Weekend Open Thread

Here is my last post of this week. Feel free to comment on anything you like.

With the passing of Beatles' producer George Martin, I would like to honor him with a rare gem of a video: The Beatles performing Revolution. Enjoy:

Quote of the Day

From Dan Calabrese, over at Herman Cain's website, talking about a Donald Trump interview by Cokie Roberts:

If you don't like the fact that Trump is winning, here's a thought: Get better people to ask him questions. Because if this is the best the mainstream media can do, it's no wonder Trump is having success. The full segment is mindblowing. Trump wants to talk about immigration policy, health care policy, jobs, debt . . . you know, substance. All Cokie Roberts talks to talk about is the [notion] that according to "many newspapers" white children are in a racist frenzy and it's all inspired by Trump. 

Give Trump credit for handling this nonsense extremely well. For one thing he refuses to accept her premise that this supposed behavior has anything to do with him, or that he should have some obligation to weigh in on whether he's "proud of it". He also points out continually that he's only talking about deporting people who are here illegally - in other words, simply enforcing the law - while it's apparently fine with Roberts that both Hillary and Bernie vowed last night that they would not enforce the law.

Here is potentially the most dangerous man in our time, and she's lobbing dumb questions at him. Watch this pitiful excuse of an interview yourself:




Cokie is 72. I think it is well past time for her to retire.

7 Harsh Realities Of Life

This is a must-read link for everyone, but most especially our young people:

7 Harsh Realities Of Life Millennials Need To Understand

I will offer you the first item, but I strongly encourage you to read the whole thing:

1. Your Feelings Are Largely Irrelevant

Seriously, nobody who has already graduated college cares about your feelings. That means that when you complain to your boss because your co-worker mis-gendered you, he’s probably not going to bend over backwards to bandage your wounds. Given feelings are entirely subjective in nature, it’s completely unreasonable to demand everyone tip-toe around you to prevent yours from being hurt. The reality is that people will offend you and hurt your feelings, and they won’t stop to mop up your tears because they shouldn’t have to. Learning to accept criticism, alternative viewpoints, and even outright insults will make you happier in the long run than routinely playing the victim card.

Ben Carson to endorse Donald Trump

Washington Post: Ben Carson to endorse Donald Trump:

Conservative favorite Ben Carson, who last week suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, plans to endorse Donald Trump on Friday morning, according to two people familiar with his thinking. 

The endorsement, perhaps the most high-profile nod for Trump since New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie backed him, was finalized Thursday morning when Carson met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, the luxury club owned by the Republican front-runner, the people said.

Wow. Just....wow.

If there is one thing I have learned over the years, it is that I need to frequently re-evaluate my politics. This event brings up a load of questions: Did I get Trump wrong? Or maybe my faith in Carson was misplaced?

I have to bring this back to Thomas Sowell. When Sowell's writing first came to my attention, I read it semi-religiously. His straightforward talk about economics is both accurate and full of life lessons for everyone. His best, most accurate and simplistic quote:

"There are no solutions; there are only trade-offs."

For example, if you want socialized healthcare, you can have it, but it will come with a large price tag.

Great stuff, but...then the Rush Limbaugh/Donovan McNabb controversy hit. Sowell wrote a column defending the indefensible, which was Rush's mistaken view of sports journalism and McNabb.



This created a gray area for me. No matter how brilliant Sowell was on other topics, his defense of Rush was nothing more than partisan politics.

That said, Ben Carson never struck me as a partisan. But maybe he is more partisan than I thought? Or maybe he has a line of thinking about Trump which is wrong?

For example, Rush viewed the McNabb situation through a political lens, which doesn't work in sports journalism, where the writers tend to be more in favor of their topics. They root for the home team, unlike political journalists who brutalize their home politicians. Rush was wrong, and so was Sowell indirectly.

Perhaps Carson is mistaking Trump for someone he can support? Were my thoughts on Trump wrong, or is Carson wrong? I lean towards Carson being wrong.

Ted Cruz has "low information"

Open mouth, insert foot. From CBN News, a Ted Cruz quote:

“Donald [Trump] does well with voters who have relatively low information, who are not that engaged and who are angry and they see him as an angry voice. Where we are beating him is when voters get more engaged and they get more informed.”

Say it Ted, SAY IT!





Yes Ted, Trump's voters are stupid. There, I said it.

RIP George Martin

The Beatles' producer George Martin died Tuesday. He was 90.

Here is an intriguing snippet of a 1998 documentary about him, which shows him working with Robin Williams and Bobby McFerrin on a cover of The Beatles' Come Together. It is not a great cover by any means, but it is a curiosity, which does give some insight into the song and Martin:

Blaming the Republican Establishment

Ironically, the man who is leading the race for the Republican nomination for president, has turned on his party's establishment. From Fox News:

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump pushed back Wednesday night against what appears to be a growing move among the party establishment — including a few of his former rivals — to at least slow down his march to the convention with enough delegates in hand to claim the nomination. 

Speaking with Sean Hannity on a special Fox News town hall, Trump accused GOP lawmakers opposed to his campaign of "taking advantage of our country".  

...Trump was referring to a conference held by the conservative American Enterprise Institute at Sea Island off the coast of Georgia over the weekend, where one of the topics reportedly was stopping Trump from securing the Republican nomination. 

The conference reportedly was attended by Senate Majority Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan and other key Republican congressmen. 

Of course, Trump is right, and the Republican establishment deserves everything he is doing to them and saying about them now. The worst part for the Republicans: Trump has to lose the nomination fairly. If they try to change the rules, or pull some kind of backroom deal to beat him, he will run a third party campaign (in spite of what he says).

If that happens, the Democrats better worry too, because he will steal just as many votes from them as he does from Republicans. I won't say he'll win, but he will make it tough for either major party candidate to get enough electoral votes to claim a clear victory. I don't even want to think about what will happen if the next president gets into office by a Congressional vote. Remember 2000 when the Supreme Court decided the election? This outcome could be MUCH worse.

Imagine a situation where the Republican candidate gets elected by Congress because the electoral college was too close. A third party Trump's voters would be irate, assuming the election was stolen from them. Also, the Democratic Party's voters would also be irate, for the same reason. If all three of the candidates split the vote evenly, let's say about 30-30-30%. That would leave 60% of the country ticked off.

Unfortunately, the Republican establishment is the worst possible group to attack Trump. He has already tossed them under the bus, and everyone knows it. Attacks by them just sound like sour grapes, which they are to some extent.

No, there is only one person in the Republican Party who can attack Trump and sound sincere: Ted Cruz. The establishment doesn't like him any more than Trump, but at least Cruz has Tea Party cred. Also, Cruz doesn't appeal to people's worst instincts like Trump does.

At this point, Cruz is also the only Republican standing in the way of a Trump-Clinton/Sanders race. Picture that election: Your choice is between a fascist or a progressive/socialist?

I may be joining Al Sharpton in Canada...