Searching for Another Hitler

At a rally in Orlando, Florida, Trump playfully told people in the audience to hold up their hand and pledge to vote for him in the primary. When the people playfully took part in the show, members of the media compared their raised hands to the "Hitler salute." Really?

At another rally, Trump told members of his audience that "if you see someone about to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of him." Hitler? Sounds more like Archie Bunker to me.

Americans like to compare anyone they dislike to Hitler. They called Obama, "Hitler." They compared Iraq's Saddam Hussein to Hitler, and Iran's current regime to the Third Reich.

Let's get real: Hitler was a mega-racist; perhaps the greatest racist of all time. Trump is not a racist at all, except that he comes from America, whose every citizen is, somehow, touched by an ingrained racism that spans half a millennium.

Trump's New York is the most racially-diverse city on Earth. If he were a racist - considering his outspoken celebrity - we would have known about it long before now. He does not hate African-americans, nor Hispanics, nor Asians. He only dislike those who are here illegally, or who try to enter the country illegally. That makes him a nationalist. H-u-u-g-e difference.

Now, they are calling ISIS, Hitler. They compare ISIS' genocide against Christians in the Middle East to Hitler's genocide against the Jews. Really? ISIS is an equal opportunity killing machine. They kill everybody: Jews, Muslims (Sunni and Shiite), and any Christian who gets in their way. They killRussians, Germans, Americans, Brits, Chinese, and the French. They kill Taliban, Al Qaeda, and Hezbollah. (Come to think of it, they do sound like Hitler, except they are missing the most important component: military might.)

At best, ISIS has 50,000 fighters. Hitler had an army of five million disciplined soldiers - men who brought an area over four millions square miles - stretching from Paris to the outskirts of Moscow - under his control. ISIS has killed thousands. Hitler's troops killed 20 million Russians, alone.

So, just stop it. There are no Hitlers in the world today, just like there are no Abraham Lincoln.

A Supreme Blunder in the Offering

It is curious that the Republicans have outright refused to consider any Obama nominee to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court. They will lose again.

The Republicans claim that an Obama nominee will skew the delicate balance the conservatives enjoyed with Scalia on the bench. Now that Scalia has died, almost any Democratic nominee will, in their minds, tip the Supreme Court in the Democrat's favor.

President Obama is well aware of their concerns. That is one reason why he has nominated Merrick Garland, a moderate who has worked under both Democratic and Republican administrations. Mr. Garland is a compromise candidate the Republicans would be foolish to ignore.

If Trump is the Republican nominee for president, the senate Republicans down-ticket (20 are up for re-election) will likely suffer, perhaps so much so that it tilts the Senate back into the hands of the Democrats. With the strong chance that Hillary wins the White House, and the Dems take back the Senate, that slight tilt of the Court the Republicans fear Obama's pick might effect, will be a toppling when she - under no such constraints as Obama - sends her pick to her Senate.

An Obama nominee may be the last best chance the Republicans have to get something out of Scalia's death. However, with their backsides still raw from the repeated spankings Obama has put on them these past seven years, they may cut off their nose to spite their face, clearing the way for Hillary to righteously drive the stake deeper into their confederate hearts.

Why Not Trump?

This is America, the Land of Opportunity. It is a country where any boy or girl, no matter how rich or humble their origin, can become president. We were told this in grade school. Like you and me, Trump probably sat at a small desk practicing his cursive, while being told the same thing. So, why not Trump?

All presidential candidates are saddled with their own unique set of problems. Trump’s are magnified because he wants it that way. Some people call that “crazy”, some call it “confidence”, others call it “genius.” You get the sense with Trump that if you were to find a skeleton in his closet, he’d simply say, “That’s where it belongs.” 

Many of Trump’s detractors are plain phonies. Trump reminds us of the America Americans like to pretend does not exist. You hear them say of Trump’s outrageous blasts, “America is better than that.” No, it is not. American is what it is. Trump makes it see itself in techni-colored animation. They chide him as the antithesis of America when, in many ways, he is its mirror image.

It’s like this, folks:  Donald Trump is a megalomaniac; America’s id – an unconscious burst of energy derived from that ethereal substance in America’s DNA that wants it all. He is big, brash, and a bullying bomb-thrower. He does what he wants, when he wants. Impulsive, spoiled, he is the “Ugly American.” And his people love him because he shamelessly seeks to satisfy their insatiable thirsts for more. 

When Trump’s minions look at him, they see America in all of its glory, and its infamy. They do not mind. They just want to win. Iowa aside, no one wins like Trump; just ask him. 

So, why not Trump? Because Rubio will beat him in the primaries. Then, he will beat Hillary in the general election. 

Rubio is bright – the Republican’s Barack Obama. Hillary is dated, and she screeches. Besides, America loves small children in the White House, especially girls. Witness Amy, Chelsea, the Bush twins, and Sasha and Malia. Rubio does not have girls; he has two handsome little boys. America will love them, too.

Hillary has Bill. Kind of creepy when you think of it:  Like having the ghost of presidents past knocking around the White House. No, thanks.

Rubio, 2016! That’s the best America can do this time around.

In Bizzarro World, the Unlikeliest is Likely

Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton have a problem. Both entered this presidential campaign as the likely nominees for their respective parties. Both are "establishment" candidates in a year when the establishment is scorned.

Jeb, who is polling at 4% in national polls (while his most formidable opponent, Donald Trump, is polling around 30%), could be on the verge of getting his walking papers. Hillary's numbers, too, are slipping. Fortunately for Hillary, her chief opponent, Bernie Sanders, is a 73 year-old, self-proclaimed socialist. Unfortunately for Hillary, the FBI is investigating her for improprieties in her handling of classified emails. They are also looking in the possibility that she may have used her position as head of the State Department to peddle influence with foreign entities on behalf of the Clinton Foundation. An unlikely indictment would likely derail her presidential hopes, clearing the path for the first socialist to head a major party ticket. Waiting for him could be an unlikely Republican nominee in the person of the inimitable Donald Trump.

Imagine, America's top capitalists going toe-to-toe against its pre-eminent communist. In the land of the "Almighty Dollar - Mean Green!"  it is likely "The Donald" would blow the old Bolshevik right out of his troika. Except, 'tis the season of the unlikely.

Who is Radicalizing Who?

Tashfeen Malik called herself a soldier. We call her the 29-year-old female terrorist who, along with her husband, killed 14 unsuspecting Americans during an office party. Either way, she is a cause celebre now. The more we demonize her – and fittingly so – the more ascendant her fame in the eyes of Jihadist everywhere. 

A psychologist appearing on CNN’s “Smerconish” explained Tashfeen’s actions in these terms:  “She seeks power, inclusion, and hero status.”

Seeking militarily to advance oneself – in any military – is an ambition as old as military history, itself. Recently, America’s defense secretary, Ash Carter, decreed that female soldiers serving in America’s military would no longer be excluded from frontline combat units. It was the right decision. Congressional Medals of Honor are scored on the battlefield, not in supply depots. As long as women serve in our military, they deserve the same breadth of field to satisfy their ambitions as men are afforded. 

Tashfeen, too, moved to the front lines in her army’s struggle with America. The psychologist appearing on Smerconish suggests that Tashfeen believed that by attacking Americans in America, she was “making the world better for her children.” I imagine our female soldiers yearning to fight and their families, too. This is not an attempt to draw a moral equivalence between Tashfeen and our own female fighters. It is simply an attempt to understand Tashfeen’s motivations. If we truly want to defeat our enemy, we must make a sincere effort to understand him. That begins with being honest with ourselves. 

On hearing about the killings in San Bernadino, Newt Gingrinch exclaimed, “The terrorists have declared war on America!” Let us be serious. Before the San Bernadino shootings, America had carried out over 6,000 airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria, killing thousands of ISIS fighters (and certainly some innocent men, women, and children besides.) Now, when was the war declared, Newt?

Americans kill 11,000 Americans in gun-related violence each year. In the past nine years, terrorists have killed 45 Americans in this country, an average of five per year. Yet, it is the terrorists whom we fear pose the existential threat. 

At this rate, America cannot defeat terrorism, not as long as we accept self-inflicted terrorism. Inner-city children are being slaughtered in gang violence that has nothing to do with them. White communities like Newtown and Columbine see the slaughter of their precious babies, and nothing changes. Then, a Muslim couple opens fire at a gathering of adults celebrating the holidays, and we self-righteously demand to know “who radicalized them?” 

A better question is:  Who is radicalized Dylan Roof, the man who shot nine black church members in South Carolina? Who radicalized Chicago police officer, Jason Van Dyke, who shot an African-American teenager 16 times? Who radicalized the Planned Parenthood shooter? America has put 300 million guns into the hands of a citizenry 300-million-strong. Who radicalized America into thinking that is a solution?

You want to defeat terrorism? This is how: Put down the guns and pick up the children. Teach them the lessons of love and respect. As long as we treat them with love and respect, they will listen. Raise good children and the need for guns will dissipate like a morning fog. When Americans truly learn to respect one another, this crushing array of weaponry will simply become an ugly reminder of the way we were. Let a terrorist come into that America, and we will rip him apart with our teeth. 

Rebuilding America will not be child’s play, (though it could be a lot of fun.) It will be the greatest task the men and women of this nation will ever undertake. It will take generations; we have time. For the sake of our children – which are the sake of this American nation – we must make time. 

They Call Them "Boots on the Ground" (I call them "Our Sons)

The politicians call “…boots on the ground.”  Apparently, they do not know what “boots on the ground” mean. Let me see if I can explain: My son, who is in the army, served two tours of duty in Iraq, and one in Afghanistan. During those agonizing years, it was difficult, sometimes, for his mother and me to breathe. I feared ringing telephones. I wanted no one to approach me. Sometimes, I wanted no one to look my way, lest they were preparing to approach me with bad news from the front. This anguish was constant. My son was not a boot. 

President Obama has tried to keep our sons safe. He has pulled them out of that graveyard which is Iraq (where over 4000 of our young men and women have died). He is trying to get them out of Afghanistan where another 2000 lie dead. He has kept them out of Libya, Syria, and Yemen.

But, beware President Obama’s successor. Many of the Republican candidates advocate a more aggressive strategy against ISIS, even if it is one that sends tens of thousands of American troops to “hunt down and kill every ISIS fighter.” Be warned: ISIS is in ten affiliate nations stretching from Morocco in the west to Afghanistan in the east, an area encompassing over four million square miles. Besides ISIS, other terrorist groups – including Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, Hezbollah, Al Nusra Front – will rise out of the sands and cities of North Africa and the Middle East to turn that desert into the “Mother of American graveyards.” In the ensuing maelstrom, we will kill hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, and children. We will spawn a new and more terrible generation of Islamic extremists, hell-bent on avenging the deaths of their parents and brothers and sisters. 

People say, “We have to hit them hard so that they will know not to mess with us again.” Forget about it. With their last breaths, they will avenge every hit we deliver. The great physicist, Isaac Newton, said, “For every action, there is a reaction.” In biblical terms:  “Eye for an eye…” That is how they live. It appears that is how we live, also.

We call the terrorists, “barbarians.” We call ourselves, “civilized.” Yet, we behave similarly. They seek vengeance; we see vengeance. They kill innocents; we kill innocents, (although we call our victims “collateral damage,” as though that makes it better.) Being civilized, should not we be the one to acknowledge that “vengeance begets vengeance,” and then do more to end this vicious cycle? Are not we supposed to be the adult in the room? I can’t tell. And don’t say, “They hit us first.” That would be childish, and denial. Time to stop the bloodletting. It can happen once those with cooler heads prevail. President Obama displays an even temper. Will his successor be as responsible? 

America’s sons are not afraid to fight. And we, as parents, must not be afraid to send them into a worthy fight. What we must fear, however, are leaders who would send our precious young men to fight and die for people on the other side of the world who will not fight and die for themselves.

It is our job to protect our soldiers, just as it is their job to protect this country. For them, we must be wise, not vengeful. They are not boots. They are the best of us. 

Entrust the Future to the Future

You ever see someone who does not like something simply because they cannot have it? That reminds me of the Republicans. They bristle at Obama because they do not have an Obama, or do they?

Last month, during an interview on CNN, Jeb Bush was trashing Obama, like all good Republicans are expected to do, when the anchor asked him if he had anything good to say about the president. Without hesitation, Jeb said, "I wish I could walk into a room and light it up the way he does."

The Republican candidates for president pretend to detest Obama (much like they pretend to believe in creationism over evolution) because it is politically expedient. Most of that field, in fact, are probably closet Obama admirers. They see Obama as a winner - a man who trounced the Clinton machine, twice beat their candidates for president, and has repeatedly out-maneuvered the Republican congress. He pushed through initiatives like Obamacare, the Iran nuclear deal, lifting the Cuban embargo, and my favorite, changing the name of Mount McKinley to its original name, "Denali."

Obama has shaken the Republicans' confidence. They wonder now if they can win with "conventional", yet fear that "unconventional" is nonsense, and contrary to the standard they are entrusted to bear.

Jeb Bush, in an effort to capitalize on the Republicans' mess (and boost his own "conventional," candidacy) compares his main rival, Marco Rubio, to the man he thinks Republicans dislike most. There are a number of similarities: Both Obama and Rubio were first-term senators when they launched their presidential campaigns. They are personable and attractive men of color, and each campaign features the prospect of a history-making event.

Jeb, in seeking to diminish Rubio, unwittingly elevates Rubio as the one Republican with the je ne sais quoi to wipe the spectre of Obama from their collective fragile and haunted senses.

President Barack Obama has been a transformative force in American politics. That is difficult for Republicans to admit. Rather than celebrate this man who has pointed America toward the future instead of the past, they choose to bash him. No wonder they are confused.

Kasich and Trump are no more suited to lead America than are Hilary and Bernie. They are yesterday's leaders. The American electorate should consider entrusting its future to the future. And the Republicans might want to give Marco Rubio a good look, and hope that he is the Republican version of Barack Obama that the guileless Jeb thinks he is.