Election 2012: Why the GOP is D.O.A.

It might not look like it at the moment, but President Obama has a pretty easy path to victory in 2012. All he has to do is sit back and wait for the Republican Party's slapstick band of weirdos, religious fanatics, and angry white racists driven mad seeing a black man in the White House, implode from the weight of its own ridiculousness.

Recent polls have shown that a generic Republican candidate would beat Obama, but the problem with the current crop of GOP candidates is that they are anything but generic. When Ron Paul is your sanest candidate, you know your party is in trouble.

The Republican Party had a major credibility problem even before Donald Trump claimed that Obama was not born in the U.S. and demanded to see his birth certificate. But as the media followed Trump's every idiotic word, most of his party just agreed with him, and the GOP looked like a bunch of racist lunatics. When Trump claimed that Obama wasn't smart enough to get into an Ivy League college, but only got there because of affirmative action, the rest of the party watched and incredibly seemed to agree. This bolstered the logical theory that the Republicans are indeed a bunch of racist idiots, driven mad by a black man more intelligent, articulate and even-tempered than any of their own misguided and bizarre leaders.

Not only did the GOP as a whole fail to dismiss any of this birth certificate outlandishness, but had no comment on candidates who raised the specter of Sharia law in America or dismissed global warming as a socialist plot.

The fact that political lightweight Rick Perry is the newest and best GOP choice sums up the state of the party. Perry has been described as a “stupid George Bush”, but the median IQ of the rest of the GOP hopefuls falls somewhere between Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul.

Although a bit cartoonish, Ron Paul is very articulate, and has attracted somewhat of a cult following. And he is looking pretty smart these days, when matched against the rest of the GOP airheads. However, he has shown some very radical views. For example, his national defense strategy is to allow Iran to have their nuclear weapons because everyone else has them. The reasoning is obviously that the U.S. will always have more nuclear weapons than Iran, so that if they threatened us, we could simply blow them off the map. Paul does have a good point, though. We need to decrease our military spending and think more about our own economy. Obama knows this, but his views are less extreme than Paul's, and he was able to kill Osama bin Laden while simultaneously reducing our troop levels in Afghanistan.

Obama has taken a cautious, level-headed approach to national security, as he has with the rest of his presidential decisions, including the economic ones. You may agree with him or not, but considering the gridlock in Washington caused by the Tea Party and the resistance of the more moderate Republican base to stand up to them, it's amazing that Obama has been able to get anything done at all. The budget negotiations were a disaster, but they weren't Obama's disaster. In November of next year, when voters are alone in the booth, they will remember the chaos caused by a few right-wing nut jobs who were not willing to compromise, default or no default.

According to his Web site, Ron Paul is “America's leading voice for limited, constitutional government, low taxes, and free markets”. Once a fringe candidate, Paul's views are becoming more popular with some on the right simply because they are exactly the opposite of the Democratic positions. The fact that Paul has consistently stuck to his views without wavering sets him apart from the rest of the GOP field, many of whom take whatever positions are popular with their base at any given moment. Front runner Mitt Romney, for example, has turned political flip-flopping into an art form.

It would be an entertaining race if the colorful limited government advocate Paul was the GOP candidate, and Democrats would wholeheartedly approve. But we all know that won't happen, so the focus right now is on Romney and intellectually challenged Rick Perry, who Republican strategist Alex Castellanos says "benefits from an uncluttered mind". Besides not being very sharp on topics outside his comfort zone, particularly foreign policy, Perry's problems are obvious, starting with the fact that he's being compared to Bush. Tea Party favorite Michele Bachmann, winner of the meaningless Iowa Straw Poll, is ahead in many opinion polls, but Republican insiders know that she can't win the general election. First of all, her political views are based on religious extremism and not the facts, and second, she's a Tea Party favorite.

Of all the candidates, Romney looks the most presidential, but sounds the least presidential, at least from the GOP standpoint. Many in the Republican establishment are furious that Romney enacted a health care law in Massachusetts that required people to buy insurance, which was similar to Obama's plan. Romney said that his plan was not like the national law because it applied only to his state. In fact, it was exactly like the national law, expanded to all the states. Romney's consistent inconsistency is why the Democrats have said that he's not pro-choice, he's multiple choice.

The recent debt ceiling negotiation fiasco and subsequent credit rating downgrade seemed to be an indication that Obama is in trouble. Neither party was happy with the deal, and each party blamed the other for the way things were mishandled. But Standard and Poor's, the organization responsible for lowering the credit rating, blamed the GOP for causing it, at the same time the GOP was blaming the Democrats.

Americans are fed up with both parties, and politicians in general, but Obama's path to a second term is starting to look pretty good. The Republican Party is in disarray, and the nuttiness of the candidates compounds the fact that the party is being brought down by the Tea Party. This is not only causing political infighting, but is making the voting public aware just how far to the right the party has moved and how unpopular its positions have become. Not only are they talking about tax cuts for the rich, but cuts to Medicare, deregulating Wall Street and greenhouse gas pollution.

People are unhappy with the current political climate, but the majority don't blame Obama, and they sure as hell don't want to put the Republicans back in charge. Let's look at it this way: the odds are that the GOP will retain control of the House of Representatives next year, and they could theoretically win control of the Senate, given the number of seats up for grabs in 2012. If that happens, a Republican presidential victory would give them total control of the Federal government. Considering that nobody wants the Tea Party running the country, that may be the best argument the Democrats have for keeping Obama in the White House.

Even if the Republican Party could find a candidate more qualified than the current group of oddballs, the Tea Party has already done its damage. In addition, the far left of the Democratic Party may not like the concessions that Obama has had to give to the Republicans, but the liberal criticism aimed at him will position him well with moderate and independent voters, much as President Clinton was helped in his 1996 campaign against Republican Bob Dole. In that case, Clinton engaged in “triangulation”, a strategy by which he positioned himself as a moderate centrist. Clinton was aware that winning over the independent voters was the key to winning the election.

Once the debt crisis is safely in the rear-view mirror, Obama will be able to bring sanity back into vogue, and his critics on the left will at least vote for him, considering that he's their only real choice. By being cautious and level-headed, he has been able to compromise, even with the right-wing Tea Party stinking up the process. Obama will win in 2012 because the Democrats will unite behind him, independents will jump into his corner, and Republicans will split their loyalties between the moronic Tea Party and their more moderate lunatic fringe.

It doesn't matter whether Obama wins or the Republicans lose, it will be the same result. And it doesn't matter how many Democrats ubiquitous candidate Sarah Palin has in her crosshairs. When it comes to the 2012 presidential race, the GOP is D.O.A.

Other News Besides Michael Jackson

The last two days, no matter where you were in the world, if you looked at a newspaper or turned on a TV, you saw the face of Michael Jackson. On Friday night's half-hour broadcast of "NBC Nightly News" host Brian Williams spent three minutes discussing news other than Michael Jackson.

Now that the shock has warn off, fans are celebrating Jackson's life, rather than mourning his death. News of possible drug use is surfacing in the Jackson case, and to fill the time, reporters are now discussing his financial empire, which is in disarray. But we already new that. The news media is now finding time to devote to other matters.

The main beneficiary of the sudden and worldwide media storm over the death of Jackson was South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, who disappeared for most of last week, leaving his family and staff scratching their heads wondering where he was. The state was without a leader, leading some to speculate what would have happened if there had been a state-wide emergency. The Republican governor held a news conference Wednesday admitting to an extra-marital affair with a woman in Argentina.

On Thursday morning, Gov. Sanford was the was the talk of the media, because we all like a good scandal. Then Michael Jackson died, and Sanford got to dodge the spotlight for a few days, and all the other news went on the back burner. We took a few days to mourn a legend, and now other news items are beginning to pop up in between Jackson coverage. Now we're learning that on at least one occasion Gov. Sanford used taxpayer money to fund his extra-curricular travels. In other news, his wife has gained national media exposure for refusing to stand by the governor after he admitted to having an affair. This breaks the normal spousal response in such matters.

Ex-Governor of New York Eliot Spitzer's wife famously stood next to him last year when he admitted to seeing a high-priced call girl. Silda Spitzer, a Harvard Law School graduate, was noticeably uncomfortable, but she remained stoic, and she held hands with her husband as they walked off the podium after his statement. Hillary Clinton famously stood by her husband through the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Although he resigned in disgrace as governor, Spitzer remains married. We all know about Hillary Clinton. Gov. Sanford, on the other hand, hasn't indicated that he will resign as governor of South Carolina. What we do know, and the news media is eating it up, is that his wife, Jenny Sanford, no longer wants to have anything to do with him. A new media star is born. Jenny Sanford has broken the mold. She's taken the spotlight off her husband. Now she's the news.

In other developments, government leaders around the world are censoring Internet reports of the Iranian protests out of fear it could cause a revolution from their own repressed citizenry, according to the Washington Post. Bloggers and Twitter users in China have colored their profiles a light green in support of Iranian protesters, and some observers have noted parallels between the protests and China's own Tiananmen Square uprising of 1989. The Communist Party in China is reportedly using the playbook of Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by portraying the Iranian unrest as a Western conspiracy rather than a homegrown movement. Other countries, such as Cuba and Myanmar, are also working to stop Iranian news reports from gaining attention.

The House of Representatives held a moment of silence Friday for Michael Jackson. While the world wasn't watching, they also, by an incredibly close vote, 219 to 212, passed a climate change bill, despite claims among Republicans that the economy would worsen if we forced to have a "national energy tax." While Republicans complained that the bill would be a "massive transfer of wealth" from the United States to foreign countries, Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan said that the bill was needed so that the country would not be dependent on people who want to "fly planes into our buildings." The Republicans fear that the bill will raise the average family's energy bill by thousands of dollars a year. The Environmental Protection Agency said it would amount to a yearly increase of less than $111. The goal, according to Democrats, is to protect the country's national security, improve the environment, and boost the economy.

Back to news of Michael Jackson, as we continue to look into the possibility that drugs were the cause of his death, his family is looking through his finances, which are a confusing mess. His creditors will be busy for years, according to a report in the New York Times. After piling up millions of dollars in debt, Jackson needed a last-second $24 .5 million loan last year just to keep creditors from liquidating the Neverland Ranch in Northern California. "He never kept track of what he was spending," Alvin Malnik, a former adviser, told the Times. "He would indiscriminately charter jets. He would buy paintings for $1.5 million. You couldn't do that every other week and expect your books to balance." Jackson does have his assets, notably $1 billion in publishing rights. His biggest asset in his collection are the rights to the Beatles song catalog, which he bought for $47.5 million in 1985, causing a rift with Paul McCartney. The two had been good friends up until then, but the sale of the Beatles catalog to Jackson was big news after McCartney made headlines with his displeasure.

Speaking of money, and the fact that the news media is making room for non-Michael Jackson news, Bernie Madoff is expected to be sentenced on Monday to 150-years in the slammer, the maximum, at least if prosecutors get their way. It would be an unprecedented sentence, but because of the unprecedented nature of the crime, the maximum would seem appropriate. It was the biggest financial crime in history, and if Michael Jackson had died three days later, it would have gone unnoticed.

News of Michael Jackson's death shocked the world, but life goes on. And so does the news.

Father's Day News

The protests in Iran over the recent election results are taking over the airwaves on cable news. Although no foreign reporters are allowed in the Iran, social networking sites are allowing citizens to send information via Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Images are being shown on the TV news from the cell phone cameras of ordinary citizens. It's disturbing and hard to watch, as Iranian anti-riot police use clubs, tear gas, water cannons and in some reports, guns, to combat protesters. In America, in order to balance the violent images coming out of Iran, we look for the lighter news that can give us something to laugh about as we celebrate Father's Day. The "cocaine-in-the-frozen-shark" story became old news when a man in Oklahoma was mugged for his bologna sandwich, with a street value of 76 cents. Now we find out that a city in Florida has a new dress code that requires city workers to wear underwear and use deodorant. The city council in Brooksville north of Tampa recently approved the "personal hygiene" code. Last week's report about a man who set off fireworks in a bathroom in an Arby's restaurant, blowing up a toilet, was upstaged by a story on Friday about two wayward cows in Massachusetts who went AWOL from their farm and walked over five miles into New Hampshire. Nashua authorities tracked down the cows with the help of concerned citizens, who called 911 with reports of the stray cows. Thursday's story about a Washington man who drove over three miles on I-5 in reverse is still being talked about around the water cooler. But the story last week about an Indiana lawyer who was found asleep headfirst in a neighbor's trash can after a night of drinking has been largely forgotten. Then there's the story of the New York woman who has been dead for six years who showed up at the DMV to get her driver's license. Actually, it was her son, Thomas Parkin, who dressed up in drag, reminiscent of the movie "Psycho". The incident happened in April, but the Associated Press has picked up the story and is running with it. It's spreading through all the major Internet news sites. As new information comes in, we're finding out that Parkin impersonated his mother for over six years and has collected over $100,000 in Social Security and housing benefits using her identity. Although he's been caught on the DMV security cameras dressed in drag, Parkin still professes his innocence. He is awaiting trial at Riker's Island on larceny and fraud charges, and he is giving interviews from prison. Parkin has reportedly hired a publicist, and this is one story that won't go away. That's OK. We need a little levity on Father's Day.

Obama: Multi-Tasker-In-Chief

Yesterday President Obama gave a major speech about health care to the American Medical Association. It was a tough crowd - he was talking to doctors, who feel they will be negatively impacted financially if there is major health care reform. David Donnelly, national campaign director of Public Campaign Action Fund, said that Obama was "speaking to a group that is acting more like a typical Washington special interest than one that is concerned about the well-being of all Americans." But Obama was speaking to the American people. The speech was carried live on the major cable news outlets, and the evening news focused on the highlights. Obama's big sound bite was heard around the world: "If we do not fix our health care system, America may go the way of GM." This is a tough issue to tackle, as the country is on the verge of economic collapse, and many Republicans are saying we just can't afford to do anything about it right now. But clearer heads are prevailing on the Democratic side. Obama has the support of Democrats when he says that fixing health care right now is paramount to begin fixing the economy. In a speech on March 25 at a DNC fundraiser, Obama talked about why the issue is important in the overall plan to fix the economy: "Because we know that the crushing cost of health care is bankrupting families and businesses, and bankrupting the federal government and the state government, our budget reflects reforms that will bring down costs and improve care, and guarantee Americans their choice of doctors and hospitals." Since coming into office, Obama has has to deal with the collapse of the banking and auto industries, two wars, the nuclear threat of Iran and North Korea, the issue of stem cell research, the Guantanamo prison, "Don't ask, don't tell," abortion legislation and other less relevant issues. Obama has repeatedly reminded us that President John F. Kennedy didn't choose between Civil Rights and going to the moon. But Kennedy didn't have to deal with an economy that has been described as "the worst since the Great Depression." The $100 billion it took to land on the moon would have come in handy right now, although we're talking trillions, not millions, of taxpayer money to deal with fixing the economy. George W. Bush handed over a giant mess to Obama when he left office. Bush seemed out of his league when trying to deal with the imploding economy - he seemed to want to leave it to his successor. Obama said in his DNC speech March 25 that "the American people don't have the luxury of focusing on one problem at a time." In his whirlwind first 100 days in office, Obama proved he has the ability to multi-task, and he has continued all the way up to the AMA speech and beyond. While Bush can't walk and drink Red Bull at the same time, Obama seems capable of tackling an enormous workload. "I'm not going to kick these problems down the road for another four years, another eight years, for the next President, the next generation. I'm going to tackle them now," Obama said in his March 25 speech. "That's why I ran for President. That's why you helped me become President. That's why we are not going to stop until we get this thing done." He was talking about his comprehensive economic recovery plan, but he emphasized that health care reform is a key component. I'm betting on Obama, not the doctors representing the AMA, who may have to give up a little so the country can gain a lot.

The 65th Anniversary of D-Day

June 6, 1944 - More than 150,000 Allied troops took part in D-Day, 65 years ago today. The Allied forces, made up of mostly American, British and Canadian troops, overwhelmed German forces in the Normandy Invasion. The operation proved to be a turning point in driving the Nazis out of France and doomed Hitler's dream of a Nazi controlled Europe, marking the beginning of the end for Germany in World War II. The operation, code-named "Operation Overlord", was commanded by American General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Originally intended to be on June 5, 1944, bad weather delayed it until the following day. The U.S. National D-Day Memorial Foundation estimates that 2,499 Americans were killed, along with 1,915 from the other Allied nations, totaling 4,414 dead (much higher than previous estimates of a total of 2,500 dead). Today, on the anniversary of D-Day, President Obama joined France's President Nicolas Sarkozy, Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Canada's Prime Minister Stephen Harper at a ceremony at the American Cemetery in Normandy. President Obama addressed the 288 veterans who attended the ceremony: "You are why we keep coming back." Nearby Omaha Beach was one of the main landing points for U.S. troops involved in the operation, and Obama urged the world to remember what happened there. "Friends and veterans, what we cannot forget...is that D-Day was a time and a place where the bravery and selflessness of a few was able to change the course of an entire century." We defeated Hitler, but we cannot ignore - on this, the 65th anniversary of D-Day - that evil and hatred still exists. The United States is involved in two wars, Iraq and Afghanistan, and we are at trying to figure what to do about nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea. Iranian's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a 2005 speech: "Israel must be wiped off the map." North Korea's diminutive oddball leader, Kim Jong Il, was described by CNN as "one of the most mysterious leaders in the world". And the craziest. North Korea has been testing its nuclear weapons, and it's only a matter of time before the United States is within its range. This is a day to reflect on the past, and try to figure out the future. President Obama has his hands full.