BloggeRhythms

Cindy Boren @washingtonpost.com, writes: “When Donald Trump looks at America, he sees a country that has gone soft, but that’s not all. He also sees pro football, a sport that is now the national pastime, going soft, too. 

“In a rally attended by about 2,000 people Sunday in Reno, Nev., he hit that theme and others and placed a lot of blame on the game’s referees, saying they just throw to flags to impress their wives, who are watching at home. While he admitted that he still loves New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, the game now is just unwatchable for him.” 

He also said, ““It’s a Sunday, who the hell wants to watch these crummy games?” 

In answer, I can tell him, me for one. And according to the NFL, 17.6 million others per game on average this year. Quite a lot more than the 2000 who came to his rally in Reno. Just this weekend, the rest of us watched three of the best, most exciting games of this season, one of them played outside in a temperature of 3 below zero all day long. 

Rick Porter @http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com via Drudge reports: “The opening of the NFL playoffs brought big numbers across the board. CBS’ prime-time telecast of the Cincinnati-Pittsburgh game drew an 8.8 rating in adults 18-49 and 27.51 million viewers, lapping the rerun-heavy slates on the other networks several times. 

“The afternoon game (Kansas City-Houston) on ESPN and ABC earned a 16.2 household rating in the overnight metered markets, up 23 percent from the Saturday afternoon wild card game last year.” 

Although it’s true that there are boring events here and there during the season, that’s primarily because there are now so many teams and games there’s a bit of watering down of talent. Yet football still remains one of the few true contests left in sports. 

However, since this argument can’t really be settled by words on paper, I have a suggestion for Trump. Instead of sitting on the sidelines critiquing those in the NFL as soft, why not suit up, play a few games as linebacker, wide receiver or even quarterback? Show us all how the game should be played by a really “tough” jock. 

But until then, instead of sounding like the ultimate whiny, wimpy couch-potato who’s obviously never been in the trench himself, he ought to do something he’s never tried before: suiting up or shutting up. In the meantime, if he really wants to see an out of shape, old sack of air with nothing but a motor-mouth, and whose clothes don’t fit, he ought to buy himself a really wide full-length mirror.  

On another subject, FOX Business Network will host its second Republican presidential primary debate on Thursday, January 14 at the North Charleston Coliseum and Performing Arts Center in North Charleston, South Carolina. 

While having no intention to watch it, the same question keeps arising regarding debates in general. Because I’m simply unable to understand their worth. 

For example, in this case we have several leading candidates who haven’t a shred of experience of anything close to presiding over the largest economy in the world. Then there are the other elements of government administration in general which can’t be managed properly or effectively simply because someone has a way with words, or can shut down dissenters with glib quips and barbs. And what about overseeing management of the military or foreign policy decisions?   

In fact, we presently have the best illustration of someone who talks as if he was the best POTUS the nation’s ever seen and is still campaigning every chance he gets. Yet he’s taken the nation back to the stone-age in every functional aspect of governance there is, both at home and across the rest of the world.  

On the other hand, if the major mass of voters had appropriate managerial capability, or any similar experience themselves, they would simply imagine presidential candidate's as individuals seeking employment for a position requiring particular skills and talents. And then, the first thing they’d require would be a resume that could be confirmed, illustrating success in a similar position.  

Which brings us to a practical reality. Because, would an enterprise such as Microsoft or Apple hire a president who could only talk about computer software in theoretical terms. Or would they demand that candidates demonstrate proven,  practical, successful knowledge of running similar enterprises profitably and effectively? I think we all know the answer to that one. 

Even Burger King wouldn’t hire a manager who never flipped a burger themselves. They'd want someone who’d been through the trenches successfully, or else their more experienced employees would soon neutralize the newcomer, taking every advantage possible for themselves.   

Would Warren Buffet turn his highly successful conglomerate over to someone with four years of experience in a far lesser post or perhaps even none?  You can bet a billion of your own that he wouldn’t even consider that thought for a New York minute.

So then, how can citizens under the most highly sophisticated system of governance on the planet, turn the job over to anyone who hasn’t at least been a successful governor of a large state and still expect fulfillment of unproven promises? Because it’s one thing to shoot one’s mouth off on the campaign trail, and another to demonstrate the proven skills of successful government management experience for at least two terms in office.  

Which means that for most “debaters” on Thursday, including all those neophytes at the top, all they’ll produce is another couple of hours of worthless hot air without an iota of provable substance in office.  

Which brings us to today’s update on Bill Clinton’s wife. 

Much like what happened the last time she ran for president, it seems that time and exposure are taking their toll again, regarding Bill’s wife. The longer she campaigns and voters actually see and hear her, the less they like her. And as today’s update illustrates, the whole Democrat party is shrinking, as well. 

Chris Cillizza @washingtonpost.com/politics writes: “Consider two polls conducted by the Wall Street Journal, NBC and Marist College in Iowa and New Hampshire that were released Sunday. In Iowa, Clinton has 48 percent, Sanders has 45 percent, and former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley has 5 percent. In New Hampshire, it’s Sanders in the lead with 50 percent, with 46 percent for Clinton and 1 percent for O’Malley. 

“Clinton and her team are very aware of the peril inherent in their present situation. She has launched an aggressive attack on a 2005 Sanders vote in favor of giving immunity from liability lawsuits to gun manufacturers, a strategy clearly designed to take some of the shine off the senator from Vermont in the eyes of Iowa liberals.” 

What’s most interesting here, is that a couple of months ago it was Bill’s wife in a runaway, according to the mainstream media. However, that old bugaboo of her tendency to fade with time, seems to be showing up again.  

In retaliation for her slide, on CBS’s “Face the Nation, Bill’s wife said yesterday, “I think that the excuses and efforts by Senator Sanders to avoid responsibility for this vote, which the National Rifle Association hailed as the most important in 20 years, points at a clear difference. It’s a difference that Democratic voters in our primary can take into account.” 

Her problem here is that the whole Face the Nation audience is probably about eight people when she’s the guest. And of those, six don’t trust her. 

As far as her whole party goes, likely due to the current POTUS’s performance in office, Nick Gass @politico.com reports that: “The share of Americans identifying as a Democrat dropped to a record low in 2015, according to the latest Gallup results published Monday, in the latest indication that Americans' attachment to either political party is at or nearing historical lows.”

What’s even worse for Bill's wife is that: “Overall, 42 percent over the course of the last year identified as independents, a slight drop from the 43 percent who identified as such in 2014. While Democrats maintained a small advantage over Republicans — 29 percent to 26 percent — the Democratic share is at its lowest in Gallup history.” 

Which means that independents will have huge impact next November and they are not known as being socialists in the slightest. So by trying to move left of Sanders, instead of moving toward higher voter appeal, she’s actually moving closer to the exit door. 

Bringing up the ongoing question again: Joe Biden, Mayor Bloomberg, Jerry Brown, and Starbuck’s chairman and CEO, Howard Schultz, are you guys reading this?      

That’s it for today folks.      

Adios