Mish Mash...

This commentary will touch on a few topics because none deserve in depth reflection. Even as a political junkie it is difficult to remain interested in the nonsense of the day at this stage of the 2016 Presidential election. So here for your pleasure are some snapshots.

Up first is Donald Trump because it just happened last night. The Donald hosted Saturday Night  Live for the second time. The show has mostly received negative criticism. First let's acknowledge the elephant in the room, SNL is like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get. Mostly it's a shadow of it's former glory and is suitable only as a night light. Once in awhile they rise above. Trump is not a professional entertainer, he is a brand and as such did just fine. He delivered to SNL it's highest ratings since 2012 so good for them. It was semi-huge and who cares.

The first in the south Democratic Candidates Forum was held Friday night in South Carolina. It was hosted by Rachel Maddow and broadcast on MSNBC. Maddow did a fine job and was her usual well informed self. The format was a long segment of individual questioning for each of the three candidates. I liked the idea and structure but learned nothing of consequence except that Martin O'Malley has a well honed politician's smile. I'm sorry I missed the new episode of Grimm to watch it.

Ben Carson and his West Point missteps. Let's concede that in all likelihood somebody somewhere probably said to Ben Carson that he should consider a military career and would be a good candidate for West Point. The problem is the language he has used to describe and the way the story has subtly been changing. Has Carson been embellishing the stories of his life, probably. The question is are there deliberate lies? It's up to the press to dig but Carson doesn't like that. Rising high in the polls brings greater scrutiny. Carson says nobody in the media did this to Barack Obama, which is a false assertion and he clearly didn't pay attention to the 2008 or 2012 election. Welcome to the big leagues Ben. What I find truly insulting as a citizen is that Carson has now made the same statement as Jeb Bush, that he doesn't need this, there are other things he could be doing. So go do them. The Republican Party did not draft you. Millions of people did not rise up and yell save us Ben, only you can do it. You chose to run for President because you wanted to. You want the office but you don't want to go through the process to get there. You need to re-read the histories of the founding fathers who you incorrectly identify as non-politicians and office holders and come to terms with their very negative opinions and fears about pied piper demagogues who attempt to seduce the population through their fantasy rhetoric and the potential destruction it could bring on the Republic they created.