He's Not Funny, Folks

A comedian friend of mine used to say when evaluating a colleague, “I know funny, and he isn’t.” Is anyone really enjoying Donald Trump? If I hear one more person say, “Isn’t it great how he’s shaking things up?”… No, I’d better not say what I might do.

Let’s see, he’s given us Mexican rapists crossing the border, John McCain not being a war hero, and the cell phone number of a fellow Republican he disagrees with. If Mr. Rogers were here, he’d be channeling Rick Perry: “Can you say, ‘Commander-in-Chief’?”

That’s not just a snarky comment. Donald Trump is showing us what kind of battles he picks – and one of the biggest jobs a U.S. president has is picking battles. If the battles Trump has been picking represent what he thinks will win him the presidency, what kind will he pick if he were actually elected? (A concept which is, thankfully, very remote).

In the case of McCain, one could actually make a semantic argument over the use of the word “hero,” though anyone who spends years as a POW has to be given some credit for simply surviving. And, of course, Trump never had to serve one minute in the armed forces, so he doesn’t have the standing to even raise that issue.

This is about judgment. I actually wouldn’t have minded if McCain had become president himself – but he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate, or at least let others pick her for him. What did that say about his judgment? I didn’t think anyone could possibly make me miss Sarah Palin, but Mr. Trump has done it. The sexist pig in me says she is much nicer to look at.

In a perfect media world (that I controlled) I would cease on principle to give Donald Trump one more second of airtime, drop of ink, or digital keystroke. Don’t we have better things to do? Can’t somebody just make him go away?

As for Trump “shaking things up” in the GOP, is the party, or the nation, that bored? I live in California, but I don’t sit around longing for the next earthquake. They usually just cause damage. And Trump is just shaking the surface anyway. The Republican Party needs to be shaken to its foundation if it expects to survive this Trump, or future Trumps – or survive, period.

In Politics, It's Back to Business As Usual

So much for parties’ parties. The big political conventions are history, and there’s probably no question that for sheer presentation, the Democratic show eclipsed the Republican version. Of course, the Dems had a bigger hall, there was no hurricane to compete with, and they got to capitalize on the GOP’s mistakes. And then, there was Clint Eastwood, but that’s another story.

A friend rightly pointed out that the conventions are nothing but expensive infomercials, and I’d agree with that. Still, they do give us a view of the major-party candidates. While some people dismiss speechifying as simple fluff, the fact is that one of the skills a president needs is the ability to connect and inspire, especially at times when the country needs it -- even if the facts sometimes interfere with a good speech.

Now what? Well, for the moment at least, it’s (sadly) back to hit pieces and attack ads, which will likely increase in frequency and intensity. The conventional wisdom is that these “work,” although the electorate may be a little smarter than the campaign professionals think. Please forgive me if I seek refuge in NPR and PBS for a couple of months.

What we can look forward to are the upcoming debates. Here again, many may dismiss these as a simple display of particular skills, and it could be argued that the candidate who is the most effective debater isn’t automatically the most effective leader.

Even so, every view of the candidates in action, at conventions, in debates, one-on-one interviews by both serious journalists and late-night talk-show hosts, and even in dealing with the negative ads, furnish pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that have the potential to produce workable pictures of the people most of us will be voting for.

No doubt, many of us feel that our political system, in terms of the two major-party candidates, has left us with nothing but a bad choice. But at least we have one, and it would seem that the choice is pretty clear.

All that said, though, please forgive me when I say that I wish the calendar today read November 7 instead of September 7.

I Won't Hold It Against Him

I think a Republican victory in Massachusetts on Tuesday would be a good thing. If it happens, it will be a clear sign that the health care bill belongs in the circular file or the wood chipper.

I haven’t read this bill (as I’m sure most members of Congress haven’t). But from what’s been reported from many different sides, it’s a mess. There are things it does nothing about, like wellness, tort reform and drug prices. The problems that are addressed aren’t dealt with for several years.

Many will consider a GOP win this week a black eye for President Obama, but I won’t hold it against him if it comes to pass. He should be given a lot of credit for shining the spotlight on the need for health care reform. We all would agree it’s a job worth doing, and if so, it’s worth doing right. It’s very hard to scuttle a ship that’s been so long in the building, but let’s face it, this one just doesn’t float – and frankly, I would have just as much respect for the President let this one sink. Nobody is getting ahead with this bill except the special interests.

So will a Republican win inTed Kennedy’s home state presage a sweep for that party in the mid-term elections? Not necessarily. If you’re running for Congress –especially if you think this bill is a bad idea – you have an obligation to come up with something better. The health care debate has given us all a great education in how Congress works – and a yearning for a better way to make sausages.