By Dr. G.F. McHale-Scully
From The McHale Report.blogspot
Nobody could be happier about the ending of this election cycle than me. I haven't watched television since last week. After listening to 18 months of hysteria, I didn't want to hear that high pitch in the frantic last days that would have caused my dog Pancracio to start howling with pain.I had no problems voting for Clinton, which was my way of asserting that Obama deserves a third term. A president is judged in three areas: national defense, the economy and social issues.
He kept us out of war while eliminating hundreds of Islamic terrorists. The Middle East has been a mess since the days of the Old Testament. There is no resolution to the hatred among Muslims and their rancor toward Israel. That part of the world is a quagmire from which there is no escape. We can operate more effectively from the periphery. Have we already forgotten Iraq and Afghanistan?
Obama inherited a financial catastrophe from the incompetent George W. Bush who used to pound his chest and brag about his keeping America safe except for the unfortunate fact that more than 3,000 Americans died on his watch while he was asleep at the wheel on 9/11. Under Obama the stock market has soared, unemployment is under 5 percent and there has been steady albeit slow financial growth.Socially, Obama isn't a born-again Christian who wants to substitute the Bible for the Koran in the United States, has had no interest in legislating a woman's vagina and supports a live-and-let-life sexual lifestyle among consenting adults.
Clinton has the experience and temperament to manage the country. Trump doesn't. He can't even manage himself. Democrats used to criticize County Judge Carlos Cascos because he wasn't the architect of any grand accomplishment. Over the many years at his post, he had more than his share of achievements, but he succeeded by managing the county well.
Taxes weren't raised, scandals were a rarity and the day-to-day business went smoothly with him at the helm. There were never any cries of corruption or backroom dealings. (His greatest accomplishment may have been keeping bought-and-sold Democratic county judges out of office.) He epitomized accountability and transparency.
Clinton has the same ability to manage. (I'm conceding in advance to my Republican drinking buddies that she may have a problem with corruption, accountability and transparency. Nobody's perfect!)I don't believe Trump possesses the intangibles. And he hasn't filled me with the confidence that I would want to extend him the opportunity to be the most powerful person in the world.
Tonight, however, I will be glued to the television. We are into the last five minutes of a NBA basketball game when everything is decided. The local elections, particularly the BISD donnybrook, will keep me hypnotized to the screen since I'm a true aficionado of all things political, big and small. And I hope that by the time I go to bed the voters will have declared Clinton the winner.
My oldest son is joining me at my apartment. We'll feast on steaks and chase these repasts down with a few bottles of wine. Unlike most Tuesday evenings, this will be an exciting night.