Washington – The topic was bipartisanship. The speakers: former Vice President Joe Biden and Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
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And as their conversation got going at the University of Delaware on Tuesday, both men lamented the Trump administration and the current culture in Washington.
Biden said 14 heads of state from around the world have contacted him for advice, including one European leader he wouldn’t identify, who said President Donald Trump reminds him of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
Biden called Trump’s behavior “absolutely bizarre.”
“Violating the norms of personal conduct generates more anxiety and fear than any policy prescription that this president has annunciated,” Biden said. “This breaking down of international and national norms is the glue that holds the liberal world order together, and holds together our system. That is what is being attacked and that’s what’s most dangerous.”
Kasich stressed the importance of humility and goodness, both in government and in life outside of politics. Humility and love, Kasich said, are too often forgotten or overlooked.
“We see the failures in government, the inability to put the good of our society over the good of re-election,” he said. “I look around at the rest of our culture. I look at Equifax, I look at Wells Fargo … I look at these companies and say, is it about profit without value?”
Kasich added that he recently banned Wells Fargo from doing business in Ohio.
“When you look at our culture,” Kasich said, “I begin to wonder, have we lost our way?”
As a resident of Ohio, I resent the fact that our dear, “esteemed” Governor John Kasich, refused to attend the Republican National Convention, which was held in his home state, in Cleveland. If he didn’t want to have any contact with Trump, all he had to do was to have gone there the first day of the Convention; there, he could have greeted the delegates, welcomed them to Ohio, and then left. However, the bizarre manner in which he acted, whereby he boycotted the convention of his own party, in his own state, was similar to that of a spoiled child, who couldn’t get his way. His conduct was despicable and reprehensible. Then, after Trump was elected, he went to the White House with his hat in his hand, seeking federal assistance. Kasich has chutzpah, big time!
Those, my dear, are not the actions of a spoiled child. To the contrary, taking a principled stand against a political arson, and then humbly requesting his assistance for the sake of his constituents is the mark of a pragmatic, good person.
This is exactly the kind of thing Drumpf would never do in a million years. His ego is just too big for him to ever drop that silly macho act. Ever. Even when the wellbeing of his constituents depends on it.
Biden’s description of Donald Trump was very kind compared to what GOP Senators have said about Trump.
Those, my dear, are not the actions of a spoiled child. To the contrary, taking a principled stand against a political arson, and then humbly requesting his assistance for the sake of his constituents is the mark of a pragmatic, good person.
This is exactly the kind of thing Drumpf would never do in a million years. His ego is just too big for him to ever drop that silly macho act. Ever. Even when the wellbeing of his constituents depends on it.
I stand by my original statement; not all of the Republican delegates at last year’s Republican National Convention supported Trump. All Kasich had to do was go to Cleveland on the first night of the convention, and welcome all of the delegates to Ohio. It would not have been an endorsement of Trump, but an endorsement of the Republican Party. It had been many decades since the Republicans held a Presidential convention in Ohio, and Kasich missed an historic opportunity to address the delegates. His boycott reminded me of another ridiculous action, which a prior Ohio Republican Governor was involved in. In the 1990’s, when the late George Voinovich was the Republican Governor of Ohio, President Bill Clinton was scheduled to land in Columbus, Ohio, at the same time as Voinovich’s state plane, was scheduled to take off from the Ohio State University Airport, nearby. Voinovich did not want to see Clinton, and he deliberately ordered the pilot to take off, despite Air Traffic Control telling him not to do so. Voinovich yelled at and harassed the pilot, and the pilot took off. The pilot was punished for doing so, by the FAA. As with Kasich, Voinovich acted like a spoiled child.