Interesting Timing

That famous phone call between President Trump and the new president of the Ukraine, Zelensky, took place on July 25th of this year. In this call Trump has been accused of trying to diminish his 2020 election opponent Joe Biden. However, Biden did not formally announce that he was running for the presidency until one month later, August 25th ... about the time that the whistleblower was blowing in the ear of Rep. Adam Schiff.

Interesting ...

Six Word Stories

Yesterday on NPR I heard Peter Berg discussing an interesting literary challenge ... to write an ultra-short story in only six words. He related that Earnest Hemingway was once given this dare and he supposedly came up with "For sale. Baby shoes. Never used." Mr Berg gave many other examples of such creative efforts. The only other one that I remember is, "Days are long. Years are short." However, if this concept strikes your fancy, you should go to Berg's website and read more ... see: Six Word Stories ... or Google for more possibilities.

I obviously can't leave this subject without also trying my fingers with this challenge ... so here goes:

"Lifetime of lying ... rewarded with presidency."

BOGO

For the moment let us imagine that Hellery Clinton runs and wins the presidency this November. Suddenly we have two Presidents in the White House ... Hellery and Slick Willie ... in other words buy one, get one [free] (BOGO) as depressing as this thought might be. The Wall Street Journal has a short piece discussing the implications of this novel circumstance HERE. This article calls this situation a duopoly and raises interesting problems that it might present. However one issue that this article doesn't cover is that Hellery recently publicly stated that, if elected, she would put Bill in charge of fixing our economy ... see: CNN Article and Video ... because "he knows how to do it." To me this is another major gaff on her part ... even bigger than her vow to put coal miners out of work.

This promise is wrong on so many levels:

First, as President it would be Hellery's responsibility to revitalize our economy which is the number one concern on most voters minds. Is she saying that voters, who would vote for her, are really voting for him? Does she intend to be a no-show President like she was as Secretary of State and Senator? This is more than this notion of "two for one" so often mentioned. It may be yet another Clintonesque way of getting around the letter of the law ... in this case the 22nd Amendment?

Secondly, this sounds very much like Hellery is dissing Obummer's stewardship of our economy over his two administrations. And since she is running as an extension to Obummer's presidency, she has just created a serious zigzag in this continuity.

Thirdly, if Hellery is to cede this responsibility to Bill, is this not an indication of her inadequacy to lead our country as its first female president? If Bubba screws things up, will Hellery expect to get a Mulligan from the American voters?

And lastly, Bill Clinton, in his recent public appearances, is clearly losing his mojo. If he sinks further into lala land, who then will carry this economic growth torch (or maybe cigar) in the White House?

If Hellery wins the next election, will both she and William Jefferson put their hands on the Bible next Juanary to take the oath of office?

The Audacity of Hope

                  "Hope is not a strategy" -- Rudy Giuliani

Except for his father abandoning his mother when he was but an infant, Barack Obummer has seldom experienced serious disappointment. In many ways he has led a charmed life ... getting into the best schools despite questionable aptitude, becoming the Law Review editor at Harvard without the usual credentials, getting a mediocre book published to rave reviews, never suffering any consequences for his extensive drug use, easily being escorted into his series of political offices, winning a Grammy, Time's Person of the Year, the Nobel Peace prize ... and beating the former First Lady to win the highest political office in the land ... on and on.

Why would this man-child not believe that he has the Midas Touch? And so he, unfortunately, has come to believe that he can do no wrong ... despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Apparently none of this evidence makes it through his phalanx of toadies and his halo of self-righteousness to shake his confidence in his own infallibility. Self confidence is obviously a requisite for holding such a position as the presidency ... but when this audacity blocks out the searing sun of continued failure, it can bring eventual havoc upon this office and its constituency  ... even if its holder never has to atone for or even recognize his failures.

It is long past the time that Obummer needs to do a serious reappraisal of his audacity of hope. He obviously has yet to learn that mere hope and audacity are not enough to succeed long term.

Firsts

If Hillary Clinton runs for the presidency, her strongest argument for winning is that it is time for the first woman president ... just like Barack Obama's advantage in his elections was that it was time for the first black in the White House. This "first" worked for him (much to the regret of many of his voters) and Hillary, in her high-hatted hubris, obviously thinks another first might work for her.

Of course, there are many other firsts that the American public could also be pining for ... the first Hispanic (Rubio, Cruz, Julian Castro?), the first black woman (Condoleezza Rice, Susan Rice, Valerie Jarrett ... oh, I forgot she already has been acting as president), the first Jew (Michael Bloomberg?),  the first Martian (James Carville?), the first faux Native-American woman (Elizabeth Warren?), the first Mormon (oops, that didn't work), the first cross-dresser, the first Communist (done that already ...). etc.

I know I am being silly again, but why would such "firsts" be a over-riding advantage for winning the presidential election? But then again why would making a YouTube-published sex tape be a prerequisite for becoming a major media personality (Paris Hilton)? I guess that, given our nation's mindset, these things go together ...