The Trump Sandwich

The Trump Sandwich

The View from the Middle

Just when I think I’ve seen it all, something happens to remind me that I actually live in bizarro world these days.  Last week, Donald Trump found himself under attack simultaneously by the National Review and Hollywood elites, like Rosie O’Donnell, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, et al.  This could not have been a coordinated effort.  These two groups are so far apart ideologically that they can barely see each other from the opposite ends of the political spectrum they occupy. 

I predict that Trump will use these attacks to his advantage.  He will point out their radical positions and paint himself as the moderate victim, while he is certainly not a victim and probably not a moderate. These attacks will help him appeal to that 90% of Americans who don’t see themselves as extreme liberals or conservatives.  While their intent was to scuttle Trump’s campaign, they may have given him a gift that will only serve to enhance his chances. 

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not a big Trump fan.  My favorite candidate is still Carly Fiorina with her small government, zero based budgeting, personal responsibility message.  I’m not sure why she can’t break out of the pack and challenge the likes of Trump, Cruz and Rubio.  Leader or not, however, I like her platform.

All this talk about Trump reminds me of a joke I heard at Liberty University.  Two Corinthians, Titus and Philemon walk into a bar…

Obama's Confession of Seeding Disunity

Divide and Destroy

The View from the Middle

If you have read my article on the President’s last SOTU speech, you know that I actually liked half of it.  It gave me hope when he admitted that the rancor (bitter deep seated ill will) in Washington has gotten worse under his leadership.  While he didn’t technically claim responsibility for the division, it sounded much like the admission of an alcoholic at an AA meeting.  It was as if he was saying, “I’m a divider, and I need help.”

 I actually experienced a warm feeling of hope.  I thought, maybe the President is going to pursue the vision he painted back in 2004.  His now famous words were, “there is not a Liberal America and a Conservative America… there is just a United States of America.”  Unity IS sorely needed in our country today.

This week, however, I have heard liberal pundits try to let the President off the hook by blaming the rancor on Republicans.  It was as if they have lived the last seven years with blinders on, ignoring any acts of disharmony perpetrated by President Obama.  Well, let me remind all of you vision-impaired partisans of the President’s contributions to our current contentious atmosphere.

Shortly after he was elected, the President told Republicans to “drop dead” in four ways.  First, he boasted that elections had consequences, and HE won.  I’m sure he was feeling full of himself.  He had a big majority in The House and a filibuster proof majority in The Senate.  He didn’t need the Republicans and he wanted to let them know it.  Drop dead #1.

Next, he said that Republicans could participate in the legislative process, but they, of course, would have to sit in the back seat.  This was particularly insensitive for obvious reasons, but again, he was cocky and wanted to put Republicans in their place.  Wow, even explaining that comment sounds incredibly insensitive.  Drop dead #2.

Then he went on Univision (the Hispanic TV Network) and called Republicans “the enemy”.  His exact words were, “We’re going to punish our enemies” in this next election, speaking quite obviously about American citizens who disagree with him.  This statement was so egregious that he later had to admit that it was probably not the best choice of words.  Drop dead #3.

Finally, he had Democrats pass Obamacare without a single Republican vote in either house of Congress.  They even had to resort to the reconciliation process in the Senate when Ted Kennedy died and they fell short of the 60 votes needed in the Senate to avoid a filibuster.  They only needed one Republican vote.  They could have included a couple of conservative ideas like tort reform or health savings accounts into their 2,700-page monstrosity to get some bipartisan support.  However, they chose to totally shun Republicans. Drop dead #4.

I’m sure that Republicans have been divisive in return.  Back in 2010, Mitch McConnell said his most important objective was to deny President Obama a second term.  I denounced that statement then and will continue to denounce vitriol from either side of the political spectrum.  The President, however, must take responsibility for his own divisiveness and recognize his special position as President to impact the atmosphere in Washington.  Let’s hope he will.

Hillary Rules or Hillary's Rules

Hillary Clinton Rules

The View from the Middle

Yah, I’m not saying that Hillary Clinton “rules”.  I’m saying that Hillary Clinton plays by a different set of rules than you and I do.  If any of us had committed even one of their many transgressions, we would be in jail, but Bill and Hillary operate above the law.  I won’t even get into Bill’s sexual dalliances, Hillary’s insider trading, the Clinton Foundation money machine or the fact that both have lied to the country and gotten away with it.  Let’s just talk about Hillary’s current email problems.

Her first defense was, “other Secretaries of State have done the same thing.”  Really?  Name one previous Secretary of State who has had a private server in the basement of their house that they have used to conduct their personal and governmental business.  Name anyone else in government anywhere who has done that!  Silence, because no one else has ever had the unmitigated gall to do that.  Hillary stands alone with her own set of standards.

Next, her minions will say that there is no evidence that her server was breached.  Really?  Do you think the Chinese leave calling cards behind when they hack a server?  Plus, it should make no difference whether her server was actually breached or not.  Do we want to use Hillary’s negligence as precedence for future Secretaries of State?  Do we want to use her as the example of how to conduct business in government?  Do we really want to have hundreds if not thousands of private servers out in the country with confidential and or secret information on them?  It would be a hacker’s paradise!

She says that she never sent or received any emails that were “marked” confidential.  Of course, that claim has changed.  Originally she said she never sent or received any confidential material.  When that was proven to be wrong, she changed it to no material was “marked” confidential.  To date, however, there have been more than 1,300 emails that were found to be “confidential” and dozens that were top secret.  Now we’ve found that there is a classification that is even higher than top secret, and that is SAP – Special Access Programs.  Some of her emails were so highly classified that members of Congress investigating this matter don’t even have the clearance to even read them.

Finally, the media has lost track of Hillary’s greatest offense in this drama.   Hillary erased over 30,000 emails, before she released any to the Inspector General and the public.  All of this consternation has been over the emails she wanted us to see.  What kind of disturbing truths about the Clinton Foundation or Benghazi might be found in this erased great mass?  Are we to just trust Hillary that nothing convicting would be found?  Unfortunately, trust is not a strong suit for Hillary. The bottom line is, once a person decides to mingle personal and public information on a server, it should not be up to them to decide what is personal and what it the property of the people.

Do any of you really believe that Hillary had 30,000+ emails from her Pilates instructor?  If this were you or I, would we already be in jail?  Why should we hold a person who wants to be the next President of The United States to a lower standard?  Hillary rules - only if she gets to play by a different set.

Obama's Final SOTU Speech

Obama - A Tale of Two Speeches

The View from the Middle

It wasn’t long after the President took the podium for his last State of the Union speech that I was already sighing, “here we go again.”  He started with a joke (sort of) and then followed up with some “feel good” unique strengths that he said we have as a nation – optimism, work ethic, spirit of discovery, diversity and rule of law.  We all want to agree with the President that we still have those qualities, but many believe those traits are under attack.  For example, it’s hard to argue that we still support the rule of law when we have 340 sanctuary cities across the county that are simply not enforcing laws that are on the books.  However, we all certainly hope we still honor and even exemplify these strengths.

But he quickly got into a series of half-truths and misdirections that always makes me wonder if he and I live in the same country or on the same planet.  He said we have the strongest economy in the world.  He should have said that our economy just sucks less than most others in the developed world.  He boasted that he has cut the deficits by almost three quarters (75%).  What he didn’t point out is the fact that his administration drove our annual deficit up to a record high of $1.4 TRILLION in his first year behind his less than successful stimulus spending.  The largest deficit in the eight years under George W. Bush was only $459 billion, which Mr. Obama called “unpatriotic”.

Also, with all this talk of reduced deficits, Mr. Obama never mentioned that our total debt is fast approaching $19 TRILLION and will have more than doubled during his eight years in office.  This is an absolute deception being perpetrated on the young people in this country who will have to pay back or service this debt when interest rates return to more normal levels.  This actually is an existential threat to America and by the time it rears its ugly head, Barack Obama and I will be long gone.

Unemployment has been cut in half.  That’s true.  It is currently at 5% and it did reach a peak of 10% back in 2009.  What the President seems to forget is his promise that unemployment would never go over 8% if Congress gave him his $800 billion stimulus package.  He got his wish, but we still got 10% unemployment.

His message to this point was “it’s all good”, everything is copacetic, all is Okie Dokie and or Peachy – just use the term closest to your generation.  But everything isn’t OK in America.  The world is a mess and even the people in this country seem to be at each other’s throats.  Just as I wondered what the President had been smoking, he turned a corner. 

The President said that our country needs to work together.  He went on to say that a Democracy requires a basic bond of trust for every citizen and particularly for our leaders.  He admitted that the rancor has actually gotten worse during his Presidency.  I almost couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  If you have followed any of my articles, you will know that I have been preaching the need for unity for a long time.  I have in fact said that this President had a unique opportunity to bring our people together, and that I was disappointed that he hadn’t done it.  I finally and totally agree with the President on this issue. 

But he didn’t even stop there.  He said that Democracy doesn’t work if we believe our political opponents are unpatriotic or the people we disagree with are all motivated by malice.  He suggested that we need these basic bonds of trust so that we can have a vigorous debate.  I would suggest that the best example of that vigorous debate happened back in 1787 during the Constitutional Convention, and look what that delivered.  I had to check the tape to make sure I hadn’t somehow slipped into a recording of Ronald Reagan.  But I hadn’t.  Our President said it, and I agree with it.

Just a side note here; remember that Hillary Clinton described Republicans as her “enemy” at one of the CNN debates.  She has since walked that back, but out of the mouth the heart is revealed. 

Mr. Obama then went on to describe some things that he would like to work on with Republicans.  He talked about stopping the gerrymandering of congressional districts to deliver certain results.  I’m OK with that, but it’s an easy ask when so many of the state legislatures are in the hands of Republicans.  Would he say the same if the Dems controlled those legislatures?  He talked about reducing the influence of money in our politics.  Again, I’m on board, but how about insisting that union money reflects the politics of its workers also?  And finally he talked about making it easier for everyone to vote.  Now, who is against that, but he must balance that with a strong effort to eliminate voter fraud. 

At the end of his speech, I felt as if I had some hope again.  This reminded me of the Barack Obama who said, “There is not a Liberal America and a Conservative America…There is not a Black America and a White America.  There’s (just) the United States of America.”  He did not live up to that rhetoric spouted at the 2004 Democratic Convention.  Talk is cheap.  I will be looking for signs of him reaching across the aisle in this, his last year before I pronounce my final verdict on his legacy!  I hope he can actually deliver this, his plea for unity.

Hillary Clinton's War on Women

Hillary’s War on Women

The View from the Middle

Maybe the greatest offense that Hillary Clinton perpetrates on women is the sin of trying to convince them that there is a war on women.  That phrase “war on women” is a clever tactic to get votes and thus get elected, but it turns an entire gender of strong, intelligent, industrious people into victims.  Next, she breaks all the rules she expects others to follow and finally she falsely accuses others of crimes they did not commit, for personal benefit.

I have five sisters, two daughters and a wife.  Even my dog, Sophie, is a girl.  I love my sisters.  I love my daughters and I love my wife (Sophie too).  I want the very best for the women in my life, and to be honest, I want the best for all women in America because I think that is best for our country.  Yet, I have different positions on some key issues that affect women.  I don’t disagree with feminists on “What” the goal is.  The goal is to create equal opportunities for women in every aspect of their lives.  I differ on “How” to accomplish those goals.

Let’s start with an easy one; equal pay for equal work.  Hillary continually uses the popular but flawed study that suggests that women make 77 cents for every dollar a man makes.  The basic flaw in this number is that it does not compare salaries for like jobs.  This compares a woman who has decided to teach in elementary school vs. a man who decides to be an elevator installer (a high paying blue collar job) or a doctor.  When you compare like jobs, the ratio is about 95 cents on the dollar.

And you ask, why isn’t it 100%.  A big factor driving this 5% difference is that women make different choices than men.  They tend to take more time off than men, and tend to turn down promotions, more often, for personal reasons.  I’m not even saying that these are bad choices.  This may contribute to the fact that women on average live seven years longer than men.

So, how is Hillary doing in this area?  Even using the bogus 77% ratio, Hillary is failing.  When she was a Senator, she paid her women staff 72 cents for every dollar her male staffers made.  How hypocritical can a person be?  No wonder she’s also featured in the book “Do as I Say, Not as I Do”.  I do not know of a person, particularly a politician, who supports unequal pay for equal work.  Check for yourself, but this should not even be an issue in politics today.

How about birth control?  Hillary keeps saying that Republicans want to take away a woman’s right to use birth control.  I would like her to name one politician from either party who holds that view.  Now, let’s not confuse birth control with abortifacients.  I hope we can all understand the difference.  But, even I don’t want to deny a woman’s right to her pill.  I just don’t want to pay for it when my help is not needed.  Why should I, for example, pay for Chelsea Clinton’s birth control pills, or even my daughters’ birth control?  They don’t need the help.  If a woman truly needs help to buy birth control then I will support helping them buy it, but Chelsea Clinton or (you name the rich person) doesn’t need anyone’s help. 

Mrs. Clinton also confuses being pro-life with being anti-woman.  She hangs her hat on another clever cliché, “A woman’s right to choose”.  As she babbles her platitude, she forgets two things.  First, over half of abortions are performed on female babies.  How can she argue this as a positive thing for women?  Second, abortions are also terrible for the mothers.  There are surgical issues of an abortion that include DEATH.  Plus there are psychological risks that these women face after surgery such as eating disorders and depression.  A woman who experiences an abortion is six times more likely to commit suicide than a woman who gives birth.  Hillary should be fighting for fewer abortions instead of vilifying her opponents for a few votes.

But Hillary’s most egregious offense might be her actual treatment of women.  I can’t blame her for Bill’s indiscretions, but I can hold her accountable for her complicity.  Some would suggest that Hillary had no idea of what Bill was doing until after Monica Lewinsky’s revelation.  Really?  Bill’s sexual escapades started back in 1969 and include accusations from at least 17 women that I know of.  It strains credulity to think that Hillary had no idea of what was going on.  If she ignored Bill’s bad behavior she at least enabled him to assault the 16 women that followed Eileen Wellstone who accused him of sexual assault back in 1969.

But Hillary went way beyond that.  She participated in or orchestrated the character assassination of every woman that accused her husband of abuse.  This is far different than the behavior she suggests today, which is that every rape or abuse victim needs to be listened to and believed! 

She personally called Gennifer Flowers “trailer trash” and referred to Monica Lewinsky as a “narcissistic looney tune”.  She also allowed her surrogates like James Carville to slur Bill’s victims.  Mr. Carville suggested that Paula Jones was nothing but a trailer park prostitute when he said, “If you drag a hundred dollar bill through a trailer park, you never know what you’ll find”.  I’m actually shocked that the lame-stream media would let James get away with that.  There are many other stories of intimidation and slander that greeted Bill’s victims.

These are Hillary’s actions, not Bill’s, and they truly anger and disgust me.  Make no mistake; Hillary is no champion of women.  She will destroy anyone who gets in her way, man or woman.  She will deceive and compromise any principle to get what she wants, which is power.  The bottom line is, if you are looking for a President that you can trust, Hillary is not your gal.