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| In 2016? |
Looking at the 'Jeb Bush Talks Strategy If He Runs for President' story in the New York Times tonight made me wonder when was the last time, before 2012, that we had a Presidential election which did not feature anyone named either Bush or Clinton.
If you count 2004 as an election with a Clinton in it - since Hillary ran for the nomination - then you have to go all the way back to 1976 for the last time we had an election that did not include a single Bush or Clinton.
Every election between 1976 and 2008 had a candidate Bush, or Clinton, or both. That's 32 years. And now, maybe the dynasties will reemerge in 2016.
Dynastic rule is common around the world - think of the Bhuttos in Pakistan, the Assads in Syria, the Ghandis in India - and it isn't actually incompatible with democracy. But still, isn't there some section of the U.S. Constitution that can save us from alternating lines of hereditary Presidents?
The 22nd Amendment ended serial Presidency. Can we please add another one to end the threat of political dynasties? For example: "No person shall be eligible for the offices of President or Vice President who is a parent, child, spouse, sibling, aunt, uncle, cousin, or in-law of, or has any collaterally consanguineous relationship with, a person who has already been elected to that office."
Really, 32 years is enough. Let us find a new crop of candidates.
Ok TSB, I'm with you. But first lets
ReplyDeletestart with some basics. How about some policies and principles you could get behind?
I think in another year people will be ready to get behind a real course correction. Maybe it's just me but I'm ready to vote for a dark horse non-politician who's slogan is WHOAH!! gwb
GWB: My political principles are in support of small and constitutionally limited government. But there aren't enough of us to win an election, so my policy is to vote for gridlock. The more divided the government, the better.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the need for a shake-up. "Whoa" would be a good slogan, and so would "Simmer Down, Now."
That's right TSB. All the most prosperous countries now are small
ReplyDeletedemocratic states like Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Singapore where people go to school and learn stuff. gwb
http://cnn.it/1fXoy22
ReplyDeleteTSB: Here is the story from April 1 about the submarine joining the search for the airliner. It is the
British submarine 'Tireless'. Since they only mentioned it once I bet the British wanted it kept quiet. Probably the Tireless is what actually found the pinger signals since it could work down below the barrier that blocks such things. gwb
Thanks James! I'm now a big fan of Sir Humphries Appleby and 'Yes Minister'...TSB sent me on a goose chase for 'Dear Minister' but after a day or two of deep thought I got back on the right track and found it!... If only I could do all this research on the federal payroll! gwb
ReplyDeleteQuite right - "Yes, Minister." Later to return as "Yes, Prime Minister." I was going off a faulty memory. But, in my defense, it was a long time ago that I saw those comedies. Now that I'm a civil servant myself, I find them pretty true to life.
ReplyDeleteOne more thought on the true-to-lifeness of "Yes, Prime Minister."
ReplyDeleteWhen the PM was being briefed on the nuclear deterrence, he couldn't quite grasp that he could actually pick up a phone and have crewmen in nuclear missile subs launch nukes without questions or hesitation. 'Why should they believe me? What if I'm mad? Who can I consult at that moment? How do I know if I'm right or wrong?' And so on and on. Finally the professional civil servant told him "it's your job, and you wanted it."
That's what our chief executives need to be told.
"That's what our chief executives need to be told." Aha! So TSB, you've finally been exposed exhibiting one of those evil anti-social "isms" and a very dangerous one at that....Realism!
ReplyDeleteJames: The US is sending the USS Gulf of Tonkin..er Truxton into the Black Sea to send a strong signal to Putin how long do you figure til the Russian troops roll in to restore order? .. and shouldn't we be sending a tugboat along too to bring back the Truxton? gwb
ReplyDeleteTSB: The zero hedge guy is now 'restating' stuff from TSB. gwb
ReplyDelete'But instead, our republic is now strong-armed by professional politicians. The two dominant concerns of these careerists are to STAY in power and to do the bidding of those who ENABLE them to stay in power. America is no longer a world-wide exemplar of how to sculpt a civilized society. Instead, it is far down the road to becoming a full-blown Corporate Police State. It has fallen so tragically, that it is now just a self-deluded leper strutting about the global stage - unaware that the theater has already emptied.
" how long do you figure til the Russian troops roll in to restore order?" To pin this one down isn't easy, though definitely sooner than later. The two key points to watch at the moment is the collapse of the Ukranian armed services, especially in East Ukraine and the non payment of pensions and salaries. As a complete guess within two weeks.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Truxton, they've almost worn that thing out sailing it around in world's longest photo-op session. GWB what alot of people (and governments apparently) in the West don't realize is there are some genuinely bad actors on the Ukraine side.
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2014-04-09/nato-members-conduct-false-flag-terror-attempt-whip-war
ReplyDeleteTSB: Seymour Hersh strikes again! I just finished reading his (tedious) book about
Kissinger and Nixon in 70-72 showing how dysfunctional the paranoid politicos can get in an asian land war. So the sarin was a
false flag op! I think we need a new destroyer called the John McCain for some comic relief. gwb
" we need a new destroyer called the John McCain" might just happen or has happened, his dad was a fairly famous Admiral.
ReplyDeleteJames: Why the long face? gwb
ReplyDeletehttp://bit.ly/1i33RG5
and when he keeps pronouncing things funny like 'Jengis Khan' or 'Pockistaan' does that come from talking to State Dept hipsters like
Powers and Harpf or watching 'The Ten Commandments'in his sleep? gwb
GRRRR!
ReplyDeleteGWB: Kerry's pronunciation is a curious thing, but I think it comes from a Gatsbyesque self-fashioning. He probably grew up imitating a mid-Atlantic Boston Brahmin accent, hoping to move up the social ladder. All I know is that nobody every pronounced it "Jengis" Khan before that famous SFRC hearing in 1971. A local journalist who was a classmate of Kerry's in prep school said he'd never heard that accent from him before.
ReplyDeleteTSB: Rep. Elijah Cummings has said from the beginning this IRS think is a witch hunt and he's now been proven right! They found the witch and it's Elijah Cummings! Get your popcorn ready for tomorrow's hearing. gwb
ReplyDeletehttp://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2014/04/09/new-emaisl-show-lois-lerner-fed-information-about-true-the-vote-to-democrat-elijah-cummings-n1822247
For Kerry:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PASYqq4-iD0
GWB: You mean Representative Elijah 'I had no idea my staff was doing that without telling me a thing' Cummings?
ReplyDeleteI'd hate to judge before all the facts are in, but it seems like NSA might have hacked into Cumming's staff e-mail system and planted evidence of collision which Issa fell for. Or maybe the Tea Party infiltrated his office and set him up. The Koch brothers would stop at nothing to discredit a fearless honest Congressman like Cummings. These baseless accusations insult the good people of Maryland who elected Cummings. And, by the way, I notice that Issa has never made the same accusations against a white Committee member.
Let's not get distracted from what's important here - upholding the dignity and public trust of our government institutions.
TSB: You are right! Distracted again. BTW, did you notice that Clapper just admitted:"Yes, Sen. Wyden, we have been reading people's emails but let's keep that quiet." gwb (and did you see how upset 'Babs' was yesterday when they voted down her equal pay bill?)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/9/napolitano-government-wrongdoing-revealed/
TSB:James; European partners have left Russia with "no alternative" but to halt supplies of gas to Ukraine and Europe, according to a letter from Russian president Putin to European leaders.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, a 2nd US Destroyer, the USS Donald (sitting duck?) is underway. By the time the Masters is over Europe may have surrendered! gwb
Russia's gas company says Ukraine is 1.4 billion dollars in default on payments, and if they don't pony up, Russia will require payment in advance of further shipments. I have to say that they sound reasonable to me.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteGWB: I got your last comment about the Gazprom take-or-pay fines, but then accidently deleted it. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteGazprom subsidized gas exports to Ukraine for years, and it has tolerated nonpayment for some time now. But that couldn't go on forever. Nothing is free in life except Obamacare.
TSB: The Russian finance minister continues the 'reasonable' way forward. http://rt.com/news/ukraine-should-recognize-crimea-068/
ReplyDeleteIt will be interesting to see how 'U-Turn Yatszi', our $5 billion dollar guy in Kiev, manages the upcoming democratic reforms. gwb
TSB: James will love this laugher!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user3303/imageroot/2014/04/20140328_us.png
gwb