Monday, November 30, 2015

Mainstream Republicans

Tonight I read that many mainstream Republicans are frightened of a Trump-Clinton or a Carson-Clinton matchup, but not for the reason you think.  They aren’t worried that in a matchup like that, Clinton would win.


What they are worried about is that something drastic would happen to her campaign, and she wouldn’t win.  It is good to know that there are still patriotic Republicans out there who care about this country and what might happen to it if one of these ignorant men would win the presidency.

Sunday, November 29, 2015

How Democrats might do better

My friend Sue came up with a suggestion to last night’s question about how we can persuade lower income citizens to vote, and to vote Democratic.  

Prepare a brochure with comparisons of the Democratic and Republican positions on a number of important issues.  Keep the language simple. Keep it short.  Print the brochure in color.  Include a number for people to call if they want to register.  Take it door to door and drop it off so you don’t get into long discussions or arguments.


Sue even offered to help prepare the brochure.  I think the idea has promise.  When we finish the text, I’ll post it.

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Why Democrats lose elections

I will now quote the first three paragraphs of a front page article entitled “Kentucky, Beacon for Health Law, Becomes a Lab for Its Retreat” by Abby Goodnough that appeared in today’s New York Times.  

Carolyn Bouchard, a diabetic with a slowly healing shoulder fracture, hurried to see her doctor after Matt Bevin was elected governor here this month.

Ms. Bouchard, 60, said she was sick of politics and had not bothered voting.  But she knew enough about Mr. Bevin, a conservative Republican who rails against the Affordable Care Act, to be nervous about the Medicaid coverage she gained under the law last year.

“I thought, ‘Before my insurance changes, I’d better go in,’” she said as she waited at the Family Health Centers, a community clinic here.

In the recent election that brought Mr. Bevin to power, 31% of Kentuckians voted.  Some of the poorest counties supported him.

This is the same phenomena Linda, Edie, Patti, and I encountered when we tried to register people who were living in publicly subsidized housing.  People weren’t interested in voting, saw no reason to vote, and refused to register.  

I have no idea how to break through that kind of thinking.  I also know if we don’t come up with some way to raise the consciousness of people who should be the natural supporters of liberals and progressives, we are doomed to leaders like Ted Cruz or Donald Trump or Jeb Bush.  


Any suggestions?

Friday, November 27, 2015

Trumbo

Bryan Cranston, whom you may remember as the star of “Breaking Bad,” stars in a movie about Dalton Trumbo, a Hollywood screen writer who was one of the blacklisted “Hollywood Ten” in the 1950s.  Trumbo was the screen writer for such films as “Exodus” and “Spartacus.”

We saw the movie tonight at the Pocono Cinema in Stroudsburg.  I would like very much if movies like “Trumbo” came to Mahoning Theater, but they seldom do.  Bruce, the manager at Mahoning, appreciates quality films and books them occasionally, but unfortunately Carbon County does not have great demographics for serious cinema.

If you can get “Trumbo” on Netflix or one of those streaming things, I recommend it.  (I have no idea how to do that, which is why I often drive to movie theaters in Allentown or Stroudsburg.)  


In “Trumbo” you will see how hysteria can lead to all sorts of injustices.  You will also see just how craven John Wayne, Hedda Hopper, and Ronald Reagan really were.  I really recommend this film.  The scenes with John Goodman alone are worth the price of admission.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Enlist Duo and GMO crops

The E.P.A. has decided to revoke its approval of the 2,4-D herbicide, called “Enlist Duo” by Dow Chemical.  Because many weeds have developed a tolerance for glyphosate, also known as Roundup, Dow Chemical developed new GMO seeds for corn and soybeans that won’t be harmed by 2,4-D.

Roundup has been linked to many environmental problems, including “colony collapse” in honeybees.  Now Dow is pushing for farmers to be able to spray Roundup and 2,4-D on their crops to kill weeds.  The E.P.A. has said no.

What GMO supporters don’t get is why people like me oppose GMO seeds.  I don’t think the GMO soybeans and corn are harmful to human health.  What I think is harmful is the toxic sprays that are used on specially developed GMO crops.  Monopoly seed production is harmful.  Toxic spray drifting to non-GMO crops is harmful.  The type of agribusiness that uses GMO seeds is harmful.  


GMO crops by themselves may be fine.  It is the uses to which they are put and the purposes for their development that are dangerous to us.  Companies like Dow are not developing GMO seeds to benefit humankind.  They are developing these crops to make money, and the rest of us be damned.

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Woodrow Wilson, racist

We’ve only had one president who was a political science professor, and, I’m sorry to say, he’s always been somewhat of an embarrassment to me.  His opposition to female suffrage was uncalled for; I find his moral righteousness irritating; and his inflexibility doomed one of his better ideas–the League of Nations.  

Now some Princeton students would like his name removed from various university facilities.  Fine by me.  Admittedly, Wilson was a Democrat at a time when Democrats were the party of the “Solid South,” but that does not explain why he had to lead the effort to segregate the Federal workforce and relegate blacks in government service to menial positions.


I recognize that in many areas Wilson was a real progressive.  I can applaud that.  On the other hand, I don’t think we should gloss over his shortcomings which were harmful to millions of African Americans.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

The Pennsylvania Legislature

Let me try to understand this.  Pennsylvania legislators, who have nothing to do with immigration, are debating restrictions on refugees from Syria.  In the meantime, the state budget, which is their responsibility, has still not been passed and sent to the Governor.  

Agencies are running out of funding, but it is evidently more important to posture and pontificate on the threat of families from Syria.  Just ask Representative Heffley.  

By the way, the Morning Call listed a number of agencies that are helping to resettle refugees and could use some donations.  One is the Syrian Arab American Charity Association, 608 N. Second St., Allentown, PA 18102.  For more info, call 610-432-8001.


I feel like I should apologize to my readers--This must be the eighth or ninth posting on Syrian refugees.  You are probably getting tired of it, but I can’t stop.  My friend Lois, an Obama volunteer from New York who stayed with us in 2008 and 2012, believes the Syrian refugee issue is a moral crisis that we need to confront.  I think she is correct, and I think the response of Republican governors, Republican legislators, and much of the American public is un-American, un-Christian, and unworthy of who we are.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Trump and Muslims

I had planned to write about our trip to the Brandywine River Museum today, but I feel the need to comment on Trump’s latest remarks on Muslims.  

As most people who were around on September 11, 2001, I can tell you where I was when I heard about the World Trade Center attacks.  I know that the press reported on nothing else for days.  I also know that had thousands of people cheered the attack, that would have been front page news.  It wasn’t.  It didn’t happen.  I do remember that we got reports of Iranians being shocked and in sympathy with Americans.

Yet Trump, who claims to have an amazing memory, can recall thousands of New Jersey Muslims cheering the attacks.

Gov. Christie, Governor of New Jersey, issued a weasel statement that he can’t recall such cheering, but then added that he can’t remember everything.

Ben Carson, who had a chance to distinguish himself, instead says he remembers seeing a video of the cheering.  These is a video no one has been able to produce.

The only Republican Presidential candidate who has come out looking good on this is Marco Rubio, who stated it never happened.


I once thought Trump was sort of funny.  As I have learned about his cheating of thousands of students with his “Trump University,” his stiffing of creditors in his bankruptcy filings, his vicious attacks on Muslims, and his “birther” claims on the President, I am no longer amused.  He is an evil man, and he must be stopped.

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Heffley's Town Hall

Rep. Doyle Heffley held a “town hall” in his Lehighton District Office this past Friday.  I printed out the announcement, and I actually thought about attending.  The announcement said he would discuss the overwhelming response from Carbon County residents regarding the state’s budget impasse, Syrian refugees, and property tax reform.

In the end, I stayed away.  I decided the whole thing would be an exercise in futility.  

As for property tax reform, if the Pennsylvania legislature, controlled by Republicans with Republican governor Corbett, couldn’t fix the property tax issue, Rep. Heffley’s town hall would be more of the bait and switch that Republican legislators have been using for years.

As for the budget impasse, the current Republican legislature, including Mr. Heffley, opposes any extraction tax, although every other state, including North Dakota and Texas, has imposed one.  The Pennsylvania Republican legislators are in the pocket of the drilling companies, and that won’t change.


As for Syrian refugees, the kind of fearful people who oppose any refugee resettlement, although they usually call themselves “Christian,” are probably the kind of people who would contract Heffley’s office and show up at a town hall.  I didn’t feel like getting into a shouting match with bigots and cowards.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Clinton's ISIS policy

Yesterday conservative columnist David Brooks wrote about Hillary Clinton’s speech on ISIS to the Council on Foreign Relations.  She delivered the speech on Thursday, November 19.  Brooks pointed out that this was not some blustery and vague call for getting tough on terrorists, but a detailed analysis with real policy recommendations.

I will quote one paragraph of Brooks’s column:  Dealing with both Assad and ISIS simultaneously throws you into the bitter and complex jockeying between Sunni and Shiite, between Iran and Saudi Arabia.  It puts pressure on your Ukraine policy (Vladimir Putin will want concessions as a price for backing off his aggression in the Middle East).  Everything is connected.  Which is why the presidency is for grownups, not rank outsiders.


Hillary Clinton is a grownup.  Her opponents on the Republican could not put together a coherent speech on the Middle East, don’t know the issues, don’t understand the dynamics.  What they are good at is slogans, threats, and bombast.  

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Surrender monkeys

Remember after the invasion of Iraq when France was vilified by many Americans, including members of Congress.  French fries were renamed “freedom fries,” and the French were derided as “surrender monkeys.”

Yesterday the French Premier announced that France would continue to accept Syrian refugees.  He pointed out that the plight of refugees has not changed because of the terrorist attacks.


In the meanwhile Republican presidential candidates, Republican governors, and much of the American public have decided to repeat the mistakes of this country prior to World War II, when the U.S. turned back Jewish children escaping from Nazi Germany.  I think it is pretty clear who are the “surrender monkeys.”

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Indiana saved from ISIS

Governor Mike Pence has denied a Syrian family of three, exiled from Homs since 2011, permission to enter Indiana.  After all, they could be terrorists.  In Syria the father ran a used clothing store.  The couple’s son is four years old.  But you never know.  Better safe than sorry.  Might be carrying a bomb.

No, they won’t have to return to Jordan where they were living.  The Connecticut governor, a Democrat, said they would be welcome.  They will be settled in New Haven.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Reactions to the Paris Massacre

Everyone was predicable.  The CIA director calls for more surveillance.  Sen. Toomey wants to shut the borders to Syrian refugees.  Republican governors, “Christians” all, say there’s no more room in the inn.  

Bleeding heart liberals, a group in which I include myself, ask who will help the refugees.  We don’t think it is fair that relatively poor countries like Turkey or Jordan should be forced to bear the burden of feeding and housing hundreds of thousands of people.


Sen. Rubio, equally predictable, notes that of 1000 refugees, suppose just one is ISIS.  My question to Rubio is, how do we know you aren’t part of a Castro sleeper cell?  Didn’t your parents come from Cuba?  (I am fully aware of how mean that is, but I am tired of that little prick.)

Monday, November 16, 2015

Cowardly bigots

My first thought on hearing about the Paris massacre was that now Americans would oppose accepting the few Syrian refugees we had planned to take in. 

Sure enough, governor after governor now says no to accepting Syrians. Millions of refugees, including women and children, need help.  The Paris massacres don’t change that.  ISIS must be so pleased; they succeeded in increasing the misery of all those people.  ISIS cannot defeat the west, but they can sow fear and dissension.  They have done that, which means they are winning.


I suppose many anti-immigrant bigots are quite pleased with the Paris bombings.  It gave them the excuse they were hoping for to reject the refugees.  

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Defeating ISIS

I’m all in favor of punishing ISIS.  I think the whole ISIS movement should be destroyed.  It is composed of people who do not belong in the family of nations, who are the equivalent of Nazi functionaries at Buchenwald.  

I’m also in favor of “boots on the ground.”  I’d like to see a coalition of forces tasked with the job of eliminating the whole ISIS infrastructure.

However, if such a task is undertaken, Americans should share in that equally.  I have yet to hear people like Ted Cruz and Lindsay Graham and people of that ilk call for a return of the universal draft.  Until that happens, I will oppose U.S. involvement.  I don’t see why the lower income and less educated group of Americans should be asked to bear the burden of military action.  


If this is a burden to be borne, it should be borne equally by all Americans.

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Democrats in the Obama era

In the last eight years Republicans have done extremely well.  As of January Republicans will hold 32 of 50 governorships, 10 more than they had in 2009.  816 Democratic state lawmakers have lost their jobs while Obama was president, and Republican-controlled legislatures have doubled since Obama took office.

Is it his fault?  I would say in part it is.  When Howard Dean was running the Democratic Party, Dean emphasized a 50-state strategy.  You concede nothing to the Republicans; you fight for every state.  In 2008 Obama benefited from this strategy, winning states that Democrats had written off in the past.

Unfortunately, President Obama organized something called Obama for America, which was not a party-oriented organization.  Later the group morphed into Organizing for America, but the emphasis was on helping administration policies, not the Democratic Party.


In Carbon County the club that grew out of the Obama campaign called itself “Carbon County Democrats for Change,” and it was affiliated with the County Democratic Party.  As a consequence, the Democratic Party in Carbon County is stronger than ever.  Unfortunately, Carbon County seems to be the exception, not the rule.

Friday, November 13, 2015

Garlic and shallots

Tom Merkel, an organic farmer in Mahoning Township, gave me some garlic and shallot sets.  I planted them today.  I think this was the latest and coldest day of the year that I have ever planted plants.  I’ll let you know next spring if it was a success.   


I can tell you that I made apple jelly with apples from one of our trees just two days ago, and that was a complete success.  It is soooo good.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Pipeline Party

This evening I attended a pipeline party at the Big Creek Grange in Franklin Township.  About 90 landowners, environmentalists, and other sympathetic people showed up to eat, drink, and listen to music by Free Range Folk, an amazing group from the Jim Thorpe area.  

We learned what we could do to hinder and stop the 36-inch PennEast/UGI fracking natural gas pipeline that would fragment forests, harm state gamelands, pollute watersheds, run roughshod over property owners, and wreck state parks, 

Everyone in the hall was in opposition to the proposed pipeline.  They were opposed because of the danger of explosions.  Because of the environmental damage.  Because of the lies PennEast/UGI has been telling about the necessity for the pipeline.  Because of the use of eminent domain for private profit.  


We learned that PennEast UGI is angry.  it is scared.  And, if we stick together, it will lose.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Black and white

A review in the November 2nd issue of the New Yorker by Nicholas Lemann discussed the compromises made when the Civil War ended and the South was re-incorporated into the Union.  The South lost the war, but many of its ideas that were “southern” became part of “American” way of thinking.

Here’s one you might never have thought of.  (I didn’t before I read the review.)  The definition in the U.S. of who is “black” and who is “white” is a southern holdover.  What is President Obama with a white mother and a black father?  He is “black.”  We accept that someone who has one black  great-grandparent out of eight is labeled black.

Isn’t that strange?  That is a legacy of southern culture which is now part of the national culture.  You have to admit that is weird.


Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Wolf caves

Why did we have to wait months for a budget deal?  Wolf probably could have gotten this budget on day one.  A rise in the sales tax, the most regressive of all state taxes.  No firm commitment to keep state store revenues flowing into the state’s coffers.  And worst of all, a victory for the frackers and their Republican lapdogs in the state legislature to ensure that Pennsylvania continue its dubious position as the only state in the union without a severance tax on natural gas it produces.  


I am so disappointed in Wolf.  Why oh why are the Democrats never able to hold fast to their commitments?  Republicans have our number.  Hold out long enough, and our side caves.  I’m tired of it. 

Monday, November 9, 2015

Refugees

After the Vietnam War, the U.S.admitted more than a million refugees from Southeast Asia.  Many of them settled in the San Jose area.  I well remember the opposition.  At the time many of them arrived I was working for a state senator.  Constituents wrote in complaining about “those people” who didn’t understand American ways.

Some thought that Communist spies would be infiltrating.  The refugees didn’t speak our language.  They were different.  They ate dogs and cats.

I think almost everyone now would agree that the Vietnamese, Hmong, and Cambodian refugees have enriched the United States.  Like other desperate and poor people before them who came to this country yearning to breathe free, they have made us stronger and better.  

Now we hear similar arguments from the bigots who oppose bringing in Syrian refugees.  The refugees are Muslim.  They will be terrorists.  They don’t speak English.  


If you hear this kind of nonsense, speak out.  Talk about moral duty.  We need to be doing more.  Four million refugees are out there.  We can’t let poor states like Jordan and Greece and Croatia bear the entire burden.  This is an international problem.

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Why are you a Democrat?

My friend Marian said that from now on when anyone asks her why she is a Democrat, she plans to reply, “Because I’m a Christian.”  I told her I couldn’t in good conscience make that statement, but I think it is a truly great response.

Saturday, November 7, 2015

The end of Keystone Pipeline

Today saw a significant milestone in the fight against global warming.  President Obama has rejected the Keystone XL pipeline, a proposed 1,179 mile pipeline to bring tar sands petroleum from Canada to the Gulf Coast.  

This action has positive results.  It takes the pressure off the new Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau.  It solidifies the position of the U.S. as a leader in the fight against global warming.  It benefits the entire globe.

This week we also learned that Exxon deliberately withheld data or skewed data about the effects of emissions on global warming.  Exxon’s corporate lies have been compared to Big Tobacco’s lies about the effects of smoking.  


What Exxon did was so much worse.  Big Tobacco’s lies hurt individual smokers.  Exxon’s lies have affected the entire planet.

Friday, November 6, 2015

Spectre

It is funny how expectations work.  I read some rather critical reviews of “Burnt,” the movie starring Bradley Cooper as a chef, so I wasn’t expecting very much.  Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the movie.  I thought Cooper did a good job, I liked the cooking scenes, and I thought the supporting cast was excellent.


Tonight we saw “Spectre.”  James Bond movies are always fun, they are part of our heritage, and Daniel Craig is interesting.  Nevertheless, I thought the movie was way too long, and I found myself actually impatient at times.  I expected more, so I was disappointed.

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Syrian refugees are coming!

Since the Civil War in Syria started four years ago, approximately four million refugees have fled from that country.  Many are living in countries that are less than prosperous–for example, Greece, Jordan, Turkey, Serbia, and Croatia. 

In the last four years the U.S. has taken in 1,854 of the refugees.  Out of four million, we have taken in 1,854.  This year we are doing better.  We are taking in approximately 10,000.  Germany is taking in approximately 500,000.


Many people in the U.S. don’t want us to take in any.  Most of the refugees are Muslim.  Might be terrorists.  Don’t celebrate Christmas.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Republican medical expertise

Dr. Ben Carson, a neurosurgeon (as he is fond of reminding us), and Dr. Rand Paul, an ophthalmologist, both said in the September candidate debate that there was no association between vaccines and autism.  Unfortunately, both of them then went on to say that doctors may be giving too many vaccines in too short a time.

There are reasons why the American Academy of Pediatrics has set up a schedule of vaccines.  The longer a vaccine is delayed, the longer the period of time a child is susceptible to diseases like measles and whooping cough.


On the other hand, at least Carson and Paul refuted the completely discredited idea that vaccines cause autism.  Trump, with his usual idiocy, claimed that vaccines do cause autism, thereby continuing to spread a false rumor that has the potential to kill children if parents believe his stupidity.

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Working the polls at the Rod and Gun Club

I spent the day passing out Democratic slate cards at the Palmerton Rod and Gun Club.  There were fifteen minute stretches when no voters appeared, but I had a good novel by Jonathan Franzen to fill up my time.

It was enjoyable work, and most of the voters said thank you, even Republicans.  One guy, walking to his truck, stopped, turned around, and came back.  He said, “You represent Democrats; may I ask you some questions.?”  My first thought was uh oh.  This will get nasty.

His question was, “Why are you a Democrat?”  I told him I had a number of reasons.  First, I’m an environmentalist, and I thought the Democratic Party was much more likely to protect the environment.  Secondly, I believed that women had a right to have abortions if that was their choice.  Third, I thought the Republican Party catered to the top 1%.  And finally, the reason I had a pension and Social Security I owed to my union and to Democratic policies. 

He nodded and took that in.  Then I asked him his name and told him where I lived.  He told me he was retired military.

And then he started in.  It was obvious that he wanted to tell me why he was a Republican.  He explained how the Democrats gave money to people who were here illegally.  And why shouldn’t we ask for ID for voters?  And without ID, voter fraud was rampant.  And Obama was the worst president in our history.  


What struck me was his anger and his fear.  Fear that the country was being overrun.  Anger that the Democrats were complicit in this.  I have learned that people like that have a mindset that can’t be turned around.  There is no point in arguing.  What we must do is register people who are not afraid or angry and get them to the polls.

Monday, November 2, 2015

Tomorrow's judicial elections

After spending millions of dollars in campaign contributions on mailers and ads, including attack ads, three candidates will be elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court tomorrow.  The election may determine whether the Court will uphold partisan gerrymandering of legislative districts, which has resulted in Republican victories both at the federal and state level.

Now let me explain what is wrong with that first paragraph, and why Pennsylvania continues to be an embarrassment to anyone who believes in clean politics and an independent judiciary.

First, we shouldn’t even have partisan elections to the State Supreme Court.  Few states operate this way.  Most states select judges on a merit system.

Second, the present system of campaign finance in Pennsylvania is abysmal.  While every candidate will deny with a straight face that contributions influence elections, ask yourself why the contributors are giving the candidates money.  Are they doing this to ensure excellence in the courts?

Third, if the state had reasonable redistricting policies, gerrymandering would not occur.  A number of other states have adopted non-partisan redistricting, but we have representatives like Jerry Knowles and Doyle Heffley who would never support a fair system.

So tomorrow, I will go in and vote for all the Democratic candidates for judicial office.  From an objective standpoint, they are actually the best qualified of the candidates running.  Unfortunately, this is an off-year election and Democrats tend to vote in smaller numbers than Republicans.  


It’s been said that we get the government we deserve.  I don’t believe that.  I don’t believe I have ever done anything to deserve the system of government I am getting in this state.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

The diminution of the 9/12 Project

Four years ago the Carbon County Tea Party, aka the “9/12 Project,” sponsored a “debate” at Penn’s Peak.  I remember it well, because I stood at the entrance of Penn’s Peak with a sign demanding to know where the “9/12 Project” received its funding, and was later yelled at by Fred Reinhart, whom I believe is a supporter of the “9-12 Project,” because I compared him to an octopus in one of my postings on this blog.


This year the “9-12 Project” sponsored another “debate” at Penn’s Peak.  Only two of the five candidates for Carbon County Commissioner agreed to show up, and one of those was a write-in.  The event was not televised.  I didn’t picket the event..Why bother, when hardly anyone will show up anyway.