For A Change, Let’s Be FOR Something

The “Election” is upon us.  I will dedicate this piece to that consideration.  And after a year (perhaps more like four years) of constant negativity; I pledge that this piece will emphasize positive reasons to vote for Donald Trump.  Put on your independent britches, slip into your free thinker tee shirt, and then put on your ass-kickin’ boots.  Now you are ready to decide how you want this nation to look come January of 2021.

Energy Policy.  I don’t think there is one particular item any more critical and unreported as the ascendance of America’s energy industry and its impact on our country.  Not only is it good news when we pull into the gas station and don’t have to take out an additional mortgage to pay the bill; but the energy industry has also hired a bunch of people all across the country and those are good paying jobs.  That, my friends, is the best government program going; one that creates jobs and opportunities for everyone.

Another huge benefit from the rejuvenation of the oil industry is the independence it has given America in foreign relations and national security.  Who among us can remember waiting in line to get gas at sky-high prices?  Those were the days when the Middle Eastern nations had us in a bind and literally dictated through embargos what we paid for gas.  They also used that leverage to compromise our strengths in foreign policy discussions.  Nowadays, we are in the driver’s seat. 

Not only do we produce sufficient energy for ourselves; but we are exporting energy and competing with the same countries that used to hold us hostage.  This has translated in a very real sense to a much higher level of authority from which to conduct American foreign policy.  It is always better to negotiate from a position of strength and that is where our energy independence has placed us.  I’m for that.  It would be a colossal mistake to return to the policies that once made us beggars for imported oil. 

Media Bias.  I don’t know about you, but I am sick and tired of being treated as a stupid person by the mainstream media.  Their arrogant and superior attitudes that come across so clearly make me want to reach into the television and smack their pretentious faces.  They manipulate the facts to suit their agendas; they withhold information to shape storylines; and they outright lie about current events.  Their credibility is in the toilet and they have become shills and useful idiots for the liberal establishment and the Democratic Party.

Here are some of the greatest hits from our so-called Fourth Estate over the last four years:

 https://thefederalist.com/2020/09/24/trump-was-right-explosive-new-fbi-texts-detail-internal-furor-over-handling-of-crossfire-hurricane-investigation/

 Dossier Source Was a Suspected Russian Spy, and the FBI Knew It When It Spied on Carter Page | RealClearInvestigations

 https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/byron-yorks-daily-memo-anonymous-caper-ends-in-disgrace-for-writer-new-york-times

I’m fed up with the journalistic media assuming that they are the only source of knowledge and wisdom available to me and what they consider to be my pathetic, irrelevant life.  They are a bunch of egomaniacal and self-consumed narcissists and I would like nothing more than to watch their heads explode on election night.  Good lord…let it be.  I’m for that.

Coronavirus.  How appropriate is it that this one simple word can describe this bizarre and eventful year of 2020?  We grieve for those we have lost and for those that we will lose to this pandemic.  But we must also refuse to surrender our lives to this evil and unsolvable scourge.

Let us for the moment simply assume that all of those in leadership positions have done the best they could to oppose and defeat this wave of despair that refuses to die.  Let us give credit to officials who are not all-knowing and are prone to mistakes (just like you and me) for trying their dead level best to save as many lives as possible.

Let us also understand that we live everyday with the flu, with the common cold, and with the soul-killing demon that is cancer.  We live with them and we cope.  That is what we must learn to do with the coronavirus and that is what we will do…regardless of who wins this election.   A vaccine will soon be available that will enable our world to return to some semblance of normal.  It will be a new and different normal in many ways; but it will be a life that is not controlled and suffocated by some cryptic and god-awful virus.  Let’s use common sense and do what we can to be safe; but let’s get out of our homes, back into restaurants, support all the small businesses that have been decimated by this epidemic, and get back to the business of living our lives.  I’m for that.  I am sick and tired of singing hymns and saying prayers through a paper mask.

Foreign Policy.  How marvelous is it that within the last six months, we have witnessed THREE historic peace agreements in the Middle East that our so called “foreign policy experts” were describing as unachievable as recently as four years ago?  Iran (and its role as the matriarch and haven for international terrorists) is being exposed as the pariah it is.  How reaffirming is it to hear Arabic Middle Eastern nations beginning to normalize their relations with Israel and implementing the dismantlement of the bitter walls that have been built with hatred and for generations have separated these people?

I addressed the issue of America’s involvement in endless wars in a previous post: https://centerlineright.blogspot.com/2019/01/trump-takes-road-less-traveled.html .  I welcome peace agreements that encourage people to lay down their weapons and begin to trade products.  I encourage the beginnings of a regional appreciation for differences in religion.  I embrace the reality of calling out renegade nations that shelter killers of children and innocents.  Peace in the Middle East?  I’m for that.

LGBT Rights.  America is the land of liberty, freedom, and the right to personal choice.  People have the privilege of living their lives as they choose…as long as they don’t infringe on the rights of others.  Waving your personal beliefs in the faces of people who do not agree with you and then calling them bigots and racists for their different opinions is not what freedom and tolerance is about.  We have gone around the bend on this whole issue and here is good example of it: https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/cnsnewscom-staff/biden-promises-biological-males-access-girls-sports-bathrooms-and-locker .

If men and women want to engage in unconventional lifestyles that make them happy, then that is their business; that is their right.  I (or you) am not qualified to judge them on their morality.  But do not ask me to endorse practices to which I am personally opposed; that is my right.  Do not ask me to tolerate my granddaughter playing high school basketball against a 6’3” boy who weighs 240 pounds and identifies himself as a girl.  Do not ask me to watch a 50-something year old man go into a public girl’s bathroom while my granddaughter is in there and I am waiting outside for her.  Boys have a penis.  Girls have a vagina.  Biology dictates the sex of a person. 

We might want to identify as Tom Brady or Jennifer Lawrence; but that does not make it so.  I am for respecting the rights, within reason, of people to live the way they choose.  But I also demand the liberty to live my life as I choose.  I’m for that.

Law and Order.  There was a time when I could not imagine a scenario where a government and a police department in America would simply abandon a multi-block section of a city to rioters and anarchy; but I have watched that very scene play out on the television over the last few months.  We must return to a place where our police departments are respected and revered for the jobs they perform.  And while we can reasonably expect them to police themselves and deal effectively with their few bad apples; we must pass new laws that give them the authority, funding, training, and resources necessary to protect the citizens of our great nation. 

The time for rioters to run wild in our streets in pursuit of new sneakers for the presumed sake of social causes needs to come to an end.  Law and order protects all people and is essential to the very existence of our country.  If the rights of the few are ignored; then the rights of the many are meaningless.  It is time for looters and rioters and people who wreak indiscriminate destruction upon our society to be held accountable for their actions.

Heather MacDonald writes about the issues our nation faces in law enforcement here: https://www.amren.com/news/2020/09/blue-truth-matters/.  She is a strong, informed, and effective advocate for some sanity in the emotional discussions surrounding this subject.  She is a voice of reason in an insane environment.  She speaks truth to power.  I’m for that.

Constitutional Respect.  The Constitution of the United States is the blueprint, the genetic code, upon which our country was founded.  It is an ingenious ideal that is not only brilliant in its construction, but demonstrates genius in recognizing its limitations by providing remedies for change.  Read here about our bedrock instructions for running a government: https://www.aei.org/op-eds/what-is-our-constitution/ . 

I support an Executive Branch of government that exhibits wisdom, leadership, vision, and empathy for its citizenry.  I support a Legislative Branch that passes only the laws necessary for government to fulfill its unique role in a fair and equitable fashion.  I support a Judicial Branch that serves in its capacity as an arbiter of the foundational validity of those laws.  I support an allegiance to our Constitution by all three branches of our government.  I’m for that.

Economy.  The greatest social program ever conceived is one that can provide equal opportunity to all American citizens regardless of race, creed, or religion.  Providing all men and women the opportunity to achieve their dreams through hard work and accountability is the principle upon which our nation was founded. 

Before this pandemic, that goal was being realized by an economy that lifted all people who were willing to participate with it in good faith.  Good jobs were plentiful.  The real value of wages was actually rising for the first time in years.  Inflation was a forgotten concept in the rear view mirror and loans of all types were within the reach of interested parties.  Hard work, ethical behavior, and entrepreneurial risk were being rewarded with possibilities of higher salaries and potential profits.  People of all colors and classes were realizing dreams that had been shuttered up for years, being covered with the dust of a stagnant national economy.  Then came the virus.

If we are going to blame Trump for the economic statistics realized in the second quarter of fiscal year 2020 (when the pandemic hit); then we must give Trump credit for the historically-remarkable numbers achieved in the third quarter of fiscal year 2020: https://justthenews.com/nation/economy/new-q3-economic-numbers-expected-show-record-growth-best-ever-recovery-us-economists .

The policies that led to the economic growth in the first three years of the Trump Administration can also lead to that same level of prosperity as we exit from the cornonavirus episode.  Why in the world would anyone want to return to the times not that long ago when our paychecks were losing ground to inflation, good paying jobs were hard to keep and even harder to find, small businesses were struggling to pay their expenses and keep their heads above water, and government checks looked far more attractive than paychecks?  I want to get back to the economy that we had in the latter part of 2019.  We did it once; we can do it again.  I’m for that.

Donald Trump.  He is an imperfect man who has achieved remarkable results; that is President Trump.  He has broken the mold of what we expect a President to be.  He has shocked us, angered us, frustrated us, disgusted us and…he has delivered all the things I have listed above.  We have a binary choice in this Presidential Election.  I choose not to rail against the opposition.  I choose to promote the positive things I have seen from the Trump Administration over the last nearly four years.  For me, the choice is simple.  Vote to re-elect President Donald J. Trump.  I’m for that!

 

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The Six Vote Swing

No…it is not a new dance craze; set off by some viral video on YouTube.  It is the difference between 275 and 269.  It is also the possible conclusion to a Presidential Election that would somehow seem so appropriate in this bizarre year of 2020.  It is a prescription for perhaps the biggest convolution of American government in the history of our nation.  It is the Hawkeye Trail to a stalemate in the quest for the Presidency.  Just what can 6 votes do?

There are 538 electoral votes to be counted in the upcoming Presidential Election.  It appears that with the exception of perhaps half a dozen states, the verdict of who will be credited with the bulk of those electoral votes in this epic political contest is pretty well decided.  The tally from that handful of undecided states may very well determine who our next President will be. 

Those states are Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and….Iowa.  Some might include other states such as Minnesota, Georgia, and Florida in this list.  But the likely reality is that if Trump does not win Georgia and Florida, or Biden does not win Minnesota, then it is game over anyway.  These 6 states constitute the true battlegrounds upon which the presidential victor will be determined.  And one of these states could very well throw the entire process into utter chaos.

Each of our fifty states is granted a number of electoral votes based upon their combined total of U.S. Senators (two apiece for a total of 100) with their number of U.S. Representatives (allocated on population counts for a total of 435).  That gets us to 535.  We add 3 electoral votes allocated to the District of Columbia through the 23rd Amendment (ratified in 1961) and that gets us up to our overall total of 538.

In order to be elected President, a candidate must acquire at least 270 electoral votes.  If they hit that number on the head, their opponent will have 268.  A moment’s reflection on this fact reveals the possibility that each candidate could conceivably receive 269 electoral votes and the electoral count could result in a tie.  If there is a tie, a contingent election is conducted in the House of Representatives, whereby each state receives one vote apiece. 

Although it is expected that the electors representing each state in this contingency election would cast their votes based upon which candidate won the plurality of votes in their home state, there have been rare instances where there have been faithless electors who deviated from this norm.  In the case of a 2020 electoral count tie, the dynamic of faithless electors would no doubt receive much attention; but the end result would be the expectation that each group of electors would ultimately be true to their home state vote count. 

There are procedures in place in case the House fails to resolve the question and there is also the fact that the Senate will choose the Vice-President in a separate vote.  We will place those questions off to the side in order to focus on the main issue before us.  One quick note: The 2021 session of Congress will begin on January 3, 2021.  Therefore, the people making the decisions we are discussing here will not necessarily be those currently in office.  The candidates elected in November of 2020 will be ones making the call.  That opens up a whole new universe of possibilities; even one where we could have a President from one national party and a Vice-President from the opposite national party.  Think about that one for a moment.

This official electoral count for President will occur in the House on January 6, 2021 at 1:00 pm under the auspices of Vice-President Mike Pence.  The new President will assume his office on the following January 20.  The Bush vs. Gore winner was announced on December 12, 2000.  If an Electoral College tie occurred this year, one can only imagine the absolute madness that would ensue between Election Day of Tuesday, November 3, 2020 and the final count date of January 6, 2021.  What do you suppose the prospects are of such a tie becoming a reality?

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OK…Let’s play.  Biden will win 233 electoral votes from 20 states and the D of C as follows: CT, NJ, IL, ME, WA, OR, CA, NV, NM, CO, MN, NY, VA, MA, RI, DE, MD, HI, NH, VT, and D of C.  Trump will win 227 electoral votes from 24 states as follows: ID, MT, WY, VT, ND, SD, NE, KS, OK, TX, MO, AR, LA, IN, OH, KY, WV, TN, MS, AL, GA, FL, AK and SC.  That leaves 6 states (electoral votes in parentheses) to settle this election as follows: AZ (11), MI (16), PA (20), NC (15), WI (10) and IA (6). 

The election now hinges on the outcome from 6 undecided states.  Let’s give Biden WI and PA for a total number of 30 more votes.  He is now up to 263.  Let’s give Trump AZ, MI, and NC for a total number of 42 more votes.  He is now up to 269.  Neither candidate has reached the 270 required to win.

Where is the missing piece?  Iowa is sitting there with 6 electoral votes.  If Iowa breaks for Trump, the election is over and Trump wins with 275.  If Iowa breaks for Biden, then each candidate is sitting at 269 and all hell breaks loose.  That, my friends, is the six vote swing. 

Now we can quibble over the initial allocation of 44 states; but the reality is that each candidate pretty much needs to win those states in order to get to the 270 mark and the projection of those states to those candidates is certainly within reason.  When we look a bit closer at the 6 wild card states, you could see Trump maybe adding PA and winning pretty comfortably with 295 votes…or…You could also see Biden also taking MI and NC and winning large with 294.  Hey, all things are possible.  Who knows?

It is interesting to note that in the case of the 269/269 tie, the number-of-states-won tally leading to that conclusion would show Trump with a majority of 27 states.  That fact would be significant when the contingent election convened and each state was awarded one vote apiece.  This could open the door to the aforementioned scenario where Donald Trump is elected President in the House and Kamala Harris is elected Vice-President by a Senate with a newly-determined Democrat majority.  And you thought 2020 was as strange as it gets?

There has likely never been a national election in America with more uncertainty surrounding it than the one approaching us later this year.  That uncertainty is beginning to clear up as the clock ticks down to November 3.  Look at the numbers for yourself, consider all the possibilities that exist, and then wonder with me how anyone in their right mind could speak with any degree of confidence about how this election will turn out.  Buckle up; it is going to be one wild ride.

 

Think Very Hard About Your Choice

This piece is being written about three weeks prior to the 2020 Presidential Election.  I spent a good deal of this Saturday sitting in my shop and watching the good Lord paint the trees on this gorgeous fall day in Kentucky.  I thought about how absolutely crazy our world has become and how confused about it everyone has gotten.  I spent a good deal of time reflecting on the upcoming election and how the result would impact that world.

You could speak to your dog, your neighbor, or your young child and get as accurate an election prediction as you might from me.  But for what it’s worth, I believe that this election will be decided over the next two weeks.  As of today, there is a hard-core Trump vote around 45 percent.  There is also a hard-core Biden vote of around 45 percent.  Trump’s 45 percent is mostly rural.  Biden’s 45 percent is mostly urban.  Each segment is scattered from east to west and north to south and how that vote is scattered is of critical importance.  That is the great unknown.

And just as I believe that about 90 percent of the electorate is locked in; I also believe a similar percentage of the electoral vote is locked in.  It will be that 10 percent who have not yet decided how to vote and who are scattered across about a half dozen states that will determine our next President.  Today, they are undecided.  They will not wait until the final week before the election to decide.  Most of them will decide in the next two weeks.  Joe Biden’s strategy is no secret.  He is going to minimize where he goes, what he says, and how much he is seen.  He thinks he is ahead and he will play it safe.  He will basically allow the mainstream media to campaign for him.  Trump will either win or lose this election on his own.

President Donald Trump is not an easy man to abide.  He has been a child/boy/man of privilege his entire life.  This entitlement has permitted him to adopt a strategy in reaction to any challenge he faces; it is a strategy that few people have available to them.  Every time his person or judgment is questioned, his response is hold…my…beer.  And unfortunately, both for him and those around him, there has always been someone standing there more than willing to hold his beer.

Now for typical folks like myself, a rural redneck that is quite content with a simple life, there have been far too many occasions in life where I have uttered the term hold…my…beer.  The good news is that most times, I had friends nearby who knew what holding my beer might lead to and they refused to do it.  The bad news is that oftentimes someone did hold my beer or else I simply set it down.  This inevitably led to many bad memories and much regret.  Fortunately, my good friends and family loved me enough to forgive my stupid moments and eventually I learned to simply hang onto my beer and let others make a fool of themselves.

Donald Trump never learned this lesson because he didn’t have to.  His stupid moments had little consequence and he has never really had any incentive to change his behavior.  It is quite possible that the first major consequence of his obnoxious behavior is due to arrive on the first Tuesday of November.  And that would be a bad development for this country.  As I have written before, this presidential election is not about Donald Trump versus Joe Biden.  This presidential election is about the health and well-being of American democracy and how our government will be run.  It is about Republican principles versus Democrat principles.  It is about personal liberty and accountability versus suffocating regulation and the nanny state. 

Before you vote in the presidential election this year, take a moment or two to reflect on what we might gain and what we might lose in the upcoming result.  Consider how these potential gains and losses will impact the everyday lives of you and your family.  Consider how the future of our citizens and our nation will be impacted by these possible gains and losses.  Carefully consider each potential gain or loss and decide for yourself in terms of its value.  I am talking about the loss of putting up with a spoiled brat President in order to gain a better government …or… because of a personal dislike for a politician’s manner, the gain of having an uncontroversial milquetoast President and the loss of personal freedom.  

The United States of America has never had a saint for President and we will not have one come January of 2021; regardless of who wins this November.  So the pertinent question is not about having a President that we would like to invite for supper; not about approving of their endless political ravings and rank partisan hypocrisy; and certainly not about having a President whose spirit and soul is as pure as the driven snow.  We ain’t getting none of that.

The question that should determine how we vote is the one that ventures the query: Who is best for our country?  And how should that question be answered?  Each of us must decide based on what we have seen; based on what people have said; and most important of all…based on what people have done.  Donald Trump is 74 years old.  Joe Biden is 76 years old.  They are what they are.  Do not expect for a moment that either of these men will magically transform overnight into something you might deem as an improved version of themselves.  That ain’t happening.  What you see is what you will get.  And here are some selected items about exactly how that particular shopping list shapes up…

The coronavirus pandemic hit the planet about January of 2020; here is a good timeline: https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-pandemic-timeline-history-major-events-2020-3 .  The plain and simple fact is that not a single nation in the world was prepared for this epidemic; everyone struggled with its insidious effects; and America was neither the best nor the worst in how it reacted to this plague.  It seems to me that the most important statistic of any pandemic would be the number of lives lost to the illness.  Here is a chart of the coronavirus death rate for various nations:  https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-death-rate-in-us-uk-italy-china-compared-2020-4 .  America is better than some, worse than others.  But there is only one America.

Every government across the globe grappled with the challenges of the coronavirus and all made mistakes.  Like every other country, the United States faced unique circumstances when confronting this pandemic.  America is the third largest country on earth; slightly behind Canada in second, Russia in first, and slightly ahead of China in fourth.  We have a government like no other; fifty independent state legislatures with one over-arching federal government.  The President was limited in exactly what he could do to combat the coronavirus and each state government was largely ordained to deal with the plague on its own.

President Trump did all he could within reason to meet the pandemic challenges set before him.  He tried to limit our national exposure to foreign infections; he did his best to supply states with logistical support and necessary resources to deal with the virus; and he tried to co-ordinate the many federal entities involved in facing the pandemic in a manner that was effective and efficient.  I would give him good grades on the first two and a middling grade on the latter.  He may improve that last grade if he can come up with a vaccine sooner rather than later.

My point is this…For all of Biden’s bluster about the coronavirus; for all of the media criticism that the Trump Administration has received; and for all of the terrible price that the pandemic has demanded; Joe Biden or anyone else could not have done a much better job than President Donald Trump in addressing this problem.  The global statistics bear this out and for people to claim otherwise is simply agenda-driven foolishness. 

The U.S. economy in December of 2019 showed unemployment at 3.5 percent.  It showed the consumer price index at 1.7 percent.  Net household wealth had risen to $77 trillion from a 2016 figure of $63 trillion.  The prime interest rate was 4.75 percent.  Workplace participation numbers were at all-time highs, unemployment rates for minorities were at all-time lows, there was real growth in workers’ paychecks, and upward mobility opportunities existed for people at every step of the economy.  Here is a snapshot of the U.S. economy at that time: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/empsit_01102020.pdf . 

Any reasonable person must acknowledge that the American economy was going like gangbusters before the pandemic hit.  And when it did hit, it delivered a knockout blow not just to the American economy, but to the worldwide economy.  There is no reason to think that the same policies that led our economy to its high performance level of December 2019 won’t lead us right back to those levels once the coronavirus is put behind us.  You want proof?  Just look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for December of 2019 (the above link) and compare them to ones for December of 2016: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/empsit_01062017.pdf .  If this dramatic improvement could be accomplished in the first three years of the Trump Administration, it could certainly be re-established in another four-year term.

Joe Biden is on record as saying that if elected president, he will try to reverse the tax reform and trade policies of the Trump Administration that led to the aforementioned economic renaissance.  He says that he would do all in his considerable power as President to re-institute the stagnant and oppressive economic and trade policies of the two Obama/Biden Administrations.  This article by CBS News (no friend of Donald Trump):  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nearly-60-of-americans-say-theyre-better-off-financially-than-a-year-ago/ and this recent article: https://news.gallup.com/poll/285593/say-better-off-past-elections.aspx both indicate how well our economy was performing prior to the pandemic shutdowns.   This is the robust economy that Joe Biden would try to reverse?

Even Gallup’s most recent poll, taken September 14-28, 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, indicates that 56 percent of those polled believe “they are better off now than they were four years ago”.   Why in the world would American voters pull the plug on economic policies that have clearly shown to be effective and return to the suffocating economic agenda of the prior Obama/Biden Administrations?  Numbers don’t lie.

In September of 1987, during the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) Justice Nomination process for Robert Bork, Joe Biden was the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee conducting the nomination hearings.  Whether rightly or wrongly, many historians designate these hearings as the beginning date marking the time when Senate SCOTUS nomination hearings began their long and unseemly descent into incivility, personal assassinations, and the general unprofessional carnival atmosphere that has existed so often since that time.  We most recently witnessed this with the confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh.

The rank hypocrisy and unethical behavior exhibited by Joe Biden during these hearings was inexcusable and shameful.    Try as he might, his subsequent evasive rhetoric intended to excuse his behavior during this time is wholly inadequate to wipe away the stench of these proceedings.  Led by Ted Kennedy, the Democrats on that Judiciary Committee joined in a chorus of “Robert Bork’s America” and created a travesty of the confirmation process.  One can disagree with Robert Bork’s judicial record and temperament; but any reasonable person cannot fail to condemn the personal attacks that were unleashed on this highly-respected man when he was nominated as a SCOTUS Justice.

If you think that I might be exaggerating Biden’s behavior during these hearings, I urge you to judge for yourself.  The internet is a marvelous research instrument and there is bountiful video and transcript data available from this episode.   Remember…Joe Biden was the Chairman of the Committee and in the U.S. Senate, the Committee Chairman has immense control over the proceedings. 

In his years of elected office since that time, Joe Biden has proven that those flashes of callous viciousness and insensitivity are common attributes to his character.  He has accomplished nothing of consequence during his Senatorial career; he has repeatedly failed in numerous prior attempts to be elected President; and he was even forced to embarrassingly wait for an endorsement from the man for whom he served eight years as Vice-President.  Joe Biden is a prototype for the caricature of the career politician and is a perfect example of WDC corruption and decay.  Joe Biden is a shell of a man and the only open question on his possible presidential behavior is who will control the strings attached to his body…Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, or Bernie Sanders?

Every Administration in history has had some bad elements within it.  In Hillary Clinton’s case, even though she never ascended to the top, she was the bad element.  This is no secret.  The reason she was quite possibly the worst presidential candidate in history and was defeated by another one of the worst candidates in history is because everyone knows she is corrupt.  Point…blank…period.  The depth of her political and character darkness becomes more public with each passing day.

The more we learn about the Obama/Biden Administration; the more corrupt we find it was.  If Obama and Biden weren’t involved in the dirtiness of Brennan, Comey, and other assorted characters; they were artfully ignoring and endorsing these obscene actions through willful ignorance.  Under Obama/Biden, there was scarcely a government department or agency that was not politically weaponized.  If this nation elects Joe Biden as President, you can bet your rent money that the lead crooks from both camps, in addition to Bernie and his Squad, will be heavily involved in the daily operations of the White House.  A vote for Biden/Harris will be a vote for a return to a government that is overtly partisan, without ethics, and shameless about the abuse of power necessary to achieve their preferred ideology.

For decades, the Democratic Party has taken the black vote for granted.    Their assumption of monolithic support (Biden’s own words) from the black community has worn thin and is now finally being reconsidered by many black Americans.  From his buddy-buddy days with southern racists like Robert KKK Byrd to his proud claim that “Delaware fought with the South” to his ignorant and presumptuous “you ain’t black” rant to his revealing remark about “a black woman stocking the grocery shelf”, Joe Biden has shown himself to be someone who, like most Democrats, has taken the black vote for granted and feels no obligation to earn it. 

If you are minority or anyone concerned about achieving racial justice and equality in this country, is Joe Biden the kind of leader you want to place in charge of that effort?

The best solution to achieving equality and fairness in this nation for all races is insuring that equal fairness and respect is guaranteed by our justice system; that discrimination by race in all of its forms is eliminated; and by creating equal economic opportunity for all Americans to fulfill their hopes and dreams.  No President in my lifetime has met these multiple challenges more effectively than Donald Trump. 

It is regrettable that our national media has sunk to the depths it has in regards to professionalism and ethics.  They have not only sacrificed all credibility in support of Joe Biden and the Democrat Party; they have reached a point where they don’t even bother to hide it and are shamelessly proud of it.  Even before he took office, President Trump has been hounded by farce, hoax, and blatant untruths directed at him by the mainstream media and the Democrats.  Their blatant and open alliance has greatly diminished Trump’s ability to execute the duties of the President and has greatly harmed our government and its institutions.  They have literally altered the news to promote their liberal, anti-Trump agenda.

Like Hillary Clinton, the media has never quite gotten over Donald Trump’s election victory in 2016 and their pure spite and malice has been childishly on display ever since then.  If they manage to drag Joe Biden across the finish line ahead of Donald Trump in November, they will undoubtedly be convinced that there is nothing they cannot put past the American public.  They will be emboldened to perpetrate increasingly outrageous orchestrations and lies.  Their liberal hubris will be fully unleashed.

If Biden wins, it will be very interesting to see if the marriage between the media and Democrats holds up.   I don’t see the media changing their stripes out of remorse, regret, or guilt because they obviously have no conscience.  But I do see a scenario where the Democrats, once they get their hands on the levers of power, simply continue to take the media for granted and openly treat them as the useful idiots that they are.  The media will not like this.  But what will they do?  What is that old saying about chickens coming home to roost?  Have plenty of popcorn available just in case.

If Job Biden can hide in his basement and get elected President with the willing and biased support of the national media, it will be a terrible indictment of this nation’s civic sense of duty.  Voters might be spending a very long four-to-eight years wondering how they could be so stupid and manipulated so easily.  Stick your finger in the mainstream media’s eye or even better…stick your middle finger right in their face.  Vote for Donald Trump.

For a man who wears his faith on his sleeve as often as he does, Joe Biden is not held in very high esteem by his own church.  Having been refused communion due to his ardent support for abortion, Joe Biden should really stay away from discussions involving church and morality.  No person who advocates for late term abortions, partial birth abortions, and abortions up to the point of delivery should ever introduce faith into their politics.  Biden either supports all of these positions or passively permits their promotion by his Party. 

Abortion is a gut-wrenching, emotional issue fraught with raw feelings on both sides.  There are well-intentioned people in both the pro-life camp and the pro-choice camp.  There are also extremists who are radical beyond description.  Over his career in public service (which has been most of his adult life), Joe Biden has managed to occupy both ends of the spectrum and all points in between.  It goes without saying that when it comes to the subject of abortion, Joe Biden has no moral compass; just a finger held up to gauge the political winds.

I don’t really believe that Joe Biden personally supports open border policies, an effort to pack the SCOTUS by adding Justices, the addition of two new states to the Union (featuring the promotion of Washington D.C. to statehood), universal government-run health care for everyone, the detonation of the nuclear option in the Senate to allow passage of legislation with a simple 51-vote majority, the elimination of the electoral college, and the defunding of police departments across this country.  I don’t believe Joe Biden personally supports the return to sky-high energy costs and rolling blackouts; but that is what will happen with his energy plan.  Look at what Biden and the Democrats have told you.  Here is the actual report of the Democrat Unification Committee that was produced in order to purchase Bernie Sanders support for Joe Biden: https://joebiden.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/UNITY-TASK-FORCE-RECOMMENDATIONS.pdf .  This is the official Joe Biden/Democratic platform.  The reality is that Joe Biden refuses to stand up and speak out against these positions.  Through his acquiescence, his support is manifest.

Joe Biden is a man without principle who will always take the path of least resistance and the one that benefits him personally.  If elected President, he will be pushed to action by the most potent advocate that happens to be around him at the time.  All indications are that those advocates will be the crooks connected to Hillary Clinton, the power-hungry ideologues from the Obama/Biden Administrations, and the left wing liberal crazies from the Bernie Sanders/AOC wing of the Democratic Party. 

Look at the Joe Biden that stands before you during the next few weeks and ask yourself: Does this look like a man who can oppose the forces I just mentioned?  Examine his words and speeches and see if you can find any indication of underlying principles that might lead you to expect sufficient character to lead this nation.  Consider his choice of the most liberal Senator in America, Kamala Harris, as his Vice-President and then wonder what he would not do to gain political support from the extreme liberals in the Democrat Party. 

If you are thinking you might vote for Joe Biden because he is a nicer guy than Donald Trump; if you think Joe Biden might be fun to go to a ball game with; if you think Joe Biden is capable of bringing the radical elements from the right and the left together in our country; if you think that Joe Biden has the physical and mental strength and stamina to stand up to the rigors of the presidency…then you need to look a whole lot closer at the man Joe Biden. 

We are not electing a social club president, selecting a sports team cheerleader, or picking up a drinking buddy.  We are electing a President who must go toe-to-toe with Putin of Russia and Merkel of Germany.  We are electing a President who will make the hard call to take out a Middle East terrorist when we have the chance.  We are electing a President who will once again make America the strongest military force in the world so that we might preserve the peace through strength and protect our homeland.  We are electing a President who must have the stamina to work seven-days-a-week like the energizer bunny and still be enthusiastic about his job.  We are electing a President who will openly and brazenly question all of the decay and corruption that has made WDC the swamp that it has become.  We are electing a President who will consider new ideas, think outside of the box, and not worry about being politically correct with all that he says and does.  We need a President who will not kowtow or pander to the media of this country and will challenge them to once again do their jobs as professional journalists.

Joe Biden is not that man.  Examine him closely.  Listen to what he says.  Pay attention to what he will not say.  There is an old adage that goes…if you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.  Joe Biden has no history of standing for much of anything and he has oftentimes fallen for plenty.  Electing Joe Biden to the Presidency will be placing a weak, flaccid puppet in the White House and opening our nation’s government up to manipulation and deviation by some of the sorriest people on the face of this earth. 

I have used strong language in this post; stronger than usual and frankly stronger than I am comfortable with.  I believe this election is that important.  As I have said before, electing Joe Biden as President will not be the end of America.  We are stronger than that.  But electing Joe Biden as President will be the end of America as we know it.  Of that, you can be certain.

Consider your choices carefully; vote; and never forget…we deserve the government we get.  Regret will be a thin tonic indeed if Joe Biden is elected President.