Red State/Blue State

If someone waking from a deep freeze just saw that tape where Trump was bragging off the record about the way he treated women, grabbing them by the crotch because they "let you do it", it would seem that so many red flags are raised that they would immediately conclude it as disqualifying for any candidate for higher office. It goes without saying that women are not objects, or something lesser to be grabbed and treated as toys or groped simply because someone believes themselves immune from the rules of polite society, an ethical code of conduct or common human decency. It was obvious that Trump couldn't handle even the small amount of power that is bestowed on a Hollywood TV Reality star. Why would anyone think that this person could handle the immense power and pressure that the highest office in the land entails? That does say something about the voters. Voters didn't vote simply for change, they voted for the strong man who didn't just fall to the top...

In school, there was a class called P.A.D. It stood for Problems in American Democracy,   and this was supposed to be a newer version of the old Civics classes given to high school students. There are several problems to be sure in our 21st century version of democracy. One major problem is the media. The problem lies with the role of the media in elections and also in the role of the free press in questioning our leaders and elected officials. With history as a guide, we see the problems that arose in the lead-up to the Iraq war. History has been repeating itself with this 2016 election. If you recall the excitement after 9/11, when the media couldn't hide their delight in becoming"embeds" in the military invasion of Iraq, this was problematic at the time. I remember watching the BBC to get some type of rational coverage and perhaps some questioning over why we were invading this country. But if the networks see a ratings boom, they don't question the whys or ...

The following is a list of Pro's & Con's from a moderate leaning Democrat who didn't vote for Trump. The purpose of this blog is to be able to state opinions that are contrary to the norm. Even within the Democratic Party base and platform, there's plenty to criticize. And friends on the Right also concede that their party leaders have not been honest or scrupulously geared towards doing what is right for the American People at all times. Their own petty party interests have too often intervened on both sides of the aisle. And now we have been gifted with a President Donald Trump. It's not a scenario I would have envisioned to solve the many massive problems that we face in our American Democracy. But there it is. We are saddled with Trump for four years. Here's a short list of the Pro's & Con's from the viewpoint of the loyal opposition: The Pro's Some of Trump's Policies are ones that Dems agree with- Infrastructure...

This is looking more like a hostile takeover of the government than anything else at this stage. And with Trump's total disregard for the press, for protocol or for "PC" behavior, this is going to be treated as a takeover of the Government process. And to many, that would be a good thing. There's always a double-edged sword to anything that is radical or considered a disrupter or agent of change. In this case, we have the Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Trump. The Good: He's not a traditional conservative. His daughter is a registered Democrat. These things may bode will for possible bi-partisan cooperation that hasn't' been seen in a long time in Washington. Trump wants to do a massive Infrastructure spending bill  that should help promote growth and stimulate the economy to create jobs. Obama had requested this and was shot down by GOP Lawmakers who didn't want to give him any win that would help his legacy, even if it meant screwing the Ameri...

…And now for something completely different. We are now seeing the complete amnesia that comes over the press and the Congress from time to time. They happened to conveniently forget that George W Bush was the last Republican President, and kept invoking Ronald Reagan. And then they forgot that eight years ago, the economy was on the brink of collapse. They forgot that Bill Clinton left office in 2000 with a huge surplus that was turned into a deficit. And they forgot that Al Gore did indeed win the Popular Vote in 2000. Another fact that will be glossed over in the annals of GOP and Trump world. Hillary will win the Popular vote by perhaps a million votes over Trump. Yet she will not serve as President. So off we go. Meaning that the media will blithely and bravely follow this guy off the bridge and we must not let the normalization of Donald Trump continue. He must be called into account for a) The 12 + women who have charged him with sexual misconduct; b) The Trump Universi...

The Dems are getting ready to do a true autopsy to discover why things went so wrong. One minute, they were sitting on top of the world, poised to take the White House as well as the Senate and other key races across the country. Now, they are in the wilderness, struggling and leaderless and alone. Well, the party has a lot of soul searching and there's much to be said about getting a more cohesive message, marketing it to all the people, and holding our leaders accountable. But to be honest, the Democrats had a lot of help this cycle to get them out the door. The media played their part well. They don't like Hillary, and it showed. Most of the commentators began their interviews with, "Why is Hillary so unlikeable? and "Why can't she put this e-mail scandal behind her?" It's one of those - When did you stop beating your wife- kind of conundrums that played out for the entire election season. And then there were the foreign players, the Wikileaks...

Well we heard a lot about the angry white voters. But when you saw the Hillary supporters, they looked like they were walking on air. And after the shock has worn off, it's fair to say that now everyone is pissed. The angry white voters are still angry, and will be angrier still when they find out that the guy they voted for is a big wind bag full of hot air who is likely to implode at any time. But now, the other half of the country is equally angry. They feel the system is rigged. The FBI interfered in the Election, and the federal government did nothing to stop it. The KGB and Russian operatives worked for Trump and nobody lifted a finger or barely said a word of outrage because it helped the GOP. And now the right wing machine controls everything. The Revolution that Bernie talked of, in some ways a metaphorical one, seemed to be perhaps inevitable, but avoidable in the short term. Now it's not looking that way. The media reports this is the sixth/seventh/eighth….day...