Tag Archives: liberals

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

24 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by in Aging, Crime, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, History, Honor, Management Practices, Politics, Public Image, Public Relations, racism, Relationships, US History

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

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.

The Military’s Role in Internal Politics

14 Monday Nov 2016

Posted by in Education, Ethics, Government, History, Honor, Politics, Pride, Respect

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , ,

us-armyI’m not the most diplomatic person (okay, you can stop laughing anytime.) I’m just an average citizen in a country with free speech, so I have no responsibilities to be a diplomat. That is not my calling.

Compounding my non-diplomatic style is the irrationality that I believe permeates our country with the election of a man who openly lies, then denies he lied in the face of video and audio evidence, a man who openly admits behaving like a sexual predator, then has multiple accusers confirm that he did what he bragged about, a man who has attacked members of the free press, and uses humiliation techniques on women, the free press, and minorities. It’s not something that I think people should be quiet about.

However, under most circumstances, a man like that cannot defeat the power of rational and reasonable people without guns to back him up. 

We already know that the people who voted for Donald Trump are the same people who are armed beyond rationality. Since Trump won the election there have been ‘countless‘ incidents of verbal and physical attacks against the same people who Trump targeted with his campaign rhetoric. This comes at the same time that the FBI reports a spike in hate crimes in 2015.

We know that law enforcement in jurisdictions around the country have openly supported right-wing extremist positions on guns, immigration, and the murder of unarmed African-Americans.

We also know that the FBI is no longer unbiased in politics as they threw out a red herring (by the way, that is the proper use of the cliché,) about Hillary Clinton during early voting to energize Trump supporters and discourage Clinton supporters.

So our country’s future hangs in the balance of an impartial military. That is key. Our liberties, including my right to be non-diplomatic, is protected by an unbiased military. If the military becomes political, then everything we value about our country is at risk.

Active duty military, especially, those of significant rank, excel at maintaining the discipline that is expected of an impartial armed forces. Most military men and women keep our trust by not engaging in internal political discourse, because they have the guns…the bombs…the tanks…the jets…and all the weapons needed to enforce their point of view.

The election of Donald Trump isn’t scary until the soldiers who are meant to serve all citizens becomes the military who supports one political viewpoint of our citizens. The warning signs of movement in the military toward a political bias may include: 

  1. the engagement and loss of political impartiality by active military personnel in social media
  2. the loss of respect by military personnel for citizens expressing their concerns and frustrations 
  3. military personnel blaming liberals for discord and/or an attitude of “they brought them on themselves”
  4. insults and attacks by military personnel at those who express views with which they disagree
  5. military personnel ganging up on citizens to ridicule and intimidate

The above behaviors have been discouraged and punished by the armed forces in the past, but under a Trump administration, it is questionable if those behaviors would be subject to discipline. If not, then we will have seen a significant change in the restrictions that have kept the United States military impartial in internal politics. 

I don’t oppose a soldier’s right to speak their mind, however, civilian control of the military is a basic principle of our democracy. Once the military begins siding with one political view, it is no longer serving all the citizens, and when civilian control and the military political view align, then who can oppose the might of the military and the whims of a dysfunctional civilian leadership.

Hitler energized the disenfranchised Aryans

Hitler energized the disenfranchised Aryans

It took Hitler five months to turn a democracy into dictatorship. He provoked people into responding to his actions, and then he used their response as justification to suspend the laws protecting the rights of the individual German people. In rapid order, Hitler’s supporters formed a gleeful police and military force that ended all dissent and put non-party government officials under house arrest ‘for their protection.’

Trump is not backing down from his provocative tactics he used to whip extremist into a frenzy. He has already announced that he will order the arrest and deportation of three million Hispanics on his first day in office. Children who are legally born in this country will either lose their parents or be forced to leave their country. 

Trump speaks to the disenfranchised white racist

Trump energizes the disenfranchised white racist

What is Trump trying to accomplish with this provocative action? I don’t know, but this is just the beginning, and Trump supporters are already attacking and intimidating innocent people across our country. Trump has continually exceeded our expectations of his depravity, there is no reason to believe that he will stop. 

Our only hope is that we maintain an impartial military. If not, then Trump will have succeeded in helping Putin destroy our country.

5 Reasons I No Longer Feel The Bern

04 Friday Mar 2016

Posted by in Aging, Branding, Communication, Education, Ethics, Generational, Government, Government Regulation, Politics, Pride, Public Image, Taxes, US History, Women

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , ,

Nevada was an early caucus state. Caucus is Latin for a divisive meeting of unified people and, from the word, ‘caca,’ meaning excrement.

Hillary Clinton: In her 3rd decade of fighting for a government by the people

Hillary Clinton: In her 3rd decade of fighting for a government by the people

Prior to the Nevada caucus I was unsure who I was supporting. I always have liked Hillary Clinton, but I have been a little frustrated with the moderate viewpoint that we can all work together, when extremist conservatives have proven that we really can’t. I considered myself leaning towards Bernie Sanders until the February 11th Democratic debate, and then I began to realize that Bernie is not the man to lead this country.

1. Bernie: The One-Song Musical
In the February 11th Democratic debate I realized that Bernie Sanders has latched on to a handful of speaking points and beats them to death at every rally. I don’t really care what Hillary Clinton said in her speeches to any big bank, but I do appreciate she has their attention. Bernie’s harping on a few minor meaningless issues is exactly what conservatives have been doing for decades and I’m sick of it. We don’t need a leader to spend four years of blaming other people for small faults when we have the rise of a second Confederacy in our country that seeks to destroy everything we stand for in the United States.

2. Bernie Supporters:  All Flash, No Dignity, No Honor, No Substance
I live next to the University of Nevada, so we have a lot of college students in our precinct. Needless to say our precinct went almost entirely for Bernie Sanders. They were all excited about themselves and how they were the voice of change. They were also rude and undignified in their manner of supporting their candidate. Both the elected President and Secretary of the caucus were Bernie supporters and wearing Bernie tee shirts and buttons. At one point, the Secretary, who did nothing during the meeting, walked in front of the fifteen Clinton supporters and announced to the room, “I’m not voting for Hillary. I’d never do that.”

But the real issue for me was when an envelope was passed around to help the Democratic Party. I went to at least thirty people before me, and none of them put any money in it. Not even a quarter. I put twenty dollars in it, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it came back with only that amount. None of the Sanders supporters were committed to helping the Democratic party. They were just there to pleasure themselves.

We don’t need screamers for leaders

3.  Bernie:  Howard Dean’s Scream Over and Over Again
Every time I see Bernie Sanders speak, I see Howard Dean. Sanders is not passionate, he’s irrational. After he loses an election or caucus, he starts talking about momentum, as if losing is a good thing because the campaign is about momentum, not issues.

“What this entire campaign has been about is the issue of momentum….”

                       Bernie Sanders, after losing Nevada

It’s the ‘say nothing’ approach to communication that has no meaning, just key words strung together to incite applause. It’s not leadership, it’s Trumpmanship.

4.  Bernie:  Leadership Via Destruction
Much of Sanders campaign has devolved into leadership via destruction. I agree with him on most of the issues, but in his speeches he tends to present himself as a dragon slayer and yet, he comes off more like Don Quixote. I supported him when he stayed on topic, but now he seems stuck on a message of attack rather than building. That’s not the route I support for someone to become President.

5.  Bernie:  Bottomless Pit of Promises
It the past seven years have proven anything, it has proven that the President can do very little if he or she has a Congress that is not on the same page. Promises by a presidential candidate are the fairy dust of politics. What we need to hear from a Democratic Presidential candidate is:

…elect me, AND elect these Democrats for Congress, and we will get Citizens United overturned, a ban on assault weapons restored, improve the healthcare system, ….

Speeches are the leverage of action. If a candidate for President of the United States of America is truly seeking action, he or she needs to accept that their speech should acknowledge the path to action requires the citizen to do more than just elect her or him.

Rebirth of the Liberal

25 Friday Sep 2015

Posted by in Education, Ethics, Government, Government Regulation, Green, Health, Higher Education, History, Honor, Passionate People, Politics, Pride, Religion, Respect, Space, Taxes, Technology, Universities, US History

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , ,

Liberals, Inc.

Liberals, Inc.

The values and traditions of liberalism in the United States of America is experiencing a Renaissance. This is a not a time for a cautious return to a government by and for the people.  It is a time to boldly stand up for intelligence in political office.

The disastrous policies of George W. Bush, coupled with decades of conservative efforts to put our country in retreat have met with consistent failure. Those failures have forced conservatives to put up artificial issues that appeal to a distinctly anti-American segment of the population, but that has only driven them into a corner.

Conservative politicians strain to win applause from the stupid and the ignorant, but the United States needs and deserves smart, not stupid. Liberals must now step up and engage our citizens and remind them that politics in our country is not to be entertainment for small minds. We have to expose the absurdity of 2015  “conservative values:”

When everyone has guns in public, innocent people die. Gun ownership without rules is anarchy. Laws protect people from those who are too stupid to know better. It’s not about taking guns away; it’s about protecting the innocent from the stupid.

Our government is a blessing, not a curse, and we pay for the privilege of living in this great country by paying our taxes and doing so without complaint.

Unregulated business is the playground of the unethical and immoral. Business is motivated by greed and destruction of competitors. Without government, ethical businesses can’t survive.

If a group of people on an island were running out of fresh water, the liberal mind would determine how to obtain more water, and the conservative mind would begin planning on who they can kill.

The confederate flag is the symbol of racists and traitors who tried to steal part of America away from then attempted to overthrow our country. The confederate flag is a heritage of losers and has no place among a nation of winners.

Government is not a place for religion, nor a country where a majority religion is to dictate the beliefs and morals for all citizens. America is a country that offers freedom FROM religion, not slavery to a religion.

War is the opium for the 2015 conservative. When in doubt the conservative wants to wage war, but war never results in a quick and easy peace. War devastates all involved and it is rarely the leaders who started the war who pay the heaviest price.

The time to coddle the wealthy is past. Money is not the measure of a human, nor does it give special privilege to a person in a country where all citizens are created equal.

For 35 years conservatives have been shouting down common sense and intelligence with false accusations, deceptions, and biased fear mongering. It’s time that loyal Americans regained their voice.

To be liberal is to be an American that loves our country and our government. We believe that all humans are created equal. We believe that our country becomes stronger, not weaker through diplomacy and respect for other countries. We believe that education is the foundation to a better life and schools should be more than a cheap training ground for dead-end service jobs. We believe that when government spends money it provides jobs and needed infrastructure that helps grow our economy.

The call of liberalism is not for everyone, nor is it restricted to one party. Our country’s founders were liberals who broke away from conservatives who wanted to stay loyal to the English King. Republicans were liberal when Abraham Lincoln stood up against domestic enemies that sought to defile our Constitution. Franklin D. Roosevelt was liberal when he made our citizens believe in the greatness of our country. Dwight D. Eisenhower was liberal when he made the Interstate Highway System a reality. John F. Kennedy was a liberal when he said we could go to the Moon and back.

Elementary school children can grasp the values of conservatives. The egocentric concept that everyone else exists to serve their needs is a common attitude of children and conservatives.

However, it takes significant maturity and intelligence to understand liberal values. It requires the person to see themselves as part of a greater society. A liberal knows that respect, cooperation, humility, and honor cannot be compromised for a free society to function. Our original 1942 Pledge of Allegiance reinforced these values:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the UNITED States of America, and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands, ONE NATION, INDIVISIBLE,  with liberty and justice FOR ALL.

We are a republic, not an oligarchy. We are one nation that shall not be divided. We shall have liberty and justice for all, not just for those with the most money, nor the most guns. 

We are a nation founded by liberals, built by those who believed in “Yes We Can.” Liberal ideals have been a part of every great achievement in our country. Conversely, conservative leadership has maligned and crippled this nation. It’s time we took our country back.