I'm Sick Beyond Words So I'm Going To Say A Few

Yes, I'm still around.  The problem is I've been posting about politics so long and have become so disgusted with it I've been recovering from a bad case of burnout.

I still am, actually, and the fact Trump signed the Omnibus Bill this morning hasn't helped any.  For a long time I thought maybe our Congress would come to it's senses and work together for the country.  How mistaken I have been.

All the talk about draining the swamp and like discussions are all just wishful thinking.  It isn't going to happen.  When you have over 3 million people feeding at the public trough there is no way it can be drained.  Each and every one of those 3 million are going to do what is expedient for them to hang onto to their piece of the good life while the rest of us can do no more than wait and wonder.

If any outsider other than Trump had ascended to the Presidency there may have been a chance.  I actually agree with a lot he says he wants to do for America.  The problem is he is who he is, his own and our greatest obstacle to succeeding.  It's hard for me to garner any respect for the man much less hail him as our President.

The handwriting is certainly on the wall.  The Left is most likely to oust the Republicans in the midterms.  Those of us who consider ourselves independents lose.  Will Trump lose?  Hard to say since in many respects he's more of a Democrat than a Republican and it's impossible to know what exactly it is he believes at any given moment.

Climate change, global warming,  gun issues all pale in comparison with what is really the biggest threat to this country and the world.  It's what our politics, politicians and their sycophantic media are doing to our country.

It isn't easy being green, the color that is.  I can find no comfort in the attitudes and actions of either party any more.  It's as if the country is just an aside.  Except for those of us who aren't a part of the ever expanding swamp.  Heck even alligators are green.  What does that tell you?  Of course they were in the swamp first.  Maybe they don't appreciate the interlopers who are taking over. I wish we had the  alligator like ability to scare the wits out of them by bearing our teeth!

Just thought I'd touch base today.  I'm still here.  I'm still angry, disgusted and perhaps most of all sad at what is happening to this once seemingly invincible nation.

Invincible.  Sigh.  Talk about wishful thinking.

Funny! Seriously?

There are reasons why I can barely watch a "news" program to the end.  The major one is how most interviews, whether they be with one or two people from opposing sides, the host ends up talking over the guests should they dare disagree with the host's notion.

It devolves to where I can't understand a word being said.  Sometimes even the guests get into a spat among themselves with the same result.  Then the host runs out of time and cuts them off.

It also irritates me when they get a decent dialogue going but there is never enough time before that big ole commercial break intervenes.

I've noticed recently many hosts are reading calls, tweets and comments from listeners who are actually commenting on the hosts themselves.  Usually they pertain to the behavior above. The worse the comment, and they are mostly unflattering to say the least, the more the hosts laugh at them.

Why?  As insulting as the comments are they're often quite right on the button.  I'd think the hosts would be doing themselves a favor if they'd actually hear what they're being told and instead of laughing about their less than stellar image, try to correct it.

Oh how I wish newspapers would make a come back.  Ones with real unbiased reports.  Then I wouldn't have to listen to the voices.  Sigh.

Immigration - Illegal And Otherwise

I am not anti-immigration.  To use the cliche - we are a country built by immigrants.  I am, however, against giving immigrants who are here illegally or are not yet citizens rights enjoyed by our citizens.

I am especially against amnesty for all.  We've tried that and still they come. The problem is there are the good and the bad.  Why in heavens name should we give amnesty to those who break our laws?  They've already broken at least one by coming in illegally.  Why give them a pass therefore compounding it?

The same applies to the so called dreamers. I have no problem that if they've registered they be given an opportunity to stay but if they want citizenship they must go home and get in line with those doing things by the law.

Most of the focus is on our border with Mexico and those crossing there but be sure there are many coming across our northern border too.  They just don't happen to be Mexican or Hispanic. Does the southern border scrutiny make us racist?  No. It is merely the area the media focuses on and the sheer numbers who have crossed in that area.

It's not an easy issue to solve because our lawmakers have let it get way out of hand by not making sure the laws on the books are enforced. The issue of merit, the ability to contribute is paramount.  We cannot take adequate care of our own under privileged and until we are able to do so we should not be welcoming those who do no more than add to those numbers.

Who does it hurt? Every single one of us because a vast amount of tax payers dollars go to care for them.  Feed them, house them, take care of their medical needs and educate them. And in too many cases incarcerate them which adds to our already overcrowded prison systems.

Consider the estimated number of DACA people is around 800,000. They are not all pure of heart.  The law of averages will dictate a certain number of them will be criminal. That is reason enough not to give them carte blanch amnesty.

Congress needs to first agree on the requirements for residency before moving on any type of amnesty.  It has gotten out of hand in places who claim to be sanctuary cities or states.  A friend in California is leaving the state because of it.  The last straw was when they passed a law that prohibited her from telling her house cleaning service that she did not want an illegal in her home.

She had no way of knowing how well the service vetted their employees - or if they were even required to do so. That is, I'm sorry, letting the inmates run the asylum.

Will Congress do it right?  I'm betting no. They're too busy with their puffery. It makes me angry, yes angry, that we citizens are becoming the disenfranchised and without our government putting us first we have little chance of changing it.

What Makes Democrats Tick?

Why is it that the Democrats in Congress have such contempt for the very people they are supposed to represent?  Oh sure, they always parade before the microphone and tell us that everything the Republicans bring forth is to the detriment to the country.  We're supposed to swallow their dictums hook, line and sinker.

Well, I for one, am sick and tired of their silly games.  Their opposition is purely for the sake of opposition in the faint hope something they do will bring down the President.

I've got news for them.  He's more resilient than they are!  Unlike others before, he won't slink into hiding and avoid the controversy; he jumps into the middle of it.  It seems that at least his own party is beginning to come around and stand with him.

In fairness to the Dems, the Republicans are just as bad when the Dems are in power.  Isn't it time for it to stop and have intelligent and civil debate on the issues instead of all this pouting when they don't get their way? It makes me wonder what sort of sheep we've put in office and tend to keep.  Why do we do so?

Have you every looked at their faces when they line up behind their leadership?  They are all so dour, both parties, that it is obviously an unpleasant undertaking to serve us.  More of them should opt not to run again.

I listened to Alan Dershowitz the other evening where he was criticizing his own party and calling for more centrists. He's right.  I'd like to take him one step further however.  He voted for Hillary.  He's a staunch Democrat.  But knowing what we know about Hillary and the entire Clinton operation I wonder how he could vote for her.  That he really didn't want Trump?  I get that but is that enough to vote for Hillary?  I'd love to have him explain it.  Or is voting the party line what one does no matter what.

It's going to be an interesting political year. I don't trust what anyone says the  mid-terms are going to be because I don't believe they are really talking to we, the people. No one has asked me nor anyone I know exactly what it is we want and expect from our elected officials.

So what do I do?  I guess I'll just tell them here.  For instance what are we going to do about Turkey's Erdogan bombing the Syrian rebels who we support? Inquiring minds want to know.

Stay tuned.

Why I Cannot Be A Republican In Idaho

If you ever sit and wonder why the likes of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are the type of candidates we end up nominating for the presidency, perhaps I've found a reason.

For clarification's sake let me say that I am and long have been registered as an independent.  When I was younger I thought myself pragmatic.  That's when I believed both parties wanted what was best for the country but had differing ways of reaching those goals.

No more. Politics has become too much of a haven for those wanting to feed at the public trough for life.  That's why so many special interests have the grip that they do.

Since I've been here in Idaho I've watched politics on both the local and statewide level with a sense of foreboding.  Even at these levels we are not choosing the best; mainly because the really good people don't run.  That by the way is a generality.  We have some superb candidates from time to time. But only time to time. Today I'm going to address the Republicans who are running a bit amok.

The process runs into trouble when local level workers hijack the party for their own interests. They have their own agenda. This would appear to be the case here.  The Republican leaders are due to have a conference to discuss the party platform before the next session of the Legislature kicks off.

Understand that local committeemen and women are in place to help Republicans win elections, not dictate what they should and should not believe. So why is it they want said candidates to be required to support the party platform in it's entirety or be pinpointed as "unfaithful" to the GOP.  Isn't that something the voters should decide? What candidate worth his or her salt agrees with everything in a party platform?  If they do they might as well be robots.  That may be preferable but then I'd be afraid of whoever was programming them.  It all comes back to the people in charge and how they got there.  I want to hear debate.  Not boilerplate.

While the platform contains the usual Republican diet of fiscal responsibility and lower taxes it then veers sharply to the right by urging the purchase of gold and silver, eliminating the election of Senators and going back to the appointment of same, and the ability to nullify any federal law deemed to "violate state sovereignty".  It seems to me what people should invest in is their business, not something that should be dictated (urged)  by a political party? And who would appoint those Senators?  The legislature.  No thanks.

So much for the "big tent".  Shouldn't candidates have a right to disagree with components of a platform and defend their reasoning without fear of being politically blackmailed?  Most party platforms usually are but guidelines anyway and are rarely, if ever, strictly adhered to.  Who does all this "deeming" and scheming anyway?

The claim is the loyalty oath requirement was dumped shortly after it was installed but I'm thinking they just blurred the edges a bit.  The very idea of loyalty oaths, or whatever name they're assigned,b makes my skin crawl.

It's time to wrap it up for now and the year. We go into a new year with an uncertain future at best. Neither party is showing it's strength at this point and 2018 is going to be another year of political transition.  It will be interesting to see what the voting public chooses.