Nuggets For The Noggin

WHAT’S IN YOUR HEART?

By Jim "Gymbeaux" Brown, August 24, 2016

If you look up the term “Partisan Politics”, you will find definitions such as this:

In politics, a partisan is a committed member of a political party. In multi-party systems, the term is used for politicians (and supporters of those politicians – my words) who strongly support (regardless of those politicians’ activities and/or words – my words) their party's policies and are reluctant to compromise with their political opponents.

If all things were equal, I can understand how a Republican will support another Republican and a Democrat will support another Democrat; likes attract likes, it is the Law of Attraction.

The key phrase is “if all things were equal.” But all things are NOT equal. People are people and people do very stupid things at times. To name just a few, Gary Hart (presidential candidate), John Edwards (presidential candidate), Spiro Agnew (Vice President), Bill Clinton (Arkansas Governor, then President), Edwin Edwards (Louisiana Governor, jailed), Ray Nagin (New Orleans Mayor, jailed), Richard Nixon (President, resigned in disgrace), and the lists could go on and on and represent both sides of the political spectrum.

Most of their failures did not specifically include a failure of policies as much as a failure of character to the point where some if not all conducted illegal activities. The question to me is whether these people were corrupt BEFORE they took office or did the lure of higher political office and the power that goes with it corrupt them. The other question is did they believe they were above the law and that the law, even if broken, would not take any action against them?

What really bothers me to the point of becoming depressed, is the way “partisan politics” enters the equation where people continue to support very flawed candidates for political office – VERY FLAWED!

“The people you surround yourself with influence your behaviors, so choose friends who have healthy habits.” Dan Buettner

“You're going to come across people in your life who will say all the right words at all the right times. But in the end, it's always their actions you should judge them by. It's actions, not words, that matter.” Nicolas Sparks

I have always been taught NOT to judge people, that people will be people and people do really stupid and dumb things. I have not always made good decisions when it comes to NOT judging people; some people just make it very difficult to NOT to judge them. The point my parents always made was that continuing to associate with the stupid and dumb people of the world is telling the rest of the world that (1) you condone the behavior of these people and (2) since you consider them friends and/or support them (as in the case of politicians), their stupid and dumb behavior is now YOUR stupid and dumb behaviors; you now own it!

We are now faced with a half dozen candidates for President of the United Stated to be voted on in November 2016. There is not one of them who supports at least one policy that I do not agree with. Therefore the question at least for me is which of the half dozen candidates has fewer policies that I disagree with and that “should” be the candidate that I vote for.

It is not that simple. There is one other aspect of selecting a candidate for President or any office National, State or Local. That is CHARACTER; real or imagined. For example, when John Edwards was running for office, he portrayed one character for public consumption and a totally different character in private. There is no way that he should have even run for office let alone for the President of the United States. How could he not think that either the press or his opposing candidates would discover his secret behaviors and then publicize them for everyone to see. In this case, it was NOT the main stream press as it should have been that uncovered his behavior issues but the secondary press (tabloids). Then the secondary press was called every name in the book by the main stream press for doing so until their coverage was proven to be correct. This explains how a great many politicians actually get away with their undesirable behavior when the press, protected by the First Amendment, fails to do their job regarding EVERY candidate, not just the ones they politically oppose.

We as a nation seem to categorize politicians as people who find it difficult to tell the truth and that belief has somehow turned into a flawed character trait that in 2016 people now find as being acceptable behavior for the politicians they support. One only need look at President Obama who was capable of looking the country in the proverbial “eye” and lie to everyone and by lie I mean he knew and understood exactly what the truth was and then said something contrary to that truth and kept a straight face while doing it. Case in point, Obamacare where he said you can keep your doctor and said it at least 21 times. SHOCKINGLY, NEITHER THE NEWS MEDIA OR HIS SUPPORTERS HELD HIM ACCOUNTABLE FOR LYING TO AMERICANS. NEITHER ONE! More recently the Obama Administration and President Obama himself made statements that the 400 Million Dollars paid to Iran was NOT a ransom when it clearly was. Another of the many lies he has told Americans and the World and has never been held accountable to the truth.

That brings me to Hillary Clinton. To her very partisan supporters there is nothing she can say or do that will turn their support to someone else in the running for President. She has been caught on camera lying to Americans on numerous occasions yet MILLIONS continue to support her for President. She even lied to the faces of the next of kin of the 4 Americans killed in Benghazi. Will these same supporters continue to support her if she were to win the Presidency and then continue to lie to them as President Obama has done? How does someone justify that kind of support for a known liar and then expect them to miraculously do a 180 and suddenly become honest once they assume the Office of the Presidency?

It would be one thing if it were just the lies Clinton routinely tells but now it is her relationship with the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative. If it walks like a Duck and it quacks like a Duck, it must be a Duck. The Clinton Foundation/Global Initiative looks like a corrupt organization, acts like a corrupt organization and has all the earmarks of a corrupt organization but to the Hillary Clinton supporters it apparently has no bearing on her ability or inability to serve as the next President. It defies Common Sense!

This is worth repeating: “You're going to come across people in your life who will say all the right words at all the right times. But in the end, it's always their actions you should judge them by. It's actions, not words, that matter.” Nicolas Sparks

The supporters of Hillary Clinton seem to need to be reminded that their continued support transfers her inability to tell the truth (lies) and her association with what appears to be a very corrupt Foundation (The Clinton Foundation/Global Initiative) make each and every supporter guilty of the same character flaws – they too must lie and given the chance would engage in very corrupt activities. How else can they NOT be categorized as such? If YOU run with a “gang banger” or if you run with the “wild bunch” it is inferred that you too are a gang banger or a wild bunch member; it just goes without saying. YOU may say to others that you have principles but your actions speak much louder than the words you use. Argue this premise if you will or desire but the truth will always bear out your true character/principles.

“Lips and tongues lie. But actions never do. No matter what words are spoken, actions betray the truth of everyone's heart.” ― Sherrilyn Kenyon, Born of Fury

WHAT’S IN YOUR HEART?