2015, More or Less

English: Kim Kardashian at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival for the premiere of Wonderful World. Photographer's blog post about these photos. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This was the year of More or Less, though it seems that way every year.  Only more so.  And our options for doing anything about them are less.  In 2015 alone, there was . . .

• More war in the Middle East, which leads to more terrorism, more refugees (or migrants, if you prefer), more bombing strikes which makes the enemy stronger, and fewer answers.
• More attacks on civilians, whether it's of the terrorist kind (Paris--twice--and San Bernardino), the lone-wolf type (Charleston, Colorado Springs and Lafayette, Louisiana), or any other random act (anywhere in America).  Less willingness to control guns or improve mental health screening, more security theater.
• More protests against white police officers who kill African American suspects.  Less willingness to convict those officers, video evidence or not.
• More evidence that climate change is going to be worse than imagined. Meanwhile, we're reading that even though people are paying less money for gas, the American economy's alleged recovery isn't happening.
• More rights for same-sex couples, as even the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to let them marry.  Which leads to more people like Kim Davis who want to send LGBTs back into the closet.
• More Catholic (and other) priests are being reined in for sexual abuse charges several decades in the making.  Which is part of the reason why less people consider themselves Christians, and why more of them have given up on religion altogether.
• More candidates stepped up to campaign for President Barack Obama's job, which becomes available in 2017.  More campaign money than ever before has been coming from big political donors.  Unless your name is Donald Trump.  Less of a chance that Republicans can successfully counter Trump's outrageousness and in curbing their zeal for turning back the clock on Obama's accomplishments, or for Democrats to take anyone but Hillary Clinton seriously.
• More women have come out of the shadows (some after several decades) to accuse Bill Cosby of allegedly drugging, then raping them.  Unless Cosby and his lawyers can prove otherwise, his accomplishments as a groundbreaking entertainer become less and less reputable.
• More publicity for the Kardashians.  Bruce Jenner is now Caitlyn, and is being hailed as a role model of sorts.  Lamar Odom, the former basketball star married to Khloe, has a near-death experience at a brothel in Nevada.  Kim poses nude for an obscure magazine, then gives birth to a boy.  Husband Kanye West wants to run for President in 2020.  Less chance that we've heard the last of The Family K in 2016.
• More movie blockbusters like the "Star Wars", "Hunger Games" and "Jurassic Park" spiking the box office totals.  Less reason to bother watching films intended for comic book geeks, requiring a working knowledge of the chapters that came before, at prices that rival a night at the ballpark.
• More shows and personalities leaving TV:  "Mad Men", "Parks and Recreation", "Two-and-a-Half Men", "How I Met Your Mother", "CSI:  Crime Scene Investigation", David Letterman and Jon Stewart.  Less exposure for former "NBC Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams, whose "misremembering" of events he may or may not have been a part of got him demoted to MSNBC.
• Taylor Swift and Adele are seeing more and more sales for their albums and their concert tours.  Miley Cyrus, Iggy Azalea and Justin Bieber are seeing less and less people care about them.
• More use of hashtags on social media, meaning less use of the words "of", "and", "the" to drive English teachers nuts.
• More people bought copies of Harper Lee's "Go Set a Watchman", her first published novel in more than 50 years.  After seeing what became of Atticus Finch, however, "To Kill a Mockingbird" is less of a classic than it used to be.
• Playboy magazine, which helped start the sexual revolution in the 1950s, is giving up its nude centerfolds because more and more people are getting their naked female fix on the Internet, which translates into less and less subscribers.  Obviously, Hugh Hefner's creation is hoping that more and more people will be reading the articles.

There are more notable people who died this year than this list provides.  That doesn't mean we think anything less of them.

Mario Cuomo, Stuart Scott, Rod Taylor, Bob Simon, David Carr, Lesley Gore, Leonard Nimoy, B.B. King, Omar Sharif, E.L. Doctorow, Bobbi Kristina Brown, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, Julian Bond, Paul Prudhomme, Maureen O'Hara, Fred Thompson, Allen Toussaint, David Canary, Scott Weiland, Donna Douglas, Dean Jones, Ben E. King, Cynthia Lennon, Colleen McCullough, Rod McKuen, Jayne Meadows, Anne Meara, John Nash, Al Molinaro, Dick Van Patten, Bud Kraehling, Dick Chapman, Stan Freberg, Meadowlark Lemon, Theodore Bikel, Yvonne Craig, Richard Dysart, Anita Ekberg, Marty Ingels, Louis Jourdan, Kirk Kerkorian, Christopher Lee, Robert Loggia, Marjorie Lord, Patrick Macnee, Gary Owens, Betsy Palmer, Jerry Weintraub, Natalie Cole and Wayne Rogers.

That was 2015.  Here comes 2016 . . . more or less.

Democrats Debate: The Campaign Awakens

Hillary Clinton in Hampton, NH (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The last Democratic debate of 2015 in New Hampshire ended Saturday night with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telling her audience "May the force be with you", in acknowledgement of a certain movie that premiered this weekend.  That's appropriate, since Clinton, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley might soon be doing battle against the dark forces of the Republican Party.

The evening began with Sanders apologizing to Clinton for a campaign worker who allegedly stole voter data from her camp, which caused the Democratic National Committee to bar Sanders' campaign from using any data. Sanders filed suit, claiming the DNC was doing all it can to make it easier for Clinton to win the party's nomination.  With that out of the way, the debate could begin.

Clinton, Sanders and O'Malley then spent the rest of the evening talking (sometimes over each other) issues such as national security, gun control, the economy, health care, student debt, taxes, race and police relations, heroin abuse and Hillary Clinton herself.  In other words, it's nothing you haven't heard before if you've been following their campaigns.

We didn't hear much about what to do about immigration or climate change.  Nor did we hear any mention of the GOP candidates besides Donald Trump, who might as well be Darth Vader to the Democrats.

This was a civil and substantial debate compared to the Republicans' display of fear and loathing in Las Vegas (apologies to Hunter S. Thompson) earlier in the week.  That one was mostly about national security, the candidates having not met since the terrorist attacks on Paris and San Bernardino, California.  It prompted conservative moderator Hugh Hewitt to ask the candidates what happened to the sunny optimism GOP icon Ronald Reagan had used during his presidency.  They didn't really answer that question.  But you could say that Reagan never had to deal with 9/11 and its consequences, among other things.

We mentioned before that Sanders has a beef with the DNC about their alleged favoritism toward Clinton, which includes the limited number of debates compared to the GOP's, then get scheduled when people are least likely to see them.  This Democratic debate was put on ABC on a Saturday night in December, opposite a New York Jets-Dallas Cowboys football game on NFL Network.  Not to let the DNC off the hook, but it could also be argued that ABC didn't want to pre-empt "Dancing With The Stars", "Modern Family", or any of the Shondaland dramas to broadcast a low-rated debate.  So they stick it on the least-watched night of the week, hoping that those who really cared took the time to program their recording devices.

A few weeks before primary and caucus season begins, Hillary Clinton still holds a commanding lead in the polls over her rivals.  If form holds true, she might be the one who has the task of keeping America from going over to the dark side.  Light sabers not required.

GOP Debate: Talking Tough and Saying Little

Trump hotel (Las Vegas) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A lot has changed since Donald Trump and the other Republican presidential candidates last took the stage to debate the issues.  The terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino happened.  National security became Topic A.  And Trump's lead in the polls just keeps getting bigger in spite of his desire to keep Muslims and Mexicans out of the country.  He is overshadowing every other candidate (even the Democrats) in media coverage.

The last GOP debate of the year was held Tuesday in Las Vegas.  It was broadcast on CNN, where 18 million of you chose to forsake "NCIS" and "The Voice" to watch nine people discuss national security and foreign policy.

Amid all the babble that was worthy of a Robert Altman film, we heard Trump defend his controversial plans while making faces at the cameras when others were speaking.  Former HP executive Carly Fiorina was implying that the use of technology since 9/11/01 has evolved past government's ability to keep up with it in fighting terrorism.  New Jersey Governor Chris Christie sounded like he was saber-rattling with Russian president Vladimir Putin.  Senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz mixed it up over modernizing the military and bombing the hell out of Islamic State.  Governor John Kasich continued to use his state of Ohio as a reference point.  Jeb Bush is still making strides in trying to convince folks that he really is a contender, despite having a familiar name and a really big campaign war chest.  Senator Rand Paul is still hanging in there despite reports that he might soon drop out.  And Dr. Ben Carson is probably still wondering what he's doing here.

Add to that the number of times we heard the candidates use the phrase "radical Islamic terrorists", blaming President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the ills of the world, and denouncing political correctness.  It's as if these guys want to be the next one to start a war, instead of finishing the ones we already have.

There are a few weeks remaining before the primary and caucus seasons begin.  Trump has again promised not to run as an independent if the GOP doesn't nominate him.  But that doesn't mean the party is any more comfortable with the lack of candidates that are mainstream enough to compete with Hillary Clinton.  Their new motto ought to be:  We might not win many votes, but we sure know how to scare the hell out of people.

Days of Infamy

speaking at CPAC in Washington D.C. on February 10, 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes destroyed the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.  The next day, as President Franklin Roosevelt asks Congress to declare war, he said the attack was "a day which will live in infamy".

On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was gunned down by an assassin's bullet on the streets of Dallas, Texas.

On December 8, 1980, singer-activist John Lennon was also killed by an assassin's bullet just outside his New York City apartment.

On December 2, 2015, fourteen people in a San Bernardino, California banquet hall died in what is now considered to be a terrorist attack, the worst in the United States since September 11, 2001.

All of the above involved weapons, political agendas, allegedly demented individuals, airplanes, or any kind of combination.

So how do you react to something like this?  Do you take up arms?  Do you demonize the enemy?  Or do you sit back and hope "this too shall pass"?

If you're President Barack Obama, you spend 15 minutes on a Sunday night between football games reassuring a frightened country that the U.S. is on the case in helping rid the world of the scourge called ISIL, but without providing specifics about how they're going to do that.  Given the President's failure to convince a gridlocked Congress to go along with his plans to get guns off the streets in the past, his chances are not good.

If you're Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, you call for all Muslims to be temporarily banned from entering the United States, even though it is realistically and constitutionally impractical.  Trump wants to hearken back to the days when, following Pearl Harbor, FDR ordered Americans of Japanese descent to be rounded up and sent to internment camps.  Just like Hitler sent six million Jewish people to their deaths in places like Auschwitz for no good reason other than he didn't like them.

Others might denounce Trump for suggesting something so drastic in the wake of a major tragedy, but he doesn't care.  Not as long as he leads every other GOP candidate by a wide margin in the polls, and could take those numbers into an independent campaign if he chooses to turn his back on a promise not to do so.  And that's what has the Republicans running scared.

If you're an ordinary citizen, you might be seriously contemplating buying a gun to protect you and your family. Even though the odds of getting killed in a terrorist attack or a mass shooting are rather small, and the crime rate is supposed to be down.  But if you watch enough TV news, listen to conservative talk radio and read questionable reports on the Internet, you'll believe that even a trip to the grocery store is fraught with danger unless you're packing heat.  And who pays any attention to those "guns are prohibited in this building" signs, anyway?

This is the American mentality we are living with as 2015 comes to a close.  The Wild West is alive and well because of determined assassins, hysterical politicians, sensationalized media, and a public that either doesn't know what to believe or is preparing for a real or imagined invasion.  If something doesn't change, it won't be long before there's another day of infamy.

Open Season

English: Downtown San Bernardino (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So here we are again.  At the start of the holiday season, people are shopping at the mall or online and celebrating with friends and loved ones.  This year, the one thing people would dearly love to have that doesn't have a "Star Wars" tie-in is this:  Relief from getting caught in the crossfire from those with guns and agendas, or having to watch it every time they turn on the TV.

• Fourteen killed at a center for developmentally-challenged adults in San Bernardino, California.
• Three are killed when a lone gunman opens fire on a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
• One hundred thirty died in attacks on several different Paris venues.  The finger is pointed at Islamic State.
• Four are charged with the shooting of five Black Lives Matter demonstrators (none seriously) outside a Minneapolis police station, where they have been protesting the death of a young African American man allegedly at the hands of a white police officer.

You know where all this leads, don't you?  Hysteria, panic, calls to close the borders, extra groping at the airport, etc.  And that just comes from the Republican presidential candidates.  The rest of us take to social media expressing our anger and sorrow, which makes reading the comments in Facebook and Twitter such a pleasant experience if you're a masochist.

The massacre in Paris hasn't helped the plight of those Syrians who are fleeing their country's ruinous civil war.  At least ten thousand of them are slated to enter the United States in the next couple of years, but only after they've gone through rigorous background checks.

Some governors, in a show of bravado, have pledged not to let the migrants into their states out of concern for public safety.  Though they can't legally do that, the (mostly GOP) governors do have a point.  Even though the vast majority of Syrians might pass through the stringent checks with flying colors, there's always the possibility that one or two of them might game the system and sneak in to commit jihad on American soil.  Is that really worth punishing the 99 percent of Syrians who aren't card-carrying members of the Islamic State, and who simply want a better chance at life?

Besides, foreigners with terrorist connections weren't responsible for the Thanksgiving-weekend carnage in Colorado.  What is clear is that, in the more than four decades since the Supreme Court decided on Roe v. Wade, we're still arguing over abortion rights.  Only now, it has gotten deadlier with restrictions on those rights in some states and doctors getting death threats for doing their jobs.

Racist, trigger-happy cops deserve our scorn for the mistrust African Americans have for police departments these days.  But when the victim allegedly had a history of domestic abuse, interfered with paramedics who tried to help his girlfriend, and a dispute rises over whether or not he was handcuffed at the time he was shot, you really have to wonder.

President Barack Obama, in the final year or so of his White House residency, can only shrug his shoulders and offer condolences after events like these.  Nothing the President has said or done has caused Congress to pass meaningful legislation on immigration reform, climate change, gun control or civil rights.  Instead, he will likely make another sobering speech about the events in San Bernardino while reassuring Americans that there are no credible terrorist threats during the holiday season.

Meanwhile, Open Season continues.  Happy Holidays, America.

Charlie Boone: Part of the Radio Neighborhood

English: WCCO Radio Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Charlie Boone, who died over the weekend at age 88, was part of an Upper Midwest radio powerhouse that had its best years from the 1960s to the 1980s.  No other station could match what WCCO-AM 830 was doing then with its mix of news, personalities and entertainment.

Boone came to WCCO in 1959 when it was transitioning out of its dependence on CBS Radio network programming, then retiring in 2010 as a Saturday-morning host on what became a CBS-owned news-talk station.  Thirty-seven of those years in between were spent in an on-air partnership with Roger Erickson.

As "Boone & Erickson", they spent many a morning interviewing guests, reading school closings during winter storms, and updating folks on whatever else was happening.  They were also well known for spoofing some of those personalities and events in segments such as "World Wide News", "Minnesota Hospital" and "Worst Jokes".  Boone often played the straight man to Erickson's characters, but sometimes contributed some of his own voices in the skits.  Boone also had a long-running late-afternoon feature called "Point of Law", in which he described the details of a court case and the sometimes-unusual verdicts.

The partnership extended onto the Old Log Theater stage in Excelsior, where they performed in Neil Simon's "The Odd Couple".

WCCO was the kind of station that mostly avoided rock and roll music in those days, so it might surprise some of you to learn that Boone was a Top 40 DJ in Fargo before moving to the Twin Cities.  As legend (and the Minneapolis Star Tribune) tells it, Boone was the one who enlisted a 15-year old Bobby Vee (then known as Robert Velline) and his band The Shadows to play a show on a February night in 1959.  Vee and The Shadows were the emergency replacement for Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper.  They all perished when their plane crashed into a cornfield outside Clear Lake, Iowa.  From there, Vee went on to have a big music career of his own.

Morning radio in the Twin Cities and elsewhere has a harder edge now than it did when Boone and Erickson ruled the local airwaves, singing the closing line of the "Good Morning" song shortly after the 6 a.m. news to begin another day.  When they sang "it's grand to be on hand", they meant it.  This is why people in Minnesota and elsewhere have fond memories of the Good Neighbor to the Northwest.  And of Charlie Boone.

Politics 2016: After Paris, Des Moines.

The East Village in Des Moines, Iowa, a neighborhood west of the Iowa State Capitol. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One night after Paris got hit with its second wave of terror attacks this year, the three Democratic presidential candidates--Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley--met in Des Moines, Iowa to debate the issues.  Once again, it was all about the front-running Clinton.

Understandably, in the wake of the attacks, the CBS-televised debate began with a moment of silence and some questions about foreign policy.  This is where Clinton is in a unique position to defend her qualifications, having previously been Secretary of State under President Barack Obama.  That she did.  But Sanders criticized her for past votes on terrorism as a fellow Senator, and for her slow response as Madam Secretary to threats posed by the Islamic State and Al Qaeda.

Otherwise, the three spent their alloted network time talking about immigration reform (which were mostly different from, let's say, Donald Trump), whether Clinton is too chummy with Wall Street to reform it (although she didn't help herself with her comment that 9/11 improved her relations with the bankers who contributed to her campaign), race relations and gun control.  This debate was a lot more substantial than the Republicans' November-fest in Milwaukee a few nights ago.

Sanders and O'Malley had their moments, whether it was the Vermont Senator advocating breaking up the banks a la "Trustbuster" President Theodore Roosevelt, or the former Maryland governor referring to Trump as a "carnival barker".  Given what's been happening in Paris in the previous 24 hours, however, both are hopelessly outmatched when compared to Clinton.

This debate was sponsored by CBS News, its affiliate KCCI in Des Moines and the Des Moines Register newspaper.  As the first of these to be shown on network television, there were more commercial breaks than usual for drug companies and financial services--the kind of entities the candidates say they want to reform.  It was also held on a Saturday night, and so will the next one in New Hampshire in December.  Obviously, the TV networks are quite willing to dump the debates on the least-watched night of the week--opposite football, no less.  It also benefits the Democratic National Committee, who have so far resisted the call for scheduling more debates, believing the less we hear from Hillary, Bernie and Martin, the better.

The fact that this exercise in American political discourse happened so soon after a major attack that killed over a hundred people in a beloved city halfway around the world, it should remind everyone how fragile our normal life is right now.  In France, it is anything but.

GOP Debate Didn't Make Milwaukee Famous

The Milwaukee Center on Milwaukee's RiverWalk (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Republican Rolling Candidates Revue stopped in Milwaukee, Wisconsin Tuesday night for the fourth of its presidential wannabe get-togethers.  Donald Trump, Dr. Ben Carson and the whole gang ditched their tinfoil hats made of cheese to talk economic policy, as mandated by the sponsorship of the Wall Street Journal and something called the Fox Business Network.

When the candidates weren't plugging their websites, they were sparring over immigration reform (mainly Trump doubling down on his proposal to build a wall on the Mexican border and sending 11 million undocumented workers and their families behind it), the minimum wage (all are against raising it), tax reform and how terrible a President Hillary Clinton would be for the country.  You could set your watch by all this.

No knockout punches here, although Ohio Governor John Kasich did his best to man up and challenge Trump's immigration policies.  Kentucky Senator Rand Paul reminded folks that China is not part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, though all agreed it would be a TREMENDOUS DISASTER (as Trump would put it) for this country if it were actually passed.  And Carson, in his effervescent bedside manner (being a former neurosurgeon), said he had no problem being vetted about portions of his life story--just so long as the media doesn't lie about it.

This debate (unlike the last one) clocked in at around two hours with no opening statements, little name-calling, and fewer silly questions about such topics as fantasy football (even though this is Packers territory) that make Republicans wish they could dropkick journalists into a bottomless pit.  But then, the moderators chosen for this event were all employed by Rupert Murdoch-owned companies, so you could hardly expect them not to know on which side their bread is buttered.

Fox Business Network, not surprisingly, announced that the debate telecast was the highest-rated program they've ever had.  Viewers tuning into FBN for the first time may have been surprised to find that Maria Bartiromo, Neil Cavuto (two of the three moderators), Lou Dobbs, John Stossel, Trish Regan and Kennedy are still working in television.  Don Imus, however, is not.

The Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary is several weeks away, and we still have 15 people running for the Republican nomination.  If any of these folks besides Trump and Carson want to be the next President, they should do a better job of distinguishing themselves to the voters who will decide their fates.  Otherwise, the Revue rolls on to the next town with no one the wiser.  And Hillary Clinton is waiting at the end of the line.

Patriotism For Sale

We've harped on this topic before, so feel free to tune out.

As America takes yet another holiday to salute those who fought and died in what turned out to be unnecessary wars that began after 1945, we've been wondering how it's impossible to turn on the TV or your favorite mobile device these days without images of Old Glory in your face.

It turns out that the Department of Defense has been spending millions of dollars over the past few years to partner with pro sports teams (mostly in the NFL) to produce lavish spectacles designed to show support for returning veterans, so-called "wounded warriors" and anyone else who happened to be wearing a uniform.  That's right.  It's all product placement to get more bang for the buck on both sides, so to speak.  Just as long as we don't see the ones who aren't returning.

This also extends to Corporate America, who also use high-buck advertising to convince us that those who served are just like you and me.  Only we don't go around shooting people on the government's dime on the other side of the world, for the sake of someone's ideas about freedom and democracy.  Oh, and we also don't get free meals and lifetime passes to sports events just because we've never worn a uniform.  But we can always find bargains for half off at the local mall.

It makes you wonder about all those "spontaneous" reunions of returning soldiers and their families that turn up on the evening news.  Were they bought and paid for with your tax dollars?

If the Pentagon is really concerned about "supporting the troops", they'd take better care of those they tricked into fighting in one military misadventure after another.  That includes so-called "wounded warriors", suicide victims and those who can't get ahead even with the GI Bill.

Those who have or are currently serving in the military deserve our support.  As long as it is made clear that you are there of your own free will, and that you are supposed to be defending America's borders, not someone else's.  And please don't lord over your military accomplishments as if we're supposed to be impressed.  We're not.

Old soldiers and certain politicians love to lecture the rest of us about how "freedom isn't free", as if they owned the patent on freedom and democracy.  But they are right in another sense.  Who knew that patriotism could be paid for with greenbacks instead of Army green?

GOP Rumble In The Rockies

English: Official portrait of US Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The ten remaining Republican presidential candidates considered ready for prime time by CNBC debated for two hours Wednesday at the University of Colorado in Boulder.  This is the time limit demanded by Donald Trump and Ben Carson if the business-oriented cable channel (best known for reruns of "Shark Tank") wanted to be graced by their presence.

In those two hours, it wasn't the front-runners who shined.  It was Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who made the most of his single-digit poll position in sounding more Presidential than the other candidates when it came to, for example, defending himself against former Governor Jeb Bush's contention that the Senator did a great job in avoiding his duties.  Rubio replied that Bush was only saying that because they're both running for the same office.

Bush wasn't the only one on stage who looked and sounded desperate, which is obvious given his poll numbers.  While Trump was his usual animated self, Carson's calm demeanor was slightly above cadaver status (or as Trump would put it:  "low energy"), Carly Fiorina came across as a 19th century schoolmarm, Ted Cruz did his usual blustering, and John Kasich, Rand Paul and Mike Huckabee did their best to be heard.

Otherwise, it was just another GOP food fight where nobody wanted to discuss the issues facing the country they claimed they wanted to discuss.  Instead, they'd rather bash the media, Hillary Clinton and each other, in no particular order.  There were even references to Colorado's legalizing marijuana and to fantasy football.  Reforming Social Security and Obamacare did get some airplay, though.

CNN reports that the Republicans and the candidates complained about the tone of the questions coming from CNBC's moderators and reporters.   Carl Quintanilla and Rebecca Quick did well in their roles, so long as they stuck to questions about business and the economy.  But whose idea was it to include, among others, Jim Cramer?  The guy who hosts "Mad Money"?  Wasn't Kevin O'Leary available?

It's a long road to the Republican presidential nomination.  We also know that there are plenty of peaks and valleys in Colorado, just as there are in politics.  Whoever survives to claim the summit will get there on the basis of how much support he or she gets, and how high the mountain of campaign money accumulates.  Unless your name is Donald Trump, who doesn't seem to need either.

Too Much and Too Late for Biden

Official portrait of Vice President of the United States . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The race for the White House in 2016 has taken one wacky turn after another.  For the Republicans, the field is currently led by two men with no previous political experience, except maybe for funding other campaigns instead of their own.  It is still thought that one of the more experienced (and more conservative) candidates can rise above the rest of the field and take control.  That's not happening so far, even with the primaries a few months away.

For the Democrats, it's been Hillary Rodham Clinton from the very beginning.  Despite her well-known distractions, she holds a commanding lead over admitted 'democratic socialist' Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in the polls, with one debate behind them.

So where does that leave Vice President Joe Biden, who many expected to enter the race just to give the former Secretary of State at least one roadblock to the Democratic nomination?  On the outside looking in, having announced on Wednesday that he's not running for the job currently held by his boss, President Barack Obama.

For the Vice President, it was a matter of too much and too late.  Too much to overcome the grief of losing son Beau to cancer last spring.  Too much of a head start by Clinton in terms of support, fund raising and rising poll numbers--even with Biden in the race.  Too much wasted time in making a decision to run before finally revealing his choice in late October.  Which turned out to be too late to mount a successful campaign, a fact even Biden realized.

All things considered, this is the most sensible decision the Vice President could make.  His legacy won't be tarnished in the campaign, and neither will President Obama's.  Both could wait to see how the primaries turn out before officially giving their blessing to Clinton or anyone else.  And they would be in a position to help unite the Democrats for the general election, even if it means needling the front-runner when necessary.

Vice President Joe Biden has had a long and successful career as a national political figure, whether serving as U.S. Senator from Delaware, two runs as a presidential candidate (1988 and 2008), and in his current position.  The one thing he wanted most of all, at the age of 72, was to be President of the United States.  Biden must have realized that, in his words, the window was closing.  But it's not too late for him to make a difference in the campaign.  At least he hopes not.

Democratic Roulette in Vegas

English: Las Vegas Strip (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Democrats held the first of six scheduled debates Tuesday night, which was held at a casino hotel on the Las Vegas Strip.  Fifteen million viewers watched the proceedings on CNN, which is a record for the Dems, but was ten million short of the first debate the Republicans had two months ago.  Hillary Clinton, the former Secretary of State who is the presumptive front-runner, held the winning hand.  But some people are wondering if she's benefiting from a stacked deck.

Clinton looked poised and confident compared to the other four debaters (Bernie Sanders, Lincoln Chaffee, Martin O'Malley and Jim Webb), deflecting moderator Anderson Cooper's questions about Benghazi, her use of e-mails, and whether she's too much of an insider to truly 'get' voters' concerns.  Clinton did say, however, that the 2002 vote she took as a U.S. Senator to authorize the use of force that resulted in the Iraq War was a mistake.

Sanders, an independent Senator from Vermont, stuck mostly to his Corporations Are Evil and Tax The Rich messages which have won him a surprising amount of supporters, but not enough to seriously challenge Clinton in the polls outside New Hampshire.  The one thing that tripped up Sanders was his support of gun ownership laws (backed by the NRA, no less) that run counter to all the news about mass shootings.  Sanders is still the rabble-rousing senator who can rant all he wants about the unfairness of the American economy on average citizens, and who also doesn't mind being labeled a 'democratic socialist' so long as he gets his message out.  We like him for that, but he's just not presidential material.

Chaffee, O'Malley and Webb?  Well, they gambled on anyone remembering their names after the debate.  And they lost.

Unlike the first two Republican debates, the Democrats were in no mood for taking potshots at each other (unless it's about Donald Trump), demeaning women and minorities, or ignoring issues such as climate change and race relations.  Just a serious, substantial discussion that left nearly everyone wanting more, even though the debate ran for more than two hours.

As we said before, the Democrats are planning on holding five more debates before the primaries.  You might say it's because they have fewer candidates running than the GOP does.  Others think it's by design, as a way to get Hillary Clinton to the nomination with the least amount of effort, limiting the number of candidates and scheduling debates for nights when the main competition on TV is an NFL game.  Unless Vice President Joe Biden wants to get involved, having five more joint appearances between Clinton and Sanders sounds about right.

Now that the Democrats are leaving Las Vegas and preparing for an apparent coronation of Hillary Clinton as its standard bearer, they'll be faced with the biggest gamble of all:  Trying to sell voters on not only the first woman president in American history, but also a third term of the Clinton family in the White House.

Stuff That Didn't Have to Happen

Jeb Bush (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Following the latest mass gun shooting at an Oregon community college, in which ten people were killed, Republican presidential candidate Jeb! Bush's response to it was "Look, stuff happens".

He's right about that, you know.  Stuff does happen . . .

When people disagree on the mindset of the one who did the shooting, especially when he either kills himself or is declared legally incompetent to stand trial.  Is he lonely?  On drugs?  Depressed? Lost his job?  Influenced by Islamic State?  An "Islamophobe"?  Mad at the government?  Or is he just mentally ill?

When the sign says, "Guns Are Banned On These Premises".  Do criminals read?

When current gun laws aren't all that effective, or are routinely ignored.

When the National Rifle Association and others help write laws that criminalize the possession of firearms, or prohibit research into whether gun deaths should be considered a health hazard.

When we're told we need guns because of (A) a possible foreign invasion, (B) President Barack Obama or his successors declare themselves emperors and suspend the Constitution, or (C) because the other guy has one.

When certain police officers think it's a good idea to enforce their version of the law on African-Americans and other minorities.

When parents don't keep weapons out of the hands of their kids, just like they should do with hazardous chemicals or prescription drugs.

When school students are now treated like prison inmates in the name of "safety", because of other kids who shot up schools.

When you fail to contain a terrorist organization through bombing raids and drone strikes, leaving them free to recruit new members through the Internet.

When the rationale for maintaining your Second Amendment rights is that hundreds of thousands of victims of gun violence over a 15-year period barely compares to the September 11, 2001 attacks, in which three thousand people died in one day.

Yes, stuff happens, all right.  But it doesn't have to be that way, if the will is there.

The Speaker Has Left The House

Official portrait of United States House Speaker (R-Ohio). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Pope Francis is in the United States right now, in case you haven't noticed.  So far he's visited Washington and spoke to a joint session of Congress.  As this is being published, His Holiness is in New York City, having addressed the United Nations and holding Mass at Madison Square Garden.  Then he's off to Philadelphia for a family conference before going home.

No doubt the Pope's visit has influenced the many lives of those who have come from far and wide just to get a glimpse of him.  This includes John Boehner, Speaker of the House of Representatives and third in line for presidential succession.  The day after the Pope made his historic address inside the House chamber, Boehner rocked the political world by announcing his resignation as Speaker and as a member of Congress, effective at the end of October.

The Ohio Republican--he of the perpetual tan and a noted tendency to cry a lot--has served in Congress since 1991, and has been Speaker since after the GOP took control of the House in the 2010 elections.  Boehner said in a news conference that he made his decision after meeting with Pope Francis following his address, then prayed on it.  He said he had planned to resign at the end of the year, but events forced him to move up the timetable.

Boehner, a conservative who as Speaker has had numerous run-ins with President Barack Obama and other "my way or the highway" Republicans over his fiscal policy and his leadership--to the point of shutting down the U.S. government, apparently reached his limit when some of the more conservative members of his party tried to shut down the government again over funding for Planned Parenthood.  They wanted Boehner to take a harder line on the issue, but he said he just couldn't go through with that again.

The GOP is in complete disarray right now.  The Tea Party faction is willing to stop the U.S. government from doing its job for idiotic reasons, disrupting the lives of those who work for them or otherwise depend on it to function.  They're so far right that Dwight Eisenhower, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan would be considered Democrats today.  So who are the leading candidates in the GOP presidential race?  Donald Trump. Carly Fiorina and Ben Carson.  Businesspeople who have never held political office before.  That's how screwed up the Republicans are, and why few of them are sad to see Boehner go.

Kevin McCarthy, a California congressman and House Majority Leader who also happens to be Boehner's deputy, is considered the early favorite to be the next Speaker. 

Now that John Boehner is putting Congress in the rear view mirror, it'll be interesting to see if anything changes in Washington before and after the 2016 elections.  As it stands right now, it's going to take more than just a visit from Pope Francis to get those from the far left and right to come together for the good of the country.

It's going to take a miracle.

Three Hours in Simi Valley

English: Carly Fiorina Português: A empresária Carly Fiorina em São Paulo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The second Republican presidential debate, held this time at the Ronald Reagan Library in California, was three hours of watching 11 White House wannabees struggling to explain to a CNN audience why they would want to follow in The Gipper's footsteps.  They all stood in front of the Air Force One that Reagan used during his term in office, making it look like this was taking place in an airplane hangar.

Donald Trump, who has been the GOP front-runner for the last few weeks, continued to mug for the cameras and make brash statements.  That's a given.  What's different this time was that the ten other candidates took potshots at Trump and his limitations on such issues as foreign policy and immigration reform, which may have caused him to lay back for long stretches of time.

The other guys--Rand Paul, Chris Christie, Mike Huckabee, etc.--did their best to attack Trump and to make their own points.  Quite frankly, they had to.  With the exception of Dr. Ben Carson, none of them had poll ratings beyond the single digits.  Only Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, made the most of her promotion from the kids' table at the last debate.  Her icy response to Trump's "that face" reference and what she would do once in office spoke volumes about her candidacy, if you don't count Trump's (mostly true) references to Fiorina's nearly running HP into the ground.

Jeb! Bush tried hard to distance himself from the policies of the previous members of his family who once ran the country.  But mentioning that George W. had "kept us safe" when it was obvious that he did not, admitting to smoking marijuana many years ago, and coaxing Trump to apologize to his wife for including her in the immigration debate was not exactly becoming.  Everyone knows that Trump never apologizes.

In three hours on CNN and Salem Radio (which the network frequently invoked whenever conservative talk host Hugh Hewitt asked a question), moderator Jake Tapper tried to get a word in as the candidates constantly interrupted and talked over each other while discussing re-arming the military and de-funding Planned Parenthood over allegedly doctored videos.  This is what happens when you have eleven people on the same stage telling the world how they would run the country.  It turns into verbal Wrestlemania.

If Reagan were alive to see this, he would have stood there and shook his head, saying "there you go again".  Then he would have taken a nap.  That's more than any of us would have done.

Random Thoughts: 9/11/01 Edition

This is the anniversary of the attacks on New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon in Washington, and a field somewhere in Pennsylvania.  Nearly three thousand people died that day.  Now some folks want to make September 11 a national holiday.  The first thing is, didn't we just have a holiday a few days ago?  The second is, isn't this already called Patriot Day?  The third thing?  The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 that forced America into World War II has never been considered a national holiday.  Why should 9/11 be?
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The nuclear deal with Iran, in which they agreed to refrain from anything close to a weapons program for the next ten years in exchange for easing economic sanctions that have been in place at least since American diplomatic personnel were held hostage for 444 days 35 years ago, is more or less a done deal if you believe the White House.  The Obama administration claims to have enough votes in Congress for the deal to pass, despite vehement opposition from the Republicans and guys like former Vice President Dick Cheney and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

There are flaws in the agreement, to be sure.  Would Iran hold up its end of the bargain inspecting their own nuclear facilities, and making sure none of the money that comes from lifting sanctions goes into allegedly supporting terrorism?  Or are we reading too much into those TV ads opposing the deal?

We are told that this is the best agreement we're going to get.  It won't end the "Death to America" rhetoric coming out of Tehran, but it's a start.  So unless someone else has a better idea besides going to war with Iran, why would Congress want to look more foolish than they already are in disapproving the deal?
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Syrian refugees fleeing a devastating civil war between a despotic dictatorship and a murderous would-be caliphate are flocking to Europe in droves, particularly to Germany, where they are promised a new life.  (Which is quite a contrast from when everybody wanted to escape Germany and its despotic dictator.)  The U.S. has offered to take in at least 10,000 of those migrants per year, but some say it should be more.  So what are you going to do with all those people who through no fault of their own will probably never return to Syria, whether they want to or not?  And doesn't this make the debate about whether to wall off our borders sound a tad ridiculous?
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The Islamic State has been doing a much better job in recruiting youth to their violence-plagued paradise than anyone could have anticipated, as evidenced by all the arrests made on those who attempted to join them.  Somehow all the bombing being done by the U.S. just isn't cutting it, as apparently what doesn't kill the Islamic State seems to make them stronger.
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It's been 14 years since that September morning, and nobody has figured out an adequate answer to the question Why do they hate us so much?  These days it depends on your definition of who hates whom.  Is it anyone who worships at a mosque?  Is it police officers who stop those who are doing anything while black?  Is it government employees who refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples because it's against their religion?  Or is it just because?  If you are able to answer these questions and more, be prepared for the fallout.  Because there is no right answer.

When The News Is The News

No matter what you think of journalists, whether they're paid stenographers for the left or right, or failed actors and models regurgitating trivia off of a Teleprompter who couldn't cut it in Hollywood, it is definitely not a cushy job.  And who said it was, anyway?

To get the story that comes through your TV or laptop, a journalist must get through government red tape, "senior Washington officials", uncooperative witnesses, boring media briefings, staged appearances and other places where they're usually not welcome.  Journalists have been arrested, kidnapped, served prison time, physically attacked and even murdered.  Then whatever they have gathered must be vetted through sources (reliable or not) and editors before you see or hear that story.

There are many journalists who have died in the line of duty, mostly while reporting on wars and natural disasters.  No one expects that to happen live on the air while interviewing someone on one of those light, happy morning news broadcasts.  Which is exactly what happened Wednesday morning on WDBJ-TV, the CBS station in Roanoke, Virginia.  An apparently disgruntled former employee of WDBJ opened fire on reporter Alison Parker and photographer Adam Ward during a live interview at a local shopping mall.  Parker and Ward are dead, as is the shooter after he posted his own video of the incident on social media.

There have also been running battles between journalists and the politicians they cover.  Who could forget Dan Rather of CBS vs. President Richard Nixon during Watergate, or Sam Donaldson of ABC vs. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan?

Now we have Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who is taking a different tack in confronting reporters covering his campaign.  Trump's feud with Megyn Kelly of Fox News Channel began when he thought the questions she asked at the last GOP debate were less than fair and balanced.  After Kelly returned from some time off to host her nightly TV show, Trump tweeted some uncomplimentary things about her implying that maybe she should have stayed on vacation.  He's also that way whenever a female journalist tries to to interview him, speaking to them in patronizing tones.

Trump's other beef is with Univision news anchor Jorge Ramos.  Ramos was tossed out of Trump's news conference in Iowa this past week for not waiting his turn to ask the great man about his stance on border security and so-called "anchor babies", both of which are really touchy subjects for Ramos' Hispanic audience, for whom polls show have a low opinion of Trump to begin with.

These are just recent examples of what the men and women who cover the stories have to go through so that we--the couch potatoes and basement bloggers of the world--have all the information we need to make up our minds on the issues of the day.  They, more than any soldier who fights wars for the sake of killing for God and country, are the ones who deserve your support.  This is why we have a First Amendment.

At 105 FM, a Different Vibe

English: Sean Combs, a.k.a. Diddy, performing on the Today show in 2006. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On the same weekend that the movie "Straight Outta Compton" hit the multiplexes, a new hip hop radio station dropped on the triumvirate of stations known as WGVZ (105.7 FM), WGVX (105.1) and WRXP (105.3) in the Twin Cities area.

"105 The Vibe" replaces the low-rated sports talk format that had been there for over two years.  It is also the ninth different programming change since the three signals combined to form one station two decades ago, made necessary by the fact that none of the signals alone covered the metro adequately.

The problem with the sports station, known as "105 The Ticket", went beyond the lack of a signal.  There were already two well-established sports stations in town--KFAN (100.3) and KSTP (1500 AM), and the lack of exclusive rights to broadcasts of a local pro sports team also hurt.  The local hosts The Ticket had were gone by June, leaving the station with nothing but CBS Sports Radio as its programming.

The Vibe's format is syndicated classic hip hop and R&B from the 1990s and 2000s, a sound that has proven to be successful in other parts of the country.  This was an era when rap ruled the music charts (and probably still does), and lyrics discussing how much bling you got and talking smack about women were controversial.  Noted practitioners of this art form included Notorious B.I.G, Puff Daddy (or Diddy, or whatever), Kanye West, Jay Z and plenty of others.  Of course, by the time all of this gets to your radio, the results are so heavily edited that you could hardly understand what they're talking about.

The good folks at Cumulus Media, who are also responsible for KQRS (92.5) and 93X (93.7), put out The Vibe in response to another station with a similar format.  It's called Hot 102.5, which is sandwiched between country stations K102 (102.1) and KMNB (102.9).  Hot 102.5 is one of those small-watt translator stations that owner iHeart Media (the former Clear Channel) seems to have cornered the local market on, so they could put their conservative talk AM station on FM, or create new ones for alternative rock and a gay-themed music station.

As we mentioned, Hot 102.5 and The Vibe play hip hop and R&B from the past.  If you want that kind of music from the present, the closest you're going to get is longtime contemporary hits power KDWB (101.3), which is also owned by iHeart.  It could be argued that Hot 102.5 was positioned in such a way as to not cannibalize KDWB's audience.

So enjoy your new classic hip hop stations, if you're fortunate enough to receive them.  If there aren't enough of you out there to support them, Format Number 10 might be on its way to 105 FM.

The Culture of Behaving Badly

English: Logo for the University of Minnesota (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In an era where it's possible for presidential candidates, athletes and beloved sitcom stars to say nasty things, smack around or force themselves on women and (almost) get away with it, perhaps it shouldn't be all that surprising that sexual harassment is still tolerated as long as you don't get caught.

Take Norwood Teague, who until a week ago had been the University of Minnesota's athletic director since 2012.  During this time, his major accomplishments came from having hired and fired the men's and women's basketball coaches who committed the grievous sin of not making the NCAA tournament, and for presiding over a football program that won enough games last season to earn a trip to their first New Year's Day bowl game since 1962.

All that ended suddenly when Teague resigned.  The reason given was that two women employees of the university alleged Teague made unwanted advances towards them at a function, then sent texts of questionable taste.  Teague said in a statement that he intended to seek alcohol treatment.

But wait, there's more.  Amelia Rayno, who covers the Gopher men's basketball team for the Star Tribune newspaper, wrote a column saying she had also experienced much of the same harassing behavior Teague is accused of.   In her case, she said, she was given a choice by her editors of being reassigned, letting the company confront Teague or University president Dr. Eric Kaler, or waiting to see what happened.  Rayno chose the latter.

The Strib could have handled this situation better (Why was Rayno's column in the sports section instead of the front page?  Why didn't her superiors talk to Teague or Kaler in private before printing her story?), but Rayno had to make the tough decision any woman (or man) would make if they were in a business relationship with someone who thinks they're God's gift to whatever:  Blow the whistle or keep your job.

The University, Kaler says, is also going to launch a separate into the athletic department's handling of its financing and travel expenses, among other things.  Also, there's going to be a "nationwide search" (Kaler's words) for a new AD.  The last "nationwide search" led to Teague, who was running things at Virginia Commonwealth University when he was chosen to replace Joel Maturi.  For the moment, Beth Goetz will be the acting AD.

The University of Minnesota is no stranger to scandal in the athletic department.  Dubious recruitment practices, ineligible players and grade manipulation have resulted in vacated championships and disappearing banners.  This scandal threatens not only the gains made by the so-called "student athletes" in the various programs, but also funding for new athletic practice facilities--particularly if there's enough evidence that might interest the NCAA.

What the University needs to look for in hiring its next AD is one who has a better relationship with coaches and donors better than Teague reportedly did, follows established protocol concerning personal behavior, and resists the temptation to "hire local" just because.  Or they could just give the job to Goetz once they've seen how she performs in the position.

Replacing an athletic director for his allegedly boorish behavior is one thing.  Changing the culture of sexual harassment is quite another.  Donald Trump, for all the things he's supposedly said about women in the past, continues to lead the polls for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination.  Ray Rice, who was caught on tape beating up the woman who became his wife inside a hotel elevator, might be back in an NFL uniform soon.  And Bill Cosby, who has seen his career and reputation collapse because of allegations by several women dating back decades that he drugged them before raping them, well, his fate has yet to be determined.

Compared to these guys, Norwood Teague is a symptom of a much larger problem.








The Universi

The Trump & Ponies Show

speaking at CPAC in Washington D.C. on February 10, 2011. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On a night when Jon Stewart concluded his final "Daily Show" with an essay on what could politely be called BS, the traveling circus of Republican presidential candidates made as stop at the home of the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers--which also happens to be the site of next year's nominating convention.

As dictated by broadcast rights-holder Fox News Channel (who, like the GOP, are probably relieved that they won't have Stewart kicking them around any more), only ten candidates with acceptable poll numbers were allowed to appear on the prime time cablecast.  They were business mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, Ohio Governor John Kasich, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Dr. Ben Carson.  Of those, only Trump, Bush and Walker have double-digit numbers.

The seven individuals who did not make the cut--which includes former HP executive Carly Fiorina, former Texas governor Rick Perry and former senator Rick Santorum--were relegated to the undercard debate held earlier.  It is rumored that Fiorina won the debate, or at least made the best showing.

Trump was at his all-flash, no-substance best in showing up the rest of the field when he discussed why he doesn't have time for political correctness, how he'd solve the immigration crisis, and how he'd make America great again.  Trump also was the only one of the debaters not to pledge loyalty to the GOP nominee should it be anyone but him, meaning he might try for a third-party run.  But Trump's confrontation with Fox News' Megyn Kelly over his disparaging comments regarding women suggests trouble ahead, and not just with Rosie O'Donnell.

It's not as if the other candidates didn't have their moments.  Christie and Paul squared off over surveillance in the wake of terrorist threats.  Carson and Huckabee got off some one-liners.  Cruz came across as a humorless, pompous jerk.  Bush, Rubio and Walker didn't really distinguish themselves.  And Kasich scored some points with folks outside the hometown Cleveland audience for his relatively moderate stance.

On the 70th anniversary of the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima, which helped to end World War II, most of the GOP candidates came out against the U.S.' agreement with Iran to curtail their nuclear weapons program.  Their alternative seemed to be more economic sanctions.

There was plenty of Republican bashing over Obamacare and Democratic contender Hillary Clinton, but very little or nothing about race relations, income disparity and what to do about people with guns.  In typical fashion, most of the candidates ignored the Fox News stars' questions and went off on their own tangents.

This is only the first of several debates (or "joint appearances", as Dan Rather used to call them when he was at CBS) the Republicans and Democrats have planned for the next few months.  After a full evening of enough hot air to inflate basketballs and how much rhetoric was left behind, America has one question on its mind:

What would Jon Stewart have thought of all this?

The Dentist And The Lion

Close-up of a lion in Zimbabwe. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Right now, there are millions of people around the world--most of whose exposure to wild animals is limited to zoos, nature videos and displays in outdoor superstores--who would like to get their hands on a man who killed a protected research lion.  They'd like to strip off his clothes, drop him off somewhere in the African jungle and let him fend for himself in front of man-eating lions and tigers.

The person in question is someone we will call The Dentist (you probably know his name already, but we don't need to repeat it).  He is accused of spending $50,000 of his own money for the privilege of taking a bow and arrow to an apparently beloved lion named Cecil, who was lured outside his domain at a national park in Zimbabwe, killing him.

Once word got out, protesters and media trucks descended upon The Dentist's practice in the Minneapolis suburbs, forcing his patients to either cancel appointments or get their teeth cleaned elsewhere.  They also found out where The Dentist and his family lives (in the same city where this blog is based.  Gee, thanks.), which is why they're reportedly in hiding.  U.S. officials are currently investigating the matter, and Zimbabwe is asking for The Dentist's extradition so he could stand trial in that country.

Before we send The Dentist on his own personal (non-televised) episode of "Naked and Afraid", you should know that poaching is a real problem that's depleting endangered animals around the world.  It's tolerated in certain unscrupulous countries for the money that big game hunters like The Dentist provide, and for the valuable jewelry and cuisine that can be found in countries that haven't already banned them.

Big game hunting is quite the pastime among individuals like The Dentist with too much money and time on their hands.  Once upon a time, that type of hunter was celebrated.  When the European colonist, big businessmen or President Theodore Roosevelt came back from their African safaris, they usually showed off their kills or bragged about them to anyone who'll listen with awe.

Here in the age of social media and PETA, however, it is no longer a good idea to publish selfies of yourself with the magnificent beast you just shot on Facebook.  That would be stupid.

It's interesting that the furor over an unfortunate lion is dominating the news at a time when other forms of big game hunting--wars, terrorism, mass shootings, police and racial profiling, drone strikes, etc.--deserve more attention.  Then again, all we cared about at this time last year were those stupid  bucket challenges.

The Dentist, no matter how his fate shakes out, is a relic from a time gone by.  We no longer marvel at the giant stuffed animal that was once living and breathing, only to see it put on display in someone's private collection.   We do what we can to make sure that future generations will be able to enjoy lions, tigers, elephants and all the others in their natural habitat.  As Katy Perry might put it, you might still be able to hear them roar.

Politics 2016: The Other Guys

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are (as of 7/22/15) a total of 21 presidential candidates--16 of them Republicans--all vying for the chance to take over Barack Obama's job come 2017.  Some of them are serious contenders and are in it for the long haul, while the others are there to draw attention to issues they consider important, whether they admit it or not.

For the GOP, these are the names we have so far:  Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Carly Fiorina, Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, Bobby Jindal, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Lindsey Graham, John Kasich, George Pataki, Rand Paul, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum.

For the Democrats:  Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Jim Webb, Martin O'Malley and Lincoln Chafee.

With all those people in the running, and primary season yet to get under way, it's hard to stand out and explain to the voters why you want the job when all you're getting in return are meager sound bites and money worries.

It's also harder if you're behind the eight-ball from the very beginning, recognition-wise, while candidates more familiar to the voters suck up the media oxygen.  Trump gets headlines for dissing Senator John McCain's war record and broadcasting Senator Graham's phone number on live TV.  Clinton has been the Democrats' presumptive nominee almost since the last election.  Jeb Bush, whose father and brother were previously Presidents, must be seeing the White House as his birthright.

Until Trump came along, the biggest flakes in the campaign were Senators Cruz of Texas and Rand Paul of Kentucky.  They could always be counted on to make outrageous statements intended to fire up their conservative bases, particularly the Tea Party set.  To everybody else, they were indicative of what was wrong with the Republicans.

Besides Bush, a number of present and former state governors such as Christie of New Jersey and Jindal of Louisiana are in this campaign.  Scott Walker of Wisconsin, whose labor and economic policies have alienated almost everyone there, reminds those of us on the Minnesota side of the border of the reign of Tim Pawlenty.  He ran for President too.  Oh, and doesn't Christie also have a bridge scandal to live down?

Progressives who are unhappy with or unsure of the seeming inevitability of another Clinton administration have been flocking to Bernie Sanders' side.  The independent Senator from Vermont has made himself an alternative by hammering away at his contention that (a) the rich are getting richer, and (b) the poor and middle class are so screwed.  Familiar arguments, yes, but there's little evidence so far that any of this is making a dent against Clinton.  If you believe the polls, she leaves  everyone including Trump in the dust.

It's only a matter of time before the wheat is separated from the chaff, so to speak, and some of these candidates go back to their day jobs.  Until then, we can only imagine what it must be like to be a voter in a major primary state, about to be bombarded with TV and Internet commercials from 21 different presidential candidates spending their time and (somebody else's) money chasing a dream.  We don't envy you at all.

Southern Discomfort

Vice President of the United States John C. Calhoun (19th-century daguerreotype) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A few weeks ago, we asked "Is there anything new to add after the latest mass shooting in Charleston, South Carolina that hasn't already been said before?  Or will likely be done about it?".  (6/22/15)

We have our answer.  Instead of more debates about gun control and the mentality of the alleged shooter, we get flag controversies and the church patrons' naive decision to forgive him before the investigation ends and his trial begins.  Anything to avoid talking about the elephant in the room, and we don't mean the one that represents the Republican Party.


Because of this, the Confederate flag and all those who pledged allegiance to it are getting the cold shoulder from African-Americans and others who think it belongs in the trash heap of history, 150 years after the end of the Civil War.  It has gone from the profound to the ridiculous.  Some examples:

• The battle flag that was used during the Civil War, and has been flown at South Carolina's state capitol for more than 50 years in reaction to the Civil Rights Movement, was taken down to cheering crowds at an otherwise solemn ceremony in Columbia.  Similar flags across the South have also been taken down.
• Cities and states across the country are taking a second look at their founders, some of whom may have been racists and/or slaveholders, and considering whether or not to keep honoring them.  Minneapolis, for one, is thinking about removing John C. Calhoun's name from a popular lake.  He was a 19th Century Vice President and Senator who often spoke in favor of slavery and states' rights.
• The cable channel TV Land (also known as TV Commercial Land, but that's another story) yanked reruns of the 1980s CBS series "The Dukes of Hazzard", because the car used on the show happened to have its roof bedecked with the Stars and Bars.  To TV Land, that must have represented more of a threat to impressionable young minds than reckless driving, moonshine or stereotyped characters.

You might say this is all political correctness running amok, an attempt to whitewash the negative aspects of American history.  Well, the Confederate flag does mean different things to different people.  To the Southern man and woman whose ancestors came here to escape the British Empire, the Stars and Bars represented loyalty, courage, and the upholding of a certain way of life.  To the African American man and woman, whose ancestors came here in chains, the flag meant slavery, lynchings and Jim Crow laws.  To everyone else, it just meant that the South was on the wrong side of history.

The American flag represents many of the same things the Confederate flag stood for, and then some.  How come no one ever talks about taking Old Glory down (not that we advocate it)?  Oh, that's right.  The Union won the war.  We still have the legal right to use the Stars and Stripes as an excuse to go to war anywhere we want, discriminate against anyone we want, and do anything else that makes patriotic Americans no different than your average Rebel.

The Confederate flag has had its day, and that day was between 1861 and 1865.  It belongs in the history books, museums and Ken Burns documentaries as a reminder that one of the bloodiest and costliest wars in human existence was fought right here, not in some faraway land.

You can take down the statues, place names and symbols of every Confederate war hero and sympathizer if it makes you feel better.  Unfortunately, you're also going to have a harder time changing people's attitudes about racial discrimination, no matter what flag they're saluting.  Or whether the alleged Charleston shooter should have had access to guns at all.  To some people, the Civil War never ended.

The Donald, Trumped

English: Donald Trump at a press conference announcing David Blaine's latest feat in New York City at the Trump Tower. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Right now, there are almost as many Republicans running for the White House in 2016 as there are in the entire roster of the World Cup-winning U.S. women's soccer team.

One of them (the candidates, not the soccer team) is Donald Trump, self-styled billionaire and TV personality who puts his name on almost everything he touches, whether it's hotels, golf courses or beauty pageants.  He's also been known to lose a lot of money, whether it's through bankruptcy, bad business decisions or costly divorces.

Trump is making another run at the presidency, focusing on America's immigration policy.  Only this time, instead of making a big deal out of President Barack Obama showing his birth certificate to prove he's a real American, Trump's been chastising Mexico for allegedly sending their 'criminals' and 'rapists' across the border.

Cue the backlash.  Thus far several companies, TV networks and other semi-notables have ended their business relationship with Trump because of his remarks.  The Miss USA Pageant, which was dropped by NBC, has been picked up by a small satellite network called Reelz Channel--which just happens to be owned by Minnesota-based Hubbard Broadcasting. 

Surprisingly, instead of sounding the death knell for his campaign, Trump has received enough support to put himself at or near the top of the GOP field.  He's even been praised in some quarters for putting the immigration issue front and center, while all the other candidates seem to be dancing around it.  Ever defiant in defense of his Mexico remarks, Trump told NBC News that he expects to win the Latino vote once he wins the nomination.

This isn't to say most political pundits are going to give Trump a snowball's chance of being President.  Not in a New York minute.  The experts point out that Trump's celebrity status, business track record and blunt talk will come back to bite him big time as primary and caucus season nears.  Voters are more likely to choose someone who doesn't rock the boat so much, or carries loads of baggage.  That doesn't bode well for Trump.

Which means that Donald Trump is more likely to mend fences with his former business partners, rather than to strengthen the ones that run across the U.S.-Mexico border.  Once people get tired of him, he'll be slinking back to his boardroom wondering why America "fired" him.

Love (and Obamacare) Is The Law Of The Land

United States Supreme Court building. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Two U.S. Supreme Court decisions on two days in June told us that (A) this isn't as conservative a court as we were led to believe, and (B) Republicans and all other right-thinking people are behaving  like Chicken Littles.  You know, the sky is falling and all that.

On June 25, the Affordable Health Care Act (also known as Obamacare) survived another challenge when the justices ruled 6-3 that federal subsidies can be used to help pay for the six million Americans who need affordable health insurance.

Republicans in Congress and on the presidential campaign trail have been hollering about getting rid of the ACA for years.  Trouble is, they don't seem to have a decent alternative--or at least we've never heard one--besides tweaking it to favor the big insurance companies.

Because of this ruling, some states are considering dumping their health insurance exchanges in favor of the federal one.  If they're as badly run as Minnesota's MNSure program, with technical and logistical snafus galore, then the Court just gave those states an out.

On June 26, the justices ruled 5-4 that same-sex marriage is now legal in all 50 states.  This includes the 13 or so states that had outright bans, or whose appeals were pending in their Supreme Courts.

As Americans who have seen positive portrayals of gays and lesbians on TV and/or in their own lives celebrate the decision, others are reacting in horror as the America they thought they knew and loved had turned into an alien culture in which Christianity isn't the only game in town any more.

Same-sex marriage is going to be the 21st century version of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion--an issue we'll still be fighting about decades from now.   Only instead of pitting
"life begins at conception" versus "a woman's right to choose", it will now be "homosexuality is a sin" versus "everybody's got the right to love".  And just like abortion, conservative states will keep passing laws to make it more difficult for gay and lesbian couples to get married, find employment or raise families.  No one wins.

These two rulings signify that the Supreme Court recognizes that America is changing with affordable health care and same sex couples becoming an accepted part of society, and the laws need to change with them.  What they have also done is to open a new can of worms that ultimately might do more harm than good to the country.

Random Thoughts 2015, Volume 2

Is there anything new to add after the latest mass shooting in Charleston, South Carolina that hasn't already been said before?  Or will likely be done about it?

Pope Francis has said that climate change is happening.  Now if he could only convince corporate executives and politicians who worship money more than they do God.  Oh by the way, doesn't the Pope have his own toxic mess to deal with?

How can anyone have an intelligent discussion about the Trans Pacific Partnership if no one knows, or can say what's in it?

Rachel Dolezal used to run the Spokane, Washington chapter of the NAACP until her parents claimed she was born white.  Dolezal said she identifies as black, and those aren't her real parents.  Who's telling the truth?  Does it really matter if she's black or white?  And how did the NAACP get caught up in all this?

The clown car that is the number of Republican candidates running for President now includes Donald Trump.  He may not be the nominee, but he's upped the entertainment quotient considerably.

With all due respect to Senator Bernie Sanders, isn't he just token opposition for the Hillary Clinton juggernaut?

A woman on the ten dollar bill to stand alongside Alexander Hamilton?  What happened to the efforts to get rid of Andrew Jackson on the twenty dollar bill?  For what it's worth, our choice would be Eleanor Roosevelt.

Jerry Seinfeld has complained that political correctness is killing comedy.  No Jerry, 9/11 did.

Brian Williams is back at NBC after being suspended for "misremembering" certain things about how he covered events.  He's been demoted to "breaking news" anchor status at struggling MSNBC.  How much do you want to bet that Lester Holt, who replaced Williams as "NBC Nightly News" anchor, is looking over his shoulder?

Bruce Jenner is now Caitlyn, a former Olympic decathlon champion who became identified with the Kardashian circus--and look what she is now.  So far, she hasn't been asked by the International Olympic Committee to give back her gold medal from the 1976 Games, and already she's being put up as a model of 'courage'.  Well, if changing your sex is something you thought you should have been doing all along, maybe it is courageous.

In other news, Kim Kardashian announced she's pregnant with a boy.  A fact which shouldn't surprise most NPR listeners, or anyone else.