Good morning, y’all. Another wet one here in North Georgia. I believe the geniuses at Channel 11 weather are predicting another seven days of rain in the next ten days. For the people that give themselves a fudge factor of three degrees when predicting the daily temperature, and achieve a 94 percent accuracy, I don’t know whether to buy more Coppertone or start building an ark. It could go either way.
Speaking of fudge factors, how about that Jeb Bush? It looks like in spite of being declared the de facto Republican candidate at the beginning of this political season, Jeb slides further and further down in the polls. His decline has been somewhat like a rock dropped into the abyss to plumb the depth. As yet, the rock has not hit bottom. The only question is whether Jeb bails before one of his old scandals is brought to surface, or if he will just decide to take his money and run, declaring a moral victory.
When I say take the money, I’m talking about some serious money. The whacky doodle campaign finance laws that allow the very rich to buy their candidates without disclosing to the public their interest, put together a campaign war chest of over 150 million dollars for the Jebber. While he is scheduled to spend about 24 million dollars in the coming weeks in Iowa and New Hampshire, there is no guarantee that the campaign will stay together through New Hampshire. Jeb is pulling about 4% in the polls, and I believe Francis the Mule is pulling about 3%. Clearly the public isn’t buying what Jeb is selling.
In terms of family dynamics, it’s a shame that Jeb was submarined by his older brother. Jeb is clearly the more intellectual, the more polished, seemingly more in-touch with the people candidate. It must have been a case of Barb deciding that Jeb had enough going for him to make it on his own, and that W needed all of the special help the family could bring to bear. It must be particularly galling to Jeb that he is now toxic because of his brother. I mean, when The Donald calls you out on it, what are you going to do, say, “no, you’re right, my brother is a dumbass?”
This is not to say that Jeb is a prize himself. Like any Bush, his history is filled with scandals and sinister back room deals made to further the interests of himself and the oligarchy. Unlike his brother Neal, who was determined to be too dumb in court to know what was going on at Silverado during its collapse, Jeb has appeared to be fairly in touch. Of course, there is that one time that Jeb took a job as a consultant after leaving the governor’s office and the company he was appointed to the board of was a 40 million dollar scam. Jeb would eventually pay back a little more than half the $470,000 salary he was paid by InnoVida. Jeb, like his brother Neil, would plead not guilty by reason of just “being too trusting”. Maybe a family trait is emerging.
Neil with Silverado, Jeb with InnoVida, W with Cheney. Just a bunch of good ol’ boys too darn busy to check the dogs that they’re about to get in bed with for fleas. It would be interesting to do the research to determine if that was a maternal or paternal trait. I see elements in both sides of the family tree.
Speaking of the family tree, Jeb is keeping the family tradition going by bringing another George along. His son, George P., is a politician in Texas. George P. has a son named Prescott. Remember Prescott? I’m beginning to think that after the nuclear holocaust there will be cockroaches and a mutated life form named George Bush that the cockroaches worship.
It’s time for the Bushes to stop “serving the public” and just go play croquet somewhere. Maybe Jeb’s campaign will be the death knell.