TERRY MOSHER
Two things today that are driving me crazy – Trump and Rose. One is crazy like a fox and the other is a fox who is crazy.
The first fox first. Donald Trump is a dangerous demagogue. That is plain. He is a bully, a hate-monger, a man who cleverly plays on fear to bring out the worse in our nature.
And we eat it up. By us, I do not mean me. I mean those of you who are being played like a classic fiddle. All you hear is this beautiful music, telling you that we must kill or destroy all those who are not like us.
Trump fiddles on and the now 41 percent of Republican voters that a recent poll suggests support his music just can’t get enough of his bullying, his bombastic and often lying comments, and it’s creating a monster that could destroy this country if it continues on through the presidential election in November of 2016.
Hitler rose from the terrible ashes of economic collapse and Joseph McCarthy rose up and became the spearhead for ugly rightwing extremist that insisted that there were communist sympathizers throughout the U.S. Government and they must be rooted out.
Author Richard Rovere wrote in his book “Senator Joe McCarthy” that,” Like Hitler, McCarthy was a screamer, a political thug, a master of the mob” and that his followers came “from the outmost fringes, where grievances and anxieties were the strongest and the least grounded in reason, where the passion for authoritarian leadership was greatest, where the will to hate and condemn and punish could most easily be transformed into political action.”
If that sounds familiar, it is. It is exactly what the newest McCarthy – Trump – is saying and doing, and like McCarthy, Trump followers are falling in line devoid of reasoning but fueled by passion.
Trump is certainly the “master of the mob” and he continues to gain followers who cannot think past their fears and are clouded of their reasoning by the bullying Trump has mastered.
If you think I’m crying wolf way before the wolf comes to my door, you better think again. If this continues on, this country is in real danger.
Trump must be stopped, but who is going to step up and do it? Not Ted Cruz, who is also crazy as a fox and is even more attractive to the right fringe extremists than Trump.
Cruz has said that he would, on his first day in the White House, rip to shreds the nuclear peace deal with Iran. He also threatened to kill Iran’s leaders. He would also repeal Obama Care, abolish the IRS and destroy the EPA
Those are just the beginners for Crazy Cruz, who may be the most hated Senator in U.S. History.
I’ve had enough of this. If I continue on with this I’ll drive myself crazy. I have a degree in political science and I never thought I would see the day that I actually believe I’m better qualified for being President than most, if not all, the people running for the office, and I’m not just thinking of the Republicans, but the Democrats too. Our political world has gotten worse than bad, it’s become scary and dangerous.
Let’s go on to Pete Rose, who is a fox who is crazy. First, let me say I have seen Rose on TV trying to be a baseball analyst. He is horrible and all I can think is that they put him on stage with others just so they can have somebody they can make fun of without him being aware he’s being made fun of.
Rose is not very smart, that is clear. He would like to be reinstated by baseball so he would be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Rose was banned for life from baseball in 1989 because it was found he bet on baseball games, including the team he was then managing, the Cincinnati Reds.
Betting on baseball games is a no-no by MLB rules. This harks back to the 1919 World Series when eight White Sox players were accused of intentionally losing games to the Cincinnati Reds. Shoeless Joe Jackson, one of baseball’s all-time greats, was banned for life from baseball because of the scandal.
Rose has had 26 years in which to prove that he has changed his lifestyle. All had to do is keep his nose clean and it is pretty clear that at some point he would be reinstated and be placed on the Hall of Fame ballot, from which he would certainly be elected to the Hall based on his impressive baseball career.
But, no, he could not do it. He set up shop in Las Vegas to sell himself and his autograph and his personal gear and has done quite well. My son Toby about a year ago met with him there and had a good five-minute talk with him. Toby didn’t buy anything from him, but that is not the point. Why would Rose run his business out of the only place in America where you can bet on just about anything, even a bug crossing the street?
How stupid is that?
Well not stupid enough, apparently. Rose met with baseball commissioner Rob Manfred in late September in a bid to get reinstated. When Manfred early in the meeting asked Rose if he still bet on baseball, Rose said no.
That was the right answer. But then later in the interview, Rose backtracked and admitted that he did. So he not only once again lied to a baseball commissioner, but he also bet on baseball – once again.
Now tell me, just between you and me, would you be so stupid to continue to bet on baseball and then lie about it?
Of course, you wouldn’t. Not if you wanted to get elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
So do I feel sorry for Pete Rose?
No.
Do I wish he could be in the Baseball Hall of Fame?
Yes.
But if it was you or me, that would have been done by now. Not Pete Rose, though, and for that he has nobody to blame except himself. And that is too bad, a crying shame.
What it proves to me is that the baseball-playing Pete Rose was one of the best players in MLB history and that the retired Pete Rose is one of the worse – maybe the worse ‑ at knowing how to do the right thing.
That’s enough for today. I have to get ready to watch Trump and Cruz at the Republican Debate, so I have to go take my anxiety pill so I won’t have a heart attack while watching them do their best at being at their Pete Rose worse.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.