The Obama Presidency: Imperfect Perfection

The time has come.  The Presidency of Barrack Hussein Obama ends tomorrow at noon, and with it America has passed another milestone.  The country's first African American President has completed two terms in office.   I'll admit that I was concerned that we might not see this day, that some nut with a gun might be able to assassinate this President.   But to America's credit (and the United States Secret Service), there was not even an attempt that we know about to take the President's life.   Given the untimely assassinations of so many African American leaders, (Malcolm X, Dr Martin Luther King, and Medgar Evers to name a few), the fact that President Obama survived two terms without incident is a sign of progress in itself.   But as President Obama prepares to vacate the White House tomorrow and transfer power to President Elect Trump, I can't help but reflect on the fact that despite his imperfections, he was the perfect person to be the first African American President of the United States.

Usually I love to cite facts, but I won't do that in this post.  It would just be long and boring.  I'm content to let history judge President Obama's Presidency.   I'll just remind you that when he took office

•  the world economy was on the brink of collapse, 
• we were fighting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,
• Osama Bin Laden was still alive,
• same sex couples could not legally marry, 
• health insurance companies could deny coverage for pre-existing conditions,
• 20 million less Americans had health insurance coverage
• the American automobile industry was on the verge of collapse, 
• the U.S. economy was losing 200,000 jobs a month, and 
• the unemployment rate was 7.8%.

Again, let's just say I think history will be kind to him.   But that's not to say that President Obama has been perfect.  He's done a lot of things I disagreed with over the past 8 years.  I think his signature accomplishment, the Affordable Care Act, should have included a public option.   I think his use of drones to drop bombs on suspected terrorists produced collateral damage that could come back to haunt us for decades in the form of generations of Afghans who will grow up hating America.  I think he was a little too reluctant to tackle some racial issues head on and I think he caved to Republican pressure when he was considering making Susan Rice Secretary of State.  Finally, I think drawing the red line in Syria and not following through was a mistake in judgment. 

So I'll freely admit that President Obama wasn't a perfect President, but I have no doubt that he was the perfect man to be the first African American President.   Because American history has taught us that the first African American to do anything has to be perfect.   President Obama has spent 8 years in the nation's capital and no matter how much you disagree with his policies, unless you are a complete imbecile there is no way you can't appreciate the decency of this man.   He has an amazing wife and amazing children, and he never passes an opportunity to talk about his love for them.   There has not been one hint of a scandal in his White House in 8 years.   With the advent of social media he has had more hatred hurled in his direction than any President in my lifetime without doubt, and he has retained his composure and dignity until his very last day in office.   

President Obama's Presidency reminds me of the story that's often told about Jackie Robinson when Dodgers owner Branch Rickey was thinking of making Robinson the first African American player in the major leagues.   By most accounts Robinson wasn't the best African American player of his time, but Rickey rightfully assessed that he was the perfect person to break the Major League color barrier because he definitely had the skill, he had the temperament, and he had the class and dignity to handle all the ugliness that was sure to come his way.   In like manner, Barrack Hussein Obama may not have been the best African American politician of his time, but he was the perfect person to break the White House's color barrier.  He definitely had the skill, he had the temperament, and he had the class and dignity to handle all the ugliness that came his way.   

The Obama Presidency may have been imperfect, but as for as representing the African American community in this country it was perfection.   I thank the Obamas for their service, and wish them many years of health, peace and prosperity.   Well done Barrack and Michelle.   You made us proud. 

It's Not That Simple, Stupid!

"It's the economy, stupid!" is what James Carville said in a meeting to then Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton's presidential campaign staff during the 1992 Presidential campaign.  That phrase has had a lasting legacy in political lore because it perfectly captured the mood of the American electorate during that campaign cycle where the United States was in a recession and 64% of Americans disapproved of President Bush's job performance.   It was the perfect phrase for the perfect time.   I would like to flatter Carville through imitation by offering a slightly different version of his message to my fellow Americans during this presidential campaign; It's not that simple, stupid! 

While watching the debate Monday night between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, it hit me why Donald Trump is doing so well in the polls.   To put it bluntly, he's simple.   He's a simple man.  He likes beautiful women, big buildings, and lots of money.   He lies constantly because some people believe him.   He routinely insults large groups of people in generalities.   He says Mexico is sending rapists to America although he supposes some of them are good people.   He says African Americans can't walk down the streets in their neighborhoods without being shot.   He calls women fat and ugly.   He talks about Marco Rubio being Little Marco.   He calls Elizabeth Warren Pocohantas.   He calls Ted Cruz Lyin Ted.  He calls Jebb Bush Low Energy Jeb.     He says no one will vote for Carly Fiorina because nobody wants to look at her face.   If I told you all of these things had come from a first grader you would not be surprised because we expect first graders to be simple.   But this came from one of the two major candidates for the Presidency of the United States.   And current polls show that half the electorate plans on voting for this very simple man.   The reason, half of America has become very simple. 

His solutions for Americans are also simple.   To stop the Mexican rapists from coming over he would simply build a wall.  To stop terrorists from entering the country he would simply ban Muslims from coming into the country.  To stop the press from reporting unflattering stories about him he would simply strengthen our libel laws.   To get the economy back on track he would simply negotiate better trade deals.  If NATO countries weren't current on their payments he would simply not defend them if attacked.  If an Iranian battleship taunted one of our Navy vessels at sea he would simply drop a bomb on them.  To defeat Isis he would simply wipe them off the face of the map.   To stop crime he would simply reinstitute stop and frisk even though the courts have already ruled it unconstitutional (of course then he said he would only do it in Chicago).   The solutions are so simple and according to Donald of the 320 million people in this country,  he is the only one that can save us because everyone else is so incompetent.    It's that simple.  (I'm not kidding he actually said that.  See the video)

But here's the problem for Donald, and for all of the rest of those who think that the solutions to this nation's problems are simple, it's not that simple, Stupid!  If it were that simple the problems would have been solved already.   I'm going to tell you guys something about Washington D.C. and the people who actually run your government day to day that you might now know.  They are literally the smartest people in the country.   Now I'm not talking about the elected officials.   We can all see that some of them aren't that bright.   I"m talking about the staffers, the lobbyists and the career bureaucrats, the people that actually do the work in DC.  That kid that was valedictorian of your high school class?   There are 200 kids smarter than that kid that will get turned down for White House Fellowships this year.   Chances are there are 3 people who work on your United States Senator's staff that are smarter than that kid.   There are probably 20 people who lobby for the NRA or Goldman Sachs or the Motion Picture Association of America smarter than that kid.   One of the reasons I love Washington DC so much is that there are so many incredibly smart people walking around that town every day.   I thrive on talking to smart people.  Washington DC is to me what I imagine the Miss Universe pageant is to Trump.  

And that's not even to mention the Presidential cabinet level appointees who actually run the agencies.  Attorney General Loretta Lynch has a degree in English and American Literature from Harvard and a degree from Harvard Law School.  Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has degrees from Harvard and Harvard Law School.  Secretary of the interior Sally Jewell has a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Washington. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsak has a degree from Hamilton College in New York and a law degree from Albany Law School.  Julian Castro, the HUD Secretary, has a degree from Stanford and a law degree from Harvard.  The President has degrees from Columbia and Harvard Law School.  The First Lady has degrees from Princeton and Harvard Law School.   All of these highly educated people from the very best institutions of higher learning in the country are working full time on solving this nation's problems, but Bubba from Omaha who is in his second year at Omaha Junior college taking night classes has the solutions.   Because it's simple.  

My point is this.  Nothing simple gets to the President's desk.  Anything simple is handled well before then.   Again, the President of the United States has at his disposal the very smartest people in the country working on all of these issues that we fight on Facebook about every day.   That's all they are focusing on.    And when they come up with proposed solutions they have to forge consensus with other people who are also the very smartest people in the country.     And then they listen to lobbyists who are some of the very smartest people in the country.  And then they have to get those ideas through to Congressional staffers who are some of the very smartest people in the country.   And then it goes to those Cabinet level departments, and eventually may get to the desk of a Cabinet Secretary.  And if all of those very smart people can't come to a consensus, it might end up on the President's desk for an executive decision.   So you take something that a lot of folks think is very simple like the Keystone Pipeline.    All of those very smart people have been working on this for years and still have not come to a consensus.   What are the odds that Bubba from Omaha is going to figure it out when has not yet figured out his remedial math classes that don't give him any college credit.   If it were simple it would be fixed already.  Donald's evidently to simple, or to stupid, to know that.  

Is the Church Failing Us??

"It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o'clock on Sunday morning?" - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I went to church this morning.  Although I still consider myself a Christian, this isn't a regular occurrence any more.  But my wife is out of town and this morning I went to church with my daughters.  Although I stopped believing in literal interpretations of the Bible years ago it is still the book that is the foundation of my belief system.   Even though I"m in the midst of a personal spiritual journey, the words of Jesus Christ have been my moral compass for my entire life.  Those teachings have served me well, and my wife and I try to impart those teachings to our children.    

 I also went to church this morning because I felt that I needed something to help me deal with the mounting anger and frustration I've experienced this week in the wake of two more police killings of black men that by all appearances were unwarranted.   Two more people that look like me who are no longer alive primarily because they looked like me.  Two more families who will have to survive the loss of a loved one unexpectedly for no reason at all.   President Abraham Lincoln once said, "I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for the day."  That's part of the reason I went to church this morning, the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go.   

 The church I attend is one of the contemporary, non denominational churches that have become so popular in America.  That's an actual picture of the sanctuary above.  An accurate description of one of the services would be Amateur Night at the Apollo with a sermon at the end.  Today's service was pretty typical.  The sanctuary reminds you of a modern Broadway Theatre.   There is awesome lighting and the optics and sound of the production from the stage is phenomenal.   Service started with a few contemporary gospel selections from a Praise and Worship Team right out of VH1 central casting.   The music, vocal performances, and stage presence were outstanding, as good as you will see in nearly any professional theatre production.   The words to the songs and a live stream of the stage were displayed on the three gigantic plasma screens surrounding the stage and the crowd was really into it, signing along and really into the music.  As I stood and tried to follow the words to the song one thought kept popping into my mind.  How can all of these people be so happy?  Do they not know what happened this week?  Am I missing something? 

 A little more background about my church.  When I first started attending the church we met in a small hotel meeting room, and the church had about 60 members.  Today we meet in the sanctuary above, which seats 2500 people.  There is no mortgage on the building, the final $1.2 million payment was made last year.  There are multiple services.  The church does wonderful work.  There is a phenomenal children's ministry.  They do mission trips to spread the gospel.   One of the things I love most about the church is everything is done in decency and order.   Every volunteer worker you encounter is friendly and professional.   The motto is "a place where no one walks alone", and I know from experience that they work hard to make the slogan a reality.   

 The church congregation is overwhelmingly black.  There is probably 10 to 15 percent non black membership, but it's a "black church".   The church is located in Collin County in Texas.  The median household  income in our area is over $90k per year.  I think that black people make up about 7% of the population.   One running joke I like to tell half in jest is there is one black family on every street in Collin County, and they all go to our church.   Even though the church is overwhelmingly black, it's message is race neutral.   As the minister said in the sermon today, we consider ourselves "Christians first".  A white female was the first person to appear on stage to address the crowd this morning, and the sermon was delivered by the Director of Family Ministries who is also a white male.   The church really does practice what it preaches. 

 So back to my dilemma this morning.  I think every day about the number of black men that have been murdered by policemen on camera, and the fact that the murderers often face no legal consequences.   The main tenet of the Christian faith is that God is in complete control, and nothing happens unless God allows it to happen.   So I'm wondering in church this morning how can all these black people be so happy worshipping a God who continues to allow our people to be murdered, and who continues to allow their murderers to go unpunished?   Am I the only one in this sanctuary filled with black people that wants to know why God is allowing this to continue to happen?   Am I not a good Christian because I have that question?  How can we have an entire church service this week when we've had two high profile killings of black men caught on camera and have only a couple of passing references to "systemic racism"?  Am I the only one wanting to hear something that gives me hope that I won't be the next black man lying dead in the street because a police officer thought I "looked like a bad dude'?  I'm listening intently to today's sermon on being a "Christian first", and I'm wondering how this helps me when a cop pulls me over.   

 The minister today said that God allows those in positions of authority to be in those positions and we should respect that fact.  So by that rationale God allowed Betty Shelby to be in the position where she could end Terrence Crutcher's life on that highway in Tulsa last week.   Am I the only one that has a problem with that?  This is a recurring theme at our church, that God allows those in authority to be in authority and we should respect them until God replaces them.   So does this mean Rosa Parks was wrong for not giving up her seat on that bus?   Was Harriet Tubman wrong for leading slaves to freedom?   Were those students in the South wrong for sitting at those lunch counters in Woolworth's when it was against the law to do so?   Was John Lewis wrong on that bridge in Selma? Being that the church has always been so fundamental to the black community in America, how does this teaching impact our existence in this country. 

 There is a theory that Christianity was forced onto slaves in this country to make them more amenable to being slaves.   The belief being that being a slave was God's choice for them and that their role as good Christians was to find a way to be content in their circumstances and await their reward in the afterlife when they get to heaven.  Again, when you accept the main tenet that God is wholly omnipotent and in complete control it makes it easy to accept this "life that was chosen for you" belief.   And that's what bothers me about my church experience this morning.   I went there looking for something to bring some level of understanding to why black men keep getting killed in the street by police officers.  If not understanding at least some sense of comfort that I could take into next week.  What I got was that these killings are somehow a part of God's ultimate plan, and my job if I'm pulled over by a police officer is to be a "Christian first".   I'm just wondering how Terrence Crutcher would have communicated that to Betty Shelby.  The Tulsa cop in the helicopter didn't say "that looks like a Christian".  He said "that looks like a bad dude".  So how do I as a "Christian first" deal with a police officer who may not recognize what that looks like? 

 The civil rights movement in this country was led by the black church.  Ministers were and in many cases still are some of the most revered figures in the black community.    Black churches are historically among the most successful organizations in the black community.   The black church of the 60s by and large encouraged their congregations to be a part of the movement.  They allowed civil rights groups to hold meetings in their buildings.  They organized marches.   They formed informal operations networks that fed, housed, and helped protect leaders of the movement when they came through their towns.   And this was before cable television, the internet, and social media.   Without the black church, there is no Montgomery bus boycott.    There are no lunch counter sit ins.   There is no March on Washington.   There is no voting rights act.    The black church was instrumental in all of these gains that changed life in this country as we know it.   

 So what about the black church today?  What other black organization has built multi million dollar buildings completely from member donations?  I find it interesting that the black church is one of the few institutions that black people have never really tried to integrate.  Some estimates show that black churches have collected more than $420 billion dollars since 1980.   Rev. Creflo Dollar's World Changers Ministries reported $69 million in revenue in 2006 according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.   These are non profit organizations whose product, Jesus, is free to everyone according to my understanding of the Bible.   I'm wondering if the black church today, especially the black mega church, has become too much about entertainment and net worth than about helping to improve the lives of its community.   Dr. King talked about the disappointment of the black community with Christian churches in his last book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community.  He wrote "it is disappointment with some Negro clergymen who are more concerned about the size of the wheel base on their automobiles than about the quality of their service to the Negro community."  This is the disappointment I"m feeling today.   Substitute "size of their plasma screens" or "size of their private jets" or "size of their campus and main sanctuary" or "size of their television audience" for "size of the wheel base of their automobiles" and I am feeling that disappointment.   I don't know what the solution to the problem of the police killing black people with no consequence is, but I do know that in America if you have $420 billion you can find a way to solve almost any problem.  

 I talk about the black church because that's my community but this isn't to say I don't have the same questions about Christian churches with majority non black memberships.   White Christian churches also played an enormous role in the civil rights movement.   They were often in solidarity with the black churches.   Like the black churches, they offered their buildings for meetings and encouraged their members to support the movement.  They participated in marches and lunch counter sit ins and they participated in those informal networks that were so important to the movement.   In talking about the disappointment of the black community in Where Do We Go From Here Dr. King also said "it is disappointment with the Christian church that appears to be more white than Christian, and with white clergymen who prefer to remain silent behind the security of stained-glass windows".   The Dallas area is very conservative, there are churches on every corner.   I wonder how many white churches today even mentioned the killings of the two black men by police this week?    If white Christians don't hear their religious leaders talking about these incidents, that may explain why so many white Christians are comfortable being silent on the issue.  Or worse, they feel comfortable trying to find ways to justify the killings.   They certainly aren't silent when someone kills an animal.   Any sensational animal killing is sure to flood my Facebook timeline with remorse and regret about the inherent value of "all of God's creatures".    Yet these same Christians have not had one comment about Terrence Crutcher being executed on camera by Betty Shelby.  What are they teaching in these churches on Sunday mornings.   

 I am a Christian.  I've tried my best to live my entire life based on the teachings of Jesus.   My Christian faith has carried me through some very difficult times in my life.   This for me is one of those times.   Words can't describe the level of frustration and rage that are running through me right now, or the fear that I might be the next hashtag.   Or worse, that one of my kids might be the next hashtag.   Hardly a day goes by where I don't see a police officer.   It's hard for me in those moments to think of myself as a "Christian first".   I know that if I have an encounter with this police officer for whatever reason, I could end up dead and the officer would probably walk away unpunished.  I know the first thing they will print is that I was 6'4 and 250 lbs.  I know that reporters would dig through my past and print every unflattering thing they could find about me and not do the same for the policeman.   I know they will find the most unflattering pictures of me.  I know they will go through my Facebook posts and paint me as an angry black man who hated police officers.  I know they will write about the time I got suspended from elementary school for participating in a childhood prank.   I know they will talk about the time the police arrested me in college for stealing a car.   I know they won't mention that the car was actually mine and the charges were dropped.  I know that at least one conservative website will find another Tyrone Wilson who has done a lot worse stuff than me and report that it was me, and I know that article will get 15 thousand likes on Facebook.   

 This knowledge eats a little at my soul every day, but I am a Christian.   So I went to church today seeking solace, seeking refuge, seeking something that would help me to better deal with the feelings that this knowledge arises in me every day.   Karl Marx once said "religion is the opium of the people."  I went to church today looking for that opium.  I don't think I'll be going back next week.  

The Election We Deserve

It's been a while since I've written in this blog because, frankly, the choices in this election disgust me.  I keep saying to myself that America is better than this, we should have better choices to hold the highest elected office in the country.   Then I'm reminded of something my parents always told me; you get what you deserve in life.  What they meant was if you are an adult, whatever your present situation or status is, it's a result of choices that you have made over the course of your life.  That's when it hit me, this is the election that we Americans deserve.

American society is as polarized as I can remember in my lifetime, and this election is a direct reflection of that polarization.  You see it everywhere.   The opening weekend of this NFL season had the same fans who were calling San Francisco 49ers quarterback Collin Kaepernick unpatriotic for peacefully protesting by kneeling during the national anthem booing President Obama while he was making a statement remembering the 9/11 attacks.   I'm sure those people see no contradictions in those actions because to them the national anthem and the flag represent America but President Barrack Hussein Obama does not.  They see no irony in that position.  This is where we are as a country.   

Thanks to the internet and social media, we now live in a country where we can have access to only the news that reinforces our predetermined positions.   Ever since Rush Limbaugh proved in the 90's that there was money to be made in media outlets dividing Americans, more and more entrepreneurs have been creating new ways to divide us.   Of course there was a liberal bias in the media prior to the advent of Fox News, but it was nowhere near the extent that conservatives claimed.  And the fact is most reporters before the advent of Fox attempted to be objective reporters of the facts.  But Roger Ailes and Fox News proved that there was money to be made in completely biased reporting, and the rest of cable news quickly followed.   And now we are at a point where you can get completely partisan news on television or the internet all day long.   You can watch Fox if you're conservative or MSNBC if you're liberal and never have to really get an opposing point of view.   You can subscribe to Brietbart or the Drudge report on the internet and have conservative propaganda delivered to your email box every day, or you can subscribe to Raw Story or The Huffington Post and get liberal propaganda delivered to your email box all day.  This is where we are is a country.  

There have been a series of incidents captured on video where police have killed unarmed black people who were stopped for minor incidents and walked away with no legal consequences.  At the same time, we saw white criminals like Dylan Roof taken alive after killing nine people in a South Carolina church.  Not only was he taken alive, but the police actually made a stop at Burger King to get him some food because he was hungry.   These incidents lead to the formation of the #blacklives matter movement.  This is literally a movement that was simply asking police to stop killing black people.  Many on the right immediately came back with an #alllivesmatter movement, which evidently missed the point that every one of these high profile incidents involved a black victim.  Some United States Congressmen on the right even labeled #blacklivesmatter a terrorist group as did FOX News number one host Bill O'Reilly who vowed to have them disbanded.  This is where we are as a country.

There is big money to be made in dividing Americans, so we are divided daily.   We are divided based on race.  We are divided based on income.   We are divided based on geography.  We are divided based on religion.  We are divided based on sexual preference.  We are divided based on education.   The media loves the divisive stories because when they touch one of these hot button topics they ignite our passions, our fears, and we watch more intently.  What better way to get the Latino community to pay attention than to keep playing clips of Donald Trump saying that Mexicans are rapists?   What better way to get poor people to pay attention than to keep saying that Hillary Clinton won't release her Wall Street transcripts?  What better way to get African Americans fired up than to keep playing clips of Donald Trump saying we can't walk in our neighborhoods without being shot?  What better way to stir up resentment in white Americans than to keep playing clips of Hillary calling half of Trump supporters deplorables?  The media keeps putting the most incendiary stuff out there, and we keep eating it up.   This is where we are as a country.

And finally there is the internet and social media.   I will be the first to extol the virtues of social media, but there is also a dark side.  That dark side allows many of us to express our ugliest and most revolting thoughts behind the safety of a keyboard and computer screen only to those we deem most likely to be receptive to those thoughts.   Worse yet a lot of the websites that post news stories let us post things anonymously.  If you go and read the comments section under any article that deals with anything remotely controversial (and even some things that don't appear to be controversial at all, like the President's daughter's admission to Harvard) you will find some of the most vile and disgusting things you will ever hear coming from a human being directed at another.   This is the real America.  This is who we are as a country.

Which brings me to this election.   Of the 321 million people in this country, we are left to choose from two millionaires from New York to be President.  One is a reality TV show star who is a prototypical con man.   He refuses to release his tax returns.  He lies so shamelessly and constantly that reporters don't even try to get the truth out of him anymore.  He's insulted Latinos, African Americans, muslims, women, and veterans on the campaign trail.  He mocked a handicapped reporter at one of his rallies.  He repeatedly retweets white supremacists on Twitter.  He has talked on numerous occasions about how he would like to date his daughter.   The other candidate has been in public life for nearly 30 years and has been involved in scandals for nearly the entire time.  From her great commodities trading results in Arkansas to Whitewater to Vince Foster's suicide to the emails and the Clinton Foundation.   Her supporters will say none of those scandals ever resulted in anything, but the fact is there is a trail of people who have been charged and convicted or plead guilty in many of those scandals, and every poll shows that people just don't trust her.   But the Republican primary voters rebuked their party leaders and gave us Donald Trump as their candidate.   And the Democratic establishment made sure that no one was going to beat Hillary Clinton to be their candidate.   This is where we are as a country.

The Bible says you reap what you sow.  My personal hero Malcolm X once talked about chickens coming home to roost.   America was on the right trajectory coming out of the civil rights movement. The progress was slow and painful but it was evident.   We were moving towards being more inclusive, more diverse, more tolerant of people who did not look like us or who worshipped differently from us.   Somewhere along the line we turned backwards.   I'm not sure it began with Rush Limbaugh, but I do think Rush was the first to figure out how to make money by pitting us against each other.   This being America, it didn't take other entrepreneurs long to catch on and copycat.   For the last 25 years in this country these entrepreneurs have been dividing us, and we fell for it.   Instead of continuing to embrace the differences that made this country great we retreated to our tribes and developed this "us versus them" mentality.   Most of us can easily get through the week without once having a meaningful conversation about an important topic with someone who has a different point of view than we do.    That is why we are left with these two deeply flawed candidates.   I love this country as much as anyone.   That's why this election is so disappointing.

As my parents always told me, you get what you deserve in life.  This is where we are as a country.  This is the election we deserve.   

Don't Let the GOP fool you, Cruz is Trump Lite.

Ted Cruz

I'm a beer drinker.   I prefer the darker, stronger beers like Ambers, IPAs and Bochs but I often have to go with the "lite" versions because as much as I like the stronger stuff, they have too many calories and carbs and I know they are more detrimental to my long term health.  Not that Michelob Ultra is the cornerstone of a healthy diet, but it's better than the alternatives that I prefer.   Such is the state of the current Republican Party establishment in the race for their party's nomination.   They seem to now be finally accepting the fact that the voters in their primaries prefer the stronger stuff (Trump), but it seems that they are now trying to push the lite version (Cruz).  But I would give Americans the same warning my doctor gives me with beer, the lite version may not be as bad as the real thing, but beer still isn't good for you.

Ted Cruz is the most despised politician in Washington by other politicians, that's a universally accepted fact.   But drip by drip, you see and hear rumblings of politicians that have publicly spoken of their disdain for Cruz endorsing him for the Republican nomination.  Even Lindsey Graham, who said publicly that choosing between Cruz and Trump was like choosing between "being shot or being poisoned", has evidently chosen the poison, endorsing Cruz.   The fear of the GOP establishment of the Trump phenomenon can be felt from coast to coast, and evidently they have now decided that Trump would be such a disaster that Cruz is an acceptable alternative.   But here's the rub.   If you look closely at their stated stance on public policy and issues (to the extent there is any stated policy by Trump, he's very thin in that department), Cruz and Trump are basically identical.   Choosing Cruz over Trump is like drinking lite beer and still getting all the calories and carbs.  

Let's look at some of the hot topics during the election.  Abortion?  Neither believe in a woman's right to choose.  Affirmative Action?  Both against.  Same Sex Marriage?  Both against.  EPA regulations too restrictive?  Both agree.  Gun control?  Both against.  Obamacare?  Both against.  Government stimulus for economy?  Both against.  Privatize Social Security?  Both agree.  Expand the Military?  Both agree.  So what's the difference?  The difference is although Cruz professes to be the one politician in Washington that refuses to play the game, the GOP establishment evidently has decided that he is more willing to play the game than Trump.   It truly appears to be the case of the lesser of two evils.

Donald Trump

It will be interesting to see what happens, because as much as the GOP establishment is trying to get their voters off of the real thing (Trump) and switch to the lite version (Cruz), the voters seem to realize that they get the exact same thing from both, so they for now are sticking with the real thing.  Although Trump may not get the required 1237 delegates needed to win the nomination before the GOP convention, he almost surely will enter that convention with more delegates than anybody else.   Will the GOP establishment snatch the voter's choice from them and try to stick them with substitute?  Only time will tell.   

Is Hillary Clinton the Mike Tyson of Politics? Does She Have a Glass Jaw???

Hillary Clinton

I've always been a huge boxing fan.   Like most boxing fans, I held Mike Tyson in high regard.   I had him ranked as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time.   Then a couple of years ago I was watching a documentary on Iron Mike's career.  The documentary detailed every fight he ever fought.  As the documentary progressed, I was certainly impressed by Tyson's awesome display of power and aggressiveness as he knocked out foe after foe.   Then something dawned on me.  None of the guys that Mike Tyson knocked out were great boxers.  Most of them were, in boxing parlance, bums.   His first loss was actually to a boxing bum, Buster Douglas.  As far as I can tell, Douglas was the first boxer to actually hit Mike Tyson.  He did beat Michael Spinks, who was really a light heavyweight.   But the only really good heavyweights Mike Tyson fought were Evander Holyfield, Lennox Lewis, and Andrew Golota.   He didn't beat any of them.  It turned out Iron Mike had a glass jaw.  He couldn't take a punch.

Rudy Giuliani

What does any of this have to do with Hillary Clinton?   I've observed Hillary Clinton's entire political career, which for the purposes of this post I will start with her time as First Lady of the United States.  I watched her run for the Senate in New York.  While many thought her primary opponent would be heavyweight contender Rudy Giuliani, he ducked the fight and instead she ran against Rick Lazio who could be the Buster Douglas of politics except he never had a big win.   In boxing parlance, Lazio would be a bum.  I watched Hillary perform admirably in the Senate.    In her Senate re-election campaigns, she quickly dispensed two more political bums, Jonathan Tasini and John Spencer, with the same ease that Mike Tyson defeated Michael Spinks.   By the time she announced that she would run for President in 2008, she was every bit as intimidating as Tyson was that night in Tokyo before he fought Buster Douglas.   I vividly remember a politically active friend of mine asking me to help raise money for a then relatively unknown first term Senator from Illinois named Barrack Obama.  Even though I really liked what I had heard from Obama I asked my friend what was the point?   I told him Hillary was inevitable.  If he could show me any way that Obama could possibly defeat Hillary I would raise the money.   He couldn't.   We know the rest of the story.  The relatively unknown first term Senator, in boxing terms, knocked her out.

But Hillary made an impressive comeback as President Obama's Secretary of State.   She had a few hiccups along the way but left that office appearing to be at the top of her old "Iron Mike" form.   By the time she announced that she would be a candidate for President in 2016 she seemed so inevitable that she drew no serious contenders to run against her.   The two sacrificial lambs that threw their hats in the ring were Martin O'Malley and Bernie Sanders.   Clinton was expected to mow both down easily, and O'Malley did go down early in the first round.   But Bernie Sanders not only refuses to go down, he has started to hit Clinton.   His win in Michigan last night was his hardest punch yet, and it appears to have the Clinton campaign staggering.  

Donald Trump

As dominating as Hillary Clinton has appeared to be as a politician, she has yet to defeat a heavyweight.  Let's be honest, Bernie Sanders is no heavyweight.   No one gave him any chance to compete at the beginning of this process and hardly anybody who covers politics for a living gives him any chances of winning the nomination.   Yet he's still in the ring, still throwing punches, and still connecting.   Meanwhile, awaiting the winner of this contest is a true heavyweight the likes of which we've never seen before, Donald Trump.     So it will be interesting to me to see how Hillary reacts.  If you will remember, when Mike Tyson realized that he couldn't beat Evander Holyfield he resorted to street fighting, biting Holyfield's ear during the fight.   When Hillary Clinton intentionally misled a national television audience in Detroit during a debate by saying that Bernie Sanders had voted against the auto bailout, a claim that almost all political observers say is false, to me it was the equivalent of biting Bernie's ear during a fight that she sensed she might be losing.    

So where does Hillary go from here.  We know what happened to Mike Tyson.  He went from being feared to being hated to being pitied to actually becoming a sympathetic figure. He had his own fairly successful one man show and has made bit appearances in movies and TV sitcoms. In my opinion Mike Tyson is not only the most overrated boxer of all time, but he may be the most overrated athlete in the history of sports.  He never beat a good heavyweight, not once.   I'm not saying that's Hillary's future.  She does have an incredible resume and she has shown a remarkable ability to leverage that resume into revenue, so I don't see the one woman show in her future.   But as a lifetime boxing fan I can tell you that once the world discovers you have a glass jaw, your best days are usually behind you.   Time will tell.

Republicans Still Don't Get It. The People Want Trump!!!

Donald Trump

Often over the last eight years I've said that our American system of government only works if the American people respect the results of elections and consent to be governed.   I've also said that the current breakdown in both our governing and our politics can be traced back to the fact that the American people, particularly those in the Republican party, no longer respect the results of elections and increasingly refuse to consent to be governed.  For eight years Republicans have acted as if President Obama had not been elected not once but twice by a majority of the American people.  Despite those elections, they insisted that the American people preferred their policies, not his.   They have virtually shut down the ability of our government to get anything done because they refuse to acknowledge that they lost the last two Presidential elections.  Super Tuesday provides the latest example.  Republican voters across the nation are sending a message through their votes that they want Donald Trump to be their nominee for President.  But the Republican establishment is once again telling the voters "we don't give a damn what you want, we know what's best".   It seems they will never learn.

Anybody who reads this blog knows that I'm no fan of Trump, but the fact is he is winning election after election fair and square.  Yet all I see in the news this week are efforts by the GOP establishment to deny Trump the nomination.    They appear to have conceded now that he will go into their convention in Cleveland with the most delegates, they are just hoping to keep him below the 1237 delegates needed to clinch the nomination.   All indications are that if that happens, there will be a concerted effort by the powers that be to nominate someone other than Trump (my prediction is Mitt Romney, because maybe the third time is the charm lol).  Just how dumb are the people running the Republican Party?

Mitt Romney

It's too late to stop Trump.  The horse is out of the barn.  The voters want him.  The man has finished first in 10 of the 15 primaries and second in 4 of the other 5.  There is no doubt that the people who voted in GOP primaries thus far want him to be the nominee more than any of the other candidates.   Yet there is a concerted organized effort among the party leaders to stop him.   The aforementioned Mitt Romney plans to give a formal press conference today for no other reason than to try to derail the Trump juggernaut.  The time for this unified front against Trump was months ago, before the people started to vote.   Now that the people are speaking, and saying unequivocally that they want Trump, what does it say to the voters if the party says no?   What can the party possibly hope to achieve by denying the people their choice?   We have seen this before, the Democratic Party tried it in 1968 and it didn't work out so well.   If the Republicans have seen any of the footage of the crowds that are showing up at Trump rallies how can they expect not to have a repeat of Chicago in 1968 if they deny Trump the nomination?

Democratic Convention 1968

Now don't get me wrong, I completely understand why the grownups in the GOP don't want Trump.   He's not what you want as the face of your party.  He lies repeatedly, he's a blowhard, he's embraced racist and bigoted rhetoric to win support, he makes promises that will be impossible to keep, he's narcissistic, and he's basically funding his own campaign so he will be almost impossible to control as the nominee.   I get all of that.  But the people want him, and isn't that what this country is about, we the people (or in this case, they the people.  I don't think Trump will win the general election)?   Like I said, respect for elections and the consent of the people to be governed are the two fundamental principles that make our democracy work.   I think what the Republicans should have learned by now is that if you keep encouraging people to ignore the results of elections, eventually those people will refuse to consent to be governed by those that won the elections (the Cliven Bundy incidents are great examples of this).  

And what exactly does the GOP establishment expect Trump to do if they are successful in denying him the nomination, quietly go away and encourage all of those who voted for him to support the party nominee?   Trump will launch a third party run quicker than a #blacklivesmatter supporter gets thrown out of one his rallies.   There is no doubt his voters will go with him and he will get more votes than the GOP nominee in the general election.   Denying Trump the nomination if he gets the most delegates is telling the voters of the party that we would rather Hillary Clinton be President than respect your votes.    Is that really the message the party wants to send?

So my advice to the GOP?  Ride it out.   If the people elect Trump, you have to give them Trump.   And the argument that he is only getting 40% of the votes so that means 60% of the voters prefer someone else is hilarious on its face.   He's getting more votes than any two other candidates combined.   Respect your voters and honor their ballots.   There are many that voted in the Democratic primaries that do not necessarily want to see Hillary Clinton become the nominee, but it appears the majority of those voting prefer her.    The Democrats are going to give their voters what they want.  I don't think the GOP wins the White House with Trump, but I am 100% certain they lose the White House (again) if Trump gets the most delegates and they deny him the nomination.  At least with Trump they have a chance.  Of course then they would have to deal with President Trump.   But one thing I've learned about the GOP, they have no issues obstructing everything a President wants to accomplish, despite what the voters say.   I've seen them do it the last eight years very effectively.   The one thing I know for sure is this, if we keep ignoring the results of elections in this country, eventually the people will refuse to consent to be governed.  When that happens, the whole house of cards collapses.