The Voting Rights Act got it all wrong
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a major piece of legislation but it fell short because it concentrated on rights. The problem with a right is that it is really not that far from privilege. We cannot...
View ArticleThe Separation of Powers doesn't work
The separation of powers between the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches has been considered a sacred innovation of the U.S. Constitution since the founding of the country. It was indeed a...
View ArticleIs Democracy really worth it?
We all like democracy in the abstract. There is pagentry at swearing in ceremonies and we can brag about being "free" but when we get to the specifics, no, a lot of us don't like it. The current U.S....
View ArticleWhy Progressives don't understand Kansas
The 2014 elections are now over and it seems that the clown car of American politics is heading for the cliff once again. We seemed to be able to vote for ballot propositions to do good things like...
View ArticleSteve Scalise, the House GOP Whip and KKK wannabe
The Guardian article, If you're a politician and your chummy past with neo-Nazis resurfaces, don't worry. Ask Ron Paul, says it best.Hell, I’m not even mad about Scalise. I’m just disappointed. First...
View ArticleOne Reason Why America is in Decline
I haven't been blogging for a bit. I've been busy reading and researching. But given the discussions of late, I thought I would share a bit of truth about ourselves that needs to be exposed and dealt...
View ArticleDeal in Guns, end up in Court
I'm sitting here,yet again, listening to the news of yet another mass killing. For the record, given the epidemic frequency, this time it is in Oregon.Lots of people have come up with point solutions...
View ArticleTed Cruz Explains How We Lost WW-II
I’m a Viet Nam vet so my perspective on the DoD is from the USAF of almost 50 years ago. I started commenting on Ted Cruz wants to give the Pentagon an extra $155 billion… but there is more to say...
View ArticleTrump in San Jose: What I saw
I want to make the following very clear given that I used to commute through this part of San Jose every day and know the area and many of the people very well.Contrary to the young lady on MSNBC who...
View ArticleThe Founding Fathers and Religion: A bit more complicated than that...
In his March 17, 2014 diary, If Our Founding Fathers Were All Christians, Why Did They Say This?, Tolerant Libertarian tried to respond to the conservative Christian argument that the country was...
View ArticleISIS! Really?
We have had yet another mass killing in this country. It is getting to the point of, “What else is new?” Seeing this whole nightmare unfold, I see both an opening for hope and the same old toxic mix of...
View ArticleIf The 2nd Amendment is so Important, Enforce ALL of it
The hallowed, sacred, and otherwise non-questionable 2nd Amendment reads in full:"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear...
View ArticleGary, Jill, or the Lesser of Two Evils...
The election of Presidents is a complicated and agonizing process that takes an absolutely insane amount of time and resources. It is crazy. We are now at the point where there is a little over one...
View ArticleI Was Smart! - The Donald
“We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes.”— Leona HelmsleyFor those too young to remember, she was the Queen of Mean, an egotistical, tyrannical hotelier and real estate developer from New...
View ArticleHey, GOP! Take Your fight outside!
If you have been around long enough, you have spent an evening in a drinking establishment of one sort or another. They are places where people can congregate and have a pleasant time. In some of them,...
View ArticleAn Open Letter to the Electoral College
To 538 Citizens on the Hot Seat:I do not envy your position. Most Americans think that just because we have a national election for President, they, the voter, get to choose who lives and works in the...
View ArticleA Third Way for the Electoral College...
This should not be news to anybody but just in case...Donald Trump and Mike Pence can be stopped from taking office in January. The Electoral college can end their presidential run quite effectively...
View ArticleA Letter to an Elector...
A friend/colleague of mine forwarded me a reply sent by a member of the Texas delegation to the Electoral College. The following is the elector’s form response:DISCLOSURE: By responding to this email...
View ArticleRacism? Call it what it is: Imperiled White Supremacy.
NOTE: I wrote this almost a year ago during the heat of the general election but got busy with other matters including a move to another state and didn’t get around to publishing it until now. For a...
View ArticleConfessions of a New EV Owner
Technically, I am not a new EV owner. We bought our 2017 Volt in June 2016 and it has 9500 miles on it so far. The Clean Vehicle Rebate Project in California’s EPA gives cash rebates to qualified...
View ArticleMedicare for All and the Deserving Poor
The ACA was a remarkable achievement in U.S. policy. Sure, it is a deeply flawed attempt to get something on the table that looks like universal healthcare. But we need to remember that we, as a...
View ArticleFurther Thoughts on Trump and Ajit Pai's Internet Cow Pie
This started off as a comment to Trump and his FCC lackey, Ajit Pai, just blundered into a very big net neutrality fight but it grew to a diary… There is more to the story.The fact that the states,...
View ArticleEvolution, Religion, and Me
I received and email from The Clergy Letter Project this week asking me to sign their letter affirming that science (evolution) and theology can get along. They have also published an op ed in the...
View ArticleNicolas Cruz murders 17 and it is the FBI's Fault! -- GOP
What? Are you kidding me? I suppose we should be happy that the GOP has been moved to do more than just thoughts and prayers...But the FBI? It makes my head hurt.Come on, I realize that the GOP is a...
View ArticleRegarding Prosperity Gospel and White Supremacy
It would seem that these two are linked given that the Trump faction promotes both. The question is then whether this is coincidental or a real linkage. And if there is a linkage, what is it and how...
View Article"Zero Tolerance?" Call it what it is. Ethnic Cleansing.
This last week (June 17-23) has been a horror show of being confronted with what this country is willing to do in the dark recesses of its soul. We have been here before as illustrated by this watch...
View ArticleRevelations from the Families Belong Together Event
My wife and I attended a local Families Belong Together event/rally yesterday. As we sat there in the sun and listened to one “undocumented” speaker after another, these mostly young people had a...
View ArticleTomorrow, Nov 6, We Discover the Mettle of Our Country
I personally know two Native Americans. One is Lakota and an Episcopal priest. The other is a member of the Five Nations in up state New York and a Computer Scientist. They are the sons of immigrants...
View ArticleGerrymandering is Not the Problem
I have been getting buckets of emails pleading for support for HR-1 which, by the way, I have signed. We need lots of disinfectant for our corrupted government and society but we also need to be very...
View ArticleThey wrote it for George and Tom, not Donald - And it shows
Some years before the 2008 election I was in a conversation with friends of mine which included a professor of political science and constitutional law at the local University of California campus and...
View ArticleJoe, stay home.
I just got yet another email asking me to vote on Joe Biden’s possible entry into the race. To save time and email traffic (and the donation pitch that goes with it), here is my answer:Joe, you done...
View ArticleSomeone needs to go have a talk with Nancy
I woke up this morning and read the latest news about the rubbish spewing forth on Twitter. It was in response to Speaker Pelosi’s public comments about “The Squad”. Now, keep in mind that the...
View ArticleProf Turley, Your Impeachment Argument has bugs
Prof Turley, witness for the GOP,I will use a legal term that I partially understand to “stipulate” that you have significantly more legal experience than me. I do not have a law degree, never...
View ArticleRE: This Country is tearing itself apart at the very seams.
NOTE: This started off as a comment to This country is tearing itself apart at the very seams. But it got too long for a comment so I’ve promoted it to an article of its own. Frank Vyan Walton is...
View ArticleOlder people would rather die than let Covid-19 harm US economy – Texas official
I’m not going to write much here. I am beyond disgusted. But read this from Texas Lt. Gov Dan Patrick in the Guardian.Once you stop screaming at your screen do this:Register and then vote out every...
View ArticleSo what is it with this TP business????
They take things literally. They take the Bible literally — word for exact word. (You are not supposed to notice there are millions of “literal interpretations”.Their favorite SCOTUS Justices proclaim...
View ArticleVoting by Mail in Oregon - OH MY!, OH MY!
One of my friends asked me to describe how we vote in Oregon. Sorry to disappoint. It’s so boring. There are no horrors to report. Nothing to clutch your pearls over. We just vote and have been doing...
View ArticleTo all those surveys: This is what I am doing.
I don’t know about the rest of you but my inbox is stuffed every morning with “surveys”. I put the word in quotes because they all have a common theme. There are a lot of binary and multiple choice...
View ArticleJimmy Panetta (D, CA), why did you sign the Gut SSA Letter
For those of you outside the loop, 30 Blue Dog Democrats signed a letter along with the GOP to ask for a closed door planning to “reform” Social Security and Medicare.Jimmy, what is wrong with you? I...
View ArticleSen. Feinstein and petitions...
I get lots of emails asking me to sign a petition to my congress people. Given a CA address, that is Sen. Feinstein and Harris and Rep. Panetta. For current petitions regarding police violence, the...
View ArticleShould there be more debates?
I just got a “survey” email this morning from letvoteamerica.org. There are questions like, “Should the moderator have the ability to mute Trump’s mike?” Or “Should we have realtime fact checking?”Are...
View ArticleWe Voted today!
Got the ballots on Saturday. Filled them out right after dinner today (Monday). We take them over to the drop box by the library tomorrow morning. Would have done it sooner but…Done and dusted!If we...
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I Was Safer in Viet Nam
The Oxford High School mass killing was just a week ago. And as happens again and again, we have heard all the same kinds of talk that miss the root point.Why do we put up with this?I took this picture...
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Dear Independent Voter
We are at a very perilous time in our history. Many of us do not know what to do. We would prefer to not be in the middle of these conflicts. But life does not come with moral insulation. Before I talk...
View ArticleMore Kids Are Dead, Thoughts and Prayers Everybody
Here we are again. And again. When will it end?It will end when we start asking and facing the right questions.My Uncle Ed was an avid duck and goose hunter. That’s what you did in Minnesota at the...
View ArticleLemon Law Time!
GM, I’m looking at you!We have a 2017 Chevy Volt. Don’t get me wrong. It has been a great car. It has the plugin hybrid characteristics that fit our needs perfectly. We occasionally take long trips...
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Alito the Absurd
Forres, Scotland a beautiful little town, formerly a “royal burgh” since 1140, is on the coast in the north of Scotland. Sarah Palin could probably see Norway from there. We visited there this last...
View ArticleA Warning to the MAGA infected...
Every year, my insurance guy (Farmers) sends me a notice to review my policy. Nothing unusual, just part of the job when you have stuff like cars and homes that need/require insurance. This year there...
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