‘Tween the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

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This is my third fourth attempt to write a blog post about Donald Trump.  I scrapped previous versions because they sounded either defensive of his potential nomination, or were too critical of a phenomena many suggest has been long overdue in American politics.

Trump was not my first pick (Jeb Bush), second (John Kasich), third (Chris Christie), fourth (Scott Walker … I obviously have a thing for Governors for The Oval Office.) , or fifth pick (Marco Rubio).  Yet here he sits, presumptive favorite to win the Crown as the GOP’s nomination for President.

As a Pennsylvanian, I haven’t yet been given the opportunity to express my views via the ballot box, which is one reason I tend to be stand-offish when it comes to getting emotionally invested in my presidential hopefuls.  In 2012 my early favorite was Jon Huntsman, which kinda provides my audience with an additional measure of my American political astuteness.

Stop laughing!

Ronald Reagan was another. But this is definitely NOT a comparison of Reagan v. Trump!

360_reagan_lede_0204I can remember shaking my head and wondering aloud – during one of Reagan’s primary debates – how we could possibly end up with a former actor as our President.  Two or three years into Reagan’s  first-term, I was a full-fledged Reagan devotee!

My lesson in all of this is when it comes to Presidential politics, my finger is not exactly on the Pulse of the American voter.   Which brings me back to Donald Trump …

I can no longer avoid the very real prospect that Mr. Trump will be the GOP candidate.  At this point, I do not believe the Party has a choice.  For whatever reason – and there are many – Donald has tapped into a  broad and deep vein of American political frustration.  And if anecdotal information is accurate, Trump’s appeal goes beyond Republicans to include Independents – many of them recent former Republicans, who felt the GOP had pushed them away – and even moderate Democrats.

My gut feeling is that any Party move to deny Trump the nomination will cost the GOP dearly, affecting even those “down-ticket” Republican candidates for the Senate, House, and Governor races!

latestAs for my feelings about The Don, I fancy myself an amateur student of Presidential history … more so the behavior and performance in office as opposed to the politicking beforehand.  From everything I have read or studied, Donald Trump is simply the least presidential candidate I can remember.

Trump’s pronouncements on issues like immigration, terrorism, opposing candidates, party leaders, etc.  set him apart from all known successful POTUS candidates from our recent past at least.  The difference is that on some visceral level, Trump has become a conduit for every frustrating political development over the past two decades.

For the GOP at the National level, they only have themselves to blame.  The failure to develop well-grounded, exciting candidates for President.  The tendency to make “the tent” smaller, as opposed to broadening it.  The inability to act prudently and unselfishly as an opposing party.  Disappointment after disappointment has given rise to Donald Trump.

That and a healthy dose of eight years with President Barack Obama!

I really thought we had seen the last of Trump in 2012, when he bowed out fairly early in the process, citing television contractual requirements connected to his show The Apprentice.

Silly me …

A sizable portion of the Electorate is angry at all things political, particularly when it comes to Washington, D.C.  They are very clearly ready for a candidate that might just burn it down.  Which reminds me of Thomas Jefferson‘s quote …

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.

MTE5NDg0MDU1MDEwMjQ4MjA3If one recognizes “the blood of patriots and tyrants” as purely metaphor, representing the kind of political upheaval not seen since Chicago in 1968, you can better appreciate where Donald gets his trump.  The People are ready to clean out the outhouse.

The political class should be very grateful that The People have not – as yet – dragged out the guillotine!

The Democrats do not get a free pass when it comes to this either.  The best they could muster for 2016 is a has-been from the 1980s, who firmly believes it is “her turn” and an old hippie from the 1970s.  When you have the younger Democrats flocking to the 1970s hippie, many vowing not to vote for another Clinton no matter what, you know you have a problem too!

If there’s anything worse than a bombastic blowhard for President, it’s the person who spent four years hiding what they were doing in a Cabinet-level job from Public scrutiny and official oversight … while their former-President husband racked up millions in fees speaking to a host of entities with interest conflicting with his spouse’s official duties … and while their “charitable organization” pulled in millions from similarly conflicted sources …

That would be Hillary Clinton, just in case my references are too obscure.

ap_hillary_clinton_tsu_02_jc_150604_16x9_992So for me, the question comes down to the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea.  Who would be the Devil?  Who the Sea?

The Devil I know wants to be President because she’s a woman.  Hillary wants our vote because she served as First Lady, then as an unremarkable U.S. Senator and an openly duplicitous Secretary of State.

Donald Trump is my deep blue sea, full of dangers, mysteries, and the potential for political upheaval many of us might welcome in an age when Politics is an eight-letter, four-letter word.

 

If it comes down to the two of them, I hope the water isn’t Titanic-ly cold!

As for you, my reluctant reader … Feel free to define who be the Devil and who be the Sea.  Just remember …

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Here there may be Monsters!

Presidential wabbit hunting season

Felmer Dudd

Elmer the wabbit stalker

The running of the wabbits is off to an early start this presidential election cycle … or so it seems.

The signs are unmistakable.  Hunters crashing through forests of subpoenaed documents and confiscated e-mails.  Their media blasts are shotgun wild; blowing up chunks of soil and biting off chunks of helpless tree bark.

The wabbits scurry off to chuckle at the Hunters’ futility.

The Hunters are so anxious to bag any front-running, though undeclared Republican presidential hopeful they cannot shoot straight.

They are the Elmer Fudds of wabbit hunting.  All noise, no results.  You can almost hear the Fudds screaming “I’ll get you, you wascally wabbit!”

But the wabbits – so far – are having all the laughs.

Certainly all the constant media attention is having some effect.  New Jersey Governor Chris Christie‘s favorable ratings have taken a hit; but at 49% after all this, he ain’t exactly bleeding to death over staff-initiated lane closures that few people outside northern New Jersey and NYC care about.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker – on the other hand – is fighting off unproven accusations that are three years old, involving staffers illegally performing campaign work on government time, when Walker was still a little known County Executive.  People, who worked for Walker, went to jail; but a Democrat prosecutor found no evidence of Walker’s knowledge or acquiescence.  Still the hunt for Walker’s presidential future continues.

Despite Democrat attempts to tie the Christie and Walker controversies together as an indictment of general Republican malfeasance, the only thing that’s common between the two is their potential aspirations for The Oval Office.

Hence all the hunting and drama …

For voters – still two years away from having to declare their preference for a Republican presidential candidate – the Democrats’ strategy should be disturbing. For the Democrats are not interested in uncovering official misbehavior; their only objective is clearing the field for Hillary Clinton.

Bugs+Bunny+4Shhhhhhhhh … We’re hunting wabbits!

But the wabbits aren’t cooperating.  So far the Democrat hunters have only proven two things.  One is that the wabbits are much, much smarter than the Fudds.  The second is surely an unintended consequence that should come back to bite the Fudds right on their Clintons!

These same hunters of Republicans hopefuls will tell you looking into Hillary’s own history with a husband who cheated on her from the Oval Office; and who – more recently – failed to protect embassy personnel in a largely lawless country, would be an unproductive undertaking.

Needless to say anyone, who take their decisions on Chief Executive qualifications, should disagree.

Even Daffy can figure out why!

Clinton’s experiences in her White House tour as First Lady carry both weight and significance in assessing her suitability for the Highest Office in the Land.  I scratch my head over assertions that what happened in the Clinton White House 20 years ago is somehow not pertinent to Hillary’s foregone run in 2016.

First off, for all those touting her as an ideal candidate to be the first female President, how does one reconcile her enabling behavior in regards to her husband’s predatory behavior towards other women.

This has long been a pet peeve of mine when it comes to Clinton 42.  As a federal employee, I could well have been promptly and righteously removed from my job for using even the appearance of supervisory authority and it’s perceived power to press an inappropriate advantage towards a female employee, even if she were a consenting participant.

How could a Chief Executive behave so brazenly; performing exactly the kind of behavior over which those working for him could easily lose their jobs?

As a much touted example for women, it should be equally appalling that Hillary throughout the Clinton history, enabled Bill’s behavior through her repeated acquiescence.  It didn’t happen only with Monica in the West Wing with the cigar, dear Fudds!  It was a pattern of behavior that first caught the attention of the press and government watchdogs when Bill was still the Governor of Arkansas.

Biil and MonicaImagine how strong Hillary would have appeared had she nipped her runaway Lethario in the bud!  At face value one could conclude this was at best a psychologically abusive relationship; and isn’t that something women are encouraged to end or leave?

If the definition of insanity is expecting different results from doing the same thing over and over again, the question should be what was Hillary’s mindset when she repeatedly forgave Bill?  And what does that say about her judgement and decision making at a time of crisis?

Then again, she probably wouldn’t be where she is today hadn’t forgiven Bill’s wanderings over and over again.

One might surmise that Hillary traded a Proximity to Power for those oft-repeated acts of forgiveness.  Did she trade the potential for future incidents for a bright political future of her own?  Is it hard to imagine Hillary conditioning her forgiveness on Bill’s backing of her own political future when it became her turn?  Does anything other than a marriage that evolved into one of political convenience explain her behavior?

How is it that some think this fundamental character flaw is not worthy of intense scrutiny for one positioning herself to become President?

Character is developed over an extended period of life and living.  Leadership is forged from making the tough decisions and difficult choices.  Strong women do these things every day.  Does Hillary get to skate on the choices she made or didn’t make and how they affected other women – Bill’s future conquests – down the line?

gty_benghazi_dm_130425_wblogBenghazi is another matter unto itself which I will not got into here.  Suffice it to say that it’s beyond indecent that a few lane closures on a local bridge – even for New York City – has garnered more media coverage than the legitimate interests of finding someone responsible for the breach of physical security that ended the lives of four Americans including an Ambassador!

It’s one thing for President Obama to declare that he is “ultimately responsible” for embassy security; but that’s simply a catchall.  Someone was more directly ultimately responsible, and that person would be in the State Department.  So when no one is held officially responsible with whom does the problem lie?

Where’s a good hunter when you need one, Elmer?

Hillary should certainly be subject to her own time in the crucible, if the mainstream media reciprocates their bottomless fascination with lane closures and three-year-old cold cases (How likely though is that?); but at least “What difference – at this point, does it make?” is going to make one cutting campaign commercial!