sectarianism, senior figures at Celtic, including the chairman and former Labour home secretary, John Reid, and the Catholic church were involved in public rows over alleged bias against the club. In March, the first minister, Alex Salmond, convened a meeting involving both clubs, the football authorities and Strathclyde police to clamp down on the violent on-field disputes involving both clubs and sectarianism in the stands, largely involving Rangers fans. Both clubs agreed to allow senior police officers onto training grounds to remind players they face arrest for on-field misconduct. Asked about the latest discoveries, Salmond told BBC Scotland: “We will not tolerate this sort of criminality in Scotland, and as an indication of the seriousness with which we view these developments the cabinet sub-committee met last Saturday to ensure that the police investigation has every possible support to come to a successful conclusion.” Michael Kelly, a former Celtic director and the Lord Provost of Glasgow, told the BBC: “This now is terrorism, purely and simply. “It’s got nothing to do with football and the background of the summit and the Old Firm game. It’s up to the police to refocus their targets on these people and to catch them.” Neil Lennon Celtic Rangers John Reid Alex Salmond Scottish politics Scotland Crime Severin Carrell guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Donald Trump is freaking out Charles Krauthammer: Calls him an unserious Al Sharpton Clown
April 19, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Donald Trump is causing mild hysteria in the media since he’s become the King Birther with possible plans to run for president. Many are panning him, but Charles Krauthammer, who believes he’s the conscience of conservatives, is taking him very seriously and didn’t hold back about his feeling for the Donald on Fox’s Special Report with Brett Baier. As I watched Krauthammer, I was surprised at how afraid and nervous Donald was making him — especially the thought of Trump running as an independent. “Then there is Trump,” he continued. “Trump is Al Sharpton of the Republican Party – provocateur and clown, unserious. I think he’s going to harm the party if he runs for the same reason Sharpton harmed the Democrats. I can now see all the mail coming in – address it to me, not to Bret. He is not responsibility – which means in the debate he will be up there I think he will run, not just a trial run. He’ll be up in the debate, and like Sharpton he will monopolize discussion and draw it away on issues that are irrelevant like Obama’s birth and that can only hurt the party.” I guess Krauthammer figures that calling Trump ‘the Al Sharpton of the GOP’ will shake up the base out of their Trump trance, since Sharpton is the epitome of the Evil Black Politician to those folks, but it won’t. Trump is doing very well very well in GOP polls for God’s sake and that’s probably what got his freak on. Sharpton never came close to winning a poll in 2004. And it shows you how fractured and unstable the base voters of the GOP are at this point to even be considering a man like Trump. It’s also a reflection of the quality of the candidates the GOP has to choose from at this point. Well, when almost 50% of registered voters believe Obama is not an American, it’s not hard to understand why Trump is doing well in the minds of conservatives : Nearly half of usual Republican primary voters in Iowa think President Obama was not born in the United States, while barely one-quarter believe he was, according to a PPP poll released on Tuesday . In the poll, 48% of registered Republican voters said Obama was not born in the U.S., while 26% said he was. Additionally, 26% said they were unsure. That percentage is actually slightly better than the national average for typical Republican primary voters, a majority of whom believe Obama was born outside the U.S. In February, a PPP poll found that 51% of registered Republican voters said Obama was not born in the U.S., compared to 28% who said he was, and 21% who were unsure.
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