Category Archives: Politics

Politics

Aghast At Trump

My sister and I today speculated over the degree of contempt our mother would have expressed had she been alive to witness the news today of despicable behavior apparently conducted by one candidate for the presidency of the United States, Donald Trump. Our mother would have espoused that character matters in a world leader. This person would need to represent the values of the people of whom he or she would hope to lead. This person would need to possess maturity, grace, and thoughtfulness toward all ethnicities while appreciating each other’s individual differences. This person would be positive and attuned to the basic aspirations of goodness driving humanity. This person would be articulate, reciprocal, and strong with ideals compatible with shaping the common good while not interfering with one’s quest for liberty. Our mother would have expected a political campaign to be infused with conceptually intriguing debate tempting her to stretch her own boundaries of belief on public policy matters. She would have imbibed intangible “between the lines” candidate remarks and telling body language. Her attentiveness would have been keen with a perception that her children’s lives north of the border could be affected by policy produced by the U.S.A. She would have been onto him at word one.

Although hardly immune from humanity’s dark side having taught school while raising six kids, I’m frankly grateful that her life was not tainted by exposure to displays of indecency by one, Donald Trump, candidate for U.S. President.

Politics

To Gavel Or Not To Gavel

Oh, you neither knew this was a verb.  It’s interesting how particular words take on verb form when a subject is overly introverted and obsessed by an operating environment.  Here we have outright bias exercised by the ex-chair of the Democratic National Committee and then residual bumbling discussion still ensues whether she should gavel or not gavel and speak or not speak at this week’s convention.  In business and in life there are consequences to our behavior.  Particular forums leave no room for second chances when the public’s trust is at stake.  If you malign your behavior when bestowed a position of authority, it becomes apparent that your character is unfit for the office and hence you must seek work elsewhere.  Somebody may give you a second chance and in fact the lesson could very well be learned and demonstrated in ones new role.  A character can be rehabilitated.  It really is this simple but when a process of rationalization muddies the scene and contextual actors acquiesce to excuses, pandering or self righteous demands of entitlement, then the ethics of a whole organization come under question.

Uncategorized, Politics

Latest Scoop from DNC

The Democratic convention ratings are bound to tick up in lieu of today’s Wiki Leaks divulgence. Although Debbie Wasserman Schultz will be stepping down as DNC chair due to alleged favoritism exercised during the nomination process, apparently as reported by CNN today Hillary Clinton will award her as an “honorary chairwoman with a 50 state program to build the party in every part of the country”.  I know you’ve never been cynical about politics? One would think that Mrs. Clinton would at least wait a day before announcing such a reward for Wasserman Shultz’s behavior in the context of her portrayal by the FBI:

“Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information.”

Suddenly, Trump’s projection for picking up Bernie Sanders supporters is not looking so far-fetched.

Politics

Nigel Wright Culpable?

Is Nigel Wright culpable? In one word and in my opinion, yes.  Our courts are now investigating this tawdry affair of cover up perpetrated from the office of our Prime Minister.  Nigel Wright knew what he was doing and he is apparently a man of intellect having earned large sums of money in the private sector as a business man.  He attempted to make a bad situation go away by paying back money to our government on behalf of a government colleague.  Had Mr. Wright not been aware why this debt of a colleague had arisen, and a personal loan was made to colleague, Mike Duffy, then there would be no culpability for breach of trust.  Had there been full disclosure to the auditor general with respect to the repayment of funds via predetermined protocol given the circumstance along with a statement from Mr. Duffy that he had a misunderstanding of travel expense allowances, us taxpayers through the courts may not have been dragged into this legal affair.  Instead it was ego and naivety on full display.  Ego with respect to fellow politicians wanting to castigate Duffy for their own sense of inflated righteousness and Mr. Wright’s naivety for an earnest desire to help but from a place of paternalism thinking that us Canadians need not to have known that something unbecoming of our institution was unfolding.  Somebody should have been approving these expense accounts before payment.  It will be interesting to see if there were breached internal controls at work and why?  Sanctions for Wright?  My impression of him is that he had good intentions and my sense is that he became disoriented from good judgment due to variables that may have been operating inside the Prime Ministers office.

Politics

McCain Unnerves Trump

Neither Trump nor McCain have apparently read chapter two of “How To Win Friends and Influence People”.  Hurling insults is always cause for grief.  Having followed American politics for some time, I can espouse with confidence that John McCain loves hearing himself speak almost as much as Trump.  In McCain’s zeal to cast condemnation on Trump over Trump’s bizarre presentation of the illegal immigration issue, he himself has emblazoned a target on his chest as do all soldiers when they step up to the front line of battle.  Had McCain less frequently made reference to his military service while addressing the senate on matters of national security, and less frequently made appearances on the Sunday morning talk show circuit, perhaps Trump’s sarcasm would have been muted.  I underscore, “perhaps” because the handlers are obviously of the opinion that allowing him to free wheel at the mic have been serving polls well to date.

Rick Perry has tweeted that, Trump in this latest suggestion that a captured McCain is not a war hero amount to Trump being unfit as a candidate for the presidency.  You can guarantee that the Trump campaign will be firing back that Perry is unfit given his big brain freeze during debating for the candidacy during the last presidential run at which time Perry excused himself given a prescription medicine regime.

I have never been so entertained while watching folks debase themselves of intelligence while running for the highest office in the land.  Apparently much of Trump’s appeal has arisen due to use of cut off sentences, interjection, and hyperbole as particularly illustrated by his favourite word “disaster”.

Does Trump have the gall for allocating resources for researching McCain’s military service as means of resurrecting apparent breaches in his own credibility?  Will the term “swiftboating” return as a term bandied by pundits during this latest trek for top spot – this time among Republicans?