Debate Fatigue

Apparently Donald Trump won another debate last night. At least that's what all the unscientific online polls say. Oh, and since Trump tweeted that he clearly won, it must be true. I didn't watch this time. I just couldn't. I'm worn out by it all.

From everything I've read this morning Mr. Trump outdid himself. Perhaps the all-time low point came when he reassured the American people that the size of his penis was indeed Presidential. That remark falls under the category, JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT COULDNT POSSIBLY GET ANY WORSE.

As an American, one who loves his country and feels grateful to live here, it is hard not to give in to despair, watching one of the two major political parties commit suicide. The reemergence of Mitt Romney, a two time loser in presidential politics, dark talk of a brokered convention and a third party challenge either to Trump or by him lead me to the conclusion that the Republican Party is about to go the way of the Whigs. And this from a party which controls both houses of congress and a majority of state houses. How, in the name of all that is holy did this happen?

I hear that Americans are angry. I hear this every day. It is referenced as a way of explaining the filthy thing that this campaign has become, as if anger justifies insanity. Am I angry? Well, yes. There are things about America in 2016 that I'm angry about. I'm angry that neither party seems to care about the 19 trillion dollars of debt we have run up. I'm angry that no one currently running for president has articulated how he or she plans on altering the certain fact that in 17 year's time every single dime that the federal government  spends will go to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Pentagon and the interest on our national debt. Sure, I'm angry about lots of things. But am I angry enough to jettison the Constitution, and elect a strongman? Am I angry enough at terrorism to elect a man who vows to force our military to commit war crimes? Am I angry enough at political correctness to elect a man who has elevated crudeness to presidential status? No. I will never be that angry.

Nothing seems to stop Mr. Trump's rise. No matter how many times he contradicts himself, no matter how many lies he gets caught in, no matter what vile thing flies out of his mouth, his poll numbers stay high. Maybe America is at a place where we want a strongman. Maybe we want someone large and in charge to ride into town and destroy things. Maybe we want to be freed from that straight jacket called the Bill of Rights. Maybe we have lost so much faith in our founding documents and principles that we are ready to have faith in something else, someone else. Maybe we are looking for the man on the strong horse because we have grown weary of weakness. 

But I have run out of explanations for Trump. Nothing I thought about him or his candidacy 8 months ago has turned out to be true, so what do I know? This I do know...no matter what happens from this point going forward, the Republican Party and this nation will never be the same as it was before Trump. I am overcome with the feeling that we are witnessing something gravely important, something about which our grandchildren will ask us to explain, "Pops, where were you and what did you do when Donald Trump took over the country?" I hope that I can claim that I fought hard against him, that I wasn't one of those who took the bait, that I maintained my faith in my country as founded. Hopefully I can point my grandkids to this blog as proof of my allegiance to republican government. 

Find The Trump Voter

"I just got back from my voting precinct.  I walked in beside an elderly couple, observed a mom inviting her teenage daughters to watch her mark her choice on her ballot, and stood in line behind 2 Muslim women and a young Hispanic woman.  My ID was taken by a woman who may have been of Greek descent, and I was given a ballot by an African-American woman.  A retired white man showed me how to submit my paper ballot, and a college-aged guy gave me my I VOTED sticker.  This is how we roll in America!  Whatever the outcome is today, we are in this together."

This is what my wife wrote yesterday after returning from her trip to Short Pump Elementary School where she had just voted. It was a beautiful sentiment. I too had been in that same gym several hours earlier doing the same thing. I too noticed the diversity of the folks in line ahead of me. But, unlike my wife, I was busy playing a more cynical game called, "Find the Trump voter."

There were about 40 people ahead of me in line when I arrived around 8:00 AM. The first person I noticed was a young guy with a man bun, wearing clothes from the 1970's Goodwill Industries collection. I immediately judged him to be a Bernie Sanders voter. Check.

Since I vote in a Short Pump precinct, there were only two African-Americans in line, a petite older woman directly in front of me and a college aged girl in the front of the line. Considering the fact that blacks are the only demographic in America who vote monolithically, there's a roughly 90% chance that these two women were Hillary voters. Check.

Then it got tougher. Here was a middle aged man with a neatly trimmed beard in khakis. Over there was a older man wearing jeans and a Titleist hat. Behind me, a harried younger woman with two toddlers had just walked in. Any of these people could have been Trump voters. Even the man directly behind me was suspect. He was a large man who smelled of banana bread and had started humming the tune to Onward Christian Soldiers. I thought, either Cruz or Trump. Check.

Then it occurred to me, that others in line might be playing the same game. If so, I wondered how they would judge me. I was wearing black dress pants and a casual shirt, with my black Raybans balanced on top of my head. Maybe the dude with the man bun had me pegged as a self-satisfied suburban sell-out who was probably going to vote for Jeb Bush. Check.

The results from last night were disappointing for me. Rubio came so close to pulling it out here in Virginia, but failed. Cruz won his home state and a couple of neighboring ones to remain relevant. If Rubio doesn't win his home state in a couple of weeks he will be gone. The big winner of the night, again, was Donald Trump. I just can't even.....

But, on the bright side, in my home state, 65% of those who cast ballots in the Republican primary cast them for someone other than Donald Trump. In addition, nowhere last night did he receive a majority of the votes, which I take to believe means that not everyone has taken leave of their senses. Still, unless voters can coalesce around a single alternative, the Republican nomination is Trump's for the taking. For the Democrats, it was never going to be anyone but Hillary Clinton. Note to Sanders supporters: you don't win elections by posting crap on Facebook, you win by actually showing up to vote!

So, now we wait for the next round of contests and look forward to weeks and weeks of political ads. As I walked back to my car after voting, a chilling thought came to mind . . . If America can make it through this election without somebody getting shot it will be a miracle.

Voting For Rubio

I'll be voting for Marco Rubio today. I'll walk past the volunteers making last minute pitches for their guy. I'll stand in line to prove to the nice old lady at the folding table that I am who I say I am. She will smile and place a mark by my name in her book, then kindly hand me off to another nice gentlemen who will walk me to the first available booth. Then I will mark my ballot for Mr. Rubio, the young senator from Florida.

He is not my first choice. I had preferred Rand Paul, but he dropped out weeks ago. Rubio is not without his share of shortcomings. His resume is a bit thin. His aggressive foreign policy stances make me nervous. But in a field which features a brain surgeon, a bloviating bore, and a bomb-throwing back bencher, he has gotten my vote by default.

I vote for Rubio primarily because I believe him to have the best chance, albeit a rapidly vanishing one, to derail the Trump nightmare. The second factor in my decision is the issue of temperament. Ted Cruz is very smart, knows the constitution as well as anyone to come along in politics in my lifetime. But he seems to revel in the fact that his colleagues despise him, lacking the self awareness that this fact might disqualify his ability to get anything done once elected. If everyone hates you there's two ways you can respond. You can step back and ask some hard questions of yourself like, "Geez, how come everybody hates me? Maybe I should stop acting like a jerk." Or, you can double down on your asshattery by convincing yourself that they all hate you because you're smarter than them. Mr. Cruz seems to have settled on the latter. While some may view this as principled, others may judge this as a character flaw which would make his Presidency problematic , making the building of coalitions difficult if not impossible.

So, I vote for Rubio. Then I get my sticker and place it on my shirt. I will watch the returns tonight to see if voters around the country, having stared into the abyss of Donald Trump, have suddenly recoiled in horror and snapped out of it, or if Super Tuesday goes down as the day the Republican Party slipped into the oblivion of history. 

If it's Trump after tonight, the Republican Party will have chosen a man who can't even disavow David Duke, and who's most famous bit of life advice was, "You know, it doesn't really matter what the media says about you as long as you have a young, beautiful piece of ass."

Let that sink in for a minute, then go and do your civic duty.

Is Donald Really a "Strong Christian?"

 Every day now we seem to discover some new wrinkle in the grand tapestry that is Donald Trump. Just yesterday, for instance, we learned that he has been audited every single year since 2003! Moreover, Mr. Trump offered an opinion on just why it is that he has been so targeted by the IRS..."Because I'm a strong Christian."

Well, far be it from me to question anyone's sincere religious convictions, but, when searching for descriptive adjectives to describe Donald J. Trump, I'm pretty sure that strong Christian would be maybe 116th on my list...just before humble and right after thoughtful. But, thanks to Google, it's possible to delve into anyone's past to find evidence of strong Christian character. I did so this morning, and must confess that in this case, Trump is right...he IS a strong Christian!

Here is a picture of Donald with his accountability group after their weekly bible study at Trump Tower.

Here's Donald with three college girls lucky enough to have had him finance their mission trip to El Salvadore.

Here's Donald posing for a picture at the Taj Mahal casino just before attending a chapel service in the conference room behind the nickel slots.

Here's Donald congratulating two recent converts after their baptism.

Donald's personal pastor.

Donald preparing to say grace before the National Prayer Breakfast..."Before I deliver my amazing prayer...pull my finger!!"

Debate Notes

Notes from last night's debate. This picture tells the story!

Trump doesn't even try to be a clever liar. It's like he's thinking, "What the hell? Lying has always worked for the Clinton's!"

For Trump, what he believes is always the next thing he says.

Rubio has been awesome tonight. Combative, relentless, sarcastic, finally aggressively going after Trump. I guess he figures, "...what have I got to lose?" 

Great exchange:

Rubio: If Trump builds the wall the same way he built Trump Towers, he'll do it with illegal workers.

Trump: You don't know anything about business.

Rubio: You're right, I don't know anything about bankrupting companies.

Every time this debate starts to kick some serious butt, Wolf Blitzer throws a question to John Kasich...the human time-out.

Carson: Will somebody attack me, please? Beyond pathetic.

Oh, ok. Now that Rubio is finally insisting that the quarterback actually show us his homework, people are upset at the nastiness and name calling. So, what do you want? This isn't Aristotle v. Plato people! The only thing I'm mad about right now is that it took Rubio this freaking long to go after this fool.

Great exchange:

Rubio: You lied about the Polish workers.

Trump: yeah, yeah, yeah. 38 years ago!

Rubio: Oh, 38 years ago? I guess there's a statute of limitations on lies.

I see this morning that his Trumpness has won all of the online polls asking, Who won last night's debate?

Well, I suppose that settles it...we are doomed.

Poll Results and Commentary

                                                                      

                                                                      VS.

A presidential campaign between these two would be the stuff from which nightmares are made. Nevertheless, with each passing day of this interminable race, it appears more and more inevitable. For this reason, I commissioned the first ever Tempest Poll this morning in order to take the pulse of my readers on the subject. Now that 100% of all precincts have reported, I can share the results.

First of all, let me say that today set an all time record for traffic. Several hundred different people read about the poll on my blog. However, just like in America at large... A very small percentage of readers actually voted, only 13% in fact. Despite the low voter participation rate, the exchange of views on my Facebook page was civil and courteous, which I appreciate more than I can say. So, here are the results:

Trump.....39%

Clinton....22%

No vote...39%

Some of you hated the choices. Others, wished for a third party option and some more actually wrote in candidates. While I sympathize with each of you, it's my poll, and I can ask the question any way I wish. The burning question on your minds is probably, "Ok, hotshot. How did you vote??"

I voted for Hillary.

Now, I'm sure there are some of you who may have just spit sweet tea across the kitchen. Others may be ready to block me from all of your social media accounts, still others may even now be on your knees in fervent prayer for my wayward soul. But, before you have a cow, hear me out.

I am under no illusions about the Hildebeast. She is a corrupt, lying, career feather-bedder, who on her worst day would make Claire Underwood look like Mother Theresa. I feel certain that she will make a horrid President largely because of her arrogance and hilariously exalted view of her own greatness. On the subject of exalted self regard, Hillary Clinton is outdone by only one person in America today...Donald Trump!

As a Libertarian-leaning, small government fiscal conservative, voting for Hillary Clinton will no doubt make me feel very dirty. As soon as I get back home, it will be straight in the shower for me! I see eye to eye with her on practically nothing. And yes, if she becomes President, she will get the chance to appoint judges to the Supreme Court which could allow her Statist views of government to carry the day for years to come. But, this is where people like me say a prayer of thanks for our founding fathers and the brilliance of their gift to us of three branches of government. Checks and balances are very cool. And perhaps I should remind all of you conservatives out there that it was George W. Bush who gave us that stout originalist, John Roberts as Cheif Justice. How has that worked out??

So, despite the many flaws of Ms. Clinton, what really will force me to choke back the rising vomit in the back of my throat and actually vote for the woman is this sobering thought...Donald J. Trump as Commander-in-Chief. Can any of you imagine this guy in charge of the mightiest, most deadly killing force in the world? 

"Mr. President, we have a situation in Yemen. A group of armed terrorists have kidnapped our entire diplomatic team and is holding them in an unknown location, and..."

Trump: Wait, did you say Yemen? You can't be serious? Have you ever been to Yemen? I've been to Yemen. I was going to build a golf course there once so I flew over and I can tell you, it's a hell hole. Bunch of f**king losers! Send in the heavy bombers and flatten the go****n place!

"But, Mr. President, what about our diplomatic team??"

Trump: What about 'em? They can't be but so good, right? If they were real winners, what the hell are they doing in freaking Yemen!!??

Then, there's the question of experience. Now, I know that right now the mood of the country isn't interested in experience, matter of fact, it's viewed as a liability. After all, it's been the best and the brightest who haven't been able to figure out how to secure our borders. But experience in the Oval Office is sort of a good thing. Knowing a little something about how Congress works, how a bill becomes a law...that sort of thing...I think is needed. One gets the impression with Trump that he hasn't the foggiest notion how he intends to actually get anything done. When he says, "I'm gonna put the very best people on that and we are going to do the greatest deals ever," that's essentially code for, "I don't know what the hell Im talking about."

Listen, either one of these two becomes President, the next four or eight years is going to be a white knuckle ride on the lunatic express, but at least with Hillary, we will have some semblance of predictability, and because of her husband, at least some institutional memory from which to draw. And something tells me that Hillary will be less likely to get us into a war with somebody because she was caught flirting with the First Lady of Burma.

And finally, there's the issue of what kind of man Donald Trump happens to be. For the life of me I can't understand news stories I read about how much of the evangelical vote Trump is getting. Does anyone actually believe that if a liberal Democrat male like say, Martin O'Malley was ahead in the polls and went around bragging about how many women he had slept with in his life...does anybody not believe that conservative Christians would be howling about his immorality? Yet, Trump can do just that, and while he's at it, say creepy things about his hot daughter, and throw in profanity on the stump, with nary a peep of protests by the evangelical community. No, either morality matters or it doesn't. I think it does matter. It's not the only thing that matters, but it counts for something.

So, there you have it. Maybe it won't come down to this Hobson's choice. Maybe Hillary will get indicted for having that illegal server. Maybe It will be discovered that Trump is actually an alien and as such was not born on this planet, therefore is not a natural born earthling. Good Lord, I hope so. Because, if I have to actually go through with this voting for Hillary thing, I'm note sure I'll ever recover.

I'm Taking a Poll

After last night's Nevada primary, which proved to be Donald Trump's most dominating victory yet, it is now clear to me that he will be the Republican nominee, barring some unforeseen divine intervention. It is equally clear to me that without said intervention (or indictment) Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee. This unhappy fact means that the American people will have to decide between the lesser of two considerable evils in November.

The purpose of this blog is to get a feel for what all of you think about this choice. Call it an unscientific poll, if you like, but I want you to do me a favor. I will now pose a question for your consideration. I want you to provide your answer either at the bottom of this blog in the comments section, or as a reply on Facebook. Here's the question:

If the election were held today and you had to decide between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, how would you vote?

A. Donald Trump

B. Hillary Clinton

C. I would not vote

I don't need any explanation of your answer, just A,B, or C. If you wish to remain anonymous, you can do so in the comments section below. If you would prefer not broadcasting your answer on social media, you can private message me on Facebook.

Once I have tabulated the votes in my little private poll, I will inform you of the results and add my commentary. 

Thank you for participating in advance.