Being There

The term of art is "acting presidential." Two weeks ago Donald Trump upstaged President Obummer by four days with his visit to the flooding devastation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and commiserated with the its victims. The only equivalent response that Hellary Clinton could muster was a short phone call to the Louisiana governor ... who then covered for her by saying that her visit was not required.

Now today, Trump is on an invited visit with the current president of Mexico, Enrique Pena Nieto, to lay out his positions on the issues that fester between our two nations. The former Mexican president, Vincente Fox, has called this visit a political stunt ... a thought that DJT's contender, HRC, agrees with ... even though she has no plans to reach out in the same way ... even though she too was invited. This is not very presidential of her. And I just watched the joint press conference after this meeting and Trump did well enough to embarrass, once again, his opponent.

In fact, the optics of these two events point out a few bright lines between their two candidates:

- One is energy level. Trump is forward-leaning ... he shows up. Hellary seems to be slogging through the motions of her campaign. She has, for almost nine months, not had the fortitude to hold even a  live press conference. It's as though she believes she can coast right into the front door of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

- Two is courage. Trump is willing to deal face-to-face with his friends and potential adversaries. The best that Hellary can muster is staged Teleprompter pap deriding her opponent.

- Three is spontaneity. Hellary is so programmed by her enormous clutch of advisers that she appears almost robotic. Trump is more than willing to respond to events ... one reason that he now seems much more able to don the mantel of presidential power.

Perhaps, Trump is just lucky to do things that have pulled his poll numbers out of the dumpster since Hellary's post-convention bounce. Perhaps like the Chauncey character in Being There, Trump may sometimes be saying inane things ... yet some of us are hearing revelations ... but whatever it is, he is clearly recapturing his mojo.

I'm Smiling

A few days ago I wrote that President Obummer had a case of senioritis because he could not leave his Martha's Vineyard vacation to show the flag in flood-ravaged Louisiana ... see: No Fly Zone. So Donald Trump stepped into the void and, with his running mate, Mike Pence, is there today exhibiting his concern and acting presidential ... showing how he might behave if he were to win in November ... see: NOLA Article. And even Hellary outdid her former boss ... at least she (or Huma) picked up her smart phone and called the Democrat governor of Louisiana, John Bel Edwards, to show whatever concern she could muster. The optics of this contrast has the Democrats tied in knots. Governor Bel Edwards has covered for Obummer ... saying that things would not be helped if the president came there (same that was told to George W. Bush in 2005) ... and added that Trump was grandstanding with his visit.

The sweet, sweet irony of this story has me smiling ... at least until the national media either ignores this story or regurgitates the DNC talking points on tonight's TV news ... making Trump and Pence look like political hacks ... and somehow spinning Obummer's lassitude into caring competence.

This just in: Obummer will visit Baton Rouge this coming Tuesday ... after his vacation is over four days from now. I strongly suspect the nightly news will cover this visit with great drama.

Honkie Crackers

No, Honkie Crackers are not what you put cheese or peanut butter on ... for those of you internationals who don't know the American vernacular ... they are two African-American pejorative terms for white people. Yes, believe it or not, there is reverse racism in the United States which sometimes spins out of control ... like now.

Yesterday's Baton Rouge, Louisiana's three police murders were carried out by Gavin Eugene Long, a black Nation of Islam member ... see: The Daily Caller Article. For the longest time I have wondered why this Louis Farrakhan's organization has not been a major terrorist problem in the United States. Clearly they practice a form of Islam and often rail against the American white establishment (honkies or crackers) and its culture.

Yes, the Nation of Islam religion is what caused Cassius Clay to morph into Mohamed Ali ... along with other prominent black America sports and rap stars. I'm not sure I can say how this sect differs from classical Islam ... I suspect it parallels how Reform Jews differ from Orthodox Jews. Nevertheless, it's leader, Louis  Farrakhan is not known for warm and fuzzy rhetoric towards white America. Nor has he yet separated his organization from these Gavin Long murders.

Yet, Long's rampage in Baton Rouge is surprisingly the first example of violent class warfare that I can recall coming out of this Nation of Islam. I, as a honkie cracker, do hope that it is the last.

Afterward: Did a little research and it seems that the Nation of Islam is being heavily influenced by the Scientology kooks ...

All Lives Matter

Former governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, was interviewed by Shepard Smith on Fox News this afternoon about his reaction to the killing of three policemen in Baton Rouge this morning. In the course of his facile remarks, Governor Jindal said, "all lives matter," at which point Shepard Smith blanched and  took him to task because this phase had been denounced as racists ... by racists.

What in heaven's name is wrong with saying, "all lives matter?" Has its form been copywritten by the Black Panthers? As Jindal expanded on this phrase saying, "black lives matter ... brown lives matter ... white lives matter ... red lives matter ... all lives matter," Smith was still playing his PC violin. He then went on and on taking Jindal to task to the point I was shouting at the television (I'm over 70 and am allowed). It got so bad I had to turn the TV off in order to shut Shepard Smith up. Are we so conditioned by our liberal media (even on Fox) that we can't say something innocently appropriate like "all lives matter?"

What a perfect sphincter that pompous Smith is!

Spinning Out of Control

It's a lethal cocktail ... live cell-phone videos of confrontations between police and potentially dangerous black men in which the black men are shot and killed ... instant messages from eye witnesses who foment racial hatred by lying or jumping to conclusions before all the facts are known ... a black president who prematurely goes on television implying that the police are most often to blame in these matters ... media which too quickly jumps to stereotyping these incidents from a racial point of view. For a fairly balanced and thoughtful bit of opinion journalism on this issue, read : Yahoo Analysis.

It is now much more of a "we" and "they" world ... everything has become overly stratified ... Beyoncé comes out with a letter that decries police brutality and says, "Stop killing us" ... see: Breitbart Article. The "us" are blacks ... it's blacks versus the police ... thanks partially to our fixated president who has again convinced many blacks, using the shooting of two armed black men by police,  that cops are racists by nature. President Obummer, before all the circumstances are fully known, went on Polish television and slyly spun out his bigoted view of law enforcement. On the other hand, the Dallas black Police Chief, David Brown, did a far far better job than our president of calming things down and bringing the races together ... see: TMZ Video.

What a sad indictment of our nation's leaderless leader.