All right. The true 2016 election cycle is underway. My boy, Donald J. Trump, soundly trounced the Republican field to take the New Hampshire primary.

And in keeping with this year’s theme that everybody is mad as heck and ain’t gonna take this anymore, Bernie Sanders crushed Hillary in New Hampshire for Democratic primary.

The two biggest outsiders beat the competition without even having to wait up late for the results. The political pundits have finally woke up and realized that Trump and Sanders have tapped into an anger and dissatisfaction with the status quo.

Just so folks know, I haven’t changed my ideological consciousness and become a mad-dog idealist with his head in the clouds or in the sand.

The state of the nation is not good. This is not the fault of President Obama, for those who like to blame him and his policy ideas for all their problems and all the country’s problems.

Yes, he’s a Democrat. Yes, he’s left of center. Yes, he’s not perfect. And yes, he’s not evil and bent of the destruction of the American way of life.

Obamacare is not the reason healthcare is so expensive. Obamacare has added millions of people to healthcare and is, by and large, more positive than negative for healthcare in the United States.

Before Obamacare, I’d like to remind folks, slowed the rapid rise in the cost of healthcare, gave more people coverage, and kept insurance companies from rejecting Americans from healthcare coverage because they were potentially too sick or had become too expensive because they got sick.

ISIS formed because we were killing innocent Muslims in the Middle East over matters that we should not have been meddling in, such as invading Iraq for bogus reasons that destabilized the entire region.

The economy collapsed not just because of Wall Street greed and reckless behavior. The US Congress tossed out oversight of the markets and legalized the excessive greed that led to the reckless behavior, Democrats and Republicans.

Every two years more radical people, left and right, get elected to Congress. This has so polarized the “leaders” of this country that they can’t get anything done.

Trump is right that our leaders can’t lead. When they see those who don’t agree with them as stupid, evil, and anti-American rather then good people with different ideas who need to be compromised with, the nation suffers from inactivity.

Trump and Sanders have tapped into something important. Change is needed. Political posturing is not good for the county.

When Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon were presidents, they could work with political opponents to do what was best for the county.

Even Reagan worked with Democrats to get things done. It started changing with Bill Clinton because Republicans were out to destroy him. And then it spread to W. because Democrats were striking back at Republicans because of what they tried to do to Clinton.

With Obama, it has become intolerable. Not Obama’s fault, unless you consider the color of his skin a fault. In his early years he tried to work with Republicans, hence Obamacare. He crafted his plan after Romneycare in Massachusetts because Republicans hailed it as the best solution for healthcare.

Suddenly, the Republicans hated it and not only didn’t vote for it, but fought tooth and nail against it; demonizing Obama.

When nothing can get done and the American people desperately need some thing to be done – Trump and Sanders are the result.

We need leaders who can work together for the good of the American people, not leaders who are just seeking political talking points so they’ll get reelected by their fellow demagogues.

So all I can say is: Good Luck Donald; Good Luck Bernie.

 

Keith Hoggard is a Staff Writer at Roanoke-Chowan Publications. He can be contacted at keith.hoggard@r-cnews.com or 252-332-7206.