Examples

A new angle of attack on my least favorite president popped in to my head the other day and it’s interesting enough to merit writing about.  There’s truth to it, but is it true?  Judge for yourself.

Obama has been conceited, petulant, and hostile to advice from EVERYBODY even those that would be his friends.  In fact he’s so predictable about taking his ball and going home that nobody plans on him being around anymore.  He won’t even debate or defend his positions; all he does is act insulted.  He’s the one person who can never be wrong, at least in his own mind.  He refuses to take care of anyone he is responsible for, especially those he does not like such as our military and vets, and regards obedience from all people as merely his due. Nobody has to like him – they’ve only got to OBEY his every whim, and his cheerleaders had damn well better drown out any and all opposition.  That’s what they’re paid for after all.

I’m neither the first nor the last to make these assertions – They are everywhere.  But it occurred to me the other night looking at the latest complaints about Congress that all these things are all true about the Congress as well.  Obama you see is setting the example, and Reps and Senators on both sides are following it.  Seriously, go back through the last paragraph and see if you think it all applies.  I was stunned, and I thought of it.  (There’s probably 0% chance that nobody else thought of it first, but I got here on my own.)

Whether he means to or not Obama sets an example by his conduct.  There is no way to avoid that and it is consistently, consciously or not, mirrored by the rest of the government, on both sides of the isle.  Even doing nothing sets an example – and we see it followed in the Congress daily by members of both parties.

Hiding from work sets the Example of hiding from work, inappropriately long vacations set the example of inappropriately long vacations, etcetera.  And of course not getting anything done…

It’s food for thought anyway.

Ferguson

Honestly, this entire situation is hell of a mess. The first thing EVERYBODY should remember at all times, so we don’t kill each other, is that regardless of whom (if anyone) you support this is a TRAGEDY.  There is no upside for anyone in this. There was never going to be.

We’ll see what happens tonight with the National Guard out, but I think they will be tested at a bare minimum.  (By now YOU know what happened, but I have to predict the future.)  

I believe that the most urgent issue for the actual residents of Ferguson RIGHT NOW, is making sure all the riot and looter tourists don’t burn down the whole damn town.  I heard they tried to burn down a grocery store last night.   Ferguson might just need one or two of those, assuming the residents eat. Those professional criminals are not friends to the people of Ferguson.

I strongly suspect, if they would just analyze the home addresses of the arrested they  could stop the outsiders at least.  To do that, yes, they’ll have to start arresting people.  Then they sort out who lives in town, and who is a professional looter or professional rioter.  Both Police and Press should look at home addresses, specifically for Out of Towners.  I truly believe it will be telling, and could at least give the police a chance to charge the organized rioters and looters as such.

This REALLY needs to work.  The ONLY place left that the cops can go if it does not is Martial Law.  This is a HORRENDOUS idea, but there you go.  Failure to stop the nightly rioting is simply UNACCEPTABLE to all levels of government and the police. The pressure is just going to get worse and worse until it’s stopped.

NOT NO, BUT HELL NO.

I read a story just now about how Mitt Romney is going to be the darling of the Republican Party 2016.  I’ve been reading things like this from time to time for months.  Lest this horrible idea get out of hand, I’m going to crush this stupidity now.  HOPEFULLY in the process I’ll restore a few diehards to something resembling sanity.

My simple complaint?  Romney didn’t fight.  I don’t know if he doesn’t know how, or if he was unwilling, or if he hired people who he allowed to “hold him back.”  There is simply no excuse good enough for his performance.  Perhaps the meek will inherit the earth.  They aren’t going to win the Presidency. Not in 2016. 

People have seen President Obama petulant, smarmy, smug and unwilling to commit any act that looks like leadership for far too long now.  He’s obviously decided to take his ball and go home, ALONE, for the rest of his term while ignoring any responsibility that he’s not fond of.  That’s not leadership. It’s the antithesis of leadership. There is a real opening here IF WE ARE WILLING TO FIGHT FOR IT.

Do you remember?  It was as if Mitt assumed that the Presidency was his birthright!   As if he thought he was so damn well connected that he didn’t have to convince anybody!  All the way through the campaign I was screaming in my head “FIGHT GOD DAMN YOU! FIGHT!”  But no – soft spoken wimpyness was the order of the day.

That is NOT how you win an election in America.  Candidates must show that they can fight for what is right, and get people fired up to fight with them.  They must convince the people that THEY are the best choice even if the people don’t want to be convinced.  Most important, they must continue to inspire – every day, from the time they decide to run until the time they leave office.  Mitt Romney allegedly had to be talked into running by his family.  That’s sweet, but hardly inspiring. 

When Candy Crowley jumped into the debate and said he was wrong, did he invite her up on stage since it was 2-on-1 anyway?  No.  Did he even say “No, I’m right?”  No. He gave up.  HE WOULDN’T EVEN DEMONSTRATE THE CONFIDENCE TO STAND BEHIND HIS OWN WORDS.  I’d have accepted it if he’d done it badly- but he didn’t even TRY. 

And that’s more or less the story of Romney’s whole campaign.

Do you want to have him mess up ANOTHER election?  No. He had his shot and frankly, didn’t take it.  We need someone else.