Jamie44

By Jamie44,
a Trail Mix Contributor

We have all seen the “Daisy” commercial multiple times.  Obviously the Republican candidate for President in 1964 was dooming us all to a nuclear conflagration unless we would have the good sense to vote for Lyndon Baines Johnson.  We have all heard the quote “Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice. And moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”  The man was capable of anything, and we were all afraid.

In the wake of the Kennedy assassination and the loss of “Camelot”, this was a risk we could not take.  The end result was a political wipeout never seen before.

More than a half century later, I am longing for a Republican party that was that sane and remembering a man whose reputation was in many ways the opposite of what was presented to the public.  To put it simply, Barry Goldwater was a good man.  Compared to the current Republican candidate and the party as it exists, he would be a worthy opponent but more than likely he also now would be a Democrat.  Why do I believe this?  Because of his actions after that overwhelming defeat.

After Goldwater again became a senator, he urged Nixon to resign at the height of the Watergate scandal, warning that fewer than ten senators would vote against conviction if Nixon were impeached by the House of Representatives.  The term “Goldwater moment” has since been used to describe situations when influential members of Congress disagree so strongly with a president from their own party that they openly oppose him.

The GOP now has a candidate thoroughly rejected by whatever bit of sanity  left in the party … a massive meltdown and “Goldwater moment”.

All of the above was on the political front, but Barry Goldwater was a whole man.  He was a ham radio operator who regularly “chatted” with other aficionados all over the globe.  He was a photographer well known for his images of his beloved Arizona and the indigenous people and he was so “conservative” that he rejected the concept that intrusive religion had any part in politics and was a strong advocate of gay rights and freedom of religion: “You don’t need to be straight to fight and die for your country. You just need to shoot straight.” … and: “I think every good Christian ought to kick Falwell right in the ass.”

So right now, I’m missing Barry. I’m missing the Republican party of my childhood.  I hate what the GOP has become and I think Senator Goldwater would be ashamed.  This year he would have also been a truly great GOP candidate.

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By Jamie, a Trail Mix Contributor

After more than forty years of public service in one form or another since her 1969 commencement speech for graduation from Wellesley, Hillary Clinton stands on the brink of gaining the highest office in the land. Throughout all of those years she has done what she does best: Kept going. No matter what life threw at her she simply gathered herself up, held to her ideals and stayed committed to doing the best job possible, and kept going.

Of all the possible candidates for the office, Hillary Clinton brings to this campaign the lessons of a lifetime of preparation and dedication. President Obama laid out this quality, which more than any other has prepared her to take his place when she is sworn in on January 20, 2017.

“There is no candidate in modern history who has been more prepared than her to be president. You know, we don’t go vacationing together. I think that I’ve got a pretty clear-eyed sense of both her strengths and her weaknesses,” Obama told CBS’ John Dickerson in a wide-ranging interview for “Face the Nation” on Friday. “And what I would say would be that this is somebody who knows as much about domestic and foreign policy as anybody, is tough as nails, is motivated by what’s best for America and ordinary people, understands that in this Democracy that we have things don’t always happen as fast as we’d like. And it requires compromise and grinding it out. She’s not always flashy. And there are better speech makers. But she knows her stuff. And more than anything, that is what is ultimately required to do a good job in this office.”

Wilson Casey in his book, 101 Reasons To Vote For Hillary, said: “The late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher may have been called the “Iron Lady” but Hillary Clinton is the “new Iron Lady”. In our era of politics, in which spin seems to take precedence over substance, Hillary Clinton is an icon for what politics should be about – courage, spirit, and the determination to change things for the better.”

The Democratic Convention begins today.  The lady has five days to make her case to both admirers and skeptics.  One thing is absolutely certain: No one in more than 200 years of men has come to the race more dedicated or more prepared for the job at hand.

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By Jamie44, a Trail Mix Contributor

The annual post for the Kentucky Derby Trailmix tradition.

This post is heavy on facts and figures, mainly because horse players study the numbers as if they were holy writ.  You can see them at every track gazing hypnotically at the Daily Racing Form or these days with their tablets and laptops tuned to TVG or Twinspires, the racing channels on cable so they can watch all the races all the time.  They are trying to find gold in the Beyer Scale for payoffs of the Daily Double, Exacta, Trifecta, and Pick Four with or without multiple horses per race and boxing.  If you understand that last sentence, you may have spent a few hours as a railbird (Watch the action from down in the trenches and rarely migrate farther than the ground level of the track).  In Washington they go undercover at the snack bars while letting the horses deal with mud.

Wonderful Artist Jen Ferguson with her interpretation of Railbirds

The reason I insist on your choices before the Post Position draw is that it is an important element in the calculations. This year it will be on the afternoon of May 4. The Oaks for the fillies will be run on May 6 and the Kentucky Derby on May 7.  For starters, no horse leaving from gate 17 has ever won.  The only horses to win in the far outside posts were really big, really strong, and very fast with a great jockey:  18: Gato Del Sol (1982); 19: I’ll Have Another (2012) and 20: Big Brown (2008).  These are where you don’t want to be in the pill pull.

The posts with the magic 7 & 8 winners are:  1, 2, 5, and 8, and only one with 9 winners post 10.  Basically, you want a horse in 14 or less preferably in the first 10.  Getting to that rail from way out is hard for both the horse and the jockey who is trying to find a hole in that mass of horses all aiming for the same place.

There are some truly beautiful horses in the following list in case you want to look them up on line.  Just google the horses name plus the word horse.  Unless you mention you are looking for a horse, Google gets really confused by the names.

Post Position Winners (since the use of a starting gate in 1930): The winner was one of the few Triple Crown horses: Gallant Fox

1. Ferdinand (1986); Chateaugay (1963); Needles (1956); Hill Gail (1952); Citation (1948); Gallahadion (1940); Lawrin (1938); War Admiral (1937)
2. Affirmed (1978); Bold Forbes (1976); Cannonade (1974); Dust Commander (1970); Tim Tam (1958); Ponder (1949) Assault (1946)
3. Real Quiet (1998); Alysheba (1987); Spectacular Bid (1979); Foolish Pleasure (1975); Shut Out (1942)
4. Super Saver (2010); Seattle Slew (1977); Decidedly (1962); Pensive (1944); Whirlaway (1941)
5. Funny Cide (2003); War Emblem (2002); Silver Charm (1997); Strike the Gold (1991); Count Fleet (1943); Johnstown (1939); Bold Venture (1936); Twenty Grand (1931)
6. Sea Hero (1993); Iron Liege (1957)
7. Street Sense (2007); Pleasant Colony (1981); Proud Clarion (1967); Northern Dancer (1964); Determine (1954); Gallant Fox (1930)
8. Mine That Bird (2009); Barbaro (2006); Go for Gin (1994); Unbridled (1990); Majestic Prince (1969); Lucky Debonair (1965); Swaps (1955); Cavalcade (1934)
9. Riva Ridge (1972); Venetian Way (1960); Tomy Lee (1959); Count Turf (1951)
10. Giacomo (2005); Lil E. Tee (1992); Sunday Silence (1989); Spend a Buck (1985); Sunny’s Halo (1983); Genuine Risk (1980); Secretariat (1973); Dark Star (1953); Omaha (1935)
11. Winning Colors (1988); Brokers Tip (1933)
12. Canonero II (1971); Kauai King (1966); Hoop Jr. (1945)
13. Smarty Jones (2004); Forward Pass (1968); Jet Pilot (1947); Burgoo King (1932)
14. Carry Back (1961); Middleground (1950)
15. Fusaichi Pegasus (2000); Grindstone (1996); Swale (1984)
16. Animal Kingdom (2011); Monarchos (2001); Charismatic (1999); Thunder Gulch (1995)
18. Gato Del Sol (1982)
19. I’ll Have Another (2012)
20. Big Brown (2008)

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By Jamie, a Trail Mix Contributor

I get a kick out of all these pundits saying that no one is excited by Hillary. I just want to bang their know-it-all heads together. No we aren’t “excited”. We just love her.

Every woman who has ever dealt with a couple of children 20 months apart, a full time job, a house and a cheating husband who thinks it is all “woman’s work” wants to strangle them in their comfortable news chairs. Every woman who has ever lived on welfare while explaining why she didn’t use her non existent credit card to replace the dead auto part that made her late to work wants to skewer them with the nearest ice pick. It is a long, long list of “every woman” experiences and like the lyric in Les Miz “Just as well they never see the hate that’s in your head”

Hillary may have been born upper middle class, gotten a great education thanks to a brilliant mind, married well, established great connections, made a success of her life and is now reaping the rewards, but we are all looking below the surface of what it took in coins paid from her soul that it took to get there.

Yes there is a “Woman’s Card” and a whole lot of us are pulling it out of the deck in order to Trump and take the trick.

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