On the Clock and Off the Clock

Donald J. Trump has never had a real job.  He was born a child of privilege and has lived his entire life in that vein.  What many common folks only dream of, Trump has lived every day of his life.  This type of personal existence has led Trump to become what he is; an arrogant, ego-driven, and totally selfish person with absolutely no degree of self discipline.  Having been the recipient of perhaps the most perfect storm in American political history and as a result of that storm, having found himself President; one would have hoped that he would somehow begin to realize that he has, in fact, led a charmed life and all of his good fortune was not the result of his innermost brilliance.  Alas, that hope was futile.

Having hired and discarded people for his Administration with a governance of whim and chaos, he was once again smiled upon by good fortune when he persuaded William Barr to accept the position of Attorney General.   Barr is that rare WDC occupant who has no ox to gore, no bank account to pad, no compunction to impress, and has no doubts whatsoever about his allegiance to right and wrong.  In other words, he is exactly what our nation needs in the person that is America’s chief law enforcement officer.   He really didn’t need this gig.  And having accepted and performed this job out of dedication to this country and in an attempt to bring order to a federal department wracked by corruption and incompetence; he now has to endure the behavior of a President who is not qualified to carry his legal pad and pen. 

Having taken a firm step in the direction of uncovering and addressing the partisan rot that the Obama Administration had fostered in the Department of Justice, Barr finds himself stymied by the very person who benefits the most from his thoroughly professional and non-partisan execution of his duties.  Trump is so consumed with his own narcissism that he cannot grasp the fact that his single best friend in the whole wide world is….William Barr, U.S. Attorney General.  If Trump’s juvenile personal behavior and tweeting fetish leads to Barr’s resignation, it will likely be the biggest mistake of his brief and explosive political career.  Any reasonable person can understand exactly why Trump might feel the need to tweet out of frustration for the ridiculous treatment his Administration has received from the Democrats, the Mainstream Media, and the WDC Deep State.  But justified frustration is no excuse for reacting in a fashion that both encourages your opponent’s bad behavior and is counter-productive to your policy goals.  The public persona that might be effective in the halls of Congress and K Street has absolutely no place in the halls of justice.  Those tactics simply don’t transfer well in this instance.

Anyone who has been paying attention to the WDC political environment and the corruption that has run rampant in our government for decades cannot be surprised at the multi-tiered system of justice doled out to those fortunate ones who have power and influence and those unfortunate ones who lack in one or the other or both.  Trump and Republicans are focusing on Obama Administration acolytes who have thus far escaped reckoning for their subversive shenanigans and how their fate compares to that of Michael Flynn and Roger Stone.  There is a delicate balance to maintain between the parallel pursuit of uniformity in sentencing and the role of extenuating circumstances in the committing of a crime.  While it is pretty clear that both Flynn and Stone committed crimes and deserve some punishment; it is equally clear that their prosecution equates to killing flies with sledgehammers. 

This maniacal  and partisan form of justice is maddening in and of itself; but the frustration level is shoved through the roof when the excessive sentences handed to some of the aforementioned unfortunate ones is compared to the lack of accountability allotted to the fortunate ones.  AG Barr is attempting to restore a sense of ethics and professionalism to the Justice Department that will begin to address this institutionalized miscarriage of justice that currently exists.  If he were to give up that effort out of the frustrations he is experiencing from both his political enemies and his White House superior, it will be a historic loss for our government.  This is the right man for the right job at the right time.  His independence and credibility are essential to his success.

If President Trump cannot find the semblance of restraint and good judgment required to responsibly utilize his tweeting platform and bully pulpit for the effective furtherance of his policies and ideals; he needs to take a good portion of his much ballyhooed personal wealth and hire a damn phone coach to keep tabs on him 24/7.  It is one thing for our loud-mouthed President to destroy his own political career through idiotic behavior; it is much more critical to sabotage a serious effort by the AG towards moving our government back to respectability.

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For some very good perspective on exactly what is transpiring with Roger Stone, Andrew McCabe, and William Barr these days; I recommend the following articles:

The shameful double-standard: https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/483338-a-tale-of-two-lies-stone-mccabe-and-the-danger-of-a-double-standard-for .

How the Resist Trump movement has infected the very pillars of our justice system: https://jonathanturley.org/2020/02/17/152579/#more-152579 .

A common sense explanation of exactly how this type of travesty might occur in our courts: https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/the-mccarthy-report/episode-72-the-absurd-roger-stone-controversy/ .

And finally, why it is so very difficult to get good people to serve in our government (unfortunately, this one is behind a pay paywall): https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-trials-of-bill-barr-11581637977 .

President Trump’s erratic personal behavior serves the highly effective dual purposes of endearing him greatly to his avid supporters and driving his opponents out their ever-loving minds.   But there is another effect from this cavalier attitude that flaunts the principles of leadership and civility.  That effect is the unquestioned erosion it entails on the office of the Presidency.  If Trump cannot somehow come to understand the difference between his personal behavior and his professional behavior; that erosion will have serious consequences for both he and our nation.  He has been a lucky man to have lived with the freedom to say and do just about whatever he chooses whenever he chooses.  When he decided to accept the Presidential oath of office, he voluntarily put limits on that freedom.  He must now come to terms with the necessity of differentiating between his off the clock personal behavior and his on the clock Presidential behavior.  The rules that apply to one do not apply to the other.  Hire good people; then get out the way and let them do their jobs.

As long as times are good and his policies seem to be constructive and positive, the American public will support a President and forgive their questionable personal behavior (i.e. William Jefferson Clinton).  But the moment a crack appears in the wisdom of those policies or the economy begins to exhibit leaks around the edges; the American voters will turn on their President in a moment.  What was once acceptable behavior in the quest for better times will become a reason to limit an undisciplined ego-maniac to a single term as Chief Executive.

A quick observation on Trump’s use of Presidential pardons or commutations: He has not changed his stripes.  As far back as I can see, Donald Trump has promoted prison and sentencing reform.  A reasonable person can take issue with either side of this subject; but it is patently unfair to paint Trump as a Johnny Come Lately to this argument.  He has been, and remains, a strong advocate of justice reform in the areas of prison sentencing and those who use his recent actions in those policies to attack him are being deceptive at best and blatantly dishonest at worst.  Furthermore, his executive actions in this area have demonstrated absolutely no bias on the basis of race, income, or social status.  Take him or leave him on this matter; he is what he is.

I continue to believe that our government is larger than any of the inherent problems it faces in today’s tumultuous political environment.  But of all the negative issues we face today in the administration of our nation’s business, chief among them is the miscarriage and abuse of power we have witnessed in our justice system.  When citizens lose faith in a system of fair and equal justice for all, terrible consequences will follow.  As I have stated many times before…power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.  The most recent episode of corruption in the Department of Justice brings our nation as close to governmental tyranny as anything since the Nixon Administration.  The fact is that Obama chillingly accomplished what Nixon was attempting to do. President Trump needs to leave the DOJ to William Barr and focus on keeping the rest of the train on the tracks.

The Dems’ Coming Attractions and the WWE

The first three years of the President Donald Trump Administration have been clouded.  First there was the Mueller Investigation; then there was the Impeachment Investigation/Trial.  Both of these farcical and partisan misadventures were perpetrated by the same cabal of clowns.  There was the Abbott and Costello team of Schiff and Nadler; each attempting to exceed the idiocy level of the other.  There were the speech-ripping and sophomoric antics of Pelosi; the President of San Francisco who thinks she is Empress of the USA…an Ice Queen for the Ages.  There was the pathetic and floundering Schumer; a little brother wannabe always trying to achieve equality with his big brother Mitch.  And finally, there is the Cirque de Stupid (a.k.a. The Democratic National Committee); who in its unholy partnership with the Mainstream Media and the Iowa Democratic Party leadership manages to somehow make a joke out of the simplest of tasks.  All of these folks have served a very useful purpose for some very bad people.

While serving as the bright and shiny objects that distracted public attention away from the nefarious scheming taking place within the dark halls of the WDC Deep State, they have managed to provide their media team mates with sufficient fodder to shift focus away from the worst political scandal in American history.  That scandal was the abuse of power by members of the Obama Administration in collusion with the Hillary Clinton for President Campaign.  It was realized through their weaponization of our Department of Justice to target and cripple first the Donald Trump for President Campaign and then, upon the heels of that failure, a further effort to impede the incoming Trump Administration.  These Machiavellian coups were severely damaging to our nation; the sum total and real purpose of the scummy enterprise is now about to be laid bare.  What started out as an insurance policy to win an election and then morphed into an illicit behind the scenes opposition to a legitimate President has now come full circle to a plain and simple cover your ass effort by a bunch of crooks.  Now that the Democrats have apparently fired all of the rounds in their partisan pistol, the larger question is: What will be next? 

No doubt, the aforementioned reincarnated team of Abbott and Costello will continue their House investigations into all things Trump.  But in spite of some punditry predictions, I cannot imagine that they would be able to muster sufficient enthusiasm to mount another impeachment effort.  Here is the unavoidable question: What else is out there that you have not yet investigated?  Without creating new layers of oversight redundancy, there is sufficient Impeachment Fallout to be dealt with by both Republicans and Democrats…as outlined by the indispensable Andy McCarthy here: https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/02/impeachment-and-amnesia/ .  You can only regurgitate this foolishness so many times before its shelf life expires; and based on public perception, that time is nigh. 

To a larger point…the time has come when it is insufficient for Democrats to simply stand on the sidelines and criticize the players on the field; hurling insults, criticisms, and playing Monday Morning Quarterback.   With a Presidential Election coming up in about nine months, it is time for them to select their own champion to put up against the opposition.  From the looks of things, that in and of itself should be sufficient to keep the Democrats fully occupied.  Based on the following story, they are finding that chore rather challenging: https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2020/02/were-losing-our-damn-minds.php .  In short order, the Democrats will complete the transition of playing full-time offense against Trump and begin to play full-time defense for their Democratic Presidential Nominee.    It might be a bridge too far, but there is a chance that the Democrats will be so consumed with the selection of their own presidential candidate over the next few months that they will actually allow the real President to do his job.  Gracious…what a concept!  The Circus may have to shut down in order to train their new Ringmaster.

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With the Mueller Report and the Impeachment Trial serving as symbolic bookends around the Democrats’ Trump Scandal Chronicles, there is a space in time…a vacuum to be filled.  It is entirely likely that with some of the usual distractions removed from the stage, a greater focus will be placed on exactly what created this colossal waste of time and resource and who were the scoundrels behind it.  What am I talking about here?  Perhaps a short review would prove useful: https://amgreatness.com/2020/02/09/the-once-and-future-scandal/ .  And of course, there is the infamous and self-ordained moral and ethical compass for U.S. foreign policy who has proven to be quite the useful idiot: https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2020/01/31/whistleblower_censorship_in_facebook_and_in_senate_122223.html .  I am certain we have not heard the last of this episode.

I suspect that there will be plenty more revelations to fill this interlude that exists between now and the November election.  Attorney General Barr and his partner Mr. Durham will no doubt weigh in soon to clarify some of these outstanding issues.  Perhaps the real question is whether or not there is sufficient time leading up to the Presidential Election to get the full story to the public and dole out the accountability.  If I were one of the people involved in this skulduggery, I would be fervently praying for a Democrat in the White House when January of 2021 arrives and not four more years of Trump and AG Barr.  I expect they are sleeping with one eye open looking out for that Judicial drone that might be circling the house.

Notwithstanding all of these events, there is still a government to run and a national election to conduct.  On the first item, a critical topic for the upcoming election will certainly be health care reform.  Who amongst us has not witnessed the terrible consequences of exorbitant health care costs in this country?  You can stand in the line waiting for your prescription to be filled and see people paying out hundreds of dollars in cash for the medicines that keep them alive.  You can see the evidence of friends and neighbors doing without basic health care because they simply cannot afford it.  The answer is not to simply give away these drugs and services for free to anyone and everyone.  The entire industry needs to be recalculated.  

Contrary to what the media might lead us to believe, there is a good deal of serious debate going on behind the scenes for meaningful health care reform in America.  Here is another in a handful of sincere, bipartisan efforts to further that discussion: https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/43530-BPC-FHC-Report-Proof.pdf .  And for added context, here is a recent reform effort put forth by the Trump Administration: 

https://www.medicaid.gov/sites/default/files/Federal-Policy-Guidance/Downloads/smd20001.pdf .  For all of the partisan animus that surrounds this issue, there clearly appears to be a lot of room for common-sense agreement and compromise.  Here’s hoping some of it bears fruit.

On the second subject, it is possible that we might have a fairly distinct choice between a liberal or conservative approach to governing come this fall.  We should never lose sight of the fact that we have New York (state and city), California, Chicago, and (soon to be a full-fledged member of the club) Virginia to demonstrate for us in real terms what truly liberal government is all about.  As a famous television Judge often says…Who you gonna believe, me or your lying eyes?

Here is another good article on the great west coast of America liberal nirvana petri dish experiment: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/seattles-liberal-reckoning/ .  As a side note here…keep your eye on what’s going on with the city government in Austin, Texas.  It is always intriguing when an isolated city within a state departs in political civic philosophy from its larger context.  It is one of the things that makes democracy so damn interesting…and vital.

Equally disquieting is the specter of Donald J. Trump becoming the first impeached President in history to be re-elected.  If you thought his White House affair spiking the old acquittal football was raucous, how unleashed do you think he will become if he remains in the White House for another four years?

And now…are you ready to ruuuummmmble?  Here is a WWE (World Wide Election of 2020) assessment following the big New Hampshire Democratic Smackdown.  To set the stage…this was a no time limit, no holds barred match with all five wrasslers in the ring at one time.  Well into the event, here is where we are…

Elizabeth (My hair is short and my arms are waving; don’t come near me!) Warren:  Ole Liz is lying face down in one corner of the ring.  If you look real closely, you can see she has one eye closed and the other eye is barely open.  Squinting through her one eye, she is wondering whether or not it is worth it to get back up on her feet again only to get knocked back down.  RealTime…She bet the house on Iowa and came up empty.  NH gave her a home court advantage and she whiffed.  Hard to see how she makes any kind of comeback in Nev or SC.  Is it worth the effort?

Joe (I was never the Man but I used to be a Tag Team Partner with the Man!) Biden:  Ole Joe got thrown out of the ring in the first ten minutes and has been walking around since then talking alternately with the fans and the wrasslers inside the ring.  Occasionally, he will pick up a chair and head up to the ring; but will then get distracted by a fan and wander back down.  He never seems to get through the ropes.  He was overheard calling one spectator a lyin’ dog-faced pony soldier and challenging her to a push-up contest.  RealTime…If the polls will keep him in the neighborhood of Bernie, Pete, and Amy, he will limp through Nev and call SC his big Final Event.  If the polls tank for him before that, he may never enter the ring again. 

Amy (Who’s your Silverware Mama?) Klobuchar: With Bernie and Pete in a mid-ring clinch, Amy is circling both of them trying to figure out who to double team.  She wants to get it down to mano-a-womano; but she’s just not sure which mano she wants to take on.  RealTime…After NH, Amy is on the poster for the main event.  She has moved up from the preliminary card; but NV and SC will show us whether or not she belongs on the big stage.

Pete (I am not a Cyborg!) Buttigieg: Back to that clinch in the center of the ring…Bernie has him in a headlock, but Pete is nowhere near submission.  It looks like he might have a move or two left in him.  Because of his newcomer status, no one quite understands his style or his moves and his opponents are pretty wary.  If Bernie is too careful with him, ole Pete may pull off a surprise move and flip the hold on him.  RealTime…Pete has been hiding in plain sight for the entire event.  Once the other wrasslers are eliminated (with the exception of Amy, who continues to circle), Pete will get full attention and then….THEN…we will see what he is made of.  It is rumored that he was not all that great in the junior leagues before coming up to the WWE and he apparently has some convincing left to do.

Bernie (a.k.a. The Wild-Haired Terminator!) Sanders: Bernie seems to have a pretty good grip on that headlock; he appears to have Pete right where he wants him.  But early in the match, he went for a body slam on Pete and when he picked him up…he couldn’t quite get him all the way over his head.  The slam didn’t quite have the pop that it would’ve had about four years ago.   The WHT has a fan base like no other; but as the other wrasslers are eliminated, the allegiances of the fickle fans are shifting.  I am just not sure that at this stage in his career, ole Bernie has what it takes to be the last one standing.  RealTime…Bernie is in the best position to win this match; but it is not over yet.  Liz and Joe look down and out; but Pete and Amy still have blood in their eyes.  Bernie’s been around long enough for everyone to be familiar with his moves; they might just team up against him.  Watch your Back, Bernie!

Wait a minute… Who is that sitting in the middle chair at the commentators’ desk?  Why, I do believe it is The Donald (a.k.a. Mr. Perfect!).  He’s running off at the mouth with his usual string of insults towards the competitors in the ring and threatening to go in and whip them all.  RealTime…He is licking his chops hoping that one of the three in the center of the ring comes away the winner with a bad injury.  He has no doubts about Bernie; his career is an open book…he knows all of his moves.  The fans seem to think that Pete and Amy are about the same, but they are not.  If it gets down to only the three of them, it will soon become clear that Pete is way more innovative (i.e. liberal) than many realize and that Amy is pretty darned old school (i.e. moderate)…more like a middle-of-the-road fighter.    Mr. Perfect is thinking to himself…I know I can beat Bernie and I am pretty sure that Pete is just a Bernie wannabe; but this Amy…that silverware shtick kinda worries me.  She might consolidate the female fans against me and wrasslin with a woman is a tricky proposition indeed.  I didn’t have much trouble with the last one, but this one might be a different story.  Hmmmmmm….

Truth

As President Trump and Speaker Pelosi engage in verbal warfare concerning their faith and prayerful habits,  I will venture one statement about the proposition that Pelosi regularly prays for Trump:

He needs the prayers and she needs the practice.

Blinded by the Light

I continue to be puzzled by the overwhelming antagonism of the mainstream media towards President Trump.  The Democrats I can understand.  Even though they have taken this Resist deal to astronomical extremes and have literally made asses of themselves with their knee-jerk negativism towards everything Trump; it is their natural position to be the opposition party.  Notwithstanding that they are doing it in an infantile and irresponsible fashion; they are nonetheless fulfilling a conventional role.  On the other hand, the mainstream media’s obsessive opposition to President Trump is a seismic departure from what any rational person would describe as their traditional role as the Fourth Estate in America.  It makes one wonder: Exactly what is it about Trump that drives these media people to their extreme idiocy? 

For my entire adult life, I have observed national politics with amusement and varying interest.  In my latter years of life, I have taken it more seriously and spent much more time reading and researching its nooks and crannies, trying to gain a better understanding of how it works.  I must admit that the current state of national politics and the absolute unpredictability of it make me certain that for all of my efforts, I am today no closer to understanding it than I was fifty years ago.  It is indeed a unique and sometimes incoherent experiment in governing that impossibly seems to work out in the end.

I wrote a piece about Donald Trump’s remarkable journey to the Presidency in http://centerlineright.blogspot.com/2018/07/how-would-you-feel.html .  His election remains one of the truly incredible stories in United States political history.  For many decades, observers of American politics have entertained and discussed the possible impact of having a true outsider in the White House; one who came not from the long-established ranks of the two national parties.  One who had a lifetime background in something other than the long slog of climbing the political ladder from one office to the next, steadily and ambitiously ascending the ranks of elected gravitas until the day arrives when the perfect storm puts you in the center and you become the face of your Party.

There have been anomalies like Ross Perot, Ralph Nader, John Anderson, and George Wallace who had significant impacts on presidential elections; but these candidates were from independent third parties and did not rise from within the ranks of the national parties.  They were mavericks who could not achieve their political ambitions within the confines of their chosen national party and went rogue out of political frustration.  A good history of these episodes can be found here:   https://www.fairvote.org/a_history_of_independent_presidential_candidates .

This is not the path of Donald Trump.  Over his lifetime, Donald Trump has switched his party affiliation more often than some people have switched pickup trucks.  His most recent change was registering with the Republican Party in April of 2012…think about that one for a moment.  A thoughtful review of his political life and public comments will yield an impression that he has largely supported ideals that were much more in tune with Democratic policies than those of Republicans.  What prompted Trump to align his wagon with the Republican train and pursue the 2016 Republican presidential nomination will be a question long begging for an answer.  The fact is that he did.  He pursued it and he won it.  The rest, as they say, is…and will be… history.  It is fair to say that Donald Trump is the first true political outsider to be elected President in our national history; at least in my memory.  And if you look at the facts and cut through the drama, it is also easy to see that Trump’s true allegiance is to himself and his own independent ideals and not to the Republican Party that put him in the White House. 

The Republican Party did not want to dance with Trump.  Heck, they didn’t even want to invite Trump to the dance.  But having won the Presidency and after achieving an impressive record of accomplishment and a national following, the Republicans now embrace Trump as one of their very own.  It is as if he has been residing in their house since infancy and they are simply celebrating his success in that familial context.  The capacity for hypocrisy and insincerity by our National Parties is absolutely breath-taking. 

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Trump has driven the Democrats out of their ever-loving minds.  It is fascinating how his unorthodox methods and habits are embraced by the Republicans out of convenience and condemned by the Democrats out of frustration.  Democrats cannot seem to accept the unlikely fact that this undisciplined and arrogant public personality has somehow not only risen to be the leader of the opposing party, but is also eating their lunch on a regular basis.  I must say that if the tables were turned (and this is a great thought exercise) and Trump had won the Presidency as a Democrat; the Republicans' reaction to him would likely be not too different from what we see with the Democrats. 

To me, the most disappointing and inexplicable impact of Trump’s improbable ascension to the Presidency has been the reaction of the mainstream media.  Two facts lie at the foundation of their despicable and unprofessional behavior towards Trump.  First is the fact that probably 75 to 80 percent of the mainstream media are Democrats at heart; not only in terms of registration but also in terms of political philosophy.  But the reality of liberal bias in the mainstream media has always been there behind the scenes; lying just below the surface.  This fact is simply more obvious today than in the past because the media personalities are shameless in their efforts towards any pretense of fairness.    I think the second major factor in seeking the origins of extreme mainstream media bias is the fact that our national institutions of higher learning are populated by rank liberal ideologues in the areas of instruction and administration.  It is easy to see that if the media industry is going to recruit from the ranks of college graduates; those recruits are going to be largely liberal in their thoughts and deeds.  They will naturally be drawn into the network of liberal media bias that currently exists and will feel right at home there. 

That comfort is a dangerous situation that has led to complacency and professional atrophy.  The tendency of the youth in the mainstream media (and that is most of them) to simply go with the flow of those around them in their comfortable little left-wing bubble has made them reluctant to seriously consider differing points of views.  It has closed their mind to natural curiosity and incurred a debilitating stain on their profession.  The mainstream media has become fat and lazy in their nice and warm cocoons of monopoly.  And now talk radio, the internet, and Fox News has arrived on the scene to create some viable alternatives for the public.  Suddenly, the games are no longer walkovers; there is real competition on the field.  Instead of improving their skills and placing new emphasis on their pre-game preparation and on-field execution, they are doubling down on their preferred historical position in the media industry and choosing the easier roads of ridiculing your critics and listening only to your friends.  Their lack of self-awareness has created a slow rot in their networks that is having terrible consequences.  They have chosen the path of least resistance.

Their abdication of professional ethics has nourished the Democratic-driven anti-Trump fever that has split this nation’s people right down the middle.  The poisonous political environment that currently exists in all facets of American life could not have existed without the constant and enthusiastic fostering of the mainstream media.  While they are surely not the sole determinant of this degradation in political civility; they are no doubt one of the primary causes and enablers.  They continue to stoke the cancerous embers of partisan venom that is rampant in our society and culture.

Donald Trump’s election was a stunning surprise not only to the mainstream media, but to America in general.  To a large extent (that extent is soon to be determined), America’s voting citizens have embraced his executive performance and fresh approach to the Presidency.  They celebrate his disdain for the corruption that has for so long existed and flourished in the dark halls of WDC.  They like his populist fiscal policies that have created good times for the middle and working classes of our people.  They approve of his pride in America, his practical approach to foreign policy, and his natural instinct to place America’s interest first before global concerns.  For the majority of Americans, Donald Trump is that true outsider that has been trying to break down the doors of the White House for all of these years.  He is authentically private sector in his business-centric approach to government and he is uncomfortably loud and proud of it.  He may be the proverbial bull in the china shop; but perhaps it was about time some dishes got broken.

All of this flies in the face of the mainstream media and many of the tenets they have held so closely for so long.  It is bad enough that they never saw him coming.  It was terribly embarrassing for them when they openly and arrogantly trumpeted his coming demise at the hands of Hillary Clinton and then…well, we all know how that story ended.  All of the political intelligentsia in the media were very badly and very publicly humiliated by Donald Trump’s election and they have never forgiven him for that.  And now, having repeatedly guessed wrong on all things Trumpian, they are faced not only with the tangible successes based on his unconventional approach to governing; but they have to deal with the very real prospect of him being re-elected to another four year term as President.      

America, the world, and the mainstream media were blinded by the light of Trump’s 2016 election victory.  The voters of the United States have come to terms with that event and have grown (some more reluctantly than others) to rather enjoy its benefits.  The global establishment is slowing coming to realize that the new American sheriff is not like the others before him.  He actually walks the talk.  Following the recent impeachment debacle, the Democrats will fall back into their traditional role of the loyal opposition and try to defeat the President at the ballot box this fall.  Sadly and tragically, the mainstream media has not yet shown any signs of realizing how truly pathetic they have become as a professional entity.  Trump has left them soulless and writhing on the floor.  This nation needs a functioning Fourth Estate.  Our government needs a full-time and non-biased inquisitor to keep an eye on the areas that we as full-time citizens have neither the time nor access to monitor. 

We are faced with either the hateful and venomous attitudes of CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times and the Washington Post or the unbridled cheerleading of Fox News for home team Trump.  Our media is as divided as our populace.  We can only hope that at some point, the mainstream media will return to some semblance of journalistic integrity and re-assume the critical role of reporting the news and supplying Americans with the true facts about current events…while rediscovering an honest respect for the intelligence and ability of individuals to think for themselves.

Note: The title of this post in no way implies that Trump is the Light as opposed to the Darkness; this is not about Good versus Evil.  It is not the Light of Brilliance; but rather that shocking light that appears suddenly out of the night…like an unexpected camera flash.  It is simply a commentary on the current affair of national politics.  To put the title in the correct vein, let’s climb in the old Way Back Machine and check this out:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcWVL4B-4pI .