Politics Make Me Sick

I never voted for any of the Bush family: Not George H.W. Bush, not George W. Bush, and not Jeb (although I almost thought that Jeb might be the smarter brother). If any of them were to run for office again, I still wouldn't vote for them. To paraphrase Dr. Seuss, I would not vote for them in a boat, with a goat, with green eggs and ham, I wouldn't vote for them, Sam-I-Am.

In the first essay in her book Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith, Anne Lamott bemoans the "scolding at the hands of the Bush administration."

"A friend called to wish me Happy Birthday, and I remembered something she's said many years ago, while reading a Vanity Fair article about Hitler's affair with his niece. 'I have had it with Hitler,' Peggy said vehemently...And I've had it with Bush." ("Ham of God," Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith.)

Throughout "Ham of God", Lamott states why she wasn't wild about George W. Bush. And I am as much a fan of the Bush politics as Lamott. Nothing personal; I'm sure that if one could pull politics away from the Bush men, if one could have a talk over, say, their favorite barbecue, places to vacation, and such, we might almost have a decent conversation. Almost.

That said, the current political scene is making me positively nostalgic for Bush family politics. Between Rick Scott, former chief executive of Columbia/HCA, now in his final two years as Florida governor and Donald Trump the GOP nominee for president, is there any doubt as to why I'm nostalgic?

When George W. ran for reelection, my dad called to apologize for voting for W. the first time around, later becoming an Independent (after being a life-long Republican) because of W. That said, I'm sure Dad is not rolling over in his grave, but, rather, spinning faster than a windmill during a hurricane.

First, Rick Scott. A 2012 Huffington Post article mentions his plunging popularity. Things have only gotten worse ("Rick Scott, America' eighth least popular Governor") for his popularity, and with good reason. He got into office on his "Let's get to work" campaign - promising more jobs for Florida - then promptly starting cutting jobs left and right in Tallahassee. He ran Columbia/HCA while the company was embroiled in controversy over, in large part, the company's Medicare billing practices. Although Scott wasn't implicated, the company ended up forking more than $600 million to the federal government for the largest fraud settlement in US history (taken from the Wikipedia page on Rick Scott). Then there's the fact that he passed on billions of federal dollars to help expand Medicaid that would have covered 650,000 Floridians. There's more, but you get the idea.

Then, there's Donald Trump.

It seems that every time the man opens his mouth, garbage seems to spew out. I would say it was mostly manure, but at least manure can be useful if one is planting roses or mushrooms. I have yet to hear anything that useful coming from Trump. It seems that Trump says something that takes maybe 30 seconds to say, then spends the next week back-tracking. He's managed to insult everyone and anyone who is not a rich white Christian man in great health.

Besides Hilary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and the mainstream media, Trump has managed to insult a growing list of people, places and things. Try people in his own party: Sen. John McCain ("not a war hero"), Former President George W. Bush, Sen. Lindsey Graham, and in a really low moment, a reporter with a disability.

That's just a start. Watching news reports on Trump, it's not hard for me to imagine him being responsible for starting a major war simply by acting like a spoiled brat bully.

Is it any wonder why, while I never voted for a Bush, I'm almost nostalgic?