In the relative media lull before the GOP and Democratic nominating conventions, idle chatter has focused on the VP picks for each party, who appear to be saving the announcement for the convention as to give people a reason to watch. Everyone on both sides seems to have gotten the memo to "lay low", except for Loretta Lynch, the Attorney General, ie the TOP LAWYER OF THE GOVERNMENT, who somehow didn't think it inappropriate to meet with the husband of the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States, who is currently under investigation by the FBI for possible misuse of security clearance with regards to her personal e-mail server, etc...
Okay, conspiracy theorists, here's some gasoline. Ms. Lynch is neither a liar nor an idiot. The perception of impropriety, made unambiguously obvious, was an intentional, and successful, effort to allow the Obama administration to take a clear step back from the FBI investigation, as to give it a big push towards the appearance of impartiality. Today it's reported that the Justice Department, of which Ms. Lynch is the boss, will follow whatever recommendations come from the FBI with regards to Hillary's home brew e-mail server. It may or may not appease those that suspect the system is "rigged" (Bernie, the Don). But please don't think it's an "accident". Geez.
Back to the more entertaining topic of the Veepstakes. Beating the told-you-so dead horse, Tim Kaine remains in the poll position on the Democratic side, even if the MSNBC crowd pines for Elizabeth Warren, and her feisty 1/32 Native American attacks on the Donald. Why not Liz, if she's so damn effective? Think of it this way. When you sit yourself down for lunch in your corporate cafeteria, after choosing either the salad bar or the "entree of the day" which is either frozen pizza or Friday "square fish", do you, gentle reader, think to yourself, "I can see pairing this with the 2011 Caymus Cab I have cellared at home"? Yea, me neither (possessing neither a cellar, nor a Caymus of any vintage). Ms. Warren is an incendiary device, a liberal Roman Candle who, when lit, burns a white hot progressive flame shouting, "Big Government Rules! Crush the Big Banks!" Meanwhile, standing next to her in her shadow, is Hillary on her Blackberry, getting Snapchat messages from Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, saying "WTF?". Liberal foodies, this pairing does not work. Sen. Kaine, while admittedly boring, is 2-buck Chuck, or in this case, 2-buck Tim. Inoffensive and just acceptable enough. Which makes him the perfect Hillary VP.
In contrast, what do you pair with Marmite? Toxic sludge? NO! You get either bread (or biscuits, as they say in Brexit-land), or you say "screw it, gimme a shot and a beer". While I'm still waiting for Gen. Petreaeus to step up and make the general election a real contest, those discussions are still hush-hush, or nonexistent. So into the news void steps up the "shot and a beer" candidates, Chris Christie and Newt Gingrich. Of these two I have to give the nod to the Jersey boy, for several reasons. One, he's a brawler in a way that the Donald only pretends to be (ie Trump more likely to pay someone else to do his fighting). Two, he has an "everyman" appeal that's a different flavor than the Donald's (Christie is usually not a demagogue). And three, he's more than volatile enough to pair well with the Don's outrageousness. Gingrich? I'm not a fan, so I'm going to have to guess on this one. Perhaps appealing to the folks that think Sean Hannity is the Solomon of judging "great Americans", I think the Newt's utter absorption with himself makes him an odd pairing with a candidate who's even more absorbed with himself. Like the idea pairing Marmite with a generic version of Vegemite (if there is such a thing). I just don't see it working. On this side, I still see Petraeus for the win, Christie the likely one for place, and Gingrich for essentially no one's show except the demise of the GOP.
Well, it may be uninteresting, but it ain't boring. Thanks for reading, and have yourselves a great Holiday. Go 'Merica!
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