The-Asterisk

Now that we have seen the craggy contours of Joe Biden’s Schlock and Awwww re-election campaign, it is time to find out what Donald Trump will bring to the fight. As I watched the State of the Union last week on my DVR, I ended up fast forwarding through the last 15 or 20 minutes. I just couldn’t take any more of it. Not only was the cake he brought to the party made of the same layers of BS, he slathered a thick coating of frosting over it to hide the contents and cover up the smell. And… he says he will pay for it all by taxing 1000 billionaires $50 billion more per year. Sorry Joe, but 50 billy doesn’t go very far these days even if you somehow manage to squeeze some juice from the oligarchs.  Donald Trump now has the perfect opportunity to contrast himself with “Feisty Joe” and it is high time he seized it. At every chance he has been given since Biden was installed as President, Trump reminds us of Russia, Russia, Russia, the perfect phone call, the Mueller Report, stolen ele...

Mr. President, When you announced your candidacy in 2015, you were a novelty – a joke. But, the more primaries you won, the bigger the threat you became. To say your campaign methods were unconventional would be the understatement of the century. You couldn’t win. You were a fool, a boor, you had no experience. The Democrats heard you coming but they really didn’t see you coming. They knew you had no chance. Hillary had already measured the drapes, picked her cabinet and blew up the balloons. They were ready for “four more years”... no reason to start up the famous Democrat vote-fixing machine. The same machine that got JFK over the finish line in 1960 and kept major cities firmly under their control for decades. And then… you won. BAM! Like hitting a donkey up side the head with a 2x4 (metaphor intended), you got their attention.   You played the game to win. “But, but, but, he lost the popular vote” they exclaimed. So what? You won the Electoral College. Like in football, fi...

 Today on Meet The Press , surrogates from the Clinton and the Trump campaigns were on the show. The host, Chuck Todd first spoke to John Podesta, he of WikiLeaks email fame. Chuck asked him several questions about polling, the campaign, Hillary's apparent weakness in states like Michigan and their tactics. During his answers (or non-answers, depending upon how one saw the responses), he stated as fact that Trump was a bigot, a misogynist and that his campaign was being directed by the Russian Foreign Ministry. As his segment was ending, I was thinking "Are we going to hear anything about the leaked emails?" Todd's last question was essentially "How are you feeling about having your emails leaked so that everyone can see your dirty laundry." Podesta replies, "Me, personally? Oh... I have thick skin..." Wow, now that was a tough question. Next up was Newt Gingrich. Newt was asked similar questions and during one answer said that the nation has...

A thread on a friend's Facebook timeline yesterday discussed some of the ugly things said by Hillary which have recently come to light via the Wikileaks email dumps and supposed first person accounts from recent events. It is virtually impossible for a human to totally bottle up their true feelings and emotions. Some manage to do so and I think they suffer greatly for it. Others let it all hang out (I think we know where Trump comes down on this one.) Clinton, according to many recorded accounts, is very emotional and emotive, but she has an uncanny ability to put on a semi-likable facade for public consumption. Having said that, when she (or anyone for that matter) does "let it all hang out", it gets recorded. For many of us "folks" it gets recorded primarily in the memories of those around us, but for others, especially those at a high level of prominence, it also gets recorded in emails, text messages, audio, video, hidden video, journals and memoirs. ...

"Here a Trump, there a Trump, everywhere a Trump Trump." I feel like singing that "Old MacDonald" tune. Donald Trump is everywhere these days. He is even back on Doonesbury . Sunday, I was sitting in an airport waiting for my flight with the ubiquitous CNN on all the screens and Candy Crowley was interviewing "The Donald" for the umpteenth time. Fortunately, he was not being drawn into the birther discussion. Rather, he was talking about Aretha Franklin's favorite subject: R.E.S.P.E.C.T., and how the US gets none. This morning I was thinking about Trump and why he is picking up so much interest. His detractors say that he is just upping his brand and promoting his TV show. This weak argument is like saying that Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt do their thing to up their brand so that people will watch their movies. Nah. Don't think so. Then it hit me, like a two ton heavy thing : It's just business . Mr. Trump claims that he could negotiate with th...

As I have stated elsewhere, with the Republican victories yesterday we got the CHANGE, now we move into the HOPE phase. Hope that the Class of 2010 can put the cart back on the road, regardless of which ditch it is in and who put it there. Charles Krauthammer made a poignant observation last night on Fox News. He said that the Democratic sweep of Congress in 2006 and the Obama election of 2008 were anomalies on the political landscape. That they were upheavals based on huge external forces on the body politic... the Iraq War in 2006 and the Grand Depression of 2008 and that now, 2010 brings us back in line close to the status quo in the US... older people voting, youngsters and the poor staying home. Staying home and not voting is fine with me. Those that scream "Vote or Die" are nuts. The last thing I want is an enfranchised Zombie voting for whomever is on the blue slip they are handed as they trudge into the polling place. If you cannot press, click or punch for whomever...

After almost two long, excrutiating years, the election is here. Long lines, disenfranchisement, promises, lies, smears, counter-lies, hope, change, hope, change, hope and change. I am sick of it. McCain has run such a terrible campaign that the whole thing is an embarassment. If he were to win, I could understand how the other side would think that it was rigged. However, if he does win, there is going to be massive rioting by those that claim that they aren't racist. In my book (and most dictionaries), racism is defined as making a decision based solely on race. If you are a black person and you are going to vote for Obama because he is black, then that is a blatently racist decision. There can be no argument. They may justify it for any number of reasons, but it is still a racist decision. If a white guy votes for McCain because he isn't black and that is racist, then voting (many for the first time) for a guy because he is black is just as racist, no matter what color you...

Today, Drudge shows that VA Governor Tim Kaine is on the short, short list of VP candidates for Barack Obama. That would not greatly surprise me, that a two year US Senator with virtually no experience short of exuding hope, voting 'present' in a short stint as a state representative, and being a community organizer, then a professional board member of foundations would pick a sitting Governor of a swing state that has been Gov for only two years and before that was Mayor of Richmond. Talk about balance! If you ask my take on it (and I am glad you did...) I think Obama will pick Caroline Kennedy (notice how she is not referred to by her married name lately?) Ms. Kennedy is currently one of two people handling the vetting (no, no, not the Chevrolet kind) of potential VP picks. Remember eight years ago, a guy named Cheney was doing the same job for W and look where it got him. In today's case however, it would not bring gravitas, but it would evoke a whole industry of gauzy ...