Tuesday, February 07, 2017

Listen To The Godfather!

I'm no fan of Rahm Emmanuel but the Democrats should listen to him when he says 'chill'.  All this posturing and protesting is just making them look silly and sad.  As in pathetic.

Emmanuel has a plan for them to get back into the position of winning if only they will listen.  He admits it is a long term process but the first and foremost precept is to win.  What a concept.First they need to get some decent leadership.  I don't think Mr. Ellison nor Mr. Perez are the best choices but then I'm far more centrist than either. Next they need to find viable candidates to run in Republican districts.  Emmanuel has that scoped out too. The Republicans have already learned how to choose candidates that appeal to the populace and they have also provided them with a vision.  That's why they won.  They had something concrete to vote for that they believed in.  Even if the person leading the charge was so unlikely and imbued with negatives!

Personally I hope they don't listen and continue with their incessant pouting.  It gives the Republicans, as shaky as they are, a leg up. Their albatross is their own President.

Now if Mr. Emmanuel could come up with a plan as good to get the gang violence in his city under control he'd really be riding high.  Maybe you'd even see him on the national ballot at some point.

Nah. He doesn't have the charisma.  But you never know when the most unlikely candidate this last go round came out on top.  Tells you what the voting public thinks of main stream politicians.

Monday, February 06, 2017

Patriots Vs Patriots

Wow, that was some Super Bowl.  The Atlanta fans were devastated that their team could be so close to a win yet lose. Sound familiar?

And the Patriots!  Probably the most disliked team in America due to their reputation as cheaters plus the fact that fans are just plain tired of them, their dominance.

I couldn't help but compare the game and it's out come to our current political situation. Yet it is very different. Let's equate the Falcons with the Democrats for a moment.  So sure of that win yet the ensuing loss.

Then the Patriots as Republicans.  Nobody really wanted them to win.  The difference here between sport and politics is that many expected they would win even if they didn't want them to. Yet they did.

The huge difference between sport and politics was in the aftermath.  There was no violence.  No protests.  No looking for safe places to cry their eyes out.  Just the morose acceptance of a game not so well played in the end and a wait for another year, another season and hopefully a job better done.

The media too was far different.  Around here the sports columnists were mostly for Atlanta yet you would never have known it from the coverage this morning.  It was high praise for Tom Brady, coach Belichick and the entire Patriots team.  As Tom Brady was Tom Terrific you could say the Patriots were Team Terrific. No one was trying to take that away from them or boycott anything New England or Boston!

I saw a few nasty comments on Facebook this morning from those who truly hate the Patriots, but not much, at least among my circle.  They were more excited about the snow that fell in the mountains. The game is over.  The Patriots won.  Next year.  End of story.

I guess the moral of the story is the so called American patriots who won't except the election nor any of the new Presidents appointees should look to football fans.  Games over.  Move on.

Wednesday, February 01, 2017

Donkeys and Democrats

Donkeys are known to be stubborn.  I've read it's about self preservation thus their refusal to go along easily, especially when it's a human giving the orders.

What a perfect mascot for the Democrat Party.  They have their ideology and they will stubbornly resist anybody who tries to wrest it away from them or alter it in any way.

After eight years of having one of their own in the White House it has become readily apparent that their sacred policies did not work and that the American voter soundly rejected them.  Yes, they did. The voters that gave Hillary the edge in the popular vote came from New York and California, both heavily Democrat. And both having their difficulties under Democrat leaders.  Especially California.

What goes on out here in America between Republican and Democrat neighbors has nothing to do with the larger problem of Washington.  I don't think it is Republicans alone who are fed up with the shenanigans of our representatives in Congress. It has become a game between the parties and the most clever will win.  The Democrats did for years under the leadership of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.  Pelosi is still there but Chuck Schummer is no Harry Reid.  Thank heavens.

The problem for the Republicans is their leadership.  Mitch McConnell has yet to show he has the killer instinct to get things done and for some reason Paul Ryan seems to have an agenda of his own which seems more sacrosanct than the President's.

Therefore both sides are causing fits for the new administration.  You know, it's beginning to be funny to me to watch this slap stick. There is so much drama in the executive branch alone it's hard to keep up with it whats more what is and isn't happening in Congress.

I wonder if it will ever settle down.  Out of the chaos I hear Iran has been put on notice for it's ballistic missile tests.  It was barely a whisper beneath the belligerence in Congress over the hearings on the cabinet appointees.  Yet it is hugely important.  Just what does being put on notice mean to this group?

Trump has disturbed the order of things and those affected don't want to cope nor do I think they know how.  Quick on their feet they are not.

So they want things to remain the same.  The people do not.  We have a President pledged to the people.  The question is who will win?

Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Are Democrats With The Country?

We as a nation have been witness to the most witless meltdown of our political system that one can imagine.  It would seem there is little doubt that the Democrats have set themselves up as the final authority on everything.  They are always right and the rest of us are dreadfully wrong.

I'm getting tired of the show.  Every day now it's the Democrats defying everything the new administration wants to do.  Granted, the sloppiness of many of the administration's actions deserve defiance, but not everything.

It's time for the Democrats to quit beating their breasts in agony and get the cabinet members approved and in place.  The President, after all, was elected by the people.  And bear in mind, the people who gave Hillary the popular vote came from two relatively small areas considering the breadth of the entire nation.  The "popular" vote issue doesn't wash.

I expect there is going to be a lot of pronouncements from Trump that are going to have to be walked back.  That's what happens when you have someone who reacts impulsively and Trump is definitely that.  He's also showing that he can be reasoned with, to an extent, thus the walk backs.  He would be well served with a more experienced press secretary.

That the Democrats are adding to the chaos is by design is no secret.  They seem very proud of themselves and are quite vocal about it.  But it doesn't serve any one well.  They are just making the Trump voters and those watching from outside any political realm disgusted and angry.  Nothing is getting done and that hurts the country.

It may be difficult getting this new President on track but it would be helpful if the Democrats would get off their high horse and join the political process as it was meant to be. Keeping the divide doesn't help the country and they may soon find it doesn't help them as a party either.

It's a mess. Everyone. Grow up.

Monday, January 30, 2017

Mr. President, The World Is Not Happy With You And Neither Am I

It would seem the entire world is unhappy with our new President.  Not to mention a good portion of the citizens of this country.  And they are not just irate Democrats.

Those of us who try to be pragmatic are also worried.  I cringe when I watch this man approach a microphone and what he might say that is totally insane.  He seems to do that a lot then his minions race to mics of their own trying to clarify what he has said.  They are falling short.

This executive action on immigration is a perfect example.  I think I understand what he was trying to accomplish but his order was so vague it created chaos.  Was he in too much of a hurry to think it through?  Did he even talk with his advisers?  Did he choose not to listen to them?  Whatever happened, the end result is worrisome.

I was interested in having a person with actual experience in the business world run for President.  I remember when Lee Iacocca was considering a run, or people were at least encouraging him to do so.  He was a highly successful CEO of both Ford then Chrysler.  He also had the personality to be successful.  He wasn't full of himself or flamboyant.  Just a good solid businessman. That's the type of businessman we need.

Instead we get this guy who thinks he knows everything and as we're seeing, he most certainly does not.  I don't know how he thinks, himself, how he's going to succeed when he's literally butting heads with the entire world.  Does he think he can bully his way through?  That won't last four years. Does he have a clue that things need to be thought through?  Does he have a clue how foolish his Tweeting makes him look?  He says it's his way to communicate with the people.  Well, his actions communicate to us too and they have been reckless.

It can be depressing that we've got this man at the helm.  Many hoped he would grow into the position but I don't think he sees the need.  He's Donald Trump.

If we all  have our say aimed back at him maybe, when there are enough voices to penetrate, he'll adjust his manner. Likely?  No.  But I'll know I've had my say.  It's better than keeping quiet and stewing. Maybe.