Warning Shots

I let myself get dragged into a political slapfight on Facebook yesterday, and as always, it was a huge mistake.  I have to admit that what I said was particularly nasty, calling Trump supporters "the self-selecting bottom third of American society."

As you can imagine, they didn't like that much.

Still, Trump's guys are all about truth, and what I said is the literal truth.  America has full employment for the first time in about a decade, and the economy's been growing for eight years straight.   I get that there are people struggling, but compared to the rest of the world, the U.S. is a paradise.  That's truth.  If you've not been able to get ahead in the current climate, I'm honestly skeptical that it's the President's fault.  Instead, it might be time to look in the mirror and re-examine your personal choices.

More truth: lots of people are graduating from college, but employers are still having trouble filling professional positions.  This is not because of political correctness or immigrants; it's because would-be workers have shown a distinct inability to perform the simple mathematics required by a complex world.

Now, I can't prove this, but I'm guessing this is a particularly acute problem for supporters of Donald Trump.  How else to explain their self-rationalizations of his increasingly ludicrous political statements?  They are clearly not susceptible to the kinds of logical rigor demanded by basic math classes.

"I am in Indiana where we just had a great rally. Fantastic people! I married two more local broads--new and clean, not bad!"
--Donald Trump

— GAIL SIMONE (@GailSimone) April 28, 2016

The 2016 presidential campaign in recent days, as seen in the images made by The Associated Press photographers: https://t.co/igE4nzUyLq

— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) April 27, 2016

What are you gonna do?  Trump even won my home state of Connecticut, which I'd honestly thought would go to Kasich.

Kasich didn't even campaign here!

This is no way to run a railroad.  Why is Kasich even still in the race?  If the guy can't even be bothered to campaign in liberal, blue state Connecticut, why the Hell should even his diehards believe in him?  If his was a viable candidacy, he'd have swept the Northeast, and we'd be having a different conversation.  That's not what happened.

Secretary Clinton at least wants my vote.

You know what?  She's going to get it.

Cruz and Trump hustle for a crucial Indiana win, as the clock is ticking down https://t.co/90kB0eA5cc pic.twitter.com/Ww2u2VL63s

— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 28, 2016

Cruz also needs to let it go.  Unlike Trump, I understand why people support Ted Cruz.  I don't particularly like him myself, but as a senator, he has played a--very effective--version of political hardball that's moved the country in his direction on multiple occasions.

You're allowed to do that as a senator.  It's actually part of the job.

So Cruz is not some novice out there.  He's taken a campaign that should have been marginal--at best--and made it a real thing.  That's impressive.  And if you believe that all taxes are bad, he's clearly your guy.  I don't personally believe that, but I understand why other people do, and I'll agree with the obvious statements that no one likes taxes and that, in general, money is better off in the hands of consumers than in the government's hands.

Regardless, Cruz is done.  Naming Carly Fiorina as his would be running mate was an exercise in useless political theater.  It is what it is.

Truth is, I'm not as happy as I could be with the world, but I still have a beautiful wife, two great kids, a house that I can afford, and a job that provides obvious societal good.  It could be a lot worse.

I think I'm done.  Have a nice day!