Charles Krauthammer - A Voice of Reason

                       Charles Krauthammer- A Voice of Reason in our Age of Incompetence

By Chuck Marshall


     A voice of reason has passed away and gone to the ages.  Most political pundits of the day I have only a passing respect for, but Charles was a giant among midgets.  His comments were always slow, quiet and calm but with a great foundation of wisdom, wit, humility and intellect.  If you were not familiar with Dr. Krauthammer  you missed one of the greats.   The nation lost one of the few voices of reason in our "Age of Incompetence". 

      Overcoming a tragic diving accident  that left him permanently paralyzed while in medical school, he still got his medical degree without missing a beat- remarkably still finishing that semester of study !  Starting adulthood as a moderate liberal, Charles gravitated to a more conservative slant as he moved into his 30's.  In the 1980's he was the writer who penned the title "The Reagan Doctrine" on President Reagan.  So effective and impressive was Charles' commentary and writing that he was frequently mentioned by Presidents in comments to the press, as if to validate what they were saying.
   
     Always a classic conservative, Charles never really embraced the populism of the Trump candidacy and election.  I can totally relate to the puzzled alarm at the rise of Donald Trump.  It was  comforting to hear his protests expressed so eloquently because he was expressing exactly what was going on in my own head.  His well thought out spring of opinions was crystal clear water that quenched a thirst for meaning in our ever changing world.  It's amazing how one persons opinion, how one person's words can affect us all.   It can calm nerves, clarify a subject, and even propel a new way of thinking for humanity itself.  Charles was one of those wordsmiths, those shining examples of kindness and decency that seems to have taken a vacation in our bewildering world.  Hopefully that decency has not vacated us for good, and we can look forward to more Krauthammers than not in the near future.

RIP Charles, you will be greatly missed and forever admired.

Solutions Elude Political Parties

By Chuck Marshall

As is common in this blog I have to come out and criticize either party for their lack of ideas and solutions.  I do sometimes wonder  if good ideas elude them  because it doesn't behoove them to have ideas.   Recently the Republicans had a stand off with the Democrats and President Obama's "Immigration Reform" which they believe to be "overreaching".  In agreement with them, Obama himself explained many times in the last several years that he would not issue an executive order regarding immigration reform because that would have to come from the legislative branch of government.    But I don't understand 'nor has it been clarified to me what it  is the Republican right wing wishes to do ?  Do they really want to ship all these illegals right back to their home countries?

Instead of proposing a reasonable plan to fix the situation and perhaps offer up legislation that might be agreeable to the President, the GOP decides to try and turn this in to another "anti-Obama" issue and  proceeds to  nearly force a closure of the department of Homeland Security.  Speaker of the House "Boehner" very wisely took the high road and made peace with the Democrats in order to broker a deal that the President wouldn't veto.  Still, they push the country's safety to the edge over their ridiculous partisan political games.    A wise Republican  led congress would see the opportunity to offer other solutions that would help to solve the problem of illegal immigration and leave the legalities of what President Obama has done to the courts.  That's what courts do, folks.  

This is what you get when you load up the government with expert "politicians" not leaders.  Slick lawyers and future lobbyists who are very skilled at making themselves look good during campaigns but they are not good  at leading our country and offering solutions to  very real problems.  Their solution is to do something "anti-Obama" because they can ring that bell in the next round of elections soothing the anger of their constituents and thus securing themselves another term in Congress, and perhaps even more importantly,  securing themselves a "juicy plumb" of a job on K street as a seven figure lobbyist.

In my humble opinion.....