"So long Antonin"

What a shock losing this great jurist this week. I wish we lived closer to DC, I would just like to have been able to pay my respects at the Supreme Court today.

Being a conservative I agreed with most of Antonin Scalia's decisions over the 30 years he served this country. But he was more than just a Conservative, he had this solid 'originalist' interpretation of the Constitution and did not waver. But learning more about this man during the past week we could all take a lesson from him. His liberal peers on the court even though they differed significantly in their philosophy were some of his closest friends. Justice Ruth Ginsberg lauds him as the most honest and charming person she had ever known and one of her closest friends. He was even  teaching liberal justice Elena Kagan to hunt, which was one of his loves.

Maybe one of the legacies he will leave behind is the ability to have deep philosophical differences with someone and still be close friends. I recall years ago Ronald Reagan and House democratic leader Tip O'Neil would fight all day and then sit down together at night over a drink, and they got things done. That is not the case in DC now where division between parties is paramount. I lay the blame for much of this on Obama, although I'm sure my liberal friends will disagree. In his State of the Union speech this year Obama said that he wished he could have done more to bring people together. Think about that statement and then ask yourself why he is not going to Antonin Scalia's funeral, the first President in our lifetime not to honor the death of a long standing Supreme Court justice. I am beginning to agree with Marco Rubio and believe this guy knows exactly what he is doing and dissing Scalia's memory is just part of his narcissistic personality.

Anyway, here's a toast to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, may he rest in peace.  His legacy will live on and history will record him as one of this country's great statesmen.

"Crunchtime"

So far in this primary election season the experts are scratching their heads. It was supposed to be a Hillary coronation and Jeb with his $120 million was supposed to crush all his opponents on the republican side. It's not exactly working out that way.

Hillary's crown is being stolen by a 74 year old socialist who for 25 years was an insignificant congressman who finally realized that if you offer people enough free stuff and convince them the system is rigged against them, you get votes. It is the classic democratic playbook but Bernie decided to take it to the extreme and caught the Hillary campaign with their pants down. And as of today 'The Bern' is slightly ahead nationally in one poll....wow the Hillary campaign has to be in a panic mode along with her big donors.

And on the republican side, in some polls Jeb is in last place even with 'W' campaigning with him. And tonight Jeb's campaign announced that they are bringing in the 'big gun'....mama arrives in South Carolina tomorrow. He has become the 'Rodney Dangerfield' on the republican side, spending millions of dollars and 'getting no respect'.

One message the voters are sending loud and clear; they are sick and tired of the so-called political dynasties and just want them to go away.  The democrat's caucus is in Nevada Saturday and then they vote in South Carolina next Saturday. The republicans vote just the opposite. So in the next week the situation will become even more focused. Trump has maintained a solid 1/3 of the vote but with five others splitting the remainder. As others drop out (if they do) it will be interesting to see where those votes go. Trump also has other campaigns in a panic, and today keeping his name in the news he picks a fight with the pope while his opponents wonder what the hell is happening.

The talk shows along with Saturday Night Live are having a field day. Jay Leno on a guest appearance last night told this joke: "What do you call a person that digs up dirt on Bernie Sanders?...an archaeologist."  I thought this was funny and sent it on to my liberal friends but got no response...why do liberals have no sense of humor? Stay tuned...

 

"Political Chaos"

'Chaos': Complete confusion and disorder: a state in which behavior and events are not controlled by anything. 

That sounds about where we are in this election season.  We started out with an interesting array of candidates: a combination of establishment Republicans and Conservatives on the Republican side and a combination of Socialists on the Democratic side (one who is on her way to being indicted).

Both of the last debates were meaningless:

The Democratic debate was a yawner; you could have slept through three fourths of it without missing anything. Both socialist candidates tried to outdo each other offering potential voters every entitlement in the book without any requirement to work for it, and with the same tired message "The system is rigged, you don't have a chance, and the successful people in this country should redistribute some of their wealth to you", without any discussion of how in the world it would be paid for. What I found despicable was Bernie and Hillary's disparagement of this country, the police in this country, and the successful people in this country in their blatant attempt to pander to the 'Black Lives Matter' group and the poor and minority vote in general.

The Republican debate was a "food fight". As a Conservative I was embarrassed especially with Donald Trump who was his usual bombastic, arrogant self but made statements that were outrageous. Any reasonable person, either Democrat or Republican does not believe George Bush was responsible for 9/11. Trump is the antithesis of decorum.  So rather than discuss issues we saw two hours of stupid attacks. It is interesting that Trump still leads by a large margin in the polls and now adding to the chaos, today he was threatening again to run as an Independent if the RNC doesn't "treat him better".

If you look at Trump and Bernie, both candidates that should not even be in the running, you can only conclude there is significant anger against the 'establishment' in this voter base.

But now add to the chaos the death of Supreme Court judge Antonin Scalia,  Bloomberg's threat to jump in as an Independent, Hillary's potential for implosion if she gets indicted, and the growing controversy over Super Delegates .  Hillary already has 361 Super delegates pledged to her even though Bernie is way ahead in votes. The fix is in folks, poor Bernie Dangerfield "gets no respect' and if Hillary gets indicted Joe Biden has his white horse saddled and ready to ride in. 

If this was not such a serious election it would be fun watching all this chaos, but at least there will be plenty to Blog about and it will be interesting.


   

"New Hampshire speaks"

The voters in New Hampshire have spoken but do we know what they said?

This was the first real primary vote since Iowa was a Caucus. First some numbers - 526,090 New Hampshire voters voiced their opinion: 279,263 Republican and 246,827 Democrat. The Bern and the Trumpster came out as winners, and they now head south. Bernie took Hillary to the woodshed  beating her by 22 points and it was embarrassing watching her and Bill on that stage during her concession speech spinning and smiling, almost like they had won...what a joke. And Bernie went on and on with his acceptance speech for 30 minutes spewing the same message of 'free everything' for people that vote for him and a continuous litany of how Wall Street and "rich" people are screwing the folks.


Trump won easily but against a large field with Kasich second, Cruz third, Bush fourth, and Rubio fifth. After disappointing results Christie and Fiorina dropped out today reducing the field before another debate Saturday. Dr. Carson with 2% of the vote has decided to hang in there and so has Jim Gilmore who had a grand total of 133 votes (I had no idea he had that many relatives in New Hampshire).

The amount of money spent on this primary was astounding. Bernie and Hillary continually rant about how money controls politics. Well let's see how money has controlled this primary. Bush spent an astounding $37 million in New Hampshire; $1200 per vote and came in fourth. Trump spent $40 per vote and won, and Cruz spent $18 per vote and came in third. So much for money controlling politics. People are angry and establishment candidates with all their money and support cannot break through with their same old message.

So everyone heads south and the primary season expands. Hillary says; "Don't worry the Black and Latino vote will carry us in future primaries". The DNC must be in a panic. Not only because Bernie thumped her in New Hampshire, but every day more comes out about her illegal email activities as Secretary of State. What if she is indicted? Some say Joe Biden will come in on a white horse to save the day or Bloomberg will jump in as an Independent.  Poor Bernie the Rodney Dangerfield of this political season "can't get no respect", even from his own party.  But Bernie is on the offensive, meeting with Al Sharpton this morning in Harlem hoping the Sharpster will come out and say to his followers: "Can't y'all feel the Bern"...I'm not so sure, but I have lost some respect for Bernie pandering to this race hustler.
                                     
Anyway, we will see what happens as we move forward. I have friends (a few) that believe Bernie is on a roll to the White House...we'll see. The guy isn't exactly a powerhouse legislator; after a quarter-century in Congress the Bern has been the chief sponsor of three bills that were signed into law:  One that increased the annual cost-of-living raise for veterans’ benefits and two others renaming U.S. Postal Service offices in his home state of Vermont...quite an accomplishment in 25 years of political service. So pay attention Republicans, this guy they call 'The Bern' could be tough if he gets the nomination.

              

"Feel the Bern"

There are two candidates that baffle me this election season - Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. We will leave the Trumpster for another Blog since Bernie is such an interesting subject.

I find this guy they call 'The Bern' fascinating even though I wouldn't vote for a socialist unless he was running against a Clinton. But you can tell he is the real deal and sincerely believes in socialism; he is not the classic politician who tells people what they want to hear. I always respect someone who honestly defends what he believes in.  A friend of mine thinks I discriminate against him because he is old - hell I am two years older (but not running for President).  I am against him because he is a socialist who, like the Sirens singing to Odysseus, is seducing his followers with the promise of an endless list of 'free stuff'.

Bernie has taken the democratic playbook to a new level. On an emotional level it is very difficult to compete with the philosophy of socialism. After all who does not want free unlimited health care for everyone, free college for everyone, free child care for everyone, free 12 weeks paid family leave plus two weeks' vacation plus one week sick pay for everyone, and on and on...but reality most of the time trumps emotion (pardon the pun).

So how is all this 'free stuff' paid for? Again, on an emotional level it's easy to convince many voters those wealthy corporations and rich (usually successful) people should redistribute their income to less fortunate members of society. It is the Carl Marx model that has never worked but is continually recycled by the democrats in one form or another.

It is not the intent of this Blog to present a dissertation on Capitalism vs Socialism but many experts including economists on Bernie's side admit that his system cannot work by just raising taxes on the rich - taxes will have to be raised on everyone. And even Mr. Sanders admits that, but he also insists that "it will be made up by savings in other areas" (no heath care premiums, no college costs, etc.). So in effect he admits that we will all pay for his programs one way or another. So the bottom line with socialism is this: One way or another you are going to pay for it, so do you want the government running things or do you want free enterprise running things. The answer can be made with a few simple comparisons: Amazon's web site vs the Obamacare web site, or Citi Banks ability to track your Visa activity and immediately recognize criminal activity; or the US government's ability to track visitors who overstay their visa, or illegal aliens who simply disappear. You make the choice.

But the Bern does have remarkable energy, his speeches remind me of fire and brimstone sermons as he waves his arms and condemns the corporations and rich people, and his siren song convinces his followers that they are entitled to some of the wealth earned by successful people in this country and should be redistributed to them in the form of 'free stuff'.

Obviously I do not support 'the Bern'; on the contrary if he is the democratic nominee I will do my small part to work toward his defeat. But I do respect this lovable curmudgeon who has taken on the Clinton machine, one of the most corrupt political dynasties in the history of this country, and is giving them a run for their money.

The Race for the White House begins.

Now that voting has started I have decided to bring my Blog out of hibernation (OK, I have also been lazy). But before I start commenting on election results, let's remind ourselves where we have been the past 7+ years and what we are voting for. Maybe this year Americans will finally get a chance to see where the country stands - a true Progressive (or maybe even a Socialist) against a true Conservative.  The country needs to have that vote.

 Merriam Webster; Progressive:  'of relating to, or characterized by progress'.

There was a time when people on the left called themselves 'liberals', but over time that description of their philosophy started to have a bad connotation, probably at the time of the Carter presidency. So the liberal left decided to redefine their philosophy and started calling themselves "Progressives", and over the years they were successful in convincing the American voters to elect a young, good looking junior Senator with a golden speaking voice as the first real "progressive" president. And the fact that he was the first black president was frosting on the cake; Progressives were on cloud nine.



Well, let's see how the country has "progressed" since the Obama administration took power seven years ago:


The economy
The economy has been in the doldrums for the duration of this administration averaging around 2% growth (the last quarter of 2015 was a pitiful 0.7%). The Obama administration blames it on Bush, and 'W' did leave them a mess, but folks it has been 7 years and trillions of dollars later! Some say this economic growth is the 'new norm', if that's the case this country will never have a chance of reducing our $18+ trillion debt and our kids and grand kids will inherit the mess.

We are told unemployment has come down from 10% to 5%, but the real story is the number of people who stopped looking for a job. Experts (including our man Bernie Sanders) that don't spin these numbers estimate the actual unemployment rate is 10.3 % in 2015. The labor participation rate is the lowest it has been since Jimmy Carter (another real 'Progressive'). Some of this is due to demographics (baby boomers retiring), but much of it is because there are few good jobs. But that is not the complete story - the USA is becoming a "part time" employment society.  We have the highest number of citizens working part time in our history.

And with 47 million people now on food stamps, and a dramatic increase in welfare and disability payments the USA is drifting toward becoming an "entitlement society".

Foreign Policy

The fiascoes in the Obama/Clinton/Kerry foreign policies are so numerous it is mind boggling - too many to properly cover in a blog but here is a reminder:
- Iraq: Bailing out without leaving any troops behind, opening the door for ISIS.
- Egypt: Standing back and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood while turmoil there caused us to lose a longtime ally.
-  Libya: Hillary Clinton's crowning achievement; encouraging the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi which has left a failed state ruled by terrorist factions including ISIS. The true story of the Benghazi fiasco is yet to be told, but Hillary just lying to the country and especially the families of the fallen Americans makes her unqualified to be Commander-in-Chief. If the reader has not seen the movie '13 Hours' I highly recommend it. The movie is not political and does not blame Hillary, the State department, or Obama, but you leave the movie embarrassed for this country when our military did not even try to assist those Americans in trouble.
- Syria:  Another absolute mess. Hillary and Obama teamed up to support the civil war to depose Assad and when it looked like Assad was going to use chemical weapons, Obama drew his 'red line'.  Assad used chemical weapons and Obama did nothing, further confirming what a feckless commander-in-chief he is. Now, who knows what is going on in Syria with several rebel factions against Assad, ISIS controlling one third of the country and the Russians bombing who knows who?
- Afghanistan: A continuing disaster...in my opinion, no matter what anyone does the next few years, ten years from now this country will still be back in the seventh century. We should cut our losses and leave.
- Iran: History will determine whether or not the nuclear deal will work, but did you feel the way I did seeing our sailors kneeling down with their hands on their head? And when John Kerry 'thanked' the Iranians for releasing them it reminded me of what a weak person he is and of his actions after the Vietnam War.

I could go on about Russia annexing Crimea, terrorism throughout Africa, etc., etc.,...but to summarize Obama's foreign policy in a few words; 'the world is a mess'.

This Blog is getting too long and I could talk further about subsidized green energy, stifling regulations, deteriorating race relations, hatred of police, IRS corruption, Fast and Furious, terrorism fears, and on and on...

A recent poll shows that only 14% of Americans believe the country is moving in the right direction. If this is "moving forward", Merriam Webster has their definition of 'Progressive' wrong. I suspect the ex-liberals, who are now "Progressives" are already trying to think of a new name for their political philosophy.

But Republicans are also at fault with the mess this country is in, the 'establishment' Republicans in Washington have been a failure to the folks that elected them. After taking over the House and Senate with promises to the voters that they will take action against the Obama administration's policies they have been feckless.

Is this one of the most important elections in our history? We hear that every presidential election, but I believe it is the most important since Carter/Reagan. I hope the Republicans nominate a true Conservative so the voters can decide what kind of country they want. We know what the Democrats are offering - a Socialist or a 'closet' Socialist  (who may also be a criminal).

Here's a final thought - The Democrats and liberal media have always portrayed Republicans as the party of the 'angry white man', while they are the party of 'diversity'.  Isn't it interesting that the top four Republican candidates after the Iowa caucuses include two Latinos and an African American, while the Democrats are offering up two old, decrepit, white, career socialist politicians...how's that for diversity. 

Republican Beauty Pageant

I have decided to bring my Blog out of hibernation as the election season gets underway.

Republicans and Conservatives certainly have a choice coming up.  I separate the two groups because it seems that Republicans and Conservatives are growing apart instead of uniting to defeat the Democrats. But the election season is very young and as a Conservative it will be interesting to see who in the "Republican Beauty Pageant" will start getting traction. As of this date 17 are running with former governor Jim Gilmore just joining the pageant. I actually took the time to watch his 10 minute video today and was somewhat impressed.

But Gilmore only qualified for the JV team in the debate coming up tomorrow night at 5 PM eastern. The front runners, with 10 contestants will debut at 9 Pm eastern showcasing the winners of the pageant's first round. Center stage will feature "The Donald" who regardless of whether you agree with him or not, has won the title of "beauty" of this pageant...no not his hair. Political consultants are in a tizzy still trying to understand how he came out of nowhere to become the star of the pageant by a large margin They say he is arrogant, bombastic, "PT Barnum" of politics", and just a flash in the pan. Secretly the aides of the other participants in the pageant must be scared to death that their guy will get into it with the Trumpster and they probably have good reason to believe that.

So it should be an interesting set of debates tomorrow night, especially the main event. A beauty won't be crowned yet in this pageant but some will probably be asked to exit the stage very soon. Interesting political season coming up.

And look at what we have to look forward to - an "exciting" debate between Bernie the Socialist, Hillary the Liar, and maybe Joe the Gaff Machine. What a tough team to go up against.