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

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