Chicago Cubs beat Cleveland Indians in Epic World Series Showdown ending 108 Year Drought

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My old friend Yogi Berra would have been proud of the resurgence in baseball interest built around the two teams with the longest streaks without winning the World Series, the Cubs at 108 years and Indians at 68 years.

Yogi once said,

"If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else."

Well the Cubs knew where they were going from the beginning of the season and the result would be ending the losing streak.  From start to finish of the long season, they were the best team in baseball, but they were saddled with a 108-year curse.

1906 Cubs who lost World Series then won in 1907 and 1908

Tonight, in one of the greatest championship games in World Series history, they proved to be the blue collar, hard working, and dedicated team they foresaw.  There were no superstars on the Cubs.  Many other teams paid their players much more.

Some said the kids on the team were too young, and that the older players were too old.  Yet here they sit, World Champions.  Heroes were a dime a dozen in this epic classic.  The Cubs surged ahead, then, the Indians slowly chopped away at the lead until they finally tied it in the bottom of the eighth inning.

When no one scored in the ninth it was in to extra innings but not before a rain delay that pushed the end time to 1 AM.  Finally, the Cubs scrapped back with two runs in the top of the tenth, only to have the Indians score one and have the winning run at bat.

The roller coaster of a game left everyone exhausted and even on the final out the Cub player slipped on the wet field before managing to throw the last Indian batter out with the tying run heading for home.

Both coaches, Joe Maddon of the Cubs and Terry Francona of the Indians, were exceptional, beloved by their players, and generated the enthusiasm usually found before the players become professionals and the measure of success was how much money one made.

Not these teams.

For one night, America united in watching the kind of World Series not found since the 1950's when the New York Yankees, Brooklyn Dodgers, and New York Giants dominated the game.  Not even ads from the two candidates for president could distract the millions glued to their television sets.

I knew the night would be special right from the start when these working class teams had no entertainment superstar sing the national anthem.  Instead, they announced a group of musicians from the Chicago Symphony would play the anthem, but the crowd must sing.  It was a moving patriotic tribute to the people of this country and the thousands of fans sand their hearts out.

Thank you Cubs and Indians for reminding us what made America great, the unsung heroes, the work ethic to be the best, the camaraderie of the players, the attitude of not giving up on your dream, and the faith they had in each other.

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Post-Election Primer - Remember the Seven Cardinal Virtues and Seven Deadly Sins - You May Need Them!

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Hillary Clinton versus Donald Trump - the Liberal Media versus the Conservatives - which is the lesser of two evils and what happens when one side wins?



What we have is a classic stalemate in chess terms. What happens in a stalemate? No one wins. That leaves it up to the people to sort through the barrage of claims and counter claims, through the greed and corruption, through the lies and half truths in order to make some sense of where we stand and where we are going. It also means the politicians in Washington, the executives on Wall Street, the bosses in the union headquarters, and the media in their ivory towers are all lost in the storm.

What does a captain of a ship do when facing a storm? Preparation and patience, combined with faith, strength, and hope will always help you make it through the storm and tomorrow will always be there to reward your courage, strength, and faith. In times like these when the truth is elusive and our leaders are paralyzed, when ethics and morality seem gone from governing, and when self-preservation dominates the common good, it helps to remember the old ways.



In the ancient teachings of the Catholic Church through the works of theologians St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas and dating all the way back to the ancient Greek philosophers Plato and Aristotle, long before the time of Jesus, good and evil was defined by the Seven Cardinal Virtues and the Seven Deadly Sins.



It would do us well in this time of a crisis of confidence and moral corruption to remember the Seven Cardinal Virtues and Seven Deadly Sins whether you are Catholic or not as they were an inspiration to the Christian founders of our great nation. It also would not hurt to see if you are living the virtues and rejecting the sins and apply the same standards to our candidates for public office.

The Cardinal Virtues



Four virtues play a pivotal role and accordingly are called "cardinal"; all the others are grouped around them. They are: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. "If anyone loves righteousness, [Wisdom's] labors are virtues; for she teaches temperance and prudence, justice, and courage." These virtues are praised under other names in many passages of Scripture.

Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it; "the prudent man looks where he is going. Keep sane and sober for your prayers." Prudence is "right reason in action," writes St. Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle. It is not to be confused with timidity or fear, nor with duplicity or dissimulation. It is called auriga virtutum (the charioteer of the virtues); it guides the other virtues by setting rule and measure. It is prudence that immediately guides the judgment of conscience. The prudent man determines and directs his conduct in accordance with this judgment. With the help of this virtue we apply moral principles to particular cases without error and overcome doubts about the good to achieve and the evil to avoid.

Justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor. Justice toward God is called the "virtue of religion." Justice toward men disposes one to respect the rights of each and to establish in human relationships the harmony that promotes equity with regard to persons and to the common good. The just man, often mentioned in the Sacred Scriptures, is distinguished by habitual right thinking and the uprightness of his conduct toward his neighbor. "You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor. Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven."

Fortitude is the moral virtue that ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy in the pursuit of the good. It strengthens the resolve to resist temptations and to overcome obstacles in the moral life. The virtue of fortitude enables one to conquer fear, even fear of death, and to face trials and persecutions. It disposes one even to renounce and sacrifice his life in defense of a just cause. "The Lord is my strength and my song. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

Temperance is the moral virtue that moderates the attraction of pleasures and provides balance in the use of created goods. It ensures the will's mastery over instincts and keeps desires within the limits of what is honorable. The temperate person directs the sensitive appetites toward what is good and maintains a healthy discretion: "Do not follow your inclination and strength, walking according to the desires of your heart." Temperance is often praised in the Old Testament: "Do not follow your base desires, but restrain your appetites." In the New Testament it is called "moderation" or "sobriety." We ought "to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world."



The Theological Virtues

The human virtues are rooted in the theological virtues, which adapt man's faculties for participation in the divine nature: for the theological virtues relate directly to God. They dispose Christians to live in a relationship with the Holy Trinity. They have the One and Triune God for their origin, motive, and object.

The theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special character. They inform and give life to all the moral virtues. They are infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being. There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity.

Faith

Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself. By faith "man freely commits his entire self to God." For this reason the believer seeks to know and do God's will. "The righteous shall live by faith." Living faith "work[s] through charity."
The gift of faith remains in one who has not sinned against it. But "faith apart from works is dead": when it is deprived of hope and love, faith does not fully unite the believer to Christ and does not make him a living member of his Body.

The disciple of Christ must not only keep the faith and live on it, but also profess it, confidently bear witness to it, and spread it: "All however must be prepared to confess Christ before men and to follow him along the way of the Cross, amidst the persecutions which the Church never lacks." Service of and witness to the faith are necessary for salvation: "So every one who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."

Hope

Hope is the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit. "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. The Holy Spirit, he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life."

The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspire men's activities and purifies them so as to order them to the Kingdom of heaven; it keeps man from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment; it opens up his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude. Buoyed up by hope, he is preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity.

Christian hope takes up and fulfills the hope of the chosen people which has its origin and model in the hope of Abraham, who was blessed abundantly by the promises of God fulfilled in Isaac, and who was purified by the test of the sacrifice. "Hoping against hope, he believed, and thus became the father of many nations."

Christian hope unfolds from the beginning of Jesus' preaching in the proclamation of the beatitudes. The beatitudes raise our hope toward heaven as the new Promised Land; they trace the path that leads through the trials that await the disciples of Jesus. But through the merits of Jesus Christ and of his Passion, God keeps us in the "hope that does not disappoint." Hope is the "sure and steadfast anchor of the soul . . . that enters . . . where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf." Hope is also a weapon that protects us in the struggle of salvation: "Let us . . . put on the breastplate of faith and charity, and for a helmet the hope of salvation." It affords us joy even under trial: "Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation." Hope is expressed and nourished in prayer, especially in the Our Father, the summary of everything that hope leads us to desire.

We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven promised by God to those who love him and do his will. In every circumstance, each one of us should hope, with the grace of God, to persevere "to the end" and to obtain the joy of heaven, as God's eternal reward for the good works accomplished with the grace of Christ. In hope, the Church prays for "all men to be saved." She longs to be united with Christ, her Bridegroom, in the glory of heaven:

Hope, O my soul, hope. You know neither the day nor the hour. Watch carefully, for everything passes quickly, even though your impatience makes doubtful what is certain, and turns a very short time into a long one. Dream that the more you struggle, the more you prove the love that you bear your God, and the more you will rejoice one day with your Beloved, in a happiness and rapture that can never end.

Charity

Charity is the theological virtue by which we love God above all things for his own sake, and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God.

Jesus makes charity the new commandment. By loving his own "to the end," he makes manifest the Father's love which he receives. By loving one another, the disciples imitate the love of Jesus which they themselves receive. Whence Jesus says: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; abide in my love." And again: "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

Fruit of the Spirit and fullness of the Law, charity keeps the commandments of God and his Christ: "Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love."

Christ died out of love for us, while we were still "enemies." The Lord asks us to love as he does, even our enemies, to make ourselves the neighbor of those farthest away, and to love children and the poor as Christ himself.

The Apostle Paul has given an incomparable depiction of charity: "charity is patient and kind, charity is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Charity does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Charity bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."102

"If I . . . have not charity," says the Apostle, "I am nothing." Whatever my privilege, service, or even virtue, "if I . . . have not charity, I gain nothing." Charity is superior to all the virtues. It is the first of the theological virtues: "So faith, hope, charity abide, these three. But the greatest of these is charity."

The practice of all the virtues is animated and inspired by charity, which "binds everything together in perfect harmony"; it is the form of the virtues; it articulates and orders them among themselves; it is the source and the goal of their Christian practice. Charity upholds and purifies our human ability to love, and raises it to the supernatural perfection of divine love.

The practice of the moral life animated by charity gives to the Christian the spiritual freedom of the children of God. He no longer stands before God as a slave, in servile fear, or as a mercenary looking for wages, but as a son responding to the love of him who "first loved us":

If we turn away from evil out of fear of punishment, we are in the position of slaves. If we pursue the enticement of wages, . . . we resemble mercenaries. Finally if we obey for the sake of the good itself and out of love for him who commands . . . we are in the position of children.

The fruits of charity are joy, peace, and mercy; charity demands beneficence and fraternal correction; it is benevolence; it fosters reciprocity and remains disinterested and generous; it is friendship and communion: Love is itself the fulfillment of all our works. There is the goal; that is why we run: we run toward it, and once we reach it, in it we shall find rest.

The Gifts and Fruits of The Holy Spirit

The moral life of Christians is sustained by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. These are permanent dispositions which make man docile in following the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David. They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations.

Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God . . . If children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.

The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory. The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: "charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity."



The Sins

Beginning in the early 14th-century, the popularity of depicting the Seven Deadly Sins by artists of the time ingrained them in western popular consciousness. The Italian poet ante Alighieri (1265-1321 C.E.), wrote three epic poems (known collectively as the Divine Comedy) titled Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. In his book Inferno, Dante recounts the visions he has in a dream in which he enters and descends into Hell. According to Dante, he is told by his guide that a soul's location in Hell is based upon the sins that they commit when they are alive. In each 'ring' of hell, a specific punishment is doled out. As they descend lower and lower, the punishments (and consequently sins) become worse and worse until he reaches the bottom and discovers Satan. In Inferno, Dante encounters these sins in the following order (canto number): Lust (5), Gluttony (6), Avarice (7), Wrath (7-8), Heresy (10), Violence (12-17), Blasphemy (14), Fraud (18-30), and Treachery (32-34).

The Seven Deadly sins are listed today as follows:

Lust (Latin, luxuria)

Lust (fornication, perversion) —
Obsessive, unlawful depraved thought, or unnatural desire for sexual excitement, such as desiring sex with a person outside marriage or engaging in unnatural sexual appetites. Rape and sodomy are considered to be extreme lust and are said to be mortal sins. Dante's criterion was "excessive love of others," thereby detracting from the love due to God. Lust prevents clarity of thought and rational behavior.

Gluttony (Latin, gula)

Gluttony (waste, overindulgence) —
Thoughtless waste of everything, overindulgence, misplaced sensuality, uncleanliness, and maliciously depriving others. Marked by refusal to share and unreasonable consumption of more than is necessary, especially food or water. Destruction, especially for sport. Substance abuse or binge drinking. Dante explains it as "excessive love of pleasure".

Avarice (Latin, avaritia)

Greed (treachery, avarice) —
A strong desire to gain, especially in money or power. Disloyalty, deliberate betrayal, or treason, especially for personal gain or when compensated. Scavenging and hoarding of materials or objects. Theft and robbery by violence. Simony is the evolution of avarice because it fills you with the urge to make money by selling things within the confines of the church. This sin is abhorred by the Catholic Church and is seen as a sin of malice. Dante included this sin in his first novel. Simony can be viewed as betrayal. Thomas Aquinas on greed: "it is a sin against God, just as all mortal sins, in as much as man condemns things eternal for the sake of temporal things."

Sloth (Latin, acedia)

Sloth (apathy, indifference) —
Apathy, idleness, and wastefulness of time. Laziness is particularly condemned because others must work harder to make up for it. Cowardice or irresponsibility. Abandonment, especially of God. Dante wrote that sloth is the "failure to love God with all one's heart, all one's mind and all one's soul".

Wrath (Latin, ira)

Wrath (anger, hatred) —
Inappropriate (unrighteous) feelings of hatred and anger. Denial of the truth to others or self. Impatience or revenge outside of justice. Wishing to do evil or harm to others. Self-righteousness. Wrath is the root of murder and assault. Dante described wrath as "love of justice perverted to revenge and spite".

Envy (Latin, invidia)

Envy (jealousy, malice) —
Grieving spite and resentment of material objects, accomplishments, or character traits of others, or wishing others to fail or come to harm. Envy is the root of theft and self-loathing. Dante defined this as "love of one's own good perverted to a desire to deprive other men of theirs".

Pride (Latin, superbia)

Pride (vanity, narcissism) —
A desire to be more important or attractive to others, failing to give credit due to others, or excessive love of self (especially holding self out of proper position toward God). Dante's definition was "love of self perverted to hatred and contempt for one's neighbor". In Jacob Bidermann's medieval miracle play, Cenodoxus, superbia is the deadliest of all the sins and leads directly to the damnation of the famed Doctor of Paris, Cenodoxus. Pride was what sparked the fall of Lucifer from Heaven. Vanity and narcissism are good examples of these sins and they often lead to the destruction of the sinner, for instance by the wanton squandering of money and time on themselves without caring about others. Pride can be seen as the misplacement of morals.

Interpretation

In the original classification, Pride was considered to be the 'deadliest' of all sins, and was the father of all sins. This relates directly to Christian philosophy and the story of Lucifer as told in the Bible. Lucifer, the highest angel in heaven, surrendered to the sin of pride and demanded that the other angels worship him. This being a violation of God's will, Lucifer and his followers were cast from heaven.

Summary

Our forefathers talked of the need for all Christians to continually work to master the Cardinal Virtues and to eliminate the Deadly Sins. It was a lifelong dedication. The results of such perseverance were the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Would we not do well to do the same? These are the standards that created America, they are the foundation to preserve America. Live them and demand the same from our elected officials.

Thanks to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and New World Encyclopedia for guidance in this article.

History will be made tonight in World Series Game 7 finale - America's Game is Back with the Cubs and Indians at the Plate - Tens of Millions will Tune In

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The last Cubs victory in the World Series was 1908, 108 years ago, the longest championship drought in all sports.  For the Cleveland Indians it has been 68 years, since 1948, making the combined total of years without winning the series an astounding 176 years.

The ratings will be through the roof as these two classic franchises take the field, in the  finals of a hard fought series.

Both coaches, Joe Maddon of the Cubs and Terry Francona of the Indians, are class acts.  As Steve Wulf of ESPN sports wrote;

"It's probably time to eject "skipper" from the baseball lexicon. The word is just too inadequate. The modern manager is so much more than the captain of a ship. He is a counselor, a teacher, a leader, a thinker, a storyteller, a cheerleader and a bearer of news, both good and bad.

If there's one thing this epic World Series has demonstrated, it's that the Cubs and Indians are here because of their managers. It's not just a coincidence that two storied Midwestern franchises with Cs on their uniforms are facing each other in the seventh game, hoping to finally write a happy ending. It's also a dazzling demonstration of how the manager has evolved in modern baseball.

Joe Maddon and Terry Francona are both Italian-American, both close to their families, both from small, working-class, Pennsylvania towns. They're not exactly alike -- the ready-for-his-close-up Joe likes fine wine; the self-effacing Tito fondly recalls Boone's Farm -- but they share a sensibility for their players, a willingness to think outside the box and a gift for expressing their thoughts honestly and humorously."

The teams are young, hungry, and gritty with new stars being born in every game.  In spite of the amazing drought in championships, these are two of the best teams in baseball and deserve to be there.  Both are underdogs when it comes to the series but one will reign supreme and cast off the decades old jinx.

The Cubs battled back from a 3-1 deficit and must win two straight in Cleveland to be world champions.  One will win tonight but in truth both are winners as they have brought America's favorite past time back with class and power while for one night will knock politics from the minds of the public hungry for a feel good story.

The following is a great account of game six by Yahoo Sports writer Jeff Passon.

Cubs rout Indians to force Game 7 of World Series

Jeff Passan,Yahoo Sports 8 hours ago 

CLEVELAND – Game 7 of the World Series is coming Wednesday. This seemed almost preordained, even after the Cleveland Indians found themselves in control of the Chicago Cubs. Both of these franchises have spent far too long craving a championship for it to come down to anything less than a do-or-die, empty-the-bullpens, batten-down-the-hatches dance to 27 outs. This is a baseball dream, and it’s coming live at 8 p.m.

Game 6 of the World Series came and went Tuesday. It was a blowout. The Cubs thumped the Indians, 9-3, and made the three-games-to-one advantage Cleveland held seem like a millennium ago. By the third inning, flights were being booked into Cleveland and ticket prices were spiking and the inevitability of 176 years of championship-free baseball boiling down to one game was titillating the collective mind of a country suddenly enthralled with postseason baseball.

Mostly, admittedly, because of the Cubs. Lest this further the Indians’ Other Team™ complex, the Cubs are the story captivating the country, 108 years of heartbreak hanging over their heads, their binary destinies either a delicious, satisfying end to it all or the most painful tease yet. The Indians aren’t some mediocre story, of course, not with their 68 years and the prospect of blowing the same lead their across-the-street neighbors, the Cavs, came back from to steal a championship from the Warriors over the summer.

This is baseball, of course, and there is no singular, transcendent figure like LeBron James patrolling the diamond for the either team. Corey Kluber has been the closest thing, and he’ll start for the third time this series, giving Cleveland its best hope after Trevor Bauer lost Game 5 and Josh Tomlin imploded in Game 6, the latter in a first-inning flurry and third-inning meltdown.

The Cubs’ first run-scoring burst wasn’t entirely Tomlin’s fault. After Kris Bryant walloped a 433-foot home run with two outs, Anthony Rizzo and Ben Zobrist roped back-to-back singles. Addison Russell followed with a fly ball to right-center field that should’ve been an out until a miscommunication between center fielder Tyler Naquin and right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall caused the ball to drop between them. Rizzo and Zobrist scored, staking Cubs starter Jake Arrieta a three-run lead.

Even though he needed no more, the Cubs provided it in the third. A walk and two singles loaded the bases and prompted Indians manager Terry Francona to pull Tomlin. Russell deposited the third pitch from reliever Dan Otero 434 feet over the left-center field wall, becoming the youngest player to hit a grand slam in a World Series since Mickey Mantle and tying a World Series record with six RBIs. It was the third inning, the Cubs led 7-0 and Game 7 was practically inevitable.

Cleveland did muster a pair of runs and was threatening in the seventh, with two on and two out. Cubs manager Joe Maddon summoned closer Aroldis Chapman, who squeezed out of the jam by a hundredth of a second. Francisco Lindor hit a chopper to Rizzo, whose flip to Chapman came just in time to get Lindor – a call that was reversed after first-base umpire Sam Holbrook called him safe.

The next inning was little trouble for Chapman, and Maddon pulled him after a walk in the ninth at 20 pitches, a number that shouldn’t significantly affect his ability to pitch multiple innings in Game 7. It was a call made easier by Anthony Rizzo’s two-run home run in the top of the ninth that gave Chicago a seven-run lead. Pedro Strop gave up a run and Travis Wood recorded the final out for the Cubs. With starters Jon Lester and John Lackey both available to pitch in Game 7, Chicago’s bullpen is fortified for its run at history.

The Cubs are trying to do something only the 1925 Pirates, 1958 Yankees, 1968 Tigers, 1979 Pirates and 1985 Royals have done: come back from a 3-1 deficit in the World Series. Here’s an even more heartening note for Chicago: Only the 1967 Red Sox and 1972 Reds game back to force a Game 7 after being down 3-1 and lost the finale. These Cubs have adopted something of a Rocky theme, with the original film and its sequels playing on clubhouse TVs before Game 5, a tense 3-2 affair, nothing like the blowout of Game 6. It still imbued in Chicago a greater sense of hope than the gloom that hung over the city after Cleveland took Games 3 and 4 at Wrigley Field. Game 5 brought back the signs that said It’s Gonna Happen and left at least some semblance of optimism going into Tuesday.

It was warranted, and now, with standing-room-only tickets starting at $2,000 and actual seats running closer to $2,500, with the highest TV ratings in decades expected, with Major League Baseball riding this close-to-a-dream series to its close-to-a-dream conclusion. Now all it needs is a compelling Game 7 that will remind one city why the wait is worth it and the other about how getting so close can feel worse than not being there at all.

Why is President Obama the only Democrat on Earth Defending the FBI Director?

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Can FBI Bombshell morph into Nuclear Explosion if Clinton is Guilty?

One of the enduring mysteries of the first weekend of the FBI presidential election bombshell is the reaction of those with most to gain or lose as a result.

Democrats, after getting over the initial shock, have turned on FBI Director James Comey en masse with only one exception to date.  On the Republican side, there is a split reaction with most applauding the action by the FBI Director while a few from the anti-Trump holdouts claim it was not fair to Clinton.

As for the campaigns, the Clinton campaign is desperately trying to turn attention to Trump's character and away from the email mess, while Trump continues to rise in the polls.

The most mysterious reaction of all comes from the most likely of sources, President Obama.  Why is Obama, who is known as the most partisan retiring president in modern history, the only prominent Democrat to defend FBI Director Comey?

At the White House news briefing yesterday, Monday, Obama Press Secretary Josh Earnest said he would "neither defend or criticize" the actions of the FBI Director, a sound byte jumped on by the media.

He also said President Obama did not believe the FBI Director was "meddling" in the presidential election as all other Democrats claim including Clinton.

Then Earnest went on to say Obama believed the FBI Director "is a man of integrity, a man of principle, and a man of good character."

The great mystery, why is the President the only Democrat on Earth praising the FBI Director in the face of a massive avalanche of criticism by fellow Democrats?

The action is odd, highly out of character for a president who never hesitates to jump into a political fray, and with the presidential election on the line it does not help the Clinton candidacy.

Perhaps it is a result of the Clinton campaign pivot away from the Barack Obama legacy after running on his record for most of the campaign.  Ever the opportunist, Hillary Clinton has become increasingly critical of the Obama legacy as the campaign reaches its conclusion from Obamacare to foreign policy.

Could it be Obama senses Clinton will abandon his legacy once elected, as Bill Clinton abandoned the Democratic party platform after being elected in 1992?

Or, and this is an equally ominous conclusion, could it be he knows that FBI Director Comey would not take such drastic and controversial action if there was not sufficient reason to do so, in which case the FBI bombshell could morph into a nuclear explosion if Clinton or her staff violated the laws.

We shall soon find out the truth.

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News Bulletin - Donald Trump moves ahead of Hillary Clinton for the first time since May according to latest ABC News Washington Post tracking poll!

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Trump gains 13 percent in past few days in stunning reversal of polling data, now leads in voter enthusiasm and toss up states!

As of today, Tuesday, November 1, Trump has powered into the lead in the national poll and has closed ground in numerous toss up states with most polls now showing the race too close to call. 

While politicians debate the people speak and so far, the news is not good for the Clinton campaign.  In spite of a valiant effort by ABC and the Washington Post to explain away the Trump surge, indicative of their long opposition to the GOP standard-bearer, the facts are facts.

Trump has gained 13 percent from October 23 to October 30.

Trump voter enthusiasm is 8 percent ahead of Clinton, which represents a 7 percent loss in enthusiasm by Clinton.

In five ABC News designated toss up states, Trump now leads 48 percent to 41 percent, an astounding advantage ABC claims is not significant.

Fasten your seat belts, there are just seven days until the election.

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Hillary finishes greatest poll crash in presidential history - Sunday the margin hit 1%!

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The astonishing poll collapse of the Hillary Clinton campaign in the ABC News Washington Post tracking survey dropped to a single digit lead Sunday, a change of 11 points in one week.  Her is what the Washington Post had to say in explaining the amazing fall.

Post-ABC poll finds tight presidential race, with mixed reaction to FBI’s review of Clinton’s emails

"Republicans' growing unity behind their presidential nominee, Donald Trump, has helped pull him just 1 percentage point behind Hillary Clinton and has placed GOP leaders who resist him in a vulnerable position, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News Tracking Poll."

According to the Post they explain the collapse in the following way.

"Greater Republican unity has buoyed Trump's rising support, which has wavered throughout the year. Trump's 87 percent support among self-identified Republicans, ticking up from 83 percent last week, nearly matches Clinton's 88 percent support among Democrats. Independents also have moved sharply in Trump's direction, from favoring Clinton by eight points one week ago to backing Trump by 19 points."

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Listen to Survive Election Post-mortem Blues

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Bobby McFerrin - Don't Worry Be Happy

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OFFICIAL Somewhere over the Rainbow - Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole  May 20, 1959 – June 26, 1997

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ABC News Washington Post Poll completes Historic Clinton Collapse before FBI thunderbolt - will it now fall off the cliff?

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More Weiner Woes as Hillary Clinton caught between Bill Clinton and Anthony Weiner sexual antics.

Today ABC announced Clinton's lead now 2%, within margin of error, just five days after the same poll showed a 12% Clinton landslide!

As the liberal media rushes to explain away the stunning FBI reopening of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, the ABC News tracking poll reported this morning, Saturday, Clinton now has a 2% lead over Trump.  Of course this was before the FBI report yesterday afternoon.

Of course, ABC and the Washington Post have no logical explanation for the greatest poll collapse in presidential history as ABC reported a 12 or 13% lead for Clinton just five days ago and this morning reported a 2% lead.  No candidate for president has ever lost a double-digit lead in just five days.

Professional apologists for the network blamed the dramatic collapse on a settling of voters into the Trump column, yet this supposed settling happened before the FBI bombshell hit the news.  Just a few days ago liberal media said the election was over based on the double-digit lead of Clinton, a lead that has now evaporated into thin air.

The Clinton campaign demands the FBI release the newly discovered emails from the Anthony Weiner criminal investigation, after refusing to discuss them for the past year.  Mr. Weiner, a former disgraced Democratic congressman from New York, is married to Huma Abedin, the top aide to Clinton who has been her eyes and ears for 20 years. Is this a desperate move that could backfire, if Weiner's wife kept emails on her husband's computer, only time will tell.

All major tracking polls show the race a dead heat for the first time.  Gone is the news media speculation that there would be a Clinton landslide.  News media like ABC News and the Washington Post have a lot to explain and the next round of polls should show for the first time the real status of the election.

Tactics by the biased news media to attempt to influence the election should be a matter of debate for years to come.

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Hillary Clinton collapsing in polls as Liberal Media hit panic button - Oops, maybe the election is not over yet! Her House of Cards comes down!

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News Media Scrambles to explain away Hillary collapse in Polls - ABC caught in Middle with faulty sampling data 

The Washington Post ABC News tracking poll shows Hillary Clinton collapse from a twelve-point lead to six points in just three days.  This astonishing collapse in her lead does not even reflect the devastating news about the Obamacare financial fiasco, or the never-ending stream of damaging emails released by Wiki Leaks, which detail how the Clinton organization made a non-profit foundation into a multi-million dollar slush fund for the family.

The tracking poll, under ABC news anchor and political director George Stephanopoulos, deviated from three other tracking polls by twelve points just three days ago when all the liberal news networks declared the race was over and Hillary was the winner.

Stephanopoulos, you might remember, is a former United States Democratic Party political adviser who served as a Communications Director for the Bill Clinton 1992 Presidential Campaign and worked for President Clinton with Rahm Emanuel, Clinton fundraiser and Obama Chief of Staff.  George subsequently became Clinton's White House Communications Director, then Senior Adviser for Policy and Strategy before departing in December 1996.

Did I mention George Stephanopoulos also contributed several thousand dollars to the Clinton Foundation, after he joined ABC News, which seems to be a conflict of interest for a news anchor of a major television network?

The Hillary Clinton campaign adopted the news media strategy of saying the presidential race is over, thus allowing Clinton to reduce the number of campaign events, to attend a concert by British pop singer Adele, and redirect her efforts to getting house and senate candidates elected.  Over-confidence by the nominee seemed to be dominate in the past few weeks.

What in the world, is a British endorsement going to do in the American presidential campaign?  Last time a politician tried to influence an election in another country, like when President Obama went to the United Kingdom and told the voters to vote against withdrawing from the European Union or there would be a world economic collapse, the British voters ignored him and voted to leave the EU, and there has been no economic collapse.

Now Hillary attends a concert of Adele, gets an endorsement, and considers it a campaign event.  About the only contribution Adele can make to the American election is to remind Hillary how to handle being sick and cancelling concert appearances, which she does often.

As for the polls, when word leaked out that the polls were purposefully over-sampling Democrats, not even the Washington Post could stand the heat.  Three days ago, the poll reflected a nine percent over-sample; today the same poll reduced the Democrat over-sample to seven percent.  There was no mention of this poll manipulation in reports today of the huge collapse in Clinton support by ABC or George.

The ABC poll remains six to seven points different from all three other tracking polls due to the continued over-sample of Democrats.  In truth, there is a dead heat in the race and it is far too close to call, very different from the networks and newspapers claiming last week, the race was over, and projecting a Hillary landslide.

So does this constitute "rigging" the election as Trump claimed?  The voters will be the judge on Election Day.  Enjoy the next week of liberal national media types choking over the real status and all of a sudden trying to explain Trump might have a shot after all.

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