You Reap What You Sow

or once a seed is planted, the plant grows to whatever height it was genetically programmed for.

This analogy applies to the GOP.  They trafficked in racist undertones ever since President Obama was elected with leadership that did not refute Birthism, Socialism, statements of being a Muslim which ties into birthism, and of course calling the President a liar during the State of the Union.

And now they have Donald Trump leading that hatred right out into the open and the leaders wonder why they can't contain it.

We can only hope the voters do a better job of refuting this bad behavior by the now dominate wing of the GOP.

Link to EJ Dionne column that inspired this rant

The Danger's of Incivility or You Get What You Don't Anticipate

Two worthy reads on the NYT opinion page today.

1st, Peter Wehner, who has served in 3 Republican administrations, and is an evangelical individual writes about how Donald Trump lives a life that should be anathema to evangelical voters and expresses dismay that such a large percentage of evangelical voters support Trump.  Well, consistency is not something I have found in every evangelical individual I know and some certainly used religion as a cover for sinning, saying no one is perfect, but you can earn forgiveness.

I might offer a different view for Mr. Wehner.  A certain substantial percentage of evangelicals use religion as a cover for bigotry and ignorance and can be lead by lambs to slaughter.  That after all is what GOP leaders have been doing with them by promulgating untruths since President Obama was elected and advocating policies that are completely unacceptable to Democrats, who have the power to stop them in our Democracy.

Link to Peter Wehne column

And Roger Cohen recounts Congressional GOP responsibility for the rise of Trump Fascism by their undemocratic and rude behaviors of the last 7 years.  This column is actually about Europe's alarm at the rise of Trump, but it contains the following:

"Trump is telling people something is rotten in the state of America. The message resonates because the rot is there."

"He has emerged from a political system corrupted by money, locked in an echo chamber of insults, reduced to the show business of an endless campaign, blocked by a kind of partisanship run amok that leads Republican members of Congress to declare they will not meet with President Obama’s eventual nominee for the Supreme Court, let alone listen to him or her. This is an outrage! The public interest has become less than an afterthought."

"Enter the smart, savvy, scowling showman. He is self-financed and promises restored greatness. He has a bully’s instinct for the jugular and a sense of how sick an angry America is of politics as usual and political correctness. He hijacks a Republican Party that has paved the way for him with years of ranting, bigotry, bellicosity and what Robert Kagan, in The Washington Post, has rightly called “racially tinged derangement syndrome” with respect to President Obama."

Link to Roger Cohen Column

Sunday Musing 2/28/2016

Ah, Leap Year.  We get one more day of February and an extra day of this mindless endless campaign to be the next President, which of course happens every Presidential election.  You think the founding fathers intentionally wanted an extra day of campaigning for the Presidency or it just happened that way with the timing of the founding of the nation?

Did you know Donald Duke endorsed Donald Trump?  So the KKK supports Trump.  What does that make Trump supporters and endorsers like Chris Christie and Sarah Palin?

There is a movie named "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" coming out in March based upon a book written by a journalist who was in Afghanistan and Pakistan for several years in the late 2000's.  The one pertinent comment she made about the whole Western approach to the issues with the Taliban and ISIS is her hope for her movie. "Maybe more people will start talking about a holistic approach to the region rather than the Whack-a-terrorist game we seem to be playing." But we won't expect any of the GOP candidates to understand the need to explore that.

Meanwhile, with Hillary's big win and her obvious qualifications to understand the issues of the Presidency, I am still troubled by her baggage and will fill in the dot for her name because the alternatives are so awful.  Bernie Sanders cannot achieve his dreams and he will be as ineffective as Barack Obama has been.  How can President Obama win so decisively and not have longer coat tails?    And there is no need for me to go on at any length about how the GOP candidates refuse to propose policies that will actually help people.  If they would discuss how they would replace Obamacare while not allowing insurance companies to charge more for pre-existing conditions, balance the budget and keep the government operating to protect the public safety, I would consider voting for a GOP candidates.

On that last point, the Zika Virus certainly shows the need for a public health system and the CDC.

At least Hillary is qualified to be President.  But I understand the American desire to have someone new in the Presidency.  Newness brings hope and a possibility of change.  When someone has been part of the national political scene for 24 years and counting, while that brings qualifications, it also means many voters just simply want to move on.

And Ross Douthat went on a rant today about how Obama is responsible for the rise of Donald Trump.  While Douthat does acknowledge some Republican responsibility for the support of Donald Trump by Reagan Democrats (I would point out that I was Reagan Democrat, but I became a RINO and then returned to the Democrats), he then goes on to lay the blame on the Imperial Obama Presidency.  I am virtually speechless in my political rage at this.  Does Mitch McConnell and the let's ruin this Presidency deserve no blame for the "Imperial Presidency".  What about the absolute need for the government to operate and protect the people?  What about GOP punditry that did not rail against the GOP for failing to negotiate and compromise?  As I wrote yesterday, Democracy requires compromise.

And Obama asked the Congress to authorize the activities in Syria against ISIS and the Congress refused.  So when Douthat says "The current President has expanded executive authority along almost every dimension:  Launching wars without Congressional Authorization, claiming the power to assassinate American citizens", he is going against the grain of actual GOP support for all this and a GOP desire to actually do more of the same.

So my only takeaway on Dothan's column is that he has gone off the rail in his angst about Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio dominating the GOP.

link to Douthat column

Newt Gingrich (R) and Tom Daschle (D) Propose a Middle Ground for Health Insurance

And the legal basis is already in the Affordable Health Care Act, aka Heritage Foundation, Romney, ObamaCare.

At last an idea to put some acrimony behind us, hope springs eternal.

Link to Op-Ed Piece



And meanwhile, we find out in this mornings paper that even Tea Party politicians lie.  Ted Cruz apparently is happy to take money from conservative gay people saying he doesn't care what states to for gay marriage.  But what happens to a gay person in Texas if they can be legal in Vermont or NY or California and they work for the Federal Government in Dallas?  Is their spouse entitled to benefits or inheritance in the same manner as heterosexual couples?

And of course, Marco Rubio is all over the place on immigration depending on the moment.  He is even both radical and floppy floppy on taxes and the notion of balancing the budget, something he has never seemed to accomplish in his personal finances.

It seems like the only person who is consistent is The Donald, who is the closest thing to a Fascist I have ever seen in my lifetime.  I was born when McCarthy was having his way.