The Scales Fall From My Eyes.

The Scales Fall From My Eyes.  I was watching Fox News this morning while feasting on bagels and coffee and had a moment of revelation.  Obama’s foreign policy, and policies in general, have always left me in dismay; but apart from his arrogant and narcissistic bent, I have often puzzled as to what motivates him to think the way he does.  Is he simply oblivious to the truth or is he a liar?  Does he choose to fiddle while America burns or do the ashes please him?  Is there a “power behind the throne” or is this really his vision for our country?  I go from one belief to the next without ever fully understanding what makes this man do what he does.   Watching John Bolton on Fox News gave me a moment of clarity.  Now Bolton is typically a bit too far right for me; and he is always way too hawkish for me.  But the man is obviously gifted with experience and knowledge and to ignore what he says would be foolish.  This former U.N. Ambassador is obviously a very intelligent person. 

Whether I clearly understood the points Bolton was trying to make or not, they helped me reach a moment of clarity in what I see as Obama’s motivations.  Although imperfect, here is my best analogy of Obama’s thinking.  You own an apartment in a rather large complex.  The complex has a myriad of different tenants from all walks of life, diversified in every sense of the word, and you really like where you live; you have formed personal relationships with many of your neighbors.  However, over the last few months, there has been a recurring problem.  Late at night, some of the neighborhood youths have been throwing rocks against the outside walls of your apartment.  Aside from the noise, you worry that your windows will be broken and even worse, if left unaddressed, the issue may escalate into something much more dangerous than rocks against the wall.  With the cooperation of neighbors and the police, a few kids have been identified as rock throwers and been dealt with.   But there are so many perpetrators that for every one you set down, another two or three pop up.  At some point, the police tell you that they simply do not have the time or manpower to constantly monitor the rock throwing and although you, with the help of the neighbors, can identify the group of kids that are guilty; you cannot nail the specific rock thrower at a specific time. 

You are faced with two choices.  Accept the fact that rocks being thrown against your wall late at night will be part of your life for the foreseeable future.  Learn to adjust to it.  Begin sleeping with ear plugs.  Turn the television or the radio volume up a notch or two.  Tell the neighbors that want you to pursue the delinquents to calm down and go home; there is nothing to be done and it is simply life as it will continue to be.  Your other choice is to tighten the bonds that join you with your neighbors.  Form a watch group or invest in some trail cams to capture the violators.  Cooperate with the police by helping to supplement their limited resources while continuing to focus on the problem.   Along with your neighbors, begin an investigation in the neighborhood in an attempt to find out exactly who is doing this and if that is accomplished, then deal directly with those individuals.  In other words, pursue the source of the problem and deal with it directly.  It strikes me that our president has chosen the former path in his foreign policy. 

He simply accepts the chaos and turmoil in the world as inevitable change.  He does not see America as capable of dealing with the issues at their source and chooses instead to work on solutions that cope with their consequences; like an afflicted man spending a lifetime treating symptoms rather than seeking a cure.  Much like his global warming obsession, he views the international violence and terrorism as natural progressions of the human evolution and seeks to find calm, deliberate ways to turn up the television and radio.  He seeks out like-minded leaders, both domestic and foreign, to scheme with; while demagoguing those who do not share his perspective.  He is what we call a “game manager” quarterback in the NFL.  One who takes what is given, makes the easy choice every down, and never takes a risk or makes a bold play.   Game managers do pretty well sometimes and if they are surrounded with exceptional talent, they on occasion will rise to championship level.  Unfortunately, Obama is not surrounded with exceptional talent.  He is surrounded with incompetent ideologues that have no conception of their own foibles and are not interested in discussing them.  Game managers can quickly become dangerous liabilities as the competition level rises.  In this situation, a game manager will take the team down into a descending spiral of confusion, failure, low morale, and extremely poor performance.  It typically results in a new quarterback, a new coach, and perhaps even a new general manager. Fortunately, one way or the other, that will be occurring in 2016.  The bad news is that we have about one more year left in this season and it will take quite some time to rebuild the organization to some type of competent level.

As an aside, Bolton was followed on Fox News by Josh Earnest.  After listening to a few moments of Mr. Earnest, I encourage any restaurant owner in the WDC area to contact him as soon as possible.  Hash slingers of his lofty skill level are few and far between.  I hear he may become available sometime in the next year or so.

The Year of Living Dangerously.

The Year of Living Dangerously.  This is the title of a 1982 Australian film starring Mel Gibson.  That, my friends, is where we are and what we have to look forward to. 

With the worst president in my lifetime still in office and trying to cram every legacy-building executive action imaginable into his final year, there is absolutely no telling what we might see.  With the Democrats and Republicans trying to select their candidates to succeed this charlatan, there is no telling what we might hear.  With the Middle East in chaos, Putin unchained, North Korea watching the sands of the Obama hourglass trickle down, and China simply being China, there is no telling what might happen.  In my lifetime, I don’t believe there has ever been a time when our planet is facing more uncertainty than it will in 2016.  I realize that statement takes into account times of war; but somehow, someway, those conflicts seemed more defined that today’s turmoil.  The causes and the good guys/bad guys definitions seemed somewhat clearer then than they do now; the ability of evil forces in this world to exist and operate seemed to be met with a stronger coalition of common cause in the past.  Wasn’t it a more defined resistance to universally acknowledged bad behavior?  Everything today is so muddled, so confused.  Everyone has an agenda and the technical ability to put forth their agenda so very persuasively.  Political correctness oftentimes persuades (not prevents) even sincere and well-meaning people from being open and honest about the grim realities facing our nation and our planet. 

We truly exist in a world where there is six degrees of separation.  More than ever before and on an accelerating basis, the nations of this world and all the peoples they represent are interconnected; bundled up in a shrinking space where walls of privacy and secrecy are crumbing, fundamental cultural differences are being thrust into the open and creating necessary adjustments that are simply difficult to manage, and where a sorting out of values is being performed on a real-time basis.  Where common interests once existed, we now have impenetrable borders (both physically and psychologically) where the first reaction is not what serves the common cause, but what serves my cause.  Obama endeavors to seek his legacy through shallow, transparent, overt, and audacious independent actions meant to highlight his endless wisdom and super intelligence; while his true legacy is swirling around the vacuum he has created in American governmental competence and Global leadership.  The United States has not always been right in its international initiatives; but it has typically been guided by a moral compass that is pretty well grounded towards true north.  Without that leadership, a discord and self-serving mentality has permeated this planet and the small, painfully ignorant, people who run it. 

At a time when New Year’s resolutions are the flavor du jour, I will be the spoiler who sees the wrong instead of the right.  Are there many things to celebrate in this world?  Of course there are; true miracles happen every day.  The forces of good are alive and well in our lives and continue to work in every way to make this a good and decent place for all.  But when each of us takes that next quiet moment to speak with our God, we had better include a plea for wisdom and strength to see us through this next year.  There is evil in this world and that evil is empowered as it has never been before.  The leadership of the force that must counter this evil is splintered, distracted, incompetent, and naïve.  Many times in the past, the simple power of good has been sufficient to unite disparate forces and overcome the challenges that evil has presented.  Will that simple power be enough to overcome the next challenge that evil presents?  Will the varied members of good be able to agree on the definition of right and wrong and will their resolve be adequate to meet the force thrust upon them by an evil that has abilities and resources heretofore unheard of in history?  

In so many ways, and in the sands of time, year 2016 may be a watershed moment in the history of this world.  Can we somehow sufficiently still the tempests that roil the planet in order to formulate a pathway to better times?  Will the events that are ongoing be forestalled and allow enough time for reconsideration and consolidation of effort?  Or, are we locked into an irreconcilable period of time where events have simply gone too far and must play out to their ultimate and disastrous ends?  And most importantly, in the midst of this turmoil, can America find the wisdom and will to select a leader capable of dealing with the challenges that lie ahead for this nation and the world?

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Hillary: Is She Da Bomb...or...Is the Bomb About to Fall on Her?

Hillary: Is She Da Bomb…or…Is the Bomb About to Fall on Her?  Hillary Clinton is an enigma to me.  Her public record clearly shows that she’s had problems telling the truth; almost to the point of being a congenital liar.  It seems at times that she will lie when telling the truth is easier to do.  On the other hand, one must acknowledge that she has been pretty successful in her life.  With the exception of the thrashing she took at the hands of Obama, she has proven to be very skillful at picking the right time and place to run for office.  What some might call devious and opportunistic, others may call genius.  I continue to be amazed at the broad and deep Democratic voter loyalty she engenders.  She has managed to cobble together a rather impressive resume of public experience.  Many in the media, both her allies and her critics, refer to her as an intelligent person.  Personally, I am not prepared to give her this crown.  The ability to succeed in the pursuit of power and fortune is not necessarily an indication of intelligence and we are all way too anxious to join these two traits in a seminal fashion.  In fact, Hillary’s wealth and power, and the manner in which she acquired them, might very well prove to be liabilities before this presidential campaign is over.  That, my friends, is what I dwell on at this time.

What are the chances that sometime before the Democrats officially select their 2016 presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will be indicted?  Six months ago, mentioning this possibility was laughable; today, not so much so.  I see three indicators that have raised the possibility of a Clinton indictment.  First, there is a silence that surrounds both the Congressional investigations into Hillary and the FBI investigation into her affairs.  One may argue that silence means there is nothing there and perhaps that is true.  On the other hand, many times silence can be more ominous than incessant chatter and that might just be the case this time.  Secondly, the trigger man in deciding whether or not Hillary skates or skews is James Comey.  Comey comes as close to being an objective, non-partisan, by the book, bureaucrat as exists in the Obama administration.  He has just as many Democrat hides on his wall as he does Republican.  In a very public fashion, he has demonstrated his political independence on several occasions and there is no reason, at this time, to doubt that he will go where the email trails lead him.  And finally, what exactly does Obama think of Hillary?  I have long been of the notion that Obama might not personally like her much, but would view her as the best option to preserve, at least in his mind, his presidential efforts.  At this late date in his tenure, with the public opinion of his performance settling in, I am no longer sure that there is very much of that legacy that Clinton could or would try to preserve.  If I am correct in this thinking and Obama comes around to this position, he might very well decide that history might be kinder to him with a Republican successor than with Hillary.   As is his wont, he would demonize and demagogue a Republican successor and continue his plea that all he accomplished was in spite of the Republicans and all that went wrong under his watch was because of the Republicans.  A Republican successor would allow him to continue that theme into his post-presidential era.  On the other hand, and if given the opportunity, Hillary would undoubtedly rework Obama’s initiatives; some with a tweak and some with a hammer.  Is her vision for America the same as his?  It is not out of reason to think he might prefer the clear foil of a conservative Republican president to that of a more traditional Democrat president.  I grant that this is entirely supposition and a high grade of supposition at that.  However, if it were to have a grain of truth, it might be the third factor that results in serious legal issues for Hillary in 2016.  There can be little doubt that even without influencing Comey, the Obama administration will have some effect on how the public image of Hillary is impacted by her 2016 adventures in justice. 

National polls consistently show that fully sixty percent of the public do not view Hillary as trustworthy.  Even though one would be a fool not to consider her political apparatus as formidable, that type of locked-in public perception will be extremely difficult to overcome.  Now the 2016 presidential election may be a technical one decided more by political metrics than by simple vote tallies and if so, Hillary could very well figure out a way to win this thing.  On the other hand, if sixty percent of folks don’t trust you now and the Republicans have yet to spend one dollar to encourage that notion, what will happen to her image when the attacks come?  And then, what would happen if Obama took a laissez faire approach to the FBI investigation of her and even worse, began to drop bread crumbs that lead down trails better left untraveled?

If Hillary were to be indicted, could Bernie end up being the Democrat’s Goldwater?  The 2016 Presidential election may already be engaged to a much greater degree than any of us realize; it might be the Republican presidential nominee primary. 

Erring On the Side of Simplicity.

Erring On the Side of Simplicity.  As we move inside the “one year to go mark” of our next presidential election, I am going to crawl out a bit further on the skinny limb and make a prediction or two.  If the last few elections have taught me anything at all, they have taught me that not only do I, an abject layman in politics, know nothing of national politics, but that professional journalists who follow national politics for a living don’t seem to know too much either.  Bottom line: there are damn few certainties as we look ahead to November of 2016 and anyone who pretends otherwise is rather foolish.  I now join that club.

I will submit for your consideration what I believe are the three politically-viable choices for our next President and the reasons you might choose each of them.  Those choices are Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, or Marco Rubio.  Now predicting Hillary as the Democratic nominee does not require a lot of courage.  Short of an indictment, she will be the candidate of choice for the Democrats.  And even though Cruz and Rubio are gaining strength in poll numbers, one would be very foolish to dismiss the outside chances of Kasich or Christie.  Yes, I am eliminating Trump and Bush at the outset; in spite of his continuing poll performance, I refuse to take Trump seriously.  Kasich and Bush rely on voters to select their candidates on the basis of performance, not appearance.  Unfortunately, that simply is not the way people select their public officials today.  Christie has not yet found his moment and time is wasting.   So…choose your poison.  And for what it’s worth, here is a guide to that choice.

There is no truth in Hillary; you cannot put any reliance whatsoever on what she says she believes or will do if elected President.  However, you can draw some conclusions based on what she has actually done in public office.  Hillary would, in effect, be a third term for Obama.  She is just as liberal, if not more so, than Obama and exceedingly more competent.  She would pursue many of the liberal (progressive??) goals that have been pursued by Obama, but I feel like she would be more successful.  Although it would clearly be contentious, I think her ability to work with a Republican Congress would yield far more results than that achieved by Obama’s administration.  I believe she would eschew the executive action proclivity set forth by Obama and tend towards a greater reliance on legislative results and appointees’ discretion.  No doubt, she would attempt to mold the nation in her image; but she would approach it more as an exercise in political competition rather than a religious pursuit.  I do not think Hillary would be as dead set on reforming this nation as has been Obama.  Like them or not, the bulk of her appointees would be competent; corrupt, but competent.  I don’t know about you, but give me bad policy administered competently over bad policy administered incompetently (Obama anyone??) any day of the week.  Hillary would likely preserve most of Obama’s domestic issues, including Obamacare.  Sure, it will be tweaked and revised; but hey…it was her brainchild to begin with!  Do you really think she will dump it?  Look for tax reform around the edges if Hillary is elected.  On foreign policy, Hillary would be more hawkish and frankly, more effective than Obama.  To be honest with you, all three of the candidates I will address will be more hawkish than I like, but such is life in today’s world.  So…if you like the way things stand right now on domestic issues, but would like to see a bit more effectiveness and efficiency in the way government runs, then Hillary might be your gal.  If you believe that Government is a solution to many of today’s problems and it should expand to address those and more, then Hillary is your choice.

Ted Cruz might just be the brightest candidate of the three I am addressing; one can easily see why he was a national debate champion.  He is a strong fiscal and domestic conservative, comfortably situated in the far right parlor of the Republican Party.  Here is what gives me pause about Cruz: He has trouble getting along with his own party in Congress; how could we expect him to get along with Democrats if he were President?  Now some would argue that is not a problem.  They might say that “compromise and business as usual” has gotten us where we are today.  They might say that the only way to begin to unwind the big, chaotic ball of twine that is the Obama legacy is to attack it the same way it was built; by autocratic rule and executive action.  One can never be sure what a candidate’s foreign policy will be, because few candidates have much experience in foreign policy.  We have a bit of a yardstick to use on Hillary, but none to use on Cruz or Rubio.  They are politicians, so their rhetoric has limited reliability.  Based on his words and votes, one could surmise that Cruz might be considerably more hawkish than Obama, but no more so (perhaps even less so) than Hillary.  However, there can be no question that when it comes to domestic policy, Cruz and Hillary are polar opposites.  Cruz wants to shrink government.  He wants to reduce the number of agencies, cut them off, and cauterize them.  He advocates a move towards a smaller, less intrusive government that shifts a WDC-centric vertical integration of rule back towards a state-centric horizontal integration model.  If you want to stop the car, back it up, and go back in the direction from whence you came…then Cruz is your man.  If you want to flip off the Democrats and take the position that damn the pain and side effects, we have to take the medicine to cure the Obama illness, then Ted Cruz is your choice.  If you want a dramatic departure from our current tax law towards a VAT option, then Cruz should be your candidate.  Is he a right-wing zealot who will wreck the government in order to recreate it or is he a strong-principled conservative that will do whatever it takes to steer the nation back towards a conservative bearing?  Answer this question with your vote.

Addressing our final candidate, I will shinny out a bit further on the limb.  I believe that Marco Rubio will be our next President.  Now I do not intend this blog as an endorsement for Rubio.  As of today, he is likely my candidate of choice; but I am not totally convinced he is the best man for the job and am certainly not here to advocate for him.  I simply say that he is best positioned to win the next Presidential race.  Taken at face value, Rubio presents what I believe to be the best solution to our nation’s drift; a drift towards loss of identity, purpose, morals, ethics, and position of influence in the free world.  I like Rubio’s proposal on tax reform that moves towards simplicity, fairness, and family-orientation while not departing from those parts of the tax code that have been fairly effective for decades.  I like the calm and studied approach that Rubio takes towards social issues; stating his personal beliefs when questioned but understanding that his beliefs do have to be everyone’s beliefs.  I like the way that Rubio continues to address the fact that government has become too large and intrusive and that we must get back to redefining government’s priorities and how those priorities can be financed.  I like Rubio’s life story and I see his youth as an asset; WDC is way too settled and comfortable for my taste. Picking someone who has been around the scene long enough to be a member of that club is not the solution to this nation’s problems.  Rubio’s hawkish positions on foreign policy give me pause.  I see him to the right of both Hillary and Cruz and I think that perhaps his life history has somewhat influenced what might be perceived as a hard-line approach to America’s leadership role in the free world.  Many will find this approach refreshing after eight years of Obama’s mushy foreign policy; but it would be a new and very different path for our nation in a world of chaos.  If he is open to advice and debate, then this could be a good departure from our current trajectory.  If he is autocratic in his decision making and keeps the blinders on when determining action, it could be a recipe for international disaster. As I said before, only time can answer questions such as these.  If you want a clear departure from the direction this nation has traveled over the last eight years, a withdrawal of government from the private sector, a de-emphasis on government interaction with social issues, a more Reaganesque approach to foreign policy and the overall tone of leadership, and a new emphasis on effective legislative efficiency, then Rubio might be your candidate.

So, if you look at a straight horizontal spectrum before you, put Cruz at the right end, put Hillary at the left end, and put Rubio about 75 percent (this number is certainly debatable) towards the right.  You now have before you the choices for our next President and what you might expect if they win.  One may argue that the principled voter will select one extreme or the other because, damn the torpedoes, the correct way is worth the costs!  A pragmatic voter might look in the middle at Rubio and see a more studied approach towards change; more of a shift towards a right-of-center direction for this country and its government.  Given their respective strengths and weaknesses, and imagining them both on a common stage, it is hard for me to envision a majority of voters selecting Hillary over Rubio…if he can win the nomination.  For what it is worth, and as of this day, I think the wise money is on Rubio.

Trump and Football Safety: Hyperbole and SHOT.

Trump and Football Safety: Hyperbole and SHOT.  Two topics that have been prevalent in the media over the last week are Trump’s comments regarding the Muslim faith and the safety issues swirling around concussions in football.  With no intention of relating the two, I will make a brief comment or two about each.

The fact that Trump is continuing to poll well ahead of his Republican presidential nomination opponents continues to stir very strong feelings from very different individuals and groups.  The Democratic Party and the mainstream media (but I repeat myself) are overjoyed by Trump’s bombastic remarks and the journalistic gymnastical challenges of attempting to tie his remarks to the Republican Party in general and the other nomination candidates in particular.  The Republican Party leadership is obviously becoming increasingly concerned over the prospect of Trump winning the nomination outright and, if media reports are to be believed, are knee deep in strategy meetings to deal with that contingency.  The most amazing aspect of this entire spectacle is how Trump manages to maintain or increase his poll numbers while making statements that are broadly labeled outrageous, irresponsible, un-American, and downright racist.  I think what is happening here is that Mr. Trump has taken up permanent residence in the land of hyperbole; extreme hyperbole, but hyperbole nonetheless.  Trump has taken controversial positions on both the Mexican/South American immigration issue and the Syrian/Muslim immigration issue.  In both of these instances, he repeats a pattern he has used before.  That pattern is to capture almost complete media attention with a policy statement that, on its surface, appears to be so far to the extreme as to be indefensible.  Then, upon being confronted with the apparent extremity of his stances, Trump will begin to prevaricate, while never really walking back or admitting any misstatements or untruths.  And somehow, someway, while performing these feats of shape-shifting, he never seems to damage his standing in the polls.  To me, the best example of this activity by Trump was his statement about thousands of Muslims celebrating the 9/11 tragedy in New Jersey.   While there were specific stories about Muslims in New Jersey having tailgate parties on rooftops, by any stretch of the facts no one in the media reported thousands of Muslims celebrating.   In this case and many others, Trump takes a kernel of truth, selected specifically for its political volatility, blows it entirely out of proportion, using the most electric language possible, and throws it out there to the journalistic hounds.  They attack it with a ferocity that is remarkable; they go over the top with their condemnation and criticisms, and when they confront Trump with his apparent errors, he is able to take advantage of their over eagerness, rhetorically blurring the lines between what he actually said and the kernels of truth, and then comes out looking better than those attacking him for his obvious and outlandishly false statements.  And probably the most remarkable tool Trump uses in the charade is his uncanny ability to select the topics he will address.  He somehow manages to touch a nerve that is present in many, many Americans about certain subjects and even though his comments are over-the-top and outrageous, there is just enough truth in them to garner acceptance and support from a significant number of potential voters.  You have to give Trump credit for this: He knows how to read the public.

Now for a change of pace.  With the upcoming release of Will Smith’s new movie about the NFL and concussions, that topic has been consuming many of the sports talk shows on radio and television.  It has reached a point where, apparently, many parents of youth football league players are either forbidding their participation in the sport or withdrawing them from competition.  It is incredible to me how we have arrived at a  risk assessment of football before addressing mixed martial arts, boxing, and other forms of professional and youth competitions that appear to be much more threatening…but here we are.  The NFL, much like NASCAR, has experienced such a rapid explosion in popularity and profit that their management has not been able to keep us with their business.  They more resemble the Keystone Kops or a County Fair Board than they do a governing body.  Given this behavior and performance, it is difficult to have much confidence in their ability to deal with the concussion issue in a responsible way.  But if they choose to do so, they might take a SHOT at this approach.  At the collegiate and professional levels, where finances will allow something like this over the long term and the size/speed/strength of the athletes make it more imperative, a lot of consideration needs to be given to improving the (S)urface on which the players compete.  Bottom line: modern technology surely provides a better alternative to a helmet slamming down against hard ground and turf.  Figure out an underlayment or something to cushion those impacts and mandate it transitionally over the near term.  Next, take a good hard look at the (H)elmets the players are wearing.  No doubt, there have been dramatic improvements in how effective football helmets are in protecting the players; but there can equally be no doubt that further improvement is possible and it is simply a matter of devoting resources to the problem at the expense of less profit.  One of the biggest indictments that can be placed against the NFL is the (O)utcome of players’ careers who play in the league.  When compared to MLB and the NBA, the NFL is light years behind in protecting the financial security of its athletes in both guaranteed salary contracts and average salary earnings.  When you consider the violence quotient of the NFL versus MLB and the NBA, the NFL should clearly take some large strides in providing its average and lesser-talented players with longer term, better guaranteed, and higher-paying contracts.  There is no reason why literally hundreds of journeyman NFL players should risk career-ending injury every week with no protection for their own and their families’ financial welfare.  I’m not talking about the stars here; those elites have it made from day one.  I’m talking about the guys that can’t afford to miss a practice or a play because the next man up will be just as hungry (or more so) as they are.   Professional sports organization profits are obscene and it is time for the NFL to take care of the men that fill the rosters every week and make it possible to acquire those profits.  And finally, there needs to be new discussion about (T)echniques.  There are common sense changes that can be made to NFL game rules that can simultaneously preserve the violent nature of the game and make it safer for the participants.  There is a lot to be said about the value of old school philosophy, but there will not be an NFL 25 years from now if kids quit playing the sport in youth leagues and high schools.  The NFL athletes of today are freakish in their physical abilities.  The mere thought of a 240 pound linebacker, who can run a 10.9 100, and has a 36” vertical leap, moving to a tackle with 5-10 yards to build up momentum is nothing short of frightening (especially if you have the ball).   Oh…and did I mention he is girded up in equipment like a freaking gladiator.  There will always be physical risk in sports; but it can be effectively minimized and managed without damaging the integrity of the games.

Kentucky's 2015 Gubernatorial Race: A Preview of Next Year's Presidential Race?

Kentucky’s 2015 Gubernatorial Race: A Preview of Next Year’s Presidential Race?  In November, Kentucky elected a surprise candidate as their next Governor.  Kentucky Democrats did not like him.  Many, many Kentucky Republicans (especially Mitch McConnell) did not like him.  And yet, Matt Bevin won a fairly comfortable contest over a very flawed Democrat opponent.  Leading up to the election, many of the Kentucky voters that I know and speak with on a regular basis expressed strong distaste for the candidates from both parties.  Even the Republican’s celebration over the win (grossly mispredicted by the state’s largest newspaper, The Curious Journal) was strangely subdued.  I do believe they realize that they now have won a prize whose value is rather dubious.  Is it possible that America is stumbling towards a similar predicament with next year’s Presidential race?

Trump seems to have exceeded the shelf life predicted for him by many self-proclaimed professional political prognosticators (say THAT real fast three times!)  Although the race for the Republican nomination is far from over, it is perilous for Trump’s detractors to dismiss him so easily.  If nothing else, he has proven to possess a resilience, powered by constant media attention, that has surprised…no, SHOCKED… the overwhelming majority of the nation’s political pundits.  On the other side of the political aisle, Hillary and her minions have effectively co-opted the National Democratic Party apparatus and are steadily proceeding towards her coronation as their nominee.  So…what exactly do we have here?

By any objective analysis, Trump is a loud-mouthed, mean-spirited, deviously calculating bully who has blustered his way into a strong lead for the Republican nomination by effectively targeting his amateurish and irresponsible rhetoric towards certain Republican voters.  His essence elicits either blind support or blind hatred from Republicans.  His nomination would undoubtedly split the party and result in many Republican voters staying at home on Election Day next November.  Democrats in leadership positions are absolutely giddy when they consider the prospect of competing against the Donald.  Unfortunately for them, their candidate is not really primed to take full measure of the advantages Trump might present to the Democrats.  Hillary is a proven liar with the personality of a door knob.  She is an unprincipled and ineffective orator who will say anything to anybody at any time (and in any dialect) in an attempt to curry support.  The overwhelming majority of Republicans and Independents recognize her for the dishonest, corrupt, professional politician that she is and a surprising number of Democrats see her the same way…while all the while supporting her with their checkbooks, rhetoric, and print.  It is hard to see how any candidate whose credibility and honesty is so poorly viewed, in such a settled fashion, by such a large number of American voters, could possibly run a successful presidential campaign.  But then again, there is the prospect that Trump will be her opponent.

I can think of no greater belated Christmas gift for the media mob than a Trump v. Clinton Presidential contest next year.  When considering this possibility, I have seen several of them go over the top with excitement.  And to those who can somehow perversely enjoy our nation’s political process, I can easily see how this potential match-up would be entertainment of the highest order.  Unfortunately, for those of us who do NOT see our presidential selection method as a well-oiled and finely tuned machine and do NOT make our livings hanging on every bit of drivel that emanates from the mouths of candidates; such a match-up would be depressing beyond description.  And, on the heels of Obama’s eight years of wandering in the wilderness, it would be a cause for absolute and total despair.  For those of us lucky (or unlucky?) enough to hang our hats in Kentucky, it would be two Novembers in a row where we go the polls and select the lesser of two evils to reward with our vote.  It would be the second time in a year’s span when we hold our nose to perform our civic duty.  It would be a clear indictment of the utter failure perpetrated on this nation by our two major political parties.  And it would throw the future of this nation into a realm of uncertainty that has not been conceived of in my lifetime.  

Filling Up Those Holes

Filling Up Those Holes.  In our country; in our society; in our culture; there is a huge void in peoples’ souls; both young and old.  More than ever before in history, there is a litany of things competing to fill those voids.  From TV evangelists to video games, there is no shortage of profitable enterprises whose entire purpose is to address and exploit that vacuum.   As strange as it may seem to some, the two recent college campus episodes at Yale and the University of Missouri, combined with last night’s Republican presidential primary debate, has led me to write a bit about this topic.

In his recent column posted on RealClearPolitics, http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/11/11/peggy_noonans_words_to_live_by_128692.html  , Peter Berkowitz writes this,  “From informality of dress and casualness of locution to hypersensitivity to slights and shirking of responsibility; from prolonged adolescence—sometimes reaching well into the thirties—to mawkish displays on talk and reality shows; from disengagement from civic life to politicians who lie brazenly with every expectation that their side will embrace their bald-faced falsehoods as self-evident truths, adults in contemporary America exhibit childish self-regard, thoughtlessness, and petulance.  Universities, which increasingly resemble kindergartens for adolescents and the adults who are paid to educate them, have taken this immaturity to new heights.”  Read that once more, maybe twice, and then reflect on it.  Berkowitz captures in a few carefully selected words exactly what we are witnessing in today’s world that makes us shake our heads and wonder what the hell is going on. 

Our children are stuck in their children mode.  Regardless of how good and pure their hearts are, many (if not most) are devoid of the life lessons that help them develop into mature and independent adults.  They go from high school to college to….where?  Some go back home (permanently).  Some go directly into supervisory or policy-making positions that grossly overvalue their education, mistaking it for life experience, and they never have the benefit of someone telling them, in a fashion they will listen to, that they do not know what the hell they are talking about.  For many of these kids, life is nothing more than a board game.  Collegiate academia has become a self-perpetuating bastion of liberal gobbely-gook; creating a nice, cushy career for shiftless intellectuals who see everyday existence as nothing more than another excuse for an endless philosophical discussion about the meaning of life and the lightness of light.  The college system (bubble??)  continues to atrophy, reliably fed and nourished by our nation’s elementary and high school network and the everlasting misnomer that any money spent on the education of our youth is money well spent.  It is becoming more ineffective and inefficient each day, saddling its eventual graduates (and non-graduates) with debilitating debt, and skill sets that makes them annoying dinner guests and infuriating children rather than productive citizens.  These young adults have holes in their lives and in their souls; holes that are being filled by gaseous college professors who view them as nothing more than modeling clay given to them for their experimentation and amusement.  At some point in this education process, we must get back to providing an education to people that leads to a purpose; a career in something that they can find both personally rewarding and self-sustaining.  Through family revitalization, education reform, and simple common sense, our adolescents must obtain ethical standards for conducting their private lives, their public lives, and achieving some form of independence in and from society.  I noticed in reading about the University of Missouri episode that the kid that was conducting the hunger strike had been in college for eight years.  EIGHT years!...are you kidding me.   There is so much wrong with that situation that I don’t know where to begin.  Education must get back to the point where it is a means to an end; not a personal magical mystery tour.  Self-enrichment and self-fulfillment are principles with merit, but they must be secondary to the primary purpose of college: Broadening your personal experience and knowledge in specific preparation for becoming a useful and responsible citizen of this society.  If kids want to change the world (and lord knows a lot of it needs changing), they must come to understand that they must first equip themselves to achieve that change and then move on to implement that change.

I firmly hold to the belief that a large reason (perhaps the largest reason) for the cultural decay previously addressed by Mr. Berkowitz is the fact that so many of our nation’s adults do not have a job.  I don’t say this to regurgitate the arguments about the nanny-state dependence that has grown so dramatically under this president and his policies; but rather to state the simple fact that a paycheck is one single thing in life that can help to build personal esteem and encourage people to reach for a better life.  I have been unemployed in my life and the feeling of helplessness it engenders is crippling.  It eats away at your feeling of self-worth and engenders a frustration that is beyond words.  To see the needs of your family and, in spite of your best efforts, not be able to meet those needs is simply a purgatory of sorts for any man or woman with any gumption at all.  That is the other hole that has to be filled.  Forget the people who simply refuse to work and look for a free ride.  They exist; they will always exist; and their generational influence on their children must be addressed in order to break the cycle; but I do not believe that this type of person constitutes the majority of our unemployed.  As I have previously discussed, we as a society have failed our children.  Our government has equally failed our adults.  We must get back to the point where our economy generates sufficient opportunities for those who are seeking work and cannot find it.  Many will say that people who are out of work simply are not looking hard enough.  In a few cases, this is true.  However, in most cases, it is simply a misconception and incorrect.  I continue to believe that if we can somehow establish that first initial link between a paycheck and an unemployed adult individual; then we have gone a long ways towards helping to re-establish some pride and self-respect in our citizens that are out of work.  When it can be ignited, that pride and self-respect is contagious and can spread to a spouse, or to a child, or to a friend, or to a neighborhood, and can work to literally change the face of our culture.  But it all begins with teaching our children how to live; equipping them with the right tools to accomplish dreams that are pragmatic and obtainable, and creating a nation where opportunities exist that allows them to seek that dream. 

I fully realize these words that I write are far from original; they have been spoken so many times before by so very many well-intentioned people.  Many people still dedicate their lives to the challenge of trying to achieve these goals.  I readily acknowledge that the easiest part of this equation is recognizing the problem.  I do not have the solution.  But this much I do know; what we are doing is not working.  Look at the hysterical and mindless rant of the Yale student…and the reaction of the zombie-like administrator she is addressing.  Think about how a student can be in a college for eight years and still find time to go on a hunger strike in a campus revolt.  Think about the lowest workforce participation by our population since the second Great War.  Think about the vacuous looks you get from the kids (and adults) that populate our service industry from top to bottom.  Think about the drivel that our political characters constantly generate, in the full expectation that we the people will swallow them all…hook, line, and sinker.  It will take a better person than me to come up with the remedy for this malady and I am far from certain that I see that person on either the Republican or Democrat debate stage; but change had best be coming soon.  The Europeanization of America is in full swing and someone, somehow, needs to start the process of taking this country back.