Category: Opinion

Cultural, political, and philosophical ideas

Opinion

Remaining hopeful and learning

The situation that we find ourselves in with coronavirus offers reasons to be hopeful and to learn from our mistakes. I believe the largest mistake for many Americans (but not the majority) was voting for a person who was clearly unfit and unsuited for the job of president. Leadership is not something to be taken lightly by citizens, or to be used as a way to attack fellow citizens. Our constitutional system has been challenged in ways that were not imaginable five years ago, but has been shown to be a strength with local leaders stepping up to fill the current void in the executive branch. The delay in testing is perhaps the largest failure of American presidential leadership since Reconstruction. Hopefully future presidents who are light on mental capacity will respect experts and science when the nation survives the current fiasco.

Opinion

Coronavirus requires truth

The United States is struggling with the new Coronavirus because our current president has a weak relationship with truth. We have to ask ourselves why so many people believe in a person who clearly is unfit for his office and is not a role model on anything. We need expertise to solve problems like those we face in climate and public health, but we have allowed politicians to attack science. What is it that those who support massive ignorance think they will get from this bargain with the devil? I am hopeful that 2020 will mark a turn away from evil and deception by voters as it becomes clear that there will only be losers if we don’t.

Opinion

Is Corona Virus an event that will move us toward Universal Healthcare?

The corona virus has many people concerned about protecting themselves and the people they care about. The virus underlines the point that we are all linked in public health due to the risk of infectious disease. A family or individual health plan will not save you if a disease is attacking your community and a large percentage of people are uninsured or cannot afford access. I hope we move toward coverage for every citizen with accessible care in both rural and urban areas. We can do better!

Opinion

Democratic Unity for November

The best way to achieve unity among Democrats and those who want change is for the people to vote and the politicians to respect the result. The electability question has to be answered one voter and one election at a time. Any artificial effort to eliminate a candidate will backfire and reduce what our country needs most; a massive turnout in the general election. Everyone voting will help the truth of who we are as Americans to emerge, and take us hopefully to a better place.

Opinion

Trump fired the pandemic response team in 2018

One of the major issues that we face as Americans with a president like the current one is that he either doesn’t care, or is too ignorant for his job. Many positions in the government requiring expertise are filled by political hacks or left unfilled. Now with the possibility of the Coronavirus becoming a pandemic reports have emerged that we have no experts at the highest levels of the government to coordinate a response. The United States has seemingly been very lucky to avoid immediate catastrophes (if you don’t count Puerto Rico) under this president even though he has set in motion many long-term train wrecks for the future. Americans will soon find out if the current administration short-term luck has run out. Vote in 2020.

Opinion

Socialism or Kleptocracy?

As the primaries roll on Americans are having to prepare to choose the lesser of two evils. Our society has been imbalanced for a while and many people feel resentful and victimized. The result may be a choice between an avowed Democratic Socialist in Bernie Sanders, and a Presidential incumbent who is breaking every rule of democracy in sight. Trump is obviously dishonest and shows every sign that he will burn down the republic to avoid accountability. Sanders faces a society that has been trained to hold socialist in contempt. What will happen is anybodies guess, but Sanders would be limited by the Senate and House of Representatives in any direction he might try to go. I see the socialist as the clear better choice between Sanders and Trump. Trump unchained with no election of his own to keep him in check would likely be a vision of hell for lovers of truth, human dignity, and the American republic.

Opinion

A Great Debate

Tonight’s debate in Las Vegas was a good exchange of ideas and display candidate temperament. The debate was informative and entertaining for voters while giving the candidates a chance to highlight their differences. Voting will come fast and furious in the next few weeks. The good news is that we have good choices for the Democratic nominee to take on Trump.

Opinion

The Lesser of Two Evils

This week has news that forces every voter to consider what it means to vote and why you make a choice. Trump continues to push the justice system towards collapse as he protects co-conspirators while seeking to legally punish those who oppose his autocratic and illegal behaviors. Mike Bloomberg is making the news for statements that seem to show him prejudging African-American communities with past comments about stop and frisk as well as redlining. Bernie Sanders is a socialist who voted for a crime bill that many believe was used to target black men. We do not know who the ultimate candidate for the Democrats will be, but we have a choice to make. Donald Trump has shown himself to be a short and long-term threat to freedom, civil rights, and life on earth who will do anything to protect his fragile version of reality. The person who will run against Trump will not be perfect, but freedom-loving people will need to turn out in massive numbers to stop Trump in 2020.

Opinion

A mindless budget

Trump released his budget and it reduces funding for social programs while increasing military and border wall spending. Trump does nothing to address the deficit spending trend that he has increased throughout his administration, and he reduces funding to the Environmental Protection Agency. The budget represents a long term attack on the American people with cuts to environmental, medical, and social services while failing to address increasing debt. Trump is irresponsible with other people’s money while trying to protect his odds of being re-elected by goosing the economy with borrowed money. He has successfully attacked American institutions like the Justice department, intelligence agencies, etc., but he has not worked to improve any infrastructure besides the border wall that antagonizes our neighbors. If he were an agent for a foreign power you could not expect more damage to America’s long term strength from a single politician.

Opinion

Generating Hope

Democrats talk about generating enthusiasm amongst people who have not voted before, or who do not turn out regularly for elections, and Republicans talk about appealing to their base. There are more Democrats than Republicans, but they are not in the right states to win the electoral college. It is only when there is enthusiasm that irregular and new voters turn out in the numbers to take the swing states that add up to electoral victory. In time there should be enough demographic change for the will of the majority to be reflected in the electoral count, but we are not there yet. It is critical for every citizen to study the issues and do more than vote from the gut. A president who is a habitual liar is trying to spin an illusion for a reason, and is a massive threat to our republic. Vote in 2020!