Sophomoric D.C.

This writer, for the first time ever other than seeing a few short TV reviews from the past, watched a big portion of the W.H. Correspondents' Dinner over the weekend, and it was as tacky, absurd and generally noxious than practically anything the most sophomoric personages in Hollywood could dream up, and certainly not anything that a president of the U.S. should be associated with.  It's bad enough that Obama's policies are dismissive of commoners, environmentalists and peacemakers, and now, the dignity of the office of president.

[Originally published on Commoner ("Noxious Show") on 4/27/15; revised on 4/30/15.]

Rube

Give her credit, given Governor Sarah Palin's probably scripted performance that made fun of herself possibly running for president on some Saturday Night Live show, recently, at least she gets that she probably shouldn't be running for president of the U.S. anytime soon; but Senator Marco Rubio (R), from Florida, is another matter.  He might actually be running for what?  Rubio reminds me of the commercial, currently running on TV, that has a radio DJ, sans dreadlocks, groomed like a fashionable-looking businessman, pretending to be a financial analyst or something, and has everybody fooled into thinking that he actually knows something about investments and banking as they give him their complete trust.  Give the devil his due, Rubio looks the part: very senatorial, or presidential, for that matter; but he's about as knowledgeable as Palin, and that's not a compliment.

Commoner believes Rubio's on the Foreign Policy committee in the Senate, but given some of his comments or questions as saw on TV, today, you would hardly be alone if you got the feeling that some 6th grader that reads Time magazine, regularly, knows more about foreign policy than this guy.  So this is what goes for top-of-the-line candidates for president of the United States?   Of course, going by the attention and credibility folks like Rubio get from the mainstream media.   And to think some folks gave me a hard time for running for county elections director.

[Originally posted on Commoner as "He's Running for What?" Revised on 4/6/15.]

Mayor of Gamesmanship

The former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, has stirred up a hornet's nest this week by essentially saying that President Obama is one notch above traitor.  The Commoner blog doesn't usually side with the president, but considering that we have a president who fits in pretty snugly with mainstream conventional American thought when it comes to the most basic politics, this outburst by the Republican politician seems more along the lines of falling in line behind the few who are disrespectful to a president who happens to be the "wrong" color from their point of view.  Moreover, Giuliani's remarks seemingly extend beyond his evident bigotry and dislike of Obama; he's pretty much saying that any American that doesn't agree with his world viewpoint, call it "conventional" or "right-of-center" if you will, is unpatriotic.  Political gamesmanship at its worst.  In Giuliani's America, any American that dare says that America, herself, let alone other nations, has some flaws of its own that needs to be reflected on, at least, is beyond the pale.  In other words, dissent is treason in Giuliani's America, but that view, in itself, is directly contrary to the standard set by the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

[Originally posted on Commoner on 2/20/15 under the title, "Giuliani's Nonsense;" revised on 2/23/15.]