When “Half a Pie” is Sufficient.

I have written many times over the past years about the poisonous political divisions within our society.  They are not disappearing.  They are becoming more pronounced.  There is little, if any, evidence that they will even begin to diminish any time soon.  While there can be much debate about when the civility and statesmanship in our government’s political nature began to recede, there is no question that a short backwards glance in the range of 25 years will find that it has not been that long since Democrats and Republicans once knew how to co-exist in a political environment without the use of long knives and hand grenades.

There is a reality among us that we must each simply address.  Our society and culture is 40-45 percent liberal, 40-45 percent conservative, and the ones in the center are not real sure where they stand politically on a daily basis.  They have no allegiance to a national party and many have checked out on the subject of politics.   They are busy living their lives, paying their bills, raising their kids, earning their paychecks, and dealing with the occasional personal crisis that rears its head in each of our worlds.  This is where we are; this is who we are; and this is how we are.  The entertainment world has embraced this situation.  Most of the late night comedians have made the decision to tailor their acts to those of a liberal persuasion.  They understand that their over-the-top rhetoric and subject matter will alienate and offend people with different, more conservative opinions and frankly…they don’t give a damn.  If you don’t drink their kool-aid, you are not a concern to them.  The majority of those folks popularly known as journalists have also decided that they can coddle the segment of the population that will warm up to their agenda and can write off the others.  Do you actually believe that Sean Hannity really cares about how many liberals watch his show?  Reality has demonstrated that a particular 40-45 percent of the population that can be effectively targeted is quite sufficient to support many types of commercial and political efforts.  Many enterprises from every segment of our culture have decided that “half the pie” is sufficient.

There is something about this seismic shift that concerns me.  Perhaps it is just me and I could be mistaken, but I believe that I see this attitude crossing over into the very fiber of our nation; going deep into the entertainment industry, mixing in with the marketing of various products and services, and dominating the polishing of images both commercial and political.  It is seeping into our judicial system, our education system, and yes…in some instances, even into our religion.  It is sobering to watch Stephen Colbert and realize that he honestly could not care less whether you watch his show or not.  If his liberal rhetoric and crude humor offends your conservative senses…tough luck.  He could really care less about you, what you think, and how you live.  He is a child of the left, just as Tucker Carlson is a child of the right.   These folks know you control the clicker and can switch channels; and they DO…NOT…CARE.  It is has gotten to the place where product and service commercials are so heavily messaged with social context that you wonder exactly what it is that they are hawking.  Is it just me or is anyone else sick and tired of being constantly bombarded by Corporate America and their marketing efforts that show me in graphic detail how our society should look…and think…and speak…and act.  What happened to the days when an actual product or service was featured in marketing efforts?  I hate myself for this, but I have to admit that part of my purchasing decision process as a consumer is now the consideration of how the manufacturer handles their social messaging.  Who really needs this foolishness?  I want tape that sticks, pens that write, deodorant that keeps me from stinking, shampoo that keeps my hair clean, investments that make a profit, cars and trucks that are reliable…well, you get the point.

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The really scary part of this whole deal is that the truth is becoming evident that we CAN exist as a divided society.  The left can sell to the left, the right can sell to the right, and there are sufficient numbers on each side to make the respective boat float.  The gulf between the two philosophies can continue to widen and each side will simply polish up their demographic targeting, pick off a few of those independents in the middle, and write off a huge part of the American people from their business.  Our institutions of higher learning and the fields of academia have long been liberal bastions; but it seems like they used to be a bit more subtle and cautious about their leftist agendas.  We now see college administrators, faculty, and organizations openly and proudly opposing even the consideration of opposing points of view.  We now see instances where this political and social tunnel vision is seeping into K-thru-12 education.  Is this the future for our country?  Will conservatives have their own preferred states to live and work in?  Will liberals exclusively attend a handful of colleges while conservatives choose others?  Will the media take that last, short step towards obvious political bias and throw away any semblance of balance? 

When we consider the possible consequences of the path we are on, it is impossible to predict with any degree of certainty where it will all end.  What can be said with complete certainty is that we as a divided nation are weaker, less just and caring, less judicious in our compassion, less admired in our global world, and certainly of less value as a culturally rich society.   The concept of America is now in full debate.  There are those who advocate allegiance to the fundamental tenets set forth in black and white with our constitution and founding fathers.  There are those that submit that we, as a nation, are an evolving experiment that can be changed, improved, and reinvented to a new and enlightened level.  And even though our nation’s founding principles provide process for changes in our government, that process to many is inadequate to address the changes they so fervently desire.   It is not an exaggeration to say that the heart and soul of our nation is at stake in the great debate and divide that is ongoing.  Has the blood and treasure spent throughout history to preserve the tenets of our founding fathers been invested to preserve the original concepts of these United States or were they the price we paid for the freedom to reinvent our nation and change it into a new and different country driven by progressive concerns and considerations?  You decide.

Hypocrisy and Hubris.

Hypocrisy first.  Every man or woman is supposed to be presumed innocent prior to trial.  Alabama Republican and Senatorial nominee Moore’s escapade is no different.   However, when numerous complainants come forward with some of the specifics that we are seeing in their accusations, there certainly seems to be the real possibility of fire down inside that smoke.  At the very least, Moore should back out of this campaign and deal with his personal issues.  It certainly seems like an effort that might require his full attention.  As an aside, how fascinating it is to see the way liberals have been reacting to the rash of articles comparing Moore’s issues with those of Bill Clinton, the fat Hollywood director/producer, and some various Kennedys.  There has never been equal justice in American courts, either the judicial ones or the ones that deal with public opinion.  In America, one gets as much justice as they can afford.  We should not expect saints in our Congress; that quest would never be fulfilled.  Who wants a saint making all the rules anyway?  On the other hand, there are certain moral and ethical standards that we can reasonably expect to be met by Senators and Representatives.  It is one of those deals where we might not be able to put the list down in black and white, but I think we all know the “pass or fail” grade when we encounter it.  Until proven otherwise…Moore has failed.

And speaking of hypocrisy…have you read Hillary’s latest comments about the possibility of a special counsel to look into her Uranium One deal?  If you want to get the real and honest scoop on Trump Investigations versus Clinton Investigations, go to McCarthy @

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/453659/mueller-paul-manafort-investigation-hardball-tactics  .

Special counsels are a bad idea, whether they are investigating Republicans or Democrats.  It is an open invitation to political skulduggery and mission creep.  If our Department of Justice and other related government law enforcement agencies cannot be trusted to conduct transparent, non-biased, and competent investigations of politically-tinged issues, then we need some wholesale changes in civil service personnel.  Mueller is a joke, a farce, and the biggest bamboozle ever perpetrated on the American taxpayer.  The sooner he can complete this circus he is conducting, the better.  Appointing another Special Counsel to look into Democratic Russian monkey business would be “oh so satisfying” to many Republicans in a tit for tat fashion; but it would be a terrible idea, a colossal waste of time and money, and would only serve to further devolve the poisonous political environment that currently exists in WDC.  Civil servants, especially high ranking civil servants, are very well paid.  They need to step up, make the hard decisions they are paid to make, do their jobs, and quit passing the buck and ducking their obligations.

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Now, about that hubris…in the U.S. Senate.  Mitch McConnell, my home state Senator, drives me nuts sometimes with his total allegiance to Senate traditions and decorum.  Most times these days, I just want him to throw down and play hardball with the majority advantages that he holds.  On the other hand, I suppose for the Senate to survive in some type of semi-civil state, there must be McConnells on both sides of the political aisle.  They are likely the closest thing we have to statesmen these days.  But this absurd expectation of each U.S. Senator that has become so prevalent over the last decade of demanding legislation that is precisely according to their liking is becoming very tiresome.  We saw it most recently in the Senate Republican’s effort to repeal and replace Obamacare.  The pathetic drama inflicted upon us by McCain, Collins, and Murkowski borders on the unbearable.  And now we have Obamacare, the Sequel: Republican Tax Reform; more of the same drama and grandstanding, beginning with Senator Ron Johnson.   These people know the legislative process and they know what is doable and what is not.  They know when the process will allow for changes in the legislative product and when it is simply designed to move the bill forward to a later reckoning.  History has taught us that pushing legislation in the House is like herding cats; a frustrating and nebulous process.  But so far in the Trump Administration, the House has been the mature body with members serving their paltry two-year terms while the hubris of the “Senate elites” has exposed them to be the preening, shallow, unprincipled politicians we all suspected.  Love him or hate him, we must give a tip of the hat to Paul Ryan for moving actual legislation through the sausage factory that is the U.S. House in an impressive and meaningful way.  Unfortunately, once it has achieved House passage, said legislation heads over to the Senate graveyard to serve as a pretense for grandstanding.  Six years is waaaaay tooooo looooong for some of these dudes (and dudesses) to be serving in office.  Term limits cannot come soon enough to our nation’s government.  For the time being in WDC, we are seeing the triumph of House citizenry government over the arrogance of Senate vanity. 

Anyone who has ever been to WDC and Capitol Hill can’t help but be struck by the obvious grandeur that surrounds everything Senatorial in nature.  When you walk through a Senate office building, you can’t help but notice that the doors are little bit higher and wider, the ceilings are a little bit taller, the offices are a good bit larger, the furnishings a bit more plush, and the people are a damn sight more pompous.  It is no wonder that in this environment, Senators form their sense of entitlement and privilege.  And as we have done so many times in the past, when we graduate one of these prima donnas to the White House, the club only deepens its hold on all things civic.  Be they Democrat or Republican, there is much to be said for sending an outsider to WDC as President.  On the one hand, the established rule of order is threatened and that new outsider has a difficult time getting any cooperation out of the old heads.  But on the positive side, an outsider brings a stark contrast to the front that reminds us of how far removed our elected officials are from living in the real world. 

Our Cultural and Governmental Dissonance Continues Unabated.

It is now a known fact that the Obama IRS was weaponized to target conservative groups and individuals.  The IRS has admitted as much in a formal apology letter to those targeted groups and individuals and several large settlement checks are being made payable to those same folks.  You, me, and all the other taxpayers are paying for Obama’s IRS zealots’ misbehavior while they go merrily off into retirement with their pension checks.

• ·      Once again, it is useful to consider how ridiculous we look as a society and culture when we note that Nixon’s proposed four articles of impeachment included an “attempt” to use the IRS for political purposes.   Think about that for a moment…Nixon tries unsuccessfully to do it and they were going to impeach him for it.  Obama actually does it and skates away without a trace.
• ·      And  how about the way the intelligence agencies of our government, under the guidance of Obama/Holder/Brennan,  kind of adopted the DNC/Clinton Trump dossier, likely used tax dollars to fund its continuance, used it to execute unethical and perhaps illegal unmasking actions, and essentially used our national security apparatus for pure, political purposes?
• ·      The Obama DOJ was obviously used for political purposes to unmask, probe, and go on fishing expeditions for Trump dirt.   Susan Rice, Ben Rhodes, and Samantha Power were apparently waist deep in blatantly exploiting highly sensitive and restricted intelligence data for pure political gain.  And what are the consequences for those actions…at least so far?  Nada.
• ·      Records show that Obama, who was term-limited and was a very lame duck, and through his official campaign organization, paid Fusion GPS, the Kremlin-mucking, dirt raking outfit funded by the DNC and Hillary Clinton Campaign, almost a cool $1 million.  Why in the world would that happen?  He was not running for office.  It was not spent to help elect Democratic candidates for Congress.  It was plain and simple a power play and abuse in a lame attempt to continue his perverted agenda rather than turn the government over to the reality TV show personality put up for President by the Republicans. 
• ·      How farcical is it that Robert Mueller and his band of F. Lee Bailey wannabes are now banging around in the cupboards of any individual who has ever been associated with anything Trump, spending YOUR tax dollars by the millions, and running without any oversight authority as hard as they can to pin something…anything…on the President or someone he once met or shook hands with.  Robert Mueller, who was in charge of the FBI when the Uranium One “get rich scheme” was running wide open and who very likely played a part in involving the FBI, the Obama Administration, and who knows what other intelligence agencies with the ridiculous Fusion GPS Trump dossier?  It is nothing short of “theatre of the absurd” to see Mueller and his band of merry lawyers chasing around the goblins of Trump Russian collusion when facts are breaking every few days about the actual collusion between the DNC, Hillary Clinton, the Obama Administration, and Fusion GPS with the Russians.
• ·      Obama’s absolute foolishness in foreign policy made America a laughing stock on a global basis, made us a tool of foreign leaders who chose to exploit Obama’s naiveté, and was unvarnished proof that he placed his own quest for personal acclamation well above any concerns about the security of this nation.  The entire free world is now dealing with the consequences of his misadventures involving Iran, North Korea, and Russia.
• ·      Schumer’s recent comment about the House Republican Tax Plan (“the longer it lies in the sun, the more it stinks”) is much more appropriately applied to the Obama/Clinton Administration than it is to Congressional tax reform legislation.
• ·      In my humble opinion, considering all of the devolution we have seen over the last decade in government ethics and operations, the single greatest tragedy in all of this is the abdication of the mainstream media and news journalistic community of its credibility, respect, and responsibility to serve as the public’s watchdog on our government.   We have seen the pendulum swing from a point of total and absolute enthrallment with Obama and his ilk (shivers down the leg and all that); resulting in his understandable attitude that he could get away with all things, spin the stories in any fashion he pleased, ignore the accepted standards of Executive operations and ethics, and essentially do anything and everything in his quest for his fantastical vision of Obama’s America.  And now that same pendulum has swung to the opposite extreme where there is no honest examination or assessment of President Trump and his Administration; but rather a blindly executed, knee jerk, obstinate and irrational resistance to anything Trump.  In its long history of Presidential misadventures and boundary explorations, there has likely never been a greater need for media and journalistic oversight that there was in the Obama Administration and that there will be in the Trump Administration.  And now, as with then, when we need them the most and their moment of fulfillment arrives; they are reduced to a babbling, partisan, unethical, and self-serving bunch of political hacks that no one believes in.  The Democrats know where to turn the dial to get their red meat.  The Republicans equally know exactly which stations butter their bread.  And very damn few of us take the time to sample a bit of both sides’ wares.  We simply consume our daily diet of the news that depicts the world in the way we view it.  History will undoubtedly show that when the United States needed its free press the most, that free press was out to lunch.
• ·      And what about Obama and Clinton rigging the 2016 Democratic Presidential Primary for Clinton, hoping to insure a continuance of the Obama idiocy.  Do you suppose Sanders is feeling the “Bern” yet?
• ·      There is the ultimate, ironic twist to the tragedy of angst that is all things Clinton.  Had the Democratic National Party  not sold its soul to Hillary Clinton and guaranteed her the nomination, a full two months before Vice-President Joe Biden announced that he would not seek the nomination,  there is the distinct possibility that Ole Slow Joe might not have withdrawn from the contest.  We will never know how much he knew about the stacked deck the DNC and Hillary had created; but the knowledge of that unholy alliance might very well have been the deciding factor in his decision not to seek the presidency.  Considering that the longer the primary and general election season progressed (right up to the election date), the more pathetic a candidate Hillary Clinton became; it is entirely possible that Joe Biden might very well have decided to enter into the fray and oppose her for the Democratic nomination.  And had that happened; had Joe Biden been running against Donald Trump for President in November of 2016…America would have a different President today.  For better or worse?