Red State/Blue State

The consensus seems to be that the Dems had a picture perfect convention and the GOP looked like it really was a party in crisis. Although to be clear, the angst and turmoil that is on display throughout American society was seen in all its glory with the Bernie Bro’s during the first night of Convention coverage. Hillary's pick of Tim Kaine seemed to be a masterful stroke. The internet consensus was that he’s the perfect “Dad” image and the jokes were flying about his Father Knows Best appeal. Which was in stark contrast to the Trump-ian image of a man who has unleashed the furies,(literally, in the case of the Russian hackers), onto his opponents and onto the American psyche. Where do we go from here? It all boils down to who has the best message. The odds on favorite, in terms of demographics and the Electoral Map would have to be the Democrats. Although it’s tough to keep control of the Presidency for three terms, it’s always been a standard bromide that ...

I wonder if others get a headache from Donald Trump like I do? I’m wondering if there is a tipping point with Donald Trump, a point where people will just start tuning him out. It’s like a show that we’ve seen and were amused by, but it’s gotten old in a very short time and now it’s time to end the run. His speech at the end of the Republican Convention went on for a record length of 75 minutes. The strident vocals he used were such that I began to feel my head and neck tighten up after about 30 minutes. Not only was there no hope and change, there was no hope for any kind of relief from the strident and cacophonous sound of that voice yelling things to the American people.  I know people, Republicans, mind you, who cannot stand the sound of Sarah Palin’s voice. I thought it was just me. I cannot take the pitch and tone after a few minutes. It’s not the content, which is downright laughable at times. It’s the cadence and the strident pitch of that voice that caus...

If your word in your bond, according to Michelle Obama and Melania Trump, then why would Donald Trump believe that pulling out of NATO and trying to stiff our allies is a good idea? The final days of the convention were marked with reporters using words like chaos and calamity on the Convention Floor with Ted Cruz refusing to endorse Trump and the less than stellar line-up of speakers reigning fire and brimstone down upon the throng. And the topping on the cake was, of course, the man himself. Setting records for the longest Acceptance speech in modern Convention history, Trump rang out his litany of doom and gloom for 75 minutes. Preceding him was a short musical interlude ( Here Comes the Sun -which the Beatles estate was outraged about in connection with Trump!), and his daughter Ivanka admitting that she wasn’t really a Republican, and then going through a litany of what sounded like some of Hillary’s best proposals, none of which would ever be adopted by the Republ...

·           Here are some notes that were jotted down in the heat of the moment:       The gap narrows; Trump should take heart from the polling that it isn’t a blow-out. Is Donald Trump vs the Establishment the real theme of this year’s Convention? ·          Controversy at the RNC abound from the Alaska delegation asking for a floor vote, the Colorado delegation walk-out and the Plagiarism controversy. ·           It’s official: He’s it! Wasn’t sure if they would get there, but after a couple of false starts, they actually did it. Donald J Trump, late of the hit TV show, The Apprentice and WWE, is now the Republican Nominee for President of the United States in 2016…OMG! ·          The theme of the week is …Bash Hillary ·          Fear l...

When an irresistible force such as you Meets an old, immovable object like me You can bet as sure as you live   Something’s Gotta Give Something’s Gotta Give …   The old song rings true in this political season. An irresistible force of nature is the political electorate. The old school, and by that I mean the corporate and entrenched Establishment makes up the old, immovable object.   At some point, you know Something’s Gotta Give . Many people have predicted the death of the two-party system in this election cycle. We do have other political parties to be sure, but not powerful parties with any chance of winning the Presidency.   There is a Green Party, there’s the Libertarian Party, and other fringe parties and candidates. In other countries, there are various parties that must form coalitions in order to gain a majority to govern. That is where we are heading, I suspect. But not this time.   There’s a...

    With the success of Senator Chris Murphy’s filibuster this past week, perhaps the need for more of the highly entertaining spectacles, which many can understand better than the dull business of daily speeches and boring legislation on the Senate floor, might light a fire in the American electorate. Since the principle of the thing is at issue, why not screw your courage to the sticking place and come up with day long filibusters on the Senate floor to protest the lack of action on ….   Why not…? For Supreme Court Justice Merrick Garland? Since there is a vacancy that affects almost every area of our life, why can’t they even give this man a vote?   Or… The Iraq War Vote ….?  The Authorization for Use of Force in Iraq and Syria? How can the State Department go ahead with a protest of 50 diplomats demanding action in the form of air strikes on Assad when there is no resolution for Military Action from the entire Congress? ...

  To understand the phenomena that is Donald Trump, I went straight to the source. The source in terms of understanding media is Marshall McLuhan.   McLuhan wrote Understanding Media over 50 years ago, and I wanted to find out if the ideas that were revolutionary then might still apply in the Computer Age.   Sure enough, some of the controversies and media hype surrounding this campaign season were things that could be plugged in to the ideas McLuhan wrote about in the sixties. For example, the idea of subliminal acceptance was one that McLuhan equated to be like a prison without walls. “If you cannot see where you are going, how can you be free?”, he asks. In that sense, the type of mindless pabulum that we, as viewers and consumers of mass media, have been subjected to, not only in the political campaigns, but through television and electronic devices and mass media at large come into question. We have become numb and disbelieve practically everythi...