Month: March 2016

Wow! A woman president! And a Democrat-party woman-president at that! The euphoria was palpable. Everyone jumped on the bandwagon. Hillary would be our gal and every bone in our collective Democrat bodies would get behind her. Woe onto any aspiring Democrat pol who challenged her for the nomination. And no one did. Every otherwise-plausible candidate either kept quiet or formally announced their non-candidacy. Never mind that many Democrats, aware of Clinton’s huge negatives, were less than enthusiastic. The horrible realization grew that the Democrat party was about to nominate a candidate with no chance of winning the general election. But that possibility was either lost or ignored throughout the party leadership. It was left to an outsider, an independent no less, and an avowed socialist at that, to say “wait a minute, let’s see what the ordinary Democrat voter thinks.” And so he announced. His name is Bernie Sanders and his popularity and support have steadily GROWN while Hillary’s has steadily SHRUNK. The suspense is now growing tighter by the day: can Bernie overcome Hillary’s commanding lead before the convention? And, if not, will enough uncommitted delegates realize that Bernie is our only hope against a Trump or Cruz becoming President Of The United States. Anyone who pays attention knows what happens when Republicans take control. I`t is not pretty.

The Republican cruise ship has sailed…and it has sunk. All the 20-or-so candidates that were aboard are in the water, floundering around, desperately trying to find some way to stay afloat and relevant. With only three candidates still alive, the dropouts are trying to climb aboard either the Trump or Cruz lifeboat. (None seem to be confident. the Kasich boat can stay afloat until the convention). Meanwhile, the Republican party elite are scratching their collective heads wondering: “how in the world did we let ourselves get into this mess?”

Good Lord! Is it so crucial to prove you’re right wing bona fides that you have to do a Ted Cruz and make up whoppers (like Stephen Mallett’s March 22, 2016 letter) “… Fascism was a movement of the left and the urge to attack and eliminate opinions you don’t like is a radical left impulse”. In other words, anything unpleasant must have come from “lefties”.

David Brooks, in his dump-Trump oped of March 20, 2016, quoted extensively from the Bible in an attempt to advise Republicans on what to do about theTrump “reality”. He quotes from Psalms a piece of good advice, but one that no known Republican would ever be able to follow. It is simply not in the Republican DNA, even though it is probably best path out of the mess that 35 years of Reaganism has visited upon the country. The biblical reference is worth repeating, and is paraphrased here from the Brooks article: (italics mine) “in the face of demagogy, to go the other way, to make an extra effort to put on decency, graciousness, patience and humility, to seek a purity of heart that is stable and everlasting.” Does that sound like any Republican you know? Have any of these qualities ever been evident in any recent Republican action, or in the case of the current Senate, inaction?

Now we know who the real enemy is. It is the “totalitarian left” which, according to Charles Krauthammer, “specializes in the intimidation and silencing of political opponents.” What’s more, this goes back to “20th century fascism and communism”. So, all this time, we’ve been worried about the legacy of Hitler and Stalin shaping American politics of the left. If only we had been aware of this little-known fact, how much differently would we have voted.

Kathleen Parker’s op-ed of March 14, 2016, pretty well described “The Donald”, using only six unflattering adjectives. It is a stretch, however, to imply that he reflects “our society”. Thankfully, Trump is a reflection of the Republican Party itself, not society as a whole. How could we possibly live in a society where everyone was a Republican like Trump.

If there is one thing America is ready for it is CHANGE! And one thing can safely be said about Donald Trump: he is different. No worries about “more of the same” here. In fact, Trump, being the consummate Republican himself, constitutes the most valid representation of Republican ideology, certainly more than any of the other candidates. Why, else, would he gather so much more support than any other candidate?

Here is a challenge for all those “liberal” Democrats who think Bernie Sanders’ ideas are “pie in the sky”: name one, just one, of Bernie’s proposals that is not logical, doable, desperately needed and simply the right thing to do. Name one.

Donald Trump is the image in the virtual mirror where the Republican party is viewing its true reflection. Apparently, party leaders don’t like what they see, even though there is no one else to blame.