Month: July 2013

July 4th: Its Symbolism And The Egyptian Military Coup

Ronald 8 Comments

As we celebrate our freedom and liberty today on the 237th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, we are thankful for the fact that we have always had a constitutional government, based on the rule of law, and that we have never had the military intervene in our government, never had them interfere with our democratic system of government!

So therefore, anyone who believes in our system of government must be greatly alarmed at events in Egypt!

The overthrow of Mohammed Morsi by the Egyptian military is disturbing, and it should not matter over the fact that Morsi was the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, as we are not going to be able to dictate to any sovereign nation that their leader cannot be a Muslim, even of an extremist element, as it is none of our business who they elect!

The important point here is that Morsi was elected in a free and fair election by the people of Egypt, and the only way to remove him is in a constitutional manner, not by the use of force by the military, which historically all over the world is anti democratic by nature!

Morsi was not imposed on the country, but rather ELECTED, and to remove him summarily is not acceptable, and Barack Obama, while realizing that nothing can be done by us regarding what has already happened, has rightfully called for a quick return of the rule of law and a new government elected by the people and totally transparent in the process of the election, which means the Muslim Brotherhood has to be allowed to compete, and if the people vote them in, so be it!

Seeing what has happened makes one concerned that just because there is discontent does not mean illegal means can be used to overthrow governments. One can be sure that there are right wing Tea Party elements who would love to overthrow our President, and figure if they were to demonstrate in the millions as in Egypt, that it might lead our military to break our Constitution and stage a coup against our legally elected leadership.

Thank goodness on this Fourth of July that we have always, through thick and thin, tolerated our leadership of government, and never resorted to attempts to overthrow our form of government, although there was a small scale such attempt, which fortunately went nowhere, against Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1934. But our military has always understood that they are subservient to civilian government, and obey the President of the United States, no matter his party or views!

We have a record of 237 years to uphold, and we should always take the same stand of support for other nations, even if we do not like their leadership, as to do otherwise would be total hypocrisy!

As California Turned “Blue”, Texas Will, Very Likely, As Well By 2020!

Ronald 10 Comments

It is hard to recall that California was for a long time strongly Republican in Presidential contests and in Congressional seats as well, but the decision of the Republican Party to work against the interests of Hispanic and Latino Americans under Governor Pete Wilson twenty years ago doomed the GOP in that state, to the point that there are hardly any Republicans in the Congressional delegation and a minority in both houses of the state legislature. Additionally, California is no longer a battle ground for the Presidential elections, and having 55 electoral votes is twenty percent of what is needed for winning the Presidency!

Once Hispanic and Latino Americans in Texas, the second largest state in population, become more active in voting, and as more young Hispanics and Latinos grow up to the age of voting, and realize the importance of fighting against the regressive attitudes of Governor Rick Perry and the Texas Congressional delegation and state legislature, the odds of the state electing a Democratic Governor and winning more Congressional seats, and turning “Blue” for the Presidential elections of the future, in the same manner as California, becomes much more likely. And 38 electoral votes, added to the 55 of California, gives future Democrats one third of all of the electoral votes needed to win the White House!

With rising stars such as State Senator Wendy Davis, who is leading the fight against a strict abortion law in the state legislature; and with the rise of Mayor Julian Castro of San Antonio, and his brother, Congressman Joaquin Castro, the rise of the Hispanic and Latino participation, and that of the women who feel wronged by the extremist agenda of Rick Perry and the conservative Republican legislature, will eventually reverberate on elections over the next seven years!

So the GOP may have dominance in the Lone Star State right now, but the odds of it changing dramatically by 2020 and after is very high. The Democrats will be unlikely to win the state in the Presidential Election of 2016, but very likely to have a real opportunity to do so in the Presidential Election of 2020, and once that happens, the GOP will be on its death bed, at least in the sense of being able to count on the backing of the second largest state, and that will make the Republican Party a minority party for the long haul, if it indeed survives!

Democracies Which Emerged Out Of Dictatorships And Became Success Stories

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As we see the breakdown of law and order in Egypt, Turkey and elsewhere, all seeking the development of democracy in nations that have not been paragons of promoting justice and equality, we must not forget that there have been cases of nations that have become successful, stable democracies without massive violence and bloodshed in the past few decades. The partial list below does not include those nations in North America, Western Europe, Japan, Israel, India, Australia, New Zealand, and Costa Rica which have had longer term stable democracies

These would include, as a few major examples the following:

Spain since 1975
Chile since 1989
Poland since 1989
Hungary since 1989
The Czech Republic since 1993
South Africa since 1994
Northern Ireland since 1998
South Korea since the 1990s
Taiwan since the 1990s

If only such could be the same in the Middle East, Africa, much of Asia, and much of Latin America, but we are a long way from that reality!

Mitt Romney Right On One Matter: Alternatives For 2012 GOP Nomination Were Worse Than Him!

Ronald 6 Comments

A forthcoming book by Dan Balz of the Washington Post reveals that 2012 GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney did not wish to run, and his family overwhelmingly did not want him to run, but that he decided to do so because of his conclusion that the alternatives for the nomination were worse than him!

For once, and only once, Mitt Romney is correct in his judgment, as the alternatives of Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul were all much more unacceptable, basically a comedy team!

Only Jon Huntsman, who had no chance to be the nominee, was a far better choice than Romney!

The Republican Party had the worst combination of choices for President of a major political party in the entire history of Presidential elections, and they deserved the defeat they suffered, and will, assuredly, face the same future in 2016!

21 States Are Refusing Federal Funding To Expand Medicaid Coverage To The Needy In 2014!

Ronald 2 Comments

21 states, all “red” Republican states, and governed by Republican Governors and legislatures, are refusing to expand Medicaid coverage for the the needy in their states for 2014, even though the federal government is covering the cost 100 percent for the first three years, starting next year, and 90 percent after that until 2020!

So millions of needy people will have no ability to have health care coverage under ObamaCare, as the Supreme Court gave the states the authority to decide if they wished to accept the Medicaid coverage expansion from the federal government.

Republicans, who claim to be “pro life” are willing to risk the lives of those less fortunate, including children, the elderly, and the poor, and yet they all claim to be “religious”, but are not acting with the compassion of Jesus Christ, particularly when the states have no cost for three years, and very little cost after!

So the following states have rejected this coverage:

Virginia
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Florida
Alabama
Mississippi
Louisiana
Texas
Oklahoma
Kansas
Nebraska
South Dakota
Idaho
Montana
Wyoming
Utah
Missouri
Wisconsin
Maine
Alaska

These states are governed by such “Bully” Governors as Bob McDonnell of Virginia; Nikki Haley of South Carolina, Rick Scott of Florida, Rick Perry of Texas, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, Scott Walker of Wisconsin, and Paul LePage of Maine–all totally despicable in their lack of concern for their less fortunate constituents!

Additionally, six other states are still debating whether to accept Medicaid expansion paid by the federal government, including the following:

New Hampshire
Ohio
Indiana
Michigan
Pennsylvania
Tennessee

This means Republican Governors, including John Kasich in Ohio, Rick Snyder in Michigan, and Tom Corbett in Pennsylvania, are actively working to deny coverage to their poorer populations!

Only 23 states, including Republican Governors Chris Christie in New Jersey, Brian Sandoval of Nevada, Susana Martinez of New Mexico, and Jan Brewer or Arizona are following through on commitment to the needs of their less fortunate, and those four Governors are to be commended, particularly Brewer in Arizona, who had a complete reversal in her view!

What a terrible state of affairs when conservatives and Republicans have no concern about those who are living but deprived, while at the same time, fighting to prevent abortions and force women to undergo ultrasound testing if they wish to end an abortion in the 24 weeks period allowed in the Roe V. Wade case. Additionally, North Dakota, Arkansas, Ohio and Texas, among other states, are trying to cut back, or have already done so, the amount of weeks of pregnancy in which a woman can have an abortion, and doing so in legislative sessions that are more run like a dictatorship, than a democratic means of passing legislation!

150th Anniversary Of Battle Of Gettysburg: Turning Point Of Civil War!

Ronald 3 Comments

A century and a half ago, on July 1, 2, and 3, 1863, the greatest battle of the Civil War occurred in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, the furthest north the Confederate armies of the South ever managed to reach during the war!

About 50,000 casualties occurred in those three days, and only on July 3 was it clear that the Union Army had triumphed, but at great cost!

This author has visited the Gettysburg historic site with his older son, and we were both sobered by the reality of that battle, and the amount of blood that was shed, and the ghosts that many claim still haunt the battlefield and the homes nearby that date back to that time period.

President Abraham Lincoln commemorated the loss of life in November of that year, and the commitment to human freedom, that those who fought on the Union side died for, while acknowledging the bravery and commitment of the Confederate soldiers who died in that sleepy Pennsylvania town 150 years ago!

This is a time to commemorate those who died and were wounded, and keep the commitment to human freedom and legal equality that is always under challenge in the modern world, both outside our nation, but sadly also still being an issue that divides Americans, and even the Supreme Court!

Proud Day Of Civil Rights 49 Years Ago, And Now Backtracking On Lyndon B. Johnson!

Ronald 4 Comments

49 years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson had his proudest moment in office, signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and then following up with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Finally, the tragedy of the years after 1877, the end of Reconstruction, was being rectified, 88 and 89 years after African Americans in the South were abandoned by the Republican Party in preference to an alliance with big business and industry committed to economic aggrandizement, and political insensitivity to not only African Americans, immigrants, women, children and even native born men that made up the industrial labor force, exploited until the Progressive Era started to rectify the worst evils of industrial capitalism!

And now, a half century later after Lyndon B. Johnson, it is the Republicans on the Supreme Court who are allowing unbridled capitalism to be seen as “people”, and in the process corrupting the system again, including victimizing all of the groups above, and negating the protection of minorities, the poor, elderly and college students in the states that had a long history of discrimination in voting rights, and now will have open access to do it once again, as if the civil rights era never occurred!

The Supreme Court majority is attempting to negate the Warren and Burger Courts in the great progress they made toward social justice and legal equality for oppressed groups, and this is a tragedy that will continue to emerge until and when Democratic Presidents can select more members of the Court to replace aging Justices, including Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy.

But sadly, the impact of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, the legacy of the two Bush Presidencies, is likely to continue for the long haul, and set back the nation on so many issues over the years to come!

Women On The Supreme Court: Their Impact Is Massive!

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So far, we have had four women on the Supreme Court in its history:

Sandra Day O’Connor (1981-2006), appointed by Ronald Reagan
Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1993- ), appointed by Bill Clinton
Sonia Sotomayor (2009- ), appointed by Barack Obama
Elena Kagan (2010- ), appointed by Barack Obama

All four have had a massive effect on the Court, and made one wonder what it would be like if the Court was made up of only women, which of course will never be the case.

However, the likelihood of more Justices who are women seems bright, and when Ginsburg leaves at some time in the future (with her being 80 years of age), it would seem appropriate to replace her with another woman.

This, of course, did not occur when O’Connor left the Court, and we ended up with Samuel Alito, a sour puss who seems hostile to all three woman Justices, and at the least, shows publicly a lack of respect for them, highly regrettable and in reality, outrageous conduct unbecoming a Supreme Court Justice!

The only hope we can have about the Court is that the women will have an insidious effect and move the conservative men toward understanding issues that affect slightly more than half the population of the nation.

Sadly, at this point, Justices Alito and Clarence Thomas seem unreachable, and so we have a schizoid Supreme Court, arguably one of the most divided in its entire history, and that is bad for the nation, and for confidence in American government!

The Attack On Hillary Clinton As “Too Old”: Sexism Rears Its Ugly Head For The Republican Party Once Again!

Ronald 2 Comments

The Republican Party, led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is 71 years old and looks older, is on the attack against Hillary Clinton, trying to destroy her likely candidacy for President, and likely election as our 45th President, by asserting she will be too old to be President in 2017 and beyond!

This assertion is absolutely laughable, and is purely another example of Republican sexism, as this argument would NOT be used against men!

The Republican Party seems to have forgotten that it had the three oldest nominees for President in American history, and one of them was elected in 1980, and served until nearly age 78, but not at his mental peak in his second term, Ronald Reagan!

Ronald Reagan never had the intellectual brilliance of Hillary Clinton, who would be eight months younger at inauguration for the first term in the Presidency!

And Bob Dole in 1996 was 73, and John McCain in 2008 was 72, when they were Presidential nominees!

The GOP has no strong arguments, and they are afraid of Hillary Clinton, so they come up with this despicable excuse of an argument, about her age of 69 upon election!

The tactic will NOT work, as if Hillary wants the nomination, she will win it, and take the oath of office as President on January 20, 2017!

113th Congress To Set Record As Least Productive Since World War II!

Ronald 3 Comments

THe 113th Congress, the second consecutive Congress to be a split Congress of a Republican majority in the US House of Representatives, and a Democratic majority in the US Senate, the only two times that a split Congress has been of this such division in American history, is on its way to becoming the least productive since World War II, surpassing the dismal record of the previous 112th Congress in 2011-2012!

A reminder that the other “split” Congresses were of a Republican Senate and Democratic House, and a lot more was accomplished under that scenario in 1911-1913, 1931-1933, and 1981-1987!

But this 113th Congress is setting a record for obstructionism never seen in American history!

The GOP is preventing action on the following:

The rebuilding of America’s infrastructure, badly in need of repair.
Accessible and affordable health care for all Americans
Getting off dependence on foreign oil by having a clean energy agenda
Promotion of the protection of women’s health
Responsible gun regulations to prevent future Sandy Hooks
Immigration Reform
Air and water pollution regulations
Strengthening of voting rights and civil rights for all Americans
Wall Street and banking reforms to prevent future “crashes”
A new farm bill, including food stamp protection for the poorest among us
Student loan interest reform

Confidence in Congress is at an all time low of TEN percent! The Republicans have abused the filibuster weapon in the US Senate, and the Tea Party Movement in the House of Representatives has hijacked even the Speaker of the House, John Boehner, who is powerless in the assault on cooperation and crossing of the aisle so essential for anything to get done in Congress!

Only 15 legislative items have become law in the past six months, lower than the 23 which became law in the first six months of the 112th Congress!

Those who believe that divided and split government is good for democracy are learning the hard way that it is the prescription for statemate, gridlock, and total paralysis, and that the answer is to kick out the Republican House majority and elect a Democratic majority in both houses, ideally with a filibuster proof Senate of 60 Democrats!

Sadly, neither of these ideas are realistically tenable, so the halting of effective government is likely to continue, undermining the future of America!