Rubio's policies looking good for GOP
As the president’s final term begins to wind down, the nation is turning its attention to 2016, which is likely to be one of the most important elections in the history of the nation.
One big issue emerged shortly after the voting ended last week: Who will be Hillary Clinton’s vice president?
Fortunately, history’s smartest man will be succeeded by history’s smartest woman, the press informed us two days after the voting ended; because the nation should be able to persuade Hillary to accept the post, despite the hardships she will suffer. She is a patriot.
She only needs a rest after reestablishing her credentials with the ineffable job she did as secretary of state in bringing the Arab Spring to the Middle East and democracy to Egypt and Libya while solidifying Israel’s security.
She worked in that area with Gen. David Petraeus, who, since recent disclosures about infidelity, may loom larger as a Democrat VP candidate. While his military skill was heralded, no one had known of his sophistication and style.
He is the type, we now know, who could bring back the aura of greats such as JFK and Bill Clinton, and move up after Mrs. Clinton’s two terms. Petraeus would get the minority vote, and the Catholic and Jewish vote, as the Democrats often do, plus getting the bloc of people committing adultery, which should help him push the Democrats over the top. Why do the Democrats always get the good demographics?
Hillary might also consider Gov. Chris Christie, whose future was boosted in the last campaign. His only political liability, except that he can’t ever get elected again as a Republican, is that he is very large. Every night some comedian, and some nights all comedians, would tell a fat joke about Christie.
But in the campaign, Christie hugged the president. The next night, the total of Christie-is-fat jokes dropped precipitously. They have now dwindled to just a few, and in another week, with another walk around the flood area with the president, Christie may still be fat, but not so much as anybody, and certainly not a Democrat comedian, the only kind, would notice.
Hillary certainly would pay attention if, just before the Democratic convention, our president (who owes Christie and Clinton) would give Christie a hug. It could help him edge Petraeus for the VP spot.
Of course, there will be other candidates, with blacks surely among them, due to the established success of President Obama. Are we really a good nation yet? Are we ready for a black vice president?
Bad candidates will be needed, too, if the good ones are to look even better. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, angry when his dad, Mario, didn’t run, is more ambitious and will seek higher office. But he can’t evade being a dull white man. Another such candidate will be Joe Biden, who could make history with his third election as VP. There’s no law against it. He ran for president previously and got one percent of the vote in the primary, and with his his new status should double that. But 2 percent still doesn’t do it.
My choice for Hillary’s running mate is Colin Powell, who stuck to his principles in the last two elections. He is, was, a Republican but voted for President Obama because his policies were better than those old Republican ones he had been voting for.
A Republican, John Sununu (I can spell banana and Sununu, but I have trouble knowing when to stop), said he thought that wasn’t the real reason. An apology was demanded. Powell fans noted he endorsed “Barack Obama as president and Joe Biden as vice president.” See, Biden is white, so Powell was endorsing a white guy. Sununu immediately apologized. He said he had overlooked Biden’s being in the endorsement, and that voting for a man’s policies is a good thing.
There could have been no irony involved; because irony died in America this month. That occurred when Bill Clinton won the election for Obama by pointing out Mitt Romney’s lies and said Mitt got caught with his fingers in the cookie jar, and Americans wouldn’t stand for a lying president. The Democrats said amen.
Irony was seriously sick anyway after 2004, when Bill Maher said, “I hate that f–– George Bush and the whole f–– Bush family.” Later, with Obama in office, Maher noticed “a lack of civility” in regard to the presidency and called for civil discourse in regard to all our politicians.
But I never heard the Republicans, in what they call their analysis of the race, and what Democrats call their whining, their rants and their sour grapes, say that Obama didn’t win fairly.
They agree with Democrats that he is sincere, a man who cares for all humanity, and treats all men like brothers. Except his brother. I think he’s still in that hut in Kenya.
But that’s OK. He surely likes it there. And everybody agrees the Democratic campaign was great. Obama won all three debates (though some say the first one was a deadlock), and his campaign raised millions.
I thought that was a mistake, though, raising all that money, and so much going for TV time. Money wasted, considering the millions of dollars of free air time the TV networks give the Democratic campaign.
One network, CBS, paid comedian David Letterman over $30 million a year to ridicule Romney every weeknight for some two years. Letterman would point out Romney is so wealthy that he is out of touch with Americans, as well as being a despicable human being. That plan of attack may not have been written in Letterman’s CBS contract, but it seems to have worked out that way. I wonder, has there ever been such a vendetta in all of TV history? And in the comedy category?
Of all the funny TV stars, Letterman ranks as the most tasteless; as annoying, unfunny and just plain mean-spirited and nasty. He deserves an Award for Ultimate Awfulness.
Actually, I didn’t like it. Not even when he was getting roars of laughter with every character assault. Even after the election, he ran a series of negative pictures of Romney. The crowd laughed. Hitting a man who’s down, whose life dream has been crushed, may not be polite, but it obviously can be humorous.
Strange. The laughter didn’t seem as loud as usual. When the inevitable picture of the dog on the roof appeared, I didn’t pick up the usual gales of laughter. I thought, is that silence, or my wishful thinking? I think it was at least diminished laughter. I felt better about some of the people in the audience.
While Hillary will win the election, it still will be of interest to analyze the GOP contenders for 2016. Press analysts have tried to help the Republicans, pointing out they need to stop talking so much about getting rid of minorities and being so sexist, racist and homophobic.
I listened to two program last Saturday morning, though, on MSNBC and Fox, and the former was saying the GOP hatred was hurting it, while Fox had on some stories about economics. I noticed most of the GOP comments about social issues come as answers to questions about hatred from the press. The GOP seems to always keep trying to change the subject to jobs, and the press won’t stand for that ruse.
I agree with Dick Cheney, who doesn’t object to non-mixed marriage. I was invited to a woman-woman wedding once, and it was OK with me, and the couple turned out just like a normal man-wife couple, and got divorced a year later. But even with Cheney’s campaign, I don’t expect an endorsement for the GOP from The Pitch.
I won’t be voting for Hillary, though. My No. 1 rule in politics: I don’t vote for anybody who won’t drill for oil in America. I don’t understand health care yet, am afraid to study it, but I think it’s sensible to use our oil, gas and coal to create jobs. And Hillary was too happy some 15 years ago when her husband Bill vetoed a Republican bill to drill in Alaska. He explained that even if he signed it, it would take 10 years for the oil to begin coming down into the country.
So I’ve been thinking it over for a week now, and I’ve decided. I’m going with Marco Rubio for president. I like his policies.
Mark Hastert
6 months ago“2016, which is likely to be one of the most important elections in the history of the nation.”
Funny I thought 2012 was going to be. Gosh the ink isn’t even dry on the last election yet. You are right, though the Rubios et al are the future of the Republican party….if the old guard will give way or just die off.