Robert Pacilio's Blog, page 2

The Far Right’s Strategy: Reading Is Wrong, So Is College

Kinga Cichewicz@all_the_wander from Upsplash“When you watch Trump, David, I’m not sure the man reads very well. I know he doesn’t write very well. I would argue that anybody who can’t read and can’t write can’t think. That’s what we have”. — Stephen King (NYT Magazine)They won’t read, they don’t read, and they can’t read. That’s right — far right. And the Trump world is just fine with that. Sorry to deliver the blunt facts — but read below and weep. (Don’t worry. I’ll give you a tip or two by the end.)Irecognize two inherent ironies this essay must face. First, and most obvious, is that the likelihood of people reading this is limited; however, on the off chance that one does, I want to gird you with some evidence to use in the war against ignorance. The second, and a far more disturbing irony, is that the reasons a large percentage of the population won’t believe what they just might read is that this essay paints a target on those for whom reading has been either very difficult or that the information that they read is “fake news.” People refrain from being a target.Despite the obstacles, allow me to lay out the case that Stephen King opines with some broader facts. “The U.S. Department of Education…study seeks to determine how well adults are prepared to function in today’s society.” The most recent results show “52% of all Americans have basic or below-basic reading skills.” Of that group 18% are either illiterate or below basic in their reading skills. When one considers that roughly only 61% of Americans bother to vote, one begins to understand why people are not active citizens in a republic that demands that its citizens engage in the nation’s welfare.More importantly, of those who vote, what information do they reach for to inform them? Here is the rub: according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted Jan. 8 to Feb. 7, “Roughly a quarter of U.S. adults (27%) say they haven’t read a book in whole or in part in the past year, whether in print, electronic or audio form. Who are these non-book readers?” Answer: 44% had only a high school education or less. That is the largest portion. Of that, men are 10% less likely to read than women. Blacks and Hispanics are also largely represented in the non-reader group. (Given the language issues for Hispanics, that is somewhat understandable. Toss in poverty and sub-par schools in poor neighborhoods, and one understands the heightened percentage.)

“The gulf between the party identification of white voters with college degrees and those without is growing rapidly. Trump is widening it.”

Who does read? College educated folks made up the smallest number of non-readers at 8%. So connect the dots; the more you become educated, the more you read, and the more educated one becomes, the probability that one will read critically. That means one questions assumptions, looks at the qualified sources, and perhaps most importantly, takes time to sift through more than one viewpoint.Thus, we come to the essay penned in November of 2018 in The Atlantic by Adam Harris entitled “America Is a Divided Nation”; its subtitle gets right to the theme — “The gulf between the party identification of white voters with college degrees and those without is growing rapidly. Trump is widening it.” Here I must defer to Mr. Harris for the nuts and bolts of the battle to keep America away from college — the new (I emphasize) Republican strategy:One of the most striking patterns in yesterday’s election was years in the making: a major partisan divide between white voters with a college degree and those without one.According to exit polls, 61 percent of non-college-educated white voters cast their ballots for Republicans while just 45 percent of college-educated white voters did so. Meanwhile 53 percent of college-educated white voters cast their votes for Democrats compared with 37 percent of those without a degree. The diploma divide, as it’s often called, is not occurring across the electorate; it is primarily a phenomenon among white voters. It’s an unprecedented divide, and is in fact a complete departure from the diploma divide of the past.Harris continues to explain that it was Democrats who appealed to those folks who had less education; whereas, the Republicans of Rockefeller lore appealed to more literate Americans. That is not the Trump mantra today.Harris speaks of “the diploma divide” as the reason why Trump’s popularity at least reached barely enough people in just the right states with just the number of electors to make a difference in 2016. “Last night’s results confirm that the diploma divide is likely here to stay — especially if the GOP maintains its alignment with Trump and the nationalist, anti-immigrant sentiments he hangs his hat on. The gap is likely to be one of the most powerful forces shaping American politics for decades to come.”

Instead, the journalistic world view is equated to a simple devious warning that they are “the enemy of the people.”

Harris’s research was exhaustive and this became his conclusion: “When President Trump says ‘Make America great again,’ the again is instructive.” So for many non-college educated Americans, there is a longing for the good-old-days when a family could be prosperous with the husband working, the wife cooking, and the kids all learning that it is better to be seen but not heard. Naturally, that golden age did not include civil rights or women’s liberation. Minorities were openly discriminated, attacked, and lynched for daring to step up to the ballot box and demand the right to vote.And who best to deliver this information to folks who don’t, won’t, and can’t read? You guessed it — Fox News. Two of the most zealous voices boast that they became rich and successful, not to mention influential due to Fox and the far right radio waves, are Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Neither of them spent more than a semester in college. No instead they became radio ‘shock DJ’s’ who transitioned into the perfect mouthpieces for the sales show that decries what Trump calls the ‘lamestream media.’For that reason Mr. Trump claims that The New York Times is ‘failing’ — when its profitability is at its highest. What the Times, the Washington Post, the major television networks are all guilty of is simply not praising the President and the administration’s policy of rooting out and destroying the “deep state.” Instead, the journalistic world view is equated to a simple devious warning that they are “the enemy of the people.”What can one do about this political strategy to degrade college education, reading of books and newspapers, and the personal attacks on reporters (“You are a terrible reporter” chastises our President at a recent Covid-19 presser)? First, read David Furm’s essay of April 7, 2020 entitled, “This Is Trump’s Fault: The president is failing, and Americans are paying for his failures.” He focuses on the lies and incompetence of this Administration. It is a clarion call to all Americans about the irresponsible actions of Mr. Trump.Mr. Furm’s conclusion: “’I don’t take responsibility at all,’ said President Donald Trump in the Rose Garden on March 13. Those words will probably end up as the epitaph of his presidency, the single sentence that sums it all up.”Encourage all you can via social media to read it. Be an advocate of reading. And when people ‘Say, oh well, that’s just some Democrat, left wing fake news, please inform them that Mr. David Furm is the conservative Republican who wrote the speeches for the president they likely admired and voted for — George W. Bush.Maybe, just maybe, that will make them do what Stephen King hopes will occur: think.Here is the link to the article. Be safe…and read a good book.https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/04/americans-are-paying-the-price-for-trumps-failures/609532/?fbclid=IwAR38Yq4Czxwf1fg1S6401ZUpz6MS-mSSJATdJu6TDiYKzZcv4Uk4aRxS0eQ

Trump is Thinks Health Care is His ‘Biggest Decision’: Not True, Again.

Charles Deluvio from UpsplashPresident Trump’s biggest decision has already been made. He choked. He ignored the facts. He chose to concern himself with his own self interest.Let’s get to the facts: First, the Governors not the President decided what each state will do regarding ‘opening up the economy.’ Trump can say whatever his hunch/ guts/ mind thinks and he can influence the easily persuaded in the Fox News Universe, but he cannot legally change social distancing.Second, Trump can take whatever ‘miracle drug’ he wants. He can say ‘What do you have to lose?’ In our case many reports have already surfaced that his organizations has something to gain financially. He likely didn’t know that, but hey, when you do not divest yourself or put your business in a blind trust as the Emoluments clause in The Constitution mandates then what are Americans to think? Of course, he has been allowed to get away with this by his Republican cronies in government.Third, hydroxychloroquine is not the singular answer according to experts Jonathan Chait in the New York Magazine 4/12/2020 just indicated several pressing facts: “Trump’s former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb wrote a Wall Street Journal column urging the rapid development of coronavirus treatments, citing several promising examples, but conspicuously omitting the president’s favorite example. On Twitter, Gottlieb cautioned that hydroxychloroquine is not the wonder treatment Trump believes it to be…”Dr. Anthony Fauci, the most qualified voice in terms of diseases made it clear. “The data are really just at best suggestive,” he says. “There have been cases that show there may be an effect and there are others to show there’s no effect.”

Trump has become the leading actor in a Greek Tragedy of his own production.

The one thing that is true about Trump is that he has already mismanaged this crisis. Period. Easter Sunday’s edition of The New York Times made the case which a chorus of its top reporters in a headline on page 1, above the fold. “Despite Timely Alerts, Trump Was So to Act.” * It is a lengthy, biting news report that counters every possible excuse that Trump and his accomplices mutter, such as the pandemic warnings came early and often; China trade deals were a priority over understanding the health crisis there; the consequences of the crisis were not elevated, rather the focus was on Trump’s re-election. What it all adds up to is his legacy mattered more to him than being truthful, honest, and prepared.One final fact: On 60 Minutes Easter Sunday, Trump’s Trade advisor, Peter Navarro had the gall to claim that no other president could have done a better job than Trump. Seriously? I imagine Navarro, who has never won an election to any office, has not kept tabs on the fact that “swine flu (H1N1), Ebola and Zika happened during Barack Obama’s presidency.” Let me pass along to Mr. Navarro this tidbit of news.Rueters reported. In terms of the handling of Zika, “As part of his response to the Zika virus, President Obama “called on Congress to provide emergency funding to combat this disease, including to: speed the development of a vaccine; allow people — especially pregnant women — to more easily get tested and get a prompt result; and ensure that states and communities — particularly those in the South that have experienced local outbreaks of dengue and chikungunya in the past — have the resources they need to fight the mosquito that carries this virus.”When the Swine Flu came calling, Rueters laid out this fact, “On May 2, 2009, President Obama in his weekly address to the nation reminded Americans of the CDC’s recommendation that “schools and childcare facilities with confirmed cases of the virus close for up to fourteen days.”Finally, the response to Ebola was explained, “It is true that the 2014–2016 Ebola (EVD) outbreak in West Africa coincided with Obama’s presidency. But only 11 people were treated for Ebola in the U.S. during the 2014–2016 epidemic.” Why? Because that President Obama was truthful, honest, and prepared.If Harry Truman could claim that the buck stops here — at the Resolute Desk, then Trump, who utters nonsense like “I take no responsibility at all.” has become the leading actor in a Greek Tragedy of his own production. And the hopefully Joe Biden will be the lead actor with a strong supporting cast four years hence. I am sure he will be reading the FEMA and Obama protocols for disaster preparedness that Trump so arrogantly ignored.*The New York Times of April 12, 2020.

Has America Reached the Trump Tipping Point?

Malcolm Gladwell wrote about tipping points recently; his work focused on this thesis: “Epidemics don’t build gradually and steadily; they grow and reach a boiling point or critical mass, at which point they explode and turn into an epidemic. That threshold is called the tipping point.”I am less interested in products and the success of business as Gladwell is; no, today’s pandemic is much bigger than an epidemic and my focus is this: When does this nation reach the point when an overwhelming majority of American citizens realize that the Trump Administration, and for that matter his Republican enablers, are in the words of Mark Twain — rapscallions.Ifyou are unfamiliar with Huckleberry Finn’s adventures down the Mississippi, then you may not recognize the word rapscallions. Let me enlighten my readers. A rapscallion is a flim-flam man, a con artist, a selfish blowhard…in a word Trump.If you are watching the news, reading the papers, checking out books or anything that does NOT involve Fox News, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh or Brietbart and its ilk, then you are patently aware that Trump has been a failure at most every endeavor that his father’s money bought him. Casinos. Airlines. Universities. Various products including steaks, booze, and fat ties made in China. All failures. As former Republican strategist Rick Wilson puts it, “Everything Trump touches DIES.”What people are less aware of is that it is Russian Oligarchs who have laundered money through the German Deutsche Bank as The New York Times ‘ David Enrich (2/4/2020) reported in his article “The Money Behind Trump’s Money: “The roughly $425 million …arrange(d) for Trump back in 1998 was the start of a very long, very complicated relationship between ­Deutsche Bank and the future president. Over the course of two decades, the bank lent him more than $2 billion.”Enrich continues, “…the bank’s relationship with Trump extended well beyond making simple loans. ­Deutsche Bank managed tens of millions of dollars of Trump’s personal assets. The bank also furnished him with other services that have not previously been reported: providing sophisticated financial instruments that shielded him from risks and outside scrutiny, and making introductions to wealthy Russians who were interested in investing in Western real estate. If Trump cheated on his taxes, ­Deutsche Bank would probably know. If his net worth is measured in millions, not billions, ­Deutsche Bank would probably know. If he secretly got money from the Kremlin, ­Deutsche Bank would probably know.” Jogen Hailand Courtsey of UpsplashSo for the first time in American history, a United States President is “owned” by a foreign company with assets controlled by a foreign adversary: Russia and most likely Putin. In the lexicon of the new century Trump is “compromised.” It is the word that best explains Trump’s actions as it relates to all foreign policy decisions. It is why he allies with our enemies and makes enemies of our allies. Anything pro-Russian is pro-Trumpian. It is why Rex Tillerson was the Secretary of State; because Exxon- Mobil was needed to get the oil out of the Russian arctic according to numerous sources compiled in Rachel Maddow’s Blowout.Of course, that applies to the foreign owned (Rupert Murdock, Australian-born) Fox network. This so called news outlier operates as the president’s personal PR firm. It is the only news organization that gets full access to him because they will promote his product. Virus? Nope. It’s a hoax. Or it is the plot created by the Democrats to take him out of office. Or it will just go away by Easter. Yada Yada. Whatever you say, Mr. President.

Covid-19 is sadly the tipping point for this president.

The question remains: when will the vast majority see the light? The evidence is beginning to percolate upward as his popularity and trustworthiness trends ever so slowly downward despite non-stop Fox bloviating.By now most people are aware that in a time of crisis American presidents ride a surge in “rally around the flag” support. Even the terribly unpopular George W. Bush when leaving office surged to 90% popular support after 9.11. FDR, LBJ, Even Ronald Reagan were immensely popular figures, even though two of the three ended their term on the decline. What they all had in common was that their trustworthiness, their work ethic, their willingness to step out front and take responsibility for the issue that plagued America made them heroic.Trump, the rapscallion, dodges all responsibility. He claims to have always made the “perfect call”; bragging that things are going “beautiful.” He naturally hired only “the best people” and has fired them at levels no president has ever come close to matching. Why? Because most of these people, competent and diligent, faced a moral dilemma: state that the president is a rapscallion (the emperor wears no clothes) or acquiesce to his will. Hundreds of them tried to stay on the Trump’s ever self-indulgent message until they just could not look at themselves in the mirror and live with what Trump was doing. Some stayed on just to make sure America was protected from the president’s follies.Covid-19 is sadly the tipping point for this president. Yes, his popularity for one week ticked up to somewhere around 53% in terms of whether he was handling the crisis well. After spending hours and hours, days and days, spouting off incorrect information (contradicted immediately by the real experts who surrounded him — diplomatically, naturally, or else they incur his wrath).Nevertheless, after a merely a week he is back underwater with public opinion polls that measure his job approval in this crisis — back to 47%. Those numbers will sink gradually as things worsen and more untruths (now called alternative facts) come out. No, Easter is not happening. Neither is April miracle. The power of positive thinking may be a “secret’ — but tell that to the doctors and nurses who were positive the ventilators would come that the president now says are exaggerations.

Here is my hope: That Leadership matters. Competence matters. Voting matters. Let this be a lesson to us all.

No, the hospitals are not getting what they need. No, the States are getting screwed in trying to purchase equipment. No, Jared Kushner does not know what he is talking about regarding the Federal medical surplus — which he deems (on whose authority?) the States have no right to procure. Yes, it is utterly untrue that a drug that treats malaria is a “miracle cure” — even the doctor who claims this admits there is no clinical, quantitative evidence to support the latest presidential “miracle cure.”Huck Finn’s experience with the rapscallions who pretend to be kings and dukes shows that only when people realize that they have personally be cheated: of life, of income; of jobs; of security; of freedom — that is when the people will rise up. That is when not even Fox News will resonate with the people. Why? Because the president did everything possible to remain arrogant and blissfully, ignorant of science, of medical experts, of global trends, of the necessity for allied governments and organizations to work together…just to name a few.Nero fiddled while Rome burned. Britain’s Neville Chamberlin seriously underestimated Adolph Hitler and England faced its darkest hour. Richard Nixon believed the ‘Great Silent Majority” would continue to support the war in Vietnam until the National Guard killed four innocent college kids in Ohio at Kent State. Clinton and Bush paid too little attention to Osama bin Laden and then the Twin Towers came apart, and with it New York, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon bowed and prayed. Meanwhile, Donald Trump played golf on the critical weekend before this all began — par for his course.Eventually, the truth catches up to the imposters, the rapscallions. In Huck Finn’s world, those rapscallions are tarred and feathered when the people find out they were cheated. They died a gruesome death. Tragically, this pandemic has become a tipping point, leading America to hundreds of thousands of equally gruesome deaths.Gladwell’s ‘Tipping Point’ is defined as an ‘explosion’ of opinion. In which direction should America ‘tip’? Here is my hope: That Leadership matters. Competence matters. Voting matters. Let this be a lesson to us all. As Mark Twain often closed, ‘Nough said.”

Covid-19: Foreshadows the Price That Will Be Paid for Ignoring Science

Chris Boese@chrisboese
One might consider this the first serious “shot across the bow” that is the result of ignoring the scientists who have been shouting from the rooftops about the fragile nature of our planet.
I say “serious” not to diminish the hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires that take a temporary hold on our consciousness in the 24 hour media loop that we call the “news of the day.” That’s just my point — it is a loop-de-loop of events that impacts pockets of the nation — of the world.New York’s Hurricane Sandy; Louisiana’s Katrina; Tennessee’s tornado; California’s wildfires — they interrupt our lives (unless we are in their path), and, thankfully, the country tries to rebuild, replenish, reassert our will over Mother Nature. And then the news marches on to the next localized calamity.Not so with Covid-19.Disregarding the latest misinformation from President Trump, even Fox News has put 2 and 2 together and realized, “Houston, we have a problem.” This time it touches every one of the 50 states. This time what the scientists and medical experts say has our attention (and it is not limited to 24 hours). This time (cue the dramatic pitch of the orchestra) it really matters.

Yes, the climate is warming because MAN IS MAKING IT SO.

The truth is far from “inconvenient” — it’s toxic. And it will kill whole swaths of the population in every country. According to The New York Times’ David Wallace Wells, in his article “Time to Panic,” Wells quotes a familiar voice of Earth’s stewardship, “At the opening of a major United Nations conference two months later, David Attenborough, the mellifluous voice of the BBC’s Planet Earth” and now an environmental conscience for the English-speaking world, put it even more bleakly: ‘If we don’t take action,’ he said, ‘the collapse of our civilizations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon.’”Ours is to do three things at once: recognize that those in positions of power are not paying attention to the dire predictions of scientists, remove them from authority, and simultaneously try to minimize the human toll.What can someone take from this worldwide epidemic? Let’s start with the basics: Global Warming is REAL. It’s not a hoax cooked up by the Chinese, who are the current villains the President blames. The Polar Ice is melting — faster than we expected. Yes, it will cause flooding, and we will lose cities like Miami. Yes, the climate is warming because MAN IS MAKING IT SO. (The good news is this nation can start to deal with it by agreeing to continue with the Paris Accords.)Perhaps the most important thing to be done by our citizens is to elect leaders to the House, Senate, and the Oval Office who believe in science, regardless of their political party.Who do not pander to the fossil fuel industry.Who do not believe windmills cause cancer.Who understand that America cannot “go it alone” in this decade that will surely be the tipping point of environmental survival.Americans should not elect leaders who tell us falsehoods that are self-promoting. Americans should ignore the short sighted delusions of hucksters posing as “journalists” (who do not even have a college degree!); those who demand the attention of people too tired, too busy, too ignorant (myself, included) about science and the dangers of our energy production. These blowhards who lead us astray with the notion that government is the enemy, yet at the same time they profess undying devotion to that same government (as long at government keeps its hands off their wallet).Simply put, if we do not change the trajectory of this planet’s occupants who pollute the atmosphere, then the pandemic that has doubled over citizens with a gut punch that has so many gasping for breath, will be to some, just a glitch, a minor hiccup in the machinery of global consumption.If America’s citizens are not frightened enough to finally listen to scientists, doctors and nurses who understand the real “curve” the planet is facing, then we will be destined to perish. That’s the Inconvenient Truth that is being ignored.

Pulp Thrillers are Just Plain Twisted

Cesar Viteri@multimaniaco courtsey of UpslashThere are books that you just do not want to end. The characters are endearing — you wish, like Holden Caulfield, that you could meet the author and chat about the world as they see it. I felt that way when I read Jeanine Cummins’ American Dirt. Then there are books that you can’t wait to get to the ending, not because you savor the novel, but because the author has teased you so much that you just want to get it over with. Rather than have endearing protagonists, you find yourself enduring those characters. So give the author John Hart and his debut novel of 2006 The King of Lies credit — he does own hook, but his bait will I never take again. Not from him or his ilk. What do I mean by his ilk?

I read some of these novels at my own risk because these writers are so popular that I think there must be something redeeming in their work?

To explain, I love John Grisham. I respect what he stands for and what he fights against. His protagonists face difficult situations — usually ones that are plaguing society whether it is a political, social or judicial issue. Generally, that protagonist has right on his side and flies with one’s better angels. Mr. Hart, like the pulp fiction authors that I have managed to at least try to read (Michael Connelly, David Baldacci and Scott Turow), has mired himself in the thriller-murder-rape-and sex genre. The protagonist is often a sexual titillation-crazed, tormented man who broods his way through a mine field of plot twists {for twists’ sake!}. You just want to shake him from his (often drunken) stupor and tell him to just stop being a coward.I read some of these novels at my own risk because these writers are so popular that I think there must be something redeeming in their work? And there is with Hart’s novel The King of Lies, if you can handle 300+ pages until one finally gets to one powerful “ah ha moment” — one that you know should have been articulated by a character so much sooner — but no! The reader has to wade through pages and pages of description of southern landscapes and foolish characters that stop just short of speaking their truth. Why? It is so unrealistic.Ah, but that is the hook. To me it is pretentious and galling. I commend Mr. Hart for writing a “literate” narrative as The New York Times claims back in 2006 when the novel was written. And I understand that evil exists, diabolical evil, but for cryin’ out loud, these authors appeal to the worst instincts that tempt our soul. In my case, I just knew that I was in quicksand about 100 pages in, but Hart just had me fooled into believing that something truly noble would result in the protagonist’s action. It took the hero’s bottoming out (so many times) that in despair I finally said to myself, “Why is this man so dense? So unable to articulate the obvious? Why is the author toying with me? Why…because that is what pulp fiction is. It is disposable. It appeals to the darker part of our psyche.I tell myself — well, that the last time I’ll read that author. I am reminded why Jane Harper, John Grisham, Kristen Hannah write literary fiction and not just pulp page-turners. Their work plays to Dr. King’s arc of justice; it may not be “a who-done-it,” rather it is about what was done and by whom. These authors create characters one can admire and, in so doing, the reader invests their time and their heart in meaningful, often misunderstood, complex issues. In that same vein, American Dirt by Jeannie Cummins is a thriller that should create policy that will shake the conscience of Americans who have been hardened against terrorized migrants from “the Americas” south of my hometown of San Diego; conned by a fearful, racist Trump administration that ironically has created its own “American Carnage.” Now, if I could just sit and chat with Ms. Cummins….

Why the Earth Trumps Trump: The Reason All Voters Must Replace Donald Trump

[image error] Visuals@visualsLet’s start with one basic hypothesis:Global Warming is an immediate threat to America.Donald Trump does not believe in Global Warming.Thus, Donald Trump is an immediate threat to America.Period. Drop the vote in the ballot box. In case one needs to be reminded of Mr. Trump’s positions on global warming, in 2013 he called it a hoax perpetrated by the Chinese. As for his more nuanced comments, “Trump, despite his talk about clean air, has given no indication at all that he’s particularly interested in giving much weight to any consideration besides jobs and profit margins. Every time his administration rolls back another set of rules or regulations, the framing is the same: It’s important for the economy,” the Washington Post reported on Jan. 9th 2020 by Phillip Bump.Bump went on to explain what Trump’s idea of the environment really equates to, “Under President Barack Obama, that mandate had been expanded to include new attention to the effects on climate change. Trump, while claiming to be an environmentalist, wants to loosen environmental rules similar to those which, in another context, he used to tout his own environmentalism.”

“If the Trump administration is confined to four years, basically every single thing that happened during the Obama administration can be protected,”

Now for some ah-ha moments. First, “Massachusetts vs. Environmental Protection Agency was decided in a 5 to 4 ruling in 2007. It laid the groundwork for many of former President Obama’s climate policies, including the Clean Power Plan,” according to Richard Lazarus, author of a new book about the case called, The Rule of Five: Making Climate History at the Supreme Court.Second, due to this key decision, the Obama administration put into place environmental regulations that have mitigated the hazards of man-made elements that are warming the planet. However, President Trump has undone some those rules through Executive Action. But these actions can be reversed with little major impact if Trump has only one term.Five years from now, the damage will only become more catastrophic. On NPR of March 9th, 2020, Richard Lazarus explains, “If the Trump administration is confined to four years, basically every single thing that happened during the Obama administration can be protected,” Lazarus says. “If there’s another four years, it will be much harder, protect all those regulations, all those rules, and harder to protect the Paris Agreement.”Which brings us to the Paris Agreement. It is still in force today. It does not ‘term out’ until after this election. Electing a Democrat is critical since even one of the most prominent Republicans admits that global warming just does not seem to register to his fellow Republicans as Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens explained to Lazarus: “What Justice Stevens told me was this was a really important case to him,” Lazarus says. “He could not understand why so many people, including so many Republicans, and he was a Republican, didn’t understand the seriousness of climate change. He wanted to make a statement.” This was in 2007….But recent studies confirm the stubborn Republican view of global warming and the change in climate. The New York Times in 2017 reported the results of major studies, “Fewer than a third of registered Republicans nationwide say that climate change is caused mostly by human activities, while nearly half say it’s mostly due to “natural changes in the environment,” according to the study, which looked at eight years of opinion data and mapped the results by congressional district. ‘Being skeptical about global warming has become part of Republican or conservative identity,’ said Riley E. Dunlap, a professor of environmental sociology at Oklahoma State University who was not involved in the study.[“How Republicans Think About Climate Change” Nadia Popovich12/14/2017]

“He could not understand why so many people, including so many Republicans, and he was a Republican, didn’t understand the seriousness of climate change.

So that’s that. If you are a Republican voter and you believe that global warming is a serious threat that is not ‘trendy’ then you are in the minority in your party. And if so, you owe it to yourself and your descendants to vote for a Democrat for our next American President even if that person has programs that you don’t cotton to. Why? The Earth Trumps Trump. It is very clear.Other issues pale by comparison. Abortion: we can debate it out. Civil Rights: let’s keep making progress. Guns: how about a compromise? Taxes: gosh, I wonder what the economic hit will be when we find coastlines under water? Education: let’s start with learning about our endangered planet. Crime: it will get worse as resources get limited. Immigrants: we may all be moving to high ground. See what I mean?Let me repeat this sober denouement from Richard Lazarus: “If the Trump administration is confined to four years, basically every single thing that happened during the Obama administration can be protected. If there’s another four years, it will be much harder, protect all those regulations, all those rules, and harder to protect the Paris Agreement.” Without the 197 nations in tow as is in Paris’ Agreement, the world will not have much of a chance.No pun intended, but with a name like Lazarus, we can only hope to rise up from the dead.

Trump’s ‘Intended ‘ Consequences

Samantha Sophis @samanthaspohis from UpspashI wonder: are people so naive to Mr. Trump’s intentions as a man who wields tremendous power? I hope not. It is about time that all Americans realize what a foolish, dangerous man he is — people of all political persuasions.NPR’s Steve Inskeep talked to Hugh McColl, ex-Bank of America CEO, on February 28th, and McColl claimed he “is a life long Democrat” and is willing to vote for just about any democratic contender ; he favors Bloomberg. He hopes that a moderate candidate can get America back to a place of sanity, not just financial markets but in the marketplace we seem to have lost hold of: one governed by the rule of law. McColl is certainly not naive.Of course, Trump’s actions are intended, and they have been from the very start. He’s been attacking the media as the ‘enemy of the people’ as his first priority because anyone who criticizes him fair game to what he calls a ‘counterpunch’. Common sense dictates that the greatest leaders of any company, classroom, or government are only as strong as their ‘team of rivals’; however, for Trump any rival is a threat, which speaks to his own insecurity and shallowness.His intent is to use ICE and the American military (on the Mexican border) as part of his political power. This is what blow-hard bullies do. They pick on the weakest link (migrants) or those who play by the rules (mainstream journalists) and then do all they can to delegitimize them. He will claim the powerless migrants are the great danger to America since they are “rapists and murders”; and as he claims only “I can solve” these problems. He reminds citizens that “I know more than the generals.” (Of course he does. He has so much military experience that it boggles the mind.) All of this is intentional.As for journalists, he interviews with only those who lick his boots (a classic Russian TV strategy via Putin). He made a huge (impeachable) mistake speaking with Lester Holt years ago and stupidly admitting that he fired FBI Director James Comey because he was nosing into the “Russian business.” Trump won’t make that mistake again. Or will he? John Dickerson of CBS tried to follow up with a question that required some substance in the answer (other than ‘believeme’), and Trump kicked him out of his office. Meanwhile, proxies like Hannity and Limbaugh, who have no journalistic degrees (not to mention college degrees), spread propaganda over their airwaves.Make a list of the intentional crimes he would be under indictment for: The Mueller Report listed TEN. The only thing that protected him was that “a sitting president” cannot be under indictment. He is already and “un-indicted co-conspirator” in the case that sent Michael Cohen to the slammer. It is intentional, that he refuses to release his taxes, and he lied about that in gaining the trust of voters in 2015–16, claiming he would release his taxes “once my audit is complete.” Never happened. Never will unless a whistleblower does it.He fully intended to take resources allocated by Congress for the military (housing, schools, etc.) and ship that money to ‘the Wall.’ This is a decision the courts will rule on soon. He intended to strip down the State Department. He leaves ambassadorships unfilled because he is a nationalist. (We don’t need to get along with other nations; we just tell them what they want and they will do it — or else. Doubt that? Have a conversation with Ukraine.)He intentionally cut back programs that deal with National Security, the programs that deal with disease and pandemics. According to NBC News: “‘President Donald Trump’s decision to downsize the White House national security staff — and eliminate jobs addressing global pandemics — is likely to hamper the U.S. government’s response to the coronavirus, according to veterans of past disease outbreaks and experts who have studied them. “This is why you have a National Security Council,’ said John Gans, a former Pentagon speechwriter who wrote a book about the NSC, which has long been the principal advisory body inside the White House for national security affairs. ‘The changes have made it much harder for the NSC to do this.’” Now heads of those organizations are not allowed to speak to the American public, unless the science wizard Mike Pence approves it. And that too is intentional.

Ask the typical American if they are in significantly better financial shape, and they will tell you — about the same or worse. Ask them if they got a big tax break. Nope. Most paid more in taxes.

For those voters who think that his intentions are theirs, ask yourself these two questions: 1. Has this President made America ‘greater’ than it was before his term? People are more divided. People do not know whom they should trust. Those with Green Cards are petrified. Dreamers are in danger. Medical costs for all have risen. Millions of people have lost their insurance as the ACA is under attack. In 2018, voters rose up and said enough of the McConnell/ Trump stall game on legislation and the House of Representatives turned deep blue. Does that seem like a nation satisfied with “Make America Great” hats?Question 2. Is the economy better? Don’t bother pointing to the Stock Market as a sign of progress. As of this writing, it is continuing to free fall for the simple reason that when this administration says not to panic — Americans do NOT believe them. Why should they? They lied about the size of an Inaugural crowd; lied that the tax cut to the richest people would ‘pay for itself’; lied that the Russians interfered in our elections; and all those lies add up to a Congress that demanded Trump’s impeachment.Hugh McColl, told NPR that America’s deficit, under Trump, is not sustainable. So the rich get richer, and companies like Amazon pay no taxes. Zero. So is America ‘greater’ — financially? Just because unemployment is down does not make a nation great when wages are generally suppressed. Ask the typical American if they are in significantly better financial shape, and they will tell you — about the same or worse. Ask them if they got a big tax break. Nope. Most paid more in taxes. Remember, Trump claims in his new budget he will reduce money allocated for Social Security and Medicare. Great!In the end, Trump will be seen as a President who rode the Obama success, despite McConnell’s obstruction, into the ground. Republican strategist Rick Wilson was spot on: “Everything Trump Touches Dies.” One day soon, Trump will have a reckoning, and he will claim to be a sad, unfairly treated soul. He will discover no one cares — and he will be alone.And it is all intentional.

Trump’s Broken Promise: No One Left Behind

Levi Clancy@leviclancy from UpsplashUnless one is directly involved in the Afghan and Iraq wars — on the battlefield — then you have little chance of hearing about the special immigrant visa (SIV). Please let me take a moment of your time to enlighten you to a shameful saga in the war that began under the heading of the Bush Administration’s “Operation Enduring Freedom.” The irony will not escape you.According to The Atlantic’s Priscilla Alvarez in July of 2018, “The [SIV] visa program was established in 2009 specifically for Afghan citizens, along with their spouses and unmarried children under 21, who work for the U.S. government in Afghanistan, and many of whom later face reprisals, even death, for their allegiance to America. A similar program was set up for Iraqi citizens in 2008.” So what’s the problem? Why is it that so many interpreters who saved American soldiers’ lives are left behind? One word: Trump.Since taking office, paranoid that immigrants from the Middle East could wreak terror on the Homeland, Trump’s administration has put a choke hold on SIV visas from the battle grounds of Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2017 alone, according to research by Alvarez and confirmed by politicians on both sides of the aisle, not to mention the State Department, “In the past year, there’s been a sudden drop in arrivals under the special-immigrant-visa program for Afghan and Iraqi citizens, many of whom served alongside U.S. soldiers as battlefield translators.”Many of the American soldiers have become so frustrated with seeing the local interpreters who stood with them on the battlefield and saved them from taking a bullet from the Taliban that they formed an organization to put pressure on the government agencies do what their organization’s name demands: Leave No One Behind.It is a dubious battle. Many of the same interpreters who risked their lives and their family’s well being are waiting for more than ten years. These wars have lasted for 20 years and hundreds of thousands of American troops are alive because of the actions of those we promised we would protect.

“It would be impossible to say that these substantial drops are not a part of some policy. These are people who put themselves at risk because they served with U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

Yes, it would have been ideal if the wars had produced peace and harmony in those two countries, but the Taliban is gaining strength and the death threats and murders are on the rise. These nations remain fragile and our support is vital. Afghanistan, specifically, is fraught with election troubles and the Taliban is closing in on all sides. The American “Truce” and “Peace Plan” signed on February 29th only means that the Taliban will have more power and will be free to hunt down those they deem to be American spies [more on that in another essay that will speak to the latest handshake agreement].According to Alvarez in The Atlantic, “Two months into the Trump administration, then–Secretary of State Rex Tillerson directed American embassies around the world to double down on visas and ‘increase scrutiny of visa applicants for potential security and non-security ineligibilities.’ Since then, there’s been a stark decline in SIV arrivals. From January to June of 2017, 10,267 immigrants came to the U.S. on special immigrant visas. Over the same period in 2018, the number had fallen by more than half, to 4,166.’” Lately, the decrease has been reduced to a trickle.NPR’s Morning Edition on May1, 2019, offered reporting by Quil Lawerance. He interviews Adam Bates, with the International Refugee Assistance Project. “It would be impossible to say that these substantial drops are not a part of some policy. These are people who put themselves at risk because they served with U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.”NPR’s reporting on February 28, 2020, told the story of a typical US interpreter who is an Afghan and was promised he would receive an SIV visa. He has waited 10 years. He has to stay on a small USA base for his safety and cannot see his family. When he sneaks out to see them, he worries for his safety but that he will be tracked down and his family slaughtered.These Iraq and Afghan interpreters believed in American values, American promises. They believed our word was our bond. We told them that we never leave soldiers behind on the battlefield. These people, dressed in our fatigues, speaking for our troops, and hoping against hope that the USA could save their nation, did not let America down.We let them down. We left them behind. For shame.

The Influence of “American Dirt”

If American Dirt Doesn’t Move Us to Rectify the Tragic War on Migrants, Then We Are Lost.My wife and I just finished Jeanine Cummins’ brilliant, but devastating novel, American Dirt, and we can finally allow the tension to slowly dissipate from our immediate consciousness.Then came the guilt. Followed by the anger.If you have not read the novel, I will not put a spoiler in my diatribe. I will simply say this: the antagonists of this novel are the bloodthirsty, amoral drug cartels and the heartless, race-baiting Trump Administration (although Trump’s name is not mentioned very often, rather he is alluded to).Several years ago, I read a novel entitled Cobra written by Frederick Forsyth, who wrote the classic Day of the Jackal. His book was rather farfetched. At its crux it had a noble premise. In the his book, the American President has a ‘come to Jesus moment’ and makes the decision that the drug cartels are the cause of so much mayhem in the world that nothing short of an all out war initiated by the US military is necessary: a war that isn’t authorized by Congress.It is a military assault by land, air and sea; however, it is accomplished in a Mission Impossible mode, with the drug kingpins “self-destructing in 60 seconds.” If only. (Actually, the plan made a lot of sense; much more than our “shock and awe” catastrophe in Iraq.)In the face of the unimpeded drug cartel’s destruction of the rule of law in Mexico and Central America, American Dirt chronicles the assault on these migrants that Trump has labeled “murders and rapists.” When Trump claimed that “Mexico is not sending their best,” the tragic characters of Ms. Cummins’ novel epitomize courage. Their journey from the reach of the killers hired by drug lords is unfathomable to most Americans who worry about the slightest disturbance in their daily routine. My anger percolates to any politician aligned with Trump’s cruel caging and separating children from their family.These migrants are not dangerous — it is those chasing them who represent the danger to all Americans.The terror that the cartels emit is non-stop and limitless. The escape to el norte is the only chance that anyone has once they are targeted, and the aim of the cartels is indiscriminate and unhinged. Ms. Cummins focuses on not just Mexico, but all of Central America. It also makes the point that the United States isn’t the only America in the world.The novel educates the reader about the reality of escape. The brutality. The danger cannot be overstated. No one can be trusted because the cartels corrupt even the most-well intentioned. The taste of fear is the only sustenance that keeps the migrants scraping forward to el norte.Ironically, it is irrational fear that Trump and his enablers stoke with the chants of “build a wall.” (Mexico has never paid for this wall, the most senseless, ineffective waste of money sold by Fox “News” and the likes of Rush Limbaugh to a simple minded President, himself walled away golfing, to deal with truly complex problems.)These migrants are not dangerous — it is those chasing them that represent the danger to all Americans, but migrants are vilified by people who hear a different language or a darker skin tone and jump to conclude that this “infestation” — Trump’s words — needs to be eradicated.

American Schism: When It Began, How It Will End?:

We’re Talkin’ about an Evolution, not a Revolution. I Stand with Senator Amy Klobuchar.
Great science fiction presents what appears outlandishly unbelievable in such a way that the viewer stops and considers this ‘other world’ as a mere sidestep through a portal that exists right now. Television shows, like Counterpoint or Stranger Things, depict two worlds, parallel or ‘upside down’ in which the two realities battle for control of the world as we think we know it. Is it possible that our world is just one tragic decision from becoming The Hunger Games?Before you ‘change the channel’ on this Twilight Zone discourse, just ask yourself a few questions. How could anyone become the American President with no experience in public office? How could American intelligence investigations conclude that Russians interfered with the presidential election: however, the American President publicly announces that he believes the Russians and dismisses his own CIA… and then fires his FBI Director?Wait. There’s more. Why would an American President also dismiss dedicated public officials from the Justice Department, a US Ambassador, and other State Department officials? Why would a witnesses from the American military, who testifies under a Congressional subpoena, be dismissed from the National Security Council (not to mention his twin brother)?In what world could one imagine the American President become so powerful that seemingly autonomous senators refuse to even consider ‘first hand’ witnesses who could shed light on whether a US ally, under foreign attack, was being denied vital military assistance (promised by those same senators) because that nation would not ‘play ball’ and implicate a rival American politician?

Is the “Civil War II” a reality or just a passing phrase?

And with each day, more unsettling news keeps washing over the public as reported by the ‘mainstream’ American media, referred to by the President as “the enemy of the people.” Why would such a blatant attack on the Freedom of the Press develop into a rallying cry by thousands who cheer on this President?When did this behavior become the norm? How will it end? Is the “Civil War II” a reality or just a passing phrase? Much has been written about how divided Americans feel about politics, government and particularly Mr. Trump. Opinions abound about the reasons behind the apathy rooted in mediocre turnouts in Presidential general elections or in political involvement generally.To me, the rupture that tore apart American spirit occurred at 8:46 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Yes, for a time this unspeakable tragedy brought Americans together like nothing we had seen since Pearl Harbor. Remember FDR’s words: “We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Roosevelt knew that national panic could split two ways: into patriotic involvement to end wars in Europe and in the Pacific, or unbridled fear could summon darkness in the American soul that would cause terror and shame.Unfortunately, both occurred. The firebombing of German towns like Dresden, the Japanese-American Internment Camps, and the deployment of two atomic bombs on Japanese cities were justified since one must fight fire, literally, with fire.Since then America has made apologies and restitution to its Japanese citizens and to the people of those Japanese cities. Through the Marshall Plan, America spent millions rebuilding Germany and Austria’s destroyed cities and infrastructure. NATO was created. We promised “never again” would the world allow the slaughter that resulted in ethnic cleansing of the Holocaust. The Berlin Wall fell. The Soviet vice grip on satellite states was loosened. But Middle East peace between Arab factions and Israel’s existence remained. Africa was not immune to the same power struggles that turned bloody in places like Rwanda.Lessons learned in the 1940’s were cast aside by the Bush Administration. The US shattered the Geneva Convention as the “enhanced” torture of prisoners began, notably under the auspices of Vice-President Dick Chaney and his ilk. The “Axis of Evil” became the target of a panicked homeland. Senate investigations of torture by Diane Feinstein and John McCain finally revealed what some Americans simply could not condone.President Bush unloaded “shock and awe” on March 20, 2003. American forces bombed Iraq, claiming that they were capable of deploying “weapons of mass destruction.” Our intelligence was horribly wrong and Newsweek’s headline called it “Bush’s Biggest Blunder.” That became the understatement of the decade and the first tear of the national fabric became exposed to all. Musicians battled it out on stage from the Dixie Chicks to Kid Rock. Was the invasion of a sovereign Iraq justified? Was a preemptive strike the best course of action? The fabric ripped again.

Musicians battled it out on stage from the Dixie Chicks to Kid Rock.

A certain New York real estate mogul claimed that Muslims were cheering on 9.11. Trump was sure the President-Elect Barack Obama was not born in the USA. The Stock Market was in free fall. Jobs were hemorrhaging each month in the last days of the Bush Administration. Financial institutions went belly-up. People lost homes in record numbers.Someone had to be blamed. Rush Limbaugh and Fox “news” amplified the message that it’s all government’s fault. The Tea Party formed as a consequence of the cheerleading of right wing conservative media. For a long time it was the only one sided game in town, and it was spearheaded by the likes of Grover Norquist, whose Taxpayer Protection Pledge, to sign a “blood oath” to never raise taxes made headlines. Inevitably, the left began its counter attack on MSNBC to support the newly minted President Obama and his “Obamacare” that attempted to insure medical care is a right, not a privilege.President Obama had a merely two years to accomplish what he could before the rupture became seemingly permanent. Six years of Republican opposition under Senator Mitch McConnell followed and kept any chance of merging the two Americas back into one. The unprecedented opposition to Supreme Court appointee Merrick Garland was a deep gash that could not be stitched. But the final thread was soon to come.Tuesday, November 8, 2016 shattered expectations on each side of the American divide. The Trump campaign was poised to call the election a shame and “rigged.” Melania Trump was assured by her husband not to worry — a loss was eminent. Meanwhile, Hilary Clinton’s campaign was prepared for the big balloon drop in the Big Apple. And then it happened. Everyone’s bubble was burst.And so America is within a year of having to make a decision which road to travel. Some say the choice will be nasty and bombastic. Will the nation recoil from Trump’s extremism into yet another version authored by the likes of Senator Bernie Sanders, or will there be a middle ground that Americans can trust to place their feet, hopeful that there isn’t a bomb triggered below instigated by die-hards on both extremes?Some Americans feel numb. Some feel angry. Some feel desperate. Some feel overjoyed. Pick your flavor. The truth is this: economic growth continues from Obama to Trump, but that wealth is not felt in the bottom tier of the labor force. Yes, more jobs are available but hiring is not the issue. What kind of jobs are. Manufacturing is still spotty to stagnate. Farmers are being bribed to keep in line. Service jobs are the bottom rung and automation is coming for them.The deficit has soared in the last three years, not because the US needs to get out from a Great Recession, but because the Trump Administration and the Republican controlled Senate has authorized spending that in decades past no Republican would have accepted. Will the allure of a Stock Market trump everything we know about a United States? That is intimately what this election will answer.I stand with the experience and moderation of Senator Amy Klobuchar. I stand with common sense solutions. I stand with compromise. Senator Klobuchar represents these qualities and policies. Rebuild the ACA/ Obamacare, but do NOT argue for “Medicare for All” and disenfranchise the people with their own private insurance. Do not eliminate the insurance companies — regardless of their shortcomings because if they are truly inferior, then they will fail on their own demerits.Do NOT argue the US should excuse student debt. It is an affront to all who have paid their way or are paying down their way through college. Instead, push for significant interest rate reductions on Federal loans, present and future, and increase Federal grants to all college students.Above all, recognize that Global Warming is past the crisis level — the American President should be on Red Alert, not claiming it is a “hoax.” Get back in the Paris Accords. Understand that fossil fuels, like the ones in the Russian Arctic, are not the answer to the energy crisis, but rather this ‘Black Gold” is a fool’s errand, which will only keep the world addicted to Putin’s power. Get back to the table with Iran on a nuclear deal as Obama did. All that has occurred in the last three years is counterproductive throughout the Middle East. It is a powder keg waiting to explode.Support NATO; do not devalue it. Why? Understand that Putin is going to do all he can to undermine Americans’ trust in our government. His regime is dedicated to gobbling up the Ukraine. He is a poison — “a KBG agent and a killer” in the words of the late Senator John McCainAmerica needs the most skillful surgeon to step up to the operating table and heal the wounds of division and fear. Her hands won’t tremble. Senator Klobuchar represents the one person who has accomplished the most in a legislative sense. It is time we judge a President by the quality of her character. After all, 100 years ago the 19th Amendment changed the American Constitution. As for electability, add Beto O’Rourke to the ticket and turn Texas’s Electoral College voters blue. (O’Rourke already polls 11 points hire than Trump in Texas.) Senator Klobuchar may not have the ‘revolution’ in mind — what America needs is an evolution.