The Things I Did Not Know At The Time

When I was a kid and my Dad used to tune in that awful Irish music on the AM radio on Saturday morning rides, I did not know that I would learn to really appreciate this music as an adult.

When the Beatles disbanded in 1970, I did not know that lovable Paul McCartney was actually the most disliked by the other band members and that George Harrison would blossom into the best song writer of the Fab Four.

When Richard Nixon resigned in 1974 due to the Watergate scandal, I did not know he had previously been Vice President under President Dwight Eisenhower from 1953-1961 and a staunch anti-Communist.

As I grew up in the 1970’s and read about Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella of the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, I did not know that the team name was due to their original fans having to “dodge” trolleys on the way to games in Brooklyn, NY.

When Ted Kennedy drove his car off of the Chappaquiddick Bridge in 1969 resulting in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, I did not know that this was not a mythical extension of the Kennedy curse, but was the result of the actions of a reckless, soulless and unrepentant drunk.

While enjoying the band, the Eagles, in the mid-1970’s, I did not know that members Glen Frey and Don Henley were previously part of Linda Ronstadt’s backing band.

When Bill Cosby was welcomed into 1980’s living rooms as the fun loving and charming Dr. Cliff Huxtable, I did not know he was a serial rapist in real life.

When the Beach Boys reappeared on the music charts in 1988 with the #1 hit single, “Kokomo”, I did not know that the song was co-written by John Phillips of the “Mamas and the Papas” and Scott McKenzie who gained fame with the 1967 hit “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in your Hair)”.

When reading up on one of my favorite actors, Jack Nicholson, I did not know he was raised by his grandmother, but was told she was his mother when his actual mother was who he had been led to believe was his older sister.

When watching the 1990 movie, “Blow”, starring Johnny Depp and then researching the true story, I did not know that the main character, George Jung, grew up a mile away from where I grew up.

When watching Mariska Hargitay of “Law and Order: SVU” fame on TV for years, I did not know that she is the daughter of famous Hollywood actress, Jayne Mansfield (photo above).

When I voted for Meg Whitman (R) for CA Governor instead of Jerry Brown (D) in 2010, I did not know that I would be accused of being anti-women for not voting for Hillary Clinton for President in 2016 by people who had voted for Brown instead of Whitman.

Why do I bring up all of these examples of my innocent ignorance?

We travel through life with the facts – as we know them.  As we continue the journey, we get to become more enlightened if we keep our eyes - and mind - open and read a little more.  It is interesting to learn that some things were not as initially thought and others are provided with some fantastic context.

For people who were born after 1975, they probably are not very aware of all of the political shenanigans of the 1990’s. I hope for those of you who fit this category, you read up a little bit on the Clinton machine.  There are plenty of things that you may not know. There is soon to be a lot of new dirt to hit the airwaves over the coming weeks and months. My hope is that younger people will study and recognize the defensive modus operandi which has been utilized by the Clinton machine for almost 30 years and will be resurrected, yet, again.  Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice.........

The players will include the Clintons, their political flunkies from the DNC, members of the Obama administration, shills in the media and, of course, the “useful idiots” who will share all of their bullshit stories without investigating the veracity of their claims.  We are going to have dueling scandals: a) the payment for and use of the Trump dossier during the election and b) Uranium One.

Here are the steps for which one should be aware.  Watch carefully to determine if you recognize them as they are employed by the Clinton operatives:

1. Denial – initially deny everything (Sgt Shulz: “I know nothing”)
2. Obfuscate – indignantly go on the record denying something which is not relevant to the accusation (Kevin Spacey just failed spectacularly trying to use a version of this one) 
3. Shift – shift back and forth between a standard of what is morally ethical to a standard of what is legal
4. Old News – claim that the offense is old news and we should just “move on” (from where do you think MoveOn.org was spawned?)
5. Repetitive talking points – “opposition research” substituted for “Russian sourced information” will be a big one.  After all, using Russian sourced info to sway an election would be - COLLUSION !!
6. Everybody Does It – they will equate buying yard signs with breaking national security laws
7. Incompetence – this is where they claim ignorance, BUT they are smart about everything else
8. I Don’t Recall – when completely trapped, this is a golden oldie
9. Partisan Witch Hunt – blame the accusers when all else fails

There are more, but these are the main ones employed since the 90’s.

The reason 63 million voters chose not to vote for Hillary was not based upon her gender.  Many voted for a flawed candidate, Donald Trump, because they knew Hillary to be dishonest and corrupt.

The Clinton machine is SO good at what they do that their corruption may not lead to a conviction, but convictions are difficult when the FBI, CIA and DOJ are part of the machine and complicit in destroying evidence.  Nixon was a piker compared to this crew.  Watch as this scandal unfolds and it will become even more amazing that Trump was able to triumph with all of this power aligned against him.

Try to follow the facts and not the smokescreens thrown up on the television.  I highly recommend you watch and read both sides of the partisan divide to try to determine the truth. If you have no problem with the executives of a Russian state run company (Uranium One) donating $145M to the Clinton Foundation when the decision required to transfer 20% of the US uranium supply to that company was sitting on Hillary Clinton’s desk, then you are beyond help – forever lost.  We’ve seen it all before when Bill Clinton’s administration sold missile technology to the Chinese in the 90’s.

Be prepared for the media onslaught as the Clintons, once again, try to escape the charge of selling out the US national defense to pad their own pockets.

Soon, even the Bernie Bros will be chanting: “Lock her up!”

The Fog of Political War

War is the realm of uncertainty; three quarters of the factors on which action in war is based are wrapped in a fog of greater or lesser uncertainty. A sensitive and discriminating judgment is called for; a skilled intelligence to scent out the truth.
— Carl von Clausewitz

I’ve written previously about the bitterness of those who supported the losing candidate from last November’s election.  This bitterness has made it nearly impossible to have an intelligent conversation between the sides.  Newsflash: the people who supported the losers of the last 2 Presidential elections versus candidate and then President Barack Obama were bitter, but they were able to get out of bed and conduct their lives without shunning everyone.  Regardless of which side you are on, few recognize how they are pawns on a chessboard.  The outrage machine gets wound up on one side and then the other.  The result is a food fight which creates a political fog.  People are so bent on believing their side is correct that they do not even understand the effects of their own positions.  If “so and so” supports it, then I am for it or vice versa etc, etc.  

Meanwhile, those with access to government largesse continue to profit while we fight over slop.  The Federal bureaucracy grows and the allocation of capital in the economy becomes less and less efficient which decreases the standard of living and restrains individual liberty.  

However bad the current situation appears, I am starting to see a silver lining.  For those of you on the Left, the country really needs you to engage in some critical thinking.  I get it – you despise President Trump, but why do you fear him?  He is the President, the chief executive of one branch of the three designed to govern our country.  Why do you fear this one branch?  I know that those on the Right fear the power that has grown in the executive branch and have been fighting to blunt it.  Maybe, just maybe, you can see now why this fear exists.  A few years back, there was talk of Texas seceding from the Union.  Now, we hear of California’s desire to secede.  Strange – two groups on polar opposites who share the same urge.

Looks like we have found something in common:  We do not want to be ruled by an over reaching and bloated centralized bureaucracy.

For example, I am not in favor of legalizing marijuana.  The voters of Colorado see it differently and voted in favor of it.  I live in California. I don’t believe it is up to me to tell Coloradans how to govern their State.  I don’t believe it is the Federal governments’ decision either.

You have heard of Brexit?  How about Catalonia’s attempt to leave Spain?  The same forces are at play where citizens want local control over how to run their own lives. People are weary of faraway bureaucrats making the rules of how we conduct every hour of our day.  In other words, we want power dispersed into decentralized government.  It is the same issue that drove the decolonization of the British Empire.

My desire is not to have all 50 States become 50 independent countries. We are stronger as 50 States within a Union, but the Constitution was written to limit the power of government.  It was specifically written to limit the Federal power over State power.  If it had not been written in this way, the States never would have ratified it.  However, the balance of power has shifted so much towards the Federal government over the last 100+ years that it has become ubiquitous and must be scaled back.

If we clear the fog, that is – stop hurling invective at each other, we may find that we agree on that one issue.  President Trump may forever stay in your Revulsion Hall of Fame, but his election may be the necessary agent to bring about the realization that the executive branch of the Federal government is too pervasive.

The Lady Doth Protest Too Much, Methinks

Do we have a problem that generations of American students are not required to read Shakespeare? No, I think it is more of a problem that generations of American students are unaware that Shakespeare even existed.  I do not claim to be an expert or scholar on the bard, but I have been exposed to his writings and the lessons that have been copied for around four hundred years.  Shakespeare was known for developing tragedies, satires and comedies.  Much of which we see in today’s entertainment is the same formula.  Have you ever watched a cop show and see how the detectives trick the killer? Shakespeare.

One of the devices frequently used by Shakespeare was the “play within the play” where the characters in Shakespeare’s play would stage a play as part of the plot.  In “Hamlet”, a play is developed by Hamlet in order to smoke out his father’s murderers.  The quote, “The lady doth protest too much, methinks” is said by Queen Gertrude, Hamlet’s mother, in reference to the actress playing the Queen’s role in the staged play who had just declared her love for her husband.

The quote has come to mean that there exists doubt in the speaker’s sincerity.    

If you follow politics, it is all a play.  Have you ever witnessed a more insincere group of SOBs than politicians? For a very long time, and especially since the advent of television, much of the American public has believed these media plays to be reality.  This started to break apart with great momentum when citizen journalists began to expose the poseurs by using personal video devices to record contradictions and, most importantly, distribute them via social media.  The phonies and frauds became much easier to expose.

So now, we have a very skeptical public who, understandably, trust almost nothing they see on television with respect to news coverage.  Protests are not organic which bubble up due to some emerging catalyst.  The protests we see today are plotted out like a script with heavily financed hats, shirts, signs, transportation and lodging.  In many cases, it is a profession.  Who the hell has time to march from town to town and act outraged?  Complicit in these events are the media who play along to push the outrage which supports their bias.  The media uses camera angles and distance to distort the size of events and edits the message for the viewers.

However, the jig is up.  Enough of the population has caught on and there is no trust in the press which had formerly held a position as objective arbiter.

Why was candidate Trump not diminished by saying, "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters"?  His voters know that he is playing a part just like the rest of the clowns who appear on your television.  With each new outrageous tweet or over-the-top pronouncement, his base is laughing at the reaction.  It is a bombastic show.

So far, the over reach by the Democrats on the Left in reaction to President Trump has been stupendous.  The pussy hat wearing marches, the Russian collusion saga, the constant Nazi references and the denial of speech for anyone with whom they disagree has been great theater.  There are plenty who do not realize they are in the show, but I equate it to “The Truman Show” starring what Stalin referred to as “useful idiots”.  The NFL decided it was time for their close-up last week and today we have the San Juan, Puerto Rico mayor who has been so busy dealing with an emergency that she has had no time to sit in meetings with FEMA, but had time to throw on a lovely lettered tee shirt and hold an “outrageous” press conference. It’s like an ABC Afternoon Special from the 1970’s. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks”

What does President Trump do in response to this faux outrage?  Moe hits Curly on the head with a crow bar. Yuk, yuk, yuk!

On the other side, we have the entrenched GOP pols who have earned the “Lifetime Achievement in Fecklessness” award.  They are flabbergasted that President Trump has triumphed with his act and, simultaneously, ashamed they had not been shrewd enough to pull it off themselves. Timid of their own shadows, they try to resume their Robert Young “Father Knows Best” role.  They pretend to be the “grown-ups” in the room while the house is burning down all around them.  We have useful idiots on one side and just ordinary idiots on the other.

Whereas, I can definitely identify the comedy and satire in all of this, we will have to wait to determine if we are watching a tragedy or not.  As Max Schumacher (played by William Holden) famously says towards the end of the movie “Network”:

“Music up with a swell;  final commercial. And here are a few scenes from next week's show”.

Put Down the Shovel

Let’s face it, the NFL peaked and is in the declining phase of the Product Life Cycle.  For some time, the fan base was able to separate the play on the field from the drinking, drugging, driving under the influence, whoring and domestic abusing.  Right or wrong, the fans would tune in for the 3-6 hours of escape on a Sunday afternoon or Monday night.

As some of the gridiron heroes of the past began to publicize the long term physical effects of playing the game, mainly the arthritis and the need for knee and hip replacements, the fans took notice.  The news of the frequent concussions leading to CTE brain disorders and the validation of the studies supporting it signified the end of the NFL.  It was not a matter of IF it would end, but just a matter of WHEN.  With kids now being steered away from the sport, the farm systems will dry up and the best athletes will no longer be playing football.  The quality of play in 10 years will pale in comparison to today’s game.

What DOES this mean financially to the owners and players?

Those sold out stadiums will be under capacity and television viewership will decline as the product loses its quality.  As that happens, the revenue to the owners via ticket sales, merchandise and ad revenue will decline.  As the owners make less money, the player contracts will become less lucrative.  These dynamics were baked in a few years ago, so the idea has been to suck as much profit out of the product as it heads towards its demise.

Then along comes Colin Kaepernick to lodge a protest against what he sees as injustice in today’s American society.  He is a US citizen and he is within his rights to protest, but he made a huge public relations error by choosing to disrespect the US flag and the National Anthem as his form of protest. There exists infinite ways to lodge an effective protest, but he chose one that alienates the majority of paying customers.  The idea of a protest is to grab attention AND gain support for one’s cause.  He definitely received the attention, albeit not the desired attention.  As noted above, the fan base is capable of ignoring a lot of side issues in order to enjoy the entertainment escape of the NFL.  However, his actions were an “in your face, big FU” to the fans who were given the choice of supporting the “spitting on the flag” or displaying unconditional support for the USA.  I’m certain this was not the plan, but that’s how it unfolded.  The fans chose the latter.

Then we were witness to an even bigger mistake as the NFL did not recognize the dynamics and the crisis at hand.  The 49’ers, who had the most to lose with the opening of a brand new stadium, should have nipped it in the bud. They simply had to demand that their employee could protest whatever issue he desired, but it would not be done in such a way as to alienate the customers which is exactly what was occurring by sitting or kneeling during the playing of the National Anthem.

The rest of the owners and the commissioner exacerbated the situation by allowing it to continue.  Remember, the NFL is a consortium of owners.  What happens to one franchise can affect all and they have the ability to control the overall product.  The result of doing nothing was declining attendance and viewers turning away.  The customer demographic wasn’t buying this form of protest and decided to send the only message they could by exercising their collective purchasing power.

The NFL had a product which was already in decline due to the CTE issue, but now the downward curve on that decline was made steeper.

Those players who may have been able to cash in over the next decade and a half before the NFL went bye-bye have been kneecapped.  Today’s millionaire players have just displayed their nobleness by sacrificing the future earnings of other players who will never sign that lucrative deal and never have the opportunity to use their star power to affect social change.

It is likely that the damage done to the product is irreversible.  I only see one possible solution which I doubt will be employed. If I were the commissioner, I would demand a complete mea culpa from the protesters that, in hindsight, the FORM of protest was an error in judgment and that, henceforth, every player will be lined up on the sideline with hand over heart during the playing of the National Anthem.  This tactic would have the effect of telling the customers that the company is listening to them and that the product attributes are being aligned to their demands. 

To be clear, the NFL is done in the long run, but this public relations tactic could save the next decade’s revenue stream and profits.

To quote the famous American philosopher, Will Rogers:

“When you find yourself in hole, quit digging!”

U Mad Bro?

“Once upon a time you dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime in your prime,
Didn't you?”
– Bob Dylan, “Like a Rolling Stone”

It’s been a month since the election of Donald J Trump to the Presidency and some of the whining, rioting and crying from the Left has subsided, but there still exists a perpetual seething from our fellow citizens and non-citizens alike who were supporters of anything “not Trump”.  Campaigns have been waged, won and lost for 200 plus years now in the United States.  Each time, excepting the Gore 2000 campaign, the loser accepted he had been beat and allowed for the winner to plan his upcoming administration.  We now see a recount effort being conducted which all except the naive know will be unsuccessful, but is being done for spite.  Losing hurts, but what makes this loss so hurtful such that the losers are acting as 4 year olds who have been told that there are “no more cookies”?   Everyone has an opinion, but I’ll give my Top 3 reasons why this loss has been so difficult for SOME, not all, Democrats.

One of the biggest reasons the result was so very devastating for them was simply because they had already held the victory parade.  Let’s face it, they looked like real chumps (to be kind) and they knew it.  Take your pick from the list of sanctimonious jerks who were pre-gloating:

Seth Myers, Lady GaGa, the Young Turks, Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher, Beyonce, Jay-Z, the hags on the View, the Hillary campaign operatives spread throughout the TV and print media and lastly - and probably the most prominent – our dear friends on social media.  Remember, up until about 9pm Eastern time on November 8, 2016, this was a Hillary landslide.  Then the ball rolled through Buckner’s legs. D’oh!

The second reason this one felt like moose and squirrel had handed Hillary supporters a TNT bomb was that the stakes were so high.  After 8 years of lurching far to the Left, growing and unionizing the Federal work force, stacking the Federal judiciary with fellow travelers, tilting the Supreme Court to the point that the Constitution would be moot, utilizing the Executive branch agencies to saddle unfavored industries in the private sector with one regulation after another and using those same agencies as coercive powers against political opponents – 2016 would be the final blow and political opposition would be dispatched to the nether lands. With Hillary’s election was the opportunity to cover up all the corruption, finish off the Supreme Court, wipe out the 2nd Amendment and change the rules of elections forever.  The flipping of the Constitution would be complete.  It was all there, 100 years of Progressivism started under Woodrow Wilson was about to be codified. However, losing the race would risk reversal of all that “progress”.  As Maxwell Smart was wont to say as he held up his thumb and index finger to display a small, tiny gap, “Missed it by that much!”

Lastly, the one that truly hurts the most is that Democrats were beat at their own game.  I do not believe they even understand this point because they have never had this wicked game played against them.  Trump ran his campaign like a Democrat.  It completely befuddled the Clinton campaign and the media which was acting as an arm of the Clinton campaign.  Normally, the GOP fights by the Marquess of Queensbury Rules while the Democrats engage in a street fight.  Let’s take a trip down memory lane to recall how Reagan was pro-AIDS in the 80’s, how George HW Bush didn’t understand how products with barcodes could be swiped at the check-out counter, how George W Bush was responsible for James Byrd, a black man, being dragged to his death behind a pickup truck by two racists in Texas, how Dan Rather fabricated a story of W avoiding the military draft, how black churches were being burned by Republican racists throughout the South during the 2004 Congressional campaign, how Candy Crowley interjected herself into a debate in 2012 to support Barack Obama’s false assertions – the list goes on.

In all these cases, the Democrats flung the spaghetti, the media supported it and the GOP did not fight back at the gutter level.  This time, Trump would not play the game on defense and flung the spaghetti at Hillary.  He knowingly dissembled. He insulted her personally, not just on policy.  He dragged anyone associated with her into the mud, as well.  He challenged her supporters’ patriotism, integrity and morals.  He was downright nasty and smiled while doing it.  For those of you who felt like targets of this nasty campaign, you now know how it has felt to not be a Democrat for the past 30 years during an election.  He played their game and it does not feel good being the target of these tactics.  So, please forgive me if I am not overflowing with sympathy.  You’ve just been punked by a Democrat.

As Mr Zimmerman would add:

“How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
A complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?”

A Black Friday Gift

As I torch a celebratory cigar on my back patio in the Northern California rain, I am reminded of an old Irish blessing: 

"May your glass be ever full

May the roof over your head be always strong

And may you be in Heaven

Half an hour before the Devil knows your dead"

Well, Fidel Castro was not Irish, so "no soup for him!"

"A quote from Huber Matos, who had fought alongside Fidel Castro in the Sierra Maestra: ”I differed from Fidel Castro because the original objective of our revolution was ‘Freedom or Death.’ Once Castro had power, he began to kill freedom.”

Matos spent 20 years in prison for voicing these concerns.

For the Gen X’ers, Millennials and beyond, I hope that you take note of the Cuban-American celebration in Miami and elsewhere in response to the death of Fidel Castro.  These are the people with first hand knowledge of a "Progressive" government.  Despite the failings of such governments, the marketing of socialist dictators as freedom fighters has been very successful to the point that we can find Black pop stars like Jay Z wearing the "Che Guevara" t-shirt even though Che was a documented racist.

Fidel Castro was a Communist killer (but I repeat myself), although he would argue, at times, that he was a Marxist.  In other words, he controlled everything in Cuba:  healthcare, education, food, energy, housing, speech, media, the internet, etc.  It was great for Castro, his family and those loyal to him, but it was a disaster for the Cuban people.  Total control is the Progressives wet dream.  So when you hear the term “Progressive” in this country, take note that in terms of individual freedom, it means “Regressive” for the people.  Please be sure to take note of the politicians and commentators in our country who speak or write glowingly of this monster or cut him slack for his crimes against humanity.  Think long and hard about whether or not you really should be aligned with them and their goals.  The Progressives in the USA have been indoctrinating students for generations and following it up with strong entertainment industry marketing.  In recent interviews at the University of Maryland, students who thought Barack Obama had been a successful President were asked to list his accomplishments.  The best answer they could produce was that Obama was "COOL".  That, folks, is the power of marketing.  No factual evidence of success, but he was a "real funny and cool cat".  Good grief, Charlie Brown!

Lastly, if you want to know how fantastically enjoyable it is to live under a big centralized Federal government, realize that it worked so well for the Cuban people that many were willing to jump on ramshackled rafts made up of old refrigerators, doors, scrap wood and inner tubes to risk crossing 90 miles of shark infested waters to escape it.  So much for safe spaces.  Open a book.  The history is all there to be read.

Castro is dead.  The world is a better place today.  I'm looking forward to the day when his brother, Raul, joins him.  Change is coming.

We Won't Get Fooled Again or Will We?

“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss” – Pete Townsend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHhrZgojY1Q

Donald Trump was elected to be the 45^th President of the United States on November 8, 2016.  In the days since, there has been a complete melt down of Hillary Clinton supporters in both their personal lives and their public lives.  I promised myself in June 1994 that I would never be shocked by anything ever again after watching OJ flee across LA in the White Bronco.  This week came close.  It was truly a surreal feeling watching Trump march into the White House to meet with President Obama as has been standard protocol following an election.  I would not have been surprised if when he was asked to comment on the visit, Trump turned to Obama, pointed at him and said “You’re fired!”

For the curious voyeurs and schadenfreude enjoying Trump supporters, it has been a delicious week.  Witnessing people in their 50's, 40's, 30's and even 20's crying over spilt milk is entertaining, yet troubling.  I want to address those who are the meltees.  I am a Baby Boomer and have pretty much given up on Baby Boomer Progressives and older as it is just not worth the energy to try to open their closed minds at this point.  However, they cannot be completely ignored since they run the national media and have tremendous power with respect to how issues are framed.  My hope here is to reach the Gen X’s, Millennials, Gen Z’s and maybe even some Gen Alpha’s with this commentary.  My hope is that you realize there is still hope for you.

Why the intense fear of a President Donald J Trump?

Let’s get in the “way back” machine and travel to 2009 when the “TEA Party” became prominent in the news.  The Tea Party was a grass roots movement which mobilized specifically in response to the Federal government’s attempt to implement universal health care, but they were generally against the expansion of the Federal government which crawls into one’s personal space and then charges one for the privilege.  In hindsight, you will agree that they had legitimate concerns, yes?   Do you recall how the Tea Party members were portrayed in the media?  They were “stuck in the past”, “cranky old white people”, “wearing tri-corner hats”, “fearful of changing demographics” and “clutching their sacred copies of the Constitution”.

Why was mockery and disparagement aimed at this group?  They were portrayed as a bunch of old fools and the country would be better off the sooner they were dead.  Progressives wanted to speed up the clock on that one and be done with them.  That being said, the Tea Party PEACEFULLY protested as is allowed under that Constitution, but what were they trying to stop?  They were attempting to stop a Federal government from forcing them to act a certain way in their private lives.  In other words, they did not want their individual liberties infringed upon.  The Constitution was ratified after long deliberation among the States and two of the main concerns were:

1) the balance of power between the large populous States versus small populous States and

2) the risk of tyranny by a centralized, all too powerful Federal government

The “separation of powers” within the Federal government structure were designed to ensure that a tyrant could not come to power and rule over subjects – like a King.  So, by design, that old document written by slave holders prevents my choice for President from using coercive powers against you and your choice for President from using coercive powers against me.  In addition, it allows for change, but change is supposed to be deliberative and difficult such that changes are not made on a whim.  Any President proclaiming he/she “has a pen and is going to use it” to bypass an elected Congress is a danger to the country.

I expect and hope that Trump will use the pen to reverse the frequent times that Obama used the pen enacting rules via executive over reach.  After those reversals, I will oppose any such action because it is a danger to the USA for any President to wield this type of power.

So, why do people actively work to diminish the Constitution by pointing out that it was written by slaveholders and could not possibly foresee today’s technologies, etc?  It is because they want to Lord power over you and me.  They are not preaching freedom, but tyranny.  You will by health insurance even though you do not need it.  You will not smoke.  You will not say words which I find offensive.  You will not set your thermostat above 68 degrees.  You will not burn wood in your fireplace.  They are fascists.  So please, instead of learning history from the likes of “insert a celebrity here”, please do some research.  Read about the arguments among Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Hamilton, etc, etc.  Yes, some of them owned slaves, but that does not diminish their knowledge of human history and man’s desire for liberty.

The Constitution was designed to limit the powers of Donald J Trump just as it was designed to limit the powers of Barack H Obama.  Who is against that document?  Progressives!  Who wants to preserve that document? Conservatives!  This political battle is not about race, gender, etc as the Progressives would like to imply.  It is about liberty of the individual and tyranny by a government.  If anything is to be learned over the next 4 years, please understand that the Constitution is the individual’s friend – regardless of which side wins.