US Foreign Policy–A F*cked Up Mess

It is easy to sit and point fingers at which party has gotten the world into this position but the truth of the matter is both are as guilty of making the world a more dangerous place….the War Department is owned by the special interests of K Street…..and the Congress are nothing more than paid representatives of those industries.

The former president Donald Trump recognized the problem when he recently complained that Democrats “allowed China and Russia to do the impossible: combine. They’re natural enemies. They always have been because China needs more land and Russia has it.” He went on to blame “Obama—it started with him and then Biden because he didn’t know what the hell he was doing—they’ve now become one force.”

Trump is right about Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Nevertheless, he also is at fault, perhaps even more than them. So is George W. Bush, the worst president in the last half century, who is responsible for hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths in Iraq and elsewhere. That said, Bill Clinton began the process of turning Moscow hostile and encouraging it to ally with Beijing against America. At least Trump may have learned something, given his apparently newfound concern about turning the People’s Republic of China and Russian Federation into “one force.”

Both Parties Got Us to Where We Are on Foreign Policy 

But sadly work with foreign policy is not something many people are cut out to do….especiall;y some of the people nominated to be the number one diplomat for the country.

If you’ve ever had aspirations to become secretary of state, reconsider. Out of all the top spots in US government, it sounds like the most impossible gig to tackle, writes Thomas Friedman for New York Times, mainly because “the job of running US foreign policy is far, far harder than most Americans have ever spent time considering.” Friedman notes that tackling America’s nondomestic issues is a super-tough one, “in an age when you have to manage superpowers, supercorporations, superempowered individuals and networks, superstorms, superfailing states, and superintelligence—all intermingling with one another, creating an incredibly complex web of problems to untangle to get anything done.”

For context, he cites what onetime Secretary of State Henry Kissinger had to do in the early ’70s to get Israel, Egypt, and Syria to work on their issues, a relatively easy game of “tic-tac-toe” won simply by contacting those three heads of state. Today, that part of the world, with Antony Blinken now in the US secretary of state role, has changed “from a region of solid nation-states to one increasingly made of failed states, zombie states, and superempowered angry men armed with precision rockets” (for example, Hamas, Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis, etc.). In other words: “Goodbye, tic-tac-toe. Today, getting the interests of all these entities aligned at once to secure a ceasefire in Gaza is as easy as getting all the same colors lined up on one side of a Rubik’s Cube.” More here from Friedman, who also lays out the pros and cons of both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in wrangling such a complex world.

Where is the problem?

Symptomatically, the five victorious great powers of 1945 (the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, France, and China) insisted that their participation in the United Nations hinged upon their receiving permanent seats in the new UN Security Council, including a veto enabling them to block Security Council actions not to their liking. Over the ensuing decades, they used the veto hundreds of times to stymie UN efforts to maintain international peace and security.

Similarly, the nine nuclear nations (including these five great powers) refused to sign the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which has been endorsed by the overwhelming majority of the world’s nations. Behind their resistance to creating a nuclear weapons-free world lies a belief that there is much to lose by giving up the status and power that nuclear weapons afford them

Of course, from the standpoint of building a peaceful world, this is a very short-sighted position, and the reckless behavior and nuclear arrogance of the powerful have led, at times, to massive opposition by peace and nuclear disarmament movements, as well as by many smaller, more peacefully-inclined nations.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/08/13/lets-think-about-how-to-build-a-more-peaceful-world/

I have written about our number one diplomat the SecState, Blinken, and his propensity to avoid diplomacy in favor of confrontation…..The State Department has become just an extension of the War Department…..

It is said that Henry Kissinger asserted that little can be won at the negotiating table that isn’t earned on the battlefield.

In several wars in recent weeks, U.S. officials have echoed that approach. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller recently said that the U.S. “supports[s] a ceasefire” in Lebanon while simultaneously recognizing that “military pressure can at times enable diplomacy.” Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken has expressed the doctrine as doing “all that we can to strengthen Ukraine’s position on the battlefield so it has the strongest possible position at the negotiating table.”

But during the Biden administration, the iteration of Kissinger’s doctrine has gone well beyond the generals supporting the diplomats. The diplomats are now outpacing and pushing the generals. In the Biden administration, despite the promise to open “a new era of relentless diplomacy,” the State Department has metamorphosized into the hawkish arm of the Pentagon.

In the debate within the Biden administration over whether permission should be granted for Ukraine to fire Western supplied long-range missiles deeper into Russian territory, it is the diplomats who have pushed for escalation, and the Pentagon and intelligence community who have argued for caution.

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/blinken-diplomacy-ukraine/

I just think that if Harris wins the election she will keep this worthless tool as part of her administration.  Then nothing will change on the international scene.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The Biden Legacy

I am beyond bored with this election (never thought I would say such a thing)….there is only so much crap I can endure before I turn off.

I know Biden is out….but if Harris wins the legacy of Biden will most likely continue under her leadership

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Come November we will have our answer as to who will the this country for the next 4 years….will it be Trump or maybe Harris?

I want to be the first to give my thoughts on the legacy that Biden will leave behind….both domestic and international….

When President Joseph R. Biden finally removed himself from the race for a second presidential term on July 21, there followed a cascade of high praise, not only for his “brave decision” to step down but also for his “remarkable achievements” over a lifetime of public service. Both long-time colleagues and the major media applauded him in columns or tweets. In a New York Times opinion, historian Jon Meacham called the President’s decision to end his campaign “one of the most remarkable acts of leadership in our history.”

The President can take credit for a number of domestic achievements during his term of office.  Most notably, he oversaw dramatic post-Covid job growth; lowered costs for diabetes drugs; subsidized the production of computer microchips; increased veterans’ war-related benefits; and achieved major legislation on climate and infrastructure. Perhaps his most enduring accomplishment was to set a high standard for diversity in his judicial and Cabinet appointments, which included representation from various minority groups, including racial and ethnic minorities, women and gays. He also appointed the first Native American as Secretary of the Interior.

During the Biden presidency, there were also catastrophic failings: the President’s chaotic and ill-prepared evacuation of U.S. troops from Afghanistan; his push back against negotiations to prevent and later end the Ukraine war; his repeated multi-billion-dollar weapons transfers to the Zelensky government; and his inability to persuade Israel to agree to a ceasefire–all the while delivering a constant stream of bombs and missiles to the IDF. The last failing earned him the dubious title of “Genocide Joe.”

If we examine Biden’s failures as president in more detail, we see that they each cost the United States dearly–in lives, taxpayer money and global reputation. In the overdue U.S. exit from Afghanistan, many Afghan and some American lives were lost for lack of adequate advance planning. Many Afghans who had helped American forces as translators, drivers or other service employees were left behind in fear of retribution by the Taliban.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/07/30/bidens-mixed-legacy-and-a-chance-for-change/

In the 21st century there has been an opportunity to disband and enter into arms control talks….but did we?  NO!

Biden administration’s new nuclear doctrine to prepare the United States for a coordinated nuclear challenge from Russia, China, and North Korea. The Biden doctrine revives the concept of “escalation dominance,” one of the main drivers of the nuclear arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s.

President Biden’s neglect of arms control and disarmament means that the next president will inherit a nuclear landscape that is more threatening and volatile than any other since the Cuban missile crisis more than 60 years ago. The Cuban missile crisis, however, was a wake up call for both President John F. Kennedy and General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev, leading to a series of arms control and disarmament treaties beginning with the Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1963.

We need another wake up call.

Currently, there is little discussion of reviving arms control and disarmament. Instead the mainstream media and many commentators are making the case for additional nuclear weaponry and the modernization of weapons currently in the nuclear arsenal. The influential British newsweekly, The Economist, is leading the way in this campaign, arguing that the concept of deterrence demands that the United States build up and modernize its nuclear arsenal. An oped in the New York Times this week, written by the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, argues that credible deterrence will prevent our adversaries from “even considering a nuclear strike against America or its allies.”

https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/09/13/bidens-legacy-the-decline-of-arms-control-and-disarmament-2/

I am sorry but in my case I think Biden missed the boat and I do not see any improvement if Harris wins the election.

The world keeps spinning out of control with countless endless wars all of which should be addressed directly and not through proxies….plus the US needs to stop feeding those conflicts.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Should The Constitution Be Re-Visited?

There is chaos almost everywhere in this country for there is no one voice of reason when analyzing the US Constitution.

If that is indeed the case is it possible that the Constitution needs to be updated?

In today’s world is the Constitution flawed?

No matter the outcome of the November elections, it is urgent that there be a widespread recognition that American democracy is in danger and that reforms are essential. No form of government lasts forever, and it would be foolhardy to believe that the United States cannot fall prey to the forces that have ended democracies in many other countries.

Although the causes are complex, many of today’s problems can be traced back to choices made in drafting the Constitution, choices that are increasingly haunting us. After 200 years, it is time to begin thinking of drafting a new Constitution to create a more effective, more democratic government.

Signs abound that American democracy is in serious trouble. Confidence in the institutions of American government is at an all-time low. The Pew Research Center has been tracking public trust in government since 1958. It has gone from a high-water mark of 77% in 1964 to our contemporary 20%. A poll in September 2023 indicated that only 4% of U.S. adults said the American political system worked “extremely or very well.” A recent Gallup poll had only 16% of Americans expressing approval for how Congress is performing its job.

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2024-08-23/constitution-undemocratic-amendments-rewrite

Does the Constitution represent the country today?

The document has changed over the years but not to the point that it represents the country of today……

It was created in 1787 by a small group of white men who hashed out a deal in their own interests, chief among them protecting smaller states and owners of enslaved people. Those framers made foundation stones of economic and racial inequality and also erected enduring barriers to political equality including an electoral college that makes minority victory possible in presidential elections and two senators for each state regardless of population.

The constitution has been changed, significantly in 1791, with the 10 amendments of the Bill of Rights, and between 1865 and 1870, after the civil war, with amendments to abolish slavery, expand the citizenry and give Black men the vote. There have been other major changes, not least the 19th amendment, which gave women the vote in 1920. A century later, though, change seems harder than ever.

…

“Our government is broken and our democracy is at grave risk, but I don’t see any easy solutions,” he writes. “A book that describes problems ideally should offer realistic fixes, but none are apparent â€Ķ I desperately want to be wrong, either about my premise (that American democracy faces a serious crisis), or my conclusion (that fixing the problems will be hugely difficult or even impossible).”

https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/sep/01/erwin-chemerinsky-no-democracy-lasts-forever

Let’s say some miracle happened and there would be a re-write of the Constitution…..whay would it say?

I found an interesting article on this very subject.

Let’s start by admitting that the document ratified on December 7, 1787, was flawed. Instead of worshiping the Founders as gods that could do no wrong, we could acknowledge their failings and do a better job based on the information we have available today.

We could begin by better selecting who is in the room to hash out the document. Fifty-five people at the Constitutional Convention worked out the language, only thirty-nine of whom signed it. All fifty-five were white, landowning men. The only people the framers found worthy. No women, no Black people, no Native Americans who the country belonged to in the first place—just rich, white men who created a document that naturally favored themselves.

The preamble could be allowed to stand. The framers were reasonably good at lofty words; they didn’t intend for them to apply to everybody. The dictionary definitions of those words will do just fine as opposed to the limited version meant by those who penned them.

https://www.levelman.com/if-constitution-written-today-how-would-it-be-different/

While I agree with this in principle I cannot see a smooth transition to re-visit the Constitution.  Even if there was some way to find agreement the process would then be handed over to lawyers and they would inject legal-ese into the process and turn the document into a multi-volume legal library.

There is no way that this subject could be addressed with commonsense….none whatsoever.

Can you imagine that each amendment would be multi-volumes?

The process would become a long drawn out deal with no o0ne pleased….so why not keep what we have and achieve the same result?

Your thoughts will be appreciated.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The “Lesser Evil” Lecture

That is when people give you the old and tired crap about if you do not vote for this guy then you are in essence voting for the other guy.

I have not voted for a winner since 1976 and yes I have voted third party or independent and yes I get the same song and dance about not voting within the two party corrupt system….I wrote a post awhile back addressing this ….

Do Not Vote Third Party! (A Rebuttal)

And now with the two most sad candidates for the population to choose from I am seeing the two party system slugs come out of the wo0dwork to try and  voters into the pocket of Biden.

Many friends and allies, especially younger ones, have been getting The Lecture from older Democratic Party relatives or friends – the Lesser Evil Lecture.

This year the lecture comes not only with the admonition to hold your nose and vote for Joe Biden to get a second term to block the fascist monster Trump but also with the insistence or at least request that you not join in protests of Biden’s funding, equipping, and political, military, and diplomatic protection of Israel’s mass murderous and genocidal seven-month war on the people of Gaza. The lecturers say, “don’t come to Chicago to rise up in anger and cause chaos over Biden’s Israel policy when the Democratic Party meets to re-coronate him as their presidential nominee this August.”

A version of the lecture recently came in the form of a Guardian column in which the senior progressive Democrat and former US Labor Secretary Robert Reich expressed his discomfort with how young people protesting Israel’s criminal US-backed war tell him that “the lesser of two evils is still evil.” Reich also recalled how antiwar protests Chicago during the 1968 Democratic national convention helped elect the vicious authoritarian and racist right-wing Cambodia-bombing president Richard Nixon.

Reich instructs young Americans that “a failure to vote for Biden is in effect a vote for Trump” and that “Trump would be far worse for the world – truly evil.”

A Sick, Dystopian System Worth Overthrowing

I do not subscribe to this “Lesser Evil” BS.

The post of mine that I linked to in the first part of this post explains me reasoning.

If I do not think the candidate is not working for the people of this nation then he/she will get NO vote from me.

I am sure I have not heard the last of this “Lesser Evil Lecture”…..but so be it.

I will continue to vote my principles whether the majority likes it or not….after all it is MY vote and I shall put it where I believe it would do the most good.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Historical Ignorance Is Staggering

After teaching a few course I have seen the student get dumb and dumber as the years went on…..especially when it comes to the history of our country…..

For instance, who said ‘America the government is “of the people, by the people, for the people.”?

You may pause here for a quick Google search.

The point I am trying to make is that we are coming up on 250th anniversary of our nation and yet historical ignorance is high….

When Benjamin Franklin famously said, “A republic, madam, if you can keep it,” he was, as usual, prescient.

How much do today’s college students really know about their nation’s past? The American Council of Trustees and Alumni (ACTA) has conducted a fresh national survey of college students to answer just this question. The results are concerning.

Sixty percent of college students could not correctly identify the term lengths of members serving in U.S. Congress. Sixty-three percent were unable to identify the chief justice of the Supreme Court. These are multiple-choice questions. Students did not have to recall John Roberts’s name, they merely had to recognize it, and a large majority failed. The same is true for the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, whose name was only known to 35% of students. Sixty-eight percent did not know that impeachment trials occur before the Senate, despite living through two presidential impeachments as well as the impeachment trial of a cabinet official

If these students are not reading the newspaper, it does not seem to be because they are busy studying their history lessons. A majority of students believe—falsely—that the Constitution was written in 1776, rather than 1787. This suggests two things: First, most students do not understand the origin of our Constitution—how the Articles of Confederation proved unworkable, how James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and others gathered in Philadelphia to make amendments but emerged instead with a new form of government, which the American people then debated before adopting. (This explains another survey result, which shows that a majority of students could not identify the purpose of the Federalist Papers.)

Students who believe the Constitution was written in 1776 do not understand the purpose and meaning of the Constitution. Second, and more importantly, these students clearly have not learned the true events of 1776, and thus their yearly Independence Day celebrations on July 4th are sadly hollow and devoid of content. They enjoy the barbecues and the fireworks, but they often lack a basic understanding of what is being honored by the holiday.

https://www.realcleareducation.com/articles/2024/07/09/todays_students_are_dangerously_ignorant_of_our_nations_history_1043318.html

With the attacks on education in some states this ignorance will be cultivated into stupidity.

Need I say more?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Just Put It On My Tab

Remember when the fiscal conservs were all about cutting programs to pay down the national deficit?

No? It is been awhile since that was important.

The national deficit as of the FY24 is right at $1.5 trillion (at is trillion with a ‘T”)….

Since Trump is the candidate for the party that use to think it was important let’s take a look at what his proposed policies would do to that number.

The major proposals pitched by the campaigns of Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump would both expand the federal budget deficit—though Trump’s plans would require significantly more borrowing over the next decade.

Trump’s proposals would add an estimated $5.8 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, according to the Penn Wharton Budget Model, a fiscal policy think tank at the University of Pennsylvania (Trump’s alma mater). Most of Trump’s deficit-increasing policies result from proposed changes that would reduce Americans’ tax burden. He’s called for permanently extending the 2017 tax cuts, which would add an estimated $4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade (unless Trump comes up with offsetting spending cuts). His plan to eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits will add another $1.2 trillion.

Harris, meanwhile, rings up an estimated $1.2 trillion in larger deficits over the next decade, primarily by increasing government benefits.

She supports expanding the Child Tax Credit and other welfare benefits delivered via the tax code, which would add $2.3 trillion to the deficit over a decade, according to the Penn Wharton analysis. However, her plan to increase the corporate income tax would offset some of that deficit spending by hiking federal revenues by around $1 trillion.

The biggest difference between the two estimates is the dynamic consequences of Trump’s and Harris’ tax plans. The tax cuts proposed by Trump would boost economic growth and offset some of the costs of his other proposals. When those consequences are taken into account, the Penn Wharton estimates show that Trump would add merely $4.1 trillion to the deficit over a decade. Harris’ proposed tax increases naturally have the opposite impact. As a result, she would add about $2 trillion to the deficit when the economic effects are included.

Trump’s Proposals Would Add $5.8 Trillion to the Deficit

This based on the proposed policies of course all that could change once one or other is elected to the presidency.

So if you fancy yourself a fiscal conserv you might want to re-think your leanings in this election.

Just a thought.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

One Third Of The World

The most popular form of foreign policy is the imposing of sanctions on a country or countries that the US is at odds with…..and at this point in time approximately one third of the world is under sanctions.

That’s right….one third!

The US government currently imposes sanctions on a third of all nations on earth in a situation that disproportionately affects low-income countries – 60 percent of which are under US sanctions of some kind – according to an analysis of the White House’s long-standing policy of economic warfare by the Washington Post.

This trend spiked during the last four US governments and reached a fever pitch under President Biden, who imposed over 6,000 sanctions in just two years.

“It is the only thing between diplomacy and war and, as such, has become the most important foreign policy tool in the US arsenal,” Bill Reinsch, a former Commerce Department official, told the US news outlet. “And yet, nobody in government is sure this whole strategy is even working.”

Washington’s over-reliance on using the US dollar as a weapon of war took a marked turn following the 11 September attacks in New York City. Up until then, economic sanctions had primarily targeted “rogue states” like Cuba and Libya to block them from taking part in the global financial system and instigating regime change.

The spike in US economic sanctions globally came hand in hand with the growth of a parallel multi-billion-dollar lobbying and influence industry in which foreign governments and transnational corporations “spend exorbitant sums to influence the system.”

“Congress got in on the act, flooding the State Department and the White House with requests for sanctions that, in some cases, appeared intended to cut off foreign competition to home-state industries,” the report details, adding that, at a holiday party in 2011 Adam Szubin, then director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), sang a song titled “Every Little Thing We Do Is Sanctions.”

https://thecradle.co/articles/one-third-of-the-world-under-us-sanctions-report

Ask yourself….what has sanctions done?

The answer is very little….Cuba is still under communist rule…..Venezuela is still leftist…..Russia is still in Ukraine…..etc etc….the accomplish very little…..they are just a feel good solution to a problem.

Every time the US announces a new round of sanctions I write about the stupidity of the idea….

Sanctions–A Horrible Idea

These actions accomplish very little….but it does make it appear that we have the problem well in hand and are doing something…..to me a failure is not a solution.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Biden Speaks

I was not going to comment on the doings at the DNC until the last day, Thursday, but when I saw Biden was going to speak I had to see what total crap he had to say….please does not mean I dislike Biden at all….what it means is this is a cheer leading speech to a favorable audience.

Shall we get to the grits and gravy?

To be honest I think this speech was a bit too much….he covered everything except why his dogs are biting people….he had lots to say…. (my comments)

President Joe Biden closed the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago Monday, and he spoke to the roaring applause of an enthusiastic audience.

  • “I love you all,” Biden said to the crowd as he opened his speech. “And America, I love you.” He had to pause before continuing, as the crowd chanted, “We love Joe.”
  • “Are you ready to vote for freedom? Are you ready to vote for democracy and America? Are you ready to elect Kamala Harris and Tim Walz?” he asked.
  • “Our best days are not behind us, they’re before us,” Biden said after recounting the winter he took the oath of office and became president, when, he said, democracy itself was under threat. Now, he says, democracy has prevailed, but it must be “preserved.”
  • We’re in a battle for the very soul of America,” Biden said. “I ran for president in 2020 because of what I saw in Charlottesville in August of 2017. Extremists coming out of the woods, carrying torches. Their veins bulging out of their necks. Carrying swastikas. And chanting the same exact antisemitic bile that was heard in Germany in the 1930s. Neo-nazis, white supremacists, and the Ku Klux Klan. So emboldened by a president in the White House that they saw as an ally, they didn’t even bother to wear their hoods. Hate was on the march in America.”
  • When Biden recounted Donald Trump’s statement after the aforementioned Charlottesville far-right rally that “there were fine people on both sides,” which Biden said was the moment he decided to run for president, the crowd loudly booed Trump’s words.
  • “I know and believe in an America where honesty, decency, dignity still matter,” Biden said. “An America where everyone has a fair shot and hate has no safe harbor. An America where the fundamental creed of this nation, that all of us are created equal, is still very much alive.”
  • (hate does have safe zone and the GOP provides it)
  • He said he’s worked as president to keep America moving forward, and spoke about his accomplishments, which he pointed out helped all Americans, not just those in blue states.
  • “When I say we, I mean Kamala and me,” he said while touting his administration’s accomplishments. “Yes, we both know we have more to do. But we’re moving in the right direction.”
  • As the crowd chanted, “Thank you Joe” while he talked about lowering prescription drug prices, Biden said, “Thank you Kamala, too.”
  • He went on to talk about the infrastructure achievements of his administration after saying Trump promised to deliver on that front, but “never built a damn thing.”
  • “Wall Street didn’t build America, the middle class built America. And unions built the middle class,” Biden said. “That’s why I’m proud to have been the first president to walk a picket line, and be labeled the most pro-union president in history. And I accept it. It’s a fact. Because when unions do well, we all do well.”
  • (Fine words but Wall street still controls the policies and that is not something to be proud of in any fashion)
  • He mentioned Harris’ role in getting public schools reopened during the COVID pandemic, getting raises for teachers, making college more affordable, and other education-related achievements, noting Project 2025 wants to gut funding for public education.
  • (Please tell us which colleges are more affordable to us peasants)
  • “Donald Trump calls America a failing nation. But think about this,” he said as the crowd booed. “Think of the message he sends around the world when he talks about America being a failing nation. He says we’re losing. He’s the loser. He’s dead wrong.” Biden also got in a joke about how many foreign leaders he knows “just because I’m so damn old.”
  • “Guess what? America’s winning, and the world’s better off for it,” he said, going on to discuss Trump’s lies about crime in America (the lies of a “convicted felon,” he pointed out)
  • “I never thought I’d stand before a crowd of Democrats and refer to a president as a liar so many times. It’s sad,” he said before accusing Trump of lying about the US-Mexico border and killing a bipartisan border bill. Biden then noted, “There are fewer border crossings today than when Donald Trump left office,” but said his administration does not “demonize” immigrants and wants to strengthen legal immigration.
  • “Here’s what else I believe in. Protecting your freedom. Your freedom to vote. Your freedom to love who you love. And your freedom to choose.”
  • (Sadly he can believe whatever he wants but the states are the ones dealing with our ‘rights)
  • He said he’s never “bowed down” to Vladimir Putin like Trump does, and promised Harris wouldn’t either.
  • While discussing his administration’s global accomplishments, he said he’s gotten humanitarian assistance into Gaza and his administration has worked toward a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. “Those protesters out in the street, they have a point,” he said. “A lot of innocent people are being killed, on both sides.”
  • Sorry but after fueling and financing Israel’s ‘war’ it is the least he could have done and why now?  Why not months ago?)
  • “Folks, I’ve got five months left in my presidency. I’ve got a lot to do. I intend to get it done. It’s been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your president. I love the job, but I love my country more. … And we need to preserve our democracy. In 2024, we need you to vote. We need you to keep the Senate. We need you to win back the House of Representatives. And above all, we need you to beat Donald Trump. And elect Kamala and Tim! President and vice president of the United States of America. They’ll continue to lead America forward.” He went on to run down a list of the Harris-Walz campaign promises, comparing and contrasting them to what a Trump presidency would bring.
  • “Selecting Kamala was the very first decision I made when I became our nominee. And it was the best decision I’ve made my whole career,” Biden said. “She’s tough. She’s experienced. And she has enormous integrity. Her story represents the best American story. And like many of our best presidents, she was also vice president. That’s a joke,” he said, as the crowd laughed and cheered. “She’ll be a president our children can look up to. She’ll be a president respected by world leaders, because she already is. She’ll be a president we can all look up to. And she’ll be a historic president who puts her stamp on America’s future.”
  • “America is, and always has been, a nation of possibilities. We must never lose that. Never. Kamala and Tim understand that this nation must continue to be a place of possibilities. Not just for the few of us, but for all of us. So join me in promising your whole heart to this effort. I know my whole heart will be. I promise I’ll be the best volunteer Harris’ and Walz’s campaign has ever seen.”
  • “I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my career, but I gave my best to you,” he said. “I’ve been blessed a million times in return by the support of the American people. … I can honestly say I’m more optimistic about the future than I was when I was elected as a 29-year-old United States senator. I mean it. Folks, we just have to remember who we are. We’re the United States of America, and there’s nothing we cannot do when we do it together. God bless you all, and may God protect our troops,” he concluded, to massive applause, before being joined on stage by the first lady, the vice president, and the second gentleman.
  • (All that is well and good but unfortunately he is speaking to a minority of the country…a majority at the convention….but that is not reality)

It was a long drawn out speech….it generated chants, applause and boos…but is that not what a convention speech is suppose to do?

Please do not make your voting decision by the convention speeches….look for policies that benefit the country not a party.

I have written enough for now…..stay tune and more will be your reward.

I Read, I Write, You Kn0w

“lego ergo sc ribo”

Let’s Boycott!

Several bloggers have suggested that we Americans should exercise our right to boycott…..is that a good idea?

Let’s look at it shall we?

The legal definition…..

boycott

n. organized refusal to purchase products or patronize a store to damage the producer or merchant monetarily, to influence its policy, and/or to attract attention to a social cause. Labor unions and their sympathizers have boycotted lettuce and grapes not picked by union farm workers, and civil rights activists have boycotted stores and restaurants that had “white only” hiring policies. The term is named for Captain Charles C. Boycott, a notorious land agent whose neighbors ostracized him during Ireland’s Land League rent wars in the 1880’s. Boycotts are not illegal in themselves, unless there are threats of violence involved. A “secondary” boycott, which boycotts those who do business with the primary target of the boycotters, is an unfair labor practice under federal and state laws.

More simply put and easier to understand….

A boycott is a collective action or organized effort where individuals or groups voluntarily abstain from engaging with a person, organization, or product as a means of protest, expressing disapproval, or advocating for change. It involves intentionally avoiding or refraining from buying, using, or supporting a particular entity, often due to disagreements with their actions, policies, or practices.

Sounds like a plan, right?

I personally boycott several things….I will not knowingly buy a product made in Israel….there are corporations I boycott for several reasons…..I alone cann0t make much a difference but it makes me feel better knowing that I am not helping is country or that corporation.

So is a boycott a good thing to make change?

It can be but under these times what do we boycott?

Food?  Drugs?  Housing?  Gas?  Transportation?

Which one of these can the average person do without?

Boycotts are a fine idea but there just some things that a boycott is not feasible….we can bitch and moan about high prices but to say we can boycott them is just silly.

You want to lower prices then make them drop them! 

Learn everything you can and then vote….if the does not work then throw the bastard out and try again.

Work with those that are trying to get money out of politics….this may take awhile but it will be a better country when it succeeds.

Lastly find a way to neutralize “K” Street….The group of lobbyists who attempt to influence the policies of the US government…..that is not right….they do not attempt they succeed at owning those members in Congress that will do anything for their cash infusion.

This will be a difficult task….short of bulldozing the whole area…..it can be done but it will take guts and that is something that is in short supply in DC.

Make a plan and go to it!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Who Is The Bigger Threat?

Are immigrants or billionaires the bigger threat to this nation?

An excellent question…..personally I say the billionaires. Why?

They can basically get away with any breaking of the laws where an immigrant cannot.

But let’s looking a little deeper….

When President Joe Biden said in a phone call to MSNBC’s Morning Joe recently, “I’m getting so frustrated with the elitesâ€Ķ the elites of the party. I don’t care what the millionaires think,” former Labor Secretary Robert Reich wrote that, “It was the first time any modern president has admitted that the elites of the party are the millionaires (and billionaires) who fund it.”

While Biden’s comments were in reference to the movement to oust him from the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, it was an important admission about who really wields power in our democracy.

We may think of elections in terms of one person, one vote. But, not only do undemocratic structures such as the electoral college dilute our votes, the money that elites flaunt places a hefty thumb on the scales of who represents us. Yet, we hear more about the threat of, say, immigrants than the threat of billionaires, to our democracy.

Billionaires have tried very hard to buy influence and political power. For example, former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg donated $20 million toward efforts to reelect Biden this year alone. Four years ago, Bloomberg spent a whopping $1 billion in just four months in an attempt to be the 2020 Democratic presidential nominee. In a testament to the fact that we have a modicum of democratic accountability left within the system as it stands, he failed spectacularly, as others have often done. Voters seem to have a distaste for electing the ultra-rich but have yet to disavow the de facto proxies that their money helps elect.

While billionaires remain influential within the Democratic Party, the last election for which spending records exist shows that moneyed elites overwhelmingly prefer the Republican Party. The nation’s 465 wealthiest people collectively donated $881 million to influence the 2022 midterm elections, most of it to the GOP.

Now, the richest person in the world—not just in the United States—Elon Musk, has jumped into the 2024 race. His proxy, Donald Trump, in surviving an assassination attempt, earned Musk’s endorsement, as if that was somehow a qualification to run the nation. Musk has vowed to pour $45 million a month into a new Super PAC that’s working to elect Trump. The amount is pocket change for someone currently worth nearly $250 billion. Musk could spend $45 million a day every day this year and it would barely make a dent in his bottom line.

Who’s a Bigger Threat to Democracy—Immigrants, or Billionaires?

I still hold the belief that the wealthy are the biggest threat to this country moving forward….just looking at the cash being thrown around the political circus we call an election.  These people will want and get something for their ‘kind’ donations.

this country is slowing dying and these pricks are doing nothing to help….they just keep taking and we keep dying.

At what point do we stop this graft?

At what point do we clean out the corruption?

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”