Betwixt the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea – US Presidency

That the candidates offered to the US voters are underwhelming is an understatement. Sure, to use a basket ball metaphor, we are just in the regional playoffs, but any two that make the finals are still a choice between two awful alternatives. Perhaps if the candidates offered a slate of their key appointments that would help determine whether the candidate had even the remotest chance of succeeding in office. Remember GW Bush brought in the insidious neocons which now are understood as Machiavellian dilettantes who managed to set US national interests back twenty years.

BILL'S WIFE HILLARY – you should have figured out you reelected Bill Clinton if you vote for his spouse. Uncertain what credentials Ms. Clinton brings to the table. Like her husband she has fed at the public trough all her adult life. She is a master at converting public policy into campaign contributions. To think of her as Commander Chief is as bad as having her draft dodging husband Bill or sometimes National Guard officer GW Bush holding that authoritative baton. Mr. Clinton's national security record was not commendable, so Lady Clinton stands on quick sand if she promotes this as experience. Bill had two African embassies blow up as well as the USS Cole – his Balkan War is a bad joke that will be revisited soon. He blew up an innocent aspirin factory in Sudan and resulted cutting off leads to bin Laden terrorists. Some of the Tommy Hawk missiles fired into a Jihad camp in Khost, Afghanistan were unexploded and sold to the Chinese by the terrorists for 10 million. It was no wonder Sandy Berger, his former NSC chief, was sent to stuff his underwear with incriminating documents from national archives bldg. after he left office.

OBAMA is probably the brightest in the political field on both political sides. He has enough sense to end the occupation of Iraq soonest, but his domestic policies hinge on massive federal programs... his immigration policy is pure amnesty for illegals. His embrace by the Kennedys may help him with the liberal wing of the Democratic party, but those who remember JFK's serial failures in foreign policy, will run fast in the opposite directions. JFK is still a choice between the man and the myth. My understanding of his history is that he is more myth. Nikita Khruschev's assessment of JFK after meeting him in Vienna was that he was naive. Afterwards the Soviets built the Berlin wall and locked up Cuba. At best, at this stage Obama is a brilliant orator, and a civil rights lawyer – the man has great potential, but will white people vote for him in substantial numbers is still at issue.

ROMNEY was best characterized by Huckabee as a man who strips the skin off his fried chicken. Unlike the runt Bomb Bomb McCain or Huckabee's coal miner mien, Romney presents himself as a urbane gentleman who is welcome in most perfumed Republican salons – no dirt under his finger nails. Problem is the man has no core political values and is an unabashed pragmatist. He has his strange Mormon angel Moroni hovering over him who may snatch him unpredictably to never-never land. Romney is totally adjustable and that his is asset – if you ever needed a puppet president, he is your man and that also is his liability. Unlike GW Bush, he would pick more qualified people to run the country; in his selection, he would emphasize talent over political reliability or loyalty. Romney may want to consider tweaking his clean cut image by not shaving for a couple days, wear snake skin cowboy boots and start chewing tobacco.

BOMB BOMB McCAIN – with him you get two for one like with the Clintons. In his case you also get Senator Joe Lieberman who would insure the Israeli Lobby continues to be a mordant influence in the White House. Both McCain and Lieberman are misfits in their parties. They seemed fused together based on the antipathy of their parties. McCain has been given a free ride by liberal press as from time to time he undermined GW Bush. McCain's military record as a POW will now come under heavy scrutiny by Democrats if he heads the Republican ticket. Do you want a president who broke under enemy torture when other POWs did not? McCain appears physically fragile. Doubt he could finish his term without incapacitation, so a vice president selection is more important in his case more than any other candidate.

HUCKABEE supports McCain and most likely would end up as McCain's choice for VEEP. Huckabee is a Holy Roller and would balance a secular McCain on the ticket and bring joy to the Republican base. Personally, I like Huckabee, especially if he could be limited to say JESUS CHRIST IS MY SAVIOR to only once a day. Unlike McCain, he has not been trained to bomb people.

BETWIXT THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA means that any choice is bad. If it is an choice between Bill's wife and Bomb Bomb McCain, let us hope they both lose. Colonel Robert E Bartos USA Ret.