Will The Real Republican Please Stand Up?

The 2012 campaign began four years earlier so I guess it's no surprise that names are already being bandied about for 2016.

The speculation is fun but really not worth much. Things could actually change for both parties. The question here is who will best represent the party four years down the road or if they'll all be nothing more than elephants in the room.

I can chastise the potential Republican field by saying, "Where were you when we needed you?" To those at least who opted not to run but could possibly have won.  Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio.  Oh they were all so content to stay where ever they were but suddenly the bug has bitten.

Then too some of the also rans haven't put the kibosh on another try including Rick Perry, Newt and Rick Santorum.  Surely I jest.  Nope.  Just browse around and you'll find the names.  A few newcomers might include Bobby Jindal, Rand Paul, Mike Pence and Bob McConnell and of course Paul Ryan.  Also there is speculation Mike Huckabee and Sarah Palin might feel moved to give up the big bucks of TV for the honor of serving.  Yeah, right.

It's a strange field if there is to be a new face and philosophy for the Republicans.  That's one reason I think we may see a very different field.  Not necessarily better, but different.  May those who have no chance please drop out at the beginning so we don't have to be uncomfortable witnesses to your being ignored at the debates.

Even the Democrats are testing a few names.  We all expect Hillary to go.  If you see her lose a few pounds and get more frequent botox shots, bet on it.  Otherwise she and Bill probably have some other scheme in mind.

Then there's Joe.  Also Andrew Cuomo,  Deval Patrick, Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker and Martin O'Malley. Handicapping those folks really depends on whether or not Hillary goes.  Other than Joe, they don't have great name recognition, but they're pretty much business as usual as a collective.  I'd expect in the four years of high visibility remaining for Joe, he might just self-destruct. I'll actually be surprised if he doesn't. I wouldn't bet on him getting the nomination in any case.  Though stranger things have happened.

This should keep my anticipatory lust satisfied for awhile.  It's time to get back to some real news about which to speculate.  Like will we really leave 10,000 men in Afghanistan?  Wow.  That's cruel and inhuman punishment for serving the country!

What's Next?

It's too soon for New Year resolutions which I don't make anyway.  It's not too soon to gaze into my crystal ball and prognosticate about the future. At least what I anticipate for Obama's second term.

We have re-elected a President who has no taste for conflict, especially with Congress. He becomes an absolute dictator and the Republicans cave in or just plain become obstinate. Neither works.

Overseas it's a different story.  I expect Obama will nominate Susan Rice to be Secretary of State.  Some say she doesn't have the temperament though I'm not sure what the proper temperament is. Giving out misleading information about Benghazi isn't reason enough to deny her.  She was just being a good soldier and doing as she was told. That's the type Presidents want around themselves so Obama is getting exactly what he wants.  My main objection is that she's a woman.  I've long held that a woman cannot be as effective as a man in dealing with stone age patriarchal societies.

Even though Morsi seized unprecedented powers before Hillary's plane cleared Egyptian air space I expect she'll get the Nobel Prize for Peace.  Those guys love to award it for nonaccomplishment.

The cease fire won't hold.  Iran is already loading ships to rearm Hamas.  Hamas demands will not be seriously considered by Israel and the entire Middle East will slowly succumb to the will of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Afghanistan will kick us out before the end of 2013. Karzai does not want to be beholden to outsiders, especially us, no matter how much he needs our money.  We will not agree to allow our military to be subject to Afghan law.  At least I hope we won't.  But with this President you can never be sure.

We should, but won't start withholding the billions in aid we distribute throughout the region.

The Iraq war was said to be all about oil. With fracking technology our resources are available such as they have never been before. Unfortunately, the environmentalists and the regulation mad administration will make it one furious fight. The choice is between allowing the extraction of our own resources or remaining beholden to the Middle East.  Think of what those billions sent over their could do to avoid the fiscal cliff over here if only we would play hardball with the enemy instead of with ourselves.

Obamacare will begin to crumble from it's own weight before it's even implemented.  The states will fight aspects of it even if Congress won't.  They can't afford it and they don't trust the feds.

The economy will limp along with tiny steps forward and tiny steps back.  What happens overseas will have a great deal of bearing on what happens to us but for the foreseeable future they'll remain stalled.

The Republicans will remain a split party with the social conservatives refusing to understand many don't agree with their social agenda.  The Tea Party will lose it's clout if it continues to pair with the social conservatives bringing with it an unwillingness to be reasonable.  The moderates will continue to lose seats and voice and the Party will cease to be what it once was.

The Democrats will continue to chip away by default then all of a sudden the country will awaken from it's nightmare and wonder what happened.  What did? We were dreaming the impossible dream - that we could survive selfishness and greed and apathy yet thrive.

Margie, I Apologize

I owe Margie, one of my most faithful readers, a heartfelt apology.  Not long ago I took her to task in my comment section in a most rude and demeaning manner.  Since I did it publicly I decided it was appropriate to apologize publicly.

Since starting this blog in 2005 I've had readers come and go.  Being mostly political readers often disagree with my point of view and rightfully so. Agreeing or not Margie has been with me a lot of that time.

 One thing I'd like to clarify is the opinions and observations I write about are based on what I read in the media, not intense research.  If it slants left, no doubt my source was left leaning.  The same for that which slants right.  I do not use any one source and try to find a balance in what's being reported.  That isn't always easy but suffice it to say NBC and it's affiliates aren't the only extreme lefties and FOX isn't the only one ruled by social conservatives.

All that aside, however, sometimes I just get beaten down by those who insist on wearing blinders and aren't open to a different way of thinking.  Add to that all the negativity which fills the media, of which I  am also often guilty, I just want to scream.

Margie's comment hit me at just such a moment and I lashed out at her.  That's no excuse, just a statement of fact.  I figured she was gone forever but to my surprise I found comments from her the last couple of days.  I was humbled, to say the least.

She and I will never see eye to eye on a lot of topics, but we do on some and it gives us a commonality.  Isn't that how life is? I respect her opinion and most of all I respect her.  She is one who is of my generation who gives a great deal to her community, I would guess also to her friends and difinitely to me.

I hope you will accept my apology.  My behavior was boorish and uncalled for.  Thanks, Margie, for letting my tantrum pass and returning to my pages.  I don't need Facebook to tell me when I've found a friend.

Christmas Spirit

A sure sign that I'm getting old is that I'm sitting at my computer writing this.  I'm not out participating in mob mayhem.  Of course were I twenty or thirty years younger, I'd probably still be here rather than there!

It amazes me how we can go from sitting at a table filled with food and maybe even  uttering a prayer of Thanksgiving to accompany it, to frenzied madmen all within a matter of hours.  In some cases minutes because of the sales that began last night.

No wonder we can't get our country straightened out.  We can't even get ourselves straightened out.

First we have Thanksgiving, a time to reflect on our good fortune.  For those who have less communities band together to see that they too are able to partake.  You see bags of groceries in the stores for $20 that go to the poor if you're willing to purchase them in addition to your own needs.  And people do.  Plus tossing a few coins in the Bell Ringer's pot. Turkey drives.  Clothing drives.  Next will come the food and gift drives for Christmas.  Or the holidays, or whatever you want to call it.

Yet during a one day interlude so many of us succumb to greed.  The Black Friday sales these days don't even have the best prices.  They come closer to Christmas or were actually about a month ago.  Yet the table is left in haste so we can spell whoever has been place holding at Wal*Mart or Best Buy or where ever or merely join the throngs waiting for the doors to open.

After all, we've got to get that big screen TV or the newest iPhone.  No gifts for the poor today.  Maybe tomorrow.

This scene repeats itself year after year.  Sleep deprived people get maimed, sometimes even trampled.  They treat one another with unspeakable rudeness.  It's a wonder any escape from a store with undamaged goods considering the way the merchandise is tossed around or rooted through.

It's like that dinner a few hours earlier never happened.  Certainly the sentiment disappeared.  A rational person might blame it on the shaky economy; it's a time to get a good deal and can't be missed.  The truth is this seasonal madness happens regardless of the economy.

It's strange, this set of holiday bookends.  A day of thanksgiving on one end and a day of peace on earth, good will toward men on the other.  It's that one day in between that makes me wonder just who we are.