Don't bother voting, OK?

So you don't want to bother voting because...

"My vote doesn't count."  Well of course it doesn't, if you don't vote.  Problem is that if almost everyone believed that and didn't bother voting, the few of us who WILL vote will control YOUR lives.

"I don't like either party," "Both parties are the same."  If you believe that, you haven't looked at either party.  There have never in US history been more differences between the two major parties than there are now.  Yes, in some ways, like corporate funding, they are similar, but that's about where it ends.

"I don't like choosing the lesser of two evils."  Well, I don't like choosing between cancer and a broken bone either, but I definitely have a preference.  One IS better than the other, even if neither choice is particularly palatable.

"Candidate X doesn't represent all of my views."  No, no candidate is perfect.  No spouse is perfect.  Nothing in life is perfect.  Does that mean we just give up because we can't have perfection?  Not me.  I'll choose the candidate who BEST reflects MY views.

"I support one issue, and this candidate doesn't."  If you are a one-issue voter, fine.  But most people look at the whole candidate or the whole party, and then choose.  Voting on one issue ignores all the other issues on which you might strongly disagree.

"It's too difficult to vote."  Funny, you can probably get out to see a movie; or go to dinner; or go to work or school.  You go shopping, don't you?  You can probably vote -- if you REALLY want to.  Many others are denied the right which you may be squandering.

All in all, I've heard all these arguments recently, and I don't agree with any of them.  Too often, they are the thoughts and opinions of people who are too lazy to find out the issues or research the candidates.  Too often, they are a reflection of the cynicism we see everywhere in our daily lives.  Too often, they are simply rationalizations.

So, go ahead and stay home.  Let me, and people who think like me, decide on our elected officials.  I'm sure we will do a good job for you -- but don't complain when we do.

Fantasy and Reality

Some thoughts on last evening's Democratic Party Debate:

1.  Fantasy - Medicare for All.  This sounds just wonderful.  Republicans say it would be too expensive; Democrats say we'll just raise taxes to pay for it.  Reality - it ain't gonna happen, not because it's not a good idea, but because the country isn't ready for it yet.  Even a large number of Democrats aren't sure of it -- that was obvious on the stage last night.  My favorite solution? Medicare for those who want it, private insurance for those who want it.

2.  Fantasy - Eliminate private insurance.  Insurance companies have earned the hatred of most Americans, and they are racking up irresponsible profits at our expense.  Reality - imagine if they were eliminated over a short period of time -- even over 3-4 years.  Stockholders and pension plans losing their investments.  Millions of people losing their jobs.  Whole sectors of the economy destroyed.  Are all the employees now going to work for the government?  I don't think so.  My favorite solution?  Expand the ACA to include a public option, but allow anyone to sign up for Medicare, regardless of age, physical condition, income, or residence.

3.  Fantasy - Eliminate all college debt.  Free up billions now being paid on loans to be spent in the economy, allow younger people to buy, buy, buy.  Reality - banks losing legitimate income could lead to a major recession.  My favorite solution?  Eliminate debt for those earning less than $50,000 per year per person.  Eliminate interest for everyone else.

4.  Fantasy - Confiscate all assault-type weapons immediately.  These killing machines were never designed to be in civilian hands, and are the favored weapons for mass killers, so confiscating them will make the country safer.  Reality - again, it ain't gonna happen, may not even be Constitutional.  Gun owners aren't going to give them up willingly, and if we want unending violence in the streets, just try this.  My favorite solution?  A buy-back, paying at least $5,000 or even more for each AR-15 or AK-47 turned in.  Heck, people may even steal them from criminals to sell them to the government.  Will it get all of them?  Absolutely not.  But it may get enough off the streets to cut down on the killings.

5.  Fantasy - We will find the perfect candidate.  Reality - they are ALL flawed simply because they are human beings.  My favorite solution?  I have my favorites, but I'm not against any of them because any one of them would be better than what we have now, so I'll vote for whichever Democrat has the best chance of beating Trump ("Vote Blue No Matter Who").  Because if we don't do that, none of the rest of this matters.

Democrats need to earn the votes of liberals, moderates, and conservatives, of independents and Republicans, in order to win in 2020.  The stronger Democrats and the party embrace these five fantasies, the more a Trump re-election is guaranteed.

Far-left liberals don't want to give up on these fantasies, and in an ideal world, they shouldn't have to.  They hope to see them enacted fully and immediately; liberals love the ideas, but may realize that they are not practical at this time; moderates may like the ideas, or could be persuaded to support some version of them; conservatives may not like the ideas that much, but they need to be shown how ANY Democrat is better than what we have now. 

Republicans?  There may still be some sane liberal or moderate ones out there who would be willing to vote blue in order to save the country.  The conservatives are a lost cause, and we shouldn't waste our time, energy, or funds trying to convince them otherwise.

We are a party which wants perfection, so we don't or can't accept the good or the reasonable.  Medicare for all, eliminating private insurance, eliminating student debt, and confiscating all assault weapons are perfection in the minds and hearts of many Democrats.  We're not going to get ANY of those fully, even if we keep the House, and flip the Senate and the White House.

We seem to forget that the overwhelming majority of people in this country are NOT far-left liberal, and we forget that at our own peril.

So the longer Democrats cling to the pie in the sky fantasies, the less our chances of winning become.  Some Democrats remind me of the starving person who turns down all food offers, because s/he doesn't like any of the choices.

And winning is paramount right now, and in 2020.

Now I'm totally confused...

With all the talk about boycotting businesses who support Trump, I'm confused.

I really don't want to buy from anyone who is a Trumpist. 

So if I want paint or hardware, do I shop at Lowe's or Home Depot?  Neither.

If I just want some fast food, do I stop at McDs, KFC, or Chick-Fil-A?  None.

For that matter, before I purchase food at all, can I check to see that they are all Trump-free, or is every company owned or controlled by Nestlé?

I really don't want to support anyone who supports Trump, and I really don't want to buy from any businesses that do.

But, does that mean I have to grow my own food, provide my own supplies, drill and refine my own gas, or wear animal skins instead of cotton?

But we must help our own first...

"Why don't we help our OWN homeless and disabled before these illegals?"

"We should help our VETERANS before we help immigrants."

These and similar posts on social media really set me off, for several reasons.

First, if we hadn't given $1.5 TRILLION in tax cuts to those who least need it money to help all would be no problem.

Second, those who want to help the poor or the homeless or the veterans seldom actually DO anything to help those groups.  They are trotted out on a regular basis to make people who want to help immigrants and "undocumented" people feel guilty.

There is no reason we can't provide all the needs for all veterans.

There is no reason we can't provide all the needs for the poor and disabled.

There is no reason we can't provide assistance to asylum seekers to get on their feet and get a new start.

There is no reason we can't provide decent conditions for "illegals" who are arrested at the border.

There is no reason to separate infants and children from their parents.

We as a nation apparently have decided that only certain groups are worthy of help.  But then, we don't help even THOSE groups.

When we are paying between $500 and $750 PER DAY PER CHILD to take infants away from their parents, who have done nothing wrong or illegal except to request asylum, we have lost our way as a country.

And any people who claim to be religious and do nothing to change this have lost all rights to call themselves that.

War with Iran? A Rachel Maddow type Explanation?

Since the 7th Century AD, Saudis and Iranians have hated each other over religious differences.

After World War Two, the US becomes an ally of Saudi Arabia, sometimes ally of Iran as well, until  hostage situation under President Jimmy Carter.

Under President Ronald Reagan, the US supplied arms to BOTH Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Both Saudi Arabia and Iran want to be top dog in the Middle East.

Donald Trump goes into huge debt to Saudi Arabia going back years.

The US with many other countries signs a treaty with Iran to halt their advance toward nuclear weapons.

Republicans oppose the deal because President Obama negotiated it, and Saudis are against it.

Obama unfreezes Iranian assets because deal is working.

Republicans scream about Obama giving our tax dollars to Iran, but it wasn't ours in the first place..

Donald Trump is elected president, and pulls the US out of the deal.

Trump's debt to Saudis increases.

Every other country, including Russia and China, says the deal was still working, and Iran was complying.

With the US out of the deal, Iran no longer feels it has to comply.with deal.

The Saudis want war with Iran, but can't pull it off on their own.

The Saudis put pressure on Trump for war; Bolton and Pompeo begin cheering in Washington and Netanyahu jumps for joy in Jerusalem..

This is where we are.

This is where we MAY be going...

Trump increases sanctions on Iran; rest of the world (except Saudis) say WTH?

The US and the Saudis start war with Iran over US provocations that had Iran responding.

Russia and China side with Iran.

Europe stays out of it because US has pissed them off so badly.

US, Russia and China have nuclear weapons.

"Christians" jump with joy because Armageddon will bring on the Second Coming and the Rapture, sure that THEY are going to Heaven..

Somehow, Trump will make money from whole scenario.

Another day of totally random thoughts...

1.  Researching businesses in the African-American business district of Danville from 1897 to 1976, I'm struck by several things. 

First, in 1897, the area was almost totally residential.  By 1942, until the early 60s, the street was humming with businesses, as many as five restaurants in a two-block area, with barber shops, cab companies, civic organizations.  Then the decline began.  By 1960, there were only as many businesses as there were in 1909.  And by the late 1960s, almost all were gone.

My thought has always been that urban renewal destroyed the business district.  But not so, apparently.  By the time renewal came along, most of the buildings were empty anyway, with only a few businesses left.  As one local amateur historian noted to me, the businesses were gone but the owners remained, and urban renewal was one way of getting rid of them.

End result -- I now have a fairly complete list of businesses up and down both sides of South Second Street from Main to Green (now MLK Blvd), so I can "see" the changes over the years.

2.  I'm upset at people criticizing Rachel Maddow for giving all the facts, and reading all the quotations she reads. 

One woman said, let US read them, you don't have to go point by point explaining everything.  Well, yes, Rachel DOES need to go point by point, because a good story connects ALL the facts together, and the only way she can do that is to go point by point.  If people don't want to see good teaching, let them watch FOX.  Besides, I don't have the time or the access to read all the newspapers she quotes, so I appreciate her doing it for me.

3.  I'm upset at the new round of the Democratic Party's circular firing squad. 

Biden (I LOVE Joe, but just not this time for president) is being criticized for actually -- get this now -- working with segregationists and racists in the Senate 30 years ago.  I thought the idea of representation was to reach consensus, and to compromise, and to do that, one MUST work with others whom one may personally detest.  If what the "purists" expect of Biden is an apology, they're in for a surprise.

I'm also wondering where this demand for an apology is coming from.  If it's from the Bernie supporters (I LOVE Bernie, but just not this time for president), they're just setting us up for another 2016.  Bernie can take the "high ground" while his supporters cut the ground out from other Dems, so that if Bernie does not get the nomination (which he won't), they can say they supported him, but they can also avoid voting for whomever does get the nomination.  Result?  Four more years of Trump.

4.  Speaking of Trump, how about this?  You're sinking in the polls, Congress and the courts are after you and your family, you're totally incompetent as a leader because you know everything but you know nothing, you don't listen to those who DO, and your cabinet is a revolving door.  You distrust all your advisors including the CIA and the FBI, but you think Putin is the cat's meow.  So what do you do?  Of course, you fake a war with Iran -- something you said repeatedly that Obama would do.  58,000 dead in Vietnam over a lie, and 5,000+ dead in Iraq over a lie weren't enough apparently.

5.  And now, the latest controversy is over what to call the "detention centers" where thousands of people are being held.  To me, if people are kept behind fences and barbed wire and not allowed to leave, it's a concentration camp.  Just because "illegals" aren't being gassed and burned doesn't make it any less.  We didn't murder Japanese internees in the 1940s, but they were still concentration camps.

6.  The decision by the city of Portland, Maine, to accept several hundred asylum seekers from Africa is a wonderful decision made by a city that is caring and compassionate.

The reaction of many Mainers, however, is straight out of Mississippi in 1950.  I am totally ashamed that so many of my former statees are so openly racist and bigoted.

7.  Why are we helping illegals when we aren't caring for our own veterans? 

Too many assume that "illegals" get all the benefits of citizens.  They do NOT, but these troglodytes don't let facts get in the way of their racist opinions.  I'd ask just what have Republicans done to help veterans?  And I've been told that Trump is the best friend veterans ever had -- by MAGA-hat-wearing cultists.

We CAN do both, as a compassionate nation, we MUST do both.  And if we just taxed the 0.01% of the richest multi-billionaires just 0.01%, we could pay for it, too.  I mean, does idiot Betsy DeVos REALLY need a 10th yacht?

If it's so much better there, move there...

When I write that another country does something better than we do, I usually get the "If it's so good there, move there" response, like when I pointed out a few years ago, that Denmark had a highly developed network of wind turbines -- a Norwegian company was considering investing in an offshore wind farm in Maine until the then right-wing conservative governor screwed the deal -- he noted that the turbines were actually powered by small electric motors, not the wind.

Hey, at least he didn't say that turbines cause brain cancer.  But I got the "if it's so good there" response from a Mainer who didn't believe in climate change, and LOVED that governor because he "told it like it is" including offensive language and crude comments and threats.

The backstory --

Back in the 1600s, China was the most advanced civilization on earth.  The very name for the country in Mandarin, was "Chung Kuo", 中国, the "middle kingdom" the gateway between earth and Heaven.

They knew they were the best, so they stopped innovating.  The rest of the world (the barbarians) would never match China.

Other countries caught up and eventually surpassed China.  

The Chinese did not forget that.  They did not forget that for over a hundred years, western powers that became more advanced, like hyenas, gradually picked off pieces of China -- like Mongolia, Manchuria, Macau and Hong Kong.

In the past generation, everything has changed.  China is again on the upswing.  They are innovative, they invest in that innovation, and it shows.

We were the most advanced civilization a generation ago, and knew it.  But then we stopped innovating. 

We began to criticize anyone who did anything better than we did. 

We created the myth of "American exceptionalism" which allowed us to continue to backslide.


Now, with disrespect toward science and facts, and reactionary religious groups, and right-wing nationalists and white supremacists taking over, I'm not sure we can ever get back to where we were.

We need a national plan, wherein we look all around the world to find out what other countries do better than we do.

• National health care in most of Western Europe
• Solar power in France
• Wind power in Denmark
• High speed rail in Japan
• Highways that glow at night in Poland
• Trees that glow at night along highways in the Netherlands
• Or maybe trees that glow at night along highways that glow at night in the US?  YES, we could do that...

We need to fund research (and believe in that research as well) into innovative ideas and products, like green energy.

We need to get over the "we're better than you" mindset that keeps us from discovering new ideas and implementing new techniques.

We need to get off our asses and fund research and development.

And to do that, we need to guarantee that EVERY SINGLE BUSINESS in the US pays at least a bare minimum in income taxes.

We won't rescue this country by continually giving tax breaks to the rich, who don't bother re-investing it.  "Trickle down economics" is really "Pee on everyone else".

I mean, does anyone REALLY need a tenth yacht -- and don't tell me they worked hard to earn all those millions to buy it -- most simply inherited their wealth.

A tax break for the rich -- deductions for every job created; for every dollar invested in R&D and education, deductions for every "green" innovation -- THAT I could go along with.  A tax cut so they can simply send more money to offshore secret banks?  NO!

Will we actually DO any of this?  Frankly, the pessimistic side of me says, no.  Julius Caesar destroyed the Roman Republic and gave people "bread and circuses" so they wouldn't care about things like government.  Later emperors ignored the "barbarians at the gate" until it was too late.

So we'll just cash in our lottery tickets, watch football, have a Bud Light, and forget anything to do with the rest of the world.  

As long as we can text on our Chinese-made smart phone and watch that game on our Chinese-made smart TV...