While the Economist correctly notes the seriousness of Putin's escapades in the Eastern Ukraine, they focus on the need for military spending in the E.U. and Central Europe rather than the hard truth that consumption of Russian energy needs to be reduced.
And Mr. Putin, why is it that only Russian borders need to be expanded? You wouldn't give Chechnya freedom by shrinking Russia's borders, why should the Ukraine be asked to do that?
The policy of hate by the Tea Party is a repeat phenomenon. After the Civil War gave Blacks their freedom, the KKK and Jim Crow laws were created. After other laws were passed to protect African American rights, they were overturned by conservative Supreme Court decisions and segregation was allowed to continue. Now Obama has been elected President, and the Tea Party is strongest where the KKK used to be present. And the Tea Party state legislators in many of those places are doing their best to disenfranchise their African American citizens.
The complicated nature of nurturing poor children to become sufficiently educated to escape poverty is highlighted in the following NY Times article telling the story of Tenille Warren, who had a guaranteed college scholarship, but chose to work in a Safeway because the concept of college was so foreign to her. Now 20 years after high school, she is in college because of hard work and a dream.
Link to article about Tenille Warren
Which shows just how far we have to go to create a land of opportunity for everyone, a true meritocracy where one is not doomed to failure by the bad luck of birth. And that focus must be on training parents to be better educators so that kids can have success in school which feeds hope which fuels ambition and drive. Kids do not have success in school if their parents don't read to them and talk to them when they are babies. And there is a problem. 70% of middle aged African American men who did not graduate from High School have been imprisoned. If the GOP really believed in an equal society for all, they would be addressing poverty with some policy of educating parents how to be better parents so their kids will achieve something in school. They are not and so I believe the GOP does not really care about poverty and the impact it has on society.
Link to Nickolas Kristoff's Take on the State of Race Relations
Lastly, there is no doubt that ISIS is a problem. But so is Assad who is fighting (ineffectively) ISIS. and Iran is a well known long standing problem. ISIS is fighting Iran and Assad so they should be our friends, except they hate us and Israel so they are the enemy. But that does not make Iran and Assad our allies and I cannot imagine any manner in which U.S. boots on the ground engaged in fighting ISIS can make any sense. They would be caught in a cross fire between enemies for which they would be a mutual enemy. My question is where are the military forces of Turkey, Jordan and Iraq? They are the ones with ground based supply lines and they are the ones who have the most to lose if ISIS were to come after them.
And then there is the two faced Saudi King saying the U.S. should come after ISIS when his people are sending money that helps keep Al-Qaeda, the Taliban and ISIS well funded. Why doesn't he take care of his people and cut off that funding.
And I see where some in Israel are musing about the danger of creating a Palestinian state on the West Bank and the danger of not creating a Palestinian state on the West Bank. That is a positive even if it is unlikely to occur in the foreseeable future.
Finally, a Conservative Judge destroy's the legal arguments against Same Sex Marriage. Use the link to get to the article and listen to the Audio of the Judge questioning the Attorney General's of Indiana and Wisconsin who are trying to defend their state laws banning gay marriage. The Judge asks who is helped by this law when the children of same sex couples are being harmed. And he wonders why should tradition that is unconstitutional be sanctioned by a court when other traditions have been ruled unconstitutional by the admission of the Attorney General trying to defend the law the court is being asked to uphold or overturn.
Link to Judge Posner's questions
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