Does Anybody Know WTF A Republican Is Anymore?

Forgive me for the salacious headline. The Twitterverse won't read any further, so you gotta stick and move these days. Nonetheless, WTF is a Republican?

No really.

In the post-mortem of Tuesday's election, the Ed Gillespie story is as telling as any story there is. Gillespie was never known as an alt-right Republican prior to being pegged for Virginia's governor race but left looking more alt-right than Trump himself. While we may never really know if Gillespie was more of a victim of his embrace of Trump or of his disdain towards him since the race he ran seemed to involve a fair dose of both, we know the exit poll data and it isn't positive for the GOP.

While Trump himself criticized Gillespie for not being Trumpian enough and losing as a result, I am left to wonder what sign should we look towards as it relates to identity politics if we hope to consider the Republican candidate in 2018 and moving forward? This is not a question for the Republicans that vote (R) because that is all they know to do. I'm referring to those (R)'s that really appreciate their new-found access to healthcare and don't really wish to risk their lives on a party loyalty line.

As it turns out, most of the people around the nation were inspired on Tuesday by the need to save their own healthcare against the wiles of the (R)'s who are destroying it only because they don't really know what else to do. If you predict healthcare's implosion, sometimes you must also be willing to pour a little gas on the sparks to speed things along. Despite Trump's slashing of the budget to market ACA enrollment, record numbers of Americans are enrolling anyway.

Now the (R)'s are trying like crazy to scratch the back of rich people while making average Americans think it is their back being scratched. Two things that can no longer be confused is the feeling of a political back rubbing or the efficacy of a bill not scored by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). America never knew what those letters meant prior to the Trumpian takeover. Now, they don't stop to listen to your idea until the CBO can delineate what is in it for them.

It is not impossible to imagine the GOP accomplishing some form of a tax bill, but it is close to impossible to see it achieving anything substantive for average Americans. Trickle down never really has fulfilled its promise, and ObamaCare is more hopeful than whatever existed before. The best I can tell, the GOP is mostly stuck with the idea of building a wall because even a ban on assault weapons is supported by the majority of America, gun owners included.

In fact, doing something about our broken immigration system has had majority appeal in America from way back when Eric Cantor was still the Speaker of the House. The Obama era push and catastrophic weather events have most Americans waiting on a far-reaching infrastructure bill that seems to need a huge wave of collapsed bridge deaths to finally get approved for some odd reason.

By virtue of identity, the only elements that uniquely come to mind when thinking of today's Republican party are titled tax plans, Muslim hatred, "blood and soil" and tiki torches. I know a lot of really good people who still consider themselves Republican have never considered marching with a tiki torch and are upset that they are now being connected to such evil, hatred and our twit of a president. Yet, what else is there to help us identify a modern day Republican?

What the Twitter-in Chief has made abundantly clear is that the GOP has lost its way enough to be easily taken over by a twit. Surprisingly, plenty of twit love remains despite enduring a highly embattled presidency, but it seems there was not enough to have made a difference this past Tuesday.

The best I can tell, the GOP will soon need to adopt progressive policies as their own in order to offer ideas that reasonable people consider reasonable. Walls and rolling back healthcare, and tax cuts for rich people and unresolved immigration questions, and climate denial or broken accords and partnerships, or LGBTQ bans, Muslim bans but repeal of the ban on the mentally ill getting guns, is simply not reasonable anymore.

Democrats Fight Gerrymandering. Is It Too Late?

Keep your eyes open for this big time push from the DGA (Democratic Governors Association) and the NDRC (National Democratic Redistricting Committee), founded and lead by former President Barack Obama and former AG Eric Holder. This issue represents a major reason I no longer register as a Democrat.
              ________________________

https://unrigthemap.com/

....this is a lot like that Colin Kaepernick issue and the NFL.

..a curse you bring on yourself.
            
            ___________________  



I won't claim to already know who started with this gerrymandering nonsense, though I could probably Google it. I feel utter disappointment, however, when I discovered how often both parties have misused it over the years. The fact that the Republicans have taken our national shame called gerrymandering to a new level of shamefulness makes me mad at the system and ALL of those who proliferated it, not just the current beneficiaries and better players of the game.


I actually started registering independent when Al Gore helped us to discover the electoral college hustle that can override wilful votes and lawful recounts if it so chooses.


Upon backing a non-inspiring guy like Gore against George W. Bush, I found myself indignant and more inspired to caucus for stronger candidates that I support. I discovered, however, that I potentially need to choose these candidates before I even know them if I want to take part in supporting said candidate via caucuses or primaries, as both parties block you out of the process unless you register well in advance of the caucus or primary for a candidate who interests you.


I get more and more convinced of my decision to NOT tout either of these two party labels with every passing day. Did either party realize how dangerous opening the pandora's box of gerrymandering would be? Did they care?

Furthermore, doesn't either party have interest in pulling voters who don't already agree with them via label? Don't Republicans and Democrats practice political segregation and fear of the corrupted caucus or primary to their own demise? How hard could it be to send out a caucus voucher that allows each voter into one caucus per election season? Do we really fear political corruption and outsider inclusion over desiring political involvement which is severely lacking? In this current version of our two-party system, each party is only interested in you if they think you support them already.


With that in mind, I support this effort by the Democrats to fix something that needed fixing long ago. I'll admit though, that this is a lot like that Colin Kaepernick issue and the NFL. I find no sympathy for any losing team that is currently playing a QB worse than Kaep', even my own team. Gerrymandering (and hiring collusion too) has always been like dabbling with black magic; a curse you bring on yourself. 

Independence Must Be More Than Another Political Label

The recent book release announcement of former DNC chair, Donna Brazile, has ignited a firestorm of debate verging on a Civil war that the Republicans have to be enjoying, even if only for its diversion from their own problems. I, unlike Brazile, am no longer a registered Democrat but an Independent, which I realize is somewhat a joke even though I (independent voters) might be the reason Brazile wrote the book in the first place, not reliably voting Democrats.

If you are someone truly open to the notion of change in America, you realize that more of the same is unlikely to garner the change WE seek. Sure, we’ve accomplished much in our history as a nation, but seldom with a bi-partisan accord.  When the Senate voted 98-2 to sanction Trump and Putin for disrupting the sanctity of our overly partisan attempt at democracy, it felt like the beginning of change. Those two Senate hold-outs, however, must be confused about the seriousness of this moment, or maybe I am confused about the change.

An article about a poltical change in America is tough because our partisan reality typically means getting the other side to finally see how they are flawed as the change most of us seek. Afterall, who really wants to take another chance at trickle down economics?

People who have a reasonable excess of resources but want more, that’s who still believes in trickle down.

Conversely, hand-outs that barely keep poor people above water seem to drown more people than they teach to swim. The conservatives who read that last sentence applauded while the progressives frowned at the notion that our collected taxes can also be considered a handout.

My view is, who cares what you call it, it simply is not working well enough. No plan that lacked sufficient agreement at inception ever really does achieve its purpose in general perception or reality, which are invariably the same.

In other words, political change WE seek is never going to be achieved absent bi-partisan agreement because the other side will nitpick the bad to prove a point they already believed. Each of our perceptions becomes our collective bi-partisan political reality....facts be damned.

My knee-jerk reaction to the Brazile indictments against Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the DNC is to defend Brazile- who just so happens to be echoing criticisms I made long before she did, so take my view with that disclaimer in mind. Those currently defending Clinton have mostly done the same as me, which amounts to the challenge WE face in politics and society overall.

How do we achieve lasting change when we’ve made partisan decisions on what change looks like?

Brazile might be seemingly the starter of a fight, but reasonable people think that fight started with the progressive movement led by Bernie Sanders during the campaign and Brazile is simply pointing it out. This problem amongst progressives is much deeper than how we vote and what labels we allow ourselves to be connected with. In many ways, the intense effort for independence as voters- and people- has inspired the massive effort to toss each of us in a bucket whether we want to be there or not.

Search engines and website cookies leave crumbs of evidence about who we are and how we might vote even when we choose to not use our face on Facebook, or log into social media at all.

Today, simple GPS tracking can decide who we are, how we vote, purchase products and everything else. We have to turn ourselves off altogether to hide what we do because everything we do speaks- in part- to how we are likely to vote.

Unfortunately, whether we choose to carry party labels or not, our partisanship is predictable, even for those who think they don't care one way or the other. Our ability to challenge the GPS tracker of our lives and frequent the untracked street vendor versus the retail outlet that speaks to our tendencies is just as difficult as telling the people we support they are wrong and probably need to see things another way. Disrupting the grid and challenging our own orthodoxy are both needed practices for political and societal change.

Was Brazile declaring an intention to join Bernie or become an independent if the Democrats don’t figure things out? She says she considered Joe Biden, who wasn’t running, over Bernie who was as a replacement for a potential health stricken Hillary, so I doubt that Brazile's book is a threat of secession.

As for me?

I am not a Democrat. I’m THE Conservative Socialist who registers independently.I don’t care to be predictable to the unseen trackers in life or politics if I can help it because there is very little hope for change in that approach. I love street vendors and yet to be discovered entrepreneurs. I also hate political labels even though I realize my political voice labels me just as all of our thoughts, opinions, shared memes and websites visited tell a story we wish could remain unknown at times. 

          If change is what we seek, being a truly independent thinker and not just another predictable partisan can help, but it must involve real examination of issues including self-examinations and incriminations in the face of failures.

More of the same is unlikely to work.

WARNING!! Trump's Guilt Is Not A Campaign Message

As FBI special investigator Robert Mueller moves closer to something there there, Donald J. Trump, president, is behaving more and more like a man in full blown meltdown mode.

It isn't necessarily his awful handling of Sgt. LaDavid Johnson and his grieving family. It's not even his inability to be nice to a room full of reporters and their kids, pointing out how SHOCKED he was that any of them were cute based on their horrific parents, and then questioning the kids if they get tough interviews and coverage at home like he often gets from their parents.....or something silly to that effect.

Besides the moment being as awkward as Trump's last so called "fun" press event, the Obama era correspondence dinner in 2011 that turned into a not so impromptu roast of "The Donald", a moment that is believed to be the animus for his eventual presidential pursuit, it was a clear sign to me of the crumbling infrastructure of a presidency that has yet to be fully formed.

Disregard his inability to be decent to kids or to get it right with Gold Star families. The notion that this man would let the evil press disrupt and denigrate his image and disrupt the life that afforded him so much time to grope and golf makes the prospect of a second run at the presidency less likely than avoiding the brunt of this Russia mess. Especially after today.

Today, Trump's fired campaign chair, Paul Manafort, and Manafort's top aide, Rick Gates- who stayed on the campaign team even after his boss was let go- have both been charged with multiple crimes, crimes that most of us anticipated against someone even if we had no clue exactly who would be charged first.

The shocker was that the first charges came months ago when campaign aide George Papodopolous was secretly indicted on a question of collusion that he lied about twice. Papodopolous has been sharing details with Bob Mueller for months, presumably to assist with his guilty plea and to calm a prosecutorial pit bull who just sent a message to potentially uncooperative testifiers.

The discovery of the Papodopolous news seems a shock to everyone, including team Trump. Whether this trail of tears and indictments reaches the very top is a matter of speculation still, though it seems clear that Mueller is using concealed weapons to blow open the reluctant truth in this matter as multiple Trump subordinates have lied, some while under oath. Insiders believe these verifiable crimes and lies should have been enough for the courts to unseal Trump's taxes too, which might be another weapon Mueller now has at his disposal.

Regardless of the criminal outcome, Trump, Pence and Putin will not be able to collude for another election effort, something that appears to have been vital to Trump's victory.

WHY SO SAD??!!

Meanwhile, Democrats are so hell bent on ousting Trump, no matter what Meuller uncovers, they seem unaware that they still need to wait for 2020 to find a way to replace him with a president progressives prefer.

The murkiness of the Russian involvement question doesn't change the results of our last election or point a path towards the next. If Trump goes, he will be replaced by Pence and Paul Ryan, not Hillary Clinton. If Mike Pence, the lying head of the Trump transition team goes too, Ryan and President pro tempore of the Senate, Orrin Hatch, will take over. This could be why Hatch announced he's not returning for reelection last week (stay tuned on that).

Pussy grabbing and wall building was never a winning message, except for the small caveat that it still worked, or didn't hurt bad enough for a little collusion to do the rest.

Whether the Democrats message got lost in the slimy sauce the Donald cooked up is hard to know because most of us simply can't remember what their message was in the first place. Actually, I recall so many messages to so many people that I am not sure which group of voters Hillary Clinton and the Dem's thought could sway the election in their favor.

Now, the same messaging problem remains minus the notable face to deliver it. They may find someone noteworthy, but has our electorate grown weary of familiar political faces anyway? Were millineals really ready for the Socialist, Bernie Sanders, or is anything except more of the same likely to gain traction in today's political climate?

Republicans might be forced to pass some kind of tax plan just to deal with the Socialist reality that has now made universal healthcare permanent. If Democrats need a silver lining, the wages WE all deserve will soon happen, or the last scoop of dirt will go on top of trickle down economics, killing the theory forever.

Before you liberals gain comfort in that thought, gerrymandering promises functional control of politics for Republicans at every level below the presidency for years to come. Unless progressives find a person and a message, today's indictments won't do much to swing upcoming presidential elections either.

Beware Broncos Fan. Eli Manning's An MFNHOFQB

Trap game?! 

No. Trap game is much too simplistic an analysis. Too far beyond cliche to consider it even close to close enough. This is a referendum on a quarterback. Well, two quarterback's actually, but a referendum nonetheless.

After 4 games, what I won't do is entertain any more questions about my coach. Whether Vance Joseph intends to try another fake punt is inconsequential. He is only likely to try one if our quarterback keeps failing in the red zone leaving him desperate enough to think he needs to for sake of extra tries for his offense.

Honest eyes can't question the sheer intensity with which the Broncos play, but you also can't question who is held responsible or credited for the red zone and third down production. For two games Siemian was great on third down and in the red zone.

And now?

Not so much.

Less turnovers might offer a clue, but the Broncos have a few other questions yet to answer as a collective- especially on offense.

Intensity of effort is not one of them.

On both sides of the ball, they've come prepared to win every game and never allowed any opponent to simply dictate by force.

Against the Cowboys, rumors had it they (Dallas) all quit on the field, not just Ezekiel Elliott. Win or lose, no such rumors have taken residence in Denver, and that is a direct reflection of the head coach who's temperament determines such things.

This season, for better or worse, has been about Trevor Siemian and Trevor Siemian alone. He came into the season with a resume to refer to, and he is no longer the post surgery shortened season, redshirt freshman who is QB for the varsity. He is now a redshirted sophomore with the above-mentioned list on his record.

Thanks to the Book of Trevor ((not Eli), teams are certain of how they want to beat the Broncos and it's called make Siemian do it. In three games thus far Siemian has done his part, which is understandably smaller thanks to an All-Pro defense.

I believe he can do it, but the jury is still out. Until now, he has looked nothing like his draft slot but every bit of his age, something that worked against him when Dak Prescott was balling out as a rookie. Dak has helped other young QB's by coming down to earth a bit, but the expectations on the shoulders of Siemian are an all time Great defense type of HUGE.

Siemian's head is still swimming with expectations, constant blitzes, loaded boxes, DT and Emmanuel, making his offensive coordinator happy all while getting Chris Gallegos off his ass a bit.

WHO IS CHRIS GALLEGOS?

Chris Gallegos is a friend and former highschool classmate of mine, and a passionate lover of the Broncos who leads the "we've got the wrong QB" brigade in Denver. The word brigade denotes that Chris is not alone in his sentiment even though he alone expresses it in a way I would not want momma Siemian to hear, especially given the success her son has achieved as a 7th round unexpected starter and captain... for two seasons, and under two different head coaches.

In reality Chris is right. None of that overcoming crap will amount to anything if Siemian is not the right guy to maximize Von Miler's promising future, and if Broncos fans are just setting themselves up to be the last to know it. I'm not saying Siemian has proven himself. I'm not even saying that Denver will win this game, but I am saying we will have a real answer about Trevor once it is over.

Respecting the resume of the incoming opponent doesn't change the film they have on us and Siemian. In fact, if you want a reason to be worried it's the fact that they have film on us but our film on them is useless. They are not staffed to play the way they planned at the start of the year, and they are not benefitted by fighting to be something different just because it appears they have to. Essentially, Denver won't be able to prepare for the team NY has evolved into because the on film evolution has yet to begin.

The Giants entered the season believing they could play like the Broncos played during the first two seasons of Eli's brother. Odell Beckham went down a week ago, so the reason to ditch the old plan hasn't yet been clarified in New York. That method did not produce any 0-5's for Peyton, but it did make a fairly good defense get described as poor at times simply because of the poor defensive stats produced from high octane offensive play and low TOP (time of possession).

The Giants defense is good with a few carryovers from their championship teams. Their coach may be trying a double edge sword of an offensive approach, one that overworks your defense even if you produce points, which they have not. Nothing evidences a capable defense, however, better than a team sputtering to score but has still been in nearly every game they've played this year.

This is no more a question of defenses than it is of coaches, even as New York's coach could be feeling the 0-5 heat some. This is about two quarterbacks. Not just Siemian, but Manning who will be in the Hall of Fame, and can remind you of why on any given Sunday.

Was Siemian just joking when he said Brandon
Stokely is the former player he would love to
play with the most? Is he a REAL slot receiver
away from something special on offense?

For better or for worse, this game is a referendum on Siemian, and Denver fans should never worry about finally learning what we have in Siemian regardless of the final score.

What Denver should worry about is an MFNHOFQB any time they face one. Phillip Rivers is an MFNHOFQB (next week's opponent) and so is Eli. Either the Giants will find a spine behind their MFNHOFQB and give Broncos country a tough game, maybe even a loss, or Siemian will take full advantage of his relative experience and two weeks of preparation, and show Chris Gallegos why he too could become an MFNHOFQB himself someday.


 Best I can tell, the circumstances leave very little room for anything else to occur.

I'm A Socialist Who Doesn't Believe In $15 Per Hour

Before you take me to task for the headline, I truly am a conservative socialist, meaning I lean towards the efficacy of the free market way before I trust the viability of long-term welfare for anyone, including big corporations.

I am convinced that people who are healthy and educated don't need a hand-out, just an occasional hand up, meaning proactive education and healthcare reform could virtually eliminate the need for welfare as we know it.

That has always been a theory that assumes the presence of livable wages, something educated people will either find or create.

What I have seen from the mass job Exodus  that began the Obama years is a nation that found other ways to get by. No, not without an increase in housing and eating support services in some cases, but another way nonetheless.

In the space between the Exodus that accounted for some of the largest amounts of folks who simply left the job market altogether and the return of record stock market numbers, wages have increased by almost 3%. That may not sound like a lot, but that is just an average amidst lower unemployment numbers as well.

What that tells this non-economist is that a few people who left the job market altogether have now returned, perhaps for a fair wage?

I am not saying we don't need to insure that we have a minimum wage to avoid employers of low Integrity, I am saying we can't legislatively insure that the minimum wage meets the cost of living, no matter where you work. Bad state management will reflect on wages wages, so some states are a bigger victim of leadership than others.

I'm not saying that the money doesn't exist, I am just saying that laws can't find the proper balance of where it is and where it is not available. Record numbers leaving the workforce, however, CAN- and has- forced the wages we deserve, and the evidence is revealing itself every single day.

Once desperate employers stop trying to use a job to lure the rest of those that left the job market, they will finally start to offer a career path that makes the entry wage issue a less significant concern to the millions that have yet to return.

Jobs are increasingly losing favor unless you are fortunate enough to work for the handful of employers that understand the important balance between the care of your staff and the growth of revenue and profits.

In a global market place, the battle to monopolize industries has a new competitive inclusion, and it's all those people who left the job market.

They are and shall remain the hope for your wages, and their impact shall remain even if wages and career paths rise to something more livable.

Obama invested in the hopes of entrepreneurship while Trump is trying his best to drive those people towards the job market. Seeing a glimpse of something better makes it unlikely you'll settle for less, so this wave of entrepreneurship won't just die off.

                                             

Trump's legislative incompetence is the best hope for those who dare to create a career for themselves and, indirectly, better wages for everyone else. But even an imbecile can accidentally achieve poorly planned goals, like becoming the president for example.

Trump Golfing With Lindsey Graham, Bizarre

If Donald Trump is golfing with Senator Lindsey Graham, it's not because he and Graham are friends or because either has evolved in their views towards the other. This was a function of low job approval numbers that are evidently inclusive of a few people in Trump's inner circle, and of Graham trying to actually do his job.

Senator Graham is a wise enough man to understand the negotiation game himself. His mischaracterization of Trump's rainy weather golf score is a sure sign of feeding the ego of a narcissist in the hopes of keeping him on task legislatively.

Graham is not only wise, he is tenured enough to recognize the impact of having a legislative majority and not doing a damn thing with it. Graham is recognizing that a war between Senator Bob Corker is a kiss of death to the Trumpian agenda, which is nothing more than being loved and getting his wealth repatriated to US soil. He also knows that wasting their majority is exactly the help Steve Bannon will need to unseat countless current GOP seat holders as Bannon has promised to do in the coming midterm elections.

The Russian investigation is closing in on every social media platform, Trump and his family, and on the fired help that are caught in the loop and look like potential pile-on problems if they chase after deals to cover their own tails.

If Trump hadn't spent so much time taking down Marco Rubio (little Marco), half the GOP including the war hero, every immigrant and the people who love them as well as women, blacks, LGBTQ's and the entire opposition to the Confederate flag flyers which includes his daughter and son-in-law, he might not be so desperate to catch a break from the news media.

Did I mention the media as another focal point of his incessant attacks? Add them too.

Trump is asking for a break and looking for allies when Confederate flag flyers are the only people he has been decent to, even though few of them work in Congress. Trump has never given the press a break so to ask for one is extremely bizarre. Not quite as bizarre as his recent golf outing with Senator Graham, but pretty close.

Apparently, I don't have the political chops of Lindsey Graham, or the golf handicap of Donald Trump, but I would give the tip of my pinky to be at that next golf outing.

Not only to see if he really is killing my best golf score by that much, but to see if he is really crumbling into isolated obscurity as he appears to be from a distance.

I might try to get a pack of those paper towels too.