Iran and the remaining folk in the Clown Car.

Most of the people in the GOP "Clown Car" are saying that the deal with Iran is a bad one, and that they will overturn it when in office.  Do any of them understand that pandering to the base only makes them look more idiotic for the general campaign?

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The deal with Iran was not only a deal with America, but a deal with Germany, France, Russia, China, and Great Britain.  Although the Israelis could not be a direct part of the deal and had to condemn the deal for existential reasons, I have no doubt that they have had to have some input into the deal due to their relationship with America.

It is very pleasant to read this statement from Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, that the Republican presidential candidates were so “laughable” that “the people of Iran look at them as a form of entertainment.”  Why, you might ask?  Well, he is wise enough to know that even if the USA were to back out of this deal, that it would still be in force with the other G5+1 members.  This deal needs no treaty with the USA, nor does it need America's cooperation to be implemented.  It helped that the USA was on-board when the deal was crafted, as it allowed America and Iran an ability to openly work with each other - something that has not been possible since before 1980.

The Iranian President went on to say the following:

“Can a government become a signatory to an international agreement and then the subsequent government tear it to shreds? This is something that only the likes of Saddam Hussein would do. So, any government that replaces the current government must keep itself committed to the commitments given by the previous administration. Otherwise, that government, that entire country will lose trust internationally,”
To me, this is the most salient point of the conversation noted in a late September post in Raw Story.  Iran's president knows that America's foreign policy can not make rapid flip flops based on which party is in charge of the executive branch.  It took over 50 years for America to start having civil relations with Cuba.  And he expects that it will take more time for America and Iran to learn to work with each other again - this deal being one of many steps geared to fixing the problems of the past.

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Can we trust the Iranians?  If we were to look at it from a different point of view, one could ask - can they trust us?  Right now, the Iranian President is wise enough to know that the "Clown Car" is spewing out noxious fumes, and will likely get its tuneup in the prelude to the general election.....

Democrats finally debating

Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton - Opponents who know who their real political enemies are. One comment from Bernie in regard to Hillary's emails said all that needed to be said about the difference in tone between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party in this country. 

Contrast the difference between Sanders' campaign and Trump's campaign.  It'd be almost impossible to find an instance where Sanders said anything mean about an individual.  Yet, you'd find a very strenuous voice against social injustice in our society.  Contrast this with Donald Trump, where a lot of meanness exudes from the man - but he doesn't have much of a message worth delivering.  Sanders states how he'd fix the problems in our society, while Trump only makes grandiose statements on how he'd make America great again, without filling in any of the details needed to believe him.

Both Sanders and Trump are voices against "business as usual" from the party elites. But again, look at the differences.  Sanders can work with the Democratic elite, even though he is an Independent from Vermont. Trump threatens the Republican party elite, and he comes from the same circles who could buy and sell presidential candidates.  Who do you think will get more done if elected to POTUS?

Many still consider Sanders' and Trump's campaigns as sideshows to the "eventual" main event - Jeb Bush vs. Hillary Clinton. But Jeb has no traction right now.  The top 3 GOP candidates are all people from outside the Washington elites.  There is a good reason for this - the public is sick and tired of an elite that no  longer looks out for the welfare of the common person.  The dislike of elites shared by rural and inner city people is now spreading to suburbia - crippling Bush's chance of being nominated as the GOP's candidate. However the same dislike is not hurting Clinton that much.  

Why is Clinton not suffering as much as Jeb Bush?  This is an important question to ponder. The way I see it, her wealth is "new money" - something people respect, even though they question her ethics. Bush's wealth is "old money", and no longer has the respect of the common person. This is not conscious. I only thought of it when I think of how rich the Clintons became in 15 years.  

This leads to yet another question - Why has Trump's wealth not been held against him? To me, I think it is how Trump has promoted himself.  He has had many more business failures than successes, yet has figured out a way to offload the risks of his business ventures onto others.  For a project manager - this is a great thing to do.  But for the rest of us, it smacks of something less than ethical behavior.

Over the next 3 months, we'll see a lot of change. And we'll see if Sanders' and Trump's campaigns are going to implode when real elections are held.  If I am right, Hillary will collapse again, and the people in back of the GOP Clown Car will drop out of the race. I also think that Sanders will ask Hillary to be his VP - and she'll accept the position. It'll be a fine way for her to end her political career - and she could still get the job she's coveted for several electoral cycles.....

Thoughts on the Clown and Kiddy Clown debates

I don't think that most people realized what happened when Fox limited the "adult clown debate" to the top 10 contenders for the GOP nomination. By creating two levels of debates, they marked several serious contenders for the nomination as irrelevant before the bulk of campaigning had even started.  Worse yet, the GOP delegated the task of culling out weak candidates to an interested, non neutral organization whose business should be reporting the news (with appropriate spin) and not being involved in the process of making the news itself.

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Currently, the joker in the deck is Donald Trump.  He has the ability to foul up the GOP's chances for victory, as he can set the tone for the party well after the campaigns would normally be tacking back to middle ground to attract the interest of independent voters. Trump's success is easy to explain - he has gathered the interest of voters who believe that the 2 mainstream political parties no longer listen to the true wishes of the people. And in many ways he is right.

The way I view Trump's election bid is simple - it started out as a great publicity gimmick to promote Trump's other ventures.  One problem - he didn't expect to succeed as well as he has done so far, and he's now caught in his own trap - he must make a serious run for an office that I don't think he wants to hold. He is now caught by his own words - he has to break the logjam that the two party system has made in Washington for his reputation to be preserved. So he has to learn how to tone down the BS and Bluster, and start saying things with real meaning.  This is going to be hard for the greatest snake oil salesman alive in this country today.

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If Trump ends up making a 3rd party run for the presidency, I expect that he will not get on the ballot in all 50 states.  This might not be as big a problem as it sounds.  As long as we use the electoral college to perform the real election of the president, it is possible for a person to win the office of POTUS with the votes from a handful of states.

This brings us to examining previous 3rd party runs for POTUS.  The most recent run that had any chance of success was H. Ross Perot's run - and he failed miserably.  However, is we look back to the election of 1912, all hell broke loose when Teddy Roosevelt ran against Taft and Wilson.  (And there were 2 other viable candidates, one of them being the Socialist, Eugene V. Debs.)  Although Taft and Roosevelt had more votes than Wilson, the disunity in the "Republican Tribe" gave the election to the Democrats.  And this is what the kingmakers in the GOP fear most.

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As for me, I like what I've seen so far.  Trump is exposing the hatreds at the core of the GOP base, and the elders running the party machine don't like it.  Trump's candidacy is going to bring a breath of needed fresh air to the GOP - and may finally force its leaders to rectify the mistake made when it chose the "Southern Strategy" of appealing to religious fundamentalists and racists during Nixon's reign.  

I hope this happens.  It would be nice to see a conservative party that only focuses on economic conservatism for a change....

The clown car, and an unwanted driver

Donald Trump - a man so filled with ego, he has no doubts about himself, even when he's totally wrong about things. He's a man who knows, that if you say a lie often enough, many people will consider it to be the truth - especially when they want to hear that lie become truth.

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As I write this, American businesses are slowly disconnecting themselves from their business relationships with Trump. NBC/Universal has decided not to show the Miss Universe pageant on its networks, Macy's has decided to stop selling Trump branded goods, as well as other businesses keeping their distance from this, the loudest clown in the GOP Clown Car (The GOP's 2016 POTUS Candidates).

Sadly, he's saying what many in the GOP base really wants to hear - illegal immigrants from Mexico are taking American Jobs and are part of the criminal class. Although he walked back his words, the not so hidden meaning was - most Mexicans are criminals who need to be pushed back over the border, something which is furthest from the truth....  And this has gotten the GOP mainstream worried, as Trump recently reached #2 in the polls.  The last thing the GOP wants is to lose the Latino vote for the long term - and Trump's pandering to the base is hurting long term GOP prospects with the Latino population..

Most of the GOP Clown Car is afraid to deal with racism in the party's base. Recently, they ducked the issue of whether the Rebel flag should be flown in South Carolina, claiming that is was a local issue and that the flag reflected "Southern Heritage". Yet, a majority of South Carolinians (including GOP members) supported taking down the flag. Why such a disconnect between the population of South Carolina and the people who want to be our national leaders?  To make things worse, when the issue was brought up in the US Congress, regarding the flying of the Rebel flag in Federal parks, the GOP leadership tried to duck the issue - so that they wouldn't anger the racists in their base who continue to vote them into office. This is a bloody shame! 

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But back to Trump....  

Many Americans want a president who can run this country like a business. But if Trump were to run it, we'd have a legacy of failure. His casino ventures didn't do well, his air-shuttle flopped, his vodka is forgettable, Macy's has dropped his clothing line, NBC/Universal has terminated their relationship with his Miss Unvierse pageant, and the only thing he has going for him is the magic of his name tacked onto a real estate deal.  Trump has licensed out his name on a large number of real estate deals, and to me, his quality control seems to be lacking.  Can you imagine how he'd screw up this country?

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Sadly, the clown car keeps moving along, and there is not anyone who I'd really feel comfortable voting for in this race.  Too bad that Kinky Friedman and Jesse Ventura aren't running - either would get my vote.....

Political Inequality - Even some conservatives see this as a risk

A while back, Andrew Sullivan commented in his blog about the political threat of soaring inequality. That problem is still with us, and is getting worse.

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One of the things noted in the chart below is Elite Fratricide preceding Political Disorder.

This is a very dangerous time for any nation, as the lunatics come out and are at risk of gaining power.  Recently, the Governor of Texas put the state guard on alert, claiming to protect Texas from an invasion from the United States. Even Forbes Magazine (where this link originated) senses that people who would believe this are Right Wing Nut Jobs!  And yet, the polity in many of the Red States keeps electing people who in other times, would only be fit for a clown car.

In the past, I posed the question:

How many clowns can be fit into a typical Clown Car?

And I realized that I already had the answer:

No one knows - it is still spewing out clowns.

In the case of the GOP's field for 2016, we now have so many candidates, that it will be impossible to have all of them on the debate floor at the same time.

The "Tea Party" said that giving financial aid to Hurricane Sandy victims would be a big mistake because of all the fraud that would be involved. (And they were right.  Does anyone remember the "Stronger than the Storm" campaign, which had Governor Chris Christie prominent in every ad?") And now that Texas has been hit by a natural disaster, they have changed their tune....

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What we're seeing here is a political party that is out of control, a party which favors the political elite over the common good of society, and one that wants to continue adding to the economic inequality which is now disrupting the body politic.

An example of the disconnect between the GOP and reality is the candidacy of Carly Fiorina for the presidency. She is running, using her experience as CEO of Hewlett Packard as her way of showing she is qualified to hold high office.  One problem - HP kicked her out of the "C-Suite", as the firm under performed during her tenure. Can we risk having a poorly performing business person running the country, if we want America run as if it were a business?

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Right now, there is a case working its way through the court system which is geared to disrupt the idea that congressional districts are to contain equal numbers of people, by posing that the districts should contain equal numbers of voters.  Is this fair? Probably not. But, like Jim Crow, we've seen unfair systems established before in this country to keep a ruling elite in power. And I keep wondering - how long will it be before the disenfranchised say: "We're not going to take it anymore?"