Florida speeches and my thoughts.

Well, Mitt won Florida tonight, but from the speeches that were given, you'd wonder who won. Now Mitt gave his usual stump speech, the one that says we don't like Obama, we'll change everything to the way they were 10 years ago, and don't ask for details, I don't have any. Newt, on the other hand, went completely off the rail, saying what he'd do on his first day as President, and how he wouldn't play golf  3 or 4 times a year. There wasn't a coherent thought in the entire speech, other than to say he'd undo everything Obama has gotten passed. Santorum made a great speech, and after thanking everyone for their thoughts and prayers for his daughter, he seemed energized and excited to move on. And Ron Paul gave his usual ridiculous speech, but this time lying about the delegate count. And he somehow made his 7% sound like the will of the people. But as crazy as he sounds, there were things that made sense, especially to younger people. Bringing the troops home and keeping us out of war was the big thing. There wasn't a true loser, although with his speech, Newt did by far the worst while still coming in second. And the biggest winner again the President. Why? Well, out of almost 15,000 ads in Florida by the GOP candidates, only 8% were positive, and all the rest were negative. And after seeing all that I could, I realized that all the negative ads against the candidates were true, and there were so few positive ones because they have so little to say about themselves that's good. And the longer these ads go, the more the President is the winner. 

A wonderful parade. New York, take note

As a person from Kansas City, and a lifelong fan of the Chiefs and a fan of the Royals since they have been a team, it comes as a big surprise that I have to say congrats to a city I have no love for, St. Louis. Now, I really have nothing against the city, which I have found great every time I've visited. And I have liked each person that I've met from there, whether when I passed through or met and served with in the military. But coming from a city which is considered an after thought in St. Louis, not even a little sister type, I have to congratulate the city and surrounding towns for the parade they gave to the troops this Saturday. You gave the returning troops and all vets a wonderful feeling with your open arms, and your willingness in holding a parade to honor the returning troops and the end of the Iraqi war is something that all of us can be proud of. And people of New York, you should be ashamed of your mayor and your city for not having a parade there. St. Louis, I salute you, and from a Kansas Citian, that is high praise, indeed. 

A great picture, but a sad one, too.

A picture I saw on twitter today made me wonder about things. It was Bush 41, with President Obama, in the White House, along with Jeb Bush. Now say what you will about the elder Bush, but remember that he went into Kuwait only with a coalition, left Iraq and Kuwait on the coalition's timetable, and made the far right mad by raising taxes to help balance the debt. I think for a one-term President, history will remember him very well. And Obama seemed at ease, and yet still presidential. But it was Jeb that is at the forefront of the picture. Now, I don't think I could ever vote for him, and I know why he didn't run for President this time, but it did make me wonder what would would've happened if he or another solid, slightly moderate member of what use to be the Republican Party would have run. Maybe the Tea Party, the new GOP, would have ground him into small bite-size pieces. But the conversation on the GOP side would have been smarter, less divisive, and much less partisan. And that last part is what would have gotten him attacked by the Tea Party. But we would have been a better country right now if someone of his ilk would have ran. And isn't that what the whole idea of politics is suppose to be all about? 

And the debates keep coming, and coming, and ...

Well, another debate has come and gone, and a few things stood out about this one. One, and the most obvious, is that when candidates lie or mis-state the facts as often as these do, it is very easy to rebut them. So a candidate says something about something another candidate said, and there's the rebuttal, and the rebuttal to the rebuttal, and on and on. Why? Because they each are mostly wrong, but at least partially right. So there is always something to rebut. The second thing is that as Newt and Mitt cut each other up, Rick Santorum keeps looking better. Newt and Mitt rip each other for 10 minutes, and Rick simply says that it's time to move on, and he looks brilliant and stately. When he stays off far-right religious ideas, or simply isn't asked, he sounds very thoughtful and smart. And third, the more Ron Paul speaks, and the more debates he's in and has to talk about more things, the more out of his depth he sounds. He has strange ideas about a few things, but they are at least well thought out. Get him off those few things, and he's l;oat. Everything has to go back to to those thing he's studied.
Now for the grades: Santorum, a B+  Mitt Romney, a C-   Newt Gingrich, a D+, and Ron Paul, a D-

Just when you think the GOP has a heart

Watching Rep. Gifford resign toady and watching the GOP fawn all over themselves to heap praise on her and unanimously pass her bill, I thought maybe the GOP had decided to have a heart. Well, Gov. Brewer, thanks for reminding me exactly how cold, disrespectful, mean and vicious the GOP really is at their heart. There is a line in the Band of Brothers series where a character says, " It has nothing to do with the man, but you must respect the position. Salute the position, Captain, even if you can't salute the man." So when Gov. Brewer wagged her finger at Barack Obama, she wasn't disrespecting the man, she was disrespecting the office and the position of President. She also showed her ignorance and total disrespect of our country. But she did show herself to be in arm-in arm agreement with the Tea Party.

State of the Union Speech

After watching the SOTU speech, I didn't want to make a decision about it, so I watched it a second time. I'm sorry to say, there were 2 times each times that I watched that I lost it. Both the first time and the second time I watched it. First, watching the President hug and talk to Gabby made me lose it. And that probably happened to a lot of people on both sides of the aisle. But the second time, when the President talked about Osama Bin-Laden being dead, that came as complete surprise to me. And they happened both live and when I watched the tape. So now, looking at the speech, I'm sorry to say, the President may not have may anyone on the fringes happy. Far left, I'm sure he didn't go far enough for you. Tea Party righties, I'm sure you still think he's an Islamic extremist that doesn't deserve to be or legally the President. So nothing he said will ever change your mind. But for those of us in the middle, the speech was a solid A-. I take points away for his milk joke. But for the GOP response, all I can say is, to listen to Mitch Daniels and have it make sense, I have to be drinking with a cousin of his, Jack. 

Brian Williams is the Dean Smith of political debates?

It was said that only Dean Smith could stop Michael Jordan form scoring 20. Why? Because in Smith's North Carolina system, the scoring was divided between several players. So tonight, why was I reminded of that? Well, it sure seemed that whatever momentum Newt had, Brian Williams made it dissipate tonight. How? Well, for one, it is Brian's respect among most people that made it tough to attack him, like Newt had done to moderators in the past few debates. Second, he asked the audience to sit on their hands, and allow the words of the debate to decide who was right, not their applause. And, to their credit, they did just that. And third, and finally, he let the candidates talk and didn't try to put words in their mouth, or shorten their answer. Was there a clock on answers? I don't think so, and this made it tough for the candidates to give 30 second red meat responses that could incite the audience. All in all, very well done, Brian Williams. If Newt can't keep the Big Mo going with his words, he shouldn't get any help from any other factor.   

Newt wins South Carolina, then throws red meat to followers

Newt Gingrich won the GOP primary in South Carolina tonight, and promptly veered as right right as he could in his acceptance speech. Telling his followers that he wanted this to be religious nation, putting down poor people, and generally put down blacks and Latinos as lazy, non-working people. What a crock it was to listen to, and completely against my beliefs. But in true "I don't want to be part of the United States, I''l leave the country" South Carolina fashion, they ate it up. There's no " all men are created equal" part of the Constitution, to them it is, if you don't completely agree with our Christian-only, heterosexual-only, no government will tell us how to live way of life, then you're not an American. There was a person who said during civil war that South Carolina was too big for an insane asylum, and too small for a country. I have no doubt about the country part, but I wonder about the asylum part now.     

Different Shades of gray

Watching the GOP debate from last night (I was out and taped it), I was hoping to find something that might give me a ray of hope, but what I heard and saw made me even more disgusted with the GOP. Not one candidate had the guts to tell the truth, and the audience didn't want to hear it. Mr. Gingrich, personal integrity isn't something the President needs? Because that's what this bombshell your ex-wife dropped is all about, personal integrity. And yes, it is fair game to ask you about. As far as the rest of the night, I could have filled a notebook with the half-truths and lies that were sold by the candidates. And every time a huge lie was told, the audience applauded with glee, hearing exactly what they wanted to hear. In a nutshell, they all said that government is bad, Obama is worse, and the climate that led the country into the worst recession since 1929 is what they will take the country back to. How bad do they think the President is as a person? Three candidates said that the biggest fear for the country is Iran getting a nuclear weapon and detonating it somewhere here in America. And they all said that under Ron Paul, who doesn't care if Iran gets a nuclear weapon, that would happen. So Ron Paul would allow a country to detonate a device that would kill millions of Americans. And yet everyone agrees that Paul would be a better President than Obama. Really? You idiots need to get real. Now that is the only true difference in the candidates. When it all comes down to it, basically, all the candidates were just different shades of gray. And any of them would allow the country to fall into that gray cloak that they wear so easily.

Bye Tex! But who's sorry now?

Rick Perry quit the President Candidate today, but he finally said two right things when he told people that he'll quit. He said that there's no way that he could be President, and that's right. He also said that Newt Gingrich is not perfect, and that right, too. But who's sorry that he quit? Romney is having a few problems, because of his money and his tax return. It looks like Newt Gingrich's ex-wife will torpedo Newt tonight. So who's sorry that quit the candidate? No, nobody is sorry that Perry quit, but right now, both Huntsman and Pawlenty is probably sorry that they quit. If either of them were still running, they'd probably win. Yeah, they're both probably sorry.       

Tea Party debate on Martin Luther King Day?

I am one of the few that thought having a Tea Party Debate on Martin Luther King Day was a big joke, or are there many others that thought the same thing. As a group of people, the Tea Party in many states have taken voting rights away from millions of people, have added unnecessary medical procedures before women can get an abortion, have put down working poor inter-city parents, and have stated that they want all people that aren't heterosexual to be second class citizens. Actually, after stating all those things that they against, dishonoring Reverend King's Day with their rhetoric seems like a rather small potato dishonoring. The reaction of the audience, from their boos to their giving Newt a standing ovation for his anti-poor stance, that was the big potato.   

For want of a political party

So, let's say you believe that the budget should be balanced, but realizes there are times of turmoil or war that a balanced budget may not be possible every year, but that deficit should be paid as soon as possible. You think taxes should be low, but that more banking reform is imperative. You think that gun ownership is a right every American who has not committed a crime should have. You don't believe in abortion, but don't think that those that do are the devil. You want better infrastructure in roads, electricity, water, and the Internet for the country. You think that debates should be civil, and that most politicians on both side have good intentions. So where do you go? That's right, you have no party now that believes like you do, and that is why Jon Huntsman had to drop out of the race today. Want to update the country's systems, think that there are times when deficits are needed, think the other party isn't the devil, and want to be civil? You can't be a member of the GOP Tea Party, or at least can't be elected for anything. Believe taxes need to be low, think the Second Amendment is okay, and abortions are bad? Can't be a Democrat either. Those positions will make you unelected there, too. Jon, you may stand very close to the beliefs of 60% of Americans, but in politics, there is no party for the 60% in the middle. Oh, for the want of a political party, you could have been President. And the fact that there is no party for those in the middle is a sad state in America today.

Bill O, you buffoon

Being a moderate in politics, I watch MSNBC a few hours a day and Fox News a couple hours a week to get an idea of what both sides are saying in the political discussion. But Friday night's O'Reilly Factor, which is about the only show I can stand on that channel, was off the chart for stupidity, except for a couple of people, 1 of course is Leslie Marshall, who I follow on twitter and facebook. His 2 lead stories were the fact that comedians make more fun of the GOP than they do of Dems, and President Obama cutting departments from the government is no different than Bain cutting workers from a factory to make it more profitable before selling it. Both of these stories, if they were done on Stewart's or Colbert's report would have been satire and said the same thing that Bill O said, but Bill said it as hard news. Bill, a comedian gets paid to make people laugh. They don't care if the person saying what they make fun of is GOP or DEM. Think if President Obama couldn't name 3 departments of the government, like Perry did, comedians wouldn't jump all over him? Of course they would. But when the token Dem said as much, you scoffed at her. When Lesley reminded you that cutting the government bureaucracy saved all American money, and when Bain laid people off, it was Bain that made money in the long run, you snickered at her and said that they were the same thing. Bill, you're a pompous  buffoon, and how Lesley puts up being on your show is beyond me. The only redeeming thing about you is that compared to Geraldo and Lou Dobbs on your show, you're a fountain of brilliance. And yes, next to Hannity, you're a genius. But that still doesn't stop you from being a buffoon. But you are a first class one, I'll give you that.  

A New Hampshire Yawner

Well, I have to admit it, but Tuesday night was a real snooze fest, and it wasn't just the voting. Romney won, Paul got his low 20% of the vote, the guy who had been in the state the longest did well, and true social conservatives didn't do well. Ho-hum. But on top of that, the speeches for the most part went over like a lead baloon. Romney had the best speech, but all he said was the litany of faults the Tea Party finds in Obama: Nothing the President does is right, we want government out of our wallet and in the bedroom, the military machine is sancrosanc over people, and if we want to bully people around the world, well, by the Christian God, we'll do it. Paul said that the government is evil and needs to be disbanded to ensure American liberties. Huntsman proved what anyone who's watched politics for more than 15 minutes: You may not want to, but don't ad-lib, go off the cuff. Use a tele-prompter. Santorum and Gingrich reminded everyone why they really aren't liked by mainstream Americans: Put the 2 together, and you have someone who believes in Faith above laws and their own superiority of everyone else. Taken apart, you 2 people that both feel that way. Yes, it was all a yawner, which made the job MSNBC did even more remarkable.       

Debates? No, finally, an attack. And the winner is ...

Saturday night, although it may have been the most boring debate of this campaign (And that is saying something), this morning everyone woke up and went after Mitt Romney. And finally, an audience today finally applauded at the right places, where being an American mattered more than wanting to be mean against those with little or no power in Washington.  And yes, we finally saw the Jon Huntsman that everyone in Utah likes so much.
Now, as far as the over-all ideas, let's start with the fight between Newt and Mitt. Newt, although you got in some good ones, and your point against him not being a politician was spot on, but you were foolish in asking not to be attacked back but that Mitt should attack the Wall Street Journal for what was in your ad. And Sunday morning, you started to look very small toward the end of your attack on Romney when you talked about how wrong it was for Mitt to do an attack ad through his PAC, and then said you had a 27 minute anti-Romney ad that was coming out soon. And Mitt, you stating you had no idea what was in your ad attacking Newt and then repeating it verbatim made you look small, if not a liar. Well, if that didn't make you look small, attacking Huntsman for serving the country sure did. Attacks against other candidates must be surgical strikes, true statements that re-inforce set ideas in voters' minds. Too much, and you look small like Newt, and be pointless, and you look small like Mitt. Now, for certain things the candidates said that set off the alarms, I'll go from worst to best.
Paul-- You were shown how small a niche you really have in this election, first by your own statements, then by Santorum. First, you question the consevative values of a man that is farther right than 85% of the country. You say you personall liked Martin Luther King, but your vlaues say that you  think it's fine that business could exclude him because of the color of his skin? This makes no sense. And when Santorum brings up the fact that you have only 1 bill that you've ever gotten passed, you state it shows how out-of-touch Congress is. No, Congressman, it shows how out-of-touch you are and how little you try to get along and try to compromise. Declaration of war is the only way to send troops somewhere? What country do you declare war on if you were going after Al-Queda? And only the Tea Party liked you attacking David Gregory this morning. Your 15 minutes of fame is over.
Perry-- Saturday night, you said the country's biggest problem was the recent cut in defense spending, and Sunday morning you say it is runaway spending. Nice try at consistency. Want to go right back into Iraq? That's not smart, but the reasoning that we are allowing Iran back in the country is just wrong. When were they ever in Iraq. They weren't. These are 2 countries that have fought each other for years. You want the entire country to be Right-to Work? You really don't like unions, do you? The Obama administration is anti-religion? You do know that this is a country of laws, not religion, right? When asked what 3 things you'd cut to help balance the budget, you say the pay of bureaucrats in the 3 departments you were going to eliminate. That'll really cut the deficit! Better do a lot better in South Carolina than you did in Iowa or you're toast. And the lever is down on the toaster already, so no more mistakes, or you'll be history even before that.
Gingrich-- As stated before, toward the end, you looked small and petty. But you started this morning by backing away from your own pamphlet. Not good at all. You started the anti-religious complaints. Again, we are a nation of laws, not of religion. You'd cut the budget by stopping the over $100 billion theft in social security and medicare. Not waste or fraud, but in theft. Really? Over 10% of the money going to these agencies is taken by theft? Even you know that isn't right, or new if it even close to the amount. It happened under you watch, too, if that's true. When Huntsman answered a question about Afghanistan flawlessly, you refused to answer it. And your approving of the Romney ad about how under his presidency, no college grad would be without a job is a lie, and pandering to the base. But, then again, Newt, isn't that what a Washington insider does best; lie, pander, and raise money by promising things and lobbying for causes. 
Romney-- You almost got through this weekend unscathed, didn't you? But they finally are starting to put a dent in you. Look, you think you ran a business, but how many people worked for you, Mitt? A hedge fund company isn't really a business, is it? Had to order a lot of materials, did you? Did you have to see if your products would be accepted by the public? Of course not, and if you ran a business, you'd know the difference. You'd know that regulations don't tell companies how to run their business, but give guidelines that must be met to lawfully run the business. Don't want regulations? I can't wait until they put an adult men's club close to a school. It's regulations that stop that. Your stance on marriage is just wrong, legally. Look at your tax form. Where's the block to X if you live with someone and not married? That's right, they don't have that right to put their money together and file together. You want to tap into all our energy resources? Good, start with wind and solar power, and then expand in to natural fossil fuels. The longer you have to run hard right to keep the Tea Party placated, the less chance you'll have have to tack back to the center and win the Presidency. At this rate, the box you're getting put into will doom you in the November election.
Santorum-- I dislike almost everything you stand for, but you state it with conviction and sense, and that counts for a lot. You give thoughtful answers, not the standard 20 seconds sound bite. But tell me how what happens in Afghanistan affects our security? The Taliban we attacked was for their backing of Al-Queda, and now that they are dispersed, why do we need to be there? Want to attack Iran? This info on their nuclear program is from the same group that got Iraq totally wrong. Are you sure you want to listen to them? You want to not only ban all abortions, but you want to ban all contraception. Sex to you is only for procreation. Do you realize the small minority you are in with that view? And you want to send medicare back to the states in block grants. Why? Because that means, sooner or later, you will phase it out. This, to me, is unacceptable. Now, on the good side in these 2 debates, you did point out flaws in both Romney and Paul, attacking them correctly and accurately, and for that, you will go farther than either Perry or Gingrich.
Huntsman-- THE WINNER of these 2 debates. Although you were sluggish Saturday night, Mitt's attack on your service to the government gave you the opening you need. You saying to the question about what you would be doing on a Saturday night, that you'd be talking to your 2 sons in the Navy was perfect, and made Perry's answer of "out hunting" seem very trivial and down-right stupid. You gave well-thought, deep answers to all the questions, making Newt and Mitt look parochial. Your answer about cuts in government made the others look weak. You defended yourself and your sons when attacked. There is a reason every other candidate is attacking you today. If the Tea Party was 25% of the GOP instead of 75%, you'd be a shoo-in for the nomination. But, unfortunately for you, it's the other way around. But that doesn't mean you didn't have a great weekend of debates.                  

A question for Mitt

Although I won't be watching the debates either tonight or tomorrow live (I'm DVRing them both), there is one question I would love to ask Mitt-- When you bought a plant or a company, restructured it, sold it at a profit, and then the plant closed or the company went bankrupt, was this good for people or bad? If a couple dozen people made millions but a thousand lost their job, would you consider this a win or a loss? If it's a loss, why did you do this, and if it was a win, do you consider this a win for America? I'd love to know the answer to this fundamental question.

Got a good night's sleep Rick?

I stayed up to watch the final tally to see who won the Iowa caucus (By the way, great job MSNBC. You mad a very mundane and boring ritual very watchable), and was glad to see the list of candidates narrowed down. Rick Perry was going back to Texas to assess his candidacy (A sure sign of quitting), and Michele Bachmann, who finished behind him, was going to South Carolina and continue fighting for her causes. I get up, and find that Perry has changed his mind, or quickly assessed that he still was a candidate, and Bachmann was dropping out of the race. Excuse me, Rick, but what did you dream about last night? Was it of you in the White House, making decisions like which right to take away from someone or asking why Congress was in session? Or was it about the people who gave you money, and how they wanted you to keep going? Now, I find both to be very poor reasons to run for the Presidency, but the first is an acceptable reason: Your desire to be President. The second, which after listening to you talk about how you don't have a driving desire to be President seems very likely, and is someone else's desire to see you as President, is no reason at all. I hope no matter which dream you had, you had a good night's sleep. And I wish you had decided to go back to Texas and drop out. If you, or anyone, waivers in their passion for the job, that is a sure sign you aren't ready for the job.   

GOP, you've missed the point

As someone who voted GOP for over 20 years, and now can't vote for the GOP, the reason I feel this way is easy: Look at 2008. Since Obama beat McCain, the GOP has given its soul to the far right of the party. What use to be the the fringe is now main steam in the GOP. What use to be the John Birch Society, a far-right wing that thought government was the problem, is now the Tea Party, mainstream GOP, as it 65% of the GOP electorate. McCain didn't lose because he was a moderate, he lost because after 8 years of W., yes President 43, the country was tired of his, verboseness, and ineffectiveness. But most of all, we didn't like his foreign policy, his being a Neo-Con. And the country didn't want another person in the same party following him. So Obama was elected. But instead of tacking left to get moderates after 8 years of a Neo-Con in the White House, the GOP went hard right. They went to their base. No, not their biggest group, they went base, as in nasty and bad. And no compromise. Now, to be truthful, the Democrats did the same thing with the left in 2009. being that the Dems. had the White House, Senate, and House of Representatives, they shut out the GOP from all law-making. And President Obama didn't lead, he allowed Nancy Pelosi to write the health bill. But, again, let me ask you, GOP, what are you for other than taking apart regulations and the government? Everyone knows we need better roads, trains, buses and in rural areas, better Internet access. But did you say yes? Of course not, because Obama wanted it. And we need to talk about education after high school. Again, you said no. You, GOP, want to take to the country to your base, to your favorite group, which is hateful and nasty. Sorry, GOP, you've missed the point.    

Beware of getting what you want

As I'm looking at the last day before the Iowa caucus, I'm amazed at Newt Gingrich complaining about Romney's PAC and its ads. Newt, it was a GOP President that named the Supreme Court Justices that allowed that kind of money into politics. It is the GOP that wants the very-well-off to have whatever they want from our government. It was you, Newt, that made all the decisions that is being shown on those ads you complain about. No lies are being told, so you can't rebut the ads. You, and the GOP, want the federal government to get rid of all regulations that could balance things. Well, Newt, you know the parable: Beware of what you may want, because you may get it. And you and the GOP are getting it in spades.