"SWIFTBOATING" MCCAIN

While some Republicans have deplored the "swiftboating" of John McCain, by Donald Trump, it must be remembered how effective Swiftboating was against Kerry.  Trump has devasted any chance that McCain had in the 2016 elections, so there!

THE ART OF THE IMPOSSIBLE?

Sanctions on Iran, to halt production of weapons grade uranium, would have failed without the cooperation of both Russia and China.  There was no way that either  Russia or China would have moved the goal posts to include stopping aid to Assad of Syria (a declared ally of Russia) or to freeing U.S. citizens from foreign jails (both Russia and China have incarcerated our citizens).

I don't recall, ever, that any other American President was excoriated for what was not accomplished by a treaty without any praise for what was accomplished.  Nixon reached detente with Red China without reforming the political system of that nation or eliciting a pledge to stop supporting rogue states like North Korea? No calls were issued to go back to the cold war.  Reagan reached nuclear treaties with the Soviet Union without extraneous demands?  No criticism was leveled that the treaty should not be signed because what was accomplished in arms reductions didn't go far enough or that political prisoners were not released from the Gulag.

While other Presidents have been judged by ability to achieve what was possible, our current President earns praise only if he does the impossible.

THE TIMES ARE a-CHANGIN

Republican ideology notwithstanding, Wal-Mart, the largest employer in the U.S. is raising its minimum wage to a point well beyond that blocked by Congress.  Bernie Sanders, a Democratic Socialist is drawing croweds unheard of since the 1930s.  The Confederate Flag comes down from the South Carolina State Capitol grounds at the insistence of local busineses. Private enterprise is baling on Donald Trump for ultra Conservative views.
The country appears to have taken a turn to the left.  

I suspect that donations from business to the candidates may show a similar shift, during the coming election cycle.  If they do will the Republican Party switch their views on Citizens United?

BANNING OVERACHIEVING PRESIDENTS!

Republicans are dizzy from Obama achievements coming at a rate faster than they can demonize them.  Just as they were able to pass an amendment, to the Constitution, limiting the term of the Presidency to a maximum of 2, after a Democrat achieved an unheard of 4 consecutive terms, they will look to see how Presidential accomplishments can, in a like manner, be limited through the amendment process.  In the meantime, they hope that there is a nostalgia for the underachievement of the Bush Presidencies, that will carry Jeb to victory in 2016.

NOT INSPIRATIONAL BUT CAUSATIVE

We are taught that the American Revolution inspired the French Revolution but in actuality the French Revolution was probably caused, in part, by the American Revolution.  The costs, incurred by France, in sending an entire fleet to the Americas, to assist in the defeat of the British, was formidable.  Since neither the nobility nor the Church, the wealthiest Estates, paid taxes, the burden of paying fell on the peasantry and the rising middle class.   This, in turn, sparked a  overturn of the previous social system in France. Any similarity between our present situation, in the U.S., where wealthy segments of the country, who pay an ever decreasing share of taxes, neverthless, push for more military involvement abroad, is not coincidental.

GOODDBYE DEMOCRACY, HELLO OLIGARCHY

Although the U.S. has fought two (2) World Wars in the name of democracy, only one of its Constitutional institutions, the House of Representatives, was designed to be , and entitles us to call ourselves a democracy.  The President is elected indirectly through an Electoral College and, as sometimes happens, can be elected without receiving a majority of the popular vote.  The Senate allows each State 2 Senators regardless of population.  The Supreme Court allows one undemocratic institution to nominate judges and another undemocratic institution, the Senate, to confirm them.  Now that Republican gerrymandering allows for a majority, in the House, to represent a minority of the voters while the minority party represents a majority of the people, we can no longer call ourselves a democracy.  I wonder if, from now on, we will fight our wars in the name of an oligarchy.  

BUSH VINDICATED

As the American people become more aware of the full extent and breadth of the accomplishments of the Obama Administration, George W. Bush is hopeful that the public will think more kindly of his own.  After all, without having had a Bush Administration, to precede him. Obama may not have been able to even win the Presidency!