Tag Archives: DONALD TRUMP

Doug Smith: Shared power and dealing with the Democrats

13 Dec

doug-for-fsp

Doug Smith:  Author, historian, patriot and lead contributor to FSP.

 

“When you’re in command, Command!”

Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz

 

This idea is trotted out from time to time by the Democrats when they are out of power.

Remember 2000?  We had a Republican President, and a 50-50 split in the Senate. Now our Constitution provides for such an arrangement: the (White) House wins all ties. (Just like in blackjack). The Vice President is President Pro Tempore of the Senate, and may, at need, vote to break all ties. This means, 50 plus the White House is a majority. But the Democrats in 2000 made the point that such a close house should mean a sharing of power, a sharing of committee assignments and heads. The Republicans, more fools they, agreed and began an odd and short lived experiment in such shared government. It lived until the Harry Reid was able to convince Jumpin’ Jim Jeffords to become an Independent, and vote with the Dems) which made it 51 49.

(But wait, what about our shared Senate agreement, Harry? moaned the GOP.  And, laughing with maniacal glee, Harry Reid took over as Senate MAJORITY leader. )

Fast forward 16 years. Donald Trump is POTUS presumptive. (Actually President Elect after the 19th when the Electoral College meets.) The GOP is poised to take massive majorities of power: State Houses, Governors, The Senate, The House, POTUS, the Scalia SCOTUS seat, ( and, Kennedy, Ginsberg, and Breyer all being of advanced years, likely at least one more, maybe 2, so we may have a 7-3 Conservative Court in 4 years.) But the Dems are urging him, since he only won the Presidency, and not the nonexistent popularity contest of the most raw votes, which neither he, nor HRC, nor Obama, nor Bush, nor Billy, nor Algore, nor any other President has ever competed in, because, listen carefully: “Popular vote is not how we elect a President. “Not to govern like he has a mandate, but bashfully, like he just barely one. Perhaps he should share power with the world class losers of the Democrat party.

Have you seen Donald Trump? I think we can be sure of one thing: he is NOT going to be a bashful President. Whether due to the wisdom of others ( like BOTH President Bushes, who found, to their dismay, that making a deal with the Dems is like making a deal with the Devil, all except for the smoke and signing in blood), or due to his own nature, is not going to act like someone who just barely won.  He is not going to ask Hillary to be Secretary of State again, because she just barely lost.  He is going to say, I won, and the folks have spoken, and I’m going to do things the way I want to. He may make mistakes, and he may screw up. He will not do so out of wishy-washy, weak willed, spineless indecision (al la Jimmy Carter.) He is going to lead!

Now the Dems, who have given us riots and, the murders in failed cities, the failed economies, identity politics, the snowflake generation of Harvard and Wellesley grads with Degrees in Thinking Deep Thoughts, who can nevertheless not balance their checkbooks, pass the DC bar exam, or run a lunch counter, seem not to have the ability to convince folks that their way is the best way. Yes, we are all puzzled at that little quirk.  They are at their weakest point politically since Woodrow Wilson was POTUS, at the beginning of the Progressive era. What a repudiation of the ruins those make up the progressive movement. They have just been set back a century! And they are looking at an administration that unabashedly intends to unwind as much of their destructive nonsense as possible, as quickly as possible.   They have lost, in favor of falling on their swords for the Clintons, and Obama, and the march to the Left of admirers of the Soviet Union and Fidel Castro, thousands of political seats. West Virginia and Kentucky, of all places, have GOP legislatures. KY has a GOP governor, and WV has a Dem Governor elect, who happens to be a businessman. The last one we had like that was Joe Manchin, who governed more like a Republican. I suspect Justice will not be the traditional good ole boy Dem WV has been used to.

It is little wonder the progressives are in a hysterical tizzy. Death threats! We couldn’t win in an election, we couldn’t win with recounts, we couldn’t get the courts to throw out the election, so, in typical progressive fashion, and they are using the tried and true mob rule approach: threaten duly elected electors if they don’t break the law and disenfranchise the voters who chose Donald Trump. Curious, how often the progressives want mob rule, right up till a mob comes for them, at which point they become staunch law and order people.

No, Trump and the GOP won. The GOP has not been used to winning, and even when they won, quickly acted embarrassed at the fact, and backed off governing like winners. They compromised with the folks to the left, who would only compromise when they were out of power.  They caved in so their adversaries would call them nice guys, which they only did when they lost. They did not understand the use and exercise of power.

Now, enter Donald Trump. He has known failure, and had to endure businesses bankrupting. He has known success, and parlayed a successful business into a billion dollar Empire. When you have built Stark Tower, Iron Man is not likely to be a shrinking violet. No, I don t expect President Trump will emulate the (Progressive Democrat) Mayor of Baltimore and “give the rioters room to burn and destroy. “  I’m pretty sure the professional rioters know that as well.

So, our new and unlikely team of Avengers, ( Say, Stan, is it ok if I make a Marvel reference here, since you are getting the traditional Stan Lee cameo?) may just learn to fight like they won, flex their muscles like they have some, and take a real, no nonsense look around and conclude: Dang. These guys have really screwed things up. No, thanks but I don t think we will be asking for your help. We have been to Chicago, and Detroit, and San Francisco. We have seen what affordable means in your lexicon. We have seen how you approach National Security. We have seen what passes as the best economy we can hope for in your eyes. So, no, we will not be sharing power. We will not be asking for your input, since we have the ruins of 8 years of that to clean up. We will not need your ideas, since we know what those are. So, apparently, do a lot of other people, and since they just yelled a resounding ENOUGH! why so will we.

So you folks go find yourselves a nice safe place, free from microagressions, or harsh words, or real people.

Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz had another quote which I admire, and will, I think, characterize the Trump years.

Leadership consists of picking good men and helping them do their best.

That he is working on now.

Let us hope he combines that with the Shepherd’s Prayer. Alan Shepherd, while perched on top of his Mercury Space capsule , ready to become the 1st American in space, pleaded into a hot mike, Dear Lord, please don’t let me “expletive” this up.

Amen.

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Mark Caserta: The Trump factor is starting to take effect

10 Dec

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Mark Caserta: FSP editor

  • Dec 9, 2016

I’ve heard it said more than once that it took the devitalizing policies of Jimmy Carter to give us Ronald Reagan. Perhaps it took the socialistic policies of Barack Obama to give us Donald Trump.

Throughout history, “hopelessness” seems to have been an unfortunate catalyst for change.

But to the delight of millions, while Donald J. Trump hasn’t even taken the presidential oath of office, he’s already putting his empathy and understanding of business to work for the American people.

Despite naysayers attempting to depreciate the probability that President-elect Trump will indeed live up to his campaign promises, the successful businessman is already leveraging his candor and forthrightness that served him so well during his candidacy toward keeping businesses in the United States.

As expected, business leaders responsible for a healthy bottom-line are proactively assessing Trump’s plan to remove strangling taxation and debilitating regulation imposed by previous administrations and adjusting their business plans accordingly.

I find it amusing how quickly liberal Democrats attempted to downplay Trump’s influence in Carrier’s announcement last Tuesday it was reversing plans to close an Indiana factory and keep close to 1,000 jobs in Indianapolis after telling workers earlier this year it would be moving production to Mexico.

But a few hundred Carrier employees are quite thankful.

“I would like to tell (Trump), ‘Thank you for going out of your way and taking your holiday away from your family and working on Carrier employees and sticking to your word and going to bat for all of us and keeping our jobs here,” Robin Maynard, a tenured 24-year Carrier employee, told “Fox and Friends” last Wednesday.

I predict this trend in businesses re-thinking their strategies will heighten. Frankly business leaders have been “starving” for an administration that understood their challenges and placed American jobs over progressive ideology.

Shortly after Trump’s historic victory, Ford Motor Co. Chairman Bill Ford called Trump to announce the auto maker would not be moving production of Lincolns out of Kentucky, indicating he planned to work with the new administration on protecting American manufacturing jobs.

In a statement, Ford said the company “confirmed with the president-elect” that it would continue producing Lincoln MKCs at the Louisville plant and added it was “encouraged that President-elect Trump and the new Congress will pursue policies that will improve U.S. competitiveness and make it possible to keep production of this vehicle here in the United States.”

Now, you can call it “trickle-down” or “voo-doo” economics all you want. It’s Economics 101.

A sound business model, when executed properly, results in increased sales activity. This increase in activity results in an increase in demand for product and/or services. And even a liberal should be able to understand that an increase in demand for product or services results in more jobs!

The “Trump factor” is beginning to take effect. Business leaders now see light at the end of this eight-year-long tunnel. The entrepreneurial spirit is being rekindled and projected profitability is being revised to the black.

Folks, it’s going to be an exciting four years.

 

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

 

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/11/30/trump-effect-after-carrier-pledge-to-keep-jobs-in-us-more-companies-may-follow.html

http://www.foxnews.com/auto/2016/11/18/ford-chairman-tells-trump-lincoln-suv-production-to-remain-at-kentucky-plant.html

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Mark Caserta: Trump prepares his team to make America great again

25 Nov

And conservatives are pleased with the choices!

 

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Mark Caserta: FSP editor

  • 11.25.16

For the first time in a very long time, Americans are going to witness how conservative ideology “trumps” liberal progressivism in our country.

There is little doubt the 2016 election was a referendum on Barack Obama’s failed liberal policies. In fact, Democrat losses over the past few election cycles have been very telling per the Pew Research Center. Liberal Democrats understand this trend could be detrimental to their party for years to come, not to mention Obama’s legacy.

Hence President Obama’s recent international “exit interview” tour designed to sanction his reign as the most liberal president in U.S. history and hopefully create some headwinds for the incoming Trump administration.

Senator Jeff Sessions is the perfect pick for the 48th attorney general of the United States. Sessions has demonstrated a steadfast commitment to the U.S. Constitution and served as the former U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of Alabama under President Reagan. He certainly has the experience to enforce the rule of law in our country.

Lt. General Mike Flynn is a top choice for national security advisor. Flynn ran the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012 to 2014 and served as top intelligence advisor to General Stanley McChrystal in Iraq. Flynn is reported to be “less than politically correct” and was, in fact, fired by the Obama administration for reportedly “pushing back” against “censors” displeased with his public declaration the U.S. was losing ground in the war on terror.

Kansas Rep. Mike Pompeo is a sound choice to become the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Pompeo graduated number one in his class at West Point and has been very outspoken against Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran. Those who know him say he will be an “unrelenting leader for our intelligence community to ensure the safety of Americans.”

Retired Marine General James “Mad dog” Mattis is emerging as a leading candidate for the position of Secretary of Defense. A seasoned, “no nonsense” combat commander, Mattis is heralded for his leadership as head of U.S. Central Command having responsibility for all U.S. forces in the Middle East.

President-elect Trump also has placed concern for the nation above his pride by reaching across party lines and even to those who have openly criticized him during his campaign. Despite the national left-wing media’s attempt to portray Donald Trump as erratic and unqualified to be commander-in-chief, he’s brilliantly putting together a high-performing team.

I expect this team will hit the ground running in 2017 and work diligently at repairing eight years of damage by the Obama administration.

And millions of Americans will see conservatism make America great again.

 

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Mark Caserta: Trump’s leadership will bridge the divide in the U.S.

18 Nov

And we finally have a president who understands managing people.

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Mark Caserta: FSP editor

The morning following Donald Trump’s victory in last week’s presidential election, my wife looked at me, grinned and said, “We did it.”

Weary-eyed from a long night of election returns, coffee in hand, I smiled and responded, “Yes, yes we did. Thank God.”

As we watched the news, it was obvious our entire nation was stricken with emotion that frankly was difficult to describe and often culminated in tears (albeit for different reasons). But watching our great nation decline over the past eight years has simply been heart-wrenching for conservatives.

For many people, it’s been a long time since we’ve looked to tomorrow with hope and optimism about our future.

President-elect Donald J. Trump will no doubt have his hands full “righting the ship” that conservatives feel has been on a wayward course for some time. Currently, the Trump “Ironclad” has a full head of steam as he begins the process of choosing members of his administration.

I fully expect to see Trump surrogates such as Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Jeff Sessions and Kellyanne Conway to be asked to join the team and submitted for Senate confirmation in the 115th U.S. Congress.

Certainly, Trump is no stranger to identifying talent.

But beyond the rhetoric, allow me to explain why Americans should have additional confidence heading into the Trump presidency.

Besides tremendous business acumen, Trump understands managing people.

We’ve all experienced a boss or a department leader who simply “did not get it” when it came to managing people. They had knowledge, but lacked the competencies necessary to lead.

The skill to effectively manage people has been dreadfully lacking on Capitol Hill. It’s my opinion this void in leadership has caused Washington’s gridlock.

But nothing short of tyranny will ever take the place of effective leadership!

Frankly, Donald J. Trump may be the most qualified management individual our nation has ever elected to the office of president. His proven leadership instincts, along with his energy and perseverance, will not allow him to fail.

Trump understands he doesn’t need to possess the aggregate skills of his cabinet members. He also understands the concept of collaboration to achieve a common goal, laser-specific delegation and the art of performance management.

As the new leader of the free world, Trump will spend plenty of time building a high-performing team of individuals, highly qualified in their respective areas, who will also possess strong management skills.

And Americans will be very surprised at how quickly we’ll begin seeing results. Corporate leaders around the world will find themselves aligning with Trump’s strategies, which will involve the crucial negotiating tool of “win-win” scenarios.

So, prepare to get back in the game. And prepare to work hard and win. We must all work together in our nation’s resurgence and return to greatness.

Trump’s leadership will bridge the divide in America.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Mark Caserta: Americans begin a new journey with President Trump!

14 Nov

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Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot editor

WE THE PEOPLE 1

The word “Republic” is a special word and quite different from a “Democracy.”

A Republic is a form of government in which the powers of sovereignty are vested in and exercised by the people, either directly or through representatives chosen by the people. Democracy is simply “majority rule.”

Our founding fathers had a vision for a republic, one in which every individual controlled their own destiny without interference from government or any oppressive entity.

The first time I ever heard the word and gained a real grasp of its meaning was from the 1960 epic war film “The Alamo,” starring screen giants like John Wayne as Davy Crockett, Richard Boone as Sam Houston and Richard Widmark as Jim Bowie.

The film depicts the “Battle of the Alamo” and the events leading up to it. Facing the insurmountable odds of defeating the Mexican forces, led by General Santa Anna, Sam Houston challenges Col. William B. Travis, played by Laurence Harvey, to buy him time by holding a position at the Alamo mission while he prepared an army capable of fighting for Texas’ independence.

In an early scene, Travis attempts a conversation with Crockett to convince him of the nobility of the fight and to persuade his Tennesseans to join the battle in pursuit of a Republic.

In the movie, Crockett quickly sets aside his “country-bumpkin” demeanor and speaks eloquently about the term “republic.”

“Republic is one of those words that makes me tight in the throat – the same tightness a man gets when his baby takes his first step or his first baby shaves and makes his first sound as a man,” Crockett said. “Some words can give you a feeling that makes your heart warm. Republic is one of those words.”

While Travis, Crockett and Bowie were badly defeated at the Alamo in 1836, Houston’s army won against the Mexican forces and gained independence for Texas. The phrase “Remember the Alamo” aptly immortalizes this brave sacrifice as well as our nation’s fervor for freedom.

Following the founding of our U.S. Constitution at convention in 1787, it’s recorded that a bystander inquired of Ben Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a Republic or a Monarchy?” Franklin replied, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

Since then, there have been a total of 27 constitutional amendments designed to further the premise of having three distinct branches of government, along with a system of checks and balances, to ensure no single branch would have too much power and that voters have the final word.

On Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016, Americans once again had the final word. Americans once again arose above the fray and persevered against tyranny and oppression.

I submit, Donald Trump’s decisive victory is best described by a posthumous response to Dr. Franklin’s challenge he posed following that immortal day in Philadelphia over 200 years ago.

“We shall, Mr. Franklin. We shall protect our Republic.”

May God bless America as we begin this new journey.  And may God bless Donald Trump as he takes the helm during tumultuous seas in the U.S.

 

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

 

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Mark Caserta: We must accept Trump’s challenge on radical Islam

27 Aug

It’s truly this election…or never

me

  • Aug 26, 2016

GOP presidential nominee Donald John Trump is laying down the gauntlet against radical Islamic terrorism and asking Americans to accept his challenge.

Last week, in Youngstown, Ohio, Trump likened the fight against terrorism to the Cold War and the battle against Nazism and laid out his plan advocating a “new screening test for the threats we face today,” calling it “extreme vetting extreme, extreme vetting.”

Trump’s plan calls for all immigrants to be subjected to tests for a commitment to U.S. values, including religious freedom and tolerance. He added we would assess our allies based on their commitment to defeat “radical Islam.”

“All actions should be oriented around this goal, and any country which shares this goal will be our ally,” Trump declared. “Very important – some don’t share this goal. We cannot always choose our friends but we can never fail to recognize our enemies.”

Trump was most likely imputing our commander-in-chief, who is so apologetic for the Muslim faith he won’t even utter words insinuating radical Islam. And incredibly, we have a Democrat presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, willing to perpetuate protecting Islam over the lives of Americans.

Given the president has no greater responsibility than to ensure the safety and security of the American people, how can either one of these individuals be qualified to lead our country? Despite the obvious, neither seems to believe our nation’s borders are at risk!

Both Obama and Hillary are determined to bring thousands of Syrian refugees into the United States without properly vetting them.

Top U.S. officials have already admitted concern that a potential terrorist could be hiding among refugees looking for asylum in the U.S. as reported in a February 2015 column by Justin Fishel and Mike Levine on ABC.com.

And FBI Director James Comey and the nation’s top intelligence officials already have admitted we simply don’t have the information in our nation’s data base to properly vet these individuals.

“We can only query against that which we have collected,” Comey said before the House Homeland Security Committee in 2015. “We can query our database till the cows come home, but there’ll be nothing show up, because we have no record on that person.”

But even then, it’s a red herring. As reported in a November 2015 column by Kerry Picket of “The Daily Caller,” the Obama administration is limiting the scope of query to focus on “behavior,” rather than religion or ideology.

Incredibly, Obama’s counter-terrorism officials have trained domestic Homeland Security law enforcement officers to focus on the behaviors of people entering the U.S. rather than their political, ideological or religious background.

At what point do we ostensibly label this administration’s efforts to protect Americans either a “lack of skill” or a “lack of will” – and possibly both.

It’s time America accepts Trump’s challenge. If we don’t use this election to get serious about keeping radical Islam out of our country, it will be too late.

They will have an open range under Hillary Clinton.

Mark Caserta is a conservative blogger, a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Doug Smith: The Clinton Coarsening

18 Aug

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Doug Smith: Author, historian and lead contributor to Free State Patriot

8.18.16

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This is just one more example of the Clinton Effect on our society. It is a decidedly coarsening one. Bill Clinton testified under oath that he didn’t think a certain sexual act was truly sexual, and in the decades since the Clinton effect has made that a more common thing in our schools, as low as middle school, because “Bill Clinton said that s not really doing it”.

Not so long before Clinton, Gary Hart saw the end of his political career in a photo of his secretary sitting on his lap in a bathing suit. In the Clinton era, none of that seems to matter.

Clinton perjured himself. He was disbarred, but still gets hundreds of thousands for a speech, and millions for a no show job at a university. Lying, even under oath, is apparently now ok.

The net and long term result of the Clinton infection on the body politic and the society at large has been a coarser, less moral, less honest society. Standards have been pushed down to the level of “anything the Clintons do must be alright, because…”

Now there is the part I don’t quite put my arms around. Has the left in our society lowered standards for the Clintons because of their love for them, or are they simply the most blatant in pushing the limits downward? Perhaps the left prefers the lack of standards and a moral code, because they do not wish to be judged by any standard, so they let the Clintons take the lead in debauchery, dishonesty, avarice, and disregard for life. They defend them furiously, so they don t have to defend themselves. Then, once a Clinton has gotten away with it, it is forever ok for them. Perhaps that is the Clinton effect: a push of the left to eliminate all sense of morality and judgment in our society, so they can all live the life Libertine.

I confess I do not know the answer, although that one makes as much sense as any. I do know the Clinton effect has been a coarser, and worse place to live than before they came on the scene.

Donald Trump may be coarser in language and discourse, but he does not seem to lead the society into that direction. He says I am what I am, take me or leave me. Not so the Clintons. They say we are what we are. Love us. And follow us.

With Trump it is somewhat like having a large, boisterous dog that knocks things over in your house. With the Clintons, it is more like sleeping in a den of wolves, and wondering why you itch all the time and find you have a taste for sheep.

Trump is a unique phenomenon. I don’t expect to see another on the scene. But the Clintons want a dynasty. If Hillary is entitled to high office for putting up with Bill, then surely Chelsea is as well. She was entitled to a $ 600,000 starting salary at NBC.

Surely she is entitled to move her scamming, hedge fund husband into the White House someday.

clinton 2

Or perhaps. Just perhaps. We might say, a barbarian who is very good at war may win power, but ought not to drive the culture for generations. A coarse, uncultured lothario who is very good at politics may likewise win power, for a time. But should we let the vices of the Clintons drive our society for generations to come?

Perhaps it is time for a long corporate shower.

 

 

 

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Doug Smith: A brief history lesson, and a hard reality check

16 Aug

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Doug Smith:  Author, historian and lead contributor to Free State Patriot 

 

 

GTY_Clinton_Trump3_MEM_160808

 

So many people in this political cycle are opting for the magical approach. Donald Trump is, well, Donald, not your Daddy’s candidate. He has an irritating penchant for speaking directly from the mouth, sans the filters most of us put on our speech. He is not a comforting, traditional GOP candidate like President Dole, or President McCain, or even President Romney. (They didn’t? Really?) Without rehashing the septicemia of the Grand Old Party that has led in cascading sequence to The Tea Party, the Freedom Caucus, and The Donald, things just aren’t what they used to be.

There are a few approaches to this new and unsettling development in American politics.

  • Hold on tight. Don t worry, the folks will come back around when they realize that their GOP liars are better than the Democrat liars. A 20 year run of blatantly broken promises, ineffectual or non-existent opposition to Barack Obama’s ideas and decisions that are abhorrent to conservatives will fade if we just let the folks see how bad it is if liberal Democrats get the reins of power.

The problem with this approach is that the folks, after a while, get tired of being the butt of that awful joke, and wonder just what difference it really made when part of their party goes along to get along, a al McConnell, while part of it actively supports the lib/Dem agenda, a la McCain, Graham, and even wonder boy Rubio. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me for 20 years? Well, first you get the rebuke of the Tea Party. Then you get the rebuke of the Freedom Caucus, Ted Cruz, and Mike Lee. Finally, you get the ”Up Yours” of Donald Trump.

  • The Magic approach. Well, magic worked in literature and everyone loved it. Wave a wand (unbind the delegates), speak magic words (Romney’s a Nice Guy! David French writes for NRO, wouldn’t HE be a great candidate.) And we can FIX this.

Well, the problems with that approach are numerous. Magic doesn’t work in the real world. (Sorry, but no Merlin, and no Harry Potter. An earlier generation was convinced that Sherlock Holmes was really solving crimes. Just a fantasy. ) Besides, coming up with a candidate acceptable to the Good Ole Boys network doesn’t change the reality that for all his ( Admitted!) faults, Trump got more people voting for him in the GOP primary than any previous candidate in history, including Lincoln and Reagan. You can fix attitudes and disappointment by putting in a pinch hitter. At this dance, we are “going to dance with the fella that brung ya. “

  • The White Knight. Somebody out there is so appealing to the folks that he can ride in, say, ok, I’m here    to save you, and the folks will dutifully swoon and fall in step behind him.

Well. If such a knight existed, why didn’t he run? We have to rule out the 16 who did run, because a plurality of the folks rejected all of them in favor of Trump. (This should again tell the GOP stalwarts just how much they have to fix. But it won’t. And they won’t. ) Nor can such a mythical creature just pop into existence and enter the fray. Politics being what it is, he just cannot get from myth to votes cast in November in time.

So for you who can vote in November, a brief history lesson and reality check. You are on the roller coaster. You might be regretting it and wishing you did not have to go over the big hill, but the bar is down, the chain is pulling you up the hill, and soon, very soon, you and I are going to plunge down the big dip.

So. How many times has a 3rd party candidate done more than sway the race to ( ALWAYS) the more liberal, progressive candidate?

One. Abraham Lincoln defeated the Whigs and the Democrats on a platform of national unity and opposition to slavery. It is worth noting that the result of that was the end of the Whig party, secession, and Civil War.

Since then, 3rd parties have ended up helping to sway the outcome to Woodrow Wilson and Bill Clinton, but they have never won. Not once in a century. So if your magical hopes are pinned on Gary Johnson, you are about to be disappointed.

That leaves us, as it has since 1860, at least, with a simple reality. Absent an act of God, one of the 2 major party candidates now running will become the next President.

Donald Trump has a lot of faults, though he is not without virtue. The first article I wrote about him at the start of his campaign is unchanged: I think he is something of an ass. He is hardly the ideal candidate I would build in my Weird Science experiment. He shoots his mouth off without thinking, is brash, often crude, and reminds us regularly that a builder may end up sounding like the construction workers wolf whistling at a pretty girl who walks by. We don t know how much his move to a more conservative position will affect his judgment and actions.

Still. He is not Hillary Clinton.

And we do know with certainty what she will do. She will appoint progressive liberal judges to SCOTUS and the federal bench. She will raise taxes. She will continue the Obama war on coal, and the economy. She will, as is the wont of progressives, continue to chip away at basic rights. She will lie consistently. She will, in collusion with her husband, sell the office of the President in unprecedented ways to enrich her family.

And this one deserves a line of its own.

She will certainly involve us in at least one major war.

She will not, most likely, do so with a reasoned approach about our national security interests. Instead she will muddle along, incompetently, making misstep after misstep, until one of them lands her, and us, squarely in a major conflict.

That is Hillary.

Wm F Buckley maintained we ought to support the most right leaning viable candidate for President. To support the most right leaning candidate around, who cannot get elected, ensures that the most left leaning will win. To support a candidate who could viably win, but is markedly to the left, ensures the same. Basic logic of politics

So if you are still crying in your milk that “If only” the GOP had nominated ANYONE else, you would NEVER support Hillary Clinton, because she is dishonest and incompetent, and far left, then wake up friend. Get over it.

“If only” lost the primary. “If only” is not running against Hillary.

There are 2 choices. President Hillary Clinton. Or President Donald Trump.

Don’t let yourself be saying in a year, if Only I had helped stop her.

I’m not crazy about Trump. He is not ideal. But he is the better of the only 2 choices available. So I’m going to vote for him.

And so should you.

 

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Mark Caserta: Now is the time to play political defense

5 Aug

me

Mark Caserta: Free State Patriot Editor

 

tri·an·gle
ˈtrīˌaNGɡəl/
noun
noun: triangle; plural noun: triangles
  1. a plane figure with three straight sides and three angles.
    “an equilateral triangle”

With the nominees for the respective political parties having been chosen and nominations accepted, the campaign season for the presidency has officially begun. Just as the primary season was, it’s sure to be chock full of political caterwaul between pundits and candidates alike.

Interestingly, voters are faced with a political “triad” of sorts, with three sides, three points and three angles. They’re certainly not equilateral, and opposite sides have never been further apart.

On one side, we have the liberal left. These are individuals who would vote for Hillary Clinton even if she had committed multiple crimes and told numerous lies. In fact, she’s done exactly that! Yet, her supporters are willing to look beyond her nefarious character simply to advance their progressive agenda.

The point: These people couldn’t care less about the America of our founding fathers. They’re frankly willing to sacrifice God and country for the continued fundamental transformation of our nation.

The angle: The majority of these voters are satisfied to cast their lots with big government and their nets toward promised entitlements.

Then we have the side bolstering the Trump “revolution.” These ruffled rebels are primarily moderate to conservative individuals who’ve simply had enough of lying politicians more concerned with keeping their jobs than with serving their constituencies.

The point: These folks are looking to “kick political backside” and take names in an effort to return their country to both sanity and sovereignty.

The angle: They’re so starved for a commander-in-chief with leadership qualities they’re willing to take a chance with someone who values haughtiness over humility and coarseness over congeniality.

And then we have the “cynical” side, with those determined “not” to vote for either Hillary or Trump, regardless of the clear and present danger facing our nation. These individuals are content knowing they refused to “cave” to the political pressures around them and are satisfied to pull the lever for a third party candidate or just stay home.

The point: I believe these are people who have already carved a path in life. They typically have their feet planted firmly, with a clear direction and the means to survive.

The angle: They feel they can comfortably “ride out” the consequences of their choice until the next election cycle.

It’s this “third” side of the triad I wish to address.

History will never record your “noble” choice at the polls. It will, however, show that you helped elect not only Hillary Clinton, but helped appoint liberal Supreme Court justices for generations!

Hillary Clinton has proven her intent is to give us more of Barack Obama’s failed policies.

I can’t promise what we’ll get with a President Trump, but I can certainly promise what we’ll get with Hillary Clinton.

They say the game is often won with good defense. Now is the time for patriots to “dig in, bow your backs” and make a final stand for freedom.

And we need every vote possible to keep Hillary out of the White House.

Mark Caserta is a Cabell County resident and a regular contributor to The Herald-Dispatch editorial page.

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Doug Smith: Anatomy of a bully

17 Apr

DOUG SMITH

Doug Smith: Author, historian and lead contributor to Free State Patriot

4.17.16

I know The Donald well. Not personally, but he is easy to identify. You see, I was always the outsider. The kid from somewhere else. We moved around a lot. Perhaps you have a memory of kids who were in school with you for 12 years. I do not. A year or 2, then on to another adventure. Why another story, but the part of my story that resonates is like the inscription on the edge of old world maps:

“Heere there be Dragons”.

Yes, beyond the familiar, if you sail your ship there, there Be Dragons. Take care. And for the kid who was forever the new kid, there Be Bullies. They would always seek out that new kid. They liked to bluster, and punch, and insult, and steal, and fight. I was never sure what pleasure they took in hurting and humiliating a shy new kid, but they surely did.

So, I know The Donald well. He was in every school I ever attended. And he sought me out. He might want to shake me down for lunch money. He might want to beat me up. He might want to sick his buddies on me while he watched and egged it on. If things did not go his way, he would be the first to cry about it and shout over the unfairness. Just like Donald. But as long as you seemed weak and a likely victim, he would take your milk money, knock your books out of your hand, knock you down, and swagger away, feeling smug and satisfied.

There were 4 ways of dealing with the “Donalds” in a new school.

  1. Avoid him.
  2. Give him what he wants.
  3. Become a toady. Praise him lavishly. Help him beat up someone even weaker. His ego is enormous and fragile, so if you learn to stroke it, he will mostly laugh at you and leave you alone. Although, if you don’t please him, he will still beat you up now and then. Because he can. For example, watch The Apprentice, or Chris Christie doing his “ Donald’s Stray Dog” act. This is the least risky course of action, although it takes a strong stomach.
  4. Having determined that you are going to get beat up regardless, and that you do not have the stomach to crawl to your own personal Donald any more, grit your teeth and say no. Then follow up with a haymaker right to the nose. And jump on him and do your dead level best to just beat the living crap out of him. If he should fight anyway, don’t stop hitting him. He may win, and he may beat you up again, but be a madman. In your mind determine that one of you is going to die, and you want it to be him. Fight till you cannot rise, or until someone pulls you off.

And an amazing thing happens. You may, indeed, get beat up. But when it actually costs him pain and blood, he loses his enthusiasm for you as a target. You figure out that for all the Donalds, at all the schools you will attend, the sooner you identify the Donald, and fight him tooth and nail ( that is not metaphorical) , and hurt him as badly as you possible can, regardless of the cost, the sooner the Donalds will leave you alone.

You don’t have to win, but you do have to fight. Because the Donalds don’t want to fight, (or debate, for that matter,) they just want to bully and beat down someone weak. When their victim chooses not to be a possum, or an old kicked dog, but turns into a tiny, snarling wolverine, the Donalds don’t know how to handle it. They move on.

A hard lesson. But a survival skill. You surely do not want your Donald to become class President, or Mayor, or heavens, President!

So well done, Colorado. Maybe there is something to that medical marijuana, after all. But the Donald did not get one Colorado delegate. He didn’t do his homework, and now he wants to copy yours. And he is whining that you won’t let him.

Colorado, you learned how to deal with the Donalds in your school. Now everyone else, you can ignore the toadies, the Christies, and the Trumpkins taking smack about riots. We do not do politics based on the bullies and the mob in this country. We are not Venezuela.

In 1968, the Democrats, ( including Barack Obama s buddy Bill Ayers) tried to use the rule of the mob and riots in the streets ( of Barack Obama ‘s Chicago) at the Democratic convention. It was ugly. The police had to deal with it and it was in all the papers. I remember reading about it and seeing the riots on live TV. Democrat National Convention Riots.

I also remember that in 1968, we elected Richard Nixon, a Republican.

Americans, for the most part, do not like a bully. Now, The Donald has his toadies, but he cannot command a majority of even the party for which he is running, in even one state. More people dislike than like him.

I stand by the article I wrote about Trump back in September of 2015. He is an ass. And a Bully. And beating up people, or insulting everyone who disagrees with him, or just being mad at the same time that I am mad, does not make him a good leader.

He sort of reminds me of Walter Matthau and Jack Lemon in Grumpy Old Men. Their characters and just what the title implies, with plenty of PUTZ! And yelling and dirty tricks on each other. They took a perverse delight in growling and knocking each other around.

But the quiet, competent son of one of the GOM was the mayor.

Perhaps Life will Imitate Art?

 

 

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