Double Standard

If you are willing to give Donald Trump the benefit of the doubt on a HUGE list of outrageous statements, actions and pandering flip-flops at this point, there is little if anything I can say to dissuade you.  If you want someone with more information to make the argument that the email issue does not merit major federal offense scandal, I'll leave the heavy lifting to this smart guy from Newsweek:   He doesn't hold much hope that those Hillary haters who wish prison's in her future will be swayed.  While the world and a big chunk of America are seriously concerned about the USA under a narcissistic demagogue, Hillary has her work cut out for her because people can label her "crooked" when there's no pattern that makes her playing any more fast and loose with the truth than the rest of the candidates.   Was her use of emails through a non-secured server smart?   No, as she admits.   Was it willful criminal misconduct that put national security seriously at risk?   The FBI hasn't said that.   

Is there some misogyny in all this Hillary hate?   We can't discount that to some extent, but Trump is wrong taking the cheap shot saying she's "playing the female card."   He's been playing a dangerous, divisive, fearmongering game on every level.   I fear that the false narrative that "things can't get any worse" is leading the USA to a darker time when we look for a strongman who claims to have a monopoly on answers to legitimate concerns.

The real wild card is the role Bernie Sanders supporters will play in either uniting behind the likely nominee or staying away and allowing Trump to assume the most powerful job on the planet.   I'm a big Bernie fan myself and know Hillary's not perfect, but our very republic is in peril if we don't do everything we can to block this loose cannon.   "Bernie or bust" is a recipe for disaster in November.   That being said, it's clear that Hillary should make way for Bernie if her handling of the email investigation paves the way for a likely yet unimaginable Trump victory. The GOP ineffectively tried to avoid the delegate win for Trump, and it's sickening to see more Republicans eat their critical words, putting party over their own principles and lining up behind him.   Now it's up to the rest of us to get the focus off her damn emails, a Benghazi investigation that was a wasteful circus and the 20th century sex scandals and impeachment of her husband.   Still, Bill is way more popular than both Hillary and Donald.    Do we have a bit of a double standard?     Trump is the dangerous one!  

In Shambles?

How Presidential!

Mr. Trump has defied most of the pundits who are at a loss to figure out why he has become the GOP nominee.   As much as this prospect disgusts me, we need to understand where the huge resentment of the establishment has come from on both sides of the political spectrum.   One theme I hear on the right from Trump supporters is that it "can't get any worse."  Oh, yes it can!  The dire assessment that America is already "in shambles" is ridiculous.  Do we have lots to be concerned about?   Of course we do.  We always have.  Do we turn to an untested egomaniacal autocrat to take over and fix everything?   Any historian would say it hasn't come to that.   In other words, turning to a strongman is based on a false narrative, and that's something that should worry every freedom-loving American.   

That is not to say that Trump supporters shouldn't have legitimate concerns about a rigged and corrupt system.   That's where Bernie Sanders is right on the money.   While Senator Sanders may fall short against the more establishment-backed Hillary Clinton, his points have to be taken seriously going forward.   The "too big to fail" corporate welfare cheats and the oligarchs who profit the most while America wages wars on a credit card are the potential ruin of a society that has made more progress and projected more power than any nation in history.   Calling your critics childish may appeal to a constituency that longs for simpler times and catchy slogans, but this is not reality TV... and America never stopped being great.   Leave the over-the-top hyberbole to North Korean dictators.