The Cowardly Lion

Once upon a time, in a great and beautiful jungle, their lived a lion. He was a beautiful lion, with a shiny coat and a majestic mane. But the best thing about this lion was that he had the greatest roar of all the lions. And, my-oh-my, didn't he just love to roar.

This majestic lion would spend his days roaming from one end of the jungle to the other; north to south; east to west. He would stop periodically and just stand and roar. All the other jungle creatures were in awe of his mighty voice. They all thought that with a roar like that this lion must be the most feared and powerful animal in the jungle.

Now walking and roaring all day is a hungry job. One can build a huge appetite doing all that hard work. So every afternoon, one of his pride would bring down a gazelle or a wildebeest or some other critter for the mighty lion's dinner.

So, this one day, while the lion was feasting on the prey that they had brought him, he stopped to give a couple of roars as was his habit. While he was roaring, a cheetah ran in and grabbed his meal and ran off with it. And the lion thought, "I've had enough. It is not worth chasing that cheetah and I am to important for that anyway for everyone fears me. 

The very next day the lion was walking and roaring his way down a narrow jungle path. Suddenly, he comes face to face with a elephant. Not a big elephant. Not a small elephant. Just an average elephant. The lion thought, "this elephant must get out of my way and let me pass". So he gave a series of his greatest roars. The elephant simply stood there and stared at him, not moving a muscle. So the lion decided that he didn't want to go this way anyway, and turned off the path.

The next day a handsome and charming young lion stole his favorite from his harem. By the time he realized that she was gone, he felt it was too late to bother chasing her. And besides his harem was still large. The day after that, a sneaky jackal stole his dinner and he never realized it was gone until his stomach started growling.

You know how it is in the jungle. The jackals talk to the cheetahs. The elephants talk to everybody. Soon stories are shared among all the jungle denizens. So they talked and talked. They had long discussions around the waterhole. And soon the whole jungle knew. In spite of his mighty roar, all they had was a cowardly lion. 

The Mad Woman Of Chaillot Strikes Again

For many years, Nancy Pelosi has been a powerful woman in government. When she was Speaker of the House, paired with Harry Reid as Majority Leader in the Senate, they had complete control over the American legislative agenda for four years. In Obama's second term, when Boehner and McConnell took over these positions, amazingly, nothing seemed to change.

Pelosi and Reid completely controlled the writing of Obamacare. They did it behind closed doors, excluding any Republican input. They were ignoring about half of the population of the United States. And, possibly, ignoring the negative feelings of more than half.

But when asked about the contents of the Obamacare bill, Ms. Pelosi famously said, "We have to pass it to find out what is in it." And of course, the lapdog press accepted this insanity with nary a murmer.

Now, once again, Ms. Pelosi comes to the fore with her profound analysis of the Planned Parenthood tapes. She said that she had never watched them but that she knew that they were doctored. If she hadn't seen them, how could she form any opinion? Has she the skill set and training to recognize doctored videos? More insanity. We may have a case of Botox overload here.

Well, just this morning, it has come out that a forensic examination of the tapes shows that they have not been doctored. The vile pictures and audio, that none of us wanted to hear and see, are true. What these people have been doing is cruel and detestable. In some cases they did despicable things to fetuses that were delivered alive and were viable. Is that not murder. But these sub-humans sipped wine and laughed about their actions.

Planned Parenthood should be defunded and the RICO Statutes should be used to prosecute all involved. Nancy Pelosi should go back to San Francisco. She is long past her sell by date.

Stupidity Runs

Stupidity runs rampant in the land. So many places. So many ways. I hardly know where to start. Maybe with the teenage electronic genius who invented a clock. So this kid takes an old Radio Shack, Micronta, alarm clock. He takes it apart leaving only the working components. Then he sticks them kind some kind of a case and says he invented a clock. No, he built something that, with the addition of explosives could have been a bomb. It looked like a bomb. It had the basic components of a bomb. But because he is Muslim, our President, liberals, and the press start screaming. Just stupid. He brought it into a building full of kids. It is called desensitizing.

Then there is old Bubba Bill preaching that it is all a "Right Wing conspiracy". Sure. Those crafty Republicans tricked her into using an illegal server serviced by folks with no security clearance. The Republicans sold her on the idea of mishandling Secure and confidential documents. Then as sneaky as they are, they convinced her to lie, change her story, and obfuscate in any way possible. Sorry Hill, we're on to you. You do not deserve to be President based on your mishandling of Benghazi, alone.

And up in the lovely state of Washington, where the air is cold and damp, the uber liberals strike once more. One school district, in order to protect their children from extreme danger have banned playing tag at recess. My God, children playing tag actually touch one another. How inappropriate is that. And they might skin a knee, and actually bleed. And the self-esteem of slow kids might suffer. How did all those previous generations survive. Mad folks are running our institutions.

Also, we have one of my favorite targets. Those poor souls that are so ultra-sensitive that their mind just goes into a fuzzy panic if the see a religious symbol or see someone with their head bowed in prayer. Lately, it seems Islamic symbols are exempt from panic creating situations. Probably because they will take even greater offense for the offense taken at Islam. People who take offense at this level tend not to be confrontational. They have lawyers to handle that. 

So, as the old song says, "the beat goes on". Sonny has long left us and Cher has been rebuilt so many times, she is not the same person, but they passed on to us an eternal truth in that phrase. When it comes to stupidity, the beat always goes on.

OK

OK, so I haven't posted anything lately. Sorry. First, I haven't been feeling great. Second, I'm having a bit of writers block. Third, the news has been all the Pope, twenty-four, seven. I cannot compete with that. Fourth, I've had a bunch of personal stuff to deal with. Patience.

As the Arnold said, "I'll be back".

Just passed seventy-thousand.

Thanks, Cranky

Random Thoughts - Seventy

Note to President Obama and the Pope: You can fight climate change all you want, climate change will, ultimately, win.

Yogi Berra, a great ball player and a great man, RIP. Yogi was a great homey philosopher who expressed himself in the simplest terms. My favorite; "If you come to a fork in the road, take it."

I don't care what anybody says, if you put that picture of the "clock" beside a picture of a bomb, most people couldn't tell the difference. Once again our President let his mouth get ahead of the facts.

I like some of the things that Donald Trump says, I just don't like the way he says them.

So now it is said that the military is telling pilots to hype up the F-35 and to play down its failings, which seem to be many. It seems that as one goes up in rank lately, one becomes more politician than warrior. That is a shame. 

The History Channel isn't real history. Reality shows are not reality. How dangerous can some of these stunts be if there is a guy ten feet away carrying a camera? Folks, someplace along the line we went through the looking glass.

I wish the Pope would leave out the part about "global warming". He is not a scientist. He has just bought into the liberal ranting. The science has not been resolved. The original models were flawed. Temperatures have not risen. Manhattan is not under water. Polar bears are thriving. And Obama just ordered more ice breakers for the military. Nuff said.

Hillary will never be indicted, though she should be, by this administration. But changes are coming. She should be concerned. I'd recommend an island nation with no extradition treaty. 

Timber!

The next Presidential election may be the most important vote that the American people have taken since WWII. We have a country that is awash in anger. We have a middle class that is losing ground. We have an overblown government that has no respect for American citizens or the Constitution. Right now, we are a failing country. This has to stop.

For years now, the press has been selling us a candidate. They, led by the New York Times and the Washington Post, unify on who they, with their liberal bent, think should run the country. That person is glorified. All others are embarrassed and vilified. This, also, must stop.

We need to elect someone of Presidential timber. So, what does that consist of? The first thing a new President needs to bring to the job is presence. What, at one time was referred to as gravitas when the talking heads wanted to sound intellectual. Presence is a personality that fills whatever room that person is in, leaving no question of who is in charge.

A President must have a calm demeanor. Even when facing gut churning situations, a President must show calm and thoughtfulness. It is right and good to be decisive, but not to operate from panic. He speaks softly but firmly. He does not go off half cocked before all of the data is in. And even then, he knows when it is wise to keep his opinions to himself.

A President is not expected to know everything. Contrary to current thought, in some quarters, a President needs to understand their knowledge gaps and fill them in with expert advice. Advice that he is willing to listen to even when it is far different from preconceived notions. Sycophants are of no conceivable use to a President other than as ego strokers and coffee fetchers.

The English have a term that I am fond of, "Her Majesty's loyal opposition". In short, the other party. If a President wins by three or four percent, it means that nearly half of America disagrees. A President is their President too.  A good President listens to the opposition. A great President works with the opposition. A great President put his country before himself or his political party. That is Presidential timber.  

We Are Being Homogenized

To homogenize milk they squeeze the cream molecules down so that they are the same density as the milk. That way, the cream mixes evenly with the milk and doesn't separate. There are those out there that think that all people and all countries should be the same. None better, none worse. 

These people are called liberals. They actually believe in a caste system where the intellectuals, them, decide how the rest should live and comport themselves. Liberals in this country and around the world don't much like us. By us, I mean regular Americans that like to shoot and fish. They own a Bible. They would rather go camping with the kids than spend a week in a five star hotel. You never find us at the opera or the ballet. At a ZZ Top concert, for sure.

The liberals don't like us because we are independent and stubborn. We love our country and respect our constitution. We don't have to call a plumber if the faucet leaks. We own power tools and know how to use them. We can shingle a roof or remodel a kitchen. We like big dogs and can grow our own food or fix our own cars. We don't need them, but they need us. 

They think of us as knuckle-draggers. However, if faced with the daunting task of assembling an IKEA bookcase, they will be on the phone to a knuckle-dragger in a New York second. And we will have to supply the tools. And they will,ever after, brag about the bookcase they built.

Great Britain was once a mighty nation. It has been squeezed down for years. England is slowly but surely turning itself into a third world nation and the citizens don't have the grit to control their politicians that are allowing this to happen. France gave up years ago. "Liberte, Eglite, Fraternite" has morphed into good enough is good enough, pass the wine.

With the great influx of refugees, Germany is in danger of losing it's national character. Muslim refugees are already demanding the end of Oktober Fest because it offends them.

The handwriting is on the wall. It is not too late. We can stop this downward spiral. We need to turn back to conservatism. Real Constitutional Conservatism. Really.

Evil Walks The Earth

I have never believed in evil as an entity.  Certainly there have been truly evil people. Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin. History supplies us with a long list. They had an evil power that seemed to compel people to follow them and accept their mindset. 

There have been copious people in the Jeffry Dahmer mold that were horribly evil but were accepted as mentally ill. We have always faced evil of some sort. It just seems to be in the DNA of some people.

But lately we are surrounded by it. We are awash in it. A religion that tells it's adherents that it is good to rape, stone, behead, mutilate and bomb innocents to advance their faith. That their God will look upon them with favor. And if they die in the process, they will be glorified as martyrs, go directly to paradise, and have the favor of seventy-six sloe eyed virgins.

There are people in our own country publicly ranting that cops and white people in general should be treated with violence and killed. Worse, there are those that hear this message, accept it, and try to carry out cowardly sneak attacks. Our leaders ignore this behavior because they don't have the spine to take a hard stand. 

While I am no "end of times" theorist, the situation in the Middle East seems like something out of Revelations. This strife is spewing refugees all over the world many of who are jihadists of the ISIS strain. This will not be good for any of the countries, including the USA, where they land. Lately, Muslim seem to be super-confrontational and aggressive. 

The media feeds us a daily diet of violence, death, and malevolent acts. The politicians of the world seem to be paralyzed and confused. They act more interested in global warming and income inequality than stopping the death and destruction that we are awash in. Truly, evil walks the earth.

Walk Softly

Teddy Roosevelt was a real man. A manly man. He lead the "Rough Riders" up San Juan Hill. He was Police Commissioner of New York City. He was President of the USA. He was a man of considerable achievement. One of the wisest things that he said was as advice to future Presidents. He said, "walk softly and carry a big stick".

That was great advice. Would that our current President had heeded it. But he, in his own inimitable style, turned this good advice inside out and backwards. He tromps around like a combination of big foot and the Swiss yodeling team. He walks and talks loudly and carries a soda straw. He draws neither trust, admiration, friendship, nor fear from others in world leadership.

The American people, being a lot smarter than our politicians think we are, and also a lot smarter than our politicians, realize this fatal shortcoming in Mr. Obama. They see the mess that has been created in our country and the world. They lay right at Mr. Obama's feet. Exactly where it belongs. He has left the American public stressed and anxious.

So, along comes Donald Trump. In many ways he is the anti-Obama. But he is not exactly in the Teddy Roosevelt mold. Trump is loud, brash, and unapologetic. He pretends that he doesn't carry a big stick, he carries a telephone pole with which he will smite all enemies, foreign and domestic. As Teddy might say, balderdash.

While Mr. Trump may say many of the right things (along with many wrong things) he says them in the wrong way. I believe that he would be as out of control as Mr. Obama is. He would be likely to rule by Presidential fiat when Congress did not comply with his wishes. I think that he would also disdain the limits of the Constitution.

While I want a conservative President, I want one who reveres the Constitution. I want a President who is smart, thoughtful, tough, and one who doesn't shoot from the lip. With Donald Trump, the Presidency would be all about Donald Trump. We have had enough of that attitude. We need a President where it would be all about the United States of America.

Random Thoughts - Sixty-Nine

Isn't it amazing that within days of President Obama getting his unconstitutional deal with Iran, the mullahs discover a cache of uranium that they had accidentally forgotten about. Those crazy absent minded mullahs!

Lightning struck and a crane collapsed at Mecca. Many of the devout were killed. Allah's will? Was Allah delivering a message?

A year ago, I told my cardiologist that Hillary would not be the Democrat candidate. I may have nailed it. No matter what she says or does she comes across as stiff, scripted, and phony. I don't think there is a real person in there any more. 

It is no secret that I am a Patriots fan. Football is a game that is played by twenty-two men on a big field. You win or lose there. Every professional team takes whatever small advantage they can. Most of the time a simple "don't do that anymore" is sufficient. But when The Pats are involved, jealousy ensues. Goodell gets pushed by owners and does dumb things. In this case he has effectively neutered himself.

If we can't have God in the classroom, why.suddenly, can we have Allah. Come on ACLU. Are you afraid the Muslims are going to do evil upon you. So it is not about standards. It is about fear. OK, so ACLU stands for American Cowardly Liberals Unified.  Got it.

I see fear expressed in some of this morning's headlines. Fear that the FED will raise interest rates and cause a crash in the market. I have been writing about this for two years. The FED acted foolishly and caused, what I have called, the "Bernanke Bubble". They tried to cover for poor economic policy with ultra low interest rates. They had opportunities but fear of the tiger they had by the tail forced them to let the wound fester. As always, the inevitable will happen.

I just bought another ukulele made by the Oscar Schmidt Company. About one hundred and fifty years ago when the big names in stringed instruments were being sold in music stores in the cities, Schmidt had a different plan. They sent reps out into the countryside. They put their guitars, banjos, and mandolins in country stores, furniture stores, even hardware stores and became a huge success. It is a great American business success story. Worth Googling. 

It's My Money

Every dollar that comes into the coffers of my town is my money. Likewise, the state that I live in and my country. It is every other citizens too. We all share in ownership. It does not belong to the politicians except in their roll as citizens. An equal share. No more.

The problem is that they do not believe that. That money is "manna from heaven" sent to them for their pet projects, social engineering, and distribution among their biggest supporters. I know that most of them have heard the phrase "fiscal responsibility". They just don't see it as affecting them and their grand lifestyle.

They see the money as theirs but they see the debt that they incur as ours. They walk away at the end of their terms. The debt remains behind. Eighteen trillion dollars of it. That is just total insanity. But they all walk away being convinced that they did a wonderful job. Their self pride and egos confirm their opinion.

So the like minded pols that they leave behind name bridges, buildings, and highways after them. Their fame or infamy remains in the heroic fashion they are convinced that they deserve.

But look around you. Read the news. The real news. Not the news as served up on MSNBC or by some uber liberal comedian. Our country is falling apart. The world is falling apart. Middle class salaries are going down. Record numbers of people are out of work. Our country is being infiltrated by jihadis. Crazy mullahs are on track for nuclear weapons and ICBMs. And we have a President who claims the biggest threat to our country is climate change and, by the way, he is doing a marvelous job as President. Really?

We have put untrained, inexperienced, ideologues in charge of our country. Anyone who does not realize this comes under the classification of "low info voter". We need more adult, responsible leadership. We cannot continue, no, we cannot survive as a republic at the rate we have been going. 

Now I Understand "Amok"

I sit here in my man cave and look out the window seeing a placid community. People are generally peaceful and respectful. There is not much front page above the fold news here. Even if I go out to run errands with my wife, we don't leave our home in fear. Sure there are some bad areas, but none so bad as to make me fear for my life.

While this area is heavily Roman Catholic, there are churches of all stripes, from a mosque to a Buddhist Temple. There are synagogues and Marist churches in the area. But all seems calm to my eye. I think I would notice if it were otherwise. 

But the rest of my country and the rest of the globe seems to be populated by a bunch of berserkers running amok. And I'm not referring to a bunch of longboats sailing up Narragansett Bay carrying Norsemen with swords and shields.

There are a bunch of people running for President that I would not invite into my home for dinner. In fact I wouldn't cross the street to meet them. I don't find screaming, ranting, and ad hominum attacks attractive. I also find those who think that they are entitled, unattractive. I don't hold much truck for dynasties either.

I also don't much like people who feel that their behavior is not subject to scrutiny nor criticism. If you don't care for their thuggish actions, ridiculous sense of style, and general ill deportment, you are a racist. In fact if you disagree in any way, you are a racist. The invective and marching are one thing. But killing cops, jacking cars, and home invasions are going amok. It is uncivilized.

The current President and his Secretary of State have made a deal with the devil. Except in this case they just sold their soul for no gain. Most Americans despise this deal. They realize the base falsity that the President is trying to sell. So he has stopped trying to sell it and brought in his senatorial henchman, Harry Reid. 

The Constitution requires treaties to pass Congress to be ratified. So they don't call it a treaty. It's just an agreement, so it wouldn't have to be ratified. So Congress decided to pass a bill of disapproval, that Obama would have to veto. That would be bad press. So up steps Harry the hit man Reid threatening to filibuster. End of story. The autocratic President will impose the treaty. Game, set, match. Say goodbye to another little piece of our Constitution.

To add to all this, the administration is releasing violent criminals back on the streets. The border is porous to drug dealers and terrorists. Jihad is being preached in our communities. While my own community seems peaceful people seem to be running amok in many others. It is really time to regain control.

We Are At War

America is at war. It is the first real war that has been fought in the forty-eight contiguous states in almost one hundred and twenty years. But this war is different from all others. There are multiple target areas being targeted, in different ways, by multiple entities.

It should be obvious to anyone that there is a shooting war on the police. A war that, at least in part, is the responsibility of the President and his minions. In far to many cases involving people of color, the President has made derogatory comments about police and police procedures before the facts were known. He has put a base under the fallacy that all cops are a danger to anyone in the non-white community. 

Most people in the poorer sections of cities need the protection of the police because the levels of crime are through the roof. Gangs, drug dealers, and plain old thugs make life a living hell for those who cannot defend themselves. Policing these areas must, by nature, include violence. Loose speech by press and politicians have turned things on their head and made the police the perpetrators of violence and given tacit permission for minority communities to attack those whom would protect them.

America is under attack by jihadis who come to this country to disrupt and kill or by citizens who have been turned and have gone to jihad. There are more of them than we are told. They are already operating between twenty and thirty-five training camps on American land. The administration likes to label their successes as "workplace violence". It is not. When the attacker screams Allahu akbar, it is jihad. If it quacks like a duck, it isn't a moose. These attacks will not stop and will probably worsen.

Another native war is the war on Christianity. It is Christian values that allowed this country to become great. From the Ten Commandments to the Golden Rule. From the life of Jesus as told in the Gospels to the Beatitudes to Paul's epistles, the moral lessons gave America a code for life that allowed independence, forgiveness, and a respect for both law and other people's rights.

Now we have a school system in Tennessee that is teaching Islam. If they tried teaching Christianity, the ACLU and the Justice Department would be all over them. We have an elected clerk in Kentucky who is being jailed for her beliefs. She should not be jailed. That is insane. Suspended from her job, even home confinement, OK. Not jail. As an ordained minister I can't say that she is wrong. She either needs to render unto Caesar or resign in protest. She asked for and received a civil secular job. She should do it or resign. But I will never say she is wrong.

Christians must fight these battles as they come to us. We must take our stand on solid ground. We must find press and attorneys who will support our cause and fight with us. We must be as organized and tenacious as those that oppose us. I repeat what I have said in other blogs, "Onward Christian Soldiers". 

Why A Ukulele

As time goes on, I find it more and more difficult to do a lot of things that used to be a lot easier. So, in accommodation, I've had to change my lifestyle. I can no longer walk the woodland streams to stalk the wily trout. Or even walk the lake shores in search of the less wily bass. Policing my brass at the target range has become too difficult to continue.

Of course, I have my reading and my blog. Both are satisfying. But the constant reading of the news and scourging those whose behavior I find counter productive (and they are legion) was dragging me down. Since I really hate it when I leave manic and enter the territory of depressive, I felt that I needed something more.

What should I do? What should I do? I thought long and loud. I contemplated my sins. Both past and future. I prayed for guidance. Finally, my prayers were answered. I needed music in my life. 

Well OK. How? In what form? Back to contemplation! Personal problems of this importance are not easily solved. A pipe organ or concert grand piano were out. Way too big. A sitar is way too complicated. I needed small and simple. In my little man cave, even an acoustic guitar would be crowded.

Banjos and mandolins are expensive. Besides, my wife said that if I got a banjo, she'd leave. At my age, that is untenable. So, again, I thought and I thought. Then I remembered. Back when I was a kid, there was this guy on TV. His name was Arthur Godfrey. He played the ukulele and extolled their virtues.

Perfect solution. I heard that ukuleles are inexpensive and easy to learn. Why not? So I took the plunge.  I went to my  buy anything source, Amazon. Now bear in mind, this was less than nine months ago. I searched "ukulele".  And didn't I get a bunch. 

I settled on a $50.00 instrument to get started. Two days later (I'm a Prime customer) it was in my hands. I did an internet search for information on learning to play. I was soon up and running. I could actually play something resembling music.

I soon realized that a little soprano uke was insufficient to my big arthritic fingers. So I bought a tenor uke. Great! I found some songs on line and made real progress. But I was just strumming. I really wanted to learn finger picking. A little tough with hands like mine, but I found an on-line course. I'm even making a little progress with this.

I now own three ukes. I'm playing every day. I'm having fun. I realized early on that I would never be asked to tour with Aerosmith. But I take great pleasure in the learning process. My gains are in little steps, but they still make me smile. It doesn't matter how far I get. It is the journey that is important, not the destination.

Appeasement

Appeasement is not a policy. It is a lack. A lack of what, you may ask? It is a lack of , oh so many things. Let's start with courage. It takes courage to stand in opposition. People or organizations or governments will always try to get an advantage that they should not or, in some cases, must not be allowed. If they are adamant, things can get loud and sweaty or even violent. Those without courage smile, appease, and walk away.

Appeasement is a lack of standards. A civilized society is attainable through agreed upon standards of behavior and quality. There are those that will act out in an attempt to separate themselves from the mainstream. It might be thuggish or bizarre  behavior or threatening speech to attempt to instill fear and to generate an illusion of superiority. It could even be sending poor quality products into our system of trade assuming that those receiving those products will accept them without protest.

Appeasement shows a disdain for the future. Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Adolph Hitler was a root cause of WWII. I fear that the Obama Kerry appeasement of Iran will lead to WWIII. It is obvious this is an attempt to "kick the can down the road" to give Obama a legacy. He must not bother to think about his legacy when Iran breaks this treaty as they have openly stated they would.

Appeasement shows a lack of ability for discriminatory thinking. A study of history combined with a study of human nature allows a discriminating mind to see the dangers and fallacies of giving in to the worst natures of others. Whether it be on a social, business, or political level, there are always those looking for an advantage. Be it that they use fear, money, or favor, to promote an advantage seldom are these advantages used for the good of society.

When people say openly that they wish to kill you, it is good to take them at their word. It is even better to shun those people and do all that you can to keep them at a disadvantage.  As the world loves a lover, the world hates a hater. When mouths spew denigration and hate, no appeasement will ever still them.

Old White Men

I see that the Republican power brokers want Mitt Romney to run. What's the matter? Did John McCain have other plans? Gentlemen you have had your chance and failed. American conservatives will no longer be satisfied with Democrat lite.

You have given us one decent President since Ike. You don't know how to wage a political war. Worst of all, your little old white men's club's members line up for their chance to run. The Republican candidate gets there through a laying on of hands. A political baptism, so to speak.

And now we live with the worst of your failures. Barack Obama is trashing our country. We gave you the House and the Senate to control his excesses. Could you do it? No! You kissed his ring and hid in your offices. I could describe the upper ranks of the Republican party using a term that I learned in junior high school, but I try not to use that level of crudeness these days. Think of yourselves as the inner circle, then use your imagination.

So, out of the woodwork, come three people who want to be President. They are uncoated with the slime of politics. They are all extremely smart. They are all as diverse as three candidates can get. They all love America and want it's greatness restored. 

The best thing is they are all self confident and willing to bring bright people with real expertise into their administration to share the load. They will not surround themselves with an army of sycophants just to have a "Greek Chorus" telling them how great they are and echoing their leaders ideas. Their egos are sufficient unto themselves.

All of these people are saying what we, out in flyover country, are saying among ourselves. Bring back the Constitution. Give business a chance and let them create jobs as they always have. Reconstitute our military. Give us back our freedom and bring peace to our streets. End the divisiveness. We have had enough.

Will this be the start of a new political party? Perhaps. I hope the new political party will be the Republican party reborn. All that needs be done is to flush the detritus of past bad decisions and become a party that truly represents conservative thought.