Regardless of who wins, the nation loses

Posted on April 21, 2016 by Armando Diana

Either way you look at this everyone loses.  It is simply a formality before former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gets the Democratic nomination.  It is not as clear cut on the Republican side thanks to the political machinery’s desire to trip Donald Trump along the way to the nomination.

In both cases it seems the will of the people no longer matters.  The only reason Secretary Clinton will win the nomination is because she has garnered the largest share of the Super delegates.  In this case, the super delegates are not beholden to who wins the most votes – they simply choose who they want.

Trump has won the most votes and states but Senator Ted Cruz is running circles around him when it comes to lining up delegates if the Republican nomination process goes to a second ballot.  Let’s pretend for the sake of argument that it does go a second ballot and Senator Cruz wins the nomination.

In a sense we’ll have two presidential candidates that a majority of the voters in the primaries did not want.  Unlike Trump, I am not whining about the process; I am simply pointing out the reality of the situation.  These are the rules and we have no one to blame but ourselves for electing the people who made the rules.  If you do not like it, do something to change it.

To be clear, Secretary Clinton or Senator Cruz are doing nothing wrong.  They are playing by the rules and mastered them better than their competitors.  Is Trump right when he charges the process is rigged?  I can make a case for that but if he were the one mastering the rules he’d be bragging about how he is the only one that can get things done.

However, either way you look at this there is no good choice.  Our choices are a Whiner in Chief, A Criminal in Chief, a Socialist in Chief, or a Not-so-Likable Guy in Chief.

So let’s throw out the nicknames and break this down.  The last time I checked we are the United States of America not the Federal Government of America.  We are a republic and not a direct democracy.  A republic is a form of government where the power resides with elected individuals that represent the citizens.

The Founding fathers understood the only entity that can take away the people’s freedom is their own government, either by being too weak to protect them from external threats or by becoming too powerful and taking over every aspect of life.  They advocated for a limited central government.

Senators Clinton and Sanders want a strong central government and want to give the Federal Government more power.  If that is what you want, vote for any of those two – there is not much difference.

Depending on the day, hour, or minute, Trump will want a strong central government or give the powers to the states. I’m not sure I want such a fickle president.  However, I do like the fact he his shaking up the political establishment and will give them a dose of being out of the loop like they have done to us for years.  If that is what you want vote for Trump.

That leaves Senator Cruz who I do not find likable but admire his conviction to his philosophies.  More importantly, he has an innate understanding of the Constitution and believes in state rights and a small Federal Government.  I am a believer in a limited central government. For me, the federal government is only there to protect the nation from foreign threat, protect the citizens from criminals, and build or maintain the infrastructure to allow commerce.  However, I mean commerce as outlined in the Constitution – especially the Tenth Amendment – and not the one bastardized by the courts to justify exercising legislative power over the states.

Regardless of who become the actual presidential candidates a large part of the population will feel disenfranchised because of how that candidate was selected.  In a point in our history where President Obama has done his best to destroy the nation, can we really afford four years of a disaffected population?

Someone will win the presidency but, regardless of who it is, the nation will lose if the eventual president does not figure out how to lead a splintered nation.

 

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When the outcome affects the income

Posted on April 20, 2016 by Armando Diana

If the outcome doesn’t affect the income why should I care?  That is something I always tell opposing youth coaches when they inevitably start screaming and yelling at an official for a perceived blown call.  Or, worse yet, at one of their players for making a mistake.

To me youth sports is not about winning or losing but teaching the players life lessons.  Once you stop rolling your eyes, hear me out.  The probability of junior making it to a professional sports team is smaller than former governor Jeb Bush getting the Republican nomination.  The chances of junior getting a college scholarship for athletics is a bit better but not much.

Quite frankly if you do the math, chances are you could have paid for a semester of college rather than throwing your money away on lessons.  It’s a racket.  Getting lessons helps make junior a better player but no instructor can guarantee scholarships or attaining professional status.  If they do I suggest you meet my friend Angelo under the Brooklyn Bridge.  He is selling it and looking for buyers.

What players do learn from youth sports is that hard work and dedication leads to results.  It teaches them if they have a goal they need to prioritize their time to reach that goal.  However, adults ruin youth sports.  As president of my local little league many years ago I was called down to a field because a mother slapped her son’s manager across the face.  When I asked her why she informed me the manager was ruining her son’s chances of getting a scholarship because her son was not getting enough playing time at first base.

Her son was five and playing T-Ball.

I would love to say she was the exception but no such luck. I have seen relationships between father and son destroyed.  I have seen talented players completely burned out because of all the travel games, late night practices, and pressure to juggle school, sports, and that quaint notion of being a kid.

And that leads me to my final rant.  My opinion of high school coaches is so low I think politicians, lawyers, and journalists are ahead of them.  If a child is not thoroughly burned out, disillusioned, or tired of his “favorite” sport by high school, their high school coach finishes the job.

I have yet to find a single player whose confidence was not shattered by a frustrated wanna-be athlete we call high school coaches.  These life-losers scream, indiscriminately bench, and dispatch team rules only to certain players rather than teach the kids how to play the sport. I actually heard a high school coach tell his team it’s not his job to teach them how to play.  He suggested they get that information from their travel team coach.

Ridiculous.

But that brings me around to my initial point.  Most high school sports programs are tied to “sports academies.”  That is, a travel program managed by a proprietor who happens to be the high school coach or affiliated with a high school coach.

I’ve seen this exact scenario play out too many times to mention: A relatively talented player tries out for the high school team.  The coach points out deficiencies in a particular aspect of the game.  The coach proceeds to change a few things in the player’s mechanics or techniques.

Like any athlete learning something new, the player struggles at first and the coach keeps harping on him.  By mid-season the coach suddenly starts telling the player he sees improvement despite less than stellar results. A few weeks later the coach approaches the kid’s parents about his “potential.”  He then suggests they enroll in this or that program to “help” junior become a better player.

In this case the outcome does affect the income.

 

 

 

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This whole voting thing is to give the people who they want

Posted on April 7, 2016 by Armando Diana

It was a matter of time.  You knew it was going to happen but as the days blended into weeks and then months you were starting to wonder whether Donald Trump was ever going to implode.  Well, keep waiting.

Despite what the self-serving media tells you Trump did not lose the Wisconsin primary.  Senator Ted Cruz won.  And, in reality, Senator Cruz did not suddenly morph into Ronald Reagan and bask in the glory of love.

Nope.

Trump got 36% of the vote like he has garnered in almost every primary or caucus.  The difference is there were not 10 to 15 other candidates in the race to spread the remaining 65%.  This has been a math lesson from the start.

There is no denying the 35% of the Republican base Trump owns are die hard Trumpites.  He can do no wrong with that group.  The return of the Middle American Rebels strikes again.  Just ask Ross Perot of George Wallace.

At this point, it is pretty much a given that neither candidate will reach the required majority of 1,237 delegates to get a first ballot nomination.  So the question becomes where do we go from here?

Over on the Democrat side it seems regardless what Senator Bernie Sanders does he will not be the nominee as that cartel – also known as the Democratic National Committee – has rigged it so former Senator Hillary Clinton will win.

It’s looking more likely its partner in crime – the Republican National Committee – is plotting a similar ruse to play on the millions of voters duped into thinking their vote counts.  If the Republican National Convention becomes a floor fight and the a nominee is not named Trump or Cruz, then President Obama will get his wish and the nation will completely transform into something different than our Constitution envisions.

The Committee Elites have started saying things like “we choose the nominee, not the voters.” That sentiment was shared by Curly Haugland, an unbound GOP delegate from North Dakota a few weeks ago.  Can you imagine what would happen if the Republican National Committee simply puts forth the nominee they want rather than the nominee the people want?

I am almost at a point where I hope that happens which will lead to the destruction of the Republican Party and the elites would deserve every voter departure.  Of course, that would saddle the country with a president almost as bad the current resident in the White House.

Picking a presidential nominee out of spite may not be the best way.  So here is to hoping Trump or Cruz gets to 1,237. Then we can spite the elites but give the people who they want.

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Is Trump making voters angry or is he the answer voters seek

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Armando Diana

So now it’s Donald Trump’s fault that protesters get out of control and disrupt his rallies

Isn’t it ironic how the media and Washington Establishment call Trump a bully while bullying people not to vote for him?  First they call those who vote for Trump idiots.  Then they claim Trump voters are homophobic, Xenophobic, and racists. Now Trump voters are angry white people prone to violence.

Their playbook is running out of pages.

By the way, does anyone believe these protesters are not paid agitators?  I suspect the Washington Elite called Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to rent their hooligans for the rest of the primary season.

If the Liberals believe asking for a voter ID is a veiled attempt to stifle the vote what do they call open intimidation of the voters?  Is it a revelation to learn the media and Washington Establishment are dishonest hypocrites?

I understand the political class’ frustration.  I lived through eight years of President Bill Clinton and watched the same media and establishment hacks defend, admire, and cover for him.  I feel their pain after suffering through the past seven years of President Obama’s failed presidency without a single one of them stating the obvious.

President Obama has single-handedly set race relations back. He has created an atmosphere where the police are criminals and criminals warrant presidential attendance at their funerals while Supreme Court justices and former First Ladies get a token nod.

We have a president that is still blaming his predecessor for the economy while conveniently forgetting he has led the decline the past seven years.  We have a media that crams its social agenda down our throats and criminalizes anyone who objects to social engineering for legitimate religious reasons.

That same media glorifies criminals entering our country illegally while marginalizing our military heroes.  The politicians tells us they are “saving budget money” when they spend an additional three billion dollars instead of five billion dollars on some program aimed to benefit any group other than middle class working Americans.

We have a media focused on ridding the country of the Christian religion while promoting the Islam religion.  Out of curiosity, when was the last time a Christian religion stated destruction for the Islam religion as its goal?  The Liberals excoriates the Catholic religion for its views on abortion but glorifies Islam which kills gays, lesbians, and trans-genders while making women second class citizens.

Yeah, I understand why the elites are so angry.  Wait.  Why are Trump voters labeled angry white people while angry media and Washington Elites are heroes flying around in their underwear trying to save America from itself?  Maybe it’s the other way around.

Is Trump making voters angry or are voters angry at the ongoing hypocrisy that passes as business as usual in Washington, DC?

I am not a Trump fan but I get why he has captured our imagination.  We hope he is the answer but, much like sobering up after a night of fun, things will look different in the naked light of day.  I do not think Trump is what his rabid supporters believe or hope.

Looking at his career he is the ultimate insider who, like a good businessman, is capitalizing on circumstances for his own benefit.  That’s the American Way and good for him.

I still do not believe he’ll be the Republican nominee because at some point the Washington Establishment will get its way.  In a sense, I hope he wins just to stick to the establishment. In another sense, I am not comfortable gambling the well-being of the country on a man who has captured imagination but not reality.

But the media and elites have no one to blame for the Trump Phenomena but the people they see in the mirror.  Voters tolerate hypocrisy, double standards, unfairness in the guise of fairness, and elitists’ rule for only so long.  There’s a reason revolutions happen.

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Substance over sound bite politics is the better way

Posted on March 8, 2016 by Armando Diana

A good friend of mine is a staunch Liberal. He borders on the Senator Bernie Sanders train of Socialism but we never argue politics.  Our political discourse is typically a discussion of why we believe our particular philosophy is better for the nation than the other view.  It is always done in civil tones.

A lot of my Conservative friends cannot understand why I like my Liberal buddy and it bothers them to no end.   The answer is simple.  He lives his philosophy.  That is, if he thinks people should be taxed at a 50 percent clip he is willing to give away 50 percent of his income.  He does not preach one thing and do another like the hypocrite Liberal class populated by the Al Gore and Leo DiCaprio’s of the world.

Which leads me to why I think Senator Sanders appeals to so many people other than the fact he is not Hillary Clinton. When you hear Senator Sanders speak about his philosophy you get the sense he actually believes that approach is what will work for America.  He seems to live his philosophy and I respect that about him.

I think a lot of people respect that about him and it shines even brighter when compared to the pure darkness known as Clinton.  He doesn’t stand a chance of getting the nomination and that is a shame because with him at least voters would have a true believer.

I always ask political candidates to name the one issue they are willing to lose the election over.  Most cannot do it because they have sold out a long time ago and have no core principles. Senator Sanders is willing to lose the election than give up his Socialist philosophies.  I do not want him anywhere near the White House, but at least he has the character befitting the office he seeks.  Compare that with Clinton who is the epitome of everything wrong with a politician – and possibly a human being – and you can see why Senator Sanders has staying power in this primary season.

Sadly, this election cycle has seen two decent human beings with diametrically opposed philosophies get steamrolled by the political establishment.  Dr. Ben Carson seems to also genuinely believe in his philosophy yet fell prey to the machinations of Washington. Every time Senator Sanders turns around he finds another knife buried in his back.

What does that say about us?  We trample the principled, decent people and elevate the unprincipled.

One final note: Why is the media and political establishment going out of its way to compare Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler but no one is calling Senator Sanders Karl Marx?

I much rather prefer watching a debate between Senator Sanders explain why Socialism will work for America versus Senator Ted Cruz explain why the Conservative agenda is better.  That is a debate worth watching instead of the stupidity of name calling, grandstanding, and sound bite politics.

The news media, and I use the term news euphemistically, is only interested in instigating fights between the candidates.  If a debate should break out among the fights well, that’s an added bonus.  The news media is catering to the crowd that attends race car competitions to watch the crashes.

Again, what does that say about us and do we deserve what we get?

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Romney’s stupid move has “profound consequences”

Posted on March 4, 2016 by Armando Diana

Most politicians are tone deaf to their constituents but Mitt Romney exceeds expectations. The political establishment is under duress by a fed up electorate fueling an insurgent campaign by Donald Trump and these geniuses send out Romney as an attack dog.

It just shows how completely out of touch the Republican leadership is with reality.  They send someone who couldn’t even beat President Obama in an election there for the taking to lecture the electorate its voting practices.

Think about this for a minute.  The Republican Elite send a person rejected by the voters to tell the voters to reject the candidate they are supporting.  Do you think it ever occurred to the elites the reason Trump is so popular is because the Romney’s of the world is the exact persona we no longer want?

What’s next, sending Senator John McCain to educate us on how to lose an election by nominating politicians who can’t get out of their own way?

Romney did the impossible.  He made Trump look like a sympathetic figure.  His grandstanding today highlighted how much disdain the Republican Party has for the people.   Romney should crawl back into the abyss of losers and shut up.

He only made Trump stronger.  This is relationship 101.  When a parent dictates to their child to stop sating someone because “they are not good enough” for their precious child, what do you think happens?  The child has more reason to keep dating the stiff.  Hello. Earth to Elitists, you are morons.

Romney’s pathetic attempt at relevance today helped Trump while destroying any semblance of unity within the Republican Party.  At one of the first debates, Trump was pressured to sign an agreement to support the eventual nominee.  Does the Washington Elite pan to honor that pledge if Trump is the nominee?

During Romney’s speech, he said nominating Trump would have “profound consequences.” I think Romney’s stupid move today will achieve those profound consequences.

 

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Republican delegates add up to a Cleveland showdown

Posted on March 3, 2016 by Armando Diana

The fallacy that an angered Republican electorate is rattling Washington, DC is in for a rude awakening.  I’m talking about the people doing the voting not the political elite masquerading as two different parties.

The narrative being pushed by the media is the Republican Establishment is feeling the wrath of its electorate but doesn’t understand why the base is angry.  The Republican base is proud of itself for sending a message to Washington.  The only problem is nothing will change.

If Donald Trump faces Hillary Clinton in a smack down that will be called an election, what’s the difference between the two?  If you forget the hype and soundbites and all things that make Trump fun; his positions on many of the issues closely resemble Clinton’s views.

The irony here is the Republican electorate is sending a protest candidate to be its standard bearer when, in fact, it is sending an exact replica of what it’s angry at in the first place.  He’s more colorful. He’s actually accomplished something in his life but his positions are very much in line with the existing parties.

He found an issue that resonates with the people and is riding the wave.  But ask any Trump supporter to outline his positions on any topic and you’ll get that same deer-in-the-headlight look that crosses a Clinton supporter’s face when asked the same question.

The conundrum most of us are having is akin to two teams you hate playing in the Super Bowl.  It becomes a matter of being satisfied one of them loses versus happy the other won.  The only problem is the country will still be in a downward spiral because the policies will be the same.

Both parties are nothing more than different shades of each other laughing at us as we buy their rhetoric of change.  The only thing that changes is the date of the passing days. I cannot stand the political establishment and that includes both parties.  But I dislike Trump as a candidate and potential president.

He is currently leading the Republican presidential sweepstakes with 316 delegates.  That puts him 921 delegates away from the first ballot nomination.  There are 1,744 delegates left meaning he needs to get 53% of the remaining delegates to win the nomination without a fight. I do not think that will happen.

Of the 1,744 delegates remaining, 391 of them come from winner-takes-all primaries.  That means there are 1,353 that will be distributed based on the percent of the vote garnered by each candidate.

OK, enough with the numbers.  I’m having flashbacks to Math word problems in grammar school I used to hate.  The bottom line is I do not think Trump will have enough delegates to win the nomination on the first ballot.

That will release all the delegates to vote for whomever they choose at the Republican Convention in Cleveland, July 18-21, 2016.  Will those at the convention nominate former governor Jeb Bush?  Failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney? Governor Chris Christie?

Part of me wants to see Trump win the nomination just to stick it to the establishment.  The other part of me wants to see Trump lose so he can taste a little humble pie and finally realize personality is not bigger than the presidency.

I am not a fan of the personality of Senator Ted Cruz but I do like his principles.  I do not trust Senator Marco Rubio to be anything more than another Republican Establishment hack.  It seems Governor John Kasich is upsetting too many establishment brokers to get their support.

The options are limited and the lesser of all evils at this point seems like Senator Cruz.  He is an ideologue that is so despised by the Republican Establishment that I feel he must be doing something right.  The last person I recall being so hated by the Republican Political Club was President Ronald Reagan.  I am not saying Senator Cruz is anywhere near the status of President Reagan but being so disliked by the Establishment is reason enough to pick him.

And the saddest thing of all is most people I am talking with are having the same struggle.  When choosing the lesser of two evils you are still stuck with an evil.

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There is more harm caused by ignorance than malice

Posted on February 25, 2016 by Armando Diana

How much is 1,237 minus 81?  If you said 1,156 you know the number of delegates Donald Trump needs to win the presidential nomination for the Republican Party.  That seems like a long road ahead so why is everyone in the media going berserk at the thought of a Trump nomination?

Four out of 50 states have voted.  That represents eight percent of the states.  Would anyone call an election after eight percent of the precincts have voted?   Trump has momentum and time is running out for his opponents.  If the polls are accurate Trump has a great chance of owning a third of the delegates required for an uncontested nomination after Super Tuesday on March 1.

The way the Republican primary allocates delegates makes it difficult for anyone to get enough votes for the nomination this early in the process.  A more likely occurrence is that Trump will not get the 1,237 delegates he needs for a first ballot victory.

If a candidate does not get the nomination on the first ballot the delegates are released from their obligations to that candidate.  That means Trump will need to rely on party operatives to get him the nomination.  The same party operatives he is trashing throughout the primary.  This should be fun to watch.  We may see the first contested Republican convention in 40 years.

I am not a Trump fan. I have stated this numerous times in my blog but I do enjoy watching him drive the political establishment and the mainstream media nuts.  They cannot comprehend his popularity which illustrates how completely out of touch they are with the electorate.

A cursory view of opinion pieces in almost any periodical – Conservative or Liberal – will tell anyone why Trump can do no wrong with his supporters.  Well, anyone but the political establishment and media.

The New York Daily News ran this headline about the South Carolina Primary “Confederacy of Dunces.”  The article implies if you vote for Trump you are either a racist, bigot, homophobe, Xenophobe, or devil worshipper.  This elitist approach is the very thing that turns off more voters and makes Trump more of a hero to his supporters.

Bill Kristol, editor of the conservative magazine Weekly Standard, said he would abandon the party if Trump is the nominee.  Trump supporters see that as an incentive not a deterrent.

Glen Beck, a conservative talking head said “When we have a candidate that threatens people… This is not American. This is not equal justice. This is not who were are. If we give in to our anger; if we start to go down that path and we start to listen to the bullies, we lose what made us great.”  I guess if our Founding Fathers didn’t give in to their anger we would be speaking with English accents.

Watching the political and media elites get hysterical is great fun. These elitists need to be humbled.  People are tired of the political class’s arrogance.  They have a sense of entitlement to having whomever they choose be elected.

Enter Trump who is unafraid to say what he thinks that attacks his detractors and repeatedly calls them out by name.  Those in the media and political class are used to being the bully, not being bullied.  Is there anyone alive who doesn’t enjoy watching a bully get bullied?  Suddenly, the powerful have become the weak and we are loving the irony because Trump is a bully.

The elitists cannot handle the fact Trump is doing to them what they have done to us.  In that regard a part of me wants to see him win.  But, much like there is a morning after a drinking binge, we all have to wake up the next day and face the consequences of our actions.

In the somber light of day I want a president who will lead and get things done for the sake of the nation – not himself.  President Obama has done enough damage to the nation and, I believe, with malice. I fear Trump, on the other hand, will do damage out of ignorance.

And I do not mean ignorance in terms of him not being smart.  No he is intelligent.  I mean ignorance in terms of how to get things done when you do not have the power to fire whomever you want whenever you want.  He needs to work with the very people he is belittling.

I am reminded of something a former manager once told me: “Far more damage is done through ignorance than malice.”

Anyone who thinks something is easy is doomed to failure.  If he fails it’s not just another bankruptcy that he’ll get others to bail him out of – it’s the ruination of a nation. Trump is serving an important purpose in this election cycle.  I just don’t want him serving as our president.

However, given the choice of Trump or any Democrat currently running – well, that is the epitome of the lesser of two evils.

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The goose and the gander are the same in Washington

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Armando Diana

What is good for the goose may not always be good for the gander especially when you are both the goose and the gander.

The stakes have dramatically increased in the presidential election and politics overall with the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.  Currently, the Republicans are asking President Obama to forgo nominating a successor to Scalia and defer to the next president.  I recall the Republicans being up in arms when Senator Chuck Schumer made the same request of then President George W. Bush when he had a similar situation at the end of his presidency

The only difference is he faced that situation with 19 months remaining in his tenure not less than a year.  I find Senator Schumer’s current outrage ridiculous and laughable.  But, then again, those terms plus the word embarrassment are regularly used in the same sentence with Senator Schumer.

The Republicans are threatening to block any nominee made by President Obama.  This is simply silly.  I do get a kick at watching the Democrats call foul over Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s threat to not even consider a nominee much like I enjoyed watching the Republicans’ histrionics more than a decade ago.

I think President Obama has the right to make a nomination just like I thought President Bush had the same right.  Imagine that.  I have consistency in my views.  I think the Republican stance is silly because rather than grand stand simply vote no if the nominee is an ideologue instead of a jurist.  Why create an issue where it’s not needed?

If a Republican President were in office the tables would be reversed. Such is politics. Although I agree President Obama has the right to nominate whomever he wants I think his choice will be bad for America if he stays true to his Liberal ways. I am hoping the Senators have the political will to vote down any nominee they believe to be too radical.

I do not care either way the Republicans want to play this as long as a Liberal judge does not end up on the court.  I do not even want an ultra-conservative judge to be on the Supreme Court.  I want a judge who will listen to the arguments and make a decision based on the intent of the Constitution.

I do not want an activist judge trying to impose his or her agenda on the America people in either ideological viewpoint.  I want an impartial person.

My point is the Senators need only do their jobs and the rest will take care of itself.  This is a great lesson for the electorate.  This is why it’s exceedingly important who we put in the White House, the Senate and Congress.  Forget the games, the grandstanding and one-up-manship.  Just do what we elected you to do.

However, to watch the melodramas on both sides reminds me why we are so fed up with the politicians in Washington.  Whenever you have a Senator parsing his own words to fit his current rhetoric is simply embarrassing. Do these people actually think they are fooling anyone?

I am not a Donald Trump fan and definitely not a Senator Bernie Sanders fan but both men have captured the electorates’ attention because they seemingly speak direct and to the point.  Both men have the ability to convince us they actually believe what they are saying.

Some of us know better but the fact remains a large majority of the population is buying what they are selling. Is that because we are so tired of politics as usual or because we are that stupid?

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America needs a leader not a tantrum

Posted on February 16, 2016 by Armando Diana

It seems Donald Trump is holding his breath and stomping his feet and throwing yet another temper tantrum.  His target once again is Senator Ted Cruz and he’s throwing in the Republican National Committee for good measure.  Trump is threatening to sue Senator Cruz over his eligibility for office if he does not retract alleged “lies” about Trump’s positions.

What’s Little Donnie going to do next? Take his ball and go home?  Oh, wait he’s threatening that too.  He is running to Mommy and Daddy vowing to not support the eventual Republican nominee unless the Republican National Committee intervenes and forces Senator Cruz to do what Trump demands.

Back in September, Trump signed a “loyalty Pledge” saying he would support the eventual Republican nominee.  Ironically, as Trump screams “liar, liar pants on fire” about his rivals no one really believed Trump would honor that pledge.

I’m guessing the race in South Carolina is getting tighter which is why Trump is lobbing bombs again.  The deeper into the primary we go the more evident it becomes that Trump is not White House material.  He raises valuable topics and forces the dialog to focus on those topics but true leaders find solutions instead of having hissy fits when things get tough.

Perhaps Trump can be president of the Cam Newton Fan Club.  It seems like a natural fit for poor sports to congregate.

Senator Cruz put Trump in a tizzy by saying he has changed positions often and is not a “true conservative.”  How Trump can even contest this fact is unbelievable.  It’s not even open for debate but Trump immediately attacked Senator Cruz as a “liar.”

A simple Google search on Trump will detail he was a Democrat until 1987 and then a Republican from 1987 to 1999.  From 1999 to 2001 he was in the Reform part only to become a Democrat again from 2001 to 2009.  Then he jumped back on the Republican bandwagon from 2009 to 2011 and then became an Independent from 2011 to 2012. He came back to the Republican Party in 2012.

With all those switches how can he reasonably expect not to have his conservative credentials questioned? Hello. Reality check. But rather than say his positions have evolved over time or with age or that he’s simply an opportunist, Trump tries to bully his opponents into backing down.  Good for Senator Cruz for standing his ground.

If he doesn’t win the nomination, I think Trump will switch back to being an Independent or, in this wacky nomination season, maybe he’ll run as a Democrat.

Trump is acting so childish with calling everyone a liar his rivals should respond “Oh yeah.  It takes one to know one.”

Earth to Trump.  By the very nature of politics everyone lies – including him. But rather than logically and calmly explain his view that Senator Cruz is mistaken, Trump attacks the character of the man.  He’s like that bombastic friend we all have that elevates his voice and actions when someone calls him out on something.

The act wears thin after a while and we move on to other friends.  I think the electorate is about to start moving on to someone more grown up.

 

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