Thoughts On The 2016 Presidential Election

I tend not to write about politics very often because I don't usually see the point. When I do, it's certainly not to change anyone else's mind. I'm much more selfish. My reasons are 1) to sort through all the thoughts in my head 2) to serve as a time capsule that I can look back on in the future.

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So here are we are once again.

The nation has to decide who they think will be a better president: Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump? The truth is, we don't really know. We think we have a good idea based on what we know about them already--we feel that we know who's better--but until it's happened we won't know.

But will we know after it's happened?

No. Not as a national consensus.

The average approval rating for all presidents is 53%.

In June 2016, Obama's approval rating was 53%.

But let's go deeper.
His approval rating by Democrats is 90%.
His approval rating by Independents is 46%.
His approval rating by Republicans is 10%.

You would think the status of the country is something that would have more consensus, either things are going pretty well or they aren't. But no, your opinion of the country right now is heavily, heavily based on what party you prefer.

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The differences in the party's outlook is clear from the conventions. Republicans want to Make America Great Again, convinced that things must not be going very well. Democrats are making the argument that things are pretty good and we should keep things on course.

Today, Trump said Obama will go down as one of the worst presidents in history.

Obama has been ranked by historians twice so far, 15th in 2009 and 18th in 2015.

(In case you're curious, rankings while president for Reagan, Bush 41, and Clinton held very steady. Rankings for Bush 43 dropped between 2005 and 2008 while still in office.)

I think the discrepancy between how both parties view Obama is telling. How can we as a nation judge presidencies that haven't happened yet, when we can't agree on where we're at right now? The answer is we can't. I expect future approval ratings to mirror the 90/10 party split no matter who is in power.

It's like if you have a group of vegetarians and a group of pepperoni lovers and you expect them to share one pizza. They want different things, so they're going to be unhappy unless they get what they want (ordered).

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For me personally, I feel like the country is much better off now than it was in 2008. Even though the president doesn't control the economy like people think he does, the economy is in a much better place than the 2008 recession, helped by Obama's stimulus bill. We took out Osama bin Laden, gay marriage was legalized across the country, one step was taken toward Universal Healthcare, ended the Iraq war, made progress on climate change, unemployment is around 5%.

I don't think Obama is flawless or everything is perfect--gun violence is a problem across the board, and in particular, the killing of unarmed black people by police is dividing the country. And while the economy has rebounded, it's not as strong as it could be. I think it's difficult for the middle class to achieve the American dream--being able to find work, live in an affordable area with good schools, and be able to send children to college without the burden of student loans. We still don't have paid family leave, so two days after coming home from the hospital with my new baby I had to go back to work to be able to pay for the huge hospital bill for having a child.

But overall, I do think the United States is a great country with genuine freedoms, things are going pretty well and Obama has done a pretty good job.

I fully realize that a Republican could look at my list of successes and say that gay marriage was bad for the country, that Obamacare sucks, and the economy is either not very strong or the recovery is not due to Obama. See vegetarians receiving a pepperoni pizza.

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If you look at my list of goals, of what's important to me, it becomes clear that I'm going to be voting generally for Democrats. I'll say right away, I don't love being tied to a particular party. Both parties have their share of problems and problem people, and it sounds more intellectually open to not have a strong party affiliation, and instead vote on particular candidates.

So why am I a Democrat?

I read the Republican Party's official 2016 platform, the GOP website and Donald Trump's Positions page.

Here are some of the biggest core values the Republicans seem to stand for: smaller government, marriage between a man and a woman, the Constitution as an enduring covenant not a flexible document, protecting guns, repealing Obamacare and building a wall between the United States and Mexico.

First of all, I'm not even joking when I say that seems to be a core value for Trump's positions--it's the first position listed on his page: "Pay For The Wall." You click on that and it doesn't even give a reason for why we need a wall. Mexico is not going to pay for a wall. If we raise the cost of Visas to enter the U.S., Mexico will just do the same thing to us, not pay for the wall. I can't believe I'm even wasting my breath talking about this stupid wall. It's in the top 5 dumbest ideas I've ever heard of and it's his lead policy position.

Also, he only has 7 policy positions listed. 2 are about immigration. 1 is about repealing Obamacare, 1 is about protecting guns and 1 is about tax cuts which is a bunch of crap since every article shows how his tax plan benefits the wealthy not the middle class like he claims. The other 2 are about veteran's benefits and trade reform with China. For comparison, Hillary Clinton has policy positions on 37 issues on her page.

Okay, back to the GOP core issues. Smaller government is really their best idea. One I'm not opposed to in theory. But once you start looking at the budget in a chart like this, you have to start thinking about where to create a smaller government. We spend a lot on Medicare/Medicaid to provide healthcare to the elderly and poor. We spend a lot on Social Security because we owe it to the American workers who contributed from their paychecks all those years. We spend a lot on National Defense because we realize how important a strong military is. You've also got veteran's benefits, education and transportation in there. That's the bulk of it. So if you say you want a smaller government, you've got to make some cuts out of there. If you're going to focus on NASA or FEMA any of the smaller agencies that hardly get any money but still do important stuff, and not make any cuts to the behemoths out there, it's not going to make much of a difference.

GOP Core Issue #2 is "traditional marriage." Guys, I hate to break it to you, but that train has left the station. And it's got rainbow streamers on it.

#3: That the Constitution is not a flexible document. Again, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but having a process for amending it makes it flexible. I'm sure you'll claim that reference.com has a liberal bias though.

#4: Guns. Goddamn, you guys love your guns. A bit ironic from the pro-life party, but it is what it is. Pro-gun and anti-gun people are never going to agree. So I'll just say that I wish less Americans died because of gun violence and leave it at that.

#5: Obamacare. I know you don't like Obama so you're not going to like his health care plan because it's his, but I don't understand how you're so up in arms about providing affordable health care to more Americans. Health insurance is insanely expensive in this country. It eats my paycheck like crazy. But until we get a different system, people need health care.

#6: We're back to that stupid wall. I've already wasted enough time on that.

So yeah. I don't love the idea of being attached to a particular party, but I really can't get behind anything the Republican Party has to offer.

I do think it's hilarious that the on the GOP website, their first core value is "I believe that our country is exceptional" and Trump's slogan is "Make America Great Again" and continually defends the idea by saying things like "Our country does not feel 'great already' to the millions of wonderful people living in poverty, violence and despair." So which is it, GOP? Is our country exceptional or not great? Because you kind of have to pick one.

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Also, I hate how they use the term Family Values as some sort of secret code word to say that they are pro-life. Look, if you're pro-life, I get it, just say you're pro-life. But don't try to wrap it up with Family Values. I'm raising a family in America. The values that matter to me are the same that I mentioned earlier: affordable housing with good schools and affordable college. Other people may have different Family Values that are important to them, but I'm sure I'm not the only one concerned about my actual family and not telling someone else they can't have an abortion.

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So now I'm back where we started: Clinton vs Trump.

Look, I'm not as excited about Clinton as I was about Obama in 2008. She's not that likable. She's not as trustworthy. One of my biggest concerns is something that Trump, Sanders and Clinton all share: the youngest of the three is 68. I'm not saying older adults are terrible or anything, and of course experience and wisdom are invaluable, but these are modern times and I think it would be nice to have a leader that was more Elon Musk and less Al Davis.

So I totally get anyone not super jazzed about voting for Clinton. But damn, if she's not super qualified. In Obama's speech tonight, he recalled how she aggressively argued to take out bin Laden in the Situation Room. She's seen multiple presidencies from inside the White House.

Her issues align with my issues. Do I think she can actually make in-state public universities provide free tuition? No. But I'd love to be proved wrong! Can she actually make progress on gun violence? It's as tough as challenge as there is, but at least she wants to do something about it. I trust they she will appoint intelligent Supreme Court Justices that will preserve marriage equality and advance the progressive issues of the future.

So in a vacuum, I'm content to vote for Clinton, even if she doesn't have the same appeal that Obama had. Besides, it's not like Obama and I ever got to hang out anyways.

But I don't know if you've noticed, but this election is not being held in a vacuum.

I really don't even want to talk about how unqualified Trump is for the office. He claims to be such a successful businessman who happens to have filed for bankruptcy six times. He's openly racist, sexist and mocks people with disabilities. People apparently like him because he "tells it like it is" and yet every other word out of his mouth is a lie.

If the GOP candidate were Kasich or Jeb, I would vote for Clinton but still be able to respect them and believe they are trying to do their best to improve America, even if I think they're making cheese pizza and I prefer pepperoni. But with Trump, I'm just scared. Without hyperbole, he could literally start a nuclear war.

So yeah, I know who I'm voting for this November.

Football

I grew up playing soccer. I was decent enough when the teams were arranged by grades. But then around 8 or so, they changed the rules so teams were divided by age. Since I was always young for my grade, I was used to playing with bigger, older boys. Once I was playing against boys my age, suddenly I was the bigger, faster kid and I had a good season that year.

In 1994, I knew enough about the World Cup that I knew who Roberto Baggio was and that it was a big deal that his missed the last penalty, giving the Cup to Brazil.

But it was really the summer of 1998 that introduced me to top flight soccer. It was in France and it worked out great because the games were on in the morning. I would wake up and have nothing to do and could settle into a nice Netherlands-Mexico match. I appreciated the intensity, national pride, and the game for what it is.

Once it was over though, there really wasn't anything on TV or anyway for me to continue with soccer.

By 2002, I was home from my first year of college and was working a summer job and relaxing. Unfortunately, the Cup was played in South Korea that year, and this was pre-Tivo. So if I wanted to watch games I had to watch from 2-4 or 4-6 in the morning. I think I caught one U.S. game at 2 a.m. but it just didn't work out.

And then 2006 came around. The games were back on in the morning-midday and we were able to watch some over an extended lunch break. I remember watching the Czech Republic wax the U.S. The U.S had a chance to advance to the knockout stage by beating Ghana but couldn't do so. I also remember being in a bar on the weekend watching Argentina beat Mexico, which was relevant because there were a bunch of Mexico fans there as well. The final was a classic featuring the Zidane head-butt and again penalties to decide it all.

So in 2007, armed with the power of the internet and digital cable with a dedicated soccer channel, I learned about the Premiership and UEFA Champions League. I wrote about it here on 2.20.07. As you can see in that link, I was already partial to Arsenal.

I remembered Bill Simmons journey to picking a Premiership team in the summer of 06, and how we never heard from the Spurs from him again.

Here's how I came to like Arsenal best in the EPL:

• They were a top-tier team that will usually be in the Champions League, but weren't the "Yankees" of the league: that would be Man U or Chelsea.
• They are from London. A benefit in terms of representation and in the case of actually visiting or something.
• They wear red. As Tiger Woods, the BBC, and the KC Chiefs know, red is a power color. Also it has the history of being the working man's color compared to the blue blooded Chelsea. Combined with the fact that Chelsea is the other top team in London, wears blue, and us run by a Russian mobster, Chelsea is a natural rival.
• The team is nicknamed the Gunners, the fans the Gooners, and they play a fast paced game.

So they're my favorite English team. As for Italy, I always disliked Milan. I actually preferred the city of Florence to Roma, but when I was there I fell in love with the colors of Roma. Plus, they were actually in Champions League, so I bought a 10euro Roma jersey and adopted them as my Italian team. (I also bought a cheap replica Arsenal jersey in London on the same trip).

Ironically enough, our last night in Italy featured a Champions League match between Roma and Arsenal. It wasn't on our tv in Venice, but Arsenal won on penalties, so at least it was as close as could be.

Yesterday I DVR'd the second leg of the Arsenal-Villareal quarterfinal matchup. The first leg in Spain was a 1-1 draw. Interestingly, the tiebreaker of the aggregate score is away goals, which makes for some strategic choices. For example, since Arsenal scored 1 away goal in the first leg, a 0-0 draw at home would put them through, but a 2-2 draw would send them packing.

It was relevant because at 0-0, Villareal knew they were behind and had to score. And yet after Arsenal scored first, Villareal still only needed 1 goal to tie the aggregate.

Anyways, the first goal of the night was perhaps the prettiest goal I've ever seen:



The second goal was pretty as well, as Adebayor only used the outside of his foot. Arsenal advances to play Man U in the semifinals. Chelsea and Barcelona round out the bracket.

I don't really care about the Spanish La Liga, but if I had to pick one, I like Barcelona because of the city, the colors, their Unicef deal, and they used to have Ronaldinho.

So if I had my way, I'd of course have Arsenal avenge their 2006 Champions League Final loss to Barcelona, and send both Man U and Chelsea home in the semis.

Speaking of pretty goals, here's Arsenal's only goal in the first leg against Villareal:



So I'm all in on the Champions League, and in 2008 enjoyed the Euro Cup as a treat in between World Cups. I haven't yet gotten fully immersed into the EPL as a season-long activity, mostly because it's hard to follow all the games.

But I think that's enough: every two years there's a good international tournament, and every year there's a tournament for the best clubs in Europe. Sounds good to me.

Italia Recap

We went to Rome, then Florence, then Venice. Which I think is the right way to go. You don't need to go to Milan or Naples based on what I've researched. So when you're doing the big 3, Florence has to be in the middle because of it's geographic position. And for a variety of reasons which I'll get into, it's better to start in Rome than Venice. 

We arrived at our Rome hotel about 8pm, so that first night doesn't really count. So we had planned to have 4 full days in Rome, 5 in Florence, and 1 in Venice. We audibled during the trip to have 4 in Rome, 4 in Florence, and 2 in Venice. The 4-4-2 worked out quite well and allowed us to go at a leisurely pace. If you were short on time/money you do Rome in 3, Florence in 3, and Venice in 1. Counting the night you land, that's 8 nights, 7 days in Italy. The time of year you go is extremely important. I'd heard about how you can wait in 1-3 hour lines at the Vatican/Colosseum/Uffizi during the summer, plus it gets really hot. Going in March, our temperatures were in the 50's and we never waited in line. Conversely, I remember going to Paris over New Year's and it was gray/chilly. Definitely try and avoid June-August, especially August since all the shopkeepers leave because of the heat. 

Rome 

Usually we book hotels through Hotwire.com, and we did for Rome and Venice. In case you don't know, Hotwire saves you a lot of money, in exchange for not knowing the name/location of the hotel. Despite Hotwire getting us great deals in Paris and twice in London, in Italy the deals weren't any better than what they offered directly on their websites. So I would recommend booking directly through websites. You should be able to get something for about 100 euro/night. Between going to the Vatican, the Colosseum, and the Train station, it's beneficial to being near the Metro. We stayed at the Ambra Palace near the Vittorio E. station on Line A. Our hotel was fine, but the neighborhood was sketchy and far. It would be best to try and get a hotel near either the Spagna, Barberini, or Reppublica stop. The main airport FCO is 30 minutes away from the center of Rome. 

Here's what happenned when we tried to get a taxi: 

Taxi guy: Where are you going? 

Me: Ambra Palace. 

Taxi guy: 70 euros. 

Me: No. 40. 

Taxi guy: Okay, 50. 

Me: No. 40. 

Taxi guy: No. 50. 

At that point we walk away and take the Leonardo Express train from FCO to Termini. It was 11 euro a person and just as fast as the taxi. And you don't have to deal with shady taxi guys. From there you can pay 1 euro for a metro to anywhere. 

We went to the Vatican Musuem in the afternoon to avoid the crowd and there literally was no line. If you go in the afternoon, be sure to leave enough time to go into St. Peter's, see the Pieta, and climb the Dome if you want. 

We also went to the Colosseum in the afternoon. We ended up getting a tour guide from Discover Rome. It also covered the Palatine Hill/Roman Forum and we liked that guide (Sean) so much that we went a walking tour with him that night that covered the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and other stuff. 

On our last day we took another Discover Rome guided tour to the Catacombs outside the city walls, which was just okay. 

Basically, I think you need one day for the Vatican, one for the Colosseum/Forum, and one more to just walk around whatever. 

Best Gelato Ever: Della Palma It's up the street north of the Pantheon. You must go here. They have over 100 flavors and it tasted like nothing we had all trip. You must go here. 

Good Pizza: Gallina Bianca 

Best Orange Juice Ever: It was at a fancy cafe kiosk inside a galleria at the corner of Corso/Sabini across from the Piazza Colonna. It was 5 euro which is sort of outrageous, but it was so good that we don't regret it. We've never tasted anything like it. 

Go to Termini a day ahead of time and buy Trenitalia tickets to Florence. We got 2 for 70 euro. (2 hours) 

Florence 

This was our favorite city. We stayed at the Hotel La Venere which was fine, but actually a little creepy. But it had a good location. I'd stay in that area again, 5 minutes north of the Duomo, near the Galleria Academia (Michelangelo's David). Florence is so small that you can walk around everything. But keep in mind where the SMN train station is when you're booking your hotel, so you don't have to lug your bags across town. 

Michelangelo's David was absolutely stunning and is a must-see. You can do that with the Duomo, and the Piazza del Signoria and Ponte Vecchio all in one day. We climbed the Duomo and it was worth it for the views, but a less-claustrophobic option would be to climb the bell tower attached to it. I chose to climb the Duomo over the bell tower for the chance to see the inside of the painted dome on the way up, but I don't know if that made up for the narrow, circular steps. I suppose you also have to do the Uffizi, but I don't think it was worth the hype. To avoid the 2-hour line even in the offseason, buy them in person at the Pallazo Pitti across the river. At least it's cheap. 

After the Uffizi we took the #7 bus to Fiesole for amazing views. People also recommend taking the #12 bus to Piazzale Michelangelo. We loved Fiesole and wish we got there well before sunset, instead of as the sun was almost down. (The bus tickets are just regular city bus tickets that cost $1.20 and can be bought from shopkeepers.) 

On our last day we went on a Chianti wine tasting trip through Viator (booked ahead of time) for $50/person. They took us out to this Castle (Castello il Palagio) and we got to taste 4 wines: a chardonnay, some basic red, the special Chianti Classico Reserva, and a desert wine, along with cheese, salami, olive-oil covered bread, and almond cookies. (Funny side note: The castle owner made a big deal about how the Reserva is so special and how it has to have 90% of this grape...blah blah blah...and then she told us to dip the almond cookies in the dessert wine because they are so hard. So this clueless American woman next to us dips her olive-oil soaked bread into the Reserva and eats it. If the owner would have seen that I bet she would have had a heart attack.) 

BEST PANINI EVER!: Antico Noe I already wrote a whole post on them. Best sandwich of my life. 

Best Dinner in Italy: Lo Scudo I had the Bistecca Fiorentina and Brittany had broccoli tortelli. Amazing. We went back for more. Just behind the Duomo on Oriliuo on the way to Antico Noe.

Best Gelato in Florence: Festival del Gelato on Corso, just off Calizoli. 

Thick, rich hot chocolate and handy restroom: Rivoire This is a nice cafe where you can sit outside, inside, or go up to the counter to get everything half-off. Also handy because it's in the Piazza del Signoria and it's hard to find a restroom when you're out. 

Two Trenitalia tickets from SMN Florence to Venice were under 70 euro. (2.5 hours) 

Venice 

So there's not much to do in Venice. You see the Rialto bridge/Grand Canal. Then you go in St. Mark's Basilica and square and you're done in about 2 hours. You spend the rest of your time walking through alleys. There's a reason that people take day-trips, or just stay 1 night. We stayed at the Hotel Santa Maria which is the only hotel we stayed at that I would recommend. It was centrally located between the Rialto, St. Mark's, and the pier that takes you to the airport. We got a classic room for 80 euro (special low-season rate) directly through their website and it was a great room. 

 The hotel offered a free trip to Murano for a glass-making demonstration. Notice I said "to" as in one-way. The ride there was a private taxi on a speedboat which was half the fun. The glass demo lasted 5 minutes and was cool. But then they take you through their showcase/gift shop for 20 minutes and you're own your own to take the water bus back. (13 euro for both of us) Oh yeah, and since the only thing in Venice is glass shops and other tourist stores, when they close at 7pm, the whole city looks shut down and it's a little strange. I ended up watching soccer in the hotel in Venice and we ate at pizza stands on the street. I would recommend staying a night there, maybe two if you have your heart set on seeing 5-minutes of glass making. 

Summary

You go to Venice to see the canals. You go to Rome to see the important/historic attractions. You go to Florence eat, drink, tour the countryside, soak up the culture, and love Italy. 

Post Script 

We had a night in London on the way back and it was enlightening. Because we spent 5 days in London a year ago, it was interesting to see how we felt about it. We saw the Tower of London and Parliament/Big Ben, went to afternoon tea, had fish and chips, saw Stomp in the West End, and walked around. The Tower and Parliament felt boring, like I was just there. But the tea, the fish, the theater, was as fun as ever. It's a good lens to examine Italy though. I feel as though I've seen Venice and Rome enough to not go back until I'm 50, but I would love to go back to Florence anytime.