PLEASE NOT CLINTON VS. TRUMP 2024

Just when I thought things couldn’t get much worse in this country, I see news flashes that the Democrats and Republicans have gone bonkers. They’re talking about a Clinton/Trump rematch for the next presidential election. Someone tell me this isn’t true. Please not Clinton vs. Trump 2024.

Since I’m older than both of them, I guess I can say this without it sounding like ageism. Why in the world would both parties run a couple of broken down, scandal ridden has-beens? Everything from White Water, to the fake Russian dossier, the Benghazi debacle and good buddy Epstein hang over Hillary’s head. From there, we go to Stormy Daniels, Trump University, the Covid debacle, and current investigations for fraud by the New York attorney General–all a dark cloud following Trump. And those are just a few of the problems each of them have faced. Enough already.

Someone once said that the best training for a future president of the United states is having served as a state governor. I’m not so sure of that. Reagan from California was a success, and former Texas governor Bush did get re elected. But look at poor Jimmy Carter, former governor of Georgia. He didn’t fare so well.

Nevertheless, I took the time to review the governors of every state in the union. The majority are Republicans. A lot of them are in their sixties and seventies. None of them strike me as red hot presidential material.

Naturally, I favor our own Indiana governor Holcomb, who is 53. He’s extremely well liked in Indiana, but I don’t think he’d stand a chance on the national stage. For one thing, he comes across as too honest and sincere. The media would see him as a dud. Others have mentioned fellow Hoosier and former mayor, Pete Buttigieg as a Democratic possibility. Maybe, but I’m not sure that a gay man could be elected president by the majority of the population.

That takes us down to the Senate and House of Congress. There must be dozens of young, charismatic office holders scattered throughout the country. Surely, the Democrats and Republicans can pick a winner out of that pool. Somebody. Anybody. But please not Clinton vs. Trump 2024.

December 18, 2020December 18, 2020

WHAT’LL WE DO NOW?

The 2020 Election is pretty well over. Yes, it’s being contested, but it doesn’t look like that effort is going anywhere. According to various polls, at least half of Americans think there was voter fraud, but there’s no proof. That may stir up a little flurry in the media, but the pre-election frenzy has fizzled out. As Richard Nixon said in 1962, after losing the California governor’s race, “you won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore.” Trump could say the same thing. What’s going to happen to people like Rachael Maddow, Sean Hannity, Don Lemon, and Tucker Carlson? What will they rant and rave about, and what’ll we do now?

Print media will have the same problem. Have you read the newspapers the past few days? If it weren’t for the coronavirus epidemic, I don’t know what they would have to report. They’re filling their pages with more and more “soft news” on topics like disease, domestic abuse, and jail overcrowding.. Honestly, I don’t know why we still take two newspapers. Guess it’s just force of habit. None of our adult children have newspaper subscriptions, and I don’t think they’re going to start buying newspapers now.

Cable news, especially, will suffer. CNN, MSNBC have provided fodder for the liberals . while conservative Fox News scores highest in prime time viewing. . Network news is federally regulated, and makes it’s money through advertising. Higher ratings mean they can charge more to advertise. Unfortunately for them, Cable news isn’t heavily regulated, so they can up their ratings and attract more advertisers because of all their outlandish political diatribes against one party or the other.

This past week, we’ve done a lot more channel surfing. We’ll watch anything but cable news. The other night, we watched a fascinating documentary “Mountain Men.” Since both of us come from farm backgrounds, it probably appealed to us more than the average city slicker.

Actually, it’s been rather relaxing. You don’t have to endure irritating social media posts about politics. Or avoid people with opposing political views. The excitement is over. But, what’ll we do now?

November 9, 2020November 9, 2020

DID YOU VOTE FOR OR AGAINST?

Remember the 2016 Presidential Election? No one could understand why Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump. Especially since she won the popular vote. Most political pundits conduct a post mortem after all is said and done. And, the consensus was that a lot of people didn’t like Hillary. They didn’t vote for Trump so much as they voted against Hillary. So what happened in the 2020 Election? I suspect it wasn’t that voters liked Biden so much as they disliked Trump. Did you vote for or against?

What wasn’t to like about Hillary? She was smart, personable, and extremely experienced. Having been married to a two term President, and served as Secretary of State, her credentials far out-classed Trump in every way imaginable. And yet, many people remembered how she defended Clinton in his numerous peccadilloes and affairs. She dismissed all his ex’s and accusers as liars and trashy women. A lot of women, especially, found that annoying. And then, she called the half of Americans who supported Trump, a basket of deplorables. At times, she could sound strident and shrill.

Did you vote for Biden or against Trump. Many Americans probably voted against. — Did Americans vote *for* Biden or against Trump in the 2020 election? In 2016, they voted against Hillary as opposed to Trump.

I saw Hillary Clinton when she came to our city to campaign. In person, she was charismatic and radiant. That didn’t’ come across on the big screen. And so, she lost by a very thin margin.

About Trump: He started off on the wrong foot the day of the inauguration by complaining about his news coverage. Who cared about how many lined the streets or if a small crowd attended. Why did he have to make an issue of it? Trump had his moments, and he did a lot for the economy and working class people. But in the end, many voters got tired of his name calling, tweeting, and firing his advisors. His unpredictable behavior and handling of the coronavirus was the last straw.

Now, if the Democrats had considered Joe Biden a strong candidate in 2016, why didn’t they nominate him to run? Biden was seen by many as simply a party hack, with nothing very outstanding to appeal to the voters. That’s why a lot of people didn’t think he could win this time around. When all’s said and done, I suspect people didn’t vote for Biden as much as they voted against Trump. There were some amazingly smart, talented presidential candidates vying for the nomination during the DNC convention. Even though Biden turned out to be their safe bet, I believe any one of those candidates could have beat Trump. He had made so many enemies, it’s a wonder the election was even close.

Did Americans vote for Biden or against Trump.?

August 31, 2020August 31, 2020

SHOULD A ROBOT RUN FOR PRESIDENT?

Have you ever said something stupid? Or done something irrational? If you’re a human being living on this earth, it’s safe to say you have a few regrets. However, if you’re a politician, the voters won’t cut you much slack. I can think of many cringe worthy moments and major mistakes made through the years with every single president of the United States, starting with FDR. It makes you wonder: Should a robot run for president?

Some scientists think artificial intelligence would make better presidential decisions — Using artificial intelligence, robots might make better presidential decisions.

For example: John Kennedy made a mistake during the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba . He made up for it during the Cuban Missile Crisis, But he was assassinated before he came up for re election. Harry Truman had a public hissy fit when someone made fun of his daughter’s singing. Richard Nixon was dumb enough to order a break in at the Democratic headquarters. Bill Clinton had an affair with an intern. Presidents are just way too human.

While you may think it sounds outlandish, a robot for president isn’t a new idea. Some scientists say politics is a “multidimensional, nonlinear problem of optimization.” Consequently, they believe we should put a computer in charge of the country. They’ve concluded that artificial intelligence could make big, complicated decisions better than a real live president.

Let’s take this idea a step further. I suggest that we have two robots running for president. Robot Dem and Robot Rep. Each party would key in the basic aspects of their platforms . The Democrats would tell their robot to make decisions favoring Medicare for all, and open borders Naturally , the Republicans would plug in closed borders, and private health insurance. Decisions on war and peace would be based on outcomes of conflicts throughout the ages. Mathematical statistics would decide the best economic policies.

Others things a robot president wouldn’t have to worry about:

Age. A robot is never too young or too old.

Hair: Orange hair, baldness, hair plugs—none of it matters. A robot has no hair at all.

Sexual harassment: Robots don’t smell women’s hair, have sex with interns, or get accused of raping a girl at a college frat party.

Health: Robots don’t suffer from back pain, heart attacks, cancer, high blood pressure. IT technicians can keep them in good working order.

Embarrassing relatives. Many presidents have had to deal with them. Remember Jimmy Carter’s brother, Billy Carter?

Emotions. Robots don’t have character flaws . They aren’t greedy, lusty, or narcissistic. They make decisions strictly on the facts.

Therefore, It seems as though the American people might be better off with a robot for president.

August 26, 2020August 26, 2020

DC AWASH IN FAMILY DYSFUNCTION

Some of us have experienced more family dysfunction than we would care to admit. The façade of the “perfect family” is one that’s carefully nurtured and preserved. Politicians, especially, strive to present such an image. President Barack Obama and Vice President Mike Pence represent the ideal persona of happily married family men. Unfortunately, right now, Washington DC politicians are awash in a sea of family dysfunction.

Starting last year with Joe Biden’s son, Hunter. He’s the one who got kicked out of the Navy. Nevertheless, he made millions for doing almost nothing in China and the Ukraine while his dad was VP. Then, he got some show girl pregnant and refused to assume responsibility for the daughter she bore him. She had to go to court and get a DNA test to prove paternity. But that’s all water over the dam. He was proudly scheduled as a speaker at the DNC convention.

Things got really juicy in July when Donald Trump’s angry, disgruntled niece-from-hell, wrote a tell-all book about the dysfunctional Trump family. OMG! Senior Trump was a tyrant, an abuser, and Lord knows what all. Granny Trump opted out of motherhood—it was just too much for her. And to top it all off, the oldest son was an alcoholic, and his kids didn’t get any more in the final Trump will than the other grandkids. Well, Mary Trump got even. She went so far as to stir up some sibling rivalry, secretly recording big sissy Mary Anne complaining about baby brother. I guess all of us rant and rave about our sibs at times, but we don’t expect it to be recorded for public consumption.

Back to Biden. We know he likes to smell women’s hair. That seems weird, but not exactly immoral. What we didn’t know, until now, is that he had an affair with his wife , Jill, while she was still married to someone else. Her ex husband is writing a tell all book to be released in October.

Speaking of affairs with a married person. Vice Presidential candidate, Kamala Harris was 29 when she started an affair with 60 year old Willie Brown. His being Speaker of the California State Assembly made up for the age difference, I guess. Trouble was, he had a wife and three children.

DC awash in sea of dysfunction. Kellyanne Conway & husband George finally quit their jobs to become parents. — DC Awash in Sea of Family Dysfunction. Kellyanne Conway and her husband finally quit their jobs to become parents.

Next, we have the, most blatantly dysfunctional family imaginable with Trump advisor, Kellyanne Conway. Her husband started a Super Pack, called the Lincoln Project, to bash Trump. I guess they must have been living separately. We wondered where their four kids fit into all this, but last week, we found out. Their teenage daughter went online to accuse them both of being losers and abusers as parents. Consequently, both Kellyanne and her husband George quit their jobs and presumably are trying to salvage what’s left of their dysfunctional family.

Does it really matter to the voters? Bill Clinton had an affair with Monica Lewinsky and got impeached. He’s been seen at the secret hideaway of sex offender Epstein, but they still had him speaking at the DNC convention.

Reporters just love it all. It gives them something to rant and rave about. But after awhile, you wonder if politicians are a different breed. You’d have to have a hide like a rhinoceros to survive. Maybe all that family dysfunction toughened them up.

Remember the words of PT Barnum: “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.”

July 15, 2020July 15, 2020

MISERY HATES HAPPINESS

If there’s anything that makes us mad, it’s when someone who treated us bad gets to be happy. It doesn’t matter whether they were right or wrong, or if it’s all in our minds. We simply don’t think they deserve to be happy, especially if we aren’t. Often, the person we hate appears to be happier than they really are. That doesn’t help. If they give the outward appearance of being happy, it’s galling. Misery hates happiness.

The tell- all book about Donald Trump by his niece, Mary Trump, is a case in point. She and her brother think they were messed over by their aunt and uncles. It was all about money. Mary thought they should have inherited more than the senior Trumps’ other grandchildren. She and her brother have been nursing a 20 year grudge, and she was sick and tired of seeing Donald Trump happy. So she decided—in her words—to “take him down.” She wants him to be as unhappy as she , apparently is. Although , she’s probably feeling a little bit happier with the royalties from a #1 best selling book.

Another case of misery hating happiness may occur when two people get a divorce. If one person remarries and is happy, the other one feels resentful if they haven’t moved on successfully.

There are numerous ways that one person’s joy may cause another’s misery. A woman who can’t get pregnant resents her friend with children. A co-worker gets a promotion that we feel should have been ours. It goes back to the beginning of recorded history.

What should you do if you realize that your happiness is making someone miserable? Obviously, avoid bragging. But some things can’t be fixed. You can’t stop being happy . And if you’re the miserable one, get over it. As the saying goes, get a life. Do something different. Go someplace new. Start a gratitude list. If it’s really that bad, see a therapist. Or, if the person you hate is the president of the United States, you could write a book about him, and get back some of that money you thought you deserved

January 20, 2020January 20, 2020

PELOSI’S PENS WERE A CRASS ACT

Many pastimes, like bridge or golf, can be intensely competitive. But when a player high fives or gloats after winning, it’s annoying to the losers. A winner showing pleasure at the other’s persons failure is seen as arrogant and offensive. For awhile , it looked like Nancy Pelosi was a class act. She appeared somber in a black dress, and declared she was praying for Trump. But her pious image changed when she signed the articles of impeachment. She gloated and flaunted herself in a bright pink dress. Then, she merrily pulled out 30 gold pens with her name engraved on them. After signing impeachment papers, she giddily handed out the pens as souvenirs. Pelosi’s pens were a crass act.

Nancy Pelosi handed out impeachement pens engraved with her name — After signing the articles of impeachment, Pelosi handed out souvenir pens engraved with her signature.

Yes, I know. Trump has made fun of her and called her names. He’s been a boor. She has every right to be happy she finally got him impeached. But, just for the sake of decorum, a more dignified behavior would have been in order. Do you pray for your enemies, or dance on their graves, Mother Nancy? You can’t have it both ways.

The Speaker of the House seems to forget that roughly half the citizens of the USA aren’t happy about the impeachment. But she made it clear that she doesn’t care about that “basket of deplorables” in this country who voted for Trump. Basically she was sticking out her tongue and jumping up and down like a rude little kid . And she trivialized the whole impeachment proceeding, as if it were just a party game.

“Do not gloat when you enemy falls, and do not let your heart rejoice when he stumbles, or the Lord will see and disapprove, and turn His wrath away from him”

…..Proverb 24: 17, 18