Ideas, Opinions, Genealogy, and Book Reviews
President Trump calls it an “attack on our country” and adds that it is disgraceful. What is he talking about?
The Russian attack on our elections certainly fits the bill. The chemical attack in Syria could be it. But no, it is the legal execution of a search warrant approved by his own Justice Department.
Sad.
Benjamin Franklin was asked after the Constitutional Convention what type of government we would have. He replied “A Republic, if you can keep it.” Now the question to us is ‘ Can we keep our republic ’ that the Constitution gave us ? .
The founders left us with a set of three competing branches that denied excessive power to any one branch since if one branch grew too strong the others would limit it. This system of checks and balances has worked well for over 200 years. However now it is being challenged as never before.
Continue reading “Can we keep our republic ?”
Just when we were starting to get used to Scott Pruitt and his crazy ideas about not protecting the environment, more news comes out about his crazy views on this and other topics.
…Scott Pruitt, the new administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), espoused some pretty bizarre and goddy views on an Oklahoma radio show in 2005. Granted, that’s 13 years ago, but have his views changed? Given his faith, probably not, and they were posted on his campaign website when he ran for Oklahoma attorney general in 2010. Nobody’s talking now, but…
The blog Why Evolution Is True in an article with a somewhat lengthy title ( EPA administrator Scott Pruitt disses evolution, espouses theocracy, doubts whether carbon dioxide causes global warming, asserts that God gave us the right to have all guns ) discusses his bizarre views and right to impose them on the rest of us and lack of suitability to run a science-based agency.
It is worth reading.
I was very surprised to see The Firemaker by Peter May available as an Advance Reading Copy (ARC) on Netgalley. I thought this was an older book. But I have been a fan of Peter May since reading his Lewis trilogy so I was interested.
The Firemaker is the first book in his set of China thrillers set in the 1990 and early 2000s. I checked and this series was published between 1999 and 2004. The reason for an ARC is this is a re-release in early 2018. The best explanation for why he decided on a re-release is the Introduction by the author.
Continue reading “The Firemaker by Peter May”
A useless sentiment in response to the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida. Can our federal government do something useful about this?
See this
Generally, the Republican response to any mass shooting is that it is ‘too soon’ to talk about it, our ‘thoughts and prayers’ go out to victims, and then to stop anybody who tries to do something useful. Of course, this is just my opinion based on years of observation. They blocked legislation after Newtown, CT. They did nothing after Sutherland Springs, TX or Las Vegas NV. They seem ready to do nothing again. Are Republicans the Party of Death ?
Continue reading “Are Republicans the Party of Death ?”
Senator Chuck Grassley seems to be a hypocrite on the subject of guns for the mentally ill. After the recent tragic school shooing in Florida, he was asked to comment and Senator Grassley said:
It seems to be common for a lot of these shootings, in fact almost all of the shootings, is the mental state of the people. And we have not done a very good job of making sure that people that have mental reasons for not being able to handle a gun getting their name into the FBI files and we need to concentrate on that.
Continue reading “Guns for the mentally ill: Is Senator Grassley a hypocrite ?”
President Trump is busy attacking the FBI and Justice Department. Republicans used to believe in the rule of law. Are Republicans ashamed ? If not, why not?
Our intelligence agencies agreed with a high degree of certainty that Russia interfered in our 2016 election (.https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf ).
President Trump denies this. In some cases he says he knows better because he is very smart. I tend to think he has other motivations. Donald Trump’s denial is called the “2017 Lie of the Year” by Politifact .
WikiPedia has a long article on Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections for those who would like to review this and some more recent develpments in the investigations.
Recently, the President and some of his allies in Congress and on Fox news have been busy attacking the FBI and Justice Department. As President Trump says “A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves”.
Of course he seems to be thinking of those in leadership at the FBI and Justice Department but I think it is the Republicans who refuse to stand-up to this attack on the rule of law who should be ashamed.
We have heard objections from Senator John McCain and Gov. John Kasich. I may have missed a few others but I’ve heard few Republican objections or even mild disagreements.
In the words of Senator McCain:
The latest attacks on the FBI and Department of Justice serve no American interests – no party’s, no president’s, only Putin’s. The American people deserve to know all of the facts surrounding Russia’s ongoing efforts to subvert our democracy, which is why Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation must proceed unimpeded. Our nation’s elected officials, including the president, must stop looking at this investigation through the warped lens of politics and manufacturing partisan sideshows. If we continue to undermine our own rule of law, we are doing Putin’s job for him.
So where are the the Repubican politicians? Do they still believe in the rule of law? Are Republicans ashamed ?
Is Republican blackmail too strong a way to describe the current negotiation to avoid a government shutdown? I don’t think so. Here’s why.
Just last month a deal was made to avoid a shutdown with another continuing resolution, the third continuing resolution for the fiscal year which just began October 1, less than 4 months ago. Continue reading “Republican blackmail”
Governor Tom Wolf has prevented anti-choice forces of Pennsylvania from are restricting the rights of women and their doctors with PA SB 3.
Thank you, Governor Wolf.
Why do Republicans fear a debate?
When it was apparent that the disasterous party-line FCC ruling which eliminated net neutrality was coming, Rep. Sean Maloney (D-NY18) introduced H.R.4585 – the Save Net Neutrality Act of 2017.
It was promply bottled-up in commitee. A few days ago the Democrats tried to forcent to have a floor debate on the bill which was voted down by the Republicans.
Why do Republicans fear a debate? Why do they not want freedom of choice?
Back when the Retired Guy was much younger, the comedian George Carlin told us about seven words he could not say on TV. The seven words were considered “dirty” and too vulgar for broadcast over the airwaves of the United States. A few years earlier the comedian Lenny Bruce had been arrested for using these words (and 2 more) in a public performance. See Seven dirty words on Wikipedia for more detail.
Continue reading “Seven words you cannot say”
The Voting Rights Advancement Act of 2017 has been introduced in both the House and the Senate. Seems to be a simple issue. Who can be against voting rights? Well, maybe it not quite so simple. Maybe Republicans are against it and they are in charge now.
Continue reading “Voting Rights Advancement Act”
The anti-choice forces are again trying to restrict abortion rights with PA SB 3.
Not much has changed except they are trying again. Read something new and what I had to say about this when they tried in February.
Why net neutrality? Freedom of choice is the short answer. And by that I mean our choice. Not the choice forced on us by the company that provides our internet service. I wrote about this freedom at some length last month so I won’t repeat those arguments here.
Continue reading “Net neutrality could soon be gone”