Category: Political Parties

OPINION: Rules For Thee, Not For Me

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OPINION:

RULES FOR THEE, NOT FOR ME

By Trevor K. McNeil

Power Of Perception

Perception can be powerful. As Mark Twain said, give someone a reputation as “an early riser” and he can stay in bed until noon. Though, as with most things powerful, such perceptions can also be exceedingly dangerous. Like the “honest man” who turns out to be a con man or thief. Or the “quiet guy” who turns out to be a serial killer. Perceptions, especially unverified ones, make it very easy to deceive, particularly ourselves. Such is the case with American Isolationism.

Divided We Stand

The idea of American independence goes back to the beginning. Not only in terms of the country but with the individual states. At the time of founding, the United in United States was more wishful thinking on the part of the founders than expectation. The reality was less a nation than a loose collection of essentially independent British colonies, each with it’s own local government, and usually a militia group, the British being absentee landlords at best.

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Dr. Jill Biden: A Worthy And Empowering Woman

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Dr. Jill Biden:
A Worthy And Empowering Woman

By Anna Hessel

Visible Courage

Dr. Jill Biden, is a classic blonde beauty, who served admirably as Second Lady of The United States from 2009-2017, during the historic Obama-Biden administration.  She has, from the beginning of Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, proved a standout surrogate for her husband. She has guts. On Super Tuesday, Jill displayed that courage when protesters charged the stage during  Joe’s speech. Like a star fullback Jill shielded her other half in the midst of the fracas.

Jill-of-All-Trades And Master Of Many

Dr. Jill Biden was the only Second Lady to have a job during her husbands tenure as Vice President.

Dr. Jill Biden was the only Second Lady that ever held a job during her husband’s tenure as Vice President.

This faithful and spirited lady, while being friendly and feminine, has a backbone of pure steel.  Like many of our finest First Ladies, Dr. Jill Biden is an accomplished woman in her own right.  She has been married to the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, since 1977. While Second Lady she held a paying job (outside of government). Jill Biden is believed to be the only Second Lady to have ever worked during a spouse’s tenure as Vice President of the United States.

Education Her Passion

Jill Biden is a proud wife, mom, grandmother, pet owner and lifelong educator.  She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware. She has two masters degrees, the first from Villanova University and the second from West Chester University. And, impressively, a doctoral degree from her first alma mater, U. of Delaware. Dr. Biden has worked diligently to raise awareness of issues important to women, such as preventing breast cancer, the importance of community colleges, and the sacrifices our military families make for America’s future.

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OPINION: Watching Democracy Die

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OPINION:

Watching Democracy Die

By D. S. Mitchell

Wisconsin Outrage

Television images captured thousands of voters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin standing in three block long lines, face masks in place, showered intermittently with hail and rain, risking exposure to COVID-19; to exercise their right to vote. This did not need to happen. This should not have happened. Voting should not be an obstacle course. Voting should be one of the easiest things, we as citizens, ever do. It should be as easy as licking an envelope. The vote by mail push is meeting stiff resistance from the far right, particularly from Donald Trump. The politicians fear it would endanger their grip on power. Republicans in Wisconsin, and other states have used voter suppression to shrink the electorate and limit access to the polls for decades.

Anger

I was disgusted at the sight of what was happening in Wisconsin. Furious to my core. So angry, I was crying. Tears are not always shed in weakness, or defeat. Some tears are a physical manifestation of a rage so great that when held back can lead to plate smashing, door slamming, and window breaking. At other times tears are shed because the injustice of events is beyond the understanding of the human heart. In 2018, according to the Brennan Center For Justice “17 million Americans, or 8% of the nation’s electorate, were removed from voting rolls.” The clear intent was to deny particular segments of the population the right to vote.

The Whigs

In the first days of our country there was no such thing as voter registration; white men just showed up and voted. In the mid 1800’s voter registration laws began to emerge. These laws, were designed to limit participation, not encourage involvement.  One of the first voter registration laws in the country was written by New York state Whigs. The Whigs wanted to limit the voting power of Irish Catholic voters in New York City. The Irish were mostly Democratic party voters. But, the Whigs had a plan, and the legislative power to suppress the power of the growing Irish Catholic vote.

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OPINION: Trump’s Viral Circus

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I read some place when you hire a clown, expect a circus..

An unidentified, but very clever person declared, “when you hire a clown, expect a circus.”

OPINION: Trump’s Viral Circus

By Trevor K. McNeil

A Question of Leadership.

Many American presidents have faced great obstacles. To their credit, most have risen to the occasion with some degree of grace and intelligence befitting the office. Most of the catastrophes have been military-and at times self-inflicted, such as Teddy Roosevelt’s half-cocked 1898 invasion of Spanish controlled Cuba. “Remember the Maine!” More recently, terrorism has been the challenge. After 9/11, somehow overnight, George W. Bush became a military genius. That genius led us into an unending conflict in the Middle East. Though, to his credit, he did better than most would have expected. Ulysses S. Grant, not widely known for his intelligence, statesmanship, or sobriety did attempt to rebuild the nation after the terror of the Civil War, and as expected, failed abysmally.

Guns and Ammo

Woodrow Wilson was fighting two wars, one against the Germans and one against the Spanish Flu.

Woodrow Wilson faced two enemies during WWI; the Germans and the Spanish Flu pandemic.

Sadly, Woodrow Wilson, simultaneously facing World War I and the Spanish Flu pandemic resorted to lies and misinformation to tamper down public fears. God forbid anyone stop the production of guns and ammunition.  The 1918 experience of a rapidly spreading virus, and a government unprepared for the challenge, should be an eye opener. The COVID-19 outbreak has been compared to the Spanish Flu pandemic. If that proves correct we could be on the brink of total disaster. In fact, Wilson’s public response to Spanish Flu may prove sterling in comparison to Trump’s Coronavirus press briefings.

Wishful Thinking

In the case of president Trump, the lies come so fast and furious it is often hard to separate intent from stupidity. In an instance of whimsical optimism unseen outside of a Peter Pan production, Trump publicly suggested people should just “go to work”, and it will all miraculously “just go away.” Reporting indicates Trump was warned in early December 2019 that COVID-19 was as serious as it gets, and was headed like an armed missile directly at us.

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OPINION: “The Least Among You”

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OPINION: “The Least Among You”

The Bible and rosary

By Trevor K. McNeil

Misinterpretations

There have long been instances of disagreement when it comes to the interpretation of religious texts. This has happened more with the Bible than most texts, not least because of the multiple translations. One of the oddest interpretations of the story of Jesus so far, aside from  polygamous Mormons and the Snake-handlers who intentionally handle poisonous snakes as an act of devotion, are the Fundamentalist Christian Evangelicals. The fundamentalist groups emerged in the American South in the early 1900’s, and have tried to sway every federal election since. To the point that no one who didn’t at least claim to be Christian has ever had a chance at becoming president.

God in Office

Going back many years there have been American Presidents of a distinctly Christian persuasion. Most were Republicans oddly enough, who have claimed that God chose them to be president. These are also the presidents who have gotten the most Christian support. The most recent leader to make this claim being George W. Bush. While not quite making such claims, a rare instance of humbleness, Donald Trump has a shockingly high level of support from Evangelical Christians. This despite many Republican policies that are in direct conflict with Christian principles. Many so-called Christian Republicans oppose abortion rights on the grounds of “Thou Shalt Not Kill”. Oddly, they support the Death Penalty. The “right to life” apparently ending after one turns 18.

A New Low

Despite often getting a lot of things wrong the Evangelical Right out did themselves with their support for President Trump. It is not an exaggeration to say that Trump is the most sinful president in American history. From a purely religious perspective Trump has almost no redeeming qualities. Trump has never been seen going to church. He avowed no particular religion until starting to get support from the Christian right. The president has been married more than once, a big no-no if one actually takes the Bible literally, and is a serial adulterer.

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Joe Biden: Who We Need

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JOE BIDEN: We Need You Now

By Trevor K. McNeil

The Evil of Two Lessers

There is a long-standing joke that in the democratic system one is voting for the lesser of two evils. The basic idea being that no politician is really good and will almost always serve their own interests. Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore coined the phrase the “evil of two lessers” referring to George W. Bush’s  second election in 2004. A term that could well apply to Donald Trump in 2016. Sorry Hillary boosters, but I was never a fan. There is something about hawkish economic pragmatists that just leaves me cold. Though compared to Donald Trump she looks like a master of state-craft, if a bit Machiavellian.

Beyond Party Lines

Another statement that has made it’s way into the political parlance is “anyone would be better.” A notion that was particularly popular in terms of Richard M. Nixon and George H.W. Bush. Though rarely has this been so literally the case in terms of the American presidency as it is this election cycle. Despite the continued protection of Donald Trump by the Republican party, a level of loyalty that looks like royal fealty, the current president has pushed politics past party lines. It is no longer about Republican or Democrat, not that it ever was, Trump changing parties more times than wives. It is about what is best for the country, which is getting anyone, but Trump into the Oval Office.

A Sense Of Security

For the most part Democrats vote for Democrats and Republicans vote for Republicans. This only stands to reason. It is also extremely limited and only takes into account card-carrying party members. According to the “30-30-40 Rule” each of the major parties has an intractable base of roughly 30% of voters. It is the other 40%, the swing voters and moderates that decide who wins elections. A fact which serves as a large part of the logic behind #VoteBlueNoMatterWho with regard to the 2020 presidential election. It is beginning to look increasingly like the “who” is going to be Joe Biden. Not because he has the best policies or voting history, but because in terms of sheer electability he has the best chance.

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Bernie And His Political Agenda

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Bernie And His Political Agenda

By Jones William

**This article was written and published on March 14, 2020. A lot has happened since then. Senator Sanders has since endorsed Joe Biden.

Doing The Math

Bernie Sanders has committed to remaining in the presidential race, despite big losses to Joe Biden. I have not heard him say that staying in the race means going all the way to the convention. I strongly believe that he will stay in the race long enough to carry out two goals. First, he will want to reach the point at which there is no obvious way forward in the eyes of 80–90% of his supporters. Once they can see for themselves that the math does not support staying in the race, I believe they will be more amenable to Sanders’ endorsing Biden.

Unity Building

Secondly, any endorsement will be contingent upon Joe Biden publicly committing to incorporate Bernie’s pet progressive planks into the Democratic party platform. To me, that seems reasonable, for a man with millions of supporters.  By cutting it short somewhere in the near future, and not dragging the fight all the way to the convention, Joe Biden can then focus on building party unity. By embracing the Sander’s progressive faction in some measurable way, before the primary contests are over both Bernie  and Biden get something they want.

Goal Directed

With these goals in mind, Sanders will take part in Sunday’s one-on-one debate with Biden in Washington, DC. I think he’ll ask for everyone who supports any part of his movement’s agenda in Florida, Ohio, Illinois, and Arizona to turn out in a big way. A showing so large that the movement’s goals cannot be ignored. If polling in these states is as close to true as it turned out to be in Michigan, Biden will improve on his current delegate lead. This will allow Sanders to turn his supporters to Biden and party unity, even as he leverages the incorporation of the movement’s goals into Biden’s platform.

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Mother Earth Is Begging For Help

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Mother Earth, Protect Her

By D. S. Mitchell

No Planet B, For Me

Calamity Politics is pro-environment. I hope all our readers are pro-environment. Earth is the only planet I’m ever going to set foot on.  I see her as a nurturing, caring, loving place that needs reciprocal love and care. We need to get this right; for the grandchildren, and the great-grandchildren. I want to make climate change and environmental protection a priority. We  are in the middle of the Democratic 2020 primaries. Biden and Sanders are still battling it out. Recent primaries do appear to have Biden overwhelming the Vermont senator. Whoever wins the nomination must make Climate Change and environmental protection a top national issue.

Four More Years Could Seal Mom’s Fate

The Trump environmental wrecking crew is at the gates. As each day passes, I become more agitated. I am afraid that we will not be able to mount a sufficient defense against their heavy-handed onslaught against the environment. The agency that is most responsible for that protection, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), has been decimated by Trump and his Fossil Fuel allies.

In the Courts

The Sierra Club’s donations are up. The World Wildlife Fund donations are also reportedly, up. I think we will need every environmental organization on the planet to stop the assault on the planet.  Hopefully their resistance will be both through lawsuits in the courts and active street protests against Trump’s dangerous agenda.  It is important to recognize that U.S. politics effect policy worldwide, not just nationwide. We are an example to the world. What we do, other countries do.

Embrace the Future

Clean energy is better for the economy and it is better for Mother Earth. Time to wrestle control of environmental policy and legislation from the fossil fuel industry and their army of lobbyists. The  remnants of the dirty Industrial Revolution must come to an end. Let’s look forward,  and embrace the future.  We are moving into the Technological Era.  Parts of the transition will be painful, acceptance is the first step.  If you are affected by a changing industry, change yourself, change your skills. Become part of the future, not a useless relic of the past.

From Australia to the Amazon

Whether it is the wild fires in California, or the Amazon; millions of animals are being killed or displaced  by wildfires. Many of the fires are set by humans as a quick means to clear land for cattle grazing or palm oil production. In Australia recent fires were also caused intentionally by man. The Australian fires have caused the death of an estimated one million animals. At the other extreme, the polar ice caps are melting at an incredible rate. This loss of ice is creating big trouble for animals who depend on the ice for hunting and nesting. These emergencies must be addressed quickly, we don’t have much time.

The Orange Whore

President Trump and environmental corruption are center stage in the 2020 election. Whoring with fossil fuel barons, erasing climate change regulations, abandoning the Paris Climate Agreement, increasing offshore oil leases, supporting coal mining has made it clear, Donald Trump is no friend of Mother Earth. He has revealed his true heart, and it is nothing more than a dollar sign.  Trump and the greedy fossil fuel abusers would kill Mom and dance at her funeral. It is up to us, to stop the war on our planet. Time to elect Democrats, from the state houses to the White House. Mom’s life is at stake.

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Lies About Medicare For All

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Lies About Medicare For All

By D. S. Mitchell

 

Drop The Labels

Honest health care policy experts know that the solution to fix the American health care system is staring us in the face, and it is single-payer. Whether dubbed “Medicare-for-All” or an “expansion of Medicaid” through ObamaCare. The solution is easy when labels like “socialism” “liberalism” “progressivism” are ignored. Trump and his DOJ is in court at this very moment trying to invalidate the ACA (ObamaCare). It seems that the more resistance Republicans arouse over destroying ObamaCare the voices for Medicare-for-All grows louder.

Health Care As A Right

The evidence is clear, Americans believe that every person has a right to health care, irrespective of their ability to pay. We as a people, believe that we have an obligation to take care of each other. In fact, there is more momentum for the adoption of a single-payer health care system than at any time in our history.

Scuttle Safety Net

Despite its enormous popularity and unparalleled record of success Republicans are neck-deep in their war against the nation’s health care safety net, whether it is Medicare, Medicaid or the ACA.  New Republican proposals have emerged since the 2016 election that would slash benefits for the elderly and leave older Americans at the mercy of the “for profit” insurance industry.

Voucher Plans

When Paul Ryan was Speaker of the House he was extremely vocal in his attacks against both Medicaid and Medicare. He supported a voucher program that would transfer more costs on to seniors and leave them at the mercy of the private insurance industry.  Just because Ryan is gone, doesn’t mean that the Republicans have jettisoned that philosophy. The actions to undermine Medicare and Medicaid are ongoing and must be stopped.  It is not just about protecting our existing Medicare system, it is about ensuring that every citizen has access to excellent health care as a right. In such a system it definitely works best when “everybody is in, and nobody is out.”

An American Tragedy

It is believed one hundred Americans die everyday from the lack of health insurance. That is over 30,000 unnecessary deaths each year and that number is expected to grow steadily over the next decade. This is an American tragedy.

Republican Tax Scam

The Republican tax scam was hard on American health care. Millions remain uncovered and millions more are losing coverage due to increased cost for insurance brought on by the elimination of the ACA insurance “mandate”. The insurance mandate was a device used by the ACA plan to expand the pool of healthy people in the system to keep prices down.

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The Electoral College Problem

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The Electoral College Problem

By D. S. Mitchell

Losing While Winning

I believe whoever wins the most popular votes should become president of the United States. Unfortunately, with the Electoral College system that is not what happens. Twice in the last five elections the candidate that became president of the United States lost the popular vote. Donald Trump, won by less than 80,000 votes in four key electoral college states. He simultaneously lost the national popular vote by nearly 3 million votes.

The GOP Solution

The Electoral College system has become a tool for the Republicans in their effort to lock in one party control of government. Elie Mystal in a recent editorial in The Nation magazine wrote the GOP solution to changing demographics is to “forge a new theory of government where the rule by a white minority can withstand the popular will”. The nature of that effort was clear during Trump’s recent impeachment trial. Republicans desperate to acquit Trump wrapped their arms around a group of discredited legal theories. The Senators embraced a view of executive power and privilege, that ultimately denies our democracy and anoints a king.

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