"There is More Than One Way",

we are told, "To skin a cat".

Perhaps. Personally, I have never witnessed a cat skinning, and have no idea why anyone would want to skin a kitty. Even naughty Johnny Flynn, who "threw poor pussy in" (the well) did not first skin the cat!

Likewise, there is more than one way to win an election. You can throw your ideas out there and try to persuade voters that they are the correct ideas. Or, you can just steal the election.

Stealing elections has been done in various ways. They once stuffed ballot boxes at the precinct. And, they managed to count votes from deceased persons. But that is so yesteryear. Like a Model "T" Ford.

I am reminded of Pearl Harbor. Having been attacked surreptitiously by aircraft carriers loaded with dive bombers we spent 70 years guarding against a recurrence, only to be attacked by a different sort of enemy, using domestic airliners on September 11, 2001.

Today, elections are stolen in a very different way. First, with the help of a sympathetic news media, you destroy all possible opponents.

First target: New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Embroil him in a scandal, in which he denies involvement. He will probably be proven innocent, but no matter, Christie's approval rating has plummeted.

Next, former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell. Embroil him in a scandal of accepting gifts, quid pro quo, which he denies. He will probably be proven innocent, but no matter. The damage is done.

Next, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Take his inopportune comments out of context and accuse him of speaking in degradation of women. He did not, but no matter. The firestorm has begun.

And, think what this is doing to the brand: three Republican governors involved in scandals.

As you destroy possible opponents, you take out any who may present a truth that will defame your candidate. Comes Dinesh D'Souza, producer of the highly acclaimed documentary film "2016. Obama's America", now accused of an illegal campaign contribution to Senate hopeful Wendy Long.

He will probably be proven innocent, but no matter. His movie-making activities will be seriously curtailed, as he is now embroiled in a long, expensive fight to prove his innocence.

Finally, you just watch as compliant media publicize/glorify your candidate:

Newspaper Editor Paul Greenberg recently wrote,  "As the country has discovered from time to all too frequent time in our history. As on September 11, 2001. Or, for that matter, December 7, 1941. Each time, after this sleeping giant has awakened and struck back in full force and righteous fury, the giant tends to doze off again till the next shock hits him".

We vow to defend against ballot box stuffing and dead voters. Republicans fight those tactics, vigorously pushing voter ID. That's dozing off. The new kinds of election theft are already at work.

Second thoughts

There is an old belief that men cannot understand women.

I grew up in a home with a Mom and four sisters. I have a loving wife of 43 years, three daughters, seven granddaughters and two great granddaughters. I've spent time around women. I thought I understood women.

Because of their generally smaller size, women could not always compete physically, so they learned to compete, and win, intellectually.

Because of their natural tendency toward nurturing, they are more thoughtful, more contemplating.

I like women. In general. I think they make great teachers, leaders, decision makers.

Still I acknowledge there are a small percentage of bad women.

Some years ago, an acquaintance of mine, a mechanical type who worked in the construction trades, met two young women in a bar, and made his awkward attempt at romantic overtures. Before long the three ended up in a motel room.

There, while getting "better acquainted" the women openly admired an expensive diamond ring he was wearing, an item he was once awarded for an excellent performance. One asked to see it closely, and the poor sap obliged by taking the ring off his finger and handing it to her.

After she had examined it for some moments, he held out his hand for the return of his treasure. She coyly delayed its return. Then, her accomplice, from behind, violently struck him over the head with a heavy lamp. As he dazed, the two women fled.

When he regained his senses, he called the police, who responded to the motel. One of the officers, a well experienced old cop, studied the situation and offered that in such cases, the perpetrators sometimes have second thoughts... What if the dolt died? Possession of the ring could lead to their capture and conviction! Better ditch the evidence! The old officer suggested a search. Sure enough, the ring was found on the ground, under some shrubbery outside the motel room.

These were bad women.

I believe Texas State Senator Wendy Davis is also a bad woman, but of a different sort. She married young, gave birth to a daughter, then was divorced. Davis moved into her separated mother's mobile home. Wisely, she recognized the need to continue her education, and enrolled in a community college.

Along the way she met a well-to-do lawyer, 13 years her senior and married him. He provided financing for her and her daughter to live, and for her to continue her education. She gave birth to a second daughter, then decided she wanted to become a lawyer, herself.

Somehow, (possibly with his help) she was admitted to Harvard Law School. Her husband paid the bills and took responsibility for both daughters. Upon her graduation, he undertook to pay off her accrued student loan debts. The minute he made the final payment, she left him. In the ensuing divorce, he was awarded custody of both daughters.

It is very rare for a court to award custody of two daughters to the husband, especially when he is the father of only one of them. What was the evidence for that decision?

Then, there is the abortion angle. Davis has become the darling of the pro-choice crowd. A mother who seemingly took advantage of a good man, then seemingly was willing to abandon her two daughters? Now, she advocates taking the life of an innocent, unborn child? Wendy Davis is a bad woman, but she is but one tiny segment of the pro-choice movement.

Therein lies the crux of my original argument. We are told that women, in large pluralities, support the right to elective abortion. How can that square with my original idea of their natural tendency toward nurturing?

How can women, gifted with the ability to create a new living human being, be so willing to snuff out that new life? In spite of my life experiences, I guess the old belief is true... this man really does not understand women.

I have a question,

Mr. President.

Your biological father was a black African. He abandoned you, contributed nothing to your upbringing, your training in life experiences, none of the things expected of a dad.

Your mother was a white American. She could have aborted you. We'll never know her thoughts, we only know she carried you to term and gave birth to you. She accepted the responsibility to raise you. She re-married to an Indonesian man whom, by your own accounts in your first book, was a good dad. He taught you to shoot baskets. He taught you many other things a boy may want to know (what does tiger meat taste like?).

When your mother became concerned about your growing up as an Indonesian Muslim, she sent you back to Hawaii and your white grandparents. They saw to it that you attended a good high school, sent you to college, and probably were helpful in getting you into Harvard - though we'll never know those secrets.

My question is, why is it always "black", "African-American"? Why do you throw your white mother and white grandparents, your Indonesian dad (the only "real" father you ever had) under the bus? Why do you cling to "The Dreams" of a biological father who treated you like a piece of throw-away trash?

Like most Americans, Mr. President, I don't give a whit about your race. I like brown skin, as do the millions of white people who spend billions of dollars on tanning booths, tanning lotions, days at the beach, etc. to acquire brown skin.

But I care a lot about dis-loyalty. Why don't you ever say anything good about your white mom? Your Indonesian dad? Your white grandparents?

While we're at it, there is another matter. You recently said it is well-documented that you smoked pot as a kid. I wonder if your grandparents let you smoke pot when you were a kid? I suspect the toking didn't happen until high school, and beyond.

I once had a business associate who was fond of saying, "There is no part-time honesty."

I loved that quote, have lived it and re-quoted it for over fifty years. You cannot call yourself "honest" if some days, under some circumstances, you do dishonest things. That would make you a dishonest person.

Smoking marijuana, especially back in the 1960s when you were growing up, is a crime. You cannot shrug off smoking pot, like you would shrug off the use of vulgar language.

You say that smoking pot is no worse than alcohol. People have drank alcohol since Biblical times because a glass of good wine is a culinary delight with a fine steak, or a perfect serving of seafood. There is only one reason to smoke pot: for its mind-altering effects.

Smoking pot is against the law, which means it is/was a crime. Are there other crimes you may want to admit to? Did you steal a few things? As a kid?

And, how about morals? Did you lie once in a while? Did you cheat on a few tests at school? We cannot know because your academic records are sealed.

We have always cherished the character of our presidents. Legend has it that George Washington took the punishment for cutting down a cherry tree, as preferable to telling a lie. Abraham Lincoln was so meticulous about truth-telling, his contemporaries called him "Honest Abe".

Sadly, Mr. President, you fall short of those standards.

Why hasn't New Mexico

become Detroit?

A recent report listed New Mexico as one of eleven states where the number of persons on welfare exceeds the number of persons employed. Which is to say, New Mexico's economy stinks.

Yet, if you drive around my adopted home town of Las Cruces, you will not see the decay that has settled upon Detroit. We have many modest homes, not all of which are well kept, but you will be hard pressed to find the abandoned homes that plague Detroit's neighborhoods? Why is that?

There is one distinct reason. Early in the last century, with the birth of the automobile manufacturing industry, people flocked to Detroit for the jobs. They physically moved to Detroit, but there hearts often remained elsewhere. The situation was described in a 1963 song written by Danny Dill and Mel Tillis, wherein the lyric said "By day I make the cars, by night I make the bars", and "Oh, how I wanna go home."

When the jobs gave out, they did go home... by the tens of thousands. Their abandoned homes fell to the broken window theory: if a window is broken in a building, and is not mended, soon another window will be broken, because the unmended window is a sign that no one cares. Before long, every window in the building will be broken.

In Detroit, they went much further. Plumbing and electrical fixtures, even doors, were ripped out to be sold on the used market.

In New Mexico, however, the residents are permanent. Not only were many born in New Mexico, their parents and grandparents were born here. They are not "going home", they are at home. So, they tough out the bad economy and hope for better times.

The sad part of this story is that New Mexicans keep re-electing the politicians that created and sustain these sorry economic conditions.