Saturday, August 6, 2016

Conservatives Have No Choice, They Have to Vote for Trump...or Do They?

Good Day World!

Conservatives in this country have found themselves cornered in a political Catch-22 thanks to the Republican Party's nominee for president.

By now everyone knows Donald Trump is a crude thin-skinned bully who plans to rule like a dictator while riding a mandate of hate into power.

Some conservatives feel they have no choice but to vote for the vilest presidential candidiate in our history because they don't want to see a liberal Supreme Court judge appointed.

Trump is enjoying taunting his captive conservatives. In a recent rally he said:

"If you really like Trump. that's great, but if you don't, you have to vote for me anyway. You know why? Supreme Court judges. Have no choice, sorry, sorry, sorry. You have no choice."

With Antonin Scakia's death there is an opening on the highest court in the land. Also, consider this; three other justices will be at least 80 during the next president's term.

Even for conservatives who revile Trump, the prospect of losing control of the court for a generation terrifies them. They fear that Conservatism will be crushed.

There's still some conservative writers out there that suspect Trump will appoint whoever he wants depending on his mood at the time.

David Frum, a writer for The Atlantic recently said, "It's a Trump commitment, and Trump commitments are notoriously worthless." 

You can see why many conservatives are concerned. Even if they do vote for Trump (and he wins) they know he's unpredictable. For some, not voting at all may be an option.

But they know for sure if Clinton wins she'll appoint liberal judges. Conservatives are caught between a rock and a hard place.

They can thank the gutless Republican party for creating Trump...and the dillemma they now face.

Time for me to walk on down the road...  

















Friday, August 5, 2016

Trump's Presidential Campaign Is Built On One Big Lie

Good Day World!

Donald Trump has transformed one big lie into millions of followers.

I'm talking about the "birther" movement (President Obama supposedly not born in America) that he launched back in 2011. 

Trump was considering making a run for the presidency and initiated a public pursuit of Obama's birth certificate. He claimed to have hired investigators to go to Hawaii to see what they could find. Of course, that claim like many others was false.

He did manage to get the president to publicly release the long form certificate of his birth to prove he was born in Hawaii.

After it's release, Trump declared that he was "proud of myself because I've accomplished something nobody has been able to do."

Trump didn't run for president in 2012. So why did he run this year?

Simply put; he discovered a core group of Republicans (44% at that time who believed Obama was an illegitimate president and wasn't born in America) who hated Obama and who were willing to believe anything bad about him.

The lie was repeated until it took on a life of it's own and became a rallying point for Obama haters. Even after it had been shredded by the president's release of his birth certificate. 

Trump continued to defend his decision to bring up the issue, and told ABC News' John Karl in 2013 that he knew what he was doing.

The lie didn't die. All it did was provide cement for the foundation of Trumps 2016 run for The White House. Give Trump credit for that.

That core group of Obama-hating Republicans were enamoured with Trump and found more common ground on issues like immigration and banning Muslims from entering the United States.

Trump has proven to be a formidable opponent because he knows how to sprinkle the seeds of racism and fear among the populace.

His success at reality television has also translated into followers.

Being a life long con man (I'll just mention Trump University as one good example) he is trying to convince people that only he can solve their problems. He said as much in his acceptance speech at the RNC.

It's important to remember that Trump's bid for the presidency is based upon lies...big ones and small ones. He'll always say what you want to hear.

Related:

Birtherism Is Back And That May Be Bad For Donald Trump

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Americans Aren't Reassured by Economic Statistics, No Matter How Good They Look


                                        Good Day World!

There's a "hype" world, and then there's the real world.

The U.S. economy is still the biggest one on the planet, but that doesn't mean we have a thriving middle class. According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, things aren't too bad.

That detailed analysis sounds like we're making progress economically, but all you have to do is look around for confirmation things aren't going well for the middle class.

A recent Pew Research Center report stated that the middle class is losing ground in nearly nine-in-ten U.S. metropolitan areas examined.

The ranks of the American middle class have sunk to a shocking new low:

The Rise and Fall of the American middle class

Here's a dozen facts about America's struggling lower-middle class.

Let's take a look at why the middle class is shrinking.

It's understandable that most Americans are worried about getting jobs/holding them, and surviving inflation. Most of the jobs available are service-related one's that pay minimum wage.

In the links provided above you'll find the reasons why things are going badly economically. What you won't find is answers to the problems. How do we turn things around for the average American?

Fear is driving this presidential election. I get that. When things have been bad people want a change. 

Hillary Clinton doesn't represent a positive change. She's connected to the corrupt establishment. 

Donald Trump represents change. 

Of course, no one (including the Donald) knows what he'll do if elected. That in itself is pretty scary. Based upon what we've seen of him thus far, we can count on an even more sharply divided country if he's elected.

You can't blame people for wanting change, but changes aren't always a good thing. In this case the voter might as well flip a coin.

One last thing: I'd really like to see the Democrats quit talking about how good the economy is statistically, and change their narrative to the reality of the shrinking middle class today.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

It's entirely possible that the upcoming elections could be hacked...by anyone

Good Day World!

Straight up.

Our voting systems are vulnerable to attack and an outsider could disrupt this year's presidential election.

We know the Russians were hacking away at the Democratic National Committee servers like evil little elves before the convention.

But Russia is just one player who'd like to tamper with our political elections . 

There's no telling how many hackers of every nationality, and in America, who could go after our voting system like a pack of dogs on the trail of a rabbit.

Fact: Illinois election officials had to shut down the state's voter registration database recently after discovering it had been hacked.

Fact: In June, Arizona took it's voter registration system offline after the FBI warned it was probably hacked.

Fact: A security analyst, David Levin, was arrested in May after he gained access to the Lee County, Fla., elections website.

One non-profit group has been warning people that a fully electronic voting system can be tampered with. According to Pamela Smith, president of Verified Voting, we better take steps now to fully secure our current system.

Smith said:

 "If you can get at an election management system, you could potentially alter results, or muddy up the results, or you could even just shed doubt on the outcome because you make it clear that there's been tampering."

The takeaway:

It's clear that only systems backed up with a paper trail can be trusted according to Verified Voting's research.

Smith also cautioned:

More states are allowing overseas and military voters to cast their ballots online — another opportunity for mischief. She recommends that absentee voters send their ballots in the mail instead.

It's bad enough that we have two extremely unpopular presidential candidates, but to have the very basis of our Democracy compromised is totally unacceptable.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Demanding Reparation for Historical Grievances is Unrealistic and Devisive


                                           Good Day World!

In an alternate world...
where racial groups and nationalities are sueing one another over past crimes, Germany has finally paid reparations to every Jew in the world for torturing and murdering them by the millions during and before World War II.

Switching over to the Americas, it's looking good for Native Americans who have sued the US government for murdering them and taking their lands away. Plans are underway to cut checks for all current Native Americans and to restore their lands.

Back to reality.

The Movement for Black Lives - under the catch-all banner of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement - has put together what it describes as "a clear vision of the world where black humanity and dignity is the reality."

In the plan titled "A Vision for Black Lives: Policy Demands For Black Power, Freedom and Justice dozens of established activist and advocacy groups joined forces to offer six core demands and 40 policy priorities.

I think that's good, because the whole movement has been criticized for lack of direction. After reading the plan, I only have one problem with number two of the six core demands:

(2. Reparations for past and continuing harm.)

It is not only counter-preductive, but actually devisive to demand Americans pay some blood price for the transgressions of their ancestors.

The same can be said of all countries with a history of inhumanity towards humanity. 

If BLM wants to be taken seriously they need to drop the reparations rhetoric and concentrate on the here-and-now.

I'm no political scientist, but the idea of paying for the sins of the fathers is not going to go down well with the majority of people in this country.

Just saying.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Monday, August 1, 2016

What would happen If Clinton or Trump Suddenly Died before the November Election?


                                        Good Day World!

In case you haven't noticed, we don't exactly have a couple of spring chickens running for president this election cycle.

Donald Trump just turned 70, and Hillary Clinton is 68-years old. 

That makes them both eligible for retirement. Instead they've both elected to go for a new career...as commander-in-chief of the United States of America.

Kinda gives you pause doesn't it?

What would happen of one of them dropped dead before anyone even got to cast a ballot one way or the other? I'm glad you asked.

For starters, there's nothing in our consititution that says what to do in the case of a party nominee dying before the elections take place.

There's something you should know before I go any further:

"No presidential candidate of a major party has ever died or withdrawn before a presidential election and no president-elect has ever died or withdrawn after winning the general election, but before taking office." Source Teaching History 

That said, it doesn't mean it couldn't happen. 

Some quick history:

Since the time of Andrew Jackson's run for the presidency in 1828, individual political parties have had the job of filling any vacancy on their national ticket, either that of their presidential or vice-presidential candidate. 

If one of the candidates vacates the ticket after they are nominated, either because of death or withdrawal, the party selects a replacement.

So the answer is straight forward - the party decides.

This is where I think it gets interesting. For example, if Trump suffered a heart attack and died would the GOP go with the candidate that was closest in delegates to Trump? In other words, Ted Cruz?

In Hillary's case, would the Democratic Party ask Bernie Sanders to step in and become the standard bearer if she suddenly died? 

Remember, nothing is for sure in politics. Especially this year.

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Sunday, July 31, 2016

A New Era of Populists Are Sliming The Planet

Good Day World!

Looking at the rise of Populism on this planet...

If you are a populist  your patriotism has given away to nationalism in today's politics. 

Under the current populist credo you have a right to make up your own "facts," and anyone who is an expert on something can be written off as being allied with the elite.

Think America's Donald Trump, and England's Boris Johnson.

The white working classes in America and England see big business, banks, and globalization as enemies to be treated with contempt.

Populism is not simply a benign devotion to "the people." Populists are ultimately nationalists, and in nationalism you'll find the roots of many of the twentieth century's most terrifying events.

Hitler's rise to power in Germany and the subsequent slaughter of millions of Jews happened under a nationalistic regime.

When you talk about patriotism it's about the love of a particular land, with it's particular traditions. 

Nationalism is the love of something less tangible, of the myth of a "people," justifying many things, a political and ideological substitute for religion.

Boris Johnson almost became England's next prime minister but fell victim to inner party politics. Trump has between now and November to sell his brand of populism/nationalism to the American public.

For the sake of future generations of Americans, I hope Trump is trounced in the general election, and just becomes a nasty footnote in political history...much like Boris Johnson has become. 

Time for me to walk on down the road...

Universal Music Power

In a delightful description of the power of music William Congreve wrote "Music hath charms to sooth a savage beast..." in his 16...