"Cowardice asks the question...is it safe? Expediency asks the question...is it politic? Vanity asks the question...is it popular? But conscience asks the question...is it right? And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because it is right." ~Dr. Martin Luther King

Thursday 4 February 2016

QUALIFIED AGREEMENT

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "THE TENSION IS UNBEARABLE": 

The only eminently qualified presidential candidate from either party is Hillary Clinton.

The rest are all wackos, shysters and religious zealots - a good description of most Americans, especially when you throw in assault weapons.

22:02 - don't listen to her voice, read what she has to say.

Do you switch to Fox? Another group of wackos. 

Posted by Anonymous to  Our Town and Its Business at 4 February 2016 at 11:18

******************************

If credentials matter, Hillary Clinton is miles better than the rest .

The inexorable grind of prejudice keeps on truckin'

Bernie Sanders has a compelling message. He encourages people to believe they might have a say 
In their future. 

To be sure, wackosshysters and religious zealots are prominent in the race. 

I don't agree  they are representative. 
 
They are just noisier and more strident. Like bullies everywhere. 

They  have more T.V., Radio stations and other news outlets to lend credence to greed and arrogance
and ignorance. 

But they don't have the stage all to themselves. There's a more than favourable balance of intelligence and insight and depth. 

 I have to say,I find the drama of American politics captivating. 

No script has  more authentic dialogue. Few actors play their roles with greater skill than American politicians, writers and journalists.

Canadians may be a kinder gentler society or the contours may just be slightly more blurred.  

We have no grounds to be dismissive or condescending. 

Greed and arrogance and lack of social conscience may be just as prevalent though slightly less evident. 

In the last Ontario and federal elections, both wins were by default. 

People who should be offering to serve...don't.

Mediocrity is an affliction we endure. 

8 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

16:20
The two Bushes had the job, and so did Bill Clinton.
Only one did a decent job all round. Can you look at the other candidates now and suggest Hillary is
not just as capable ? The way to break a dynasty is to provide better people for the job. Neither party has done so,.
Bloomberg perchance ?

Anonymous said...

I don't know how enthusiastic I would be if one of my family decided to become a politician,
It seems scary and totally unpredictable. We tend to hope they just get a decent job doing something they enjoy. That's
hard enough to do.

Anonymous said...


Bush Snr. was president for 4 years followed by Clinton with 8 and then W. with another 8. That's only 20 years.

Are you saying, 16:20, that Hillary will win and then serve for 8 making 28 years?

Your assumption is probably correct that she will win.

Sanders is a nice dreamer and those on the other side are for the most part ballast. There are a couple with potential but they are getting lost way behind the present front-runners.

Anonymous said...


14:27

I counted Bush senior as VP under Reagan for 8 years. I think that's closest enough to count.

Anonymous said...

14:27
Sanders seems to have pulled even but you are probably right about Hillary taking it. He has pulled her more to the
left though - and she now is against the PPT - not a pretty election.

Anonymous said...


From a column by David Brooks in the New York Times dated February 2, 2016:

"Donald Trump was inducted into the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2013. He'd been involved with professional wrestling for over a quarter century. At first his interest was on the business side, because so many of the events were held at his hotels. But then he began appearing in the ring as an actual character.

His greatest moment came in 2007 with the pay-per-view series called "Battle of the Billionaires," when he verbally went up against the WWE's chief executive, Vince McMahon. The feud started when Trump interrupted McMahon on Fan Appreciation Night and upstaged him by raining thousands of dollars in cash down on the crowd in the arena. It continued with a verbal barrage and proxy match, and ended with a triumphant Trump shaving McMahon's head in the middle of the ring.

From the moment he entered this presidential race, his campaign has been one long exercise in taking the "low" manners of professional wrestling and interjecting them into the "respectable" arena of presidential politics.

Somewhere in his marketer's brain Donald Trump intuited that manners are more important than laws and that if you want to assault the established powers you have to assault their manners first.

By shifting the cultural language Trump initiated a new type of culture war, really a manners war. He seemed fresh, authentic and resonant to a lot of people who felt alienated from the way elites govern, talk and behave.

Trump brought this style onstage at the first Republican debate, and a thousand taboos were smashed all at once. He insulted people's looks. He stereotyped vast groups of people - Mexicans and Muslims. He called members of the establishment morons, idiots and losers.

But in Iowa on Monday night we saw the limits of Trump's appeal. Like any other piece of showbiz theatrics, Trump was more spectacle than substance."

Surely Trump is himself a member of the elites - a billionaire, a member of the WWE Hall of Fame, one of the very select group with the audacity to seek the presidency of the United States when he has nothing to offer but insults and ignorance. And nearly half the population applauds him.

Our hostess feels that while there may be wackos, shysters and religious zealots in prominent positions, she doesn't agree that they are representative. They are just noisier, more strident and are featured on the popular media such as T.V. and radio, so command a greater following. Do not forget that it is the tens of millions of dollars of advertising, more negative than positive, that choke the airwaves of America and pollutes the minds of viewers and listeners.

The American presidential campaign of virtually any years is always bizarre. This year we have a plethora of crap through which to sift if one is to vote Republican.

Last night's Democratic debate revolved around issues, with a few feeble attempts being made at personalizations.

It is obvious, that if a reasonable, reasoned person emerges victorious in November it must be Hillary Clinton.

And Donald Trump, Hall of Fame wrestler, should consider moving to Iowa to be among the people that he "loves."
There he can grow corn and raise hogs to his heart's content, and enjoy the odour.

Anonymous said...

I think Mr Trump now really really love New Hampshire. We just have to hope they do not return the adoration.
Marco confusing - First he was Catholic, then Mormon, and now he seem /catholic once more.