The Most Courageous & Difficult Act: Peace!

 Please see this NYT piece:

 Choose peace--the opposite of revenge

 

Beautifully written. And this from a Palestinian doctor who's lost family members to this long conflict: "“The only real revenge for murder,” he said, “is achieving peace.” Cursed be they who cry out: Revenge. We choose life."  

 

All this violence serves those who want violence as a way of life & death.

A Butterfield Moment... [If only more Republicans had the decency of Butterfield and Hutchinson]

When I was a polisci student I remember my professors saying that our institutions would most probably protect us from authoritarian rule. Well, I now say it wasn't the institutions, not alone anyway. We've been lucky, so far, with the former president's attempts to destroy our democracy and any institution that stood it his way.

 

But, it was a few people who decided to do the right think, that is, have allegiance to the Office of the President and the Constitution, instead to ..Nero. But Nero is back and if elected it'll be revenge time and he won't allow anyone but a stooge and a lackey to be in positions of power--no guardrails for democracy.

 

We owe gratitude to Cass Hutchinson for testifying under oath (and more to come in the criminal cases agains the former guy). She also said that she has guilty for being COMPLICIT up to Jan. 6th. Many of the people in the previous admin. who are now revealing how malignant the Trump admin. was, had been part of the problem. They were enablers of the worst politics could produce and empower all the way to the White House. 

 

There is NOTHING new we've learned about Trump that we didn't know before. Yes, we have more details that he committed many more crimes, and he conspired to defraud the United States, the voters, and our democracy.

 

So, anyone who enabled this malignacy to spread far and wide in our society has to carry this guilt to their grave.

 

 

I appreciate Chris Christie, the only one on the debate stage among the Republican candidates the other day for saying Trump should be "voted off the island." But, Christie was an enabler too. I would like to ask him, when did he realize he was helping an arsonist and doing it for many years... Trump's character and actions were in display, at least when he entered the Republican politics by challenging the legitimacy of Barak Obama. Remember that? It's easier to go after someone when you (Christie) think he's a loser and will inflict another humiliating defeat to your party.

> By the way, I don't get what those Republican were debating on stage. If they thought that any of them is better for the presidency, they had to show or say so. But, other than Christie, they would support Trump for the presidency even if he is a convicted fellon! A fellon who conspired to overthrow democracy nontheless. Yeah, those Republicans... and their party, which still says that the Jan. 6th violent insurrection was "a legitimate politcal discourse."  In what universe?.... Tsk.

Choices, choice, Choices... Elections Have Consequences!

As I've debated countless times about the incredibly important decision of choosing a president, let's remember that life isn't only about 1 issue, generally speaking. A president and a party in power make a million decisions about policies, hire or appoint people in vital positions, promote certain values and steer the country into a certain direction.

 

For the last several years, we have one politically responsible party--yes, it's the Dems--and one anti-democracy, anti-science, anti-environment, religiously nutty parry--the Repubs.

 

 

Biden promotes workers' rights, and has passed pro-environment/science important bills. The Chinese are hoping Trump will win and kill anything that's "green" ecologically, including electric cars. He wants to get votes from the auto industry workers, and he'll get some as many people are known to vote against their economic interests.

 

Speaking of China and its leadership has been open about it: they'll keep building coal-fired plants until 2050. By 2030, they'll built 300 of them. OK, the Chinese poeple don't have a choice, but in the US we get what we deserve over all*. No?

 

 

*except when a state is gerrymandered to prevent the majority from being the ..majority, and when access to the ballot is restricted. Republican state governments now want to decide themselves--not the voters--who should win their state!

How Democracies Die

This is not just MAGA, it's the Republican Party's responsibility too

We all have our preferences, priorities and values. When it comes to public policy and electing representatives to lead the government, we can debate the issues. Reason and evidence should guide our important decisions. But before we have a conversation, we have to agree about the rules of logic, and evidence.

Likewise, if democracy is to survive, the major participants have to agree about the fundamentals of the game. One such rule is to accept the peaceful transition of government. The system has to have legitimacy, at least among those major players and teams that participate. There's no point having elections if the result is not respected by the participating major parties.

But, how about when there's cheating? Yeah, that would be very bad if it affected the end result of an election. The outcome of an election, wouldn't be legitimate then. However, false allegations, big lies, and unsubstantiated claims are equally harmful. There isn't a shred of evidence, for example, that the 2020 election was stolen, or fraud changed the outcome. 

When democracies die, there are many assassins, and most often among them are those established leaders that empower the murder of democracy. The Republican party [The RNC] has failed to condemn the Big Lie and the big liar. Actually, it has said that the Jan. 6th (2021) violent insurrection against the US Capitol was a "legitimate political discourse"!!!

That's why, in my view, anyone who agrees with this is dis-qualified from holding public office.

"During the first Republican debate of the 2024 presidential primary campaign last month, Donald Trump’s rivals were asked to raise their hands if they would support his candidacy, even if he were “convicted in a court of law.” Mr. Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election wasn’t just a potential criminal offense. It also violated the cardinal rule of democracy: Politicians must accept the results of elections, win or lose.

But that seemed to matter little on the debate stage..." [source: NYT 9/8/23]

How Democracies Die, by Levitsky and Zimblatt. A must-read book.

A Simple Approach to Education and Politics

As the new school year commences, education is under attack in our country. Who's attacking education? Isn't education a good thing? True education is learning HOW to think, not just absorb information. To learn history, what actually happened in the context of the time. To recognize that education is not a casual and superficial attempt to obtain a degree of some sort. It's about training your brain to obtain wisdom.

When students ask me what my political views are, I say that I support education, science, the environment, and, of course, the democratic principles that allow for free voting, free expression--which includes the individual pursuit of happiness--legitimacy of institutions, and peaceful transitions of power! 

 

Federal Indictment: Defendant Trump Conspired to Defraud the United States!

 "The Defendant, Donald J. Trump, did knowingly combine conspire, confederate, and agree with co-conspirators, known and unknown to the Grand Jury, to defraud the United States." From the indictment unsealed Aug. 1st, 2023.

This is one of the most important moments in our history (until the verdict is announced). The only president who conspired to overthrow a legitimate election (the most fair and open) and subvert our democracy. 

A Patriotic Message on the Fourth of July 2023

What's the meaning of the 4th of July nowadays? Love of the flag, bbq and the fireworks?... Or, the misguided and vile patriotism of the MAGA people? 

 

Back when, I learned about the Declaration of Independence and the new ideology of liberalism, the formation of a new nation with all its pitfalls and imperfections; and of the struggles to get to this point in history. I don't want to live in the fantasy of American exceptionalism and ideals of the Dark Ages--all of which are still very relevant, surprisingly in this 21st c. I don't want to see leaders who give permission to people to be free from the obligations of common decency!

 

Happy 4th! May you grow closer to independence and freedom--both start in your mind...

 

A patriotic message on the Fourth 

The Swamp Creature speaks...

Oh, yeah... (I posit sarcastically) Let's elect a young swamp man because the other guy is a dinosaur.

 The latest bright idea from the swamp (FLA) creature:

Question: Are you in favor of eliminating any agencies?

DeSantis: We would do education, commerce, energy, and the IRS. If Congress won’t go that far, I’m going to use those agencies to push back against woke ideology… pic.twitter.com/cAoZIXfESu
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 28, 2023

 

Most Republicans Exhibit Classic Cultist Behavior

 

It's one thing not to admit you were wrong because you lack integrity or courage, and another not to realize how foolish you've been. Everything we knew, suspected, reported, shown, exhibited, court-ruled, etc, about Trump has been verified, and most by people in his inner circle, and the courts--more of them to rule in the next couple years.

 

Every defense of this indefensible vile human being has collapsed other than the cultist devotion of Republicans. He's by far the front-runner in that anti-democracy party even after ALL the revelations about his actions.

 

The latest: we now have the recording in which he admits having top-secret docs and showing them to casual people (no security clearance) while laughing about handling national security docs. "Bring in some cokes".... He continues to cross the country on a campaign of blatant lies. Any legit news media should begin their coverage by saying... here's a dangerous liar who has been endangering our country. This must be acknowledged, over and over again--there's no middle ground between the sane and the insane.

 

He's "writing" a book and selling it to the gullible wingnuts. The title, "If I Did it"....