That is a quote from JFK curtesy of Dale Earnhardt Jr., the NASCAR driver.
And David Brooks was very insightful this morning.
Link to Brooks Column on Culture War
All I know is the Democrats need to find their own path through this mine field to connect with some of the people on the other side. That will involve respect for people who make the effort and not demanding complete partisan alignment when they have to deviate to be true to that respect.
Tuesday, September 26, 2017
Sunday, September 24, 2017
Black Lives Matter, Blue Lives Matter, All Lives Matter
You would think this would not be a controversial issue. Yet, for some reason, it generates considerable excitement in some circles.
I understand why the African American community cares about this. Numerous young and middle aged black men have been killed by police officers. Police officers should be there to serve and protect the community from criminal activities, not putting fear into the lives of the community that if the wrong policeman shows up, the individual will wind up dead. And then, after these events, the community finds the policeman innocent of breaking any law or police rules. This is not right. Innocent black people are killed by police action and there is no punishment.
Is there any wonder that athletes of the same age would care about this issue deeply, particularly when some have had similar interactions with the police.
At the same time, the police deserve our respect and our protection. They put their lives at risk every day, deal with the worst elements of our communities, and are the target for deranged individuals who take advantage of lax gun laws to arm themselves with powerful weapons and gun for men/women in Blue who are from every ethnicity the U.S. has to offer. Many of the policeman killed in Dallas were African American. Many of the policeman who have not been convicted for acts against African American young men are African American.
This is clearly a complicated issue that involves where do you draw the line on freedom to access guns, should we take the profits out of illegal drugs by decriminalizing them, and how does society address the fear that so many acts of violence has created. This is vastly more complicated than showing any specific form of respect for the National Anthem.
Except for our President. Who once again has shown he has no ability to reach beyond his base and be a President for all people.
Link to the most thoughtful piece on this issue
I understand why the African American community cares about this. Numerous young and middle aged black men have been killed by police officers. Police officers should be there to serve and protect the community from criminal activities, not putting fear into the lives of the community that if the wrong policeman shows up, the individual will wind up dead. And then, after these events, the community finds the policeman innocent of breaking any law or police rules. This is not right. Innocent black people are killed by police action and there is no punishment.
Is there any wonder that athletes of the same age would care about this issue deeply, particularly when some have had similar interactions with the police.
At the same time, the police deserve our respect and our protection. They put their lives at risk every day, deal with the worst elements of our communities, and are the target for deranged individuals who take advantage of lax gun laws to arm themselves with powerful weapons and gun for men/women in Blue who are from every ethnicity the U.S. has to offer. Many of the policeman killed in Dallas were African American. Many of the policeman who have not been convicted for acts against African American young men are African American.
This is clearly a complicated issue that involves where do you draw the line on freedom to access guns, should we take the profits out of illegal drugs by decriminalizing them, and how does society address the fear that so many acts of violence has created. This is vastly more complicated than showing any specific form of respect for the National Anthem.
Except for our President. Who once again has shown he has no ability to reach beyond his base and be a President for all people.
Link to the most thoughtful piece on this issue
Friday, September 22, 2017
Sam Francis The Best Crystal Ball No One Ever Heard Of
Well, David Brooks did know about him. Sam Francis died in 2005. He was also a racist, he flat out thought white people have a superior intellect than people of all other ethnicity. But his thoughts predicted the issues that drove the election of Donald Trump.
1. Globalization was destroying US manufacturing employment in Middle America.
2. Politicians did not understand that fact.
3. "His third insight was that politics was no longer about left versus right. Instead, a series of smaller conflicts — religious versus secular, nationalist versus globalist, white versus nonwhite — were all merging into a larger polarity, ruling class versus Middle America."
This is the challenge for Democratic candidates. How to find policies that will address these issues while maintaining policies that the winners from globalization can support.
Sorry for the change in font. I am not sure how I did that, but I like the larger font.
Link to David Brooks column
1. Globalization was destroying US manufacturing employment in Middle America.
2. Politicians did not understand that fact.
3. "His third insight was that politics was no longer about left versus right. Instead, a series of smaller conflicts — religious versus secular, nationalist versus globalist, white versus nonwhite — were all merging into a larger polarity, ruling class versus Middle America."
This is the challenge for Democratic candidates. How to find policies that will address these issues while maintaining policies that the winners from globalization can support.
Sorry for the change in font. I am not sure how I did that, but I like the larger font.
Link to David Brooks column
Tuesday, September 19, 2017
Saturday, September 16, 2017
Trump's Effect on the Population
I was going to write something else, but Trumpmania interfered. And really, there was no real news generated by Mr. Trump this week. He hasn't offered any specifics, he hasn't signed any bills, he is only working within the authority of Executive Privilege and tormenting the rest of us as usual.
Bret Stephens explains why Donald Trump is tormenting his hard right supporters now. They now join those of us who believe ourselves to be reasonable people in our torment. Meanwhile, and this will not be in the link, the smoke that I believe is created by the fire that will reveal the facts of how Trump violates the Emoluments Clause and forms the basis of an impeachable offense continues to get thicker.
Link to Stephens column
And I know how Dana Milbank feels. I have gained, and cannot summon the energy to lose, 10 lbs since the Election. It cannot be good for my health.
Dana Milbank on how Trump has given him high blood pressure
All I can do is hope that somehow the Democrats win control of the House and can start impeachment proceedings on the Emoluments Clause. I don't care that we will then have a President Pence. At least, we will have a divided government that might produce some policies that do some good for people. What that might look like was going to be the subject of today's writing, but will have to wait for another day.
Bret Stephens explains why Donald Trump is tormenting his hard right supporters now. They now join those of us who believe ourselves to be reasonable people in our torment. Meanwhile, and this will not be in the link, the smoke that I believe is created by the fire that will reveal the facts of how Trump violates the Emoluments Clause and forms the basis of an impeachable offense continues to get thicker.
Link to Stephens column
And I know how Dana Milbank feels. I have gained, and cannot summon the energy to lose, 10 lbs since the Election. It cannot be good for my health.
Dana Milbank on how Trump has given him high blood pressure
All I can do is hope that somehow the Democrats win control of the House and can start impeachment proceedings on the Emoluments Clause. I don't care that we will then have a President Pence. At least, we will have a divided government that might produce some policies that do some good for people. What that might look like was going to be the subject of today's writing, but will have to wait for another day.
Sunday, September 10, 2017
Sunday Musings 9/10 Irma Inspired
There really isn't much one can contemplate politically. The one thing that is true is that Trump's unpredictability means you don't really know how things will transpire all the time. Unlike myself, one who craves predictability in all aspects of my life, Trump seems to thrive on chaos as it allows him to carve out control over what effects him.
No matter how awful the policies that Trump wants to pursue, you have to look objectively at what caused people to vote for him. The following link is a peek into that world. It doesn't have an answer for winning an election, for that you need people on the ground focused on speaking with voters, listening to their concerns and finding policies that will speak to their needs while remaining within reasonable levels of taxation and running a balanced budget.
Link to "Trump Fever Never Breaks"
And as for Donald Trump, all I can hope for that the storm surge causes great harm to Mar del Lago and that causes Trump to change his mind about global warming. But I will not hold my breath waiting for that.
As for Irma, I find it interesting that more recent arrivals have hunkered down for various reasons that I know sound prudent to themselves, but I was struck by the arrival of a long time resident in NY after the long drive from Florida. He was 90 years old, had been through other hurricanes and said he never wanted to do that again. Also, my high school friend Paul has been very silent on Facebook. He has lived in Florida for 41 years. The more recent arrivals have done everything they can to be prudent and secure, but are staying put. I hope they all come through this unharmed.
And back at the ranch, we will see if Schumer's power politics actually help people. I think the answer to that is in the hands of Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan. Trump has decided that he has to actually pass laws to help people. Will McConnell and Ryan agree with that? Time will tell.
No matter how awful the policies that Trump wants to pursue, you have to look objectively at what caused people to vote for him. The following link is a peek into that world. It doesn't have an answer for winning an election, for that you need people on the ground focused on speaking with voters, listening to their concerns and finding policies that will speak to their needs while remaining within reasonable levels of taxation and running a balanced budget.
Link to "Trump Fever Never Breaks"
And as for Donald Trump, all I can hope for that the storm surge causes great harm to Mar del Lago and that causes Trump to change his mind about global warming. But I will not hold my breath waiting for that.
As for Irma, I find it interesting that more recent arrivals have hunkered down for various reasons that I know sound prudent to themselves, but I was struck by the arrival of a long time resident in NY after the long drive from Florida. He was 90 years old, had been through other hurricanes and said he never wanted to do that again. Also, my high school friend Paul has been very silent on Facebook. He has lived in Florida for 41 years. The more recent arrivals have done everything they can to be prudent and secure, but are staying put. I hope they all come through this unharmed.
And back at the ranch, we will see if Schumer's power politics actually help people. I think the answer to that is in the hands of Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan. Trump has decided that he has to actually pass laws to help people. Will McConnell and Ryan agree with that? Time will tell.
Sunday, September 3, 2017
No One is Writing Much & Immigration Makes America Great
One result of Donald Trump's complete focus on himself is that most critics cannot keep up their criticism because everything has already been said while he continues to suck up the news cycle on himself. That is certainly true of this blog.
And now that I know State sponsored Russian hackers are all over the internet, I am starting to wonder if the clicks on this blog from Russia are real readers or simply the hackers looking for a new path to muck up the U.S. election cycle. The will be no fake news here I can assure you.
Ross Douthat, a conservative pundit, had an interesting review of two conservative books, one that has gotten a fair bit of press by Senator Jeff Flake, and one by someone I have never heard of, but the book is on the best seller list. His review is damning of both books and highlights how the only thing the GOP, of all factions, can agree on is "cutting the social safety net to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy" and that such a policy is not a winning policy with the electorate and is not responsive to the real issues of the day. This was an interesting read and the link is below.
Link to Douthat column
Yesterday, or Friday, Bret Stephens, one of RedStateVT's favorite columnists, came out in favor of Dreamers. He is surprisingly liberal on immigration issues, which I agree with, but so far he hasn't convinced RedStateVT. I will send him this column and see what response I get.
Bret Stephens on how immigration makes America Great
Thomas Friedman on how immigration makes America Great
If you look at a map of Houston devastation you see a pattern that looks like the path of a river. But many of the flooded homes were no where near a creek, river or any other flowing water. Rather it was the normal undulation of the land. The water that came down on the high ground flowed to the low ground, where drainage was already overwhelmed by 50" of rain there. If that happened here where I live, we'd be F*c*ed because our front door is the low point of a small valley. And while we are on the 2nd floor, our cars are in the basement. Basically, no matter where you live, if you get 50" of rain non-stop in 4 days, you are f*c*ed. And the Flood Insurance Fund is not actuarially sound, like so many other government programs. I wish we had rational politicians who could discuss these issues from a focus on what are the facts and what are the range of solutions.
And lastly, why is Donald Trump threatening South Korea's trade pact with us. Does he want South Korea to align itself with China and North Korea? And for that matter, does he want Mexico to align itself more with China. He can be bleeping idiot sometimes (or perhaps most of the time).
That is all, I have to go walk the dog.
And now that I know State sponsored Russian hackers are all over the internet, I am starting to wonder if the clicks on this blog from Russia are real readers or simply the hackers looking for a new path to muck up the U.S. election cycle. The will be no fake news here I can assure you.
Ross Douthat, a conservative pundit, had an interesting review of two conservative books, one that has gotten a fair bit of press by Senator Jeff Flake, and one by someone I have never heard of, but the book is on the best seller list. His review is damning of both books and highlights how the only thing the GOP, of all factions, can agree on is "cutting the social safety net to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy" and that such a policy is not a winning policy with the electorate and is not responsive to the real issues of the day. This was an interesting read and the link is below.
Link to Douthat column
Yesterday, or Friday, Bret Stephens, one of RedStateVT's favorite columnists, came out in favor of Dreamers. He is surprisingly liberal on immigration issues, which I agree with, but so far he hasn't convinced RedStateVT. I will send him this column and see what response I get.
Bret Stephens on how immigration makes America Great
Thomas Friedman on how immigration makes America Great
If you look at a map of Houston devastation you see a pattern that looks like the path of a river. But many of the flooded homes were no where near a creek, river or any other flowing water. Rather it was the normal undulation of the land. The water that came down on the high ground flowed to the low ground, where drainage was already overwhelmed by 50" of rain there. If that happened here where I live, we'd be F*c*ed because our front door is the low point of a small valley. And while we are on the 2nd floor, our cars are in the basement. Basically, no matter where you live, if you get 50" of rain non-stop in 4 days, you are f*c*ed. And the Flood Insurance Fund is not actuarially sound, like so many other government programs. I wish we had rational politicians who could discuss these issues from a focus on what are the facts and what are the range of solutions.
And lastly, why is Donald Trump threatening South Korea's trade pact with us. Does he want South Korea to align itself with China and North Korea? And for that matter, does he want Mexico to align itself more with China. He can be bleeping idiot sometimes (or perhaps most of the time).
That is all, I have to go walk the dog.
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