Coverage of the killing of Maltese journalist Daphne Galizia presented a conundrum for news editors - was Mrs. Galizia a journalist or a blogger? In my latest blog post, I discuss some of the distinctions between blogging/journalism and how Daphne's work hybridized traditional and new forms of journalism.
Read MoreNotte Bianca is an annual cultural event that takes place in the Maltese capital of Valletta. Throughout the night music, dance, and the performing arts take place in parks and squares around the city while the presidential palace, armoury, and other government buildings open their doors to visitors. The result is a night of cultural enjoyment for the tourists and locals alike.
This year I had the privilege of attending Notte Bianca as a volunteer photographer. Here are a few moments I captured of Notte Bianca 2017. Enjoy!
The United States is poised to observe its most divisive inauguration day ever. 65 lawmakers and 28 activists groups are all pledging to protest the inauguration. Nearly 30,000 law enforcement officials are expected to provide security for an estimated crowd of 900,000 onlookers this inauguration day. Make no mistake, this inauguration is poised to be one of the most toxic transitions of power the US has ever witnessed. But what does history tell us about this kind of division? Does a rough inauguration day translate into a difficult presidency?
Donald Trump is entering the Whitehouse with a historically low approval rating after having won the election on negative campaign rhetoric and possible assistance from the Russian government. Opposition to Trump has been growing since he began his campaign but has gained momentum after a controversial election result in which he received 3 million fewer votes than his opponent Hillary Clinton. Trump was able to win in spite of this due to the Electoral College system, which emphasizes voting representatives rather than a simple majority. Trump’s narrow victory underscores a state of disunity between liberals and conservatives that has been growing since the Iraq war and the obstructionist policies a republican congress.
At the center of the Democratic opposition to Trump is Senator and civil rights icon John Lewis of Georgia who rose to prominence in 1960s as a leader of the Civil Rights Movement. In an interview last Saturday originally intended to tap Lewis for perspective on Obama’s legacy, Lewis freely broke from questioning to criticize Trump. When asked by NBC’s Chuck Todd if he would forge a relationship with Trump after Obama, Lewis said it would be difficult since he did not “see this president-elect as a legitimate president,” citing Russian involvement in the election. On this basis, and without any coaxing from Todd, Lewis noted he would “not attend the inauguration.” It was a revelation that had little to do with the impetus for the interview, but has since snowballed into a coalition of 65 lawmakers all declaring they will join Lewis in not attending the inauguration.
To find any modern historical comparison of this magnitude, we must go back to the 1973 inauguration of president Richard Nixon, another terribly unpopular president in US history. In 1973, Nixon’s inaugural motorcade was received by an estimated 1000,000 anti-war protestors supported by 80 legislators who boycotted the official ceremony. They demanded the president pull US troops out of the Vietnam conflict, which had been raging for over a decade. Domestic and international pressure eventually forced the hand of US policy makers to end the war despite the lack of a clear victory. What’s more, the conspiracy to steal campaign secrets from the democrats in a scandal known as “Watergate,” would be revealed early in Nixon’s second term resulting in his resignation. The only president to command disapproval ratings rivaling Nixon’s would be George W. Bush who also received a lukewarm inaugural reception.
In 2001, Bush like Trump, was declared an illegitimate president after voting irregularities produced a run-off election that gave him the presidency despite not receiving the majority of the popular vote. Hundreds of protestors lined upon along Pennsylvania Avenue during Bush’s inauguration waving signs that read “Not my President.” By his second term, the controversy only seemed to grow worse for Bush. Only now the nation was in the midst of an illegitimate war in Iraq that hinged upon the assumption Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The problem was that by 2005, the US had taken control of Iraq but could not produce evidence of Saddam’s WMD’s. Like those protesting Nixon decades earlier, thousands of anti-war protestors appeared in Washington for Bush’s 2005 inauguration. Footage shows protestors tearing down flags and scuffling with riot police. According to one report, a protestor even managed to hit the President’s limousine with an egg. Although violent, the protests did not manage to convince Bush and his team to pull out of Iraq. Bush left the Whitehouse sporting abysmal polling numbers, making him one of the least popular president’s in the post war period.
Inaugural protests have not always been relegated to conservatives. Most recently, President Obama faced protest on his first inaugural day in 2009 despite being the most popular president in modern history. Like Trump’s controversial victory earlier this year, questions of legitimacy dogged president Obama from his first days in Washington. Many who opposed Obama’s historic victory felt he had been elected unjustly, but instead of have any real evidence, those who opposed Obama wondered whether he was in fact “American enough” to be elected president. The “birthers” as they became known, demanded Obama reveal his birth certificate in order to prove he was in fact an American citizen - a requirement of any US president to hold office. They showed up at Obama’s 2009 inauguration in scant numbers, holding a mixture of picket signs that denounced the president elect. After inauguration day, the “birther” movement continued throughout Obama’s presidency, eventually gaining high-profile support from Donald J. Trump. After persistent protest from fringe groups, president Obama eventually released his birth certificate in 2011, which revealed he was born in Hawaii. Although the document squashed the “birther” movement among mainstream critics on both sides of the aisle, Trump and others continued peddling conspiracy theories through the rest of Obama’s term.
History shows inaugural protests are not new to American politics, nor is the participation of current or future politicians. But these protests reveal tensions among the electorate that are otherwise not easily expressed through the voting process. They are always passionate and controversial mobilizations of people eager to grab attention and pressure elected officials.
Donald Trump enters the Whitehouse the most controversial president-elect the United States has had, perhaps ever. Expect his brash and controversial style to translate into equally brash and controversial protest from now through his final day in office.
Hold onto your hats, folks. It ain’t over yet.
For the first time in months, Donald Trump has a clear shot at beating Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.
Although he is not ahead in most national polls, renewed interest in Hillary Clinton’s emails has boosted Trump’s numbers in key battleground states. Trump now holds a slight lead in places like Ohio and Florida and is knocking at the door in Nevada and North Carolina. A pathway for Trump has been illuminated, but which states must he win to take the Whitehouse?
For the entire presidential race, Hillary Clinton has maintained a lead over Donald Trump in nearly all aggregate national polls. But the race tightened considerably last week, when FBI director James Comey addressed a letter to congress that reopened the investigation into Clinton’s use of private email while she was Secretary of State.
The new batch of emails come from the laptop of former Congressman Anthony Weiner, the estranged husband of Clinton’s top aid Huma Abedin. Weiner’s laptop was seized by the FBI during an investigation into his 2014 sexting scandal. Since then, emails between Clinton and Abedin have been found on Wiener’s laptop that “appear to be pertinent to the investigation,” according to Comey.
The vague FBI announcement has left voters to speculate its significance with merely a week until Election Day. As such, Clinton’s polling numbers have slouched, allowing for Trump to emerge as the clear favorite in Iowa, Ohio, and Arizona. But for Trump, it’s not simply a matter of winning more states, Trump will need to win the Electoral College – the body that actually elects the next President.
The Electoral College is made up of electors from each state who all pledge to vote for a single candidate. The number of electors per state is the same number of representatives that state has in Congress. Most importantly, electors are earned on a winner take all basis.
This means if Hillary Clinton wins California, she gets all 55 of the possible 55 electors in that state. Donald Trump on the other hand will almost surely win Texas, another major chunk of electors with 38. In total, there are 538 electors up for grabs but the first candidate to reach 270 wins.
The tightest race in U.S. history was in 2000 when George W. Bush narrowly defeated Al Gore 271-266 even though Gore won the popular vote by less than 1%. In that race, Bush narrowly won the swing state Florida after it went to a recount. Winning the Electoral College is the supreme objective of any candidate and getting a combination of swing states is imperative.
With polls shifting last week, it is now clear Trump has a real chance to steal the electoral votes of some key states. Ten battleground states have emerged in this election: Ohio (18), Florida (29), North Carolina (15), Pennsylvania (20), Colorado (9), Nevada (6), Iowa (6), New Hampshire (4), Virginia (13), and Arizona (11). In total this amounts to 131 electoral votes – well beyond enough to swing the election in the favor of Trump or Clinton. But looking deeper, there appears to be five that Trump really has a chance at winning.
At the time of writing, RealClearPolitics has Trump up 3.3% in Ohio, 0.6% in Florida, 1.6% in Nevada, 1.4% in Iowa, and 3.0% in Arizona. For reference, RealClearPolitics conducted similar polls in 2012 and got nearly all of them correct – except for Florida, which was also very close.
Like George W. Bush’s victory in 2000, Florida is the key. Without Florida’s 29 electoral votes, it wouldn’t matter if Trump earned the other four states or stole a couple others from Clinton. He just wouldn’t have enough to catch her as the polls stand now. In that scenario he would need to win Pennsylvania, a state that has voted Democrat in the past six elections and has Clinton ahead 4.9%. The bottom-line is Trump needs to win Florida and a number of the swing states listed above if he wants to take the Whitehouse.
Despite the weeks of scandal, lost debates, and bad polling numbers, Trump seems to have gotten lucky at the right Time. The uncertainty around the FBI’s renewed investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails has hurt her in nationwide polls and in key battleground states. If Trump can manage to take Florida, and string together victories in North Carolina, Ohio, Nevada, Iowa and New Hampshire, all places where he has strong bases of support, we could be planning a Trump inauguration. I’m not pouring any Trump Vodka yet though.
The Election is Tuesday November 8.
After a week of sexual assault allegations, hacked emails, and biting personal attacks, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton hit the debate stage for the final time of the 2016 campaign on Wednesday.
The meeting would prove to be the most substantive and jarring of all three. But what set this debate apart was Clinton’s willingness to use many of Trump’s tactics against him. The move would risk exposure to character attacks but could also give her the chance to deal Donald a critical blow. Could she pull it off?
Both Trump and Clinton spent their week fending off negative media coverage over leaked tapes and campaign revelations. Trump was still dealing with the fallout from a 2005 recording, where he bragged about sexually assaulting women. Nine women have come forward since the release of that tape, each alleging Trump made unwanted advances toward them.
Trump could only deflect, tweeting the allegations were “made-up stories and lies” that were ”rigged by the media, in a coordinated effort with the Clinton campaign.” Surprisingly, Trump’s counter claims had some merit.
At the same time of the sexual assault allegations, Wikileaks dumped a total of 23,000 hacked Clinton campaign emails. In them, evidence of a cozy Clinton-media relationship. Most damaging was an email chain between Clinton campaign manager John Podesta and Glenn Thrush, a Politico Reporter who allowed Podesta to edit an on-going draft of a story. It was a lucky twist for Trump who continued to bash Clinton’s character
Although damaging, Trump’s sexual allegations were perceived worse than Clinton’s collaboration with the media. Going into the final debate, Clinton found herself in a much stronger position that Trump.
After starting substantively, the debate quickly dissolved into a slugfest. But it was Clinton’s willingness to use Trump’s own tactics that swung the momentum in her favor.
While discussing immigration, Hillary attacked Trump, saying he “choked” at a meeting with Mexican President Nieto in August. Trump pushed back, alleging Clinton wants an open border policy, as suggested in hacked emails. But Clinton pressed harder, characterizing Trump as Putin’s “Puppet,” in an attempt to broadly smear his weak foreign policy experience. The tactic worked. Clinton forced Trump into a long defensive response that switched between Putin, emails and immigration. It was a solid start for Clinton who kept the heat on Trump for the rest of the debate.
In one exchange, when Bill Clinton’s infidelities entered the discussion, Hillary managed to out maneuver Trump, instead pressing him on his own sexual assault entanglements. It was an otherwise dream moment for the Trump campaign drowned out by Clinton’s offensive overtures.
At other points Clinton seemed more at ease than Trump on stage. While he spoke of his Las Vegas casino, Clinton interrupted to say his hotel was “made with Chinese steel” causing the audience to laugh. In other exchanges she spoke over Trump and the moderator, breaking with her tight decorum of the previous debates.
All of this seemed to frustrate Trump as the debate wore on. During a Clinton response to a question on Social Security, Trump interrupted to simply call Clinton “a nasty women."
Hillary’s risk paid off in the third debate. She employed Donald’s tactics, caught him off guard, and got under his skin. She might not have delivered the final blow to Trump’s campaign but she extended her lead in the polls.
Now with two weeks until Election Day, the candidates will crisscross the country, desperately fighting for votes. And if the debate is any indication, expect the attacks to get more personal and “nasty” up until Election Day on November 8.
Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton squared off on Sunday night in the second presidential debate of the 2016 campaign. Both candidates arrived eager to face off after a week of personal attacks and media revelations.
But the focus of the debate would be on Trump’s performance. Could he change the narrative? Or would he meltdown and deliver the final blow to his own campaign?
The Donald did himself no favors in the week leading up to the second presidential debate, starting with inappropriate tweets about former Miss Universe, and Clinton Supporter, Alicia Machado. In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, Trump tweeted: “Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?”
Hours later, Buzzfeed uncovered a sex tape that, instead of Machado, featured none other than Donald J. Trump surrounded by Playboy bunnies pouring champagne on a limousine in Manhattan.
Before voters had much time to digest the news, Trump’s woes worsened when the Washington Post released bombshell footage of Trump making vulgar comments about women while on the set of “Access Hollywood,” forcing him to issue a video apology to voters.
By weeks end, Trump had lost the endorsement of prominent Republicans like John McCain, with many more calling on him to withdraw.
The barrage of bad press pulled attention from the Clinton campaign, who themselves were dealing with hacked emails released by Wikileaks. But relative to Trump, Clinton’s week was smooth sailing. The pressure was all Donald’s going into the second presidential debate.
Forced to play defense from the opening question, Trump tried desperately to divert attention from his sexual comments while on the debate stage. When asked “do you feel you are modeling appropriate behavior for today’s youth?” Trump responded with his usual ‘Make America Great Again’ schtick while digging into Clinton for her support of NAFTA and the Iran nuclear deal.
After the moderator pressed him to give a direct answer, Trump dismissed his sexual comments as “locker room talk,” and quickly changed the subject, assuring voters he would “knock the hell out of ISIS.”
Trump attempted to deflect the attacks onto Hillary for her husband's record of sexual offenses toward women. Trump hosted three of Bill Clinton’s ‘accusers' - women who allege Mr. Clinton sexual assaulted them in some way - as his personal guests in the debate hall. Trump referred to the women as he tried to smear Hillary for her husband’s misconduct.
But instead of take the bait, Secretary Clinton remained calm through this. She could have juxtaposed Trump’s own treatment of women with his alliance to the Bill Clinton accusers. But that would have risked exposure to counter blows by Trump for Bill’s past.
Instead, she let Trump off the hook, ceding a small victory to a man who entered the debate teetering on the edge.
Trump may not have been able to win the debate but he did defend himself well against any further damage. But the relief can only be short lived as Clinton consolidates her lead and time dwindles before Election Day. Trump will need to bring pull out some surprises, and hope Clinton makes some mistakes if he wants to swing undecided voters. And if the past year of campaigning is any benchmark, there will be more leaked sound bites and scandalous revelations before this is said and done.
Stay tuned.
Last week was Trump’s worst since announcing his candidacy for president of the United States.
Going into the first of three debates against Hillary Clinton, Trump had been gaining in national polls but a rash of bad press for his debate performance, controversial twitter comments against a former miss universe, and leaked tax documents, have set him back at a time when he should be winning over undecided voters.
On Monday, Clinton and Trump faced off in the first highly anticipated presidential debate of 2016. The showdown was set to be a crucial moment for Trump who desperately needs to expand his base of support. Although he started well, Trump became increasingly flustered as the debate wore on, often grimacing and talking out of turn.
Clinton on the other hand looked poised, hitting him hard for questionable business dealings and derogatory comments made toward women. She cited Trump’s verbal abuse of former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, who alleges Trump called her “Miss Piggy” and “Miss Housewife” after she gained weight post Miss Universe.
Although Trump did land a few counter blows, like criticizing Clinton’s support for NAFTA and the Iraq War, it really didn’t feel close. Media analysts at Fox News agreed, reporting pundits “were near unanimous in finding Clinton was more disciplined and armed with greater recall of facts.” It was an early sign she had won.
Trump went on the attack immediately following the debate determined to change the narrative. But instead of attack Clinton over Benghazi or leaked emails – both with the potential to win over undecided voters – he decided to attack Clinton for her alignment with former Miss Universe Alicia Machado.
In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, Trump tweeted, “Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?” His comments were widely panned by the media for being baseless. What’s worse? Buzzfeed News uncovered a Playboy film featuring none other than Donald Trump.
The “Video Centerfold” published in 2000, shows Trump, surrounded by Playboy Bunnies on a street in New York City, pouring a bottle of champagne over a black vehicle bearing the Playboy logo. No he doesn’t appear naked in the film but it doesn’t bode well for Trump’s chances with female voters weighing whether to vote for a man who attacks women on Twitter, all the while appearing in a porno of his own.
Then came the New York Times revelations about Trump’s tax records. For months now Donald has avoided calls from all sides to release his tax returns, a practice that every major party candidate has done since 1980. On Saturday, the New York Times published a bruising article, written with a portion of Trump’s leaked tax records in hand, which alleges Trump could have avoided paying taxes for nearly two decades.
While the leaked records were not tax returns, they did show Trump recorded a $916 million loss in 1995, coinciding with poor real estate and investment deals. The loss would have put Trump in a position to avoid paying taxes for nearly 18 years. Although legal, it begs the question: did Trump aspire to loose $916 million in order to gain long-term tax avoidance?
Supporters say the report is evidence of his business prowess. But to those who are on the fence about Trump, it might seem odd he would exploit tax loopholes as a businessman while running a campaign for president that promises to eliminate them.
Polls released at week’s end had Clinton ahead of Trump by an average of 2.8 percentage points among likely voters. Donald’s numbers around the board remained stagnant suggesting he is keeping his core base of support but not expanding to women and minorities.
Trump should do himself a favor by keeping his attention on Clinton, preparing for the remaining debates, and avoiding any focus on his controversial past. The problem is voters like him for his unconventional style. They don’t care that he was in a Playboy or avoided paying taxes. It’s just business to them.
Changing this late in the game, if even possible for the Donald, would jeopardize his base and his chances of winning. To stop the slide, Trump will need Hillary to slip up before voters go to the polls on November 8.
The remaining presidential debates are on October 9 and 19. Election Day is November 8.
A recent Facebook post would suggest so.
The post published on September 20, 2016 by Kathleen Hartington, daughter of Robert Kennedy and former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, shows her shaking former President George H.W. Bush’s hand with the caption “The President told me he’s voting for Hillary!!”
Mrs. Hartington’s post was quickly removed but not before it spread across numerous media outlets. President Bush’s stance comes at a time during the election cycle when U.S. Politicians are accustomed to rallying behind their party’s nominee for president, not saying they’ll vote for the other guy – or gal in this case.
But President Bush’s speculated vote for Clinton comes with little surprise to those following the 2016 Election. Many other Republicans have refused to endorse Trump, some going so far as to publicly endorse Clinton. It’s the latest symptom of an election that has grown more divisive as it has stretched on. Here’s a look at some prominent Republicans who are, or are thinking about casting their ballot for Hillary and what history can tell us about these would-be party defectors.
Former Republican presidential hopeful Governor John Kasich has not quite endorsed his party’s nominee, in fact he’s spent more time fending off insults from him. Although he handily won his home state of Ohio during the Republican primaries last spring, Kasich fell well short of competing with Trump and dropped out of the race in May. Like the Bush Family, Kasich stayed away from the Republican National Convention and has refused to endorse Trump. For this, the Trump camp would later call Kasich “petulant.” The result? Kasich has not committed to vote for Trump and refuses to help him campaign in Ohio – a state that no successful presidential candidate has lost since 1960.
Another influential Republican, whose vote seems to be up in the air, is former Secretary of State Colin Powell who served under every Republican president since Ronald Reagan. Powell has been a vocal political commentator in previous election cycles, sometimes endorsing Republicans and sometimes Democrats. Emails leaked on September 13, 2016 reveal Powell’s absolute disgust with Trump, calling him “a national disgrace” and “an international pariah” who “has no sense of shame.” In another email leak, Powell implies his vote may be for Clinton, saying, “I would rather not have to vote for her, although she is a friend I respect.”
Whether these men end up hitting the campaign trail for Clinton, remains to be seen, but some of their Republican colleagues are not waiting. They’ve already given their full-throated endorsement for the Democratic candidate.
Brent Scowcroft, is perhaps the most prominent Republican to publicly endorse Hillary Clinton. Mr. Scowcroft has served as National Security Advisor to both Gerald Ford and Bush Sr., and Chair of President George W. Bush’s Intelligence Advisory Board in the early 2000’s. In a statement released in June, Scowcroft said “Hillary Clinton has the wisdom and experience to lead our country at this critical time.”
Former Republican mayor of New York, Michael R. Bloomberg needn’t say much beyond make an appearance at the Democratic National Convention to provide his full support for Hillary Clinton. But instead of hiding in the rafters, he took to the stage in primetime, telling voters “there is no doubt in my mind that Hillary Clinton is the right choice this November.”
The total number of Republican leaders queuing up for Clinton is quite long but what about the other side? Are there any Democrats turned Trumpocrats? Retired General Michael Flynn, the former Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency under President Obama, seems to be the only prominent Democrat endorsing the Donald. At the Republican National Convention, General Flynn denounced Clinton, calling her an “Obama clone” and praised Trump for his toughness. General Flynn’s endorsement of Trump, however significant, is only one of very few examples where a prominent Democrat plans to vote Trump.
So what does history say about influential leaders defecting to endorse the other party’s nominee?
In elections past, division like the modern Republican Party is experiencing has spelled defeat. The 1964 election is a good example of this when Democrat Lyndon Johnson ran against Republican Senator Barry Goldwater. Due to his own controversial conservative positions, Goldwater struggled to maintain support from members of his own party and like the 2016 election, many prominent Republicans refused to endorse him. As a result, Johnson defeated Goldwater in one of the biggest landslides in U.S. Presidential Election history.
Similar comparisons could be drawn from the election of 1928 when a block of Southern Democrats refused to support Governor Al Smith as their party’s nominee. The Hoovercrats, as they became known, jumped party lines and voted for Herbert Hoover who won the election decisively.
Whether 2016 will shake out like ’28 or ‘64 remains to be seen but there are certainly some similarities. And even if the speculation around President Bush or Colin Powell voting for Hillary is false, you can bet there will be more surprising endorsements, or non-endorsements, before the end of the 2016 Presidential Election. Stay tuned.
