Many people (including myself) have referred to the list of candidates for the 2016 republican nomination for president as the “clown car.”  Well, I was just reading an article about how two top staffers for Dr. Ben Carson had resigned and, in the article, it mentioned that in the last quarter of the year Dr. Carson has raised $23 MILLION all the while as his campaign is headed for the “dumps.” (That’s my characterization)  My first thought as I was reading this article was that Dr. Carson (and, I’m sure, most of the other members of the “Clown Car”) is/are “laughing all the way to the bank.”

Now, as a non-political candidate, I’m not sure what he will do with all this cash – what I am sure is that he’s not going to refund it to the supposed 600,000 donors out there who sent it to him.  It’s hard for me to get the amazement out of my head that there are apparently 600,000 Americans willing to send money to someone like Carson as he portrays himself as a qualified candidate for the office of the president.  I want to say, “Are you kidding me?”  Then I remember John McCain choosing Sarah Palin to be “a heartbeat from the presidency” – had he won and something happened to him – AND, a large percentage of the republican “base” hit a TEN on the excitement meter.  It’s hard for me to imagine how that many Americans can assume you can just pull someone out of a family dialogue (argument?) regarding politics and they would be qualified to hold the highest office in the land.  I guess Ronald Reagan has succeeded in convincing the American public that government “is the problem.”

The list of republican “leaders” who have a difficult time putting a complete sentence together is beginning to seem endless.  In Carson’s case, I’m sure he’s a renowned brain surgeon, but as I listened to him, I came to the conclusion he was no more qualified to be president than I am – and, honestly, that’s a scary thought!  I’m trying to force myself to listen to the members of the so-called “clown car” and it’s got beyond discouraging – it’s to the point of downright embarrassing!  (The thought of one of them actually winning is frightening) I’d love for the people of this nation who are encouraging this stuff to realize “the world is watching.”

I’m guessing that many of the supporters in the rallies for people like Carson are simply angry citizens who don’t understand why things have gone in such a “southward” direction in their lifetimes.  Many are probably in the 40 – 50 year old range and they became adults around the time Reagan got elected back in 1980.  I’ve written about the travesty of the “Reagan revolution,” but I’m thinking now it will have to be the historians to fully quantify the DAMAGE that has resulted from the “me first” thinking which was (and is still being) embedded in the minds of so many Americans.  I can’t tell you how many working class Americans I’ve talked to over the past 20 or so years who, on the one hand, vote for republicans and then, without any knowledge of how republicans have promoted anti-worker policies while enabling America’s elite to “rob” the taxpayers almost blind, blame democrats (and, for the past 7 years President Obama) for the failures of our government.  (I’ve written many times regarding the sophistication of the republican (brainwashing) propaganda scheme – taken right from the “playbook” of Joseph Goebbels, head of Nazi propaganda – why our “liberal media refuses to disclose this reality is beyond me)

I mean, for the most amazing example of how ridiculous things have become in this nation, all you have to do is look back to the Bush/Cheney regime.  (In essence, today’s “clown car” are promoting an identical philosophy)  GW Bush and Dick Cheney took a $250 BILLION surplus and turned it into a $500 BILLION deficit in the space of about 4 years. (That’s NOT my “opinion” – you can look it up)  And, that doesn’t even count the TRILLIONS they spent on two wars that they “charged” and never put “on the books.”  (One of the first things President Obama did was put the cost of the wars “on the books” and, of course, this led to republicans blaming him for the deficits he INHERITED)  Bush/Cheney essentially RUINED America’s standing in the world by authorizing (openly) TORTURE and by encouraging economic “freedoms” for Wall Street that led to the so-called “Great Recession” – causing the $700 BILLION TARP bailout (that “we the taxpayers” will probably NEVER know how much it really cost) – where Bush/Cheney and Henry Paulsen abandoned their “free market” philosophy just long enough to enrich their brethren on Wall Street – the very people who risked the world’s economy for the sake of some pretty fancy “profits.”  Of course, that fiasco (the Great Recession) affected the entire world because our financial “experts” were selling their financial garbage to any country’s financiers who could be convinced our rating agencies were actually operating under some kind of regulated honor bound system.  (If you don’t know this, republicans HATE regulations – regulations seem to get in the way of their ability to SCREW people)

And, of course, Bush/Cheney gave us the present political “tensions” with ISIL and the like via their unprovoked INVASION of a sovereign nation in Iraq, circa 2003.  Kind of makes you wonder where they get off criticizing Russia, for example, when Russia “invaded” Ukraine.  I can only imagine how people around the world react when they hear American politicians criticizing foreign governments for encroaching on the sovereign rights of others.  Evidently, it’s the old “do as I say, not as I do” philosophy.  I’m assuming there are still many in the American public who believe the people in other nations around the world are STUPID.  Ironically it was the present front-runner of the “clown car,” Donald Trump, who I’ve heard, more than once, refer to the America voting public as “stupid,” and I’m beginning to believe he’s got a point – especially for the republican base – which is supporting him (and others like Carson).  The reason I’m bringing up the Bush/Cheney regime again is because it only took two years and republican voters were acting as if Bush/Cheney caused no harm.  In 2010 we got a fresh “bunch” of republicans (the “Tea Partiers”) who were even more “out there” than Bush/Cheney.

Trying to get back to my point, it’s just hard for me to imagine what is going on with the republican party in America.  Honestly, you don’t have to be an expert on political science to understand that people like Ben Carson (and Sarah Palin and Donald Trump and, I could go on) are not qualified to be the president of the United States.  I mean, just think of Sarah Palin with the keys to the “box” or whatever it is that sets off the nuclear devices.  Yikes!!!  Or, Ben Carson??  Seriously, Donald Trump or Ted Cruz????  These people can’t have a “debate” on actual issues that matter to changing the direction of this nation because they don’t understand how the government functions – do we want them deciding whether or not it’s time for a cataclysmic war?  (Palin famously said, in reference to a question regarding her credentials in foreign policy, “I can see Russia from my porch.”)

Sadly, this push toward the “right” (which allows fringe candidates like Dr. Carson and Ms. Palin to become relevant) has dragged the entire debate to the “right.”  I’ve been pointing out for years that, in my view, the democratic party suffers from the inability to defend their own basic principles – sometimes I’ve used the terminology – spineless.  They’ve kind of just acquiesced in what many like me consider a battle for the heart and soul of our nation.  My email inbox is constantly flooded by requests for donations from democrats (many whom I have no idea who they are and how they got my email address) who tell me I should support them because they aren’t republicans – essentially.  Fear the republicans, or “fear the Koch brothers.” I can see that many Americans don’t find the alternative to republicans very palatable.  In the recent mid-term elections democrats around the country weren’t even able to defend their own policy decisions and basic platform.  It almost seemed to me that President Obama’s own party didn’t have the GUTS to FIGHT for the policies he was pushing and they were supposedly behind.  So, the problem here is twofold, and, unfortunately, “we the people” only have two practical choices when it comes to choosing our leaders.

The one person soliciting money from me who bases his requests on his own political philosophy and his proposals for solving problems is Bernie Sanders – and, from what I’m gathering, he’s considered a “left wing” fringe candidate.  I’ve been following politics in America for over 50 years and Bernie seems very grounded and practical to me.  I’m just pointing this out because, as I see it, there really is an alternative to all of this.  I’m guessing Bernie is an independent because he is unable to associate himself with a party whose leaders don’t have the conviction to fight for their own beliefs.  Again, I’m guessing, but I believe Bernie is running as a democrat for the very reason that he’s “practical.”  He doesn’t want to enable a right wing republican to win because of a “third party” campaign that would bludgeon the democratic “base.”  So, he will win or lose in the democratic primary season.  I appreciate and respect that.

I’m a “baby boomer” who graduated from high school about the time of the Gulf of Tonkin resolution circa Viet Nam.  Bernie Sanders, as I just stated, doesn’t seem “left wing” to me.  He seems practical and traditional based on the values that permeated America after the New Deal of FDR and the Great Society gains of Lyndon Johnson.  In between those two came 8 years of Dwight Eisenhower – a republican who would be considered a leftist by republicans today – who was responsible for his share of creating the great middle class in America that emerged after WW II,  “We the people” are the government that so many republicans complain about and our government is what we all depend on to maintain the traditions that made us great.  And, that government – from the 1930’s until Reagan’s election in 1980 was what I call a “we” government.  It took the “bottom up” approach to managing the economy and the people. Basically, the “platform” of Mr. Sanders.

Reagan’s election changed all that and has turned America into a “me first” society.  And, that’s the only way I can figure out that people like Ben Carson and Sarah Palin (and the others) have managed to “grab their fifteen minutes of fame.”  Reagan convinced a large segment of our population that government is the problem and,it seems, if you can just get a spot on the stage in the republican political world simply berating government and espousing cliche’s like “I want to take our country back” or I want to “make America great again”  you will get HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of donations, like in the case of Dr. Carson.

Anyone who knows anything about American politics has known right from the start that Dr. Carson has NO CHANCE to become the president of the United States.  However, when I saw the number of $23 MILLION in just the past 3 months, I have to think he’s more than a brilliant brain surgeon.  I’m guessing he’s going to make WAY more money running for president than when he was a practicing doctor.  What Sarah Palin did was take her turn from obscurity and turn it into TENS OF MILLIONS of dollars which I have to believe is the secret motivation of many of those on the “clown car.”  There seems to be a willing “host” for these people in the form of Fox “news” and, that’s another issue I could write about endlessly.  They (Fox) have succeeded in turning a significant portion of America’s population into “haters.”  As a father and grandfather, that is probably, to me, the worst part of all of this.  The “right wing” media – meaning Fox along with the radical “talkers” like Limbaugh, Beck, and all the wannabes like Lars Larsen who are willing to participate in this despicable propaganda scheme (obviously, they’re making a lot of money in the process) that is turning good Americans against each other by spewing lies and deceptive innuendo are the main culprits in destroying the foundation of this country.  People like Carson, Palin, etc. are simply, in my mind, the “water carriers.”

There are multiple forces who are attempting to actually turn the freedoms so many of us in America take for granted into the mechanism that turns us back to the days of the “Robber Barons.”  Unfortunately, in my view, many of those who’ve chosen to “believe” the propaganda coming from Fox, Limbaugh, and the others don’t even know what the “Robber Baron” era was.  They’ve been convinced that the very government that has given them so many privileges is the enemy of the people.  Obviously, there is plenty of room for improvement when it comes to the government, but I believe history will show that much of that need has been created since the day Reagan moved into the White House.

I find it discouraging to read the comment sections on blogs where “right wing” commenters are referring to “liberals” in stereotypical ways – often referring to liberals as “stupid.”  The one I read tonight was filled with hateful comments about “liberals” and equating them to the government as if they (and the government) are the enemy – and, noticeably, I have to add that the writing was so bad it was hard to read.  In fact, I’m pretty sure the fact that I’m a 6th grade teacher made it easier to decipher the meaning of many of the comments because it was obvious (from the invented spellings, etc.) that many calling “liberals” stupid should maybe take a look in the mirror.  I’m only pointing this out because it was apparent that many of the commenters were regurgitating information they were “fed” by the “right wing” propaganda machine but they were lacking in the ability to express their thoughts cogently. (And, unfortunately, the disparaging commenting seems to go both ways – it’s as if those whose philosophy is “divide and conquer” are winning)

From what I can tell, the members of the “clown car” – including Dr. Carson – are using this paranoia towards our government that has been “drilled” into the minds of so many working class people who don’t understand why their way of life is “crumbling” and encouraging them on where they can place the blame, as a means for Carson (and the others) to further their own personal wealth.  (the old “the end justifies the means” theory)  It will be interesting to see what happens as, one by one, the republican “aspirants” fall by the wayside – what they do with their “campaign chests,” and if anyone even checks.  It has been reported that Sarah Palin has “paved the way” as to how to turn a failed political campaign into massive personal wealth, and I have to believe Dr. Carson and many of these other republican “hopefuls” have the same intention.  Here’s the political reality in America since the days of Reagan; when republicans win the American people lose!  I have my issues with the democrats, but I look forward to the day when “we the people” wake up to the fact that the republicans and their benefactors are (and have been since the 80’s) pilfering the taxpayers of this nation for untold TRILLIONS of dollars! (all while they’ve got “we the people” arguing over insignificant “stuff” so we’ll continue failing to notice)  Maybe then “we the people” will correct the problem by voting them out of office en masse!  In the meantime, as I said earlier, the “players” in the “plan,” like Dr. Carson, are “laughing all the way to the bank.”