Sunday, December 22, 2019
Wednesday, August 21, 2019
A People United Can Never be Defeated
I always trusted that, when that time came, the great majority of US would reject racial division and embrace a nobler common destiny.
While there have been disappointments over the years, there has been even more meaningful progress that left me confident of the future.
What I never imagined was that any occupant of the White House would force the matter to its' crisis by putting the validation of racism to the test at the ballot box. But that is where we are and it is heart breaking.
Still, this is no time for self-indulgent tears and despair. It is, instead, a time of opportunity.
For those who wish to live in peace and harmony with our neighbors no matter our color, ancestry, religious persuasion if any, it is time we join together and recognize the impending threat to our democracy; that we do so with a clarity of vision and purpose; to gather strength from one another, and to use our collective power to repudiate and defeat the personification of the racial animus used to divide us.
Donald Trump wants a referendum on whether his vile, vicious, unveiled and unleashed racism is acceptable to We the People.
It's time for everyone of us to stand and deliver the answer.
There will be no retreat, there will be no surrender; not now, not ever.
A People United Can Never Be Defeated.
Thursday, July 11, 2019
How many ways can Dems lose an election?
I have seen the Democratic party tear itself apart many times before and I have no patience for those who threaten to do so now. I want party leaders who are experienced, measured, calm, patient and able to work collaboratively with others. That's Nancy Pelosi. What I do not want are inexperienced, immature, intemperate, impulsive, recalcitrant insurgents and truculent seekers of the perpetual flame.
The major contributions made by Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Talib, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Presley to the party to date has been to 1. label themselves and by extension the rest of us, as "Socialists"; 2. stage a pointless protest in Speaker Pelosi's office 3. threaten to primary any Democrats who disagree with them 4. Alienate millions of both parties with inflammatory comments about Israel and Jews, 5. Circulate an aspirational sketch, label it the "Green New Deal" and tee it up for McConnell to use as a punching bag anytime he feels like kicking his dog, and 6. announce on the day they were sworn in that their first objective was to, "IMPEACH THE MOTHERFUCKER."
All this has served to divide the party and alienate half the country at a time when we need unity above all else. In their latest brilliant move, they have now dubbed themselves, "The Squad." How very clever. It's not as colorful as "The Tea Party" but it will have the same effect - split the party and set us up as easy targets for Trump and the far right. Our presidential candidates are already doing a fine job handing Republicans issues to hammer us with. The last thing we need is for a bunch of self-styled, radical rookies to finish the job. If they do, we can look forward to ceaseless and useless Trump Twitter Clatter when Cortes assumes the role of ineffectual Minority Leader.
File under: How Many Ways Can Dems Find to Blow an Election?
Maureen Dowd on the Speaker they call Madame. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/06/opinion/sunday/nancy-pelosi-pride-parade.html?action=click&module=RelatedCoverage&pgtype=Article®ion=Footer
Thursday, June 6, 2019
America and Its Presidents - Dwight Eisenhower
I received this 1959 book, America and Its Presidents, from my parents when I was a young boy. Written by historian Earl Schenck Miers, and filled with dramatic illustrations and portraits, it helped fuel my life long interest in history and politics and has had a treasured place in my bookshelves ever since.
Thank you forever, Mom, Dad, family, and teachers, and everyone else who helped instill in me a love for reading.
Monday, May 6, 2019
44 Former U.S. Senators stand in defense of democracy
We are former senators. The Senate has long stood in
defense of democracy — and must again.
By 44 Former U.S. Senators
December 10, 2018
Dear Senate colleagues,
As former members of the U.S. Senate, Democrats and
Republicans, it is our shared view that we are entering a dangerous period, and
we feel an obligation to speak up about serious challenges to the rule of law,
the Constitution, our governing institutions and our national security.
We are on the eve of the conclusion of special counsel
Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation and the House’s commencement of
investigations of the president and his administration. The likely convergence
of these two events will occur at a time when simmering regional conflicts and
global power confrontations continue to threaten our security, economy and
geopolitical stability.
It is a time, like other critical junctures in our history,
when our nation must engage at every level with strategic precision and the
hand of both the president and the Senate.
We are at an inflection point in which the foundational
principles of our democracy and our national security interests are at stake,
and the rule of law and the ability of our institutions to function freely and
independently must be upheld.
During our service in the Senate, at times we were allies
and at other times opponents, but never enemies. We all took an oath swearing
allegiance to the Constitution. Whatever united or divided us, we did not veer
from our unwavering and shared commitment to placing our country, democracy and
national interest above all else.
At other critical moments in our history, when
constitutional crises have threatened our foundations, it has been the Senate
that has stood in defense of our democracy. Today is once again such a time.
Regardless of party affiliation, ideological leanings or
geography, as former members of this great body, we urge current and future
senators to be steadfast and zealous guardians of our democracy by ensuring
that partisanship or self-interest not replace national interest.
Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Jeff
Bingaman (D-N.M.), Bill Bradley (D-N.J.), Richard Bryan
(D-Nev.), Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.), Max Cleland (D-Ga.),
William Cohen (R-Maine), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Al D’Amato
(R-N.Y.), John C. Danforth (R-Mo.), Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), Dennis
DeConcini (D-Ariz.), Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), Byron Dorgan
(D-N.D.), David Durenberger (R-Minn.), Russ Feingold (D-Wis.), Wyche
Fowler (D-Ga.), Bob Graham (D-Fla.), Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), Tom
Harkin (D-Iowa), Gary Hart (D-Colo.), Bennett Johnston
(D-La.), Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.), John Kerry (D-Mass.), Paul Kirk
(D-Mass.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Blanche
Lincoln (D-Ark.), Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.),
Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), Sam Nunn (D-Ga.), Larry Pressler
(R-S.D.), David Pryor (D-Ark.), Don Riegle (D-Mich.), Chuck
Robb (D-Va.), Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Jim Sasser
(D-Tenn.), Alan Simpson (R-Wyo.), Mark Udall (D-Colo.), John
W. Warner (R-Va.), Lowell Weicker (I-Conn.), Tim Wirth
(D-Colo.)
Monday, April 15, 2019
Are all Trump supporters racists?
Do I believe all Trump supporters are racists?"
I was asked that question awhile ago by a fellow who grew up in the same town where I came of age; a town that celebrates its' long history of racial diversity but resists shining a light on the dark places, and where few, if any, would ever admit to harboring racist sentiments despite the fact there are entrenched pockets of support for a man who actively and openly tries to divide US by race.
I have given the question a great deal of thought - perhaps because I knew that the inevitable answer would only sadden me.
But when Trump's entire agenda is built on fueling and exploiting racial divides, there are only two possible conclusions one can draw about his supporters. They either share in and approve of that racism, or are willing to overlook it because they wrongly believe something else matters more. Either way, it's a distinction without a difference.
My answer, then, to the question, is an unequivocal "Yes."
If you support Donald Trump; if you do not actively and openly renounce his divisive, hateful tactics and policies, you are a racist. Wear it publicly or hide it privately, but it is to your eternal shame that you wear it at all.
- Harold Levine 11.4.18
Sunday, April 14, 2019
William Barr is not Roy Cohn. He's worse.
Roy Cohn was Joe McCarthy’s consigliere, a mob lawyer, a brass knuckled brawler, and overt hatemonger. Fred Trump may have pounded the compassion out of the young Don, but it was Cohn who taught him to kill. Roy Cohn's loyalty was to Trump and only Trump.
William Barr is a different matter; a legal and political sophisticate who earned his partisan bonafides shielding Bush the First from the stench of the Iran contra cabal. His loyalty is to The Party for which Trump is nothing more than a valuable tool.
Barr did not write an unsolicited, 19 page, single-spaced legal memorandum to audition for an illiterate, self-absorbed man who doesn’t read in the blind hope that it would attract his attention.
He wrote it for The Heritage Foundation (and it''s adjunct, The Federalist Society.)
His purpose was to introduce the novel legal argument that a president cannot be guilty of obstruction of justice sans an underlying crime. That memo will be used as a weapon to protect, extend, and consolidate the right’s increasing stranglehold on power.
The Heritage Foundation is a neoconservative think tank and the intellectual arm of the far right. It first emerged in the 1970’s as the brain child of Joseph Coors, of Colorado beer fame, in reaction to the civil rights advances of The Warren Court (1953-1969), that began with Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.
The Foundation gained momentum during the Reagan and both Bush administrations and is now in full ascendancy. Its membership are comprised of free market, anti-regulation capitalists, foreign interventionists, (they strongly supported Bush’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan), Catholics and Christian religious zealots, pro-gun advocates and, of course a disproportionate number of white males.
These forces helped engineer the Supreme Court appointments of all five conservative Republican Supreme Court justices, (Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh as well as the deceased Scalia) with the anti-choice Catholic, Amy Coney Barrett, next in line.
Trump is merely an incidental beneficiary of The Foundation's muscle, useful as a front man for his corruptibility and Svengali sway over his base. The same efforts would be made if the president was Pence, Huckabee, Gingrich, or any other champion of right-wing ideology.
Their current henchman and policy executioner is not Donald Trump. It is Mitch McConnell.
Trump knew no one of political consequence when he descended on D.C. The Foundation filled the void with party apparatchiks. They are responsible for the 97 Federal judicial appointments made to date in the Trump regime now being rammed through by McConnell. A reported 66 foundation employees and alumni have received positions in the administration. They also recommended and secured cabinet appointments for Scott Pruitt, Betsy DeVos, Mick Mulvaney, Rick Perry, and Jeff Sessions, Mike Pompeo, John Bolton – and William Barr.
The Foundation will live long beyond Trump. It's impact will be with us for generations to come. It behooves US all to know them well.
He wrote it for The Heritage Foundation (and it''s adjunct, The Federalist Society.)
His purpose was to introduce the novel legal argument that a president cannot be guilty of obstruction of justice sans an underlying crime. That memo will be used as a weapon to protect, extend, and consolidate the right’s increasing stranglehold on power.
The Heritage Foundation is a neoconservative think tank and the intellectual arm of the far right. It first emerged in the 1970’s as the brain child of Joseph Coors, of Colorado beer fame, in reaction to the civil rights advances of The Warren Court (1953-1969), that began with Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.
The Foundation gained momentum during the Reagan and both Bush administrations and is now in full ascendancy. Its membership are comprised of free market, anti-regulation capitalists, foreign interventionists, (they strongly supported Bush’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan), Catholics and Christian religious zealots, pro-gun advocates and, of course a disproportionate number of white males.
These forces helped engineer the Supreme Court appointments of all five conservative Republican Supreme Court justices, (Roberts, Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh as well as the deceased Scalia) with the anti-choice Catholic, Amy Coney Barrett, next in line.
Trump is merely an incidental beneficiary of The Foundation's muscle, useful as a front man for his corruptibility and Svengali sway over his base. The same efforts would be made if the president was Pence, Huckabee, Gingrich, or any other champion of right-wing ideology.
Their current henchman and policy executioner is not Donald Trump. It is Mitch McConnell.
Trump knew no one of political consequence when he descended on D.C. The Foundation filled the void with party apparatchiks. They are responsible for the 97 Federal judicial appointments made to date in the Trump regime now being rammed through by McConnell. A reported 66 foundation employees and alumni have received positions in the administration. They also recommended and secured cabinet appointments for Scott Pruitt, Betsy DeVos, Mick Mulvaney, Rick Perry, and Jeff Sessions, Mike Pompeo, John Bolton – and William Barr.
The Foundation will live long beyond Trump. It's impact will be with us for generations to come. It behooves US all to know them well.
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Guantanamera
"Guantanamera" is most often presented in song as a soggy, tepid, love ballad. It's true origin, however, was as a poem of political protest. Written in 1925 by Cuban poet José Martí, translations vary widely, but I believe the one below best expresses the poet's true intent and that which gives the song enduring life as a statement of national pride. Inspirational Verse: "I know a fatal evil/Among the unspeakable shames/The enslavement of human beings Is the great shame of the world."
Guantanamera by José Martí
I am a truthful man,
From the land of the palm.
Before dying, I want to
Share these poems of my soul.
Guantanamera, guajira guantanamera
Guantanamera, guajira guantanamera
My verses are light green,
But they are also flaming red.
My verses are like a wounded fawn,
Seeking refuge in the mountain.
Guantanamera, guajira guantanamera
Guantanamera, guajira guantanamera
I cultivate a white rose
In June and in January
For the sincere friend
Who gives me his hand.
Guantanamera, guajira guantanamera
Guantanamera, guajira guantanamera
And for the cruel one who would tear out
This heart with which I live.
I cultivate neither thistles nor nettles
I cultivate a white rose.
Guantanamera, guajira guantanamera
Guantanamera, guajira guantanamera
I know about a fatal evil
Among the unspeakable shames:
The enslavement of human beings
Is the great shame of the world!
Guantanamera, guajira guantanamera
Guantanamera, guajira guantanamera
With the poor people of this earth,
I want to share my lot.
With the poor people of this earth,
I want to share my lot.
The little streams of the mountains
Please me more than the sea.
Guantanamera, guajira guantanamera
Guantanamera, guajira guantanamera
Thursday, March 28, 2019
A Requiem for Baseball
This is the April, 1963 opening day cover of "The Sporting News". It was the first copy of "The Baseball Paper of the World" I ever owned. I was 10 years old. Once upon a time, that was a real thrill.
Monday, March 25, 2019
Russian Election Interference
Interference by Russian intelligence operatives helped engineer Trump's election. Leaders of both parties knew about it while it was happening. The Trump mob's too cozy relationship with the Kremlin fueled further suspicions. One party refused to stand and oppose it. As we enter another election cycle, that interference is ongoing and unopposed.
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Homo Neanderthalensis by H.L. Mencken
"You have to judge (Mencken) totally, roughly, approximately, without definition, as you would a barrage of artillery, for the general destruction rather than for the accuracy of the individual shots. He presents an experience, and if he gets you, he gets you not by reasoned conviction, but by a conversion which you may or may not be able to dress up later as a philosophy." - Walter Lipman on Henry Louis Mencken
A challenging dialogue
I challenge you. I challenge every single one of you who support the candidacy of Donald Trump to become President of the United States to tell me why.
Throughout the primary campaign, I tried and I tried and I tried, tried, tried to engage anyone who support(ed) Rubio, Cruz and now, finally, The Trump Who Stands Alone, in a dialogue within which to share our respective reasons for supporting this man or that woman. I got no satisfaction.
I understand that some of you are silent because your own distaste or embarrassment at the tawdry spectacle Trump’s candidacy presents. But millions of you have voted for him and I have yet to hear a single person make an affirmative case on his behalf.
Now that the stage is set for the final campaign, I ask you– any of you - to share a single thoughtful reason to support this candidate. “Anyone but Hillary”, “He Tells It Like It Is” and, “He Will Make Us Great Again”, are platitudes fit for bumper stickers. They are not reasons.
Your party nominated him. Do you stand by your man? Will you champion your candidate? Then make the case for him. Otherwise, denounce and reject him. But don’t stand silent.
Without a compelling counter rationale, I draw my own conclusion that the nomination of Donald Trump is the culmination of decades of divisiveness and bigotry the Republican party has fostered since the inception of Richard Nixon’s southern strategy nearly 50 years ago. You reap what you sow. I challenge you.
Throughout the primary campaign, I tried and I tried and I tried, tried, tried to engage anyone who support(ed) Rubio, Cruz and now, finally, The Trump Who Stands Alone, in a dialogue within which to share our respective reasons for supporting this man or that woman. I got no satisfaction.
I understand that some of you are silent because your own distaste or embarrassment at the tawdry spectacle Trump’s candidacy presents. But millions of you have voted for him and I have yet to hear a single person make an affirmative case on his behalf.
Now that the stage is set for the final campaign, I ask you– any of you - to share a single thoughtful reason to support this candidate. “Anyone but Hillary”, “He Tells It Like It Is” and, “He Will Make Us Great Again”, are platitudes fit for bumper stickers. They are not reasons.
Your party nominated him. Do you stand by your man? Will you champion your candidate? Then make the case for him. Otherwise, denounce and reject him. But don’t stand silent.
Without a compelling counter rationale, I draw my own conclusion that the nomination of Donald Trump is the culmination of decades of divisiveness and bigotry the Republican party has fostered since the inception of Richard Nixon’s southern strategy nearly 50 years ago. You reap what you sow. I challenge you.
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