No Surprises

By Ron Signore

Super Tuesday has come and gone. There were not many surprises that registered on the Richter Scale. On the left, I am kind of taken back that Katie Porter didn’t receive more support over Steve Garvey. Adam Schiff, or her would have been ok in my book, but due to age, I would slightly side with Porter.

After that result, despite the barrage of notifications about Nikki Haley winning Vermont that glorified her like she made a huge impact, Chump nearly swept Haley in every state. As a result, she dropped out of the race to contend Trump for the nomination of the Republican Party. I think we all had some hope that maybe someone would seriously contend with him, though it never really gained enough traction to make a difference.

As I am sure Cheeto Boy is relieved, I am relieved I no longer have to really worry about who would receive the Republican nomination between a “turd sandwich” and a “giant douche.” For those of you who are not aware, that reference is from South Park. You can apply whichever metaphor to whoever. Honestly, you likely can’t go wrong with identifying either of them with both. At this point, I need all the comic relief that I can get since my basic fears are now more realized as we see Tiny Hands Donny officially put up against President Biden, in yet another 2020 rematch.

All that is left now is hope and reality. We have to hope that the impact of Haley staying in the race as long as she did align with a reality to continue imploding the Republican Party. If she was able to continue providing doubt in Bunker Boy as she campaigned across the nation, the question will remain until election day: Did she convince enough people to either not continue supporting Trump and taking their vote away from him; or even better, reallocating those votes to President Biden.

Haley was no prize pick in general, but she was arguably the lessor of two evils. Hard to find anyone that is less of an evil than Bunker Boy. Whether she really believes it or not, she inserted truths defying Dodo Brain on his spreading of misinformation about America being some sort of Utopia when he was in office. In a world where people are picking what ‘facts’ they want to believe, she seemingly brought some people back to reality. Even of the reality is centering the extreme right views amongst voters just a little, in a tight race, that would be significant.

The cowardice of many Republicans is another fear, while realized way before this, that comes back front and center. It has been an ongoing divide more visible behind closed doors than we see in the public eye. You started to see wavering when some Republicans, most notably Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, started to speak up to the reality of what that man brings to the nation. Like any good team that may be behind, the goal becomes chip away at the lead. We are seeing that with several members of the conservative congress either not seeking re-election, or potentially on the verge of defeat if they ended up running. Instead of speaking up and doing the right thing for our country, they run. But, to me, there is no greater image of dysfunction and divide than the fiasco with solidifying a Speaker of the House. Mike Johnson, who wasn’t even the first, second, or third choice, may have landed the responsibility, but he is clearly conflicted by the cries of inefficiency for this Republican led congress, of which denotes a clear portrayal of putting party before country.

Every Chump supporter I talk to is incredibly adamant that President Biden is finished due to poll data and the news source of their choice. We all learned long ago that trying to make a MAGA minded individual change their beliefs is like climbing a mountain made of quicksand. Nikki Haley, for better or worse, achieved that to some extent. They hold their argument on the border, as I indicated before with an all or nothing approach. As a businessman, I do have respect for enthusiasm for their perspective side to an extent. From a negotiating perspective, they are trying to attain leverage on getting what they want by showing an unwavering stand on the matter.

However, they are doing this at the expense of the American people. This isn’t a business. Before all the nonsense got way out of whack with the rabbit hole of conspiracies, the justification for many voting for Chump in 2016 was because he was a businessman, not a politician. Unfortunately, those voters didn’t do any research, because if they did, they would have learned the only deal Chump was good at negotiating was the bankruptcy settlements for his failing business ventures. They allowed the public eye to tell a story, and they were duped. This is the governing body of our nation. By default, bipartisan governing requires compromise for the obvious reasons of 300 million people with different beliefs in any given matter. They are showing they are not willing to compromise for their constituents, and it all funnels up to the head of the Republican Party and his massive delusional ego.

While many arguments show clear signs of being hypocritical, especially from the deflection of fault by their own party, there is a failed realization that there are more citizens in the country than the right side of the spectrum. I get flack from both sides because I have relationships that are dear to me that have values on both sides of the spectrum. I expressed this concern to one person in particular that despite my disdain for certain political candidates or agendas, the reality of my ideology is far more centrist than people would think based on my writing here. But we are not arguing ideologies right now. We’re arguing conspiracies, we’re arguing about what information is real, what sources to trust, but the most damning to me is we are arguing for two different countries for the most part as I see it. One country is that ‘half’ that is driving a message of our way or the highway. The other is obviously more inclusive beyond the nationalists.

While I hope one day, we can get back to talking ideology and debating issues in a forum that can lead to compromise and progress, the reality is farther apart than ever before. Each party is being vilified and portrayed as a battle of good versus evil. Fundamentally, politics was always about driving growth and progress to the nation. However, we have taken that battle and decided to really make this a battle of the constitution of our country. We ignore criminal charges or accusations, where 5 years ago, those controversial means would have buried a candidate. We have had interference from Russia, China, and others to undermine our democracy to the point we are allowing ignorance to our own constitution. We have such a blurred line between the separation of church and state, and our Supreme Court is arguably not as bipartisan as they should be.

Both candidates have a real shot at winning the general election in November, no matter how many people want to deny that. What I am looking for now is the strategy of each candidate. Cheeto Boy, for all intents and purposes is the Republican nominee. Throughout the primaries, he has pandered to the more radical base of the party. He has a challenge now of trying to capture the more center-right voters, which I believe if he does, there is no stopping him. Whereas President Biden’s strategy is somewhat of a mystery when I consider what his next moves could and should be. There is no mystery that part of his strategy is going to be to continue to discredit Chump and lack of production from the Republican led House. But, while Chump may be faced with legal obstacles, Biden is faced with challenges of uniting a country where there is a clear dichotomy on facts that are accepted, and a continued distrust in the state.

President Biden was not my first choice in 2020. As the pandemic pressed on while being poorly managed by the administration at the time, it became clear that not matter who won that election was going to have more repair to kick off the term. Either Chump was going to need to turn around the impacts of how the pandemic was managed, or Biden was going to need to pick the ball up and run. I never really thought between November 5th, 2019, and now that we would see all the events, we have from election denying and all that stemmed from that to a potential insurrection, to criminal indictments, impeachment inquiries, and a focus on candidates that are forming another geriatric election.

What is most shocking to me, assuming we believe the data as reality, is what Biden has actually managed to accomplish. I mean for an 81-year-old guy, he has arguably successfully managed to put efforts into what he campaigned on. The Infrastructure Bill and efforts on student debt relief alone positively impacted this country coming out of the pandemic. But what really hits me at a macro level is the results of minimizing inflation, that is transpiring globally mind you, and increasing jobs/decreasing unemployment as much as he has. By no means is Biden perfect, but as far as clarity is concerned, there is no doubt in my mind he has put America first.

I think every politician benefits in some way or another from policies they put in place or deny for that matter. I personally believe that to disagree with that points out a bit of naivety. My opinion of politicians is so low that I have had to take what I call the Michael Jordan approach with them. Jordan is nothing short of a legendary basketball player. During his playing career, there was an inherent perception of a role model. In many ways, he was. But he was no angel in his off the court behaviors. It has jaded me to shift my evaluation of politicians to be based on who else they impact, because it is very unlikely that they are not benefiting.

While I never felt Chump was a great leader, which I have documented here as to why, he clearly has some power that has helped him form this movement that supports him. Issue wise, he is preying on the paranoia of losing our country, and the dangers of open borders. But for an America First portrayal, he is no stranger to outsourcing his products to be made in Chi-nuh. He clearly has been documented to accept foreign money during his term, all while diverting the attention of voters to conspiracies, projecting wrongdoing by the current administration.
Of course, there is the chance that I am way off, and this will be a landslide one way or another. Either way, it is dawning fear upon me to think about the potential for exponential damage post-election. If Cheeto Boy loses, will it be enough to finally drive a more formal and organized civil war in efforts to succeed from the union? If he wins, will it lead to our fears of essentially destroying the constitution and demolishing our governing structure? Neither is a situation I hope for. Both scenarios I hope are so extreme that I am worrying for nothing. Time will tell.

Let the battle begin…

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