A train wreck in not-so-slow-motion

For the life of me I don't understand why so many in the world look to the United States for leadership.  We wouldn't know "leadership" if it bit us on the butt!  There may be a very few potential "leaders" lurking in our political landscape, but they either have no chance of getting the nod to lead, or THEY DON'T WANT IT!

It wasn't long ago I was pooh-pooing the "Young Guns" in the House of Representatives, those being Republicans Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, and Kevin McCarthy, their best-of-the-best.  Yes, the same Kevin McCarthy who just dropped out of the race to become the next Speaker of the House.  Back then I thought they were too rigid, too my-way-or-the-highway, too cold to effectively lead.  

Turns out McCarthy is now deemed not cold enough to please the 40 or so members of the Tea Party (now calling themselves the Freedom Party) who are bullying the rest of the Republican's.  They're like the Nazi Brown Shirts of the 1930's, sans the actual physical beating of opponents.  Current Speaker John Boner is looking like an absolute moderate.  Don't get cocky Democrats, you're no better.  Nancy Pelosi?  Really?  She's the best you have?

And the Senate....Oh dear God, we've hit bottom!  Mitch McConnell (R)?  Harry Reid (D)?  The Mafia should study them to learn the fine art of real organized crime.

Which leaves President Barack Obama.   Sir, please explain it to me again, slowly....what exactly is our foreign policy?  If it's to get run over, then I give you a perfect 10.  You say we're involved in Syria in order to help send Assad packing.  So who's going to take his place?  One of those flea-bag rebel warlords we're supporting now?  You know they're just suckering you, right?  They don't give a rats ass about working with us.  In fact they hate us.  They'll still take our money, but they hate us.  Why can't they hate us on their dime?

And who do we have in the wings?  Donald Trump, entertainer extraordinaire.  Dr Ben Carson, has no chance.  Carly Fiorina, ditto.  Ted Cruz, pond scum.  And a bunch of others who have less than no chance.  Hillary, too many skeletons in the closet.  Bernie Sanders, even his supporters say he could never be elected.  

*crickets*

What the hell has happened to us?  Our potential is limitless, our people incredibly dynamic.  Our compassion (excluding the Freedom Party) comforting, our power to do good beyond the reach of anyone else in the world.  And we're squandering it.  DOH!

You know that revolution we haven't had in 239 years?  Don't look now, but....

S

We sure could use Pat Paulsen right now (look it up)

Show me a young Conservative and I'll show you a man with no heart.  Show me an old Liberal and I'll show you a man with no brains. ~~Winston Churchill

Whoa!  Last night Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader, the #2 guy in the House of Representatives, was defeated in his Virginia district primary race.  This is both good news and bad news.

Cantor was one of the Republican "Young Guns" along with Paul Ryan and Kevin McCarthy, a small group of virtually inflexible super conservatives who, IMO, were preventing our government from "governing".  Think "government shutdown".  He'll be gone after the first of the new year.  That's the good news.

The bad news is that the guy who defeated him is even MORE inflexible, as in absolutely rigid.  He's a Tea Party fave and one of those "my way or the highway" kinda people.  If enough people like him are elected our political polarization, our gridlock, will get even worse.  Sales of pitchforks and torches will surge.

While the Tea Party has been swatted down in many primary races so far this year, this was a BIG win for them.  As a student of politics (among other things) this intrigues me.  It's going to make for a fascinating fall election.

I'm tickled by all the fuss over whether Hillary Clinton will run for President in 2016.  My first prediction: She might run, but she won't even get her party's nomination.

She'll be in the headlines all right, and might win some early primaries, but her party will eventually realize she's a lightning rod.  

Her fans love her, but her foes are reviled by her.  That's not a recipe for winning an election.  She comes with a lot of baggage....I'm guessing even more than most politicians.  There's gonna be lots of mud (shit?) slinging.

Get one of her bumper stickers and buttons as soon as you can 'cause they will some day be political novelties.

I'll add Hillary's to my collection.  :)

S

It's national "Ridicule a Mayan" day

I think I've figured out where the Mayan's astrology went wrong.

I'm thinking House Speaker John Boner needs to invite all of his Tea Party Republican colleagues over to his place for some Christmas cheer and then spike their punch with some of this stuff.  They seem to be waaaaay too tightly wound.

Looks to me like 'ol John is going to be demoted come next month when they vote on a new Speaker.  "Speaker Cantor" just scares the hell outta me.  It'll be like watching a slow-motion train wreck when he and his buds take over.

That's a shame really as we need a solid, responsible Republican party.  Somebody pass me that bottle.

S

This could be bad news....

There is an email going around that says a coup is underway to oust John Boehner as Speaker of the House and replace him with Paul Ryan.  (Hmmm...I actually thought it would be Eric Cantor who would lead the revolt.)  I'm no big fan of John Boehner, but I feel like he would be someone who could/would negotiate with the Democrats.  

Paul Ryan is a headline-grabbing "my way or the highway" kinda guy.   Bad move, Republicans!  The Tea Party-ers apparently didn't get the message:  The People have repudiated extreme politics.  They want our leaders to work together to get something done and not throw us all under the bus.  

My concern is that if this is true and Ryan (or Cantor) does become Speaker, we're going over the "fiscal cliff" next year.  Sequestration (across-the-board spending cuts) will automatically kick in, cutting not only fat from government (good) but meat, too (bad).  And we can ALL see our paychecks reduced when the "Bush tax cuts" expire and we go back to our previous tax rates.  Ouch!  Ryan has said, and I believe him, that he will NEVER allow taxes to go up on the wealthy.  

"If my friends can't get their tax cut, then none of you can, either."

Ryan says the wealthy are the "job creators", which is a half-truth at best.  While the wealthy might be "incubators" of new businesses, they depend on middle class consumers to actually buy whatever the new businesses are selling in order to succeed.  If the middle-class has their take-home pay reduced due to higher taxes, they'll buy less.  New businesses will stagnate or even fail, perhaps taking us into another recession.  How would that create any new jobs?

Whatever the two sides can negotiate regarding tax rates for the wealthy, so be it, but don't hold the middle class hostage in the process.  The election is over.  Now we need leaders, not ideologues.

S

Last minute election thoughts

I feel like I'm watching a really interesting football game, with every offensive thrust countered with a defensive parry.  Momentum has changed, subtle adjustments have been made, and a bit of luck has been thrown in, too.  It will likely be a field goal as the clock expires that will give us a winner.  Except this isn't a game.  This is much more serious.  This could conceivably change the way our country is governed for decades to come.  I'm talking about tomorrow's presidential and congressional elections.

Here's what has been bugging me for months now:  Mitt Romney's choice of running mate.  I've always thought of Romney as a moderate, but in the primaries he recited loud and often the Tea Party line, which scared the bejeebers out of me.  At the first debate Mitt did a complete 180, coming across as a moderate, and his fortunes improved immediately afterwards.  I'm hoping the "new" Mitt is the "real" Mitt, but in the background he's still there....his running mate, Paul Ryan, and I wonder. 

Be very afraid...the Young Gun leadership (L-R, Reps. Kevin McCarthy, Eric Cantor, and Paul Ryan)

Ryan is a proud member...a leader, even...of the Young Guns, a group of extremist, ultra-conservative Republicans who want to gain control of, first, their party, and then the country.  They have demonstrated they are willing to throw the entire country under the bus* as long as it will hasten their power grab.  (Suggested reading:  Do Not Ask What Good We Do:  Inside the US House of Representatives by Robert Draper.)  

They practice the concept of the more they can do to paralyze the country (by their obstruction) and discredit their opponents, the worse things will get and the sooner The People will turn to them to fix things.  The pain the rest of us must endure in the process is of apparently no concern to them.  To them the end justifies the means.  I agree there are lots of things that need changing, but IMO the changes need to be made thoughtfully with a scalpel, not with an ulterior motive and a meat cleaver.  All these guys have are meat cleavers.

Now I read that Paul Ryan, "quiet for now, is planning for an active role" as Romney's VP.  "...if the Republican ticket prevails, Mr. Ryan plans to come back roaring, establishing an activist vice presidency that he said would look like Dick Cheney's under President George W. Bush."  (There are to this day many loyal, moderate Republicans who cringe at that thought!)  He says he will "reach out" (to Democrats) across the aisle.  (Riiight...and pigs will fly south for the winter.  It's just not the way the Young Guns do business.)

I just hope that if Mitt Romney should win he governs like the responsible moderate our country needs, and not like a "slash and burn" Young Gun.  And as for Paul Ryan, "Vice Presidents should be seen (at funerals of foreign dignitaries) and not heard."

If you disagree, that's fine.  Just be glad we live in America where we're all free to express ourselves however we like.  :)

S

*The current budget "sequestration" mess and past (and future?) budget impasses...the work of the Young Guns.

My two bits.....

The first Presidential Debate is in the can.  Time to compare notes:

IMO, Mitt Romney came across as cool, collected, and very well prepared.  It was like he knew the questions before they were asked, which of course he didn't.  Kudos.  He was aggressive, didn't have any odd mannerisms, didn't twitch, sigh, roll his eyes, etc.  He addressed his remarks towards the President.

IMO, President Obama seemed to have been caught flat-footed and often fumbled with how to respond to Romney's jabs.  He was definitely on the defensive.  He didn't seem to be as well prepared.  He looked down or nervously towards someone (Michelle?) in the audience.  He had way too many long pauses and "Ahhhh's".

But the curve ball I noticed most was, who REALLY is Mitt Romney?  I've said for months he was making a BIG mistake by pandering to ultra-right-wing Tea Party conservatives.  He had their votes automatically by default.  It will be the moderates who will be the deciding factor in this election. THEY are the ones he has to win over.

Tonight he talked straight to those moderates.  Very smart politics....but very much at odds with what he's been saying before now.  Example?  He said he would give everyone a tax deduction basket with a specific dollar amount cap.  Taxpayers could fill it with anything they wanted from a list of possible choices UP TO THAT DOLLAR AMOUNT.  He specifically said the wealthy would top off their deduction basket early, and that's it.  They would lose almost all of their current deductions.  There's no way in hell the Tea Party would have smiled on that idea! 

In other words they (the rich) would see their taxes go WAY up.  That is NOT what he's been saying for the last year.  If he had offered that before now Obama would have jumped all over it enthusiastically!

Another example?  In his closing remarks he said as Massachusetts's governor he worked well with a legislature made up 80% by Democrats.  As President he would sit down with Democrats in Congress and find common ground with them for the good of the American people.

That is definitely NOT what he's been intimating to the Tea Party crowd.  If he really felt that way, why would he choose Paul Ryan as his running mate?  Ryan, along with congressional Republican Young Gun leaders like Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy, have been notoriously uncompromising.  They are the main reason this Congress is gridlocked.  It's "their way or the highway".  I'm sure Paul Ryan cringed when he heard his potential boss say he would sit and sing Kum-ba-yah with the Democrats.

So was the Mitt Romney that I saw tonight, the moderate, the REAL Mitt Romney, or was tonight's Mitt Romney just a poser?

It's gonna be an interesting finish.

That's my two bits.

S