Category Archives: Politics

Trump Corrupt Public Relations: Using Business PR as the Model

05 Friday Jan 2018

Posted by in Aging, Branding, Business, Communication, Customer Relations, Ethics, Generational, Government, History, Management Practices, Politics, Print Media, Public Image, Public Relations, Respect, Taxes, Traditional Media, US History, Women

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Sarah Huckabee Sanders:  White House Deception Secretary

The White House has a corrupt public relations strategy. On 19 December 2017, Sarah Huckabee Sanders stood before the nation and stated, “On the personal side, the president will likely take a big hit.” She’s talking about the tax cut for corporations and the mega-wealthy. Donald Trump even went farther to say that he’d be a “big loser.”

To be honest, I’m not sure if he was talking about himself or the tax plan.

Two days later, after trying to dodge a direct question about whether Donald Trump will personally benefit from the new tax plan passed by Congress, she said, “Look, the bottom line is that a lot of people are going to do really well with under this, the President is an American, and Americans are going to benefit…”

As the White House Press Secretary, Huckabee Sanders is known for her contradictory statements. She seems to have no ethical sense of honesty and factual disclosure. She is the model corporate public relations (PR) person.

Many corporations act as if they have no obligation of full disclosure. They seem to believe that full disclosure is contrary to their business interest. The concept of controlling information, never admitting a negative issue, and never taking responsibility are commonplace in the corporate public relations world. These corporations see the job of the PR person as a corporate cheerleader, not a provider of information.

Government is meant to serve the public and is required to give full disclosure; however, under the Trump administration, public relations is handled under the corporate PR model.

As with corporate PR, the strategy of Huckabee Sanders doesn’t have access to all the facts so that she can honestly say “I don’t know that to be a fact.” She references what other sources state rather than answer a direct question. She uses all the tactics of a corrupt approach to public relations that is designed to deflect and mislead questions and issues.

It is a self-destructive public relations strategy. It requires a constant stream of deception because the PR person has to continue to stay ahead of the discovery of the truth and expand the deception as facts come into public awareness. Eventually, it leads to the loss of all credibility and the PR person becomes the public fool that humiliates herself, and the organization she represents.  

Nevada’s Pot Business About to be Smoked

03 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by in About Reno, Aging, Branding, Business, Education, Employee Retention, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Green, Health, Higher Education, History, Honor, Management Practices, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, Recreation, Respect, solar, Space, Taxes, Technology, Travel, Universities, US History

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Welcome to Nevada, where citizens watch other people get rich

Nevada has relied on being the rebel for decades, and it always fails to provide a reliable economy.

When gambling was taboo in the nation, Nevada became one of the few places people could gamble. People flocked to Nevada to gamble. Nevada had a ‘gaming’ industry.

In 1988, the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act opened the door to legalize gambling on Indian Reservations, and over the next three decades California built up an Indian Gaming industry that didn’t require taking chances with a trip to Nevada. Nevada’s gaming industry stagnated.

When a quick marriage and/or a quick divorce was taboo in the nation, Nevada made divorce easy. People flocked to Nevada to officially end or begin a relationship. Nevada had a marriage industry.

Then divorce became a fact of life and most of the rest of the country decided that government should be trying to inhibit the desires of a couple, so they made marriage and divorce easier. Couples no longer had to travel to Nevada to say their vows, or go their separate ways and Nevada’s marriage and divorce industry collapsed. 

Gambling, divorce, prostitution have all been part of Nevada’s economic plan, and they all have created more problems than money for its citizens. It’s a consistent trait of Nevada’s leadership in pursuing big money that comes with little or no foundation in what is best for the average citizen.

For the last six months, Nevada boosted its economy with legalized recreational marijuana sales. Again, people from California flocked to the state to get what they couldn’t get at home. Pot. And again, Nevada’s economic boost will be short-lived as California recreational pot business gets underway in 2018.

Nevada is a state where a few people become filthy rich and pay very little in taxes. Nevada compounds the problem by prostituting themselves for marginal industries that are not stable and corporations that seek to avoid paying their share of taxes while reaping big profits.

The result has been that Nevada has no money to improve schools that are ranked near the bottom in the United States. Nevada’s poor education record has resulted in businesses needing a highly educated workforce to go elsewhere despite the seductive tax environment.

Nevada has to stop lusting after short-term economies and start building a real economy…or watch the hopes and dreams of its citizens go up in smoke.

Need a New Plan for Gaining Political Support

02 Tuesday Jan 2018

Posted by in About Reno, Aging, Business, Communication, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Green, Health, Honor, Information Technology, Internet, Management Practices, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, racism, Relationships, Respect, Social Interactive Media (SIM), Social Media Relations, Taxes, Technology

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About thirty percent of my emails are requests from political interests. They implore me to give them money to avoid the dire consequences that will surely happen if their cause is not successful. These are from progressive causes targeting liberals, not wealthy conservatives who actually have spendable incomes. 

Begging for money works on the street sometimes, but I can’t imagine any intelligent person that will be motivated by street tactics. It is embarrassing that the liberal viewpoint is being represented by groups that have all the skills and tact of a late-night, off-channel, ACT NOW television commercial.

If you want my attention, tell me what you’ve done and why you’ve done it. Tell me how you’ve spent money up to now. Give me a link to a website that I can go to if I want to learn more. Don’t threaten dire circumstances. Don’t beg for money. Don’t send me emails on a daily or even weekly basis. If I support your cause I might follow-up on it, but not if you annoy me.

We have major problems in this country and if a group’s best plan to solve the problem is to send me an email begging for money, then they’ve failed. Political causes HAVE TO STOP listening to political media hacks that tell them how they raised money in 2008 and start thinking of how to mobilize people to respond to the issues of 2018.

In case they haven’t noticed, the wealthy have figured out how to win politics with money, and they are really good at it. It’s time to out think Soviet Republicans and that shouldn’t be difficult, but outspending mega-corporations and the wealthy is not a competition in which I will participate.

Why a Bigger Government is Being Fiscally Responsible

01 Monday Jan 2018

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Where the investor takes our money to spend

Ask a Republican about his core beliefs and he will say, “I believe in being fiscally responsible.” That is conservative-speak for, “smaller government, lower taxes, more money for me, me, me, me!” The words ‘fiscally responsible’ make he or she sound like they are doing the mature thing in attempting to destroy the government so they can have more money.

They are not.

To be fiscally responsible should mean that she or he supports growing the economy, growing wages, growing jobs, and creating a better world for future generations. That is not accomplished by a smaller government and lower taxes.

Investor As Thief
A dollar sitting in a pocket does nothing. A dollar sitting in an investors bank account accomplishes the same thing as a dollar in a pocket. Nothing. The word, ‘investor’ used to mean a person that puts money into a company or business to make it expand so that it will make more money. It actually works when it is done, but today that is not what investors and companies do with money.

Today, an investor puts money into a stock option of a company with the expectation that the company will give more money back. He doesn’t care whether the company expands or not, he just wants his money back. If the company is able to give more money back by shrinking the company, paying employees less, reducing benefits, decreasing the quality of service to the customer then the investor is happy.

Investment today does not grow money, it just takes existing money and moves it back to the investor.

When is a Dollar a Million Dollars?
For many years our country knew how to grow money. They took a percentage of every dollar exchanged and gave it to the government to spend again. That created new businesses, new jobs, higher wages, more benefits, and more money for everyone to spend again, be taxed again and create more money for the government to spend again. The money didn’t die in someone’s pocket because we kept it working.

Fiscal responsibility is NOT done by destroying government and lowering taxes. That is what we have been doing for the last 37 years and it is not working. Yes, it makes the stock market go up, but that is done by sacrificing business growth, jobs, and the rest of the economy.

Every time the stock market hits a new high it is telling us how much money is being sucked out of our economy to make a few people with bulging bank accounts. We can’t go on this way.

The government doesn’t waste money, it spends money. Every dollar that the government receives is accounted for, and paid back out to the citizens. Every dollar that an investor receives is money taken away from growing the economy. 

We have to start taxing the wealthy as we did before President Reagan started destroying our government. We have to make our government grow again so that our economy can grow again.

Understanding Global Warming and Cold Weather

31 Sunday Dec 2017

Posted by in About Reno, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Green, Health, Higher Education, Politics, Science, solar, Taxes, Technology, Universities

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Few things define a person’s intelligence than the ability to understand complex issues. Few things define a person’s stupidity than to take a complex issue and use a short-circuit of logic to make it sound simple.

Every winter some people prove their lack of intelligence and say something like, “I just shoveled five inches of global warming off my driveway.” This makes other small-minded people giggle, and the speaker feel like he has just proved he is smarter than all the intelligent, educated people.

He is not.

Global Warming and Winter Weather 101
To understand the threat of global warming a person first has to understand the effect of the Earth’s 23.5° tilt of its axis off the solar plane. I just lost 30% of the stupid people.

The Earth’s tilt causes one hemisphere (north or south) to receive more radiant energy than the other in the few months around the solstices. This means that one of the polar regions is receiving external heat from the Sun, and the other is receiving no solar energy because it is in darkness. I’m about to lose another 20% of the stupid people.

The cold air in the polar region would stay exactly where it is if it weren’t for the Laws of Thermal Dynamics. Ah, there they go. Okay, were down to the last 50% of the stupid people.

Among other things, thermal dynamics explain the behavior of the energy exchange between two substances, and Fluid Dynamics help to explain how a difference in temperature in a substance like air causes cooler air to mix with warmer air. I just lost another 25% of the stupid people. It was the ‘fluid dynamics’ thing, wasn’t it?

The greater the difference in temperature, the greater, or more actively, the warmer air will mix with the cooler air. If the last 25% of stupid people can just hang on, I’m almost there.

Because there is more carbon dioxide suspended in our atmosphere, it absorbs more of the solar radiation, and that increases the temperature of the air. That causes more water to vaporize and it also absorbs solar radiation and that further increases the temperature of the air. Damn, I lost another 10%.

During the northern hemisphere’s winter, the north polar region has a lot of cold air that desperately wants to mix with the warm air to the south to equalize the temperature between cold and warm. The greater the temperature difference, the more powerful the movement of the air toward each other. Okay, l just lost another 10%.

I see the blank faces of the last 5% of stupid people. Cold air is cold air. It remains cold as it moves toward the warm air. It is only after it mixes with warmer air (i.e.; storms) that the temperature of the two air masses begin to equalize. Oh, there go the last 5% of the stupid people.

For the rest of us, global warming creates warmer air masses and that can lead to the increased movement between the two air masses resulting in stronger winds and more cold air moving farther south. Also, warmer air can retain more water vapor, so when cold and warm air meet, the storms can result in higher precipitation.

1929 is Coming

29 Friday Dec 2017

Posted by in About Reno, Aging, Business, Crisis Management, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Health, History, Management Practices, Politics, racism, Religion, Respect, Taxes, The Tipping Point, US History, Women

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116 Palestinians and 133 Jews were killed in riots over control of the Western Wall. The Jews occupied and claimed the Western Wall in Jerusalem. The Palestinians came in and attacked the Jews in an attempt to remove them.

Italy was taken over by a political party that sought to create a Third Rome through ‘revolutionary nationalism’ based on the principles of order, discipline, hierarchy and dominated by the Caucasian race. The government opposed liberalism and sought to establish a corporatist system where the major corporations helped determine the national economic policy.

Germany began to have high unemployment and the government was thrown into chaos, that led to the conservative and nationalistic Nazi party to take control.

Russia reversed the post-revolutionary idea of free-market farming and began seizing private farms and moved workers to corporate farms.

The United States Secretary of the Interior was convicted of selling prime oil fields to petroleum companies at low prices in exchange for bribes.

Prior to the Great Depression that began in 1929, conservatives and nationalists were taking control of the governments of multiple countries around the world and instituting policies of racism, conflict, corruption, and greed. The result was a collapse of the world economy and set the stage for World War II.

We seem to be repeating the same cycle in 2017.

Dear Republican: Your Party Left Without You

28 Thursday Dec 2017

Posted by in About Reno, Aging, Business, College, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Health, Higher Education, History, Honor, Politics, Public Relations, racism, Relationships, Religion, Respect, Taxes, Technology, Universities, US History, Women

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Roy Moore:  One of the faces of the new Republican Party

Republicans seem to fall into one of four groups:

  1. People who truly believe in a rational approach to various issues, and are extremely frustrated with many of the current positions and actions of their party.
  2. People who are embarrassed by their party and won’t admit that they voted for Donald Trump (“YOU don’t know who I voted for!!!!)
  3. People who quietly believe that destroying our country’s government will magically result in a better personal situation for them.
  4. People who believe that Donald Trump is the savior and who believe that everything he says and does is blessed. 

There is some crossover in these groups, but these are the traits I typically see in Republicans with which I have interacted. The last two groups seem to have little loyalty to the United States of America. If left up to them, any person who disagrees with them should be lined up and hung or shot or both.

People in the second group seem to recognize the lies and absurd positions of the leaders of their party, but don’t want to be associated with it. They might feel great about winning their party winning the 2016 election, but they don’t want to be linked with what has happened since Donald Trump became President.

It is the first group, the original Republicans, that are paying the price for the takeover of their party by people who are just lashing out at anyone and anything that is rational or reasonable. This is no more evident than when Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee recently raced to support Roy Moore in the Alabama Senate race. The Republican party has left the core of their party behind and now consists of a majority of people who only have their own self-interests in mind. 

It’s unfortunate that good people in the Republican party have become mired in the antics of the fringe-turned-majority of the GOP, but as long as the new Republicans control the party, the core Republicans will face the backlash.   

Religion Controls Equality For Women

27 Wednesday Dec 2017

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Most religions reinforce women as subservient

Women are not treated as being equal to men. Most people know that and most people feel that is wrong. So why doesn’t it change?

Religion. 

Men, regardless of country or race, will never accept a woman as an equal as long as he believes his god says they are not equal.

This issue becomes obvious when extremists elements of any religion do horrendous things to women and girls because their holy writings say that man is superior. The treatment of women in many religions makes Harvey Weinstein seem saintly.

In 2014, an Islamic extremist group known as Boko Haram in Nigeria kidnapped 276 girls from a public, government-run school. The girls were raped, beaten, and sold as wives for the equivalent of $6. A Boko Haram leader said, “Allah instructed me to sell them…I will carry out his instructions.” In the first few weeks after the kidnapping, the Nigerian government, the Royal Air Force, and U.S. intelligence all had located groups of the kidnapped girls, but all failed to take action or were prevented from taking action.

In 2008, authorities removed 534 women and children from a Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints  (LDS) polygamist compound in Texas for protection after girls as young as 14 were being forced into marriage older men. According to NBC News, “The women were not allowed to wear red — the color Jeffs said belonged to Jesus — and were not allowed to cut their hair. They were also kept isolated from the outside world.”

The inequality of women is less obvious when a government bows down to the will of a religion. In the United States, many religious groups seek to interfere or ban contraceptives and abortions based on a fundamental belief that their religion allows them to dictate to what a woman may or may not do. Many of these same groups push for religious schools that reinforce the idea that women are subservient to men.

Many churches refuse to allow women into roles of leadership, deeming that their religious writings from thousands of years ago forbid it.

It is time that we accept women as equals in every aspect of life so that there is no confusion of when a woman is equal and when she is not. It will be impossible for women to gain true equality as long as religious organizations embrace inequality in their churches.

GOP War on the Spirit of Christmas

24 Sunday Dec 2017

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GOP celebrates destroying Christmas 2017

The Republican party has gone to war with Christmas. It’s not just that they disrespected people’s desire to enjoy Christmas by ramming through a disgraceful and unpopular bill during the holiday season. That would have been bad enough, but what they did is craft changes to our tax code that violate almost every Christian belief at a time when a majority Christian nation sought to celebrate one of their most significant holidays.

I believe they did this just before Christmas for three reasons.

Distraction
First, the Republicans in Congress hoped to use the holidays as cover for their anti-Christian deed. They hoped that people would be so wrapped up in the excitement of Christmas that they would be distracted from a sacrifice of citizens and government to  appease the GOP corporate gods.

Before We Knew What Hit Us
Second, the Republicans hoped that by acting quickly, people couldn’t find out all the details of the legislation before an effective campaign could be mounted against it.

A 2018 ‘Nice Guys’ Makeover
Finally, Republicans needed to allow time to do a personality makeover before the 2018 elections. By passing this bill in 2017, they can begin to pass minor, but popular legislation to make them not look like stooges of corporations and the wealthy.

Now we are left with a dark cloud hanging over the holidays. The wealthy will be allowed to steal more money from the government. Corporations will be able to use all the resources the government provides (roads, infrastructure, law enforcement, etc.) and pay little or no taxes for that service. Money and exemptions that were meant for the poor and middle class have been stripped away in order to give the wealthy lower taxes and more money.

Republicans won the war on Christmas. With laughter they destroyed the foundation of our country. The new year will dawn with Trump and Putin still laughing at us. They won. The United States of America lost.

Senator Dean Heller is Still a Stockbroker

20 Wednesday Dec 2017

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Senator Dean Heller and his client, Donald Trump

Dean Heller is a career politician who has been on the payroll of the government for almost 30 years. His primary ‘real world’ employment consists of five years (1983-1988) working as a stockbroker for Pacific Stock Exchange in California, two of those years he was finishing up his undergraduate degree at University of Southern California (USC.)

Despite his short stint in private business three decades ago , Heller is still a stockbroker serving the needs of his wealthy clients. He is a friend to the Nevada gaming corporations, the Nevada mining corporations, and the energy corporations. As a stockbroker politician, it’s not that Heller doesn’t like those who are not wealthy, he just doesn’t care about them, unless he can trick them into voting for him.

Earlier this year Senator Heller feigned his support of the average Nevada citizen by waiting until it was clear that Trump’s plan to end health insurance for millions was going to fall short by more than two Republican votes needed for passage, then he announced that he would be the fifth Republican to vote against it. His ‘no’ vote was meaningless, but he did exploit the opportunity to make it look like he was for the ‘little guy.’

Heller’s vote for the Tax Cuts for the Wealthy is consistent with his political stockbroker role in government. He can also be relied on to make cuts in programs that are vital to average Nevada citizens in the new year…unless, of course, other Republicans fail to support it, and then he will likely beat his breast and say that he also opposes it.

It’s sad that the average Nevada citizen’s best hope lies in Republican Senators from other states doing the correct thing, while Heller serves his wealthy masters.

What Happens In Sixty Years

19 Tuesday Dec 2017

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I was born sixty years ago today. We often talk about how life has changed since the Internet age, as if life before the Internet was static. It’s good to be reminded that change is relentless, and it is not confined to any particular time period.

In my lifetime:

  • Sputnik 1 and 2 were still in orbit (both launched shortly before my birth)
  • The word, ‘Aerospace’ was created
  • The average U.S. lifespan increased by almost ten years.
  • NASA was created
  • Nikita Khrushchev became Premier of the Soviet Union
  • Eisenhower was the first President to be broadcast in color on television
  • Almost all of the Interstate highways were built
  • Ford, GM, and Chrysler went from producing almost 90% of all U.S. cars to half that today, with Chrysler owned by foreign investors
  • We went to the Moon
  • There have been seven Popes, eleven Presidents, (and Donald Trump)
  • General Charles de Gaulle was elected President of France
  • Alaska and Hawai’i became the 49th and 50th States
  • Just over a third of all U.S. adults had a high school degree, now almost ninety percent have graduated from high school
  • Humans saw first image of the far side of the Moon (USSR’s Luna 3)
  • Fidel Castro became Premier of Cuba
  • We’ve had people in space, almost continually, for decades
  • Kmart and Wal-Mart didn’t exist when I was born
  • Sears went from dominating the retail market to almost complete failure
  • Leaded gasoline was determined to be poisoning humans and was banned
  • The World Trade Center was built and destroyed
  • Average gas mileage has more than doubled
  • We have advanced from rotary-dialed phones, to tone-based keypad phones, to cell phones, to smartphones
  • The world population has grown from 2.9 billion to 7.6 billion

This is just a small sampling of the changes that have happened in my lifetime. What will happen in the next sixty years?

Government Regulation Makes USA Business Great

17 Sunday Dec 2017

Posted by in About Reno, Business, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Employee Retention, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, History, Human Resources, Management Practices, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, Respect, Taxes, Technology, US History, Women

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Conservatives trash government regulation as a business killer. Ironically, the fact is that government regulation is what makes business in the United States successful. Without regulation, ethical business is pushed out to make room for people who lust for money. It is a ‘buyer be screwed’ mentality.

Business without oversight destroys ethical businesses

Sam and Joe Comparisons

Sam wants to start up a business. She determines what she must do and obtains all the needed licensing and inspections required, and abides by local, state, and federal laws. As she expands her business, she hires qualified workers and abides by the required payroll laws that protect the worker.

Joe starts up a similar business that competes with Sam’s business, but he sneaks around the laws. He only does what he has to do to not get caught. For code inspections he knows what they are looking for, and lies about what he is doing, so he avoids any government regulations that should apply to his business. As he expands his business, Jake pays people ‘under the table,’ to avoid paying taxes, doesn’t provide his employees with benefits, and doesn’t pay overtime. He warns the employees, that if they complain he’ll close down the business and they won’t have a job.

Which business will provide a more honest and trustworthy relationship with his/her customers? And which business provides good jobs? Which business will contribute more back to her/his community? More ethical? Will make more money?

Ethics and a Level Playing Field

The problem with business is that when the only rule is to make money, unethical practices will provide an advantage over the honest and ethical businessperson. Government regulation creates a level playing field for all corporations so that the honest businesses are not pushed out.

Government regulation and oversight of private business is not about crushing business, it is about saving business. It is empowering our citizens, through government employment, to serve as our protectors as workers and customers. It allows us to trust that a business is ethical and helping our nation.

By demonizing government regulation, unethical people seek to take advantage of other citizens of the United States of America. They swindle them out of money, abusing workers, bringing racism and discrimination into the workplace, and providing substandard and/or dangerous products and services.

Government regulation is not perfect, but until someone can find a better way of protecting the interests of our citizens, it is what we have, and it works.

Journalists Using Uneducated, Uninformed Opinion As Fact

16 Saturday Dec 2017

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There is a growing crisis of legitimate news organizations interviewing an uninformed person and presenting it as news. The person-on-street interview is justified by journalists as a citizen’s opinion, using the logic that all citizens are equally informed and knowledgeable; therefore, his or her opinion is valid.

Opinions are like assholes. Everybody has one.

Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry

However, an opinion is limited by the person’s real experience and knowledge. Few people are qualified to speak intelligently on significant topics like foreign policy, and economic and legal issues. An unqualified person should not be giving their opinion on local or national news without clarifying his or her background on the subject matter.

Journalists Going For Entertainment, Not Fact

The problem of unqualified opinions being presented as news has become more severe as the opinions have become more outrageous. Trump supporters have had an entertainment value for some news organizations because their statements are often contrary to known facts and/or logical reasoning.

We do not go to first graders and ask them to design the best and most effective educational methods because they have no qualifications or skills to offer an opinion. They may have an opinion, but having recess all day long is not a legitimate answer to the question.

Opinions of uneducated, uninformed citizens destroy democracy because it circumvents intelligent discussion. An irrational person’s opinion does not lead to a rational debate of the issues.

School Vouchers Are About Religion and Racism, Not Choice

15 Friday Dec 2017

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School vouchers are a campaign to steal money from the public school system and give it to parents to spend on private religious schools. It is born out of ignorance and racism in an attempt to take our country back to segregated schools. Schools consisting of well-financed white religious-based schools, and poorly funded minority public schools.

Nevada’s Illegal School Voucher Bill

In May of 2015, the Nevada conservatives won a major victory with a bill that stole money from the public school system and gave it to parents to use for alternate education, including school operated by religious organizations. The following month Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, whose children had attended a Catholic school, signed the bill into law, even though it clearly violated the Nevada Constitution that forbids taxpayer funding for a church-operated school. 

The Klan Doesn’t Support Education for All

Fortunately, the Nevada Supreme Court stepped in and nullified the law, ending conservative’s attempt to steal money meant to offer education for all, and redistribute it to those in favor of education for a privileged few. 

Public School Evolution

Public schools were established in the early and mid-17th century to overcome the problems created by parent-based education. (SEE:  The Atlantic October 2017 on Public Schools) Parent-based education limited the advancement of future generations to the ignorance of their mother and father, who were both working full-time to maintain needs of the entire family. 

Unfortunately, the early public schools primarily served white males. Over the next two hundred years public schools were refined to; 1) become compulsory, 2) include female students, 3) promote women as teachers, 4) expand curriculum, and 5) ultimately require education regardless of race.

The Protestant Conflict

Ironically, most early public schools were influenced, if not run, by Protestants. Their beliefs included the idea that children should have a broad-based education. The problem arose when a flood of Catholic immigrants created a conflict in the public education of children. When public schools became battlegrounds of differing church doctrines, it caused pointless disruption of the goal of education for all. Ultimately, the issue was indirectly resolved by President Ulysses Grant and Congressman James Blaine.

President Grant called for an amendment to the United States Constitution to forever separate church and state interests in education and forbidding public money to be spent on private schools. Congressman Blaine sponsored a bill to do exactly that and it passed in the House of Representatives. The Senate; however, failed to pass it by a two-thirds majority and the bill died.

However, individual States passed amendments to their Constitutions and eventually all but ten States adopted Blaine-type laws. 

A Return to Past Mistakes

The post-Blaine Amendments environment have been an era of astonishing success in elevating the education of United States citizens. In 1950, only 34% of adults in this country graduated from high school. By 2010, the number of high school graduates increased to 90%. The miracle is that the increase in high school graduates occurred during the same period when the nation’s population doubled. 

Despite this success, conservatives have made public education their target (SEE:  Slate.com November 2016 on Trump Gutting Public Schools) for three reasons. First, conservatives don’t believe in paying taxes, especially when the money doesn’t directly help them, nor their families.

Second, conservatives believe that public-funded secular, unbiased education is biased because it doesn’t promote their personal egocentric and/or religious beliefs.

Third, conservatives are overwhelmingly white, and the idea of paying for the education of another race is repugnant to many of them. They advance the ideas that education is wasted on minorities. It is noteworthy that white people demanded that schools be segregated in the south. When the courts ruled that schools must be desegregated, white people began characterizing public education as failures. That was the beginning of the push for alternative school choices.

Trumpsters Bring End of the United States of America

14 Thursday Dec 2017

Posted by in Generational, Government, Government Regulation, History, Opinion, Politics, racism, Religion, Respect, Taxes, US History, Women

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Trump, Trumpsters, and the Republican Congress are all making a bomb that will destroy our country. They don’t believe it, but that is to be expected. The Alt-Right believe that if they continue trampling on our Constitution and our citizens that eventually we will all just give in and accept what they are doing. They are wrong. 

Leader of Our Fall

Trusting the Intelligence of Trumpsters

The decent citizens of this country believe that the Trumpsters will eventually become reasonable and stop the madness of destroying our country. They will not. They believe that God is on their side and if white domination is ended, so will the world. 

Our country’s downfall will probably start with massive protests and strikes. Trump will respond with the military, and then we will be at a draw. Trumpsters can’t force a population serve them, and they can’t destroy everyone that opposes them.
 

The man with the plan

It is at that point our country will be ripe for invasion. The military can’t fight a foreign invader and its own population, so we will fall. Trumpsters will pledge their loyalty to the foreign enemy to save themselves. The rest of us will face subjugation under a foreign government.
 
Like it or not, this is the most likely path of our country based on the current direction of our leadership.

A Holiday Letter to the Aliens Observing Us

08 Friday Dec 2017

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Dear Alien Race:

Happy holidays! Welcome to our planet! If you are here, and if you have been observing us, please let me apologize for our behavior, especially the behavior of the wealthiest, most privileged country.

The fact that humans are broken up into factionalized groups is an inherent issue with our society. The idea that we are all equal, and that we should respect and reach out to one another is mostly rhetoric. Despite consistent historical examples of the success for all when we all work together and treat each other with respect, there are elements of our society that hold an egocentric opinion of life. They seek to destroy the philosophies of harmony and mutual benefit because those concepts don’t put them ahead of everyone else.

This brings me to my request.

We could bring our country and our world into balance if we didn’t have those who oppose a world based on fairness and equality. We know that through violence we could remove those humans that refuse to behave as decent members of our species; however, that type of conflict is against our core beliefs. Also, those types of conflicts also harm innocent people.

I am assuming that since you have the technology to visit our planet, you have other advanced technologies that could be useful in addressing our problem. What I am proposing is that you remove the elements of our society that don’t play well with others. I’m not asking that you destroy them…although I know accidents can happen, what I’m asking is that you just take them away for a few years.

I see this as a win-win situation. You can perform a thorough analysis of dysfunctional humans, and we can get our world back. You would not be held liable for any damage caused to the humans that you study.

I understand that you may have a ‘non-interference’ type of prime directive; however, please accept this note as an exemption of your policy.

It would be a great start if you could remove all humans associated with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. That would send a positive message to the rest of the world. If you need a list, please contact me.

We are currently celebrating our shortest day in the Northern Hemisphere, which means it is our darkest, longest night. I cannot imagine a greater gift during this holiday season to know that we have been through our darkest time.

Warm regards,

Paul Kiser

P.S., If you get this note at some point in the future and have the ability to come back in time, this would be the time in which to come back. Again, Happy Holidays! 

The Nuclear Amendment

30 Thursday Nov 2017

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Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America

Upon ratification of this amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America by at least two-thirds of all states and/or territories of the United States of America, all acts of the 115th Congress and of the 45th President shall be nullified and repealed retroactively. This amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America supersedes all other past and current federal, state, and local laws to the contrary.

In addition, upon ratification of this amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, all members of the 115th Congress who voted in favor of any legislation relating to adversely changing and/or the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and/or who voted in favor any tax reform bill shall have all personal assets seized, here and abroad, and shall lose citizenship to the United States of America.

In addition, upon ratification of this amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, the 45th President shall have all assets seized and shall lose citizenship to the United States of America.

In addition, upon ratification of this amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, all official and unofficial political appointees and/or advisors of the 45th President, including those nominated by of the 45th President, regardless of whether or not they are still holding the office, shall have all assets seized and shall lose citizenship to the United States of America.

In addition, upon ratification of this amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, all businesses and/or organizations that gained favored treatment, or profit on measures passed by the 115th Congress, or on actions, policies or, executive orders of the 45th President or any or his advisors, nominees, or appointees, shall forfeit twice the value of the actual, or estimated financial value of said action.

This is NOT an Excuse: Why Older White Men Sexually Harass Women

22 Wednesday Nov 2017

Posted by in Aging, Business, Communication, Crime, Crisis Management, Employee Retention, Ethics, Generational, History, Honor, Human Resources, Lessons of Life, Management Practices, parenting, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, Relationships, Respect, The Tipping Point, Women

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I need to be clear. Sexual harassment is and always has been wrong.

However, as an older white man, I can say that I am not surprised by the revelations coming out about women who have been sexually harassed by powerful older white men, I have to admit that I have been guilty of the same attitudes and behaviors.

Nothing that I have to say should be construed as an excuse for the behavior. No one should read this and feel any sympathy for men who have engaged in sexual harassment. This is simply an explanation of why I am not surprised by the recent revelations, and why I think almost all men of my age or older have a propensity to sexually harass women.

“Nothing that I have to say should be construed as an excuse for the behavior. No one should read this and feel any sympathy for men who have engaged in sexual harassment.”

I was born in 1957. My parents that raised me were married in 1939. My Dad was twenty years old, and my mother was fifteen…on the day she married. That was not typical; however, older men marrying younger women, even girls, was not uncommon, and during my childhood years, almost every Mom was a housewife.

As a child of the 1960’s, the idea that the man was dominant over a woman was not even questioned. Women were created to please men. The mindset was, women should not be overtly sexual and modest; therefore, it was the man’s place to initiate sexual actions. There was no formal instruction about initiating sexual intention with women, it was just expected that boys would learn as they go.

It was blatantly obvious to me, and probably most men my age, that power and wealth made men sexually attractive, and that women craved men who boldly took the initiative, so they didn’t have to pretend that they didn’t want sex. One way to win over a woman was to be in a position of power, and create a situation where the woman could submit to them.

“…that power and wealth made men sexually attractive, and that women craved men who boldly took the initiative, so they didn’t have to pretend that they didn’t want sex.”

The problem was, it worked. In hindsight, it didn’t work because the myth of women secretly wanting sex was true, it worked because the intimidation of a powerful man, and because most fell into the belief that it was a societal norm. Until I was in my late 20’s, the concept of sexual harassment was not even recognized as a problem in the workplace. A man marrying a subordinate was commonplace.

During my adult years, the development of workplace training began to take hold, and one of the primary topics became sexual harassment training. I, and most other men, were told that we had to be careful how we handled ourselves in the workplace, but that seemed to be focused on the workers, not so much on the executives.

When an issue of sexual harassment did come up with someone in management, companies hushed it up “to protect the woman,” and often the woman was given some type of compensation and moved out of the situation. In the business world, the human resources department enabled men to sexual harass women by treating it as an embarrassment for the company that needed to be dealt with internally, without law enforcement involvement.

There is no excuse for my behavior, nor the behavior of white men my age. In part, the problem is born of myths that are created in the absence of discussion and awareness of sex. Young boys will believe what other young boys will tell them when reliable information isn’t available.

We have to stop pretending that sex is only for married adults, and prior to marriage sex isn’t supposed to happen. Abstinence is an abomination to human interaction, and people who promote that idea don’t realize the damage they are doing to our society. Sex is not taboo or should it be embarrassing to discuss. It is a natural function of life.

We also have to stop letting companies deal with sexual harassment issues. Profit, public relations, and efficient operation of the business have no place in how a workplace sexual harassment issue is resolved.

“Profit, public relations, and efficient operation of the business have no place in how a workplace sexual harassment issue is resolved.”

Finally, I apologize to any woman who feels I have offended and/or been sexually inappropriate with. There is no excuse.

Job Killing: The Republican Prime Directive

25 Thursday May 2017

Posted by in About Reno, Branding, Business, Education, Employee Retention, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, History, Human Resources, Management Practices, Politics, Public Image, Public Relations, racism, Taxes, Technology, Universities, US History, Women

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There may be no political party in the history of the world that has killed more jobs, or enacted legislation to kill jobs, than the Republicans of the United States of America. They attempt to deny their legacy and claim that it is government that is killing jobs, while also claiming that illegal immigrants are taking high paying jobs from our citizens. Those are damn lies.

Trump’s SS forces raid homes to allegedly save high paying jobs for U.S. citizens

Business and Republicans are one in the same. Republicans always do what business wants, and in the past thirty years there have been few, if any, examples where a majority of Republicans have voted for legislation that was contrary to business wishes. When manufacturing jobs leave the United States, a Republican businessperson is behind it and it is done with the blessing of Republican politicians.

Manufacturing jobs in the U.S. 1939 to present. Growth occurs under Democratic leadership and shrinks under Republican leadership. (Source:  Bureau of Labor Standards)

Trump’s feigned anger at businesses sending jobs overseas is almost comical if it weren’t so pitiful. In 1995, the sixty-year reign of Democratic majority control of Congress ended. in that sixty year history Democrats controlled either the House of Representatives and the Senate for all but four of those years. Republicans controlled the House of Representatives for six additional years during the Reagan administration. Since 1995, Republicans have controlled the Senate, House, or Presidency for all but two years under a banner to thwart all Democratic legislation.

Four years after the Republicans seized control of Congress and passed major business-friendly legislation, the number of manufacturing jobs in the United States began a plunge that would take it down to levels not seen in fifty years.

Job killing our country’s key employer is a primary goal of the Republican party. Federal, state, county, and local governments have been under attack since the Reagan administration. Republicans have consistently sought to strangle funding for public schools as our population has grown, eliminate jobs of the people paid to protect workers and consumers from unethical businesses, prevent funding for workers providing veteran services, and attack critical jobs that provide services for the typical citizen.

The goal of every business person is to make money, not create jobs. That is why Republicans seek to eliminate costs by killing jobs, rather than spend money to create jobs. To a business person, jobs are an expense, and are the obstacle to making money. What Republicans don’t understand is that jobs move the money through the economy, and eliminating high paying government jobs takes money out of the economy. This is why our economy is barely moving forward.

Trump supporters can’t understand the complexities of a national economy, which is why they are the problem in perpetuating Republican domination of our government. Trump is trying to push our economy into a disaster that we may never recover from unless he is stopped.

Don’t Look To The FBI To Bring Trump To Justice

24 Wednesday May 2017

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Former FBI Director James Comey: A Man For No Seasons 

FBI Director James Comey was fired by Donald Trump. Was it because he was protecting our country’s interest against an unethical, perverted, traitorous President, or did the Dark Lord have tantrum over a lack of absolute obedience?

There is little reason to believe that James Comey was prepared to act against Trump in the Russiagate investigation. Prior to being fired, Comey had declared to Congress that he believed it was perfectly acceptable to publicly announce unsubstantiated, baseless evidence against a Democratic presidential candidate just prior to an election; however, it was not acceptable to publicly announce substantiated evidence against a conservative and/or Republican prior to, or after an election.

He was correct. That is the role the FBI has historically taken, and continues today.

The FBI investigated Watergate from the moment the burglars were arrested. They had evidence that President Nixon, and his administration were involved, and yet, the FBI somehow failed to find the key evidence of a wider conspiracy that would eventually force Nixon out of office. While we don’t know the full extent of the FBI’s role in hindering the Watergate scandal, we do know the following:

  • A former FBI agent was recruited to wiretap the Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate complex.

    Acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray during Watergate

  • Acting FBI Director L. Patrick Gray helped destroy Watergate evidence that came from a White House safe of Howard Hunt, eleven days after the burglary.
  • On October 10, 1972, less than a month prior to the election, the FBI publicly revealed a list of crimes that their investigation had uncovered to date, and that the crimes were linked to staff in the White House. Despite this announcement, the FBI, nor Department of Justice took no action, nor threatened action, giving credibility to White House denials of the facts. Nixon won the election by a landslide, largely because Nixon and his administration were able to convince people that the FBI’s lack of action proved their innocence.

It could be reasonably argued that, in October of 1968, the FBI and the Justice Department were in a state of confusion about the depth of the Democratic National Headquarters break in, spying, eavesdropping, and cover up. It is possible that no legal action occurred before the election due to their own lack of understanding of the real situation. It could also be argued that based on the involvement of past and current members of the FBI in the Watergate break in and subsequent cover up, that the FBI was caught in an internal struggle between protecting Nixon, and not looking like they were protecting Nixon.

J. Edgar Hoover and John and Robert Kennedy

The FBI has historically been a politically motivated investigative body that has a friendly relationship with conservatives, and an adversarial relationship with liberals. The 1987, four-part mini-series, Hoover vs The Kennedys:  The Second Civil War, depicts the adversarial relationship of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover had with President Kennedy and his brother Robert.

The FBI Director role has historically been defined by a cozy relationship with conservative politicians, and an adversarial role with liberal politicians. James Comey’s replacement will likely follow that tradition.

Can The FBI Arrest The President?

23 Tuesday May 2017

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Keep your small hands where we can see them Mr. President

Air Force One lands at Andrews Air Force Base late in the night. it taxis to a stop and the security teams move in as normal. As President Trumps steps off the plane several SUV’s filled with FBI and Homeland Security teams pull up and the Secret Service is told to stand down. Trump and several of his staff are arrested.

VP Mike Pence: “I’m with Comrade Trump

At the same instant, additional security teams at multiple locations close in and arrest Vice President Mike Pence, all of Trump’s top administration, and multiple House and Senate Republicans. All are charged with collusion with a foreign government, acts against the United States of America, and violations of U.S. laws.

Not possible? Not so fast.

While most believe that the only way to get remove a President from office is to impeach him or her, the Constitution doesn’t address the issue of being arrested. It is a grey area. There is nothing in the Constitution that prevents a President from being arrested and charged with a crime, providing the cause of the arrest doesn’t come from the Legislative branch.

In the case of a Senator or a member of the House of Representatives, they also have rules for being recalled; however, those rules have not prevented them from being arrested and charged with a crime.

The problem is not so much, ‘can it be done,’ as ‘what would happen if it were done.’ If the President, Vice President, and several Republican Congress members were found to have colluded with the Russian government, the structure of our government would be affected as all three branches (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial) would no longer be operating under a Constitutionally prescribed system.

Unfortunately, we are already in that situation, as the evidence indicates that Trump’s administration is festering with Russian influence, Trump has apparently attempted to obstruct the investigation, he has passed on classified information to the Russians, and the Republican Congress has failed to act. Effectively, our Constitutional government has been voided by a widespread infiltration of foreign influence meant to destabilize and/or destroy it.

It is unlikely that the FBI and/or Homeland Security would arrest a significant portion of our federal officials, even if all the evidence were delivered by FedEx to their offices; however, it is now obvious that our forefathers failed to protect us from a situation of corruption of more than one branch of government.

If any legal entity were to be forced into action to protect our government they would have to do something extraordinary. They would have to create a plan for a temporary government to replace our Constitutional government. That is a dangerous move, as few countries have succeeded in removing their corrupt leadership and replaced them with a caretaker that effectively restored a fair and ethical government.

Compounding our situation are as many 20 million citizens that actively seek the destruction of our Constitutional government. They are the source of our current problems and many of them are making noises about an armed insurrection if anyone interferes with the destruction of our country into a lawless, unethical, white-dominated society where the violent rule.

There is also the question of whether or not Vladimir Putin is attempting to push the United States into a chaotic state in order to take revenge for what President Reagan did in the 1980’s. If that were true, arresting our country’s leadership would be a big step in Putin’s goal.

So can Trump be arrested? Yes. Will he be arrested? Probably not….but one can dream.

Six Facts About Manufacturing Jobs

22 Monday May 2017

Posted by in About Reno, Aging, Business, College, Customer Relations, Customer Service, Education, Employee Retention, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Higher Education, History, Management Practices, Politics, Public Image, Public Relations, Taxes, Universities, US History

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Manufacturing jobs do not just appear or disappear, and the government is not the bad guy.

It is sad to hear Trump supporters to be interviewed about anything, but when they start talking about the lack of manufacturing jobs is when they really start looking like adults in diapers. They act like the government is supposed to force private manufacturers to build a factory and make something so that Joe Blow, with a high school degree, in Small Town USA can drive two miles to the local factory and earn $150,000.

Here are the facts:
 
1. Manufacturing jobs go overseas because consumers in the USA want to pay less for goods, and labor is cheaper in many places outside the United States, which makes the cost of manufacturing less, which makes the price of the product less. 
 
2. USA, state, and local taxes have almost no impact on good manufacturing jobs. For example, the Sierra Nevada Corporation (a private version of early 1960’s NASA…before we had a successful launch) has its headquarters in Nevada, but all of their non-executive jobs are in Colorado. Colorado has higher taxes than Nevada, but Colorado also has a better, more skilled, higher educated workforce. Nevada is the headquarters only so the executives don’t have to pay taxes, but the jobs are in Colorado. If the issue was about taxes, the jobs would be in Nevada, not Colorado.
 

Job fairy or much ado about nothing?

3. There is no manufacturing jobs fairy. Manufacturing jobs REQUIRE someone who wants to buy the product. The NEED for a manufacturing job is determined by the consumer. You don’t build a factory, then hang out a sign saying you’re open for business. Manufacturing jobs are “secondary jobs” meaning that before a manufacturing job is created, a product that people want to buy must exist. 

 
4. Most unskilled manufacturing jobs don’t pay well regardless of where the factory is located. CONSERVATION OF COMPENSATION: If anyone can do the work, the jobs go to the people who are willing to be paid the least amount of money. Whether the job is in the United States, or elsewhere, pay is driven by the supply of workers who can do the job.
 
5. Small towns rarely attract high paying manufacturing jobs. While some factories have moved to rural locations to reduce labor costs, it is rare, and factories still need enough potential workers to avoid a labor shortage, which would increase labor costs.
6.  Good business REQUIRES government regulation. Government regulations protect the employee and the consumer. Many countries don’t have rules of against abuse of workers and don’t require manufacturers to abide ethical business practices, and result is always unethical business practices. Remember the Samsung Galaxy Note 7?

Trump Supporters Are Born-Again Wallace Supporters

22 Monday May 2017

Posted by in Aging, Business, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, History, Honor, Politics, Public Image, Public Relations, racism, Taxes, US History, Women

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Wallace supporters – 1968

Recently my personal research took me to the October 24, 1968 edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. On page 57, was an article about supporters of the then presidential candidate of Alabama Governor George Wallace. Wallace was in a three-way race with Richard Nixon and Hubert Humphrey. Wallace was a poor third place against Nixon and Humphrey; however, he did manage to keep Nixon and Humphrey in a statistical tie with each failing to receive more than fifty percent of the vote.

What is interesting about the article is the quotes by Wallace supporters, and the uncanny similarity in tone to today’s Trump supporter. For example:

Regarding Wallace:

Now I keep hearin’ about an old Nixon and a new Nixon, and an old Humphrey and a new Humphrey, Now I don’t know which is which, but I can tell you there is no old Wallace or new Wallace. He’s sayin’ and believin’ the same things as when he ran for governor. And he’ll be sayin’ and believin’ the same things as President.”

Dick Smith, October 1968

“We’ve already given Democratic and Republican presidents a chance and they can’t straighten things out. Let’s give somebody new a try. We don’t have anything to lose.”

Bob Miller, October 1968

Regarding Trump:

The other politicians are controlled by their handlers. He’s not.”

Vern Engel, Kansas City, August 2015

“I backed Trump from the beginning. Because he calls things out. He does not allow lies to live. He just exposes things. Pastors sometimes need to be politically correct, and Donald Trump is not politically correct, and I love that about him”

Crystal Myers, California, May 2016

Regarding Wallace:

I’m a racist, but that’s not the reason I’m supporting Wallace. I’m behind him because he’s the most patriotic man I know. I just can’t stomach these liberals. I think they’re scum.”

William Napier, October 1968

“I’ve moved twice because of Negroes moving in. All that loud rock and roll music.”

Elmer Genie, October 1968

Regarding Trump:

I was actually sitting in the chow hall (in Qatar) when they announced the results (when Obama won in 2008,) and he gave his speech,” he says. “I saw such a division at that time. Every black member of the military was cheering. Everybody else was sitting there mute. Like stunned.”

Former Marine, June 2016

“….these people, that are from other countries, non-speaking—I’m not biased, I have no reason to be—but . . . I’m seeing them getting cash, getting their bills paid, and, as a taxpaying citizen, I don’t get anything. And so the border thing really resonated with me.”

Stephanie from Minnesota, June 2016

Ideologically, there is no difference between the 1968 George Wallace supporter, and the 2017 Trump supporter. Both act on emotion and opinion with few facts to support their position. They are unified in the opinion that non-whites are, at least in part, the cause of their problems. They are also completely deaf to any idea or fact that doesn’t support their position, and ignorant of how corporations and the wealthy have manipulated them into making decisions that go against their own interests.

Our country’s problems aren’t caused by bad politicians. They are caused by uneducated and unintelligent voters who don’t have the ability to understand what they are doing…and never will.

Quotes were taken from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (24 October 1968,) BBC News (9 November 2016,) The New Yorker (11/18 June 2016)

1968: The Year of Fear and Hate

04 Thursday May 2017

Posted by in Aging, Communication, Crime, Crisis Management, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Health, Higher Education, History, Honor, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Public Relations, racism, Respect, Taxes, Traditional Media, Universities, US History, Women

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October 1968. Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, and George Wallace, and were desperately trying to win the Presidential election. Former Vice President Nixon had moderate conservatives and war-hawks backing him. Vice President Humphrey had Democratic core voters and intelligent liberals backing him, and Alabama Governor George Wallace was the darling of racists and right wing extremists.

1968 Democratic Convention (The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

1968:  A Year of Chaos
In 1967, most had assumed President Lyndon Johnson would run, and likely win reelection. Those in his administration’s military leadership offered an optimistic view of the Vietnam War, with one of his recent close advisors publicly saying that the enemy was losing their will to fight.

Despite the rosy picture, over 70,000 U.S. soldiers had been killed or wounded during the war, and 1,000 more were being killed each month. Opposition to the war was tearing the Democratic party apart, and it overshadowed almost all other political issues.

In late January 1968, North Vietnam launched the Tet Offensive. Ultimately, the invading armies were beaten back, but the offensive shocked the United States. Those confident of Johnson’s ability to bring a successful end to the war waned in their support, and in March, the New Hampshire primary gave Johnson an uncomfortably narrow win over Eugene McCarthy, who was considered a relatively minor candidate that focused on an anti-war campaign.

Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (AP Photo/Dick Strobel)

Soon after the primary, Robert Kennedy entered the race, and Johnson ended his campaign. (Although Johnson probably dropped out because he doubted he could beat Kennedy, it is noteworthy that President Johnson’s decision to drop out was heavily influenced by his health concerns. Specifically, that he would likely not live through another term.) Without Johnson in the race, there was no single, obvious choice for President.

The year became more chaotic after Johnson dropped out. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4. Robert Kennedy was assassinated on June 6. Anti-war and civil rights protests and riots, along with mounting U.S. casualties in Vietnam dominated the news everyday.

Baltimore, Maryland, 1968 (Photo by Afro-American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images)

By October, voters were reacting to the the presidential election as the prescription moment in the United States. The next President would either cure or kill our country, depending on the point of view. People who sought a calm return to normalcy were split between Nixon and Humphrey.

However, there were people who sought a disruptive choice for President, in the hopes that he would revive the Confederacy’s goal of remaking the United States into a white dominated government that would undo decades of work to create equal rights for all citizens. Their choice was George Wallace.

While many may believe that Wallace was a bigger threat to Nixon’s campaign, the reality was that the Governor from Alabama was luring as much as half of the support of the unions that normally support the Democratic ticket. Uneducated, Caucasian, blue-collar workers were taken in by Wallace’s hardline racist positions.

The civil rights riots generated fear among white voters, many of whom, felt they were not racist, but were of the opinion that life for the African-American would be fine if they would just settle down and accept their lot in life.

In the end, Nixon won with less than half the vote, and was in a statistical tie with Humphrey, but he had a significant electoral college margin. Wallace won over almost ten million voters, and certainly had an impact on the outcome.

Both Nixon and President Johnson used last-minute tactics to sway voters in the final weeks. President Johnson publicly suggested that a Vietnam peace deal was imminent, and Nixon’s campaign used back channels to interfere with those peace efforts, coupled with a spy in the White House that kept the Nixon campaign informed of Johnson’s diplomatic efforts.

NEXT:  A hard look at the Wallace voter

Ryssdal Allows Guest To Euphemize High Crude Oil Price As Desirable

26 Wednesday Apr 2017

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As host and senior editor of NPR’s (National Public Radio) business-focused, Marketplace, Kai Ryssdal has a tough job. He and his staff have to meld business, politics, and society into small chunks of edible information for his listeners to consume during one of four syndicated shows that air multiple times each day.

For most people, developing and presenting an informative, factual, unbiased radio program about business and everything around it would be a tax that is over 100% of their brain’s income. But Ryssdal isn’t ‘most people.’

So it would be perfectly reasonable to give Mr. Ryssdal a break and overlook a segment that didn’t really measure up to a perfect journalistic standard. Sorry, Kai, but you don’t get that break.

Last week, (April 18, 2017,) Ryssdal and Maria Hollenhorst produced a segment on oil pricing called, “Why boom-bust oil prices may be here to stay.” Ryssdal was interviewing former President George W. Bush advisor, Robert McNally who recently came out with a book called, Crude Volatility.

In his book, and during this interview, McNally attempts to generate fear that low oil prices are bad. Only, he doesn’t use the words, “low oil prices.” Instead he refers to price instability and price swings. McNally uses the euphemism of price stability to indicate artificially high crude oil prices are good, and free market, low crude oil prices are bad.

Historical Crude Oil Price (red line = adjusted for inflation. Credit: Wikipedia)

Adjusted for inflation, crude oil prices were relatively stable for forty years at around $20/barrel from 1933 to 1973. McNally implies that once OPEC began controlling the oil market in the 1970’s, the artificially high price of crude oil was a ‘stable’ oil price. He seems to suggest that the return to lower oil prices at the end of the 20th century and in the past two years are a sign of instability, simply because the free market is controlling the prices.

From his book and interview, it is clear that McNally is a conservative, on a first name basis with major oil executives, and one who believes that the future consumption of oil, as Agent Smith might say, is the sound of inevitability. It is also clear McNally desires to be a mercenary for oil corporations that seek to manipulate the market for their gain.  

What isn’t clear is why Kai Ryssdal gave him a pass on his attempt to generate fear of free market influences on crude oil prices. Ryssdal is too smart to not see McNally’s pandering to his oil clients, and the Marketplace staff had to know that McNally is not an unbiased source of information. 

Sure, high oil prices are good for oil companies and their investors, but wasn’t this past election allegedly about making things fair for the poor guy who has to pay the price at the pump?

(Marketplace is owned and operated by American Public Media)