Nixon, Trump and Weasels

I was reaching the end of my boyhood when the whole Nixon thing brewed up.

      I remember well sitting in the kitchen with Mom and eating my breakfast while she got our lunches ready and made sure we had our homework, while half watching the morning news. The War, Watergate, NASA and The cold war were the big topics. But soon it would all be eclipsed by Nixon and Watergate. Erlichman, Dean, Cox, Haldeman and others. Soon, we were even talking about it in class. The effects were pervasive, and divisive. "never trust anyone over 30", "remember may 4" and other slogans were popular. The pressure to get rid of Nixon was intense, and eventually even the Republicans realized Nixon had to go. With the Impeachment hearings moving through Congress, a delegation of GOP Senators went up to the White House. One witness later described Nixon as a "Cornered Weasel." Nowadays, we have Donald Trump, who wants so badly to be seen as a Tough Guy, but who even a casual observer would see is not a Tough Guy, but a Weasel.
Where is the modern day version of the three who took that walk up to the White House to beard Nixon in his den ? We need a modern day version of Scott, Goldwater and Rhodes. Unfortunately, it looks today as if McConnell , Cornyn and McCarthy simply haven't got the belly for it. Although I tend to doubt that The Weasel in Chief would resign if they bid him to. He would simply continue on, hacking holes in the bottom of the Ship of State.

Bill Maher is wrong again.

Bill Maher is wrong again.

The other day on his show, Bill Maher asked that people stop talking about politics. He made the unfounded claim that nobody ever changes their minds and therefore it's useless. I hate to disagree with a man who has his own TV show, but I'm going to. Bill, you're wrong. People do in fact change their minds. When I first voted, I voted as a Reagan Democrat. By the time I moved to Arizona, I was a conservative Republican. (yup... crazy, ain't it.) By the time "W" was elected (or stole the election in 2000) I refused to vote for him. The Party had moved away from me, or perhaps I had moved away from the party, or perhaps some of both. By now, 18 years later, I've shifted toward being a progressive or liberal Democrat. You might even call me a Democratic Socialist. (I wouldn't but that's another story.) People do change, Bill. and Political discussions are a part of that. Not the canned talking points, trolling, and carefully studied insults that we have today, but actual discussion, where the facts themselves are not in question, but the interpretation of those facts is the matter of discussion. Bill, we don't need to stop talking politics, we need to stop having arguments about what the fundamental facts are. Even as early as the mid-90s, people on the internet were trying to bring their own facts. That's what we need to stop doing -- stop using our own facts. Stop bringing "Alternative facts" to the discussion. That done, we can move on to discuss the actual issues at hand. It's not going to be easy. People have to mutually agree to trust sources of facts, and that's going to be difficult. Not impossible, just difficult. It will likely take as long to move back to that that than it took to get to where we are, and to stop shouting slogans at each other.

Another poem for the day.

Whenever veteran's day (Remembrance day elsewhere) comes around, I cannot help but think of this poem. I'm just going to leave it here for you. 

Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries

By A. E. Housman

These, in the days when heaven was falling,

The hour when earth's foundations fled,

Followed their mercenary calling

And took their wages and are dead.

Their shoulders held the sky suspended;

They stood, and the earth's foundations stay;

What God abandoned, these defended,

And saved the sum of things for pay.

Wikipedia entry for AE Housman

As sung by Gillian McPherson (for the film The Dogs of War)

(contrary to the use in the movie, Housman was using "Mercenaries" ironically, describing the professional soldiers of the British Expeditionary Force in WW1)

We like to talk today about anything but 11/11/18 @ 11:00 AM.

The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

We like to talk today about everything but the end of the First World War. 

But I'm going to, for just a few minutes. 

     We love our holidays here in the United States. We also at least mouth the words that we appreciate those who sacrificed their time, money and even their lives for this nation.
We throw parties, parades, football games (gridiron) and solicit donations in exchange for American flags of dubious manufacture or paper poppies. Most of you don't even know why the poppies.
Not to worry, I'm going to tell you. But first, a bit about War.
     Warfare is one of mankind's oldest activities. For most of known history, it was men only (not really, but we'll pay lip service to the official history for now.) War began with rocks, sticks and fists, feet, elbows knees and head-butts. In the earliest times, War was bad, but relatively manageable. Sometimes people got killed, but mostly they yelled at each other and beat on each other until one side or the other ran away. Along with this developed the concepts of Honor, Bravery and Heroism. Most probably the first one to run away in a battle would be dishonored, the last to run honored and those who bothered to show up bravery, and those who made the other side run away first heroes. But the problem is, while medical technology developed, so did killing technology. We went from fists, rocks and sticks to arrows, spears and rock-clubs or hatchets. But the first world war was uniquely ugly because it was the first major Industrial Age war, and we brought industrial age weapons to it. But the world wasn't ready for Industrial age warfare yet. We were still fighting as if it were the Boer war -- with rifles, trenches, non-recuperating artillery and swords and bayonets. Except it was not the Boer war. We had recuperating artillery (cannon that don't need to be re-laid between salvos), machine-guns and worst of all, gas. We didn't know how to cope with those. We didn't know how to cope with sappers who used TNT by the ton, either. In short, the war was a horror raised to an exponential fever pitch.  Indeed, so grim was it that the United States feared a global societal collapse and a global pandemic. We got the second of those two, a pandemic of influenza, which killed more than double those killed in the war. 
     In WW1, men died by the millions. Historians would later reckon that an entire generation of the English upper class was wiped out by the war. The casualties were horrific. It was also the first time the psychological effects of warfare were recognized. Men came home devastated. Physically and emotionally wrecked. It would take years for them to recover, and some never did. We did not learn from that grim lesson. Men who came home were often treated poorly. Few benefits were granted them. Once the war was over, it was over. Bonuses that were promised to be paid "in the future" often didn't happen. The poppy became the symbol of the peace, because of a poem by Col. John McCrae, titled "In Flanders Fields."
I include a copy from Wikipedia:

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
    Between the crosses, row on row,
  That mark our place; and in the sky
  The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
  Loved and were loved, and now we lie
      In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
  The torch; be yours to hold it high.
  If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
      In Flanders fields. 

So, remember these people who fought and died in the first world war. The first war of the Industrial age. The horror war. Remember it and don't be fooled when some thieving politician tells you we need to go fight another war. The United States should not ever fight a war of choice. So remember those men, but also remember the horrors they perpetrated on each other, In Flanders Fields.

Whistling past the graveyard? perhaps.

It is 11/6/18. In hours, the polls will open across the United States, and voters will slowly if surely decide the fate of the United States, and to a lesser extent the Western World, for the next two years or possibly more. Traitor Donnie, a ruthless, greedy, self-aggrandizing, egotistical, injury-collecting braggart, liar and bully, has been President of the United States for just under two years. He has damaged our relationships with our allies, alienated our friends, sucked up to dictators and crashed our trade agreements. The total list of things he's done are too numerous to list here, and they are not the point of this post.
All night, I've been posting stuff on Facebook. Stuff to cheer me up. Stuff like : Charlie Chaplin speech in The Great Dictator
Or: Churchill Speech from The Darkest Hour.
Or even : King Henry V Agincourt speech .
Or this one : V for Vendetta Revolution speech
And of course this one : King Elizabeth Speech "Hoist the Colours!"

Then the comment : "Weather for Phoenix AZ : Temp. 60 Degrees F, Feels like "June 5 1944".
Because it really does feel like the night before a big battle.

Then there were some funny videos :
Martian Queen (From Duck Dodgers in the 24th 1/2 Century) sings "Blues in the Night"

Or her enemy's reply -- "It's Not Unusual" with the borrowed voice of Tom Jones.

I'm an optimist about the elections. I expect the Democratic Party to gain seats in the House and Senate. Optimally they will take both legislative bodies. But, I'm human. I have moments of doubt. Moments of needing some morale boosting. So, I turned to Youtube.

See you after the Elections. GO VOTE!

Crosspost from my facebook.

I was bored one night, and the impulse came over me to profane the late Ted Geisel.
Trump I am:
Brown people from Cent-Am,
Please fear them, Trump I am.
Would you fear them from afar ?
Would you hate them in your state ?
      Hate them, fear them, Trump I am.


(N.B. I do not claim to be a better poet than your average Vogon)

2018 Midterm Elections

I don't care who you support, I want you to get out and Vote Tuesday November 6 2018.

This is of vital importance. If you are registered to vote, get off your butt and go vote! 

      Personally, I despise Donald Trump and everything he stands for.  But I want to set my personal preferences aside for a moment.*

     The means by which any democratic republic functions is when those served by the Government make their wants and needs known to those elected to represent them. The main way of doing this is by voting. Electing people who will carry out their wishes. If you do not vote, your desires will never be counted. If you don't work to elect people who will represent your needs and wishes, you will never see them come to fruition. If you do not bother to get off your backside and vote, you will have given up your chance to affect the outcome of future events. You will also have forfeited your right to complain. Do not fail in this. It takes less than an hour.  If you think supporting Trump is the way to go, then go and put your vote where your mouth is. If, on the other hand, you support things the GOP hates, then go put your vote where your mouth is.


*in the interests of full disclosure, I intend to vote for every Democrat I can, because the GOP has shown themselves to be downright un-American. I have almost never voted for the straight ticket before. -- DLC.   

Pittsburgh Synagogue attack.

Yesterday, a man walked into a Synagogue in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and opened fire.
When it was all said and done, 11 people were killed and more injured.
The man shouted anti-Semitic slogans and insults while shooting. His motives are abundantly clear.
I wonder if the President still thinks there are "Good People" on both sides. I do not make the mistake of laying this attack at his doorstep, but I sure as hell do say that his dangerous rhetoric and his careless actions (labeling himself a Nationalist, for example)  have enabled and empowered those who would gun people down just because of their cultural heritage or their religious beliefs.
This is NOT the USA I want to live in. I will not sit in silence while these things happen. These people must be made example of.  I am not a fan of organized religion, but I am an American, and I believe as Ben Franklin believed, that all religions must be tolerated and accepted.

To the victims and their families, I offer :
Yitgadal v’yitkadash sh’mei raba. B’alma di v’ra chirutei, v’yamlich malchutei, b’chayeichon uv’yomeichon uv’chayei d’chol beit Yisrael,
baagala uviz’man kariv. V’im’ru: Amen.

To the shooter, I offer you the spittle from my mouth, and the remains of your days in a windowless room.

(for my critics, if any -- yes, I copied the prayer from the web. you can find it  Here )

September 11 2018.

17 years ago today a group of terrorists, part of the Al Qaeda terror network, hijacked 4 aircraft. Two of them were flown into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center complex. One was flown into the Pentagon. The final aircraft crashed while being fought for by the passengers. Nearly 3000 people died from the combined effects of the attacks, and more will die from the eventual effects of being involved in the rescue efforts. Brave men and women ran toward the danger instead of doing the sensible thing and running away. Many of them were injured or killed. Today, remember their bravery, remember what they gave up for their fellow Americans. Remember also that they believed in the ideals this country was founded under. I have nothing more to say, other than to thank the many brave souls who gave it their best shot on that day 17 years ago, and to commemorate those who died. Remember them, grant them dignity in death.
But also remember that Muslim fanatics who blow up buildings do not represent the vast, overwhelming majority of Muslims, the totality of whom simply wish to live their lives in peace. Remember also that America was founded as the center of Enlightened Democratic-Republican rule, wherein those who govern do so at the will of the governed.
Take a few moments today to remember those who died in the attacks, and those who have fought to put an end to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

Sincerely
     DLC

Poem:
The Star-Spangled Banner
(by Francis Scott Key)

O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Remember, Key was facing some dark times when he wrote this.
He was being held against his will on a British ship.
The British were marching on Fort McHenry and were heavily bombarding
the fortress, with the intention of taking it. The country was in turmoil
and it looked as if an ignominious loss was at hand.
Key was stunned when he saw that his countrymen had not hauled down the colours.
It gave him hope, and he wrote the above. 


(Note: this was scheduled to auto-post on September 11 2018, but for some reason it did not. )

A very special "Missing Man formation" post.

At this hour, word has reached me that Senator John Sidney McCain III has passed away. He was 81.
Captain McCain was one of my State's Senators. I did not know him except by reputation. He was a navy aviator with some 22 sorties "Downtown" in Vietnam. For those who don't know, that means he flew an A4 attack fighter into the most concentrated barrage of anti-aircraft fire ever seen. He did so in an unarmored aircraft, with nothing protecting him but speed and maneuverability. One time, those were not enough, and then-Lieutenant-Commander McCain's fighter was knocked out of the sky. LtCdr McCain bailed out, breaking his arm in the process, coming to rest in a lake. He was almost immediately taken prisoner, and then his second act of Heroism took place. Lieutenant-Commander McCain was the son of Admiral John Sidney McCain II, and the North Vietnamese knew they had captured a valuable prisoner. However, this did not stop them from beating and torturing their prisoner, especially after he refused early release, saying he would stay with the other officers. When he was finally released on March 14, 1973. He came home partially disabled. Unable to raise his arms over his head, he had to have someone else comb his hair. From this, he went on to win a seat in the Congress of the United States, and later he would win the Senate seat formerly occupied by Barry Goldwater. His record of Achievements in the Senate are many, including many bipartisan efforts to enact legislation that would help out the average American. Among his last worthy deeds was his "No" vote on the bill which would have killed the Affordable Care Act, which saved some 13 million Americans from being thrown off health insurance, and a speech in the well of the Senate where he implored his fellow Senators to return to "Regular Order", wherein things got done in a bipartisan fashion, under the normal rules of the Senate.
I did not personally agree with John McCain on political issues. Many of the things he supported I believed were completely wrong. However, I write here today to commend John Sidney McCain III, Captain USN (Rtd). He was a man of courage and convictions, and a real American Hero.
My heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.

Sincerely, DLC

Why "not all men" is not a valid argument :

Why "not all men" is not a valid argument : 

Because some 16% of women will be forcibly raped at some point during their lifetime, and too many men are indifferent or in denial of the facts.  The number I stated above comes out of statistics kept by RAINN https://www.rainn.org/about-rainn  indicate that over their lifetime, one in six (16%) of women will experience an attempted or successful forcible rape.
The FBI uniform crime report says that  some 67345 women were raped in 2012, while only some 12100 men. for those who can't count well, that's some 5.5 women raped for every 1 man.
Consider also that not as many people report being raped out of shame, fear or embarrassment, and you'll see that we have a real problem here. 
There are all too many sexual predators out there, and the overwhelming percentage of them are men.

The end of constitutional government in the United States ?

The end of constitutional government in the United States ?

I thought I would never write this post.
I most sincerely hope that I am wrong, and that this post will be looked back upon as a panic that was never going to happen and I'll look like a goddamned fool . If so, I'll own up to it, and post an addendum to this. I hope most fervently that I have to do that. But here it is anyway.
Today, Mr. Justice Anthony Kennedy has announced his retirement. 
Mr President Trump (a title that causes me nausea) will have the opportunity to select a replacement. 
If this goes through, modern liberalism is done. Trump will pick someone like Bork and then defy anyone to vote against him. The Senate will vote exactly party lines, and confirm the man who will blow the bottom out of the constitution. Not just the New Deal will die. Not just Roe v Wade. It's game over time. The USA will go the way of Germany, Argentina, Chile and Spain. With a President who considers himself a king, and a 26% "majority" (with 46% apathetic) who will rally and vote for whoever Trump says, children who haven't been taught civics, and a whole generation who believe that Fox News is always right. I don't know whether to arm up or flee the country. I'm old, and not very mobile. I believe I still have one good fight left in me, but that'll be it. It's likely that I'll go down after a few minutes and not get up. I want to explain here that I will fight for -- not for my country, which is only lines drawn on a map -- but I will fight for those ideals the founding fathers set down. Those are what matters. Not some pieces of colored cloth, or location denoted by map coordinates. Land is fungible. Flags change over time. But ideas are bulletproof. Even bad ideas like Fascism. Even horrible ideas like Trump-ism, and Presidente por Vida. Good ideas, like equality under the law, freedom , and a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Not government by the trumpists for the wealthy for the profits.

Something I thought about while I couldn't sleep.

(this post is fiction.I was not an army brat, and am not an army officer. it's offered as written, by me, as an emotional exercise, specifically on this day, for this day. It is told in the voice of a character of mine called Claire McClellan. She's a 27 or 28 year old graduate of the United States Military Academy, and in this context, the first ever female Green Beret officer. (the Special Forces are, as of this writing, still a boys club, although Delta allegedly as some women in it.)

     I'm an Army Brat. I grew up as a dependent of an army officer. The good part about being an Army Brat is, you get to go to so many places. The bad part is, you have to go. But today I want to talk about one part of being an Army Brat that they don't tell you about on TV or in the papers:  (click thru to read the rest )

The Missing man formation again.

I am informed at this late hour that former Astronaut Alan Bean has died. He  was the fourth man to walk on the moon. He was 86. A more complete biography can be found at his wikipedia entry, Here.

As always, the missing man formation for a legendary aviator.

Yom HaShoah

Yom HaShoah :  Today we do not celebrate, but we commemorate the holocaust.

I'm not going to write a big long post about it. A short reminder. Today, we commemorate the holocaust, and vow to remember it, and those who died because of bigotry and hate. The wheels started turning in 1932. Germany, led by an Austrian demagogue, started up the laws against the Jews. In short order, homosexuals, Romani, mentally ill, mentally challenged people, communists and those labelled as "undesirables" would be added to the list later. The next milestone was 1935, the Nuremberg racial purity laws. Then, in 1938, Kristallnacht, when Jews and Jewish businesses were openly attacked. Afterward the Hitler government shut down all businesses owned by Jews. Then came the "deportations" and concentration camps. Then came the final solution. A piece of me wants to say to you "God, don't look". But another, much larger piece says "No. Go look. Go look now. Don't turn away from it. steel yourself by whatever means necessary and look. Look at the pictures. the films. go to the national archives and look. Go to the holocaust museum and look. Listen to the dozens, hundreds of taped stories from the shoah project. Look and listen and then come back and tell me in the comments that you don't believe.

https://youtu.be/xlhZe0uWYoo

Link to nazi concentration camp video, selected video from some of the camps, created for the war crimes tribunal. Note that the final signature on it is Capt. John Ford USN. 

Are you the guy who's constantly complaining that voting's no use "because they control everything?" Well, here's a couple thoughts for you: First, off, if They control everything, why did they spend upwards of 5 billion dollars in the last election cycle. (not counting all the free publicity the news outfits gave people) Think about that for a moment. Five Thousand Million Dollars. It's like 50 pallets worth of money. if it were all rigged as you say, why would they waste 5 billion dollars getting Donald Trump elected ?

Second: Democracy isn't just getting off your butt and voting once every four years. It's hard work. using email, blogs, twitter, phone calls, word of mouth and whatever else you can to get out the word about the candidates or ballot issues you support. It's getting off your butt and actually running for office yourself, if you've got the wherewithal and the stamina for it. 

(I have none of those, personally.) 

And think of this: The current President was elected with 25.5% of the vote.  In other words, about 46.9% of those who could have voted sat on their butts and didn't. They were too lazy to (in Arizona at least) go to a web site, fill out an-e-form and hit send, and then when their ballot came, all they needed to do was draw lines connecting arrows with a black pen or marker. It takes like 10 minutes of steady work that any 5 year old could manage. (Arizona allows vote-by-mail for anyone who's a registered voter and who applies for a mail-in ballot.)

Teal Deer Version:

Not enough people vote.

More people need to get involved

More people need to run for office.

Big Money is dangerous but they don't actually own it all.

 
The Numbers :
231,556,622 eligible voters.
46.9% didn't vote.
25.6% voted for Clinton.
25.5% voted for Trump.Nov 9, 2016

Some things people are missing about the recent government shutdown.

The recent government shutdown has been hailed by the right as a victory for Donald Trump.
Many progressives are angry with minority leader Schumer over the seeming "cave" by the minority leader over the issue. However, the object of the exercise was never to get the GOP to pass some form of DACA legislation. That was never on the cards, and honestly it has not ever been a realistic possibility even though many Republicans mouth words approving the concept. The reality is, there are enough people in the Republican caucus who are dead-set against any immigration of any people who have the condition of being Not-White. It has nothing to do with "The Rule of Law" as they so righteously trumpet -- these people ignore law when it suits them -- and everything to do with the fact that these people come from places where the majority of people have not-white skin. So, try as they might, the Democrats in DC could not have gotten any DACA bill passed. Not by trading a wall for it -- Trump believes he's going to get his wall over the objections of the Democrats. Not by trading DACA for an end to family unification -- what the right so venomously call "chain migration".

Mens Rea, Dreamers and Rule of Law.

I keep hearing this from certain quarters about how Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has been coddling Lawbreakers. 

But here's the elephant in the room : These people were brought to the USA as minors, many of them what the law would define as "Children of Tender Years." Well now, consider the principle in law known as mens rea, or the ability to understand that your actions are wrong, and the principle of forming criminal intent, which go hand in hand. Now, I'm not a lawyer, so I could be wrong here, but from what I've read, there is ample case law, and even some statute law, which say that children under a certain age simply cannot form criminal intent, or have the knowledge that what they're doing is wrong, thus are generally held not guilty or not responsible for their acts. This being true, the people who came here as children of the appropriate age would not be guilty of illegally immigrating into the United States. Full Stop. Case Closed. If you're looking for lawbreakers, look elsewhere.

But what about The Rule of Law(!) ? 

Trump, Sanity and Partisan Politics

Trump, Sanity and Partisan Politics.

No doubt most readers of this blog must already be aware that I am no fan of Donald Trump. 

The reasons why are fairly simple, and largely apolitical, although I may have been misunderstood by those reading my words. If so, I will state it now, for the record : My dislike of Donald Trump has to do with his personality and his history, and has no bearing whatever on his political views or policy positions.

Once more, the missing man formation.

The missing man formation, notorious for it's employment at the funerals of famous airmen, needs to be out once more. I have just learned that Astronaut John Young has died at age 87.
He was a naval aviator, test pilot and selected for Astronaut Group 2. He was also command pilot of STS-1 and STS-9.
His full bio can be found at wikipedia here.

My condolences to Captain Young's family and friends.

Well, it's here. Happy New Year 2018!
With any luck it'll be better than the previous.