The Unclad Soul

There is no question that Donald Trump is outmatched by Hillary Clinton. And why not? She’s been at this her entire adult life. She knows every political trick in the book and she masterfully applies them against him. He blunders along, in his street fighting mode, and he ends up being crude and bullying. Just what Hillary wants. She baits him and eggs him on and when he unloads his amateurish remarks she retaliates with polished, clever, adroit come backs. She has teams of writers and advisers, and of course Bill, who love this whole thing. They salivate over this stuff. It’s a game, a fun, exhilarating game to them. It’s a challenge for them to see just how ingenious they can be in turning Trump into a complete fool. And so far, it has worked perfectly. He of course plays along, having apparently no idea just how stupid they make him look, and how stupid he actually may be. He has no self-awareness. No understanding of what is actually going on. No game plan. No insight. No bigg...

There is a large element of Democratic and Republican voters in this country who feel betrayed by their parties. Trump and Hillary and their handlers and the establishment big shots in both parties seem oblivious to this fact.  Yes, this is a great country and all of that. But folks, our political system is tragically, disastrously broken. It does not represent the majority of our citizens. Anyone who cannot see that is simply living in some kind of unyielding denial. I don’t know what will happen in the Republican Party. Their convention this summer will likely be a hot mess. But I can assure you, with all of the condescending calls from Hillary’s cheerleaders to dismiss Bernie supporters, the Democratic convention will be no less chaotic. All the pundits have declared her the nominee and many even the president. To discount so many with that kind of disdainfulness may very well create shocking consequences at the convention. There are groups of people in America who ...

I don’t think many in this country realize how powerful the religious right has become over the past 20 years in terms of their influence on our political system. Some of them are led by greedy posers who are using religion as a way of getting Christian voters to elect candidates who will do the bidding of people who only have their own financial interests in mind.  They are not interested in any kind of religious ideology to follow in their personal lives.  They just want to stay rich and powerful.  And they intend to use the large voting block of gullible very conservative Christians to do it. And then there are leaders who are the truly religious fanatics who have lost touch with the true message of Christianity, which is completely love centered.  These fanatics approach religion in terms of legalistic, rule-oriented, judgmental, punishing thoughts and actions.  There is no joy in their faith, no room for grace or charity, no tolerance of anyone wh...

After some considerable thought, well, that’s not quite right. But anyway. I have decided to support Rick Santorum for president should he get the nomination. Here are the reasons why: 1. Back to basics. Mr. Santorum wants to take us back far past the Internet, the computer, the typewriter, the telegraph, the TV, the radio, smoke signals, and all other forms of human communication that might in some way tempt us into anything immoral. We need a leader like that. Someone with a clear vision of what’s right and what’s wrong so that we will only communicate with one another in holy words from pure souls. 2. Contraceptives. Here’s the problem in this country. As Mr. Santorum suggests, women are just being too needy of things relating to their bodies and whatnot. If Eve had listened to Adam in the Garden and simply let him pick all of the fruit while she did all the cooking then we wouldn’t even need contraceptives. Right? Sex probably wouldn’t even exist and we wouldn’t have...

All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost. ~ From J.R.R. Tolkien’s, “The Lord of the Rings” That is a great line, “Deep roots are not reached by the frost.” It speaks of allegiance, courage, self-determination. The people who really love this country will not be defeated by the cynicism of our current politics. Love of country can survive those who seek to belittle our Constitution with their obsessive greed and ruthless corruption. The Citizens United legislation that our right wing Supreme Court allowed, a Court completely sold out to their corporate cronies, is destroying our political system and the entire premise of the right to vote. By making it legal for corporations to dump billions of dollars into specific political campaigns with little or no accountability, we are then left with political outcomes that serve only the wealthy. They are the ones who ca...

The Republican debate in New Hampshire last night was proof again that the GOP is in a mess. Their party leaders apparently realize that Mitt Romney is the only one of their candidates who might have a chance at defeating President Obama. The problem is Romney is just so undesirable to most Republicans. They see him as a moderate and not a true conservative. They know he is someone who has changed his stance on so many important issues and so they consider him no longer trustworthy. And this leaves them in the mess they are in. I find Mitt Romney a puzzling man. He seems polished and poised and certainly has the intellectual capacity to lead and be president. But there is something strikingly disingenuous about him. He often appears to try too hard. He’s wealthy and has lived a privileged life and seems to strain at relating to the ordinary common person. He has jokingly called himself “unemployed” which is basically true. The man has been running for president forever. ...

Rick Santorum’s surge and second place finish in the Iowa caucus represents one of the most cynical aspects of this already bizarre and empty presidential campaign. And that is the so called “Evangelical” vote. Who are these people? Some of them are good and decent church going folks who think they are supporting Christian values. They simply like anyone like Santorum who says religious and conservative things and so they give him their full trust. They are often fearful people who think the world is evil and hope someone will rescue them from life’s hard realities and get rid of drugs and terrorists and divorce and so forth. They think someone like Santorum can do this by legislating morality. Others are angry, ungenerous, bigoted people who hide behind their religious faith and use it to sanction their rejection and dislike and in some cases hatred for gays, blacks, immigrants, and liberals. They do not follow Jesus. They do not really believe his teachings. Read the Ser...

Newt Gingrich has come out with a public pledge stating he will defend marriage, oppose gay unions, and push for a constitutional amendment that will define marriage as “the union of one man and one woman.” A constitutional amendment! He also pledges his own “personal fidelity” to his current wife and promises to “respect…the marital bonds of others.” Let there be no misunderstanding about the purpose of this statement. It was made only to win the votes of very conservative Republicans and fundamentalist Christians. It has no other relevance. Why didn’t Gingrich make this pledge before now, like when he married his third wife? There is only one reason. He has decided he wants to be the president so he puts out this self-righteous pledge that he will now take marriage seriously. This is the worst kind of political pandering. It’s manipulative and disingenuous. Why not say instead, “I know voters are troubled by my past mistakes and worry if I can be trusted to live by th...