Doyle Heffley Saves the Day

Doyle Heffley’s office announced that nearly $330,000 in grants has been awarded to more than two dozen volunteer fire and emergency service organizations in Carbon County.  

Every year Heffley combs the state budget, hunting for surplus funds that he can direct to Carbon County.  He is relentless in his search, looking for appropriations he can funnel to volunteer fire companies.  He personally examines all of the state’s appropriations, and when he finds unused tax revenues sitting around, he grabs them and puts them into Carbon County.

Recently he voted to cut the drug treatment program, no doubt so he could take those funds and give them to the Bowmanstown Fire Company and other fire companies.  At least that is how I think it works.

The amazing thing is that he does this out of the goodness of his heart.  Although some of the grant money comes from Incumbency Re-Election Act funds, Doyle cares only about helping fire companies and emergency services.  The fact that his office did not announce any grants for Summit Hill has nothing to do with the fact that Summit Hill is not in his district and was simply an oversight on his part.

That Doyle. 

It's over

“It’s not over until Carly Fiorina sings.”  She sang.  The Cruz campaign is over.

The N.R.A. lied and 4 children died

Two days ago in Weissport I was behind a van with a bumper sticker that said, “Clinton lied and 4 Americans died.”  I wonder if that driver would be willing to put my proposed sticker on his van.

On Tuesday in Milwaukee Patrice Price was fatally shot by her 2-year-old while she was driving her car.  In the week that ended on Tuesday, a 3-year-old in Georgia, a 3-year-old in Louisiana, a 2-year-old in Missouri, and a 2-year-old in Indiana fatally shot themselves.

Why can’t the N.R.A. support a system like the one we have for drivers’ licenses?  You need to pass a test before you can drive.  You might not be the best driver, but at least you have some minimum qualifications which you have demonstrated.

While it would seem to me to be common sense that you wouldn’t leave a loaded gun around a child, evidently people do not know that.  They need lessons.  They need training.  

We live in a country in which children have access to guns and one of the most powerful interest groups in Washington evidently sees nothing wrong with that.

See Richard Perez-Peña, “A Toddler, a Loose Gun in a Car, And a Mother Is Shot to Death, New York Times, (Apr. 29, 2016), p. A10.

The last great American hero?

I’ve been known to rant about the overuse of the word “hero.”  It seems that every cop, fire fighter, and first-responder is labeled  a “hero.”  You return a wallet–hero.  You stop to help fix a flat tire–hero.  Now the term means very little.

Then I read in the Times News about the Jensens of Wapwallopen and Nescopeck, who call themselves four generations of Christian conservatives for Cruz.  

The youngest family member is four.  His father said, “I want my little guy to get a look at maybe our last great American hero.”

I forget.  Did Cruz rush into a burning building to save a child?  Did he single-handedly fight off a platoon of Viet Cong?  Oh, now I remember.  He shut down the federal government and cost taxpayers billions.  

Perhaps we ought to erect a statue to him in the Weissport Park.

Undecided voter

In the past I’ve held undecided voters in contempt.  I usually know for whom I’ll vote months before the election is held.  For example, I already  know the candidate I’ll be supporting come November.  It will be the Democrat.  How could people have so little knowledge of our party system and party ideology and not know how they’ll vote.

And yet, there I was, at the Township Building, 7:20 a.m., the ballot on the screen, and I was hesitating.  Bernie, Hillary, Bernie, Hillary.  Both have qualities I like; both have major drawbacks, and I was undecided.  It’s not a pleasant feeling.

In case you’re curious, I finally went for Clinton, and now I’m wondering if I should have gone for Bernie.

The PA primary

It’s finally here.  I’ll be passing out Democratic Party literature at the Palmerton Rod and Gun Club voting location, probably in the rain.  I think we will have a fairly good turnout–Sanders brings out the young voters, Clinton is popular with older women, and Trump is throwing red meat to the Republican base.  

The Carbon County race for the State House of Representatives should also increase turnout.  Although the Republican incumbent is dull as dishwater, Neil Makhija, the Democratic candidate, is young, energetic, and actually cares about Carbon County residents instead of wealthy campaign contributors.  

Exxon knew, but lied

A company like Exxon may legally lie to the American public, but lying to stockholders is a punishable offense.  Exxon has been studying global warming since the 1980s, including the melting of Arctic ice, which might affect the company’s oil drilling operations.  The company knew the climate was changing.

However, in 1999 Exxon CEO Lee Raymond told shareholders that climate change was “sheer speculation.”

Now the Attorney Generals of California and New York have launched probes to see whether Exxon’s lies to stockholders are actionable.  New York law allows the AG to investigate deceitful statements to shareholders whether or not they were harmed.  

We know from Big Tobacco just how far companies will go to protect their interests, whether or not they harm their customers, or in the case of Exxon, the future of the planet itself.

For more info on Exxon, see the article by Jason Mark, “Big Oil in the Hot Seat,” Sierra (May/June 2016), pp. 28-29. 

Congress and the I.R.S.

Over the last five years Congressional Republicans have cut the I.R.S. budget by nearly $1 billion and reduced the I.R.S. staffing by about 17,000.

House Republicans approved a number of additional anti-I.R.S. bills this past week, labeling it “I.R.S. week.”  Cute.

Paul Ryan, supposedly the Congressional intellectual, said, “Right now, we have a tax code that no one can understand being enforced by an agency that no one trusts.”

Who writes the tax code?  Congress.  Who was chairman of the Ways and Means Committee that writes the tax code for most of the past five years?  Paul Ryan.  

According to the New York Times, for every dollar the I.R.S. spends in tax compliance, it raises at least $4.  By cutting the I.R.S. budget, the Republicans are reducing the amount of revenue raised.  Then they blame the I.R.S. for not doing its job.  

(Statistics for this post are from “I.R.S. Supporters Fight Back Against Republican Offensive, New York Times, (22 Apr. 2016), p. A14.  The article details how former I.R.S. officials appointed by Republican presidents are appalled at the recent Congressional actions.)

Recommendations for Tuesday

I’ll start with the Presidency.  I like Bernie Sanders, but his behavior in the last few weeks has really annoyed me.  Clinton may not be the ideal candidate, but she certainly is qualified.  She will probably win the nomination, and what he is doing is giving ammo to the Reeps in the fall.  Also, some of his ideas are completely outlandish.  College tuition for all?  High tariffs on imported goods?  What Congress will pass these policies?

On the other hand, I am grateful to Mr. Sanders for moving the Demos to the left, but that gratitude only goes so far.  Vote for Clinton.

The Senate race is difficult, since the Dems have three qualified candidates.  I’m voting for Fetterman.  I don’t care that he is third in the polls; he came here to address a Carbon County Democrats for Progress meeting, and that counts.  I like McGinty, but it annoys me that the Senate Campaign Committee is spending millions on her campaign.  That is money that should be spent defeating the right-wing, anti-woman, pro-Wall Street Toomey.  As for Sestak, nice guy, but he lost to Toomey before.  Also, what the hell does “He’ll have your six” mean?  I find this military bullshit irritating.

On the Congressional level, Cartwright has no opposition, but he deserves a vote anyway.  He has been a great congressman, and both of the Reeps running against him are whacko.  

For Attorney General vote for Shapiro.  Morganelli is a little creep, and Zapalla? (Zavella?) has shown bad judgment in his campaign funders.

Finally, in Carbon County, Neil Makhija is running for the PA House of Representatives to oppose Heffley in the fall.  Vote for Neil.  It’s a cliche, but Neil will represent the people of Carbon County as opposed to special interests.  Heffley messed up on enacting a budget, he opposed medical marijuana, he was one of the Republicans who voted to make the ballot question on judicial retirement an advisory vote after the state spent millions of dollars to advertise it in the Commonwealth’s newspapers.  Heffley also, after touting his anti-drug credentials, voted for a budget that cuts funding for drug treatment.  

Heffley needs to be retired, and, of course, under PA law, he’ll be getting a pension for his “service” to the Commonwealth.  While we can’t do anything about that travesty, we can give him his retirement papers. 

Labor History course

I’m thinking about teaching a course in Labor History.  It would be an evening course, and it would feature a few excerpts from relevant films.

I’d probably have a few short readings, but no tests and no papers, although we’d need a fee to cover the cost of the facility.  Here’s a tentative syllabus.

1.  Labor in pre-industrial America:  guilds, hired hands, and slaves.

2.  The industrial revolution and the Knights of Labor.

3.  Haymarket and Homestead.

4.  Organizing miners.  The AFL.  (excerpts from “The Mollie Maguires” or “Matewan”).

5.  The Triangle Shirtwaist Fire and Progressive era reforms.

6.  The First Red Scare and the Industrial Workers of the World.

7.  The Thirties–the New Deal and the Wagner Act  (excerpts from 

“The Grapes of Wrath”).

8.  Post War retrenchment and Taft-Hartley (excerpts from “Norma Rae”)

9.  The American labor movement today.

What do you think?

The Snows of Kilimanjaro

Kilimanjaro, located in Tanzania, is very close to the equator, but it has a snowy top all year long.  It is a fairly easy mountain to climb and is sometimes called “the poor man’s Everest.”  In the last few years, however, the glaciers and snow pack on the peak are melting at a rapid rate, and in a decade, there may be no snow on Kilimanjaro.

The first three months of this year have been the hottest on record.  This past month was the 11th consecutive month to set a record high temperature since records were kept in the 1800s.

It is time we reevaluate nuclear power.  I had been opposed to nuclear power for all the right reasons–safety and the difficulties of storing spent fuel.  Nonetheless, nuclear power is better than coal and gas in terms of global warming.  Sometimes we have to take the lesser of two evils.  Our current energy policies are changing global climate in a way that may never be undone.  Nuclear power, with all its drawbacks, right now seems to be a better alternative.

Ted Cruz, alternative to Trump?

Cruz has criticized Trump on immigration policy, saying Trump is too liberal.

He opposes abortion, even if the pregnancy results from rape or incest.

He would like a federal amendment to allow states to refuse to recognize same sex marriages.

He would abolish the I.R.S.

He wants to return to the gold standard.

He was quite willing to shut down the federal government and now wants to be President of that government.

Today, in New York, he came in third.  He is a LOSER and should go back to Canada from whence he came.

Dumb and Dumber

I refer, of course, to the two Republican candidates vying to run against Matt Cartwright for the House of Representatives.  Glenn Geissinger wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, is opposed to the nuclear pact with Iran, and thinks the EPA is bad for PA jobs.  He wants the U.S. to lead a coalition against ISIS.  

Geissinger’s opponent, Matthew Connolly, agrees with that.

Geissinger was a bishop in the Mormon Church.  He is financing much of his campaign, spending $87,588  lot his own money so far.  Connolly had $1429 on hand as of January.

Connolly says that Geissinger is too moderate.  Connolly sounds like a Ted Cruz Republican who would rather shut government down than actually govern.

Here is my recommendation.  If you are a Republican in the 17th Congressional District, write in either your husband or wife’s name for that office.  While I don’t personally know your wife or husband, I will bet a large amount of money that either one would be far better qualified than the two clowns now on the ballot.

(Information on these candidates was contained in an article in today’s Morning Call by Tom Shortell entitled “Republican hopefuls tout credentials.”)

Republican delegate selection rules

After the 1968 debacle at the Chicago convention, the Democratic Party established a commission to reform its delegate section rules.  Delegate selection meetings had to be publicized, held in accessible locations, and run fairly.  Delegates were awarded on the basis of the proportion of a candidate’s vote, and they were bound to vote that way for the first ballot.  A certain number of delegates would represent the legislative party and the party organization, but these “Super Delegates” would be fewer than a majority, and their number was determined ahead of time.

The Republicans made a half-hearted effort at similar reforms, but never really cared much about democratic delegate selection or, for that matter, fairness.  This is why Trump could win Pennsylvania primary, yet most of the state’s delegates could vote for Cruz or Kasich or even Paul Ryan, even on the first ballot.

Trump is right.  The Republican system is rigged.  The Republican Party is not concerned about fairness.  It does not care about democracy.  I don’t exactly know what it does care about, but it is not my party.  If it were, I would run down to the Registrar’s office and switch my registration, probably getting a speeding ticket on the way.

Teacher tenure under fire

A group of parents in Minnesota has filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s job protections for teachers.  The suit would also change the order in which teachers are laid off because of budget cuts.

The parents claim that Minnesota’s layoff procedures harm poor minority children.  How, you might ask.  Because they say that the most ineffective teachers are more likely to be assigned to poor and minority schools.  

I should point out that the parents are backed by a group of wealthy donors.  I should also note that this lawsuit has nothing to do with poor and minority students and everything to do with weakening or destroying the American Federation of Teachers.

I’m currently listening to a history course from the Teaching Company on the Gilded Age, around the turn of the last century.  At that time not only were the rich and powerful opposed to unions, but they convinced both state and local governments, including the court system, to crush union activity.  The parallels between then and now are frightening.

Information for this post came from an article by Motoko Rich, “Job Tenure For Teachers Again Faces a Challenge,” New York Times, April 14, 2016, p. A11.

Pennsylvania legislators–a constant embarrassment

In order to amend the Pennsylvania Constitution, two sessions of the Pennsylvania legislature must pass the same proposed amendment.  The legislators did that with a proposed amendment to change the retirement age of PA judges from 70 to 75.  Apart from the whole issue of including such details as retirement ages in the Constitution, this was a straightforward proposal, and we were all set to vote on it in the PA primary later this month.  Thousands of absentee ballots have already been sent out.

Now the Republicans have sponsored a resolution ordering postponement of the decision until November.  Evidently they are concerned, since the last election put Democrats into the State Supreme Court.  If the proposed amendment passes, those Democrats could serve another five years.  

If the Republican move stands, County Election officials will have to post notices stating that the vote is only advisory and doesn’t count.  The state has already spent millions advertising the proposed change in newspapers across the state.  Independent voters who show up at  the polls to vote on the question would now be voting on an advisory question.

We still don’t know what the final outcome will be.  So, just like the national congress is screwing around with the Supreme Court for what it hopes is political advantage, PA Reeps are screwing around with the PA judiciary.  These legislators are shameless.  Vote them out of office.  They are not nice people.

Weather vs. Climate

Every Wednesday the Times runs articles in the Science section discussing readers’ questions.   On Tuesday the paper ran one called “Snow Job.”  It was headlined, “Climate change is not real because there’s snow in my back yard.”

Here’s the response:  “This claim mixes up climate and weather.  If you really want to know what is going on with climate change, look at the long-term averages over large areas.  Do not be fooled by short-term weather fluctuations.”

A U.S. Senator, Tom Colburn of Oklahoma, made a snowball in front of the Capitol, and then used it as evidence that climate change was a myth.  

OK, he is from Oklahoma, but this is way beyond stupid.

Tigers, Bees, and Polio

Long time readers of this blog know that in a world filled with stupidity and nastiness, I occasionally like to post items that are uplifting or optimistic.  Here are three good news items.

Tigers:  According to an article by Christine Hauser in the Times on April 12, the number of tigers in the wild has risen for the first time in a century.  Yes, the Chinese are still buying tiger parts for impotence, but measures against poaching are paying off.  Unfortunately, in China, Vietnam, and Laos, tigers are in single-digit numbers, but India has 2,226 and Russia had 433.  Whether we should consider an animal that we can count to the individual to be truly wild is another question.

Bees:  Ortho, a major company for lawn care chemicals, (and if you are using chemicals on your lawn, stop it) announced that it was phasing out eight products that use neonicotinoids by 2021.  Neonicotinoids are thought by many scientists to be the chemicals that are killing off our honeybees.

Polio:  On Sunday 150 counties and territories will switch to a new oral polio vaccine.  We are really close to getting rid of this disease.  Last year there were 74 cases in Pakistan and Afghanistan.  This year there were 9 cases.  

The new vaccine improves on the old one in a number of important ways.  Polio experts hope to make the switch in two weeks.  China, Indonesia, and India use up to 1.8 billion doses of vaccine a year.  The fact that the world can cooperate to make such a change gives me hope.  

Ivanka Trump's voter registration

People are making a big deal about the fact that Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka forgot to register for this year’s primary.  What they ought to be making a big deal about is that New York, supposedly a progressive state, does not have election day registration.  Interest in elections peaks on election day.  Why shouldn’t prospective voters be allowed to register on the day they would vote?

Pennsylvania, of course, also has a thirty day cut-off for registration, but our state is noted for its policies of making voting difficult.  Pennsylvania is NOT a progressive state.  Pennsylvania is an embarrassment to democracy.

Super Delegates

A political party has three elements:  the registered voters, also called the “party-in-the electorate;” the party’s elected officials, also called the “party-in-government;” and the party organization, or the county chairs, the state committees, and the national committees.

When the primaries or the state caucuses elect delegates to the national convention, those delegates represent only 1/3rd of the party, and that 1/3 is rather sketchy, since some states permit independents and even members of the other party to vote in primaries.  In some cases those voters may be swayed by ads or by transient issues.

The Democratic Party in the Seventies put in place a system of Super Delegates, who will presumably take into account electability, party ideology, and the interests of the country when they vote at the Convention.

They are not democratically elected.  So what.  In a democracy, not everything is subject to majority rule.  The First Amendment is not, the Supreme Court is not, and the Super Delegates are not.  I understand some Sanders supporters are upset that some Super Delegates might be supporting Clinton.  There may be good reasons for that support.  After all, Sanders has not even won a majority of the Party-in-the Electorate so far.

Recognizing idiots

We only have about 300 wolverines in the lower 48 states.  It seems that wolverines depend on a heavy snowpack to raise their young safely, and with global warming, the snowpack in the Rockies is disappearing.

A front page article in today’s Times was entitled “Climate-Related Death of Coral Around World Alarms Scientists.”  Heat stress is threatening about 1/3 of the world’s coral reefs.

When Republican candidates are asked about global warming, the usual reply is to the effect of “I really can’t comment.  I’m not a scientist.”

Although I am not a psychologist, I do know an idiot when I see one.

Reporting Periods to Gov. Mike Pence

The Indiana Republican-controlled legislature passed and Rep. Gov. Mike Pence signed legislation requiring that miscarried fetuses be interred or cremated.  A Facebook page, “Periods for Pence,” notes that “fertilized eggs can be expelled during a women’s period without even knowing” she was pregnant.

The originator of the page goes on to say, “I would certainly hate for any of my fellow Hoosier women to be at risk of penalty if they do not ‘properly dispose’ of this or report it.  Just to cover our bases, perhaps we should make sure to contact Governor Pence’s office to report our periods.”  

Women across Indiana have responded on Twitter and Facebook.  One woman invited Pence to her gynecologist appointment.  One provided an update on her cramps.  One told the Governor she had just changed her tampon.

Governor Pence is up for re-election this year.

(Information on this issue was taken from Mitch Smith, “Women Irked by Abortion Law Make Governor the Butt of Social Media Ridicule,” New York Times, (8 Apr. 2016), p. A10.)

Carbon County Democratic Fundraiser

It’s 10:45 p.m., way past my bedtime, and I’m just getting in from the Fundraiser.  These Democrats sure know how to party.  Here was a room full of activists (I’m making a wild guess here), about 1/3 Sanders supporters, about 1/3 Clinton supporters, and about 1/3 still on the fence, and all of them united in their determination to beat Cruz or Kasich or whatever else the Republicans put up to run this fall.  (For the grammar police reading this, you are probably saying I should write whomever, but the “whatever” is deliberate.)

The event, held at Memorial Hall in Jim Thorpe, featured good food, short speeches, our candidate for the Pennsylvania House Neil Makhiha, and lots and lots of wine.  People arrived in a good mood and left in a better one.  Once again, I am so glad I’m a Democrat.

Merle Haggard,1937-2016

On my move to California in 1970 with car, U-Haul truck, small child, cat, and hippie long-haired Vietnam vet brother-in-law, we stopped in Kansas City and went to a Merle Haggard concert.  This was the era of “Okie from Muskogee,” and it occurred to me that we might get attacked by the rednecks in attendance.  We didn’t, and Mr Haggard was in fine form.  Haggard, who was reported to smoke large quantities of marijuana, later said “I was dumb as a rock when I wrote ‘Okie from Muskogee.’”

In the 90s Linda and I made a pilgrimage to Bakersfield to hear Buck Owens and take pictures of Merle’s boyhood home.  He had a tough life, and he spent almost three years in San Quentin.  Incidentally, Reagan granted him a full pardon in 1972.

You won’t find better songs than “Mama Tried,” or “Holding Things Together,” or “If We Make It Through December.”  According to the Times obituary, roughly 400 artists have put out versions of “Today I Started Loving You Again.”  He was a great American musician.

On-going voter suppression

This past Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 8-0 that state legislative districts had to be drawn to take all residents into account, not just voters or eligible voters.  This policy was challenged by white rural voters who said that non-citizens, children, prisoners, and anyone else not eligible to vote diluted their voting power.  Well, yeah.  (By the way, isn’t it nice that Scalia is no longer on the Court?)

While this case was thrown out, other Republican attempts to suppress voter turnout have succeeded.  Wisconsin is an example.  There a federal district judge stuck down a voter ID bill, saying there had been no evidence of voter fraud.  Unfortunately, a federal appeals court reversed that decision.  

As a result, about 300,000 state residents could not vote in the most recent election.  In all the hoopla over Cruz and Sanders, how many stories did you see about the state law that disenfranchised 300,000 voters?

Kitty Genovese

Kitty Genovese did not die in vain, but she did die tragically.  Thirty-eight people heard her cries for help, and no one called the police.  “I didn’t want to get involved,” was the usual refrain.  Her killer stabbed her at least 14 times and raped her in a crime that took at least half an hour to complete.  Ms. Genovese, 28, died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.  

As a New York Times article noted today, news of the attack “was widely disseminated and took on a life of its own, shocking the national conscience and starting an avalanche of academic studies, investigations, films, books, even a theatrical production and a musical.”  There was a name for the reluctance of bystanders to get involved--“the Ketty Genovese syndrome.”

I remember a DJ from Buffalo rock station who urged listeners to always carry a dime so they could go to a pay phone and call police if they saw a crime being committed.  I can remember at least two occasions where I butted in on situations because I thought I’m not going to stand by in a Kitty Genovese situation.  

Yesterday Ms.Genovese’s murderer died in prison died at age 81.  I wish there was a hell in which he could rot.  The satisfaction I take is knowing that Ms. Genovese taught millions of Americans a lesson:  When you see something evil, do not stand by.  Do something!

PA House tries to restrict abortions

A bill introduced into the PA House of Representatives would move the state’s ban on abortions from 24 weeks to 20 weeks and make illegal the dilation and evacuation procedure, the safest medical procedure for abortions in the second trimester.  The bill calls that procedure “dismemberment abortions.”  The bill will also relabel the medical term catheterization to “sticking a plastic tube up a man’s dick.”

OK, I made up that last sentence.  My point is, why would the PA House of Representatives try to ram through a bill relabeling medical procedures and adding restrictions to abortions; a bill that members know Governor Wolf would veto anyway?

Oh, yeah.  This is an election year.  It’s not about abortion.  It’s not about “saving babies.”  It’s not about medical care. 

What this bill is about is saving legislative seats.  These representatives have no medical knowledge, no ethics, and no sense.  What they do have is a drive to save their seats, their salaries, and their pensions.  When you vote this November, dump every Republican on your ballot as well as any Democrat who voted for this bill.

Donald Trump on abortion

Last week, in an interview with Chris Matthews, Donald Trump called for punishment for women who have abortions.  The blowback was amazing, and he quickly recanted.

Here’s the irony.  He was being logical, agreeing with what we have been hearing for 40 years.  People standing in front of abortion clinics screaming “Abortion is murder” and comparing abortion to the Holocaust.  

If you know someone who is committing murder, shouldn’t that person be punished?  

Trump’s statement exposes that the anti-abortion fanatics don’t really take their rhetoric seriously.  If they really thought abortion was murder, they would rise to his defense.  They would demand women be punished.  

So why didn’t they?  Because they recognize just how unpopular such a position would be with the vast majority of the American people, and they don’t really believe their own propaganda.

We owe a thank you to Mr. Trump for exposing this hypocrisy.

Letter to John McCain

I’ve had a long like/dislike relationship to Sen. John McCain.  In 2000 in CA I switched parties so I could vote for him in the Republican primary against George W. Bush.  Eight years later he unleashed Sarah Palin on the world, and I thought he was an idiot.  Some of his more recent actions (“I’ll vote for the Republican nominee”) have also disgusted me.

Then, on March 25, McCain wrote an obituary for Delmer Berg, a member of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade.  Since Mr. Berg was a life-long communist, I was pleasantly surprised.  Here’s what I wrote to Sen.McCain:

Dear Senator McCain:

I have always admired the Americans who went to Spain in the Thirties to fight the fascists.  The Abraham Lincoln Brigade, idealists all, exemplified the best instincts of Americans.  That some of them were Communists doesn’t matter.  They weren’t fighting for Stalin; they were fighting for democracy.

I really appreciated your column in the New York Times memorializing  Delmer Berg, the last remaining member of the Brigade.   Thank you.

No April Fool's joke

President Obama’s overall approval ratings are edging upward.  Times columnist Paul Krugman explained why this might be happening.  First, if you compare him to Trump or Cruz or Kasich, he looks really good.

Secondly, the American economy has improved.  Unemployment is now under 5% and the stock market is way above what it was when he took office.  90% of the non-elderly population is covered by health insurance.  Major policies have been implemented to alleviate global warming.  

Some of us on the left are disappointed that Obama didn’t do more, but we also must remember that he faced a Congress and a Supreme Court that were determined to thwart him.

I love Krugman’s conclusion:  “...you can’t always get what you want–but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need.”