Should Ted Cruz Challenge Donald Trump to a Duel?

This weekend, I was expecting a little more clarity on the possible outcome of our upcoming presidential election.  Not yet.  In fact, my consternation has been renewed.  When I heard Donald Trump was winning the votes of the Evangelicals and Fundamentalists, the only thing that could have surprised me more was if Donald Trump was winning the votes of Mexican Americans.  

Last week, even the Pope called out Donald Trump for his unchristian-like messaging.  No backlash!  Who could have predicted that?

With every primary vote and every poll, I become more and more confused.  If you say you understand what is happening to the electorate in this country, the Republican front runners have made it okay for me to call you a “liar.”  It all started with South Carolina’s Republican Representative Joe Wilson shouting “You lie!” to President Obama at the State of the Union Address in 2009 and there was no backlash!   Calling someone a “liar” used to be grounds for a duel.  (It still is for Zell Miller.) The bar keeps being lowered for civility in public discourse.  Previously in a debate, you may have heard, “The Gentleman from Texas is mistaken in his belief.”  Today we hear, “Ted Cruz is a liar!”  I’m not here to argue that Ted Cruz is not a liar.  I’m here to argue that both ways of expressing that is correct, but we have been taught the word “liar” is inappropriate to say in a public setting. 

And “liar” is the nicest thing that Donald Trump has called Ted Cruz.  The projected nominee of the Republican Party to lead the free world called Cruz something too nasty to print here, but it’s a vulgar term for a female’s private part.  No backlash!  I recall, not that long ago in the 80’s, my son shouted that word at his friend as he exited a school bus.  In comparison, my husband and I received the death penalty because my son was banned from the school bus for two weeks.  Sorry.  Not a good comparison.  Trump never rode in a school bus…only limos.

In election politics, it’s getting to the “fish or cut bait” phase.  After Jeb Bush finished fourth in Saturday’s South Carolina primary, he decided to put his family, himself, and us out of misery.   I’m gonna miss JEB!  He reminded me of one of those giant teddy bears advertised on Valentine’s Day… cute and cuddly but nobody really wants one.

As further proof Dr. Ben Carson is asleep, he announced to his supporters after his last-place finish in the South Carolina primary, “This is the beginning.”  Of course it is, Dr. Carson.  Only you can decide when to end your book tour that is thinly disguised as a presidential campaign.  But what do I know?  Maybe his strategy will work.  Just take up space and wait for everyone else to implode and win by being the last man standing.  Nothing surprises me any more.

I wrote a lot last year about the anti-LBGT legislation, The Religious Freedom Bill, that was pending in the Georgia Legislature.  At the end of last year’s session, the Governor got cold feet due to the opposition from the business community and the Bill was held over.  This year, despite an estimate that passage of this discriminatory bill could cost Georgia more than a billion dollars a year in economic losses due to boycotting by businesses, organizations, and conventions, it was passed in the House.  It then moved to the Senate.

The Georgia Senate passed the Bill on Friday after much “jiggery pokery,” a word I learned from the late Justice Antonin Scalia.  The Senate took the House Bill, and combined other discriminatory bills. One such bill was called the “Pastor’s Protection Act” that makes it illegal for a pastor to be forced to perform a gay marriage.  For some reason, that conjures up a crazy image in my mind.  A pastor is standing before a bride and bride and a Sheriff (not our Sheriff) has a gun to the Pastor’s head and says, “Marry them!”  Now we don’t have to worry about that happening.

Barring a miracle, Governor Deal could sign this discriminatory legislation into law as early as this week. 

2016--Georgians Most Important Vote Ever

If you thought 2015 was a politically crazy year, wait until you see what’s in store for 2016. 

On the State level, we have a lot of unfinished business from 2015.  Just because you haven’t heard much from the Gold Dome in a few months, doesn’t mean they have not been scheming…strike that.  I meant to say, “planning.”  Look for Senator Josh McKoon to have figured out a way to get his homophobic legislation, the one he disguises as a religious freedom bill, finally passed.  This year, I wouldn’t be surprised if he included the wording, “…religious freedom for anyone but a Muslim.”

In November of this year, we Georgians will have the opportunity to cast perhaps the most important vote of our lifetime.  No, it’s not about whom you will vote for as President.  It’s much more personal to us in Georgia than that.  It’s about whether we will fight for our children and their education, or turn total control over to Governor Deal and the Koch Brothers.  The most important decision you will make this election year is whether to vote for the Amendment to the Georgia Constitution to give Governor Deal the power to decide how, where, and what our children will be taught. 

The name of this Amendment has not been released yet.  Look for it to have a title designed to evoke an immediate approval, much like the “Religious Freedom” bill.  “Hell yeah, I’m in favor of religious freedom!”  It’s not until you actually read the Bill that you learn it’s anything but freedom.  They have already changed the language once.  They started out using the term “Failing Schools.”  Then they realized those words indicated the color and economic level of those they were targeting.  Then someone suggested the term “Opportunity Schools” was more palatable and deceptive. 

We don’t know what name they will ultimately use to identify this enslaving Amendment but look for it to be something unidentifiable, but memorable. Prior to 1976, Governors in Georgia were limited to one four-year term.  That changed when the very popular Governor George Busbee, spear-headed amending the State Constitution to allow Governors two consecutive four-year terms.  The campaign was massive, yet simple.  It consisted of signs and placards posted in every available space, “Vote YES on Amendment 2.”  I never knew if people even knew what they were voting “yes” for but it passed overwhelmingly. 

As for the wording of the Amendment, each word will be analyzed and market tested.  The goal will be to meet the requirements of the law while keeping the wording as innocuous and confusing as possible.  The Amendment will probably read like Donald Trump wrote it. After all, his words are duping America and he says nothing of substance.  It could read something like, “Do you vote to amend the Georgia Constitution to make Georgia’s school students the smartest and greatest in the entire world?” You shout, “Hell yeah!”

What the wording won’t tell you is that we will be selling our children to the highest Charter School bidder.  You won’t be told that our entire education system in Georgia will be restructured.  Don’t like what they are doing?  Complain to your local school board.  Nope, won’t be one.  Vote out the State Superintendent of Schools?  Can’t.  He will be appointed by the Governor and will answer only to the Governor and his handpicked bureaucrats.  The wording won’t tell you that you will have no say-so in the way your school is run.  The teachers won’t work for you, the parent.  They will work for the privately owned charter schools. 

Make no mistake about it.  Shortly, we will be bombarded with an unprecedented advertisement campaign financed by the special interest groups that will benefit from taking over our school system.  The ad campaign will start dark with scary statistics.  Closer to the election, the ads will offer hope and inspiring stories convincing us that Governor Nathan Deal, a former junk dealer, knows how to teach our children.  These ads will be good because this is Governor Deal’s legacy.  Unlike an elected Governor or President, you can’t vote out an amendment to our State Constitution in four years. 

I don’t always fault Governor Deal.  I praise him for his efforts to bring casino gambling to Georgia.  He says “No,” but his eyes say “yes.”