207: We Haven't Come That Far

In the first five years after the United States became a federation, the biggest concern of the chief executive (a guy names George W.) was that the settlers in the wilderness of Ohio and Kentucky territories had more in common with Great Britain and France and Spain than with the moneyed interests behind the new federal government.  He was right to be concerned.  It is still the case today.

Most of our country, outside of NYC and Hollywood, has very little in common with the political and economic power brokers in DC.  If the average citizen took the time to analyze the minuscule benefit he/she gets from his/her tax dollars, he/she would be rightly appalled.

When Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren complain about the the money center banks being "too big too fail," they should really be looking at the federal government.  Break the US into about four or five different countries - the Northeast US; the deep south US (the old CSA); California; the West US; and the Middle US.  Let the Northeast and California keep DC - they deserve it.

206: Political Depression

I am very depressed over the state of politics and government in the USA.  To wit:

The Dems are about to nominate  a woman for president who is a shifty, scheming, pathological liar.
The Republicans are about to nominate a quasi-successful businessman for president, but the Republican establishment is afraid of him, and is willing to cave to Hillary.
The national debt of the USA is about $13 trillion, and no one is talking about it.
The Secretary of the Treasury, Jack Lew, instead of focusing on a looming economic disaster, has decided to re-face the US currency with six women who have minimal historic significance.
The national capital of the US is a booming economy, based solely on taking resources from working men and women, and producing nothing in return.
The Federal Reserve System (the Fed) is a bumbling bunch of eggheads acting only in the interests of politicians who grant authority to the Fed.

It's not wonder why I'm depressed.

205: Why We Have Trump

There could never have been Trump for president had we not first experienced Obama as president. BO set the precedent for electing a president based solely on appearance (black) and completely devoid of any executive experience for the most complicated executive office in the world.  Once elected, BO governed as a petulant college student who had never balanced a check book.  In the midst of the worst financial crisis of several generations, BO chose to expand the federal government's productivity crushing influence and control into health care and financial services at alarming rates.  There may well be only one person in the entire BO cabinet who knows to read a balance sheet, and that guy (Jack Lew) played a huge role in running Citi into the ditch.

Almost all of what Trump spews is anathema to the BO image and agenda.  Voters like that.  Thus, we have Trump precisely because we first had BO.

204: President Bonehead Oil Tax Proposal

Barack Obama walks into a bar.  This could be the first line of a great joke, which is what BO proposed today.  A $10 per barrel oil tax?  From a lame duck president?  With a Republican controlled congress?  What a screamer.  I'm sure Bernie will endorse this tax.  Will Hillary?

Even if BO was serious, which of course he is not, who would this tax benefit, and who would it hurt?  Millionaires and billionaires would never change their behavior on account of this tax.  But a family of four with annual income of, say, $50K, would be devastated.  More proof that Democrats are stupid.

203: Democrats Love A Liar

Democrats certainly love their liars.  How else could Hillary stay on top of the heap?  Democrats felt the same way about Bubba.  After he was impeached for lying under oath, every Democrat member of Congress gathered on the steps of the Capitol building and stood by their man.  Of course most of these Democrats don't care about the lying because they stupidly believe that Hillary and the other liars are actually laboring away for the masses. 

But even by politician standards, and even by Democrat standards, Hillary certainly takes the cake.  And the nitwit network talking heads are just as complicit as the ordinary rank and file Democrat idiots. 

Martha Stewart went to jail for telling lies that would be considered tame compared to some of Hillary's whoppers.  When will the idiots wake up?

201: The Obama Syndrome

The disappearance of any trace of civility in the business of governing has its roots in the first Clinton administration.  I don't think it was Bill Clinton himself as much as it was his henchmen who viewed politics as "war."  I think Bill was just an awkward kid who couldn't get any decent sex until he got himself into a powerful position.  He didn't really care about any specific policies.  He just wanted people to like him.

The people around Bill however (led primarily by Hillary), developed the Clinton philosophy of, "I'm right, and if you don't agree with me, you're evil."  With a mentality like that, how are you ever going to have a rational, civil conversation between two parties with different beliefs?

The Obama Syndrome take the Clinton philosophy even further, and the Obama Syndrome is a direct extension of BO himself.  It has almost nothing to do with his henchmen.  The BO Syndrome is, "I'm right, and if you don't agree with me, you're stupid."

Evil people can be smart, so Clinton had to grudgingly respect his enemies.  But since BO's enemies are stupid, they are like gum on his shoe.

I don't see how rational, civil discourse ever returns to our politics.

200: Proof Of Stupidity In Organized Sports

As proof that stupidity rises to the top in organized sports, consider the "Taunting" rule in the NFL.  Currently, almost all defensive players strut like mentally deranged peacocks after every routine tackle, and they are never penalized.  Yet a player on offense who spins the football (which is called a "fuhball" in the sport's vernacular) on the ground too close to the defensive player, is penalized. 

The rules of course are promulgated by the best minds the NFL has to offer.