Elect Real Leaders.

       Ever notice how presidential candidates either don't mention how they plan to carry out their plans for the future of America or suggest they plan to work "across the isle" in order to make their plans work? Hah! They think you don't know how working across the isle is next to impossible. That's not an isle at all, its a demilitarized zone, complete with political mines-fields. Nobody gets across that DMZ without years of negotiations that fall apart from time to time because of elections.
       Its not the time to work across the isle, its time to begin peace talks. Lay down your sharpened tongues, unclench your tightened fists, throw down your arms. We're supposedly all Americans. Let's start treating each other like fellow citizens who can all enjoy the same rights. And let's all consider the idea that America is the land of immigrants. After all, our families were all once immigrants. Lets cure our immigration laws and realistically make our borders safe.
       If you want to make America great again, that's how to do it. Lets start be throwing out any legislator who doesn't want to work with the other elected legislators, for the good of the country. Being isolated from the other side cannot make America great. It can only destroy it, and by the way since you're likely in the minority, you won't like the outcome of your efforts. And remember, the majority rules, but to be successful it rules benignly not hatefully.
      

Oh No, Not Them.

       Dr. Michael Mann sent out an email to remind us all that science is on most of the ballets next week. That's right, people like Donald Trump don't seem to believe science. Whether that or they just won't admit there's such a thing as global warming and climate change. Back in the 1980s "even Exxon scientists were describing climate change as catastrophic in internal memos." That was until Exxon's execs realized that to admit it would cost them money.
       I suppose that either the oil company executives have bought up all the high ground for their final homesteads or will shortly begin to do so. But really its no laughing matter that most Republican politicians spout the same rubbish trying to make people believe there's nothing to this global warming, or its just typical, scheduled earthly actions. Wrong! Some believe the science is true but fear for their seat in Congress. Others just don't get it.
       If you've got a Congressman or Senator who happens to be a climate change denier and he's up for election next week, now's your chance to strike a blow for the world. We need serious leaders and until the Republican party decides its more important to save the world than  it is to get more votes, I don't see them as being serious. So let's show Trump and his non-science candidates the back door.

What A Mess.

What if FBI Director Comey's bombshell release of the reconvening of the investigation into Hillary's emails as they relate to her aid, Huma and her estranged husband, former Congressman turned porn wannabe, Anthony Weiner were to fatally affect the outcome of the election, only to find there's nothing to these new emails that in any way relate directly to Hillary?
       What if this letter to Congress about these newly found emails doesn't affect the outcome of the election but later its found to be a criminal offense by Hillary or Huma, Weiner is a separate issue, but before Hillary is sworn in? What if after she is sworn in? It apparently has cost her about 2 points in polling at this point.
       Its all moot now but I think Congress and the President need to set new and firm guidelines on what and when the FBI may release any information about any probe, whether at the time the probe begins or upon final completion. It does seem to me , unfortunately, that Congress can't keep political secrets even if their lives depended on it. Therefore I think probes should remain secret from Congress and anyone else, until they're complete.
       Otherwise it'll be run-amuck political finger pointing between the parties above and beyond the norm. The way this election has come to pass is tragic for America, but there's no guarantee that the next and beyond won't be as bad or worse.
       If you'd like my opinion on Presidential elections, its that so few want to run because they would be so deeply investigated and that nobody is completely pure. What's left are only those who don't care about their reputations or are too delusional to understand the consequences of the campaign. What should be done? Nothing, I guess, except take the money out of politics. Money isn't free speech! Speech is free speech. And mine is as important as your.

Good Jobs By Government.

       America needs good paying jobs. Good paying jobs need good up to date infrastructure. Good up to date infrastructure needs funding. Funding for infrastructure must come Congress. Congressional Republicans have refused funding for infrastructure for nearly 7 years!
       The claim is that we can't afford more debt. But business and industry need good infrastructure and without it America will stagnate. With new infrastructure the American economy can soar. When it does, we can begin to pay down the debt. Without it we can't afford to pay our debt. You know what happens when we can't afford to pay our debt? Huge tax increases. For everyone. Even the rich.
       Look hard at your Senator and Congressman. Are they so conservative that they won't allow America to grow? Are they refusing to spend the money to rebuild our infrastructure? Don't they want us to pay our debt? Don't they want good paying jobs? It doesn't look like they do. Listen to Donald Trump. He claims to knows how to create jobs. But his only experience is building huge buildings. Well guess what? The building trades include building infrastructure along with a host of other fields. So even Trump understands that much.
       Whoever starts rebuilding our infrastructure will be creating millions of good paying jobs, all over the Country. Trump doesn't understand that. But Hillary does. That's how government actually does create good paying jobs. And no, business and industry isn't interested in building infrastructure. That's government responsibility. Let's get Congress to live up to its responsibility.
                                                        

Aleppo!

       I hope and pray the folks of Aleppo can survive until next year because they're being bombed out of existence by Russia and its puppet Syrian dictator. Meanwhile our plan of action, namely some bombing and not much else, ain't working. I'm not suggesting there's anything we can do that won't start WWIII, but my hope is that we can try a way to make Putin pull his dogs off those Aleppo folks so we can get some relief into them and allow them to get out alive.
       Unfortunately Pres. Obama missed any chance to stop Putin before he loosed his dogs on Aleppo in the first place. Strong sanctions might well have given him cause to be less aggressive. I'm not sure its all Obama's fault though. Remember that Congress is often a fly in the ointment even if quietly so. I'd be willing to bet Congress would have squealed like a stuck pig if Obama had tried anything that might have given him any brownie points.
       I guess its gonna be tough to come up with a plan to make Putin stop what he's doing even if we try to make it seem like he's the hero. Of course a new Pres. Trump will have a plan. Question is will it be to give Putin the keys to Syria or nuke the Kremlin? Heck, he might do both. Turn the keys over in a nice ceremony while the missile is flying.
       But what will a new Pres. Hillary figure out? It won't be easy, but then there are a number of serious problems facing the next President. I can't imagine why he or she would want the job, for any reason, no matter the prestige it carries. Of course Donald would love the increased value of his brand, and Hillary gains the historical record of First Woman President. In a fantasy world, neither would be on their respective tickets and Putin and Assad would both have drowned in a boating accident in a teacup.

Time To Reflect.

       I agree with some of the folks saying its time to stop butting heads with Trump. It seems to be pretty much over for him anyway. Why, even he has started to speak of issues and talking about what his first one hundred days might have been like had he won. Okay, so he worded it slightly differently, the point is its time to dream, for both Donald and Hillary.
       For Donald Trump the dream is of his first hundred days in the White House. He mentioned something about suing all the women who have come forward to accuse him of inappropriate touching conduct. Gosh, all these months of struggling to get elected and if he does, all he wants to do is pick on some ladies he didn't get to score with. What a loss.
       Hillary has a somewhat different dream. She's hoping that all this email talk will go away. That's about as likely as seeing The Donald sitting in the oval office. What she needs to set her eyes on is all the problems facing an American President, most of which will be unsolvable. And those that can be solved will take the total attention and energy of a caring president.
       The other problem the new President faces is a Congress with no interest in agreeing with anything either new President would like to work on solving. They're having enough trouble solving the seating arrangement in both houses of Congress. But when the dust settles over Washington, it's unlikely either party will have a clear and formidable majority, even within that majority's own caucus.
       The problem for the American people in the coming years will grow worse and worse. We'll grow closer and closer to war. And such a war will be fought with conventional arms and cyber attacks, and lord hope it not be nuclear. Now, we can blame past presidents and the legislatures they faced, Barak, George W, Bill, George H. W, Ronald, and beyond. But the blame game won't absolve us of the fact that we chose them all, Presidents, Representatives, and Senators.

Nature! What A Wonder.

       Ya know, I think the smartest thing the Republican Party could do right now would be to completely pull the plug on Donald Trump. By that I mean bully every Congressman and Senator in the party to denounce Trump and ask voters to skip the presidential race, just vote the down ballet races. Whatta they got to lose? Just the Presidency, the House and Senate. But for only two years.
       There would be a landslide win for Democrats, sure, but how long would it be before any Trump base people with half a brain would begin to realize that he was not the answer to their complaints. Such a landslide would bring a fair number of that base back to the Republican party. Why? Because those folks with a desire to see more conservative leadership will realize Trump is a lost cause. Let him have his hate message die a slow death.
       It would make for a stronger Republican party than if they allow Trump to completely fracture the party. That would be nice for Democrats initially, but not for America. We need more than one party and I'm a Democrat that's saying this. On the other hand it may be time to break up both parties and let new parties form around the different ideologies. Right now the two major parties don't represent all their members all that well.
       Of course there's always the possibility that such a landslide victory for the Democrats would provide an opportunity to take the reins of government and begin to solve all the problems of America in an even handed method and root out all the corruption and waste. Yep, they could do it, but, hey, their politicians. Its not in their nature to do things right. It is in their nature to screw things up more than ever. That's when the Republicans can jump back in and screw things up in a different way. That's the nature of things.

Talk About Dumb.

       Donald Trump is absolutely, one hundred percent wrong about the media. They may not like him, but just because they're reporting news he doesn't like, doesn't mean they're out to get him. What's happening is there is so much bad news coming out about him, they have little else to report on. I can tell you that if there was news about policy coming from either candidate, the media would pounce on it like a starved dragon.
       The reason the media would pounce on news about policy like that starved dragon is because they know the public is fed up with all this nonsense and are genuinely anxious to find out a little bit of what these two candidates will actually try to accomplish. I say try because, remember, a president is not a monarch, a president has to work with a congress in order to accomplish much of anything.
       I think that's where the candidates for president have always been nervous about saying too much. People hear a candidate say something and then they assume it will absolutely come to pass. And if it doesn't, then they assume the candidate (now president) must be a liar. People don't care if newer circumstances make it impossible to follow through on their promise.
       Its just that Trump has made so many vague promises and made so many more crude threats that he's painted a big red target on himself. When you make foolish statements about what you can and will do, you've got to expect to get called out about it. When you claim brilliance and act otherwise, you better expect to be shown the fool. When you speak of bombs like its no biggie, you'd better be prepared for thinking people to consider you insane. Mr. Trump, its not true that all media exposure is good exposure. You're brand is learning that now.

What An Election.

       I have to say, I'm extremely concerned about the elections. The rhetoric has climbed to a feverish pitch and has descended to a vile pit of misinformation, lies and accusations, so that the only way to win this election is to keep your head above the mud. That's why I'm worried. You see, while I'm told that Hillary is an excellent swimmer, Trump is taller.
       The question is will Trump's height win the day for him, will it keep his mouth above the mud or will Hillary's porpoise style swimming allow her to rise to the occasion? Seriously folks, wouldn't it be nice to actually have a civil discourse on the needs and possible solutions for our country and its people? Come on people, the whole world is watching us and are either laughing their butts off or shrieking in horror.
       What we do actually does concern the whole world and what we are doing, in our electoral campaign, is horrifying them. We have two people vying for the presidency, one is a buffoon and the other can't seem to keep from shooting her foot off. But here's the thing; one of them is gonna win. What will that mean for the future of America?
       Will we be faced with an era where candidates will be forced to be taller and taller or better swimmers in order to defeat the mud? Or perhaps a more stout candidate with huge lungs will bubble to the top of the election polls.
       Perhaps Canada does have a better idea. A short campaign season. Why, I've been hearing a lot of speculation on the 2020 elections already. Names are being thrown around like a popcorn popper. The campaign is on in full force already. Shouldn't we at least get over this one first?

The Four Seasons.

       I've come to realize there are four seasons to the Trump election campaign. To begin, I think Donald decided to run for president on a lark. He was at the top of his chosen profession and it seemed there was nothing he could not do, so why not run for president. He thought and still thinks he would make a wonderful president. Someone of his stature would be able to turn the country around and make it a profitable operation. Season One.
       Midway through the primaries Donald began to realize he could actually win. It gave him pause, did he actually want to tie himself down with all those uninteresting duties? YES! Because he has absolute confidence in his abilities. This is when he doubles down in badmouthing his opponents. Republican candidates and even the two Democratic candidates he might have to face. Any lie, any fabrication, no matter how outlandish, was on the table. Season Two.
       Now Donald is the GOP nominee. He need only badmouth one candidate, and its the one with the most baggage. It's almost too easy. Between her and her husband, he could fill a book with all the indiscretions and misstep blunders they've made. His base just ate up everything he said. Throw her in jail? A good idea and he's proud of it. Season Three.
       Then something began to change. Donald began to lose votes. Not his base, that base is resolutely behind him and knows the only way for him to lose would be if the system is rigged and he reinforces that impossibility. He begins to foster the idea of insurrection if he does lose. He begins to become crude as rudeness begins to show up in audio evidence. Season Four.
       Just stop and think of what Donald may have started in our country. Chaos and anarchy, if his base actually begins a revolution or anything like it. Donald has changed this country forever. He may have caused our country to begin to crumble.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                             
      

A Successful Businessman.

       Ya know, I may have been mistaken. I said Donald Trump lost nearly a billion dollars, but I now hear what he lost was nearly a billion dollars of other people's money. It makes a huge difference. Losing a billion dollars of your own money was bad business but losing other people's money isn't so bad. I mean you won't make a lot of friends that way, but with nearly a billion dollars you can buy new ones.
       On the other hand, if you lose your own money, its hard to buy anything and almost nothing on credit. Of course, when you lose OPM it gets hard to buy on credit too. I guess when you come right down to it, losing money is never good business. In fact if you lose a billion and get to go 18 years without paying any taxes, its not even good for government.
       I never took any business courses in school, but I kinda think they suggest you not lose money at all. I mean the whole idea of business is to make money, right? If you spend all your time losing money, it doesn't leave much time for making money. And that's the whole idea of being in business, to make money, as I just said. Of course if you insist on losing money, I suppose its best to lose a whole lot of money, that way you get to have some small tax advantages. Maybe not so small.
       On the other hand, if you're a country, losing money doesn't have any such advantages. Just disadvantages. So if you're planning on being your own country, I hope this has been helpful. And if you're planning on loaning Donald Trump any money, I hope this has also been helpful.

The Ins And Outs And Ups And Downs.

       How does one go about losing nearly a billion dollars in one year? And if that year was 1995, it was almost undoubtedly more than he was worth back then. And to top it off that loss of more than he was worth allowed him to go 18 years without paying any federal income taxes at all. Nice work if you can get it. But how good a businessman are you if you lose that much money in a single year? And how many other years did he lose money?
       So he's right that the tax code needs to change. But his plan gives him and folks like him even more advantages while taking more advantages away from middle class tax payers, I'm told. Now I don't begrudge him a little help. After all, anyone who has lost nearly a billion dollars in one year certainly needs a little help. But I wouldn't recommend him for president. We're already far enough in debt as it is.
       And why is he all of a sudden after Hillary for her husband's infidelities and maybe, he says, hers too? I suppose its because she's hitting at him for his, along with a long list of his other outbursts. There's something wrong when neither candidate seems willing or able to talk about anything with substance about that which is most important to Americans. You know, like which superstar is getting ready to divorce their spouse.
       This election campaign is by far the most confusing campaign season I've ever experienced, so I guess its going exactly the way the candidates want it to go. After all, it wouldn't do for the public to get a headful of plans they can then pick apart. Actually it wouldn't be the public that would do the picking, the public has too much other information on its mind. Like that superstar's upcoming divorce. No it would have to be the media types, you know, the talking heads that'll have to do the heavy lifting of explaining what the candidates meant. Do you really trust that the talking heads know what they're talking about? After all, they don't agree with each other.