I still wish you would give some air-time to Pompeo. He is a Westpoint Grad, also a veteran (combat, not JAG), businessman, US congressman, CIA Director, Secretary of State, AND he knows the Lord. He has the best resume of any contender.
The design is government by the people of the people and for the people... not government by the wealthy ruling class of the wealthy ruling class and for the wealthy ruling class. I think at some point around the time of the first Guilded Age voters got comfortable with electing wealthy, experienced elites... the ruling class. However, the job was still public service for the people. The problem we have now is that the people elect the wealthy ruling class and the wealthy ruling class works for the benefit of themselves and their ruling class friends. But the people reject the non-elites. A good example is the reelection of Gavin Newsom as CA governor instead of someone like Michael Shellenberger.
Another reality is that even if we send up average, middle-class Joes (and Josephines) like ourselves, they quickly BECOME wealthy as "public servants" because of insider trading and political graft.
Mike Pence is also a Boomer, and has the disadvantage of being viewed as a traitor by Trump fanatics and as a Trump enabler by Independents and many moderate Republicans. His excessively low-key, frozen-face presence doesn't excite anyone. He, also, needs to go away.
That rant was unwelcome. You will regret saying such things when and if you live to be an old person. Elected officials all have term limits. They all can and will be voted out of office when the citizens so choose or they retire. One thing you cannot replace is experience.
“ I know the man wants to avenge his not-stolen second term.”
The “not-stolen” canard has been destroyed by the Twitter files. It is fascinating the twisting and dodging by the Trump haters to deflect from having to admit this. If we really care about a free, fair and ethical democratic election system, then the collusion between the Democrats, the Justice Dept and FBI, the MSM and big tech is a YUGE steaming pile of proof that 2020 was NOT, and had it been, Trump would likely have been elected to a second term.
Why not just admit this and THEN make the case that Trump is over and should move on? Trump got beat by opposition cheating at the highest levels of power… without the Musk purchase of Twitter, because the cheating was at the highest levels of power, we would still be in conspiracy theory mode. But the evidence is in and the election malfeasance is real. The election WAS stolen. Our laws are not designed yet to cover the type and level of cheating that took place… is still taking place. So the excuse that “no laws were broken” is just crap.
Admitting all of this is the first step for those that hate Trump and want him gone to regain credibility as objective political commentators and not just Rob Reiners still infected with TDS after six years.
Frank, perhaps if Trump himself put forth as good an argument as you just did, he might be viewed differently. All I've heard from him - and admittedly, I haven't listened much - is just the same verbal firebombs he's been throwing since his defeat. I hadn't categorized what happened at Twitter as "cheating," just the same kind of bias we see in the MSM. But what is cheating if not an underhanded effort to tilt the field heavily in favor of a preferred outcome? Were these same tactics used at a casino or horse track by a bettor, somebody would certainly go to jail which, IMO, validates your statement. Well said.
Out of college I worked for the Farm Credit system. During my 15 years there we went through five CEOs. Three of them had the first name of George for some reason. They were all experienced bankers with a farming background. The best of these was a George that lacked verbal skills. He would often butcher speeches. In meetings he would say things that seemed out of place and distracting. He would speak his mind instead of reading from a script, and it often caused a disturbance with people craving the calm of familiarity. This George did not go deep. His eyes would gaze over with presentations of too much data and detail. He was known for his rule of “one page only” executive summaries. But, getting to know him as many did, it was clear that he was the most intelligent and capable of all others. He saw the big picture. He filtered out the twaddle. He focused on what needed to be accomplished and pursued it with dogged determination. He got the workforce to snap out of their stupor of sameness and compliance, and to start challenging the status quo.
Trump is like George. He is not a technocrat. He cannot speak to a level of academic detail craved by our political chattering class. But, Trump sees the big picture. He is brilliant in some respects for how he has packaged that inventory of simplified messaging for the part of the electorate that is NOT of the academic political chattering class.
The point here though is that Trump was correct and so were his supporters protesting election cheating. They blew past the shallow transactional evidence standard to see that something was significantly wrong. The Twitter Files have proved they were correct. Yes, they did not identify the exact source, but even the most conspiratorial of them could not have imagined the truth… that our own government was abusing the top power of federal law enforcement to force private media and tech companies to filter, cancel, ban and deplatform Trump supporters in favor of Democrat candidates.
This is still going on. It is the REAL threat to democracy. My point is that this should be admitted instead of continuing the claim that Trump should be rejected because of his election criticisms, and that he is just not the right guy for the job now. I tend to agree with the latter point… as long as the replacement candidate adopts most, if not all, of his platform of ideas. But Trump was right… the 2020 election was stolen. Our system of democracy is not working when the current government colludes with private media and tech to influence the election. It is in fact, a Constitutional crisis.
8 of ten Republican never-Trumpers got knocked out of the primaries. Democrats spent wildly and got the media and tech to influence voters in the general election with massive negative ads against Republican Senate candidates. The narrative that Trump was rejected as per the general election is bunk. Lots of Trump supported candidates won.
But I agree that we need to move on from Trump as long as we have another choice with his same platform.
Thank you, Erick, for separating the political Boomers, who should exit the stage, from the rest of us who have embraced retirement, allowing the next generation to step into the spotlight. We have continued to make our lives relevant through our volunteer and philanthropic work, through participating in political campaigns, and through helping our kids and grandkids. Many of us agree with you we don’t need two octogenarians running for president. I totally believe both political parties need to embrace younger people for their leadership.
In what private sector job could you be that old, be paid that well, receive subsidized medical coverage and access to medical care on site, be guaranteed social security AND a pension, private jet travel at your disposal, have no threat of layoff or salary cut, and no metrics or annual review to grade job performance? All at taxpayer expense.
Trump has always been a bully and will continue to the end of his life. He is a textbook narcissist who won’t go away even when he’s a worthless has been.
Ok! This is just plain gold!! "Thus Donald Trump, like Marc Anthony, swears revenge over the body of his Caesarian ambitions of old, murdered by Zombie Hugo Chavez, an Italian server, and voting machines insufficiently suffocated under my pillow." Absolute genius Erick! Loved the "My Pillow" (you did not capitalize) tag!
Every time you've written the words "Hillary was just not a good candidate" I interpreted it to be aimed at the left...until today. It suddenly dawned on me that Hillary was likely the ONLY reason DJT won, and perhaps you've meant that all along. Occasionally, the lightbulb above my head flashes on immediately, but more typically it's a brown-out sizzle long before eventually lighting fully.
Good article except for one little problem. You can legitimately blame the baby boomers for Clinton, GW Bush, Obama and Trump. You can’t blame us for Biden. He is a “silent generation” product. The only President we have had who is a member of that group! That should tell you something. 😁
Correction ; Trump is probably considered “silent generation” as well since the official “baby boomer” range is July 1, 1946 to June 30, 1964. So that means the two worst Presidents, lately are “silent generation” products. I used the US Census description.
"old people smell"?
Um, is there a way to tell if you have old people smell (asking for a friend of course)
I still wish you would give some air-time to Pompeo. He is a Westpoint Grad, also a veteran (combat, not JAG), businessman, US congressman, CIA Director, Secretary of State, AND he knows the Lord. He has the best resume of any contender.
The design is government by the people of the people and for the people... not government by the wealthy ruling class of the wealthy ruling class and for the wealthy ruling class. I think at some point around the time of the first Guilded Age voters got comfortable with electing wealthy, experienced elites... the ruling class. However, the job was still public service for the people. The problem we have now is that the people elect the wealthy ruling class and the wealthy ruling class works for the benefit of themselves and their ruling class friends. But the people reject the non-elites. A good example is the reelection of Gavin Newsom as CA governor instead of someone like Michael Shellenberger.
Another reality is that even if we send up average, middle-class Joes (and Josephines) like ourselves, they quickly BECOME wealthy as "public servants" because of insider trading and political graft.
Thanks for pointing out facts.
Wow! You really roasted the Boomers! But we can take it and deserve most of what you said.
Mike Pence is also a Boomer, and has the disadvantage of being viewed as a traitor by Trump fanatics and as a Trump enabler by Independents and many moderate Republicans. His excessively low-key, frozen-face presence doesn't excite anyone. He, also, needs to go away.
That rant was unwelcome. You will regret saying such things when and if you live to be an old person. Elected officials all have term limits. They all can and will be voted out of office when the citizens so choose or they retire. One thing you cannot replace is experience.
“ I know the man wants to avenge his not-stolen second term.”
The “not-stolen” canard has been destroyed by the Twitter files. It is fascinating the twisting and dodging by the Trump haters to deflect from having to admit this. If we really care about a free, fair and ethical democratic election system, then the collusion between the Democrats, the Justice Dept and FBI, the MSM and big tech is a YUGE steaming pile of proof that 2020 was NOT, and had it been, Trump would likely have been elected to a second term.
Why not just admit this and THEN make the case that Trump is over and should move on? Trump got beat by opposition cheating at the highest levels of power… without the Musk purchase of Twitter, because the cheating was at the highest levels of power, we would still be in conspiracy theory mode. But the evidence is in and the election malfeasance is real. The election WAS stolen. Our laws are not designed yet to cover the type and level of cheating that took place… is still taking place. So the excuse that “no laws were broken” is just crap.
Admitting all of this is the first step for those that hate Trump and want him gone to regain credibility as objective political commentators and not just Rob Reiners still infected with TDS after six years.
Frank, perhaps if Trump himself put forth as good an argument as you just did, he might be viewed differently. All I've heard from him - and admittedly, I haven't listened much - is just the same verbal firebombs he's been throwing since his defeat. I hadn't categorized what happened at Twitter as "cheating," just the same kind of bias we see in the MSM. But what is cheating if not an underhanded effort to tilt the field heavily in favor of a preferred outcome? Were these same tactics used at a casino or horse track by a bettor, somebody would certainly go to jail which, IMO, validates your statement. Well said.
Out of college I worked for the Farm Credit system. During my 15 years there we went through five CEOs. Three of them had the first name of George for some reason. They were all experienced bankers with a farming background. The best of these was a George that lacked verbal skills. He would often butcher speeches. In meetings he would say things that seemed out of place and distracting. He would speak his mind instead of reading from a script, and it often caused a disturbance with people craving the calm of familiarity. This George did not go deep. His eyes would gaze over with presentations of too much data and detail. He was known for his rule of “one page only” executive summaries. But, getting to know him as many did, it was clear that he was the most intelligent and capable of all others. He saw the big picture. He filtered out the twaddle. He focused on what needed to be accomplished and pursued it with dogged determination. He got the workforce to snap out of their stupor of sameness and compliance, and to start challenging the status quo.
Trump is like George. He is not a technocrat. He cannot speak to a level of academic detail craved by our political chattering class. But, Trump sees the big picture. He is brilliant in some respects for how he has packaged that inventory of simplified messaging for the part of the electorate that is NOT of the academic political chattering class.
The point here though is that Trump was correct and so were his supporters protesting election cheating. They blew past the shallow transactional evidence standard to see that something was significantly wrong. The Twitter Files have proved they were correct. Yes, they did not identify the exact source, but even the most conspiratorial of them could not have imagined the truth… that our own government was abusing the top power of federal law enforcement to force private media and tech companies to filter, cancel, ban and deplatform Trump supporters in favor of Democrat candidates.
This is still going on. It is the REAL threat to democracy. My point is that this should be admitted instead of continuing the claim that Trump should be rejected because of his election criticisms, and that he is just not the right guy for the job now. I tend to agree with the latter point… as long as the replacement candidate adopts most, if not all, of his platform of ideas. But Trump was right… the 2020 election was stolen. Our system of democracy is not working when the current government colludes with private media and tech to influence the election. It is in fact, a Constitutional crisis.
Here's a two word proof that Trump is not the right man: "Georgia's senators" - and I sent money to both campaigns (and voted for him)
8 of ten Republican never-Trumpers got knocked out of the primaries. Democrats spent wildly and got the media and tech to influence voters in the general election with massive negative ads against Republican Senate candidates. The narrative that Trump was rejected as per the general election is bunk. Lots of Trump supported candidates won.
But I agree that we need to move on from Trump as long as we have another choice with his same platform.
As a fellow Gen-Xer, thank you for this article.
Thank you, Erick, for separating the political Boomers, who should exit the stage, from the rest of us who have embraced retirement, allowing the next generation to step into the spotlight. We have continued to make our lives relevant through our volunteer and philanthropic work, through participating in political campaigns, and through helping our kids and grandkids. Many of us agree with you we don’t need two octogenarians running for president. I totally believe both political parties need to embrace younger people for their leadership.
Genius write up Erick! And one more point…
In what private sector job could you be that old, be paid that well, receive subsidized medical coverage and access to medical care on site, be guaranteed social security AND a pension, private jet travel at your disposal, have no threat of layoff or salary cut, and no metrics or annual review to grade job performance? All at taxpayer expense.
Um, wow...you kinda' knocked that one outta' the park! GREAT points!
Trump has always been a bully and will continue to the end of his life. He is a textbook narcissist who won’t go away even when he’s a worthless has been.
I am VERY displeased with Trump attacking DeSantis. They should have been allies. Once again, Trump is just too full of himself. So sad to watch!
Ok! This is just plain gold!! "Thus Donald Trump, like Marc Anthony, swears revenge over the body of his Caesarian ambitions of old, murdered by Zombie Hugo Chavez, an Italian server, and voting machines insufficiently suffocated under my pillow." Absolute genius Erick! Loved the "My Pillow" (you did not capitalize) tag!
Every time you've written the words "Hillary was just not a good candidate" I interpreted it to be aimed at the left...until today. It suddenly dawned on me that Hillary was likely the ONLY reason DJT won, and perhaps you've meant that all along. Occasionally, the lightbulb above my head flashes on immediately, but more typically it's a brown-out sizzle long before eventually lighting fully.
Good article except for one little problem. You can legitimately blame the baby boomers for Clinton, GW Bush, Obama and Trump. You can’t blame us for Biden. He is a “silent generation” product. The only President we have had who is a member of that group! That should tell you something. 😁
Correction ; Trump is probably considered “silent generation” as well since the official “baby boomer” range is July 1, 1946 to June 30, 1964. So that means the two worst Presidents, lately are “silent generation” products. I used the US Census description.