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?

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Bernie Sanders has accepted an invitation from Pope Francis to visit the Vatican next week. The Vermont senator will participate in an April 15 conference on social, economic and environmental issues. It is not yet certain whether the two will meet in private but if they do, the two socialists will surely have much to talk about.

Pope Francis is not your typical Bishop of Rome. The 79-year-old Jesuit has been outspoken about helping the poor and has been praised for criticizing the “worship of money.”

Bernie Sanders is not your everyday Democratic presidential candidate. The 74-year-old Brooklyn-born son of Polish-Jewish immigrants has made tackling income inequality a central issue of his campaign. Sanders has railed against the greed of the billionaire class and the recklessness of Wall Street.

Forgetting religious labels for a moment, the two septuagenarians are kindred spirits. The Pontiff’s message about the moral imperative for economic equality has struck a chord among Catholics hungry for a spiritual leader who actually preaches the gospel of Christ. Francis is a true progressive trying to take a 2000-year-old institution into the 21^st century.

Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, has struck a nerve among progressive Democrats with his message of a rigged economic and political system. He has amassed a large following, particularly among young people, in his long-shot bid against front-runner rival, Hillary Clinton.

“I am a big, big fan of the Pope,” said Sanders in an interview on MSNBC. “He’s trying to inject this sense of morality into how we do economics … and we need that absolutely desperately.” If elected, Sanders would be the first Jewish U.S. president.

The Pope’s invitation comes at a critical time for Sanders. The New York and Pennsylvania primaries will be held only a few days after Sanders’ visit with the Pope. Francis’ popularity among Catholics and non-Catholics alike should help Sanders and keep the Bernie momentum going now that the primary season heads into the home stretch.

“I am really excited about meeting with the Holy Father,” said Sanders. “I just hope he doesn’t try to convert me!”

OK. I made up that last quote!

But these two wise, grandfatherly men, who speak of social and economic justice, are what this world greatly needs more of.

Photos |usatoday.com/huffingtonpost.com

The political narrative this election season has focused on the stark differences between Democrats and Republicans. While GOP presidential candidates slung mud at one another at their debates, the Democrats remained civil and kept their debates issue-oriented.

Not any more.

At a campaign rally yesterday in Pennsylvania, Bernie Sanders suggested Hillary Clinton is not “qualified” to be president. But he didn’t just leave it at that. He went on to say:

“Let me just say in response to Secretary Clinton, I don’t believe  that she is qualified if she is, through her Super PAC, taking tens of  millions of dollars in special-interest money. I don’t think  that you are qualified if you get $15 million from Wall Street through your super PAC.”

“I don’t think you are qualified if you have voted for the disastrous war in Iraq. I don’t think you are qualified if you’ve supported virtually every disastrous trade agreement which has cost us millions of decent paying jobs.”

Bernie’s outburst came after Clinton questioned Sanders’ recent comments about banking reform, suggesting he didn’t know what he was talking about and needed to do his “homework.” A Washington Post article about Hillary’s comments (circulated by the Sanders camp) misleadingly said: “Clinton questions whether Sanders is qualified to be president.” In fairness to Clinton, she did not actually say Sanders is unqualified, though that was the gist of her criticism.

Yes, the Democratic presidential race has veered into new territory. But this was to be expected. The contest is headed into the fourth quarter and the Sanders camp can do the math. Clinton has a commanding lead in the delegate count, and with the all-important New York primary looming on the horizon, Bernie needs a game changer.

For Clinton, she is no doubt stung by Sanders’ recent string of primary wins, including his most recent comeback victory in Wisconsin. The Bernie momentum needs to be stopped.

Will this new nastiness hurt the eventual Democratic nominee in unifying the party? Probably not. There is just too much at stake to hold grudges. The possibility of a Republican back into the White House will surely motivate Dems to rally behind their nominee.

Photo | nationalrighttolifenews.org

On the heels of North Carolina’s recent new law sanctioning discrimination, the state of Mississippi has just raised the stakes by enacting a more restrictive anti-LGBT law of its own.

While it is hard to imagine a law that could out-bigot North Carolina’s, Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant today put his signature on a bill that does just that. The new law would “allow the denial of services, goods, wedding products, medical treatment, housing, and employment to LGBT people.”

The law, with the Orwellian name “Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act,” has met with sustained opposition from LGBT groups, businesses and the Mississippi Economic Council. They say the law sanctions discrimination against lesbians and gays.

It is only a matter of time before the backlash to this unconstitutional law begins. Just as was the case in North Carolina. Just as was the case in Indiana. But while the Indiana legislature had the good sense to “water-down” its so-called “religious freedom” bill, North Carolina has not yet felt the full economic pain to take remedial action. But they will, just as Mississippi will.

What is it about these Republican-controlled states?

For years, many Republican voters have been voting against their own economic interests. They vote for the party that favors tax cuts for the rich; eliminating social programs they rely on; and slashing funds for public education.

Now Republican-controlled statehouses are passing bills that will clearly hurt business within those states. As with blue-collar and low-income Republican voters, hot-button social issues are motivating the legislatures in these mostly southern states. In the case of these so-called “religious liberty” laws, it is opposition to newly acquired rights by gays, thanks to the Supreme Court, that is providing the impetus for these laws.

One gay rights advocacy group, Freedom for All Americans, dubbed the new Mississippi law “the nation’s worst piece of anti-LGBT legislation.” While that may be the case, for now, don’t bet against another Republican-controlled state upping the ante.

“This is a sad day for the state of Mississippi and for the thousands of Mississippians who can now be turned away from businesses, refused marriage licenses, or denied housing, essential services and needed care based on who they are,” said Jennifer Riley-Collins, executive director of the ACLU of Mississippi.

It was Bobby Jindal who coined the phrase “stupid party” to describe today’s GOP.

It appears the party of stupid just can’t help itself.

Photo | bbc.com

Donald Trump first threatened to run for president of the United States in 1988.

Of course, he didn’t run that year. In 2000, Trump did enter the presidential race, but as a candidate for the Reform Party, at the urging of his friend Jesse Ventura. He eventually withdrew from the Reform Party’s primary contest.

In 2004, Trump considered challenging George W. Bush in the Republican primaries but decided against it. In 2012, the presidential bug hit Trump once again. Speaking of his chances of winning, Trump proclaimed “I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run, I would be able to win the primary and, ultimately, the general election.” Trump decided against a 2012 run.

When Trump, in March 2015, decided not to renew his contract with NBC for his hit reality show, The Apprentice, speculation grew that Trump would once again give the presidency a try. But, of course, everyone had seen this act before. Few believed Trump would actually enter the 2016 race.

Can you fault Jon Stewart for being one of those non-believers? Stewart announced his retirement from the highly popular Daily Show on February 10, 2015. He stated he would leave the show on August 6, 2015.

Donald Trump officially declared he would seek the Republican presidential nomination on June 16, 2015.

I have a very strong suspicion if Stewart had just waited a few months before making his announcement, he would have stayed on to mine all that comedy gold a Trump candidacy would provide. But Stewart was like all the other political observers who believed Trump’s flirtation with another presidential run was just that … a trick, a ruse to generate some buzz for the king of self-promotion.

Boy, could the country have used Jon Stewart’s comedic wit this crazy presidential cycle! This is not meant to take anything away from Trevor Noah, Stewart’s replacement. Current Daily Show viewers know that Noah has done an excellent job filling some mighty big shoes.

So here we are in 2016. Donald Trump is the Republican favorite to win his party’s nomination. Who knows, maybe Trump can back up his boast of 2012 when he said he could win the Republican primary and the general election?

My take is that of all the people who can’t believe Trump is where he is in this year’s presidential race , Trump is the most shocked of all.

Photo | vdare.com

Ready to be wowed? Donald Trump’s run for the presidency was foretold over 75 years ago!

I was flipping through channels recently and ended up at TCM (Turner Classic Movies). The 1939 John Ford classic, “Stagecoach,” had just started. I had seen the movie once or twice before but I completely forgot about a certain scene that, I must admit, just floored me.

It’s the scene where a corrupt banker, fleeing town after embezzling the bank’s money, declares a set of conservative economic principles that could just as easily have come out of Ted Cruz’s mouth (or any other right-wing conservative for that matter). He laments that America should be for Americans; that taxes are too high; that the national debt is out of control; and that the hated government needs to keep its nose out of business.

Click the image below to be amazed.

For those who have watched this classic western, you know that the corrupt banker, unlike our present-day thieves, gets arrested at the end of the movie. It is heartwarming to see justice prevail, even if only in an old movie like “Stagecoach.” As Archie Bunker liked to say, “Those were the days!”

Donald Trump does not want to be president. But he wants to win the presidency. Donald Trump does not want the awesome responsibility of being the leader of the free world. But he wants to be labeled a winner.

I have little doubt that the billionaire reality TV star entered the presidential race simply to promote the Trump brand. What better way to get free publicity? But a funny thing happened on the way to the forum – his candidacy gained traction. So much so, he is now the odds-on-favorite of becoming the Republican nominee for the White House.

For Trump, it’s all about winning. It doesn’t matter what the subject – a contract, a negotiation, the perfect wife or an election. If the Trump brand stands for anything, it’s for success, attainment … winning.

Is Trump a little fuzzy on what policies he would pursue as president? Does he continually shift positions like a man who hasn’t given much thought to those positions? Of course! His M.O. is not about the arduous task of governing but the splendiferousness of coming out on top.

John Kasich, fellow candidate for the Republican nomination, recently said, “Donald Trump is not prepared to be President.”

And this is news?

Donald Trump is in the business of promoting the Trump brand. While he might not have entered the race to actually win the nomination, his ego will not now allow him to exit the contest. Trump knows he must keep winning for the sake of the brand.

If you actually look at some of Trump’s “proposals,” they stand out for their vacuity. His positions are either silly (Mexico will pay for a wall) or unconstitutional (ban on all Muslims) or empty (we must enforce our laws). There just is no there… there.

It appears there are only two ways this Trump reality show will end. He either admits to himself he does not care about the whole governing thing and backs off (unlikely) or voters realize he is just not presidential material and reject him (maybe).

Right now, voters seem to like Trump’s confidence, and his populist rhetoric so much that they do not care about his lack of experience or interest in the job he is applying for. Maybe that is part of his appeal? But maybe voters will come to realize that once the winning is done, a president actually has to govern. And they see the only thing Donald Trump is interested in is promoting Donald Trump … and that they’ve been played.

Here’s an interesting side note. Donald Trump estimates his net worth to be in the vicinity of $10 billion (Forbes has it a $4.5 billion). It should be noted, by Trump’s reckoning, the biggest asset within his portfolio is the Trump name – a brand he will protect at all costs.

Photo | people.com