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Posts Tagged ‘jeb bush’

Decepticons: Trump and the Geto Boys

Posted in politics, tagged , , , on July 14, 2017| 1 Comment »

dep

Campaigning and governing requires putting policies and situations in terms people can understand.  The policy wonks and campaign advisors on Capitol Hill and in Buckhead aren’t about is life in  “G. A. red clay.”  I have a few popular culture references to explain what’s what.

In the Geto Boys’ hit “My Mind Playing Tricks On Me,” Willie D said “Or is it the one I beat for five thousand dollars.  Thought he had caine but it was Gold Medal flour.” While I am no lawyer and intent is different in different states, Donald Trump Jr. thought he was about to getg dirt from a foreign government that could change the election….intent like thinking you purchased cocaine but got flour.  You tried to do something very wrong if not illegal.  If Watergate and Bill Clinton’s drama was a pebble, this mess is a basketball sized rock.

“I make big money. I drive big cars.  Everybody know me. It’s like I’m a movie star.”  President Ronald Reagan was a movie star turned governor but we shouldn’t forget that he was head of the Screen Actors Guild, a big union.  The Trumps thought making a lateral move from the private sector to public sector fame would be simple.  Running for office is like a Madison Avenue marketing campaign but actually governing with 300 million bosses is something else.

This nation owes a collective apology to Jeb Bush.  Donald Trump saw seeking and maybe being president as another project.  Jeb knew how hard being in high office was from watching his family to being governor of a big, diverse state.  Jeb said that he wouldn’t run if it required the sneakiness and lies that basically Trump used.  And may I say, the Black community will never support Trump because of his dirty treatment of Obama and will never support anyone for any office who thinks or thought he is presidential material.

Between a Transformer movie and the Terminator franchise, characters that can morph into something else puts me in the mind of some politicians.  Yea, these Decepticons run for office under one flag and switch.  The current Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue was a Democrat a few years before he switched to the GOP and became governor of Georgia.  Nathan Deal is the governor now but was a moderate Democrat congressman.

Shakespeare wrote “what’s in a name, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”  Matthew 7:15-20 spoke of false prophets, ravening wolves in sheep’s clothing.  You will know good leaders by the fruits they bear because a corrupt tree can’t produce good fruit.

The skill set that got the Trumps rich disqualifies them to run the White House.  It’s the White House..not the oligarch-run Kremlin.

The mid-term elections of 2018 will be the first step for Republicans and Democrats in getting back to a normal government.  Regular Republicans are having second thoughts and some folks are discovering that deep federal cuts will hit them hard.  Their minds are playing tricks on them.

Obama and Hillary Clinton were about a strong defense but when possible soft power—using goodwill and temporary foreign assistance to help nations help themselves.  The Geto Boys sang “I live by the sword. I take my boys everywhere I go, because I’m paranoid. I keep lookin’ over my shoulder and peepin’ around corners.  My mind is playin’ tricks on me.”

That sounds like Trump, his sons and son in law to me (Ivanka is cool because she is down with Chelsea Clinton).   Trump and North Korea’s Kim live by the sword but Isaiah 2:4 spoke of beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks—learning war  no more.

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Jeb Nostradamus Bush’s Face: The Miseducation of America

Posted in politics, tagged , , , on May 17, 2017| Leave a Comment »

trump-jeb-bush-debate

Jeb Bush saw this Trump situation coming like Nostradamus and so did I.  First of all, it’s not about Trump nor is it Trump’s fault.  Donald Trump thought it would be fun building his brand by running for president.  As he said last week, Hillary was supposed to win.

Could enough Americans be so twisted that the least qualified candidate in history gets elected over the most qualified?  Evidently, yes.  The Bushes are basically decent people—notice how Bill Clinton has become an extra son to 41.  Jeb repeatedly said he wouldn’t be president if he had to be a dirty, misinformation candidate to win and the Republican primary voters said take your behind home.  Trump was like “I will.”

In politics and policy, what you want to say to achieve a result and the truth are often two different things.  A noble person would always try to tell the truth and sometimes the truth hurts.  An opportunistic person like Trump thinks “win and get paid” first then deal with whatever later.

People should have a functioning Crap meter to determine when someone is bringing it by the truckload.  At some point, some conservatives determined that the ends justify the means.  Honestly, many of their hopes for America make sense but you can’t get there with dirty methods nor force people to do what they maybe should do.

At some point, Fox News stopped pretending to be unbiased journalism and started saying sensational nonsense that drove ratings up and made money.  It’s misinformation at it’s finest.

A segment of the far Right profits from pitting Americans against each other– flirting with Civil War rather than seeking solutions.  A segment of the far Left wants anarchy.  In his marketing brilliance, Trump saw the opportunity to ride the misinformation wave straight into the White House.  You can see in his eyes that it’s not the fun job he thought it would be.  Hillary was elected president by the popular vote; Trump, by the Electoral College, was elected King.  In our system of government, one person can’t run the nation by the seat of his pants.  Trump might need to let Pence have it before forensic analysis of his businesses leads to real drama for his folks.

All is not lost.  We must reeducate America.  My community needs to understand the importance of voting and keeping up with public policy.  The progressives are hot in the Democratic Party these days and peace to them.  However, the moderate, centrist Blue Dog seats at the table must remain.  I still think we should have a frank discussion about what government can’t/shouldn’t do.  The 1960s Blacks would be appalled by the current lack of voting, desire for assistance and importance of the hip hop culture.  Oh, the thug mentality of some hip hop is holding us down more than Trump.

In 2017, the Democrat Team should be field testing concepts, approaches and issues to find what resonates with my non-urban South.  The Black community is the backbone of the Blue Team.  You don’t need to be Nostradamus to see continued struggle if we don’t do things differently.

 

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“Strategery” Why Blacks should vote for Jeb Bush and Vivian Childs

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , on November 16, 2015| Leave a Comment »

strategery1

Strategery is a comical word said by Will Ferrell on Saturday Night Live while playing candidate George Bush.  Voting with a strategy is no laughing matter for Blacks in the South.

As we know, most Black southerners who vote favor the Democrat Party however, I stay ticked off by the fact that many Blacks simply don’t vote.  Oh, hard working, church attending, clean nosed African Americans vote as part of our civic duty and to help form a more perfect union.  But, a shocking percentage of Blacks who live in part on public assistance can’t be troubled to go vote.  But, the same folks pay 8 bucks every Friday night to profile at the high school football game…in the cold….for hours.   Really?

If those folks voted, the Republicans wouldn’t run most of politics in the South outside the largest cities.  Strategery would dictate that Blacks Who Actually Vote (BWAV) come up with a fallback plan because begging cats to vote isn’t working.  The purpose of voting is to select elected leaders who best reflect your views and opinions.  So logically, if the Democrats aren’t even fielding candidates in most contests, we must select from the Republicans…I won’t say “the lesser of evils” because most of them aren’t actually evil and I have yet to see any horns.

Georgia has a special election in December in State Senate District 20 and Mrs. Vivian Childs is a candidate.  You won’t meet nicer people than Mrs. Childs and her retired colonel husband Henry.  They are deeply involved in the Houston County/Middle Georgia community and raised outstanding children.

Let’s talk about trump but not about presidential candidate Donald Trump. I mean the fact that candidate Childs’ membership in a prominent African American sorority “trumps” the fact that she is a Republican.  Yes, DST trumps GOP with me because we are cut from the same cloth and have a shared cultural history.  This blog often points out many southern Blacks are conservative in actuality because we think success comes from personal actions rather than governmental involvement.  Yes, the government should protect basic civil rights but the safety net has created a softness with citizens of all colors.

Of course, the far Right trips so hard that they have ensure that Blacks aren’t comfortable joining the GOP until the traditional conservatives retake the ship….that won’t happen soon.  But, putting a reasonable, positive person like Vivian Childs in the state senate would be a step in the right direction.  Mrs. Childs’ career always involved helping people through education or ministry.  District 20 Democrat voters should vote for one of the GOP candidates in this non-partisan election and Mrs. Childs is a wise move.

Donald Trump got rich in business by using leverage and the Black community has little leverage in state government these days because we are overwhelmingly with the losing team.

What the heck is the Black presidential plan relative to Donald Trump in the South?  Hillary is the Dem nominee and that reality frees us up for strategery in the GOP primary.  First, the Republicans hate it when Democrats vote in the GOP primary so I like that…let their heads explode but I want to vote where the action is.

We could vote for Donald Trump or Dr. Ben Carson because Hillary would have an easier time whupping them next November.  But, what if they actually won?!  As we say on my block, “don’t even play like that.”  The GOP nom needs to be a serious leader with a proven history of governing…a big state governor.  While Chris Christie is a “big” state governor who can lead, I mean a governor from a “big state” like Florida or Texas.  With Rick Perry gone, Jeb Bush is the guy and Ohio Governor John Kasich should be his running mate.

Bottomline, Black folks need to get behind Vivian Childs, Jeb Bush and John Kasich because the stakes are too high to let the GOP voters decide alone.

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What’s Up: Joe Biden, Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton and Hurricane Farrakhan

Posted in politics, tagged , , , on August 31, 2015| Leave a Comment »

My political predictions for the near future are simple and clear:

Joe Biden: I don’t know if Vice President Biden will run for president but Hillary Clinton needs him to run—hear me out.  Junior Senator Barrack Obama got into a serious fight for the nomination with Clinton.  The battle sharpen the skills of both candidates.  Many voters felt that young Obama wasn’t ready to be leader of the free world; he had not put in the required time on the national stage.  But, the primary battle proved his steel.

Joe Biden could be to Clinton want Clinton was to Obama.  Yes, she is ready and experienced enough to be president but she needs a seasoned sparring partner.

Jeb Bush: The Republicans need to stop playing—stop it, I say…now.  Let me make one thing perfectly clear…read my lips….Jeb Bush is the only Republican with a real chance of defeating Hillary Clinton in the general election.  If you notice, Bush has an “I don’t need this crap” air about him.  He is the grown person in the room and to flirt with Trump and the others leading in the polls today is insulting to a leader of his caliber.

A Jeb Bush/John Kasich ticket is the best case scenario because the former House Budget Committee chair is the governor of swing state Ohio and both men intelligently tell far Right conservatives when their fervor is too much.  Maybe Bush isn’t suited to be the nom from a party increasing dominated by folks who dig Trump-like rhetoric.

Hillary Clinton: The biggest obstacle to Hillary Clinton winning the White House isn’t the Republicans pulling voters from her.  The obstacle or concern is getting out people who normally vote for the Democrat nominee.  If you notice, I didn’t say Democrats because many of the sometimes voters who put President Obama in office aren’t “card carrying, meetings attending” proud members of the Blue Team.  I think of it as how dedicated are University of Georgia football fans compared to UGA basketball fans.

So, Bill Clinton, Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton reach the people based in part on who they are personally rather than the power of the party as a cohesive operation (like the Republicans.)  Dem leaders think their base will vote for their nom (Hillary) as an only option because to GOP nom is head of a party with a crazy sub-division.  However, there is another option: stay home.  Say what, real Americans like me vote in every election including a run-off for local dog catcher.

But after the high of having Barrack Obama in the Oval, the next move for some people will be to look for non-governmental solutions because even the smoothest president in history couldn’t fixed your jacked-up life.  “….as not what this country can do for you…..”

Hurricane Farrakhan: Minister Louis Farrakhan is about to return to Washington, D.C., for a rally commemorating the historic Million Man March.  Team Hillary should be concerned….very, very concerned because the platform of the DNC seems to be based on governmental assistance rather than encouraging all Americans to step their personal games up.  If you notice the personal responsibility message to the Black community has always been the core of Farrakhan’s and  Malcolm X’s missions.

These young Blacks today are information savvy and recognize that the Democrats aren’t producing results. They want straight talk and clear solutions.  When Farrakhan finishes his indictment on “Brother Barrack”’s political party,  20% of the Obamacrats might blow off the next presidential election and that would be a mistake.

Team Hillary has countless Ivy League nerds with charts, polls and algorithms.  If those cats join with the bishops from the Black churches and folks who marched with King, they won’t create a message that will sense to regular people.

While the official Hillary campaign can’t address certain issues in certain ways, they better hope that outside operations come up with an approach similar to this blog’s Best Interest Initiative.

https://projectlogicga.com/best-interests-initiative/

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Shame and Babies Having Babies: Jeb Bush, Colin Powell and me

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , on June 11, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Governor Jeb Bush is catching heat for a statement he made about out of wedlock births.  In his 1995 book Profiles of Character, a chapter called “The Restoration of Shame” includes the following:

“One of the reasons more young women are giving birth out of wedlock and more young men are walking away from their paternal obligations is that there is no longer a stigma attached to this behavior, no reason to feel shame.”

http://www.npr.org/sections/itsallpolitics/2015/06/10/413431225/jeb-bush-and-floridas-scarlet-letter-law-explained

It might be hard hearing a presidential candidate talking about shame because it seems that the government is telling people to be ashamed.  However, candidates are people too and have opinions.  We often vote for them based on their ethical opinions on non-governmental matters.

Look, people’s personal behavior ultimately leads to governmental action at times. For example, a young woman has a baby but isn’t prepared to care for the child.  When she turns to the government (taxpayer’s dollars) for hopefully temporary assistance, all taxpayers then become involved.  To me, having other people offering commentary on my decisions and conduct is the worst of the worst.  I feel like a child….hey, I would feel shame.

Of course, I have personally made some decisions that were wrong…again, shame on some level or to some degree.  My personal problem isn’t so much with the out of wedlock births (because we know plenty people with two crappy parents at home) as it is with children being born without the mean to care for them.  The government nor grandparents shouldn’t be factored in financially for 18 years.  Oprah can have all the single lady children she wants because she has money.

What Bush wrote is similar to what my man General/Secretary Colin Powell wrote in his first book.   Powell often says people should have a sense of shame but he is smooth with it.  He said the following in an interview:

Powell said he often tells kids, “Have a sense of shame.”

“We gotta put a lot of this burden not just on the schools and on the family but on the kids themselves,” he said. “We just can’t have them sit in front of the television set watching Jerry Springer as a way of solving problems. We have got to make sure that we give our youngsters a sense of the need for excellence, the need for hard work. And we believe in you. We have expectations for you. Don’t disappoint us.”

See, Colin Powell is encouraging people to have a personal sense of shame.  He talks about getting back to that vibe in the our community.  My A.M.E. pastor says that being free shouldn’t give you the right to be foolish.

This blog’s Best Interests Initiative includes a section on personal responsibility.  It’s an interesting topic and I don’t have all the answers.  I do feel that parents should be on the grind all day every day to care for kids who didn’t ask to come here.  Wait, it is a dam shame for a guy to feel he is too good to work for 10 bucks an hour but plays Madden all day while a female works to care the child and while her parents reenter the workforce after retiring to help.  “Did she have a baby with a guy who has six kids already and has done anything for them….that’s a shame.”

Finally, I am not a Republican but vote sometimes in their wild primaries.  General Powell should have been president and Jeb Bush happens to be the most reasonable of their candidates at this point.

https://projectlogicga.com/2015/04/28/best-interests-initiative-personal-responsibility-choices-decisions-and-consequences/

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You Better Court the Black Vote/Hate TV campaign ads

Posted in politics, tagged , on November 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Southern Blacks shouldn’t be a presidential lock for anyone in 2016.  Secretary Hillary Clinton is one nice candidate and she is better prepared to be potus than most were at the time of their election.  But, the times they are a changing and we need more than good campaigning; we need a comprehensive plan and approach for living better.   That P and A might involve the government finally admitting that its role in our personal well-being should be limited.  They should tell the people the truth so we are function accordingly.

Politics and campaigning are the arts of getting people elected (often times, by saying bad stuff about the other side.)  Governing is about the proper running of public enterprises.  In the midterm elections, fancy Ivy League types in D.C. planned how to get regular folks thinking to produce their desired results.  Their desired results weren’t better governing and better personal living; it was making money for them and keeping power.

They spent a zillion dollars on campaign ads with candidates wearing denim shirts while walking on farms with dogs.  If the Democrats spent 15% of their ad money hosting events to meet and listen to voters, they would have done much better.  The old Get Out The Vote model of having teams in every area gives regular people the opportunity to make a few bucks while helping the campaign process.   In the basement of the DNC and the RNC on Capitol Hill, low level congressional staffers attend workshops on how to get campaign volunteers to work for nothing while stacks of cash are spent on TV ads that turn off the voters.

Carlton Fletcher of the Albany Herald recently wrote an instant classic about campaign ads.

http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2014/nov/04/carlton-fletcher-please-god-no-more-political/?opinion

After a chill holiday season, those in the political arena should spend 2015 listening to regular people.  Elections are often decided by who secures the sensible center.  The GOP presidential primary will likely pull their nominee so far right than the party turns off the center in the November election again.  They need to go get Michael Steele’s old plans for growth—plans that start with telling crazies to relax and end with embracing the minority version conservatism.

Southern Blacks outside big cities aren’t really liberal.  Oh, we won’t be hooking up with the GOP because the nuttiest on that team are running the show.  But, we might grow disillusion and stay home.  There is an emerging segment of my community that feels that a return to non-government solutions is the answer; solutions that center on personal responsibility and how we carry ourselves.  That opens the door to GOP mavericks like Rand Paul and Jeb Bush.  Is the GOP so far gone that Jeb Bush’s level-headiness makes him an outlier.  Yes.

In 2014 in the South, the Democrats assume they had the Black vote and therefore spent their time courting the Whites who bounced for the GOP.  They better court our Black “blanks” are we might bounce also.

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Pump the Breaks on Immigration Reform and Weed

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , , on April 8, 2014| 1 Comment »

What’s going on with immigration reform?  Former Governor Jeb Bush recently said that some illegal immigrants were committing an “act of love” when they came to this country for work to feed their families.  Bullfeathers!  To me, if you broke the law, you broke the law and we don’t need to start measuring the crime by looking at the reasons or because enforcement would be difficult.

 

My mind turns to the introduction of Biggie Smalls’ lyrics on “Juicy:” Yeah, this album is dedicated to all the teachers that told me I’d never amount to nothin’, to all the people that lived above the buildings that I was hustlin’ in front of that called the police on me when I was just tryin’ to make some money to feed my daughter…

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/04/06/jeb-bush-many-illegal-immigrants-come-out-of-an-act-of-love/

 

Well, Oh Jeb seems to say it’s okay to break a few laws if it’s for a good cause.  People who sell illegal drugs create an unregulated illicit trade.  While you are making money for your family, you might leave someone’s family as zombies.  We know dope zombies will do some of anything to feed their habits.  For the record, weed kills fewer people than alcohol and alcohol kills fewer than the calories from McDonalds.  But, legal is still legal.  Science should explore the medical benefits of marijuana but California Governor Jerry Brown was right about everyone being recreationally stoned all of the time.

 

“if there’s advertising and legitimacy, how many people can get stoned and still have a great state or a great nation? The world’s pretty dangerous, very competitive. I think we need to stay alert, if not 24 hours a day, more than some of the potheads might be able to put together.”  Gov. Jerry Brown, Meet the Press

Of course, we need more drug treatment and there are too many non-violent drug offenders in prison.  Actually, we should address the problems people are having at the root cause..before the desire to self-medical and tune-out.

America is the greatest freaking country ever and everyone wants to come here.  On a related note, people in hell want ice water…that doesn’t mean they will get any.  My problem with creating a path to citizenship for those people who are current here is centered on the fact that most of those people come from the two or third nations to our immediate south.  I am no xenophobia and I have a well-worn blue passport to prove it but maybe we should see about “us” first.

 

For the record, I live in an agriculture region and undocumented people do jobs than some folks born here refuse to do.  Man, as a congressional staffer, I did immigration and ag issues so I would be calls from Georgia that said, “why is the government giving out welfare when I am farmer who can’t get anyone to pick my crops.”

 

Also, I should mention that during college I had an understanding ear for those who felt that most of the American Southwest was stolen from Mexico.  Yea, the Mexicans were robbed; the Native Americans were really robbed and the Africans were super robbed.  You still can’t ignore our laws.  We shouldn’t fool ourselves; the Democrats and the Republicans are eyed that huge new voting bloc: new citizens and their cousins who are current citizens.  Jeb Bush is the non-latino Republican with the best relationship with that community.

 

If we are going to have an influx of new citizens, I want balance from around the world.  The stew should be seasoned with some South America, southeast Asia, the Caribbean, eastern Europe and a big dash from every corner of Africa.  Europe, Mexico and west Africa are the meat and potatoes that are currently simmering.

 

At the end of the day, we can’t ignore lawbreakers.  If that is the case, a guy who was serving time for numbers running should have been freed when the state created the lottery.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/03/02/gov-jerry-brown-on-legalized-marijuana-how-many-people-can-get-stoned-and-still-have-a-great-state/

 

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