Ukraine is in a fight for existence, not just existence of a people and a culture, but for the right to self-determination. A fight for freedom! This is the same fight that the United States Capitol Police were in on January 6, 2021. The fight to preserve democracy. In that moment, it was every bit as existencial as facing Russian tanks driven to attack by an autocrat with a megalomania messiah complex… Putin, believing that he can change history and reverse the will of the Ukrainian people. This is not about a threat that Ukraine posed to Russia, this is about raw naked aggression and power and his threat to use his nuclear weapons to keep others from interfering. He justifies his actions with his own big lies, he justifies on the basis of power. This is a cousin of the autocratic, lying, megalomania that was Trump’s attempt to stay in power and banish the will of the people in democratic America. You wonder why Trump idolizes Putin…. well you see it on display right now. Anti-democratic autocrats hate government of and by the people. We should be learning a great lesson right now.
God Help Ukraine! God Save democracy!
Tag Archives: Democracy
Memorial Weekend, 2021
Memorial and Loss of Truth
This weekend we fly flags.
There are parades, and remembrances
for heroes that died for our freedom
and all lovers of fairness and democracy.
Yet it is through Republican filibuster
that we will fail to honor a hard-won freedom,
and demonstrate that power wins over values,
and insurrection trumps democracy.
Now we know our freedom is not guaranteed.
We know that democracy may not be permanent.
That power is valued more than the sacrifices
which we celebrate this very weekend.
Our flags fly at half-mast as we grieve the loss.
The loss of truth!
January 6 Commission is a Requirement for Democracy to Survive
We must have a commission on the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol. The truth must come out and be displayed for our democracy to survive.
We had an assault on our government, with the expressed intent to stop our elected officials in the execution of their duty to certify a free and fair election. The intent was to keep a man in power with truly autocratic tendencies. His party, the party of Trump, with only Republican outward trappings, not surprisingly, does not want to get at the truth of how this happened. They do not want their lies and potential criminality exposed.
We need two viable parties. Our democracy depends on two or more competing platforms and multiple ideas. The Republican Party cannot opt out of the process. But if they continue to sell the lie that the election was stolen from Trump; and if they continue to sell the lie that there was no threat to our democracy on January 6th, then they are disqualifying themselves from the democratic process.
I’ve heard many say, they all lie. Nope. Not like this. These lies are fundamentally un-American and un-democratic. This is an attempt to acquire and maintain power, not on the strength of ideas and character, but on the strength and use of force, backed by lies, and by creating rules that make it difficult for those they do not care for to vote.
I’m still a Republican, but I’m embarrassed by what I continue to see happen to the party of Lincoln.
Power for the sake of power and wealth and no other purpose is not honorable, and not what we should expect of leaders.
Time for a New Party
There is no doubt now that Republican Party is lost. It has become the Party of fealty to Donald Trump. The test for participation in the party is support of the big lie, that the election was stolen from Donald Trump, and that the insurrection wasn’t a coup attempt, but was a protest to uphold the democratic rights of the people. Witness the ousting of Liz Cheney, and the booing of Mitt Romney. Further Mitch McConnell has said that the party’s stated purpose is to resist all Democratic led legislation. They will not negotiate. The Republican party has no intent to participate in our American Government, no intent to operate in a legislative way addressing problems and seeking solutions. The Republican Party is solely about returning to power in Congress, to do so they are perpetuating the lie that Biden stole the election. They are about the cult of personality, and they will seek all allies they can find, even if it is white supremacists. There appears to be no shame, no embarrassment that is too much.
The Democrats are being pulled further left, with the intent of redefining our capital system. Instead of guaranteeing fairness in opportunity, guaranteeing equity in outcomes drives us to a culture of dependency underwritten by big government. Spending is needed, but not at the proposed levels. Not all problems are solved with tax and spend, and certainly new problems will be created. I think we can all agree that we need investment in our future, but in a meaningful and productive way, not in giveaways to those that don’t need and, or don’t value that it is other’s money and hard work from who they are gaining benefits.
We need a third party, one that is interested in law and order, supportive of our democratic principles including voting rights and justice. A party that believes in ensuring equal opportunities for all, a strong national defense, as well as leadership in the world, while getting out of people’s lives. We need a fiscally conservative problem solving governing party, one that can moderate the extreme left policies and plans as well as the extreme right bias. Problem solving, not name calling is what is needed. A strong party in the middle will bring both Democrats and Republicans to a problem solving middle. Coalitions may happen, but these can happen only through compromise.
Compromise is a good word. Fighting and extreme positions at the exclusion of solving problems are a result of failures in understanding the purpose of government.
As the Republicans devolve into a party of grievances and power grabbing, we need an alternative to the Democratic Party that will actually participate in the legislative process. This is good for democracy, and good for the American People.
Our New Day
Our New Day
Yesterday, my spirit was lifted
Not only by a leader
Not by the words said
Not by the glorious hope of a poet
Not by humanity we should expect of politicians
But rather the strength of our institutions
The strength of We the People
Whose will was not denied
Whose fair and wise voice
Was heard in the halls of our Capitol
Over the stain of slander
Over the crimes of the misled
For we survived the test
For we are stronger and more resolved
And we will overcome
All challenges that stand in our way
We the American People
In our New Day
All Politics is Local…
I was thinking about a statement, which is most associated with the great Speaker of the House in the Ronald Reagan era, Tip O’Neil, namely that “All politics is local” … even in a presidential election, it is apparent that it is local county and state election officials that determine and certify election results, and in key states this year have upheld the will of the people in the election of Joe Biden as the next President of these United States. Many, of these local officials are Republicans, that have held firm to the law, to our democratic principles despite withering pressure from Trump and his campaign, and local pressure, including death threats from Trump supporters.
These true patriots are not bending to threats, to conspiracy theories and to the pressure of the people they have had long professional associations. All politics is local… and we are fortunate that the founders of this country structured our federal election system the way they did, so that it was so big and diverse that we would have to work with each other to be successful, so that all the individual states of our country would have a say, so that local officials would provide for, represent and support the wisdom of the local politic.
I was also thinking that we are fortunate for the County Public Health officials that are holding the line, without adequate Federal, and many times State Political leader support. They have been threatened for delivering public health advice based on data and science for the benefit of all us. It takes brave people to do their job when it is unpopular.
Our institutions are working, our local leadership has shown commitment to data, science, to democracy and the law. What is wrong with people that threaten those that are doing their job for our benefit to the best of their ability? What is wrong with Washington GOP Leaders that refuse to support the local election officials for fear of a president on his way out of office? A president who by the way, lost an election when down-ballot Republicans did very well… it says the people voted this president out because he is not what we want or need… this election was not a repudiation of conservative policy and principles. It was a repudiation of Donald Trump.
We should see local officials doing their job for democracy, or for public health as heroes… and show distain for our National Republican leadership. Especially the loser on his way out. Thankfully, all politics are still local.
Election Result Thoughts…
I’ve been thinking about the results of the election last week. The fact that although Joe Biden won, there really wasn’t a so called blue wave. The results were narrow, in the sense of 5 million out of around 145 million votes cast. But it is a clear enough repudiation of DJT in that Biden won, while down ballot Democrats continued to struggle. This means many split their vote. It seems to me that people are saying they’ve had enough of Trumps divisiveness, we want political figures to work together, not simply fight. Furthermore there is a rejection of a completely progressive agenda. People want a blend. If you take away the labels, such as socialism and progressiveness and focus on the issues, Americans are remarkably liberal.
Locally in Florida Trump won the majority of the vote because of favorable business regulations and taxes, but a minimum wage increase to 15 over a 5 year period was approved by 62%. People see this as fair. It was simply treated as an issue to consider, not a liberal issue as it could have been labeled. Likewise Amendment 1 was clearly a very right wing initiative to re-emphasize that you must be a citizen in FL to vote in FL by adding the word “only” … it was a do nothing (except excite rightwing voters) amendment, and it was rejected by voters.
Clearly normal stable leadership is desired. The experimentation with divisiveness and anger conservatism was rejected. Furthermore people want to see advancement on issues that make our lives better as well as the lives of our fellow citizens. If we stop labeling and staking out intractable positions, maybe we can talk about problems, and find compromise solutions.
A beautiful example is healthcare… who in this country would say that we cannot afford for everyone to have healthcare? I doubt anyone would say it’s not affordable. Yet 45 million do not have health care insurance, and another 38 million lack adequate healthcare insurance. Is that a result that we are proud of? I doubt it. But we should work to address this issue with ideas from all sides, not trenches, with a no-mans-land in between, from which we lob grenades, arguing over nationalized healthcare… do away with the labels and figure out what makes most sense. The reason we have employer-based health care is because of an accident of World War 2, there was a wage freeze mandated, and so providing benefits was the only way companies could differentiate in the competition for human resources, so we landed there. Is that the best solution when there is an economic downturn? I think not.
Sensible conversations about issues is needed. Sensible problem-solving is what Americans voted for. Sensible leadership is what we all desire. Stop labeling each other!
When it’s Over
The Great Contest Is Over
And when the celebration comes to an end
And it’s time to clean up the terrible mess
We realize our world will now depend
On how we now converse and address
With each other and messages we will send
To unify and forgive to assure progress
For without such we’ll surely deepen
The divide, anger, and we will regress
To an even more terrible and total end
Defeating the purpose of a great contest
The Wisdom of Our Founders…
Donald Trump gave a most un-American speech last night. He attempted to undermine democracy, to disenfranchise voters with baseless claims of fraud. To claim that he can not lose, if only legal votes are counted, while undermining the hard work, the diligent work of election workers that are on the front-lines of making democracy work. Claiming that mail-in ballots are fraudulent without basis. These are words of a dictator. Words that could only be labeled as un-American.
Words matter, but his should be dispersed to the winds, and never be recorded for histories sake, except to illustrate why he had to go, why he must not be part of our government. It is no surprise to me, it is as I expected. Will Republican Senators and Congressmen stand up to him? Someone must, we all must.
Ah the wisdom of our early republic, to have the states manage elections in their own way, so that they may not be invalidated in a sweeping motion of a dictatorial executive. Now I understand, what was hidden by a previously inconceivable scenario, that could not be seen until Trump arrived with intent to undermine our democracy, and fortunately he finds too few levers in the federal government, for each state manages the election process in their state, and the results are in the form of an electoral college. Thankfully it is not the popular vote, through a federal election process. What great wisdom our founders had.
But we must also recognize that some 69 plus million people supported Donald Trump for another 4 years. Their issues and their worries must be respected. They are worried, I believe, about the impact of socialist tendencies of the left-wing of the Democratic party. It is vital for the process of uniting our country both that Joe Biden wins, but also that he and Kamala Harris hold socialist tendencies at bay. We can get there but we have a long way to go to a future where we can work together for the common good of all Americans, even DJT and his family.
Decision Time…
Vote
We have our thoughts and analysis
Of what they said, and histories
Of what they did
And we make our decision
We invest in our choice
We invest in our future
But one of hundreds of million
Who do so, with reason or emotion
And await the outcome
For which,
Too many will say
They are not invested in that future
And more however, will pray
That they are right about that future