First, the issue about the President. The fine people at the Billy Blog wrote "You see, most people who appear as possible candidates for president are career politicians, afraid of “rocking the boat,” and so not only will they not dare to say anything controversial, but they may avoid any campaign specifics, or even any legislative votes on tough issues that could be brought up later! (See: Obama, Barack)" While I know that President Obama ducked some votes as Senator so as to preserve his status as never having voted for or against things that could come back to haunt him, the non-partisan group Politifact has an Obameter that tracks all the promises he made in the campaign. They track 506 promises. To me that's a lot of promises, but the people at the Billy Blog apparently demand promises somewhere around every hour on the hour. My personal opinion on the Donald's "promises" are that he promises to get tough and curse at people, which isn't really much of a promise, and if it was truly a Presidential trait to curse at things you don't like the American people could have elected my father many years ago. As with all things ragin' in Cajun land, you can decide for yourself.
I will say a Republican narrative about President Obama shows him as someone who lies and someone who never makes a promise. It's a very weird narrative to me, but one that has gained traction. As with all narratives I look to factual analysis to determine the truth of the matter.
As for the Donald this is where the Ragin' Man's blog becomes less fact based than he usually sticks to. Let me say that unlike the Billy Blog's Political Team, the best team named Billy, I do believe that Donald Trump is deadly serious about running for the Presidency and his more than usual showboating is a big part of his plan.
When I first heard about Donald Trump calling for the President's birth certificate and making claims of shouting down China and every government in the Middle East I was amused. I thought, like the Billy Blog's Institute for Campaign Excellence team, that "the Donald" was using this all as a vehicle to become more famous at a minimum, and hype his new Apprentice show at most.
I'll be honest with you at one point my brother, the head Billy Blogger over at Billy Blog Towers, had made a comment about those who opposed the President being called a racist as a default setting. I didn't agree with him because anyone who I had heard say that was very careful to point out that they begrudged no one their right to speak out on the policy issues. I was watching Ed Schulz go on and on about Trump's racism in asking about the President's birth certificate, and I reminded myself to write my brother from the exact same mother an e-mail indicating my flip-flop on the position. I thought Ed was being extremely cruel in his determination that Donald Trump was only going after the President because of his skin for political gain. After all Chester A. Arthur had his citizenship questioned because of his father, and the original birther lawsuit also was brought to eliminate Senator John McCain from Presidential contention because he was born in Panama. While it was fairly apparent to me that the President was born in the United States I did not begrudge a guy who didn't know how the right to privacy and abortion go hand in hand not understanding that the reason President Obama had not released his long form birth certificate was because the Hawaii Department of Health has only released "computerized abstracts" of vital records since May 15, 2001. That Donald Trump claimed to have sent investigators who somehow made him think the President's birth certificate was missing instead of just looking at any fact checking website seemed more grandstanding than anything.
As a result of these claims the President was forced to face a group that was once a fringe movement and had now taken a majority of the opposition party, and was showing no sign of stopping growth. He ended up sending a letter and counsel to Hawaii to do whatever was necessary to get the birth certificate published.
Little did I know the morning after I had resolved to tell my brother he was right President Obama released his birth certificate. I then watched something that would make me completely reverse my position AGAIN! Rather than say "Hey, I'm happy he was born in Hawaii like he claimed, now it's time to get to the issues" the Donald doubled down on worthless issues. It is important to note that he didn't even look at the President's birth certificate at the time he made the announcement, as the Daily Show showed as their "Moment of Zen" for the next two days.
No, in his press conference Trump asked to see the President's college transcripts. In his speech claiming victory by his action alone he talks about the President's possible bad grades as an undergrad and points out the President "gets to Harvard. … How do you get into Harvard if you're not a good student?"
This is where the light went on for me. I thought back to the time I read Bill Clinton's book "My Life" in which he talks about Ronald Reagan saying "I believe in states' rights." in Philadelphia, Mississippi to kick off his 1980 campaign. Clinton was born and raised in Arkansas and understood the implication of "states' rights" in the south of 1980 to mean a tacit endorsement of any racial policies the state enacts.
Now whether that was the case or not, even the scrum of writers at the Billy Blog can agree that the Ragin' Man was raised in a very conservative/Republican household. From that viewpoint I understand that Donald Trump is making the implication that the President of the United States only got into Harvard Law School because he is black. All he really needed to do to seal the deal is utter the words "affirmative action", a highly polarizing term I honestly haven't heard in national politics for about 8 years. Subsequent Republican operatives, including Andrew Breitbart, have brought up the issues of "what classes he took" being the reason for the transcript request. Trump has stated numerous times grades leading to his admission to increasingly prestigious institutions are his sole concern.
Let me say that I am nothing but non-partisan in my analysis for my blogs. I understand that Democrats are accused of starting class warfare. I don't know about warfare, but Democrats clearly promote class consciousness. That is to say, Democrats want you to realize what class you are really in and vote for your class' best interest, believing they will win when most Americans realize they aren't wealthy.
If what Trump is doing is not racist, it is at the very least promoting "racial consciousness." As with class consciousness Trump is trying to get people to realize their race and vote for him, believing he is looking out for the majority's interest. Why shouldn't he? The Republican Party is whiter than almost any other group in America outside of the KKK, so he's wooing the clear majority for the primary. Am I writing something inflammatory? Possibly if you don't analyze things when you watch them, but the real issue is what do we as Americans expect from our politicians?
I'll be honest with you in my assessment of this issue. Let me say that I'm not a huge fan of the President. He has done some things I think are really good, including raising his rhetorical response to terrorism and the Muslim world. Those things help the cause of America in our current conflicts. There are a lot of things he's done that I don't like when it comes to the PATRIOT Act and his refusal to pay for the wars we are currently fighting.
There were scandals about President George W. Bush's admission to Harvard graduate school and how much his father's position played into him being a member of the Air National Guard during Vietnam. Sarah Palin was even the victim of a conspiracy regarding whether her son Trig is hers or not. I don't worry about those issues, and I don't trust any conspiracies. I don't think anyone would turn down the use of their father's prestige to get into a very good school, just like I don't think anyone would turn down the color of their skin being the impetus for admission. As a very conservative teacher I had in high school said "if you don't use it, someone else will." The fact that they are now being nominated to the country's highest office on a major party ticket means they used their opportunities to better themselves more than most everyone I know.
What Trump is doing is trying to create a narrative around the President of affirmative action hire, and hang it around his neck for the duration of the campaign. I'm not sure that's an issue affecting the current state of our country, and I'm not sure I want a candidate who appeals to the color of your skin as the reason you should vote for him. For those reasons I am forced to disagree with the Billy Blog's outstanding crew and state that Trump and his many bankruptcies he never talks about when discussing how he can rebuild the economy should rebuild his combover before they should rebuild the Republican Party.
Donald Trump, YOU'RE FIRED!
the hulk hogan entrance at the cor. dinner was very awesome.
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