Protesting is not Rioting

 Everyone has the right to assemble and protest according to the Constitution while no one has the right to riot and plunder.  The fact that some take advantage on a situation to do the latter is simply a reflection of our society.

Protesters and Rioters are not the same.  Sometimes a person may start as a protester and turn to rioting, but mostly that is not the case.  The fact that a rioter may assume the guise of a protester does not make him a protester.

Still we see people attack any protest as unlawful and riotous.  Situations are different everywhere, but in almost every situation there is a large group of organized protesters exercising their constitutional rights to protest.  It really doesn't matter what they are protesting, it is their right.

That event obviously has to be publicized and provides opportunities for counter-protesters, subversive groups and criminal to use it as a distraction.  In fact some may join the protest planning to break away to cause mischief or to plunder.

The simple fact is that protesters are protected by the constitution and are not responsible for criminals or anarchist groups that use them as a distraction.  The rhetoric equating protesters and rioters is simply wrong and distorts the situation.

We are starting to see violence increase at these events and there is a danger of that escalating.  This is still not the fault of the protesters.  

The people organizing these protests need to decide if they are effective in drawing attention to their issues.  

Fixing the situation is the objective after all.

Choice is Simple

 Americans of all faiths, colors, national backgrounds and sexual preferences are entitled to make up their own minds about who or what to support.  When it turns out that an overwhelming majority of a group support a particular candidate or party, there has to be a reason.

Democrats for the most part are in favor of greater economic and social equality while Republicans favor the status quo.  Is success in America something anyone can achieve or is the playing field stacked?

If you have a great talent like sports or perhaps unusual dedication and some help you can climb the social hierarchy and succeed.  The problem with this is that it represents a small sample of the population.  Study after study has shown that the best predictor of how most people will do is to look at their parents social status.

If you are born into the middle class or above, the odds are that you went to better schools, had more support at home, fit in better and ultimately ended up with a good job.  You were also likely to get financial support for your pursuits.

On the other hand, if you were born into the working class or the dependent class you went to bad schools, had more opportunity to be involved in drugs, poor support at home and a good chance of getting into trouble with the law.

Some escape their fates but it is a lot harder for the second group.

Programs aimed to help even the playing field, like affirmative action or universal health care are supported by Democrats and opposed by Republicans.

Republicans want to see the rich get richer and let everyone else fight over the scraps.  Democrats want the rich to share their wealth.

Simple choice.

Big Brother is Watching?

One of the concerns of the modern age is the intrusiveness of Government.  When I was young there was strong objection to the idea of being tracked by the Government.  This was something they did in Fascist Germany or Communist Russia.  The idea of a Government official demanding to see your papers was a threat.

Yes driver's licences and passports existed but the need for them was very specific.  You only got a social security number when you needed it for work.

Now of course it gets issued to you at birth. People who in the older days were against Government intrusion now demand people have picture IDs to vote among other things.

This may simply be a transition into the modern world but there is less and less privacy every year.

Fingerprint were the big identifier at one time now we have DNA.

In where we walk and drive there is a good chance we are on camera.

Look, in all honesty I can't decide why this bothers me.  Maybe it was just the image of the unformed Nazi demanding papers and taking people.

I doubt it even resonates in the modern generation where they share so much of what used to be private lives with everybody.

It just seemed un-American at one point for the Government to spy on us.

The Grid is everywhere.

Politicians and Lying

 People sometimes excuse egregious behavior by our current President by saying well all politicians lie.

Actually they don't.  A lie requires that you deliberately tell something that is simply not true.  We tend to call things lies that fall into other categories, repeating a statement that is believed to be true at the time, but turns out to be wrong and puffery.

An example of the first was what happened with Benghazi when at first it was believed by some that the protests were inspired by perceive disrespect to the Koran.  This was actually true, but the protests were then used as a cover by a terrorist organization to attack the Embassy.  When certain administration spokespeople said it was the first event when it turned out to be the second, they were accused of lying.  This is a harsh take on it since the desire to address the press is well, pressing, at times like those.  

Inaccurate information is only really a lie when you know it is false.  Providing a narrative that turns out to be wrong because more information is later uncovered is not a lie, it is an inaccuracy.

Take some of the current administrations falsehoods.  If the President believes that the doctor who believes in demons is actually correct, repeating her theories, while silly, are not lies.  It reveals why he is completely unqualified to be President because his judgement is terrible, but repeating something you think is true is not a lie.  

When he said, although he now denies it, that Mexico would pay for the wall, he knew they wouldn't and it was simply a lie.  It is hard to determine the difference sometimes, but when he denies doing something that he clearly did on camera he is either lying or suffering from dementia.

Puffery is when you emphasize good qualities in order to sell an idea or an object.  For example when the President says his health plan will be better, cheaper and more inclusive than what we have, it is Puffery, especially since he doesn't even have one.

The way he described his big beautiful wall was puffery which is a type of lie but one which is understood.  It falls closer to exaggeration than lying but that is really in the eye of the beholder.  If someone running for office tells his audience he will eliminate all corruption in Government, it is puffery, they should know that isn't likely or even possible.

So do all politicians lie?  Depends on how strict you want to be.  Do all politician tell deliberate falsehood that they clearly know to be false?  No, most actually don't.  

I Support Police Protecting All People

 Whenever I see people out to support the police I am mystified.

I support the police and I want them to do the job they were hired for.  It has danger associated with it and for that we let them retire earlier than most and provide good benefits.  When one of them get hurt or killed in the line of duty they should get all the care we can provide to them and their familie.

They are still our employees, hired to protect all of us, not some of us against others.  Any time they use lethal force they need to do so as the very last resort, not because they imagine things that could happen.

Honest mistakes might happen and they are entitled to consideration for that.  Shooting unarmed suspects in the back or kneeling on their throats until they die is just not acceptable.

Executing a search warrant without allowing the innocent people inside time to respond and then shooting them is problematic.

The life of everyone is precious, police and suspects.  Unfortunately we now see over and over that the police treat black lives as if they don't matter.

They do.

Cautious behavior is not risky behavior.  Getting additional support if needed should be an accepted part of the job.

I can't imagine the impact of seeing their father shot in the back seven times is going to have on his children who were in the car.  As much as I try to imagine the imminent threat that officer felt I just can't.  It has been reported that he might have had a knife but even if he did, backing up a safe distance while the other police there supported you would have been quite effective.

I don't support the police who kill citizens because they somehow think their lives matter more.  These are the citizens they are hired to protect, although not all of them feel that way.

If you want to hold up a sign supporting the police, fine you have the right to peacefully assemble, but are you supporting them even when they murder people?

Law and Order?

 I was reading an article where some middle class Trump supporters were upset that they are being categorized as racists, homophobes, xenophobes and misogynist.  They don't think they are and maybe they aren't, but can they be sure?  They support someone who is apparently because they lie his positions on immigration and abortion and believe he can fix the economy.

They are of course entitled to believe what they believe and vote for whomever they want, but as they are supporting a man who has absolutely no sense of values.  When you lie down with dogs you are likely to get fleas.

Sadly they seem to inhabit a world which conveniently filters reality for them.  We saw another black man shot seven or eight times for the crime of trying to get into his car.  The response is that the people there shouldn't protest?  What exactly should they do since the video is pretty clear that he was doing nothing to provoke getting shot.

It is probable, although unclear, that he was ignoring some police commands.  What is know is that he was only involved because he was trying to break up the dispute and had his children in the car.  They got to see the police gun down their father.

Is that the approved resolution now for a black man disrespecting a police?  I see some of my compatriots argue he brought this on himself although at this time we don't even know what they were telling him to do.

I can imagine some scenarios where the shooting would be justified, if he was reaching for a weapon but there is no evidence of that.  

Hopefully more details will come out, but right now it looks pretty unjust.  

Is this the Republican version of law and order?  Shoot innocent people in the street if they don't respond correctly?  

I don't think it is what this country stands for, at least I hope not.

One and Done

 So after four years of destructive behavior, the curren admnistration wants 4 mor to fix it.

That's begging the court for mercy because you're an orphan after killing your parents.

Outside of appointing two questionable Supreme Court Justices, its hard to find an accomplishment.

He has rolled back environmental and social protections to help his oil buddies and because he is opposed to individual liberty but they won't last.

Foreign policy there is nothing of note.  

He has managed to antagonize our allies and trading partners while following Putin's directions.

Health care is not better and while you can't blame him for the Covid 19 you can blame him for how we havdle it.

He managed to keep the Obama economy going until it collapsed because of his incompetance.

So why would anyone give him another four years?

Got me!

Republicans In Never Never Land

 So, according to some polls, a majority of Republicans think the country is better now than it was 4 years ago.

A majority of everyone else, democrats and independents disagree.

The only thing that is better are stock prices, and while up not better than under his predecessor.  The markets were up 48% for Obama at this point in his Presidency and 46% for Trump. 

Unemployment is now much worse but it was slightly better before the Pandemic.  However, the fundamental issue in the job market has more to do with the quality of jobs, not the quantity.  

Almost everything else is measurably worse, health care, race relations, trade deficits, budget deficits and the general ability of the country to be civil to each other.

Very rick people got a nice tax break, but farmer, coal miners, manufacturers and most others are feeling the impact of his policies in a not-good way.

Our foreign relations are in serious trouble with the UN just refusing to join us in imposing sanctions on Iran.

Now I guess the racists and white nationalists are doing better than ever but I didn't think they represented most republicans

Maybe I was wrong.

The Character of the Person

 It's the responsibility of everyone to do what is best.

Not everyone agrees or acts this way.  Some live on one end of the spectrum, caring only for themselves.  Unfortunately they can feign social conscience but actions speak louder than words.

This comprises a fairly large segment of the population although they try to conceal themselves.

On the other end are the ones we call saints, the people who only care for humanity with no regard for their own needs.  They are rare since self preservation is fundamental to all living creatures.

The rest of us are somewhere in the middle.  I'm not an expert and there are many better qualified to explin why, but it is just a fact that each person is each person has some combination of the selfish and the philanthropist in them.

We would like our leaders to be mostly philanthropist but we tend to get those with more selfish attributes.  Its because we make people compete for the position and those who want it the most likely deserve it the least.  

What sometimes happens is that the competitive nature fades over time as a person achieves success and the philanthropic grows.  You also see this in successful business people who achieve great success and no longer are concerned with "proving" themselves or being secure.

Its pretty clear that our current President never got there.  He is petty and combative with almost no philanthropic instincts at all.  I don't even think his most ardent supporters think otherwise.

On the other hand we have Joe Biden who probably started off as combative but served many years and suffered many setbacks allowing him to mature into the decent and honest man he is.  In his career, with a few exceptions he always exhibited a caring side and it has become perhaps his predominant characteristic.

So the choice is a selfish vindictive man or one who actually cares about the nation and its citizens.

I know who I want.

 

Government for the People

 In general I believe the Government should be something that exists in the background, used when needed but otherwise forgotten.

We need rules and the people should set those rules and the Government should enforce them, equally and fairly.  Of course the Government should make sure our country is defended but that should also be something it does by speaking softly but carrying a big stick.

Protecting the people of this country requires more than military action it also requires defense against invasive diseases or destruction by climate change.

When much of our current coastline becomes submerged, we will all feel the impact.  Similarly, as seen in the current Pandemic, the lack of preparation and planning leads to high infection rates and high death rates.

Government is obviously a system that is for all of us, not just a few like in feudal times.  It is ours and we have to pay for it.

Right now our national debt has exploded and has reached levels we would have considered ruinous not too long ago.

Its time to define what we want Government to do and also how to pay for it.

Part of that plan is going to require some reductions in what we spend and some increases in what we pay.

Our essential services and commitments have to be maintained and there are opportunities to increase income from those who can best afford it.  

Restoring the economy as we did in the 90s can greatly increase revenues, but we also need to reverse some of the giveaway to the rich tax breaks.

Its actually time for responsible Government, not this reckless support the rich stuff we see now.

Honesty and Decency

 Honesty is sort of self defining except when someone claims they are being honest while lying.

We currently have one of the most corrupt administrations in the history of this nation with many indictments and jail terms, accusations about being persecuted with no evidence and plain falsehoods told over and over again while arguing everyone else is lying.

I see some articles that say the America people are aware of this but still prefer his policies.  Perhaps some support his isolationist, anti immigrant, anti planet, anti abortion and anti freedom policies because they believe the lies related to those policies.  

The polls don't support that these policies are majority views but they may have supporters. 

Still when your spokesman is so deeply flawed and dishonest, is that what you want?

Its time for honesty and decency to reappear in America.  

It is who we are.

Nature, It Doesn't Care About us.

 If you think about the world we live in for just a bit you should understand a couple of things.

One is that there are an awful lot of us and more coming.  We have upset the balance of nature and there is little likelihood of restoring it.  Nature will however keep trying since it depends on a balance to continue as it is.

I'm not saying that nature will go away, this planet has been through many phases in its existence, all by definition supported by nature.  What I am saying is that the current conditions that are conducive to our existence are not guaranteed and subject to disruption by us or external forces.

We see our impact in climate change which is causing rising sea levels which will disrupt billions of people.  We really cluster much of our population along the seacoasts of the world and as lowlands flood they will have to relocate.

That is at least a relatively slow process so we may be able to manage it.

The disruption may be an external event such as a virulent virus that reduces our population.  The current one is killing plenty of people but not enough to change our impact on the world.  I can imagine much deadlier ones.  Our response to this one hasn't been encouraging so let's all pray a deadlier one doesn't happen.

Finally as our world record indicates we can see a disruptive external event.  The dinosaurs fell victim to an asteroid and it wasn't the impact as much as the winter and failure of vegetation that did it. At other periods there is evidence that volcanic eruptions can produce a similar effect as the ash and dust block the sun causing widespread crop failures.

Would such an event wipe us out, probably not, but it could be a truly horrible event which you might prefer not to survive.  

We tend to forget we are still dependent on nature and the planer for our existence and survival.  

Show it some respect.

Beam in Thine Eye

 The GOP has turned into a version of the Evangelical world as they constantly try to point out the mote in Biden while ignoring the beam in Trump.

One would thing they would be shouting out his achievement instead of praying that they can repeat the miracle or curse of 2016.

Trump won the narrowest of victories because of Democratic complacency, ongoing negative campaigning about Hillary and a lot of apathy because many thought the conclusion was foregone.

All indicators are that Democrats are in fact energized and there isn't very much apathy despite the polls.

The third pillar in that plank was the fact that many Americans didn't like Hillary.

Joe Biden isn't Hillary and they can't turn him into her.  

The misogynist attacks are now still directed at Hillary and Nancy because they are favorite targets.  Not effective against Biden.  I guess they can attack Kamala and I'm sure they will but they aren't going to be effective vs a V candidate.

They tried to persuade America that he was a sexual predator with what seems to be a contrived story but he simply is too well known for that to work.  Besides the Beam in Trump's eye on that one is very noticeable.

Issue after issue the comparisons are similar.  Joe Biden supported programs that actually helped Americans even if they weren't perfect (the mote).  Trump has been harming Americans here and abroad with loss of health care, racial bias, environmental pollution, climate denial, a broken economy and a badly handled Pandemic (the beams).

Is the election rigged as Trump claims?  Well it should be biased against incompetence and lies so if that is what he means, it is.  Of course that's how they are supposed to work.

Virus Prevention

 There is no way to portray the American response to the Covid 19 crisis as successful.  We didn't keep it out, we didn't have enough equipment, we didn't do enough testing and our leadership provided bad advice to the public about what to do.

The original instruction that wearing a mask was not effective was just wrong. Assuming it was an honest mistake it still has been hard to recover from.  Calling the virus a hoax that was just made up be the opposition was close to criminal in that it led certain people to be reckless.

In some circles the idea that the whole thing is a conspiracy to hurt the current party in power lingers and impacts its spread.  Even now the message from the top is inconsistent and opens the door to conspiracy theories about the entire situation.

As widespread as the virus is, it isn't overwhelming.  I lived in one of the hardest hit areas of the country but outside of the news coverage and a few victims who were related to me, but not near me, I didn't really experience the virus.  

Some of this is because those afflicted were self isolating or asymptomatic.  In fact as we all went into self isolation and social distancing, it became the invisible disease, prevalent in news coverage but not otherwise.

It seems like the prevalence might have been even greater as there is some belief that many more of us in the New York area were infected than ever knew it.

We do seem to be avoiding current outbreaks despite general belief that opening up the economy might have led to some.  One explanation for this would be a herd immunity, but most estimates say it isn't so.

Simply looking at a few facts, the much higher mortality rate here, it is very possible that the additional testing in the rest of the country is finding cases that were simply not reported here.  

This could explain the differences in mortality rates.

Maybe it is simply that in the New York area we believe the virus is real and are taking precautions.

 

Generations

 It seems like every generation is convinced that new generations are spoiled and lazy.

Maybe they are, but of course the blame for that would be with the generation that raised them.  Its sort of interesting that we do everything we can to allow our children to avoid the things we had to confront and then blame them for it.

Of course it isn't true, at least not on any universal basis.  Sure they didn't have to trudge to school in the snow for miles like we did, but we didn't either.

This is not a new complaint and despite the falling off of quality in every generation, we have accomplished more and more things.  We now have technology that was the stuff of science fiction or detective comics at one time.

Each generation faces its own challenges based on when they are born as well as where.  

They always eventually rise to the challenge.

In general, especially in the modern era they are better fed, better educated and better equipped in general than earlier generations.  Yes they also have things easier and we do face a bit of a crisis with obesity, but that isn't just young people.

The future is likely going to keep getting better but there are significant challenges to overcome, like climate change which hasn't been handled well by prior generations.

Maybe the new generations will finally deal with it?  

We didn't.

Society

 One of my favorite book when I was growing up was the James Fenimore Cooper series about the frontier and Natty Bumppo.  He was the frontiersman in Last of the Mohicans but the series had five books in total.  They cover a period when the area of New York developed from wild frontier to settled territory and ultimately the hero went west.

In one of the books I don't remember which one, the Deerslayer was arrested and fined for killing a deer out of season.  It is explained in the book how he knew the deer was finished breeding and therefore "in season" but the calendar date in the law was enforced on him.

If you were a fan of his, and if you read the books you were, this seemed like a great injustice, especially since he had roamed these forests in all the books and clearly understood them better than the bureaucrat enforcing the rule.  

This is an example of early, let's call it Political Correctness, where an overbearing Government enforces rules on citizens that are impersonal.  However, you also have to realize, as Natty did that you had to protect the deer when they were breeding to preserve them.  Since the vast majority of people weren't as experienced as he was, you needed rules.

I feel like this is what we have in modern America.  Rules that some feel are overbearing but are needed to avoid chaos.  It seems to have gotten out of hand and what I don't see is the understanding that the rules are necessary for most.

Certainly most gun owners are responsible, we don't have endless shootouts, but some aren't.  How does society protect the many from them?  Similarly, wearing a mask is a minor inconvenience that protects others.  I used to drive between New York and Washington for work frequently and I liked to do it late at night when there was no traffic.  Speed limits seemed almost silly at times and few observed them.  Of course you could still get a ticket but the State Troopers generally distinguished between those being reckless and others.  Speed cameras took that judgement away.

In order to protect everyone the rules tend to be restrictive.  Sure good drivers can go 75 or 80 but many drivers can't.  Obeying the rules is the only rational behavior.  

The Government rules are not out to get anyone.  They protect the weak among us.  

Cronyism and Corruption

The job of the President is to run the Government.  In this case the Government means the Agencies that implement the laws of the land, which are in fact passed by congress.  Of course in executing those laws there is some leeway but it is limited.

We are living with a President who is simply not good at his job.

The latest casualty is the Postal Service where, as he like to do, he installed a political crony and not a competent administrator.  Now we see rules set in place that clearly do not benefit the American people, just his political aims.

Similarly he has appointed incompetent after incompetent to run agencies and has often gone out of his way to attack them.

His educational leader is rife with conflicts of interest and clearly is not in favor of leading her Agency.

Similarly, homeland security, justice, immigration etc. are led by cronies.

Is this the first President to ever do this?  No, we have some significant historical examples of cronyism and corruption, just not recently.

In the last century we have instituted merit into selection and promotion in the civil service.  While certainly not perfect, the American Civil Service is probably the least corrupt on in the world, or it was.

This is under attack by this administration as Agency after Agency is attacked because they do their jobs instead of responding to political interests.

The rules and regulations they uphold were passed by congress and signed by President's. 

Professionalism is under attack and we all suffer for it.  

Save the Post Office and the rest of the Agencies as well from cronyism and corruption.  

We don't want to become a country where you have to pay bribes.

Middle East Progress

 Its good news when an Arab Country recognizes Israel and it doesn't happen very often.  After Egypt did in the late 70s we didn't see a flood of other countries.

Still while the UAE is hardly a major military force in the region. they do have a lot of Oil Wealth and are clearly an Arab state so it helps.

The decision not to annex West Bank territory is a strategic move on Israel's part that eases some of the regional pressure.  

Is Israel safer today then yesterday?  Perhaps but the major threats to Israel safety are from Palestinians and Iran so the UAE has a minor impact.  

Peace in Israel is most likely dependent on some sort of agreement that restores some Palestinian land and provides them representation.  That may be far off, if ever.

Still any progress is better than none.

Back to School Corona

 Children returning to school are getting infected with viruses including Covid 19.  They always do which may really be the reason why the cold and flu season generally coincides with back to school.

Statistics indicate children generally do well when they get the virus but that's a general statement, not a universal one.  Some will get very sick and die.

Possibly the bigger issue is whether they will transmit the infections home, and they will.

Especially early on before they show symptoms but even after.

They are children and many of them are not going to self isolate.  

Its a question of risk versus reward.  Is in-person education worth the risk.  It might be, I don't really see any evidence one way or the other.  The advantages of in-person learning are more than the educational benefit.

It re-employs the entire school structure, provides lunches to many and allows parents to return to work in some situations.

These are the main reasons it is being pushed by the administration, not the learning difference, if there really is any.

Certainly remote learning is a different experience but not necessarily a worse one.  Much of that depends on the home environment so it obviously would vary a lot.

Many schools are reopening but the early indicators aren't that great as we see outbreaks associated with that.

What the statistics do tell us is that the infected children will die at the lowest rate.  Their parents at a higher rate and grandparents and great grandparents at the highest rate.

is that better than another semester or year of safety?

VP Choice

 We now know the Democratic ticket for the upcoming Presidential election.

Its a strong one with Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris, both of whom have strong records and excellent reputations.

It also adds a bit of youth to the ticket, as Ms. Harris is both younger and energetic and is now positioned for a significant role in future elections.

We will of course see everything about her attacked and we are already seeing her portrayed as a radical leftist.  She isn't and never was.

She is an excellent choice, but really there were many excellent choices.

Now we need to win the election and implement the policies this country needs to prosper and survive in the future.

Real Issues, Real Democracy

 Issues should be things that people disagree about.  For example some people want to regulate weapons classified as assault rifles to hopefully prevent mass shootings, others don't.  However no one in that issue is advocating taking guns away form citizens.  Still you see that red herring used by one of the sides frequently.  In fact they like to present the opposition position in absurd ways and then argue with it.

Its such a popular tactic, especially by right wing media, the absurdities are almost integral to the conversation.  Voters fraud is such an important one that they actually act like it happens in any significant way.  They don't want to hear about actual statistics because they can't argue with facts, only with wild suppositions.  It should also be pointed out that inaccurate voter registrations are not the same as voter fraud, which requires a fraudulent vote be cast.

Similarly you see people told of the danger of illegal immigrants voting?  They can't vote and would be idiots to try since they would expose themselves.  Yet that argument is made as a two headed red herring, anti-immigration and anti-voting.

For the last decade or more the Republican party has become starkly aware of the demographics of this country.  They were faced with the need to broaden their message and expand their base to win future elections.  They decided instead to circle the wagons and try to win via voter suppression and gerrymandering.

It actually worked for 2016 but the 2018 election reversed that. 

Hopefully in 2020 we can put America back on track to democracy and allow all citizens a fair vote.

Let's actually define the issues facing this country and not argue about red herrings.

We can combat climate change and still support responsible industry.  

The monsters aren't under the bed or in the closet, they are out in public lying to America nightly.

Its mostly lies and red herrings.

Time For Decency Again

 One of the issues you see brought up about Joe Biden is that he is not exciting as a candidate.  He is depicted as the choice that offends the least amount of people and is therefore the survivor, not the innovator.

This ignores his long career in the Senate where he was an important player in legislation that has lasted.  It also looks at his long career in the Senate when issues of the day which the party supported were ot the issues of today.

These thing ignore his best characteristic, he is a American who has always stood for the working class and middle class people of this country.

Democrat of his generation, were strongly pro-union, pro civil rights and pro America.  Even further he has always represented decency and values of America.

While I certainly wasn't an insider, his routine was well known as he commuted between Wilmington and Washington via train which was notable because it was so normal yet unusual for a US Senator.

Ultimately while he certainly wasn't perfect, who is, he represented decency in politics which has become an unusual trait.  He worked across the aisle and compromised where necessary to get things done and therefore he might be attacked as not being pure enough.

He was however effective and on the right side.  

Further he represented something Americans can get excited about.

Decency.

 

Lies and Outrage

 The current President lies a lot.  He lies so much that many have simply gotten used to it, and don't call him on it.

The other night he told one of his common lies about the Veteran's Choice program where he took credit for passing a law that was signed two years before he became President.  He did sign a revision to that law, a fairly minor one, but not the law itself.

His lie was so bald faced that most reporters simply ignore it, but this time one of them called him on it.  He walked our of the Press Conference instead of answering.

This shows me he actually knows he is lying and doesn't like it pointed our.

Every lie should be pointed out every time.

Let him walk out, better then having him spewing lies.

When he tells a lie and it gets reported the next day in the press he dismisses it as fake news.  So don't wait.

Make him be honest.  Certainly demanding a truthful answer is everyone's right.  

Lying by the President of the United States is an outrage and a violation of his office. 

We need to be outraged instead of acting like it is just him being him.

He might act like one, but he isn't a toddler.

He's the President.

Social Conscience vs Socialism

 The main thing Americans are interested in is domestic policy.  Yes there is some concern about international policy but unless we are in the midst of a war it is a secondary concern.

What is happening there is not very good.  We of course have the Pandemic which did disrupt the economy.  Was the economy great before that?  Well the administration claims it was but we still had the millions of underemployed Americans struggling to make ends meet.  

There has been a long term issue in this country where workers have seen their relative incomes decline as the rest of the world competes.  This started in the 1970s as our post World dominance faded to competitive forces initially frm Japan, then Europe and ultimately to China and other thrird world countries.

Labor here, especially unskilled labor, was overpriced.  This made products made in America that used unskilled labor non-competitive.  

This is an economic trend that was pretty much inevitable and the trade deals that were made were not the cause, they were the result.  Did they possibly speed up the process a bit?  Maybe but economics is a cruel master and if you can't compete on price and quality you are doomed.

We can and do compete on skilled labor and as we replace unskilled labor with automation we can see the economy boom but rewards are unequal.  

In a society like ours the only way to equalize capitalism is to remove elements of compensation from the equation.  Health Care, Education and Old Age Pensions should be State Provided as they are in most modern economies.  If you are being forced to work a minimum wage job, and our minimum wage is actually less than the minimum needed to survive, you still should get health care and your children should get educated.

You may want to call this socialism but it more of a social conscience.  

Is everyone entitled to a fair deal or not?  Politicians promise this all the time.  We need them to deliver.

Reality and Reaction

 During an election every little thing you do goes under a microscope as reporters and others try to get a scoop or gain a political advantage.

Take the comment Hillary Clinton made, which was actually fairly accurate, about how her opponent was attracting support from deplorable people, racists, misogynists, and others.  She never said all his support was from deplorables but the headlines indicated just that.

Being called the bad boys or girls has a certain appeal and it became something of a rallying cry for that campaign.  How much it mattered is probably something we will never know, but it is still one of their rally cries.

Talking about groups of people is simply dangerous.  It seems to matter more to the politically correct crowd than the other one.  The president and the right wing radical media can talk about anti-fa as if it is actually an organization involved in anarchist behavior.  Apparently when they get market research saying certain words or phrases resonate with their voters they just keep using them, in or our of context with no regard for the truth.

It isn't hard to figure out that anti-fa is more of a slogan and not really an organization although a fair number of groups are in fact anti fascist.  Still the truth doesn't matter for political gain.

However, you have to wonder why the other side at times seems to take every little thing out of proportion.  Take recent comments that the press is using about Latino diversity vs Black Diversity.  As groups Latinos fall into a number of categories that have significantly different agendas.  The Cubans in Florida have been anti communist for obvious reasons.  The Mexicans in the Southwest are less interested in that issue and more concerned about the Immigration issue.  While they may share a common language they don't share a very common culture.

Blacks in America do generally share a common culture, its called slavery and discrimination.  This provides a certain unifying theme to issues and goals.

Every American, Latino, Black, White or Asian is of course an individual. 

Pointing these things out is simply dealing with reality.  It is what it is after all. Remember the current administration has killed more Blacks and Latinos than any previous one and at a higher rate than whites.  Sort of Deplorable.

New Normal?

Whatever is going on now always seems monumental and unique.  It probably isnt.  I'm out history on this planet we've survived plagues, wars, natural disasters and other catastrophes.  

Of course people die sometimes in great numbers but humanity has gone on.  What is going on now isn't really close to some past disasters.  Things like the black death was much more horrible and we were defenseless.  Still while they led to great changes humanity went on.

The current crisis is hardly at a level to destroy us.  It has killed and will continue to kill until we tame it but our history is one of survival.

Of course many of us are not used to being challenged like that.  There was a time when all of humanity was very aware of how we survived and how perilous our world could be.  The modern world has removed many of us from the production of our food and goods and what we see is a world where people are dependent on others.

People not involved in food production (and that is a remarkably small number in modern society) don't farm, hunt or gather.  While it was a nice acknowledgement, everyone was acknowledging essential workers meaning the clerks in the stores.  Of course the real essential workers are those who get the goods to the stores so we can buy them.

Society may have been due for major changes and possibly this pandemic will be the catalyst?  Of course this may be a minor disruption and we end up returning to where we were.

The Past Was Pretty Harsh

There never was a time in this country which could be described as idylic.  Before we were even a country there were wars between England and France for dominance.  Each side used different tribes to attack the others settlers.  Of course there was fairly constant warfare against Native Americans and the fairly constant import of Slaves.

We then had the revolution followed by further westward expansion the war of 1812 where the White House was burned and ongoing war against the native Americans, the Texas situation and war with Mexico, 

Of course we then had the Civil War which wasn't very civil and reconstruction, westward expansion which wasn't normally good for Native Americans, a steady stream of immigrants from Europe and Asia settling the great plains and building the railroads at great risk.

After the Spanish American war things were fairly good until we got into the Great War (WW1) and we lived through prohibition the rise of organized crime, the rise of the fascists in Europe the Great Depression and then Pearl Harbor, the war, the nuclear age the cold war, the Korean War, the Civil Rights troubles (not done yet), the Vietnam War.

What we do have is the greatest consumer based economy that ever existed and much less need for debilitating manual labor.

Whatever you may think about your nostalgic past, America is better today than it ever has been.  It was probably better under the previous President but that could be a matter of opinion.  Its not politics its science and technology that has create the world we inhabit.

There are challenges but they are not as bad as the ones faced by our fore parents.

Lets move forward  because the past is not so great really.

One Nation With Rights for Each Person

Its important that we remember that we are one nation.

Whether you believe in God or not doesn't impact that.  As a single nation every citizen and resident is subject to the Constitution of the United States which is the fundamental law of the land.

While we can change the Constitution it requires broad consensus, as it should.  The laws of the land are not needed to protect the majority, they protect the minority.

If everyone agrees with you, you don't need to be protected.  If you are the only Muslim in a Christian community you probably need protection.

This was a fairly common theme in Westerns at one time as you would see the heroic sheriff protect a suspect from an angry mob demanding immediate (and final) justice.  The sheriff was the heroic defender of the law, not the mob.

When I watch the news or read articles it seems to me that many Americans don't understand this.  They seem to think that the Constitution defends the majority from the minority.  It doesn't need to.

Of course I'm mostly talking about the Bill of Rights and the amendments but the entire document is designed to provide rights to all of us.

It allows freedom of religion, not just yours.  It allows freedom of speech, not just what you agree with.

It allows for the people to peaceably assemble and petition their Government for redress of grievances.  

No time limit is set.

Keep Him in the Spotlight

It's obviously true everywhere but it's maybe most true on the streets of any big city, say New York.  With so many people there are a lot of people in it for the short term.  So they are transaction based, meaning they will tell you anything to get what they want now.

 

Is  that bag really a designer one?  Of course it is I just have them for half the price because I know people.   You can even bargain him down because the people he knows sell them to him for almost nothing. 

 

If you walked around New York much, although I'm not doing that currently, you would see the regular scams in the regular places. 

 

It may have changed since I was there but you had the phony merchandise on Canal Street, the hustles in midtown where the tourists were and so on.

 

Running a scam was not a long term enterprise and the people running it would make up whatever worked in the immediate instant.

 

They ever like more than when they started a sentence with trust me, or everybody knows that or ask anybody.  If you walked away to verify anything they moved on to someone new, because there always was someone.

 

It was similar to the people who traveled town to town selling magic elixirs to the hicks.  Just a con.

 

These habits are the best way to understand our current President.  He deals with the now, not the future, so he finds himself constantly in huckster mode.  Oddly he has convinced enough gullible people to believe him, that the media that points out his lies are the real fakes, not him.

 

I honestly never thought it would work but it did and you almost have t admire the scam, although while watching a three card monte dealer work could be satisfying artistically, it wasn't worth losing your money to him.

 

His election was almost impossible but it happened by the slimmest of margins because whether by design or accident he played the electoral college successfully.  I know either he or the Russians, or maybe the FBI convinced enough people not to vote for Hillary to eke out a tiny victory in a few states that mattered.

 

Cons don't work twice so he needs a new one. 

 

Let's shine the light on him, its the best defense.

Political Moderation

A few of you want to blame everyone but the President for the mess we have.  Chani for the virus, Democrats for the political environment, socialists for whatever you can think of and liberals in general.

The idea that the person in charge has responsibility would belie his claim that he does everything perfectly and people tell him so.  

The job of a leader is to deal with new unexpected issues.  First by preparing for them and secondly by taking decisive action to fix them.

A real leader would figure out a way to lead that was persuasive to enough people so that we could execute it.  It involves both strength and compromise.  Leadership that only involves strength is really just a dictatorship.

Building a consensus which by necessity involves granting concessions results in a policy that has a chance to work.  Of course there are times for decisive quick actions but this relates back to being prepared.  If you ever worked in a large building you know they practice evacuations periodically.  No one wants to have to evacuate but the hope is that if you do you can be orderly.

A bunch of panicked people trying to run down the stairs isn't likely to end well.

We see a situation today where the idea of working in a bilateral way to build a policy is rejected by Republicans and Progressive Democrats.  This seems to have started with the tea party group that had a purity test.  This was effective because our system gives too much power to minority but unified groups.

We have similarly seen a rise in strict progressives, although at this point it doesn't seem as bad.  The simple fact is that a small dedicated group can hijack a party during primaries.

This was happening during the Democratic primaries until the great majority came out and voted in a Moderate Liberal.  The greatest reason to elect Joe Biden is that he can lead this country by working with the other side.  They have some legitimate concerns that need to be addressed.

Hopefully the Republicans will realize the country needs to move forward on so many critical issues as a, well, country.  

If not we will continue to see a stalemate.  That is the path to ruin.

Anti-Science is Killing People

There was an article in New York detailing how the Republican party became the anti-virus party.  It started as science discovered how big business was selling products harmful to  people or the environment like tobacco and coal.  Industry needed allies and Republicans felt it was Government overreach.

So science, at least legitimate science, became viewed as a liberal endeavor and therefore politicized.  Of course that means the alternate science people become the darlings of the conservative talk shows.  The most outrageous theories were fine as long as they supported the right causes.

This anti science trend has influenced policies that protect the environment and improve health.  It is inevitable that real science will triumph but it may result in damage that's hard to reverse.

One of the strengths of scientific method is that it accepts the possibility of being wrong.  So generally, even the most widely accepted theories are expressed as less than 100% to cover new discoveries.  This effectively opens the door to the anti-science group who can claim something is not proven, even when it has been.

Does carbon cause global warming and climate change, it certainly does.  Is it the only cause?  Probably not and further human emissions are not the only source of the carbon.  However, while there are some natural contributors, like volcanoes, the impact of human activity has been what is different now than it was even 500 years ago.  

Still the room to argue is inherent in the way science is done and you can find "experts" who might actually believe an alternate theory.  Once again the history of science supports the idea that today's crackpot could be right but that is generally a false narrative as science has progressed and unknown factors get included.

We have seen the catastrophic result of this in the country's reaction to the Covid 19 outbreak as politicians, particularly Republican ones believe their shill over real science.  The fact that the world scientific community was nearly universal on how to deal with the virus made that a democratic position.  As such it had to be resisted.  The idea that the scientific truth would be in fact beneficial to all of us was ignored in favor of partisan positions that ended up where we are.

Even now many believe that the scientists are partisan and not to be trusted.  Consider the attacks on some respected spokesmen.  

Unfortunately, the disaster with the virus is likely to get repeated in other areas if we can't reverse this anti-science sentiment.  Our future is all we have and while true science will eventually be proven right, we can't keep killing people to prove it.