The Blue States vs. Red States Meme Used By Trump Is making Us A "House Divided Against Itself" That Cannot Stand

Red States vs. Blue States.  Blue States vs. Red states.  Though that national dichotomy was already here before the political arrival of one Donald J. Trump on the scene it was a political dynamic he would seize upon to use as an advantage at the expense of what we had built as a nation after 151 post Civil War years of pain, crisis, and incredibly hard work that remains to this day still unfinished.  He used it like a sledge hammer to divide and drive wedges in the electorate in an attempt to add just enough to his grievance filled devoted base to prevail in 2016.  Now we find ourselves dealing with an even more exacerbated political dichotomy he used the first time due to a global pandemic to engineer another four year term to continue with an agenda of division, strife and a plan to deconstruct our federalist system while he continues to settle political scores.

Now the idea that our country is defined as a confederation of blue and red states that must somehow link together in league with other politically like minded entities to overcome the other  because they aren’t the “right kind” of Americans is being used by Trump at the expense of enough consensus government to hold our federalist system together.  There is now no doubt we have reached a point where the reasons for today’s political dichotomy smacks of some of the same reasons used by the southern states beginning in 1860 to file articles of secession in their state legislatures as a preamble to the Civil War.  Trump is exacerbating these differences in ways many of us felt was unimaginable at this point in our history.

On a late and lazy summer Wednesday afternoon at 5:00 pm on June 16^th, 1858 in the Illinois state house Abraham Lincoln found himself standing before the State Republican convention as he started a speech that would rock the political electorate at its very core:

“….If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it.  We are now far into the fifth year, since a policy was initiated, with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation.  Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only, not ceased, but has constantly augmented.  In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed.  A house divided against itself cannot stand."  

Once he finished it would not only rocket him into the national spot light as a Presidential candidate for 1860, it would define what it meant to be a nation so fraught with a political crisis of division that it threatened to disintegrate beyond repair before our eyes if steps weren’t taken to bring it back together.  Of course we know what followed:  a Civil War that would kill 600,000 Americans by its end as a horribly tragic first step on the way to repairing what was.

We now find ourselves with a President who is not only trying to avoid that crisis of division but instead is relying on it as a road map to victory at the expense of the very fabric that makes us a beacon to the world.  Using the power of his office to punish those states that don’t align with his political goals is a dangerous precedent to use at this point in our history after such a long, hard road after 1865.

The founding fathers took great pains to make us a more unified entity after the failures of the Articles of Confederation that was leading to a division of states similar to what we are seeing today where one state is pitted against another at the expense of a national entity as opposed to a confederation of regions with their own ideas of political, social and economic policy.  Their idea was something called a Constitution that began with these words: 

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." 

“We the people” meaning we, as Americans are tasked with this call to make a more perfect union for one and all.  THIS one statement made us and defined who we are:  Americans.  It wasn’t perfect, as it took a Civil War to realize the true meaning of this sentiment.  But it was something we aspired to and was STILL working on until the present, what John F. Kennedy called, the “responsible officer of government” set out to destroy it.  Lincoln also once said, “……“the dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present….we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.”  The time to “think anew, and act anew” is here.  It’s a time worn adage that every general election for the President of the United States is always called the ‘most important election in our history.’  This time it isn’t just rhetoric, it’s real.  Real enough that any sane citizen can see the fabric of our nation is starting to come undone.  That’s how important the coming general election for 2020 is. 

If we don’t take steps to repair what Trump has done we will find ourselves where Lincoln found himself on that fateful trip from Springfield, Illinois to Washington, D.C. to prepare for his oath of office.  There is still time but here is precious little left.  If Trump finds his way to being the “responsible officer of government” again I’m not sure time won’t have run out.  

Donald Trump's Next Book: The Art of the Fine Whine

One of the fascinating aspects of Donald Trump's run for the White House is the aura of business acumen he projects as one of his greatest strengths.  He is never at a loss of words to describe his ability to always maneuver from a  position of strength to strike an agreement when he has the obvious advantage.  By his own admission he has a genius for being able to not only strike a deal where he is in a

win - win situation but to make the end result one where the other side always wants to come back for more.  There is a large segment of the population that still sits in awe of the successful business person with abilities to achieve high levels of success through a public persona that suggests a shield of invincibility all due to their own prowess and powers of persuasion.

According to the Donald his acumen and power to construct deals will be unmatched in contrast to a bunch of unimaginative and dull witted government bureaucrats not able to comprehend the power and strength of his abilities to conduct high level negotiations in a cut throat world of multinational deal makers.  They will fall to their knees in sheer bedazzlement at his ability to coerce reluctant and reticent lawmakers to come around to his agenda and beg for more.  This perceived aura is a common thread running through his supporters when you see them in interviews or panel discussions.  They feel he can achieve things no one else can while ignoring off putting characteristics that would spell certain doom for any other mortal denizen associated with public service through an elected office.  

This is where we come to the Donald's problem.  Over at Digby's blog, Hullabaloo, she has a great piece detailing Trump's sudden realization that maybe he isn't the man he thought he was dealing with people unaware of his powers and abilities.  It's suddenly becoming all to evident the tycoon who claims to be known for his genius at deal making is completely befuddled by a convoluted process with a labyrinth of rules and mechanisms for delegate selection:

[...]Donald Trump made it all the way to April of the primary season as front runner for the presidential nomination without being aware of [the GOP nominating process] says everything you need to know about his organizational acumen. It turns out that national politics isn't as simple as a branding deal with Macy's over ties and underwear. It isn't a Manhattan real estate negotiation either. But like so many wealthy men, he assumed that making all that money must make him a genius, so much so that he's capable of running the world by the seat of his pants.

To go a bit further there's more to it than his sudden discomfort from being in a position where he doesn't have the upper hand:

The Republican front-runner claims to be the world’s smartest businessman, a master at cutting deals and winning with his negotiating savvy. In recent days, though, he has been looking like a chump who bought property in Florida without reading the fine print stipulating the land was underwater and infested with alligators. Trump appears to have jumped into his campaign for president thinking all he needed to do was show up for the debates, call in to TV news shows and tweet out his random thoughts to a waiting world. Actually, thanks to the big boost he got from being a reality show celebrity, that approach did bring remarkable success in the early months of the presidential race.  Now, however, he is getting snookered in many states where the Cruz campaign is far better organized and knows how to exploit the delegate selection rules.

Since the early days of the primary calendar the Cruz campaign has been waiting for its moment to strike.  The Texas Senator patiently waited for caucus and primary states where the Trump campaign would be caught with its proverbial pants down with staff that were not only light in numbers but without knowledge of the ins and outs of that particular state's byzantine mechanism of delegate selection.   When Cruz's various state organizations pounced it was too late for Trump to react:

The Colorado system — precinct caucuses electing delegates to district and state assemblies, where they are selected for the national convention — isn’t undemocratic. But it rewards a different, more demanding and engaged sort of participation than a primary.  An accent on grass-roots organizing is not, by the way, a hallmark of establishment politics. In fact, it is the opposite. The classic conservative insurgent excels at organizing as a means to bypass the party’s gatekeepers and to make up for a lack of resources and media attention. Although the Cruz campaign is well-funded, it has the grass-roots DNA of this kind of insurgency, which it began as, and, in significant respects, still is.

Now Trump finds himself being defined not as the great deal maker with a wizard's touch and knowing smirk, but as the classic whiner who has managed to hone his high pitched complaint into the fine art of, "the whine."  As Rich Lowry over a Politico points out there is one more thing to add to the fact that Trump  has been put into a position where his failings in the primary process highlight how out of depth he is in the rough and tumble political world of grass roots campaigning: 

For all of Trump’s complaints, the nomination system was set up to favor the front-runner and get him over the top as soon as possible. It is a symptom of Trump’s weakness that, even as he romped through the first couple of months of the race and accumulated delegates out of proportion to his popular vote (about 45 percent of the delegates on 37 percent of the vote), he still might fall short of 1,237.

Over at Hullabaloo Digby puts a finer point on the optics for Trump and his veneer of invincibility and what it really means for his public persona:

This is an extremely important point. The rules were rigged. But they were rigged to favor Donald Trump. For a man who is selling himself as the greatest deal maker the world has ever known, he's having an awfully hard time closing one that was set-up for him to win from the very beginning.  So now he's claiming the election is being stolen.

As Trump has been perfecting his technique for the fine art of the whine the coup d'grace in all of this is his ability to readily admit to his penchant for doing just that, whine:

"I think [Rich Lowry] is probably right. I am the most fabulous whiner. I do whine because I want to win. And I'm not happy if I'm not winning. And I am a whiner. And I'm a whiner and I keep whining and whining until I win," he said. "And I'm going to win for the country and I'm going to make our country great again."

Trump "The Great Deal Maker" isn't finished just yet.  He still may win even if he comes up short of the delegates he needs to win the nomination in Cleveland this summer.  Considering all that's  happened to date though one thing is clear no matter if he wins or loses:  his next book will no undoubtedly be a best seller as well -  "Trump The Art of the Fine Whine."

Progress With Anti-Bullying Campaigns Nationwide Being Undermined By 2016 Election Campaign

For the first time in twelve years, since I've been teaching high school, there is a perceptible change taking place in my classroom dynamic.  My Muslim students, some whom I have known for two or three years are now telling me for the first time things are being said to them about their religion and who they are.  One young girl whom I've taught for two years told me that this year she's had something said to her about her belief system from several students, including ones she has known since beginning high school and that for the first time they felt uncomfortable about who they were.

I've also picked up rumblings from my students about LGBT's suddenly getting harassment in ways they've never experience before.  This goes for my black students as well who tell me they are hearing the 'N' word more often how than ever before.  There is no doubt something is happening in my school I've never experience before and apparently I'm not the only one:

"I think there's a real danger of harm taking place in all American schoolchildren," Maureen Costello, an education expert at the Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC), a civil rights group, told Al Jazeera."We've seen 10 or more years of anti-bullying work get rolled back by a hostile atmosphere in many schools. Teachers describe disillusionment, depression and discouragement among kids who feel like they now know what people have thought about them all along," Castello said.

What seems to be causing all of this?  The data from a Southern Poverty Law Center survey of some 2,000 schools across the nation appears to be unambiguous in its findings:

An SPLC survey of some 2,000 US schools found that two-thirds of teachers described their vulnerable students - including blacks, Muslims, Latinos and other minorities - as affected by rhetoric in the 2016 White House race.
It shows a spike in racist bullying. For Muslims - or even some non-Muslim brown-skinned children - the acronym "ISIS" has become a stock taunt, referencing the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, which is also known as ISIS).

There doesn't seem to be any coincidence with the findings of this study and the 2016 campaign for the White House where a leading Presidential contender is talking about building walls and describing Mexican immigrants as anything but in a positive light.  At the beginning of businessman Donald Trumps campaign he started a firestorm with this opening gambit to the 2016 race for the White House:

“[Mexico] are sending people that have lots of problems, and they are bringing those problems to us. They are bringing drugs, and bringing crime, and their rapists,” the business mogul said.

The damage being done to the classrooms across the country seems to be undeniable.  The anti-bullying campaign being so assiduously used over the last 10 years now almost seems to be for naught with the prevailing atmosphere rolling in from the hateful rhetoric by the Republican side of the 2016 campaign.  The damage being done by the rhetoric of fear, anger and racism spilling out of the Donald Trump campaign is going to make it so much more difficult to roll back after such positive progress that seemed to be so evident with that nation-wide anti-bullying campaign.  I never imagined the source of ugly xenophobic rhetoric you would hear at this level would be rooted in the campaign for the White House.

A Bull In A China Shop

I had a great meeting this morning with a group in my church aptly named: "Playing With Ideas."  On the first of the month the topic is always 'Current Events.'  As one might imagine the focus of conversation centered on the GOP nomination contest and Donald Trump.  What I found interesting was the variation of ideas offered to define his appeal to certain groups based on personal vignettes and local readings of Florida primary results in and around regional counties.  What fascinated me was the different number of reasons people attributed to his appeal to a specific demographic whether it was a localized upper income group or a generalization based on what would constitute a 'low information' voter.

Driving home I realized that the main reason Donald Trump has a large enough appeal to be in contention as a nominee was the fact he was something of a blank slate if you will.  A blank slate one could use to make any justification they wanted for him to be worthy of their support due to fact they hate the status quo and what they current make up of the GOP represents:  an inability to act on the agenda they've had since the Gingrich years in the 1990's.

I keep hearing in various social media and mainstream media outlets a meme that really came home to me on my pensive drive home.  The GOP rank and file voter detests the current make up of the GOP and what it has become and Donald Trump represents that feeling no matter what he says he represents issue wise.  He is the strongman to effect change on a party that has become moribund in intransigence at the expense of compromise to be purist in their beliefs that range from privatization of most government functions to the eradication of what they define as 'entitlements.'  Donald Trump represents someone that will remake that intransigence through tactics that represent authoritarianism and an ability to 'get things done' on sheer will.

Unfortunately for his supporters our system of government not only doesn't work that way, it was designed specifically not to.  Unless his supporters find a way to fundamentally change the way our government works as a representative republic it is not possible for a Donald Trump like political entity   My fear is there are people out there that tire of our system of incremental change through a deliberative process.  Their goal is to change our system of government that favors authoritarianism and the ability to exact change on a dime without thought out deliberation from a representative body.  History is filled with examples of what they want and as usual it never ends well for either the strongman they envision for the people that put them their in the first place.

The Scurge of Rabbit Hole Politics

 This is why the GOP is infuriating.  The Wall Street crowd that nearly brought our country to its knees still goes unpunished.  How many thousands have had their homes improperly foreclosed on?  So far not one person in the financial industry has been held accountable for this.  Then there is the Iraq war.  Over 4,500 deaths and untold numbers of wounded and maimed for life American Soldiers and not one committee hearing on how we got into the war in the first place now that we know the first 50 reasons given for attacking Saddem Hussein have all been proven false, misleading, or outright lies.  And now we get this from the Speaker of the House, John Boehner (R-Ohio):

“My question isn’t about who’s going to resign, my question is who’s going to jail over this scandal?"

This is his remark regarding the IRS "scandal" where social conservative groups like the 'Tea Party' were allegedly singled out unfairly by the the IRS for further scrutiny over applications for non-profit status.  Its amazing how brazen they are in their hypocrisy and their blatant disregard for context with the recent past.

The Shrinking Budget Deficit

Every Democratic President since Lyndon Johnson has either left office with a surplus or less than what the deficit was when they took over from a Republican predecessor.  On the other hand, every Republican President since Eisenhower has  left office with a larger deficit than the one they inherited from thier Democratic predecessor.  Go figure.

Benghazi Is The Only Consulate / Embassy That Matters

Benghazi! Benghazi! Benghazi!  It's like a broken record for the GOP.  One has to wonder how much longer Republicans feel they can milk this before it becomes like the continuing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, being ignored by the MSM.  The not so amazing thing is the context with which the GOP keeps harping on this.  This attack on the Benghazi consulate is not new regarding other U.S. consulates/embassys around the world.  It's almost common considering how many times this happened under George W. Bush's administration.  When considering those incidents [there were 13] where was the outrage there?  A quick review of the incidents themselves happens to be very good context for the attack on the Benghazi consulate back on 9/11/2012:

 

January 22, 2002. Calcutta, India. Gunmen associated with Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami attack the U.S. Consulate. Five people are killed.

June 14, 2002. Karachi, Pakistan. Suicide bomber connected with al-Qaida attacks the U.S. Consulate, killing 12 and injuring 51.

October 12, 2002. Denpasar, Indonesia. U.S. diplomatic offices bombed as part of a string of “Bali Bombings.” No fatalities.

February 28, 2003. Islamabad, Pakistan. Several gunmen fire upon the U.S. Embassy. Two people are killed.

May 12, 2003. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Armed al-Qaida terrorists storm the diplomatic compound killing 36 people including nine Americans. The assailants committed suicide by detonating a truck bomb.

July 30, 2004. Tashkent, Uzbekistan. A suicide bomber from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan attacks the U.S. Embassy, killing two people.

December 6, 2004. Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Al-Qaida terrorists storm the U.S. Consulate and occupy the perimeter wall. Nine people are killed.

March 2, 2006. Karachi, Pakistan again. Suicide bomber attacks the U.S. Consulate killing four people, including U.S. diplomat David Foy who was directly targeted by the attackers. (I wonder if Lindsey Graham or Fox News would even recognize the name “David Foy.” This is the third Karachi terrorist attack in four years on what’s considered American soil.)

September 12, 2006. Damascus, Syria. Four armed gunmen shouting “Allahu akbar” storm the U.S. Embassy using grenades, automatic weapons, a car bomb and a truck bomb. Four people are killed, 13 are wounded.

January 12, 2007. Athens, Greece. Members of a Greek terrorist group called the Revolutionary Struggle fire a rocket-propelled grenade at the U.S. Embassy. No fatalities.

March 18, 2008. Sana’a, Yemen. Members of the al-Qaida-linked Islamic Jihad of Yemen fire a mortar at the U.S. Embassy. The shot misses the embassy, but hits nearby school killing two.

July 9, 2008. Istanbul, Turkey. Four armed terrorists attack the U.S. Consulate. Six people are killed.

September 17, 2008. Sana’a, Yemen. Terrorists dressed as military officials attack the U.S. Embassy with an arsenal of weapons including RPGs and detonate two car bombs. Sixteen people are killed, including an American student and her husband (they had been married for three weeks when the attack occurred). This is the second attack on this embassy in seven months.
h/t to David Atkins

 

No outrage here.  No Congressional investigation committees.  Though with this number one might think a committee reviewing the funding for security might be in order.  The House GOP though has continually voted to cut funding for security at all international U.S. bases and State Department properties.  Yet, nothing is said about that by the GOP leadership.  Then there is the loon contingent from Minnesota, Michele Bachmann:

"9/11, Benghazi Were God's 'Judgment,' So We Must Hold Day Of Prayer On Sept. 11"

Really Michele?  Apparantly the other previous 13 attacks don't merit spiritual comfort according to Bachmann.  I'm reminded here of that famous song from the broadway play 'Evita' about Evita Peron:  "Don't cry for me Argentina."  According to the GOP, other than Benghazi I guess you could say the same here to the tune of that famous lament singing instead, "Don't cry for me [insert name of consulate / embassy here]!

A Corporate Culture of Life Only A GOP'er Could Love

I'm always hearing from Libertarians and Republicans about how bogged down and unresponsive government can be inferring that capitalist corporations can turn on a dime to help the customer in need.  Don't ask Californian Terri Weissinger to confirm that.  Since corporations are now "people" with rights I find it interesting that this corporate "person," in the figurative flesh known as U.S. Airways, felt the need to refuse a helping hand when it was their fault in the first place when Ms. Weissinger found herself between a rock and a hard place.  Oh wait, when they act like this maybe they are people after all.  Another example of Republican "culture of life" at work since they are the ones that insist corporations ARE PEOPLE.  I guess U.S. Airways was proving they are the GOP's kind of people.  How quaint.

Senate Democrats Letting Speaker Boehner's Agenda Run Over Them

The malaise that permeates our nationally elected Democrats continues to deepen. The mind boggling aspect of all this is the fact that John Boehner’s battle plan is so simple that it seems to confound the Democratic leadership. If Speaker Boehner’s $100 billion dollar budget amputation was so odious in H.R. 3 then why does it suddenly become palatable to the leadership across the aisle if it’s chopped into increments amounting to the same thing? The grin on Boehner’s face in light of this is only going to get more indelible when the GOP takes this maneuver and runs with it against the Senate Democrats in 2012. There is a page on Facebook calling for Alan Grayson to take the reins of the Florida Democratic Party. I say let's forget that and start a movement to make him the head of the national Democratic Party. Mr. Grayson would be just what the doctor ordered for this creeping malaise that doesn’t seem to show any signs of abating in the near future.

Wisconsin State Democrats Fighting Back

I was just over at Balloon Juice and picked this up from E.D. Kain of this absolutely amazing video of Wisconsin State Representative Steve Hintz (D - Oshkosh District #54) setting the record straight how the minority party is getting treated by the new Teaparty way of doing government business. I feel like this has been happening for awhile now in the Florida legislature but not this severe. If Gov. Rick Scott's legislative backers start hitching their stars to him this is the treatment we can expect our elected state Democrats to get. Watch and behold this civics lesson rant for the ages about the integrity of the GOP majority and their leadership in Madison:

The latest reports I'm hearing is the Wisconsin public employee unons have already agreed to the financial concessions except stripping away their collective bargaining agreements. Once Florida state senator Steve Wise finishes with his efforts there is no doubt the teacher unions here in our fair state will be rendered impotent and stripped of our collective bargaining rights as well. Welcome to the Teaparty world where taking away rights is what they are all about.

Republican Party Pretzel Logic 101

I hope they hand out dictionaries at the Republican National Convention when it convenes in Tampa, FL in 2012. They will surely need them to look up "poetic irony" once they figure out Ybor City is within walking distance of the hall. As the Florida GOP tries to court the Cuban-American vote while at the same time some of their noted national leaders are calling for a "review" of the 14th Amendment it will no doubt make for an interesting dance for four days. The real comedy though will begin as we watch the GOP try to give the Tea Party base a lap dance whose favorite derogatory and racist term "anchor babies" will be the 'buzz' and rage of the convention as these immigration reductionists call for action on one of their pet issues amidst Tampa's famous Corona factories. Now that I've brought it up I can't recall GOP Senate candidate and Tea Party darling Marco Rubio even mentioning the 14th Amendment considering his ethnic background. Wonder what brand of cigar John Boehner smokes....Speaking of the Tea Party it will be odd watching them embrace former Lt. Col. Allen West. Since they rely almost entirely on Fox News for their "information" I wonder how many of them even know what West's ethnic background is. The African American Congressional candidate will no doubt take advantage of the 2012 GOP National Convention in his run to unseat Congressman Ron Klein since he will stand out like a sore thumb amid the nearly all white fraternity that seems to characterize their quadrennial dog & pony show. I'm sure the GOP leadership will try to make him a permanent fixture on the podium to demonstrate their "big tent" bona fides....The Orlando Sentinel's gubernatorial endorsements have come out and the non-surprise factor is an understatement. Their endorsement of State CFO Alex Sink, the Democratic Party candidate, is the de facto choice here with her lack of serious opposition and was expected. I'm not sure the Orlando Sentinel had much choice in their endorsement of Florida Attorney General Bill McCullom, the Republican Party candidate, over Republican Rick Scott in that primary seeing they were one of the leading newspapers in Florida helping expose Scott's Columbia HCA medicaid and medicare scam practices which earned a whopping $1.7 billion dollar fine. Scott's a typical Republican huckster who hates "big gubmint" but sures likes how that taxpayer money that fuels it feels in his pocket....Early voting has already started here in the Sunshine State in our closed primaries. With Florida's more than 13 million registered voters that means 2 million of them will have to sit this out as they are registered as 'Independent.' There's no doubt of their clout in the general though as both sides pull out the stops to court them....and finally poor ol' Illinois transplant, attorney and Republican State Senate candidate Mike Lameyer laments in the Ft. Myers News-Press "There is no reason for the jobless activity in the state of Florida." Well, Mike, I can think of four very, very big ones: (1) two terms of Jeb Bush & (2) his slacker brother; (3) Charlie Crist; and (4) GOP control over both state houses of government for the same entire period just mentioned. How's that? I hope that helped and you can call on me anytime here at Truman's Conscience if you need anymore assistance.

A Message From Ike

Watching the Republican party redefine "right-wing ideology" on a daily basis is starting to make my head spin. Historians of this period will no doubt be confounded by this bizarre transformation of the 'Party of Lincoln' as it careens out of control. One of the examples they will point to is the difference between 'Goldwater conservatives' and today's teaparty driven elected GOP politicos as they try to curry favor with a voting base that seems to have utilized a brand of ideological white-out that any sane person using a rational approach to political analysis will not be familiar with. Digby over at Hullaballoo turns me on to a quote that I, like her, would have bet the house on that could only be attributed to Howard Dean. Not only is it astonishing who the author of the quote in question is, it should also serve as a warning to those who do not heed its message:

"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."

And the dispenser of this infinite wisdom? One Dwight David Eisenhower. I'm just dumbfounded. Not only is the source of the quote astonishing it serves as a crystallization of the difference between yesterday's 'Goldwater conservative' and today 'Teaparty Republican.'

In the movie Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid Paul Newman's Butch Cassidy peers out at a posse they can't shake and wonders, "Who ARE those guys?" Historians will be looking back at today's GOP and asking the same thing.

Glorius Johnson's Democratic Party Two Step

Glorious be! Now that the redoubtable Ms. Johnson of the Jacksonville City Council has seen fit to switch parties I find it quite amusing that Lenny Curry, the local Duval County GOP chair, is shocked and dismayed that a party member has jumped ship after her war chest was filled with GOP funds. The "Dixie" loving African American certainly knows how to get attention and seems to know a thing or two about timing.

As I read the article the Suzanne Jenkins party switch came roaring back to memory as she too jumped ship with DCDEC funds after a famous tearful appearance before the party's executive committee . There was no doubt she had plans to run for mayor. The DCDEC chiar at the time, Clyde Collins, tried to warn her if she jumped the GOP would marginalize her and she would never be heard from again. Other than her seeming campaign to be Wal-Mart's personal Duval County representative not much has been heard from her since. Looks like Clyde Collins was right.

On the other hand I'm not sure what Glorious Johnson is looking to gain here. David Hunt of the The Florida-Times Union seems to be speculating that Ms. Johnson is going to make a run for mayor. The local GOP has a nasty habit of cutting off competitors at the knees once they've decided on a favorite making their primary nothing more than a rubber stamp for their chosen one. Though one can only applaud the efforts of the current local DCDEC chair, Travis Bridges, the Duval County Democratic party is still no where near being on the same level as the local GOP as far as organization and funding for local candidates are concerned. If the DCDEC wanted to employ the same practices as the local GOP seems to do regarding favored choices for a particular office, the local DCDEC is in no position to do so even if they were inclined. One thing for sure is certain. Glorious Johnson won't be marginalized by anyone, especialy the DCDEC.

All one needs to do is read the comments left on the FTU online story and see that many jacksonville residents still live in the day of Lester Maddox and his bigoted perspective on race desptie the racial makeup of the current POTUS. The odds are not favorable for her. It will be interesting to see how she does in a primary.

The Florida GOP Debate

First of all, why is Andrea Mitchell (Ms. Alan Greenspan for those who do not know) on my TV telling America that Mittens looked the most Reaganesque? Edward R. Murrow just came out of his grave so he could die all over again. Where do today’s journalist get the ideas that I (we) care what they think about these candidates. Here’s a novel idea, how about embracing a basic tenant of professional journalistic ethics and letting your viewers decide? That would be refreshing.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way I will say watching these country club white boys standing on the stage tonight trying to out “tax cut” the other delivered the most comedic effect of the evening with the exception of Huckabee. The “Gomer Pyle” of Arkansas actually said something that made me flinch because it had the semblance of clear thinking behind it: [paraphrasing here]”…why not take the tax rebate Congress just voted on and put it into job creating projects like highway infrastructure funding to improve and add stretches of highway that will cut fuel costs for working people instead of giving them money that will be borrowed from the Chinese so they can purchase Chinese made products.” I nearly fell out of my chair watching Huckabee’s rare moment of lucidity. He quickly recovered though and veered away from that moment and joined in the fray to out tax cut his fellow debaters.

Obama recently said the GOP for a while had been known as the party of “ideas” [though he tried to clarify himself later by saying not especially “good” ideas]. The only “ideas” I’ve ever heard from the GOP over the last 30 years of my political cognizance is for the administration of a cure all elixir in the form of a tax cut for any economic malady or foreign crisis that could be conceived. The lobotomy required for one to join the “conservative raison d’etra” is something to behold, isn’t it? Good times, bad times it doesn’t matter, either way it always calls for a tax cut. Defunding the process of governance as a cure all for economic, cultural and social malady’s should make for excellent comedic fodder but for some reason it gets a serious nod by people who pretend to be serious on TV.

They had their moments of making nice with one another and it was almost sickening listening to them “question” each other as the mutual admiration society suddenly showed up on stage. But the most interesting moment of the night wasn’t Huckabee’s moment of lucidity; it was Ron Paul’s rant about the illegality and stupidity of getting us into the Iraq war in the first place and the roar of approval from the audience that followed. This after each candidate fell over one another telling America what a great idea the war was and that Bush was bold and brilliant instigating it. I imagine you might get an argument from family members who have lost a loved one since but be that as it may, there is no way that fly’s in the general election.

One of the things that irritated me about the 2004 election was the charge of flip-flopping the GOP hung around Kerry’s neck. I always wondered why he didn’t just raise his hand and claim, “Guilty as charged.” Then followed up by saying if you want a President who believes the same thing on Thursday that he believes on Monday no matter what new information was learned then I’m not your man. Hillary Clinton would do well to try that tactic after several of the GOP candidates this evening made reference to her war vote on Iraq and tipped their hand how she would be attacked in the general.

Overall, the evening was a wash as far as this viewer was concerned. Though I suspect Romney will benefit the most simply because McCain just looks so yesterday beside him. If Romney takes Florida after a McCain win in SC the race will be even more convoluted for the GOP and won’t that just be too bad.