2015 Presidential Candidates

My thoughts on the candidates running for President.

Jeb Bush – Doesn't do “I'm pissed off” very well, screwed up by badmouthing Rubio, has an experience level that could do well in the White House, needs to cleanse himself of his brother's history and father's bad decision to quit the first gulf war before he'd conquered Iraq.

Ben Carson – A good candidate with a level view of the world. I like his thoughtfulness and seeming ability to look at different sides of the issues. Not terribly exciting, but that may just be the right thing to become a leader in the free world. His analogy of a rabid dog immediately became a comparison. He has an issue with saying things that don't match up with reality – a problem for someone who wants to be President. Doesn't think on his feet particularly well and like others relatively new to the public limelight, he's stumbled too many times to remain a viable candidate.

Chris Christie – A bit too full of himself, may have done a good enough job in New Jersey, but much of the nation views New Jersey as being the Jersey Turnpike only wider and far more corrupt. One of several public officials running for President while still in office - hedging his bets or working part-time in a job that requires full-time attention.

Hillary Clinton – Arrogant to a fault, has managed to become embroiled in scandal after scandal, including looting the White House furniture, Vince Foster's death, using unsecured e-mail as Secretary of State (she said it was too difficult to have two phones but then said she didn't have a computer in her office so nobody e-mailed her about a bomb going off in Libya), White Water, being under sniper fire, Rose Law billing records, and having the unique ability to avoid names like Abedin, Acheson, Alinsky, Flowers, Jones, Lewinsky, and Willey. Willing to pander to minorities and women for their votes, uses her faux smile to disarm some, but will probably be the Democratic candidate. This reverse carpet bagger has been a presidential candidate since she first used the royal 'we' when her husband was elected President. May be the first First Lady who shacked up with her husband prior to marriage.

Ted Cruz – Born in another country to an American woman and a Cuban man who were owners of an oil-related business, and thus not there on government business, but he has been declared eligible to be President. In the recent past, he gave up his Canadian citizenship. Too shrill and easily excited, and his uncompromising conservatism certainly would not help bridge the divide between the two major parties in Congress. One of several public officials running for President while still in office - hedging his bets or working part-time in a job that requires full-time attention.

Carly Fiorina – Her major claims to viability as a candidate are as an alternate choice for a female President and the ability to respond to Donald Trump. She apparently was a major player in driving Hewlett Packard into trouble. Her solid conservative opinions put her far to the right in a race where many others a clumped in with her. Her response to Trump was sharp, but sharp retorts have little place in the world of diplomacy and politics. By December, she is fading.

 Jim Gilmore – The former Virginia Governor is running a ghost campaign. Seemingly qualified in a number of areas, his moderate position on abortion clearly shows he is not willing to pander to the religious right to gain their votes. Unfortunately for him, and perhaps the nation, he is virtually ignored by the national press and has thus been unable to raise the amount of money necessary to run a national campaign.

Lindsey Graham – Former Congressman from South Carolina, Graham had a fairly solid record of conservative votes, but his thoughts on the unsustainability of the Tea Party, his condemnation of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse, his support of green energy and his stated thoughts that the Republican party has drifted too far to the right, sort of make him more moderate than his fellow candidates. Alas, his ability to gain interest in the press and to raise campaign funds hinder him.

Mike Huckabee – An ordained Southern Baptist minister with 'aw, shucks' public persona makes Huckabee a favorite in some circles, particularly those centered around faith-based issues such as abortion and gay marriage, his record of providing tax relief in Arkansas, and his pipe dream of a flat-tax based on sales. Despite Arkansas' seemingly effective use of Common Core since 2010, their former Governor wants to do away with it and eliminate the Department of Education. One of his predecessors, Orville Faubus would no doubt have approved.

John Kasich – a one -shot pony, he continually harps on his role in deficit management during the Clinton administration and in his impact as the Governor of Ohio.

Martin O'Malley – Former Mayor of Baltimore and Governor of Maryland, likes to tout his gun control measures as cutting crime, but Baltimore is still “plagued with drugs and poverty and ranks in the top 15 U.S. cities for all violent crimes but forcible rape.”

George Pataki – is he still running?

Rand Paul – the cynic in me wonders if he should be called Ayn Rand Paul. Has a somewhat strange view of economics and the Federal Reserve. Supports "Plan B" morning-after contraception, but has said that he believes life begins at conception and is thus anti-abortion – can he have it both ways? Seems to pander to those who let others do their thinking by espousing popular but unworkable ideas. One of several public officials running for President while still in office - hedging his bets or working part-time in a job that requires full-time attention.

Marco Rubio – Seems to waiver on the abortion issue, says he believes in protecting life, but isn't a chauvinist. Espouses a sensible view on the national budget, waivers on gay marriage and civil rights, seems to speak out of both sides of his mouth on taxes, not exactly anti-drug, but would like you to think he is. Despite his claims, he is a somewhat moderate candidate and may well prove to be an intelligent choice to run against Hillery. One of several public officials running for President while still in office - hedging his bets or working part-time in a job that requires full-time attention.

Bernie Sanders – An Independent senator from Vermont who caucuses with the Democrats and is running for President as a Democrat (Guess that 'Independent” thing didn't work out too well outside the Green Mountain State) who identifies himself as a democratic socialist, has been in Congress for more than 20 years, as Senator since 2007. His record of being in Congress and voting was slightly less than the norm until October and early November of this year when he's missed a lot of work he's being paid to do. He apparently doesn't consider the office he has is as important as the one he wants. One of several public officials running for President while still in office - hedging his bets or working part-time in a job that requires full-time attention.

Rick Santorum – Is he still running for President? He's right up there with Estes Kefauver. A fiscal and social conservative, Santorum voted against banning affirmative action hiring with federal funds, against same-sex marriage, against prohibiting job discrimination by sexual orientation. Not a viable candidate except perhaps in his own mind.

Donald Trump – A man of the triumphant zingers who is trying to purchase the Presidency and he certainly has enough money to do that. Said he was always within the law those four five times he declared bankruptcy, but his ethics in playing the law to his advantage bring his integrity into question. The Tea Party conservatives like that he's said he'll deport all undocumented people, but then the Tea Party isn't known for being particularly thoughtful. The very idea of rounding up 11 or 12 million people from countries all over the earth and sending them back is mind-boggling, to say nothing of horrendously expensive, extraordinarily time-consuming, and virtually impossible.  Trump apparently sees the same rabid claptrap on Facebook that I see and panders to the ignoramuses who produce all those inaccurate memes.  Trump has now been married three times, an indication of his inability to think before jumping.  I, too, have been married three times, but then, I'm not trying to purchase the White House.

September 11

September 11 is forever marked by a series of acts of cowardice perpetrated by people so different from you and me that we cannot possibly fathom why such heinous acts would even have been dreamed up. The horror we felt that day was infinitesimally smaller than what must have been felt by those trapped in the twin towers as they began falling, by the people in the Pentagon, and by the passengers on Flight 93.

I was at work in my suburban Maryland office that morning, interviewing a woman for a position in my company. One of our field technicians radioed me that he'd just heard on his truck radio that a plane had hit the World Trade Center in New York. I recalled that a plane had once hit the Empire State Building and mentioned it to the lady sitting in front of my desk as a way of apologizing for the interruption. A bit later in the interview, the same technician called me again to say that he was on I-295 and that he could see black smoke from over near the Pentagon and asked me if I knew what was going on. I told him I didn't and went on the the interview.

When the interview was over and I'd escorted the lady out to the lobby, one of our salesmen stopped me and asked if there was something wrong with our telephone system. He'd been trying to call a supplier in New Jersey and couldn't get through at all. We went upstairs to the president's office where he and the executive VP had the TV on and the horror of the day was becoming apparent. I watched for a while, unable to comprehend, then went back to my office and turned on my radio. It was tuned to a commercial classical music station, but there was no music. Instead, they were advising people to go home, to get away from Washington, and to stay calm. I went into our dispatch center and told them to get on the radios and recall the technicians, to pull them off jobs and send them home.

During the next couple of hours, I spent my time going up to the president's office, watching the gut wrenching news video of those huge buildings collapsing and the fire at the Pentagon, of the mystery of Flight 93, then returning to my office to try to work. Our company was situated about 6 miles east of the Capitol Beltway, but we released the remainder of the employees. I saw the news reports of the massive traffic jams and decided to stay at work. By 3:00 PM or so, I was the only one remaining in the building. The quiet was disturbing, so I went outside for a breath of air. A normally fairly busy railroad line ran along side our parking lot, but no trains had passed for hours. The greater Washington DC metropolitan area has three major airports, but there was not a plane in the sky. At some point I saw a pair of military jets fly over.

Around 5:00, I shut down my computer, checked the building, set the alarm system, walked out and locked the entrance doors. Out on the road, it was eerily still with the lack of traffic. In my 15 mile drive home, I only saw a few other cars. At home, I went into the back yard and just stood, my mind a jumble that still did not comprehend. The silence was deafening. There were no children playing, there was no sound of traffic from the highway about a quarter of a mile away, and there were no aircraft in the sky. Back in the house, I sat in the living room in silence for the longest time, this vision of those towers collapsing and the huge fire across town at the Pentagon running like silent films through my mind.

My son called from Texas to make sure I was OK. He'd heard about the Pentagon, but didn't know if my office was anywhere near it. I assured him that I was fine, that the Pentagon was across the city from me. After he hung up, I broke down and sobbed, crying like a baby.

Every morning now, when I go downstairs and turn on the TV, I'm relieved to hear the cheerful voices of the news crew, indicating that something unthinkable like happened on 9/11 hasn't recurred while I slept.

Who Goes to Heaven?

Now, those who know me personally know that I'm a bit of a wise ass, a serious punster, and someone with an unknown amount of faith in the Lord.  I'm not a steady church-goer, but when I do attend, I'm a debtor, so there is always an awkward pause if I'm in a congregation of trespassers.  The relationship between me and God is strictly between the two of us, and as Matthew tells us all to do, I talk to the Lord in secret so that He and I are the only ones privy to our conversation.  I was taught many years ago that the Lord listens to all our prayers, which makes him pretty busy, so I feel we should limit our supplications to those times when divine intervention is truly needed.

I receive memos almost on a daily basis asking for my prayers for one person or another.   Some of these requests I deem necessary and I quietly ask my Lord to help out in the way He finds appropriate.  Others, I ignore, deciding on my own not to take up God's valuable time with trivial matters such as the granddaughter starting at a new school, the family moving to a new city, so-and-so taking a new job, a couple trying to have a child, or a football team meeting their cross-state rival.

I read the obituaries aloud each evening so my non-newspaper-reading spouse will know if someone she knows is no longer with us.  Most folks simply die, but there are those who go on a trip to meet their Heavenly Father, others who pass into the next life, and yet more who seem to have just fallen into everlasting sleep.  The cynic in me wants to say that those who simply died were known to have lead Godly lives so there is little doubt where they went, but those who are said to have taken that trip or passed in the next life, well, perhaps the family wasn't so confidant that their dearly beloved actually made it to those pearly gates, but by saying so, the rest of us will be convinced that the dearly beloved did indeed make it to Heaven.  

After all, as our daughter's pastor once preached, if you don't follow the rules of the Bible, when you die, you'll go to Hell.

Statuary Hall in the United States Capitol

I read recently that Congressman John Lewis (Dem GA) wants the statue of  Alexander Stephens removed from Statuary Hall in the nation's Capitol.    For those who don't know, Stephens was a US Congressman from Georgia, serving from 1843 to 1859 before the Civil War and from 1873 to 1882 during Reconstruction.  He was the Governor of Georgia from 1882 to 1883, and, probably the reasons Congressman Lewis wants his statue removed, the Vice President of the Confederate States of America from 1862 to 1865, and a slaveholder.

I understand Congressman Lewis' wish to rewrite history.  It was a terrible time for our country, but I feel his request might be a bit disingenuous as it came just days after the Atlanta city government asked to have the carving on Stone Mountain sandblasted away.  The Taliban and ISIS have been demolishing historic monuments, sculptures and even ancient cities in Afghanistan and Syria.  Congressman Lewis and Mayor Reed need to re-evaluate their requests before they begin to be compared to those groups.

Spanish philosopher George Santayana said, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," and without reminders like the statue of Alexander Stephens, repeating past mistakes is certainly a possibility.


Being somewhat of a cynic, I took Congressman Lewis' lead, and looked up to see who else was deified in Statuary Hall with a background we might now question.

• William Allen - a pro-slavery Senator from Ohio (Scheduled to be replaced this year by a statue of Thomas Edison, an inventor, unsuccessful businessman, and quite possibly, an atheist)
• Stephen F. Austin - Texas Secretary of State who helped populate the Republic of Texas by, among other incentives, offering 80 acres of land to immigrants for every slave they brought with them.
• Charles Brantley Aycock - a white supremacist "noted as having advocated that black students be properly educated through curriculum and care tightly controlled by North Carolina whites, to "benefit the black race to fit them into a subordinate role.""
• Bob Bartlett - US Representative from Alaska known for the 'Alaska Mental Health Enabling Act' which no doubt led to Sarah Palin's rise to power.
• William Henry Harrison Beadle - Surveyor-General of the Dakota Territories named for the slave-holding President of the United States.
• Thomas Hart Benton - a one-time slave holder
• Francis Preston Blair, Jr - a United States Senator who opposed Reconstruction
• William Borah - A United States Senator who thought well enough of Adolf Hitler to tell the press that, "the combination of President von Hindenburg and the Nazi leader should be able to administer the affairs of the German people"
• William Jennings Bryan - a Secretary of State who charged upwards of $500 per speech (shades of Hillary Clinton) while still in office, an orator, a prohibitionist, and anti-evolutionist known for his participation in the Scopes Monkey Trial.
• John C. Calhoun - a strong proponent for slavery which he called a 'positive good.'
• Charles Carroll - a Maryland slaveholder
• Lewis Cass - Secretary of War under President Jackson who 'was a central figure in formulating and implementing the Indian Removal Policy' of that administration.'  He was also in favor of letting the people in the territories decide whether or not to become slave states.
• Henry Clay - US Senator and Congressman who, at one time, owned as many as 60 slaves, even bringing several with him to Washington.
• Jefferson Davis - need I say more?
• James Zachariah George - Confederate Brigadier General during civil war, owner of 40 slaves in 1860, including children as young as 1 year. 
• Wade Hampton - Confederate Brigadier General, slaveholder with 153 slaves in 1860
• Andrew Jackson - former President of the United States and a slaveholder
• Robert E. Lee - Confederate General, slaveholder who, despite stories to the contrary, did not free the slaves in accordance with his late father's-in-law wishes.
• Caesar Rodney - Delaware slaveholder
• John Sevier - Governor of Tennessee, slaveholder, US Representative from North Carolina
• Edmund Kirby Smith - West Point Grad, US Army officer, slaveholder, Major General in Confederate Army
• Alexander H. Stephens - see above, also, owned as many as 29 slaves in 1860
• Zebulon Baird Vance - North Carolina US Representative 1858-1861, Governor of NC 1861-1865 and 1877-1879, NC US Senator 1879-1894, slaveholder
• George Washington - President of the United States, General in US Army, owned hundreds of slaves

That's all, folks.  I'll not be philosophizing on this.

The Smell Test

I saw this recently in reference to a government conference to which members of the press were not invited.  The writer said it didn't pass the Smell Test.

That set off some brain rumbling - there have been a number of things in the news lately that do not pass my Smell Test.

Special privileges for members of Congress:

• Government paid automobile
• Free parking at Washington National Airport
• Free flights

Government office holders who are running for office while they are still in another office.  They are being paid to run the government, but they spend up to six months or more trying to succeed themselves or, as in those listed below, get a new position with more power, more pay, and more prestige.

• Chris Christie, Governor of New Jersey
• Ted Cruz, US Senator from Texas
• Lindsey Graham, US Senator from South Carolina
• Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana
• Rand Paul, US Senator from Kentucky
• Marco Rubio, US Senator from Florida
• Bernie Sanders, US Senator from Vermont

Of course, that leaves us with a bunch of unemployed who are seeking the Presidency, and, of course, Donald Trump, whose idea of border diplomacy is to insult those on the other side of the border.

But does it really?  How about Morrison Bonpasse, Jeff Boss, Harry Braun, Andy Caffee, Willie Carter, Lincoln Chaffee, Lloyd Kelso, Martin O'Malley, Doug Shreffler, Michael Steinberg, Jim Webb, Robbie Wells, Willie Wilson, and Brad Winslow all are Democrats who have publicly declared they are running for President.  Why isn't the press astounded at that number, or are they just too taken with Hillary and Bernie and the Republican Sixteen?  Does this pass the Smell Test?

 
Why the conservatives were so alarmed that Obama might not have been born in the United States (he was, you know.  Hawaii achieved statehood in 1959, Barry was born in 1961), but didn't think it necessary back in the day to question why Barry Goldwater wasn't born in the US.  Now, one of their hot tickets is Ted Cruz who, besides being a Senator who spends his time seeking the Presidency, was born in Canada to a Cuban national who didn't become a naturalized citizen until Ted was 37 years old.  Does this pass the Smell Test?