Bummer Dude!

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So, it appears all these celebrities who promised to leave if Mr. Trump was elected are now staying.  They are distraught and hate the fact their countrymen are misogynists, racists, Islamophobic, and homophobic, but gosh darn they will stay right here.  Bummer dudettes, you should follow through with your threats and teach us all a lesson.

Colin Kaepernick, you remember him don’t you?  He is so outraged over the racial oppression of blacks in this country he refuses to stand during the national anthem.  He has created a cottage industry of people who are now “taking a knee.”  Colin is so outraged he didn’t bother to vote for someone who would carry the message of equality forward.  Bummer dude, you’ve shown yourself to be a self-serving hypocrite, but fortunately you are not alone and your charade can go on.

Separating political hyperbole from reality.  This was an ugly, distasteful, mean-spirited, and did I mention ugly campaign.  The left was all condemning of how democracy would be destroyed if Mr. Trump lost and did not accept the results of the election without protest.  Yet now the tables are turned, whose supporters are in the street setting fire to stuff?  Bummer dudes and dudettes, but then hypocrisy has been your political stock in trade for some time.

Chaos within the Democratic National Committee.  Early indications are that some of the professional staffers might be just a tad upset with the handling of the primary system that saw the chairman, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, HRC, Donna Brazile and the rest of the gender-specific leadership colluding to put forth a weak and corrupt candidate to face the Republicans choice.  Bummer, dudes, eight years ago and then four years ago, the Republicans went through the same thing.  That self-reflection led to a primary system that nominated a candidate who actually connected with the average citizen, even if his language offended you.  Unfortunately, I don’t see self-reflection as a strong suite for the DNC.

What Will President Obama's Legacy Be?

I awoke this morning to the sounds of the night ending.  The quiet was being replaced by the muffled cry of a lark or sparrow. The cat stretched against the blinds, and the bed protested under my shifting weight.  Alone, I opened my eyes to the darkness and tried to bring my brain to life.  What day was it?  What do I have to do?  Can I lay here just a while longer, under the warmth of the cover?  All important questions, but far too complex for this time of day so I rolled over and buried my head under the pillow, but the day continued and the inevitability of it was unavoidable, so I got up to make some coffee and feed the cats.

It has been an interesting 24 hours.  At this time yesterday I awoke to find the country had elected a Republican President, and left control of the Congress with the Republicans.  The shock to the many supporters of the Democratic candidate was palpable, as was the relief of the Republican side. The two candidates gave their expected speeches, and both were rated as excellent by those who rate such thing.  Mr. Trump’s victory speech was moderate and consolatory, while Ms. Clinton’s was perhaps her most human of the campaign.  She called for her followers to support the President, as we would hope, and urged them to continue to fight for the values she and they believed in.

Later in the day, her supporters would be found protesting and rioting in the streets, so perhaps they had not seen the speech, or chose to ignore it.

I happened to visit the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library last weekend during my visit to Austin, Texas.  It is an impressive structure.  Oversized, like the President, especially when I compare it to the Presidential Library in my hometown of Hyde Park.  You walk away from that library with an understanding that LBJ’s focus for his Presidency was to make life better for America’s poorest.  Through the establishment of social welfare and civil rights programs he did improve opportunity for many.  He did so in a time where US Industry dominated the world economy and we thought little about the cost of those programs.  Today, as our economic base shrinks those costs remain as “must pay” portions of our government, but they were decided on through a legitimate legislative process by a bi-partisan government.  Because he was a consummate deal maker in Congress he knew how to work with Congress and as a result his signature pieces of legislation endure.

During the campaign President Obama actively championed Ms. Clinton, urging their supporters to get out to vote.  He used all his familiar tools, he vilified Mr. Trump as unfit and unqualified, and praised Ms. Clinton for her experience.  He told the crowds he would take it as a personal affront if they did not elect Ms. Clinton to carry on his legacy.  So now that his support has failed to push her over the top, what kind of legacy will he leave?

President Obama is viewed as a great President by the media and his supporters, but from a critical analysis perspective I have to wonder why?  Will his leadership set the nation on a path as LBJ’s did or will it wither and die on the vine once he is not in the White House to push it every day?  I’ll let you decide, but here are some relevant facts.

President Johnson:  In office as President, 1,886 days.  Over 1,200 pieces of legislation turned into law.  Most notable, he pushed for “The Great Society” with bills including the Civil Rights Act, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Voting Rights Act.  He also pushed through the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, as well as establishing National Public Broadcasting, and protecting our wilderness areas.  Unfortunately for Johnson he inherited a small conflict that he allowed to grow into a major war that saw us send 550,000 troops to the small country of South Vietnam and lose over 58,000 killed and over 211,000 wounded.  This war cost him his opportunity for a second term and has condemned him to the back shelf in liberal politics.

President Obama:  In office as President, 2,922 days (as of 20 Jan 17).  Total legislation is probably over 1,000, with his most notable achievement the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, passed on a purely partisan basis.  He inherited 2 wars which have continued as reduced levels, but whose areas of concern have expanded to include Syria, Egypt, Libya and Northern Iraq.  His most notable achievement, PP ACA, is showing signs of collapse, and since it was a pure partisan effort it is unlikely to survive a Republican change when Mr. Trump and the Republican Congress arrive.

There's Got to Be a Morning After

The 1973 disaster film “The Poseidon Adventure” had a wonderful song, sung by Maureen McGovern it was called “The Morning After.”  Today, November 9, 2016, seems a good time to recall it as America wakes up to a Tsunami like surge in the political landscape.  A change in the party of the President is normal every 8 years or so, so it shouldn’t be a big surprise, but it always seems to be to the party faithful.

The arrogance of the two political parties has always been a mystery to me, yet it is real and unmistakable, but both parties are minorities within the electoral pool.  Neither can win if only the party faithful vote for their candidates, they both need the votes of the uncommitted citizen.  In this election, perhaps more so than in the recent past, the media did everything they could to vilify President (elect) Trump, and bolster the former Secretary of State Clinton.  Despite this, they could not persuade enough disgruntled citizens to support continuation of the status quo.  Why is that?

Eight years ago, in one of my earliest blog posts, I wrote about the Democratic Party’s sweep in the election, and my hope they would learn to govern, not rule.  And Then There Was One, included President Eisenhower’s farewell address to the nation, and is a bit lengthy but the key takeaway was the need for balance and the threat of a growing military-industrial complex where he says, “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”

 Unfortunately for the nation the next seven years proved they would not govern, choosing instead to place their political goals and the goals of their lobbyists ahead of the general good of the nation.  They would claim wonderful job growth and recovery while millions of Americans went without work, or were forced to work for significantly reduced wages.  They would  condemn the bankers and stock markets publicly, while accepting millions of dollars in funds from those they condemned, as the Federal Reserve printed money for the banks giving them extremely low interest loans and decimating the average American’s savings accounts.

They unilaterally created a health care fiasco that now, on full implementation, is driving the cost of health care through the roof for the average middle class citizen while providing supplemental support for the poorest.  There are some great things in the PPACA, but it was written by the lobbyists for the Insurance Companies, and the big medical providers so who are really the beneficiaries of this legislation?   

They implemented social changes they liked, as if this were the government’s role to show the majority the political elite know what is best for all, and the wants of the minorities must take precedent over the will of the many.  They have ignored the laws of the land, and allowed by their own estimate 11,000,000 people to remain illegally in the country.  In a country where the supply of unskilled workers exceeds the demands on workers -- who suffers from this decision?  Certainly not the political and social elite.

In each subsequent election the party lost seats, yet their arrogance continued to the extreme rather than look to the center.  The President was reelected, but in the process lost the majority position in the Senate, yet retained enough control to stonewall all opposition to his agenda.  Throughout the years, his strongest party supporters railed at any challenge to his agenda, vilifying the opposition with terms like racist, homophobic, red-neck, misogynist, xenophobe, and bigot, rather than attempting to understand the why of the opposition.  I understand this approach from children and young people, I don’t understand from mature adults responsible for making life and death decisions or the adults who support them.

Finally, in what should be considered long and hard by the Democratic elite, they chose a flawed candidate based on gender and party influence rather than seek the best possible leader.  I believe almost any other choice would have easily beaten the equally flawed Republican candidate whose biggest thing going was the chance to upset the elitist apple cart.

In looking at the posts of people I know on Facebook I see very little has changed in the last 24 hours.  The people who supported Ms. Clinton are all bemoaning the future of our nation, as if they know precisely what will happen.  They are condemning the backwardness of those who would support Mr. Trump as if they are all idiots and imbeciles, and they (the democrats) are significantly smarter, better educated, and should be in a superior position to decide what is best for the country.

Meanwhile, those who supported Mr. Trump are basking in the afterglow of a victory and confident the country will dramatically change direction, and to a fair degree gloating the social and political elites got their hats handed to them by the uprising of a disgruntled (mostly) white population that has reached a breaking point where race becomes the central focus of every presidential dialogue.

The next four years will be interesting, but sadly I don’t see a significant shift in our management of the country.  The search for a middle ground will not happen, and both sides will continue to vilify the other with ad hominem attack versus a real discussion of public policy and what is best for the nation as we move deeper into the 21^st Century.

BTW:  Here is a google link to information on Canada if you are considering a move.  https://www.google.com/search?q=canadian+immigration+and+citizenship&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

  

Whether or Not, It’s the Weather

The weather this morning is gray and overcast.  It is as if it senses the mood of the nation, and has decided the sun wasn’t going to get out of bed and brighten everyone’s mood.  Rather the sun would lounge around in its night coat, and shuffle through the day in its slippers while it sipped a cup of decaffeinated Joe, that was becoming too cool, too fast.

Maybe this will all change later, after the sun has had a chance to consider the opportunities and its mood improves, but I’m guessing not!

On a related note, the social media weather experts tell me there are no hurricanes in the immediate future, but they (the meteorologists) are keeping a watchful, or hopeful, eye out for stuff that could develop if the weather changes.  I believe I’ve moved beyond the idea that weatherman/women have our best interests at heart, and think of them as just people who have a really big office pool going on who will predict the next major weather catastrophe.  It seems more like Mega Ball than actual forecasting.

As a number of political analysts have predicted; at least ½ of the nation will wake up tomorrow feeling they have been “sucker punched” by whoever wins this election.  While I would like to feel hopeful the next President will be better than the last one or two I am not holding my breath.  The forecast for the next four years is for turbulence, intransigence, favoritism, and political graft. It really doesn’t matter which candidate wins, the top 1% will get richer, the bottom 99% will not, because integrity, honesty, and fair play does not matter to the average voter, so it won’t matter to the politicians.

The day is gray, and all the leaves are brown.

 

What is the Truth? You Can’t Stand the Truth!

Taken from the movie “A Few Good Men” this title is not an exact quote, but it serves to shape this discussion.

The Democrats are in a damage control mode, while the Republicans are in a take advantage mode for this last week of what has been a historic Presidential race, one that offers a dark forecast for national politics for the next term, regardless the eventual outcome.  The cup of hypocrisy runneth over for both parties. Have we become a nation where the truth in all things is relative, and the pursuit of the truth can be considered unethical if it does not conform to the political needs?

As the population goes to the polls and place their vote for, or against, some candidate what truth does each individual seek in their decision process?  That seems to be the $64,000 question.  I know what my priority was, and I suspect I know the priorities of most of my friends.  What I don’t know, is what do the majority of voters believe.

Poll after poll is pushed out by the news media, a conglomeration of like thinking organization that have shown themselves to have a distinct bias.  I believe this is an effort not to show what people are thinking, but to shape the truth in a way that will influence the final outcome.  That is why I’ve long believed reporting poll results as if it were news should not be allowed.

Most American citizens have neither the desire, or the need to know the deepest workings of the Presidential mind.  Did the fact Franklin D. Roosevelt cheated on Eleanor make him a less effective President?  What they need to know is does he or she truly have the nation’s best interest at heart, and can he/she work with the legislative bodies to improve the lives of the citizens.  In this election I am not sure there is a candidate on the ballot that meets either of those requirements.

What I do know is at least one party puts the needs of non-citizens above the needs of Americans.  That is the truth.

Thoughts From a Confused Old Man

Things That Confuse the Hell Out of Me.

Under the truth in philosophizing laws let me declare up front I view my intelligence as average.  That puts me at 5 on a 10-point scale.  There would be many who say that is an over estimation, and there are some who say I might be slightly above.  I also recognize in today’s society most people believe average is 8.5, but that is just one of the things that confuses me.  I am also pretty old (not really old as some would suggest), but not biologically in tune with all the social media stuff of today.  Although I do use Apple so I’ve got that hip thing going for me.

Another thing that confuses me is one of the things I saw on Facebook today.  There was a post about some family who had their son or daughter’s second tweet retweeted by the White House Agenda Twitter Urgent Provocation Control Center (WHATUP CC) showing their child cross dressing for Halloween.  They were devastated at the hateful replies their tweet received and as a consequence are voting “against hate,” I assume this means they are voting for Hillary because lord knows she is not for hate.  What confuses me on this is a) Twitter is known for its unthoughtful (oft times vitriolic) responses from people against almost anything they see. b) While enthralled that their son or daughter’s tweet was rebroadcast by the WHATUP CC they must have realized at least half the nation thinks anything coming from the WH is evil, whether it is or not, so what did they think would happen when the WHATUP CC used their innocent tweet to push its political agenda?  c) Why are you exposing your pre-adolescent to a technology you should know brings out the worst in people? And finally, d) do you really believe the Democrats and Ms. Clinton are not for hate?  Who has sent the violent demonstrators?  Who has set two standards, one for the elites and one for the common folk?  Most importantly, who has the largest body count of people who could have brought them down?

What you see as hate is the society we have become over the past 240 years.  We have become an intolerant people, especially by those who demand tolerance of their personal views and life styles.  If you think voting for HRC will change that then you are in for some rude years ahead, especially as your son/daughter turns into a teen ager and hates you for being his/her parents.

Cats!  Cats confuse the hell out of me.  Don’t get me wrong, I like animals, dogs, cats, cockatiels I’ve had a few.  As far as I know, I’ve not killed any whales (directly), nor have I decimated the North American Wolf, Deer, Antelope, Buffalo, or Coyote populations.  I thought cats were supposed to be the “leave me alone” pet of choice.  I have this 14-year-old cat we have had for about 12 years, and if I am at the keyboard he insists on laying on it.  If I am eating, he wants to stick his face into whatever I am eating to decide if he wants some or not.  If I am going to bed, he wants to go as well to make sure I assume the correct sleeping position.  The correct position involves laying where there is a space for him to bite the heck out of my hand if I don’t pet him correctly.  Cats, I often think they would make wonderful slippers.

Well that’s enough confusion for today.

Do Not Look Down

There is a great song by an Irish artist, Dougie Maclean, “Not Look Down.”  I think it nicely sums up the predicament we find ourselves in this election season.

“From up here she said, there’s no compromise, I’ve seen them laughing, they’re in up to their eyes, and all their clever words are whistling in the wind.”

 Life is a challenge, we wake each morning and begin the climb to find our higher self.  If we spend the day watching those around us fail in their climb, we will ourselves fall.  The advice of those who fear the height is “we must not look down.”

Hold yourself to a higher standard, place you trust in God, and don’t look down.