Archives for 2016

With Donald Trump winning today’s Indiana primary, it is all but certain he will be the Republican presidential standard bearer come November. Call Trump what you want: buffoon, con artist, racist, narcissist, whatever. As surreal as this may be, get used to calling him Donald J. Trump, the 2016 GOP presidential nominee.

Trump’s only real competitor, Ted Cruz, saw the crushing loss in Indiana for what it was … the end of the road. He announced his formal withdrawal from the presidential race while, at the same time, vowing to never give up fighting for his principles. Might we see Cruz again, at a future date, as a possible Republican presidential nominee? You betcha!

On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders beat Hillary Clinton in the Hoosier State. But since delegates are awarded proportionately (unlike Republicans), the math didn’t improve much for Bernie. He is still far behind Clinton in the pledged delegate count and is trailing badly among super delegates.

Folks, we are looking at a thrilling Trump v. Clinton slugfest, race towards the bottom.

With Trump you get an inexperienced real estate billionaire and TV reality star that has offended just about every group needed to win a general election. A candidate heartily endorsed by the KKK because his views on immigrants closely resemble theirs. A candidate who likes to call women bimbos and pigs. A candidate who will build the most beautiful wall you’ve ever seen along the Mexican border… and have Mexicans foot the bill! A candidate who will defeat ISIS in a matter of weeks. Yea that guy.

With Clinton you get a highly experienced politician who has paid her dues and believes the presidency is rightfully hers. A candidate seeped in one scandal after another going back to her days as First Lady. A candidate who commands $250,00 speaking fees from Wall Street fat cats. A candidate whose family foundation, the Clinton Foundation, has accepted millions from questionable foreign sources. A candidate progressive Democrats label a Republican. Yea that woman.

If Donald Trump were indeed the Republican presidential nominee, he would be the most despised presidential nominee in our nation’s history. Following close behind, Hillary Clinton would be the second most disliked nominee… ever.

No matter who wins in November, our nation’s next president will be abhorred by huge segment of Americans. The issue for voters will be which candidate is the lesser of two evils; the less polarizing and less detested of the two presidential candidates.

As the Soviet-born comedian, Yakov Smirnoff, might say, “What a country!”

Photo | cnn.com

Not to be outdone by other Republican-controlled legislatures, a small town in Alabama has actually made it a crime to use the wrong bathroom.

Oxford, Alabama unanimously passed an ordinance this week criminalizing the use of any public restroom that doesn’t correspond with a person’s gender listed on his or her birth certificate.

Anyone found violating the ordinance could face a $500 fine or up to six months in jail.

Perhaps southern states might better serve their citizens if lawmakers regulated “trans fats” rather than “trans genders.” Sure might help with that obesity problem, y’all.

Proving once again he is a natural at comedy, President Obama last night delivered his last White House Correspondents’ dinner speech to a room filled with journalists, celebrities and Bernie Sanders.

Bernie attended the formal affair in the same blue suit he routinely wears at his rallies while Jane, his wife, wore an elegant evening dress more appropriate for the black tie event.

Obama even quipped about Bernie’s look.

“Bernie you look like a million bucks. Or to put it in terms you’ll understand, you look like 37,000 donations of $27.”

Obama started his stand up routine by noting, if his material worked well, “I am gonna use it at Goldman Sachs next year.”

He observed that next year, “Someone else will be standing here in this very spot and it is anyone’s guess who she will be.”

Probably the best one-liner of the night came when Obama spoke of his recent, surprisingly-high approval ratings. “The last time I was this high,” said the President, “I was trying to decide on my major.”

As great as Obama was with his monologue, the real comedian and host for the evening, Larry Wilmore, was a flop. No doubt it is hard following an act like Obama’s. Add the fact that your material is not funny, and your delivery did not resonate with your crowd, it’s a given you will not be asked back for a repeat gig.

Contrary to what many of his detractors may think, Obama will go down as one of our nation’s best and most consequential presidents. He will no doubt be remembered as our country’s greatest Comedian in Chief … ever.

It is hard to imagine next year’s WHC dinner. Hillary just isn’t a natural at comedy like Barry.

Photo | politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com

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