Just Thinking...

I ususally love it when  real life gets in the way of my blogging.  The last couple of weeks were just that.  During this time I found out my patience wears ever thinner and my desire to "be involved" has greatly diminished.

So here I am back at the keyboard and reflecting on our current state of affairs.  Not much has changed other than one presidential candidate has formally suspended his candidacy - Rick Perry.  The upcoming debate could do without a lot of the others but alas, they'll be there and get to say little as Trump reigns at the center podium.

Slowly, almost imperceptibly, I think he's beginning to unravel.  The insults will be his undoing.  I'm still waiting to see who will emerge.  I think Carson is too low key, Bush too uninspiring and the rest unable to break out which says a lot about them too.  Go Carly!

And of course Hillary is the gift that keeps on giving as is Bernie Sanders for completely different reasons.  If I were Biden I'd say thanks, but no.  Spend your golden years with Jill and be happy. Are there other Democrats running?  If so where the heck are they?

Congress is still a sham.  Neither party is worth a hill of beans.  The rest of the country muddles on as best they can not yet rising up against the ineffectual but the time is getting close.

Actually the country is running amok.  More campus shootings.  The head of Black Lives Matter is white.  Rachael Dolezal, the black/white or white/black is pregnant and unmarried.  The holier than thou Kim Davis is how many times divorced and has how many out of wedlock children yet screams for her religious principles when it comes to gays.

Hub and I went out to dinner for our anniversary Saturday night.  It was reputed to be a fairly nice restaurant.  So why was I disgusted to see men at the tables in muscle shirts and shorts?  My dearly departed mother would have said my reaction was due to a standard of living.  Hub and I cling to that.  It's easier than admitting we're dinosaurs.

Everything is so different these days.  Standards have changed to the point of there being no such thing.  Standards.  Political.  None.  Personal.  None.

So here I am, just thinking.  I don't fit in this world any more. I'm in no hurry to leave it, that's for sure, but I'm more content now to sit on the outside just observing rather than trying to make a statement of change. Just watch and wonder about this new normal and if there is a pendulum attached that will one day swing back.  I doubt it.  We only dwell in the past when we can celebrate our victimization by it.  Never on the good that was.  Or the standards we upheld.

Sigh,  The good old days.  There were so many.  Now I'm just thinking I'll be content if I can just dwell in my own past and relish the good time that it was.

The Pain Of Change

I was so glad to learn Carly Fiorina's people shamed CNN into changing the debate participant rules.  Why is it the Republicans are trying so hard to marginalize her while the Dems cling so desperately to Hillary? The two couldn't be more different in both experience and character!  It seems to me the clamor for a female candidate is focused on the wrong woman.  But then the Dems have long had the women's vote and the stuffy old Republicans just don't get it.  A bit chauvinistic are they?

Have you noticed that much of what Obama is  expostulating on now has only two alternatives? His way or total disaster.  His nuc agreement or war.  His climate change mandates or the world is going to disappear in a horrible, tortuous, painful expulsion from the universe.  Sheesh! What's going to be horrible, tortuous and painful are his last months in office.  That and watching Congress continue to malfunction.

The war on police. Wow.  We have a friend whose son is a beat cop in D.C. He tells his dad that all the cops get insulted, threatened and spit upon no matter their ethnicity.  Nothing like equal opportunity thugs. We need more men like Milwaukee police chief David Clark at the helm of departments across the land.  Men who see it as it is and aren't afraid to say so.  I worry about him though.  I'm sure he's a target.

I'm wondering if politics will get back to "normal" or if we're seeing the beginnings of a "new normal" that is positive for a change.  I don't think Trump will get the nomination but I'm willing to bet it won't be a old school politician, even a young one.  Fortunately people are beginning to have their voices heard and the astute have picked up on it. It just so happens the most flamboyant of them has taken the lead.  I'm still watching Florina, Carson, Cruz and Kasich to be the wild cards that become mainstream before it's all over.

Maybe Bush should let it go.  He strikes me as a man who doesn't have his heart in it but is doing so because he's been pushed and doesn't want to disappoint.  Well, he is disappointing and hardly inspirational.  Warm and cuddly and loving isn't necessarily inspirational. It is, however, a bit cloying.

So here we are.  Back to what this blog used to be all about.  Just musing.

As The Establishment Squirms

One thing about traveling during the political silly season, you miss little if you miss a day or two of getting fresh news.  Nothing other than politics is covered and so far this season it has been pretty steady.

Hillary is dipping in the polls and Trump continues to dominate the Republicans. Upon catching up two things have caught my interest. Why in the love of country does anyone stick with Hillary? And why don't the Republicans and media get what Trump, Carson and Fiorina are all about?

I can't answer the first.  The second?  I think they are scared to death that one the three will actually get the nomination and politics will never again be the same.  Well, duh.  That's what the people want.  Someone who recognizes we exist and have needs that exceed their hunger for power and the benefits that come with it.

I would like to see a non-politician take on Congress.  If you thought Obama went wild with executive actions, can you imagine what a Trump would do?  And if it's with the consensus of the people rather than against it there will be such a ground swell of support Congress won't know which way to turn. Not that they do as is.

Politics as usual is on the brink and I couldn't be more happy. It's about time some people are stepping forward and saying damn the torpedoes - full speed ahead.  My ideal ticket is in flux but I like the way things are - and are not- progressing.

One question for the Dems and Hillary.  I heard it from a caller on Limbaugh while wiling away hours in the car - if she never sent nor received classified e-mails on her private server how did she get her briefings, intel, etc?  Was it only when she was in her office which was infrequent at best?
Eh?

Ask it, main stream media.  Ask it.

Time for My Stats To Plummet Again!

There was a time my stats were really important to me.  Not so much any more.  I've found other things to do with my life.  But I still enjoy blogging and will continue to do so.  Especially throughout the campaigns.

So as I head off for some real down time I'll tell you what I'll be musing about politically.  Will Hillary bow out gracefully before things get much worse?  My guess - no.  She is beyond embarrassment and is the quintessence of victimhood.  It will be that right winged conspiracy that has haunted her since day one.

Will Trump maintain his poll standings?  For now for sure.  Who will gain ground?  I expect things to waffle for the rest of the summer unless someone other than Trump makes a huge gaffe. Will Carly gain?  Slowly I'm betting but probably not enough.  Trump will continue to over shadow her.

Who might be tempted to challenge Hillary other than the faceless field already out there?  Elizabeth Warren?  I don't know.  Someone suggested Mike Bloomberg. He's been a member of every party in the book.  If he gets in hang on to your sodas!

Ah, politics.  It would be funny if it weren't so serious.

To be continued a ways down the road...

Trump Playing The Crowd

I was out running errands yesterday and listening to Trump in a press conference then a rally in New Hampshire.  I'm beginning to see why people so like him.  Other than giving kids rides in the Trump chopper.

He's so real and unscripted and he calls people stupid that the crowds also think are stupid.  Let's face it, not one candidate running, with the exception of Fiorina, have a clue how big business works.  Trump is explaining it to his audiences. Corporate big wigs are always playing both sides.  Trump admits he has because that's how the game is played.

Have you heard one other candidate admitting that they solicit campaign funds from those who they know aren't on their side?  And often get it just in case they win?

Trump may excoriate his competition but he sure knows how to play the crowd.  He came across as warm and approachable.  Seriously.  He did.  Not at all like he does with the talking heads - on any network.

One thing to consider before dismissing him as a flash in the pan is that he knows the players who actually run governments.  He's one of them.  Those are the people whose throats will be at his knife point, because they are the ones who dictate to their "leaders".  He can negotiate with them because he has the clout.  As President, boy would he have the clout.

He's not my first choice - yet, but I get the sense that he's beginning to take this quest seriously.  Small differences in his demeanor are becoming apparent.  Even his hair style is changing.  This is one interesting candidate!