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Thursday, May 12, 2016

Berned

I think it is wonderful having competition in politics and as a teacher of an Advanced Placement Government class, it is refreshing to teach the nomination and elections unit with multiple candidates vying for the ultimate prize. I also teach students about the realities of governance and that to move anything forward in terms of legislation, it requires votes and a signature. It requires invoking cloture when you have an intransigent opposition and ultimately, some form of compromise. I also teach my students that regrettably, America's knowledge of civics, governance and politics is pretty dismal. I often sight my own personal experiences of travelling abroad and meeting students in foreign countries that seem to have greater knowledge of the American system than those within our own borders. With this in mind, it is therefore appropriate to study the Sanders candidacy. It is a candidacy built on a House of Lies. To provide free college tuition and medicare for all, would be estimated to cost in excess of two trillion dollars in additional taxes and without any specifics about taking more from the wealthy or breaking up banks and destroying Wall street, Bernie is light on specifics but full of bluster and anger. Bluster and anger may recruit the ill informed, but it will not get you 218 votes in the House or a filibuster proof majority in the Senate. With the very likely continuation of partisan stubborness no matter who becomes President, what is clear is that Mr. Sanders, a 25 year member of Congress, part of the establishment he claims to loathe, knows that his ideas are folly. He therefore is lying to his supporters and tarnishing the better candidate for President between Clinton and Trump. Don't get Berned. Where are you Americans for reason and truth?

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

So What is it about Donald Trump??

In the last three days, Donald Trump has said the Muslim mayor of London can visit the United States, he would favor an increase in taxes on the rich, he would favor an increase in the minimum wage, that he may not support Speaker Ryan's agenda, that Hillary is responsible for Bill's infidelity, that Bernie Sanders is a great man for calling Hillary unqualified and thats just the last three days. Trump has called for isolationist policies in the Middle East, requiring those countries to fix things themselves, something Obama has pursued as a policy to a large degreee. Dick Cheney faulted Obama for weakness, yet that murderer will support Trump against a very hawkish Hillary. Trump has suggested a balanced approach to the Palestinian Israeli conflict against the soul of Neo Con conservatism and is much weaker on Israel than Hillary. He has suggested that the United States default on its obligations, against the Constitution, because that is how he dealt with his bankrupt casinos. He has not put forth one coherent or consistent policy position on anything except banning Muslims and building a wall, both without a plan to do so. Trump has said he wouldnt issue daily Executive Orders like Obama and yet history will show that Obama has actually used Executive Order privileges fewer times than all of his recent predecessors. So the obvious question should be, with this level of lunacy, "What is it about Donald Trump"? Well folks, thats not the question. The question is or at least should be, "What is it about the American voter"? Where are you Americans for reason and truth?

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

The Thinkable Unthinkable

That which was unthinkable has become thinkable. Donald Trump as President of the United States. If this doesnt scare the heck out of you, nothing will. The seriousness required to select a President has since been trashed and dumped into the garbage heeps of reality TV. We gobble that crap up, blame everyone around us for our woes, look to the vacant promises and one liners of a self aggrandized pathological demogogue, and think giving him the keys to the nuclear codes is not dangerous. After all, every great dictator promised somebody something. Instead, the day after Indiana, those trying to save the Republican party from irrelevancy, are actually rallying around this dangerous man. A man with no knowledge of or comprehension of the serious issues facing our world. If the label of your party, means more than your country, then we have truly gone off the deep end. Our only hope, is that party regulars stand up against this folly of a man. They go to the polls and support the sensible choice regardless of the D in front of her name. She can compromise, she understands the dangers of the world, and she is not a left wingnut unable to distinguish unreasonableness from practicality. If you wish to save the nation from a trip to Trump Hell, do what is right. Or else. Where are you Americans for reason and truth?