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

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

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

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

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

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

You Decide...Which Is A Great Victory?

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

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

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

The Trifecta Catchup.

The Trifecta Catchup.  Here are some thoughts on three current issues.  Each, especially the last one, probably merits a longer address, but in the case of this challenged blogger, less is probably more.

First, I find myself in the awkward position of applauding Hillary Clinton.  My disdain for Hillary runs nearly as deep as what I hold for Obama, but right is right.  As the recent YouTube video shows, when confronted by a Black Lives Matter advocate backstage at one of her events, Clinton engaged in a brief conversation about the goals and methods of the BLM movement.  During the conversation, Clinton spends a couple of minutes pointing out to the BLM representative that no politician can change peoples’ hearts.  She correctly stated that we can institute laws, regulations, and policies that strive towards equality and dignity for all; but that peoples’ hearts (by and large) would not be changed by political movements, personalities, or concerns.  Now I have never considered Hillary to be a great orator.  I do believe that the woman is fairly intelligent in an esoteric fashion, but one should never mistake her as a gifted speaker or conversationalist.  Having said that, my words cannot begin to give sufficient credit to the manner in which Clinton replied to the BLM person during this part of the conversation.  With an efficiency of words that is remarkable for a politician, she went straight to the heart of the matter and pointed out the futility of trying to eliminate prejudice in this way.  One can only hope that this startling verbal effectiveness was only a passing moment and that the fever will pass quickly; returning her to the bumbling, devious, and politically-challenged candidate that she is and always has been.

It has dawned on me recently that I have been living for the past couple of decades with a misperception.  I have believed, and often stated, that a President receives too much credit when times are good and too much blame when times are bad.  The President’s ability to affect our lives, given the limits our governmental system, dictates that aside from the bully pulpit, their ability to institute serious change in our society and lives is incremental at best.  Obama has proven me wrong.  My perception that the President can only implement positive change in incremental fashion remains intact.  Executive actions, by their nature, are oftentimes temporary; what one President does, the next President can undo.  Only through the fundamental and difficult labor of legislation can a President effect lasting and substantial change to our nation.  However, Obama has convinced me that I was incorrect on the opposite side of my theory.  The damage he has wrought to this nation, through the principal use of executive action, is no doubt lasting and substantial.  I can only hope it is not permanent.  I do not include Obamacare in this indictment; even thought it was part legislative and part executive action.   I have always believed that elections have consequences.  I believe that if voters choose to be frivolous and uninformed in their selections and support, that those choices will come back to haunt us.  Where I was mistaken was in thinking that the checks and balances built into our government would somehow prevent a single bad President from wreaking damage that would last long beyond their term(s).  Obama has totally destroyed this notion.  As a combination of his incompetence, his obstinate ideological approach to governing, his narcissistic nature, the weakness of the Republicans in Congress, the excessive tolerance of the American people, and his brazen disregard for statesmanship and legal standing, Obama has single-handily damaged this country to a degree that will require decades to overcome. 

And finally, to close out my diatribe, I would like to briefly note the decay of civility in our society.  I have lived a blessed life and the good Lord has been generous with me and my family.  I have not demanded much and been given more than I ever expected, or deserved.  As this sprawling nation and immense planet goes, I live in a fairly small bubble and am pretty well insulated from what might be considered national trends.  Having said that, however, I cannot help but be dismayed by the signs I encounter in my everyday life that indicate to me that our society is in decay.  I see it in the way our leaders behave; their lack of respect and common consideration for each other and their constituents.  I see it in the way that contractors and skilled craftsmen do their work; compromising on the quality, having no pride in their product, and depersonalizing the services they provide.  I see it in the customer service industry; the way a clerk or waitress will oftentimes view you as an insect, rather than a paying customer.  I see it in our morals and our ethics; promoting all manner of behavior, regardless of outrageousness, in the name of tolerance and sacrificing personal dedication to principle in the name of doing “just what the law/job/people/etc. requires”.  We all know that our children are woefully unprepared by our education system to graduate into responsible and productive citizens; and yet we continue to abstain our responsibilities as parents and focus instead on sports and extracurricular activities.  We are all becoming weary of fighting the good fight and are increasingly drawn into our personal orbits of existence; becoming comfortable with the blinders that shut out all but that which is in our immediate vicinity.  Perhaps this is the natural evolution of our culture and I am simply stuck in the past; but I would like to think that we are instead immersed in some type of funk from which we will someday awaken.  It takes a wiser man, or woman, than me to figure out that awakening, but I do know this for certain: If we continue to sit uninformed and surrender our rights and responsibilities as human beings and Americans, we will deserve the consequences those inactions will bring.  If we do not become part of the solution; we are inextricably part of the problem.

Chuck Steps Up!

Chuck Steps Up!  For many months now, I have moaned and groaned about the Democratic Party’s failure to challenge Obama on his pathetic leadership and abysmal policy choices.  I have been sorely disappointed, watching Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi fall in line behind their egomaniacal president.  This week, to the surprise of many, Chuck (You Da Man!) Schumer stepped up and publicly opposed the Iran Deal.  Are we finally going to see some Democratic Party leaders begin to reclaim their center-left legacy?

After six and a half years of enabling the charlatan in the White House, the Dems in the Senate and House have a limited amount of time to atone for their acquiescence in this failed Administration.  They are inextricably implicit in the damage wrought on this nation by Obama and his minions; remaining silent when their common sense and conscience urged them to speak up.  One can only hope that Schumer’s courageous (more on that in a moment) step will encourage other Democrats to exhibit some backbone and stand up for good policy.

Many were surprised when Schumer leapt over Dick Durbin to be viewed as the heir-apparent to Harry Reid.  Never the shrinking violet, Schumer’s flamboyant personality and partisan skill combined to thrust him to the pinnacle of his Senate ambitions.  His stint as DSCC Chairman readily displayed to anyone paying attention that Schumer is a talented and proficient politician and was destined for greater things in the Democratic leadership.  Many observers were shocked at his past comment questioning the wisdom of the timing regarding Obamacare.  Even though this Administration is renowned for its thin skin, the remark passed without comment; although you just had to know that it was filed away somewhere.  And now, before that mutinous utterance has fully passed from memory, here is Schumer publicly and explicitly opposing what this under-achieving bunch of amateur negotiators call “a legacy deal” (Got to love Allen West’s comment: “Obama says no one has ever done this before.  Of course no one has done this before…because it damned stupid!”).  Not only is this the second time that Schumer has prominently questioned the wisdom of Obamaworld; both times have involved issues that Obama has been all in on.  Some will say that Schumer has openly opposed the Iran Deal because he knows there are sufficient votes, without his, to sustain a Presidential veto.  I am not sure this is the case.  Even if those votes exist today, it is entirely possible that Schumer’s open opposition to the Deal will embolden other Democrats to vote against the ill-advised package of capitulation and appeasement.  Whether he saw his vote as non-essential or not, Schumer deserves a huge amount of credit and respect for standing on principle.  It took a big pair to do what he did, and he will pay for the decision.  The Obama demonizers have already trained their well-oiled artillery on him.

As a liberal Representative and then Senator from one of the most liberal areas of the country, Chuck Schumer has been hard for me to stomach.  His ambitions have driven him to go beyond the sincere liberal principles for which he stands and extend into the asinine circus of the absurd…partisan politics.  To his credit, he was very good at it; that only magnified the aggravation.  But on this day, at this time and place, I will stand up and sing his praises.  His actions on the Iran Deal was an act of statesmanship and will hopefully not be the last time he stands in open disagreement with the bunch of clowns that we have in the White House.

Pay to Play...and Those Who Support It.

Pay To Play…and Those Who Support It.  Two of the big stories making the rounds these days are the Planned Parenthood controversy swirling around their startling videos and the demise (or is it?) of Congressional authorization for the Export-Import Bank program.  In my humble opinion, and at the heart of both matters, we see symptoms of our politically corrupt system of government and vivid illustrations of paying to play.

I am not fan of Senator Ted Cruz.  Although clearly an intelligent and effective politician, he seems to feed too easily on the cameras and his ambitions too often lie close to the surface.  Having said this, the Senate Republicans do themselves no good when they chastise him for challenging Senate Leader McConnell for his handling of the Ex-IM Bank issue.  Senate decorum be damned, right is right; and in this case, Cruz has exposed McConnell for being the fox in the henhouse.   Reports indicate that well over 95 percent of exports and imports manage to occur organically without the intervention of the Ex-Im Bank.   And when you see that the biggest beneficiaries of the Bank are corporations such as GE and Boeing, and you look at the salary structure of their management, one cannot help but question exactly whose interests Senator McConnell is representing in this deal.  Plain and simple, the Ex-Im Bank is a classic example of an international corporation buying favorable treatment in Congress with money.   The House has passed a Transportation Bill without any extraneous riders and has made it clear that they do not support the re-authorization of the Ex-Im Bank.  If the Republican majority in the Senate wants to walk the walk and refrain from weasel behavior that is the height of hypocrisy, they will NOT attach an Ex-Im Bank re-authorization rider to their version of the Transportation Bill.  Mitch McConnell…I’m looking at you.

Of all the serious, contentious, and multi-faceted issues currently facing this nation, none is more emotionally wrenching than that of abortion.  The debate is dictated by the extreme positions on each side, with the majority of Americans watching from the sidelines and discussing the merits of the issue in the sunroom over morning coffee.  If you believe that life begins at conception, abortion is simply murder; whenever it occurs.  If you believe that a fetus only becomes a person when the cord is severed, then you can support abortion right up until the birth process.  I cautiously suggest that the consequences for most abortion decisions lie between an individual and their God and the government really has no place in the argument.  Unfortunately, that is not the world we live in.  Our country is greatly divided on this issue, with sincere and well-meaning people on both sides.  It strikes me that an extremely rational and reasonable course of action for regulating abortion is the 20 week rule, with exceptions for rape and incest.  I believe that the clear majority of people oppose abortion in the last trimester and a clear majority of people are at least open to an abortion option in the first trimester.  Barring abortions after 20 weeks, with these two exceptions, strikes a balance between these two positions and addresses the heartbreaking complications of rape and incest.  It is a reasonable place to start.  However unsettled the question of state and federal policy towards abortion might be, one thing is clear: When a nation is as divided on an issue as it clearly is on abortion, not one red cent of taxpayer money should be spent on the procedure.  If Planned Parenthood wants to justify its taxpayer subsidy on the good works it does (and it does some good work), then the abortion practices and efforts of the entity should be separated from the balance of its other work in the appropriation process.  Planned Parenthood has bought its existence and suckled at the taxpayer teat for decades through the naked purchase of Democratic political support in Congress.  It is time to pull the sheet back on this illicit arrangement and only support what the clear majority of citizens agree with.  Under no circumstances should that taxpayer support include abortion.

Getting Over to Get Even.

Getting Over to Get Even.  Even though I have, for quite a long time, held a very low opinion of Obama’s performance as our president, I have never harbored a severe dislike for him personally.  Frankly, his arrogance and narcissism was so off-putting, I found it easy to simply disregard him on a personal level.  He is not the kind of man I would choose to drink a beer with by my garden, in the lawn chairs.  All that being said, his unfettered bent since the last general election cycle has made it rather difficult to separate the president from the man.  As this angle on Barrack has unfolded, I have come to ponder exactly what motivates the man to be what he is; to do what he does, the way he does it.  I have concluded that he enjoys getting over to get even; let me expand.

It is difficult for me to identify with what a black might feel about racism; I am white man.  It would naturally be just as difficult for a black man to identify with my life.  I have never doubted that this nation profited shamefully from the practice of slavery; the north as well as the south.  Just as much of the agricultural foundation of the south was built on the cheap labor of slavery, the accompanying industrial complex of the northeast took great advantage of black and immigrant Americans.  While knowing that this was an unworthy period in our country’s history, I have never felt a personal guilt for slavery.  If my ancestors were slaveholders, they will ultimately account for their lives.  I will be held accountable for how I treat people and how I conduct my affairs; my salvation will not lie in the sins of my white ancestors; as they may be.

I have written before about my personal belief that the ultimate remedy for racial discrimination is the elimination in the law, and the regulation of that law, of all the code language and practices that continue to foster a great racial divide in this society; under the guise of being a remedy to past transgressions.  Until we write law that demands equal treatment for all races, and the intent depends of the effective enforcement of that law, we will continue to be a racially divided population.  We will continue to foster professional civil rights leaders and a sense of entitlement from those who more desperately need a hand up than a hand out.   I am not so naïve to think that discrimination has ceased to exist in America; it has not.  I have seen it my life; and continue to see it.  However, there are two important points that must be made about discrimination.  First, reverse discrimination is also discrimination.  To try to correct past wrongs by wronging those who were not personally responsible for the original wrong is….well, it is just wrong-headed.  Secondly, there will always be idiots among us who hate.  Sometimes they will be white; sometimes they will be black; and oftentimes they will a combination of the two or another color altogether.  You cannot outlaw idiocy.  If a person chooses to be an individual full of hate and spite, they unfortunately have the right to live their life with that burden.  What they do not have the right to do is burden others with it.  That is where the law must draw the line, in equal terms between the races, and simply guarantee a person’s rights and dignity; not that person’s perceived entitlement to any type of special treatment stemming from skin color.

When I read Obama’s life history, I am struck by the common thread of subtle anti-Americanism.  How ironic that he becomes the president of a nation he has so long, both openly and surreptitiously, despised.  Why would he want to be the head of an entity that he finds so revolting?  Initially, you might think he was on a path to change the entity from within; to work within the structure of the legislative process to make us a better and more equitable nation.  But his public record is devoid of any effort resembling a legislative initiative such as this.   We see instead a record of using the system to his advantage; enjoying his free reign as an activist, and pursuing a professional career as a community organizer.  The problem here is that he never quit being a community organizer.  Once he achieved the historic feat of becoming our first black president, he shied away from the plentiful opportunities to accomplish real legislative, and lasting, change in our country and chose instead to continue the cheap and shallow rhetorical adventures of the community activist.  And that fire inside Obama, the one that kept whispering in his ear that America was full of white racists who were near descendants of slaveholders, was stoked once again in a blaze and it was time for a reckoning.  It was time to get over to get even.

Getting over is the quick and easy way to force your will when you have the upper hand.  It is much more efficient and effective than negotiation or discussion.  It allows, even glorifies, demagoguery and demonization of those who disagree with you.  It makes those in subordinate authority toe the line rather than risk an open disagreement with the one in authority.  It permits one to get by with outrageous, shameful, and hypocritical behavior through the use of deceit and outright lies.  For a President of the United States of America, it is pretty much a carte blanche to do whatever the hell you want to do.  Obama has taken full advantage of this and fully intends to take it to new levels in his remaining time in office. 

Getting even is the end product of long held hatred and resentment; the vengeful result of continually feeling wronged and treated in a fashion not found to be proper.  Obama’s long-held dislike for this nation, its history, and especially its assimilation of black Americans, was finally allowed to blossom fully once he occupied the White House.  Faced with fantastical opportunity to implement broad-based, racially inclusive, reforms through our democratic process, he chose instead to use every tool, lever, and device to get even for all the wrongs he perceived to have been experienced by black Americans.   He chose the method of getting over in order to get even for our shameful chapter of slavery.  And in doing so, he has not only disgraced himself, but also the office of the Presidency.  He has done a great disservice to black Americans; selfishly throwing away such promise to reconcile the many colors of our society.  He has taken a nation that was trying, in good conscience and in fits and starts, to resolve the vestiges of racial discrimination and plunged it backwards from whence it stood.  He has compounded an illness that was on its way to passage and has irrevocably made it more difficult for his successors to deal with the issue of racial discrimination in these United States.

Small Ball(s) Obama

Small Ball(s) Obama.  Our self-absorbed chief executive continues his pattern of maximizing his limited time in office trying to accomplish maximum screw-up with this nation.  Emboldened by recent events that broke his way with SCOTUS, selling a sell-out as brilliant diplomacy with the Iran deal, and constantly having his ego stroked by a friendly (no…that should be fawning) MSM, he is taking executive action to new heights on a daily basis.  The good news is that he has only one and a half years remaining in office.  The bad news is that he has one and a half years remaining in office.

Today’s blog title has a dual meaning.  The first is an attempt to label Obama’s remaining time in office with an appropriate strategy name.  In this case, a sports analogy would seem apt.  Having used up all his big gun ammo early on in his administration and observing that any semblance of support (either Democrat or Republican) has failed to coalesce in Congress, he is now relegated to abusing his power as president, implementing through executive fiat what he cannot accomplish through legitimate legislative means.  And shameless as he is, it is not a bother to him that even though the Judiciary may eventually overturn many of his executive and regulatory adventures, he knows that by the time that happens, much of his fantasy policy will already be deeply ingrained in our society.  Our president is tragically like the small adolescent who, finding himself unexpectedly left at home alone, rushes through the house seeing how much mayhem he can create before the parents arrive back home. 

The other tilt on today’s title is a reference to Obama as a classic weasel, in almost every respect.  He plays fast and loose with the truth, he negotiates in bad faith, he demonizes sincere and well-meaning people who disagree with him, and he sees his office as a platform from which to foist his personal ideals on our country.  Having failed miserably at accomplishing any legislative matter of quality substance (no, Obamacare fails due to the quality test), having abstained his constitutional responsibility to work with Congress on the orderly administration of our government, and having consistently taken the easier path when the harder path would have been a better choice; he now resides in his White House and pursues every cowardly option available to transform this nation into “his kind of place”.  Having been ushered into the office on the wings of “hope and change”, he is determined to exit the office on the back of “disarray and destruction”. Had he been a better man, a better representative of the people, a man of conviction and principle…; one can only swallow the regret that comes with a look back at the lost opportunities for positive and constructive change that were presented to him. 

Bereft of courage and statesmanship, our president has paddled around in his Capitol lily pond for six and a half years, either running from every substantial challenge he faced or facing it in a deceitful and dishonorable fashion.  To any objective observer, it is pathetic to see one who was once held in such high esteem with so much good will be exposed, beyond all doubt, as the shallow egotist that he is.   Playing out his game with singles, walks, and hoping for errors from the opposition (and the Republicans are all too accommodating), he stands before his final innings as a facile lame duck, flailing about for attention and full of self-aggrandizement.  Once again, can December 31, 2016 arrive soon enough?