(And isn’t that a provocative headline. I write it with the confidence that no one will read this piece. Like Father MacKenzie of Eleanor Rigby’s Parish, I share I think the reality that I’m writing words for a sermon no one will hear. No one comes near! Prove me wrong and leave a comment.)
Of course, I will not vote for Donald Trump and indeed pretty much all Republicans these days appall me, but the Democrats aren’t doing themselves much justice at least when it comes to the Presidential campaign. I hear from friends comments like, “I want to see or woman, or a person of color.” Me? I’m a white Jewish male and quite content to see Bloomberg, not so much Bernie, represent my demographic.
This morning I heard on MSNBC the kangaroo court of lefty (not liberal) political correctives going on about how the Democrat line up of candidates was not diverse enough. Really? You mean the Kamala Harris’s of this world, the Amy Klobuchars, the Corey Bookers, the Julián Castros, the Pete Buttigiegs, the Deval Patrick’s, the Elizabeth Warren’s, the Andrew Yang’s and the Kirsten Gillibrands don’t or didn’t qualify enough? By the way the two Jews, and senior citizens to boot, are a minority. And this from the party that elected, twice, a black guy and had a woman on the ticket last time. I don’t think the Democrats need to prove their diversity bonafides with a superficial placement of someone that fits into a category that I don’t.
What’s really going on with those complaints is that the women, blacks and Hispanic on the ticket aren’t doing well and so the diversity card is the trump card. They’re fighting amongst themselves, undermining candidates who stand the best chance to defeat the GOP and, I fear, could lose the White House again in the process
And it goes beyond the nonsense of race, sex, orientation to prove that merely being in a non white male heterosexual category is itself some sort of qualification. Now you have the whining against wealthy self-made people like Bloomberg ‘buying’ the election. In contrast to so many other candidates, he’s had successful experience at running things. Oh, and Tom Steyer’s billions haven’t exactly bought him the election so it ain’t just about the money. Tell that to Elizabeth Warren and her $12 millon net worth ( bet it’s higher and I’m not sure that includes her $3 million home in Cambridge) or socialist with his $2.5 mn plus three homes including a lakeside place on Lake Champlain.
This will play into Trump’s greedy little hands.
To be fair, the MSNBC stuff specifically was about the limited number of people on the debate stage, but that’s about a process, not about discrimination and about how people are polling, not about affirmative action. PS, Bloomberg is not on the stage, but Warren, Klobuchar and Mayor Pete are, as is Bernie. That’s pretty diverse unless diversity is merely skin deep.
So to the headline. I’ll likely vote for any person other than Trump, so let’s put that to rest. But, as I listen to the candidates who champion finding demons in 1) white men, 2) well-off people, 3) more popular candidates than themselves, the only thing I find is jealousy. I certainly don’t find policy initiatives, but then if diversity or poverty is itself an asset, qualifications in the absence of more dynamism, maybe I’ll be appalled enough to not vote. Or not tell you.
I blame the media a lot. With 24/7 sound trying to find an audience, the likes of MSNBC, CNBC, Fox etc are all guilty of just throwing shit out there to get attention and, like an elementary school kid with the right answer to a teacher’s question, they are moaning, waving their hand, doing all they can to give a simple answer. Alas, they, the media, need to be more strident, louder, more threatening, more angry, and oh-my-god repetitive to try to get their message across assuming there is a message other than “oooh, ooooh, teacher, teacher, call on me!!!!”
To my politics? Biden or Bloomberg, because they might get Trump out of office and manage one term before, hopefully, we can return to a calmer political action era. Biden’s a bit whacky, but heck we had Reagan. Bloomberg has some skeleton’s I’m told, but then with stop and frisk, it’s yesterday’s battle, like Civil War statues, and was won so move on to the future please.
And I have a word for former candidate Al Sharpton and how-on-earth-did-this-happen MSNBC commentator; you can complain about stop and frisk only after you apologize for Tawana Brawley, Days of Rage, complaints about Korean store owners in Harlem and those white interlopers and diamond merchants you assaulted with those evil words
This is me. Testing the comments bit.
yes, still me
And an actual reader testing it
I hate your headline but I like the substance.
I’m also less sure of blaming the media, since internet-connected phones make everyone a journalist. Is main stream media really more provocative than 50 years ago? Yeah, but we’re a lot less beholden or captive to it. The greater danger — by far — is non-main stream but pseudo-seeming legitimate media. I won’t repeat any names, but websites that pass themselves off as main stream that put out trash are just as bad as Fox which, for all its warts, has legitimate journalists every now and then.
The United States is in a tough place, and the world seems more fragile. On the one hand, it’s wise to pay attention and recognize that countries and governments rise, fall, and dissolve—it could happen to us. But, on the other hand, times have been tough before—much tougher, in fact—and we’ve come out stronger. Which will it be this time? Who knows, but one thing is certain: none of the candidates that aren’t named Trump are likely to fix the problems we’re facing. We need to harken back to another era where we were rightly told: ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
All that said, please vote to get that racist, misogynistic, hateful, horribly corrupt, self-dealing international embarrassment out of the People’s House.
David, great article! You pointed out exactly what is wrong with the media and the political climate. Being 52 I’ve witnessed how much the country has changed, especially in the last 10 years or so. I would sooner vote for a rock than Trump. Unfortunately, the Democrats are playing way too far to the left to have any chance of winning. (Sorry if I ruined your Fr. MacKenie moment. 🙂
You will get more readers after that excellent editorial on Financial Samurai. I hope Bloomberg gets the nod, I think he could be just as productive as Trump, but without all the circus (I don’t vote in presidential elections, I live in NJ, so we already know how the vote will go, and I value my time).
I’m in total agreement. Biden or Bloomberg. I prefer Bloomberg because I think he can get more done, and I like the outsider role; same way Trump got it.
I wish you the very best of health.
I appreciate your candid thoughts and I guess it doesn’t hurt that I share your concerns about the Democrats.
Peace
David:
Sorry to hear about your diagnosis and hope a cure is found in time. Found you through Financial Samurai.
To paraphrase the author of Anonymous; can you vote for the policies you believe are in the best interest of the country sponsored by a person of no character or do you take a chance on a person of principle whose policies may not line up as well with your beliefs.
There are many factors affecting the decisions that must be made by our leaders (i.e. defense, globalization, health care, taxation and human rights) that could take volumes to explore all of the ramifications and trade-offs.
From my perspective the solutions are simple; raise taxes, spend less, elimination of the deficit over a reasonable period of time and reset the expectations of the citizenry of what the government can reasonably provide.
Its the politics that make it impossible. Thank god for our elected leaders. I couldn’t or wouldn’t want the responsibility. +
Interesting article. Like you, I don’t want to vote for either party! Considering your economics background, I am interested in your thoughts on any far left candidates winning the White House? Taxing the 1% isn’t the cure for all ills. It seems that any serious taxpayer would shudder if policies like student debt forgiveness and New Green Deal are passed. Kinda hoping Bloomberg gets the Dem ticket!