Who Doesn't Love Santa Clause?

I have scrupulously avoided advocating for a candidate in
any of my previous posts.  I have more than implied that
people should vote for the Democratic candidate no matter
who it should be.  I have always felt that any of the candidates
running for the Democratic nomination - with the exception
of a certain off-the-wall author who shall remain nameless, but
who is no longer in the race - were infinitely more qualified to
run the country than the current administration.   But I am about
to change that, with this piece.

Three years ago, I backed Hillary Clinton for president, I felt
that she was unquestionably more qualified to be president
than anyone in the past 15 years.  She had the brains and the
cajones to stand up for this country.  She was investigated
more thoroughly than any other citizen of the United States
and was found innocent of all charges that were intimated
against her.  And there were plenty, all of them were baseless
accusations to try and destroy her character and keep her
from the White House.  That alone would have broken a lot
of people's spirit, but Hillary kept fighting on.

Her only serious opponent was Bernie Sanders, and granted
he had a big following, especially with the young liberals.
And why not?  He promised them the moon; free tuition,
free health care, student loans paid off. It was going to be
wonderful, a free ride from cradle to grave, and maybe those
would be paid for also, who knows.  And when it became
obvious Bernie was not going to win the nomination, did
he do the decent thing?  Did he concede the race and ask
his supporters  to back the winning candidate? Get serious,
he hung on until he was forced out.  And then waited until
it was too late to back Hillary.  His gigantic ego could not
accept that he was beaten by a woman.

So Bernie crept to the Senate, tail between his legs, where
he sits alone, belonging to neither party and contributing
nothing to either party.  And he began plotting his revenge,
another run at the nomination.  He would again run as a
Democrat, because he knows he knows he couldn't draw
enough votes running as an Independent candidate. Bernie
Sanders is not a Democrat, his ideas are far to the left of
most Democrats, they border on socialism.  And not the
American socialism, but the European brand of socialism.
Most Americans understand that only the government can
provide certain benefits; infrastructure, education, insurance
for the elderly and the disabled, and now quality and affordable
insurance for all.  And some people are warming up to the idea
of government health care for all.  But, by far and away, right
or wrong, Americans wish to remain independent of government
interference in their lives.

What Bernie is selling is an all-encompassing government
takeover of your life.  Why, because that is how he lived his
life.  Sanders has never held a full-time job, he has never
brought home a weekly paycheck, yet he purports to tell
Americans that he is one of them.  Only if the average
American suckled from the government teat for the last
seventy years.  Yup, Bernie Sanders only job has been
working for the government, after living off welfare until
he could get elected. He wants to change the way things are
being done in Washington DC.  He had a chance to do that
for the last thirty years, yup folks, that is how long Bernie
Sanders has been in Congress.

And in those thirty years he has accomplished three, count 'em,
three things.  He has had two Post Offices renamed and he
authored the bill to give the military a cost of living increase,
who would vote against that?  And now, Sanders says if you
elect him to the presidency, he will bring sweeping changes to
make you life better.  And he will do it in only four years.  That
is truly amazing.  After warming a seat in congress for thirty years
Bernie is going to kick it into high gear and reorganize the federal
government in four years.  And if you believe that I have a bridge...

And despite all of this Sanders is in the lead in many states even
though polls show that he cannot beat Trump in a head to head
election, to say nothing about beating him on the debate stage.
Christmas is over folks, it's time to stop believing in Santa Clause!

                                         I'm just sayin'.

The Circus is Coming to Town

Ah yes, the ultimate showman of them all is coming to a TV
station near you and he is bringing his entourage with him.
Donald Trump has consulted with his production company,
Fox News, and its crack team of reporters, and has opted to
bring in more entertainment for you amusement.  If it wasn't
so terribly, terribly sad it would be hilarious.

In 'The Donald's defense, he didn't really have much of a choice
in prestigious legal firms, as his reputation preceded him. Namely
he's a deadbeat, he doesn't pay his bills.  And this trial may or may
not rack up some biggies.  Also, most firms would like to keep
whatever shred of decorum they possess, L1s and L2s will be
watching and the best of them will shy away from this three-
ring debacle.  Ditto for clients who prefer less notoriety.

Trump the entertainer, ever on camera, needs to bask in the
bright light of notoriety, (perhaps that's where the orange hue
comes from).  The more invidious the situation, the more
Trump glories in it. And he has added to his defense team
two lawyers who also, are drawn to the camera's light like
moths to a flame.

Alan Dershowitz, a name that conjures up memories of the
most appalling, and odious clientele in the past forty or so
years; Klaus von Bulow, O. J. Simpson, Mike Tyson, and
Jefferey Epstein.  Ah but the sensationalism that followed
those trials was priceless, Dershowitz is now a TV legend,
sought after by stations looking to boost their ratings during
sweeps week.  His trial strategy has been; 'yes, my client is
a sleazy character of disrepute but did he do it? And if he did
do it, he really didn't mean to do it.'  This should work with
his latest client very well.

And then we have Ken Starr, there is a name out of the past, and
a face you would probably like to forget.  He could use a bit of
the orange makeup Trump uses to liven up that pasty whiteness
of his.  Ken Starr isn't known for his defense as much as for his
being a prosecutor, you will remember him from the Clinton
impeachment trial.  Where he demanded witness after witness
appear before the House judiciary, everyone including  the
cleaning lady who emptied the trash in the oval office.  One
would wonder how he will approach the 'no witnesses'
demand of Moscow Mitch. Do you think he will be able to
find some salacious tidbit to perk up the legal briefs to be
presented today?

It appears that sordid business seems to follow Starr, to the
point that he was dismissed as president of Baylor University,
a school that has bible verses etched into the sidewalks there,
for looking the other way after the athletic team was charged
with sexual abuses.  Maybe he just enjoyed reading about it.
We know he enjoyed writing about such things, as anyone
who read the transcripts of the Clinton trial briefs will attest.
Starr is another Fox News personality; it appears this is a
requirement for joining Trump's legal team.

The defense this crack team is going to present; it is not
whether Trump did what he did but whether it is an
impeachable offense.  Does it meet the standard of 'high
crimes and misdemeanors'?  Well let's look back to a
prominent Republican who said on April 15, 1970,
"An impeachable offense is whatever the majority of
the House of Representatives considers [it] to be at
a given moment of history."  That was Representative
and soon to be president Gerald Ford who said those
words,.  Sometimes things just come back to bite you.

The show starts tomorrow, Tuesday January 21, 2020.
Right now the Senate is voting on rules of decorum for
the ensuing trial, if that isn't an oxymoron I don't know
what is.  Last week, each of the one-hundred Senators
raised their right hand and swore an oath to be a fair and
impartial juror.  The world is watching, Senators.  What is
on trial here is not just the President of the United States,
but our Constitution, our way of government, and most
importantly the truth.  Each and everyone of you will be
judged by history, these proceedings will be looked at in
the light day, long after the heat of partisanship has cooled.
And what will future students, lawyers, and congresspersons
think of you?  That is to say if we still have a democratic form
of government by then, or if it has long become a plutarchy.

I'm just sayin'.