Category Archives: political solutions

by Barry Kelly | June 14, 2016 · 1:03 pm

INSIGHTS 263 THE CLINTON BAGGAGE IS STILL WITH HER

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The darling of the progressive left of the Democratic Party is fast losing her appeal. A bit of pragmatism is settling into the progressives. To complete the socialization of America by destroying its economy and military power to make this nation an average member of the world order with a one-party system of government, they need to capture the White House in 2016. If they don’t, the progress toward socialism made by Obama will be wiped out by a party of mainstream Americans. I believe they are increasingly coming to the belief that Hillary cannot win.

She just has too much baggage and few to zero accomplishments. She is not even a good campaigner. Her speeches are mind-numbing. Let’s look at the balance sheet of advantages and disadvantages of Hillary Clinton. Beyond name recognition, I cannot point out any other asset besides, of course, her relationship with Wall Street. On the bad baggage side, she lost a primary to a first-term senator whose only accomplishment was that he could flawlessly deliver a speech as long as it was printed on a teleprompter. Barack Obama outsmarted the Clinton’s at every turn. He knew she was a poor campaigner.

As Secretary of State I cannot think of a single accomplishment of hers beyond accumulating more frequent flyer miles than any of her predecessors. Our relationships with Russia, Sunni Arabs, China, Israel, NATO nations are all less effective now than when she took office. During her service as Secretary of State she acted as if she was above the law and government rules and procedures.

Perhaps the worst was the tragedy of Benghazi. She knowingly lied to the surviving families of the dead Americans at Andrews Air Force Base as their loved ones were arriving in flag-draped coffins from Libya. She knew they died in an attack by terrorists and that she had denied the repeated requests of the State Department personnel in Benghazi to improve their security. Instead, she blamed the attack on an offensive video and promised to bring the responsible film producer to justice. He was punished but not in the name of justice. Of all the things I have seen in government, this is the most despicable of all.

There is no end to the damage Hillary can cause. She can’t even leave government employment without breaking more laws with her incredible disdain for the use of government communications channels for all official communications. It is not only the need to maintain government records but also the protection of classified information that is ignored by the use of a private server in your own home. If anything, Hillary’s government operations are even less transparent than the president’s.

This essay was first published on April 4, 2015. The title has been changed. The text is nearly word for word.

INSIGHTS 261 The Meltdown

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Donald Trump has met the only person who could destroy his candidacy for President and that is his inner self. He has defeated himself with his focus on his personal agenda. I don’t see how he can come back or should come back from his failure to put the people first. He has betrayed the millions of Americans who placed their hope and trust in him. He should withdraw and let the convention select another candidate. We believed in him but he didn’t believe enough in us.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Conservative views, Convention, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, political solutions, Republicans

by Barry Kelly | May 6, 2016 · 3:22 pm

INSIGHTS 259 ENOUGH OF THE GOP PURISTS

How much of this whining do we have to hear from the ideological purists of the Republican establishment? They had their chances and failed every time. They supported two flawed candidates, McCain and Romney. We gave them control of the Senate and House and they failed again. Now the Bushes, Romney, George Wills, the National Review and Weekly Standard pundits, Paul Ryan in his Speaker of the House position, McConnell as the Majority Leader in the Senate and failed presidential candidate Senator Graham are vowing they cannot support or vote for Mr. Trump. In the long-term who cares about them but in the short run to the elections, they should grow up and do what is good for America. That is not a hard choice if they can get over their self-appointed political guardianship of intellectual conservatism and focus on what the nation so desperately needs.

Clearly the Obama Administration will leave the nation with several critical areas that need immediate bipartisan attention. The ideological conservative purists need to focus on what is good for America and not solely on worshiping at the altar of Conservatism. These areas need a pragmatic approach consistent with the Constitution and the rule of law:

Re-establish the co-equal branches of government with the checks and balances spelled out in the Constitution;

Control America’s national borders;

Rebuild our military force levels and weapon systems;

Replace OBAMACARE;

Make American companies competitive by reducing taxation and regulation by Executive Departments and Agencies;

As the national economy grows, pay down the debt and rebuild the nation’s infrastructure;

Shift responsibilities such as education and healthcare back to the States; and

Apply common sense to the size and scope of the Federal Government.

GOP leaders get over your purist problems and get on with fixing problems. No more ‘leading from behind’ or the ‘issue is never the issue.’ You are being paid by the people to make their lives safer and better, not to enforce your own brand of ideology of government. Get with the program. Take on the issues. You may not get another chance. Socialist and Progressive controlled governments do not give second chances.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Conservative views, democrats, Eight Decades of Insights, General, Intelligence & Politics, Obamacare, political solutions, Politics, Progressives, Republicans, Romney

by Barry Kelly | March 20, 2016 · 7:19 pm

INSIGHTS 256 The Real Choice

Do you believe the FBI has the political courage to recommend Hillary Clinton be brought up on criminal charges for her exposure of classified information and the use of her political office for financial gain via the Clinton Foundation? Remember such a charge would seriously harm the Democratic Party’s pursuit of the Presidency. Bringing charges against Hillary when it is only months away from the election would probably make it impossible for the Democratic Party to mount an effective campaign. Each passing day is critical to their campaign. I think the FBI may have the courage to recommend a Grand Jury but the Justice Department will not act to pursue the FBI’s recommendation. They will find someway to bury or nullify the charges. Remember the Justice Department is the Presidents. Attorney Generals do not indict Presidents or their primary advisors. Did President Nixon’s Justice Department seriously investigate the Watergate affair? No, it was the media and the Congress.

So who would head up the Democratic Party’s campaign for the Presidency if Hillary has to drop out, Bernie Sanders? That would be great. A real choice between Socialism and Capitalism. Trump against Sanders. America needs to have this political battle. The creeping socialism of the last few decades is more dangerous than giving people the clear choice between Capitalism and Socialism. Our entire educational system leans hard to the side of Socialism. Just ask the Teachers Union a series of questions about their treatment of free enterprise and big government in the class room. Almost everyone under 30 years of age believes in the beautiful words socialists use to describe redistribution of wealth, a fair shot for everyone, and very high taxes on the wealthy and corporations. They haven’t lived long enough or read enough history to see that the promises of Socialism lead to the ugly repression of elite government where all of life’s important choices are made for all people, except the elites. They may love Bernie but they won’t like where he is leading them. But Trump also has a problem.

While Hillary is threatened by a criminal indictment, Donald Trump is being attacked by people who should be supporting him. The Republican establishment composed of career politicians and self-appointed keepers of the purity of conservatism has failed to keep faith with the people who sent them to Washington. They are far more interested in perpetuating their own positions than in solving the nation’s problems. Just look at how they have taken care of themselves. Incredible life-long pensions for very short periods of service, ability to vote themselves raises, exemption from the onerous provisions of the laws they pass but that don’t apply to members of Congress. Now these pampered members of the political class are doing all they can to end Donald Trump’s journey to winning the Republican Party’s nomination. They are frightened because they know his success will endanger their elite existence. They will not be able to control him and he owes nothing to the lobbyists who fund so many members of the Republican and Democratic career politicians. So far he has been doing a very strange thing. He has been listening to the American People and they have not. Only a very small handful of Senators or Representatives have been doing the work of the people. None of them are in positions of power, including the Speaker and the Senate Majority leader. They claim to be dedicated to the traditional principles of the conservative movement. Maybe, but I don’t believe it. They are champions of the go alone, get along group that have aided President Obama’s socialist transformation of America policies. Just look at the last budget Speaker Ryan put forward. Exciting times! Stay tuned. Stay informed.

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Capitalism, Clinton, Conservative views, democrats, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, political solutions

Tagged as Capitalism, education, socialism

by Barry Kelly | March 12, 2016 · 4:12 pm

INSIGHTS 254 FORGET THE LABELS-GET IT DONE

Are you as tired as I am of hearing politicians say I’m a true conservative or I hold strong liberal views or I’m a fiscal libertarian, or I vote for progressive candidates? Enough of the ideological purists. We’ve had one for the last 7 plus years. How has that worked out? Well, we elected twice, the worst president in living memory, if not in our total political history. So, over half of us must be attracted to candidates claiming to be ideological purists. Enough of this madness. Whatever their beliefs, it is what they do that counts. Can the candidate of our choice, protect Americans and the American nation? Can they govern within our economic realities? Do they understand how wealth is created? Will they surround themselves with smart people and listen to them and the American people?

We understand the difference between verbal claims and performance in the world of sports. If you don’t produce, you’re out. The coaches and managers don’t care about your political ideology. In each contest you have to prove you can do your job. Imagine a professional sports coach starting their interview for the head coaching job by saying, I’m a conservative, or a liberal, or a Presbyterian, or a Buddhist or a Muslim. Think the team’s owner would be impressed? The whole infatuation with purist titles is not relevant when it comes to solving problems and managing something as vast and complicated as our government.

President Obama got his job by speaking eloquently about his vision of transforming America. He had no experience managing anything. College instructors, community organizers and state or federal senators don’t manage anything. In President Obama’s case his ideology, was influenced, if not formed, by the writings of Mr. Saul Alinsky. Mr. Alinsky’s central premise is, “The Issue is never The Issue.” By that he meant issues don’t matter. Don’t even try to solve problems or fix things. Just use each issue to destroy the opposition. Take any side of any issue and change sides whenever it is to your advantage to do so. The end always justifies the means when your purpose is to take power away from those who have it and give it to those who don’t. Progressives, following Mr. Alinsky’s teaching, believe lying is not a bad thing. Hillary Clinton has also been influenced by Mr. Alinsky, whom she knew personally. Lying to accomplish goals is a part of her drive to win the highest office in the land.

I don’t care if the coaches of the professional sports teams I follow, share my personal beliefs or a political label with me. I just want them to build the team and win games. Let’s get over voting for ideological purity and elect someone who can solve problems and fix what’s wrong with the nation and put American back it is proper place in the world. Both our people and the world will benefit.