It's Over But Don't Begrudge Bernie Another 15 Minutes in the Spotlight

The political world anguishes over Bernie Sanders’ next move. Will he accept reality and, figuratively at least, hug and embrace Hillary Clinton as the Democratic Party’s not just presumptive but inevitable presidential nominee? Or will he continue to soldier on, less a Don Quixote-like figure, more a Sancho Panza, cleaning up a mess his alter-ego has created.

Sanders has defied the odds. Like Donald Trump, nobody thought he would achieve what he has. Trump, however, is the consummate personal optimist. I don’t see Bernie believing he would have such success when he set out on his anti-Hillary crusade a year ago. After all, he had not even joined the Democratic Party back then.

So why doesn’t he drop out already? Is it loyalty to the millions who supported his candidacy with small donations, volunteer work and votes? Is it steadfastness to the ideals of his campaign and a hope to influence the party platform and maybe the selection of a vice presidential candidate?

I’m no psychoanalyst, but maybe, just maybe, it is because he really is like every other politician. He enjoys the attention. He enjoys the limelight. The power he never had in Washington, the spotlight—though much dimmer—that he enjoyed as mayor of Burlington, VT. Maybe after he’s “seen Paree,” as the lyric goes, he just doesn’t want to be relegated back to the farm. He’s Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, wanting some respect and bemoaning he could have been a contender if only that darn Hillary wasn’t there and her superdelegate union bosses weren’t throwing the fight her way.

It is all about ego. How often had he met one on one with a sitting president before Thursday? How often had he been on Face the Nation or Meet the Press or the evening news almost every night. How often had he joked around, then got serious, with the likes of Stephen Colbert or Bill Maher?

Yes, the attention is mesmerizing. So don’t begrudge him an extra 15 minutes of fame. He deserves it.

A Woman's Place (Is Up to a Man)

Ann Romney Blinked: Post-conventions, there was lots of talk about which candidate’s wife conjured up a more touching, if not so truthful, remembrance of the tough financial times she and her husband had starting out their lives together. 

Ann Romney pictured their struggle in a basement Boston apartment, eating tuna casseroles and pasta off an ironing board doing its best impression of a dining room table, while Mitt studied for his Harvard law and business degrees at a desk made from an old door propped up on two sawhorses. 

Not to be outdone, Michelle Obama related how she could see the pavement whizzing by from the holes in the floorboards of Barack’s car; his best pair of shoes were a size too small. 

Oh, how far the seemingly destitute have come!

I’m not sure if the First Lady has retracted any of her depiction, but Ann Romney fessed up to David Gregory on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, “We have not had a financial struggle in our lives, but I want people to believe in their hearts that we know what it is to struggle.” 

For sure they did, as Ann began suffering from multiple sclerosis in 1998. Good thing her husband can afford quality health insurance, or to pay for her treatment out of pocket in case a new insurance company would deny her coverage because of a pre-existing condition. Unless, of course, she’d choose to be covered under provisions of Obamacare that requires insurance companies to extend coverage even for pre-conditions. 

For the record, I was less than impressed by David Gregory’s big moment with Mitt. I watched Meet the Press after returning home from my weekly softball game. Gregory’s questions were softer than the pitches I hurled. What a wasted opportunity to pin Romney down to specifics. He tried once or twice, but for the most part he failed to ask probing questions. 

It also was interesting to hear Romney talk about the country’s Judeo-Christian heritage, considering many Christian sects don’t consider Mormons to be part of their faith. 

A Woman’s Place: Recent articles and events struck me as indicators the world is far from accepting women as equals with men. First there was the controversy in Missouri generated by Rep. Todd Akin on the issue of “legitimate rape” and the ability of a woman’s body to fend off uninvited sperm. That an elected congressman in this day and age could harbor such nonsense is beyond the pale. He’s a deeply religious man. I wonder how much his ignorance is engendered by his religious teachings.

Which brings us to the first article, (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/05/world/middleeast/05iht-letter05.html?_r=1&bl), a depiction of a woman’s place according to the new rulers of Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood. In case you haven’t yet clicked on the link, here’s how the writer, Mona El-Naggar, started her article, “Women are erratic and emotional, and they make good wives and mothers — but never leaders or rulers. That, at least, is what Osama Abou Salama, a professor of botany at Cairo University and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, told young men and women during a recent premarital counseling class.”

The Muslim Brotherhood apparently does not believe such women as Margaret Thatcher, Indira Ghandi, Benazir Bhutto, or Golda Meir were good leaders or rulers. It doesn’t look promising for the women of Egypt, many of whom protested last year in Tahir Square in the hope they would achieve equal status from a post-Mubarak government.

It doesn’t look too rosy to the northeast of Egypt, either. Israel made the desert bloom, but it cannot cultivate tolerance among its religious zealots. Even with their lives at stake, Haredim, the ultra Orthodox, adhere to dictates that endanger the Jewish state. A long-time deferment from compulsory military service has been lifted, so Haredim are now being drafted. The Israeli military has long been an assimilator and equalizer, but the Haredim are offering stiff resistance to modernity, as can be seen in last Sunday’s Review submission in the NY Times by Shani Boianjiu, “What Happens When the Two Israel’s Meet” (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/opinion/sunday/what-happens-when-the-two-israels-meet.html?partner=rss&emc=rss). 

No, the world does not look very egalitarian these days. 

With All Due Respect, David Gregory

David Gregory’s big moment comes Sunday when he interviews Mitt Romney on NBC’s Meet the Press. Gregory will be tested to determine if he truly is a worthy successor to the late Tim Russert.

Romney has been adept at deflecting questions, refraining from answering them with specifics, if at all, about his post-election plans should he win the presidency. Gregory’s challenge will be to offer respectful resistance to Romney’s obfuscations. He must pose follow-up questions to get specifics and if necessary challenge the veracity of Romney’s attacks against President Obama and claims about his own programs. Perhaps Gregory’s most important phrase throughout the interview will be, “With all due respect ...,” which is code for, “stop bullshitting me and the American public, answer the question, this is an interview not a stump speech opportunity.”

Just in case Gregory needs help formulating questions, here are some I’d like to see posed:

The time has come to give specifics, Gov. Romney—what cuts to specific programs would you make to balance the budget?

President Clinton in his speech to the convention said more manufacturing jobs were created under President Obama than in last 50 years. That doesn’t sound like failure. How would you characterize it?

If Obamacare is repealed, specifically what would be included in your replacement program, or would the American public go back to a time when insurance companies could exclude you from coverage because of a pre-existing condition? Would your plan cover non-working children through age 26? Would you cover the donut hole for prescriptions for senior citizens?

Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak has said cooperation between his county and the U.S. is the best ever, so why do you say Obama threw Israel under the bus? What more would you have done? As for Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, even George W. Bush never moved our embassy, so why should we hold President Obama to a higher standard than all previous presidents?

Do you support legislation for equal pay for equal work for women?

If Planned Parenthood closes down because you defund it, do you have an alternative where women can get screenings and other medical services they could not afford to get in traditional health care facilities?

Since cabinet secretaries must reveal several years of tax returns to get confirmed, why should the public not expect to see at least the same from someone seeking the highest office in the land?

To combat what threat do we need the budget increase you have proposed for the Pentagon when the Joint Chiefs of Staff haven't asked for it?

Many of your foreign policy advisors counselled President George W. Bush. Why should that make Americans confident in your foreign affairs leadership considering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan we entered when they advised President Bush?

Would you intervene in Syria? To what degree?

Many European countries implemented fiscal restraint programs, government cutbacks, similar to what you advocate for the United States. Given their problems and your repeated comments that we don’t want to be another Europe, why should we have confidence government cutbacks would work here to help stimulate the economy?

Your campaign has said it won't be bound by fact checkers. Specifically, fact checkers have disputed your campaign’s claims about President Obama’s welfare reform program, the timing of the closing of the General Motors plant in Janesville, Wisconsin, the $716 billion in Medicare savings proposed by President Obama and included in Congressman Ryan’s budget proposal. Are the fact checkers wrong or will you continue to say what you've said before?

Your wife portrayed your early years together as if they were a struggle, eating tuna and pasta off an ironing board serving as a table, using an old door as a desk. Were you indeed living a typical student’s life, or were you buttressed by a sizable trust fund from your parents?

After six years of running for president why don't more Americans say they know you?

You ran for governor of Massachusetts as a moderate. Is there any specific event that prompted you to shift your governing philosophy to conservative? 

In defending your record at Bain Capital you have said not all businesses succeed. So why do you criticize the administration’s failed investment in Solyndra? What is your position on solar energy?

Bain Capital relied heavily on leveraged debt to acquire companies. Since you obviously know a lot about debt, and that the interest in borrowed money is at an all-time low at present, why would it be wrong to borrow money today to invest in rebuilding our nation’s infrastructure?

The General Motors and Chrysler bailout has been successful. Why would a managed bankruptcy, as you preferred, been better for the auto workers employed by GM, Chrysler and the other companies that supply the automakers?

Scorecard: Obama gave a rousing speech last night, but it lacked specifics just as Romney’s did. And he didn't push for the election of Democratic Senate and House candidates. In other words it was just words, not a call to action. I rate his and Romney's speeches a draw as they appealed to the party faithful, not to independents. Any bounce Obama gets will come from Michelle and Bill Clinton.