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
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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. 
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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.

If we must accept a finding that the Trump mob did not conspire with the Russians, then we conclude they were unwitting and witless dupes or cynical profiteers on the make.
We do not know what countervailing facts or DOJ protocols rescued Trump from an obstruction of justice charge but we must not turn away from the obvious. The argument that there can be no obstruction absent an underlying crime is simply a misstatement of the law and thus, a lie.
Barr’s assumption of the right of the AG’s office, rather than Congress, to make the determination of whether to charge obstruction of justice that we all witnessed is a further usurpation of the Constitutional separation of powers and another step towards establishing a supreme presidency.
The House will continue to demand release of the complete Mueller report. The chairs will issue subpoenas that Trump will refuse to honor, and we will get a nation defining lesson in Executive Privilege. Trump will erect his stonewall, grant pardons to those who did not “flip” and gamble he has 5 votes in the Supreme Court who will back his power play.
Donald Trump will never accept his “victory” graciously. He is mentally ill and his pathology compels him to lie, bully, divide and try to destroy all opposition. He will continue attacking and demanding prosecution of his political enemies.
House Impeachment remains viable but conviction and removal by a Republican controlled Senate is not. Our path forward must be to identify candidates and issues who can bury him in the popular vote and - most importantly, the Electoral College, (which will not be abolished any time in the near future.)
We stand united with all who continue to oppose this thuggish regime. There will be no retreat. There will be no surrender. We fight on!

Below is a link to the executive summaries of the two volumes of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's final report. Volume I deals with links between Russia and the Trump campaign, while Volume II deals with potential obstruction of justice by President Trump. 

HL March 25, 2019


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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

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A challenging dialogue

A look back at a campaign dialogue.  



Harold Levine
June 8, 2016
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.
Maria Land, Carol Marshal and 32 others
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  • Joanne Alley Daddario I do not agree at all. I'm sorry. I do not blame the Republican Party. There are just way too many people to blame. Where do you start? Is it really even blame? What does everyone think of the press and what they jam down our throat? Who the hell do you believe anymore? I am a very proud Republican and I am not stupid or narrow minded and I am a very nice person. I have children and grandchildren who will be here long after me and I only want the best for them. Right now I don't feel real good about that. Things are going awry big time. I don't claim to have the answers to all but I am so tired of this blame game. Republicans are not evil people,,they even have some good thoughts. Stop blaming and try to figure out a solution. Please
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  • Harriet Rodgers Paine every picture tells a story, don't it....
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  • DaviLyn Morse I am a registered independent and have been for 44 years. I openly admit that I have voted for some Democrats and for some Republicans for POTUS. When Donald Trump first threw his name in the hat, I admit that I thought he might be a good thing for this country. I was concerned when he first started making racist comments about Mexicans. Believe it or not, I thought it was a carefully thought out poker strategy, designed to shift the vote to another Republican candidate. (Player in early position raises to get more action for his cohort that has secretly signaled that he has the nuts). However, over the last few months I've come to realize that Donald Trump represents everything evil. It's frightening to even try to imagine what this country would be like if he is elected.
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  • Abigail Kowaleski I listen to he supporters and they are devoted but they never discuss what he brings to the table. He is spending time whining about his trial for TU, wasn't he taught that you leave your personal problems at the door when you go to work. He deflects any question by spewing some type of hatred or racist remark towards someone else. He has many times justified his rants by saying well they said not nice things about me. If your child behaved that way you would not allow it so I certainly don't want a President who behaves irrationally there is too much at stake. Harold thank you for the question, I hope someone can explain why they would vote for him based on his policies, temperament and what they think he would accomplish.
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  • Claudia Sklar He has no policies, no substance. He appeals to the worst in those that listen to his rants. Anger fuels hate and intolerance. The next four months will be ugly. I fear for us all, regardless of the outcome.
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  • Steven R. Wertz Donald Trump is my inspiration. He is PT Barnum, and a hypnotist entertainer. He appeals to the less conscious, in the less conscious. He is a persuader of the suggestible. I have learned so much from watching him, and I will never apologize for that. Donald Trump has bottled and sold Charlie Sheen's "winning!" mania without having to take drugs to get there. The real Trump University is on every channel of every network all day every day -- and the tuition is free. What a great deal for those of us who can appreciate this education. If he were alive today, the great Joseph Goebbels would be sitting at Trumps knee, taking notes. Why, Jim Jones himself might rise from the dead to see if Trump can get a majority of Americans to drink the Kool Aid, instead of a paltry 918. Trump has apparently recognized that a large part of the electorate has been undergoing in induction for years at the hands of the likes of Fox news, Republican purveyors of Reaganomics, talk radio, etc. On reality television, Trump refined his ability to use speaking with authority, repetition of key phrases, and speaking directly to his audience to create a deepening phase. He is better without the teleprompters and the script, because he can see the signs of his audience becoming hypnoidal, and cataleptic. In the utilization phase, Trump attaches demeaning labels to his opponents as post hypnotic suggestions. There is no termination phase, because he has no interest in suggesting to his audience that they were always under their own control. 

    Harold -- you will get no satisfactory answer. This process is non-rational. The subjects have an emotional attachment, and are totally convinced -- and don't know of what really -- because it is not a conscious process. Honestly, in order to deal with this phenomenon, you will need to take a page out of Milton Erickson's book -- not the manual for the Free Wiley Debate Team. 

    Seriously.
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  • Dan Uitti Aside every negative aspect, if Trump can be truthful; and hold his tongue a bit; he can start running a country like an uncorrupted business.
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    Jon GrantJon Grant replied
      1 Reply
  • Harold Levine Hi Joanne, 
    Apparently, I wasn’t clear. I was not questioning your good intentions or those of anyone else.
    Millions of your fellow Republicans voted for this man as their nominee. I am only seeking one person willing to step forward and explain why.     If you can’t do that because you didn’t vote for him in the primaries or won’t support him in the general, then what I wrote was not directed at you. If you did vote for him but can't or don't choose to discuss the decision, that's your prerogative.
    I did not question whether you, me or anyone else, are well intentioned people who want the best for yourself and your families in particular and the country in general. I understand that there are those in your party uncomfortable with the outcome. 
    The issue is not who is to “blame”. It is about accountability. 
    The media gave Trump inordinate attention in their own callous pursuit of ratings. But “the media” didn’t pull the lever in the polling booth. Individuals did. 
    I believe that when the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives denounces Trump’s remarks impugning a Federal judge’s integrity as “textbook racism”, but tolerates it because a Trump presidency holds more promise for fulfilling the party agenda, and the Senate majority leader repeatedly admonishes the candidate for his cruel, crude and demeaning language and boorish behavior, but accepts it as necessary because the more important “evil” on his agenda is, (has been and remains), preventing a “third Obama term”, it bespeaks an intolerance that has its’ roots deeply embedded in Republican party history. That is not to say there are no people of good will in the Republican party. It is to say that there is a pernicious and exclusionary attitude that has been present and increasingly permeates the party today. You are welcome to disagree.
    To many of us it appears the Republican electorate and its leadership have made a grave error in judgement. In that case, it is our responsibility and obligation to ask, “why?” 
    You asked for solutions. I offered the only ones I know of (short of stealing the nomination); 1) stand by your candidate and make the case for him or 2) renounce him. If you choose the latter, then either sit out the election or vote for someone else. It probably won’t kill you and it may even save your life.
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    • Dan Uitti Unfortunately, it appeared that no other candidate appeared on the scene that seemed electable: Rubio too young; Cruz too rash and self involved; Kasich too quiet; Carson underfunded. Many Republicans simply wanted to beat Clinton, since they believe that she is incompetent over her actions as Secretary of State and a murderer; so rather than not vote, they voted for the showman. What happens if Clinton gets elected, then finally pays for her crime of murder?
    • Harold Levine Are you serious?
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    • Dan Uitti Dr Henry Lee concluded that Vincent Foster did not commit suicide, but it was murder. Hillary was the only one with motive.
    • Harold Levine Against my better judgment, I'm going to indulge you one time, sir. Cite your sources. Identify your proof.
      1
    • Diane L Frigon REALLY! Are you serious? And JFK committed suicide!!!
    • Lea Chajes ?!!
    • Harold Levine Mr. Uitti, In an attempt to be fair, I have given you one hour in which to address your scurrilous charge. You have failed to do so. I will now spend the time it is worth to rebut you - that being about 30 seconds. Henry Lee was hired by Kenneth Starr to assist in the Foster aspect of the Whitewater investigations. Starr's was one of five separate investigations into the death of Vince Foster. Each and every one of concluded that Vince Foster committed suicide by firing a bullet from a gun he owned into his own mouth. (Starr, incidentally, is the recently disgraced and now former President of Baylor University). I have no more time to indulge this level of rank stupidity.
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    • Norman Brody Harold Levine I wish we had stayed in touch all the years since Granby St. It would have been a great ride. Love your posts!
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    • Harold Levine You're a good man, home boy.
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    • Abigail Kowaleski I would participate but have to go catch the pigs flying by my window.
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    Write a reply...
  • Marty Levine dont worry harold we havent digressed tht much
  • Nick Caruso Watch this TED Talk and it may help explain part of Trump's mystique - he's all about the Why? (he certainly doesn't seem to have a "how")http://www.ted.com/.../simon_sinek_how_great_leaders...
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  • Craig Harger Not much choice, really doesn't matter which, and I don't really give a shit:)
  • Jerry Glazier Amen, Harold, well said!!
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    Harold LevineHarold Levine replied
      1 Reply
  • Howard Gilbert Esq No one wants to admit that they harbor some or all of the biases and bigotries he espouses, but that does explain his support.
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  • Bob Larensen I will Vote TRUMP. He BELIEVES he can make AMERICA great again!!!! He is not trying to fundamentally change it... The success of America was because of the basic principles or our Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the amendments. Why change them? America is not better, by becoming another Socialistic failure. I believe Donald Trump will truly try to make America better. Not FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE it.....
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  • Harold Levine Why, Robert Larensen! You’re just the fella I’ve been looking for! I’ve been wandering around in vain for months trying to find one single person willing to proclaim their belief that Donald Trump should be the next President of the United States. You…See More
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    • Bob Larensen Why Harold Levine, since when do you call me Robert? I too Harold, think your completely out of your mind on this point of who should be president. And I find the arguments for Hillary also far from impressive and unpersuasive also. But not to worry about when Mr. Trump says something that pisses off other people, as we all do sooner or later, but until the time when your guy tries to coverup a wrong doing , which she will again..... I also applaud your enthusiasm for your own candidate, although I am baffled as to why. Either way, good to see you and hear your amusing and often insightful thoughts , Take care Harold.... God Bless you.....
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    • Bob Larensen Thanks for the looney tunes. Here is an address for an interesting thought on your candidate.... ttps://fee.org/articles/the-first-ever-congreswoman-was-the-anti-hillary-clinton/?Time will tell....
    Write a reply...
  • Harold Levine Robert, I applauded your enthusiasm for your own candidate but the attacks you are posting around FB against mine are far from impressive and wholly unpersuasive.
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    Write a reply...

  • Cindy DeGele Bravo, Harold!
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  • Felicia Anne Barrett-kimbler Although staunch republican; I refuse to attempt to defend most of what he says #embarrassing
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  • Tina Magno Yeah, I'm deathly afraid of a Trump Administration. I believe that he will get us into a formal WWIII. I just can't see how he would "fix" homeland and World issues to benefit all. He has no diplomacy, no finesse, no foreign policy experience. He may be a "good" business man as some say, but he is no World Leader.
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    • Lisa Sanderson Not even a good business man, as he has failed and bankrupted many times.
    Write a reply...

  • Joan Perkell Zieky This is the best thread I’ve read in ages. It’s so joyful and depressing all at once! Having said that, why are we even talking about Hillary??? That’s so 2016!
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    • Harold Levine I first posted it in June 2016. I found it coincidentally after getting into yet another back and forth with Trumpeters. I re-posted it as a book mark to remind myself that we're too far down the road for me to bother arguing with them anymore. And yeah, I kinda like reading old threads.
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    • Joan Perkell Zieky Harold Levine hah well there you go. Remains relevant to the moment
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