Perfect and Imperfect

We had a perfect man become a perfect president.

And a perfect man become an imperfect president.

Then we had an imperfect man become a perfect president.

Are we now going to fill out our dance card and have an imperfect man become an imperfect president?

STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

My Prejudice

If given a choice between a president with a soothing personality who can’t govern for the benefit of the people  ... and one with a rough demeanor who can ... I’ll  take the latter every day.

STAND UP FOR AMERICA!

Obvious Truth

Flawed men can do good things ...

and good men can do flawed things. — Anon.

Tough Decisions

All our presidents have faced making difficult decisions. Here might be the toughest tests for our last 14 presidents:

FDR - Declaring war on Japan AND Germany

Truman - Dropping the atomic bomb on Japan

Ike - Agreeing to an armistice in Korea

JFK - Embargo on Cuba during the missile crisis

LBJ - Handling the Vietnam war protests

Nixon - Watergate and his eventual resigning

Ford - Pardoning Nixon

Carter - Trying to rescue our Iran hostages

Reagan - Walking away from Helsinki meeting with Gorbachev

Bush 41 - Desert Storm war

Bill Clinton - Impeachment and fessing up to Monica Lewinsky affair

Bush 43 - America’s response to 9/11

Obama - Osama Ben Laden raid

Trump - Restarting the economy after the coronavirus shutdown

2020 Predictions

- Republicans retake House, expand Senate lead
- Trump re-elected, winning popular vote too
- 10%+ stock market correction in early Spring
- Clapper turns states-evidence in Durham probe
- Durham grand jury indicts 8 from Obama admin.
- Phase 2 China trade deal done in Summer
- GDP growth for year 3%+
- Pelosi never submits Impeachment to Senate
- North Korea doesn’t resume nuke testing
- Democrat ticket: Bloomberg and Yang
- Baltimore wins Super Bowl, Tom Brady retires
- RIP: Jimmy Carter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Ted Turner


Yes, I know a lot of these are obvious, but I can’t help myself ...

Name Game

Ever since Bill Clinton won the presidency over George H.W. Bush, the candidates with the fewer letters in their last name generally have won at the polls — Bush over Gore (tie), Bush over Kerry, Obama over McCain, Obama over Romney and, finally, Trump over Clinton.

Before that ... there were a few modern exceptions to this rule ... Carter over Ford, Eisenhower over Stevenson, Kennedy over Nixon and Raegan over Carter ... all of which can be explained away due to extenuating circumstances.

If this loopy trend holds, the only Democrat who has a chance against a Trump second term is (promising $1,000 per month per US resident) Yang ... while Biden ties. All the other possible Dem opponents ... Warren, Buttigieg, Harris, Sanders, Booker, Klobuchar, O’Rourke and Castro would suck wind.

Moral Relativism

A liberal friend asked me a question this weekend, “Is Trump dirty?” My answer was “probably.” My reasoning was based upon the fact that, as a successful skyscraper builder in major metropolitan areas, Trump had to deal with many unsavory characters, seedy union bosses, greedy contractors, corrupt politicians and building materials suppliers (many concrete companies are mafia controlled) ... therefore he couldn’t help but be somewhat sullied in the process. But was he any shadier than almost any politician you can name  ... including the Clinton crime family? I sincerely doubt it. And unlike the Clintons, Obama and many other polluted pols, I have no doubt about Trump’s love and loyalty to the United States.

And so I expect some mud in Mueller’s Trump witch-hunt report whenever it comes out. But I also expect no smoking gun regarding Russian collusion or obstruction of justice. The dirt, to whatever degree, will be revealed by Michael Cohen and the Southern District of New York prosecutors delving into Trump’s earlier business deals ... for which he can’t be impeached, but besmirched nevertheless. I have no idea whether any of the short cuts Trump took as a builder are felonies. It will all depend on the quality of legal advice he got during that period. But, in any case, it will have to wait until he leaves office and well may be mitigated by other politicians scrambling to cover their own dirty deeds.

Yes, in my dotage I’ve slipped into moral relativism. I am even regretting my sanctimony in condemning Richard Nixon in my salad days. My measure now is much broader when rating presidents. I ask what do they do to benefit America ... and do they put our interests ahead of their own personal ambitions and greed. I think maybe the only truly “squeaky clean” president we have had in my lifetime was Jimmy Carter... and you saw what that got us.

Loyalty

We all have our loyalties ... to the world, to our country, our state, our community, to our family, our ancestors, our mate, our friends, the poor, to our school, our political party, our social organizations, our religion, the environment, to our stomach, to our libido, our ego. Mostly we have mixed localities but, there is usually one or two localities that dominate ... and this can you be judged. And you cannot depend on what people say their loyalty priorities are ... you need to watch their actions.

Think about it. What dominated Bill Clinton's and JFK's lives? Their libidos. (JFK said he would get a headache if he didn't have sex every day.) FDR, his family and his country. Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter kept their religion and the poor foremost in their minds, To Ronald Reagan, our country was the "shining city on the hill" that was his  primary motivation. Truman and Eisenhower, their country. Obama, the environment or his ego. The Bushes, their family. Nixon, the world. Hillary, herself.

What about Trump? He says, and I believe him, he is a nationalist ... which means he puts his country first. And, if you think about things, it is those presidents who put their country at the top of their loyalty pyramids who we now consider great.

Perhaps?

Headlines

Trump: 'This was anti-Semitic at its worst'

Here's why one Wall Streeter thinks the Fed should take a breather to stabilize the battered market

Humanoid granted visa ...

... [Pittsburgh] Killer posted anti-Trump comments on social media

White House tempers hopes of retaining House control

Former President Jimmy Carter lives in a $167,000 house and shops at Dollar General

Control of Senate may hinge on Mississippi runoff ...

Synagogue shooting suspect passed background check

Bolton says Putin has been invited to visit Washington in early 2019

Saudi Arabia says kingdom to prosecute Khashoggi killers, lauds U.S. ties

Migrants refuse housing, jobs in Mexico ... 'We want America' ...

Grassley refers Amerati to DOJ for second criminal probe

Headlines

Congress should stop meeting with Rod Rosenstein

Amazon is charging more for sellers to promote big discounts on Prime Day

Syrian state media says air defenses hit Israeli plane, thwart missile strike ...

Jimmy Carter: Jesus would 'approve' of gay marriage, abortions

Trump's trade war was decades in the making

With 36 governships up for grabs in midterms, Republicans have the most to lose

Paper: China's currency [yuan] depreciation should set off alarm bells ...

Mexico border life: Cartel gunmen attack 5 bars, kill 12

[PM] Theresa May appoints new Brexit Secretary

U.S. opposition to breastfeeding reportedly stuns world health officials

Boston weighs giving non-US citizens voting rights ...

Nissan admits rigging emission tests at Japanese plants

Headlines

Grassley, FTC, states turn screws on Facebook

Stocks surge: Dow closes more than 650 points higher as trade tensions ease

Kim makes surprise visit to Beijing ...

Jimmy Carter: John Bolton 'a disaster for our country'

Stormy Daniels' attorney: Trump hasn't tweeted about her because it's all true

Stormy Daniels sues Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen for defamation

Turkey daily portrays Merkel as Hitler, decries 'Nazi mentality'

CNN poll: Trump's approval soars to 42 percent --- up seven since February

Defense Secretary James Mattis faces his greatest challenge yet: John Bolton

White House makes it official: Ready to begin wall construction

Congress,an: Rumor Paul Ryan to resign, next 30 to 60 days

WAT: Omar Mateen's father -- was FBI informant

Headlines

These headlines are real ... they have all been discovered on Internet news sites.

Allahu Akbar: Berlin killer dead in Milan ...

U.S. Begins asking foreign travelers about social media ...

Trump: 'I don't want celebrities at the inauguration'

[Bryn Mawr] College student driven out of school for backing Trump

[Hillary, Huma] Still together ...

World's last wild frankincense forests are under threat

Former presidents won't be at Trump's inauguration -- except one [Carter]

Putin says Dems sore losers ... Ready to visit USA ...

TWITTER inflated video ad metrics by as much as 35%

Wealthy DeBlasio crony caught getting food stamps illegally

Obama administration finalizes Social Security gun ban

L.A. proposal to rename freeway after Barack Obama

Out to Pasture

The following people have had their day in the spotlight. Now they're over the hill  ... and should be put out to pasture:

- Jane Fonda
- Bernie Sanders
- The Grinch
- Woody Allen
- Clint Eastwood
- Jimmy Carter
- Matt Lauer
- Donald Rumsfield
- Angela Merkel
- Bill Clinton
- Ted Turner
- Mitch McConnell
- George Soros
- Nancy Pilosi
- Charles Grassley
- Ayatollah Khamenei
- Waldo
- Harry Reid
- John McLaughlin
- George Potts

Maybe not that last one ...
- 

Oval Office Signs

The following signs were conspicuously displayed on the White House’s Oval Office desk during the terms of the following presidents;

Harry S. Truman                  “The buck stops here”

Dwight D. Eisenhower        “Interstate highways start here”

John F. Kennedy                 “Don’t fear the bear”

Lyndon B. Johnson             “Viet Nam starts here”

Richard M. Nixon               “The muck starts here”

Gerald Ford                          “The pardon starts in the Rose Garden”

Jimmy Carter                       “Buck teeth star here”

George H.W. Bush              “Iraq stops there”

Bill Clinton                          “The suck starts here”

George W. Bush                  “WMDs won’t drop here”

Barack Obama                    “Let me be clear" [You can …]

     

Presidential Get-Together

Bush 41, Obama, Bush 43, Clinton, Carter

"And that's where you were schtupping all those girls ..."

A Cerebral Pick

The AP is reporting that Mitt Romney will announce this morning at 9:00 that Paul Ryan is his choice for VP.  I would love to see the AP be wrong ... for no other reason than that it would be sullied as a news source.  But, assuming that it is right, what is my take on this first important Romney decision?

- It is a cerebral pick in that Paul Ryan is very smart ... he has the federal budget tattooed on the back of his hand.  He knows where all the fiscal skeletons are and he can be instrumental in helping Romney fix our crushing federal debt burden.  He has lectured the lecturers ... including that pompous one in the White House.  And, in the upcoming debates, he will make mincemeat of that court clown, Biden.

- And it is a courageous pick on the part of Romney because Ryan has been twice vilified in the national media for his attempts to put forward budgets that would begin to repair things.  Ryan has shown himself to be an easy target for demagoguery ... but then this has not fazed him.  His obvious "damn the torpedoes" approach shows that he has a much larger "good" in mind than his own political stardom ... very unusual in these days of almost universal political sliminess. And Romney himself has shown himself willing to pick someone who, in important ways, is his better.  This obviously is one of Romney's character traits that has served him well in his business career.  It also augers well for the type of people that Romney would surround himself with if he is lucky enough to be elected.

I use the word "lucky" because I now believe that Romney's chances have been diminished by choosing Ryan.  As some of you might remember, I would have preferred Marco Rubio mainly because of politics.  (He was also Jeb Bush's preference and won the Fox News preference poll.)  Rubio would have changed the dynamics of the race by appealing to many who look no further than the face and the name.  I am loath to admit that the American electorate have too often proven themselves to be governed by their hearts and not their brains. Witness the elections of Carter and Obama.

For the Romney/Ryan ticket to prevail now, this same electorate needs to become much more cerebral.  I can wish this to be the case, but my brain keeps whispering the opposite.