Watching the Democratic debate yesterday answered a question that I have long pondered; is it possible for the mentally incompetent to run for president? The answer is; no question about it.
At least it is not necessary for a president to have even the slightest grip on reality. Math is also not an obligatory skill. The ability to speak in whole sentences that contain subjects and verbs is obviously not a condition. In fact, the only stipulation that I observed to apparently be an actual requirement was that one must be well versed in the “spin till you win” discipline.
It was also evident that the contenders are counting on the electorate having a poor recollection of history and no math skills at all. That, along with a penchant for fairy tales, and the fix is in.
Before you have some kind of seizure, I also watched the Republican debate and it was equally horrifying. With, I must say, the exception of Ron Paul, who they didn’t want to let in, but he has too many people donating money to keep him out.
Some of the highlights were Bill Richardson suggesting that exercise should be required to curtail future medical costs and then saying that his New Years resolution was to go on a diet, which is his New Years resolution every year.
Most of the candidates threw some crumbs to the Iowa corn growers by saying such things as “all cars should be mandated as flex fuel vehicles.” Neglecting of course, that such a move is very costly and the consumer would just have to subsidize the farmer and the auto company. Hold on there, I’m not against lower pollutants. There is more to the story.
If all of the farmland in the U.S. was planted to corn and all of that corn was converted to ethanol, it would provide approximately 12% of the current fuel consumption for autos alone. No food, just fuel. So given that fact, if all cars were equipped as flex fuel autos, and all food was converted to fuel, 88% of the cars would have none to burn. But, when in Iowa, lie like a rug and don’t worry, no one will do the math.
Joe Biden, after 35 years breathing the rarified air and contributing to the mess we find ourselves in, seems to have a new plan to make things better. He’s not sure what it is, but is confident that if elected president, he could come up with one.
Nearly every candidate said we can’t afford the war. They stated that billions are spent every day and that drain is dragging Americans further into debt; after which each told how they could support their spending platform by using the money being spent on the war at home. I’m still working on that problem and so far, I still come up with the same amount of debt.
Hillary said she is going to save the family farm. She has never actually seen one, but as soon as she does, she’ll save it. She said that family farms are going to vanish. I assume that means that she still thinks wild buffalo and Studebaker salesmen still reside outside of New York City and Washington D.C. along side family farms.
The grand scheme of the day was to indoctrinate children before the age of four in a government school. Provide free education for teachers in a government sponsored college, and pay them a whole lot more money to pass that government directed curriculum along to the 3 year olds before their parents can influence them differently. Buy them some uniforms while we’re at it.
No one mentioned that a teachers pay is based on 165 to 175 days per year. That benefits and retirement are good. That hours are short and summers are free. Am I against teachers, heck no, my wife is one! But do the math and it’s a pretty good job.
Nearly every candidate suggested that the U.S. is losing jobs. Gee, we haven’t noticed. Several were going to get tough with China who loans us $ 1 Billion per day just to keep us treading water, and China also holds enough of our debt to choke a large horse. Try going in today and getting tough with your banker.
I found it interesting that not one candidate announced that NAFTA and our entry into the WTO which allowed the China syndrome and American Corps to freely leave the U.S., was ushered in by Bill Clinton, not the Republicans that they blamed for our job loses.
Barrack Obama wants to balance the budget and double foreign aid. Hillary Clinton wants to promote free trade and grow our economy. Joe Biden wants to send our kids to a government school for 16 years, all on the cuff. The only thing Bill Richardson was sure of is that he wants to lose weight.
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