Wolf Blitzer - Incompetent

Blitzer Epitomizes Journalistic Incompetence

The View from the Middle

Last night I was excited to watch the Republican Presidential debate to educate myself on the positions of the five remaining candidates.  Unfortunately, after the national anthem, performed beautifully by Deana Carter, everything slid downhill fast!  In fact, half way through the debate, I was sure I had somehow switched the channel to “Party Down South” or “Redneck Island” reality shows.

I actually don’t know who was more pathetic; Wolf Blitzer or the trio of Trump-Cruz-Rubio.  It’s true that Donald Trump has reduce most of the Republican debates to name-calling shouting matches, but last night was the piece de resistance of televised verbal chaos.  So, what was the difference last night?  Wolf Blitzer!

First, let me suggest that this rule that any candidate gets an infinite number of responses on a single issue as long as his or her name is mentioned by one of their opponents, has got to go.  This rule, along with Wolf’s absolute disregard for Ben Carson, allowed Donald Trump to dominate the airtime, accounting for 30 minutes of the speaking time.  This rule also allowed Cruz and Rubio to get about their fair share of time, while the great interrupter and monologuer, John Kasich, was able to hang with them.

I guess the lesson is that you have to be an absolute jerk to get your message across at a Republican debate.  Is that the level to which we have actually fallen.  Ben Carson even begged someone to attack him so that he could get some airtime, but Wolf didn’t take the hint.

So, who was the big loser last night?  Wolf Blitzer and CNN.  Wolf was absolutely steamrolled by Trump and company losing complete control of the debate.  While all the other Republican debates have been fiery to one degree or another, this was the worst, so Wolf needs to take credit.  There were even several moments when all of the gang of three (Trump, Cruz and Rubio) were talking at the same time.  These time spans were petulant, childish and incoherent, a real testimony to the lack of control exhibited by Blitzer and company.

Ben Carson may even have some legal charges he could launch against CNN.  He was so completely ignored by Wolf that he accounted for only about 10 minutes of the debate last night.  That was about half of his fair share.  Actually, when he did get to talk, Ben made some very good points and was articulate in his delivery.  If I were honest, I would say that Mr. Carson was my one winner in last night’s debate, although the great interrupter, Kasich, did pretty well also.

The gang of three just served to damage each other and the Republican Party image.  Their third grade, playground tactics of calling each other liars, cheats, choke artists and more is growing old.  We the people need real solutions and Presidential character to show up very soon.

Finally, the real winner in last night’s debate was probably Hillary Clinton.  I can just imagine her eating popcorn and watching the debate with tears of laughter streaming down her face.  Unless these candidates wake up, Republicans may be left with such a damaged candidate that he will not have a chance to defeat her in the general election.

The Pope on Walls and Trump

The Pope on Walls and Trump

The View from the Middle

I don’t know how many times I have to say this, but I am not a Trump man.  I’m amazed, however, at how many times I have had to come to his defense.  It’s probably because Donald gets in so many skirmishes with people of all stripes, that there are bound to be times where I find myself on his side.  And now I actually find myself coming to his defense against the Pope. 

Today, the world is reporting that the Pope is questioning Donald Trump’s faith.  Actually, what the Pope said was, if a man thinks “ONLY about building walls…and not building bridges” then this man is not a Christian.  Notice the word “only” in his statement.  It sounds sadly like a politician making a personal attack, but giving himself a loophole to crawl through later if he finds his position inconvenient.  I don’t expect that from any Pope.

So, by this statement, is the Pope suggesting that anyone who is in favor of building a wall between the US and Mexico cannot be a Christian?  Then the Pope better get his excommunication pen ready, because over half of American citizens are in favor of just that.  In a country where 83% of its citizens profess to be Christians, the Pope is denying the faith of over 100 million people.  Trump will say that he’s in good company.

There is another aspect of this story that is curious if not humorous, and that is the importance of walls in The Bible.  Is the Pope suggesting that David or Solomon, who built the walls around Jerusalem did not believe in God?   Or, what about Nehemiah who rebuilt that wall with God’s help and protection?  And let’s not forget that some pretty impressive walls surround the Vatican. 

My family is almost totally Catholic, and I love them and respect the office of the Pope.  I would suggest, however, that this Pope stay out of politics and stick to spiritual matters.  Politics is a dirty business and in most cases below the dignity of the Pope’s office.  Do I hear an “Amen” out there?

The Republican Debate/Food Fight

Republican Debate/Food Fight

The View from the Middle

Charles Krauthammer called the Republican debate a “cage fight”.  My first impression was that it reminded me of the food fight scene in the movie Animal House.  I always feel comfortable when I roughly align with Charles.  I guess our only difference is that Charles would describe it as “bloody” while I am calling it “slimy”. 

There were some clear winners, however, and they were the candidates that were able to avoid the cafeteria when the jello and mashed potatoes went flying.  Ben Carson was his usual calm self.  I have to admit, I really like this guy.  I like his “everyone should have skin in the game” tax plan.  It’s not perfect, but it's good, and I really like Ben’s mission to attack political correctness and take common sense positions on things like “free” college, which he did in this debate.

John Kasich won by continuing to develop his position as a compassionate uniter with a moderate platform.  While all six candidates had good answers to the question of whether replace Judge Scalia, I think Kasich’s was best.  He recognized President Obama’s right to make a nomination, but suggested that would further divide the country and intimated that the President should put the country first (for a change) and not submit a nominee. 

Kasich also has a very centrist view on immigration.  His plan includes securing the boarder and a path to legalization (not citizenship) after paying fines and or back taxes.  I think John’s finest moment, however, was when he warned that the Republicans are flirting with losing the general election in November if they didn’t stop the verbal bludgeoning right now.  I agree with him.

But the big winner of the night was the third candidate to avoid a pie in the face, and that was Marco Rubio.  Marco came across as articulate, knowledgeable and composed.  He was actually able to dip into the food fight for a brief moment to point out Ted Cruz’s inconsistency on immigration, but popped back out fast enough to avoid even a splash of vittles on his suit.

Senator Rubio even came to the defense of George W. Bush twice, even saying that he “thanked God” that George Bush was President on 9/11.  This should insolate him from attacks by Jeb Bush in the future.  Slick move!  He invoked Ronald Reagan in both name and spirit.  He did this in spirit by avoiding personal attacks on his Republican opponents.  He actually named Reagan as the man he would love to seek counsel from if he became President.  He said he would ask Reagan how he inspired and united the country to lift us out of the mess he inherited from President Carter.  This was Rubio’s finest moment.

The remaining three candidates were co-losers.  Trump, Cruz and Bush spent so much time denigrating each other that they managed to damage themselves and blur whatever message they intended to convey to the audience.  They reminded me of three drowning men taking each other down as they tried to save themselves.  If they don’t stop this grade-school playground strategy, they will not only watch their own fates sink in a quicksand of their own making, but they could destroy their party’s chance at the White House altogether.  Congratulations!

The Democratic Debate - Live Free or Die

Live Free or Die

The View from the Middle

Who would have thought that New Hampshire and Bernie Sanders would have the same motto – “Live Free or Die”?  Of course, the New Hampshire founders were mimicking Patrick Henry and his famous line, “Give me liberty or give me death”, while Bernie was channeling Karl Marx.

Marx promised his “free stuff” with lines like, “From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.”  Let me translate that into modern language. “Trust me, and I’ll take care of you.”  How did that work out for the Russian people?  So what if a few million people had to be slaughtered to get the rest of the country to buckle under. 

This brings me to last night’s Democratic debate.  I’ll give you the Reader’s Digest version.  It was a battle to see who wanted to give the government more power and control over our lives.  Healthcare is a given.  Both Bernie and Hillary want a single payer system.  They only differ on how to get there.  Neither moderator had a follow up question like, “Are you sure this is the right approach given that our government is such a model of efficiency and integrity?”

At some point in time they both talked about having the government take over the banking, pharmaceutical and energy industries. This actually gave me chills as I imagined our government mucking up those businesses.  No question of waste, fraud or abuse here!

Just for laughs, I thought I would list a few questions that Chuck and Rachel could have asked between hugs for the candidates if they really wanted Americans to learn something about Hillary and Bernie:

-What do you plan to do about our debt?  This administration will have doubled the nation’s debt in its eight years in office and we are scheduled to return to trillion dollar annual deficits by 2022.  Aren’t we mortgaging our children’s futures so that politicians can get elected today?

-What if you were given absolutely solid evidence that privatizing the VA would improve the services to our military at a lower cost?  Would you be in favor of that?  Why or why not?

-Bernie, through your tolerance of Hillary’s e-mail situation, are you suggesting that all future Secretaries of State, Senators, etc. should have their own private servers in their homes?  Should this be the new normal?

-Hillary, why do you think companies, lobbyists and billionaires donate so much money to political campaigns?  Don’t you think they will expect these donations to buy them access and influence?  Really!

There are many more good questions that could have been asked, but weren’t.  After all, Chuck and Rachel had to leave time to hug it out at the end.   So, they asked questions like, “Hillary, are you 100% sure that nothing will come of the investigation of your server?”  What kind of question is that?  He gave her the answer in his question and teed her up for a monologue about what a victim she is.  Oh well, gotta have time for those hugs.

Don't Get "Berned'

Don’t Get "Berned"

The View from the Middle

Consider this article as an appeal to all naïve optimists out there who are looking for the perfect world, especially the young voters in this country.  You have to look past the promises of a utopian existence and free stuff offered by politicians.  This may shock you, but politicians have been known to over promise and under deliver and even lie to us. 

And no one is promising more free stuff and idealistic outcomes than Bernie Sanders.  He’s offering free college, free healthcare, free childcare and expanded Social Security for everyone.  The first thing you have to realize is that NOTHING IS FREE!!  Bernie’s plans will cost us $18 trillion over a ten-year period, and that is above and beyond the $50 trillion our government is already planning to spend. 

Do the math, that’s a 36% increase in the cost and size of a government that 81% of Americans think is corrupt.  However, government is more than just corrupt, it’s inept.  According to Gallup, Americans today believe that the government wastes 51 cents of every dollar we send them.  That is the highest estimate of waste ever recorded by Gallup.  With this kind of waste and corruption, why would we want to make our government BIGGER?

Remember, especially you young people, that the government has NO MONEY!  Every penny that they spend/waste comes from you!!  But, you say, ”No, Bernie plans to get all this money from the rich!”  I have a surprise for you.  Bernie’s “soak the rich” plan only accounts for about six trillion of his $18 trillion binge-spending plan.  He will have to get the other $12 trillion or so from you.  In fact, that $12 trillion that you will be funding (not the rich) comes to $10,000 per household per year.  Got an extra 10 grand you want to give to the government every year?

“Oh, but we will be getting all that free stuff”, you say.  So at best you’ll be getting $5,000 worth of services for $10,000, and that’s if the government doesn’t get any more corrupt or incompetent than it is today.  And, as Bernie sucks this 10 grand from every family in America every year, we’ll all have less to spend on restaurants, cars and clothes.  This will mean that we will have fewer restaurants, car dealers and dress shops, which will mean fewer waiters, car sales people and store managers.  Get the picture?  Less spending equals fewer jobs.

But this isn’t even Bernie’s big lie.  His big lie is that life will be perfect when he’s in control and he has all your money.  You won’t have to worry about healthcare, education or childcare.  You also won’t have to worry about saving any money, because you won’t have any.  You won’t have to worry about owning a house or a car.  You won’t be able to afford one.  And, you won’t have to worry about working hard, because you won’t be rewarded for it.

Let’s look at the shining stars of socialism.  In Venezuela people can’t even wipe after their bowel movements for lack of toilet paper.  In Cuba, they have thousands of their citizens swimming through shark-infested waters to get out of the country.  And then there’s Greece who is currently tin-cupping it through Europe trying to get their bills paid.

Even the top socialist countries have tremendous issues.  In Denmark, the total tax rate is about 80% when you add federal, local and sales taxes together.  It is almost impossible to own a car or a home.  Their suicide rate is about twice what it is in the US.  And throughout Scandinavia, people are drowning in debt and the wealth gap is even worse than it is in the US, but Bernie won’t be shining the light on any of these realities.

No country is perfect, but I still believe the US in the best place to live on this planet.  And what got us here - free market capitalism, which has lifted more people out of poverty than any other system on earth.  It is our meritocracy that has lifted us above all other countries.  Here is where hard work will actually pay off and improve your life and even those around you.  Here is where you can determine your future instead of settling for a government provided poverty level existence.

So don’t fall for the false promises of a flawless government and an idealistic existence.  Vote for smaller, leaner, more efficient government that will just get out of our way and unleash the genius and power of our collective efforts.  This is what has made America great and what will keep us at the very pinnacle of the world community.