Obama chases Clinton

Not what you’re thinking, folks. Obama is not chasing Hillary Clinton, he’s chasing Bill’s high job approval record during Bill Clinton’s second term. Just recently, the American people gave Obama a 54% job approval rating, the second highest in the second term of a modern-day American president. Guess who has the highest rating at this time of his second term?

No, not Ronald Reagan, he and Obama are tied at 54 percent. Heck no, not George W. Bush, his unpopular war in Iraq dumped his approval rating deep in the toilet at this time of his second term. It’s Bill Clinton? Yes! Hillary’s husband, despite all the Monica Lewinsky’s scandal, had a 57 percent approval rating, the highest in recent memory. Despite Obama’s soaring popularity, Donald Trump says he is the worst American president in history. Trump probably doesn’t realize that most Americans don’t really care about anything he says about Obama. First, he lied that he could prove that Obama was not born in America, hence was ineligible to be American president. Now, he says Obama is the founder of ISIS. (Say what?) That’s what Vice President Joe Biden would call a bunch of malarkey!  These are some of the things that make even Republicans worry about Trump’s mental health. Now that Obama and Bill Clinton are campaigning for Hillary, any surprise she is leading Trump in every national poll since the Democrat convention? Now they are five If you thought Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were the only presidential candidates in the U.S. elections, think again. They are now five. Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party), Jill Stein (Green Party) and just this week former CIA operative Evan McMullin declared to run as an Independent candidate. Besides Hillary and Trump, the other three have one major hurdle: Any candidate below 15 percent in the national poll cannot participate in any of the debates scheduled for presidential candidates. And without that national exposure, their campaign is as good as dead.   Police Targeting African Americans Remember the disturbing images of protests and riots in Fergusson in the state of Missouri and Baltimore, Maryland? While not condoning riots and violence, it is now proven that those black people and others who joined them in the protests against police discriminatory brutality were not crazy after all. Just this week, the Department of Justice confirmed what black people and civil rights activists have been saying all along. After a year-long investigation, the Department of Justice concluded among other things that Baltimore police officers made repeated stops in poor black neighborhoods and used dubious reasons to unlawfully arrest blacks. Imagine this: Although 63 percent of Baltimore residents are African American, they account for 84 percent of those routinely stopped by police. Also, between 2010 and 2015, African Americans make up a whopping 95 percent of the 410 residents stopped at least 10 times by the police. Wait, there’s more: During that five-year span, Baltimore police officers stopped 34 African American residents 20 times and seven African Americans were stopped 30 times or more. Meanwhile, nobody from another race was stopped more than 12 times. As if those were not bad enough, officers publicly (and unconstitutionally) strip-searched African Americans, including those who were not under arrest. Officers routinely and unreasonably used excessive force against residents, some of which resulted in deaths, including the death of Freddie Gray, which ignited the protests and riots in Baltimore. Wow! With this kind of “indictment” of American police, what do you say of the Nigerian police? The $400 cup of coffee Just imagine an exchange rate at N380 to $1, then multiply by 400. That amounts to about N152,000. If you were driving in the state of New Jersey, that’s what you would have to cough out if a bill before the New Jersey House passes. Well, one legislator is sponsoring a bill against additional distraction while driving, specifically those who try to open their beverage or mix cream in their coffee. If the bill is approved, that violation could cost first-time offenders between $200 to $400 and between $400 to $600 for second time offenders. A third offence could result in the suspension of the offender’s driver’s license.    Remember, the state already has laws against texting while driving and other distractions, such as reading newspapers or opening maps. But the fines for those violations pale compared to what the state legislator is proposing. Trump Not Running to Win Call me crazy if you want, but I am convinced that Donald Trump does not really want to win the U.S. Presidential Election. Not that he wouldn’t like to win, but frankly, I think he is scared at the prospect of winning and is doing everything to help Hillary win. He repeatedly stirs up controversy that takes the focus off his campaign message and then he and his surrogates spend the next couple of days defending or clarifying his remarks.    Imagine the Trumpster already is preparing his supporters for a potential defeat by saying the November 8 election will be rigged even before the first presidential debate is held. After losing about five days fending off the firestorm that sparked off his remarks against the wife of the American soldier who died in combat, he gave his big address on his economic plan. The very next day he caused another controversy with his remarks that seemed to suggest that he was calling for gun owners to find a way to stop Hillary Clinton. As that was still brewing, he called Hillary the devil and Obama the founder of ISIS, with Hillary as the co-founder. On Thursday, Trump told CNBC network that he will not change his style or tactics and if for some reason he doesn’t win the election he will go ahead and have a nice vacation. So why is Trump running if he does not want to win?    My take is that if Trump is hoping to lose gallantly to Hillary Clinton and then move on to expand his business empire. I foresee Trump TV network, something that can give him the kind of international influence he so desires, crowned with the kind of unlimited, criticism-free control the White House cannot provide. What do you think?