Category Archives: political news

national news, political news

Trump: grand marshal of the clown parade

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Donald Trump decided during his 45-minute presidential campaign announcement speech to trash as many groups of people and individuals as he could.

Well done, Donald.

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/donald-trump-mexicans-comment-119100.html?hp=rc4_4

I’ll admit that I didn’t have the stomach to sit through the entire speech, but my favorite part occurred when he dissed Mexicans.

Immigrants are coming into the country to rape, murder and steal from Americans. He said that “I’m sure good people” are coming as well, adding the “good people” reference almost as an afterthought.

He thinks conservative columnist/TV pundit Charles Krauthammer is “overrated.” He trashed all his Republican rivals as being half-hearted and afraid to speak the truth.

As this campaign unfolds, though, I’m waiting anxiously for the Birther in Chief — Trump — to raise the issue of Sen. Ted Cruz’s legitimacy as a candidate, just as continues to do with the current president, Barack Obama.

Cruz was born in Canada; his father is Cuban, his mother is American. Thus, he’s an American citizen by birth — just like President Obama, except that the president was born in one of the 50 United States of America.

Will The Donald suggest that Ted Cruz is not qualified to run for, let alone serve as president?

Gosh, I hope he does — and then reveals why he deserves to be in the lead car in the Parade of Clowns.

national news, political news

Hey, what’s happening on the Democratic side?

Republican presidential candidates are gobbling up all the attention these days.

Have you noticed what’s happening in the “other” party’s presidential race? The once-unstoppable Hillary Rodham Clinton is looking, well, a bit stoppable these days.

Polling data suggest that Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who’s running in the Democratic Party primary against Clinton, has closed a lot of the once-huge gap between the two of them.

He trails Clinton now by just 9 points in New Hampshire, according to new data.

OK, it’s fair to ask: Is that a home-boy advantage for Sanders, given that he hails from next-door Vermont?

His crowds are huge. The excitement appears to be real. He’s speaking to the Everyman among us, railing against wage equality and declaring — without equivocation — that he opposed the Iraq War authorization from the get-go, unlike Clinton, who approved it.

It’s still a significant stretch to believe that Sanders is going to be nominated next summer at the Democratic National Convention. Two others also are running to the left of HRC — former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee.

Democrats aren’t likely to actually nominate an avowed socialist whose major campaign platform plank has been to call for massive redistribution of wealth.

Actually, of the three men running against Clinton, I find Chafee to be the most interesting, given that he once was a Republican.

But those gentlemen are far behind the two Democratic frontrunners.

How strange it seems to be talking today about Sen. Sanders as someone with at least a shot at derailing the Clinton Express.

Now, let’s all turn our attention back to those crazy Republicans … shall we?

 

political news

The impossible has happened … now what?

LAS VEGAS, NV - APRIL 28: Chairman and President of the Trump Organization Donald Trump yells 'you're fired' after speaking to several GOP women's group at the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino April 28, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Trump has been testing the waters with stops across the nation in recent weeks and has created media waves by questioning whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)

Now that the impossibly ridiculous has occurred — and Donald Trump has become the latest Republican presidential candidate — it’s perhaps time to assess briefly whether this guy actually has a shot at being elected president of the world’s greatest nation.

This picture of The Donald ought to suggest that there’s no way on God’s Green Earth that he’ll take up residence in the White House on Jan. 20, 2017.

Diplomacy? Nuance? Sensitivity? Is that the face of a man who understands any of that? Say what you will about politicians in general, but it does take some degree of finesse to navigate through tricky pathways.

The Donald doesn’t possess it. What he does possess, though, is conceit, ego, self-absorption, narcissism and self-aggrandizement.

How do those traits play? In the world of popular culture, they play well. Why do you think The Kardashians are so successful? They possess zero actual talent. But there they stand — in front of us constantly.

I put Donald Trump in that category of celebrity.

Which is why it’s treacherous to rule him out completely as a serious contender for — oh, I am loath to say this — for the presidency.

Strange things can happen in this insane world of ours.

Trump is a creature of this popular culture that places zero value on people’s compassion or their ability to actually lead.

He boasts about his fabulous wealth, not giving a damn about those who count getting through the day a major accomplishment. He bellows that “I will make America great again,” all by himself, no doubt. He puts preposterous notions into the public domain questioning whether the current president is constitutionally qualified to hold the office to which he was elected twice.

In that weird, wacky world out there, these things seem to resonate with enough people to — dare I say it? — make him a legitimate candidate for the most powerful public office in the world.

Am I predicting a Trump presidency? Not for a nano-second. But I’m telling ya, the guy’s going to make noise out there. And some folks are actually going to listen to it.

What the heck. I’ll look on the bright side. The Donald’s going to give folks like me plenty of rhetorical ammo.

I’m locked and loaded.

political news

So much for predicting The Donald’s future

Roll this around for a moment.

President … Trump.

Yep, Donald Trump did what I truly didn’t think he would do. He declared he is running for the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in 2016.

On the one hand, the idea of a President Trump could render me catatonic if I were to give it too much thought. On the other hand, the idea of The Donald having to answer questions about public policy, diplomacy, the nuance of governing and balancing the powers of government makes me shiver with anticipation.

Trump declares White House bid

“I want to make America great again,” he declared today. America’s not great now? We’re not the world’s pre-eminent military power? We’re not leading the fight against international terrorists? We haven’t recovered from the Great Recession of 2008-09?

The Donald doesn’t think so, I guess.

The GOP field is full of serious individuals. One of them, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, joined the field Monday, bringing the total number of GOP candidates to 11; the Democratic field has four of candidates.

Donald Trump is not a serious candidate for the presidency of the United States.

But you know? Given the guy’s celebrity status and the infatuation of such status fostered by today’s pop culture, well, almost anything can happen.

I fear that anything just might occur.

 

political news

Trump won’t join GOP field

I’m going out on a limb with this one.

But here goes: The Donald — aka Donald Trump — is not going to announce this morning he is running for the Republican presidential nomination.

His “big announcement” might come in the next few minutes, so I have to hurry.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-set-to-announce-2016-plans/ar-BBlcMsR

He’s going to reveal his wealth. He’ll tell us that he wants to keep making zillions of dollars and he cannot do so if he’s taking the measly 400 grand he would earn annually as president of the United States. Then again, if he doesn’t need the money, he can give it to charity.

I just cannot fathom this guy subjecting himself to the scrutiny he would get — not just from the media, but from the other more serious candidates running for the GOP nomination.

I now will hold my breath.

political news, State news

Texas Democrats take a punch in the gut

You want to know how Texas Democrats are feeling today?

Like pure dookey, based on what happened way down yonder in San Antonio over the weekend.

Get a load of this: A veteran former Democratic state senator, Leticia Van de Putte, who’s lived in the Alamo City for virtually her entire life, got beat in the race for mayor by Ivy Taylor, who was born in New York City and who’d never run for a partisan office before..

http://www.texastribune.org/2015/06/14/taylors-triumph-new-day-or-another-fluke/

Van de Putte was supposed to win, although she was far from a shoo-in. Let’s be clear as well: Taylor also is a Democrat, so the mayor’s office is remaining in Democratic hands.

But the former state senator, who got thumped in her bid for Texas lieutenant governor last year by Republican Dan Patrick, figured to remain in the public eye and the state’s Democrats figured to count on her to remain one of its key voices on issues across the state.

Texas Democrats keep offering up brave talk about coming back from the political wilderness. They vow to make the state competitive in the next presidential campaign. They vow to take some of those statewide offices all held exclusively by Republicans since I can’t remember when.

Even here, in the Panhandle — the heart and soul of the Texas Republican Party — this kind of bravery can be heard.

I hope one day for a return to a competitive two-party state.

With two major parties fighting on equal footing against each other, there’s bound to be some semblance of moderation from the GOP, which has been running roughshod over the opposition. The same thing happened when Democrats owned all the political power in Texas.

Leticia Van de Putte might have symbolized a return to that competitive posture.

Instead, she becomes just another political casualty.

 

media news, political news

Bye, bye Rush … don’t hurry back

I posted something to my Facebook feed the other day about Rush Limbaugh losing yet another radio station from his shrinking audience.

The post prompted an interesting exchange among several individuals with whom I’m “friends,” actual friends — and it included one of my sons.

One of the individuals encouraged another respondent to actually listen to Limbaugh’s radio show before making a judgment about his message.

http://www.salon.com/2015/06/09/rush_limbaugh_is_cooked_the_stunning_fall_of_the_rights_angriest_bloviator_partner/

It reminded me a bit of a similar exchange I had in the pre-Internet days with a man I admired greatly.

The late Maury Meyers, who once served as mayor of Beaumont and who once ran unsuccessfully for Congress against the Irascible Man, the late Rep. Jack Brooks. Meyers was a Republican, Brooks a Democrat.

Meyers was a fine individual, a progressive, pro-business mayor.

He also was a fan of Rush Limbaugh.

I wrote a column about Limbaugh’s short-lived TV show in which he’d rant for 30 minutes, sign off, then come back the day and rant some more. I couldn’t take it and I said so in my column, which ended with this: “Rush Limbaugh is to TV political commentary what Willard Scott is to TV weather predicting, with one difference: Scott makes me laugh; Limbaugh makes me sick.”

Meyers called me and invited me to listen more intently to Limbaugh. Tune in to his radio show, Maury implored me. Listen to him over a period of time and tell me if you still feel the same way, he said.

I took him up on it.

Limbaugh was worse than I thought. I wrote a follow-up column, stating that Limbaugh’s radio show was the worst piece of broadcasting I’d ever heard. OK, I’ve heard worse since then, but at that time, Limbaugh was the gold standard for right-wing trash-talk.

The term “Dittohead” was meant to be worn as a badge of honor by the man’s radio listeners who proclaim themselves to be among them. It’s an interesting term, when you think about it. To me, it more or less connotes an inability or unwillingness to think for one’s self.

That, I reckon, is Limbaugh’s audience.

And it appears to be dwindling.

 

 

media news, national news, political news

Rubio takes heat, gives some of it back

Welcome to the national spotlight, young man.

Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican presidential candidate, is finding out first hand how tough it is to keep some aspects of one’s personal life out of the glare of public view.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/marco-rubio-hits-back-at-new-york-times/ar-BBkXhm9

It really cannot be done.

The New York Times has published a couple of stories about the senator from Florida. One of them details the number of traffic tickets he and his wife (mostly his wife) have run up in the past 18 years. The other examines the couple’s spending habits.

The stories aren’t exactly flattering. In fact, they’re quite unflattering. Rubio has hit back at the Times over the personal finances story. He wrote an email: “It’s true, I didn’t make over $11 million last year giving speeches to special interests,” Rubio said. “And we don’t have a family foundation that has raised $2 billion from Wall Street and foreign interests.” Those examples appear to be shots at Democratic frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton, who’s come under scrutiny herself for the money she has earned since she and her husband, President Bill Clinton, left the White House in 2001.

Personally, I think the traffic-ticket story is overblown. Indeed, if he is elected president in 2016, neither he or his wife will be sitting behind the wheel of a motor vehicle on public streets for at least the next four years. So, what’s the point, right?

As for the financial story, the Rubios reportedly have thrown a good bit of money that Sen. Rubio seem to indicate they don’t have. According to U.S. News & World report: “The Times also said Rubio has handled his personal finances in a manner that ‘experts called imprudent,’ with a low saving rate, substantial debt, buying an $80,000 boat and leasing a $50,000 2015 Audi Q7.” Rubio is going to insist on prudent spending by the government as he campaigns for president. Do as I say and not as I do? Is that it, senator?

Here’s a thought for the Times’s editors to consider: If you’re going to examine the personal spending habits and the portfolios of the candidates, be sure to look at Sen. Bernie Sanders’s account statements carefully. He is the “Democratic socialist” who’s campaigning for the Democratic Party nomination on a platform that seeks to redistribute wealth throughout the country because of what he calls the “obscene” wealth of too few Americans.

As for Rubio and the treatment he’s gotten from the media, there’s much more scrutiny to come.

It goes with the territory.

 

media news, political news

Where has Rush been hiding?

Out of ideas

Maybe I’m a bit slow on the uptake — which I admit to readily — but I’m not hearing much lately from Daddy Dittohead, Rush Limbaugh.

I know he’s still on the air here in Amarillo. How do I know that? The gentleman who delivers our mail each day tunes his radio to the station that broadcasts Rush’s bilge, er, commentary.

It’s just that Limbaugh’s thoughts on this or that used to be quoted by mainstream media quite regularly. I haven’t seen much from or about the gasbag.

The only news I’ve seen lately involving Limbaugh has related to stations dropping him because of advertisers bailing out. I don’t expect that to happen in the Texas Panhandle, where Limbaugh is considered by many to be the voice of all that is wise and correct.

As one who thinks quite differently of this guy, my hope is that he remains in the background, blathering only to the Dittoheads who don’t quite grasp the irony of being labeled as such.

national news, political news

‘A bro with no ho’?

This item made me chuckle, although I am somewhat ashamed of myself for it.

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has just announced he’s running for the Republican Party presidential nomination in 2016. He’s single. Never been married.

One of his Senate colleagues, fellow Republican Mark Kirk of Illinois, joked upon hearing that Graham said he would have a “rotating first lady” if he’s elected president, that his colleague is “A bro with no ho.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/mark-kirk-lindsey-graham-bro-118882.html?hp=l2_4

Kirk’s crack came during a Senate Appropriations Committee legislative markup session. He made the crack into an open microphone, which means it wasn’t meant to enter the, um, public domain.

But … it did.

Now it’s out there.

Honest to goodness, I actually think Kirk’s comment is funny.

My hunch also is that Graham has enough of a sense of humor to think so, too.

Still, the twinge of political correctness that continues to cling to my conscience makes me slightly embarrassed for admitting that Kirk’s quip made me chuckle.

Aw, what the heck. It’s funny. I’ll leave it at that.