Good or Bad for the Jews

"Good or Bad for the Jews"

Many years ago, and for many years, I would travel to Morocco to visit uncles, cousins, and my paternal grandmother. Some lived in Tangiers;...

Monday, July 13, 2015

The Republican Presidential Menu

I might have lost count of how many gentlemen and lady have jumped into the GOP presidential contest. Those much wiser than I might say the Republican party now has too many candidates on offer. Perhaps. Who knows? The Wise Ones must get it right at least once, mustn't they? No? I guess a restaurant can provide a menu that offers TOO much choice to the consumer. That problem  certainly does not exist in the Democrat cafe over in Progressive Land. In that messy and greasy establishment, so far, the choice comes down to Column 'A' consisting of one old corrupt zero accomplishments white woman, or Column 'B' comprised of one old crazy-as-a-loon zero accomplishments white man. If, therefore, you get stressed by making choices then go with the Progressives. They'll make them for you: red beets with cabbage, or cabbage with red beets.

The Republicans have some excellent candidates. I think this is the strongest field we have seen from the ol' elephant party in a long, long time. Any one of them would make a far superior President than the calamity now occupying 1600 Pennsylvania, and better than Hillary or Bernie, by far. All of them strike me as patriotic and genuinely horrified by the leadership in DC. I have favorites, of course, and although it's a bit early, in keeping with full disclosure, I will say that I am inclined towards several of the governors.

I like Scott Walker a great deal: he seems a man who actually accomplishes things, e.g., breaking the power of the public sector unions in Wisconsin is no mean feat. Admittedly, he comes off a bit nerdy in this age of television and sound bites, but that is a minor sin. I also like Rick Perry, who seems to have put together a good campaign after his disastrous 2012 run. He has been giving some very interesting speeches and seems to have done a lot of thinking about the problems facing our country. He also has a sense of humor, and a strong record as governor of Texas. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana is an interesting governor, too, although I think he's still a little rough around the edges for a national campaign. My least favorite of the governors is Christie of New Jersey. I still can't forgive him for his sabotage of the Romney campaign in the crucial closing days of the 2012 bout, and NJ's anti-second amendment policies leave much to be desired--still a helluva lot better than Obama or Clinton, however.

Senators Cruz and Rubio are charismatic, excellent speakers and debaters, and very strong on foreign policy. Either would eat Hillary Clinton's lunch in a debate; I just don't know about either one's managerial skills, and Rubio got himself sandbagged on immigration in his bid for "strange new respect." Carly Fiorina certainly talks a good game, seems a formidable debater, but probably comes handicapped by her controversial tenure at HP. I actually met Jeb Bush some years ago when he came to Indonesia and spent almost a full day with him. He is extremely smart, a very nice and funny person, but I am not fully convinced that he has the fire in the belly we need right now. His time might have passed. Ben Carson also seems a genuinely decent person and quite smart. I just don't know how he would do in the highly politicized world of DC. I am lukewarm on Trump, Huckabee, Kasich, and Paul for a variety of reasons, mostly revolving around my doubts about their conservative credentials. Senators Graham and Santorum, and Governor Pataki have not entered into my calculations much at all.

Anyhow, let's just hope they do not trash each other too much and give the MSM and the Dems ammunition to use in the general election.

15 comments:

  1. I pretty much agree with your comments. Walker and Jindal are both very effective but Jindal has been less effective as a speaker. He is very, very smart. Kasich has a good record but needs a better haircut. No first term Senators, please.

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  2. "This much is certain: Mr. Trump has re-ignited the debate over illegal immigration and the issue is not going away. His fellow candidates--the ones so anxious to vilify Trump and pander to the immigration lobby--need to acknowledge a rather inconvenient truth: securing the Republican nomination will require lots of votes from party activists, the same people who helped Trump surge in the polls."

    "Antagonize that electoral bloc and you'll see a repeat of 2012, when millions of conservative voters stayed home."

    "That's not to say they won't try, ... Republicans who prefer the "pastel colors" of Democrats, versus the "bold colors" of genuinely conservative alternatives to the status quo."

    http://formerspook.blogspot.com/

    ***

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  3. Is Trump really a candidate and a Republican? Or is he a target set up by the Clintons for Hillary to shoot at? After all, his comments are incendiary, and so make a lovely target for Hillary to bash, and then to ascribe those comments to all Republicans.

    The Donald did vote for Obama, and supported Hillary's campaign for the Senate, so it is a fair question.

    Green Bear

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  4. Our thoughts on the GOP candidates are pretty much in alignment. There is a lot of work to be done in fixing what the Progressives have damaged if not outright destroyed. This batch of governors looks good (except of course for Christie, can't stand him at all).

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  5. Walker specifically mentioned that he would undo any agreement with Iran. Given the announcement on that subject, I'd say his stock just went up with a lot of concerned citizens.

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  6. Along with "no first-term Senators", let's include those not eligible under Article Two. Rubio, Cruz, and Jindal aren't natural born citizens.

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  7. Anonymous 11:41, please check your facts. Jindal was born in Baton Rouge. Rubio was born in Miami. Cruz was born to a natural-born US citizen mother. Congress has already defined that birth to a US citizen makes one a natural born citizen for purposes of the Presidency. That came up in 2008: John McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone to US citizen parents; his father was stationed there with the Navy.

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  8. I pretty much concur with your assessment of the GOP candidates. However, I'd really like to hear someone talk about judicial appointments. Alexander Bickel once described the judiciary as "the least dangerous branch", yet it seems that Elena hate-speech-codes-are-OK-if-used-against-the-RIGHT-people Kagan and judges who are preparing to nullify black-and-white First Amendment rights visible to any literate person in the name of "rights" they've discovered in the "penumbrae" of the Constitution are in some ways bigger threats to the country than Shrillary Shrooo, Bernie the Commie, and Fauxahontas Warren.

    Further, the GOP badly needs to put across its point. There was a vigorous conservative intellectual movement going on in the last third of the 20th century, and it helped get Reagan elected. I don't see such a thing going on now.

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  9. I am going to make a similar point to Kepha - who will make the best judicial appointments?

    To that question, I think Cruz is the answer. Most of the others will do OK but Cruz has the most expertise and experience with the judicial branch.

    I am in general agreement with Dip's assessments although I'd rate Trump a bit higher - but let's see how the campaign develops. He's needed to play along with politicians all his business career so his earlier pronouncements have a lot of suck up motivations. I think he is conservative ENOUGH for me but we'll see.

    So, of most interest to me - Perry, Cruz, Walker, and Trump. But no commitment yet.

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  10. Consider what the Democrats have finally run down with...A crone who exploited her cheating husbands name for power, was an abject failure in he last job, and likely committed numerous felonies while trying to cover-up her duplicity
    OR
    An avowed Socialist who has no qualms about making Amerika the next great Experiment in that failed philosophy?
    OR
    If Biden jumps a brain injured politico with self-control issues (just what we need on the nuclear launch codes).
    Really Democrats? Is this your top tier candidates?
    The sad part being that even with this group of dangerous, pathetic, throwbacks...the GOP stands a good chance of loosing what should be a cakewalk...and what does that say about the Electorate?

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  11. OT Diplomad Sir - has to do with your post of Friday, February 28, 2014

    "Russia says it is examining the possibility of direct supplies of energy to Greece in an effort to bolster the country's foundering economy."

    http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-direct-supplies-energy-greece/27123484.html
    ____________

    Figured Diplomad, you'd take care of the Iranian stuff without any prompting.

    ***

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  12. Trump, come on, he's a Democrat in sheep's clothing

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  13. Angelo Codevilla recently wrote a piece on "Standing up to The Ruling Class" ; a depressing read because there are so few options. His bottom line:
    "In our time, if a candidate were to challenge his opponents to bare-knuckle, Lincoln–Douglas sessions, his example might lead fellow citizens to reject the combination of poisonous sloganeering and of dominance, submissiveness, and corruption that now passes for politics".

    If that really is the best option, then Ted Cruz is the best choice for the GOP and western civilization.

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  14. I'm a Texan that strongly supports Ted Cruz. He has studied and understands the Constitution and our founding principles in a way that we haven't seen in our political leaders in a long time.

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