Maybe We Need A Trump

He's a New Yorker and brings with him all the rude brashness as they are sometimes stereotyped.  He can be outrageous.  He calls people stupid.

I listened to Hub as he flipped through news last night and tried to keep count of everything he called stupid from the remote to the talking heads.  Too many of which to keep track.  Yet he's one of the brightest guys I know.

The difference between men like him and Trump is that he doesn't talk that way in public.  He has that degree of civility because when he was out in the working world one didn't speak the way Trump does.  Of course we don't have Trump's wealth either.  Maybe when you don't have to rely on any one else for a pay check you can have a loose tongue.

That being said, Trump's language does resonate with the people.  Can he act Presidential?  I don't know but as he has said himself, we need a cheerleader and he has become the personification of just that.  Now if only he would get his facts straight!

Whatever, I can't help but like his straight forwardness and his willingness to stray from the Republican dictates.  He is not a Conservative nor is he a Progressive.  He's really quite a Centrist - a bit from the Republicans and a bit from the Democrats.  The beauty of it is he's mostly right.

Not being beholden to campaign contributors gives him that freedom. He has no political ambitions other than the Presidency and that to "make America great again". I actually believe him on that.

As I watch all the other candidates dance around Trump in silent frustration I think they are too political and haven't the courage to say what they really mean.  I don't think there is any one other  than Trump running that isn't beholden to some group.  After all, who is financing their campaigns?

If they can't out maneuver Trump on the strength of their policy how are they ever going to deal with the mavericks running the rest of the world?  We need someone who won't flinch when challenged.

I can't see Trump flinching.  I would suppose that's part of why he calls them "stupid".  Do they really have the strength of the convictions they espouse?  I'm not yet convinced.

I'm also not counting out Trump.  He didn't get where he himself is by being stupid. Bank on it.

Elder Abuse Of A Sort?

The last time I had a doctor's appointment, just a week or so ago, I was asked to come in early to do some paper work.  I figured it was the routine they do every year about making sure you address is the same as before, insurance, phone number - all that stuff.

But no.  It was four pages from medicare they were obliged to ask me to fill  out.  I raised a skeptical eyebrow as I read some of the questions like am I depressed, do I feel like taking my own life, and some that got really intrusive. Besides it was about the moment, short term, and I'm told it may happen every time I go in.  Why?

The gal at the desk was watching me.  "You can decline," she said. "Just write declined on each page."  I did just that.

Then when talking with the nurse who I know well enough and have a good relationship with asked me some really personal questions that I would have discussed with my doctor if I was so afflicted with symptoms or a condition.  Again I was told Medicare had directed them to ask.

It was government interference to the nth degree and I wasn't about to leave a signed paper trail for which who knows who would have access.  Big brotherism gone amok.

Now I see where in Obama's rush to inflict more gun restrictions, the people on Social Security may be prevented from buying a gun if incapable of handling their own finances.

I'm trying to connect the dots here.  First, at my age or minus ten years, if I'm going to have a gun I most likely already do. As far as finances are concerned I've had a lot of acquaintances far younger who "Could be in the club but couldn't be treasurer" because of their mathematical ineptitude. So nix that as a measure.

 Other boiler plate includes, subnormal intelligence or mental illness. Are we Social Security recipients the only ones with these maladies?  I haven't seen a senior citizen as a mass murderer of late, have you?

Incompetency, an unspecified condition or disease rounds out the qualifiers.  As determined by who?  The kids who want to rush us to an early grave?  Maybe the doctor who hasn't the heart to tell us he doesn't want us as a patient any more because Medicare doesn't reimburse enough to make us worthwhile?

Beware, its in the "mental health"  part of his latest executive over reach.

It's bad enough getting old and losing abilities like a slow dripping faucet.  I don't need the government sticking it's nose in my business, especially between me and my doctor, looking for information for what purpose?  So they, who one day will be in the same boat but aren't yet, can impose what they think is best for us?  Of course all those government types are well taken care of on our dollar so why should I expect understanding whats more common sense.

It isn't just about who can and who cannot buy a gun or who or who doesn't have to fill out mindless forms that will end up in the cloud waiting to be hacked.  It's about government sticking it's nose into every aspect of our lives whether or not we want it or need it but had best toe the mark or suffer the consequences.

It's going to be a very long year.

A Not-So-Civil War A-Brewin'?

If you think the skirmishes we're a part of in the Middle East are messy you haven't seen anything yet!  If it comes to fruition as many expect it will be more bloody than anything we've seen.  You see, those folks don't fight nice.

The war will be a continuation of the religious one that has been going on for centuries.  Shia versus Sunni. It's all about who the rightful successor of Mohammad. The Shia belief the Prophet designated his son-in-law as his successor, the Sunni do not.

Here's the problem.  Saudi is Sunni, Iran is Shia and they hate each other.  So Saudi executes an esteemed Shiite cleric along with 46 other "terrorists". Oops!  Not to mention the rather callous method of execution, beheading, carried out in public in a place known as Chop Chop Square. And we worry about condemned prisoner in this country being excited by lethal injection!  I can't say I'm crazy about that either, but that's another post.

Needless to say Shia Iran is furious. Everyone is re-calling their diplomats and unrest is escalating.  The problem is even though technically individual countries, both sects reside in most.  This makes war more complicated than usual.  Iran is helping Iraq against ISIS because they are Sunni and actually want the same thing, to be the power in the region.

Saudi fears a Shiite crescent that could run from Iran through Syria to the sea giving the strongest of them vast territory and power.

Okay, nice history lesson - of sorts.  The problem is two fold.  One, the relinquishing of our power has left our allies in the lurch.  Those who, however imperfect they may be, were staunch are no more. More important I fear that we are in a most untenable position for having made the nuclear "agreement" with Iran who will be getting billions of dollars to put to whatever use they so desire.  It won't be helping the poor nor cleaning up their version of Chop Chop Square!

With all of this going on, somehow I feel the name calling and sparring among candidates wanting Obama's job to be childish and non-productive.  I also fear that having a President as self-serving as Hillary would be totally ineffectual with these patriarchal countries who think of women more as property than people.

So the game has begun in earnest.  Just remember while the candidates are worrying about how many women Bill Clinton has had his way with questionable consent, there are those caught between Shia and Sunni who are being tortured and killed for the most odious of reasons.   This is the real war on women!

It is not our fight? It shouldn't be but a Republican set the stage and a Democrat dropped the curtain before the drama had the chance to play out. This whole fiasco needs a rewrite and since we started it we had best finish it.

That won't happen by playing the two sides against one another and hoping the audience (us) doesn't notice.

The Crude And The Corrupt

Sounds like a title for a good soap, doesn't it?  Well, truth is sometimes stranger than fiction and these two are proof positive.

As I've said on many occasions I understand Trump's appeal as well as Hillary's lack of same.

With Trump there's no pulling punches, you know exactly what he's thinking because he says it.  Not that it won't change in 5 minutes.

With Hillary it's much the opposite.  She's mastered the art of dodging - and the accompanying cackle when she thinks she's gotten away with it.

Let me ask, is either of them what you want as the face of our country?  Hillary is a shoo in for the Democrat nomination.  Democrats have decided she's due her due.  Why I have no idea except that perhaps they've bought into the sanctity of the party rather than the country.

With that as a given we have to look at the Republicans.  With 12 candidates still in the running is there not one of them who can articulate Republican frustrations in a more civilized manner than Mr. Trump?  I find it hard to believe that at least one of those candidates can't match his understanding of the electorate's frustrations and able to voice them with a modicum of personality and what Trump is missing ~ charm.  No, not all the love and joy malarkey, that doesn't cut it.  Neither does Trump's broad brush srtokes, truth be said.

The pundits I habitually listen to, be they old timers or of another generation, all are students of politics and haven't yet grasped that this cycle shows the evolution of the process.  Not necessarily in a good way, but it is evolving. No longer is what has been going to be.

With Iowa getting ever closer perhaps a cold winter night in Iowa will knock Trump down a peg. Don't expect him to be gracious about it if he doesn't win and who ever does win had best don a suit of inpenatrable armor.  I would expect him to bluster his way through New Hampshire and if he behaves he could even win Nevada but from there it's any ones guess.

I have no resolutions this new year; only what is probably misguided hope.  Hope that those who care enough to vote in the primaries also care enough about their country to let it be known rude and crude isn't enough.

As far as a corrupt self-serving candidate is concerned, the Democrats are stuck. You'd think that after 7 years of Barack Obama they'd know better and have the courage to turn away from a nearly mirror image.  Not in appearance, obviously, but in ideology, respect for the people, the Constitution and our laws and devotion to the country.  They get none with Hillary.  They do get the latter half of Crude and Corruption.

And so it begins in earnest.  What more can I hope for?  An outlier in both parties.  A hope that I'm afraid will never come to fruition!

New Year, Old Memories

In case you're wondering what the gizmo pictured is, it's an old fashioned slide projector.  Before digital cameras and computers we took lots of slides.  Hundreds.

Last night, being home bodies on New Year's Eve, we settled down on a couch in our game room.  The fire place was roaring, the champagne and nibbles were plentiful and the slide show began.  We had 46 years worth to watch.  Well, maybe not quite that many because as did most, we did switch to digital photography.

Sometimes I miss the old way.  Looking at photos on the computer just isn't the same as sharing with friends or family who may have shared the experience.  In this case it was my husband.

We traveled back in time to when we were first married and had our first St. Bernard.  How we loved that gentle giant and how we still miss him along with the five others who followed in his very large foot steps.  The travel log was one to envy by any ones standards.  A legacy of the country as it was those many years ago.

Then there was our foreign travel.  We covered most of the world.  London of course, then the continent.  Paris.  Bruge and Brussels, Amsterdam.  Castle Road in Germany, Heidelberg and Munich.  Kitzbuhel, Salzburg and St. Moritz in winter.  I love the Germanic countries. Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei. Australia.  Cypress. Even Damascus when it was relatively safe.

When we finished so had the evening and the year.  Hub looked at me and said, "We've led quite a life."  And so we have.  But it's all in the past now.

What had been our youthful enthusiasm for travel and exploration has been well tempered by world events.  Gone are the days when you could board a plane without being searched.  The feeling you get now is no longer carefree but cautious. And not in just certain parts of the world but everywhere. Even here at home I'm more anxious in a big city and not because I've been away from that life as long as I have but because it has changed so much.

I wonder if we'll do more traveling while our health allows or if we'll cloister ourselves in relative obscurity because it's more comfortable. I hope it's not the latter. It's not how I envisioned retirement.

With a new year there is always hope but realistically the headlines never waver.  Too bad  the mindset of the political class that rule us never seems to change no matter the circumstances.  We could all use some fresh beginnings. Will this be the year?