BloggeRhythms

Kept my record intact last night. Didn’t watch the State of the Union drivel, never have, and from the recaps on TV and the Web didn’t miss a thing of importance. 

In fact, reading through the follow-up commentary reminded me of Clint Eastwood at the 2012 Republican National Convention when he spoke to an "invisible" President Obama sitting in an empty chair. And in last night’s case, according to news reports, the topic receiving most of the POTUS’s attention was global-warming, which doesn’t exist either. Making Eastwood’s empty chair comparison all that much more accurate.  

The star of the night, however, from many news sources turned out to be South Carolina governor, Nikki Haley who delivered the Republican response. She apparently gave the POTUS a swift  goodbye, saying he’d failed to deliver on promises and that America will soon "have the chance to turn in a new direction."

Governor Haley argued that the POTUS appears “either unwilling or unable” to address the worst domestic terror threat since 9/11. Going on to say that the U.S. should welcome "properly vetted" legal immigrants but making clear that illegal immigration can no longer continue. 

What’s most important here is that, she understands better than most how immigration ought to work. She herself is the daughter of Indian immigrants and suggested that a Republican administration would welcome new families and restore the American Dream. 

She further explained: “My story is really not much different from millions of other Americans. Immigrants have been coming to our shores for generations to live the dream that is America. … No one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome in this country." 

As the one chosen to deliver the Republican response, she’s been frequently mentioned as a potential running mate in the upcoming presidential election.  

In one of the follow-up segments, Fox News’ Brit Baier noted that while the POTUS often talks about the need for diversity, most of his promises have remained "empty." Leading to 7 years of class warfare and dissension. Republicans on the other hand, have a roster of presidential candidates that include two Hispanics, one black, one woman and a whole host of ethnic backgrounds. Another example of total Democrat hypocrisy.  

On a similar aspect of the topic, a friend sent the following explanation of the Trump phenomenon yesterday in an interesting analogy:

“You've been on vacation for two weeks, you come home, and your basement is infested with raccoons. Hundreds of rabid, messy, mean raccoons have overtaken your basement. You want them gone immediately so you hire a guy. A pro. You don't care if the guy smells, you need those raccoons gone pronto and he's the guy to do it! You don't care if the guy swears, you don't care if he's an alcoholic, you don't care how many times he's been married, you don't care if he voted for Obama, you don't care if he has plumber's crack...you simply want those raccoons gone!  You want your problem fixed!  

“He's the guy. He's the best. Period. 

“That's why Trump. Yes he's a bit of an ass, yes he's an egomaniac, but you don't care. The country is a mess because politicians suck, the Republican Party is two-faced & gutless, illegals are everywhere. You want it all fixed! You don't care that Trump is crude, you don't care that he insults people, you don't care that he had been friendly with Hillary, you don't care that he has changed positions, you don't care that he's been married 3 times, you don't care that he fights with Megyn Kelly and Rosie O'Donnell, you don't care that he doesn't know the name of some Muslin terrorist,...this country is weak, bankrupt, our enemies are making fun of us, we are being invaded by illegal's, we are becoming a nation of victims where every Tom, Ricardo and Hamid is a special group with special rights to a point where we don’t even recognize the country we were born and raised in; “AND WE JUST WANT IT FIXED” and Trump is the only guy who seems to understand what the people want.  You're sick of politicians, sick of the Democratic Party, Republican Party, and sick of illegal's. You just want this thing fixed. Trump may not be a saint, but doesn’t have lobbyist money holding him, he doesn’t have political correctness restraining him, all you know is that he has been very successful, a good negotiator, he has built a lot of things, and he's also not a politician, he's not a cowardly politician. And he says he'll fix it.

“You don't care if the guy has bad hair.  You just want those raccoons gone.  Out of your house.  Now.”

Now, there certainly may be other ways to fix the nation’s problems, offered by other Republican candidates who are smoother, more professional and certainly far more erudite. But, even so, the raccoon analogy makes an awful lot of sense at the present time, going a long way to explain the Trump phenomenon.

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

Aside from all of her legal problems, compounded by her unethical behavior regarding the Clinton Foundation family slush fund, and then her miserable performance as Secretary of State, Bill’s wife has now got a major problem she can’t fix. Personality is an inborn trait, and hers is repulsive to growing numbers of voters.

According to the New York Times, as posted by Chris Stirewalt on FoxNews.com: Iowa Democrats are displaying far less passion for Hillary Clinton than for Senator Bernie Sanders, three weeks before the presidential caucuses, creating anxiety inside the Clinton campaign as she scrambles to energize supporters and to court wavering voters. 

“The enthusiasm gap spilled abundantly into view in recent days, from the cheering crowds and emotional outpourings that greeted Mr. Sanders, and in interviews with more than 50 Iowans at campaign stops for both candidates. Voters have mobbed Mr. Sanders at events since Friday, some jumping over chairs to shake his hand or snap a selfie…With a new poll showing Mr. Sanders surging ahead in Iowa, Mrs. Clinton and her aides have dropped any pretense that they can ignore Mr. Sanders or treat him like a gadfly. They have become zealous and combative as they try new ways to undercut his high favorability ratings.”

So, just like last time around where she lost to an unknown street-corner hustler from Chicago, history appears to be about to repeat itself. 

And the overwhelming feedback indicates that it isn’t her political posturing, or her swings from right to left as the wind blows, that costs her voter support. Her problem is, people simply don’t like her at all.  

Bring up the ongoing question: 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