Howard Schultz grew up in the Brooklyn housing projects, was the first in his family to go to college, excelled in post grad jobs at Xerox and Swedish drip coffee maker Hammarplast, joined a fledgling, little known company called Starbucks and turned it in to one of the largest retail coffee shop empires in the world.
That ladies and gentlemen is a true American success story; poor boy from Brooklyn makes good by spinning coffee in to gold, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and a personal net worth estimated at $3.1 billion. Naturally then, Democrats want to boil him alive in cooking oil while pulling his fingernails out. His crime? Threatening to disrupt the 2020 presidential election and their dreams of a Progressive, Trump free utopia
The traditional line of thought here is that an Independent run by Schultz scares the bejesus out of Democrats because they think he will peel voters away from the D nominee and propel Trump to victory. This just cannot happen and so watch for Schultz or anyone else who gets in the way of the anointing of Queen Kamala Harris or King Booker to get Kavanuaghed. Soon stories about drunken teenage parties and bad behavior will emerge amidst whispers of white privilege and “the patriarchy”.
I believe much of this to be true, but it’s not the whole story. Liberal Democrats are freaking out over Howard Schultz because he brings sanity back to the table. He thinks wealth taxes are absurd, is not on board with single payer health care and believes in free market capitalism. There is also not a hint of identity politics in his words and he is refreshingly unapologetic about being a white, male, 1%er.
If Howard Schultz were actually to throw his hat in to the ring, it would force Democrats to reconcile the far left drift of their party, its cheerleading for Socialism, its class envy and the savagery of identity politics they rely so much upon. Right now all the energy is with this group of D’s, but a Schultz run would require them to defend these practices and give normal Democrats a chance to take their party back from the crazies. That is the crux of the matter and in my view is why the vitriol and hysteria surrounding him are so amplified.
Lest Republicans get tempted to grab popcorn and enjoy the show, they should understand that Schultz is appealing to Conservative voters too. People like myself who, while appreciating many of Trump’s polices, have moved beyond being annoyed with his temperament to worried about the damage its doing and could do in the future. While not nearly enough is known about Howard Schultz for me to say I’d vote for him, his potential candidacy is intriguing.
At the very least it offers a chance for sanity to be injected back in to the election process. How refreshing it would be to have Trump or whoever the Republican nominee is debate a real person of substance on policy issues instead of having to answer to the screeching quasi Socialist banshees going on about eliminating rich people, wealth confiscation and the evils of capitalism.
It would be good for both the Democratic and Republican parties to have someone like Howard Schultz enter the race, not to mention the electorate. I say bring it on!
Freedom Through Empowerment 
Right on, sister! Tricia, of all your many insightful and illuminating blog posts I believe this is right there at the top. It should be an editorial in a major national publication. Well thought out, well articulated and right on point as to what many in this country are thinking as well. That certainly includes me.
While it is entertaining to see Trump go right back at the hypocritical dems, his brusque and crude manner gets very, very tiresome. Not withstanding that he will always have a warm spot in my heart for keeping Hillary at bay, I would welcome a change. Meanwhile, the democrat socialist party no longer even feigns their evil plans for this country. Like you, I want to know more about Schultz, but for now, he is looking like the best bet for a serious third party challenge that we are so long overdue. I second the motion to “bring it on!”
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Awww, thanks Al. Great minds think alike I guess. 😉 I’m grateful too that Trump knocked Hillary of her perch and for the pushback he’s done towards the media and other idiot cultural influencers. It’s time for him to face facts though and either start acting presidential or get out of the way for someone else, perhaps Schultz.
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I was in the middle of a reply and AL popped his right in there ahead of me and said a bit where I was heading. Yeah.. good post and a nice read. I pretty much have little interest in Schultz so far. We shall see. One thing I will point out though.. me and my own blog go to great efforts to represent an anti-Trump opinion.. and this new “Trumpian republicanism”; essentially being all about Trump’s behavioral dysfunctions for the office and overall incompetence. His agenda is based on misguided biases.. but not totally without some merit for debate and compromise. So far all I see in Schultz is yet another rich guy with no experience in anything except building a coffee business and getting rich from it… very much to his personal success and capitalistic achievement. Honestly.. Trump has made me weary with the parade of rich businessmen with no political or governmental experience, corporate CEO’s that meander about cabinet positions they have no qualification for, to the point that they have absolutely no idea how to conduct themselves in the service of the country, inside the entities in which they were appointed to lead. In other words, a lot of fish outta water.
But.. with the Democratic field opening up it brought out a lot of the old Democratic ideologies that kept me a traditional republican.. liberal conservative. I’m not sold on this “tax the rich” concept… I think free health care is inevitable given our population growth.. but not at the expense of blowing away insurance companies who heavily invest in the economy, remove the entire medical profession AND medical industry from free market competition.. cold turkey. We have to evolve into free health care. Being a card-carry Republican, NRA member in the pre-Trumpian definition I want little to do with socialism. But my whole point here, Tricia, it will feel good resurrecting some actual political party ideological differences in this election.. rather than dealing with Trump crisis day after day after day. So far I am not inspired by any Dem candidate… and so far I don’t see anyone on the Republican side that can pickup after the inevitable revealing of all Trump’s transgressions pops him out of running in 2020.
Again.. nice post.
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Thanks Doug. I know what you mean about being skeptical of rich guys buying their their way to a seat at the table as I’m sympathetic to your view. I really do think we need to get back to the central debate on just how big and large a role do we want government to play in our lives as that touches on just about every issue. The current Democratic crew just wants to spend, spend spend our money and grow, grow, grow the government. Republicans pay lip service to being opposed to this but too many of them are directly invested in the gravy train that supports such a large and encompassing government to do anything about it. Plus most of them have no idea how to explain the befits of liberty and free markets and are just scared to death of being called bad names by the media.
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I guess each person has their own perception, but to me the “fight” is not against a broad-scoped concept of big-government-being bad but rather “Is it necessary, and how so?”. Government IS large.. but there’s a normalcy in a large government… whether it’s a dictatorship or or a well-established democracy. It’s not large simply to be large. It’s very easy for people to form their political opinions based on conceptual rather than factual ideologies. It’s one of the reasons many folks tend to favor the “fault” exists because of grand conspiracies that center around power and money. Power and money DO provide an impetus for some to deviate from morality.. but it’s hardly a conspiracy. Example.. the so-called “deep state”. Honestly, if it exists then let’s find it, expose it for what it is, and if there was wrong-doing then bring the culprits to justice. But the idea is kept alive by the perpetual question of, “does it even exist?”. Humans can’t keep a secret so it’s a bit of a stretch that some deep, dark, political lair exists, with hooded figures around a table, and secret handshakes, are calling the shots in a world that is anything but predictable, much less controllable. Way too much fear motivation in this country. We need to focus on specifics… not ideologies.
And honestly… the fight is not with the “liberal media”. Trump Tweets to get his word out to the people without the liberal media bias… but, jeez… the garbage he spews simply embarrasses himself and more importantly the country. He could use a LOT of filtering… on his end… because whatever message he is trying to get out.. simply is not getting out.
Honestly.. we need to get away from anything “Trump” and get back to being America again… whatever political ideology you have.
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We have a major difference on the quality of Trump’s Tweets. I haven’t seen anything that isn’t fact or a jab at the dems liberal fake news media or some repubs. At least he hasn’t given a State of the Union and lied over and over again about health care (obama care) or shovel ready jobs or solar energy etc. The list is long. I’ll take the Tweets any day over lies.
Schultz is a dem and always will be. Oh he will say what he needs to say to keep his name out there but the dems will knife him just like they did old Barney.
Schultz was a huge dem donor and if he gets on many State ballots that money will never see the dem coffers so that is why the dems are really mad.
Trump has done more in two years then any dem and most repubs did in their 8 yrs.
Trump is like CA. Taxes are high but the weather is good so we’ll continue to vote dems.
Don’t like the Tweets but the economy, jobs, unemployment is low, defense is building, trade is better and will improve in the very near future. I can handle a few Tweets. At least it gets the word out without the media spinning his words.
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You are absolutely correct… he gets his word out without the media spinning his words. 🙂
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Dennis I can sympathize with your position. In a lot of ways Trump was the right man for the job in 2016 and he brought to the table things no traditional Republican could and yes the economy and employment levels are great and we all owe him a heart full thank you for keeping Hillary out of office. He too often hurts his own cause though and quite frankly my own cause of limited government.
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Thanks for the info Tricia
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Any time Wally!
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I’ve since done some reading on it all.
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You know Tricia, I was one of the first ones to cry foul over Virginia’s Governor and his call for this third term abortion business…but I will, in turn, be one of the first to defend a college frat photo from way back in the day (1984 when I was thankfully already out of college and actually working in a real grown-up job) —that such a photo from days gone by during the poor judgements and idiocy that we most all fall into during those heady days of college….I cry foul over such a photo being held against any of us some 35 to 40 years later, once we are long adults…living and doing adult things…
I dare say any one of those wannabes who will be running has a crystal clear dance card…
I can look back on some of my photos from my college days and I cringe.
Not the person who I am now, thank the Lord.
So yes, thank the Lord we didn’t have FB, twitter, texts, emails…let alone computers…all of which brings to mind that notion of being “Kavanaughed”…
as the Democratic ticket pool grows… there will be more and more dirt digging and those “Kavanaugh” moments from within their own ranks, as they all jockey for position.
It’s going to be interesting but I’m sticking with Newt…who recently reminded us:
“Remember two numbers…”remember these two numbers — 35 and 49.
The first number was President Ronald Reagan’s approval in January 1983.
The second number was the number of states Reagan carried 22 months later.
I am not predicting President Trump will carry 49 states.
This is a different environment, and the tribalism that divides the country is deeper than it was 36 years ago…..
There will be three big things helping Trump in 2020:
1.The Trump administration’s accomplishments will be real
(a future column will outline the wave of breakthroughs in our lives that will start
being felt in the next 18 months).
2.The hysteria and dishonesty of the investigations and their irrelevancy in terms of Trump as president
will be obvious, and only the left will pay them any attention.
3.Breakthroughs like criminal justice reform, a cure for sickle cell disease, better education through parental choice, the best African American employment rate in history,
and the like will lead to Republican breakthroughs with minorities
(as happened surprisingly in both Florida and Georgia against Democratic African American candidates for governor –
in both states the margin of victory was African Americans voting Republican).”
It’s going to be interesting…
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I so agree with you Julie on not dragging up business from someone’s past from 35 friggin years ago. Frankly unless it involves a felony I don’t care what anyone does in high school. We’re the governor’s actions insensitive? Yes, but my God who did’t do things as teenagers they would be embarrassed by today?
I agree too that the next couple of years will be interesting. And tumultuous, exhausting, etc…..but interesting for sure. Thank God we can blog about it all. 😉
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Band of bloggers 🥰
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@Julie
Instead of trying to improve upon your comment, I hereby endorse it (for whatever that’s worth) 😀. Dennis came in a close second.
Am I surprised at the way the news media is treating Shultz? Not particularly. The media’s duplicity use to be more subtle, but it isn’t anymore. Still, we still aren’t use to seeing them so brazenly partisan. So it is shocking, especially to Baby Boomers.
Trump is president because the game the news media played backfired. Because they thought he would be a weak candidate, the news media gave Trump lots of free coverage when he was running for the nomination. Their outrage that he won the general election and that they can’t get rid of him has driven them batty.
Shultz’s announcement has them news media thinking “another Trump!” Hence they went after him tooth and claw. It will be interesting to see if Shultz can find the same intestinal fortitude Trump has displayed.
In spite of myself, I admire Trump. He is hardly a model of Christian perfection, but he does seem be loyal to people and tries to keep his promises. He also perseveres through the most horrendous abuse.
Look at the politicians in DC. Which of them has fought the news media head on for years and survived the contest? Very few. Trump is actually winning. Almost no one else has done that.
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Well i like Julie’s comment too Tom! 😉 I like all the comments here as they offer unique perspectives which is the best part about blogging. My bone of contention with Donald Trump is the unforced errors he brings on by always having to punch back and creating a circus like atmosphere; his ego seems to accept nothing less. Not only does this get in the way of advancing his otherwise good policies but it really is turning a lot of people off him, rightly or wrongly so.
As I mentioned to Julie when commenting on one of her posts, someone really needs to sit him down and convince him to hide Crazy Town Trump in the closet for the next 2 years so people can focus on his accomplishments as opposed to the unnecessary drama he creates.
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@Tricia
Trump is who he is. Can he improve? Who doesn’t need to improve?
Consider that phrase,”unforced errors”. Who makes unforced errors? A player, someone playing the game.
Trump is playing the game and overcoming ferocious opposition. Would I like him to commit fewer unforced errors? Compared to all the unforced errors his opponents are making? Given the bumbling of his opponents (due to TDS), I have difficult time figuring out what there is to complain about. But that is what the news media urges us to do — even as they are caught telling lie after lie.
Trump is one guy. Because he is the president and the only Republican in the party leadership position willing to fight, we focus on him (and maybe a few talk radio guys). Our focus on the Democrat side, on the other hand, is split over several officials and a rabid news media that madly attacks Trump personally. Have you tried counting all their stupid errors?
Democrats constantly go after Trump –personally. Trump pursues a policy agenda and lashes back when attacked. He behaves sanely by any comparison.
Frankly, I tire of hearing the complaints about Trump’s tweets. Some call it a blood sport, but politics is war. Losing is too costly. Can you imagine the personal stakes for Trump? The Democrats want to destroy him and his family.
Let the Lord judge Trump. I don’t know enough. The Democrats would do better to judge their own behavior. As it is I am grateful Trump won. H. Clinton would have been a disaster. So I am thankful the Lord gave us more time to save our republic.
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It’s not just Trump’s tweets Tom, it’s the deeply ingrained narcissism that causes him to react to the benefit of his ego rather than the situation at hand. Granted many times that action turns out to be a plus for the country, but many times it does not and in my opinion does damage to the societal glue and relations with foreign countries.
For Trump to win in 2020 he absolutely needs to expand outside his base which means, as stated in my post, appealing to people like myself who at this point are very open to either another Republican nominee or Independent candidate. He’s not done a good job of that these last two years which frankly frustrates me because it would have been so easy to keep going with the good policy while keeping his crazy side squelched. The Republican party would have grown and the country much better off.
This of course assumes Democrats are not stupid enough to nominate someone as unlikable as Hillary. It appears though they may very make that same mistake based on their slew of candidates.
As I said to Dennis, Trump was the right man for 2016 and did things no other Republican could have. He’s cleared a path and it might be time for another to take the mantle.
We’ll see about all of that but that’s the beauty of our electoral system, anything could happen!
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Oh, dear.. you’re starting to make sense. 🙂
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Well we can’t have that happen now can we Doug. 😉
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Sorry, Tom.. I can’t wait around for the Lord to judge Trump. Although, I am a tool of the Almighty, maybe I am indeed His voice. 😛
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@Doug
And people complain about the stuff Trump tweets! 😟
When you say things like that, you right to think you might be someone’s tool. Whose is the question.
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Thank you Tom—I can’t say I’ve ever been endorsed before 🙂
This is my second attempt at a reply—our internet is on the fritz this morning or it’s a giant conspiracy to keep me quiet HA 🙂
I loved Tricia’s coining of the word “Kavanaughed”—-that being the notion that anything from one’s youthful days of bad decisions, foolishness, shenanigans, and stupidty may be held against them for life.
No notion of actually growing up and gaining hopefuly wisdom, hindsight, some sense and that of a brain!
We might just all need to get out our halos as that is all that this manic new left seems to call for yet no one, not even in their own ranks, has one.
As Christians, of which many of the faithful have come to later in life, we find forgiveness and the opportunity to begin anew.
Doesn’t mean that the foolish errors of our sinful ways disappear, but that we have the chance to make things new and even right.
I do admire Trump for his tenacity and perseverance despite the constant hounding by the media and both parties. I don’t always agree with his words or actions—but I respect him.
And we only thought Reagan was the Teflon president!!!
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I agree with your remarks about Northam.. which I suppose extends to Tricia… 🙂
Here’s my own post on the subject…
https://findingpoliticalsanity.com/gov-northams-photo/
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oh thank you Doug—I look forward to reading and sharing in your thoughts…
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LOL! Oh dear, I just cannot abide the man, Tricia! I also cannot abide what he’s done to a perfectly good cup of coffee. That right there is his biggest crime. 🙂
On the bright side, Starbucks finally gave way and put in needle disposals in their restrooms. It’s horrible, but baristas are actually getting poked with needles left by careless addicts and then they have to miss work. I don’t like what’s going on in the world one bit, but I do appreciate that Starbucks took the problem seriously and decided to address it.
I’m a bit surprised by the Dem response to him? They really seem to want him just wiped off the planet. One would think he would be right up their alley.
I’m still well pleased with President Trump. Really pleased with his work on both stopping meth and fentanyl and child sex trafficking.
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LOL IB on the coffee! I am ashamedly a Starbucks snob and have fallen full victim to the $4.85 that I can’t seem to live without. I didn’t know that about the need disposals in their restrooms. What a sad state of affairs that is.
Schultz is not nearly left enough for the today’s Dems so even if he ran as one they wouldn’t be thrilled.
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Well, the Left loves handouts but hates REAL success!
https://aladyofreason.wordpress.com/
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Thanks for the link!
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The 2020 election should be fun/interesting. Hopefully sanity will prevail the far, far left candidates are seeing who can be more socialist than the other. So, that is dangerous. I am very sympathetic to expanding our de facto two party system.
Blessings.
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It is indeed dangerous Michael, we shall see what happens!
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Pingback: THE DEMOCRAT DONALD TRUMP? NOT EXACTLY – Citizen Tom
WRONG! Schultz is so far to the RIGHT and looks JUST LIKE TRUMP, that he will pull votes away from Trump if he runs. SCHULTZ is a TRUMP-LIKE EBA (Egotistical Billionaire Asshole just like Trump, with emphasis on the “asshole” part.).
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Question, did you read my post?
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Yes. You apparently missed my point.
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Bring on Approval Voting…an approach where the voter can nominate multiple candidates he or she believes would make a good elected person for the job. The winner would have to appeal (in centrist fashion) to the largest population of people. A real threat to two party politics!
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Amen Jonathan! Nice to hear from you. Are you blogging again?
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Howard Schultz is NOT qualified to be POTUS and will ONLY help Trump get re=elected if he runs as a 3rd Party or Independent.
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He is very successful and could definitely make a good president. 👍😀
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He’s definitely successful but I don’t know enough about him to say I’d vote for the man. I do like his kahunas for pissing so many people off by just merely mentioning height run!
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Sorry Jason you had to experience that. It’s actually someone I know whose lost his mind to the ugly tarpits of conspiracy theorists. I usually just trash his idiot comments but this one slipped by because he didn’t do it under his regular name. His vileness is beyond mere racist antisemitism and involves mental illness issues. Really sad too because he used to be such a great guy.
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No biggie Tricia. It wasn’t you. 🙂 You don’t need to apologize.
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You can remove my comment since you removed his too, thanks Tricia! I generally avoid politics these days. 👍😀
Have a great weekend!
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A bit of an interesting paradox… your radical friend here illustrates. It brings up the reason any of us post in a blog… some of us for some level of therapy in trying to project personal relevancy (me), some of us because we feel compelled to write something (me), some of us are politically opinionated and want to just rant (me), some of us because of some level of ego (me), and some of us who might be starving for attention (not-so-much me; I get all I need from other sources). But to imagine some of us post because of some random “social misfires” of synaptic cerebral grey matter cells that suggest a clinical aberration of acceptable “normalcy”…. is rather daunting in itself to comprehend. Because, strangely enough… even they have something to say, but the way they try and say it gets in the way.
Of course, all this assumes it’s not just schtick for shock & awe.
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Schultz is a FAKE, just like Trump!
https://muckibr.wordpress.com
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