Obama The Orator

Obama won the presidency because of his oratory. He reminded us of that tonight. He knows what to say, and how to say it. Where I come from we would call that speech, a barn burner. One of the best political speechs I've heard, and I've heard the best. Defining his ideology logically, with impeccable delivery, passion, and surpassing his goal.
I was never an Obama-maniac, but I've never liked Hillary, so Obama was my option. I'm sure his oratory played a big part in my decision. When McCain picked Palin, that cinched my decision. I voted for Obama the second time. I disagreed sharply with a lot of his decisions, but I have respect for him, I even like him. If he goes on the road for Hillary and keeps giving those kind of speeches, she will win the presidency, just as he did.
Obama will go out of office as a popular president, while the Congress is more unpopular than changing diapers.
Obama can talk all the optimism he wants. But the future looks dim no matter which candidate wins, although, one candidate is far better than the other.
Obama deserves kudos for pulling us out of the mess the Republicans left us/him. With a little help he could have done so much more. Obama has been treated outrageously at times, just proving racism and nasty politics are still alive.
So on with the election and the dripping hate on the blogs, from both/all sides.

Trump Wins?

If you haven't read Michael Moore's recent op-ed you should. He lays out his reasons why Trump will win the election. I agree with Moore's reasons and as much as the idea disgusts me, I think Trump can/will win the election. I will get no satisfaction out of saying I told you so. I have watched Americans vote for bigots, racists, crooks, liars, and worse for president. A Trump win will not surprise me, just depress me.
I can think of worse people who have already been president, of course, we don't know just how bad Trump could get. There are worse things than being a racist, vulgar, tyrant, and leader of the United States.
Trump has gotten his way in everything in life. It will be interesting to watch him be told no by Congress, just like every other president. And like other presidents, he will just blame Congress and then go golfing.
Every president has his character tested when making decisions for the country. Trump's test will be how much patience he has.
 It will be interesting and fun to watch a president Trump get the obstructionist treatment Obama has been getting from Congress.
I will be waiting to see if Congress will pass spending for his multi-trillion dollar plans. I certainly can't wait to hear what the president of Mexico says when Trump asks him for 10's of billions of dollars to build a wall.
If the founding fathers showed us anything, it's that one can be a vulgar racist and still do good things. Of course the founders were truly geniuses; I'm afraid Mr. Trump is handicapped in that area.
The simple answer to Mr. Moore's reason for a Trump win, is a large Democratic voter turnout. During the primaries Democratic voter turnout was down, even with Bernie getting millions of voters out to vote.

Trump Is Their Nominee

People who write and say hate about Trump are playing in to Trump's hands. He wants division. He wants you to enhance the message he has. Trump and Clinton are tied in the national polls.
If Trump is so bad, where is the condemnation for the American people who voted for him? It seems those who hate Trump so much are to cowardly to call American voters the same scum like words they use about Trump.
Trump is the choice of 40% of the American people, not just 45% of Republicans. Clinton is the choice of 55% of Democrats, but still only 40% of Americans nationally. These haters on the left even attacked Sanders whose only crime was to try and win the nomination of the Democratic party. Seems the Clinton supporters use hate against anyone challenging their candidate. But it's the American people casting the votes to make Trump a front runner.
It's not the Trump supporters who started the violence in the streets. It's not Trump supporters who are killing our cops. That violence is being done by forces on the left. So who are the scum that earn our condemnation? Those whose ideas are repugnant, or those whose ideas drive people to violence?  Either way it's hate driving this election and our decision on who to vote for.
I'm not joining that hate. I don't write hate about either Trump, or Clinton. I don't post silly pictures, cartoons, or videos that cast candidates as Hitler, or other evil killers. I do write about what I think is a good, or bad course for America and its politics. And hate is not a basis for voting, or not voting for anyone. But you go ahead and try to convince people who to vote for based on hate and just add to the already vitriolic atmosphere. That will help. That will solve our problems - NOT.

 

 Republicans think the government should be run as a business, but their business policies do not include reinvestment for the future health of the country.

Police Chief David Brown

Dallas police chief David Brown. A thirty year veteran of the Dallas police department. A man who worked his way up from the bottom. A black man who grew up in Texas. A man whose son was killed by the police, after his son (with mental problems) killed a police officer. Here are a few words from chief Brown on guns and protesters:

"It’s challenging when people have AR-15’s slung over and shootings occur and crime and they begin running, and we don’t know if they’re going to shoot or not. It’s been the presumption that a good guy with a gun is the best way to resolve some of these things. Well, we don’t know who the good guy is or the bad guy is if everybody starts shooting."

"I'm the kind of person that I probably wouldn't protest or complain," he said. "I get involved and do something about it by becoming part of the solution."

"Get off that protest line and put an application in, and we'll put you in your neighborhood and we will help you resolve some of the problems you're protesting about."

It Is Different To Be Black In America

When blacks are oppressed, they will revolt. When the justice dealt blacks is obviously worse than the justice whites receive, that fosters hate. When it's obvious that police are guilty of excessive force against blacks, yet, our justice system allows them to go free, what recourse do black citizens have?
Do we really expect blacks to sit by and be killed with no response of some kind? Why should black parents have to have "the talk" (not the birds and the bees) with their children as part of living in this society?
If you are black arrested with crack, why is your sentence three times longer than a white arrested with powder cocaine? Blacks are only 12% of our population, but make up the majority of the persons in jail. All statics show a negative bias towards black people. Since other minorities have surpassed blacks as a larger minority in America, the statistics show institutional racism against blacks, not just a bias towards minorities. 
When a white man killed MLK was it a surprise cities burned? After seeing the videos of Rodney King being beaten, then those officers go free from justice, was it a surprise blacks rioted? The only surprise was why the white majority was surprised by the riots.
Authorities say they abhor violence and any problems the black community have can and should be worked out through talks and better communication with the police. Yet the cops on the street are certainly using unnecessary violence against the black community. Cops have been found guilty of lying to protect their fellow officers illegal behavior.
 

American Streets Running Red With Blood

Violence has always been a part of the American character. Thanks to technology, now we can kill dozens in seconds. We don't even have time to morn the dead from one incident, before another incident happens.
I know, guns don't kill people, people kill people. That's wrong, simplistic thinking and an insult to those trying to stop the massacres. No other weapon can kill so many, in such little time. It is the killers choice of weapon, so please no dumb ice pick, baseball bat, or knife comparisons. 
Cops killing citizens, citizens killing cops. Everyone armed to the teeth and angry as hell. Deadly force use to be the last resort. Now guns are the first thing everyone grabs. A fist fight ends in gun shot deaths. Children killing, or getting killed with a gun they should not have had. Our Congress can't even vote to stop suspected terrorists from buying a gun, or reenact a ban on these weapons, which used to be the law of the land. Inaction costs lives, so this do nothing Congress has to take its part of the blame.
These killers come from our ranks. There are many different recipes that make murder and Americans seem to have found all of those recipes.   
Our right is killing us; and we are just going to let that happen? The stat, that some 33,000 people a year die by gunshot, is proof enough.
By the way, the dead and injured in Dallas were taken to Parkland hospital for care. Which reminded me of the first time I thought the second amendment needed a rewrite. The day president Kennedy was assassinated just blocks away from where these shootings took place tonight in Dallas. 

Quit Bernie Quit

Democrats are upset with Bernie. Maybe they aren't used to a person standing up for their convictions, in the face of party criticism. He's an FDR democratic socialist, with the passion and energy of a young political activist. He grew up knowing that communal taxation was the way to build public services; and for his ideology, the public should be paying for more services.
Bernie knew the only way he could beat Clinton was to build a revolution, a movement. He understands that whether he is president, or not, the country would have to take a sharp turn to the left. Something that hasn't happened for over 50 years. He had to change the thinking of Americans about what their government should be doing. He has succeeded, but not won.
But a seed planted well, grows.
For many different economic reasons it seems people are looking to government for help. Since capitalism isn't meeting the needs of the people, the people ask government to help make up the difference. The American people supported the ACA, but I'm not sure they knew what they were getting. That means higher taxes; which few want to pay and fear it could cause employment and financial recessions. Although, history shows us that's simply not true. Taxes (up to an 80% rate) were highest during the greatest growth in American/human history.
Like all politicians, Bernie made a lot of promises. One of those promises was every vote would count and he would fight on to the convention no matter what. Which is exactly what a person in his position and with his convictions should do, even in the face of having lost. Bernie is not hurting Hillary against Trump by staying until the convention. Hillary is hurting Hillary against Trump. And Berni still has work to do to push the Democratic party to the left. Platform changes, rules changes, party position on issues, primary procedure changes and a possible debate on super delegates. Winning isn't the only thing to Bernie.
I think Bernie has handled himself very well during this whole process. From "I'm tired of hearing about your dam emails" to standing tough on his issues. Certainly a gentleman in the midst of Republican schoolyard bullies. Yes, I heard the Democrats booed him the other day, Like it's his fault Hillary is only 3 points ahead of Trump nationally? And he's holding tough on making sure his supporters views are heard (as promised) even if he doesn't win. Did you feel the BERN? 

Clintons Emails

It was amazing to watch Mr. Comey say that Mrs. Clinton did do what her critics said she did, but there will be no charges. Mr. Comey confirmed Mrs, Clinton did wrong and in another case would face discipline actions, but, he said, that's not what this investigation was about.
If this went to a grand jury, would there be no charges?
Mr. Comey also confirmed that hostile actors could get access to her server and emails. That is dangerous, especially since she was the Secretary of State for the United States.
This will not help Mrs. Clinton's negative ratings, which are driven by a lack of trust. 
Prosecutors make these kind of decisions everyday and guilty people do go free. Elected officials should be held to a higher standard, especially officials as high up as Mrs. Clinton.
The public perception will be that Mrs. Clinton did nothing wrong, which Mr. Comey himself said was not true, she did, but perception is everything. I get tired of people doing whatever they want, legal, or not, and just saying, I'm sorry. That's letting them off to easy, and to many elected officials seem to be saying, I'm sorry, to often.
If Mrs. Clinton becomes president I expect some scandal. Her tendencies to bend the law is part of her working character. 
Respect for the law just took another hit.

If We Can Keep It

Because of the 4th of July, there has been a lot of talk and blogging about the Constitution. "If We Can Keep It" was the famous phrase quoted after the signing of the Constitution. Few thought the Constitution would survive to set up a working government, much less, still be the guiding document for a society some 250 years later.
Even with the Constitution still intact, we can lose our Democracy, or freedom, and our independent lifestyle. "Opportunity" can only be assured in a thriving economy. Class divisions in America means class division according to how much money one has. Laws eliminate the class differences of race, religion and other groups that defined class differences centuries ago.
If our country splits to sharply between those who have and those who have not, America will not work. That split is sharper now than in decades. Those who have will not tax themselves to help those who have not. Although, in a past generation, that's exactly what the people who had, did.
We all know the secret to America and its promise lies in our small businesses. Yet we seem to have a climate in national politics of large corporate leanings and financial interests.
These corporations have been given financial help by the people (our tax dollar bailouts) in the hope that would preserve opportunity for the individual. The corporations were saved from going under, but these corporations have not spread the good fortune to the individual. Why should they? They regained their losses. Do we expect them to care about individuals?
In order for these corporate interests to thrive and make huge profits, they support the conservative (Republican) agenda of small government and less taxes. In time of national need for individuals, they make it sound anti-American for the government to aid its citizens.
Individuals suffering is not something corporations add to their profit equation. All the talk about good, happy employees makes a better company, is hogwash! It might, but corporations could care less about the happiness of their employees. During times of high unemployment, is their best situation. Worker complaints diminish during times of high unemployment. In fact, this is the time corporations take the most advantage of workers. Americans seem to think it's a good thing to have fewer union workers. Really? Wait until they have no say in what the company they work for does to them, or for them.
As baby boomers are retiring, corporations are planning for the slim down. They are not about to have old people (with lots of health problems) and high pensions. Government and corporations being frugal, cutting services, pay, and benefits will have a new and colder definition in the future for individuals.
These earnings splits can ruin a society, thus a country and the government. The Constitution cannot stop the mean, selfish nature of capitalist, or profiteers. If we neglect and abuse the individual, we die. The country was set up for people, individuals. If we forget that and allow our legislators to make laws favoring corporations, we  give up our freedom and liberty. The Constitution will still be intact, but the country will be lost and broke.

Americans are Wrong Sometimes

We were wrong not to outlaw slavery in the original Constitution. We were wrong to keep women as second class citizens for 150 years. We were wrong on so many issues of individual rights and freedoms.

We still try and progress today. It's a slow process, both in law, and of people's beliefs. The law can say it's wrong to discriminate, or break the law, but that doesn't protect people from being discriminated against, or becoming the victims of a crime. The law just allows for justice to be sought.

Those who say the Constitution must be read and applied as the founding fathers originally intended, must be pro slavery, anti-women, and believe we should not, or cannot progress our law, or mature as a country.

The harm done to those minorities while we wait for "the majority" of Americans to embrace inclusion, is outrageous.

It is a lesson we must learn again and again. Every ethnic group to come to America was at one time discriminated against. Like a rite of passage, or a frat house initiation, it always gets ugly. Japanese AMERICANS were imprisoned during WW II.

The enemy, as usual, is within us.

It is not the Muslim who seeks to be a good American while keeping their faith and culture (as all immigrants have done for centuries) but the fear. An irrational fear enhanced by the forces who seek political power. That is evil.