Then There Were Four

I didn’t watch all of the Democratic candidate debates. But I saw enough. It’s time to thin the herd. Be merciful. Cut out the slackers.

There are only 4 people who have a chance at the Democratic nomination.

Warren. Harris. Biden. Buttigieg.

The rest are toast. Window dressing.

Warren because of her command of the specifics. Her ability to take complex issues and explain complex solutions in a way most folks can understand. She created the Consumer Protection Agency and was prevented from leading it by Moscow Mitch and his gang of pirates. So. She simply ran for the Senate and now leads the charge for progressive policies. Sweet  revenge. Moscow Mitch can’t get rid of her.

Harris. Smart. Able. Organized. She can articulate why Trump has devastated the nation and how she will fix it. A former prosecutor , she understands the legal and judicial systems. Not afraid of a fight. Willing to do whatever it takes.

Biden. The last gasp of the old guard. He has plenty of favors to call in. He still wears the mantle of his vice presidency under Obama. And Obama is still the most popular president alive. A long time liberal who is willing to negotiate. Thinks he can bring folks together after the travesty of the Trump years.

Buttigieg. Young. Gifted. Articulate. Brilliant. If he represents the new wave of Democratic politicians we are indeed in good hands. He will bring in voters of his generation and younger. He looks to the future and grasps the mistakes of the past. Time to move on.

Only a fool makes predictions about politics, especially over a year ahead of time. So, here are mine.

A Harris-Buttigieg ticket. The best of both worlds. Progressive but also practical. Ethnic woman from California; young military veteran from a farm state. Being gay won’t even enter into the conversation on the Dem side.

A perfect foil to the Trump-Pence fiasco. Two old, fading authoritarians versus forward thinking, intelligent democrats. What could be better?

And you can be sure that Harris-Buttigieg will not make the same mistakes that Clinton’s handlers did. They understand that the US election is not a popular vote, but a state by state contest. They will not ignore Michigan or Wisconsin or Pennsylvania.

Why not Biden? He looks like he’s done. His time has passed. He does not project the energy needed to defeat Trump, Putin and the American oligarchs.

Why not Sanders? Warren has the same basic policies but articulates them better and in more detail. Bernie is long on gesture but short on substance. That will be exposed in smaller debates, as it was in 2016.

Why not Warren? She is almost too aggressive. People, especially suburban women, do not like that in a woman. Nor do many men.  I would not count her out if given the chance to defeat Trump, but I don’t think the primary voters will give her that chance.

The rest of the pack? They should go home right now and run for the Senate of House or Governorship in their own states, They had their time in the limelight. It was nice, but now it’s over. Don’t waste our time or money.

Keep America(ns) Safe

Keep America Safe.

Protect us from the  (fill in the blank)… Muslims…Mexicans…terrorists…refugees…Syrians…

But never fill in the blank with “Other Americans”.

We hear this from candidates all the time. America is a dangerous place…for some. But not from Muslim terrorists or jihadists. The biggest threat to human life comes from our  fellow citizens. With guns. All kinds of guns. Easily obtained.

Forget about the few “mass killings” At churches . Or schools. They are simply a spike in the graph. The every day, under reported killing of people in the USA is the biggest tragedy not covered by the media. Or candidates.

Keep America Safe.

For some reason keeping Americans safe from other Americans is a very low priority, especially for the two GOP candidates. I give you Matthew 7:3 ” Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye but ignore the log in your own?”. It is easier to point the finger at “the other” than admit to our own societal  and governmental failures.

Fact: On 9/11 a small group of  Muslim extremists, mostly from Saudi Arabia, flew planes into building that killed almost 3,000 Americans. The US government retaliated with a massive attack on Afghanistan and later Iraq. Americans wanted revenge and wanted to make sure that we would be safe. Keep America Safe became the mantra. Ever since then our legal institutions and domestic priorities  have taken second place to our military desires. Keep America Safe. 3,000 innocents killed.

Fact: Since 2002 over 200,000 American citizens have been murdered. (Not including suicides or accidents, which almost doubles the figures) Not by Muslim terrorists. Not by ISIS. Not by hordes of Mexicans or Guatemalans.  By fellow citizens. By other Americans with guns. 200,000 citizens murdered. . And this is not seen as a crisis worth talking about. By any of the candidates.

Fact: Since 2002 over 17,000,000 Americans have been victims of violent crimes. Murders, assaults, rapes. 17,000,000 Americans . That is  MORE THAN the entire population of Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Delaware, Montana, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine, Hawaii, Idaho, West Virginia and Nebraska COMBINED. 17,000,000. And not a peep from the candidates.

Source:  http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm

Not worth mentioning.

These Keep America Safe politicians don’t seem to equate America with Americans. To them “America” is simply a land mass with a border, not millions of people. A geographic entity. Uninhabited? Children living in inner cities? Not Americans. The homeless? Not Americans. Battered spouses? Not Americans.

Perhaps someday a moderator in one of the debates will ask these candidates why they outline no plans to keep “Americans” safe. Wouldn’t that be a good question to ask?

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Related information from the websites of the 4 major candidates. The 2 Democrats do touch on the issue of gun violence. The GOP candidates simply ignore it.

The Ted Cruz website (https://www.tedcruz.org/issues/) talks about defending our borders. and securing the borders. He wants to install a missile system on the borders of Russia and wage war on..well, just about everybody. (http://www.ontheissues.org/2016/Ted_Cruz_War_+_Peace.htm )

The Donald Trump website (https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions ) talks about building a wall to keep out Mexicans.  And he wants 30,000 US troops to defeat ISIS. (http://www.cnn.com/2016/03/11/politics/donald-trump-30000-troops-isis/ )

Hillary Clinton is a little more nuanced in her views of keeping America safe. She wants a combination of military, economic and political actions.  War as a resort. But not the first resort. (https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/national-security/). And she has some specifics regarding  domestic gun violence. (https://www.hillaryclinton.com/issues/gun-violence-prevention/)

Bernie Sanders seems to agree with President Obama’s current policies on ISIS and terror, in general. ( http://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-isis/ )       Sanders stand on gun control is a little more complicated. He is for it, but does not go as far as Clinton. (http://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-gun-policy/ )

Contestant #5: Sanders the Socialist

5th in a series of biased analysis of announced candidates for the office of President of the US.

From Bernie Sanders Issues website: https://berniesanders.com/issues/

The senator from Vermont, a native of Brooklyn, is a self-proclaimed socialist and independent.  Since everyone knows what a socialist is, there is almost no need to go into detail. A socialist is one who hates America, wants to eat babies and tries to destroy all that is good in the world. Someone from, let’s say, Sweden.

That said, Bernie’s website has the usual vague generalities on some topics, specifics on other topics and simply ignores other topics.

For example, he pretty much ignores social issues like gay rights, abortion, etc.

He opposes Wall Street bailouts. He wants to rebuild the crumbling infrastructure. He wants women to have equal pay as men for equal work. He wants tax reform. He thinks the middle class has been screwed. All noble concepts. But the devil is in the details, and he is short on details.

His main area of concern is for working families. He is very specific on raising the minimum wage (to $ 15.00). He wants a one payer health care system. And he wants to make it easier for workers who want unions to unionize. These are areas where he has been consistent throughout his long career.

Most telling, he has opposed all the free trade agreements, going back to NAFTA. That is one area where he differs from most other candidates. He has a record of fighting to keep jobs in the USA. Unique among the candidates. Ever.

He does not seem to have used his political office for personal gain and has no outstanding scandals. But I am sure Fox News is working to create something as we speak.

All in all, a tried and true socialist. Can he win a major election with those credentials? Is it possible ? Does  a socialist have a chance of winning the highest office in the land?

About as likely as a socialist being elected to the US Senate. Or a black guy winning the presidency. Twice. We shall see.