When did National Review become a GOP pariah?

27buckley4-600

I’m puzzled.

I’ve always thought that the National Review was seen as the “bible” of conservative thought. The magazine founded by the late, great William F. Buckley was the go-to publication for conservatives to get their view distributed among the masses.

The National Review was the magazine to read.

What in the name of all that is holy is happening?

The Republican National Committee has cut the National Review out of its debate participation. GOP presidential frontrunner calls the magazine a “failing” publication.

Times are changing, yes?

William Buckley might not recognize what’s happening these days to the conservative movement.

Or that his once-revered publication has been shoved aside. There once was a time when thoughtful conservative leaders would occupy the platform that the National Review provided. They would offer their policy views on this or that issue.

Conservatives would embrace them; liberals might not join in the group hug, but they would at least consider the argument made, if only to shore up their own bias.

We have not entered a new age of wisdom when we toss aside thoughtfulness in favor of anger and shoot-from-the-hip talk-show rhetoric.

Mr. Buckley, wherever you are, I wish you were around to talk some sense into these guys who have redefined the conservative movement you once led.

 

Down to just three jobs

retirement_road

This is another in an occasional series of blog posts commenting on upcoming retirement.

Four jobs have turned to just three.

More or less.

I worked my last shift today as a “regular” part-time employee of an Amarillo auto dealership where I’ve been working for more than two years.

No, I didn’t quit. I merely asked to work on an “as-needed basis.” Someone calls in sick? Or goes on vacation? Or gets stuck in the snow and ice? Call me. I’ll be available . . . maybe.

My availability will depend mostly on whether my wife and I are on the road tooling around the country towing our fifth wheel, or visiting with our granddaughter — and her parents and two brothers — in Allen, Texas.

This retirement status has been slow to take root. I’m continuing to have too much fun as a freelance blogger for two media outlets. I’m continuing to write news features for NewsChannel10.com, which is the website for KFDA-TV in Amarillo. I also am writing blogs for PanhandlePBS.com, offering perspective on public affairs programming. The third job involves editing news copy and proofreading pages for a weekly newspaper in Tucumcari, N.M.

I’m now officially a Social Security recipient, joining my wife, who decided to take “early retirement” a couple of years ago. Social Security says that at my age I am able to collect “full retirement benefits.”

But the idea of going to work two or three — or sometimes four — days a week became something that I found less appealing now that our household income took a dramatic boost once Social Security benefits began arriving.

I don’t intend to quit the auto dealer job entirely. However, as retirement inches closer, I am looking forward to spending a lot more time at home doing what I enjoy the most . . . which is to write.

And, oh yes. I also will keep pounding away from this platform.

 

Commander in chief test? Trump’s already failed it

Trump-and-gun-and-cadets

Politico asks in a story whether Donald J. Trump will flunk the commander in chief test.

Republican Party brass is terrified, Politico reports, of Trump getting nominated and then having to answer difficult questions regarding national security.

Trump already has failed that test, in my oh-so-humble view.

In spades.

Time and again on the campaign trail, Trump has exhibited a shocking ignorance of such things as the “nuclear triad,” which is the nation’s three-pronged nuclear weapons system involving land-based missiles, submarine-based missiles and bombs dropped from aircraft.

He cannot articulate with anything approaching precision how he intends to solve the myriad defense-related issues. His answer to illegal immigration is to “build a wall” and “make Mexico pay for it.”

He praises leaders such as Russian leader Vladimir Putin and — get this — North Korean despot/maniac Kim Jong Un for their “leadership” skills.

But I keep coming back to the wackiness of this campaign.

It has produced surprise upon surprise all along the way.

Trump has been criticized by leading conservatives for not understanding the details of foreign and military policy. Never mind what progressives are saying about him; it goes without saying that they would be highly critical of the real estate mogul/reality TV personality.

Before you get all twisted up, I’m also well aware of those who believe the current president has failed the commander in chief test — while he’s been on the job. I simply do not share that criticism.

I totally get that one man’s buffoon is another man’s statesman.

You know where Trump fits in that equation as far as I’m concerned.

DeLay’s the latest GOPer to skewer Trump

untitled

I am no fan of former U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Tom “The Hammer” DeLay . . . but you knew that already.

However, the fiery Texan has written an essay that conservatives such as himself should take to heart.

Take a look.

DeLay questions the Republican presidential campaign frontrunner’s commitment to Christian principles. He said the next president ought to be a conservative who bases his political beliefs on Scripture.

DeLay also takes a shot at what he calls Trump’s “clumsy” pandering to evangelicals at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., when he cited “Two Corinthians,” apparently not knowing that the common reference to that New Testament book is “Second Corinthians.”

He then wonders aloud just how a President Trump — my fingers still tremble when I write those two words — would make sure that retail outlets instruct their staffers to wish customers “Merry Christmas” during the holiday season. How would he do that? DeLay wondered. “By executive order?”

DeLay is just the latest political conservative to reveal what many of us on the other side of the fence have believed for a very long time, which is that Trump is a phony.

In this crazy, goofy and bizarre political environment, though, Trump’s brand of phoniness is more appealing to his true believers than the so-called phony rhetoric coming from “establishment politicians.”

 

 

Singer keeps his cool

Vocalist David Phelps singing his Christmas show "One Wintry Night" at the Paramount Arts Center in Ashland, Monday Dec. 10, 2007.  Proceeds from the concert going to Neighbors Helping Neighbors, a collaborative effort of five local agencies to provide basic human services for familes in need, raising funds to develop a one-stop center in the old Johnsons Dairy building.PHOTO KEVIN GOLDY

You want to know what “keeping your cool” is all about?

I’ll tell you about something my wife and I witnessed this evening.

We attended a gospel concert at a megachurch here in Amarillo. The Gaither Vocal Band was the featured act. We’ve seen them perform many times over the years — and every single performance we’ve seen has brought great joy to both of us.

As I told my pastor, this brand of music “ministers to me often more than a preacher in a pulpit.” He got it.

Well, tonight one of the vocalists — tenor David Phelps — stepped forward to sing a solo. This young man’s range is nothing short of spectacular, not to mention the power in his voice is simply not to be believed until  you hear it.

He launched into an operatic song he’s performed many times; we’ve heard it and are moved every time we hear it.

Tonight, about a fourth of the way through the song, the sound system let out this huge groan and then went dead. Nothing. Deader’n dead.

What did Phelps do? He kept singing. He didn’t miss a note. Not a beat. He sang as if he was in complete control of the situation.

The crowd of several thousand started to applaud. Some of them stood.

Phelps kept belting out the aria.

Then, just as he started to sing the conclusion, the sound came back on. He finished his song.

We all stood and cheered.

I turned to my wife and said, “Now, that was impressive.”

“Sure it is,” she said. “He’s a pro.”

No . . .  kiddin’.

Bravo, David! Bravo!

 

Can politics intrude on a politician’s day job?

DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-FL, speaks at the Democratic National Committee's Womens Leadership Forum Issues Conference in Washington, DC on September 19, 2014. AFP PHOTO/Mandel NGAN        (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

I’ve long wondered something about full-time politicians who take on jobs outside of the job they were elected to do.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz? Well, she’s my latest example.

Schultz is a Democratic member of Congress who represents southern Florida. She also is chair of the Democratic National Committee.

She’s certainly not the first full-time pol to assume duties unrelated to her congressional work. Former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole once represented Kansas while serving as chair of the Republican National Committee. Interestingly, he resigned his Senate seat when the GOP nominated him to run for president in 1996; he said he couldn’t do both things at the same time, so he decided to set aside his Senate duties.

Schultz doesn’t do that. No, she runs the Democratic Party while serving her constituents in south Florida.

How well does she do either job, or both?

This issue of running for a higher office while holding down an elected job already has come up during the 2016 presidential campaign. GOP contender Marco Rubio has been criticized for missing many Senate votes while stumping for his party’s nomination. New Jersey Democrats made noise about seeking Gov. Chris Christie’s ouster after Christie declared he wanted to be the Republican nominee this year.

Other members of Congress are seeking the presidency this year. To my knowledge there’s been little said about how well they’re doing their current job while they seek to be elected to another one.

Schultz was re-elected in 2014 by a wide margin, so I guess her constituents think she’s doing all right.

It’s fair to wonder though: How does she deal with purely local issues? How much attention do her constituents get from her — or her staff — when they have concerns about their Social Security or military pension checks?

Schultz has a big job running a major political party. She also has a big job representing her constituents on Capitol Hill; the latter job also pays her $175,000 annually, plus all the ancillary perks she and her colleagues get while serving in Congress.

I occasionally wonder whether politicians who hold down full-time government jobs can do those jobs adequately when other matters divert their attention from the duties they were elected to perform.

 

Palin endorsement of Trump gets roasted

untitled

There’s little I can add to this brutal roasting of Sarah Palin’s endorsement speech for Donald J. Trump.

The writer unloads on Palin and Trump.

The Guardian is a British newspaper. The link near the bottom of this post came to me from a friend in Australia. My friend and I share political observations of each other’s home countries. I must admit that he is much more dialed in to the U.S. political scene than I am to what’s happening politically in Australia.

If you’re a fan and/or an admirer of Sarah Palin, you might not want to read the essay.

However, if you believe — as I do — that the former half-term Alaska governor has become a cartoon character, well, you might get a laugh or two out of this piece.

Reader discretion is advised: It’s full of some pretty nasty invective.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jan/20/sarah-palin-donald-trump-endorsement-speech-quotes

I really was hoping Palin would have disappeared by now.

 

Palin politicizes PTSD . . . and her family’s latest crisis

Sarah-Palin

There must be no barriers that will keep Sarah Palin from politicizing an event, including those that involve her family.

Palin’s son, Track, has been charged with assault. The incident allegedly involved the young man’s girlfriend and an AR-15 rifle.

Mama Grizzly’s response? She blamed President Obama for her son’s post traumatic stress disorder and his policies regarding care for veterans.

Unbelievable!

The former half-term Alaska governor happened to be at Republican presidential campaign frontrunner Donald Trump’s side Tuesday in Iowa, shrieking about how Trump was going to “kick ISIS’s ass!” while her son was being arrested and booked into jail in Wasilla, Alaska.

So she blamed the president of the United States for her son’s bad behavior.

This isn’t the first time Track Palin’s gotten into trouble because of his behavior. Recall the brawl in which he was involved in Anchorage, the one that also involved his sister, Bristol?

It might be that Track Palin suffers PTSD from his service in Iraq with an Army combat unit in 2008. If so, then he needs — and deserves — the best medical care he can find.

However, for his mother to politicize his ailment and to suggest that it’s another politician’s fault because the young man cannot control his temper goes shamefully beyond the pale.

Meanwhile, a New York veterans group has urged Sarah Palin and others to knock off the political criticism. Focus instead on the problems associated with PTSD.

As for Sarah Palin . . . your son needs help. He doesn’t need to be kicked around as a political football.

What if . . . Clinton loses first two contests?

biden

All right, ladies and gentlemen, it’s time once again for a little game of “What If?”

The Iowa caucuses are coming up. They’ll be followed immediately by the New Hampshire primary.

Forget about the Republicans for a moment. Let’s ponder the Democratic contest.

What if Hillary Rodham Clinton gets thumped in Iowa? She’s leading in that state — supposedly — but the margin is diminishing. Bernie Sanders might be within the statistical margin of error.

If she loses Iowa, then what if she gets pummeled in New Hampshire? Polls in the Granite State show Sanders with a huge — and growing — lead.

OK, then comes South Carolina. What if by some chance Clinton loses there, too? Momentum has a way of dictating how these things go. The e-mail controversy is beginning to swirl once again.

Clinton once was seen as the probable next president. Now? Well, she’s less probable by a good bit than before.

Are the Democrats going to nominate a “democratic socialist” who’ll turn 75 by the time of the next inaugural? Do they really want to fritter away a chance at keeping the White House in an election when the GOP is likely to nominate either a bombastic real estate mogul/reality TV star or a junior U.S. senator from Texas who no one who works with him seems to respect, let alone like?

Oh, yes. There’s another guy. The vice president of the United States, took himself out of the running. Joe Biden said he had “run out of time,” only to declare just a few days ago that he “regrets” not running, even though he said the decision was the “right one.”

Regret making the right decision?

Hmmm. Sounds to me as though regret might override right, if the once-presumed frontrunner keeps stumbling.

This election season has been full of craziness. Who’s the say there isn’t room for a little more of it?

 

Internet proves, um, wrong!

48405289

Back in the day — when I toiled at a daily newspaper — I actually had the following exchange with a reader of the paper who had submitted a letter to the editor and asked me to publish it.

Me: Are you sure about your facts here? This stuff looks kind of fishy to me.

Reader: Of course I’m sure. It’s the truth. I got it on the Internet.

Suffice to say we didn’t publish the individual’s letter.

The Internet is a lot of things. The purveyor of the whole truth all the time, though, is not one of them.

Breitbart.com posted a story that has Amarillo abuzz with concern. It describes the city as a haven for Middle East refugees and that the city is being “overrun” by them.

Not so, says Mayor Paul Harpole.

I’ve got to give Amarillo Globe-News reporter Kevin Welch huge props for exposing this nonsense.

Harpole said the city is working to control all immigrants, which include refugees. The issue isn’t limited to just those fleeing bloodshed and misery in the Middle East.

But according to the Welch’s story, Brietbart.com and some other conservative websites are disseminating bogus “information” about the state of affairs in little ol’ Amarillo, Texas.

It’s been a given for years that Amarillo has been a magnet of sorts for immigrants. Community faith-based and secular organizations have done a lot over the years to welcome immigrants, as Welch reported.

The city, though, isn’t being swarmed, swamped and swallowed up by hordes of refugees, as some Internet sites have said.

The fallacy of this kind of alleged “reporting” contains several lessons.

One of them ought to become required of all who consume news and commentary. It is that the Internet is a source for fiction far more frequently than it is a source for fact.