Flags, Folly And Freedom

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday May 25, 2015 · 11:13 AM PDT

2015/05/25 · 11:13

This essay was written in 2001 and published by our local newspaper.

My wife’s family (on her mother’s side) live in Luxembourg. In 1979, four years after we were married, we went for a two week visit to introduce me and reacquaint her to all the cousins, aunt, uncles and her grandmother. The apartment we where we were staying in Luxembourg City was three blocks from a huge plaza in the city center, surrounded by sidewalk cafes. In the plaza was a bandstand. We went for a walk that first night and found that there was a concert going on in the plaza so naturally we moved in closer to listen. It was July 3rd and the first song we heard was The Star Spangled Banner. Nobody has ever accused me of ever being overly patriotic, but hearing that song, thousands of miles from home gave me chills and I felt a depth of pride in being American, something I had always taken for granted.

The next day we were taken to the American military cemetery in Hamm, outside of Luxembourg City. George Patton is buried there, along with over five thousand other Americans who died in WWII. It is a beautiful place, with marble relief maps, a beautiful chapel and of course, the arrow straight rows of crosses and Stars of David that mark the graves. General Patton is alone at the head of all his fallen soldiers. What struck me though, was the fact that there was a small American flag on every single grave. I remarked to our host that that must be a difficult job placing all those flags. He told me that it was not the work of any single person. Every grave in that cemetery has a family in the city that is responsible for it. On every American holiday, the family goes to the cemetery and places the flag. A few days later they come out again and remove the flag. I found out the reason for this is that twice during WWII Luxembourg was liberated from German occupation, the second time by Patton during the Battle of the Bulge. They have never forgotten this and the responsibility for a grave at the cemetery is considered a great honor. It passes proudly from generation to generation. For the second straight day, I was more proud to be an American than I had ever been in my life.

The American flag is a powerful symbol. It represents freedom not just American citizens, but to citizens of nations around the world. As witnessed by families in the United States, in Luxembourg, across Europe and around the world, that freedom does not come without a cost. Many men and women have died, so that others would be allowed to live their lives as they want. Freedom is not just the right to worship in the church of your choice, to read or publish a newspaper, to get an education or pursue the career of your dreams. Freedom is also Nazis marching in Skokie, Illinois, it is 200,000 blacks in the National Mall to listen to Dr. Martin Luther King, it is Strom Thurmond in the Senate and David Duke running for Congress. It is rap music and South Park and it is burning the flag to make a political statement. Freedom is a messy thing. But that is what makes it so valuable, because we have freedom we can grow, change and make our world a better place.

Several weeks ago a letter to the editor in our local newspaper stated that perhaps we have taken freedom of speech too far. I can not think of a more chilling statement. Who is to be the one to decide where to draw the line. Should it be Republican congressmen? By supporting the Anti-flag burning amendment to the Constitution of the United States that is what they are doing. They are telling us that we are no longer free to oppose government policy as we see fit. We must protest in a manner acceptable to them or go to jail.

If a group of veterans decide to get rid of some old American flags by taking them down to the VFW hall and burning them, they are hailed as patriots. If a group of hippies, upset at politics as usual in Washington D.C. burn those same flags on the Capitol steps, they would be put in prison. So clearly it is not the act that is being made illegal, it is the thought. When the government makes particular thoughts illegal, we have begun the slide into tyranny.

Let the Games Begin

LCaseRussell

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday February 15, 2015 · 2:27 PM PST

2015/02/15 · 14:27

I will never understand the person who insists the American political system is boring, or even more incredible, that it does not affect their day to day lives. The Congress directly affects millions of Americans every single day. There are no important elections being held in 2015, this year is political equivalent of the Saturday round at the Masters Golf Tournament, called moving day, you don’t win or lose on Saturday, but how you perform greatly affects the final outcome.

The next two years we will have Republican majorities in both the House and Senate and if the new majority leaders are to be believed, they will work for some modicum of bipartisanship and hopefully get some bills to President Obama’s desk that he will sign into law. As for myself, I do not believe that one tiny bit. There is no upside in today’s Republican Party for any type of agreement with the president. The current political well has been so thoroughly poisoned that any GOP lawmaker would be branded a traitor or worse if they voted for a law the president agreed with enough to sign into law.

Any issue, faux scandal or urban myth, true or not, that keeps the level of fear and loathing at a high level in the Republican base is good for their party as a whole. Indeed, the political model for this goes back to FDR and the New Deal. Republicans are still trying to gut Social Security, albeit a bit more indirectly, as befits 21st century politics. Indeed, the very first vote in the Republican led 114th Congress was a rule change to weaken Social Security. Not exactly a path to compromise.

Past Republican bogeymen have included communists, feminists, hippies, Vietnam War protestors, abortion rights advocates, gays, immigrants, Muslims, welfare recipients and most recently, people who appreciate having affordable medical insurance. Democrats are permanent members of the bogeyman club; so do not expect any legislation that in any way appeals to the aforementioned persona non grata.

So what can we expect from the House and Senate majorities in the next couple of years? First and foremost, lots more Obamacare repeal votes. These are red meat for the base, they are a proven right wing donation cash cow and the issue still gets out the vote. Republican politicians will still use the ACA to scare and motivate their base. They have no plan to replace the law, because meaningless repeal votes are all that are needed to succeed.

We will also hear a lot about job creation, which in the new Republican congress will manifest itself in two ways, tax cuts for the “job creators” (the 1%, Wall Street and corporations) and a rollback of regulations and restrictions on how much poison is allowed to be put into our air, water and environment. Republicans will pay for the tax cuts by reducing benefits for the moocher class. Americans in need of the most basic services, food, shelter and a hand up when they are down will find the social safety net trimmed considerably.

Four words to look for in the upcoming debates over tax policy and budgets are “dynamic scoring” and “static scoring”. The Congressional Budget Office uses currently uses reality based static scoring to determine if proposed legislation will generate more or less revenue than the laws it replaces. Conservatives like dynamic scoring because they can manipulate facts to pretend their tax plans will bring in more revenue than actual reality has proven to be true. Dynamic scoring is what gave us the trickle-down theory, famously dubbed voodoo economics by the 41st president of the United States, George H.W. Bush.

If you would like to see the real world effects of dynamic scoring, look no further than Kansas, currently undergoing a crippling economic crisis brought on by the Republican tax cuts, signed into law by Republican governor Sam Brownback. Tax cuts did not bring in more revenue or create jobs.

As if that were not enough political drama for the next two years, now toss in the presidential ambitions of Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio and we have the makings of a true political spectacle. Pass the popcorn, I can hardly wait for the show to begin.

Forward, Through the Looking Glass

LCaseRussell

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday February 01, 2014 · 5:20 PM PST

2014/02/01 · 17:20

Hope springs eternal when the calendar turns to a new year. Resolutions are made, bad habits are put on a to be vanquished list, extra weight we have lived with for years is put on its annual to be shed list and even the most vexing aspects of our lives briefly appear to be manageable. And when the new year is an election year as well, even hardened political cynics embrace the fleeting chance for hope and change.

Sadly, the prospects for good government in 2014 are virtually nil. The nihilists who hate government are still the majority in the House of Representatives. It would not be helpful to their cause for the government to be seen as a solution to the myriad of ills that beset our society, so the same Congress that set the all-time record for do nothingness last term, can be expected to challenge that low bar of competence again this year.

Democrats would love to win back the majority in the House of Representatives in November, but the solid Republican lock on the old Confederacy, a 90% reelection rate and inspired gerrymandering after the 2010 Republican wave election have tempered those dreams.

Congressional budget battles have been negated by a bipartisan truce, but the debt limit will need to be raised again in a month, so we can count on more fiscal brinksmanship as Republicans again try to win policy victories by ransom note, rather than the ballot box. And it is a certainty that the party of family values will try to repeal the Affordable care Act, even though it working as planned and millions now have access to quality healthcare for the first time.

For the third straight election cycle the numbers favor Republicans winning back a Senate majority. 21 Democrats are up for reelection, compared with just 12 Republicans. In addition there are five open Democratic seats because of retirements, four of those in nominally Republican states. Democrats currently hold a ten seat advantage and six Republican victories are within the realm of possibility.

Off year elections are base elections and the Republican base is highly motivated and turns out to vote; the Democrats, not so much. To hold the Senate, Democrats will need to turn out their base and that will be the major challenge for the national party. Republicans can help like they did in 2012 by nominating candidates so far out of the mainstream that sure pickups turned into wins for the Democrats. But it is chancy to rely on the kindness of politics; turning out the progressive base is a better path to victory.

2014 will also be the kick off year for the open presidential election in 2016 and just days into the new year we are already seeing major developments. The establishment Republican frontrunner, Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey is taking serious hits to his ship of state. None have hit below the waterline yet, the barrage continues and the damage so far looks as if it may knock him out of the race before he is even able to get in. Governor Christie was the best hope for the establishment conservatives, who do not have a deep bench. He is now damaged goods and it remains to be seen if he can win a Republican primary, let alone defeat the Hillary Clinton juggernaut.

There is a rift growing in the Republican Party as the country club establishment wing tries to wrest control back from the grassroots Tea Party wing. This rift will be in full evidence as Republican presidential contenders begin to campaign and gather support. The Tea Party has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to candidates and the next two years will be replete with them trying to out crazy each other to win over a shrinking base. I can hardly wait.

Our Constitution created an adversary system of head to head battles for political victories. In the past those battles often led to compromise and governing for the good of the American people. 21st Century politics is the antithesis, zero sum battles for raw power, with the American people turned into cannon fodder and it may be years before that pendulum swings back. Politics is many things, frustrating, invigorating, enlightening, destructive and constructive, but it is never dull and boring.

Sticks and Stones

LCaseRussell

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday December 19, 2013 · 12:29 PM PST

2013/12/19 · 12:29

It would appear that there is some confusion as to the purpose of the essays that appear under my name on the op-ed page of the Mighty Signal. Recently I was accused by a right leaning relative of practicing poor journalism, not researching subject matter and writing lies about the Republican Party. Allow me to address these issues.

Let’s be clear, I am not a journalist. I am just a guy with opinions and very lucky to have a top rate newspaper willing to publish them. What I write are my thoughts and mine alone. They are shaped by both past and present politics, filtered through the lens of my lifelong fascination with the electoral process and the often brutal, but always entertaining back and forth political debate a two party system engenders.

Political research is extremely subjective. Spin, distortion, manipulation, fear mongering, emotional and patriotic gambols are part of the arsenal of any politician or political movement. Research often means nothing more than fact checking the claims of one side or the other. Websites galore and an entire cottage industry has grown just to fact check politicians and the media who enable them. Yet despite all the efforts, the bottom line is that each person’s reality is unique to themselves and any alternative presentation of the facts will quickly result in accusations of lying and distortion.

I must admit, the charges of lying, lack of research and intentional misrepresentation of facts would be a lot more distressing if it came from anybody but the far right conservatives, the powerful faction currently leading the Republican Party. When the same people who created the birther nonsense questioning the president’s citizenship accuse you of exaggeration, it is fairly easy to ignore. Many Republicans still believe and promote the thoroughly debunked Kenyan birth myth, including former and future Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The irony being that current Tea Party heartthrob and defacto Speaker of the House, Senator Raphael “Ted” Cruz, is a Canadian citizen by birth in Calgary, Alberta, and an American citizen thanks to his mother. Interestingly, he still has not renounced his Canadian citizenship and today still retains his status as a dual citizen of both great North American countries.

The list of conspiracies, baseless accusations and heinous crimes attributed to President Obama since 2008 are reminiscent of the relentless scandal mongering the Republicans pursued against President Clinton and his administration. If you cannot win on policy, malicious muckraking and personal attacks will suffice for a political strategy.

Remember how the president was going to take away all our guns? So far not a single piece of legislation has been proposed or passed regarding the confiscation of guns. That issue is long settled and now exists solely for the fundraising and votes it generates. The same goes for Obama is a Muslim, a socialist, a fascist, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, death panels, FEMA reeducation camps, take your pick, if it is odious and most foul, the right has a conspiracy linking it to the president. All of which speaks to how many grains of salt must be considered when absorbing any conservative political diatribe, whether it is in the national media, Clint Eastwood talking to a chair or comments on my humble opinions in the local paper.

I would never knowingly lie about an issue, as credibility is the only ally I have in influencing anybody with my opinion. I fact check to the best of the Internet’s capability, and if I am wrong I will gladly admit it and try to learn a lesson. However, if something I write conflicts with the alternate reality the Right Wing Echo Chamber has created, it is not a lie, just a reminder that politics is always in the head of the beholder. Remember the skewed polls and Mitt Romney’s sure win in 2012? The reality is that President Obama won a landslide victory, Democrats kept their majority in the Senate and got a million more votes than Republicans in the House races. Most conservatives have yet to accept the reasons why they lost so resoundingly. Fear and loathing appears to trump introspection on the right, but the majority still rules in America, at least it does in the reality based world.

Civics versus Politics

LCaseRussell

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday October 01, 2013 · 12:26 AM PDT

2013/10/01 · 00:26

It appears as if there is some confusion among conservatives regarding how our government works and its role in the lives of not only Americans, but how it affects the world in general. Several weeks ago I wrote “that Republicans in the House and Senate have brought governing in Washington DC to a standstill”. This was met with some derision from my friends on the right side of the political spectrum. The gist of the reaction was that the Senate is controlled by a Democratic majority and that Republicans cannot be responsible for the political gridlock obstructing any and all progress in Washington DC.

Apparently people who get their news from the Right Wing Noise Machine are not aware that Senate Republicans have used the filibuster a record amount of times to halt legislation and delay and derail executive branch nominees and judicial appointments. The Republicans in the Senate have used the filibuster 360 times since President Obama was elected, denying him executive branch leaders and creating an unprecedented judicial backlog.

This really should not surprise anyone, since Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell announced after President Obama’s election that, “the single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president." Not jobs for Americans suffering from the worst recession since the Great Depression, not repairing our aging and crumbling infrastructure, not exercising the Senate’s job of advice and consent for a nation at war in Iraq, Afghanistan and worldwide against terrorism. If Obama and the Democrats were for it, they were against it, period. Mitch McConnell and the Republican congressional leadership turned the world’s greatest deliberative body into just another political war room and fundraising machine.

The hostile takeover of the Republican Party by the far, far right has ominous implications. They abhor government and are not at all interested in governing, instead they single mindedly champion an agenda to destroy the social safety net, roll back regulations that protect our air, water, food and workplace safety from corporate predators. In the coming days we will see the Tea Party wing of the GOP holding a gun to the head of the still struggling economy, willing to shut down the government in order to defund the Affordable Care Act. One budget vote in the House has already been postponed because the Tea Party minority refuses to vote for a continuing resolution to fund the government that does not also end Obamacare.

Newt Gingrich and the Republicans tried this hostage taking gambit in 1995 and 1996 and it cost the party their majority and Newt lost his speakership. Speaker Boehner is in a similar bind, a government shutdown would be catastrophic for the Republicans going into the 2014 mid-term elections, but avoiding it now means passing a budget with Democratic votes, which would probably cost the Speaker his job and a 2014 primary challenge from the right. Sadly, what is good for the nation does not appear to enter in to the equation.

On the left, we understand that there are legitimate differences in our political philosophies. In the past these differences were debated, deals were made, compromise was not a dirty word and politics was not played as a zero sum game. And the nation prospered, our economy was second to none, we were held in high esteem by the rest of the world. No longer, the Senate minority uses the filibuster to gum up the works of governing and a vocal minority in the House has enough clout to cow the Speaker of the House, bring legislating to a standstill and the government to its knees.

Lost in this petulant display of brinksmanship is the reality of what American voters really want. Republicans have lost 5 of the last 6 popular votes in presidential elections. In 2012 the Democrats added seats to their Senate majority, defeating Tea Party candidates to do so. Democrats received a million more votes than Republicans in the last House election, only massive gerrymandering after the 2010 census saved the Republican House majority. Grand bargains on a variety of issues are still possible, but not until Republicans decide that governing is more important than political purity and that right, left or mushy middle, we are all in this together.

The Endless Campaigns

LCaseRussell

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday September 10, 2013 · 4:25 PM PDT

2013/09/10 · 16:25

One reason that political junkies rarely go on the wagon is that there is a never ending stream of issues, opinion, controversy, and on rare occasions, law making and governance pouring out of Washington DC and state capitals. When you mix the partisan vitriol together with the Internet, 24 hour news networks, the lamestream media, right wing radio, Fox “News” and all the other 21st century debate cauldrons, it’s no wonder it is easy to stay hooked on politics.

Those of you paying attention are aware that Republicans in the House and Senate have brought governing in Washington DC to a standstill. This should not come as a surprise to anyone; they are the political party which campaigns on its fear and loathing of government. When your stated goal is to shrink government small enough so that it can be drowned in a bathtub, the obstruction and resulting gridlock is not something gone horribly wrong, it is the expected outcome of conservative policies.

The ongoing, years long tantrum that Republicans have been throwing over the Affordable Care Act is a perfect example of political cynicism, professional incompetence and actively working against the best interests of the American people solely for political gain. The United States is the only first world country that does not provide universal healthcare coverage for its citizens. In 1993, when Hillary Clinton addressed this issue, Republicans and their business allies rose up and fought Hillarycare to a standstill. What they proposed as a conservative alternative was a Heritage Foundation market based healthcare plan, which left the insurance companies still in control of American’s health and well-being and guaranteed them healthy profits, as well.

Former Republican presidential candidate, Willard Mittens Romney, enacted that very same plan during his single term as governor of Massachusetts and it remains hugely popular there today, with 90% of the citizens of the state covered by comprehensive, affordable medical insurance. However, when President Obama proposed the same plan to cover the rest of America, in the form of the Affordable Care Act, the crazy on the right exploded and has never looked back.

The Tea Party came into existence because they used August town hall meetings to demagogue the issue, and then rode the lies, exaggerations and fear mongering to victory in the 2010 midterm elections. The far right Tea Party now controls the Republican majority in the House of Representatives and Congress has ground to a standstill. The House has now voted 40 times to repeal the ACA. In the beginning, they even threw in the canard of “repeal and replace” to make it more politically palatable, but it has long been evident Republicans have no Plan B to replace the ACA. It is now just all repeal, all the time and if you are uninsured and get sick, something, something freedom, and go to the emergency room.

The next chapter in this political kabuki theater will occur next month, when it comes time to pass continuing resolutions to fund the government, followed closely by a vote to raise the debt ceiling, so America can pay the bills for programs it has already voted to fund. The ultra-conservative wing of the Republican Party is currently campaigning to shut down the government and default on our debt payments unless the Affordable Care Act is defunded.

After 40 meaningless repeal votes that accomplished nothing, we now have on the table a threat to disrupt the domestic and world economies, put millions of American citizens at risk and destroy the full faith and credit of the United States in the world economy, just to destroy Obamacare. Since it was their conservative, market based plan in the first place, you be wondering why. They want to deny Americans affordable healthcare in order to prevent Democrats from claiming the credit in future elections for a popular and effective health program. It is all about the politics; it’s never been about the medicine.

In the meantime, Republican intra-party infighting over conservative purity, combined with 2016 presidential nomination jockeying and Tea Party primary threats to “moderate Republicans” guarantee continued sound and fury, signifying nothing. But it will be ongoing political entertainment for the reality based community and politics junkies across the spectrum. Pass the popcorn and settle in, this is going to be fun to watch.

We Shall Overcome……Someday

LCaseRussell

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday July 24, 2013 · 12:24 PM PDT

2013/07/24 · 12:24

The Supreme Court giveth and the Supreme Court taketh away. The 5-4 majority recognizing that gays and lesbians are actually human beings entitled to fully partake in the legal rights and privileges of marriage was a huge step forward for the nation. Given the extreme conservative tilt of the Roberts court, the victory was even more sublime.

Denying any minority the civil rights that the majority of American citizens enjoy, just because the majority says so, is always wrong, even though the history of our country is rife with examples of just such bias and bigotry. However, the exact same Supreme Court that gave American citizens the right to marry the person they love, also voted 5-4 to allow states to enact laws and erect legal roadblocks to restrict American citizens’ voting rights.

In the space of just two days both liberals and conservatives were given rulings that first made them cheer, and then made them jeer. Conservatives reacted to the rulings on the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8 as an unconstitutional overreach by the court. In typical fashion we heard bleating from the right that five unelected justices were making law from the bench, overriding the will of the people.

Yet just the day before, when five unelected justices gutted the 1965 Voting Rights Act, there was nary a peep of dissention from the right, just muted elation that Republican voter suppression schemes now had the support of the of the highest court in the land. A Republican controlled Senate and House had renewed the VRA in 2006, almost unanimously, and a Republican president signed the renewal, you know, the will of the people. So to be clear, in the opinion of conservatives, if the justices rule against your political worldview, it is legislating from the bench. If they rule in favor, then the justices are doing their constitutionally mandated duty. Human nature, to be sure, but still another example of political hypocrisy, practiced at the highest levels.

The reactions to the two rulings were informative. While one bestowed new legal rights on a significant segment of our society, the other threatened the hard won voting rights of seniors, the poor and people of color.

There was elation and joy throughout the LGBT community when the highest court in the land gave their fight for marriage equality and to be treated as legal equals with married heterosexuals a huge victory. In the ensuing days we saw scenes of weddings, engagements and affirmation that love is universal, because nobody has a monopoly on the heart.

The gutting of the Voting Rights Act was premised upon the canard that we have come a long way since the Jim Crow days of 1965 and institutionalized voter suppression, mainly in the old Confederate States. It took less than two hours for that rational to be upended, when the Texas Attorney General announced that the gerrymandered districts, drawn to dilute minority voting power and draconian voter ID laws, which had been stopped by the VRA, would now be fully and immediately implemented. In the following days North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida all announced new voting restrictions, whose only real consequence would be to suppress the votes of reliable Democratic coalition members.

The long-term consequences of these decisions will play out in the years to come. I suspect that “traditional” marriage will survive just fine. Marriage is a deeply personal commitment and the relationship of any two people generally does not affect the lives of people outside of their circle of close friends and family (Hollywood stars, reality show celebrities and politicians excepted). One of the last great civil rights battles of my lifetime is moving into the end game.

Voter suppression is a last gasp effort by the Republican Party to remain viable in future elections. Their far right policies are not attracting women, youth and minority voters to the party, so keeping them from the polls and creating districts that dilute their voting power is key to future victories, especially in national elections. Short term, this will be effective, but the long-term efficacy of denying some people rights shared by a majority just tends to make them work harder to get their rights back. Just ask the newlyweds in San Francisco, Los Angeles and all over California, some things are just worth fighting for.

We are All in This Together

LCaseRussell

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday July 17, 2013 · 10:35 AM PDT

2013/07/17 · 10:35

There are countless things I do not understand about Republicans and their approach to public policy, but their fear and loathing of big government and “socialism” is near the top of the list. What they are calling socialism is just the government doing the job it was created to do.

Political posturing and propaganda aside, it is corporate America, led by Wall Street, who most influences our politicians. They can be accused of many things, but advocating a socialist takeover of the economy is not one of them. Our elected representatives are dyed in the wool capitalists, millionaires always looking for more. So what is it that bothers conservatives so much about government and governing? It has been my experience that we get quite an excellent deal by pooling our resources and the government using them for the common good of all Americans.

Every day we drive on roads built and maintained by our tax dollars. Those roads are regulated by laws created by governments to keep us safe and alive. Our streets and cities are patrolled by law enforcement officers, also paid with tax dollars, their job is to protect and serve the public. Ditto for fire fighters and all first responders, they are our government at work for us.

State, local and federal governments provide us with parks, trails, public beaches, campgrounds. The federal government is the steward of wilderness areas that have been enjoyed for generations and will be for generations to come. My children grew up camping in state parks and national forests. They have fished in rivers stocked by the state, hiked on trails maintained by the forest service and viewed the natural wonders of our national parks.

Conservatives may whine and grumble about government, but it is woven into every aspect of our lives. Southern California is a desert; millions of citizens would not call it home if it were not for the local, state and federal projects that bring us our water. William Mulholland and the city of Los Angeles took the water from the Owens Valley and built an aqueduct to slake the thirst of a growing city. The federal government built dams on the Colorado River that created recreation meccas for the public and delivers water and power to the Western states. The California state water project brings water from Northern to Southern California, irrigating the vast agricultural fields in the San Joaquin Valley along the way. All of this organized by governments and paid for by tax dollars.

A free, public education is one of the greatest benefits our country provides its citizens. Public school teachers and administrators work tirelessly for our children, funded by tax dollars and governed by locally elected school boards. My three children began their schooling in Mommy & Me classes provided by the city’s Parks and Recreation department. They attended public elementary, Jr. High and high schools and received first class educations. My daughters both attended public universities and are now responsible, tax paying citizens, well along in their respective careers.

My son will soon be discharged from the Marine Corps and will be attending a public university as well; his college education will be financed by our tax dollars, a much deserved benefit for his five years of service to the country. Which reminds me; government also provides for our common defense, fielding a military second to none in the world.

Sadly, the Republican partisans in the Congress are dragging the government to a standstill by refusing any compromise, attacking teachers and public education, defunding programs that help the poorest and weakest citizens and holding job creation and the economy hostage for political ransom.

Partisan gerrymandering has tempered the political price for obstruction in the House, but the Tea Party nihilists have already cost the Republican Party the Senate majority and the White House twice. However, the real price is being paid by the American people, who can longer count on federal government to legislate for the common good, and that is a shameful legacy. Government is not perfect, after all it is presided over and run by humans (and the Peter Principle is still in effect), however, it is still the best institution to accomplish the great things that individuals alone cannot. Politics cannot change that, only disrupt it.

Scandals and the Republican Fainting Couch

LCaseRussell

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday June 14, 2013 · 3:52 PM PDT

2013/06/14 · 15:52

I have to admire the tenacity of the Tea Party and other like-minded ultraconservatives; they never give up hope that they will find something to destroy President Obama. For those too entranced by their fever dreams of impeachment or resignation to see the end game, here is what is going to happen: absolutely nothing. House Republicans will grill mid and upper level bureaucrats, the Right Wing Noise Machine will spew trumped up outrage and hyperbole will continue to replace substance and actually governing. In the end, however, this will all end up like all the other faux “scandals” dreamed up to fill the idea and policy void of the current Republican Party, grist for the fundraising and outrage mills. America cares about issues and these current “scandals” have no there, there.

The dead Benghazi horse the Republicans have been beating since the 2012 presidential election keeps their base energized, but reality based Americans see this for what it is, pure politics. Mitt Romney tried to use the Benghazi talking points against the president and Obama’s reaction was a smile and the now classic line, “please proceed, governor”. The ensuing humiliation on national television doomed whatever slim chance Mitt Romney ever had to win the presidency. If Republicans think Benghazi will help them defeat Hillary Clinton in 2016, the collective reaction of the Democratic Party is, please proceed Mr. Issa.

Next in things that make Republicans swoon is the IRS selectively scrutinizing Tea Party organizations 501(c)(4) applications for non-profit designation. The problem with this “scandal” is that internal IRS emails show this plan was cooked up by low level, career IRS employees working in the Cincinnati office and looking for paperwork shortcuts. The practices they undertook were stopped immediately once they became known by upper IRS management. The White House had no connection and the president was not even informed until just this past April.

Republicans also allege that the Obama administration did something wrong when it used the Patriot Act to legally subpoena Associated Press phone records to find out who leaked top secret, national security information to an AP reporter. No wiretaps were ever involved. They may be confusing this with the illegal, warrantless NSA wiretaps approved George Dubya Bush. When the New York Times broke that story in 2005, many of the same Republicans now crying crocodile tears were the first to demand a criminal investigation of the newspaper. Political hypocrisy at its finest.

We are now hearing talk of impeachment and that this is all worse than Watergate. This is absurd, there are very few things in United States history worse than Watergate. For those of you from Rio Linda, let us recap. During the 1972 presidential campaign political operatives in the White House hatched a plan to burglarize the Democratic headquarters located in the Watergate office complex. The burglars were discovered by a security guard and subsequently arrested. The cover up of this crime was run from the Oval Office by Nixon and his top advisers, they enjoined the FBI and CIA to hide evidence and shut down the investigation. Secret political slush funds, kept in White House safes, were used to bribe the burglars for their silence. In the end 48 government officials were found guilty of crimes, including the Attorney General, the White House Chief of Staff and most of the senior advisers to President Nixon. Nixon himself finally resigned in disgrace on August 9, 1974.

The only other scandal that rises to Watergate level was the Iran-Contra debacle during the Reagan administration. Reagan administration officials sold missiles to terrorist Iran and in defiance of U.S. law, sent the profits to right wing rape and death squads in Nicaragua. Criminal prosecutions were cut short when President George Poppy Bush pardoned six top Reagan administration officials, including his Secretary of Defense, his National Security Adviser and the CIA Chief of Covert Ops. And we have not even touched on Dick Cheney’s phony WMDs and the disastrous, unnecessary war in Iraq.

Reckless and wanton abuses of the Constitution and the rule of law appear to be the hallmark of Republican administrations, yet we get only silence from the right. Ginned up, faux scandals may make good political weapons against Democratic presidents that they cannot defeat at the ballot box, but to the chagrin of conservative Chicken Littles, a majority of Americans know that the sky is not falling.

Repeating History

LCaseRussell

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday June 06, 2013 · 5:12 PM PDT

2013/06/06 · 17:12

Recently my wife unearthed some old The Signal newspapers, one of which contained a letter to the editor I had written. The Signal printed that letter on May 17th, 1996. The first thing that struck me was that I had been bothering the good citizens of Santa Clarita for a long time. The second thing was that the more things change, the more they stay the same. First, the letter:

What Would Jesus Do

Imagine if Jesus Christ were alive today. How would he view some of the issues that face mortal humans today? I believe he would oppose abortion, though he might favor some abortions if they were to save a mother’s life.

I do not think he could, in good conscience, support the death penalty. Can any of you picture the Son of God using a hangman’s noose? I can’t even imagine him using his carpentry skills to build a scaffold. Having once been unjustly accused and put to death himself, it is hard to believe he would support a system that would allow this to happen again.

Now think of Jesus giving the Sermon on the Mount, extolling the virtues of semiautomatic weapons. Difficult to picture? “The meek shall inherit the earth.” But it might be easier if they had the firepower to kill 20 or more people with one pull of a trigger.

Would Jesus want a world where everybody was carrying a concealed weapon? Would Jesus own a handgun? Turn the other cheek, indeed. But if you still feel threatened, go ahead and shoot. If Jesus and his apostles had been armed, maybe the Romans would have thought twice about arresting him. After all, the noblest use of a weapon now seems to be to protect us from an unjust and obtrusive government.

Would Jesus refuse medical treatment and education to children because their skin was a different color or their parents were born on the wrong side of an imaginary line? His mother had to give birth in a barn because of discrimination. In 2000 years, have we learned nothing?

How would he feel about the homeless and the poor? Refuse to help them because they cannot help themselves, or keep trying until we find solutions to raise their lives to a humane and just level?

Would Jesus see it as a waste of taxes to give single mothers a subsistence allowance? Or would he favor giving that money back to the wealthy (or just well-off) and hope it trickles down to the poor?
I believe Jesus would oppose abortion, the death penalty, automatic weapons and an armed populace. This Jesus would be in favor of programs that help the poor, the homeless and children of all races and nationalities. Jesus would expect people to use their wealth and good fortune to help those less fortunate.

Today, Jesus would be a liberal Democrat. After all, we already know how he feels about early Republicans. He threw them out of the temple for defiling his Father’s house with their greed and money.

Christians who favor the right-wing agenda are hypocrites in the same vein as Pharisees. The Pharisees had Jesus put to death for purely political reasons. His philosophy of love and accommodation drew a following that threatened their power base.

The secular goals of the majority of citizens of the United States threaten the religious right, who favor Biblical laws and strive to make them the law of the United States. Our Founding Fathers were correct. Church and state should be kept separate.
-------
-------
Rereading this letter, I still believe modern Jesus would be a Democrat. There is zero chance Jesus, a bleeding heart advocate for the poor, who eschewed violence and preached peace, love and equality, could win a primary in today’s Republican Party. Good luck getting that message approved and amplified by Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity and the other professional dividers of the Right.

In 2013 both Republicans and Democrats feel as if something has gone seriously off the rails, but 17 years ago we were still debating the same issues that face us today. The political battle still rages. I’m not sure what that says about our government except that it has fought itself to a standstill, even while its citizens suffer. Checks and balances, indeed.

The Long and Winding Road

LCaseRussell

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday May 06, 2013 · 1:03 PM PDT

2013/05/06 · 13:03

Over the course of a lifetime I have observed, joined, written about and learned much from political battles. When I was twelve years old I joined my father in marches for the civil rights and equal treatment of African-Americans. While it was not Selma or Montgomery, we marched in the heart of Orange County, at the height of the John Birch Society’s power and were not met with great acclamation. My white, middle class suburban childhood had shielded me from the horrors of segregation and “separate but equal”. When I failed to fully grasp the reasons for the protests, my father gave me the book “Black Like Me” to read, it is powerful indictment of bigotry and I have never forgotten the lessons about inequality contained in those 192 pages.

When I was sixteen years old, I watched Bobby Kennedy’s murder at the Ambassador Hotel, live on TV. The 1968 presidential election was the first I followed closely, and after winning the California primary, Kennedy was the front-runner for the Democratic nomination and the presidency as well. My first political encounter with hope and change was struck down by an assassin’s bullet, and we ended up with Richard Nixon and his merry band of cheats, crooks and felons in the White House. Which brings us to 1972 and Senator George McGovern.

This was the first presidential election I was eligible to vote, and the combination of Nixon, Vietnam and forged my liberal politics and Democratic partisanship forevermore. I ran a McGovern headquarters in Orange, California. Democrats were a distinct minority in 1972 Orange County and Republicans were not shy about dropping by to let us know how they felt about the traitorous and un-American senator from South Dakota. (A catchall personal attack Republicans would continue to trot out in virtually all subsequent presidential elections). Senator McGovern piloted 35 B-24 bombing missions over Germany during World War II but his opposition to the criminal Vietnam War was all that was needed to smear him as a coward. Even back then Republicans did not let facts get in the way of a good political narrative. Nixon eventually resigned in disgrace, but not before I experienced more time in the streets protesting the carnage in Vietnam.

The next galvanizing force in my political evolution was the eight years of Ronald Reagan. In retrospect though, he did compromise with Democrats on raising taxes, immigration reform and the social safety net. It might not mitigate Iran-Contra or 241 murdered Marines, but the guy was personable and pragmatic.

President Bill Clinton presided over the creation of 20 million jobs, two terms of peace and prosperity, a balanced budget and centrist policies, yet he was hounded and attacked relentlessly by Republicans for eight years.

Then came George W. Bush. I have written thousands of words denigrating the man, so I will not belabor that point, but we were all back in the streets again, protesting the worst foreign policy blunder in American history, the unilateral invasion of Iraq and the trumped up and falsified evidence used to justify it.

Every time we believe we have fought the last battle, you can be sure another one will come along. Today the protests are for the civil rights of gays and lesbians. As recently as 2004 Republicans viewed this as successful political wedge issue, putting 20 referendums on the statewide ballots to deny to gays marriage rights enjoyed by all other Americans. Today, a majority of Americans now support full equality and within a single generation we will have witnessed a great civil rights victory for another long discriminated against minority.

Marriage equality is a rare victory, because most of the time money, power and influence trumps protest movements. The 1965 Voting Rights Act is still under attack, over four decades since it was passed. Conservatives do not generally play the public protest game, the Tea Party was late to the game, but voices raised against entrenched power is what the Constitution and the First Amendment are all about, so I welcome them to the fight. Over the long haul you win some battles and you lose most, but we can never give up because just being out there is what keeps America as a beacon of freedom to each new generation and the world.

Repeating History

LCaseRussell

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday May 05, 2013 · 1:57 PM PDT

2013/05/05 · 13:57

Repeating History

What Would Jesus Do

How would he feel about the homeless and the poor? Refuse to help them because they cannot help themselves, or keep trying until we find solutions to raise their lives to a humane and just level?

Newer
Older

RSS