Ideas, Opinions, Genealogy, and Book Reviews
Jon Meacham has provided us with a great biography of Abraham Lincoln. It is especially good and timely because of the many divisions in the United States. Our country is more divided than any time since the Civil War. And learning about Lincoln and the evolution of his beliefs could yield a few useful lessons that could help us through the current situation.
Continue reading “Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle”
Just Security has done it again. This memo lays out the case of why Donald Trump should be prosecuted.
I believe Donald Trump should be prosecuted for many crimes but this just lays out the case for the crimes related to removing and keeping national security documents and obstruction of the investigation into his handling of these documents.
Here it is – Mar-a-Lago Model Prosecution Memo
https://www.justsecurity.org/84168/mar-a-lago-model-prosecution-memo/
I am now reading And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle by Jon Meacham. And enjoying it as a wonderful biography. I’m only a little past Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858 now but so far I’ve been very pleased with the book. I also think it contains important lessons for us.
The insurrectionist Wing of the Republican party is something to fear. Beware of allowing them to take charge.
Should our political leaders be chosen by other politicians ? For example, should the state legislatures be able to override the will of the people as determined by an election ?
Should violent factions choose our leaders as they tried on January 6, 2021 ?
Or should elections determine the results ? I would think most Americans would prefer that.
Republicans Have sponsored a bill that would raise your Medicare costs. With Democrats in the majority, the bill would probably not ever get out of committee. With a Republican majority, you will likely face higher costs.
What are Senators Mike Lee [R-UT] Cynthia Lummis [R-WY]. James Lankford [R-OK], and Marco Rubio [R-FL] thinking?
Benjamin Franklin was asked after the Constitutional Convention what type of government we would have. He replied “A Republic, if you can keep it.” Back in 2018 I posed the same question ‘ “Can we keep our republic ?”.
Continue reading “A Republic, if you can keep it.”
I am an independent. I feel neither party represents my views fully, although the extremism and pro-insurrection stance of the Republican party is moving me away from that party so I do support Democrats almost exclusively. To be clear, not all Republicans share those views but the party seems to and so do most politicians.
One controversial area is the abortion issue.
Continue reading “Pro-choice is the conservative position”
Richard Dreyfuss argues passionately and convincingly in “One Thought Scares Me…” that a major problem in our educational system is that schools gave up civic education about 50 years ago. I first though the argument was flawed. After all, I think I had a pretty good civic education.
Continue reading “One Thought Scares Me…”
I do not understand what Republicans are thinking.
Recently President Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 which includes several provisions to reduce prescription drug costs for people with Medicare and also lower drug spending by the federal government. Sounds like a win-win; the people on Medicare save and so does the government.
Continue reading “I do not understand”
I have often thought that our representatives in both the House and the Senate should think independently about the good of the American people and the good of the county when voting (see More RINOs and DINOs needed). Our 2 political parties have become too powerful. The uncompromising party loyalty is the problem.
I had thought the answer was to elect more independents. But the recent appearance of the Forward Party suggests a possibility I had not considered. Independents often have a hard time being elected because of lack of logistic and financial party support. Here there is party support and no pressure to conform to an ideology.
Continue reading “New Political Party”
A few weeks ago I wrote about Matt Castelli, a candidate for the NY-21 seat in the House of Representatives currently held by Elise Stefanik. Today I get an email from Matt Castelli’s campaign that he has agreed to a series of debates but Elise Stefanik refuses to debate him. It seems to be true according to the Watertown Daily Times.
I think a debate is the best way for voters to learn about the candidates. Each can get some information out without a debate via ads, appearances, website, etc. But in those formats the opponent doesn’t get a chance to ask about details or present an alternative view.
Continue reading “Refusing to debate in NY-21”
A few days ago, I wrote about the difficulty of calling out the group of Republicans who support former President Trump and excuse his actions in Sorting Republicans. I don’t think it is easy finding a good way to identify sub-groups.
The Republican Party used to be highly principled and an important part of our democracy. But now many seem to favor various conspiracy theories, favor insurrection, or belief increasing their power is more important than voting and democracy. The party is clearly divided into two or more camps.
Continue reading “Nothing conservative”
Several days ago I wrote about President Biden’s Soul of the Nation speech and yesterday about Evan McMullin and his third party run for the U.S. Senate. It seems to me there is a common theme.
President Biden spoke of several things but which seemed to offend some Republicans by calling out MAGA republicans. I don’t think the speech did insult all Republicans. The President clearly distinguished between the MAGA crowd and mainstream conservatives or traditional Republicans.
The problem is trying to sort a larger group into smaller groups. Some will fall in-between, some will misinterpret, and when you add politics some will distort.
Continue reading “Sorting Republicans”
As unlikely as it seems this former Republican, now an Independent and third party candidate for the U.S. Senate, has been endorsed by the Democratic party. He is Evan McMullin , a former undercover CIA officer ,a conservative, and former chief policy director in Congress. If the name is familiar, you may have heard in in 2016 when he ran for president in 2016 as an independent.
A profile by Jennifer Rubin starts like this – Continue reading “Evan McMullin, third party candidate for the U.S. Senate”
I’ve been a fan of Just Security for their new coverage of the January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol and other issues. Today they published When, Where and For What Mar-a-Lago Crimes Should Garland Indict Trump? .