Blow It Up; Blow It Up; BLOW IT THE HELL UP!

It has belatedly occurred to me that everyone who reads this particular blog might not be familiar with the rules of order in the United States Senate.  This piece is a direct reference to the so-called nuclear option for that body, which under some circumstances would require a simple majority of 51 votes as opposed to a super-majority in order to pass certain legislation.

Blow It Up; Blow It Up; BLOW IT THE HELL UP!  If I hear my home state Senator Mitch McConnell say one more time that he orchestrated a certain Senatorial procedural move because “the president will veto it”, or “we don’t have the votes”, or “it is simply a show vote”, or “this is a long-term game”, I think I will throw up and come face to face with the prospect of voting for an Independent or Democrat Senator from Kentucky. 

I am sick and tired of watching Republicans bring knives to gun fights.  Is it any wonder that folks like Trump and Carson and Fiorina, who happen to be far away from WDC, are capturing the imagination of Republican primary voters?  Over the last few elections, the voters of this nation have put the Republican Party in charge of both houses of Congress.  They put them there because they preferred the policy positions that they espoused during the political campaigns.  They put them there with comfortable, not super, majorities in each house because they were sick of the leftward Democratic Party drift.  And what happens?  Not a damn thing!  According to McConnell, if you want to see real Republican action, you have to either give him a Republican President or a super majority.  It is always something else or a bit more or just a step or two short of the target.  It is never enough.  Well, I say ENOUGH!

As politically divided as this nation is and as concrete as election demographics appear to be, it is very difficult to imagine either party achieving a super majority in either Congressional house any time soon.  This fact did not prevent Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi from putting Obamacare into force.  It did not prevent them from packing the federal courts with liberal judges.  It did not prevent them from literally shutting down the legislative process so that Obama could rule this government with executive fiat.  Are Republicans so anxious to acquire a “statesman-like image” that they will continually allow the Democrats to slap them, mock them, knock them down, and walk on them before they wise up and realize that the ONLY WAY TO WIN IS TO MATCH YOUR OPPONENT’S WILL?  Decorum be damned!

This country is literally swirling in the basin of a toilet.  The damage that our pathetic president has wrought is massive, embedded, festering, and intricately entwined in our culture and society.  It will take generations to reverse some of the decay he has inserted into our country.  But the Republicans in WDC; the Republicans in the House; the Republicans in the Senate; and yes, the last Republican in the White House have to accept a large portion of the blame for our national decay.  When the cause is sufficiently righteous; when the damage is apparent, ongoing, and increasing; when the battle is going so badly that utter defeat is imminent; it is then time to understand that nothing is achieved without victory.  It is time for the U.S. Senate to assume its obligations under our governmental model.  It is time for them to take the ideas passed by the Republicans in the House and vote them up or down on a majority basis.  It is time for lines to be drawn about where certain Senators stand on certain issues.  It is time to validate the faith that American voters placed in the Republican Party.  Senator McConnell….BLOW IT THE HELL UP!

You Decide...Which Is A Great Victory?

You Decide….Which Is A “Great” Victory?  Two significant events happened this week.  First, president Obama gained the promise of a sufficient number of Senate votes to uphold an Executive veto in the case of a Congressional vote disapproving of the Iran Executive Agreement.  Secondly, we witnessed a federal judge overturning an NFL Commissioner decision, which had been taken (according to the Commissioner) on the basis of his authority in the negotiated players/owners Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).  The media is hailing each development as great victories; you be the judge.

Put the merits of the Iran Agreement aside for a moment.  Our president declined to call this a treaty because he said, to the effect, that in today’s WDC political environment, no treaty can be approved.  Therefore, this Iran deal fell under the lesser category of an executive agreement.  Whatever it may be called, the likely failure of a Congressional disapproval will result in the effective implementation of the agreement.  Whether you personally support this agreement or not, there is absolutely no denying that the agreement is controversial; and that there are sincere and intelligent people on either side of the support/oppose argument.  There can also be no denying that the Middle East situation, in which Iran is inextricably a central player, is one of the most (if not THE most) critical areas of foreign policy and national security today.  Ask yourself the simple question: Shouldn’t the standard for approval of such a momentous deal be higher than simply one-third of the votes in the U.S. Senate?  When you have a situation where over two-thirds of the House, both Republican and Democrat members, vote against this deal and a number approaching two-thirds of the Senate, both Republican and Democrat, oppose the same deal… shouldn’t someone, somehow, somewhere in this idiotic administration understand that this agreement lacks the necessary support to legitimately gain implementation?  A reasonably intelligent person might consider reconsidering the terms of this agreement.  A rational, open-minded person might wonder if it is such a great deal for our country after all.  A responsible and competent leader would actually meet face-to-face with opponents of the deal to try and understand their opposition.  Alas, that is not what we have.  We have a hollowed-out, unprincipled politician in the White House who, supported blindly my the mainstream media, sees any victory at all in this matter (even one as pathetic as a narrow veto-supporting Senate vote) as a “legacy” for his administration in the realm of foreign policy.  My goodness; have the terms “victory” and “legacy” been dumbed-down so low as to be applicable in this situation?

And now, let’s move on to the spectacle of men playing games and being declared royalty for doing so successfully; otherwise known as professional sports.  The NFL has had a niche carved out for it in our society.  The salaries that athletes, coaches, management, and league personnel are paid are obscene.  When television screens that present a picture that is actually superior to being there are easily affordable and readily available, it is remarkable that NFL teams can fill their stadiums for 16 regular season games, plus the playoffs.  And yet, on occasions, the main players on the opposing sides of the league and the players association forget how damn fortunate they are to have this privilege and commence to behave like infants in the sandbox.  The NFL Commissioner, backed by the NFL owners and lawyers, fleeced the Players Association when they negotiated the current CBA.  Not being a lawyer, two things seem obvious to me.  First, the Commissioner can cite any act he desires for punishment if, in his opinion, it is detrimental to the integrity of the game.  Secondly, if his initial decision on punishment is appealed, then HE will be the arbiter in the appeal hearing.  That’s right; he will consider the wisdom of his own initial decision.  Now any of us might agree that this is a stupid agreement and we might also wonder…why the hell the Players Association agreed to such a deal.  I suppose some things simply cannot be explained.  But binding agreement or not, when a party to said agreement abuses their powers beyond all reason and reaches a level where judgments and actions are clearly arbitrary and unfair, then the question is begged…Can a legal agreement be broken if a party to said agreement abuses their rights within the agreement to an extreme level?  Even if the Players Association was crazy enough to agree to this thing and legally sign off it, must they be subjected to the flagrant and abusive exercise of powers by the Commissioner as granted by the agreement?  To this NFL fan, the clear answer is “NO!”  Just like what I have seen in NASCAR, the popularity of the NFL and its accompanying financial treasures has outrun its ability to competently and fairly administer itself.  They are both run like “good ole boy” networks in a rural southern county.  As stupid as individual players may sometimes behave or speak, they are nonetheless the primary essence of what makes the NFL successful.  They have a fundamental right to be meaningful partners when it comes to deciding what rules will define standards of behavior in the league.  The dictatorial attitude and approach of the NFL owners and their Commissioner has risen to unacceptable heights, has been repeatedly shot down by the court system of this nation, and has once again been loudly repudiated in the Brady affair.  I say “Hell Yes” and bring ‘em down.  Professional basketball and baseball have already fought this war and settled on bargaining agreements that accept the players as full partners in the administration of the leagues.  It is now time for the NFL owners and Commissioner to understand the realities of what makes people care about professional football and sit down at the table to negotiate IN GOOD FAITH with the Players Association.