Democrats/Liberals it is not the end of the world!

One of my good friends, a lifelong Democrat has texted me several times since the election asking if I still thought it was going to be alright.  I think he expresses the fears of many in our country after a stunning upset victory by Donald Trump, a victory that surprised even many of his own supporters.  I was and still am a supporter of President Donald Trump, although I did tell my friend a few days prior to the election that I really did not think he had a chance to win.

Forty-eight percent of voters are happy with the results of the election.  Many felt disenfranchised, fearful or frustrated over the last eight years.  Many, like me, felt we have been headed in the wrong direction as a nation for a long time.  To us this election brings the hope that Donald Trump can in fact, “make America great again.”

The other half of our country are still confused, disappointed, angry or hurt.   I realize many women are disappointed.  I am all for a woman to become President, but I want the right woman and I definitely do not believe Hillary Clinton was the right woman. 

There were many, like my friend, who saw the last eight years as a time of positive change and of course they are disappointed.  This is where the divide came between conservatives and liberals. Regardless of the number of times Hannity on Fox News reported all the negatives of the Obama Administration the Liberals did not and will not ever get it. The celebrities will continue to ridicule our elected President instead of getting behind him in an attempt to improve our country.  They are full of criticism and offer no solutions and I understand why.  The Democratic Party has always solicited the support of celebrities and put them on a pedestal while in office.  It has always seem to me that Republicans in general are more willing to live in the real world than a fantasy world.  That is why I left the Democrat Party during the Nixon campaign.

The pundits and politicians will continue to analyze the election results and the Trump Administration, seeking to tell us what they mean in the hours, days and years ahead.  But the questions for me are, Where do we go from here?  How does our nation come together?  And, to my friend’s point, Will it be okay?  It will be okay only if the media returns to journalism and presenting facts instead of personal opinions and the celebrities go back to being overpaid entertainers and stop attempting to be pseudo politicians.

I think it will be okay.  I liked Donald Trump’s acceptance speech and the spirit it conveyed; a lofty vision, a humility, a willingness to work together and a desire to represent all Americans.  I also appreciated Hillary Clinton’s concession speech, which was moving and which reflected, despite the disappointment and pain of loss, a hopefulness and confidence in America’s future.

I am willing to give President Trump a chance and unlike my friend I am not expressing disappointment that he has not performed miracles in less than a month.  Those opposing President Trump were willing to give Obama four more years to correct all his mistakes, but are not willing to give President Trump even his first one hundred days before condemning him.

It will be okay because we live in a democracy whose founding fathers wisely created a system of checks and balances in government that are meant to spread power across the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government. Presidents do not rule by decree, although some like Obama try, the majority seek to lead and influence, and if they are ineffective, they and their party are voted out.  It’s a good system that has served us well for more than two centuries.

It will be okay because, despite his shortcomings and unsettling rhetoric, Donald Trump has strengths that he brings to the presidency.  Strengths that to my knowledge NO president has ever brought to that office in our past.  We need to always remember no candidates are as bad as their opponents paint them, nor as good as they believe themselves to be.  I do believe President Trumps strengths in negotiating deals will serve him well in Washington and perhaps help find win-win solutions to challenging issues we face.

I believe it will be okay because my hope and faith has never been primarily in politicians and political parties, but in Jesus Christ.  You may think that is naïve, but I think it is far more naïve to listen and put faith in the bias media and the celebrities.

I personally am praying today for Donald Trump and his team. I pray that God will enable them, and prepare them and guide them as they prepare to lead our country.  Finally, I’m praying that we as Christians can be instrumental in bringing healing to the divisions in our country today, rather than making the divisions even wider.  We have a mandate to forgive, to love, and also to “speak up for those who cannot speak up for themselves” and “to do justice, and practice loving kindness and walk humbly with God.”  This is a personal opinion I will give all for FREE - many including Christians have become to judgemental of others and have come to believe they have all the answers.

There are challenges and opportunities ahead of us.  But, the sooner we come together as Americans to face the challenges, to seize upon the opportunities and together, find a way to help our country live up to its potential the better it will be for us all. 

I honestly believe by 2018 we will experience the worse recession we have ever had since the Great Depression.  I pray not, but the wrong path has been traveled too long for any correction to be made to prevent it in just one year.  It is more important now than ever that we work together as one people and one nation seeking God’s guidance. 

The National Review stands for outdated conservatism.

The National Review taking on Donald Trump should help Trump if you are tired of politics as usual. It is the men that wrote the article in National Review that has given us the Republican Party we have today. If you like the Repub/Demo Party presently in Washington you will like the article and listen to their advice. If you are tired of politics as usual and Republican politicians too weak to stand up to a Democrat President you will rebel against the article and support Trump.

The article in National Review is an attempt to end a Donald Trump run for the White House once and for all. The National Review has decided that Trump is not conservative enough and believes the Republican voters will once again fall in step with them as we have in the past.

Publications like National Review, run by elite "conservatives" have given us "No Child Left Behind," Medicare Part D, huge deficits to woo select voters, "Romneycare", John McCain, Barry Goldwater and the list goes on and on. This elite conservative group should take some credit for giving us Obama.

William F. Buckley, who founded National Review, used the magazine to publish a series of essays by conservative intellectuals who helped foster the Reagan Revolution and since Reagan it has been on the decline. Let us not forget it was the Tea Party that gave new life to the Republican Party not the elitist at National Review. What have the elitist at National Review done for the middle class?

If it was not for the elitist that wrote the article for National Review there would be no need for a Donald Trump in 2016. They created the need for Donald Trump. They contributed to the bad legislation that keeps Trump high in the polls. They created a need for change in the Republican Party. They are the reason Republican voters are mad as hell! These are the same people who thought Donald Trump’s campaign was a joke. They are so out of touch with Americans they did not even see his being in first or second place as possible. They aren't credible in their criticism of Trump because they never saw it coming and they still do not get it.

For too long the Republican Party has been run by the country club crowd and it is time we return the Republican Party to the Blue Collar middle class crowd. At least Donald Trump has relationships with his employees from the janitors to the Vice Presidents. The elitist that have taken over the Republican Party only come in contact with the middle class when they need their swimming pool repaired. Donald Trump has worked with iron workers, electricians, carpenters, service personnel, union workers on a regular basis. He understands the importance of the working class.

The elitist in the Republican Party have not fixed the border problems, the illegal immigration problem, the deficit problem, the education problem, the health care problem, the lack of jobs problem, the veteran’s problems, etc. Why would we listen to what they think or say now? They must think the people that really make up the Republican Party (the voters) are fools.

They have failed us, not Donald Trump! They are more concerned with their brand of conservatism which is good for the elite, but not good for the middle class. There is a reason that politicians in Mexico tried for generations to stop the growth of their middle class. The elitist in Mexico knew a strong middle class would take power and control away from them. The elitist in the Republican Party do not want to lose power.

It is time we had less thinkers and more doers at the head of the Republican Party. Donald Trump is a thinker and doer.

The National Review and other elitist Republicans have found themselves losing its hold on the Republican Party. They realize if Trump or a Trump like politicians take control of the Republican Party they will no longer hold its elitist seat at the Republican Party table and there certainly is no place for them in the Democrat Party.

Trump is not the first person National Review has tried to destroy. They presently have several lawsuits filed against them and if they should lose those cases it would probably be the end of National Review. Should we take the advice of elitist journalist that have run a company for over 50 years and made no profit? They have lost over 50 million dollars.

I am glad the Republican Party “disinvited" National Review from participating in an upcoming debate. It is a first. During the past 50 years the elitist at National Review have had too much power over the Republican Party and we got what we have today.

During the dark period in American history when segregation and integration was a political issue it was National Review and William F. Buckley that supported segregation and said white men were superior to blacks. He even stated if blacks were the majority then the white minority white should still rule. He suggested maybe blacks should not be allowed to vote.  He claimed the white race was the advanced race. Is that the type of conservatism we want in 2016? They were definitely wrong then and they are wrong now.

If what you have been doing hasn’t worked only a fool continues to do it the same way. Obama’s promise for change was campaign trash, but America needs change and without it we are going to be another Greece.

I cannot honestly say that I will vote for Trump at this time, but every day it seems to me it is better to gamble on Donald Trump than what we’ve got! When the extreme left and the extreme right come out against Trump he only looks better to me. 

Our leaders manipulate us and we allow it.

We think we live in a democracy. We think ultimate power rest with us the people. We think our leaders are our servants, accountable to us the people and doing what we want, making decisions for the greater good of all. We think that because our religious leaders, political leaders, corporate leaders and media leaders have cleverly led us to believe we are still in control when we are not.

Media has become a monopoly. Only a handful of multinationals own and control the majority of mainstream media outlets. We are given the information they want us to have. They tell us the conclusion we are supposed to reach.  Mainstream media is now mass produced, corporate friendly, political friendly (liberal/conservative) and unchallenged. The information channels that most people use in democratic societies are becoming more distorted and are eroding democracy.

Our political leaders don't care about democracy. Why should they? After all, being accountable to the people only reduces their power. ObamaCare, national debt, balanced budget, gun control and Presidential Executive Orders are prime examples of that. George Orwell said, "No one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end. The object of power is power."  Government leaders and big business leaders are bedfellows, with ex-politicians often sitting on the boards of big companies, the business community is able to unduly and undemocratically influence the legislative process, steering our legal system towards a corporate controlled state. Political leaders and corporate leaders work hand in hand to erode democracy because that is in their interest. When will we wake up to the fact that we are merely a pseudo-democracy? Some might argue that we are this already.

Why would corporate leaders put people first when their ultimate goal is to maximize profits? When it comes to what is best for the people and profit they will always put profit before people. C.E.O’s do not lose sleep when they move manufacturing overseas and layoff hundreds of people if it increases profit. The decision by General Motors to manufacture the Buick Envision in China is a slap in the face to American taxpayers who bailed GM out of bankruptcy in 2008. General Motors does not care what American's think they are banking we will be stupid enough to purchase the Envision SUV and once again put our greed above what is good for America and its people.

We need to realize that whenever any group of people, even religious leaders, have a disproportionate influence over government policy democracy suffers. There are no exceptions. When religious leaders have access to millions upon millions of dollars without accountability to the government like the rest of us they have disproportionate influence. When religious leaders live in multi-million dollar estates provided by their ministry, free of income tax, they have disproportionate influence. When religious leaders can threaten political leaders with excommunication and block votes they have disproportionate influence.

If we want to live in societies that are democracies only in name, bearing all the attributes of dictatorships, then we only need to carry on in the direction we are headed. If that is what we want, then we will have it soon, sooner than we think. When we can no longer be critical of political, religious, corporate and media leaders without being accused of being racist, bigots, prejudice, politically incorrect and un-American we are no longer living in a democracy.

We need to understand exactly how we are manipulated into doing the bidding of our leaders, against our own interest. We need to understand the methods of manipulation:

Media ownership is central to the manipulation of the people. Manipulate the people, and you manipulate their vote. You either control the media by owning it or by doing favors for those who own it. In the United States, large corporations own the media and they receive favors from the government in the form of influence over legislation and special tax breaks. Only five mega-media corporations control almost all of the U.S. media, which is why American’s are becoming among the most brainwashed people in the world.

The war against terror has allowed political leaders to take freedoms from the people under the guise of "national security" and "protection". The politicians want the war on terror to seem unwinnable because it serves those who want power. Fear is one of the greatest manipulators of people. Create fear in the minds of the people and they fall in line – fear of hell, fear of crime, fear of terrorist, fear of layoff, fear of guns, fear of police, etc. Herman Goering said at the Nuremberg Trials: "The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."

Control language and you control people's thoughts – political correctness. The elimination of selected words is a prerequisite for the control of the people. Radical Muslim Terrorist, Illegal Aliens, Christmas and the list goes on. Political correctness has corrupted the news media, universities, business, Congress, politics, etc. Political correctness is a tool used to limit thought in education, science, and culture by intimidation and coercion.

Politicians use patriotism to manipulate and control. As long as people are patriotic, they will overlook the sins of their government, both towards their own people and towards other those in other countries.

The promise of eternal life and the threat of hell has been one of the greatest manipulator of people than any other form of manipulation in history. The Roman Catholic Church has even apologized for its abusive past, but that does not necessarily mean their apology will have much effect on their future behavior. Anything "fundamentalist" just means that ideology is being put in front of people and is a recipe for individual and mass abuse.

It is untrue that only the uneducated can be manipulated. Some believe that the educated are actually the easiest to manipulate because they have been trained to process so much information that they often become less critical. The educated also tend to need an opinion on everything. Students in the past were more revolutionary and questioned society more on serious matters than they do today. It seems the main issues for students today are what foods are served in the cafeteria.

Politicians never admit a lie they simply keep repeating it until the people believe it. Obama administration said over an over Benghazi was the results of a video; Hillary did not send or receive classified information on unsecured Internet; Obama if you want to keep your doctor and your insurance you can; Bill Clinton I did not have sex with that woman; Richard Nixon I am not a crook; Obama I didn’t call the Islamic State a ‘JV’ team; John McCain met with Islamist State terrorists; Obama Republicans have filibustered 500 pieces of legislation; Paul Ryan a boy didn’t want a government lunch but one in a brown paper bag; Mitch McConnell took $600,000 from anti-coal groups; Republican cuts to Ebola research are killing people, etc.

Politicians are using unnecessary secrecy as a means to keep truth from surfacing and manipulate the people. Every government needs to have some level of secrecy in military matters to protect its boarders and its people. But when this is used to withhold information from the people which is not necessary for national security then the use of classify information is being abused. This is now happening on a daily basis because politicians do not consider the voters right to know to be important.

Leading politicians know exactly how to duck their way out of sticky situations by setting up a string of fall guys and girls. Obama has proven to be an expert at this. Master manipulators are great at throwing up smokescreens and being evasive. The people are continually manipulated into thinking the problem is everyone except the leader.

One of the simplest ways to control the information going to the media is to control which reporters have access to the source of information. Reporters were manipulated during recent middle-east conflicts when they were embedded with the military personnel on the battlefield. They were dependent on the forces they were embedded with for protection in hostile environments. It is doubtful you will be critical of the hand that is feeding and protecting you.

Above are but a few of the methods used to manipulate society. Anytime we allow ourselves to be manipulated we lose power. It is naïve to think leaders always put the people’s interest first! The leaders of Greece wanted to win elections regardless of what was in the best interest of Greece and you see what happen. The Democrats are known for buying votes with welfare programs regardless of what is in the best interest of the United States – national debt. Republicans and Democrats do not take a stand on immigration because they want the Hispanic vote regardless of what is in the best interest of the United States. 

Note: An example of political manipulation of citizens Carpio claims the U.S. presence in the Philippines will boost Philippine defense against China. Senator Santiago claims the U.S. is responsible for the Philippines being weak when it comes to their military.

The U.S. will protect their equipment and personnel in the Philippines against China's aggression so Carpio is partly right. But, as any nation would the U.S. will do what is in the best interest of the U.S. when it comes to China. 

Senator Santiago needs to blame Philippine politicians for the weak military and poverty in the Philippines. Corrupt Filipino politicians are responsible for both. The U.S. has protected and have personnel stationed in Japan, Germany and South Korea and all three countries are not faced with the poverty problems as the Philippines is and all three have strong military units and all three are INDEPENDENT of the U.S. and the leaders of Germany, Japan and South Korea do not blame all their problems on their people clinging to colonial ideas.  Senator Santiago is right the agreement between the U.S. and Philippines is made weaker because the U.S. does not recognize it as a treaty.

Political Party Platforms are a joke!

The political parties’ official platforms, written at the national conventions, mean very little or even nothing. These are not things that individual candidates must follow and they are given essentially no attention in the campaigns and certainly not after the votes are cast.

It is very difficult for political parties to maintain discipline over their members.  The people who run for Congress are not picked by the party leadership. They are picked by the voters in primary elections. If the candidates do not want to follow the party platform, there is very little that the party can do about it. We have seen in recent years many examples of “tea party” insurgents defeating Republican incumbents in the primaries even though the party supported the incumbents.

The party cannot force elected officials to follow the party platform and candidates tend to ignore them.  Candidate’s campaign on whatever issues they think will be most effective in getting them elected. Party platforms are no longer important.

Read the 2008 platforms of both parties carefully and you will see they are well-crafted documents that really mean nothing. I am going to use the Democrat Party Platform as an example to prove my point.  

In 2008 the Democratic Party called tax increases ‘investments in America’. They obviously did a good job of making it appear that increasing taxes would increase jobs. Normally voter run from parties that espouse tax increases, but Obama won.   

The Democratic Party stated in the 2008 platform they would provide an immediate energy rebate to American families struggling with the record price of gasoline. Were the rebates for the purpose of helping American families or friends and contributors of Democrat candidates?

The 789 billion dollar ‘Stimulus Package’ they were proud of in 2008 was no longer called the ‘Stimulus Package’ after it failed to stimulate anything, but the bank accounts of Obama’s friends and supporters. The ‘Stimulus Package’ of the 2008 platform became the’ Recover Act’. Stimulus became a dirty word in Washington. Obama joked about ‘shovel ready jobs’ the stimulus money was invested in that turned out not to be not so ‘shovel ready’ after all. I guess it is easy to make jokes about losing money when it is not your money you are losing.

The Democrats in 2008 promised affordable health care, but did we get it. No we did not. Insurance premiums sky rocketed and continues to increase. We cannot keep our doctor as promised or the health insurance policy we had if we were happy with it as promised. In order to have health insurance coverage policy holders had to be satisfied with high deductibles. If you do not have insurance coverage you have to pay a penalty each year. I live in the Philippine and last year I had to pay over $800 in penalties for not having a health insurance policy. I could not afford a U.S. health insurance policy that would pay hospital expenses abroad and Medicare and government insurance policies do not cover anyone outside the continental United States.

Be careful of the word ‘We’ in platforms. You will find the ‘We’ is ‘You’. They write the platform and the legislation and pass the cost on to ‘You’.

Democrat platforms are always committed to an economic policy that produces good jobs with good pay and benefits. That is why they claim they support unions. In reality they support unions in order to get the union bosses to put pressure on union members to vote for them. In 2008 they claimed when unions are allowed to do their job of making sure that workers get their fair share, they pull people out of poverty and create a stronger middle class. Did that happen – wages are stagnated, the middle class is weaker than it has been since the Great Depression. Higher wages are good and needed, but keep in mind higher wages mean higher cost of living. An x-ray in the Philippines cost $7 how much do they cost in the United States? I by no means endorse the low wages paid in the Philippines.

In 2008 the Democrats promised to cut poverty in half within ten year- is that happening? They promised to provide all our children a world-class education, from early childhood through college – college is more expensive now than ever. We will develop innovative transitional job programs that place unemployed people into temporary jobs and train them for permanent ones – are welfare recipients required to participate in work programs or go to school - NO. To help workers share in our country’s productivity, we’ll expand the Earned Income Tax Credit, and raise the minimum wage and index it to inflation – they made sure illegal aliens got Earned Income Tax Credit.  The majority of adults in poverty are women, and to combat poverty we must work for fair pay, support for mothers, and policies that promote responsible fatherhood – more homes are without fathers today than ever before.

The Democrats said higher taxes would lower gas prices and they would solve the problem of four-dollar a gallon gas with a comprehensive plan and investment in clean energy. How many of Obama’s investment in cleaner energy went bankrupt costing tax payer? Do you really believe higher taxes and bankrupt clean energy companies brought gas prices down to where they are today?

The Democrats promised to make quality, affordable early childhood care and education available to every American child from the day he or she is born. Their Our Children’s First Agenda, including increases in Head Start and Early Head Start, and investments in high-quality Pre-K, were supposed to improve quality of education and provide learning and support to families with children ages zero to five. Their Our Presidential Early Learning Council was supposed to coordinate these efforts. Regardless of the money the government throws at education we are ranked 27 in education worldwide. The Constitution does not provide for such programs. It is my opinion public school education suffers because of teachers unions the very thing the Democrats support. What incentive does a person have to do a good job if they cannot be fired?

The Democrat platform stated “We will invest in American jobs and finally end the tax breaks that ship jobs overseas. We will create an Advanced Manufacturing Fund to provide for our next generation of innovators and job creators; we will expand the Manufacturing Extension Partnerships and create new job training programs for clean technologies. We will bring together government, private industry, workers, and academia to turn around the manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy and provide assistance to automakers and parts companies to encourage retooling of facilities in this country to produce advanced technology vehicles and their key components.” General Motors is moving plants to Mexico as I write this. How many manufacturing jobs have return to America, especially from China? How many trillions of dollars remain in banks abroad because manufacturers will not bring the funds back to America because of high Corporate Taxes? This money being kept abroad could boost United States investment in manufacturing jobs.

The Democrats promised to seek a world with no nuclear weapons and take concrete actions to move in this direction. Do you really believe the Iran deal will do that? Their goal was to eliminate nuclear weapons worldwide. They did a good job of trying to weaken our ability to respond militarily to a crisis, but fail to tell Iran, North Korea and Russia they were supposed to do the same.

A promise they kept was to not develop new nuclear weapons.  But, they failed to get Russia and Putin on board with their plan. Hillary’s ‘restart button’ plan failed.

The Democrats promised to rebuild our military and to prepare it for the missions of the future – NO COMMENT!

In 2008 the Democrats promised to support our friends and participate in their stability. I wonder how Israel feels about that platform promise.

They also kept their promise to eliminate “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Program and replace it with a system allowing Individual Soldiers to express their sexual preferences openly. I will give them credit for doing that.

The list goes on and on of failed promises in the Democrat 2008 platform. If you took the Republican platform you would find as many failed promises.  Do you still believe a wise voter votes based on what is in either parties platform. They promise during campaigns and do what they want when elected. 

Jeb Bush do yourself, your family and us a favor - Quit!

 Jeb Bush has for all practical purposes been running for president for a year. He has traveled all across the country collecting checks, promises of checks, hiring staff, enlisting volunteers and making the usual political promises – a better tomorrow, a return to America’s glory days, more jobs, better economy, protection from our enemies and better education for our children.

I have thought for some time he has less than a ‘snow ball chance in hell’ of getting the Republican nomination.   We were told by the political ‘experts’ he would be the front-runner.  As usual they were wrong.

He entered the latest debate in fifth place. Only one month after Bush formally launched his candidacy he began his decline. Many within the Republican Party have spent millions of dollars trying to turn his campaign around and as we often see in government programs’ spending more money does not always produce good results. The Jeb Bush supporters have spent more money than any other candidate.

The real front runner, much to the dismay of Karl Rowe and the likes, has turned out to be Donald Trump. But, those within the leadership of the party are determined that Trump will not be the nominee and following the debate were making the following statements: Republicans don’t start making decisions until the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses, which Bush’s camp has never expected to win. Voters in New Hampshire, who cast ballots on Feb. 9, tend to make up their minds at the last minute. Jeb Bush still has time to improve. Early polls aren’t predictive of anything because there is still a long campaign ahead. I think it is time for the Republican Party Bosses to cut their ties to Jeb Bush and get behind a possible winner. In my opinion no one looks more tired than Hillary Clinton than Jeb Bush.

On December 15 Jeb Bush was still saying Trump’s support would end.  The latest national Monmouth University poll released Monday shows Bush to be wrong. According to that poll Trump has the highest support yet, 27 percentage points ahead of his nearest competitor, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Trump led Cruz 41-14 percent. I admit I am surprised at Trumps continued lead in the polls. I still am not willing to commit to him, but it is time for Jeb Bush to pick up his marbles and go home? Jeb Bush only got 3% support in the last poll.

His campaign staff places some blame on Trump. They claim Trump’s strong numbers in the poll are the results of theatrical performances and not serious politics. They have said Donald Trump is the Kim Kardashian of politics and at some point, people will get over that. I guess it is only fair they try to place blame on someone else – Obama blamed Jeb’s brother, George Bush, for his failures. After all they say turnabout is fair play.

They even say in seven or eight weeks, when voters start picking a commander in chief to lead the country through perilous times, Jeb’s proven track record and his plan to take on ISIS will position him well in the primaries. Like me they still believe in miracles. But, I do not think it is in the cards for Jeb Bush to be granted a miracle in 2016.

Trump labeled Bush “low energy”. Bush had ample opportunities to respond and turn the table on Trump, but he didn’t. Trump suggested Bush’s immigration views were tied to his wife being of Mexican heritage. Bush demanded an apology, but Trump did not apologize. Voter do not like candidates attacking the family members of other candidates, but Bush fail to take advantage of that opportunity. Bush instead set his sights on Rubio; I guess he believed Rubio weaker than Trump. He attacked Rubio, his one-time protégé in Florida, for missing work in the Senate. But Bush’s attack appeared half-hearted, and Rubio got the better of him. The young dog took the bone out of the jaws of the old dog.

The only thing Jeb Bush has accomplished after spending millions of other people’s money is he kept Mitt Romney out of the race. He also has managed to raise 114 million dollars in campaign funds, more than anyone else.

I once had a friend who told me the secret to his success was he kept his church in debt. They gave and worked hard because they had a debt to pay or lose it all. That must be the same philosophy Jeb Bush is using. His well-heeled backers have spent so much money on Jeb’s campaign they cannot afford to walk away and lose the possibility of future political favors.  But, sooner or later they will have to face reality and admit the hole they are throwing their money in is only getting deeper and regardless of how much money they throw in the hole will never be filled.

Former failed Presidential candidate Bob Dole endorsed Bush after the debate in Wisconsin, describing him as the most qualified candidate to run against the Democrats. The endorsement came from the same Bob Dole that ran unsuccessfully against President Bill Clinton in 1996, which resulted in a dramatic loss for the Republican Party. Bush also earned the endorsement following that debate from another failed Republican candidate, former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Perhaps some other Republican failed candidates will come out after last night’s debate and endorse Jeb Bush.  They say if you want to be a winner surround yourself with a winner, maybe that is why Jeb’s not doing too well he is surrounding himself with too many losers. Maybe winners are afraid to back him!

There is a new generation of Republican politicians Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and others who have been shaped and trained in a new political style. They are men who are not afraid to break with the Republican Party when they do not agree with the Party hardliners or party bosses. Jeb Bush is a member of the old Republican guard and I do not think he understands or is prepared for politics in 2016.

Jeb Bush is one of the nation’s leading champions of Common Core standards. A program that is unpopular with the Republican base. Jeb Bush is committed to centrist causes such as federalized education and legal status for undocumented immigrants all causes that alienate the Republican base. Jeb Bush was on the Lehman Brothers advisory board before that bank collapsed, and he now sits on the Barclay’s board. The Republican Bosses may be for Wall Street, but the Republican base is not fond of banks and bank bailouts. Jeb Bush is friends with Bloomberg, an ex-Republican, and often meets with the Bloomberg Foundation.  Bloomberg and his foundation aggressively campaigns for gun control, shutting down coal-fired power plants and new taxes on junk food all causes the Republican base do not support. If he remains in the competition his competitors are going to hit hard on his association with groups and people who do not support the causes of the Republican base, in fact support the opposite causes of the Republican base.

Jeb Bush keeps saying Donald Trump was a Democrat before he became a Republican (like Reagan)? I would like to ask Jeb Bush why he can be best buds with Bloomberg and not fault him for being a Republican turn Democrat and yet at the same time condemn Trump for seeing the light and changing from Democrat to Republican.

 

Does Bush honestly think he will escape his 2013 remarks,” Immigrants create far more businesses than native-born Americans,” Jeb Bush made the statement at the Faith and Freedom Coalition Conference. He went on to say “Immigrants are more fertile, and they love their families, and they have more intact families, and they bring a younger population. Immigrants create an engine of economic prosperity,” many took these remark as meaning immigrant families were better than native born American’s families and they create a more robust economic atmosphere than native born Americans. Jeb Bush sounded a little like Obama when he made those statements.

Bush is a moderate and Republicans tend to be swayed by moderates, I suppose Bush was good for Florida, but Bush has a lot of baggage to carry and I just do not think he is strong enough to carry that baggage.

I did not think last night’s debate advanced Jeb Bush. While the rest were interrupting each other to get their points across Jeb Bush for the most part waited patiently until he was called, answered politely and shut up again. He just did not seem to be part of the pack. I like people being polite to each other, but it does not work in election campaigns Mitt Romney taught us that. 

I think Jeb Bush lost his last chance to turn things around at last night’s debate. I admit he was better at attacking Trump and a few others than in previous debates, but it was still too little, too late. His opening and closing statements were not strong enough to say the lease. 

Bush should step aside now!

The post-debate coverage will likely focus on Trump, Rubio and Cruz and any coverage Jeb Bush gets will probably emphasize his debate flaws.

Bush should have stepped aside before he disgraced himself and his family to bad he did not listen to many of us Republicans.  At least the Bush dynasty may finally be over thank you Jeb Bush.

Donald Trump's Muslim proposal may help him and not hurt him.

Nearly every politician from both parties have been critical of Donald Trump for suggesting closing the U.S. to all Muslim immigrants until the officials can get a handle on the Islamic terror threat.  Sounds like a good suggestion to me. If the back room power bosses of the Republican Party, Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley, Bernie Sanders and the other Liberals think they will hurt Trump by attacking him I think they may be wrong. Let’s get real Trump’s supporters are primarily white, conservative, Christians. I doubt if many Muslims, Blacks or Hispanic will be supporting Trump regardless of any statement he makes. Therefore Trump’s remarks may help him instead of hurt him in the primary elections, but the general election will be a different animal. No other Republican is standing up to Obama on the terrorist issue as Trump is.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Tuesday called Trump a “carnival barker” who should be disqualified from running for president, along with any GOP candidate who doesn’t denounce his remarks. I do not think Donald Trump or his supporters care what one of Obama’s paid hacks says. Josh Earnest says what Obama and his advisors tell him to say. He is not paid to think for himself. Josh Earnest remarks may help Trump in the polls.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Trump’s remarks go against what the party stands for. I wish Paul Ryan would explain to us what the Republican Party stands for, because I no longer know. As far as I can tell the Democrats and Republican stand for the same thing. The Republican House and Senate have demonstrated they will not use the power of the purse to block or change Democrat (Obama) programs.

The National Republican Committee Chair said, “I don’t agree with Trump. We need to aggressively take on radical Islamic terrorism, but not at the expense of our American values.” It seems obvious to me Reince Priebus has lost touch with what American values are.  

A majority (56%) of Americans agree that the values of Islam are at odds with American values and the American way of life. It appears to me that American voters are fearful about terrorism and are willing to do anything that they think might make us safer. I think more conservative Americans at this time would agree more with Donald Trump than with Reince Priebus, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, John Kasich, Carly Fiorina, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Linsey Graham and Dick Cheney are saying.  That is certainly what the polls reveal.

A new USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll released Tuesday revealed that even if the GOP establishment successfully ends Trump’s White House bid, 68 percent of his supporters would vote for him as an Independent, 28 percent said they wouldn’t and the rest were undecided. I tend to believe for the first time in my life I would support an Independent candidate. I would support an Independent Donald Trump because I do not think he would let the Republican and Democrat elected officials push him around and if they tried he would go public as Reagan did and they would not risk that.

Trump’s high poll numbers survived the attacks he received for making inappropriate statements on Mexican immigrants, questioning the heroism of Sen. John McCain as a prisoner of war, and suggesting that Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly was menstruating (I am not sure that is what he meant) when she asked him tough questions (I think unfair questions) at the first Republican primary debate. He could survive this last comment that has brought on a media storm as he has others.

If Donald Trump should continue to carry the support of the Republican voters and the Republican Party sabotaged his Presidential possibilities I think they would be guaranteeing a win for the Democrats and most likely Queen Hillary.

How fast the Democrats forget their past. Don’t they remember the Iranian hostage crisis? President Carter banned all Iranians from entering the U.S. unless they opposed the Shiite Islamist regime or had a medical emergency. Some argue that Trump’s plan is different because it bars members of a religious group. I believe the Shite Islamist regime in Iran was and is an Islamic Radical Muslim Religious regime ran by Imam’s.  Donald Trump’s proposal certainly seems similar to me.

 “The Secretary of Treasury and the Attorney General will invalidate all visas issued to Iranian citizens for future entry into the United States, effective today. We will not reissue visas, nor will we issue new visas, except for compelling and proven humanitarian reasons or where the national interest of our own country requires. This directive will be interpreted very strictly,” Carter said in 1980. In addition, the Carter administration began a thorough campaign to deport Iranian students who had overstayed their visas.

The Carter move was aimed at protecting American lives and was not very controversial at the time. Donald Trump’s proposal is aimed at protecting American lives and would not be that controversial if not for the Democrat, Liberals, media and the Republican establishment in Washington D.C. that want to stop Donald Trump.  I think if Donald Trump’s plan was carried out sensibly and diplomatically it would not be controversial with most American.

One media outlet was concerned that CAIR had been offended because the Director of the MUSLIM organization, Ibrahim Hooper said, “We’re entering into the realm of the fascist now.  It should be disturbing to all Americans that the leading Republican presidential candidate would issue essentially a fascist statement.” I am not concerned with what CAIR thinks, since I do not view them as a moderate Islamic group. I am more concerned as to why some are more concerned about what CAIR thinks than what the majority of American thinks.

Journalists have stated that Less than 24 hours after Mr. Obama (in a speech from the Oval Office) urged Americans not to overreact to the terrorist massacre by Islamic extremists in San Bernardino by vilifying Islam and he praised the patriotism of millions of Americans Muslims Mr. Trump called for an entry bans and forced registration of Muslims which will set off a backlash from moderate Islamic Muslims. Perhaps if Obama did not try over and over again to make Americans look like the bad guys in the Radical Muslim Terrorist crisis Donald Trump would not have to propose what he did.

The media has begun to take a tougher stand against Republican front-runner Donald Trump after his campaign promise to keep Muslims out of the country as a means to stop the terrorist threat of ISIS. There have been other times when the press leaned harder on Trump when they thought he had made statements that would disqualify him only to find his statements helped him in the polls.

The Philadelphia Daily News put a photo of Trump with his arm raised in a “Sieg Heil” salute on its front page with the headline “The New Furor.” Michael Days, the editor-in-chief of the tabloid, said he decided to go with the image after receiving outraged texts throughout the day about Trump’s comments.

It was reported, “On the 74th anniversary of the surprise Pearl Harbor attack by Japanese warplanes that brought the United States into the Second World War that Mr. Trump’s anti-Muslim accusations stirred dark memories. Not since then, when tens of thousands of Americans of Japanese ancestry – including citizens – were rounded up and forced into internment camps has a major political figure in the United States called for imposing discriminatory treatment on the basis of religion or race.”

I believe Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a Democrat, was President at the time of the Japanese interment and he personally called for it to be done. Then and now are two different times. I would have disagreed with Roosevelt’s decision because the U.S. was not threatened by Japanese Radical Terrorist living in the United States. 

One liberal article stated, “Some Republicans have been stoking the smoldering embers of anti-Muslim fervor in the United States since Mr. Obama launched his bid to replace former president George W. Bush. Mr. Obama, whose Kenyan father and Indonesian stepfather were both Muslims, spent some of his childhood in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation, and has been openly accused of being a closet Muslim by some right-wing Republicans.” I believed Obama was a Christian and I do not recall his father or stepfather ever being on a ballot in the United States so the religious preference of his father or stepfather is of no importance to me. I think the majority of American’s accepted that Obama was a Christian. Lately, I have begun to wonder and I think others have to if we could have been wrong due to Obama’s constant attack on America, Americans and particularly American Christians.  The article even stated “Donald Trump hates Muslim.” I may be wrong, but I have never heard Donald Trump say he hated anyone. I did hear him say that a lot of Muslims around the world hated Americans.

Liberal articles have used Donald Trump’s statement claiming that many Muslims danced and celebrated on rooftops in New Jersey as New York’s World Trade Center’s twin towers burned and collapsed against him. Frankly, I believe Donald Trump was incorrect or exaggerating when he made the statement. I am sure there were Radical Islamic Muslims in every state that were pleased to see the terrorist win one against the United States.

If Donald Trump did lie when he made the statement it pales compared to Obama’s lies – if you like your doctor you can keep him, Bengasi was caused by an anti-Muslim video, the I.R.S. did not discriminate against conservative organizations and all the other lies he has told the American people. It is not right, but all politicians make statements that they think will win them votes when speaking to a particular group of people.

Gulf News, a Dubai-based English-language news outlet took the opportunity to seize on Donald Trump’s remarks and added to them by stating; “Trump’s solution would be to bomb the hell out of ISIS militants in Iraq and Syria.”  I really do not care what the Middle East Muslim media says. If Trump was elected and ordered more effective bombings it would be better than what Obama has done over the past seven years. It seems to me there are Muslim groups in the Middle East fear a Donald Trump administration. They certainly do not fear Obama or the Democrats.

I read, “If you’re a bigot, redneck or white supremacist voter in the US right now, you gotta love Donald Trump. But it you’re a Muslim, an immigrant, a Mexican or Black, then you had better be afraid — very afraid.” I am not a bigot, redneck or white supremacist and I might support Donald Trump. I certainly would fear Donald Trump less than I do Islamic Muslim Terrorist. I do not think any Muslim, Mexican or Muslim need fear Trump if they are here legally and obeying the laws.

Liberals have never been a supporter of Bill O'Reilly on FOX News Channel, until he slammed Trump’s commentary as a "racist diatribe," saying that even former Vice President Dick Cheney was “disgusted” with Trumps statement.  Cheney, speaking on a radio show said Trump’s plan to ban all Muslim immigration, “… goes against everything we stand for and believe in. Religious freedom has been a very important part of our history and where we came from.” When someone seems to agree with the Liberals they forget all the times they have said Bill O’Reilly did not know what he was talking about, but all of a sudden he has become an expert and they are quoting him as if he is a prophet.

Dar al-Ifta, Egypt’s official religious body, echoed Cheney’s statement on religious freedom in the U.S. The organization issued a statement saying Trump’s commentary was “… totally erroneous” and that “… such hostile attitudes towards Islam and Muslims will increase tensions within the American society of which Muslims represent around 8 million peaceful and loyal American citizens.” Many thought the San Bernardino Radical Islamic Terrorist and his family were peaceful and it does not appear they were.  I really did not expect a Muslim Middle East religious group to support Donald Trump or his latest comments.

They went on to say, “It is unfair to punish all Muslims because of a group of extremists whose criminal actions are repudiated by Islam,” I do not think all Muslim should be judged by a few radicals, but I do think those that are not radical should be taking the fight to the radicals and not expect non-Muslims to do it for them. I also do not think Egypt is doing such a great job controlling the Islamic Muslim Radicals in their own country so why are they trying to tell us how to deal with our problem.

Donald Trump’s words were more in your face, but are they that far off from what the other GOP candidates who are criticizing Trump have said about Syrian refugees, Muslims, and immigrants.

A short term ban on Muslim visa’s, since the present visa program is not working, sounds reasonable to me. We have got to do be better than what we're doing. Muslim or other people that travel to terrorist countries at the moment should be vetted more than any others and we should have a moratorium on anybody that has been in any terrorist country or anywhere where terrorists are based.

Once we get a workable immigration/visa program we could resume issuing visas to Muslims and I think that is exactly what Trump wants to do. Obama recently said if any Republican has a better idea on a deal with Iran then let them propose it. Donald Trump thinks he has a better idea on Muslim visa and he proposed it and Obama and his henchman did not consider it at all, instead they immediately attack Trump. 

Bill Clinton returned the Democrats to power with some radical ideas for a Democrat – he favored the death penalty and he wanted to drastically reform welfare. Clinton won the election because on every issue that the Republicans had hoped to dominate—balancing the budget, welfare, crime, immigration, and taxes—Clinton staked out a strong centrist position early on. Clinton knew what Americans wanted at that time and he won.

Could Donald Trump win the nomination by adopting some Democrat ideas, by not being as conservative as some in the Republican Party want him to be and by giving Americans what they want at this time?

I have said before I am confused when it comes to the 2016 election, In the back of my mind I cannot ignore that maybe Donald Trump does not want to be President; maybe Trump wants the Republicans to lose the election; maybe it would be more profitable for Trump if Hillary and Bill returned to the White House, instead of a Republican. Donald Trump is a businessman and profit is the world he understands. Trust of any politicians is difficult for me in 2016.

I do not think an Independent Donald Trump could win a National election, but I do believe it would guarantee a loss for the Republican Party. I do not think the Republicans have anything to gain by trying to sabotage Trump’s campaign.  The latest Bloomberg poll shows almost two-thirds of likely 2016 Republican primary voters favor Donald Trump's call to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the U.S., while more than a third said it makes them more likely to vote for him. An online Bloomberg poll showed 37 percent among all likely general-election voters support Trump’s controversial Muslim visa proposal.

All elections are important - the 2016 election is critical if you are concerned about radical Islamic terrorism.

Well the liberal Democrats are at it again according to them Republicans are responsible for the Plan Parenthood killings. They say Republican candidates are repeating lies over and over again that inflame people. I do not think the Plan Parenthood video’s I saw are lies. If they are edited, so what, I still heard people laughing over selling body parts to buy a luxury car. I think anyone that remains silent about those videos regardless of their party affiliation is a co-conspirator to murder. If I were crazy I might have done the same thing as the man in Colorado Springs and it has nothing to do with the Republican Party that I support. It has everything to do with my belief that abortion is murder and God instructed us not to commit murder.

This is so typical of the Democrats/liberal - kill the messenger if they do not agree with the message. They want to stop the truth from getting out and will use abortion to further their political agenda even if abortion is murder and immoral.

President Barack Obama told world leaders that the climate talks in Paris stand as a rejection of the terrorists. Quite frankly I think ground troops, bombs and declaring war would be much better. It would also help the economy at the expense of the terrorist. I will have a hard time voting for Donald Trump because of his lose tongue, but Donald Trump is the only one saying what I want to hear when it comes to the terrorist, trade agreements, illegal aliens and the economy. War (force) sometimes is the only thing that can bring about peace – World War I, World War II.

 Obama said World Leaders are showing the terrorist what is possible when they all come together, united by a common effort and a common purpose (climate change) – why can’t they do the same against terrorism? Why can’t our weak American President Obama get the wealthy nations to come to gather to spend the money necessary to fight the terrorist and take care of the refugees in their own land?

The IMF –World Bank - officially agreed to accept China’s currency – the Yuan – into the IMF’s foreign exchange basket. It is well known that China manipulates their currency. This only fuels the fire to remove the American dollar from being the world reserve currency. A weak U.S. dollar is one more thing Obama should take credit for, but of courses he will blame someone else. 

The people of the Philippines do not know anything but a corrupt government, therefore they accept it. They will tell you, “It is just the way it is”. Young Americans are being born into a government that is corrupt and eventually – sooner than most think – will just accept it and change will not come until a radical group take to the street to overthrow the system and once the system is overthrown corruption will likely return. We can learn that lesson from the Philippine People Power. The martial law government was overthrown, but corruption, police and military abuses continued, the rich became richer and the poor became poorer, etc.

What have Obama’s promises of change brought about; remember “Yes we can!” Unless you are for selling aborted baby parts, same sex marriages, doing away with gender designated public restrooms, forced government hospitalization, ignoring the constitution when it pleases Obama, ignoring immigration laws, more welfare, weaker military and lower standard of living what change have we gotten from Obama.

The vacuum that follows any radical change in government usually brings about a government that is not well thought out and key players in the old government can become key players in the new government thus the problems continue. That is what happen in the Philippines and could happen in the United States.

Obama was elected at a time when the people were desperate for change and they were influenced by a charismatic black politician that did not have a plan or experience. He was and is a social engineer and has no idea how to govern a people looking to return to a Federalist or Democratic Government.   

As much as I love Cory Aquino what was her plan and what experience did she have? She did make a great sacrifice for her country because she ran for an office she did not want and in doing so she most likely prevented one of the key players from the old martial law regime from becoming president. She may have prevented a second dictator from declaring martial law. But, she was constantly plagued by threats of being overthrown by key players in the old regime and her life was in constant danger. To this day the people of the Philippines continue to elect key players in the old martial law era. The people of the United States reelected Obama after a failed first term.  Why?  

We are beginning to see more radical street demonstrations in the United States such as Black Life’s Matter, Sit in’s on Wall Street, college campus protest, protester in the streets calling for people to kill policeman, etc. The American protesters are not civil and non-violent as the Philippine People Power protesters were or the American protesters days in the days of Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement.  Does anyone think that the leaders of these radical American street protesters could really lead our country? The Democratic politicians must because they support the groups and there leaders. Liberals like their ideas and Democrats (Hillary Clinton) are afraid to speak out against them for fear of losing votes in the 2016 election.    

Democrats/liberals do not want to admit it, but when prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance were removed from ours schools and public lives the decline in America only grew worse. They do not want to admit it because they are the ones that brought it about.  Removing them from public life contributed to the end of a government that people could trust and believe in. The prayer and pledge contributed to instilling pride (especially among young students) in our country.  

When I first came to the Philippines the first time I went to a movie at SM Mall the National Anthem came on.  I was so impressed it brought tears to my eyes. The Philippine National Anthem was played before every movie. Later they began to play it at the beginning of the first movie of the day. Now it is often not played at all. When the anthem was played everyone stood and sang the song. Sunday at SM Mall Davao the National Anthem was played and the only person standing was an AMERICAN – FOREIGNER – ME! 

The National Anthem in the United States is not like the Philippine anthem. The Philippine Anthem is beautiful and easy to sing. The American anthem is not beautiful and is difficult to sing. The one thing Filipino’s and American’s now have in common when it comes to their National Anthems is a lot of people  in both countries no longer show honor, pride and respect for their country when their anthems are played. That is sad! The lack of pride in one’s country leads to a downward spiral of the country. 

Today, our government wants to suppress individual thinking so our politicians like Obama can tell us what we need and what we want. The politicians (Obama) think they know best.  The people are so confused by politician’s double talk that they have stopped trying to understand it or corrected it and accept it as the way it is.  We are following in the footsteps of the Philippines and we are not intelligent enough voters to learn from there mistakes.  

Evil is no longer on the way - it is among us. Sen. Jeff Sessions has been in the news lately trying to draw attention to a list of “vetted refugees” who have joined terror cells after being permitted entry into the United States. President Obama continues to move forward with a plan to bring thousands of refugees from terrorist filled nations in the Middle East to the United States despite top security officials’ warnings that the government can’t possibly vet all of them. Last month, FBI director James Comey said, “The U.S. government simply doesn’t have enough intelligence information about individual refugees to satisfactorily complete the vetting process” – this is a man appointed by OBAMA.

Will we also follow in the footsteps of the Philippines and designate a certain area in the United States to be ruled by Muslims? Will we engage in a thirty plus year war within our own borders trying to have one country, but two sets of rules? I do not think two governments, but one nation will work.  Three but one (Trinity) which came about in 325 continues to cause confusion among Christians.  What happen to ONE Nation under God?

I am old enough to remember the days when countries around the world wanted to model themselves after the United States, but those days are long gone. Most Third World Countries today try to straddle the fence between the United States, China and Russia. They do not want to be on the wrong side if things grow worse. As long as the United States has a weak President I do not blame them.

I read that over 3000 expats have given up their United States citizen in the last few years. I realize most of them did so because of tax reasons. Regardless of the reasons that is something that no American would have considered a decade ago. Honestly, if citizenship was easier to obtain in the Philippines than it is I might consider Philippine citizenship myself. I have no intention of returning to the United States. I have hope for the Philippines there have been advancements in the last few years (it has taken nearly 30 years), whereas over the past eight years the United States has regressed (will it take 30 years for us to recover from Obama). 

The 2016 elections are more than important they are critical! Voter had better vote wisely and not vote name recognition, political party affiliation, family name (Jeb Bush) or buy into political campaign promises. They had best not vote the favored party bosses candidates. There is a reason these party bosses select a favorite candidate and it is not always for the good of the people. We all had better strive to know what the candidate we vote for really stands for.  The candidates past history is the best gauge of that and with a little work, thanks to modern day video and Internet, we can discover what they have said and done in the past.

 

 

What should be the primary purpose or goal of U.S. foreign policy

I have no doubts that Hillary Clinton is not prepared to handle the foreign policies of the United States if elected President.  She has a track record as Secretary of State and her foreign policy was a disaster.  I cannot name one thing that she really accomplished as Secretary of State except get one of our Ambassadors killed. 

I have been listening for one of the Republican Primary candidates to give a thoughtful discussion on foreign affairs and as of today I have not heard any of them do so.  Their discussions on any subject have not been more than three minute sound bites.

Some right wing conservatives want our foreign policy to be based primarily on religious and ethical values and I disagree with them.  I think our foreign policy should be based primarily on advancing our national interest.

We should lead the people of the world by example, but we should not try to impose our moral and ethical values on any other country.  I do not know a single American that would approve of any country trying to impose their ethical and moral values on us.  The Muslim and Sharia Law question is an example of our distaste of anyone trying to change our system of governance.

Our foreign policy should have as its primary interest security, strong alliances, diplomatic success, and economic self-interest. Those interests have nothing to do with us wanting to be powerful and wealthy.  They have everything to do with making America greater for Americans.  What is wrong with wanting world events to work out in a way that benefits our interests?  Isn’t that what the people of other countries want for themselves?

I am sorry but I do not understand the wisdom in the United States borrowing money from China to assist other countries.  If we were not trillions of dollars of debt I would be all for our assisting any country that needed it.  If all Americans who wanted to work had jobs I would be for assisting other countries. 

For decades we have helped other countries that took jobs from the United States.  After World War II we rebuild Japan’s steel industry.  We installed the latest electric furnaces which destroy the U.S. steel industry.  My family suffered because of it.

I am for the strongest military in the world because I think it is a deterrent to our having to go to war.  I am not for sending troops to Iraq to overthrow a government when they have demonstrated they are not willing to fight for their own democracy.  We have done this over and over and not just in Iraq.

Some Liberals and some Republicans would like to see our Foreign Policy primarily based on a moralistic view that says the goal of U.S. foreign policy should be to advance American/humane values.  If we are demonstrating morals and humane values in the United States then perhaps the people of the world will want to model us.  We should not try to push/advance our values on others. I am for freedom, democracy, human rights, global peacemaking, and advancing the global common good, but I am not for doing it on the backs of the American taxpayers.  I am not for borrowing money to advance those goals. 

I am sorry but charity begins at home and your excess you share.  Do you think I would allow my family to starve or not have medical care while helping strangers?  That may be cold, but it is a fact.  No one reading this is more charitable than I am, but my family has never suffered so I could help others.

These Liberals and Conservatives that want this type of foreign policy are for maintaining substantial budgets for foreign aid, regular use of US diplomacy and perhaps military force to advance freedom and democracy, humanitarian intervention in situations of human rights violations, and strong support for the United Nations and other global and regional bodies.  They want us to police the world and I do not believe that is not what the people of the world want us to do. 

There are people in the Philippines where I presently live that are disgusted with America because that is exactly what they think America is trying to do in the Philippines. The Philippine government forced the United States to close its military installations in the Philippines shortly after Martial Law ended.  There are regular protests in front of the American Embassy in Manila today by students that are against U.S. intervention in internal affairs.  Any time the American Ambassador makes a comment on Philippine policies you can expect a demonstration.  

These Liberals and conservatives that have this foreign policy mindset think if we do not do as they say our only option is isolationism, which would limit international engagement and focus only on issues within our borders.  That is an extreme view.  We do not have to isolate ourselves from the world in order to have a foreign policy that is in the best interest of the United States. 

We can continue our trade agreements.  We can continue our disaster relief programs. We can continue to protect our allies from outside threats. But, nation building should not be our goal. 

They admit they want to use U.S. military power and U.S. dollars to fix world problems.  It has not worked in the past so why do they think it would work in the future?  All it has accomplished so far is to put us deeper and deeper in debt.  A debt we can never pay in full. It has caused us to be humiliated worldwide over and over again. What good is a weak and broke United States to the world? In a position of weakness we will not be able to help the people of the world in times of disasters and we certainly could not help our allies when facing outside threats. We would be forced to isolate ourselves and pray no one came after us.

Religious zealots try to push pious politicians toward the Good America philosophy where we try and buy friendships, push our religious beliefs on others and go deeper in debt helping some countries that do not want or appreciate our help. In a lot of cases the politicians in those countries steal the money for personal use and the people realize little to nothing from our help. It has been a normal practice for the U.S. to give aid with requiring accountability. 

They will tell you the morality in foreign affairs during the administrations of Wilson, Carter and Bush was good and criticize the foreign affairs policy of Nixon, but was it not Nixon that renewed our relationship with China. Was it not Nixon who signed the first arms treaty with Russia. Maybe you have to have foreign policies that fit the character and nature of the country you are dealing with. When dealing with corrupt politicians abroad they will take advantage of your religious values and moralistic views.  You have to deal with them on their level. They see you as being weak and STUPID!  Perhaps this is why we have so many bad trade policies with other countries. I do not think the Carter, Bush and Wilson foreign policies will be adopted by Donald Trump and that may be why he is leading in the polls.

I want to see a presidential debate that require candidates to clarify their foreign policy.