WEST WING or JEST WING?
Granted, I got late start, but I am currently in the middle of season number four of “THE WEST WING”, a television show that aired from 1999 until 2006 portraying life inside a fictitious Democratic White House and the lives of those who work in the West Wing in support of the President. It won numerous awards, including over twenty Emmy’s and three Golden Globes. The show originally aired during the administration of President Bill Clinton, and I have to believe that it was modeled after that White House rather than the White House under George W. Bush and Dr. Strangelove, Vice President Dick Cheney. There couldn’t have been that many smart young people working in the Bush White House, fiction or otherwise! At any rate, I am struck by the absolutely awesome power of the office, and the incredible dedication of those who avail themselves to “serve at the pleasure of the President”. I feel like the show is not real far off track in portraying what it must have been like before, in the good old days, before Donald Trump and his band of Scary Men came along and hijacked the office on behalf of corporate America and the very wealthy at the expense of the rest of us. That there were honest, idealistic and energetic individuals working every day to do what was best for their country and politicians on either side of the aisle willing to compromise on issues that were of concern to all of us, not just the privileged few. Yes, the good old days. Now we have an individual holding the Oval Office hostage to everything decent, destroying our environment around us to satisfy his corporate benefactors insatiable greed, a Congress which stands silently by while the President and all of his men plunder our institutions from the Courts to the Department of Justice to the FBI to the CIA. He has gone through more people in a year than Trump did on “the Apprentice”, most of who were not qualified to hold their positions in the first place. One case in point, the Press Secretary. Sean Spicer? OUCH! Steve Scaramucci? “U TALKIN TO ME?” And now Sarah Sanders, aka “HUCKLEBERRY”. Now there’s a powerful group of professionals that Alisson Janney (portrays C.J. Craig, the Press Secretary on “West Wing”) would certainly be proud of (NOT!!). And this is just one example-I have in previous posts detailed a number of the other Cabinet level or higher individuals who have no business being anywhere near the West Wing, or any other governmental building in D.C. for that matter! It’s amazing how far things have regressed in the time since this show aired. Now in order to get a glimpse into how our Constitution based democracy is supposed to work and the type of individuals we hope are occupying those critical positions that support the Office of the President, we have to watch Netflix. The Reality show currently airing “THE JEST WING” will soon be cancelled due to low ratings. We should be so lucky!!
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AFGHANISTAN-A REAL SH**HOLE COUNTRY
People were justifiably outraged a couple of weeks ago when President Trump referred to several third world countries as “sh**holes”. I’m here to talk about a country that is a REAL sh**hole, a country that the Unites States military has been mired up to its boot tops in since 2001. To date, nearly 2500 American lives have been lost, and some 50,000 have been wounded, including over 1500 that have lost limbs. Four different U.S. administrations have come and gone since we first put boots on the ground there, and we appear no closer to ending our involvement there than we were seventeen years ago. There have been a number of horrific Taliban attacks in and around the capital of Kabul in the last couple of weeks, including an attack on a hotel which killed four Americans among many others and a suicide car bombing at a police checkpoint which killed and wounded hundreds. These attacks and several others were carried out in what is supposed to be the most secure area in the country. The Afghan government seems totally unable to prevent these attacks, despite literally billions of dollars being spent and thousands of U.S. troops being utilized to train them and prop them up. The BBC is reporting that the Taliban is openly operating in seventy percent of the country at present and actually is in control of more than five percent of it, despite the recent boost in U.S. troop numbers and the so called change in strategy for conducting our mission there. We should have learned from history, specifically the Soviet invasion in 1980. Despite the best efforts of the Soviets to brutally crush and repress the Afghan people with all of their sophisticated military might, they ended up failing miserably and leaving both Afghanistan in defeat and the world stage as a superpower. I understand we needed to go in and clean house following the attacks of September 11, 2001, but look at the reality of what has transpired since. Afghanistan is a country which has historically been deeply divided along ethnic lines, and various factions have been fighting each other here for centuries. The presence of coalition forces in their country only serves to further inflame the anti American sentiment that runs rampant here but also props up an Afghan government that is rife with corruption at every level and appears unable and unwilling to defend its own citizens. It takes U.S. boots on the ground to successfully root out the enemy, and as soon as our forces vacate the area the Taliban returns, usually to extract revenge on the local populace for cooperating with the hated Americans. There seems to be no end to this cycle, and it does call into question exactly WHAT IS OUR MISSION? I understand the philosophy that it's better we fight the enemy over there rather than here, but now we find ourselves embroiled in conflicts not just here but in multiple locations around the globe. Unfortunately, however, there appears to be no end in sight to the so called war on terror. I also understand the need to protect the American homeland from terrorist threats globally, but where is the end game here? There isn’t one. How long will we continue to sacrifice American lives and limbs for a country that truly fits the definition of SH**HOLE!! It's time to reevaluate our entire strategy. INTRODUCING the “VETO” PARTY
(Vote ‘Em Totally Out) As President Donald Trump prepares to deliver his State of the Union Address tonight in front of both Houses of Congress, the American people and the world, I would ask that we give consideration to a third political party, considering the absolutely abysmal track record of both the Senate and the House of Representatives in passing any meaningful legislation that is beneficial to the American people in general. This third party would be unique in that there is only one item required to receive our endorsement-CANNOT BE AN INCUMBENT. The power of the ‘VETO” Party lies in the overwhelming disgruntlement and disenchantment seventy five percent of the American people feel when it comes to these elected representatives. For all of their accomplishments of late, they should all be shown the door. We sure couldn’t do any worse, from the lame ass Speaker of the House Paul “Cryin” Ryan to “Rich” Mitch McConnell, Majority Leader in the Senate and every single member of their respective chambers, what have any of them done to solve our nation’s problems? What have they done other than create gridlock in Washington, vitriol in our political dialogue and complete partisanship on issues as important as the Russia investigation, tax legislation, immigration the environment and foreign policy? Somebody please fill in the missing blank(s) for me! This new party would be apolitical, favoring neither Republikan nor Democrat. Unless the opponent in the race is not Roy Moore, vote for them irrespective of party affiliation. Nothing is being accomplished now, so why not REALLY DRAIN THE SWAMP? I have been espousing the ballot box as Middle America’s only real weapon in the “WAR ON COLE”, and this strategy represents the ultimate weapon of mass destruction that the cash bearing corporations and one per centers who are running this country fear the most and spend literally billions of $’s trying to avoid-being voted out of office!!!! So when the mid term elections roll around this November, take a long hard look at those who claim to have been representing your interests these many years and decide for yourself if they really have. In most cases, you will find the only interests they have served are the pharmaceutical industry, coal, oil and gas, the NRA, Wall Street and the banking industry and, of course, their own home grown pet pork barrel projects, designed to keep the masses back home in line. If by some chance, along the way, they are able to profit themselves from all this pork, so much the better. The last things in the world they want to discuss are REAL issues-gun legislation, the environment, education and government spending, etc., etc. So remember the all inclusive third party come this election season, “THE VETO PARTY”-we welcome all comers irrespective of race, creed or religion!!! PUTIN STEALS ANOTHER PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION-HIS OWN!!
President Trump’s good buddy Vladimir Putin yesterday had his chief political rival and opponent in Russia’s upcoming Presidential election arrested while participating in a peaceful demonstration. Alexey Navalny was arrested and detained by Russian authorities after he showed up at a peaceful rally urging the boycott of the elections as a result of the fraud and corruption involved. Navalny was “disqualified” from running in the election in December for a “trumped” up fraud conviction that was in reality political retribution. Thousands of people demonstrated in the streets of major Russian cities to protest the arrest, and Navalny was released from custody late on Sunday. Anybody that believes Russia is a democratic society is sadly mistaken, and Putin is a ruthless dictator who will stop at nothing to insure his own succession, including eliminating his opposition by any means necessary. You don’t head up the KGB by being a nice guy, and there are numerous incidents that directly implicate Putin’s involvement. However, he, like Trump, has perfected the art of “defer and deflect”, and apparently enjoys an 80% approval rating among the Russian people. I would assume this to be because in their eyes he has raised the Russian Bear back into a position of prominence on the world stage after the break up of the former Soviet Union. He has illegally seized Crimea, is supporting the rebel factions in Ukraine in an insurgency against a democratically elected regime and now has his foothold firmly established in the Middle East via Syria. Putin’s dreams of Russian glory won’t be limited to these conquests, and now he has a United States President in office that is either unwilling or unable to stand up to him. Instead, Donald Trump is enamored with Putin. He loves how he can control the press, squash political rivals and use his own internal apparatus like police, paramilitary and military to bully his opposition into submission. This is Donald Trump’s vision of Utopia, folks! I still believe that Putin has the goods on Trump, and that the ultimate conclusion of the ongoing Mueller investigation is that Putin and the Russians did indeed collude with the Trump campaign in 2016 to steal the presidential election from Hillary Clinton. And all the while the President of the United States, the greatest superpower the world has ever seen, seems unable or unwilling to confront this fact or speak out in any way against Putin. Russia and Vladimir Putin ARE NOT our allies, they are our ENEMY. This latest episode of authoritarian oppression against a political rival should serve to reinforce that fact, and President Trump better realize it too! Let’s bring this Russia investigation to a conclusion and get to the bottom of all this-the sooner the truth is revealed the sooner we can take steps to prevent this from happening in the future, for the sake of our democracy…….. “MAD” MATT-FASTEST GUN IN KENTUCKY
I made a post the other day following the senseless school shooting in western Kentucky that claimed two young lives, wounded more than a dozen others and changed the small rural community of Benton forever. At that time I commented about Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin’s love affair with guns and the Second Amendment, and how it always seems to be something other than actual guns that were responsible for these deaths. Oh, and by the way, we aren’t even out of January yet and there have been SEVENTEEN school shootings already this year. But the actions of this self righteous hypocrite since the shooting are even more astounding, as is a bill just introduced to the Kentucky legislature. The Governor has blamed movies and music for the tragedy, and once again defended the gun lobby and NRA and all of the other factions who are so opposed to ANY type of sensible gun legislation, even if it means that as every day goes by in the United States of America thirty-six more people will die from gun violence, a total of over 13,000 last year. The next closest country that comes anywhere near the U.S. in terms of gun ownership (approximately one gun per person) is Yemen, which is a third world country currently embroiled in a fierce civil war and a hotbed of ISIS terrorist activity. Great to know. To make matters even worse, “Mad” Matt is promoting a bill being introduced into the KY House that would put an armed marshal in every school, qualifications being only a carry and conceal permit that involves only eight hours of training to obtain. So what is being proposed to solve our gun problem by this buffoon and his Republican cronies is MORE GUNS!!! This should thrill the NRA. More guns and ammunition waiting to be sold! It’s already a source of controversy in many school districts that actual uniformed police officers, with extensive training in active shooter incidents, are assigned. Now we propose to put poorly trained and armed civilians in harms way and protect our children. This is utter madness. The nickname I gave Bevin of “Mad” Matt certainly rings true here, as he uses a tragedy as a platform to promote his pro gun position. Shame on you! There was an excellent article written in today’s Sunday Courier-Journal about this very subject that essentially just calls for intelligent discussion on the matter rather than short term politically motivated knee jerk reaction every time this happens on both sides. My guess is that it will never happen and that the killing will go on……and on….and on!!! And all the while the NRA and all of those politicians who are beholden to them continue to sell more guns and get them reelected with the pile of cash being earned over thousands of dead bodies. This is a national nightmare with no end in sight until we elect officials with the courage and integrity to stand up to this vocal minority. Remember this-two-thirds of Americans are in favor of stricter gun control measures. Let your voices be heard at the ballot box. It’s the only way this problem will ever get solved. THE (SAD) STATE OF THE UNION 2018
I was reading yesterday that Donald Trump hopes that his State of the Union Address on Tuesday night can “reset” his presidency with a message of unification and bipartisanship. Well, folks, I’ll believe it when I see it! As we have learned with this President, words have little meaning and the truth is usually nowhere to be found when he speaks. His administration to date has the lowest approval ratings of ANY PRESIDENT EVER, and with good reason. He and his Republikan cronies, despite holding the White House and both the House of Representatives and the Senate, have only one accomplishment of note, the disastrous tax bill they rushed through at the end of last year which rewards the wealthy and corporate America but does little for the rest of us while we try to make it from pay check to pay check. Now Trump is going to try to convince us how great it is for middle class America-again, empty words from someone who knows very little about the middle class of this country. I wrote a post a couple of weeks ago named “Unhappy Anniversary” detailing the list of negatives compiled during Trump’s first year, such as the Russia investigation, so called “tax reform”, immigration, racial insensitivity and outright bigotry, foreign policy, etc. etc.,, so I won’t go into detail. Suffice to say, the things that have gone bad far outweigh any positives thus far, so it would be a welcome change if this president can pivot and make an attempt to govern our nation the way it should be instead of like he was still running his private real estate firm or firing people on “the Apprentice”. However, I’ll say it again; I’ll believe it when I see it because whether or not he has good intentions the man literally can’t stay out of his own way. There are many key issues on the agenda that need to be addressed in a bipartisan fashion, but we can’t even keep the government open for more than a month at a time, so I really don’t see where all this supposed bipartisan cooperation is going to come from on immigration, infrastructure, the budget, foreign policy, etc. And all the while we have the Mueller investigation running in the background threatening to blow apart the whole deal, with Republikans and Trump loyalists scrambling to discredit the process and salvage his presidency from the impeachment proceedings which will follow when the truth comes out about the collusion with the Russians and the attempted cover up and subsequent obstruction of justice committed by he and members of his administration. State of the Union? ABYSMAL! Hoping things can turn around but very skeptical. The promise to “Make America Great Again” has thus far been another broken one. A more appropriate slogan would be “Make America Second Rate” at this point! EVIL EMPIRE? OR GREATEST EVER?
With Super Bowl LII only a week or so away, I think the New England Patriots will win. They always do. Or so it seems lately. The fact is, over the last fifteen years or so, the Pats have won five Super Bowls while losing in two others, a total of seven appearances or nearly half of the total of Super Bowls played since 2002. Tom Brady has won all five of those games and in four of them was selected as the MVP. I personally have never seen a more clutch performer in ANY sport than Brady, as his recent Super Bowl LI come from behind victory over the Falcons or play off win over the Jaguars will attest. I’m here to argue that by achieving a victory over the Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday, they will establish themselves as the greatest team in NFL history, and Brady will cement his position as the greatest QB ever to play the game. How can one argue otherwise? I know there are many Evil Empire haters out there, and I understand your bitterness. After all, isn’t this the same franchise that has been involved in Spy gate and Deflate gate and tampering with sideline communications in the past? Isn’t this the same coach who basically could care less what anybody says or thinks about him but beats the brains out of just about every other coach in the NFL on a regular basis? Isn’t this “Pretty Boy” Tommy with his trophy model wife on his arm while slinging the football around like the field is his own private domain, which it essentially is! Yes, yes and yes. And so what? As I have stated in this blog before, the only real measure of greatness in sports is championships. I’m dating myself here, but I was fifteen years old when Super Bowl I pitted the Vince Lombardi coached Green Bay Packers against the upstart AFL and the Kansas City Chiefs. It could be argued that the Packers were the greatest team in NFL history with a total of four championships, or the Dallas Cowboys, so called “America’s team” with three Super Bowl titles. It’s hard to argue against either of them. However, the New England patriots ALREADY have five, and are going for number six. On this basis, quite simply, they are the greatest team the NFL has ever seen, and have been consistently for quite some time. And Tom Brady has surpassed ANYBODY else you can name as the greatest and most clutch QB in league history. Period. End of report. So with all due respect to Philly, (love the cheese steak!), hats off to the greatest team ever! I hope Super Bowl LII (don’t you freaking HATE Roman numerals?!? Whose idea was that, anyway?) proves to be worthy of the usual hype, and that the commercials and halftime entertainment exceed your wildest expectations!!! TIME FOR A CHANGE TO THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE-ELIMINATE IT!
Do you realize that when you cast your ballot in the 2016 election for President and Vice President you weren’t really voting for your candidate at all, but rather to select somebody else to do that for you at a later date? These individuals are called electors, their number per state predicated upon the number of Senators and Representatives the state has in Congress (KY has eight, California has fifty-five) and they cast their ballots on the basis of winner take all for the appropriate candidate(s). The premise behind this process as written by the framers of our Constitution, as defined by historians, is as follows: The Constitutional Convention of 1787 considered several methods of electing the President, including selection by Congress, by the governors of the states, by the state legislatures, by a special group of Members of Congress chosen by lot, and by direct popular election. Late in the convention, the matter was referred to the Committee of Eleven on Postponed Matters, which devised the Electoral College system in its original form. This plan, which met with widespread approval by the delegates, was incorporated into the final document with only minor changes. It sought to reconcile differing state and federal interests, provide a degree of popular participation in the election, give the less populous states some additional leverage in the process by providing “senatorial” electors, preserve the presidency as independent of Congress, and generally insulate the election process from political manipulation. The Constitution gave each state a number of electors equal to the combined total of its membership in the Senate (two to each state, the “senatorial” electors) and its delegation in the House of Representatives (currently ranging from one to 52 Members). The electors are chosen by the states “in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct “(U.S. Constitution, Article II, section 1). There have been four elections, including 2016, where the declared winner did not win the popular vote. While Donald Trump loves to gloat about his triumph over “Crooked Hillary”, the facts suggest otherwise. The actual popular vote was Clinton 65,853,516 votes or 48%, Trump 62,984,825 votes or 46%. The margin of differential is 2,868,691 votes in favor of Hillary Clinton. And yet Trump won the election by virtue of his 304 Electoral College votes, again, based on a winner takes all formula. Trump’s Presidency to date is reason enough to do away with the Electoral College. The premise that every vote counts is laughable under our present system, with the larger states having far more influence on the outcome than states like Kentucky. What happened to the ‘one man, one vote” formula whereby the President and Vice President are actually elected by the people? Future debacles like the election of a reality show host would be avoided by simple returning the power of the ballot box back to the people instead of depending on an antiquated and unnecessary step in our democratic process. DEMOCRATIC PARTY-MISSING IN ACTION
One would think that with the abysmal record of the Trump administration and the Republikan controlled Congress with regard to accomplishing anything other than the tax break for the wealthy and corporate America that the opposition party, the Democrats, would be having a field day! Instead, they watch tepidly from the sidelines while their Republican counterparts roll over them and change the narrative to suit their political agenda. The Democratic Party needs a makeover. Hillary Clinton has retired from public office (despite what you hear from Trump and FAUX NEWS!) after running the lamest presidential campaign in history and turning the White House over to a misguided TV show host and real estate tycoon with no governmental experience whatsoever. Bernie Sanders, whom I voted for in the primary, has a lot of good ideas but can’t seem to get anybody to buy into his program except Millennials, and is considered to be too far left to attract mainstream independent voters. Barrack Obama chooses, for the most part, to remain on the sidelines. So that leaves us with whom? Chuck Shumer, Senate Minority Leader from NY and Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader. Both represent the “coast” mentality, Shumer East and Pelosi West. They are usually not on the same page as those in America’s heartlands, and neither one could be considered in any way charismatic. The recent decision by Shumer and the Democrats to support another short term government spending bill proposed by the Republikans on a “promise” by Senate Majority leader Mitch (Rich) McConnell to consider the DACA legislation at a later date is just another example of how the lack of decisive party leadership turned what should have been a total political home run into called strike three and has allowed the Trump and the Republicans to flip the narrative on them to the point where the majority of Americans now hold the DEMOCRATS responsible for the government shut down instead of laying the blame where it squarely belongs, on them. That decision also cost the Democratic Party a lot of support from the largest voting block in America-the Millennials. Instead of holding fast to their principles in defending those DACA immigrants that Trump is holding hostage over his absurd border wall, they caved because a handful of them are up for reelection in 2018 and didn’t want to “alienate their base”… It’s time for somebody to step up and take up the standard of the party and the ideals it has always stood for and that are wholeheartedly embraced by this author-standing up for the rights of those who can’t stand up for themselves, social programs that are all inclusive, not exclusive, and a fair distribution of wealth rather than the top one percent controlling eighty percent of it. The list of potential 2020 Presidential candidates I have seen includes both Joe Biden and Bernie sanders, but realistically both will be near eighty years old by then. The name on the top of the list is Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, but, like my old boss from New England used to say, that seems like left over corn beef hash. I can’t see independent voters getting excited over this nominee, another East Coast liberal who is a sitting member of the United States Senate, an institution that is not held in very high regard by the voting public these days. Somewhere, somehow, there is a voice of reason and conciliation out there that can step forward in the next year or so and bring us back to the center where we belong instead of teetering perilously on either the right edge or the left edge. The politics of divisiveness have polarized this great nation to the breaking point, and we need a true leader to pull us back from the brink. The question is, who will this person be? ANOTHER TRUMP TREASURE(Y)
STEVE (the Munchkin) MNUCHIN After watching morning news reports about the dollar sinking to new three year lows following remarks made by Treasury Secretary Steve (“Munchkin”) Mnuchin at the DAVOS conference in Switzerland, and having seen this man’s background and qualifications to head the Treasury Department, I once again am astounded as to how our Congress could possibly confirm this second rate Wall Street banker and Hollywood wanna be into a position that essentially controls the world’s largest economy. And when the information came out about his abusing taxpayers money by using private aircraft for his personal travels (coming to KY to watch the solar eclipse?!?), followed by the picture of he and his wife wrapped in a sheet of dollar bills while visiting the Bureau of Engraving (how does a total geek like this dude get a trophy wife? I think $ might have something to do with it!!), I just had to laugh at the irony of it all. This is the same man who openly and aggressively campaigns on behalf of corporate America, including backing the absurd tax cut passed by the Republican controlled Congress. He is all for eliminating Dodd-Frank regulations on the banking industry, and failed to disclose nearly $100 million in real estate holdings during his confirmation hearings. He has also, like Trump, refused to release his tax returns. If all of this sounds familiar, it is. Nearly every single cabinet level appointee I have profiled over these past few months fits the same profile: middle aged Caucasian male, prior experience mostly in the financial sector, either as hedge fund managers (anybody watch “BILLION” on Showtime?) or bankers (who nearly brought us all down in 2008) with little or no experience in government, whose only qualifications are the size of their respective bank accounts. Their political views are all the same, right wing Christian conservatives who are all about themselves and could care less about the country. Their respective actions while in office are proving to be ruinous for many different segments of our society, and yet each one of these buffoons (I love this word: buffoon (plural buffoons)
· In the United States the term is used most commonly to describe inappropriate, clownish figures on the public stage; here the behavior of a variety of public figures have caused them to be described as buffoons by their political opponents) was confirmed by our Republikan controlled Congress. In Mnuchins case, not a single Democrat would cast a vote for his confirmation. I think the American people deserve better. This guy doesn’t measure up to the task in any way, shape or form, yet here he is on the world stage demonstrating again, for all to see, what a disaster the Trump administration truly is. When will this bad dream end?!? |
About Mike ColeBorn in Hamilton, OH but a proud Kentuckian since age two. One brother and three sisters. Suburban, Catholic middle-class upbringing. Attended Jefferson Community College and Pasadena Community College. Proud father of four and grandfather to seven, and most of all, a concerned American citizen! Are you??? Categories |