Along with the rest of America, I keep asking, “How are Clinton and Trump our only two choices for President?” It is an international embarrassment that these are our candidates. Whether you are supporting the liar, cheater and thief or the inarticulate buffoon, you too must be appalled that these two people are our only choice.My hope is that our wonderful system of checks and balances, (and FBI investigations and impeachment proceedings if necessary) will be enough to prevent our country from calamity and chaos.The lessons of history have provided the only consolation in this embarrassing Presidential campaign. Let’s face it, American Presidents have always had major faults and failures — and graft and dirty politics have been around since the beginning of mankind.John F. Kennedy, the sainted American President, allegedly won his Presidency by stealing Richard Nixon’s financial papers and leaking a scandal about Nixon to the press. Just to be sure of a JFK victory, supporters in Illinois allegedly had all the people permanently residing in certain cemeteries in Cook County vote for JFK. Nixon thought this was just how Presidents were made – hence the Watergate scandal during his Presidency. Lyndon Johnson was such a horrible person that even at his Presidential LIbrary in his home in Texas the curators don’t have anything nice to say about him. And that is just the “dirt” that we know!How is it that JFK was such a womanizer or Thomas Jefferson had illegitimate children without the American People knowing? A “Gentlemen Press” chose not to report it. The press needs to do its job and report the news fairly so we can be informed and make informed choices. (
See my post on ensuring we have a fact-checked, well edited free press.) There is a good chance that all our Presidents had something to hide – we just didn’t know or we don’t remember.So Hillary will fit right in. So, for that matter, will Donald. In this aspect at least, he is acting very presidential.
And Guess What Mr. Trump? You are not the first candidate for President to rail against the insiders and advise that if elected you might resign! Will Rogers, the famous cowboy, comedian, movie star and newspaper columnist did just that. He ran against the system. I read a great article by the former president of the Westchester County Bar Association and editor-in-chief of its monthly magazine, Richard Gardella.* He wrote about Will Rogers, who ran for president in 1928 as a ‘bunkless candidate’ for the Anti-Bunk Party. While Will Rogers’ campaign was done in jest to poke fun at the campaigns of the Presidential candidates at the time (Herbert Hoover and Al Smith), Trump’s campaign has a few similarities. The most glaring to me is that, like Will Rogers, Trump’s brand name was well known before he started his campaign.We have to hope that whomever wins, the opposing party gains enough seats to control the House and the Senate so that we are truly governed by a majority. We have ONE WEEK to learn all we can about our politicians running for local offices, state senate, state representative, judge, congress and senator. Because they are our hope. We have to get out there and vote for the local guys so they can all do their jobs and keep our new President in check.So make sure you go out and vote for whomever you think is the lesser of two evils. And let’s hope our forefathers really did put in a FOOLproof system of checks and balances.© Jane F. Collen
IndexCardCure™ exercising our rights
Along with the rest of America, I keep asking, “How are Clinton and Trump our only two choices for President?” It is an international embarrassment that these are our candidates. Whether you are supporting the liar, cheater and thief or the inarticulate buffoon, you too must be appalled that these two people are our only choice.My hope is that our wonderful system of checks and balances, (and FBI investigations and impeachment proceedings if necessary) will be enough to prevent our country from calamity and chaos.The lessons of history have provided the only consolation in this embarrassing Presidential campaign. Let’s face it, American Presidents have always had major faults and failures — and graft and dirty politics have been around since the beginning of mankind.John F. Kennedy, the sainted American President, allegedly won his Presidency by stealing Richard Nixon’s financial papers and leaking a scandal about Nixon to the press. Just to be sure of a JFK victory, supporters in Illinois allegedly had all the people permanently residing in certain cemeteries in Cook County vote for JFK. Nixon thought this was just how Presidents were made – hence the Watergate scandal during his Presidency. Lyndon Johnson was such a horrible person that even at his Presidential LIbrary in his home in Texas the curators don’t have anything nice to say about him. And that is just the “dirt” that we know!How is it that JFK was such a womanizer or Thomas Jefferson had illegitimate children without the American People knowing? A “Gentlemen Press” chose not to report it. The press needs to do its job and report the news fairly so we can be informed and make informed choices. (See my post on ensuring we have a fact-checked, well edited free press.) There is a good chance that all our Presidents had something to hide – we just didn’t know or we don’t remember.So Hillary will fit right in. So, for that matter, will Donald. In this aspect at least, he is acting very presidential.
And Guess What Mr. Trump? You are not the first candidate for President to rail against the insiders and advise that if elected you might resign! Will Rogers, the famous cowboy, comedian, movie star and newspaper columnist did just that. He ran against the system. I read a great article by the former president of the Westchester County Bar Association and editor-in-chief of its monthly magazine, Richard Gardella.* He wrote about Will Rogers, who ran for president in 1928 as a ‘bunkless candidate’ for the Anti-Bunk Party. While Will Rogers’ campaign was done in jest to poke fun at the campaigns of the Presidential candidates at the time (Herbert Hoover and Al Smith), Trump’s campaign has a few similarities. The most glaring to me is that, like Will Rogers, Trump’s brand name was well known before he started his campaign.We have to hope that whomever wins, the opposing party gains enough seats to control the House and the Senate so that we are truly governed by a majority. We have ONE WEEK to learn all we can about our politicians running for local offices, state senate, state representative, judge, congress and senator. Because they are our hope. We have to get out there and vote for the local guys so they can all do their jobs and keep our new President in check.So make sure you go out and vote for whomever you think is the lesser of two evils. And let’s hope our forefathers really did put in a FOOLproof system of checks and balances.© Jane F. Collen IndexCardCure™ exercising our rights