Archives for April 2016

Say what you will about Donald Trump – he’s a racist, a demagogue, a fascist, a buffoon, a liar, a con artist, etc. But he is providing an important service to our country. He is reminding us of an uncomfortable truth few Americans care to accept. You see, far from being a nation of “exceptionalism,” we are a nation in decline.

The message is right there in Trump’s slogan … “Make American Great Again!” The keyword in the slogan, of course, is “again.” If America needs to be made great again, logic dictates it is no longer great. Could it be that Reagan’s once “shining city upon a hill” is now just a flickering metropolis having a hard time paying its electric bill? Is it really possible the once undisputed greatest nation on earth may now just be one of the great nations on earth?

Trump, in all his narcissistic renown, believes he is the only mortal who can restore our country to its former glory; to its rightful place among nations… number one. And this message of lost primacy is resonating with voters. You hear it in the chants at his rallies… USA! USA! USA! You hear it in his message about “winning.”

Trump has said, “We are a country that doesn’t win anymore. We don’t win anymore. When was the last time we won? We don’t win on trade. We don’t win on the military. We don’t beat ISIS. We don’t do anything. We’re not good. We’re just not the same place. We are going to win, so much.”

Trump, unlike any politician perhaps in this nation’s history, flat out tells us we’re a nation of losers.

In many ways, Trump is right. America has lost its mojo. But Trump might want to add these to his list of America’s shortcomings: we no longer win in education, in global competitiveness, in child well-being, in literacy, in national satisfaction, in health care efficiency, in wireless broadband, in gender equality or in freedom of the press. (https://rankingamerica.wordpress.com/page/4/)

But we Americans can take heart. We still lead the world in prison population and death by violence.

It is beyond ironic that the man who postulates America’s decline is himself direct evidence of the truth of his proposition! Only a nation that has lost its way (some might say its mind) could support a candidate as unqualified and divisive as Donald Trump. Only a political party fighting its own battle for survival could potentially make a slick snake oil salesman, in the person of Trump, its presidential nominee.

Donald Trump may be a serial liar but on America’s decline, he’s nailed it.  We just don’t win anymore!

Trump is the first presidential candidate in recent memory to run openly, and without apology, on a platform of America’s diminishing status. But why do I doubt most Trump supporters read his slogan, “Make American Great Again!” as critically as I do?

Photo | inside-out-politics.blogspot. com

Republicans, on occasion, like to refer to themselves as a “big tent” party. For sure, there are many different factions that make up today’s GOP. There are evangelicals, teabaggers, moderates, establishment types, NRA loyalists and libertarians, just to name the most prominent groups. Sometimes these groups overlap; sometimes they are diametrically opposed to one another.

But there is one common element that holds this sprawling group of competing interests together … hate.

Whether it’s hatred of immigrants, Muslims, blacks, intellectuals, a woman’s right to control her own body, programs that help the poor and working poor, there it is, hate, weaving this complex mix of conservative Americans together.

The GOP is not a party of ideas. Well, at least not ideas that improve the lives of the citizens they are elected to represent. They are very good at legislating discrimination in the guise of religious freedom. They are highly skilled at denying certain segments of society their constitutional rights, such as the right to vote.

Even when hatred causes severe economic losses for their states, Republican legislators and governors are happy to pass laws that legalize hatred and discrimination. The so-called party of “business, jobs and economic growth” would rather cater to the prejudices and bigotry of its base than improve the lives of its constituents.

The rise of Donald is a direct result of the latent racism, homophobia and xenophobia the Republican Party has been fanning for years. But unlike previous Republican politicians, Trump threw out the dog whistle and went directly for the red meat. It was no coincidence that Trump kicked off his campaign by calling Mexicans “drug dealers, criminals and rapists.”

From that first Trump press conference, it has been a continuous rise for the man who wants to deport 11 million illegal immigrants. Trump has clearly positioned himself as the prohibitive favorite to becoming the Republican presidential nominee because his hate-filled message resonates with a majority of Republicans.

But playing on people’s fears, prejudices and anxieties is not a good, long-term governing philosophy.

“I have just one word for Mr. Trump: Basta,” Hillary Clinton said not too long ago. “Enough is enough. He’s been trafficking in prejudice and paranoia and it’s bad for our politics and bad for our country.”

Of course Clinton is right, but without hatred, what would Republicans have to bind them together?

Let’s call a spade a spade. The Republican Party is today America’s largest hate group.

Photo | the-discourses.blogspot.com

With crafty Ted Cruz racking up more delegates by the day, it is very unlikely Donald Trump will reach the required delegate total of 1237 to win the Republican nomination on a first ballot vote. It looks more and more like an open convention.

Enter Paul Ryan. Surely he will ride into the convention as the GOP establishment’s white knight come to save the party … again?

Paul Ryan won’t be doing anything of the kind. In about as clear as statement as he could make, Ryan reiterated he would not make himself available in any multiballot convention.

“Let me be clear,” said Ryan, “I do not want, nor will I accept the Republican nomination. So let me speak directly to the delegates on this: If no candidate has a majority on the first ballot, I believe you should only choose a person who actually participated in the primary. Count me out.”

So Ryan believes the nomination should go to a person “who actually participated in the primary?” If you’ve forgotten, that individual would be one of the following:

Ben Carson                             Marco Rubio                      Chris Christy

George Pataki                         Mike Huckabee                 Carly Fiorina

Jeb Bush                                  Jim Gilmore                       Rand Paul

Rick Perry                               Scott Walker                       Lindsey Graham

Bobby Jindal                          Rick Santorum

Ryan used the term “participated” because he, like the rest of the Republican elites, do not want Donald Trump or Ted Cruz coming anywhere near the Republican nomination.

But what about John Kasich? Here is a candidate who not only participated but is still participating!

If there is no winner on a first ballot convention vote, Kasich should be the Republican nominee. He would give the GOP its best shot at winning the presidency or, at least, not losing it by a landslide.

Kasich appeals to the Republican establishment … and even to some Democrats. Polls have consistently shown him to be the only Republican candidate to beat Hillary Clinton in a head-to-head matchup.

A recent Pew survey suggested Kasich is the most agreeable candidate — from either party — among a broader universe of registered voters. Only 20 percent of those voters said Kasich would make a “poor” or “terrible” president. The next-lowest total was Bernie Sanders, at 36 percent.

Another Bloomberg poll found that U.S. adults view Kasich more favorably than they view Cruz or Trump (or Sanders or Hillary Clinton, for that matter). Kasich’s net favorability (that is, favorability minus unfavorability) was plus 14, compared with Cruz’s negative 23 and Trump’s negative 39.

Kasich is the conservative candidate the party has always wanted. They tired backing Jeb and Marco to no avail.

Did I mention that polls show John Kasich as the only Republican to beat Hillary in a general election matchup?

According to a recently released Monmouth University survey, when Kasich is matched up against Clinton, 45 percent of registered voters nationwide said they would vote for the Ohio governor, compared to 39 percent for the former secretary of state. Against Clinton, Kasich leads with men, voters between the ages of 18 and 54 and white non-Hispanics, while Clinton holds a narrower advantage among women and a wider lead among those who are not white.

The $64,000 question is why hasn’t the Republican establishment gotten behind their best candidate to take on Hillary … or Bernie? Is there some dark secret lurking in Kasich’s past? Is he just not conservative enough? Or could it be that, as Bobby Jindal called it, the GOP is truly the “stupid party?” For Democrats, let’s hope.

Photo | theslot.jezebel.com

In a move that could cause damage to his political career in the deep red state of Tennessee, Gov. Bill Haslam has vetoed a bill that would have made the Bible the official  book of the Volunteer State.

But the governor’s action did not rely so much on the obvious constitutional argument as much as on the very sanctity of the Holy Book itself. Gov. Haslam felt that designating the Bible the state book would trivialize the great tome. He even cited the founding fathers in his argument. In a letter to Beth Harwell, the Tennessee Speaker of the House, he said:

Our founders recognized that when the church and state were combined, it was the church that suffered in the long run.

If Haslam had signed the bill, Tennessee would have been the first state to name the Bible as its official state book.

Many political observers are praising the governor for rejecting the controversial bill. They point out how hard it is for any Deep South politician to vote against the Bible. But all is not lost for the state as its legislators are hell-bent on passing the measure.

Sen. Steve Souterland, sponsor of the bill, said he plans to push for a veto override. House sponsor Rep. Jerry Sexton said the same and added that polls show the citizen of Tennessee support the legislation.

Supporters of the bill plan to override the veto as early as next week. All that is required is a simple majority in both chambers.

Considering the bill passed in the state house by a vote of 55-38 and in the senate by a vote of 19-8, an override seems a mere formability.

Tennessee may yet have that much-coveted distinction of being the first state in the union to make the Bible its official state book … whatever that means.

The Constitution? Separation of church and state? Just more easy work for our federal court system.

Photo | downtrend.com