Monday, February 1, 2016

Oh, there's nothing halfway about the Iowa way to treat you....

Tonight, right as I arrive at Talmud class, the Iowa caucus will just be getting under way a scant 100 miles straight south on I-35. By the time you read this, they will all be over and once again, Iowa will have chosen the losers. Okay, they've picked a few winners, but not as many as they like to think they have:




Meanwhile......

Exactly one month from Iowa night, precinct caucuses will be held in Minnesota. I've been to a few of these; they are strange. In MInnesota, we select the delegates to the state convention where they will vote accordingly for the candidate we voted up in the caucus. Here's how the DFL describes it:

The Process

The DFL Party uses precinct caucuses and conventions to endorse candidates and to debate and set the issues the Party will stand for. The caucus and convention process sets the framework for the DFL Party by helping shape the platform and Action Agenda, selecting candidates who will receive endorsements, electing party leaders, and voting on the party constitution and bylaws. These meetings are a great way to get involved in the democratic process and make your voice heard—even if you’ve never attended before. Browse through this section of the website for more information, or please contact us with any questions you have on how to participate.

GENERAL TASKS AT CAUCUSES AND CONVENTIONS:

  • Election of local party leaders
  • Election of delegates and alternates to the next level of conventions in the DFL structure
  • Discussion of proposed resolutions to the DFL platform and Action Agenda
  • Endorsement of Candidates
  • Deliberation of party unit constitutional changes
  • Elect Delegates to both the State and National Convention
  • Choose the Nominations for the President and Vice-President of the United States
No one except other Minnesotans pays much attention to the Minnesota caucuses. It's not like we're got any real weight in the process, and we are kinda boring... politically... unless we're electing a wrestling guy to the governorship. But there was a good reason for that, and it turned out not to be a bad decision. 

People wanna compare that "no" vote to voting for RumpledTrumpskin. There is no comparison. Jesse talked about practical things that needed to be done in the state. His take on most everything was, If it's broke, fix it. If it ain't  broke, don't fix it. And he held that pretty close to the chest. He recognized that a tax rebate only worked if you didn't clean out the whole slush fund thing. He understood that if we didn't get our own house in working order, the feds weren't about to do it for us. And then he went a little batshit crazy and thankfully, he didn't run again. But his election did not harm but had a very positive after-effect. 

The problem with Trump is the more press he gets the more  bloviation we get. I'm getting tired of saying he's doing this to see how far he can push his little manila envelope. And he's getting away with it. It's not that he's an asshole who sounds like a cross between Pol Pot and Kim Jong Un, it's that people are vigorously nodding their heads in time with his nonsense syllables. 

Ted Cruz, on the other hand, is just noxious. He was into world domination when he was just a high school kid and said so in a TV spot. BIG CLUE, people: he's still into world domination. Despite his Grandpa Munster good looks, Ted Cruz has a Daesh mentality that should be anathema to any red-blooded American who believes in the Constitution of these here United States. This is a guy who said, "Any president who doesn’t begin every day on his knees isn’t fit to be commander-in-chief of this country." 
Frankly, I think that is just too creepy.

So here's a pop quiz: Can you tell who said which?
  1. The days are gone forever when our enemies could blackmail us with nuclear bombs. 
  2. Since he is of no use anymore, there is no gain if he lives and no loss if he dies. 
  3. With nuclear, the power, the devastation is very important to me.  
  4. I don’t know if sand can glow in the dark, but we’re going to find out.
If you cannot because they all sound so similar, you should probably ask yourself if you really want someone who sounds like that to be POTUS. 

This is not a jokey thing, folks. This is for real. Right now, there is a chance either Cruz or Trump could get the nomination, and could then possibly win the election. If the racism and the bogus religiosity doesn't disgust you into a coma, their version of Constitutionality could easily becomes the next putsch. What? You think it can't happen? Guess again. It happens a lot. All over the world, and there isn't a reason in the world that these two can't scare enough people into believing that they are there to protect America, when, in fact, they have come to dismantle everything we have come to believe about who and what we are as a nation. The Constitution is about all people being created equal; Trump, Cruz and the rest of the Clown Cavalcade have a long list of exceptions to that rule, beginning with Muslims. And do not think for one New York minute that Jews won't be next on that line. 

And now, the results are coming in. Cruz has won the caucus with 27% of the vote, with Trump coming in a couple of percentage points behind at 24%. But the big surprise of the night is Marco Rubio coming with 23%,a very close third. Huckabee has suspended his campaign.There's a surprise. 

On the Democratic side, Martin O'Malley has also suspended his campaign. Clinton and Sanders are virtually, tied; Hillary has 640 delegates, Bernie has 636. Not much of a difference. This is a harbinger of things to come. 

The NY Times has some good graphics on the results.

So here's the WP's take on the Iowa caucus: Cruz will not stay on top. Rubio will begin to inch forward unless he does something egregiously stupid. Interestingly, Fiorina outpaced Chris Christie by one tenth of a percentage point.....1.9% versus 1.8%.  Well, ok, it's terribly slim over Christie which isn't saying much...other than both are probably toast at this point. Which isn't a bad thing. These people have got to stop wasting other people's money. It's not nice. 

As for Hillary and Bernie: I like them both, but have problems with them both. I'm not willing to write either off, but I'm not throwing my support behind either. That said, I must confess, I do own a Sesame Sanders button:
Sesame Sanders

I am such a sucker for Muppets. 



Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week
If you're looking for a new house in Mendota Heights,
I know one that's for sale. 

answers to the pop quiz:
1 - Kim Jun Un
2 - Pol Pot
3 - Donald Trump
4 - Ted Cruz





3 comments:

  1. Vote for Bernie.Hillary has "been here and has done that before."We need fresh blood.

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  2. I am with you - not ready to throw my support to either Bernie or Hillary. I think both have problems. I was glad O'Malley was in for third way alternative but sadly, he's out having no way to break through the inevitabilty of the Sanders/Clinton press campaign. NM primary comes late (June) so we shall see what happens, but I will strongly campaign for who ever the Dems nominate, as if the future of our Nation ws at risk of a takeover by a Daesh or Taliban mentality.

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  3. I just love the way you write! You make so many good points and the pinches and dashes of humor (or sarcasm) just make me smile.

    I don't mean to belittle the subject, but I'm the ultimate sucker for the muppets!

    ReplyDelete