Who Am I?

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A nobody; a nitwit; a pilot; a motorcyclist; a raconteur; a lover...of life - who loves to laugh, who tries to not take myself (or anything) too seriously...just a normal guy who knows his place in the universe by being in touch with my spiritual side. What more is there?

15 October 2019

These Nutsy-Cuckoo Times

This is not a political blog, and I'm sure you do not come here for political discussion.  The reason I don’t like talking politics is twofold.  For one thing, I know very little about the subject.  Secondly, I don’t really care all that much.  But please indulge me for a moment while I comment on the shitstorm that our society is currently weathering, won't you? I promise I'll be brief, and then we'll be back to talking about flying and motorcycles.

My parents were staunch democrats.  They preached that the Democratic Party was for the working man, while the Republicans were for Big Business.  I didn’t think it through back then (what teenager ever thinks anything through?), but without big (and small) businesses there wouldn’t be any need for working men.  So it’s a symbiotic relationship, to be sure.

As a nascent union organizer in the 1990’s, I came to see that if we squeezed every last dime out of the company, we very well might find ourselves out of work.  Somehow, the contract we were negotiating had to be good for us and good for the company. 

So this whole current Ukraine Affair just leaves me disgusted.  OF COURSE, Joe Biden got his son Hunter appointed to the Board of Directors of Burisma Holdings (the largest natural gas company in Ukraine).  Of course, he did!  And Biden wasn’t being totally honest when he said that he and Hunter never discussed Burisma.  Bullshit!  (Pardon my French.)  Hunter, who knew nothing about the natural gas industry, slid into a cushy, do-nothing job that netted him a pretty nice salary.  Nepotism?  Sure.  Unethical?  Oh yeah.  Illegal?  Maaayyyybee…but maybe not.

And then President Trump, in a now-famous phone call, asked the current president of Ukraine to look into this Biden/Burisma deal.  And then everything blew up.

I love the “everybody knows” theory.  Everybody knows that what Trump did was an impeachable offense.  Everybody, from the man on the street to some top people in government say that what President Trump did was wrong.  And maybe it was!  But was it illegal?  Was it an impeachable offense?  Hmm.  Maaayyyybeee.  “Everybody” may know the answer to that.  Me?  I don’t know.  Nor do I care.

I have three brilliant sisters. One is an archeologist and two are attorneys. Over the years, I have learned a lot from all three. Just oneof the things I’ve learned is that when it comes to the law, NOTHING is ever cut-and-dried. NOTHING is ever totally black-or-white. The 1995 O.J. Simpson trial surely taught us that. If you were alive and watching TV back then, you know as well as I do that O.J. got away with murder.
The people who hate the president and want him removed from office make their case very passionately. Trump is a bad man who’s gotta go! But Trump supporters are just as passionate in their defense of the manThis is not a political blog, and you probably do not come here for political discussion. The reason I don’t like talking politics is twofold. For one thing, I know very little about the subject. Secondly, I don’t really care all that much.

My parents were staunch democrats. They preached that the Democratic Party was for the working man, while the Republicans were for Big Business. I didn’t think it through back then (what teenager ever thinks anything through?), but without big businesses there wouldn’t be any need for working men. So it’s a symbiotic relationship, to be sure.

As a nascent union organizer in the 1990’s, I came to see that if we squeezed every last dime out of the company, we very well might find ourselves out of work. Somehow, the contract we were negotiating had to be good for us and good for the company.

So this whole current Ukraine Affair just leaves me disgusted. OF COURSE, Joe Biden got his son Hunter appointed to the Board of Directors of Burisma Holdings (the largest natural gas company in Ukraine). Of course, he did! And Biden wasn’t being totally honest when he said that he and Hunter never discussed Burisma. Bullshit! (Pardon my French.) Hunter, who knew nothing about the natural gas industry, slid into a cushy, do-nothing job that netted him a pretty nice salary. Nepotism? Sure. Unethical? Oh yeah. Illegal? Maaayyyybee…

And then President Trump, in a now-famous phone call, asked the now-president of Ukraine to look into this Biden/Burisma deal. And then everything blew up.

I love the “everybody knows” theory. Everybody knows that what Trump did was an impeachable offense. Everybody, from the man on the street to the top people in government say that what President Trump did was wrong. And maybe it was! But was it illegal? Was it an impeachable offense? Hmm. Maaayyyybeee. “Everybody” may know the answer to that. Me? I don’t know. Nor do I care.

I have three brilliant sisters. One is an archeologist and two are attorneys. Over the years, I have learned a lot from all three. One thing I’ve learned is that when it comes to the law, NOTHING is ever cut-and-dried. NOTHING is ever totally black-or-white.

The people who hate the president and want him removed from office make their case very passionately. Trump is a bad man who’s gotta go! But Trump supporters are just as passionate in their defense of the man. Best president ever!

And again, ol’ Bob is caught in the middle, not knowing what to think, and feeling guilty for not having an opinion.

But here’s what I do think. We do not live in a strict democracy. The U.S. is a democratic republic. We elect people to run the country for us, because most of us: a) don’t want to; and b) are uniquely unqualified to do so. I’m more “b” than “a” but truth be told I go both ways there.

The trouble is that we don’t let our leaders do their jobs. We scrutinize, criticize and second-guess every damn decision they make. The end result is that we have an entire electorate that is afraid of saying or doing ANYTHING because they know they’ll get a ton of negative feedback or at least cause a Twitterstorm with which they’ll have to deal.

The only politician with any guts is Beto O’Rourke. He came out out and actually said it out loud: The left wants to confiscate our guns. Heh. I admire his honesty, but good luck getting ANY conservative to vote for you, Beto! You might as well quit the race now and not waste any more of your time or money.

Look, I say: If President Trump is doing a really bad job, then the American people will not vote for him in 2020. No, I don’t think he’ll destroy the country…or our democracy in the meantime. The republic has withstood some pretty crappy presidents; I doubt Trump is even the worst.

President Trump is…different. He’s different than any other president we’ve ever had. He says and does things that are simply…there is no other word for it…crazy. Other politicians hate him, but Trump connects with the American people on a level that is hard to explain or understand. His supporters overlook so much crap that it’s really hard to fathom.

The most insane and ironic thing I’ve heard from the Democrats was, ”We have to impeach Trump to keep him from getting re-elected.” If that doesn’t tell you something about these nutsy-cuckoo times we’re living in, I don’t know what else would.
Best president ever!


And again, ol’ Bob is caught in the middle, not knowing what to think, and feeling kind of guilty for not having an opinion.

But here’s what I think.  We do not live in a strict democracy.  The U.S. is a democratic republic.  We elect people to run the country for us, because most of us: a) don’t want to; and b) are uniquely unqualified to do so.  I’m more “b” than “a” but truth be told I go both ways there.

The trouble is that we don’t let our leaders do their jobs.  We scrutinize, criticize and second-guess every damn decision they make.  The end result is that we have an entire electorate that is afraid of saying or doing ANYTHING because they know they’ll get a ton of negative feedback or at least cause a Twitterstorm with which they’ll have to deal.  Except our president - he seems to be playing by a completely different set of rules.

The only politician with any guts is Beto O’Rourke.  He came right out and actually said it out loud: The left wants to confiscate our guns.  Heh.  I admire his honesty, but good luck getting ANY conservative to vote for you, Beto!  You might as well quit the race now and not waste any more of your time or money.

Look, I say: If President Trump is doing a really bad job, then the American people will not vote for him in 2020.  No, I don’t think he’ll destroy the country…or our democracy in the meantime.  In my life I've seen eleven presidents.  The republic has withstood some pretty crappy ones; I doubt Trump is even the worst.

President Trump is…different.  He’s different than any other president we’ve ever had.  He says and does things that are simply…there is no other word for it…crazy.  Other politicians hate him, but Trump connects with the American people on a level that is hard to explain or understand.  His supporters overlook so much crap that it’s really hard to believe.

The most insane and ironic thing I’ve heard from the Democrats was, ”We have to impeach Trump to keep him from getting re-elected.”  If that doesn’t tell you something about these nutsy-cuckoo times we’re living in, I don’t know what else would.

4 comments:

Ed said...

Trump fascinates me. I have two pretty close friends who never really wanted to talk politics with me until Trump was elected and now whenever I am around them, they are constantly talking about the man and his greatness. He definitely tapped into something with them that no other politician ever has. Likewise, I have several friends that I'm probably being very conservative by calling liberal extremists. They used to talk about policies and what legislation was being enacted until Trump got elected and now they just rant and rave about how crazy the man is and a danger to our very lives. When I tell them that although he says things that I probably wouldn't say in a mixed political group, I don't think he will destroy our counter, they start foaming at the mouth with hate. When I ask them to name one thing legislatively that he has signed that will destroy our country, they really can't give me an example.

So whatever it is Trump tapped into to get those non-political friends of mine excited about politics is the same thing that causes others to foam at the mouth with rage for the guy. When it comes to Trump, I'm somewhere in the middle. I'm the emoji that says meh. He doesn't excite me and doesn't scare me.

Bob said...

As usual, my blog friend the pilot makes a lot of sense.

I’m no fan of Trump and, in fact, I’m a detractor. I didn’t vote for him in 16 and I won’t vote for him next year. And if enough voters join me, we will get a new president; if they don’t, we won’t. And life will go on. As you point out, that’s how it works. If the Dems don’t nominate a more centrist candidate, they can probably get ready for four more years of Trump. But that’s on them.

If people, including people in Congress, would spend more time trying to make life better for themselves, their families and their fellow citizens, rather than spending so much time complaining about Trump and other politicians, life would be sweeter and better. But it’s just too easy to complain.

Kelly said...

I enjoy reading this blog AND enjoy reading all the comments! Y'all keep me entertained. :)

Bob Barbanes: said...

Thank you all for your comments! Donald Trump surely is a fascinating character. Supporters love him unconditionally; those who hate him do so with a vehemence and anger that is surprising.

Whatever your opinion is about the man right now, it will be for history to judge whether he was or was not a good president. And history does not always look kindly on ex-presidents. Will we credit Trump for the strength of the economy, or will we chalk that up to coincidental forces that were beyond his control? Will we credit him for the record low unemployment rate, or will we say that it would have happened anyway? Will we say that his making government smaller was a good thing, or vilify him for gutting the EPA?

It will be interesting to look back on the Trump presidency a decade from now. ...If we're even still around.