What NH Proves?

So, it looks like Pete Buttigieg and Bernie Sanders for all intents and purposes, split Iowa. They came away as the two big winners and got most of the state delegates. Joe Biden, as everyone knows now, came away the loser. And that is actually a big deal. Let’s go back to 2004. John Kerry won Iowa. He ended up the nominee. In 2008, Bobo Obama won Iowa. He ended up the nominee. In 2016, Hillary Clinton won Iowa. She ended up the nominee. Are you seeing a pattern here?

What does New Hampshire’s primary prove today? Well, not much. Because as Iowa has been able to accurately predict the Democrat nominee, New Hampshire has pretty much sucked at that, and they’ve proven to be able to predict the Republican nominee. Again, going back to 2008 (since George W. Bush was the incumbent in 2004), John McCain won New Hampshire. In 2012, Mitt Romney won New Hampshire, and in 2016, Donald Trump won New Hampshire. It shows that at least with recent history, Iowa chooses the nominee better with Democrats, and New Hampshire does better picking Republican nominees.

In New Hampshire in 2004, they did pick the eventual nominee in John Kerry, who was also almost a native son being from nearby Massachusetts. In 2008, when Bobo Obama was the nominee, Hillary Clinton won the primary, and in 2016, when Hillary Clinton was the nominee, Bernie Sanders won the primary.

So, today’s primary, probably doesn’t prove anything…except that the two guys that are at the top of the latest polls, Sanders and Buttigieg came out of Iowa basically winners. Sanders won the popular vote there, Buttigieg got I think one or two more delegates.

And what does all of that mean? Nothing. Right now the Democrat party is in disarray. The Iowa Caucus was a mess. The impeachment trial blew up in the faces of the Democrats in DC. Nancy Pelosi embarrassed not only herself, but her party with her antics at the State of the Union speech by ripping up the speech. And all of that kinda sorta has me a little concerned. Not scared just yet, but concerned.

Remember back when the Republicans were blamed for shutting down the government, and everyone felt going into an election year it would have a major impact on the outcome? It didn’t. Remember when anytime there has been some major happening against one of the two major parties nine or ten months out, it looks like it will doom them in the upcoming election? It usually doesn’t. That’s because America has a very short attention span anymore. We are all stuck in a 24 hour news cycle, and what was a major catastrophe yesterday is pretty well forgotten by the week’s end.

And while I really hope and pray that Americans remember all of the silly childish antics the Democrats have put on display here (the latest one has AOC declaring that Donald Trump pays African American people to say they support him!), there’s something gnawing at me that says it can all turn around very quickly between now and election day. Somehow I don’t think any of this is going to play into the voters’ minds come November.

That is the sad part. Because just as Iowa predicts Democrat nominees and New Hampshire predicts Republican nominees, America seems to forget. It’s going to be more about those two or three debates that Trump has with whomever comes out of the Democrat side, and less about Congress and impeachment, or tearing up a speech. That’s wrong. Democrats should be held responsible for their actions in Congress over the last two years. All of their investigations when they should have been doing the peoples’ business is just a waste of taxpayer money. They are wrong for doing that and they need to be held accountable for it.

The presidential candidates are wrong in thinking they can promise the world to the voters and expect the voters to come running to them. Hillary Clinton was actually right on that account. There will be a price to pay for their exuberance. And that does play into Donald Trump’s hands.

Let’s just hope America wakes up to the fraud that has become the Democrat party before it’s too late!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Congress' New Role: Investigator In Chief?

You would think that after Democrats faced a demoralizing defeat this last week when they screwed up the Iowa Caucuses (is it over yet???), and then had their rear ends handed to them in impeachment, that they’d slink quietly back to their House chamber and ride out the storm in this election year. Nothing could be further from the truth!

And of course, what always happens in DC is that if one party makes a fool of themselves, the other has to follow…and that’s what seems to be happening on the Republican side.

Nancy Pelosi made a comment on Thursday that the investigations into Donald Trump will, indeed continue, and that they are willing to get a subpoena for John Bolton, and take it to court if needed to hear from him. Isn’t that what SHOULD have happened back in the fall? If the Democrats weren’t in such a yank to “get impeachment done by Christmas”, they would have done their homework, and maybe, just maybe they would have had something to actually hang on Trump. Instead, they were like the school kid that wanted to go outside an play rather than do his math homework. And, Democrats need to realize that the old saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for a different result does hold true in Congress as well as everywhere else.

Now, to add to this, the Republicans are going to be getting from the Treasury Department, classified data on Hunter Biden. Basically, the data will look into Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine and hand over highly sensitive financial records and “evidence’ of questionable origin. So, even though Joe Biden’s presidential campaign seems to be slipping away after the “gut punch” he took in Iowa, it may not be over for the Biden clan. Look at it as payback to the Democrats for impeachment.

What I’ve said all along is that BOTH sides need to get back to doing the country’s work. When are we going to get immigration reform? When are we going to get a total repeal of Obamacare, and let the insurance companies go back to working as they should? When can we expect the House and Senate to actually do something to fix our country’s crumbling infrastructure? And when is Congress going to let the President of the United States BE the President of the United States?

There are a bunch of people in New Hampshire right now, hoping to take Donald Trump’s job as president next year. How well do you think they are going to be treated if they do indeed upend Trump? Do you think Republicans are going to go back to “business as usual”? Or are they going to seek some sort of sandbox revenge for the actions taken by Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, and Jerry Nadler? When in the world is Congress going to get back to doing the people’s business and stop all this third grade nonsense that we’ve been treated to over the past four years?

It’s time our Representatives and Senators realize that yes, you have oversight. You also have a responsibility. And running one branch of Congress doesn’t mean you stop doing everything else. Start doing what you were elected to do, or I just bet we can all find someone who will be willing to be voted into your seat and do a MUCH better job than what you’re doing.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Democrats' Bad Week

If you relish in seeing your opposition in tears, frustrated, nothing going their way, upset to the point of depression, and you’re conservative, you’ve come to the right place! It seems that the past week has been about the worst week many Dems can remember.

It looked like it would be ok, with possibly four or five Republican Senators jumping ship and voting for witnesses in the impeachment trial. Alas…that didn’t come to fruition as only Susan Collins and Mitt (The Traitor) Romney waffled and the Democrats lost that vote 51-49. They immediately took to the microphones and cameras, declaring impeachment to be “a sham”. Of course they were right. It’s been a sham since the beginning!

Next up was the Iowa Caucuses. It was the Democrat’s turn to shine. They were going to whittle their dozen or so candidates still in the field down to maybe six or seven (including Steyer and Bloomberg). Alas…more misery as Iowa couldn’t get the votes counted. Well, that and the guy the mainstream Democrats hoped would do well finished a distant fourth and won’t be pulling any delegates out of that state. Frustration started to set in.

The very next day, the State of the Union speech took place. Donald J. Trump raised his game, giving one of the best speeches he’s ever given. He stayed on message, he never once mentioned impeachment, he even brought up several of his accomplishments that were actually strong Democrat programs that HE took credit for getting through Congress. In the end, the vision Americans will carry with them is a depressed Nancy Pelosi actually ripping up the State of the Union copy the president handed her at the beginning of the speech. It demonstrated absolutely no class in the Speaker. It showed the world how petty she was, and by association, how small the Democrats were. In the midst of the SOTU, Democrats learned that Iowa had only counted 62% of their votes in the last 24 hours and were still nowhere near declaring a winner.

Moving on to Wednesday, Democrats knew the obvious was coming. It was the day the Senate would vote on the articles of impeachment. Now, I don’t think there is a person in this country with an IQ over 50 that believed Donald Trump would be convicted on anything. And he wasn’t. In fact, Mitt (The Traitor) Romney was the only Senator to jump ship, showing he clearly doesn’t belong in the Republican party, and giving total justification that the correct person (and i HATE to say this) won the election in 2012. The “abuse of power” article went down to defeat 52-48 (needing 67 votes to pass). The “obstruction of Congress” article went down to defeat 53-47. As I said on a few other blog comments, Donald Trump and the free world cheered…Atlas Shrugged!

So, now Democrats everywhere are “depressed”. They haven’t had anything go their way this past week. They’ve shown what babies they can be when they don’t win, and it’s on display. And it doesn’t look like it’s going to be much better this week as they get back to normal in Washington, DC, and the presidential candidates try and winnow out a few votes from the folks in New Hampshire on Tuesday. The Democrats hope basically that Bernie Sanders doesn’t pull off a win, though early polls show him well ahead of Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren in third, and Pete Buttigieg in fourth. Then it’s on to Nevada and South Carolina.

A few more losses, and Democrats may well have to decide it’s not worth it to run anyone in for president this year. Oh my!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

So…What Happens NOW?

In one of history’s most boring and predictable moments, the United States Senate voted to exonerate President Donald J. Trump on both charges against him. You knew it was going to happen. I knew it was going to happen. The Senate knew it was going to happen. Nancy Pelosi knew it was going to happen. I don’t think there was a person in this country that didn’t think it was going to happen. The Democrats in the House of Representatives have wasted over one hundred million dollars of yours and my money in this fiasco. And the end result is exactly what everyone said it would be when they started this mess.

What did it prove?

Absolutely nothing! It proved that Democrats were hell-bent on hanging an “impeachment” tag on Trump. It proved that they knew all along it wasn’t going to go anywhere. Other than that, it proved nothing. And there’s one question that remains that needs to be explored.

What happens now?

Well, we go back to “business as usual”, but is it really business as usual? I mean, the House is going to do one of two things…and I bet it’s the latter. Either they are going to forget this nonsense about impeaching a president when there is absolutely no chance of conviction. Or, they are going to resume their investigations into whatever mamby pamby snowflake laden rumors and innuendos that they can find, hoping to find something ELSE to impeach him on.

If I’m right, and the House continues down this path of hatred and divisive politics, the odds are better than 50/50 that the American public is at some point going to get fed up with them. At that point they will vote the Democrats out of power and it will return to the Republicans. It may be in 2020, It may be in 2022, but it will happen. That you can take to the bank.

As far as what COULD happen, well, the Democrats COULD rile their base to elect someone like a Bernie Sanders or a Sleepy Joe Biden to the presidency. They COULD take back the Senate, telling their party members that if they took back the Senate, at least they could have called witnesses in the impeachment. At least it COULD have been a “fair trial” in their eyes. And they COULD excite their base to the point they actually expand their control of the House. And of course, pigs could fly out of my butt.

What WILL happen? I think the country is going to eventually hold them accountable for what they did. I think that Donald Trump is going to use this as a campaign issue to get more Republicans elected to the House and hold the Senate. And it will help him, not hurt him in the upcoming election. I think everybody kinda, sorta realizes that he’s the odds on favorite to win re-election this year, which can be dangerous (just ask Hillary!). But still, I think the odds are very good. I think they are about 50/50 the GOP rides the Trump coattails and takes back the House, and a little better than 50/50 that they expand their lead by up to three seats in the Senate. At least that’s the way it looks now. It could change.

The one think following politics for 45 years has taught me. In February, it’s way to early to know what’s going to happen in November. If the GOP gets lax, and decides not to turn out, thinking that everything is going to go their way, they will lose. If they come out in force, and can convince enough independents that Democrats are off the rails, it will be a very nice place to live for the next few years. The choice is ours.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Trump's Night/Biden's Loss

Donald Trump will remember February 4, 2020 as a watershed moment in his presidency. Oh, it won’t be without controversy…but it was a watershed moment. Joe Biden, probably would remember it as the day he couldn’t leave Iowa fast enough.

Let’s examine what happened in the two biggest news stories yesterday.

First of all, in Iowa, we had to wait until very late in the day…5pm EST to find out that Pete Buttigieg was actually right when he said he was leaving Iowa victorious! Buttigieg did indeed surprise the nation by winning, at least so far, Iowa. When the first numbers came in with 62% of the vote verified and counted, he was just ahead of Bernie Sanders, who was in second, and Elizabeth Warren finished third. Those numbers held up overnight. Joe Biden meanwhile finished fourth, just ahead of Amy Klobuchar. That wasn’t a very good showing for the former VP, who had the state all to himself and Buttigieg while the Senators, Sanders, Warren, Klobuchar, and Bennett were locked away in the impeachment trial. And now, it’s on to New Hampshire, where you’d expect that Sanders from neighboring Vermont, and Warren from nearby Massachusetts will continue to do well. Biden is just hoping after New Hampshire, when they get to Nevada and South Carolina, he’ll hit his “blue wall” and do much better!

And then a couple of hours later, it was back at the Capitol for the second big news item of the day. And I won’t bore you with a blow by blow recap…I’m sure if you were interested you watched it. But there were two things in the speech, or should I say surrounding the speech that I found totally amazing. One was a snub, and the other a very classless move.

The snub happened at the beginning, as Donald Trump was handing Vice President, Mike Pence, and Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi their copies of the speech. Pence took his, Pelosi took hers, and then held out her hand for Trump to shake it and he turned away. She chortled and gave a slight laugh. I’m not sure if Trump actually snubbed the Speaker or not, or if he was just turning away because he didn’t offer to shake Pence’s hand either.

The second act, which was totally classless and has made a mountain of comment all over the news channels, was at the end. As Trump was saying “Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America”, Pelosi and Pence stood up, and Pelosi ripped up a copy of the speech. Total classless move.

Look, I understand there’s bad blood between these two, and frankly, I don’t blame Trump for that. Pelosi went on a witch hunt that will culminate today with Trump’s acquittal and it will be from what I hear, a bi-partisan acquittal. Pelosi bought a bill of goods on that one and lost. For her to act like a two year old that didn’t get a cookie and tear up a speech is not only juvenile, it’s unprofessional and idiotic. It shows that the job is certainly too big for her to handle. She’s not worthy to be called “Speaker”. She needs to resign and do so immediately. If not, the Republicans should fight to take back the House and evict her from the body.

I will add one other thing. It was a very touching moment when Donald Trump introduced Rush Limbaugh and had Melania give him the Medal of Freedom for his years of tireless service to America. Rush deserves it, and to give it to him now, as he prepares to enter the fight of his life is certainly fitting and the right thing to do. Though I will say, everyone in the country knew Limbaugh was going to get the medal at the SOTU. He apparently missed the message because he acted like it was the first he knew of it. And I found that hard to believe since it was on every news channel in existence.

And with that, on to today’s impeachment vote!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

What Hath The House Wrought?

When you think about the whole mess called impeachment, one thing comes to mind that is very disturbing, that I feel the Founding Fathers didn’t necessarily fear because political parties weren’t around like they are today, but nonetheless is disturbing.

That is “Revenge Impeachment”.

You have to understand that this particular impeachment has had no crime committed. Was there malfeasance? Absolutely! Was there stuff done that probably shouldn’t have been done, or done in another way? Maybe. But, as the Senators are debating this very issue in DC, the question rises, was what Donald Trump did, so wrong that it rises to the level of removal from office? I would say, no. Of course, I said the same thing back in 1998 with Bill Clinton’s impeachment. He got caught, literally, with his pants down, and lied about it. Was the lying part bad enough to impeach him? I didn’t think so, though I wasn’t a fan of his. Should he have been punished by having his law license stripped? Certainly. But to overturn the will of the people because he is a sex addict? I’m not sure it rises to that point (pun intended).

And the case here is even murkier. This impeachment was the most partisan in US history. It was predicated on the removal of a president because the opposition didn’t like the fact the American people chose him. They felt their candidate should have won, and felt that there was enough in this guy’s past that called for his removal, even before he took office. That is totally not the way the Founding Fathers ever felt.

And what has the House wrought because of this partisan charade? They have instituted, as Democrats are wont to do, a situation where they have made a precedent that could very well be repeated over and over again by both parties. The “Revenge Impeachment”.

So, let’s say that Trump got elected before Obama. Let’s say he got impeached like he did. Then Obama was elected. And he ran his administration like he did, and everything that happened from 2008 to 2016 happened. Are you telling me that the Republicans wouldn’t have been justified for impeaching Obama for Benghazi? Are you telling me Republicans wouldn’t have been justified for his dealings with the Russians? Or that his Iranian arms deal wouldn’t have been fodder for impeachment? Or his dismantling of the US Coal industry? Or his sitting by while his Secretary of State handed our uranium program over to the Russians? He would have been out on his ass!

And that is the problem the Democrats have. They have let the genie out of the bottle on this one, and it’s going to come back to haunt them, much like Harry Reid’s move in the Senate to allow Obama’s appointments to the federal court system skate with only 51 votes instead of 60. What has happened is the GOP decided, fine…we can pass pretty much anything with only 51 votes, including the next two Supreme Court justices! And if Harry Reid wouldn’t have been in such a yank back then to help Obama getting his nominations approved, the Republicans would still be trying to find someone to replace Antonin Scalia!

No, Democrats have had a long history of making blunders that come back to bite them in the rear end. And my feeling is, this impeachment of Donald Trump is only the beginning…the sad beginning. And instead of bringing a country together, it will only drive us apart further and further. It will, in my humble opinion, be the ruination of our Democratic Republic.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Pelosi's Insanity

Nancy Pelosi was never one to be thought of as the “smartest person in the room”. Sometimes her comments turn into rambling diatribes. More often than not, it’s been fodder for the Republicans to prove that she’s not only not capable of being Speaker of the House, they believe she’s not sane enough or healthy enough to be a Representative.

Pelosi didn’t do herself any favors after Republican Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) came out on Thursday and said that there was no need for witnesses, and he would be voting against calling witnesses. That coupled with Lisa Murkowski’s comments on Wednesday, and Cory Gardner’s feelings that witnesses weren’t needed basically meant that there would not be enough GOP votes to give the Democrats the witnesses they want.

That’s when Pelosi went into action. She was rather upset this entire impeachment hoax came out the way it did, and lost no time venting. She said that even if the Senate votes for exoneration and acquittal, Trump cannot be acquitted without witnesses and the additional documentation that the Democrats are seeking. That probably would have come as a surprise to the Founding Fathers. Her exact quote was, “He will not be acquitted,” Pelosi insisted during her weekly news conference, and reported by Politico. “You cannot be acquitted if you don’t have a trial. You don’t have a trial if you don’t have witnesses and documentation and all of that. Does the president know right from wrong? I don’t think so.”

Of course, that wasn’t all. Pelosi unloaded on the President’s defense team, saying, “I don’t know how they can retain their lawyer status, in the comments that they’re making,” Pelosi told reporters, according to The Hill. “I don’t think they made the case. I think they disgraced themselves terribly in terms of their violation of what our Constitution is about and what a president’s behavior should be.”

Look, I get the fact Nancy is upset with the way all of this turned out. She was basically sold a bill of goods by Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler, and she’s aware she’s going to have to pay the price for it. But, quite honestly, she doesn’t get a say as to whether or not Trump’s defense team made the case or not. It doesn’t matter to anyone if she feels they “disgraced” themselves in what the Constitution is about. If she’s upset that this turned into a partisan jousting match, she only has Adam Schiff to blame. Remember, he’s the one that started down that path during the investigation phase.

As far as not having witnesses or adding documentation, that’s the House’s job. Just because they wanted to rush the investigation and not subpoena the witnesses they now want to call, and go through a court case to resolve the issues, as they should have, it’s not the Senate’s fault…nor is it their job. Her people blew it. Schiff and Nadler hurried their way through this charade. To try and turn the tables on the Republicans in the Senate for the House’s failure to put together a cogent argument for impeachment (when no crime has been committed) is a fool’s argument. Pelosi has fallen for it, and needs to be dressed in a fool’s hat for the rest of her time in the House.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!