It's simply perplexing to us why a country that has played a leadership role in the world culturally, geographically, philosophically and linguistically for the past, say, five centuries would now willing decide to abdicate that responsibility and become small, and diminish itself. That's exactly what Britain did with their "Brexit" vote this week.
In these first 48 hours since the vote, the fall-out has sent shock waves through the British government, set global stock markets reeling, and has every world leader scratching their heads wondering what is going to happen next.
One thing that may happen next is that Scotland, which overwhelming voted to stay in the European Union, may have another referendum on whether or not to declare independence from England. If they vote to divorce England, they'll stay in the E.U. and then have leverage over an even further diminished England. Does Northern Ireland follow suit, essentially ending what is known as Great Britain?
Predominantly England felt they could recreate the past as opposed to charging into the future only to now realize there's no going back. Stupid. But as presidential historian Doris Kearns-Goodwin outlined, David Cameron did this to himself. He courted England's extreme right, which he didn't need to do, promising an E.U. vote and the result for him was his resignation. Way to go.
Though The New York Times' Helene Cooper warned about making too many parallels between "Brexit" and sentiments here in the United States and how they play to the Trump campaign's strengths, don't be fooled. Paul Manafort on today's program was making them very forcibly, but what he and Donald Trump are arguing for is xenophobic isolationism. (Note: read Mr. Manafort's Wikipedia page and decide whether you want such a person advising an American presidential candidate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Manafort.) Even though Mr. Manafort called David Miliband, fmr. Labor-Party member of Parliament arrogant, Mr. Miliband was accurate when he said that the friendship between The United States and Britain will always be there, but the partnership would be subordinated. The E.U. is a bigger trading partner to the United States than Great Britain and the U.S. should rightly prioritize the former over the latter.Don't blame the U.S. for that.
Mr. Manafort refused to answer Chuck Todd's question as to whether or not "Brexit" is good for the United States. We know it's good for Donald Trump, personally, because he said as much from his new golf resort in Scotland that a weaker pound will make him more money. Speaking of which, the Trump Corporation as illustrated by Mr. Todd today makes money off of the Trump Campaign. And Republicans are O.K. with that?
So even if Donald Trump the candidate loses the election his corporation which he'll then go back to running will have made a profit.
Say what you will about the establishment and your/our varying degrees of rejection of it, but the result of low-informed or dis-informed voting is not the answer - that's what "Brexit" was. It does matter that respected Republicans and conservatives are rejecting Donald Trump (Brent Scowcroft, fmr. National Security Advisor; Henry Paulson, fmr. Treasury Sec; George Will, conservative columnist). If America is thinking that we can recreate the past or shut out the rest of the world, abdicating global leadership, and that's it's a good idea, you're simply being foolish. America now has a view through the window to what the future may hold we decide to elect Donald Trump and it isn't pretty. In other words, you really want to live in fear then vote for Trump.
Panel: Helene Cooper, The New York Times; Kimberley Strassel, The Wall Street Journal; Doris Kearns-Goodwin, presidential historian; Chris Cillizza, The Washington Post
One More Thing...
We don't really have that much interest in the speculation game of who will be the respective Vice-Presidential candidates so we'll let you know what we think of the choices once they're made.
Sunday, June 26, 2016
Sunday, June 12, 2016
6.12.16: Now With Orlando, We Truly Have Failed As A Society
No matter the motive or the affiliation, the ease in which an individual in this country can obtain, legally or illegally, a mass killing machine is a failure of our society.
An assault weapon. Sold for what purpose? To hunt dear during the season in the forests of Pennsylvania? No, any hunter true to American traditions would never use an AR-15 for dear, and yet some would go as far as to say that hunting with any thing other than a bow is not really hunting. So if we don't assault animals with the assault rifle, what it is meant for? The only reason to own one is for the purpose of killing multiple individuals, quickly and easily - assaulting them.
For home protection, how about a shotgun?
For target shooting, how about a pistol?
This idiotic religiosity of guns, especially military style ones (the AR-15 is a civilian model of the military M-16), has to end.
We as an American society have failed to act in any responsible way when it comes to public safety and firearms. When obtaining a firearm in America, it's no questions asked. The questions only come after it's used to commit the largest single mass murder in American history - a terrorist hate crime, a new hybrid motive for massing killing. And why? Because it is all too easy to accomplish.
At the Pulse night club in Orlando, there was an Orlando police officer working security at the club, yet 50 people have died and another 53 were wounded, status pending. Pardon our cynicism, but the good guy with the gun didn't stop the bad guy with the gun.
That disingenuous reasoning was enough for cowardly politicians to hide behind after 20 elementary school children were gunned down with an AR-15 subsequently taking no action to prevent such carnage from happening again in the future.
Well, the future is now, our hearts have been assaulted once again. What's left of them go out to the families who have directed suffered in this tragedy.
And for those politicians we referred to earlier, those who still oppose any kind of regulation on assault weapons should have to answer directly to the victims' families. The shamefulness and callousness of these people is despicable. (For God's sake, show some damn courage... just once.)
An assault weapon. Sold for what purpose? To hunt dear during the season in the forests of Pennsylvania? No, any hunter true to American traditions would never use an AR-15 for dear, and yet some would go as far as to say that hunting with any thing other than a bow is not really hunting. So if we don't assault animals with the assault rifle, what it is meant for? The only reason to own one is for the purpose of killing multiple individuals, quickly and easily - assaulting them.
For home protection, how about a shotgun?
For target shooting, how about a pistol?
This idiotic religiosity of guns, especially military style ones (the AR-15 is a civilian model of the military M-16), has to end.
We as an American society have failed to act in any responsible way when it comes to public safety and firearms. When obtaining a firearm in America, it's no questions asked. The questions only come after it's used to commit the largest single mass murder in American history - a terrorist hate crime, a new hybrid motive for massing killing. And why? Because it is all too easy to accomplish.
At the Pulse night club in Orlando, there was an Orlando police officer working security at the club, yet 50 people have died and another 53 were wounded, status pending. Pardon our cynicism, but the good guy with the gun didn't stop the bad guy with the gun.
That disingenuous reasoning was enough for cowardly politicians to hide behind after 20 elementary school children were gunned down with an AR-15 subsequently taking no action to prevent such carnage from happening again in the future.
Well, the future is now, our hearts have been assaulted once again. What's left of them go out to the families who have directed suffered in this tragedy.
And for those politicians we referred to earlier, those who still oppose any kind of regulation on assault weapons should have to answer directly to the victims' families. The shamefulness and callousness of these people is despicable. (For God's sake, show some damn courage... just once.)
Sunday, June 05, 2016
6.5.16: Two Men from Lexington (Muhammad Ali Commentary)
At a late hour in the Detroit Airport, the dads were tired as they ambled through an empty terminal with their boys. Then an airport transport cart carrying a single individual zipped by the group and when the young boys saw who was on the back they started to yell and chase after it. The man on the back leaned over to the cart driver, telling him to stop. Muhammad Ali stepped off the cart and walked toward the three excited 12 year-old boys, yelling in enthusiasm. I stood there in awe as the champ asked me my name taking my hand in his, huge yet smooth. "What're y'all doing here so late?" he asked.
"We're hockey players," my friend David answered.
"So you's is tough then," the champ responded, still holding onto my hand.
"I'm not afraid to fight you," my other teammate Chris challenged. Surprised, Muhammad Ali took half a step back, putting up his fists, giving us the subtle, signature, juke of the shoulders as the iconic smile broke across his face with this act of love.
Someone had put a paper and pen in the champ's hand and the next thing I know, he handed me an autograph. "Keep fightin," he said as he got back onto the cart and waved to us.
The paper is a little worse from wear, but the signature is still there.
Forever inspired.
Jim Brown left us with one final message today and that was that his friend "hated discrimination and racism," so it's sad for all of us that one of our nominees for president, a position that we're supposed to admire, makes racist statements toward a federal judge, Gonzalo Curiel, in an effort to protect himself.
Andrea Mitchell described the Mr. Trump's statements as blatantly racist, with the same sentiment in writing from conservative author Erick Erickson to back up the point. The National Journal's Ron Fournier described Mr. Trump's statements a "racist bullhorn." If you have any doubts about these descriptions consider that the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) from the same hometown as Muhammad Ali, refused to answer Mr. Todd's question as to whether he thought the statements were racist or not. He said that he disagreed with them, fine, but he couldn't bring himself to admit that Mr. Trump's statements about the judge were in fact racist. (It's a tell-tale sign of what the answer really is when a politician refuses to give a direct answer.)
This brings us to another statement that Senator McConnell made in saying that "the party of Lincoln wants to win the White House." With Donald Trump as the nominee, McConnell's statement render his party inexcusably, morally bankrupt as Mr. Trump's statements are now the Republican party's statements, and that is not the party of Lincoln. With Trump as the party standard-bearer, the moniker no longer applies. The party's leaders are so consumed with self-preservation, unable to look passed an election cycle as the Hoover Institute's Lanhee Chen suggested, that they're willing to support a bigot who is wholly unqualified to be president. Cynically, it's all about the Supreme Court appointments for the Kentucky senator, and his party-at-all-costs over country is a disgraceful stance. For Paul Ryan's part, we'll call his earlier in the week vocalized support of Mr. Trump "sad" as the House Speaker simply walked away from principle.
Jim Brown said today that Muhammad Ali showed other athletes that money is not God, that standing on principle and having integrity are more important, as Mr. Ali did with his stand against the Vietnam War which almost cost him his boxing career. Senator McConnell, from the same city - Lexington - as the champ, shares none of these qualities.
Panel: Donna Edwards (D-MD), Congresswoman; Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Lanhee Chen, Hoover Institute; Ron Fournier, The National Journal
One More Thing...
In case it wasn't clear, Senator Mitch McConnell makes us shake our heads in disgust. If you dislike how Washington operates, look for no other prime example than this individual.
"We're hockey players," my friend David answered.
"So you's is tough then," the champ responded, still holding onto my hand.
"I'm not afraid to fight you," my other teammate Chris challenged. Surprised, Muhammad Ali took half a step back, putting up his fists, giving us the subtle, signature, juke of the shoulders as the iconic smile broke across his face with this act of love.
Someone had put a paper and pen in the champ's hand and the next thing I know, he handed me an autograph. "Keep fightin," he said as he got back onto the cart and waved to us.
The paper is a little worse from wear, but the signature is still there.
Forever inspired.
Jim Brown left us with one final message today and that was that his friend "hated discrimination and racism," so it's sad for all of us that one of our nominees for president, a position that we're supposed to admire, makes racist statements toward a federal judge, Gonzalo Curiel, in an effort to protect himself.
Andrea Mitchell described the Mr. Trump's statements as blatantly racist, with the same sentiment in writing from conservative author Erick Erickson to back up the point. The National Journal's Ron Fournier described Mr. Trump's statements a "racist bullhorn." If you have any doubts about these descriptions consider that the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell (R-KY) from the same hometown as Muhammad Ali, refused to answer Mr. Todd's question as to whether he thought the statements were racist or not. He said that he disagreed with them, fine, but he couldn't bring himself to admit that Mr. Trump's statements about the judge were in fact racist. (It's a tell-tale sign of what the answer really is when a politician refuses to give a direct answer.)
This brings us to another statement that Senator McConnell made in saying that "the party of Lincoln wants to win the White House." With Donald Trump as the nominee, McConnell's statement render his party inexcusably, morally bankrupt as Mr. Trump's statements are now the Republican party's statements, and that is not the party of Lincoln. With Trump as the party standard-bearer, the moniker no longer applies. The party's leaders are so consumed with self-preservation, unable to look passed an election cycle as the Hoover Institute's Lanhee Chen suggested, that they're willing to support a bigot who is wholly unqualified to be president. Cynically, it's all about the Supreme Court appointments for the Kentucky senator, and his party-at-all-costs over country is a disgraceful stance. For Paul Ryan's part, we'll call his earlier in the week vocalized support of Mr. Trump "sad" as the House Speaker simply walked away from principle.
Jim Brown said today that Muhammad Ali showed other athletes that money is not God, that standing on principle and having integrity are more important, as Mr. Ali did with his stand against the Vietnam War which almost cost him his boxing career. Senator McConnell, from the same city - Lexington - as the champ, shares none of these qualities.
Panel: Donna Edwards (D-MD), Congresswoman; Andrea Mitchell, NBC News; Lanhee Chen, Hoover Institute; Ron Fournier, The National Journal
One More Thing...
In case it wasn't clear, Senator Mitch McConnell makes us shake our heads in disgust. If you dislike how Washington operates, look for no other prime example than this individual.
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