Where Have The Statesmen Gone?

If you think back over the past 20 years, can you name more than one or two statesmen that ran for the presidency? I was thinking about this the other day and to be honest, I can’t remember any.

Oh, we’ve had decent campaigners, we’ve had decent presidents, a couple of them anyway, but we’ve languished in mediocrity for most of the last two decades. So, I went back and tried to figure out who was really great. To be honest, I went back to 1960, which was the first presidential election of my life.

1960: Kennedy vs. Nixon: Kennedy was a great orator. That was it. As we learned now, Camelot was more glitz and glitter than reality, and he never really was a “great” president.

1964: Johnson vs. Goldwater: One of the biggest whitewashes in history. Neither was a great campaigner. Johnson was a deal maker, and Goldwater was the “father of modern conservatism”. We deserved better than either of them.

1968: Nixon vs. Humphrey: Again, neither was really electric. Neither was a good orator, nor a good politician. Nixon did a couple of good things and a lot of bad things as president, but wasn’t anything to write home about.

1972: Nixon vs. McGovern: Talk about a lopsided race! I think McGovern may have taken his home state of South Dakota, and that was it.

1976: Carter vs. Ford: On one hand, you had Ford hitting golf balls into a crowd, and on the other, a peanut farmer from Georgia. Neither was impressive.

1980: Reagan vs. Carter: Ronald Reagan was undoubtedly the best president we’ve had since 1960. And he may very well qualify as the best statesman. Certainly better than anyone we’ve seen since 1980! Carter? He lost it by taking advice from Amy on nuclear weapons. And he forgot Poland was a communist country back then!

1984: Reagan vs. Mondale: Fritz Mondale was a Vice President under Carter. And that was about as exciting as it got for him.

1988: HW Bush vs. Dukakis: Talk about watching paint dry! Neither could excite a crowd. Dukakis was so bad, he had to drive a tank to show the world he cared about the military. It didn’t work.

1992: Clinton vs. HW Bush: Clinton was probably one of the best campaigners in recent history. His presidency will always be shrouded with his extra-marital affairs. But Bush couldn’t hold a candle to a much younger and hipper Clinton, who played the saxophone and “tried marijuana but didn’t inhale” (I thought that was the point!).

1996: Clinton vs. Dole: Another mismatch. Dole got the GOP nod because it “was his turn”. Turned out, he would have been better off staying in the Senate and not campaigning.

2000: W Bush vs. Gore: George W. was one of the worst orators in history. Al Gore one of the smarmiest politicians ever. In the end, it came down to a 500 vote win in Florida.

2004: W Bush vs. Kerry: I wouldn’t have thought anyone could have topped Al Gore in the smarmy department. But John Kerry did. And he lost because of it.

2008: Obama vs. McCain: Obama was a great campaigner. He was a decent orator and a lousy president. McCain gave his concession speech at the Republican convention.

2012: Obama vs. Romney: Mitt Romney is not a national politician and it showed in this campaign. Again, Obama, with a 42% approval rating tore into a very weak Republican candidate.

2016: Trump vs. Clinton: The two worst candidates in American history faced off. Both had enough baggage to fill the ritziest hotel in New York City. Neither was qualified to become president. And both had been embroiled in scandals. But Trump’s down-home style resonated with the voters in enough states to send Clinton to her Chardonnay!

2018: Trump vs. Biden: Is this going to be Round 2 of the Worst Candidates Ever? So far, it’s looking like it. Not only does Biden have the baggage that Clinton had as far as the scandals in his past, he is a perennial gaffe machine. Trump seems to get a lead, then blow it because he can’t stop telling the world how great he is. Trump is a much better president than he is either an orator or a campaigner. I don’t think he’s that great at either of those things.

And there you have it. Besides Reagan, no one fit the bill as being a great orator, a great campaigner, and a great president! Where have all the statesmen gone?

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

But Are You Black ENOUGH?

Did Joe Biden step in it again this past week? The answer is obviously, “YES!” when he told an African American radio host on “The Breakfast Club”. And yes, once again, Biden stepped in it, knee deep this time, and ended up having to clarify himself and run the comment back as blacks all over the spectrum turned on him.

Biden said, “If you have a problem figuring out if you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black!”

I find it amazing that one little sentence can basically destroy a presidential bid. Think back four years ago when Hillary Clinton said, “To be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump’s supporters into a basket of deplorables”. And she never got over that comment.

Mitt Romney, eight years ago, while talking to a private group of donors, came up with his “47% remark”. You remember that, right? 47% of the people in America are for Obama regardless what else is going on because he’s giving them food, and money, and all the other stuff they get from government.

The question is, will the black voters in this country wake up and realize that the Democrat party has done nothing but turn them back into slaves? Will it hit them that the free largess that they’ve received from Uncle Sam is nothing more than inducement, and now that they’ve become “addicted” to that largess, that handout from the government, they have to either vote that way…for the Democrats or they lose that handout. So, in essence, they’ve agreed to go back to being slaves. This time they’re slaves for the Democrat party.

And that was exactly what Joe Biden meant when he said “If you have a problem figuring out who to vote for in this, you ain’t black”. The hidden message to blacks is, you don’t elect me president, and you lose your sugar! In my eyes, that’s wrong.

Blacks, like every other segment of our society has an active and important role to play in our country. They shouldn’t be slaves, certainly not to a political party! And to think that it’s gotten so brash, so blatant that a presidential candidate can actually say that they aren’t black, or even black enough if they have to actually think of which party to vote for is appalling. It’s degrading. It’s actually racist. There, I’ve said it. Joe Biden’s comment was about as racist of a comment as you can make! And if making racist comments in this country, as snowflake black leaders would have you believe, makes you a racist, then let me say, Joe Biden is a racist. I’m using THEIR logic, and their reasoning on this one, not mine.

Joe Biden has no business running for office. He’s too old, he’s mentally checked out, and is in need of some serious medical help. And like we will detail tomorrow when we look at the people both parties have run for the highest office in the land, Joe Biden is not fit to seek that office. If that’s not clear to the Democrats at this point, they are woefully lacking in intelligence!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

 

What’s Important To YOU?

We are less than 10 months away from electing a President of the United States. That person has already been out there campaigning…probably…unless the Democrats have a brokered convention. But barring that, there are issues that concern you and me. Are the current crop of politico’s actually talking about them?

Gallup released a poll earlier this week that talked about it. Here are the results:

	Extremely important	Extremely important + Very important
	%	%
Healthcare	35	81
Terrorism and national security	34	80
Gun policy	34	74
Education	33	83
The economy	30	84
Immigration	28	74
Climate change	26	55
Abortion	25	64
The distribution of income and wealth in the U.S.	25	58
The federal budget deficit	23	72
Taxes	23	69
Race relations	23	66
The nation’s infrastructure	22	74
Foreign affairs	21	64
Trade with other nations	18	68
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights	11	38
Ranked by percentage “extremely important”
GALLUP, DEC. 2-15, 2019

As I was going through this, I pretty much agreed with it. Oh, there were some differences. I would put the budget deficit much higher, and climate change much lower. But other than that, it’s pretty close! What I find interesting is that “healthcare” is listed as number one, but they probably aren’t referring to it in the same vein I am. I’m for more of an open system. Allowing for people to buy across state lines, with fewer restrictions and more competition (read that as lower prices).

I found it interesting that there were basically three areas that either failed to hit the 50% mark in “Extremely Important + Very Important”. Gay rights, wealth distribution, and climate change all ranked at the bottom when the two categories were combined. I could not agree more!

I always like these polls because it shows whether or not America is focused. Apparently in this instance, America is somewhat there. Maybe not in the same order I would like, but they are close. And what is interesting as well, is that the results bode well for Donald Trump in his battle to be re-elected. It would seem that the issues Democrats harp on more consistently than others are pretty much at the bottom.

But the most interesting thing I saw was that “Impeachment” was nowhere to be found in this list. Apparently, nobody cares enough to actually think it’s a campaign issue. Again, that’s very telling, and shows that the Democrats in Congress that wanted to “Impeach 45” didn’t have a clue that was what the American public wanted. And, once again, that bodes well for Donald Trump to be re-elected.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

The Call For Term Limits?

I find it very interesting that the party that basically likes to plant it’s seeds and become squatters in Washington DC is starting to murmur about term limits. Oh, not term limits in Congress mind you! No…liberal Democrats are starting to call for term limits for…wait for it…wait for it…

The Supreme Court!

The high court has always had lifetime appointments with approval from the US Senate on nominees. But since Donald Trump has already had two nominees take their seats, and swing the court from a 4-4-1 balance to a 5-4 conservative balance. With the prospects of a reelection looming, and a Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer both well up there in age, Democrats are starting to realize they could lose the high court for a generation!

We’ve heard rumors swirl for a couple of years that we should add more justices to the Supreme Court. We should get eleven, maybe even fifteen justices! Well, that’s not going to happen any time soon, though it would be perfectly legal to do so. In fact, Franklin Delano Roosevelt tried to get that done when the Supremes shot him down time and time again for his illegal and unconstitutional activities in ending the Great Depression. Actually what ended it was World War II if anybody researches history.

So, with adding seats to the court out of the question, the issue then becomes trying to limit the damage. It’s pretty evident that the next two people to go would be Ginsburg, who recently spent a weekend in the hospital (again), and Breyer, just due to their age. But right behind them. Both are in their 80’s. But Clarence Thomas is 71. Samuel Alito is the spring chicken at 69.

And ever since Harry Reid lit the nuclear option in the Senate, making it possible for judges to be appointed with only 50 votes (which was expanded under the GOP to include Supreme Court Justices), you no longer need a super majority to put someone on the bench. Now, if something were to happen to Ginsburg, or Breyer, there would be a political cat fight the likes of which you have never seen! And there isn’t anything short of re-taking the Senate that the Democrats could do to stop it. Oh, they’ll try, and they’ll make the Kavanaugh confirmation look like a Bible Study group. But in the end, whomever would get nominated, unless there’s something in their past that would stop them, would likely be approved!

Term limits are a great idea for Congress. We already have them for the Executive Branch, but to have them for the Judiciary isn’t a smart idea. It’s like trying to do away with the Electoral College because you lost an election. Dumb! IF Congress were to decide to change the Constitution (which would require the states to go along with it), and make the Supreme Court a term-limited body, they should also change the rules so they themselves are term-limited (which would never happen). I’ve been a fan of that for a very long time. That one will never happen…there’s too much corruption in “the Boy’s Club” to allow that part of the swamp to be drained.

But term limits in the Supreme Court, or in the federal court system is just a bad idea being foisted by a group of folks who don’t like the scenery of the future that lies in front of them! It should never, ever be allowed to happen regardless who’s in charge of the high court!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Arguing With Ignorance

Larry The Cable Guy once made a catch phrase out of “You can’t fix stupid”. Well, I learned this past week that you can’t fix ignorance either. Actually you can if you just learn, but you can’t fix ignorance when people aren’t able to understand they are ignorant.

So, over the Thanksgiving week, I got into a debate with someone that felt that Donald Trump should indeed be impeached because of all of the ruinous things he’s done to the country. Now, this person couldn’t specifically identify what ruinous things Trump had done except “be a bully”, which I whole-heartedly agree with. But being a bully, last I checked isn’t an impeachable offense. No, it’s not very presidential, but it’s not illegal.

And it got me to thinking, that when you are debating the merits of anything with someone that’s ignorant and hasn’t done their research, you are not going to win. You are going to prove to yourself that you shouldn’t be having that discussion in the first place. This was the case in my situation. I was talking with someone who didn’t know who Adam Schiff was. They didn’t know who Jerry Nadler was. They weren’t aware that people on the Democrat side had called for Donald Trump’s impeachment even before he took office, just because… well, that was another thing they couldn’t identify.

We’ve talked about impeachment for months here, and probably will for at least a couple more as it continues to be the elephant in the room. But for the Millennials and even some Gen X’ers out there, they don’t follow this stuff. And when they do, they get their news from NPR, or the three major networks, or another of the liberal press outlets. So, they’re getting tainted fake news that is filtered and not factual. And of course, they aren’t up to speed on what is factual. So, they spew whatever opinions they have heard last. Hence, Donald Trump is a terrible person, an illegal president because he’s a bully and he badgers people he doesn’t agree with, and for that reason, he should be impeached. They don’t say, removed from office because they don’t understand the whole impeachment process, and don’t realize that impeachment is simply the accusation phase.

You can’t argue with people that aren’t equipped to argue the facts. If all they have is their opinion, you’re going to get semantics and circular logic, which is what I found out. You’re best at that point to either tell them to get educated on the subject before opening their mouth (and that won’t end well!), or just wave them off and let them have their say. You can write them off as another of the uneducated masses.

I think it was Mark Twain who said, “Never argue with a fool. Onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.”

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

NC 9th Fight Over…

Yes, there was a lot of ballyhoo over a House of Representative special election that took place Tuesday night. It was between Dan Bishop, a Republican State Senator, and Dan McCreedy, a moderate Democrat.

First the history…the whole NC 9th District came into national attention back in the 2018 midterm elections because it was in that particular election that a Republican had engaged in voter fraud. The election was eventually thrown out, and a new election was scheduled. McCreedy was the Democrat that sought the seat in 2018, so he’d been running for over a year and a half, and had pretty much gotten the edge in name recognition. Bishop had been a State Senator, and wasn’t nearly as well known.

The national liberal media wanted to build this up as a referendum on Donald Trump, saying that since Trump won this district by some 12 points in 2016, if the Democrats were to flip the seat, it would show that Trump wasn’t as popular. Well, Trump went to Fayetteville, North Carolina the night before the election and held a rally with a standing room only crowd. That crowd, along with most of the other 9th District decided on going Republican, sending Bishop to DC to represent them.

First and foremost, this isn’t a “referendum” on Trump. That will be done next November when Trump seeks reelection. This was an entirely different election. This had a negative built in for the Republicans because of the voter fraud issue, even though Bishop had nothing to do with that. It also had a built in edge for the left, as McCreedy had been campaigning for a year and a half longer than Bishop. He should have had more name recognition!

So, the lesson to be taken from this special election is, North Carolina is still in Trump’s corner…he can still pack ’em in there, and yes, even though people are leaving liberal northeastern states in droves because of outrageous taxes (much like what’s happening in California), it doesn’t matter. In this election, the 9th Congressional District went with the Republican, like they’ve always done. And no amount of northeast carpet baggers can change that.

The same will be said across the rest of the country over the next year or so, but you won’t hear about that. And you won’t be hearing about how NC-9 is a red district either. You’ll hear how Bishop NARROWLY beat McCreedy. Well, he beat him. He probably shouldn’t have, but he did. In the end, party affiliation matters, and McCreedy joins the ranks of the unemployed.

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!

Time To Dump “Labor” Day?

I was reading a Gallup poll the other day and it got me to wondering. Today is “Labor Day”. It’s a time to celebrate all of those women who’ve given birth. No…actually, it’s supposed to be a time to celebrate unions. It’s an old holiday, starting back in 1887 in Oregon as the first state to recognize it. But is it still relevant today?

The Gallup poll suggests not. Back in the day, and certainly in the east coast and west coast, and the rust belt, unions were a big part of society. But they’ve been on a steady decline. Throughout the early 21st century, labor unions have held pretty steady at 13% of the country subscribing to some form of union membership. In 2018 that number dipped to 10% for the first time ever signaling a general decline in labor unions.

What I find interesting is that the largest sector that still utilizes labor unions are government workers. 36% of government workers (city, county, state, and federal) are in a union (most likely AFSME). If you were to take government workers out of the mix, only 6% of the US population is in a union.

So, that begs the question, is it time to dump Labor Day as a holiday? I mean, don’t take the holiday away all together…just rename it something more relevant in today’s society. Maybe with it’s proximity being so close to 9/11, we could call it “Freedom From Terrorism Day” to remind us of that terrible tragedy some 18 years ago. Maybe we could call it “Build The Friggin’ Wall Day”, urging all Americans to take a pilgrimage to the southern border and help build an un-climbable wall to keep illegal aliens out. Whatever we decide to call it, shouldn’t it be changed?

I mean, if we’re dealing with only 6% of real American workers (not governmental employees), there has to be something that actually involves more than 6% of the population. Hell, there are almost as many Democrat candidates for president as there are members of unions in this country!

Don’t get the idea that I’m trying to take the holiday away. You deserve the holiday weekend, and besides it marks the “official” end of summer. So, we have to have the holiday there for something. But at the very least, let’s get something in there that actually fits more than 6% of Americans, shall we?

Oh…and Happy Labor Day!

Carry on world…you’re dismissed!