Trump and McConnell—two ‘fraidy-cats

Trump got a doctor, one of his dad’s tenants, to say he suffered from bone spurs to keep him out of the military during the Vietnam War.

This doesn’t make him a coward because a lot of people didn’t want to fight in Vietnam for a lot of different reasons. And the fact that he used his father’s wealth and privilege only makes him a scoundrel.

What makes him a coward is his inability to stand for anything, his lack of fortitude, his willingness to blame others and make excuses. Cowards are a dime a dozen. What makes Trump’s cowardice regrettable is that he is also president. His weakness and cowardice puts the nation at risk.

Weak presidents are nothing new. In the past, strong Congresses have made up for weak presidents. Unfortunately, Congress is also weak because it is hamstrung by a weak Senate being led by a man every bit as weak as Trump, and every bit a coward.

Nothing brings McConnell and Trump’s shared cowardice to light more than their failure to address the gun issue.

The vast majority of the country wants something done, but Trump is waiting for McConnell to make a move while McConnell waits to hear from Trump what that move should be. Of course, all Republicans are afraid of the NRA.

McConnell stonewalled a Supreme Court nomination because he controlled a Republican Senate also composed of cowards. He refuses to put issues on the floor for a vote because he can’t risk the vote going the wrong way and incurring the president’s wrath. Republicans in the Senate are okay with this because they fear losing the little status they have. They aren’t strong enough to be bullies themselves, so must concede to the two bullies in leadership roles.

The meanest party in history are a bunch of cowards being led by two cowards.

Any middle school student will tell you that being a coward goes hand-in-hand with being a bully.

Bullies aren’t cowards in the same sense that fair-skinned men are often blue-eyed. Their shared qualities aren’t coincidences. One actually derives from the other. A bullies is a coward first and after somehow arriving at a point where he has some authority, either physical size or position, and be it real or imagined, the coward becomes a bully.

Being a bully is a defense mechanism for those weighted down by fear. Because they fear a fair fight, and usually cannot win one, bullies use other means to tip the scales in their favor.

We have seen Trump throw his weight around against those he perceives as weaker than him to cover for his cowardice. Gold-star mothers, immigrants, Congresswomen, allies, movie stars, journalist, athletes, and everyone else who he perceives as having crossed him have all been attacked by the little man with the big mouth. His weapon is always words because talk is cheap, even more so for a man who only lies, and he doesn’t venture far from where those lies are accepted as truths. He admires dictators, the real strong men he wishes he were. His fear of them prevent him from ever crossing them.

The two most powerful men in Washington, in terms of the positions they hold, happen to be the biggest bullies and cowards, and they have surrounded themselves with cowards who fear them.

Being fearless is the only defense against a bully, even as bullying a heroic man is the only way a bully will fight. Because they are not fighting on common ground, the fight is often drawn-out and ugly. The winner is rarely determined through surrender, but rather by observers who must themselves choose between cowardice and fortitude, right and wrong, good and evil.

Trump and McConnell will never see the light and become honorable men because they are blinded by their own egos. Bullies must be knocked down—and remembered by history for what they were, not what they pretended to be.

Why does everything in Florida take its sweet time?

Florida—the leisure state, the retirement state, the state where seniors go to slow down, take it easy and get away from it all. This would all be true if Florida didn’t always seem to have something going on—something people in the rest of the country can’t understand. And usually something calling for immediate action.

Florida was certainly quick to step to the plate when they became the first state to pass a “Stand your ground” act in 2005. The law allows a person to use deadly force as a first option not only if they are threatened but even if they merely feel threatened.  This feeling doesn’t have to be substantiated by facts or evidence because its a feeling. Essentially, instead of saying, “the devil made me do it” the shooter could now say he was “hooked on a feeling” and all would be forgiven.

 

Twenty-three states followed Florida’s lead, which could easily be called rushing to action—or at least a rush to please the NRA since there was no great public outcry for such a law.

After a decade on the books a casual observer might conclude that Florida’s law is doing more harm than good—both to the state and to the number of non-threatening but, it-feels-like-they-are individuals that are being killed.

Shouldn’t the state be taking a second look into a law that practically justifies murder rather than prevent it?

Maybe but many are saying, “What’s the rush? Let’s give it time to work.”

My guess is these same people are keeping their fingers crossed, much the way school principals cross their fingers every morning when they turn on the lights in their schools.

More Guns? Really!

A slightly different version of this editorial, containing a little less of the sarcasm, was published New Year's Day in the Virginia Pilot under the heading, PUTTING AN END TO THE GUN CULTURE, A good New Year's resolution for the nation would be to make some progress on this matter.


Cowards will do what cowards are going to do.

In the old west, a period many Americans wouldn’t mind returning to, the most vile act a man could commit was to shoot someone in the back. Only cowards did this. I know this from growing up watching TV westerns in the 1950’s; another period many Americans wouldn’t mind returning to.

The point is cowards look for an advantage. That’s what they do. The NRA suggests that if everyone carried a gun then the scales would once again be balanced and all would be right in the world.

But scales don’t stay balanced for long. Whether its politics, athletics, business or just your run-of-the-mill need for violence, the key has always been to find an edge.

Cowards with guns do what they do because they have an edge—the gun. The problem is that if everyone carried a gun the cowards would simply have to find another edge—body armor, a bigger gun, a faster bullet or, if push came to shove and with violence it always does, they would have to start shooting people in the back.

More guns are simply not the answer.