Republican Elites Experienced Only in Failure

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Latest polls show that Donald Trump is trusted more to deal with international terrorism than the squatters who refuse to leave Republican Party leadership posts. This is shocking to their narrow thinking. Their talking points tell them that voters are supposed to flock to a President with “experience” when the world gets dangerous. They have the talking points right there in front of them on their desk. Yet the voters aren’t following the script. What gives? Didn’t the grassroots read their talking points?

Tone deaf, GOP officials keep pushing the stale old Christmas fruit cake with the texture of a brick that nobody wants. They can’t get it through their heads that voters don’t care how long their curriculum vitae is. The people care about whether they are restoring and protecting our country and looking out for us. Those who have spent their lives studying the status quo love the status quo too much to be the people’s choice.

The trouble with experts in Washington, D.C. is how little they know. To borrow a phrase from Ronald Reagan, the problem is not that Republican elites are ignorant, but they ‘know’ so many things that simply are not so. They repeat vapid clichés to each other and memorize false assumptions. Such indoctrination is what they call experience.

The reality is that “experience” is mostly the self-congratulatory clique giving awards to each other (including job titles). The paper credentials that these candidates wave around are just nepotism. Given the results since the Republicans took the House of Representatives in 1994, what good is all their experience?

By contrast, Trump claims to be a proven leader with a special kind of experience overlooked in Washington: getting results. But that doesn’t sit well with those whose expertise is limited to leading faculty lounge policy seminars.

The irony is strong—the voters are shouting: “YOU’RE FIRED!” Yes, that’s the catch phrase made famous by Trump himself. The elites just can’t understand that this is all about them. The question on the table is not who would make the best President. The topic at hand is who can physically drag the insiders outside the city limits and dump them at the bus station with a ticket home.

Consider winning or losing the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln appointed a General with great experience on paper to lead the Union army: General George McClellan. But he failed in the real-world on the battlefield … because he lacked grit and determination.

So Abe Lincoln replaced McClellan with gruff and rough-around-the-edges Ulysses S. Grant. And Grant got things done. President Lincoln, when informed that General Grant drank whiskey while leading his troops answered:

Real-world results trump paper credentials. Grant’s drinking was considered uncouth and ungentlemanly in the time. Officers were refined gentlemen. Yet Lincoln would rather have all his generals be like Grant, because Grant actually won battles, even with whisky on his breath.

The voters are flocking to a quality that is sorely lacking: there is a personality type that simply refuses to accept defeat. That often means getting back up again no matter how many times one gets knocked down. The voters realize that the policy wonkery in your head doesn’t count if you can’t use it to win.

Just as Hollywood created a romantic dream of glamour, perfection, and idealism through public relations and story-telling, the myth of Washington similarly grew up through fairy tales and carefully stage-managed public relations. The cult of Washington is a mirage cultivated by Hollywood and the news media. And in that idealized PR image, the occupants of the halls of power loom larger than life.

Of course, policy analysts, like me, do have valuable things to contribute. Just as a brave soldier in the field needs someone back home manufacturing the hand grenades, mortar shells, and bullets to win, it’s very hard to “get things done” without analysts figuring out the best plans for action. But insiders devalue experience like Trump’s because they don’t value real results.

Consider: you wake up after spending 20 years on the couch watching ESPN and ignoring the deterioration of your country around you, only to discover that a nest of raccoons has invaded your roof. So you call pest control.

But the raccoons announce that they can stay embedded in your roof … because one of the town’s exterminators was born in Canada. The raccoons get to stay because the other exterminator is brash and rough around the edges, says controversial things, and defies conventional wisdom. Another pest control professional is new, just changed careers, and used to be a doctor. So the raccoons get to stay, because the exterminators are not satisfactory.

No. the homeowners want the pests gone. They don’t care if Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, or Ted Cruz are perfect. They want the current occupants evicted. The voters don’t care if the lawyer evicting hold-over tenants is a saint or a perfect gentleman. They just want their house back. They want the current occupants evicted. They don’t care who does it.

I got kicked out of a discussion group in 2012 because I tried to explain that Republican leaders must look in the mirror, figure out how they lost the trust of the grassroots, and make serious, heart-felt changes. I warned that Republicans will stay home and not vote. The defenders of the establishment describe why it would be unfortunate for conservatives not to vote.

But it is going to happen, whether you like it or not, whether you agree or disagree. Unless the GOP leadership undergoes a deep, heartfelt, gut-check change, millions of voters will skip the election, and the GOP will keep losing. But insiders argue that should not happen, therefore it won’t. Their refusal to change will doom the GOP. (For more from the author of “Republican Elites Experienced Only in Failure” please click HERE)

Originally published in the Fairfax Free Citizen on November 23, 2015

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A New Military Power Rises in the Mideast, Courtesy of One Man

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Martyrs’ Day is a new addition to the United Arab Emirates calendar this November, wedged between the Islamic holy days and the Dubai Shopping Festival.

Many nations commemorate their fallen soldiers, but the U.A.E. has always been different. The glittering towers of Dubai and Abu Dhabi are monuments to an alternative Middle East, standing above the fray, where investors can forget the region’s conflicts and make money. If that’s now changing, it’s largely the work of one man.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of the U.A.E.’s capital Abu Dhabi and the de-facto national leader, controls 6 percent of the world’s oil and its second-richest wealth fund. At 54, young for an Arab leader, he’s trusted by Washington and feted in Moscow. And he’s spent three decades beefing up his small nation’s military, making him one of Lockheed Martin Corp.’s best customers.

Sheikh Mohamed has always been security conscious. As a young prince in the air force in 1990, when U.S. troops were massing in the Persian Gulf to fight Saddam Hussein, he drove through the sand dunes to meet an American general for lunch, stashing a rifle under the front seat, just in case he got shot at. Now, to Gulf leaders, the neighborhood looks more dangerous than ever, with Islamic State taking root and Iran rising — and the crown prince wants his country to have more weapons . . .

From the Switzerland of the Persian Gulf to its Sparta, is how one Western official describes the transformation. It’s one full of risks, because the U.A.E.’s business model has largely worked — turning it from a $50 billion economy in 1990 to the Arab world’s second-largest after Saudi Arabia, with output of $400 billion last year. (Read more from “A New Military Power Rises in the Mideast, Courtesy of One Man” HERE)

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Watch: Cruz on ‘Lunacy’ of Transgender Policies

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GOP presidential hopeful Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) spoke out Thursday on the growing debate over transgender policies for school facilities including restrooms and lockers, specifically the push for kids to use facilities consistent with their “gender identity.”

“The federal government is going after school districts, trying to force them to let boys shower with little girls,” Cruz said on the conservative radio show “Louder With Crowder.” “Now listen: I’m the father of two daughters, and the idea that the federal government is coming in saying that boys, with all the God-given equipment of boys, can be in the shower room with junior high girls – this is lunacy!

“And I bet you there are a whole lot of parents – particularly parents of daughters – that are not eager to have the federal government saying ‘Guess what? Your daughter has to shower with a boy, if he wants to be in there,’” he continued.

Cruz later added, “You know, the funny thing is, my five-year-old knows there’s a difference between boys and girls, and yet modern Leftists can’t figure that out.”

Cruz’s references to the federal government’s involvement in this issue likely allude to the Obama administration’s legal support for transgender students in two recent cases. (Read more from “Cruz on ‘Lunacy’ of Transgender Policies” HERE)

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Provocative New Book Claims Recent Discoveries Prove Historical Jesus Like Gospels’ Portrayal

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In a provocative book that challenges two centuries’ worth of skeptical New Testament scholarship, author Robert J. Hutchinson argues that the historical Jesus of Nazareth was very close to being just as the Gospels describe him — a fiery, courageous, charismatic populist who drew crowds by the tens of thousands and electrified all of Palestine with his announcement of God’s kingdom in their midst.

In “Searching for Jesus,” Hutchinson draws together recent scholarship and archaeological discoveries to show that many negative ideas about Jesus paraded in the media every Christmas – for example, that Jesus was a violent revolutionary – are now being rejected by leading secular scholars . . .

Among the developments Hutchinson highlights are:

The 2009 discovery of a first-century house in Nazareth that refutes those who say the village didn’t exist in biblical times.

As an example, he cites the idea that Jesus’ early followers saw him only as a powerful rabbi, noting that recent scientific analysis of the texts shows that the earliest sources of the New Testament spoke of Jesus “standing at the right hand of God.” (Read more from “Provocative New Book Claims Recent Discoveries Prove Historical Jesus Like Gospels’ Portrayal” HERE)

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Crying Newborn Found in NYC Church Nativity Scene

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A wailing newborn baby was found with his umbilical cord attached inside a nativity scene at a Queens church, police say.

The baby was discovered by a maintenance worker at the Holy Child Jesus Catholic Church in Richmond Hill Monday at about noon, according to the New York Police Department . . .

The Rev. Christopher Ryan Heanue told NBC 4 New York the worker was cleaning inside the church when he heard the baby crying inside the nativity scene, which had been set up earlier than usual this year . . .

Inside Baby Jesus’ spot in the manger was a newborn, a few hours old at most, Heanue estimated. Bishop Octavio Cisnero, also there, couldn’t believe his eyes . . .

The church is considered a Safe Haven under state law, which allows a parent to safely leave a newborn baby up to 30 days of age anonymously and without fear of prosecution at suitable locations, like at hospitals, firehouses or police stations. But the law also requires the child to be left with an appropriate person or for someone to be contacted right away. (Read more from “Crying Newborn Found in NYC Church Nativity Scene” HERE)

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China ‘Cloning Factory’ to Produce Cattle, Racehorses and Pets

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The world’s biggest animal “cloning factory” is due to open in China, producing one million calves a year, sniffer dogs and even genetic copies of the family pet.

The £21 million “commercial” facility will edge the controversial science “closer to mainstream acceptance”, Chinese media said, following the development of a technique which began when Dolly the sheep became the first cloned mammal when she was born in Scotland in 1996.

The centre may cause alarm in Europe, where the cloning of animals for farming was banned in September due to animal welfare considerations.

But Xu Xiaochun, chairman of Chinese biotechnology company BoyaLife that is backing the facility, dismissed such concerns . . .

“Legislation is always behind science. But in the area of cloning, I think we are going the wrong way and starting to kill the technology.” (Read more from “China ‘Cloning Factory’ to Produce Cattle, Racehorses and Pets” HERE)

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Chicago Braces After Video of Police Shooting Is Released

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A white Chicago police officer was charged with first-degree murder on Tuesday in the death of a 17-year-old black man, just hours before city officials appealed for calm as they released a chilling video of the officer shooting the teenager as he lay crumpled on the ground.

The grainy, nighttime dashboard camera video, which a judge ordered released last week, shows the young man running and then walking past officers in the middle of the street and spinning when bullets suddenly strike him down. For a moment, lying on the ground, he moves but then is still after he appears to be shot several more times. An officer kicks an object away from his body. The video shows none of the officers on the scene offering assistance to the teenager, Laquan McDonald.

Standing with community leaders before releasing the video, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Garry McCarthy, the Chicago police superintendent, said they expected demonstrations in response to the graphic nature of the video, and urged people to avoid violence. “It’s fine to be passionate, but it is essential that it remain peaceful,” Mr. Emanuel said.

The officer, Jason Van Dyke, 37, who has been with the Police Department for 14 years, is the first Chicago police officer in decades to be charged with murder in an on-duty shooting. The city previously fought to keep the video private, citing a continuing investigation into the shooting.

Officer Van Dyke was charged and the video released just over a year after Mr. McDonald was shot 16 times, even after he had stepped slightly away from the officer, prosecutors said. Witnesses said Mr. McDonald, who was carrying a three-inch folding knife, never spoke to Officer Van Dyke or any of the other officers and did not make threatening moves toward him. None of at least seven other police officers on the scene fired their weapons. (Read more from “Chicago Braces After Video of Police Shooting Is Released” HERE)

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Meat Tax: Influential Report Calls for Meat to Be Taxed Like Cigarettes

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An influential think-tank with close ties to government has co-authored a report advocating so called meat tax as a means to lower meat consumption worldwide.

Tackling climate change and improving public health can be achieved by forcing consumers to eat less meat in their diets, and it is up to government to force that change, finds a new report. Co-authored by the University of Glasgow and Chatham House, one of the world’s most influential think-tanks, the paper claims “our appetite for meat is a major driver of climate change”.

Finding global meat consumption has reached “unhealthy levels” and cutting consumption is key to “keeping global warming below the ‘danger level’ of two degrees Celsius”, the paper calls for urgent government intervention. Far from being a potentially fatal move for democratic governments around the world, the report findings insist the public won’t actually react badly to the State taking meat off the table.

The changes and government intervention should be packaged and served up to the public in the same way punitive taxation and gradual banning of tobacco products were, reports The Guardian.

Speaking on the findings, report author Laura Wellesley of Chatham House said: “Governments are ignoring what should be a hugely appealing, win-win policy. (Read more from “Meat Tax: Influential Report Calls for Meat to Be Taxed Like Cigarettes” HERE)

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Study: Rude Behavior Spreads Like a Disease

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Flu season is nearly upon us, and in an effort to limit contagion and spare ourselves misery, many of us will get vaccinated. The work of Jonas Salk and Thomas Francis has helped restrict the spread of the nasty bug for generations, and the influenza vaccine is credited with saving tens of thousands of lives. But before the vaccine could be developed, scientists first had to identify the cause of influenza — and, importantly, recognize that it was contagious.

New research by Trevor Foulk, Andrew Woolum, and Amir Erez at the University of Florida takes that same first step in identifying a different kind of contagious menace: rudeness. In a series of studies, Foulk and colleagues demonstrate that being the target of rude behavior, or even simply witnessing rude behavior, induces rudeness. People exposed to rude behavior tend to have concepts associated with rudeness activated in their minds, and consequently may interpret ambiguous but benign behaviors as rude. More significantly, they themselves are more likely to behave rudely toward others, and to evoke hostility, negative affect, and even revenge from others.

The finding that negative behavior can beget negative behavior is not exactly new, as researchers demonstrated decades ago that individuals learn vicariously and will repeat destructive actions. In the now infamous Bobo doll experiment, for example, children who watched an adult strike a Bobo doll with a mallet or yell at it were themselves abusive toward the doll. Similarly, supervisors who believe they are mistreated by managers tend to pass on this mistreatment to their employees.

Previous work on the negative contagion effect, however, has focused primarily on high-intensity behaviors like hitting or abusive supervision that are (thankfully) relatively infrequent in everyday life. In addition, in most previous studies the destructive behavior was modeled by someone with a higher status than the observer. These extreme negative behaviors may thus get repeated because (a) they are quite salient and (b) the observer is consciously and intentionally trying to emulate the behavior of someone with an elevated social status. (Read more from “Study: Rude Behavior Spreads Like a Disease” HERE)

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Here’s the Shocking Number of Americans Who Don’t Have a Toilet

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Did you celebrate World Toilet Day? The recent holiday is a good reminder to rejoice as you read this article on your phone, maybe even while sitting comfortably on a modern, porcelain toilet, which flushes with water so crystalline clean you could, in hard times, drink it without too much fear of dying. (We do not recommend doing that, by the way.)

Going to the toilet wasn’t always such a pleasant, risk-free experience for everyone, and even today, many people in America still go without proper sanitation. As recently as 1990, the rural stereotype of dropping trou in a shack out back was a reality for more than 1.1 million American households. If you think that’s a lot of people, here’s a little math for you. That represented 0.04 percent of the U.S. population back in 1990. Right here in 2015, a full 13 percent of the entire world’s population are still living without access to an improved sanitation facility and are forced to defecate in the open. That’s close to a billion people.

The problem overwhelmingly affects sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, but Census data shows 1,136,157 U.S. households were still using outhouses in 1990 because they lacked access to a public or private sewer or septic tank. In 2014, almost half a million U.S. households still did not have complete plumbing facilities, defined as having access to all of these items: hot and cold running water, a toilet that flushes, and a shower or bathtub. (Read more from “Here’s the Shocking Number of Americans Who Don’t Have a Toilet” HERE)

Editor’s note: Alaska hold the U.S. record for residents without a toilet. A whopping 12% of Alaskans go outside.

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