“You are a communist!” This is what a white, middle-age woman driver said to me from her SUV, as she rolled down her window, stopping alongside my car at a light, not far from my home. Wearing a Trump cap, she had noticed my home-made “bumper sticker” that says: DUMP TRUMP—SAVE AMERICA. This prompted her to speak to me through her open window. I have had the sticker on my car for about two years.
In her mind I am a communist because I want Trump dumped in November. He is anti-America. In her little mind anyone who is anti-Trump is a communist, apparently. I doubt she could define communism. (If anyone is a communist, she is because she supports a president who does not defend our country against Russia!) We got into a brief shouting match and then went our way (I will avoid shouting matches from now on because there is no gain from them. I have always thought that, but it escaped me that day, somehow).
So, what does this mean? One, it means that national politics is heating up and people are beginning to pay more attention. This is common in all presidential elections, but 2020 is like no other. Absolutely like no other.
The other lesson I draw from this little 10 second incident is that some Trump supporters, like this lady (many?), are know-nothings who easily swallow words and thoughts from propagandists like Rush Limbaugh and Laura Graham. A seed of fear and anxiety fuels their embrace for a liar and a manipulator like Trump. What is it? How could we have elected a man like that to begin with!
Bottom line:we are at a crossroads in America. The upcoming election is a critical moment for us as a nation.
I’m Hispanic and I can say that Hispanic issues regarding immigration are completely secondary to the survival of America. You cannot have fair and intelligent immigration policies without fair and intelligent American leaders. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris represent that kind of American. Right now, people like them predominate the Democratic Party. Let’s support them!
This truism is attributed to Noam Chomsky, one of the most celebrated and controversial American intellectuals ever (the quote appears on his FaceBook page, as you can see!). He has been a rabble-rousing thinker and speaker for many years. People with a lot of power (including billionaires, of course) stay away from him, if they know anything about him.
He speaks for the rest of us who live by what we think and teach–the kind of person dictators hate; I think it’s fair to say that Donald Trump abhors thinkers of any kind.
If this were Germany in the 1940s, Russia in the 1950s, Cuba in the 1960s, or Chile in the 1970s, Chomsky (an intellectual Jew, of course!) would have been thrown out of the U.S. (he’s too famous for anything worse). But guys like me would be on the list to disappear. I say this because this has happened before in the countries cited and many others.
So, beware! Don’t learn too much!
P.S. I thank Dr. Jesus Perez of Cascadia College for directing me to this quote by Chomsky.
I’ve been saying in the past that Mr. Trump is UNFIT as our president. With the headlines of the past few weeks, his UNFITNESS has become more visible than ever, and more dangerous.
Today’s New York Times (see below) includes an opinion piece by a former COMMANDER OF THE UNITED STATES SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND, William H. McRaven, who says what I’ve been saying, but in an eloquent but frightening way. Read the key parts of his column below.
Think about what you read! It’s pretty damned important for us Americans!
“…As I stood on the parade field at Fort Bragg, one retired four-star general, grabbed my arm, shook me and shouted, “I don’t like the Democrats, but Trump is destroying the Republic!”
“Those words echoed with me throughout the week. It is easy to destroy an organization if you have no appreciation for what makes that organization great. We are not the most powerful nation in the world because of our aircraft carriers, our economy, or our seat at the United Nations Security Council. We are the most powerful nation in the world because we try to be the good guys. We are the most powerful nation in the world because our ideals of universal freedom and equality have been backed up by our belief that we were champions of justice, the protectors of the less fortunate.
“But, if we don’t care about our values, if we don’t care about duty and honor, if we don’t help the weak and stand up against oppression and injustice — what will happen to the Kurds, the Iraqis, the Afghans, the Syrians, the Rohingyas, the South Sudanese and the millions of people under the boot of tyranny or left abandoned by their failing states?
“If our promises are meaningless, how will our allies ever trust us? If we can’t have faith in our nation’s principles, why would the men and women of this nation join the military? And if they don’t join, who will protect us? If we are not the champions of the good and the right, then who will follow us? And if no one follows us — where will the world end up?
“President Trump seems to believe that these qualities are unimportant or show weakness. He is wrong. These are the virtues that have sustained this nation for the past 243 years. If we hope to continue to lead the world and inspire a new generation of young men and women to our cause, then we must embrace these values now more than ever.
“And if this president doesn’t understand their importance, if this president doesn’t demonstrate the leadership that America needs, both domestically and abroad, then it is time for a new person in the Oval Office — Republican, Democrat or independent — the sooner, the better. The fate of our Republic depends upon it.”
It was the other way around! Consider the following:
El Paso, Texas, was founded by Spanish Fray Garcia de San Francisco in1680 when it became a preliminary base for governing the territory of New Mexico; Spaniards traveled traveled back and forth from what is now Santa Fe to El Paso for many years.
San Antonio, Texas, rose from a Spanish mission founded in 1718 by Fray Antonio de Olivares and from a Spanish military fort names the Presidio San Antonio de Bexar, founded the same year. The mission later became known as “The Alamo.”
The Vice President of the Republic of Texas, before Texas joined the Union, was a Mexican by the name ofLorenzo de Zavala who fought for the independence of Texas from Mexico in 1836. He stands in for the many Mexicans who also fought for Texas independence, many of whom died at the Alamo alongside the better known American heroes, like Davey Crocket.
So, what can we say about President Trump’s insistence that “Hispanics are invading Texas?”
He’s an ignoramus (I’ve said it before).
Worse, still, the El Paso shooter seems to have picked up on Trump’s dogged claims of “invasion” and took it upon himself to kill “invading” “Hispanics” or Mexicans.
It looks like to me that Trump is guilty of inciting terrorism in El Paso and the deaths of thirty one people. That’s the man we have in the White House.
The critics viewed the photograph as “thoroughly humiliating [and] (disrespectful)…too…[for] transmit[ting] a message, perhaps convey pain and trauma, [to] make us feel shame and sadness, and thereby ignite change.” (See “’These Are Not Easy Images to Use,’” The New York Times, July 1, 2019, page A2).
Indeed, it ought to ignite change!!! How dare they! Hear ye, ye!
To condemn the photos as “disrespectful” is head-in-the sand nonsense!!! We need to change our country’s immigration policies to prevent the human crises that have been mounting at our southern border. If our reporters didn’t remind us of what is transpiring there, we would never care! Most of us Americans are too far from our own immigration experience, generations away, and we would care little if we weren’t reminded!
So, I congratulate the New York Times editors. I can believe they took a lot of pain and engaged in studied determination to publish this sad photo. And, they did right.
Our immigration policies do indeed require intelligent and humanitarian reform but all we seem to care about right now is to build walls and scare people away from the border by terrorizing them with gestapo tactics. How truly sad this is happening in America! Yes, we need to be reminded of all this! Perhaps these critics, along with our benighted president, should call to bring down the Statue of Liberty! What’s it up for, then???
“Give me your tired and your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be freed…” (Emma Lazarus)
Claim: Trump says he is going to shut down the border. Fact: It would be nearly impossible to shut down the entire border. He had backed off this idea already as of 4/13/19.
Claim:Building more wall will prevent drug trafficking. Fact: Most drugs from Mexico come through official ports of entry.
Claim: More immigrants are illegally crossing. Fact: The number of illegal crossings is down—and has been down…[D]ata show apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico border have dropped sharply since a 2000 peak. In other words, even with the crush of Central Americans, the broader picture is still a downward one.
Claim:Most illegal immigration is coming from the Mexico border. Fact: More illegal immigration occurs through people overstaying their visas…In 2016, an estimated 320,000 visitors to the U.S….who had temporary visas overstayed them. Most of these arrived by airplane.
Claim:Trump has been securing our borders by building more walls. Fact: Not one new linear mile of border wall has been completed under Trump as of April 9, 2019. Questions arise on whether the new constructions represent a fence or a wall, and how to classify them if the new construction replaced an old one.
This information comes from The Los Angeles Times, “Five misconceptions about the U.S.-Mexico border,” reprinted in the Seattle Times, April 9, 2019, as “Close Up.” The words in italics are mine.
Belew, Kathleen. Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2018). The White Power Movement, a decidedly racist amalgam of men, remains alive and well, according to this scholarly work, but its threat to the nation and to the average American is not entirely clear.
The author, a university professor, helps us understand some basic landmarks in the evolution of the WPM. First are the connections between the Klu Klux Klan and the WPM in the years around World War II and their hellish campaign against Blacks. Secondly, the reader learns of the traitorous identification and fascination of WPM rebels with Nazism and its associated anti-Semitism. Thirdly, and the most important lesson offered by the author, is the role that the Vietnam War played in the formation of disloyal veterans whose leaders declared “war” on the U.S. government, a traitorous act, hence the subtitle of the book, “bring the war home.” WPM leaders disavowed their government fearing it was taking the American people in the wrong direction.
These men organized paramilitary teams and thereby posed credible challenges for American law enforcement personnel. Along these lines, the author connects several events, including Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and the Branch Davidians of Waco, Texas, to the deadly Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. The author affirms a WPM connection, but she also maintains that the FBI and the ATF, primarily, kept the white rebels off balance and against the wall.
I have two main observations about this work. One is that while Professor Belew alleges the continuity of a serious racist threat, my reading didn’t find sufficient support for it. The conspiratorial connections are laid down, alright, but the organizational capability of the WPM raises questions, namely that the insurrectionist leaders, as presented in the book, strike me as unsophisticated, back-country rustics squaring off with the U.S. government somewhat blindly. Secondly, while I find the author’s information abundant and well researched, I also find it circuitous and repetitive, a surprise given her prestigious publisher. Nevertheless, Bring the War Home offers a worthwhile gathering of valuable information, including names, and events, for students of racism in America and issues of national, domestic security.
Andres Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), was inaugurated President of Mexico today. He declared a war against corruption by slashing government spending, including government salaries, ending neo-liberal policies, and fighting drug-trafficking-related violence, all of which he believes he can achieve without new taxes. He will not prosecute corrupt officials of the past. He said little about President Trump, but his few words were positive.
***
* He rode in a conventional, white, 2010 VW sedan to his inauguration with a small police escort, not in a big, black SUV.
* He said:
-“Material things do not interest me”
-“I will cut my salary by 40%”
-“I will not live in Los Pinos” (a luxurious executive mansion)
-“I will end all corruption”
-“I will not allow my wife nor my children to gain through politics”
-“I don’t have the right to fail you”
-“In 2 ½ years you can vote me in or out”
Wow! The statements above, coming from a freshly elected president, rang loud and clear in my mind, and I think you know why, these days: our President Trump is openly benefiting from business ties and his children are too, and all we can do is gape open-jawed.
Mexico recognized AMLO as the new president today, December 1, 2018, and I saw and heard his entire inaugural speech on Televisa and was very encouraged. I regretted not being in Mexico City, even though, had I been a Mexican citizen, I wouldn’t have voted for him back in November.
Having followed the presidential campaign there, I was dubious of his candidacy in part because I’ve studied Mexico nearly all my life and concluded that he was an old 1970’s leftist who was out of touch with 21st century politics. I sympathized with his political leanings but felt that the political winds were moving on and so should he. I wrote as much on my blog.
He won with 53% of the electoral vote (he was one of 4 candidates) and his coalition party captured both houses of Congress. He achieved a clear and overwhelming victory and utterly defeated the PRI, the party that ruled Mexico for nearly a century, building up a selective and muscular apparatus of generously-paid government and party leaders. Clearly, Mexican voters turned their back on the political status quo. AMLO is now all powerful because his people-oriented party (populist?) will most probably endorse his initiatives; there was every indication of that today. No one would have predicted this last year.
AMLO in his VW sedan
I paid attention to things he said and did after he won and before he was officially installed today. An old-line politician, he hails from a modest, traditionally agriculture southern state (Tabasco) and his personal behavior also appears modest and unassuming, hence the 2010 VW white sedan instead of a big, burly, black SUV, and his refusal to live in luxurious Los Pinos on the edge of Mexico City (he’ll live and work in the presidential palace, in front of the zócalo, where most presidents did long ago). He strikes me as an honest ol’ chap; campechano, his friends might say.
Benito Juarez
He is inspired by 19th century liberal leaders, like Benito Juarez, Mexico’s only Indian president, many of whom fought to the death in favor of a secular and fully democratic republic. This is what AMLO pledged today, and this impressed me very much, since I too admire Juarez and his comrades.
As AMLO spoke in front of both chambers of Congress, I paid attention to his predecessor, Ernesto Peña Nieto, who minutes earlier had removed the tri-colored presidential sash from his shoulders, signifying executive authority, and handed it to AMLO. He sat impassively nearby, listening to AMLO’s powerful repudiation of his PRI administration and the other preceding regimes. (Historically, this is hugely important since previous outgoing presidents did not easily walk off the political stage).
No more corruption, AMLO promised throughout his campaign. He emphasized this message today too, in a country whose high-ranking government officials earn U.S. $ 65,000 to $100,000 per year when you include generous end-of-year bonuses, allowances for new autos, gasoline, I-phones, life and medical insurance, private hospital care, paid vacations, and so on. He vowed that no government employee will earn more than he does and swore today to cut his own salary by 40%, averaging about $65,000 annually. He’s also selling the nation’s presidential airplane and already stopped the completion of what would have been one of the world’s biggest airports near Mexico City. Mexico doesn’t need such costly expenditures, he insisted. Trimming these allowances will eliminate the need for new taxes, he contended, and there is no doubt it will affect many well-heeled families in a country where government jobs prevail and enjoy high status but where the average worker earns no more than $5 a day.
My biggest concern is that AMLO linked far too many challenges to corruption in his speech today. This is one of the reasons I would not have voted for him had I been a Mexican citizen—he spoke too vaguely about big issues, even today. For example, he devoted a good part of his speech to condemning Mexico’s neo-liberal economic policies of the 1980’s (i.e., free trade, privatization of government owned enterprises, and the general dominance of the public sector in the economy) suggesting that ending them would help eliminate corruption, somehow, yet he welcomed foreign investment and continued free trade!
He clearly suggested too that wiping out corruption would, by some means, bring down drug-trafficking violence but provided no details except for a reorganization of the nation’s security forces, controversial even now, plus a vague reference to amnesty, although he didn’t use the word. He won’t prosecute past acts of corruption but promised to bring closure to the 43 Guerrero students who disappeared.
Without going on too long here, the bottom line is that AMLO sounded good today, but as many street people interviewed on TV said: “I hope he keeps his promises.” AMLO recalled a young citizen on a bike riding up to him (AMLO doesn’t like too much security) recently and telling him, “you cannot fail us!” In his speech before Congress today he said, “I don’t have the right to fail you.” You can remove me in two and a half years if I do.
Flexner, James Thomas. Washington: The Indispensable Man (Boston: Back Bay Books, 1974) The author wrote four volumes of the life of our first president in the late 1960’s and condensed them into these 423 pages, but the text is “almost all together new,” he advises in the “Preface.” Now deceased, the author received the highest awards for his work and so I imagine that his knowledge and appreciation for George Washington remains unequaled to this day.
I gained a special appreciation for the father of our country thanks to the author’s emphasis on the personal aspects of George Washington’s life. For example, I was touched to learn that almost everyone he met, from the time he was a young man to his last years, trusted him almost immediately for his honesty and good will, and fully expected him to execute a plan, whatever it might have been. His famous crossing of the Delaware, as commander of the bedraggled American forces, to surprise the British at Trenton, is probably the best-known example of how his men loyally followed him even when he had been losing numerous battles. He was not a trained warrior, but he was not afraid to take the lead and do his best for his upstart nation. He stressed heavily on this account.
Washington owned slaves who worked on his plantation, Mount Vernon. Contradictorily, however, the author portrays him as a man so concerned about the welfare of others that he refused to sell his slaves to avoid separating family members, something that made him stand out in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Consequently, Mount Vernon gradually loaded up with a surplus of slaves that simply added to Washington’s mounting indebtedness. This situation came to an end after his death only when his wife liberated them all, at a high cost, to be sure. Flexner’s knowledge of George Washington is outstanding, of course, in part because of his secure familiarity with Washington’s writings, letters, mostly. I found the author’s writing elliptically old-fashioned throughout, but it was worth turning every page. His bibliography must be the best up to 1974, the date of publication.
Donald Trump’s firing of Attorney General Jeff Sessions today, November 8, 2018, is nothing else but the first step to get rid of Robert Mueller, the Special Counsel investigating Trump’s unlawfulness.
Mr. Trump is a mini-dictator desperately trying to rise to the status of big-dictator. His constant battle with the press (Trump’s removing Jim Acosta of CNN from the White House press pool, for example) and his many negative encounters with his own Justice Department (not only Jeff Sessions but many others) are just two examples.
We must stay alert and give strength to our national institutions that can protect us from a Trump dictatorship. We must also press our senators to create a barricade against despotism. Write to them today and tell them: “STAND UP TO TRUMP! PUT UP A BARRIER AGAINST DESPOTISM!
