Deaf and Dumb Democrats

Democrats are understandably still stunned and upset over Trump’s win but that is no excuse for continuing to be politically deaf and dumb concerning the reasons for losing and the lessons that should be evident.

The re-election of Nancy Pelosi as House minority leader shows a complete denial of the Democrats’ need to change. Pelosi blindly backed the Obama administration, often making a fool of herself with inane explanations and excuses. Her major contribution to her party has been her ability for fund-raising but one of the lessons from this election is that money isn’t everything. Pelosi has the same elitist arrogance that turned people away from Hillary and it will now continue to be a bane for Democrats.

Trump’s election showed that identity politics is no longer an acceptable way to govern because it disenfranchised and demeaned a large portion of the population. Far too many Democrats are unwilling to accept that the tail can no longer wag the dog. Recounting votes and looking for ways to derail Trump before he takes office is not productive.

In full denial, President Obama blamed Trump’s win on FOX News foolishly stating that it is “in every bar and restaurant in big chunks of the country”, places he has obviously not visited in quite some time. Others are blaming the media (which was totally in the tank for Hillary), Jill Stein, James Comey, white supremacy, Facebook, Twitter, misogyny, racism, conspiracies, voter suppression, the Electoral College – anything other than identity politics, a runaway progressive agenda, or obsession with social issues.

Democrats rail against any mention of a “mandate” because Hillary had more popular votes but they are ignoring the many other GOP victories in this and the past mid-term elections. They refuse to acknowledge clear indications that the tide has turned and if they remain deaf and dumb, they will become less and less relevant. The country needs both parties. Democrats need to wake up.

David J. Hentosh

Mainstream Media Malaise

The mainstream media was projected a Hillary win right from the beginning of her campaign even as she struggled for the nomination against Bernie Sanders. More concerned with “making history” than objective reporting, the media blatantly ignored voters’ distaste for Hillary and all the scandals swirling around her.

Sanders’ popularity was treated as an anomaly and dismissed as insignificant. Trump was continually demonized and Hillary was openly supported and praised. Much media “reporting” was based on the belief Hillary should/would win so conditioning voters to that “fact” formed the basis of campaign coverage.

The mainstream media is now shocked and dismayed by Trump’s win but bias continues as they now try to tell us the “country” is angry and upset. They continue with the false premise that everyone thinks as they do even though the “country” elected Trump. Not only are they continuing to demean Trump, they are demeaning those who voted for him and projecting dire consequences from a Trump presidency that has yet to begin.

Focusing reporting on those who are “traumatized”, depressed, and now protesting loudly (and some violently) is a continuation of the media’s anti-Trump campaign. Calls for unity from Obama, Hillary, and others are going unheeded because the media and the far left (redundant?) never wanted unity. They only want everyone to think and do as they say because they know best. This elite attitude is a major reason for Trump’s win.

Polls favoring Hillary were grossly wrong because they, too, were undertaken and interpreted with the foregone conclusion that Hillary would win. Margins of error that could indicate a Trump gain or lead were never interpreted that way. Many polling questions were worded in ways that were favorable to Hillary while suggesting Trump was a misogynist and a racist. Only those polls showing Hillary in the lead were taken seriously – and they were wrong.

The mainstream media went all in with Obama’s agenda and Hillary’s presidential run. They invested their professionalism, integrity, and credibility – and lost. They now refuse to accept that they are in disarray and as broken as the DNC.

This election result was a repudiation of Obama’s administration, Hillary, the media, and the progressive agenda. A clear message has been sent but will it be heard? Don’t bet on it.

David J.Hentosh

Stupidity on Parade

We are stuck with two candidates for president who continue to say (and do) stupid things. Right now, Trump is beating Hillary in stupidity and may lose an election that he could have run away with had he controlled himself.

Hillary’s scandals, lies, and denials put her in a very precarious position with voters. Long before her recent denial of Comey’s tacit indictment, she was finding it hard to become likeable or believable. Rather than admit any wrongdoing or apologizing for poor judgment, she doubled-down on lies and denial, treating the public like fools.

When she began attaching herself to Obama’s failing policies and adopting some of Bernie’s far-left ideas in a transparent effort to increase her base, it did little more than highlight character flaws that voters were finding distasteful. She was sinking and ripe for the taking.

Donald Trump, however, failed to take advantage. He stupidly continued to shoot from the hip with personal attacks and anything that popped into his head on the spur of the moment. Rather than act presidential and show an understanding and command of the issues, he continued to let his ego run wild and act like an ass.

His response to Khizr Khan’s speech at the Democratic Convention was, simply, stupid. Humbly accepting Khan’s anger for what it was, one of the stages of grief, and showing compassion for his loss would have not only been the high road to take; it would have spotlighted the Democrats’ unsavory use of the Khan family’s personal grief for political purposes. Trump showed nothing but a lack of control and, as a result, his poll numbers and chances for the presidency are diminishing.

The GOP has Trump as a candidate because the other candidates bought into political correctness and the left’s framing of social issues as most important – two reasons the Dems were on their way to losing the White House. In spite of scandals and lying, Hillary remains a candidate only to “make history” and continue Obama’s “transformation of America”.

Perhaps we are all stupid for allowing this to happen.

David J. Hentosh

Labels Matter

Obama scoffed at critics wanting to know why he will not use the label “radical Islamists” when speaking about terrorism. In a speech filled with ridicule, a standard leftist tactic, Obama asked: “…what exactly using this label would accomplish and what will it change”? This is as disingenuous as it is hypocritical.

What about illegal immigrants labeled as “undocumented workers”? How about “pro-choice” for killing the unborn? What about the “war on women” that is no war? How about the “Party of no” for the GOP? What about the “Affordable Care Act” that continues to increase rather than decrease health care costs? What about the most-used label of all, “racist”, for anyone who disagrees?

Obama and liberal progressives constantly use labels that accomplish masking reality and making an unrealistic agenda more palatable to the masses. Let’s not forget that Obama, who ran for office under the label “The One”, infamously labeled ISIS as the “JV team”. He has even used the vulgar label “tea baggers” in reference to the Tea Party.

It is necessary to identify an enemy in order to defeat it and Obama’s refusal to acknowledge radical Islamists as the enemy has his entire administration and the military concentrating on being politically correct and not offending anyone. The Homeland Security Advisory Council just released a report instructing the DHS not to use any language that might be “disrespectful” to Muslims, including (but not limited to) the words “jihad” and “sharia”, so it seems that labels DO matter as long as they advance the Obama agenda.

Because supporters have labeled him “supremely intelligent”, president Obama arrogantly spews whatever he wishes, expecting everyone to accept his spin as gospel. He has been pissing in our ears and telling us it’s raining for almost eight years, using sarcasm and ridicule to dismiss criticism. As a result, our enemy has been encouraged to escalate its war against us while our efforts have been spent trying not to offend them.

That deserves to be labeled “failure”.

 

David J. Hentosh

How Did Trump Rise?

Progressive liberals fear a Donald Trump presidency more than conservatives once feared an Obama presidency. They are totally baffled by Trump’s rise and they are laying blame for it on the GOP, the media, and racism. They need look no further than at themselves.

Emboldened by one of their own in the White House and backed by a complicit media, progressive liberals began implementing their idealistic agenda, believing mainstream America was on board. They began forcing wholesale changes much too quickly on society using political correctness, class warfare, and allegations of racism to silence opposition.

While the media blindly praised the progressive agenda and Obama’s policies, mainstream America was busy struggling with a weak economy, unemployment, rising health care costs, increasing racial tensions, threats of terrorism, and illegal aliens pouring across our open border. Progressive liberals ignored these growing problems and continued focusing on social issues.

As Washington became more and more polarized and mired in bitter partisanship, President Obama, seemingly oblivious to it all, concentrated on pushing his personal agenda and building his legacy. He deliberately minimized the threat of terrorism in order to concentrate on “transforming” America. His failure in foreign affairs and his lack of leadership resulted in alienating allies, emboldening enemies, and reducing respect for the United States across the globe.

Since the DNC and the media refused to acknowledge administration failures or curtail changes being forced on society, it was inevitable there would be a backlash. The arrogance of the administration and progressive liberals created a fertile ground for a political outsider.

Ignoring political correctness and daring to speak candidly on issues, Trump addressed the frustration and fear growing throughout the country, increased awareness of our lack of responsible leadership, and pulled many out of denial. His stirring of the stagnant political climate has been a positive.

Trump may be egotistical, abrasive, and obnoxious, but he shocked a numbed population out of a complacency that allowed a progressive transformation to run wild. That transformation is the reason for Trump’s growing popularity.

David J. Hentosh

Trump: The Good, Bad, and the Ugly

Donald Trump tapped into the frustration many have concerning lack of leadership and the direction this country has taken. His refusal to bow to political correctness has been a breath of fresh air for a populace weary of rhetorical gymnastics, guarded speech, and fear of offending. He opened the door to realistically discussing illegal immigration, Islamic terrorism, and the runaway progressive agenda – issues that have been blanketed by PC foolishness far too long. This is the ‘good’ that Trump brought to the presidential campaign.

His ego and thin skin, however, cause him to lash out with personal attacks against anyone daring to criticize or challenge him. These attacks have brought a lot of media attention that has helped his rise in popularity; therefore, they have continued and become a major tactic of his campaign. Other candidates have begun emulating the personal attacks in an effort to gain media attention and, consequently, issues and policies are not being given the attention they need. This is the ‘bad’ Trump has wrought.

The entrenched establishment of the GOP does not like Trump and is trying to derail him, splitting instead of unifying the party. Sophomoric insults between candidates along with Mitt Romney’s out-of-character speech attacking Trump have brought ugliness to the GOP campaign – and that can only alienate voters.

Trump may very well end up to be the GOP candidate but he will lose to Hillary if he does not get his ego in check, eliminate the brash insults, and provide substance rather than empty, feel-good rhetoric. He has certainly been entertaining but he is running for president of the United States, not auditioning for a role in a Hollywood movie. We need serious leadership.

It is sad that running for president has become such a circus that only a fool would enter the ring. Thus, we may end up having to vote for Hillary or Trump. This is not the best we can do; it is just what apathy has allowed.

David J. Hentosh

‘Free’ Bernie Sanders

It is not surprising that aging Hillary Clinton is having trouble getting the youth vote but young Democrat voters overwhelmingly supporting the even more aging Bernie Sanders has surprised many. However, when you consider what Bernie stands for, the reasons become obvious.

Bernie Sanders is strongly pushing for a “free” college education. That is, of course, attractive to anyone facing the rising cost of a college education and the ensuing burden of a student loan. It certainly speaks to today’s youth who have been thoroughly indoctrinated by a liberal education system advocating the socialistic ideal of cradle-to-grave government care. How we are to pay for that “free” education is not clear but it is also not relevant to those wanting and expecting freebies.

Sanders calls himself a “democratic socialist” but that distinction is not understood by most and it is certainly lost on today’s youth. The failure of our education system is responsible for the lack of knowledge concerning socialism’s failure throughout history and, consequently, today’s youth are gravitating towards socialism’s vacuous promise of a utopian society. The “Occupy” movement and unrealistic demands heard on college campuses are a product of this ignorance of socialism.

Sanders takes advantage of this ignorance with his socialistic promises of a “free” college education, guaranteed health care, and $15 an hour minimum wage – in other words, freebies. He demonizes corporations and the rich and rails against income inequality, an easy sell to young workers starting at low salaries. His 90% tax rate for the rich sounds fine to those far from the top but it is not enough and the middle class will have to reach further into their pockets to help pay for all the “free” stuff.

At the age of 74, Bernie Sanders is not considered too old for Democrats who expressed concern about John McCain’s age (71) in 2008 and Ronald Reagan’s age (69) in 1980. JFK was 43–yrs-old when he took office and Obama, 47-years-old in 2008, was touted as a youthful and energetic change much needed for the country. Meanwhile, Democrats accuse Marco Rubio (44) and Ted Cruz (45) of being much too young to be president.

What is most certainly getting old is the hypocrisy – along with Sanders (74) and Hillary (68).

David J. Hentosh

A Bumpy Cruz to NY

Forget ISIS, unemployment, Obamacare, disastrous foreign policies, runaway illegal immigration, executive orders, Hillary scandals, Iran’s nuclear program, and even Donald Trump. The New York Daily News is in an uproar over Ted Cruz dissing New York during the Republican debate, declaring on its front page: “Drop Dead, Ted”. There goes Obama’s plea for political civility.

Cruz disparagingly accused Trump of having “New York values” which he defined: “…in New York City are socially liberal, are pro-abortion, are pro-gay-marriage, focused around money and the media”. These are the values behind NY Mayor DeBlasio’s attempt to ban large sodas and president Obama’s attempts to “transform America” according to his personal views – and they are the values known to be held by a majority in NY City.

Conservatives not from NY get it and understand what Cruz was saying. Those from NY City, both liberal and conservative, take it as a personal insult because many New Yorkers have the parochial view that the world revolves around NY City and everything outside the city limits is unsophisticated and crude. Consequently, saying anything negative about NY City or its residents may be the only thing that can bring New Yorkers from both sides of the aisle together in agreement – at least for a day or two.

Talking heads on FOX News, MSNBC, and all those in between are taking umbrage at Ted’s “insult”. Iran’s insult of capturing, handcuffing, then releasing 10 American sailors did not produce as much across-the-board outrage. In fact, Kerry and Obama praised Iran’s “diplomacy” over that incident in their continuing and embarrassing appeasement of Iran. One can image, then, their chagrin over Ted’s comments.

This is how far we have “progressed” under the political tutelage of the left-leaning media and the Obama administration. We may have “progressed” too far to turn back but the coming presidential election is the best shot to try to do so. Please vote – and vote wisely.

David J. Hentosh

CNBC vs GOP

The recent Republican debate conducted by CNBC turned into a battle between the candidates and the biased moderators. The candidates won handily, in more ways than one.

It was established from the beginning, after Ted Cruz forcefully chastised moderators for bias, that the candidates were not going to succumb to gotcha questions or start foolish squabbling among themselves. There seemed to be a concerted effort on their part to keep the debate about issues and differences between the parties, particularly, differences with Hillary.

The moderators, on the other hand, had an agenda to embarrass the candidates, start arguments between them, and try to trip them up. Some questions were pertinent but many were hostile towards the candidates, displaying a disdain for Republicans that permeates CNBC.

After hearing much liberal media babble (wishful thinking?) about the GOP falling apart with infighting, lack of alternative solutions, and poor qualifications, the candidates displayed a unity not seen in prior debates. Serious problems facing the nation were defined and though plans presented to address those problems were different in details, they were cut from the same cloth: Government is too big, spending is out-of-control, taxes are too high, and the middle class needs a break – not more government interference.

Perhaps it was only having a common enemy, the CNBC moderators, that forced the candidates to circle the wagons, but they seemed to do just that. When Huckabee was baited with a question meant to urge him to attack Trump, he put on a show of solidarity by complimenting him instead. Chris Christie jumped onto the bandwagon by taking the moderators to task over a foolish question about fantasy football. Even Ben Carson got in a few licks that elicited applause from an audience aware of the bias.

It is often difficult to establish who really won a debate but the GOP clearly won this one. CNBC may have had good ratings for airing this debate, but it proved why its otherwise dismal ratings are warranted. Perhaps other networks will learn from this and allow a debate to be about the candidates. That would make us all winners.

David J. Hentosh

Democrat Debate, Enter Stage Left

“Do black lives matter or do all lives matter?” What the hell kind of debate question was that? Requiring an either/or answer is flat out ignorant and foolishly irresponsible. It panders to a political movement that is fomenting racial unrest and tacitly (sometimes explicitly) encouraging anarchy and the killing of police. Lives have been lost because of this movement but, apparently, those lives aren’t supposed to matter.

Jim Webb was the only candidate who courageously broke from the pack by responding: “As a President of the United States, every life in this country matters”. In fact, Webb was the only candidate not attempting to be as far left as possible. He came across as “old school” in that he seemed to have integrity, class, and reasonable responses – all sorely missing in the other candidates. He was surprisingly impressive but certainly not to the far left, so he will be raked over the coals by the media and ousted quickly. He would fit more comfortably with the GOP. The Democratic Party has no place for him.

Sanders was Sanders, a self-proclaimed socialist and as such, a favorite of the far left. He told us that climate change was our greatest national security threat, a view also held by our socialist-leaning president. Social issues, of course, dominated the debate, as they are the focus of the Democratic Party and the current administration. More “free” stuff from the government was offered to entice voters. Foreign affairs and policies, Democrat’s largest failures, received little attention.

Hillary dominated the debate as expected, having little competition from the candidates on the stage. She was not seriously questioned about the scandals dragging her polling numbers down. Her e-mail fiasco was sneeringly dismissed, allowing her to treat the debate as a personal campaign rally, eliciting applause from an adoring crowd.

This debate did little more than show how far left the Democrat Party has traveled. The middle ground has been deserted in search of far left votes. So, too, has the good of the country been deserted.

David J. Hentosh