Carville's Harsh Words Are Only Halfway to the Truth

Most of the time, we can agree that James Carville's views are often more hot air than common sense. It really depends on the topic at hand. When he dives into wild, woke progressive agendas, for example, it seems like he's not putting much thought into his words—he's just spouting nonsense and trying his best to make it make sense.

At best, he's an entertaining individual, and I usually listen to him whenever I get the chance, purely for that entertainment value. He's a living, breathing caricature who often has a way with words that you can admire, even if you don't always agree with him. 

While his policy ideas might not always hit the mark, one thing he does know well is the political game and how it works. These are the views I tend to agree with most of the time. His insights on strategy and his ability to dissect the political landscape.

Ultimately, Carville emphasizes that politics is about tapping into the psyche of the American people and understanding what they want to hear. Does that mean policy doesn't matter? Not at all. But it does mean that, regardless of your policy, you need to deliver results and convince people why you are right.

More importantly, you need to show why you are the right person to lead it all.

Carville has long believed that the Democrats' loss in the last election was due to Biden not dropping out of the race much sooner. I don't agree with his assessment. The Democrats lost because they didn't listen to the American people, deployed harmful policies, and weren't forthcoming about the reality of the situation. 

Nonetheless, Carville still places all the blame for their devastating loss on Joe Biden himself, and there I think he's right. It is Biden's fault. He knew he was unfit to lead, and so did his staff, yet they continued the ruse and allowed him to run for reelection anyway, making it harder to put forward better candidates than himself or Kamala Harris.

Maybe the Democrats could have forged a closer race? Who knows? We can only speculate if the outcome of the election would have been different if Joe Biden had dropped out and there would have been a real primary. 

I still think Trump would have won because, unless someone on the left was willing to admit what Americans already knew—that the entire Biden presidency was a disaster—they stood no chance. But things certainly might have gone differently.

The trouble for Carville is how Biden tarnished his legacy—though I question how Carville might define legacy. He says no one cares about Biden anymore. He's old news. People are tired of hearing from him. He needs to go away.

My words are slightly harsher than Carville's, but not by much. "Just go to your condo in Rehoboth and stay there," Carville said. He even chided Biden's back and forth with his own party as petty, "'Oh, I would have beat Trump.' No one f--king believes that at all. Look guy, you had a noble career. Your last act was terrible. Just get out of the way."

I get it. Carville's mad that his party lost the election, and handily. What Carville should do is not just scold Biden for his mistakes but also hold the entire party accountable for theirs. As I mentioned before, the Democrats failed to resonate with the American people and caused more harm than good. That's why they lost. Putting a fresh face on bad policy wouldn't have changed the outcome. Their ideas weren't what the American people wanted, and the damage they caused was too much for anyone to bear another four years of going down the wrong path and leaving untold new carnage in the wake.

Biden's done, and Carville is right about that. But if the Democrat party doesn't grasp the full reason for their loss, wake up, and listen to the American people rather than just themselves, the damage might be permanent.

Woke isn't just failing in America. It's failing around the world. On that, I think Carville misses the point. More than that, it was the inflation, the border crisis, the war in Ukraine, putting tampons in men's restrooms, and allowing men to compete in women's sports. It was all those things and then some, and the fact that the Democratic party missed the mark on all of it. That's why they didn't win over the American people and lost the election to Donald Trump.

For all of his political smarts, Carville should know this. As he might say, "It's not rocket science, stupid."

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© 2025 Jim Bauer

Trump's Victory May Be a Turning Point for Democrats

The war is over. But which war, you ask? The relentless battle between the Democratic party and Donald Trump that began the moment he descended the escalator at Trump Tower to announce his presidential run.

It's over. Finally. After a long and tumultuous struggle, it's no more. The American people have spoken, and the result is crystal clear. The Democrats did not win anything, and there's no question about the popular vote.

Trump won it all. The Republican party won it all.

This isn't meant to gloat, but to highlight an important takeaway for the Democrats: their policies simply aren't resonating with the public. Their role isn't just to push an agenda, but to support the wishes and best interests of the people they serve.

That means it's time to get back to work. While it's naive to think that all infighting will cease just because the war is over, Democrats still want to win elections. It's been made clear they can't achieve that by pushing agendas that are unpopular.

This isn't to suggest I am suddenly rooting for Democrats. It's simply to say that there needs to be a realization on the part of the Democratic party that too much time has been wasted. We have myriad problems that need solving, and the American people have made it clear what those problems are. The only solution is to get to work on those issues and make them the primary focus.

In other words, it's time for the Democrats to support the Republican agenda and work to accomplish what the American people have clearly mandated.

The idea that some Democrats feel the need to double down seems both counterintuitive and counterproductive. They had their chance to present their case and deliver results, but the American people rejected it. As I have become fond of saying lately, "If you don't know why you lost, you can't know why you weren't winning." If they continue to push policies that costs them elections, how can they expect to win future ones?

This likely means we will actually see less infighting and less resistance to Trump's agenda and Republican initiatives. Democrats should closely monitor how the American people respond to what gets passed, and act accordingly.

Isn't that the essence of representative government? To represent the interest of The People, not to impose the values of those in power. Trump won because he promised to do what Americans want to see done.

Think of it this way; a body shop won't satisfy a customer by painting their car blue when they asked for red. Similarly, you won't make the American people happy by pushing policies that the Democrats want but the People don't.

Some Democrats are already shifting their stance on their own issues or are at least softening their opposition to Trump, with many saying, "It's time to get on with things and support the decision of the American people."

Interestingly, Senator John Fetterman, who it alarms me a bit to say, I find myself agreeing with more often than I might care to admit, on a variety of issues, happens to be one of those Democrats saying, "We need to support this president."

This isn't to suggest that the road ahead will be a smooth one. There will still be those who want to continue the fight. However, the path forward has never been clearer. Democrats who want to stay in favor and win elections will need to adapt and focus on moving the country forward, rather than steering it towards a direction the People have clearly rejected.

The People have become weary of the constant fighting. They're exhausted by a media they no longer trust to deliver honest news. They're tired of being told what to believe or being called names if they disagree. They're tired of being told how good things are when clearly things are bad. What they want are sensible policies that honor the values and traditions that made America great. 

Things have become too radical recently. People are ready to move forward, make the country great again, and restore it to one they can more easily recognize. Now that the war is over, we have a much better chance of achieving that. I believe the more thoughtful Democrats understand this too. If they only continue to fight the will of The People, they risk losing their place in office.

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© 2024 Jim Bauer 

Is It Time to Open the Floodgates?

It is no secret that Trump's indictments and trials are of an entirely unprecedented nature. It's not to say that anyone should be considered above the law in any sense. But at the same time, it is not all that unobvious why now, and why Trump.

I know it sounds conspiratorial and a bit tin-hatty, but is it even just that Trump is winning that's the issue here?

What does Trump know and what does the left have to hide?

The argument the left is hanging on is, "All people should be held accountable." They keep pounding their fists about it. The problem is, how come they don't think that way about everyone except for Trump? Essentially, everyone else gets a pass but Trump has to pay?

Sure, the left likes to say, "But Trump's guilty." But by who's measure? Because they (the left) say so, and we just have to take their word for it?

The thing is, no matter what accusations are thrown at the left, they are quickly dismissed as lies and innuendo. Mere accusations with no basis in fact. But when it comes to Trump it's all true no matter what and grave abuses of the system and powers.

How many years did we have to sit through the Mueller investigation solely based on the premise of what turned out to be a fake dossier that accused Trump of doing what? Stealing an election. Only to have anyone on our side shut down for even suggesting Biden may have stolen his.

Trump told protestors on January 6th to be peaceful, yet he was adamantly accused of inciting an insurrection. Yet, no one batted an eye when Chuck Shumer said there would be hell to pay before someone tried to storm Justice Kavanaugh's home to kill him.

How many times was Bill Clinton accused of rape and sexual assault? Were there cries of accountability then? When Fast and Furious was revealed, that guns were being offered to Mexican drug cartels that caused the death of a border patrol agent, were there cries then?

How about when Obama directed the IRS to "slow down" the process of approving certain tax-exempt status for conservative PACs during an election year. Did that raise any eyebrows? Or when his administration outright lied to the American people about the nature of Benghazi to free the optics during an election? Was that of concern?

Hillary Clinton not only kept an unsecure and frankly illegal server, but she also "wiped" it after it was discovered, and 30,000 emails went missing that we have no idea what they contained other than what she alleged they contained. Nothing to see here?

No one wanted to question what Hunter Biden was doing regarding Burisma in Ukraine or what was suggested might be a connection to then Vice President Biden. And then there's the laptop. There's the "big guy" theory strongly suggesting deep criminal activities conducted in the Biden family. 

Not even a hiccup from the crowd.

There are irregularities in the classified documents cases between Trump and Biden. 

I don't want to see the political landscape to be forever locked in criminal investigations while at the same time asserting that I think no one is or should be above the law in any circumstance. But at the same time, we can't just focus on one man and leave all the others untouched. We can't accept all of the accusations of one man and dismiss any others as silly to suggest.

When the left talks about accountability, what are they really saying? Hold TRUMP accountable. Period. End of story.

That by itself strongly suggests the entirely political nature of this. Because if it was truly about accountability, the courts would be filled with cases against politicians on both sides of the aisle, and the 24-hour news cycle would hardly be able to keep up with all of it.

I am starting to think all bets are off. Let's open the flood gates. Let's put them all up for grabs. Every single one of them. Let's have investigations up the wazoo. You want accountability? Fine. Put your money and your laurels where your mouth is.

Because again, when the only guy I see being held to account happens to be Donald J. Trump and everyone else gets a pass, I have only one thing to say.

You're all full of shit!

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Call Me What You Want, In the End I Am Simply an American

The Democrats have called us every name in the books. Well, they've made a few things up too. Like MAGA extremists. And one recent one they seem to like to lob is to call us faketriots. But we've been called deplorables, racists, Bible thumpers, homophobes, misogynists and bigots.

We've even been called a cult.

The reality is that the only reason they call us these names is because they don't really have any position they can state articulately. Moreover, their side has no real victory to argue against our side's points.

It's simply nothing more than a tactic to try to insult us and shut us down—and stop the conversation, of course. It's what they think is their drop the mic moment. If any commonsense statement is made, you just call them a name, wave your arm and walk away.

If I have said it once I have said it a million times. You can't fill a three hour talk radio show with just talking points, and that's why liberal radio has never worked. Liberal ideology only ever fits on a bumper sticker.

Liberals like to tell you what something should be. They are never able to fully articulate why. Or how we do it. On top of that, they rarely are willing to think about any of the many variables that might be important to consider if we do what they want.

Take the idea of a minimum wage increase. The reality is that both sides want to see people making more money. However, our side thinks that it should be a natural process while the other side thinks it should be a forced process.

The left doesn't consider small businesses who may be severely impacted by higher labor costs, or even whether or not the smaller businesses can even afford it. They don't consider the impact on the costs of things or whether or not it could wash out any pay increases. They don't consider there may be pushes for more automation, or that service may be compromised as businesses are less able to fully staff their operations.

They just tell us, "You don't care about the poor." Drop the mic.

The reason we stand with Trump is quite simply answered. We were better off under Trump than we were under Obama, and we were certainly much better off under Trump than under Biden. 

We want to see law and order. We want secure borders. We want better opportunities for American workers. We want cheaper gas and independence from the oil cartels. We want unity. We want to be proud to be Americans and fly our flags with honor. We want to support our police, military and veterans. We want to be a country free of threats from foreign enemies.

And we want our government to act in our interests. Trump does that. Trump did that. Mean tweets and other antics aside. That I think we can all agree, distracted from what was good. It gave the media too much extra to focus on. But what Trump also gave us is someone who mostly is like us. He doesn't act like nor talk like a politician. He says what's on his mind, good or bad, and one thing I have always said about that is that that's the greatest transparency you could possibly have.

Biden has sat there for three plus years telling us the economy was doing great, that he created all these jobs, that inflation would be transitory, that the border is secure and any number of other outright lies he's told.

You can't tell us things that our eyes can't see and expect us to believe it.

All the name calling aside, what it shows is something else. Desperation. Because again, there is no valid argument. It's all they have to give. They can't tell you why we're supposed to see what they see. That Biden's policies have worked.

We are simply racist if we are against illegal immigration. We're misogynists if we are against abortion. We are homophobes and bigots if we believe there are only two genders. Yet at the same time we are science deniers if we don't believe in man-made climate change. We are bootlickers if we support the police—and racist there too, of course.

What is MAGA really? If that's the group you want to lump us into. What are we?

We are country loving Constitutionalists who want to restore and honor the core foundations of our founding fathers who created this great country. As Senator John Kennedy from Louisiana put it once, we have created such a successful country that everyone wants to come here, and even those who hate it don't want to leave.

At the end of the day, we don't really care what names we're called. It doesn't matter because we know our side is right—at least it is now. There's only one name anyone will be able to call us come the November election.

Winners.

Because no matter how hard the left has tried to break down the resolve of the American people and real patriots, the American people are stronger than those who wish to destroy the nation that's been built, and it's our country, and we want it back.

No matter what you decide to call me, the only name that applies to me is American. I signed up to fight for my country once, and even if I no longer wear the uniform today, I never once gave up my commitment to fight for Her to my dying breath.

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Donald Trump Crushes Iowa Caucus

Does the result of the Iowa caucus signal a virtual shoo-in for former President Donald Trump to win the GOP nomination? 

I think it does.

Normally we'd be at this particular point in the race and use the age-old line, "It's still too early to call anything." But that's when things are still rather undecided. Usually, even with a victory in Iowa, it's still a long race ahead.

But Trump won Iowa by a whopping 51% with Ron DeSantis taking a very distant second place and Nikki Haley running close to DeSantis. You can almost call that a no-contest race. It is not to say that the other candidates don't matter in the race for the GOP nomination. But let's face it. Do they?

I think it is clear that, at least when it comes to Republican voters, there were too many open questions about 2020, and regardless of where anyone stands on the idea of whether or not the election was stolen or won legitimately by President Biden, Republicans clearly want a do-over. 

And it seems apparent they are going to get it.

Vivek Ramaswamy has also ended his bid following the caucus results and turned to endorse Trump. A wise move, if you ask me, and I think it is quite possible Ramaswamy earns a position on Trump's cabinet if Trump should win the White House in 2024.

So, that really, mathematically speaking, only leaves two. DeSantis and Haley. I think based on the Iowa results, it is clear that the next primary coming up on January 23rd in New Hampshire will also go to Trump. And it will be another massive margin victory in my opinion.

I think DeSantis will likely maintain his position in second place—there's just not enough time for Haley to make a stronger case for her own bid—and I think after the New Hampshire primary Haley may also likely drop out of the race.

Especially if Trump wins similarly in New Hampshire as he did in Iowa, which I think he definitely could.

Like I said, this race is essentially already decided. Which is unusual, but considering all that's happened since 2020, it is clear where the interests of at least Republican voters are. They want Trump to be the nominee.

As I alluded to before, it's not even really a race. Trump is just too far ahead of the pack that even thinking anyone else can even come close to catching up is mathematically impossible. The primaries will still happen of course. But this time around, I believe, just as a formality. 

I think I can confidently declare that it's over for everyone else vying for a position on the stage. Trump has clearly already won. As for where the Ramaswamy voters go? I think they go to Trump. So, I also see no boost to Haley's campaign via Ramaswamy's departure.

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OTHER COMMENTARY BY JIM BAUER

Evaluating Politics Has to be On the Basis of Honesty and Openness, Not Party Divisions
Let's face it, political discussions are hard. What gets in the way is either denial, defiance, or outright bias. Often times, there's just no winning—but having an open and honest political dialogue is important because so much of what happens in politics has a direct impact on our lives and even our livelihoods. 

One of the REAL Reason Trump's Skipping the Debates
Normally, and under normal circumstances, I'd lambaste someone for not attending any presidential debate, regardless of the side. While I don't think debates are the end all to be all, I do think that they are important to better understand our candidates and what they are running for or on.

The Uprising of the American Party
These days, being a lifelong republican is met with some angst. Many times in the past I have written about the disarray of the democrat party and how that ultimately effects their standing with the voters, and of course, how it effects elections.

Donald Trump: The Greatest Show on Earth

I recall being captivated and mesmerized by the ever evolving and twisting plot lines of that TV show, House of Cards. Even if the show was pure fiction, one wonders how much of it was actually true? Not the story itself. But how politics really operates. Behind closed doors. What really goes on?

Especially in our current times.

A show like that gives us a deeper look into what power actually looks like, and what people may be willing to do to get it and hold onto it. It's a dangerous place, Washington D.C. And perhaps if House of Cards had any basis at all in fact, I'll be damned if wasn't a fictionalized documentary somewhat loosely based on the life and careers of the Clintons.

What we have unfolding before us now is a new show. Except that this one isn't fiction. It's a reality show unlike any other one we have seen before. And people are glued to their screens. There are twists and turns at every corner. And the plots seem to get crazier than ever.

It started at the first scene when Trump came down his escalator at Trump Towers to announce he was running for president. The fire of politics was set ablaze and the powers on both sides' insides churned. Perhaps the threat wasn't truly appreciated at first. Until one-by-one Trump toppled what would have been top contending opponents on the debate stage and all along the campaign trail.

He had to be stopped.

And they tried everything to do it. The GOP scrambled to find a reason to bar him being nominated. Even when it was clear he would be the nominee, they tried to find ways to deny it. The Democrats were already in talks long before Trump even won the election about impeachment in case he actually did win.

Ultimately Trump did get the nomination of course. In the end to deny it would have been a form of political suicide for the Republican party. "But he won't win," they thought and talked about in closed circles. "We'll just have to deal with the reality that Hillary will be the president and we'll work on the next election."

But he did win. Not by the popular vote. But he won the electoral college, and in the end that's all that matters. And he won despite what all the polls suggested that it was a practical shoo-in for Hillary Clinton.

The party had no choice but to rally around him. The people decided he was not only the president, but the presiding face of the Republican party.

But of course, his presidency was fraught with one challenge after another. He was caught in the crosshairs of investigations, impeachment hearings, a media onslaught and a long list of what became known as Never-Trumpers within his own party.

Not a single accomplishment would go without scrutiny and even denial it ever occurred. The Democrat party all but censured Trump, not by vote, but by their actions, dismissing nearly everything he tried to do, claiming his presidency was not only illegitimate. But that he stole it with the help of the Russians.

Without question, I don't think anyone can deny that Trump's presidency was perhaps the most sensationalized of any presidency ever. The entire term ran like a TV show right down to a Speaker of the House ripping up a State of the Union speech—something you would have thought you would never see in real life except on TV.

And then there was the election fallout. People went to bed with Trump clearly in the lead only to wake up the next morning and discover that Biden had won. And there were all sorts of controversy surrounding that. And then there was the "insurrection." 

This was a made for TV series of events unlike any other even the best writers could ever have dreamed up. And now we have all the king's horses and all the king's men once again trying to deny Trump's ability to even run with states sending cases to their state supreme courts to deny primary ballot access.

And of course, there are all the wild accusations of criminal intent and indictments stacked up against him—whether or not there is any merit to any of it isn't what matters. It's made the entire process a show that is impossible not to watch.

Because it's that power we're seeing coming front and center for us all to witness first-hand. This is the true nature of politics, or at least what it has become. 

It has been the greatest show on Earth, and we don't know how it ends yet. We're just in season 7. 

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Barack Obama Could Have Had THE Greatest Legacy of All Time

Looking back to a post I wrote way back in 2008, "Righting the Woes of Black America Starts at Home," it makes me think about how much of a missed opportunity was presented during the presidency of Barack Obama.

At the time, race baiters like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton were not at all too pleased with certain comments that Obama made on the campaign trail which put some of the onus of many black problems in America back unto themselves.

He did not pass all of the blame on black America mind you, and rightly so. But he did acknowledge that not all problems in black America are the fault of society or the government. 

"We've got to demand more responsibility from Washington. We've got to push aside those special interests and let the voices of the American people ring out," said Obama. He even said that we needed to demand more responsibility from Wall Street. 

"But you know what," he added. "We also have to demand more responsibility from ourselves." 

I thought Barack Obama was right about the comments he made. These were powerful words. These were words I actually wanted to hear. And when he uttered them, I thought, even though I did not support his presidency, that if he could accomplish nothing else, if he could be the force which can turn around all of the past issues facing black America—it would be the greatest accomplishment of all time.

He would have left a legacy as powerful as Abraham Lincoln's freeing of the slaves. Of the historic marches for freedom of Martin Luther King, Jr.

If nothing else, the strong words of Barack Obama at that time gave me hope, despite his running as a democrat, despite his clearly being a liberal, that perhaps we might finally see a voice (potentially coming from the podium of the highest office in the land) that would speak for black America in a way that would encourage a newfound path forward instead of against them as so many in the leagues of people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton did for so long. 

And frankly, that so many in the democrat party did and continue to do to this day.

I am not saying that Barack Obama would have had the power to change everything. But he certainly had the power to foster change quite powerfully among society as a whole. Especially in the black community. It was a message that could have been powerful in that it would have said, "We have the opportunity and the ability and the strength to become what we have always known we can become—that we know we are and rather than be victims, to be leaders of our own destinies."

Words not unlike many spoken by Martin Luther King, Jr. frankly. Powerful words that lift a people up. Not hold them down. Words that strengthen the heart and solidify the resolve rather than soften the heart and weaken the resiliency of purpose.

Because that's been my biggest complaint of so-called leaders like Jackson and Sharpton and even of the democrat party. Their message is always one of despair and failure and blame. 

Not for one second will I deny that there aren't a multitude of issues that help to support at least some of the arguments people like Jackson or Sharpton have made over the years, as well as others in their camps. But to deny the internal portion of culpability is to deny, ultimately, the real change that can be made to actually foster progress.

It's sort of like the historical words of John F. Kennedy, "Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country." Those were powerful words as well. It put the onus of America's problems in the hands of everyday citizens and said basically, "We cannot expect the world's problems to be solved by someone else. We must strive to see within ourselves what we can do to help solve those problems together."

Isn't that sort of what Barack Obama said? And how could those words have been interpreted as talking down to black people, as Jesse Jackson suggested, or even anger a people as a whole? Shouldn't words like that provide for an aha moment? A revelation of possibility? A moment of realization of a key ingredient that had been missing all along to finally make the real change achievable?

The key takeaway here for me is that Barack Obama left this massive idea on the table when he made history and became the first black president and took his oath of office. He unfortunately, and frankly sadly, missed the greatest opportunity the world has ever known to rise up black America in a way that would have presented a very different landscape today for all of America and society even today.

The question becomes, when does that opportunity ever come again? And how did he so poorly miss it?

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Is America Slowly Becoming Lost?

It is unfortunate that it has to be said, but it just seems like our political environment right now is just in a shambles. And it's not just a left or right thing. It's the entire thing. From a completely dysfunctional administration in the Biden/Harris presidency, from democrats who deny all things real and a media that supports false narratives and fails to report the news accurately, or even with honesty or integrity.

From the upper leadership on the republican side such as Mitch McConnell having frozen in front of the camera several times, clearly too old to continue to serve the American people nor the party effectively, from guys like Fetterman wearing jump suits to work.

From a complete landscape of old and tired people like Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi not offering anything new to the American public, simply vying for power and support from within, to an entire landscape of political rivalry unlike anything we have seen before.

Even when it comes to voters, is anyone being honest anymore? Does anyone really care about the health of the nation and the direction we go? Is our vote about doing what's right or simply winning? And how much is anyone really paying attention to what's really going on? How many of us really care? 

And now, of course, we have the ouster of Speaker McCarthy further exacerbating at least the appearance of dysfunction.

Look, at the end of the day we have to get back to the old understanding that there has to be compromise. That we all can't have things completely our way and that for the common good we have to be able to at least find common ground and have the ability to accept that we can only ultimately meet somewhere in the middle.

Even looking back at Biden's first day in office, why could he not have taken some time to carefully examine what went right about Trump's policies and keep the ones that worked in effect? For the good of the people? Instead, he simply dismissed everything, wiped the slate clean and here we are now feeling the awful pains of that terrible decision.

Trump actually did examine some of Obama's policies, and he kept many of them in place while rearranging or only slightly altering others—but of course he removed things that clearly were not working.

Many presidents in the past have done it this way as well, including Obama.

Beyond all of this there's just no accountability. There are no checks and balances. We have a media absent from letting us know what's really going on and truly wanting to dig deep into the issues we all face.

The media is doing nothing to advance the peace or prosperity of the people of the country. Or to advance anyone's understanding of what's right or wrong or why. It's not giving anyone the ability to think outside of their own biases and actually formulate working, sensible opinions on where we are and where we need to go, and who is responsible for advancing our cause or setting it back.

In an odd way it may be part of where Trump's appeal stems from—from all sides by the way—despite outward appearances we are led to believe. And that's that while all of the establishment is fighting a miserable battle, trying to win that thing, this thing, or the other thing, he's simply reaching out to the American people from the outside looking in and letting us know it's a disaster and telling us why.

We need change. And we need it badly. Not only from our elected officials, but from the American people as well. And from the media. We need to get back to that United We Stand, Divided We Fall culture that once permeated the collective American psyche.

We need to be able to recognize the pitfalls of all of this dysfunction and honestly call it out for what it is, rather than simply take political sides through all of it just because. 

How many times have we heard so many people complain, "The two-party system is broken," only to fall heavily to one side or the other, and then defend their side even when they are clearly wrong? Sure, I am a conservative republican. But not to sound like a broken record, I am an American first and foremost above all other things.

Do I side with my side more often than the other side? Yes. Is it because of bias? I'd like to believe it is not. I'd like to believe that I simply have the ability to be honest about what either side is doing and make a judgement based on how I feel about it rather than how I think I should feel about it.

The problem we face, and I have repeated this several times, is that unless we recognize the dysfunction and begin the process of weeding out our bad apples, from both sides, we may not ever be able to get back to any sense of normal. We may not be able to save ourselves from the disaster we are ultimately creating, fostering, or allowing to continue.

Was ousting McCarthy the right decision? Maybe. Maybe not. Should Pelosi have faced stark criticism and disdain from her own party all the while she was Speaker and mucking up the place? Maybe. Should older elected officials like Feinstein (before she passed away) or Mitch McConnell pass their batons on let fresh voices in? Probably.

Should the American people demand it? 

The question really becomes, "Who is now in Congress that actually belongs there? Who is now in Congress who is actually doing the work of the People?"

It would be an extremely short list on both sides. And if the American people were paying attention, and perhaps even if the media were doing their jobs, we'd have already cleaned house. It goes back to what I said earlier about the complaint of the two-party system. That we allow the two-party system to decide for us who to vote for instead of making those decisions on our own, based on our own personal analysis of who's running on whatever side.

It's the argument that we need term limits.

Something I tend to agree with now. But what have I have always said is that no one remains in office who is not elected by the people to remain in office. So, we can argue all day long that too many people stay too long, but at the same time we the people continue to return them to their offices election after election after election.

We're in a shambles because few people care and the people "in charge" know it. We're in a shambles because no one who holds any office right now feels any threat that they may not be able to return if they get things wrong. We're in a shambles because almost everyone in Congress is out of touch with the needs of the American people. We're in a shambles because not a single elected official understands how their policies actually affect the average citizen. And because not a single policy affects them. We're in a shambles because like most Americans, the media has picked a side. We're in a shambles because no one bothers to listen anymore, or to deeply think about all of the unintended consequences of what is essentially a feel-good idea that looks good on paper, or is comforting to certain, select ears.

That being said, in all honesty, does that leave us much hope for 2024? I am not sure. Sure, I side with Trump. But even in that camp would I prefer a better alternative? Absolutely. And not for the reasons you may think.

It's the distraction that is the problem. And regardless of whether Biden is reelected or Trump returns to the White House, I think that distraction remains.

But beyond that, there is no real alternative on either side either. Right now we are literally caught between a rock and a hard place. Our only hope is that we are getting to a point where people begin to realize the dire state that we are in and begin to operate in a way that allows us to turn it around.

But again, I also think there comes a critical point at which we will no longer have the ability to do it.

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Too Old to Serve? Election 2024

Age is certainly a factor in the next election for president in 2024. Beyond all of the flubs from the Biden administration, which is a complete disaster, and all of the chaos and infighting among republicans right now on the GOP side, the one thing that should be abundantly clear is this.

Joe Biden has not earned reelection and is too old to serve, and likely won't make it through another four year term. Kamala Harris is not fit to be president. And even though I think Trump not only deserved another four years in 2020, even he may be too old to serve.

It's a bit of a slippery slope because what it leaves us with is a "big picture" decision at the polls. Who exactly are we ultimately having to choose to vote for? The person running for president? Or the running mate? And while we have had times in the past when a vice president did become the president for various reasons, it has not always been the best course for America.

Trump seems vibrant and full of life, but that doesn't guarantee nothing will happen.

I do think that Trump still offers the best opportunity to get America back on track. He's become a politician, for sure. But he's still an outsider. He's got bite. He doesn't play like other politicians do. He fights back, gets contentious and pulls no punches. 

I like that.

DeSantis, so far, seems like a strong and clear alternative choice. But I also think that what DeSantis brings to the table is more of the same old politician stuff. He's an establishment guy even if he says he isn't.

He is also much younger which presents an interesting alternative as well. And regardless of what my opinion overall may be about DeSantis vs. Trump, the one thing I do know is that he would still present the better choice over Biden in 2024.

I do wonder, if Trump were to become the nominee, if there could ever be a Trump/DeSantis ticket that could potentially pave the way for a determinable victory for DeSantis in 2028 and beyond, and a victory for the republican party to boot.

The thing is, we're going to also be in this boat again in 2028 necessarily since Trump can't run for a third term no matter what. So, with that in mind, we also have to make sure that in 2024, at least on the GOP side, we have to get this right.

If the next four years with Trump, for example, is like the first four years with Trump, and I am not referring to what he did, because I think Trump's presidency was a stellar success, with the media and the democrats out to take him out at every turn, that will only present more of an uphill battle for DeSantis, if he were to be vice president, because he'd be running directly as a Trump candidate.

It's a lot to consider. There are so many moving parts here. We only know we can't afford another four years of Biden and we certainly won't survive a Harris administration. So, it's a big task ahead. I think what we need to do, not just as a party, but as Americans who want to see the country headed back in the right direction, is to really think long and hard about what the best course for America is.

In the end, nothing else matters more.

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Is Alissa Heinersheid Out, or Is She Over Bud Light Marketing Controversy?

Was the vice president of marketing, Alissa Heinsersheid, fired over the Bud Light controversy? Well, that depends on who you talk to and how you want to interpret words. Which, by the way, is an age-old tactic with the left that perhaps took root when Bill Clinton famously answered a question by asking another question, "That depends on what is is."

Or maybe it was something the left has been doing long before Clinton's now famous response to what was a rather simple question. They say things that sound like the same thing but aren't exactly necessarily the same thing.

What Anheuser-Busch InBev said is that she simply took a "leave of absence."

One thing the left, and particularly the woke and cancel culture people, hate to do is admit defeat. They very strongly don't want to be wrong. 

It depends on what "is" is.

Whether or not company officials say she was fired or not to me doesn't matter. As I have said before, business is about dollars and cents. Not politics—even if many corporate America executive boards and leadership now seemed to have tapped into woke people to lead them.

They chose to allow a bad idea to hit the airwaves thinking they were being inclusive and thinking that woke culture is "the new next best thing," and they thought that consumers would rejoice when they saw transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney on their beer cans.

Because woke people, besides being misinformed about their own cause and popularity, and despite the feeling of power they think they have, are simply out of touch with reality. Consumers are having had enough of it and they sent a clear message to Anheuser-Busch InBev about it. They don't want to just come right out and say they were wrong.

So, they didn't fire the person behind the marketing idea gone wrong. She's just on a leave of absense. Okay. Whatever.

Meanwhile, Todd Allen, who is the vice president of global marketing for Budweiser takes her place, and other changes to marketing teams and leadership have also been made so that there is more oversight over how marketing campaigns will be conducted and reviewed in the future.

Sounds clear to me that Anheuser-Busch InBev is making these changes because of the Bud Light, Dylan Mulvaney controversy. What else would it be about?

Speaking about transgenderism, I think it is worth noting that the way the media is portraying any backlash on the issue, they say that the right (and republicans in general) are "fixated on transgender issues," with many state governors and legislators introducing bills that they claim infringe on transgender rights.

Wait a minute. Who is fixated?

For several years now I think the truth is that the left has been fixated on it, literally shoving their cause down everyone else's throats and forcing them to "accept this or else." Join our woke movement or be labeled as a racist, homophobe or demagogue.

They don't care what the majority wants. We are not supposed to have our voices heard. We are supposed to just quietly sit back and take it—all of it—and accept whatever their definition of the world is.

Regardless of whether or not Alissa Heinsersheid is out of a job or not I don't think makes a difference, ultimately. At least not in the short term. With this wording of her departure, I think consumers are smarter than the narrative. They want an admission of guilt, and they want the company execs to be honest about what happened and why, and admit they were wrong.

This isn't going to be a moment where consumers, essentially ignored and unappreciated, now simply go back to the stores and start buying Bud Light again. The damage has been done and the little token of a "white flag" being thrown up in a kinda sorta way isn't enough.

Besides, I think consumers need to continue to stand tall against what Bud Light tried to do. If the "moment" is one in which execs simply feel they dodged a little bullet here, the real message will be lost in translation.

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The Uprising of the American Party?

These days, being a lifelong republican is met with some angst. Many times in the past I have written about the disarray of the democrat party and how that ultimately effects their standing with the voters, and of course, how it effects elections. But here we are, republicans, pretty much in a mess worse than I have ever seen on the democrat side. And what is it all about? Donald J. Trump, of course. He's absolutely frazzled the establishment—and frankly I don't think they know how to handle this. But it should be easily explained away for these guys if you ask me.

Why is Donald Trump, our nominee, resonating with the voters of our party?

Look, it's a simple thing really. I have long said that I do not feel a need for term limits in Congress and the Senate so long as the voters are engaged and paying attention. We have a system designed where it is the people's choice who stays or who goes when it comes to elections. The only reason term limits would be needed is when voters are pretty much tuned out, not paying attention, and just checking boxes at the polls without knowing what it is their elected officials accomplished...or did not accomplish.

Clearly the voters are engaged right now, at least for sure on the republican side, and what they have concluded is that the republican party has not done their job. Thus, Donald Trump gets their vote.

But yes, this is a time of angst. If you have paid attention to the republican party over the years the one thing many of us have argued is that we do not ever have a candidate that speaks directly to the people. We wind up with guys who look exactly like the tired and old stereotype of a typical republican. Old rich guys.

Granted, Trump is old. And he's rich.

But, he's Donald Trump. And say what you will about why Donald Trump is a household name for many Americans no matter which side they happen to be on, he has at least accomplished one major thing—he has tuned in many Americans to the electoral process who may have never bothered to care or tune in at all to.

So, he at least has our attention. Republicans and democrats and independents and non-voters alike mind you.

And because they (the American people) are now tuned in they now also realize an awful truth. Washington D.C. and all of these elites who reside there now, and who frankly have been there before them for many years, are screwing us over and good. And they have gotten away with it largely because no one was paying attention, and no one was there to bring it all to light. Donald Trump is saying to the American people what is wrong with the process, what is wrong with America, and why it is so important we all get it this time around and begin the long and daunting process toward real change. To start the process of restoring America to HER people as it was intended by our founders, and stop dead in their tracks the establishments on both sides to stack the deck and rig the whole kit and kaboodle to the detriment of everyone.

Americans rejoiced about change not so long ago when Obama made it his promise to bring it about. But he didn't change anything for the better, and unfortunately no one was paying attention to what he failed to do, and thus he was elected twice.

So, the republican party now has a guy at the forefront who is speaking to swaths of Americans, who is bringing new excitement to the electorate and bringing new-found interest to the party, but yet all they want to do is shut him down. Why? Because they don't like what he says, or how he says what he says. Look, the truth is that Donald Trump is more like you and I despite his billions of dollars in the bank than any career politician, and frankly I think this is one of the reasons why he scares the hell out the establishment the way he does, and why they are so eager to try to shut him down. He's an American. Dare I say an everyday American? When he speaks about economics, and when he speaks about wars, and when he speaks about back room deals in Washington he speaks like each and every one of us speaks in our break rooms, at our family gatherings, and in general to our friends. He says what is wrong, he does not parse his words, he does not spout off in terms no one can understand, and in ways that skirt the truth and make the ugly sound pretty. And again, this scares the hell out of the establishment because for years they have been able to use words in fancy ways to make the American public see things in a different light than the truth would lay out before them.

If you have a good thing going and no one is any the wiser, why throw a cog in the wheel to mess that up?

That's exactly what the establishment has had for years. A good thing. The people were none the wiser. And so long as they were none the wiser, why mess that up?

Trump is the bad guy, and the target of establishment republicans, because he threatens to mess up a good thing they have had going for years. That's why they want to shut him down. That's why they want to rally around Hillary Clinton, attacking Trump instead of her. Because Trump threatens their existence in a way no one before him really has. He's telling the American people the truth. He's shedding light on well hidden realities. He's engaging regular, working people like you and I. He's getting us, the American people, the average working Joe, to see that what politicians tell us, what they promise us, and what they do, and what the effects of lies, innuendo, and spin do to hurt us greatly with us virtually unaware it is even happening—but slowly. The pain comes slowly. The tactics and the policies and the fancy speak hurts us in calculated measure over time so that piece by piece, bit by bit, wrong by wrong, we simply get used to things as they are, and by the time things are so bad—we don't feel the pain as greatly. It has become the norm. It has become our way of life.

Surely the democrats have mastered that with the welfare state. 

It's like the mindset of an embezzler really. I can take a few pennies here and a few pennies there and no one really notices. The ones who get away with it are the smart embezzlers. The ones who get caught are the ones who grow impatient with the process of embezzling a little bit and then just go for broke. Politicians don't have to grow impatient. They control the process. For them they don't have to worry about getting noticed. There is nothing more friendly to an embezzler than the lack of an accountant. And for a politician, there is nothing more friendly than a voting public who is none the wiser.

Trump is the accountant who just walked in on a huge and long-time embezzlement.

And just take a look at who's who in the establishment now denouncing Trump—again—either directly or indirectly. Career politicians. Elites. Paul Ryan, the Bush family, and John McCain just to name a few. Go ahead and toss in the Romney family as well if you want to. These are family businesses...careers in politics. These are the embezzlers of our freedom and of our lives, stripping away one piece at a time, slowly but surely, but with calculation. And now someone has called their bluff. Now someone has shed light on their deeds, And now someone has the ear of the people.

Again, this scares the hell out of them.

The fact is that I am a republican. But I am also able to observe. I know what's going on and I don't like it. And that is why I can and do support Trump. Maybe it's not even a republican thing. Maybe that is just what I have been calling it all these years for lack of a better word. But I have checked the boxes just the same, and I had faith that the guys I sent to Washington with R's behind their names would do my bidding and make America a great place to live. I sent them there with the faith that they would right the wrongs of progressives and slam the door on liberal policies. I sent them there with faith that they would tell the American people the truth about why conservative principles worked better, and why anyone should rejoice in the implementation of conservative policy and ideology.

But they failed. And Trump is winning, at least when it comes to republicans. And he is dismantling the party. So being a republican these days is met with angst. Because I am angry as hell at my party and like so many American people are too. I am so angry that Trump resonates with me too. And I am angry that the republican party in all but denouncing Trump has shed light on the real corruption I denied was ever there within even my own beloved GOP. I am angry that it appears that the republican party, when all is said and done, really were no better than the democrats I so deplored were. I am angry that it appears that a two-party system is really just one party.

The political party.

And the rest of America be damned.

I am voting for Trump, now, not because he happens to the republican nominee. I am voting for Trump because I think he has the right plan to bring the country back to the people. Parties be damned. Republican, democrat, green party, libertarian, independent? To hell with all of that garbage. It's time to simply be an American.

The Jeb Bush Coffin Nail?

Jeb Bush likes to call the desk in the Oval Office the Big Boy Desk. It's a term that actually grates me a bit since, in its own way, it simply feels like it's a bit pompous, and serves to belittle not only the other candidates on the stage, but the American people as well.

Granted, all of the candidates have their way of using certain phraseology that serves to belittle under the radar. Donald Trump of course interestingly feels no need to hide it. But considering where Jeb Bush stands in the presidential race, and what I think is a clear sense of entitlement that he should be, if not the nominee, certainly the next president, coming from him it sort of sounds to me more like (choose your favorite crybaby voice), "I'm 'posed to be president, wa-wa-wa. It's my turn! My turn, my turn, wa-wa-wa!"

So this latest little turn of events, which I find absolutely hilarious on it's merits, that Trump bought Jeb's campaign website after Bush failed to renew it—no small detail by the way when you want to be president in the Internet age—says one thing to me. A Big Boy would have paid attention to such an important detail.

Of course, Bush will say it's not his fault. He'll say that he left the management of his website to someone else. And in the grander scheme of things that's probably true of all of the candidates. I am not going to chide Bush for this little tidbit. But at the end of the day while delegation of tasks is the nature of the beast, and a tenet of leadership, delegation does not mean total separation. Part of delegation is monitoring closely to make sure that those who tasks are delegated to are actually getting them done.

As president, with lives and livelihoods at stake through decision making and policy, this would seem to me to be pretty damn important.

Do we want a president to be removed from pieces and parts of the process? Do we want a president who, in the light of a certain turn of events might sit before the American people in a Kenneth Lay/Jeffrey Skilling sort of way, "I'm just the CEO, I have no way of knowing what is going on in my company."

As for Trump buying Bush's website, I think it does tell us one thing. The details. How engaged is Trump in the campaign? He's focused. He's got people in place to really nail down the details he needs to know in order to keep his campaign on focus. Bush might tell you that the campaign trail is grueling and tiring, and it therefore may be easy to miss such a thing as a website renewal. But then how would Trump not miss it?

At the end of the day I think Jeb Bush is simply making it all too clear to the American people that he does not want to be president for the good the country. He does not want to be president because he wants to fix a broken country. He simply wants to be president because he wants to make his daddy and big brother proud of him. Jeb Bush is not a failure by any stretch of the imagination. But it seems to me, in a very childish sort of way, Jeb feels like he's the one Bush in the Big Boy House that hasn't risen to the highest office in the land—and that leaves him, in his own mind, as a failure. The one at the Thanksgiving dinner table in the Bush house that will always be the other Bush.

That's not a reason to be president.

I think Jeb Bush needs to simply concede that even in a legacy family like the Bush's, not everyone can be president. His numbers don't indicate he's got a chance in hell of even winning the nomination. He needs to drop out of the race and let the others have more time to get their message to the American people.

Please clap?

Benghazi Hearings Shed Light On Clinton's Viability

It's no secret that I am not a fan of Hilary Clinton. Still, unlike most democrats, republicans such as myself can be fair about the issues, the controversies, and the scandals. My take away from the recent congressional hearings with Mrs. Clinton regarding the entire Benghazi thing is that she was not hurt by the hearings, and the republicans missed an opportunity to bring to light what I think is one very important and crucial question.

Why did she choose to openly lie to the American people about the nature of the attack on the facility in Benghazi?

Because the fact that she did in fact lie is quite clear if anyone was paying an ounce of attention to the hearings. She told the American people that the attack in Benghazi was due to a video that riled the core of factions of terrorist groups. Yet at the same time confided to family members, the Egyptian prime minister and the Lybian president that it was a planned attack that had, in her words, nothing at all to do with any video.

The open question for me is did the video narrative come into play because we were two weeks from Obama's reelection campaign, and because he was campaigning that his war on terror was effective and was telling us that "Al-Qaeda is on the run," and the true facts of the attack would have squarely rendered those claims false, and could have had serious implications for Barack Obama winning a second term in office?

I think the answer is yes. She did not come out and say it. And unfortunately the republicans did not press the issue. But why should this be so important to anyone? Republican, democrat or independent? Because it should have people asking the question of what kind of a leader can we trust who puts politics before being truthful to the American people, especially in a case where four American lives were lost?

Quite clearly this should immediately disqualify her for ever holding the highest office in the land.

What else might she lie about? What kind of transparency can we expect? Do we want more secrecy in government, or less? Do we want a president who tells us one thing, and knows that what they are telling us is patently false? Or do we want a president who can be honest and forthcoming, even when the truth hurts?

I think the latter is what we truly want.

This is not to suggest that anyone in politics, on either side of the aisle, tells the truth one hundred percent of the time. We know this is not true at all. But it is when lives are at stake and when people have a right to know what we are doing, what is happening, and when politicians are reluctant to tell the truth because it might hurt their careers that we really have to start asking crucial questions and holding those politicians accountable for their actions.

Keep in mind that our system of government was never set up to protect our leaders. It was never set up to protect our elected officials. Our system of government was set up to protect the citizens of this country, and to protect those who we put in harms way on behalf of our government and for the protection of our people. If the American people do not hold Hilary Clinton accountable for outright lying for political gain then we have a serious problem in this country, and the country as a whole is in trouble.

Okay. So there is an underlying perspective that Hilary and Barack are not friends. Why would she be on board to lie and protect the president to win reelection? What would she have to gain?

For me this a very easy answer.

Quite simply, she wants her shot at the White House. She wanted it before Barack Obama became president and probably felt that the election should have been hers in the first place. If the truth about Benghazi would have come out at the time, it is quite possible that Barack Obama would have lost, Mitt Romney would have won, and due to her age, and the possibility that Romney could have remained in office for two terms, her chance to ever effectively run for the White House would likely never have happened.

She was protecting Barack Obama to ultimately protect herself and protect her chance at the presidency further down the road.

That should make anyone quite scared to have her in the Oval Office if you ask me. Her interests are not, and have not been the interests of the American people. Her interests at the core are hers alone. To advance herself to the White House and gain power. She will stop at nothing, as the Clintons have proven through the years, to get what she wants. And if it means outright lying or leaving people dead...let the bodies hit the floor. "What difference does it make?" She wants to be president. Nothing else matters. 

Term Limits Are The Informed Voter

The fact is that most voters are simply not paying attention to what goes on with their elected officials, and that's how so many bad players on both political sides continue to keep their elected seats time and time again, election after election. Many people have called for, and continue to call for term limits.

 

We're tired of career politicians in this country. It's time to set a limit on how long anyone can serve, and that will right the ship for America.

 

I disagree. What will right the ship for America are not term limits, but informed voters. I know that the latter is harder to come by, and so perhaps that might be one reason to consider that term limits might counter the effect of the uninformed voter.

 

Still, I subscribe to one school of thought. I don't care how long a politician serves so long as they are doing right by their constituents. It's not the good players that need to be unseated. It's the bad players that need to be unseated. Most of the time the bad players stay elected.

 

So many Americans become entrenched in things that simply do not matter. They spend their time learning about their favorite actors and singers, their favorite sports players, the latest technological gadget that is coming out, but when it comes to who's who and who's doing what in Congress or The Senate, or even at their own local level, people turn a blind eye.

 

It's a scary trend in America for guys like me who strongly feel that America is losing its edge, and definitely sees the country headed in the wrong direction. Worst of all, uninformed voters also suffer another deep rooted problem.

 

The inability to think things through.

 

People tend to take what sounds good and take it as the gospel. Taking a little time to think about things like unintended consequences, for example, is rarely ever done. Taxes are a huge example of this. People tend to think of the rich as greedy, evil people who have no concern whatsoever for those on the lower rungs of the ladder. People fail to understand the most basic concepts of economics, and when they clamor for higher taxes on the rich and higher taxes for corporations, what they don't realize is that they are actually clamoring for lower wages, higher prices, reduced benefits, and less jobs.

 

Businesses do not pay their expenses. They recoup them. Taxes are an expense. They will be recouped.

 

Worst of all, people who enter the political arena aren't necessarily stupid even if they are often times misguided. But one thing does ring true. They have an agenda, and they know that most Americans won't be paying attention.

 

This puts us on a very dangerous path.

 

As to how we get more people involved in politics, I really don't know what the solution is. Some people, no matter how much you try to convince them of the importance of their direct involvement in politics, simply aren't going to get it.

 

It's boring. It doesn't affect me. My voice doesn't matter. The system is rigged. There is no such thing as an honest politician so why bother?

 

At some point I think as a nation we have to start becoming more involved. We need to better understand the impact of decisions that are made that dictate our laws. We need to think about all of the facets of any decision made, and the consequences of what even sounds like a great idea on its surface.

 

And vote armed with information. Not ideology, and not based on just the talking points. But based on facts. Based on results. And based on clear failures.

 

We don't need term limits. We just need to get the electorate to pull their heads out of their asses is all. That would solve the problem for the most part. That said, I realize it's probably a pie in the sky idea.

 





EVEN GOD HIMSELF WOULD NOT BE A SOCIALIST

There was an interesting analogy I heard recently to describe one of the major flaws with the whole concept of socialism, and while I cannot recall who made it, I can recall that I found it to be profoundly accurate.

You work hard in class and you study even harder. You do everything you can to learn the materials, and as a result you receive an 'A.' But Tommy, who sits right beside you isn't such a good student as you, and he doesn't spend the time nor does he have the inclination to work hard. As a result of his lackluster performance Tommy receives a 'D.' Seeing this, the teacher thinks this is unfair, and so she says to you that you must give some of your grade to Tommy to level the playing field. It's only fair, right? Why should Tommy be disadvantaged? And why wouldn't you be willing to give up some of your higher score? After all, a 'B' or a 'C' is still a passing grade, and you've got all those extra points. You can afford to give them up so that Tommy can have his fair share.

It sounds farfetched, I'll give you that. It's not exactly apples to apples either. But the underlying message is the same. Socialism rewards those who do not deserve to be rewarded, and punishes those who do. For all of its good intention toward fairness or to the so-called leveling of the playing field, it also leaves behind no real incentive to try hard at anything. Theoretically speaking, it stands to reason that if America would have begun its economic course based on socialist ideals rather than on capitalist ones, America would be a very different place indeed. It's why we must think very long and hard about what our priorities are before we decide to elect Barack Obama to the White House. It simply can't be that the majority of Americans feel that Tommy should get a higher score at the expense of the honor student's efforts. But that's exactly what Americans will be saying if Obama gets elected.

Look, I agree that everyone indeed deserves a fair opportunity to achieve their every wish and dream. Under a capitalist system that opportunity does exist. It is a fair playing field. But opportunity is not a handout. You have to work for it. You have to be willing to take on risk. You have to act instead of talk. You have to commit as opposed to simply wanting. You have to have the guts to do whatever it takes rather than complain about what you don't have. Capitalism is a system that holds one accountable to themselves for the success or failure they ultimately attain. At the end of the day the ball is in your court. You do with it what you will.

Okay, time for a quick joke:

This guy goes to the altar one day and says to God, "I've read every page of the Bible and read a verse a day. I go to Church every single Sunday, and sometimes I even go on Wednesday. Lord, I do your bidding always, being kind and helpful and nurturing and spreading your good word. All I ask Lord is that you let me win the lottery."

Suddenly the man is awash in a most powerful, warm light, and he hears a commanding voice speak to him. "You will win the lottery, my son," the voice says. The man knew it was God.
And so he went home and waited. The first drawing went by, then the second. There was a third and then a fourth. But the man did not win the lottery as God had promised him.
So the man returned to the altar, clearly angered and confused. "Lord, I just don't get it. I've done your bidding. And I asked to win the lottery. You told me I would indeed win. Yet, Lord, I have won nothing at all."
Again the man was awash in a most powerful, warm light. The voice said to the man standing at the altar, "Buy a lottery ticket!"

That said, it is clear that even God Himself would not be a socialist. He cannot give you anything you cannot, or will not give to yourself. I'm not going to speak for the Big Guy in the Sky, but I think it's evident that He would be voting for John McCain this November 4th.

We all should consider to do the same or the word achievement will sadly become synonymous with the word charity.