We Are Better Than This – Part 8

In my latest political post, I have a couple of thoughts concerning the role of political parties and the impact of White House actions on Americans.

Is it Time for New Political Parties?

The political party representing conservatives seems to have lost its moral compass. Its members have largely rubber-stamped White House initiatives. Political candidates vying for elective office have come to the man on the throne in Washington begging for his support. They seek his highness’s blessing in coming primary contests. They refuse to listen to the voters, and one Conservative leader has suggested they cancel town hall meetings. They feel they are above us, know better than the poor peasants in their kingdoms, and fail to consider the impact of their actions on their members and all Americans. The three monkeys come to mind.

The other party, the unworthy opposition liberals have also lost their compass, don’t know which direction the sun rises, and provide as much protection as a champion fighter’s sparing opponent. They have lost their message, creditability, and constituency. They can’t find their way out of a room with one open door.

With this political mess, is it time for new political parties? Most definitely, YES! You may have heard about the Whig Party in your high school American history class. Of course, with the government interference in education you may not have learned about its demise and the rise of the Republican Party. This was Lincoln’s party, not the current cohort of conservatives. The liberal party also seems out of touch with American voters. There is a rumor that they may replace the donkey with a lamb.

Like a witch’s brew, the conditions are perfect for new parties. A conservative party that focuses on constitutional issues, respects the American public, and reduces the heavy-handed concentration of power at the state and national levels. A liberal party that is fiscally responsive, develops grassroots leadership, champions minorities with action not empty promises, and encourages Americans to be great.

Wait for It

Some Americans refuse to recognize the impact that Washington’s decisions are making on their lives. Of course, most of us realize that tariffs will increase our costs for almost everything. However, other issues will have a profound impact on our lives.

  • The FDA will no longer inspect food. This will put our health at risk. Food poisoning may become an everyday issue. Do you grow your own food? Maybe you should start a garden.
  • The Consumer Protection Agency has laid off thousands of workers. Be prepared for more faulty products as manufacturers cut costs to increase profits.
  • The government is the only one laying off workers. The ripple effect will reach all sectors of the economy. It’s time to update your resume, obtain new skills, and increase your emergency savings.
  • The government has cut funding for many programs, resulting in layoffs in charitable organizations and community social services.
  • College students should say farewell to their friends from abroad with visas, This will harm friendships and decrease the ability of American university graduates to function in a global economy.
  • Retirement may become an illusion, something only the rich can experience. You should postpone retirement and work as long as possible. Unfortunately, you make too much money and cost-cutting layoffs will hit you first.

Please see the complete list of “We Are Better Than This” commentaries.

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We Are Better Than This – Part 7

What’s going on in Washington? The tariffs are on, then they’re off, then they’re on again, then they’re off—high tariffs on China, except for electronics. Who are the president’s economic advisors? Is it Larry, Moe, Curly, or all three?

Government by impulse is dangerous. What is the long-term strategy? What trade concessions is the United States looking for? Please explain it to me, because “Make America Great Again” doesn’t seem to be working. Government employees are out of work, and their former agencies are disappearing. The measles epidemic in Texas is increasing while health care is being run by someone who opposes vaccination. A U.S. citizen is wrongly deported to a South American country, and the nation’s president refuses to allow him to return home.

Someone tell the president that there are no mulligans or do-overs in government. Running the country is not a game.

This man has his finger on the button, but his health is great, and he is fit for office. At least that’s what his medical team of Dr. See No Evil, Dr. Hear No Evil, and Dr. Say No Evil has determined.

And amid this executive chaos, the Conservative legislators applaud his actions and pander to his dwindling number of supporters. Then there is the unworthy opposition that acts like a deer blinded by headlights. Of course, both political parties are united in one area. They both ask for money.

Well, it looks like someone got out of bed on the wrong side, or maybe he has overdosed on caffeine. My apologies for my blogging rant.

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We Are Better Than This – Part 6

We are better than this, or are we?

What’s happening in Texas is disturbing. Perhaps “disturbing” is too mild a word. Maybe frightening would be better.

Here are several examples of what’s wrong in the Lone Star State:

  1. Ending diversity, equity, and inclusion programs statewide. Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are organizational frameworks that aim to promote the fair treatment and full participation of all individuals, particularly those who have historically been underrepresented or marginalized due to their identity or disability. We live in a diverse state. What is wrong with helping our people who have suffered? What is wrong with creating a better understanding of different ethnicities, disabilities, and religious beliefs?
  2.  Attacking the LGBTQ+ community. Why can’t we let people with different sexual preferences live in peace? They deserve our kindness, understanding, and respect, not our hate.
  3. Investigating a religious group that wants to build a faith-based community.
  4. Creating a voucher system for private schools for wealthy families at the expense of public schools.
  5. Helping to deport Latinos who came to America in search of a better and safer life.
  6. Doing little to fight a rising measles epidemic
  7. Using state funds to pay for the defense of a state employee charged with violating whistleblower provisions.

Please consider my criticisms as counsel to a misbehaving child.

I love Texas and her bluebonnets, blue skies, BBQ, football, Tex-Mex restaurants, beaches, and natural beauty.

However, we are better than this, and we must do better to keep the Lone Star State shining.

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The Traitor

The Traitor begins after Dr. Russell Conrad returns from the Middle East to Dallas. The Traitor is the sequel to The Analyst.

His actions at the conference raise concerns. President Omar Sanjar’s National Security Council members questioned Conrad’s communications with Israeli Mossad agent David Abraham. Some advisers view the Southern Methodist University professor as a traitor. The Council recommends bringing Conrad to Washington for questioning to resolve their concerns.

Terrorists attack the FBI agents when they are taking Conrad to Dallas Love Field for the trip to Washington. An elderly woman, armed with a Uzi, saves Conrad, and the two escape in a car. This begins a car chase through South Texas as Conrad and the woman try to flee to Mexico.

At the same time, a terrorist team under orders from the Iranian government organizes an attack on the United States’ economy. They plan to destroy petroleum refineries in Texas and place the blame on Israel.

Conrad learns of the terrorist plans at a rest stop. Afterwards, he meets with a college friend and his motorcycle buddies. After a quick discussion, Conrad’s escape plans are abandoned, and the SMU professor enlists the bikers’ help in stopping the saboteurs’ schemes.

Please read The Traitor.

The Traitor is available on Amazon.

Please read The Analyst.

The Analyst is available on Amazon.

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We Are Better Than This – Part 5

With profound apologies to Pete Seeger, I have rewritten a few verses in his great anti-war song, Where Have All the Flowers Gone? My lyrics reflect the current political environment in the United States and strongly condemn the government, politicians, and the public.

Where have all the immigrants gone?

Long time passing.

Where have all the immigrants gone?

Long time ago.

Where have all the immigrants gone?

They’ve gone to detention centers, everyone.

Oh, when will we ever learn?

Oh, when will we ever learn?

Where have all their children gone?

Long time passing

Where have all their children gone?

Long time ago

Where have all their children gone?

They’ve gone to orphanages, everyone.

Oh, when will we ever learn?

Oh, when will we ever learn?

Where have all the politicians gone?

Long time passing

Where have all the politicians gone?

Long time ago

Where have all the politicians gone?

They’ve stopped listening, everyone.

Oh, when will we ever learn?

Oh, when will we ever learn?

Where have all the caring people gone?

Long time passing.

Where have all the caring people gone?

Long time ago.

Where have all the caring people gone?

They’ve become apathetic, everyone.

Oh, when will we ever learn?

Oh, when will we ever learn?

Where have all the good people gone?

Long time passing

Where have all the good people gone?

Long time ago

Where have all the good people gone?

They’ve gone silent, everyone.

Oh, when will we ever learn?

Oh, when will we ever learn?

Where has our democracy gone?

Long time passing

Where has our democracy gone?

Long time ago

Where has our democracy gone?

It’s gone to tyranny, everyone.

Oh, when will we ever learn?

Oh, when will we ever learn?

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We Are Better Than This – Part 4

Watching the movie A Complete Unknown was a trip down memory lane. I was a big fan of folk music in the 1960s. I loved listening to Joan Baez; Pete Seager; Peter, Paul, and Mary; The Clancey Brothers; and many others. As I watched the movie and sang along with Bob, Joan, and Johnny Cash, I was transported back to my youth.

I remembered Bob Dylan’s protest songs like The Times They Are-A Changin‘ and Blowin’ in the Wind. What about Pete Seager’s anti-war song Where Have All the Flowers Gone? I wish that the current generation of musicians would respond to the present world crisis and write songs to reach a new set of listeners and call us to action.

If you continue reading, I’d like to share some of the lyrics from Dylan’s songs that are as relevant today as they were sixty years ago.

The Times They Are A-Changin’

Verse 1

Come gather ’round, people, wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth saving
And you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times, they are a-changin’

Verse 3

Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call
Don’t stand in the doorway, don’t block up the hall

For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled
The battle outside ragin’
Will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times, they are a-changin’

Blowin’ in the Wind

Verse 2

Yes, and how many years can a mountain exist before it is washed to the sea?
Yes, and how many years can some people exist before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see?

Refrain

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind

Verse 3

Yes, and how many times must a man look up before he can see the sky?
Yes, and how many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died?

Refrain

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind

Top Ten Bob Dylan Songs

Where are the protest songs today? I guess the answer is blowin’ in the wind.

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We Are Better Than This – Part 3

I hardly know where to begin with this post.

An Arizona Supreme Court justice warned the public of the danger to democracy if the president gets to claim that only he gets to decide what the law is.

The administration has announced a layoff at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Many of the agency’s employees are veterans. Our veterans deserve our respect and care. They are already underserved.

Plans are being made to eliminate the Department of Education. This will hurt funding in U.S. states. Minority students in public schools will be affected the most. One only has to look at Texas’s school voucher plan that underfunds public schools to see how this measure harms public schools. You don’t have to over-analyze this issue. Conservative politicians want an uneducated electorate. Why? They will believe all the lies that the administration and their television station tell them. An uneducated population is easier to control, which is critical if you are trying to destroy democracy and install a dictatorship.

The protests have started as people refuse to be led to the slaughter of democracy like sheep. Citizens are boycotting businesses that support the administration’s goals or end DEI initiatives. Members of Congress are being lambasted in town hall meetings. The unworthy opposition thinks holding signs is enough to show their resistance to the administration’s policies. It’s not.

Some people believe that the president of the United States is a puppet. They think the Russian premier and a billionaire businessman are pulling the strings.

However, what disturbs me the most is the silence. People who object to the government’s actions are “keeping their heads down” and “maintaining a “low  profile.” Their silence means that they approve of the president’s actions.

What happens when people are silent?

“Bad things happen when good people remain silent.”

“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” – Martin Luther King

“Silence in the face of evil is evil itself.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“Only cowards hide behind silence” – Paulo Coelho

“The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people. But because of the silence of the good people.” – Napoleon

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We Are Better Than This – Part 2

As Americans ponder how cuts in federal employment affects us, we need to consider the other side of the issue.

What about the lives of the terminated government employees? They are not just numbers. They have families that are dependent on the wages they used to earn.

Another point I learned today from a letter to the editor in the Dallas Morning News is the impact on our veterans.

“Please be aware that 30% of the federal workforce consists of military veterans, and another 7% of the federal workforce consists of spouses of military personnel.”

Some questions to ask?

  1. Is this any way to treat our veterans? These are the people who have fought to defend democracy around the world. Shame on the administration for dishonoring their service.
  2. Will they be able to obtain new jobs?
  3. What about workers in organizations with government contracts? Will they be fired?
  4. Will the fired employees be faced with the choice between food and medicine?
  5. Will they lose their homes and cars?

It’s time to stop just thinking about us and consider the wide-reaching impact on others.

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We Are Better Than This – Part 1

“Fasten your seatbelts; it’s going to be a bumpy ride.”

The warning from Bette Davis could be applied to the political situation in America.

One political party is content to allow their leader to run “roughshod” over the semblance of democracy. According to an editorial cartoon in the Dallas Morning News, the other party, the unworthy opposition, says, “It’s concerning.”

In response, I ask the following questions:

  1. Does firing or forced resignations in the CIA make you feel more or less protected against international terrorists?
  2. Does eliminating the Department of Education help or hurt American children trying to compete in a global economy?
  3. Will trade tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports increase or decrease your cost of living?
  4. Do reductions in the Department of Justice increase or decrease your protection from financial fraud?
  5. Are you okay with immigration police invading schools and churches to apprehend illegal immigrants?
  6. Do you approve of a wealthy industrialist who has government contracts and has not been vetted by Congress influencing American democracy? Is this anything new?
  7. Will reducing US Aid and tariffs improve or hurt America’s position as a “ leader?”
  8. Are U.S. threats to leave the UN and NATO helpful or damaging to Russian political expansion?
  9. Are attacks on minorities (Latinos, Blacks, Muslims, Jews, LBGTQ+, etc.) consistent with democratic and religious principles?
  10. Do you believe that Russia invaded the  Ukraine?
  11. Does firing or forced resignations of FBI personnel make you feel more or less protected against crime?
  12. Do you think peace negotiations without Ukraine make any sense?
  13. Do you think that the Gulf of Mexico should be renamed? How about Denali National Park?
  14. Do you think firing top U.S. generals helps or hurts America’s defense?
  15. Do you think Russia exerts too much control over the U.S. chief executive?

I hope you will consider your answers to these questions. Much is at stake. America’s future is in your hands.

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February 16, 1862 – Fort Donelson

On February 16, 1862, Confederate forces holding Fort Donelson in Tennessee surrendered to Union troops. U. S. Grant’s army captured 12,000 Confederate soldiers. Grant’s terms of surrender were suggested by General Charles F. Smith. Grant agreed with Smith’s recommendation and earned the moniker “Unconditional Surrender.”

You can learn the story in my biography of Major General Charles F. Smith, Teacher of Civil War Generals. The e-book is available on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Teacher-Civil-War-Generals-Commandant-ebook/dp/B0134XZD5G.

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