kanesrealm

Spinning on a dime as they say.  I just wrote a post about Joe Biden's possible Presidential run and boom he has announced he's not running. His statement came with his wife Jill and President Obama by his side. It was a firm and classy statement. He felt it was now too late to run and he did not endorse Clinton or anyone else. Good for you Joe!

Will he or won't he? Should he or shouldn't he? Joseph R. Biden was infected with the Presidential virus over thirty years ago. The only cure is to become President, Joe Biden is out of time. At 72 this is his last chance to reach for the brass ring. The pundits talk about whether or not there's a path to the Presidency for him, of course there is, he runs and wins, that's the path. Biden certainly sees himself as the person who would be the greatest defender of Obama's legacy, which is probably true. But any Democrat seeking the Presidency is not going to throw Obama under the bus, they can't afford to. There is no question, to a normal person, that Biden is more than ready for the job. Decades of legislative experience combined with eight years as Vice-president puts him in a unique position. But in a campaign against Sanders and Clinton can he ever rise above simply being number three? It's a tough lift when there is very little substantive difference ...

At this time we will leave our regularly scheduled program, The Trumpenator© to bring you a brief look at the Democratic Party's race for the Presidency. History is inevitable, individuals are not. Hillary Clinton is poised to be a history maker but even inevitability needs a nudge. Clinton needs to step up her game after labor day. She needs to do more media and lay out a strong vision for the future. As of this posting she is being defined by others as unethical, manipulative and untrustworthy. There are politicians and media figures regurgitating untruths and distortions concerning her use of a private e-mail server. You can't disprove a negative but in politics lies become truth very quickly because the information morphs to become what the voter is already inclined to believe. While the Republicans have a huge field, for obvious reasons, the Democratic contenders are few. Democrats aren't known for being disciplined and following the unwritten rule of it's your t...

With the thousand or so Presidential candidates in the Republican Party it's easy to forget there's also a Democratic Party fight underway, or at least a skirmish. The national media has always ignored Senator Bernie Sanders. They just didn't want to be bothered with the self identified independent socialist, who caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate. To a large degree they're still trying to ignore him because he doesn't fit the narrative they've already written. But now they can't ignore him any longer. With thousands of people lining up to attend his rallies he has become the hottest thing on the campaign trail. Walk with me now deep into the weeds, so deep even Tolkien himself would be impressed. If every American who was qualified to vote,  registered and then actually voted and if they voted what was in their best overall interest, not the least of which is economics, health and education, then Bernie Sanders would be the next President of the Un...

President Obama announced this past week that we would be sending 500 military "advisors" to Iraq to assist Sunni factions directly. This is part of our unclear strategy to deal with ISIS. I promise this is not a commentary about how we should never have fought the Iraq War to begin with. (See how I worked that in, clever me.) Last year former Secretary of Defense Bob Gates was on the lecture circuit pushing his autobiography. Gates has been widely respected on both sides of the aisle, serving at Defense under both Bush and Obama. During the book tour he stated that Joe Biden was wrong about most things involving foreign affairs. In particular Gates says he was wrong when he urged that Iraq be divided into three autonomous regions with a  weakened federal government to represent Iraq on the global stage and to equitably distribute the oil wealth. Joe Biden didn't pull that idea out of thin air. He pulled it out of history. The Iraq we all know is not a real country. It ...