Jeb's Really Cool Things to Do - Eating Nails?

Presidential candidate, Jeb Bush, complained recently, "I have a lot of really cool things that I can do" other than run for president.

 It's difficult for me to imagine Jeb doing anything "really cool," but then his  concept of "really cool" is probably different from mine. In a previous post, I suggested that he would probably not consider working for Habitat for Humanity as "really cool."

Let's look at some "really cool things" he might consider:

1. make more money -- pretty easy to do when you are born into wealth.

2. remind your Brother, George W, that he owes you since you, as Florida governor, stole the 2000 election and put him in the White house.


3.buy some "really cool" cowboy boots to add to his collection, although he has never worked on a ranch or farm.

4. hire a ghost writer to write his "autobiography," just like big brother, George W. Bush.

5. go to work for Fox News and try to revise history by convincing viewers that George's Iraq Invasion was a good idea.

6. follow George's retirement plan , take art classes, and paint nude portraits of yourself.

7. spend more time playing fantasy football since he already bragged in the last debate  how well his "team" was doing..

8. hang out with his "Swift Boat Veterans" and congratulate them once again for lying about John Kerry in 2004. Of course they can't share war stories because Jeb was never in the military and the only battlefield the "veterans" saw was the Alamo memorial.

9. explain his illegal and unconstitutional interference as governor in the Terri Sciavo case.

10. swim in the St.John's River, "Florida's American Heritage River," and deny that the Koch brothers' Georgia Pacific plant is daily dumping millions of gallons of toxic waste into the river.

11. study the Bush family genealogy, but then he might learn his grandfather, Prescott Bush, financially profited from his involvement with the architects of Nazism.

12. become, like so many former elected officials, a high-paid lobbyist  and use his contacts and networks to influence legislation in favor of his wealthy clients.

13. work for a gun manufacturer or the NRA,since he was the genius who gave Florida "Stand Your Ground" legislation.

Most recently Jeb has assured us he "eats nails for breakfast," I'm presuming he considers that a "really cool thing" to do. In that case, I have nothing to offer, except maybe milk and sugar.

GOP Loves Prestige and Power; Hates Work

Teddy Roosevelt

Not that long ago, politicians considered themselves "public servants" with a responsibility to serve "the public good," not royalty or corporate lackeys.

Unfortunately today's politicians (and to be honest, most of them are Republicans) seek the prestige and power of elected office, not to serve the public interest, but the good of their contributors and lobbyists. Then they have the nerve to tell us they don't really want to work at the job they are being paid to do.

On the other hand, there is the example of Theodore Roosevelt, also a Republican,.He never complained about the effort and sacrifices required to do his job. He relished the role of serving his country and the public good. He was a fighter who embraced the struggle.

Perhaps the present GOP attitude toward public service began with Ronald Reagan. By all accounts he slept through cabinet meetings and did not want to be bothered by the day-to-day requirements of being President. Thus we ended up secretly selling weapons to Iran to finance illegal activities in Nicaragua. Of course, this "see-nothing, know nothing" approach saved Reagan from being impeached. The lower level operatives took the fall for this duplicitous debacle. They took "one for the Gipper."

Today we are seeing the same sort of aversion to doing one's job on the part of some  GOP politicians.

Rubio, Ryan, Jeb Bush

The first case is Jeb Bush's recent whining about how difficult it is to get the GOP nomination He apparently thought he was entitled to nomination by virtue of being part of the "Bush Dynasty." He was surprised the nomination wasn't handed to him on a silver platter. He felt entitled based on some old European concept of royal inheritance. Having to work for it was an alien concept.

In a recent interview in South Carolina, Mr. Bush complained, "I've got a lot of really cool things I could do other than sit around, being miserable, listening to people demonize me and me feeling compelled to demonize them. That is a joke. Elect Trump if you want that." Certainly does not sound like Teddy Roosevelt who would immerse himself in the fight.

And as an aside, I would be interested in what "the really cool things" Jeb wants to do are. I doubt that he is thinking about working for Habitat for Humanity or volunteering in a homeless shelter. I suspect, he is thinking "cool things" like hunting and fishing.

Mr. Bush, by the way, who dislikes the work required to gain the nomination is the candidate who told Americans they need to work "longer hours."

And then there is Senator Marco Rubio, who also wants to be President. He wants to fire federal workers for not working hard enough. It so happens that Mr. Rubio has a problem doing his job. This year he missed  1/3 (99) of he votes in the Senate, but continued to take his salary. He has the distinction of having the worst Senate voting record this year. In addition, he has told his friends that he "hates" the job he campaigned for. If he can't handle this job, why should he be given a more difficult job? Someone should remind him that public service takes hard work 

Another guy who has trouble with working is Paul Ryan, the new Speaker of the House, the 3rd most important position in our government. He replaced John Boehner who was famous for leaving the office early. Mr. Ryan is, perhaps, the first Speaker in US history who took  the office after telling us he did not want to work too hard. He informed his colleagues that he would only put in the hours of "a normal day" -- no late nights or weekends.

Mr. Ryan did have a noble reason for his reluctance to work overtime; he wanted to spend more time with his family. Some cynics, on the other hand, suggest he wants the extra time to pursue his "deer-hunting life style." It will be interesting to see whether he attends the next State of the Union speech, as it occurs in the evening after his "normal work day."

Face it, serving one's country as an elected public servant is hard work. (Have you noticed that those who consider themselves privileged and entitled never use the term "public servant"?)


Although Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Paul Ryan, do not want to work too hard, they are opposed to raising the minimum wage. Today young mothers and fathers earning the current minimum wage can't possibly support their families by working a "normal work day." They need to work extra hours or work two jobs to make ends meet. Apparently family time is only for the privileged and entitled.

Unfortunately, this country will not continue as a successful democracy if this attitude of entitlement and lack of total commitment permeates our political process. It didn't work out too well for the Roman Empire and it will not work for us.

Derelict Politicians.

It can be argued that politicians who do nothing to keep guns from the hands of mentally ill citizens have blood on their hands. Interestingly enough, those same politicians are frequently the same ones who are reluctant to spend money on mental health. As I recall, they swore on a bible to promote the "general welfare." They have failed to do their job.

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Party of Fear and Hatred

The Republican Party in the US has produced some of our great presidents, beginning with Abraham Lincoln and featuring Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower.  One characteristic of the three is that they were fearless and brave.  Lincoln paid for it with his life. Teddy Roosevelt was a fighter in every sense of the word. And Ike was considered one of our our best military leaders.These were men who moved forward fearlessly.

And now we have the Republican Party of today -- a group of men and some women who are falling back in retreat because they are consumed with fear. They fear science, the future, universal education, voting rights, Islam, our own government, and any form of  "otherness."

They are also afraid of people: Muslims, immigrants, gays, black, brown and Asian people, any minority, transsexuals, feminists, union members, President Obama, and Pope Francis.

The current GOP has so many phobias, it should be hospitalized.

And the thing about fearful people is that if they fear something or someone, they want to convince the rest of us to be terrorized as well. They literally preach fear. That's how we ended up invading Iraq. Dubya, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and the neo-cons set up an incessant chant of fear, fear of WMDs, Saddam's secret nuclear weapons, chemical weapons, and the presence of al-Qaeda  terrorists in Iraq. All fear-mongering lies.

When president Franklin Roosevelt in 1932 said,  "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,"  he was wisely warning us of the disastrous results of fear-driven policies.

The knee-jerk reaction of the Bush administration after the 9/11 attacks is typical of the mistakes made as a result of fear. Attorney General Ashcroft and the administration convinced Congress to pass the so-called "Patriot Act" which sacrificed various of our civil liberties in the name of fighting terrorists. One might conclude that Osama bin Laden won that one, he scared us into giving up some of our cherished rights. Hopefully our nation will continue to walk back some of the most egregious excesses of that ill-advised, fear-driven legislation.

In our current situation, almost every Republican politician is opposed to President Obama's Iranian Nuclear Treaty, and although our nuclear scientists and military experts support the treaty, the GOP fears Barrack Obama will receive credit for for making peace instead of war. Perhaps that kind of political fear is the most sinister; it keeps politicians from acting in the best interests of our country.

Another detrimental aspect of fear is that it generates anger and hatred. It is no coincidence that, within the last eight years, the number of hate groups in this country has reached historic highs.  If a major political party and a major television news organization continues to promote fear, those who drink the fear Kool-Aid will become angry at all those "others" who are not white and do not attend the "right' churches.

When John Kennedy was campaigning for president, Southern Baptists, among others,  claimed that a Catholic could not be president. Today presidential candidate Ben Carson and other Republicans are so fearful of Islam that they tell us a Muslim should never be elected president. Apparently these fear-mongers have not read the Constitution which rules out any such religious litmus test.  It seems that Islam-phobia is part and parcel of the current GOP, and such fear generates hated, and, in the minds of some followers, that excuses violence. Not what our country needs.

Within  the cacophonous circus that is the current Republican Party, there must be be a potential fearless leader in the mold of Lincoln, Roosevelt, or Eisenhower. Let's hope she or he steps forward soon and begins advocating for building peace rather than walls and fences..

Hilton Head's Bay Tanner Does It Again

The 13th Bay Tanner mystery by Kathryn R. Wall has all those elements her fans have come to expect and enjoy: a good mystery, an interesting main character in the person of Bay Tanner, a strong supporting cast ( Livinia, a black woman whom Bay treats as her "mother;" husband, Red; and Erik Whiteside, Bay's business partner and IT guru) and the colorful description of the Hilton Head setting.

Although Bay Tanner has always been a strong, independent woman, in this latest book she has become a little more edgy and less tolerant of people's "bull shit." And, as in the past, her relationship with her husband, Red, is loving but at times strained as they both have "a mind of their own."

In this mystery, after a period of avoiding dangerous cases, Bay meets Pudge, one of her old high school friends. She  hires Bay to investigate what she suspects to be a case of domestic abuse. In short, she thinks another of their old friends is being used as a punching bag by her arrogant husband. But, at that point, the abusive husband disappears under mysterious circumstances,  Many, including the Sheriff's department, conclude that the wife, nicknamed Scarlett, had had enough and offed the guy.

Kathryn R. Wall

If you are a fan of Kathy Wall, you know that not everything is as it seems, and from there on things become interesting.

Those readers who have followed this series will notice that Mangiamo's seems to have replaced Jump and Phil's as the restaurant of choice for Bay and Red.

One also is left with the impression that Jordan Point may be the last Bay Tanner mystery; let's hope that is not the case.

Pope Nails It

"An unfettered pursuit of money rules.

       That is the dung of the devil."

Political Campaign Paraphanalia.

I, 

The campaign of 2016 has begun. What fun. Rand Paul takes a chain saw to the Federal tax code; Lindsey Graham alternately sets his cell phone on fire and hits it with a baseball bat. Donald Trump is saying stupid things and his Republican opponents, for the most part, do not object because they don't want to offend Donald's "people." Depending on how you count, there are 16 to 20 GOP candidates and at least five Democrats competing for our attention. I'll bet the Founding Fathers had no idea what kind of circus they were creating. 

Not only is the country's TV industry salivating at all the money these people will pay to tell lies about each other, but these days each candidate has her/his own set of merchandise to sell to  loyal followers. Hillary Clinton is selling everything from t-shirts to bottle openers and  spatulas -- all emblazoned with her "H."  While Jeb Bush is selling  campaign buttons, bumper stickers, and car magnets, none of which mention the name, "Bush." An interesting omission.

Ted Cruz (R-Texas) appears to hold the lead in terms of negative slogans on T-shirts and bumper stickers. He sells the obligatory "Stop Hillary 2016" button and a T-shirt that says: "Stop the Battle Axe (photo of Hillary) with a CRUZ Missile (photo of Ted)." For his Texas wingnuts he sells a button challenging: "Come and Take It. God and Guns Since 1776." (I wonder how God feels about being used this way.) And for the Tea Party crowd,there is a car magnet featuring a coiled snake with Ted's head and the phrase: "Don't Tread on Ted." I presume the implication is that he will bite your ankle and infect you with his venom.

In contrast,  Lincoln Chaffee has just a few items (I presume they are in metric sizes), but who can resist the slogan: "Lincoln for President."

 On the other hand, I  have in mind another array of T-shirts and buttons that are not yet for sale;

"I'm Dubya's Smarter Brother"  Jeb Bush
"I Slept with Bill Clinton" Hillary
"I'm Bought and Paid For"  Scott Walker
"Christians Rule" Rick Santorum
"Indicted Today, President Tomorrow" Rick Perry

"Work Longer Hours, You Lowlifes" Jeb Bush
"We Are the Party of Stupid" Bobby Jindal
"Apostle Huck is Your Savior" Mike Huckabee
"Keep'em Out!" Donny Trump
"Get on My Bus or Be Run Over" John Kasich

"Rumpled is In" Bernie Sanders
"I Left the Party of Stupid" Lincoln Chaffee
"Please Look at Me." Donny Trump
"Irish Should Apply" Martin O'Malley
"Let's Shut Down the Govt. Again" Ted Cruz

"No Such Thing as Marital Rape" The Donald Trump
"Close That Bridge" Chris Christie
"Fired by HP" Carly Fiorina
"Me and My Dark Money" Scott Walker
"I Spread Misinformation" Rand Paul
"I Don't Have Time for Senate Roll Calls" Marco Rubio*

The quadrennial political circus is back. Get a beverage of your choice, pull up a chair, and watch adults revert to their junior high school personas. 

*Marco is against Paid Leave, but was absent for 1/3 of Senate votes. 

"I Want My Country Back" Is Back

Bumper Sticker

After the recent controversy surrounding the use of the Confederate Flag, a racist and conservative element has intensified a propaganda campaign under the banner, "I Want My Country Back," featuring bumper stickers because they are not too good at writing complete sentences.

The slogan has a patriotic and nostalgic ring to it, but it also suggests that "someone" -- a malevolent ogre, perhaps -- has stolen the country. We are apparently invited to fill in the name of the villain or villains. The promoters probably want you to fill in the blank with one of the following: President Obama, liberals, Latino immigrants, atheists, gays/lesbians, evolutionists, socialists, Muslims, environmentalists, intellectuals, or that whole unwashed conglomerate known as "non-Christian."

It is inconceivable to these people that someone would have the temerity to suggest that the country was stolen by: the NRA, the Tea Party, white supremacists, the religious bigots, the creationists, big oil, big coal, Wall Street oligarchs, or radical Christians.

Then there is the question who the "I" is in the slogan. It would have two different interpretations for a Donald Trump or a Bernie Sanders.

Ignoring the lack of clarity in such a bumper sticker, the most important question becomes: What country do they want back? a country that:

• practices slavery
• allows lynchings
• steals lands from Native Americans
• allows only white landowners to vote
• allows racial segregation
• ignores domestic violence?

If that indeed is the country they wish to take back, most Americans are thankful that "country" is a thing of the past.

Although some may wish for that kind of country; others of their ilk probably are hoping to take back a country that has no:

•  civil rights legislation
•  labor laws
•  voting rights act
•  national parks
•  Internal Revenue Service
•  Department of Energy
•  Department of Education 
•  Food and Drug Administration
•  Department of Housing and Urban Development  
•  Justice Department.

But the country they really want back is a country without:

• The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)
• Social Security
• Medicare and Medicaid

An almost hysterical fear of socialism has led these people and their politicians to spend their time and treasure trying to dismantle what so many have given their lives to build and protect. 

No matter how desperately these people would like to go backwards, the continued success of this country depends on going forward in a continuing effort to build an egalitarian, just, and compassionate society which exercises wise stewardship of our limited resources.

The Tyranny and Intolerance of Religious Fumdamentalists

Why is it that religious fundamentalists, whatever the religion, are not happy having the freedom to follow their religious dictates , but feel compelled to impose those dictates on the rest of us?

This tendency raised its ugly un-American head most recently following the Supreme Court's  decision declaring gay couples have the right to marry (Obergefell v. Hodges). Fundamentalist Christians   were outraged. Some government officials said they would refuse to issue marriage licenses to gay couples because it was contrary to their personal religious beliefs. Some business owners proclaimed that they would not sell flowers, cakes or whatever for gay marriage. A conservative Catholic organization (catholicvote.org) used their money to produce a hateful anti-gay marriage commercial.

Why all this furor and fear?  No one is forcing Rick Santorum to marry another man. No one is forcing a Christian to attend a lesbian wedding. No one is attacking the marriage of a good Baptist man and woman.Why do they feel threatened?

The apparent answer is that they want to impose their religious convictions on the rest of us. If they believe same-sex marriage is an abomination, they want to mount a crusade to make the rest of us conform to that belief.

 If fundamentalists believe the biblical creation account, they want our common public schools to teach their version. If some Catholic bishops believe contraception is a sin, they  want to impose that belief on employees and deny them access to medical contraceptives. If fundamentalist Muslims believe  that Sharia law is the path to everlasting glory, they want Sharia Law to replace civil law. I'm guessing here, but I suspect Jewish fundamentalists believe that all males should be circumcised. Other fundamentalist religions believe young women should be circumcised.

In addition to the attempts of fundamentalists and their GOP puppet politicians to impose their beliefs on the rest of us, they are also intolerant of the religious beliefs of others. The most arrogant example of intolerance is the claim that the United States is "a Christian Nation." Although it may be true that a majority of US citizens claim to be Christian, that fact does not make our country a "Christian Nation."  Unless our Constitution is replaced, our country will never be a Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or Mormon nation.

In case there was any doubt about that, in 1797 President John Adams submitted the Treaty of Tripoli to the US Senate which unanimously approved it.  The treaty reassured the world that "the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."

The beauty of the United States and its Constitution is that the government will not tell you what to believe, but by the same token you must tolerate your neighbor's beliefs.