Thoughts on the Presidential Election, a Conservative's Brilliant Column, a .005% Chance and Trumpism in Europe

                                         
Presidential Thoughts

Those of you “of a certain age” surely remember the old TV show, “All in the Family,” which featured Archie Bunker, a lovable, not-very-bright, narrow-minded conservative working man, who perpetually taunted his liberal son-in-law by calling him “Meathead.”  In one episode, in a fit of pique, Archie declared, “Just you wait, and we’ll elect Ronald Reagan President!”  The audience (the show was done before a live audience) roared in laughter. The same kind of response occurred on another TV show of that era, “Laugh In,” when Reagan in the White House was suggested.   At that time, the idea of the actor-turned-California governor becoming President was laughingly preposterous.  But a few years later, that is exactly what happened!

 
Carroll O'Connor played the role of Archie Bunker for years
 

For those of you who are too young to remember Archie, Here is a 1971 video from one of the telecasts in which he and “Meathead” have a “discussion.”   Check it out and get some insight into his thinking.  It's pretty funny.

What was high humor to these shows’ gag writers became real history.  And so it is today with Donald Trump.  Before these two occurances, (1) the ongoing disintegration of the Republican Party (frequently predicted on this blog) which we are now witnessing and (2) the realization on the part of many G.O.P. voters that they had no one for whom to vote, the idea of Donald Trump running for President was another ridiculous, laughable, notion.  But now in the face of these two political developments, at least one third of those who have voted in Republican primaries seem to think otherwise.  What can be wrong with them?

What used to be the G.O.P. “establishment” has been replaced by millions of “Archie Bunkers,” and that is sufficient to give Trump the nomination. They may speak a “better English” and may not be from working-class Queens neighborhoods but still they are voting for him in vast numbers.  (If you don't get what I am saying, check out the video link I provided above.)  If those managing the convention attempt to deny him the nomination, even after all of his primary triumphs, I am certain that he will run on his own.  He will owe it to “Archie Bunkers” all over America to do so.  (Regardless of his comments to the contrary,  can you see Donald supporting "Little Marco" or "Liar Cruz" without opening himself to accusations of hypocrisy?  But when have accusations of any kind ever deterred him?)

Looking ahead to the November election between Trump and Hillary Clinton (Bernie Sanders will eventually drop out of the race, satisfied that his positions have resulted in a more liberal stance on the part of Secretary Clinton), there is no question as to the superiority of Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump using every possible criterion in judging for whom to vote.

    Brake Job

Whom would you prefer to replace your car’s brakes:  an experienced mechanic who had been doing that kind of work for 25 years or someone who just read up on fixing brakes in a “do it yourself” manual but has a big flashing neon sign over his shop?  But “Archie Bunkers” don’t delve that deeply into decision-making.  They don’t remember, for example, that the President is always accompanied by an aide carrying a briefcase which has been nicknamed the "nuclear football."  Most don’t even know what it is there for.   Mr. Trump may not.

Really, it should be “no contest.”  It won’t be, however, since there are millions of “Archie Bunkers” out there, not limited to Republicans either, who will put great weight on the half-truths, innuendo, and exaggerations of whatever flaws her opponents can find in Secretary’s background (as the G.O.P. has been doing for years) and that will be the bedrock of Trump’s campaign. Clinton’s reaction to Benghazi, her Email Servers, her paid speaking engagements, the Clinton Foundation and similar subjects will continue to be blown up by Republicans, including the “Donald,” so that they seem as horrendous as such tragedies as Pearl Harbor or Nine-Eleven, or acts of treason by foreign agents among us.   Any evidence to the contrary they will ignore.   Repeating lies often enough gives them a totally unwarranted ring of truth.  That’s what to expect from Trump.

Clinton 

In reality, as President, Hillary Clinton would be eminently qualified to build upon the programs of Barack Obama which have included a continued drop in unemployment, improvements in education, a rational approach to immigration, the reduction of the real danger posed by a nuclear Iran, the return of  most of our troops from the Middle East, making available comprehensive health care from private insurers to more Americans than ever before through the Affordable Care Act, attempting to unite Pacific area nations in trade agreements which would keep them working with us rather than with China, recognizing same-sex marriages, fighting gender-based discrimination and taking steps to protect our environment against the dangers posed by climate change.  

Trump has no real answers to this.  He has no programs other than “making deals.”  He only has insults and sweeping generalizations which disregard fact and history, designed to appeal to the Archie Bunkers among us whom he believes to be a majority of Americans.  It may very well be that the Bunkers out there don’t care about Barack Obama’s accomplishments or even oppose the ones from which they themselves might personally benefit.  Expect Trump to attempt to capitalize on this in the absence of any real solutions of his own in an effort to reach the Archie Bunkers of America.   

  Trump

This is what the 2016 Presidential election will come down to.  If you care about the future of America, you must become seriously involved in the election process.   And by all means, please read the column by  highly respected conservative journalist, Kathleen Parker, which is included on this posting.  And don't miss the opinion piece from Bloomberg Businessweek which also can be easily accessed from this blog.

JL
                                                   
                                           
How the World May End

A couple of days ago, I had a routine doctor’s appointment with my internist.  A week earlier, I had gone to a lab and had a blood work done to be forwarded to my doctor in time for my appointment.     In the office, I asked the nurse practitioner how my blood worked looked.  “Still loading,” she replied.  Five, and again ten, minutes later the results were “still loading” on her laptop.  Fortunately, by the time the physician came in to complete my exam another ten minutes later, the download was complete.

I drove straight from the doctor’s office to my bank where I had planned on depositing a refund check I had gotten in the mail in their ATM.  Unfortunately, the screen read “Temporarily out of Service.”  No big deal, I thought and went into the bank where a gentleman standing by the door advised me that all of their systems were down, but if I knew my checking account number (which I did), they could take the deposit manually and give me a hand-written receipt.  No big deal, I thought again, even though the amount in the check wouldn’t be available in my account until they were able to process it.  As I left, I remarked to the gentleman at the door that it was “just like the Fifties.”  He was too young to appreciate my remark.

 

Okay, so these two systems failures were no big deal.  But imagine if they involved our power grid, our water supply, our nuclear plants, our flight control systems.  We have to be very, very careful in entrusting formerly manual operations to computers.  They may be 99.095% checked-out to be safely operative (which I doubt they are), but that .005% chance of failure may result in the end of the world.

JL

                                           

Titles and First Names
All of the Presidential aspirants except Donald Trump carry the title of a present or past position by which they may be addressed (ex. "Govenor Kasich," "Secretary Clinton," etc.). Trump is stuck with no more than the title of "Mister."  The alternative would be to address him as "Donald," which would be impolite since none of the other candidates are addressed by their first names.  Mr. Trump's ten-year old son, should he someday choose to enter politics, would have no such problem.  He would have no problem answering to his first name ... which happens to be "Barron."  It sounds just like a title even more impressive than "Madame Secretary."  Donald perhaps wishes his parents had given him a similarly noble first name by which he might be addressed.  "Earl" Trump or "Count" Trump would be so more useful than "Donald." 
JL


                                                 

An Important Conservative Speaks Out
Kathleen Parker's March 1 Washington Post  column pointed out how Donald Trump's supporters are "innoculated against the truth" and questioned how one can "convince the inconvincible" or persuade the "proudly unpersuadable."  Read this basically conservatively oriented columnist's lastest take on the election BY CLICKING HERE   and visiting the Washington Post web site.

  Parker

JL 

                                        

Trumpism in Europe

This week’s Bloomberg Businessweek included an opinion piece featuring the idea that while Europe Is horrified by the idea of Trump in the White House, he’d fit right in with politics on the Continent.  There’s dissatisfaction there with the European Union, a financial crisis, but most of all, very significant support for Trump-like politicians in almost every country there “who draw their support from globalization’s losers—working-class voters who feel squeezed between an elite that doesn’t have their interests at heart and a growing class of immigrants they worry doesn’t share their values.”  Does that sound familiar?  These are the same issues fueling Trump's ascendancy in the G.O.P.

And the constituency Trump is building in this country, regardless of what happens here in 2016, is likely to remain a factor, just as the extreme right Le Pens (father and daughter) are a permanent factor in French politics.   But I’ve said enough.   Read the article!

JL

                                         

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