America and the Elections - Chaos Approaches

Well, The Donald and Hillary win big in New York and they should be the Nominees, but, not so fast. Bernie cannot win, but he is staying in and that will give him a whole lot of power at the Convention. This will continue to push her further to the left, something she dreads. Hillary was basically campaigning as a continuation of the Obama Presidency. Bernie has killed that plan. He has brought up issue after issue that have made her change her stance and has people thinking, sort of. Now polls show that Democrats want a very left wing candidate.

That is not good for Hillary. Traditionally, Candidates campaign toward the fringe and move to the middle because they know that most Americans are really pretty moderate. Bernie will have enough pull to get the Party platform moved to a position that will make Obama look like William F. Buckley and I cannot see how Hillary can maneuver around that. Of course, if elected, she will pay no attention to any of that, but it may make her election a bit problematic.

There is one way Sanders can still get the nomination. There is still a chance Hillary may be indicted over the whole email mess. I think that is unlikely but it would be hilarious to see the Democratic Party stuck with a Candidate for President who was under indictment.

The Republicans are in a mess and it could not happen to a more deserving bunch of folks. Trump still has a fair shot at wrapping up a first ballot nomination and that in itself is a huge issue for Party leaders, but, if Trump fails at that, a distinct possibility, then all hell will break loose at their Convention. Ted Cruz, at that point, would start trying to pressure the delegates, who at that point would be free to vote for anyone, to side with him. The Nation will witness politics at its sleaziest. All sides will resort to any steps possible to get those votes. Ted's problem is that he is about a likeable as a wolverine. However, most of the Party's leaders dislike The Donald at least as much.

What of Kasich? Good question. He seems a likeable and basically honest guy and, by most accounts has been a decent Governor. More to the point, polls show repeatedly that he is the one Republican candidate that can beat Hillary. Yet, for reasons that I just cannot figure, he cannot win Primaries. Still, if the Convention gets to a 3rd vote, he may be the man. That will cause all those folks who voted for Trump and Cruz to grow apoplectic and the Party will fall to bits. In short, if the Republicans finally settle for the one man who might win in November, he will likely not get the support of his own party and will likely not win. Isn't this fun. I have never, in all my many years of watching politics seen anything like this mess..

But wait, it might get better. If Kasich cannot win on the 3rd or 4th ballot, there are others standing by. Do not forget Little Marco who still has a few votes. Then, if all else fails, we have Jeb Bush who might step forward and offer his services as a compromise candidate. Also, there is Paul Ryan. Yes, I know, he said that he absolutely would not take the job. That is what he said about becoming Speaker of the House, right before he took the job.

On top of all of that, there is still a chance that someone, if they get angry enough at the way the Conventions go, might start a 3rd Party run. With tempers as high as they have been recently, I almost expect that. Then the real fun begins because, if whoever it is can get enough support to keep anyone from getting a majority in the General Election, the entire mess goes to the House of Representatives, where they will pick a President and God only knows who that might be.

Stay tuned, folks. Things will just get funnier.

America - Who's Qualified?

I keep swearing that I will leave politics alone but, here I go again. We are hearing Hillary and Bernie braying at each other over 'qualifications.' Let me make this clear. No one is qualified to be President of the United States.

There are no training progarms and no college course to prepare you to take on that role. Many who run are lawyers but legal training, at best, may help you think logically but emotions are a big part of running this strange Country. It is useful to know History but there are problems with that. There are many interpretations of history. Hell, there many versions of any historical incident and, often, a President does not have time to sort thorugh the whole mess. Besides, sometimes, new stuff happens.

In this day and age, a knowledge of Science should be of use, but I will wager that, with the exception of Jimmy Carter, who was trained in Nuclear Physics, most Presidential candidates would have to struggle to understand Bill Nye the Science Guy.

Military experience seems to be a commonly excepted criterion. Well, let's see. Bill Clinton had none. GW Bush had next to none and Obama had none. Trump has none. Sanders has none. Hillary definitely has none. Same with Cruz and Kasich. It seems that military experience no longer matters. It is worth noting, however that Eisenhower, the 20th Century President with the most Military experience is the guy who warned us about the expanding power of the militray-industrial complex. He was right and we ignored him.

So, who mught be a truly qualified Presidential candidate. It would have to be someone who is trained in all areas of human knowledge and is able to look at the whole picture and see how everything fits together. In my lifetime, I can think of only one such person, the late, great R. Buckminster Fuller. Fuller thought of himself as a throwback to days past in that he was a generalist, Rather than focusing on one area of knowledge, he looked at the whole. Schools today do not turn out students like that. It is a shame that Bucky never ran, although I am sure he would not have been elected. He simply was not glib and flashy enough. In America, style too often beats substance.

So who among our present crop and candidates is qualified? Not a one. Bernie and Hillary and all the rest need to sto picking at each other about that and take long looks in the mirror.

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America - The Election and the Jokers in the Deck

I have been reconsidering my belief that this election will come down to Hillary and The Donald, with Hillary winning. It seems that the other candidates just refuse to roll over and play dead and that makes this farce that is playing out even more fascinating. When I say fascinating, I mean in the way a train wreck is fascinating. As much as you do not want to look, you have to.

Trump cannot seem to keep his foot out of his mouth and Hillary is looking a tad zombie like, except in the occasional moments she lets her considerable temper fly. Ted Cruz is making inroads and might have a chance if he was not so unlikeable and Kasich, while certainly to be congratulated for taking the moral high ground, is being mostly ignored because he simply cannot compete with the surrounding lunacy. On the Democratic front, Bernie will not go away and with the amazing amount of money he is raising, he has no reason to get out.

Donald may not get the first ballot nomination and, if that happens, all hell will break lose in the Republican Party. It does seem unfair for the Party to be ganging up on him but I cannot blame them because all polls show that the American people do not like him and either Clinton or Sanders will beat him. However, he has enough backing to kill the Party if he does not support the eventual nominee. If, in their insanity, the Party holds its collective nose and names Cruz, polls show him losing also. The polls show that Kasich, the forgotten man, would beat any Democrat but how can they nominate a guy who has barely shown in any of the primaries?

It is still a fairly safe bet that Hillary will win the Democratic nomination but, poll after poll shows that people do not like or trust her and that most of her supporters are none to excited by her campaign. Sanders, if beaten can cause her a world of grief if he tells his near rabid followers not to support her. Even if he gives her lukewarm support, it is unlikely his fans will turn out for her. But, the Party big shots, the 'super delegates,' will likely see to her nomination. That would be a poor move if she had any competition, but, she will probably eke out a win over either Trump or Cruz.

However, this deck has a couple of wild cards. If Trump does not win the nomination, he is very likely to be so outraged that he will either deny support to the Republican nominee or run a third party campaign, which would effectively both destroy the Republican Party and insure a Clinton win, except for the other Joker, Bernie.

It is easy to forget that Sanders is not a Democrat. He is an Independent Socialist who, in Congress, caucuses with the Democrats, and thus has no Party loyalty. Suppose he decides to run as an Independent. Why not? He has shown that he can raise the needed money, his supporters are almost sure to turn out and vote, and he might just do it. That would about destroy the Democratic Party.

So, we have the possibility of the devastation of the 2 Party system that has paralyzed National politics for far too long. There is nothing in the Constitution that limits us to 2 parties and it is about time the American people are given some new choices. The big money backers who fund the PACs must  be horrified at the thought of their cozy little arrangement being upset.

I urge every one reading this to urge every one they know to pay attention for the next few weeks. If there is a snowball's chance in hell that a 3rd or 4th Party can step in and derail the coronation of yet another shill of the Powers that Be being seated in the White House, jump on it and do every thing you can to see to it that we finally have a voice in our own Government again. We may not get the another chance any time soon. Win or lose, it would be fun to rock the boat a little.

America on Super Tuesday 3

I confess. I am addicted, addicted to watching this stupid campaign drivel. I keep swearing I will stop but I cannot help myself. It is the funniest programming I have seen since The Simpsons were in their prime.

Ted Cruz has no chance. Even the members of his own party, his fellow Senators, find him loathsome. Even his fellow Evangelicals are spurning his advances and flocking to Trump. He has taken an interesting path. Of late, he is saying nothing of policy, nothing of ethics, nothing of any substance. He just keeps repeating one line. "Vote for me because I am the only Republican who can beat Hillary." Well, aside from the fact that no, he cannot beat her, he is now saying that he wants to take on Trump 'one on one, mano y mano. Given that neither Rubio nor Kasich have made a dent in the votes needed for the nomination, and that Trump has been beating him like a gong, I cannot grasp his logic. Then again, what does anything in this ridiculous process have to do with logic?

The we have 'Little Marco." Having failed in his attempt to mock Trump into submission, he is back to the high road. Good idea, Marco because you would fail in a career as a stand up comic. His jokes would have bombed in a Jr. High talent contest Unfortunately, he has nothing to say and is not good at saying it. Like Cruz, he has been reduced to shouting "vote for me because I am the only one who can beat Hillary. He could not be elected President of a High School class. Hopefully, blessedly, we will bid Little Marco a fond farewell after tonight's Florida Primary.

I like John Kasich, I think, and would vote for him if someone held a gun to my head and insisted I vote for someone. I have no idea what his policies are but he is likeable. In addition, he has promised that, if elected, he will reunite Pink Floyd. That alone would get my vote but he has about as much chance as former Floyd guitarist Syd Barrett and Syd has been dead for years.

That leaves The Donald who, after urging his audiences to 'knock the crap out of protestors', says that he has no responsibility for the violence that pops up at his rallies. Speaking of those protestors, I saw the disruption in Chicago and I have to say that those kids put on the worse excuse for a demonstration I have ever seen. My advice to them is 'go watch some films of the 60s demonstrations.' What you did was embarrassing. To The Donald I would say this: Be sure you want to do this election thing because it is going to get ugly. Yesterday an ad began running featuring all of the piggishly derogatory remarks you have made about women. Before this thing is over, every skeleton in your closet will be exposed. Anything anyone in your family, including your parents, any siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles, anyone, will be trotted out for the World to see. If your dog ever peed on the neighbor's lawn, we will hear about it.

On to the Democrats. Bernie does seem like a nice guy but he is fighting a fool's campaign. Don Quixote had a better chance in his battle with the windmills. There is also another wee problem. If elected, he will accomplish nothing. There is a less than zero chance that any Congress will go along with his plans because they would involve raising taxes through the stratosphere. That is a no starter.

That leaves us with Hillary. I have made it clear that to say I dislike her is an extreme understatement, yet, in the last few days, I have begun to feel a bit sorry for her. I find that a bit disturbing but I cannot help it because, the more I see and hear her, the more convinced I am that she really does not want to be doing this.  I truly believe that someone or several someones are pushing her and odds are she will win. But, maybe not, because Just like Trump, she will have every skeleton in the Clinton closet drug forth. Everything she ever did will be under a microscope and, perhaps worse for her, every action, every thing her husband, the infamous Slick Willie ever did will be dissected, examined from every angle and shouted from the rooftops.

All in all, the Trump-Clinton battle figures to be great fun. It will be the dirtiest, nastiest campaign this Nation had ever seen, and if you know anything about American History, you know how low that is. This will not be name calling and mud slinging. This will be, on both sides, complete character annihilation and what they throw will not be mud.