Fascinating February

As much as the Colonel detests the month of February -- and his regard for the runted revenant is replete with more reasons than any other object of his disaffection -- this February is proving to be so fascinating that he may have to suspend his campaign to have the month removed from the calendar.

What can be so fascinating as to arrest the acceleration of the Colonel's animus, you ask?

Allow the Colonel to enumerate, ruminate, and elucidate.

1.  The Colonel is amazed that an egomaniacal New York liberal with a long history of supporting the biggest of big federal government policies is the darling of the Republican electorate and likely to win the 2016 Republican Presidential primary in South Carolina.

     South Carolina! 

     The Colonel gets Trump's popularity among the closet celebriphiles at the shallow New England end of the gene pool.   But, South Carolina!?!

2.  The Colonel is fascinated by the paradoxical political machinations manifest in response to the highly regrettable passing of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.  Consider the mendacity of those whose fecal-filled frontal lobes cause them to call for the one of the most extra-Constitutional presidents in our republic's history to not fulfill his Constitutional duty to nominate a replacement for one of the, if not the, most vociferous defenders of that Constitution.

     The President is clearly Constitutionally bound to nominate a replacement at his earliest convenience.

     The Senate is clearly Constitutionally bound to consider and vote on confirmation of that nominee.

     For either party to this Constitutional command performance to act otherwise is despicably disrespectful to the memory of the justice whose life was entirely committed to the defense of the United States Constitution.

3.  The Colonel is fascinated by the increasing fervor with which American society celebrates a hedonistic holiday, and dismayed by the rapidly decreasing reverence of holiday originally designated to celebrate the birthday of the "Father of our Nation."

     Let it be said, if you wait until one day in the depths of winter to show your love for your significant other, your other really ain't that significant. 

    Let it also be said, a nation that forgets its founders flounders. 

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There's more on the Colonel's minuscule military mind this morning, but his age-addled vocabulary is rapidly becoming an untrustworthy alliterative ally.      
   

The Tyranny of Elites

The Colonel wishes we Americans would stop so casually throwing around the word democracy in self-identification.

We ain't one.

At least not by original design.

The founders of our republic knew full well the inherent self-destructive flaws of a pure democracy -- so much so that the word itself never appears in the Constitution of these re-United States.

The Colonel would pause at this juncture to allow the Bama and LSU grads a chance to fact-check him, but we all know that pachyderms and felines are functional illiterates.

Trust the Colonel.  The explosive growth of the American republic from colonial backwater to world superpower had little to do with any democratic ideals and more to do with our Constitution's protection of our republic's CITIZENS' God-given rights to life, liberty, and property..., and a huge resource-rich continent sparsely occupied by inferior civilizations.

The Colonel knows that last phrase will set some of your teeth on edge.  Better deal with that -- it's gonna get rougher...

A democracy promises a utopia, the definition of which is decided by the majority at the expense of the minority.  A democracy always delivers, in its inevitable death throes, a tyranny of elites.

Nowhere is this concept of the Tyranny of Elites more evident than in the two parties currently vying for dominance of the body politic and the power and riches that follow.

And, nowhere is tyrannical elitism more evident than in the Democrat Party.

The Colonel knows that the small minority of his readership that are Democrats have just left the page.  It is up to the remainder of you to carry what follows to them.

Ask your Democrat friends to explain to you the Democrat Party concept of Superdelegates.

In all likelihood, they won't have any idea what you're talking about and will give you a combination blank stare and Victrola Nipper Dog head tilt.

Allow the Colonel to arm you with the sword of knowledge with which to deal a mortal blow to your Democrat friends' belief that their party best upholds the vaunted democratic ideal of "one man, one vote."

There are approximately 712 elites (representing about a sixth of the overall delegates) who will cast a vote at the Democrat Party's 2016 National Convention this year.  The exact number of these delegates changes year-by-year and consists of several categories of Party elites:

     - Current and former Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Congressional leaders, and DNC Chairs

     - Democrat state and territorial Governors 

     - Democrat U.S. Senators

     - Democrat U.S. Representatives

     - Elected members of the Democrat National Committee

The nominating votes of these elites are not apportioned in any way by the Primary votes of the electorate.  Superdelegates vote their consciences.   

That has to be one of the most un-democratic, "Animal Farm"ish power machinations the Colonel has ever seen outside of Venezuela.

For the Bama and LSU grads still hangin' in there, George Orwell's political satire "Animal Farm" elucidated the inherent danger of a democracy falling under the sway of unscrupulous power-hungry leaders.  Nothing summarizes the Democrat Party presidential nominating process more succinctly than Orwell's phrase "all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." 

The Republican Party ain't much better, in the Colonel's not-so-humble opinion.  But, the GOP isn't in the Colonel's cross-hairs this morning...

Maybe tomorrow.

Want to see the newest generation of American voters implode in disgust? 

Hide and watch what happens when their socialist darling wins a plurality of the Democrat Party presidential primary state delegates but is denied the nomination by the party's superdelegates... 

  

Rubio/Kasich For The Win

The Colonel is loathe to endorse a candidate for President of these re-United States.   His backing of any candidate for any office has nearly always been the kiss of electoral death.

So, don't consider the following to be the Colonel's "official endorsement."  Rather, look at it as his objective, and not-so humble, assessment of the highest percentage shot at denying occupation of the Oval Office by either a criminal or a[nother] socialist.

Look, the Colonel gets it.  Trump is making all of our Great American hearts quicken with his politically incorrect and populist campaign.  The Colonel wants all of what he says he will do.

The problem is that the office of President of these re-United States does not have the Constitutional authority to do the majority of what Trump says he's going to do.   

For the last eight decades, our republic has suffered from the extra-Constitutional actions of chief executives (from both parties), drifting further and further from the safely navigated waters of (little "r") republican and balanced state/federal governance towards the rocks and shoals of dictatorial tyranny the likes of which drove Americans to revolution 240 years ago.    

The Colonel cannot, in good conscience, support a man whose manifest narcissism would inevitably lead him to disregard the Constitution.  Trump is a builder by nature -- he'll just build more government.

So, Trump is out.  Would make a great Chief Trade Negotiator.

The two men making the best case for limiting the scope of the Federal government and taking the strongest line in support of the Constitution are Senators Paul and Cruz.

However, Senator Paul doesn't seem to accept the notion that one of the foundational pillars of American Exceptionalism is a robust foreign policy embodied in the open hand of active diplomacy and the fist of a unmatched expeditionary military.

So, Paul is out.  Would make a great Chairman of the Federal Reserve. 

Senator Cruz has staked out a conservative, Constitution-defending position that warms the cockles of the Colonel's heart.  But, Senator Cruz will be hoisted on the petard of his own hard-line interpretation of the very Constitution he so fervently defends.  By the most conservative interpretation of the Constitution, he, being born in Canada, is not a "natural-born citizen" as required for election as President.

The Colonel recognizes that Cruz will win any court challenges to his eligibility, but the Republican Party does not need that drag on what will already be an up-hill battle.

So, Cruz is out.  Would make a great Supreme Court Justice. 

Doctor Carson is a great guy.  Brilliant and accomplished surgeon.  But his naivete reminds me of a certain peanut farmer from Georgia whose feckless performance in the Oval Office established the comparative floor of Presidential rankings.

So, Carson is out.  Would make a great Surgeon General.

The Colonel loves Governor Christie.  He would have made a great Marine -- or two.  But, Christie is a Northeastern liberal who would make Romney's anemic turnout in the evangelical ranks look like a tsunami.   

So, Christie is out.  Would make a terrific Attorney General.

Governor Huckabee and Senator Santorum are both great guys.  But, they have been running for President without success for the past two decades.  Give it up guys.

The Colonel salutes the only veteran, Governor Gilmore.  How would you like to fix the V.A., Governor?

Governors Bush and Kasich are the two men best qualified to govern as President of the United States on Day One.  The Colonel loves W, but, frankly, we elected the wrong Governor Bush in 2000.  Jeb would have not been nearly as trigger-happy and would not have selected Cheney as his VP, let alone let him have such unfettered influence.  (If you have any doubt -- the Colonel ain't a Dick Cheney fan, for multiple reasons not germane to this post.)

But, a third Bush in the Oval Office in a little more than a generation just smacks too much of hereditary dynasty.   And, the Colonel has come to believe that the Bushes are as big a fans of Big Government as the socialists calling themselves the Democrat Party.

So, Bush is out.  Would make a great ambassador.

The Colonel likes Governor Kasich -- as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate.  Hold that thought -- more later.

Senator Rubio, for all his faults, makes the most electoral sense as the Republican's Presidential nominee.  He wins Florida and the South.  He attracts enough Hispanic support to make the Southwest and West competitive for the Republicans.  He is young and just visionary enough to appeal to the newest generation of voters.  

A Rubio/Kasich ticket is the only winning ticket, from an Electoral College perspective.  In order to win the Presidency, the Republicans must, in addition to winning the solidly red states, win a majority of the "purple" states -- i.e., Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia.  

Kasich wins Ohio and Pennsylvania.  Oh, and he was the Chairman of the House Budget Committee the last time the Federal government had a balanced budget.  

Hey, Marco, the Colonel has a great job for your Vice President!

The Colonel hears the faint voices of those asking "What about Carly?"

The Colonel loves Ms. Fiorina!  Wish she was from Ohio!  She ain't real popular in California and the Republicans haven't had a shot at the left coast since Reagan.

Rubio/Kasich for the win.

NOT an official endorsement...