Stakes of Most Recent Trump Indictment

It's been a long time since I posted. This week's developments deserve a bit of commentary. On Tuesday August 1, 2023 ex-President Trump was indicted by the Justice Department for conspiring and acting to overthrow the election of 2020. Today he is being arraigned at a court in Washington, D.C. on four felony counts in connection with that case. 

You're going to see a lot of hocus pocus about whether Trump actually believed he had lost or the election had been stolen from him. That's the defense's main contention. But as Judd Legum says here, https://mail.yahoo.com/d/folders/1/messages/148187?guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9hdHQteWFob28uYXR0Lm5ldC8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAC8E84D3ZosLuMXbRb7bPZ8Px-Qjn0UsnGob12q-FAjOeT2XV7X7OobyDu9i3qH-M4iPRlQ5o8YMykD9R3FpjiH6L7DjP1bGiRuK2OoqViZO8uQpUCI1Nb8bOj7CvtjXADh8ubjhGDM_-m4bq-mpGXWqRLnuDztJSflGi-7PYh5_, I feel that's irrelevant. Even if you think you were unfairly treated about something, that does not allow you to commit a crime to try to rectify it. There are legal channels, such as filing a lawsuit, to try to achieve that result. (Trump, by the way, filed 60, and lost them all.) Even if it's a fact he thought he was wronged, the legal remedy is not to establish fraudulent slates of Electors, threaten state election officials and the life of the Vice President, and send a mob to threaten to kill Congress if it doesn't do what you want. 

Trump is guilty. He is a monstrous canker on American society and its body politic. He will try to delay and obfuscate the trial to run out the clock, get re-elected, and order his Attorney General to dismiss the case. If he wins, he may even try to pardon himself. This must not be allowed to happen. The case must go forward, and Trump must be defeated again at the polls. The future of our republic and the rule of law itself depend on it.

Republican Party Becoming Overtly Fascist

The day they throw Liz Cheney out of the House leadership will be the signal that the old Republican Party has ended. It will still be called the Republican Party but will actually have become the American Fascist Party. Arch-conservative though she is, Cheney at least has the integrity to call a lie a lie and the truth the truth. Edmund Burke wrote that a political party without a platform is nothing but a conspiracy to seize power. That is what the Republican Party has become. 

All their efforts are directed to gain power without scruple at any cost. Lying, cheating, stacking the deck, Orwellian double-speak, welcoming foreign intervention, even armed insurrection have become simply tactical options for them. When the truth conflicts with the party line it is the truth that must be eliminated, as Ms. Cheney will be next week. Their intent is clear from their own statements and from the numerous voter suppression and election-rigging laws they are passing at the state and local levels with frantic haste. From where they are now it is but a short step to bribery, suppression of independent media, assassination and coup. 

When one major party in a republic abandons adherence to fair play and the rule of law and turns down the road to the pursuit of power at any cost, the endgame is invariably the same. We have seen it all before. Yes, it is happening here. Yes, it is happening now. And unless things drastically change, the next time the GOP gains control of the presidency and both houses of congress at the same time they will not be as undisciplined and disorganized as they were under Trump. Next time they will complete the job.

Why the Confederate Statues Have to Come Down

We need to remove all the Confederate statues from public places in the United States. A statue of a person in a public place in our culture is there to honor that person. It is not there just to commemorate history. The people depicted in these statues, people like Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis, Pierre Beauregard, Jeb Stuart and Nathan Forrest were enemies of the United States. What is more, they were traitors. Every one of them took an oath as an officer in the United States Army or as a federal elected official to preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States. Every one of them then went on to repudiate and break that oath by waging war against the United States of America. In this war some 620,000 young men were killed. That is more than have fallen in all the other wars in this nation's history combined.

Some say to remove the statues from public parks and squares is an attempt to erase history. Not at all. The statues can go to Civil War and American History museums. The photographs of them can and should appear in textbooks. But we do not commemorate history in this country by erecting statues of our enemies. If so, where are the statues of King George III or General Cornwallis? Where are the public statues of Kaiser Wilhelm, or of Mussolini, Tojo and Hitler, or of Osama bin Laden?

No, we do not bestow honor in this country upon enemies who have sought to harm and destroy it, who have killed our citizens and attempted to conquer our land and destroy our republic. The very idea is an affront to the sacrifice of those who have risked their lives and too often made the ultimate sacrifice to defend it. It is time to drop this pretense. The communities that are removing these statues are doing the right thing. The Confederate statues have to go. 

Charlottesville

I've been asked to comment on the recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia.  

Charlottesville shows the Confederate element in the South is still alive and kicking. It's the foundation of their conservatism and why they went Republican and have stayed that way.


Trump's statement saying there was over zealousness on both sides was despicable in putting those demonstrating for love and acceptance on a par with the violence and hate spewed by Nazis, Klansmen and Confederate flag-waving racists.

This is what he said:  "We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides. On many sides. It's been going on for a long time in our country. Not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. This has been going on for a long, long time."

See reaction to Trump's statement here. Even Republicans like Orrin Hatch and Marco Rubio castigated him for not decrying the hatred and violence of these intrinsically malevolent hate groups. These groups paraded down the street carrying the flags of entities that killed over a million Americans in the Civil War and World War II based on the execrable principle of racial supremacy. They chanted anti-Semitic and racial slurs. Some wore Klan robes. Many wore red "Make America Great Again" hats and chanted Trump's name. Many gave the Nazi salute. They attacked peaceful counter demonstrators. They even killed one woman. There are not "sides" here. There is decency and there is evil.


The neo-Nazi Daily Stormer praised Trump's statement for not criticizing them at all. My view is that Trump's campaign emboldened these elements and brought them out into the open. Trump's statement is clear evidence he doesn't want to offend his base, and he knows exactly who they are.

Pope Francis's Address to Congress

Pope Francis's address to Congress yesterday was unprecedented for a couple of reasons. To start with, he is the first pope to do so. But perhaps more importantly, he spoke to the legislators on terms they seldom hear anymore, the plane of moral necessity. And while liberals had quite a bit more to cheer than conservatives in Francis's speech, there were several cases that struck a positive chord with both, and a couple of instances where conservatives liked what they were hearing more than liberals did. The upshot is that the Pope, though polite and pastoral rather than scolding, did not pull his punches. His approach is not liberal or conservative in U.S. political terms; it is humanitarian in Catholic terms.

The Pope paid his respects to politics as a profession that can accomplish much good, in the proper light. He encouraged a politics whose purpose is "to build the common good, a community that sacrifices particular interests for the common good."

Francis grounded his speech in the examples of the lives of four great Americans: Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton. From Lincoln he invoked the principle of liberty, "a new birth of freedom that requires a love of the common good." The Pontiff counseled "suspicion against any kind of fundamentalism" that draws simplistic good versus evil or righteous versus sinners pictures and that promotes polarization. Stop with the intransigence and get things done for the people, seemed to be his message here.

The Pope brought up Martin Luther King to highlight equal rights and dignity for all. He here devoted most of his message to inveighing against fear and rejection of immigrants, "I say this to you as the son of immigrants, as I know many of you are the descendants of immigrants." He grounded his point in the Golden Rule. He said, "When the stranger appears to us we must not repeat the errors of the past." Francis's frequent references to Dr. King's "dream" made it clear he supported the concept of the American Dream Act. There was not a lot for conservative immigrant-bashers to like in this segment.   

The next passage was based on the example of Dorothy Day, founder of the "Catholic Worker" publication and a lifelong fighter for the poor and oppressed. Francis no  doubt dismayed conservatives when he explicitly brought up the inequitable "distribution of wealth." He called for an economy that is "modern and sustainable," and specified "The common good includes the Earth." He referred to his recent encyclical on environmentalism, saying, "The environment concerns us all, and environmental deterioration is caused by human activities. We can make a difference, I am sure. Now is the time for courageous action. America can make a vital contribution in the years ahead." At this the Democrats enthusiastically rose while the Republicans sat on their hands. 

Finally, Pope Francis turned to the example of Thomas Merton, a 20th century monk famous for his spirituality. Here the Pope advocated sincere dialogue in the spirit of peace and brotherhood to address all human problems. He specifically brought up the arms trade, indirectly chastising America's role in perpetuating wars that shed "innocent blood." He got applause from conservatives by mentioning his commitment to the value of human life "at all stages of development," but they then sat down in confusion when he immediately pivoted to calling for the worldwide end to the death penalty. He spoke of "threats to the family," including the "redefinition of relations," a likely dig at the recent U.S. acceptance of same-sex marriage. But he then broadened the appeal by speaking for "the richness of family life" and calling for the legislators to do all they could for the "vulnerable young" who have "possibilities, but may be trapped in violence, abuse and despair." This call was rousingly supported by all.

The partisan divide was much more muted than in a normal congressional session, or a State of the Union message, but was present nonetheless. Francis skillfully negotiated the shoals while still getting his message out. And while I would say the lion's share of his message supported the liberal approach to solving human problems, he gave everyone a great deal to think about, regardless of their ideological persuasion. 

 

Trump Phenomenon Tip of Iceberg

What's going on with the Donald Trump phenomenon? I got a note from friend Tim Garner who sent me a link to an opinion piece by Glenn Reynolds in USA Today expounding on the popularity of not only Donald Trump but also Bernie Sanders. You can go to it here. Reynolds's basic point is that the political class is out of touch with everyday Americans and their concerns, and people are looking for solutions outside of the bromides they typically hear from the same old insiders. Reynolds writes, "Trump’s rise is, like that of his Democratic counterpart Bernie Sanders, a sign that a large number of voters don’t feel represented by more mainstream politicians." He is unquestionably right in that assessment.

Where he isn't right is in his contention that the "ruling class" and the political class are the same thing, and in his statement that the big problem is that this ruling class presents an unbroken wall where "On many issues...the Republican and Democratic establishments agree." Anyone who has been paying even minimal attention the past several years is aware of the across-the-board gridlock resulting from irreconcilable Republican and Democratic views on things like health care, taxes, war, immigration, LGBT rights, climate change, the minimum wage, international relations, Medicare and Social Security. Both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have made reversing income inequality the cornerstones of their respective campaigns, for instance. In neither of the recent top-tier nor the second string Republican debates was one word spoken of it. The ruling class are the billionaires with the money. They work hard to game the system so that the political class are their puppets. The GOP almost completely is. The Democrats are not yet fully so.     

There is no question these candidates are indeed, as the author states, tapping into an angst among the rank and file that feels increasingly alienated from the political and/or ruling class. The root of the angst is that the standard of living and opportunity ladder for average Americans has stagnated for over three decades now. The problem of focusing this discontent is that the disaffected are not of one mind. The Tea Party types who like Trump (Cruz, Paul, Carson, et. al.) think government is the problem and want to devolve it. The Leftish types who like Sanders think corporatism and plutocracy are the problem and want strong government under the people's control to rein in this ruling class and force it to share the profits with the workers and provide more opportunity (free college, medical care and so on) to the average folks. It will be fascinating (maybe frightening) to see how this eventually explodes.

Getting the billionaire and corporate money out of the political campaign process is, in my view, the prerequisite for heading off the explosion and restoring better responsiveness. I am, as you likely know, in sympathy with what I referred to as the Leftish analysis.

See the Movie "McFarland USA"

Joan and I saw the Disney film "McFarland USA" today. I highly recommend it. It's a feel good film of the kind Disney has always excelled at, the story of underdogs succeeding in the face of heavy obstacles. But it's also more. It's based on the true and almost unbelievable real-life case of Davids beating Goliaths, and it also offers a marvelously authentic look into a culture we have come to know since moving to the San Jaoquin Valley sixteen years ago.

McFarland was a poverty-stricken hamlet of less than 7,000 people in 1987 when Jim White showed up to teach high school science. Over 90% Latino, most of the residents scratched out a living picking crops in the fields. White saw kids who literally had to run miles from sunrise fieldwork to school and then back again after the last bell. He got the idea of starting a cross country (long-distance running) team and became its coach with no prior experience. Due to the kids' incredible toughness and White's facility for relating to Mexican-American culture, he went on to lead tiny McFarland to nine California state cross country championships in 14 years. The effort had remarkable effects beyond athletics; none of the seven members who formed the initial team had a single relative who had gone beyond ninth grade. All seven went to college, some even to the college where I teach. The tradition persists, too: our College of the Sequoias cross country team remains one of the state's best.

Beyond that, I hope a lot of people will see it to get a better picture of the Latino culture we have come to know and love here in our area. As you might expect, the showing we viewed was packed here in Visalia, but there are many who are unaware of some of the truths of Latino culture and continue to spread pejorative stereotypes. It would help the rest of American society to see the phenomenal work ethic, strong family ties and deep love of these admirable Americans, people who share a combination of pride and humility which is difficult to describe. I saw much about my own students reflected in this film, and I hope you get a chance to see it too.  

      

Measles Outbreak Exposes "Anti-Vax" Lunacy

When I was a kid I got the measles. It seemed like a natural part of life; just about everybody got the "childhood diseases" like measles and chicken pox. It was considered unavoidable. My mother actually told me years later that she intentionally exposed me to chicken pox when I was a toddler under the reasoning that everybody got these viruses sooner or later, and it was better to get it over with as a child than catch them when you were older when they might affect you worse. I never considered something like measles serious; as far as I knew it was discomforting for about a week and that was it.

Little did I know the truth. The World Health Organization reports that "before widespread vaccination began in 1980, 2.6 million people a year died from measles. About 400 people a day still do." That's about 145,000 a year. Dead from measles. I had no idea.

The last known native case of measles, according to the US Center for Disease Control, happened in the year 2000. Other cases since were always of unvaccinated foreigners. Humans are the only host for the measles virus and the vaccine is 100% effective. There was genuine hope of eradicating this sometimes lethal disease that is known as probably the most contagious of all viruses, so communicable that a single sneeze can leave pathogens in the air that will linger for up to two hours.

We now have a resurgence of measles in America that started at Disneyland in Anaheim and has, as of yesterday, spread to 84 victims in 14 states. This was completely preventable and is completely outrageous. It can only be happening because "anti-vax" parents are purposely keeping their kids from getting protected from a potentially lethal disease. There is absolutely no evidence to substantiate any of the imagined claims of a link between vaccinations and autism or any other negative health condition. As PhD microbiologist Alex Berezow wrote today, such parents have "blood on their hands" and should "go to jail." I agree. Reckless endangerment is reckless endangerment, whether it entails leaving a kid in a hot car or leaving them exposed to germs that want to kill them. As Berezow says, "It is time to end this insanity."        

GOP Represents 1995 America, Dems Represent 2045 America

Democrats often like to say that their party is the party of the future and the Republican Party is the party of the past. An interesting statistical analysis in the Wall Street Journal shows that the adage is pretty close to being literally true. In the newly-elected 114th Congress the population profile of the typical Republican-represented House district mirrors the American ethnic profile of 1995, while the typical district represented by a Democrat looks very much like what the Census Bureau anticipates the American population will be in 2045.   

 

See the graphs below.  Click here to go to the original. Blue is the white share of the population, gray is African-Americans, green Latinos and purple Asians. Today's GOP district averages 74% white, 8% black, 12% Latino and 3% Asian. For the Dems it's 49% white, 17% African-American, 23% Latino and 7% Asian.

1995 America was 74% white, 12% black, 10% Latino and 4% Asian, remarkably close to the present average makeup of the typical Republican district. 2045 America, as the Census Bureau projects current population trends, will be 49% white, 13% black, 25% Latino and 8% Asian. That's close to spot-on for how the typical Democratic district shakes out right now.

 

The good news for Democrats is that these population changes promise to swamp the Republican Party in a demographic tidal wave. The good news for Republicans is that they may have some time to change their policy approaches before this effect fully sets in. As it is now, their strategy appears to be to double down on pleasing their white conservative base no matter how much it antagonizes minority citizens. 

Wall Street Journal Washington Wire

Democrats and Republicans in the 114th Congress represent two very different Americas that show a 50-year gap. Republicans represent a group of voters that look like the country in 1995. Democrats represent a group of voters that look like the country as it is projected to look in 2045.

White non-Hisp.

Black non-Hisp.

Hispanic

Asian

2045 America

50

Asian

100

114th House GOP

114th House Dems

1995 America

2045 America

Source: U.S. Census, WSJ Analysis 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taking Flak for What's Right

Who deserves an award for political courage for the year just past? Columnist Joe Klein has an on-the-mark commentary in Time Magazine this week. He gives what he calls "Teddy Awards" annually, named for Teddy Roosevelt, author of the famous quote, "It is not the critic that counts..." but "the man who is actually in the arena...who spends himself in a worthy cause" and who knows either "the triumph of high achievement" or "if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly."          

Klein justifiably gives highest Teddy plaudits to President Barack Obama. While inflexible opposition and hyperbole surrounds him, Obama merits the Teddy because "his policies remain moderate, sane and humane. And by and large, they've worked." His stimulus prevented a depression and laid the foundation for the present recovery, his executive action on immigration is realistic and "surpassingly moral," as was his decision to send 3,000 troops to West Africa to build facilities to help head off the Ebola epidemic.  His health care plan "quietly brought coverage to millions," and the continuing negotiations with Iran are perhaps the only chance to head off a general war in the Middle East. He does what's right regardless of fanatical criticism at every turn. In an apt reference to contemporary American politics, Klein characterizes the president's approach as "stubborn sanity."

Klein awarded Teddies to Democratic candidates Michelle Nunn (lost running for Senator from
Georgia) and Seth Moulton (won a congressional seat in Massachusetts) for spending time during their campaigns actually doing public service, something ironically rather unusual among those asking for our votes as public servants. Paul Rieckhoff of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America got a Teddy for his persistence in taking on the VA, which ultimately led to revelations of incompetence and corruption, the dismissal of the Secretary and a major housecleaning at the Department.

Three potential 2016 presidential candidates make Klein's list. Democrat Elizabeth Warren earns a "lifetime" Teddy "for her work against the depredations of the financial sector and her ability to explain complex problems in a manner comprehensible to average humans." Republicans are not left out. Jeb Bush gets a Teddy for "challenge (ing) his party on immigration and education"and Rand Paul for doing the same on foreign warmongering and "prison reform."

Three longtime public servants now retiring make the list too. Klein gives former Defense Secretary Robert Gates a Teddy for standing up to ideologues of both parties and his own department's bureaucracy. Ambassadors Christopher Hill and William Burns get Teddies for decades of often-dangerous service around the world on behalf of their fellow Americans.  And finally, posthumous awards go to the courageous journalists who died "in pursuit of the story this year, especially those beheaded by ISIS."

It was a welcome column and a sobering reminder that right and justice are not always easily achieved.  There are always prices to be paid, and all progress in life depends on the willingness of the dedicated to pay them.

    

Man Wants to Keep his Sons Alive

Lawrence Otis Graham is an attorney with an investment banker wife and two sons.  They both went to Harvard.  After the Trayvon Martin shooting and the other recent killings of young unarmed black men, Lawrence decided he had better have "the talk" with his two sons to make sure they know the unwritten rules of American society, the rules that young black men need to follow if they want to reduce their chances of getting killed by jittery policemen, security guards or just plain average white citizens.

Graham was interviewed on Nightline recently to share about the precautions an aware black male feels obligated to take to avoid profiling.  He's not over the top; it's just matter of fact advice.  Click on this link to hear his explanation of what he felt he needed to tell his boys about dress and behavior.  It only take two minutes and sixteen seconds.  His goal is simple.  He says, "I just want to keep them alive."     

                                 The Graham Family

Voice of Sanity on Ferguson

Benjamin Watson is a tight end for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League.  He attended high school  in South Carolina and graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in finance. Benjamin and his wife Kirsten co-founded the Christian charity, One More.  A Facebook  piece he wrote dealing with the killing of the young black man Michael Brown by the white police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri has gone viral, and deservedly so.  Wilson thoughtfully looks at several aspects of the issue, a refreshing change from the heated opinions of people on both "sides" whose preconceptions dictate their verbiage irrespective of actual facts.  In case you hadn't seen it yet, I include Watson's entire message as presented in Reader Supported News.      

Benjamin Watson, photo courtesy of New Orleans Saints

I'm Angry

By Benjamin Watson, Facebook

30 November 14

 
t some point while I was playing or preparing to play Monday Night Football, the news broke about the Ferguson Decision. After trying to figure out how I felt, I decided to write it down. Here are my thoughts:

I'M ANGRY because the stories of injustice that have been passed down for generations seem to be continuing before our very eyes.

I'M FRUSTRATED, because pop culture, music and movies glorify these types of police citizen altercations and promote an invincible attitude that continues to get young men killed in real life, away from safety movie sets and music studios.

I'M FEARFUL because in the back of my mind I know that although I'm a law abiding citizen I could still be looked upon as a "threat" to those who don't know me. So I will continue to have to go the extra mile to earn the benefit of the doubt.

I'M EMBARRASSED because the looting, violent protests, and law breaking only confirm, and in the minds of many, validate, the stereotypes and thus the inferior treatment.

I'M SAD, because another young life was lost from his family, the racial divide has widened, a community is in shambles, accusations, insensitivity hurt and hatred are boiling over, and we may never know the truth about what happened that day.

I'M SYMPATHETIC, because I wasn't there so I don't know exactly what happened. Maybe Darren Wilson acted within his rights and duty as an officer of the law and killed Michael Brown in self defense like any of us would in the circumstance. Now he has to fear the backlash against himself and his loved ones when he was only doing his job. What a horrible thing to endure. OR maybe he provoked Michael and ignited the series of events that led to him eventually murdering the young man to prove a point.

I'M OFFENDED, because of the insulting comments I've seen that are not only insensitive but dismissive to the painful experiences of others.

I'M CONFUSED, because I don't know why it's so hard to obey a policeman. You will not win!!! And I don't know why some policeman abuse their power. Power is a responsibility, not a weapon to brandish and lord over the populace.

I'M INTROSPECTIVE, because sometimes I want to take "our" side without looking at the facts in situations like these. Sometimes I feel like it's us against them. Sometimes I'm just as prejudiced as people I point fingers at. And that's not right. How can I look at white skin and make assumptions but not want assumptions made about me? That's not right.

I'M HOPELESS, because I've lived long enough to expect things like this to continue to happen. I'm not surprised and at some point my little children are going to inherit the weight of being a minority and all that it entails.

I'M HOPEFUL, because I know that while we still have race issues in America, we enjoy a much different normal than those of our parents and grandparents. I see it in my personal relationships with teammates, friends and mentors. And it's a beautiful thing.

I'M ENCOURAGED, because ultimately the problem is not a SKIN problem, it is a SIN problem. SIN is the reason we rebel against authority. SIN is the reason we abuse our authority. SIN is the reason we are racist, prejudiced and lie to cover for our own. SIN is the reason we riot, loot and burn. BUT I'M ENCOURAGED because God has provided a solution for sin through the his son Jesus and with it, a transformed heart and mind. One that's capable of looking past the outward and seeing what's truly important in every human being. The cure for the Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice and Eric Garner tragedies is not education or exposure. It's the Gospel. So, finally, I'M ENCOURAGED because the Gospel gives mankind hope.

I'm Done with Football

I like football as much as the next guy.  I played as a senior in high school and have attended five or six pro games, including home games for the LA Rams, Kansas City Chiefs and San Diego Chargers.  I've gone to quite a few major college games, at USC, UCLA, Fresno State, and even one at Syracuse.  I've usually attended one or two community college games a season here in Visalia to see the College of the Sequoias Giants.  I played in fantasy football leagues for about six years.  The last few years I haven't paid much attention to pro games until the playoffs, but I've been a regular for Ohio State games on television and most of the bowl games too.  But I'm taking the plunge this year.  I will be paying no attention to football.   

That's because of the increasing evidence of serious brain injuries associated with football.  The massive class action lawsuit and payout by the NFL is the tip of the iceberg.  It seems recurrent concussions and resulting dementia have been pretty common and are now coming out in the open.  Junior Seau's suicide and donation of his brain to research provided a watershed moment and an undeniable wake up call about what's been going on.

I just can't patronize a sport that is so destructive to people anymore.  It's worse than the ruined knees, for brain injury robs a person of who they essentially are, and it doesn't get worse than that.  I haven't paid any attention to boxing and am repelled by the anything-goes cage fighting and "mixed martial arts" combats too.  That sort of thing is reminiscent to me of the Roman Colosseum, a reversion to primitive bloodletting.  But football has a lot of redeeming qualities: the grace of the receivers, the strategy, the teamwork, the cat and mouse of play selection and defensive anticipation.  But it's all undone when too many young men become the equivalent of drooling octogenarians in their forties and fifties.  I can't countenance my time, attention, support and money going to advance that cause. No game is worth that, and until they find a way to truly protect the brain from that kind of abuse they're just going to have to get along without me.      

Ferguson, Missouri Bottom Line

The bottom line issue in Ferguson, Missouri is the way black people are treated by law enforcement agencies in America.  The killing of black citizen Michael Brown by white officer Darren Wilson is simply the latest installment in a tragic, long-running national serial.  As the video released by the Ferguson Police shows, Michael Brown appears to be an unsympathetic character.  In it he is seen stealing cigars and shoving a store employee out of his way in an intimidating fashion.  Watch the video here.  No doubt that was the reason the Ferguson police released it, to try to get public opinion on their side.  Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, who criticized the local officials for releasing the video, has given his view that that was precisely why it was made public.  See the Newsweek story and video of his remarks here.

But as the black citizens of Ferguson ask, how is that relevant?  They don't mean it is insignificant that Brown may have committed a crime.  What they mean is why did the police officer, who may have been unaware that Brown was wanted in that robbery (that's what Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson said, that the officer initially spoke to Brown simply because he was walking in the street and not on the sidewalk) have to resort to lethal force against a person who was unarmed?  See Jackson's remarks here.

We have a police academy where I teach at College of the Sequoias, and training in the non-lethal arrest and physical control of citizens when necessary is part and parcel of every cadet's required curriculum.  It is also considered a "perishable skill" that must be re-certified for active law enforcement personnel on a regular basis.  Even veteran cops have to undergo intensive training and must demonstrate their proficiency in realistic action scenarios to be awarded re-certification.  So it is almost beyond comprehension that a trained and competent policeman would need to pull a gun and fire multiple rounds into an unarmed and untrained civilian in order to subdue him.

Let me qualify my remarks by saying it is possible that evidence may arise that Brown may have presented a life and death threat to Wilson that could excuse the use of lethal force, for example that he was going for the officer's gun.  But that's not what the initial eyewitnesses have said.  They describe Brown with his hands in the air and a good distance from the police officer and refer to the confrontation as an "execution."  The sad and disgusting truth is that these incidents keep happening, and that they almost invariably involve people of color being treated with a callousness and ruthlessness that rarely seems to happen in other circumstances.  The black community is well aware of the phenomenon, and is frankly fed up with it.  It needs to end. 

Moon Landing: T-Plus 45 Years

Forty-five years ago today I sat in my living room with my family and witnessed an incredible event take place on live television.  Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on another world by climbing down the ladder of the Lunar Excursion Module and placing their boots on the dusty surface of the moon.  Goosebumps rose on my fourteen-year-old arm as I realized I was seeing something that people had dreamed of for thousands of years.

 

The vision and vow of our late beloved President Kennedy, "to send a man to the moon and return him safely to earth before the end of this decade" was being fulfilled.  It was a moment of wonder and also of pride.  America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration had done this.  We beat the Russians to the moon, and in those frightening Cold War days that seemed of the greatest importance.  Our scientists, manufacturers, workers and pilots had proved they were the best.

Today, the meaning is a bit different.  Over 300,000 Americans had a hand in this astounding feat.  It called forth cooperation and teamwork on a monumental scale.  It showed we were still pioneers at heart, and ready to contribute and work together to accomplish great things, seemingly impossible things.  We were a confident and optimistic people, heedless of any limitations.  Oh, to be that people again!       

The War on Drugs

Many liberals are coming around to the view that the forty-plus-year “War on Drugs” initiated by the Nixon Administration in the 1970s has been a terrible failure and needs drastic transformation or an outright end.  Not only has it failed to reduce the incidence of drug use, but like the Prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s it has resulted in a permanent underground economy dominated by violent criminal gangs involved in murder and corruption on a vast scale.  There are examples of successful programs in Europe that have legalized and strictly regulated recreational drugs and expanded compassionate rehab treatment for addicts who want to get clean.  The results seem to include the reduction of violence and death, generation of revenue, a reduction in the rates of usage and an increase in rates of rehabilitation and recovery.  Such a liberal program should be carefully studied for potential adoption in America.

For instance, Portugal decriminalized the possession and use of all drugs in 2001.  A person cited for drug intoxication has to go to a hearing in which they are offered treatment, but they are allowed to go home without it if they refuse.   A study found that in the years after personal possession was decriminalized, drug use among teens in Portugal declined 25 percent, heroin use declined 30 percent, rates of HIV infections caused by sharing of dirty needles dropped 17 percent and the number of people seeking treatment for drug addiction more than doubled.  The money saved from enforcement more than paid for the increased treatment costs.  Sweden offers a different model that combines strict enforcement against trafficking with light punishments but extensive counseling and rehabilitation for users.  Sweden has one of the lowest rates of drug use in Europe.    

In the United States, about $51 billion per year is spent trying to enforce the War on Drugs, including aid and combined operations with nations like Colombia.  About one and a half million are arrested for use and over 500,000 of these are sentenced to incarceration.  In 2012, 52 percent of inmates in federal prisons were there on drug convictions.  20 percent of African-American men spend time in jail at some point in their lives due to drug offenses.  In quite a few states people with these histories lose their right to vote.  Meanwhile, incidences of drug use have not improved.  According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the percentage of Americans over the age of 12 who had used an illicit drug in 2002 was 8.3 percent.  In 2012 it was 9.2 percent.  In 2007 the Institute found that 5.8 percent had used marijuana in the previous month.  In 2012 the percentage had grown to 7.3 percent. 

The point here is not to argue in any way that drug use or abuse is a good thing.  Addiction is responsible for enormous social disruption, many ruined lives, deaths, and negative health outcomes.  Even marijuana creates problems for many people.  The point instead  is to raise the question, as liberals do, about whether the way we are attacking the problem is effective and seems to be working.  The data would appear to indicate it is not.  Immense resources continue to be committed without perceptible improvement.  Meanwhile, approaches being tried in other countries show through hard data that they are making headway.  We do not seem to be meeting human needs well in the War on Drugs.  Research points the way toward better solutions.  Humble practicality seems to indicate there are more effective models we might follow.  In the War on Drugs, as with so many other issues, liberals are in tune with the common-sense saying, If you like what you’re getting keep doing what you’re doing. If you don’t like what you’re getting you need to change what you’re doing.        

Time for a New Memorial Day

The drumbeat of killings goes on.  In the past few days we have seen random shootings take place in Santa Barbara, Las Vegas and Troutdale, Oregon.  If this seems to be practically a weekly occurrence, that's because it is.  In just the case of school shootings, for instance, there have been 74 in the 18 months since the horrific massacre of first graders and staff at Newtown, Connecticut.

These deaths are tolerable, even necessary, we are told by gun enthusiasts, as part of the price we pay for the right to bear arms.  A friend of mine has an admirable idea about this.  Louie Campos proposes we celebrate a new Memorial Day.  Just as we reserve the last Monday of May to honor  members of the armed services who have given their lives in defense of our country and constitutional rights, we should set aside April 20 or December 14 to honor those who have lost their lives to gun violence so that others can enjoy their right to guns.  As Louie put it, "If that unfettered right is their idea of freedom then they need to recognize those who are making the sacrifice for their freedom."  Well said.


The April 20 date would commemorate the mass murder at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999.  The December 14 date would do the same for the Sandy Hook Elementary rampage of December 14, 2012.  But of course the sacrifice is ongoing, and the remembrance would be for those and for the many who give their lives every day so that others will have the crucial right of unhindered access to machines that fire lethal projectiles.  We lost 4,486 service members in Iraq and 2,187 in Afghanistan.  Yet these figures are dwarfed by the losses here at home to our own guns.  Every year American gun deaths top 30,000.  Over 105,000 are shot every year, an average of 289 a day.  Of these 86 die: 30 of them murdered, 53 by suicide, 2 by accident and 1 at the hands of police.  Between 2000 and 2010 335,609 Americans died after being shot by guns.  That is more people than live in St. Louis or Pittsburgh.  Stretch that out to 2013 and the number comes to over 400,000, or more Americans than died in World War II.

It is only fitting that the hundreds of thousand of Americans whose lives have been forfeited for the rights of others should be remembered.  That's the American way.        

Cousin Laura Getting Married Today

Today's news is that Joan and I will be heading to Simi Valley for my cousin Laura Natoli's wedding.  She and her loving partner Rebecca LoMonaco will be tying the knot this afternoon at their home.  It promises to be a happy occasion attended by Natolis and friends from all over.  My sister Toni is flying in from Seattle, and Aunt Mary Jane, Laura's mom, will be getting up from her recent bout of pneumonia to be there.  Joan and I will be meeting with daughters Marie and Jeanette and Marie's husband Robert beforehand for a little Mother's Day festivity.

This is our first official family same sex wedding.  It's great to see our state, California, embracing and recognizing people's love without discrimination any more, and it's wonderful to see the acceptance and good wishes of family members old and young.  I hope to have a follow up entry with some pictures. 

401 and Done

When I was a kid I was bowled over by the national parks my parents took my three sisters and me to.  We didn't go to that many, but they amazed me.  Redwoods, Grand Canyon and Carlsbad Caverns are three that come to mind.  We got a National Geographic book, America's Wonderlands, and I avidly pored through it.  I dreamed of one day going to every national park in America.  There were about 40 of them in those days.

Today's entry is about an interesting fellow who has accomplished something I admire very much.  By visiting the Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site in Washington, D.C. this year,     Chris Calvert has been not only to all 49 national parks, but to all 401 sites and units in the national park system!  To read a more complete story, National Parks, the quarterly magazine of the National Parks Conservation Association, has an article about him in ts Spring 2014 issue.  Appropriately, it's titled "401 and Done."

 

Carter's quest began 33 years ago,     when he was 17.  His parents took    him to Olympic National Park in     Washington state. He remembers  being overwhelmed by the majesty of snow-capped crags looming over old growth forest and flowered  meadows and saying, "If this is what the national parks

are about, I have   to see all of them."

       

Carter graduated from law school, but instead of becoming a "big-shot lawyer" remains a clerk in the office.  That's because he is "unwilling to sacrifice that much of his life to a job."  As his partner  Jeff Splitsoser says, Carter feels "The most precious thing we have is time.  All the money in the world     cannot buy you back another second of it.  His passion is seeing parks--not filing an application or a    brief." For living life as he wishes in pursuit of his passion and dream this entry salutes Chris Calvert.                       

"Common Ground" Monday Night at Cafe 210

I'll be participating in a panel Monday night at Cafe 210.  Everyone is invited.  Cafe 210 is located at 210 W. Center Street in Visalia, and the program will run from 7:00 to 8:30 P.M.  The topic is "Common Ground." 

The program will start with two panelists, Porterville Mayor Virginia Gurrola and College of the Sequoias English instructor Jane Thomas, sharing their experiences and difficulties with finding common ground. 

After them I will go on with my friend and COS History colleague Stephen Tootle.  Stephen is faculty advisor for the College Republicans and I share the same role for the COS Young Democrats.  Our aim is to search for common ground on a variety of issues while modeling civil and respectful dialogue between people who frequently disagree.

The application to current social and political discourse in our country should be rather apparent to anyone who is paying attention.  I hope to see you there!