by Mart Allen
My father used to say, “It’s enough to physic a woodpecker,” whenever something perplexed him beyond his comprehension.
I have to say, the present state of world affairs affects me in much the same way.
The one thing that disturbs me most about the situation is that so many gave all to preserve what was the greatest nation on earth, and it is being callously frittered away.
At 88, all I can say is it’s hard to believe this is the same country I grew up in.
It is heartbreaking to realize that the generations that follow me have lost all concept of taking advantage of the fundamental wisdom history teaches.
Rather they are succumbing to the siren songs emanating from the totally self-serving present day politicians on both sides of the aisle.
We now have a perpetual state of corrupt representatives that are being bought off by special interest groups. These politicians have allegiance to neither the people who elected them or the country.
Though they may have had higher ideals when they entered politics, it appears their integrity was soon compromised when they found how much money it takes to run for office.
For the purposes of this missive, when speaking of the current presidential campaign, I will exempt the two main Democrats from discussion. Neither deserves to be taken seriously as having any ethics whatsoever. The entire Democratic Party has abandoned all pretense of basing their programs on reason.
On the Republican side, the contenders, with the exception of three non-professional politicians, have shown they can go back on their word.
Judgement has to be reserved on the other three: Non-establishment contenders Trump, Fiorina, and Carson. Not enough is known about any of them on which to base a rock hard opinion.
However, one rock hard fact is known about the election process. It takes a great deal of money to, so to speak, buy the nomination.
It boggles the imagination to think of how much money is proffered to supposedly help a nominee win.
Yet who is naïve enough to believe some of the money will not be recovered via kickbacks? And who can’t figure out where that money will come from?
A reasonable person after assessing the above can only come up with one conclusion.
When the preponderance of campaign money comes from Big Businesses, Big Corporations, Banks, Unions and Insurance Companies, they go to the head of the payback list.
The little guys reading this, the small donors, are going to the back of the line as far as receiving anything for their contribution.
A large segment of the population across the board is well aware that the nation has a very large quandary to consider. We have been deceived by both major party establishments with candidates that have kept none of what they promised.
Enter the three heretofore non-politicians.
They appear to offer a slim hope that the citizens of this country will at last be considered before the big-money entities of this and other countries.
So we come finally to the Nip.
The Nip is who can be trusted. Do we trust people who have lied to us over and over? Or do we put stock in someone who, at least till now, is not a proven liar that we know of?
Trump, Fiorina or Carson.
The Donald stands out above the other two, principally because he is capable of funding his own campaign.
His financial empire is huge with more facets than any one man can manage.
He obviously has enough business acumen to locate and select competent heads for various departments.
He has the luxury of choosing them without the necessity of filling various cabinets based on campaign contributions.
His ability to fund his own campaign gives him a huge advantage over any of the establishment to select the best minds available without compromises.
He may act as a buffoon at times, but that does not necessarily mean he is not honest, trustworthy and a patriot.
All things considered, the man should be considered a very viable candidate in every sense of the word, when placed against the establishment candidates in both parties and their records. The personal views of all pundits notwithstanding.
My personal thought for the week comes from Samuel Frances: The real danger of diversity is that eventually it becomes incoherent.