Let's all take a big deep breath, okay? It's only April - just a couple of months into the 'political season' - and I'm already tired. This has been a hellacious week for my candidate and it's not letting up.
Everything from 'humunah, humunah, humunah' from Trump and a refusal to deny from Cruz.
For Trump it was abortion and nukes. Trump tried to talk it back.
For Cruz it's the National Enquirer and allegations that he's been getting some on the side. Cruz refused to deny.
Nonetheless, as usual, Trump is leading the pack in media mentions - but that's as it always is because the man simply doesn't know when to zip his lip. He's a good guy - I'd bet my life on it - but he talks too damned much and this week has been worse than usual.
Past stuff is well-known. Offering to pay legal fees for brawl participants. That has been a never-ending story. More recently though are his tongue-stomps on abortion. He didn't just trip over his tongue - he stomped on it and it was not pretty.
However, the media double-standard is staggering.
While the MSM has been blasting Trump non-stop for speaking badly, they just ignored that Ted Cruz framed a joke that really isn't that funny. On Jimmy Kimmel's show, he suggested that he would like to back a car over Donald Trump. Now if he had said that about Hilliary or Berns or Obie-One, the MSM would have been all over it - and not in a good way. But no, because it was Trump, that's okay. No one mentioned it - it got a complete pass.
I hate double-standards. In my world, fair is fair. That means you cannot say one thing and do another. If you're going to hold Person A to a standard, Person B has to be held to that same standard. It annoys the hell out of me that the media just doesn't get that. Instead, they're out there doing what they always do - making something out of nothing to Donald Trump's detriment.
So... ahhhh. After that deep cleansing breath, let's play a game. It's the Hiring Game. I'll lay out the rules as we go. Put on your thinking cap and think about your answers - don't just answer off the cuff. Okay, ready? Here we go.
You are screening people for an important job. You started with twenty applicants and are now down to just four. All four are viable prospects. There's another, over there, behind the screen - but he's not really viable. He just refuses to leave. The others are real possibilities but each has their problems and there are no other options. You've been watching them for weeks, filtering through what they've said and done, and here's what you've learned:
Applicant One is a compulsive liar and he's mean - a bully. During the first interview phase, he sent out a mailer that shamed people, made them feel bullied if they didn't do what he wanted them to do. He lied about another potential candidate, and got away with it. He has, arguably, made a death threat about another person under consideration - and got away with that, too. Recently, you've heard rumors that he's been unfaithful to his wife - and he has not come out and denied it, even when he's been asked directly. The most he's done is call the story 'garbage'.
Applicant Two is running from a felony conviction. She mishandled confidential information, data that was so sensitive that its getting out there into the world could cost people their lives. Now she's praying that her former boss will protect her from criminal indictment, but it looks like it might be a losing battle.
Applicant Three is a self-admitted spendthrift. He just loves spending other people's money without restraint. He will take your money, even though you've hired him, and he will give it away to anyone and everyone who holds out their hand. He has no idea, after you run out of money, how he's going to keep that gravy train going - tax the rich only goes so far, after all. But that's okay. Now, this moment, is all that counts.
Applicant Four is fundamentally honest, often too honest. Instead of filtering his words, he almost always says exactly what he thinks, regardless of whether or not those words are in his best interest. Some people take offense to what he says, and then spend days whinging about it.
The media has been sniffing around his ankles, searching for any major or minor chink in his armor, but haven't found anything except the words he chooses to use. If they could find something, anything, other than what's publicly known, they would use it with glee, but so far, their searching and probing hasn't revealed anything
Good, bad or indifferent, these are the final four candidates for this important job. 1) A liar, bully and cheat; 2) a criminal; 3) a spendthrift; and 4) an unbridled tongue. Which one will you hire?
I know which one I prefer, but that's me. So let's look a little more closely at our options, shall we?
Candidate Number 1: A first term Senator. As far as we know he's no better than the last first term Senator who held this post.
That guy was purely incompetent - in over his head at every turn, doing the wrong thing every time he made a move - a visit to Cuba and attending a ballgame instead of coming back to work when one of our allies was under attack. Doing the wave with the Cuban dictator and the tango with Argentina's first lady. Making a deal with an untrustworthy opponent, and not enforcing the conditions when that opponent repeatedly violates that deal that is now being closely scrutinized by Congress.
This candidate is hoping to replace that first term Senator, but he's a first term Senator, too. He has no more real world experience than the last guy. Will he be any better?
On top of that, he's proven himself to be a liar. Lying about that other candidate's dropping from the job interview process. Lying about the other interviewees.
Last, but nowhere close to least, is that he's being accused of messing around with women not his wife. How can someone trust a guy who will toss his own wife and
children to the side in his rush to boff another Babe or two? How loyal will
he be to you and me? A stellar character, to be sure.
Candidate Number Two: Hilliary Clinton's woes are well-known. 'nuff said.
Candidate Number Three: Freebies for everyone for everything and no idea how to pay for them.
Taxing the rich won't do it - they don't have enough money for pay for all the free stuff Bernie is promising. Even if Washington took everything everyone with anything owns, it wouldn't be enough. Free medical care, free education and, I'm sure when the demand gets loud enough, free housing. No one will have to work or pay taxes because everything will be free, right?
Candidate Number Four: He's a shoot-from-the-lip specialist. He says what's on his mind, no filter and that causes problems. He's also loyal - a good quality for which he doesn't get credit.
When one of his employees did what the Secret Service should have done, he stood by his man. After all, the guy hadn't been convicted in a court of law - just in the court of public opinion. He also didn't rat out the Secret Service - which wasn't doing his job when this employee did what they should have done. That's honorable. It shows loyalty - a character trait I respect and value.
On the other hand, he does speak too openly, too often without thinking things through or considering what he should say instead of what he really believes. That's causing him problems - and it's all that gets talked about - until I have to shut off my television because I'm so sick of the distortion that I want to puke.
So of these, given that these are your only choices, which would you hire?
Okay, ready? Now answer the fundamental question: Why would you pick that individual over the others? What makes your pick more palatable or viable than any of the others?
Fair questions, right?
Even if Trump were to get into office and put forward a SCOTUS nominee, do you not suppose the Senate Judiciary Committee who has 'yea' or 'nay' power over that nomination wouldn't question the candidate long and hard on this issue? That committee is not a purely right-wing body - it is run by the party that controls the Senate but includes people of all mindsets. It is not a rubber-stamp for any presidential nominee. The likelihood that abortion will be overturned, become a criminal act, is just about 0.0000%. The American people who support or at least acknowledge the need for it won't stand for its repeal.
Personally, I am aligned with Trump on the evil nature of the act - I do not agree with punishing the women or their doctors. It's an evil necessity and while I was once a pro-abortion thinker, my attitude has changed. It has evolved. From being pro-abortion I went to the opposite end of the spectrum - no abortion for any reason. Then, I've softened and now, while I still don't like it, I understand the necessity for it.
I suggest that before you walk into the voting booth this season that you sit down and stop and think about why you're picking one candidate over another. Get past the emotional 'feel-good-ism' - I like this guy. Answer the questions: what makes him like-worthy and will he be better than the other guy?
So that's the hiring game. Not fun but important and I hope you played along thoughtfully.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Showing posts with label Kasich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kasich. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Every Candidate Has Flaws
Can we agree that all political candidates are flawed? Can we admit that
there is no such thing as the perfect candidate except, maybe, the Manchurian Candidate?
But we don’t really have a Manchurian Candidate in this election cycle. Instead
we have a field of highly flawed individuals.
On the left, Hilliary is an out-and-out un-convicted criminal. That, I hope, is just a matter of time before it’s resolved. Bernie is plain clueless about how to pay for all the freebies.
Despite a decent background and good experience, I just cannot get behind a floppy waffle like John Kasich. He comes across as micron thin in character, and I don’t trust him.
‘TrusTed’ Cruz lies. Pure and simple, he plays fast and loose with the truth while declaring that he’s honest as the day. Besides that, he always comes across the screen as slimy – just the unctuous tone of voice puts my nerves on edge. When I saw him at the Town Hall in Wisconsin yesterday, he started talking about women’s issues and the tone of his voice changed. He lowered the volume, slowed it down – he was talking down to those women and they fell for it. It was a disgusting moment that turned my stomach.
Unfortunately, Trump has a bad tendency to speak too quickly – without preparation or a hint of forethought - and then he has to walk backward while covering the blush of humiliation. That hard and fast ‘do not shoot from the lip’ lesson is something that politicians learn pretty quickly and the fact that Trump is not a politician is, at times, painfully obvious. Take the comments on abortion yesterday during the MSNBC Town Hall.
There is no doubt, regardless of which side of the issue you're on, that was a gigantic flub by The Donald. Was it devastating? That remains to be seen, but it does show that he has got to spend more time thinking about possible responses to the hot button issues, developing clear and rational answers, and less time Tweeting. He has also got to get back ahead of things, get back on his message and keep it there.
If he had developed a solid position on the issue before yesterday, he wouldn't have been caught as he was. The worst thing he did was open his mouth and try to answer Chris Matthews's question. I really hate to say it, but the old saw ‘better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt’ was proved true by my candidate yesterday.
This is not going to change my mind or my vote. In the final analysis, given that the law is what it is, I think this is a non-issue.
Still, instead of trying to answer, he could have said, 'you know, Chris. I really hadn't thought through that in great detail because right now, today, Roe v. Wade is the law of the land. It doesn’t matter how I feel about it. It’s the law and it’s not a law that’s going to be changed. The people wouldn’t stand for it.'
That would have been honest, it would have given him room, and he wouldn't now be watching his poll numbers plummet in Wisconsin and other places. It's going to be an uphill battle to regain that ground because anything he does and says is 100% wrong per the media. Even if he helped a little old lady across eight lanes of traffic and rescued a sick puppy along the way, they'd find something to criticize.
There is one opportunity, just one, to salvage something of what happened during that Town Hall yesterday.
He has got to come out now, today, and say, ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t give the voters my best effort yesterday. When Chris asked me the question about abortion I was still thinking about the nuclear question. That was such strange exchange it threw me, but that doesn’t excuse what I said about abortion.
‘Obviously, Roe v. Wade is and will be the law of the land whether we agree with it or not. I should never have said a word in answer to that question. This is part of my learning about being a politician. Sometimes on the campaign trail, when I’m trying to make a good impression, I speak when I would do better to stay quiet.
‘I’m not a politician and that’s why I sometimes make mistakes. I’m a manager, an administrator. I run things, big things and I build great things. That’s why I’m in the race. I want to try to get the government under control, to make it more efficient and reorganize it so it works better for everyone. The policy matters are critical and that is why I’m surrounding myself with brilliant and experienced advisors who know these things.’
This kind of a statement answers the question from the other night on CNN when Anderson Cooper asked if Trump ever apologizes, and it shows both humility and humanity. For a moment it would take him off the pedestal and show the base his feet of clay.
A release like this wouldn’t salvage Wisconsin, but it might help going forward. People understand that he’s a human being. Knowing that even a presidential candidate can drop the façade long enough to admit that he’s wrong would be, in my view, endearing. It might even make the women a little less hostile.
Another thing that might help woo women is if he could convince Melania to help him by speaking to women’s groups. Maybe she is already, but I’m following the news closely because I am so anxious about this election, and I haven’t heard a breath about her being involved. Just meeting with small groups like Soroptimists and Rotary and Kiwanis would be fine – they don’t have to be talks in front of roaring crowds, but introduce Donald to the women. Help them to see him as she sees him – what she likes, his strong points and the little kindnesses. She could talk about what qualities he has that would make him a great president.
As for the nuclear issue, the idea of Japan and South Korea having nuclear weapons is actually a good idea. Why not?
After all, let’s say North Korea gets a working nuclear missile system. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a forward warning / forward intervention system in the form of nukes in Japan and South Korea? That might well prevent a nuclear warhead from reaching the United States – which is Kim’s stated goal.
So, no. That doesn’t bother me. It bothers me more to think that whack job in Pyong Yang is going to get a nuke or two and we don’t have our systems up-to-date and ready to go.
I don’t know that these things would resolve yesterday’s foot-in-mouth situation, but it might help. There’s no way to undo it but if he does nothing, hoping it just goes away, it won’t. It’s all over the networks already and we can count on it being an issue going forward by both his GOP opponents and by Hilliary. If he has answers in his pocket, honest and human, it could take the water off the boil.
Once he gets past the nomination, he can tackle the nonsense Hilliary throws at him one-on-one instead of five against one with the media taking sides.
I know he’s already tried to walk it back, but one thing I’ve noticed about Trump is that his brain works faster than his tongue. He often (almost always) speaks before he thinks and that leads to messes like this one.
And, as much as I admire the man, he often speaks in ‘clouds’ of words. There is a lot of fluff surrounding the central point, and that’s frustrating to me. I wish he would be more incisive and clear because the dust makes his points hard to find.
So there’s room for improvement in his presentation skills. That does not mean that I want any change in his plans or policy ideas. It’s just that I’d like him to be better prepared for those ‘gotcha’ moments the press is so darned good at.
In any case, this too shall pass. Next week it’ll be something else and then this will resurface in attack ads but, if he’s prepared with great, clear statements, I think he can weather them, particularly if he gets back to driving the conversation.
Have a wonderful day.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
On the left, Hilliary is an out-and-out un-convicted criminal. That, I hope, is just a matter of time before it’s resolved. Bernie is plain clueless about how to pay for all the freebies.
Despite a decent background and good experience, I just cannot get behind a floppy waffle like John Kasich. He comes across as micron thin in character, and I don’t trust him.
‘TrusTed’ Cruz lies. Pure and simple, he plays fast and loose with the truth while declaring that he’s honest as the day. Besides that, he always comes across the screen as slimy – just the unctuous tone of voice puts my nerves on edge. When I saw him at the Town Hall in Wisconsin yesterday, he started talking about women’s issues and the tone of his voice changed. He lowered the volume, slowed it down – he was talking down to those women and they fell for it. It was a disgusting moment that turned my stomach.
Unfortunately, Trump has a bad tendency to speak too quickly – without preparation or a hint of forethought - and then he has to walk backward while covering the blush of humiliation. That hard and fast ‘do not shoot from the lip’ lesson is something that politicians learn pretty quickly and the fact that Trump is not a politician is, at times, painfully obvious. Take the comments on abortion yesterday during the MSNBC Town Hall.
There is no doubt, regardless of which side of the issue you're on, that was a gigantic flub by The Donald. Was it devastating? That remains to be seen, but it does show that he has got to spend more time thinking about possible responses to the hot button issues, developing clear and rational answers, and less time Tweeting. He has also got to get back ahead of things, get back on his message and keep it there.
If he had developed a solid position on the issue before yesterday, he wouldn't have been caught as he was. The worst thing he did was open his mouth and try to answer Chris Matthews's question. I really hate to say it, but the old saw ‘better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt’ was proved true by my candidate yesterday.
This is not going to change my mind or my vote. In the final analysis, given that the law is what it is, I think this is a non-issue.
Still, instead of trying to answer, he could have said, 'you know, Chris. I really hadn't thought through that in great detail because right now, today, Roe v. Wade is the law of the land. It doesn’t matter how I feel about it. It’s the law and it’s not a law that’s going to be changed. The people wouldn’t stand for it.'
That would have been honest, it would have given him room, and he wouldn't now be watching his poll numbers plummet in Wisconsin and other places. It's going to be an uphill battle to regain that ground because anything he does and says is 100% wrong per the media. Even if he helped a little old lady across eight lanes of traffic and rescued a sick puppy along the way, they'd find something to criticize.
There is one opportunity, just one, to salvage something of what happened during that Town Hall yesterday.
He has got to come out now, today, and say, ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t give the voters my best effort yesterday. When Chris asked me the question about abortion I was still thinking about the nuclear question. That was such strange exchange it threw me, but that doesn’t excuse what I said about abortion.
‘Obviously, Roe v. Wade is and will be the law of the land whether we agree with it or not. I should never have said a word in answer to that question. This is part of my learning about being a politician. Sometimes on the campaign trail, when I’m trying to make a good impression, I speak when I would do better to stay quiet.
‘I’m not a politician and that’s why I sometimes make mistakes. I’m a manager, an administrator. I run things, big things and I build great things. That’s why I’m in the race. I want to try to get the government under control, to make it more efficient and reorganize it so it works better for everyone. The policy matters are critical and that is why I’m surrounding myself with brilliant and experienced advisors who know these things.’
This kind of a statement answers the question from the other night on CNN when Anderson Cooper asked if Trump ever apologizes, and it shows both humility and humanity. For a moment it would take him off the pedestal and show the base his feet of clay.
A release like this wouldn’t salvage Wisconsin, but it might help going forward. People understand that he’s a human being. Knowing that even a presidential candidate can drop the façade long enough to admit that he’s wrong would be, in my view, endearing. It might even make the women a little less hostile.
Another thing that might help woo women is if he could convince Melania to help him by speaking to women’s groups. Maybe she is already, but I’m following the news closely because I am so anxious about this election, and I haven’t heard a breath about her being involved. Just meeting with small groups like Soroptimists and Rotary and Kiwanis would be fine – they don’t have to be talks in front of roaring crowds, but introduce Donald to the women. Help them to see him as she sees him – what she likes, his strong points and the little kindnesses. She could talk about what qualities he has that would make him a great president.
As for the nuclear issue, the idea of Japan and South Korea having nuclear weapons is actually a good idea. Why not?
After all, let’s say North Korea gets a working nuclear missile system. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a forward warning / forward intervention system in the form of nukes in Japan and South Korea? That might well prevent a nuclear warhead from reaching the United States – which is Kim’s stated goal.
So, no. That doesn’t bother me. It bothers me more to think that whack job in Pyong Yang is going to get a nuke or two and we don’t have our systems up-to-date and ready to go.
I don’t know that these things would resolve yesterday’s foot-in-mouth situation, but it might help. There’s no way to undo it but if he does nothing, hoping it just goes away, it won’t. It’s all over the networks already and we can count on it being an issue going forward by both his GOP opponents and by Hilliary. If he has answers in his pocket, honest and human, it could take the water off the boil.
Once he gets past the nomination, he can tackle the nonsense Hilliary throws at him one-on-one instead of five against one with the media taking sides.
I know he’s already tried to walk it back, but one thing I’ve noticed about Trump is that his brain works faster than his tongue. He often (almost always) speaks before he thinks and that leads to messes like this one.
And, as much as I admire the man, he often speaks in ‘clouds’ of words. There is a lot of fluff surrounding the central point, and that’s frustrating to me. I wish he would be more incisive and clear because the dust makes his points hard to find.
So there’s room for improvement in his presentation skills. That does not mean that I want any change in his plans or policy ideas. It’s just that I’d like him to be better prepared for those ‘gotcha’ moments the press is so darned good at.
In any case, this too shall pass. Next week it’ll be something else and then this will resurface in attack ads but, if he’s prepared with great, clear statements, I think he can weather them, particularly if he gets back to driving the conversation.
Have a wonderful day.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
Thursday, March 24, 2016
Paul Ryan - The Fluffy Optimist
I was browsing the 'net today, looking at the headlines, reading the stories I found interesting, and I came across part of a speech given to Washington interns by Paul Ryan. I started reading and... my eyes glazed, refused to focus.
It was classic Ryan - idealistic and barely in touch with reality. Just more of what I've come to expect from him - fluff without a shred of substance that can hold up under pressure without putting people to sleep. What's encouraging is that I'm not the only one who thinks it's a load of crap. So do most other media outlets - Google it: paul ryan speech to interns.
Don't get me wrong - he's a very smart guy. Really smart. But he would make an excellent accountant someplace. He's too detaily and weedy and he's a blathering bore - even when he's trying to sound optimistic.
It's a lot like the Republican Establishment. Blather empty phrases and emptier promises and hope no one notices. They do it among themselves so much they've lost sight of the fact that we're smarter than that. There are only so many lies and fabrications we'll swallow and, for now, we're full up.
The lack of attention being paid to their cries and screams of derision regarding this election cycle - widely ignored by real people - led them to hold their Pinhead Confab last Thursday. The result? Well...
Kasich doesn't stand a chance - even if he gets to the convention. He's desperate and weak and the people will not vote for him in the general. Election to Hilliary.
Cruz is a sleaze, but he's an owned sleaze. He's as much in bed with the lobbyists and the people who run Washington as anyone else. Hell! $40M and counting owned - so he's distasteful but at least they can control him. 'Cross your fingers, boys, maybe he can beat Hilliary.'
Trump is a non-starter for them. He's challenging them at every turn, calling them out, speaking what's on his mind, taking no prisoners. And, despite what all of the chattering class are saying, I think when the general comes around and Trump is the nominee, he will have no trouble with Hilliary. After all, the woman is a walking baggage carousel. Pick a subject, there's a scandal and you can bet that Trump will go after all of them in one way or another.
So the Pinhead Confab concluded that their only possible hope is Cruz. Being desperate to keep the Barbarian from the Citadel, they've decided to make an uneasy truce with Cruz. He's not palatable because he's too rigid and intractable, but at least he's one of them - owned as they are by the Donor Class. So, they hold their noses as they gather 'round their... candidate.
What Ryan and the others don't get is that politics as usual - no matter how they sugarcoat the turd - is not doing it this year. We're not biting.
Trump correctly said on more than one occasion that Cruz has no friends in the Senate - that no one of his Senate colleagues was stepping up to endorse him. And it was true. Otherwise, where was all of the clamor to be first in line? He's been in the race for a full year - since March 23, 2015 when he announced his candidacy at Liberty University. Yet no one got on his bandwagon in all that time?
In what I suspect was a move of uneasy resignation, a toe in the water, Lindsey Graham came forward last week. The lamb to the slaughter no doubt sent by his Donor Class betters.
After all, he had already endorsed Jeb! who failed in spectacular fashion so, with his endorsement sitting on the shelf, he picked Cruz. Somehow, I just don't think his heart is in this. Today, during an interview on MSNBC, he waffled and said that Kasich would make a better president.
What!? He's endorsed Cruz, but... Well there's confidence for you.
And this is a major part of the problem in Washington. Instead of our employees - and they are supposed to be our employees (public servants) since we hire them through the election process and pay their salaries and benefits through taxation (theft worthy of another post all on its own) - standing for what's right, they run for what's expedient. In this case, they see the writing on the wall.
As much as they detest Cruz, they despise Trump more. Which means they will each sell another chunk of their souls and character to rally behind a man they wouldn't go to lunch with a month ago, even if Cruz was buying.
It was during last week's Pinhead Confab that they even tried to refloat the Hindenburg. There was chatter over the weekend suggesting that Paul Ryan could be 'floated' into the convention mix as the alternate candidate. That sugarcoated turd was ignored. The Hindenburg didn't rekindle, it just crashed.
Naturally, because of the deafening silence, Ryan 'declined'. Although I would wager my life that if anyone outside the Beltway had sat up, taken notice and shouted a resounding yeah!, he would now be in the headlines.
As a result, for better or for worse, Cruz is now their guy. But hey! At least a goodly part of his soul and character are owned. He will be taking calls from the K Street lobbyists and doing their bidding. At least that should make the Pinheads happy. It would be no change from what's been - we would still have a sugarcoated turd shoved down our throats if the Pinheads have their way.
So I'm back to watching the polls with fluttering nerves. I really do not want another interchangeable part to take the big chair in the Oval Office. I want a Trump presidency because I think he's going to shake things up, knock a few heads, and get us back on better footing than we've been.
As for you, if you're worried about the intestinal fortitude of your Congressman or woman backing a man who's got a tenuous attachment to truth, might I suggest you send along a few of these:
That would at least free up their hands.
Have a wonderful day.
Best~
Philippa
Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PhilippaStories
It was classic Ryan - idealistic and barely in touch with reality. Just more of what I've come to expect from him - fluff without a shred of substance that can hold up under pressure without putting people to sleep. What's encouraging is that I'm not the only one who thinks it's a load of crap. So do most other media outlets - Google it: paul ryan speech to interns.
Don't get me wrong - he's a very smart guy. Really smart. But he would make an excellent accountant someplace. He's too detaily and weedy and he's a blathering bore - even when he's trying to sound optimistic.
It's a lot like the Republican Establishment. Blather empty phrases and emptier promises and hope no one notices. They do it among themselves so much they've lost sight of the fact that we're smarter than that. There are only so many lies and fabrications we'll swallow and, for now, we're full up.
The lack of attention being paid to their cries and screams of derision regarding this election cycle - widely ignored by real people - led them to hold their Pinhead Confab last Thursday. The result? Well...
Kasich doesn't stand a chance - even if he gets to the convention. He's desperate and weak and the people will not vote for him in the general. Election to Hilliary.
Cruz is a sleaze, but he's an owned sleaze. He's as much in bed with the lobbyists and the people who run Washington as anyone else. Hell! $40M and counting owned - so he's distasteful but at least they can control him. 'Cross your fingers, boys, maybe he can beat Hilliary.'
Trump is a non-starter for them. He's challenging them at every turn, calling them out, speaking what's on his mind, taking no prisoners. And, despite what all of the chattering class are saying, I think when the general comes around and Trump is the nominee, he will have no trouble with Hilliary. After all, the woman is a walking baggage carousel. Pick a subject, there's a scandal and you can bet that Trump will go after all of them in one way or another.
So the Pinhead Confab concluded that their only possible hope is Cruz. Being desperate to keep the Barbarian from the Citadel, they've decided to make an uneasy truce with Cruz. He's not palatable because he's too rigid and intractable, but at least he's one of them - owned as they are by the Donor Class. So, they hold their noses as they gather 'round their... candidate.
What Ryan and the others don't get is that politics as usual - no matter how they sugarcoat the turd - is not doing it this year. We're not biting.
Trump correctly said on more than one occasion that Cruz has no friends in the Senate - that no one of his Senate colleagues was stepping up to endorse him. And it was true. Otherwise, where was all of the clamor to be first in line? He's been in the race for a full year - since March 23, 2015 when he announced his candidacy at Liberty University. Yet no one got on his bandwagon in all that time?
In what I suspect was a move of uneasy resignation, a toe in the water, Lindsey Graham came forward last week. The lamb to the slaughter no doubt sent by his Donor Class betters.
After all, he had already endorsed Jeb! who failed in spectacular fashion so, with his endorsement sitting on the shelf, he picked Cruz. Somehow, I just don't think his heart is in this. Today, during an interview on MSNBC, he waffled and said that Kasich would make a better president.
What!? He's endorsed Cruz, but... Well there's confidence for you.
And this is a major part of the problem in Washington. Instead of our employees - and they are supposed to be our employees (public servants) since we hire them through the election process and pay their salaries and benefits through taxation (theft worthy of another post all on its own) - standing for what's right, they run for what's expedient. In this case, they see the writing on the wall.
As much as they detest Cruz, they despise Trump more. Which means they will each sell another chunk of their souls and character to rally behind a man they wouldn't go to lunch with a month ago, even if Cruz was buying.
It was during last week's Pinhead Confab that they even tried to refloat the Hindenburg. There was chatter over the weekend suggesting that Paul Ryan could be 'floated' into the convention mix as the alternate candidate. That sugarcoated turd was ignored. The Hindenburg didn't rekindle, it just crashed.
Naturally, because of the deafening silence, Ryan 'declined'. Although I would wager my life that if anyone outside the Beltway had sat up, taken notice and shouted a resounding yeah!, he would now be in the headlines.
As a result, for better or for worse, Cruz is now their guy. But hey! At least a goodly part of his soul and character are owned. He will be taking calls from the K Street lobbyists and doing their bidding. At least that should make the Pinheads happy. It would be no change from what's been - we would still have a sugarcoated turd shoved down our throats if the Pinheads have their way.
So I'm back to watching the polls with fluttering nerves. I really do not want another interchangeable part to take the big chair in the Oval Office. I want a Trump presidency because I think he's going to shake things up, knock a few heads, and get us back on better footing than we've been.
As for you, if you're worried about the intestinal fortitude of your Congressman or woman backing a man who's got a tenuous attachment to truth, might I suggest you send along a few of these:
That would at least free up their hands.
Have a wonderful day.
Best~
Philippa
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