Now that Trump with all of his distortions of truth has officially become the next President, we should consider having a comedian as President. A comedian shines truth on the antics of the powerful.
Think Jon Stewart. He got Obama to laugh at himself.
Better yet, how about two comedians on the ballot in 2020? What about pairing Jon Stewart with Al Franken?
Republicans skewered Franken as a comedian, unfit to be a U.S. Senator. Now they have turned around and supported a clown for President. I think Republicans disliked Franken because he exposed their hypocrisy.
We just dug out of our bookshelves “Lies: And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right”, Al Franken, 2003.
Oh, yeah, he is still married to his first wife.
In 1999 Franken wrote “Why not me?: the inside story of the making and unmaking of Franken Presidency”. I have ordered it from the Duluth Public Library.
When I had a telephone modem with unlimited access, I watched a lot of Jon Stewart on Facebook, I think. Although his twirling his paper was tiresome, I found his skewering of the powerful, no matter their politics, delightful. He used their own words to reveal contradictions.
If you want a sample how thoughtful Jon Stewart can be, watch his appearance on “CBS This Morning”, I think it was November 17, 2016. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUkv_jPgTeg. Also look up on You Tube his Twitter war with Donald Trump.
See also "Is Donald Trump a Threat to Democracy?"
Showing posts with label President Barack Obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label President Barack Obama. Show all posts
Monday, December 19, 2016
Thursday, September 04, 2014
Is ISIS Islam's Ku Klux Klan?
The Ku Klux Klan has a corrupt version of Christianity. If you don’t behave as they wish, they think they have the right to kill you, gruesomely. ISIS (Islamic State in Iraq and Syria) has a corrupt version of Islam. If you don’t behave as they wish, they think they have the right to kill you, gruesomely.
The Klan wore white hoods to hide their identity. ISIS wears black hoods to hide their identity.
The Klan is still alive and well in the U.S., maybe not as deadly as before, but just as hateful towards those they don’t like. See “At Gateway to Hamptons, Ku Klux Klan Advertises for New Members”, Al Baker, New York Times, 2014-08-29. The Klan’s targets are immigrants.
The Klan bombed black churches. ISIS bombs Shiite mosques.
Christian leaders outside the South condemned the Ku Klux Klan. Those Christian leaders in the South who spoke out against the Klan would be intimidated overtly or covertly. An illustration of how much courage it took to stand up for the rights of Negros is “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee.
Muslim leaders outside the areas controlled by ISIS have spoken out against ISIS. One is Othman Atta, Executive Director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee. Some British imams have issued a fatwa calling ISIS “heretical” and stating that it is “prohibited to support or join” ISIS. A Muslim cleric in India declared ISIS is “not just anti-Islamic but are enemies of humanity as well.” I can’t verify it with multiple sources, but supposedly ISIS executed 12 clerics in Mosul because they would not swear fidelity to ISIS.
For more see “How Islamic State resembles the Ku Klux Klan”, Brian Denson, The Oregonian, 2014-08-24, http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/08/how_islamic_state_isis_resembl.html
Some are calling on President Obama to do something about ISIS and do it yesterday. But what can the United States do other than make matters worse? It is an outside power that really doesn’t understand all the dynamics of other countries and cultures. Look at the messes in Afghanistan and Iraq. They were in turn caused by one man, Osama bin Laden, a former ally, who didn’t like the U.S. putting troops into his Holy Land, Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden decided to strike back at the U.S. and did so several times. Will ISIS strike back in similar ways?
Consider that fighting ISIS may be fighting two enemies with different agendas. ISIS are a set of fanatical jihadists who want everyone to follow their way or die. They are allied with Sunnis who resent the Iraqi government, dominated by Shias, exercising too much control over the Sunni dominated areas.
Wouldn’t you think that Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran would be under a bigger threat from ISIS than the U.S. would? All of these have bigger armies than ISIS. It seems only Iran is making any known effort to contain ISIS, and even that is trying to be done with a low profile.
The United States gave over one billion dollars in military assistance to Egypt in 2012. Egypt can easily spend that as it sees fit. It has an estimated annual military budget over seven billion dollars. ISIS supposedly has stolen over two billion dollars, but who will be selling it arms and how much of that money can it actually access and use, like gold bullion?
Saudi Arabia is a big customer of military suppliers. It has 233,500 active military personnel, over a thousand tanks, and over 200 attack aircraft. Should not that force be sufficient to overwhelm ISIS with firepower and personnel? ISIS has more than ten thousand fighters as of July 2014 and estimates keep climbing. Even if ISIS has 100,000 fighters, would they be a match for Saudi Arabia with all of its aircraft?
King Abdul of Saudi Arabia said recently, “Fight terrorism with force, reason and speed.”
Turkey has been fighting ISIS at its border with some success, but groups like ISIS will keep coming back.
It seems this is another case of “Let’s you and him fight.” Let the U.S. come in and settle other people’s problem (or think it had) and let the U.S. take the blame if things go wrong. When it comes to war, Murphy’s law definitely applies.
So I have two big questions. Why haven’t Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iran taken a much larger and forceful role in combatting ISIS? ISIS is a much greater existential threat to them than to the U.S. Is President Obama pushing on these countries to do more?
So, your Majesty, why not be the leader of the Islamic world and take on ISIS? Don’t you have the advantage of force, reason and speed? You don’t have to get your parliament’s permission, tacit or otherwise. And you don’t have to get the backing of your people.
Mel keeps wondering who elected the President of the United States as “leader of the free world.”
Published in the Reader Weekly at http://duluthreader.com/articles/2014/09/04/4020_is_isis_islams_ku_klux_klan, 2014-09-04.
The blog version includes corrections to the published version.
The Klan wore white hoods to hide their identity. ISIS wears black hoods to hide their identity.
The Klan is still alive and well in the U.S., maybe not as deadly as before, but just as hateful towards those they don’t like. See “At Gateway to Hamptons, Ku Klux Klan Advertises for New Members”, Al Baker, New York Times, 2014-08-29. The Klan’s targets are immigrants.
The Klan bombed black churches. ISIS bombs Shiite mosques.
Christian leaders outside the South condemned the Ku Klux Klan. Those Christian leaders in the South who spoke out against the Klan would be intimidated overtly or covertly. An illustration of how much courage it took to stand up for the rights of Negros is “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee.
Muslim leaders outside the areas controlled by ISIS have spoken out against ISIS. One is Othman Atta, Executive Director of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee. Some British imams have issued a fatwa calling ISIS “heretical” and stating that it is “prohibited to support or join” ISIS. A Muslim cleric in India declared ISIS is “not just anti-Islamic but are enemies of humanity as well.” I can’t verify it with multiple sources, but supposedly ISIS executed 12 clerics in Mosul because they would not swear fidelity to ISIS.
For more see “How Islamic State resembles the Ku Klux Klan”, Brian Denson, The Oregonian, 2014-08-24, http://www.oregonlive.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/08/how_islamic_state_isis_resembl.html
Some are calling on President Obama to do something about ISIS and do it yesterday. But what can the United States do other than make matters worse? It is an outside power that really doesn’t understand all the dynamics of other countries and cultures. Look at the messes in Afghanistan and Iraq. They were in turn caused by one man, Osama bin Laden, a former ally, who didn’t like the U.S. putting troops into his Holy Land, Saudi Arabia. Bin Laden decided to strike back at the U.S. and did so several times. Will ISIS strike back in similar ways?
Consider that fighting ISIS may be fighting two enemies with different agendas. ISIS are a set of fanatical jihadists who want everyone to follow their way or die. They are allied with Sunnis who resent the Iraqi government, dominated by Shias, exercising too much control over the Sunni dominated areas.
Wouldn’t you think that Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran would be under a bigger threat from ISIS than the U.S. would? All of these have bigger armies than ISIS. It seems only Iran is making any known effort to contain ISIS, and even that is trying to be done with a low profile.
The United States gave over one billion dollars in military assistance to Egypt in 2012. Egypt can easily spend that as it sees fit. It has an estimated annual military budget over seven billion dollars. ISIS supposedly has stolen over two billion dollars, but who will be selling it arms and how much of that money can it actually access and use, like gold bullion?
Saudi Arabia is a big customer of military suppliers. It has 233,500 active military personnel, over a thousand tanks, and over 200 attack aircraft. Should not that force be sufficient to overwhelm ISIS with firepower and personnel? ISIS has more than ten thousand fighters as of July 2014 and estimates keep climbing. Even if ISIS has 100,000 fighters, would they be a match for Saudi Arabia with all of its aircraft?
King Abdul of Saudi Arabia said recently, “Fight terrorism with force, reason and speed.”
Turkey has been fighting ISIS at its border with some success, but groups like ISIS will keep coming back.
It seems this is another case of “Let’s you and him fight.” Let the U.S. come in and settle other people’s problem (or think it had) and let the U.S. take the blame if things go wrong. When it comes to war, Murphy’s law definitely applies.
So I have two big questions. Why haven’t Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Iran taken a much larger and forceful role in combatting ISIS? ISIS is a much greater existential threat to them than to the U.S. Is President Obama pushing on these countries to do more?
So, your Majesty, why not be the leader of the Islamic world and take on ISIS? Don’t you have the advantage of force, reason and speed? You don’t have to get your parliament’s permission, tacit or otherwise. And you don’t have to get the backing of your people.
Mel keeps wondering who elected the President of the United States as “leader of the free world.”
Published in the Reader Weekly at http://duluthreader.com/articles/2014/09/04/4020_is_isis_islams_ku_klux_klan, 2014-09-04.
The blog version includes corrections to the published version.
Thursday, September 05, 2013
Gas attack or missile attack: who suffers?
I sent the following webmail to Pres. Obama:
To paraphrase your words: “At what point do we say we need to confront actions that are violating our Constitution?” “I would argue that when I see 400 children subjected to missiles, over 1,400 innocent civilians dying senselessly … the moral thing to do is not to stand by and do nothing.”
What guarantee do you have that each cruise missile will hit a military target? What guarantee do you have that each military target will be occupied by those responsible for the gas attack? Do you know how many civilian workers might be in each target?
A Tomahawk missile has a supposed accuracy of 10 meters. Many streets in Damascus are less than 10 meters wide. Will every military target be more than 10 meters from an apartment building? How far will the debris from a missile explosion go? How many missile explosions will bring neighboring apartments down?
Assume one apartment building has six floors, each floor has four apartments, each apartment has five residents. That's 120 residents in a single apartment building. Do you have any count of how many apartment buildings will be brought down by any misses or near misses or "non-misses"?
If the lethal blast range is 28 meters, then eight neighboring buildings could be brought down. That could mean over 900 residents could be killed by one Tomahawk missile.
If you send ten Tomahawks that could mean over 5,000 Syrians will die for your "message" to Assad. That is a rather high-price for a message for the deaths of 300 or 1400 people.
Oh, by the way, have you considered the repercussions if any missile damages a mosque?
And if the gas attack was perpetrated by Islamic radicals, you really will have been suckered!
To paraphrase your words: “At what point do we say we need to confront actions that are violating our Constitution?” “I would argue that when I see 400 children subjected to missiles, over 1,400 innocent civilians dying senselessly … the moral thing to do is not to stand by and do nothing.”
What guarantee do you have that each cruise missile will hit a military target? What guarantee do you have that each military target will be occupied by those responsible for the gas attack? Do you know how many civilian workers might be in each target?
A Tomahawk missile has a supposed accuracy of 10 meters. Many streets in Damascus are less than 10 meters wide. Will every military target be more than 10 meters from an apartment building? How far will the debris from a missile explosion go? How many missile explosions will bring neighboring apartments down?
Assume one apartment building has six floors, each floor has four apartments, each apartment has five residents. That's 120 residents in a single apartment building. Do you have any count of how many apartment buildings will be brought down by any misses or near misses or "non-misses"?
If the lethal blast range is 28 meters, then eight neighboring buildings could be brought down. That could mean over 900 residents could be killed by one Tomahawk missile.
If you send ten Tomahawks that could mean over 5,000 Syrians will die for your "message" to Assad. That is a rather high-price for a message for the deaths of 300 or 1400 people.
Oh, by the way, have you considered the repercussions if any missile damages a mosque?
And if the gas attack was perpetrated by Islamic radicals, you really will have been suckered!
Tuesday, September 03, 2013
Syria: Popular opinion vs. political opinion
The comments on New York Times articles about Obama's proposal tend to be against any military action with some support for military action. Apparently popular opinion throughout the country is against any military action. Apparently the political leadership in Congress seems to be for military action.
Fortunately, some congresspeople are not following the political crowd. See "Following Classified Briefings, Nolan Will 'Vote and Work Against' U.S. Attack on Syria", Rep. Rick Nolan, 2013-09-03
http://nolan.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/following-classified-briefings-nolan-will-vote-and-work-against-us
I added my own little comment to "House Leaders Express Their Support for Syria Strike", Mark Landler, Michael R. Gordon, and Thom Shanker, New York Times, 2013-09-03:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
"[O]nly the dead have seen the end of war."
– George Santayana
No matter what your opinion, be sure to send email to the President, your Representative, and both of your Senators. They might not read your email, but rest assured their staffs are putting them in pro and con "piles".
Oh, yeah! Remember that little incident in Sarajevo? How many millions died because of all the miscalculations?
Fortunately, some congresspeople are not following the political crowd. See "Following Classified Briefings, Nolan Will 'Vote and Work Against' U.S. Attack on Syria", Rep. Rick Nolan, 2013-09-03
http://nolan.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/following-classified-briefings-nolan-will-vote-and-work-against-us
I added my own little comment to "House Leaders Express Their Support for Syria Strike", Mark Landler, Michael R. Gordon, and Thom Shanker, New York Times, 2013-09-03:
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
"[O]nly the dead have seen the end of war."
– George Santayana
No matter what your opinion, be sure to send email to the President, your Representative, and both of your Senators. They might not read your email, but rest assured their staffs are putting them in pro and con "piles".
Oh, yeah! Remember that little incident in Sarajevo? How many millions died because of all the miscalculations?
Monday, September 02, 2013
Syria: world of laws or a world of men?
Letter to WhiteHouse.gov
John Adams put into the Massachusetts' Constitution of 1780 "a government of laws and not of men".
In 1945 the United States was a promoter and signatory of the United Nations Charter, which includes "to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace". That is, a world of laws and not of men.
Too many times during my lifetime, almost every U.S. President from Harry Truman to George W. Bush have taken unilateral action against another government who they claimed was a threat to the peace. Now a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize has been beating the war drums to take unilateral military action against another member of the United Nations.
What happened to "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
End of letter
Be sure to send your own view on Syria to the President, your senators, and your representative. If you are a citizen of another country, be sure to send your own view to the members of your government.
John Adams put into the Massachusetts' Constitution of 1780 "a government of laws and not of men".
In 1945 the United States was a promoter and signatory of the United Nations Charter, which includes "to take effective collective measures for the prevention and removal of threats to the peace". That is, a world of laws and not of men.
Too many times during my lifetime, almost every U.S. President from Harry Truman to George W. Bush have taken unilateral action against another government who they claimed was a threat to the peace. Now a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize has been beating the war drums to take unilateral military action against another member of the United Nations.
What happened to "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek."
End of letter
Be sure to send your own view on Syria to the President, your senators, and your representative. If you are a citizen of another country, be sure to send your own view to the members of your government.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Syria – A letter to the President of the United States
I posted the following on "Contact Us" at http://www.whitehouse.gov.
Before you were born, the Department of War became the Department of Defense. Unfortunately, several times since the Department of Defense has become the Department of Offense with disastrous results for troops, our citizens, the economy, and other countries' views towards us.
If we are truly to have a Department of Defense, what is the threat that dictators like Assad pose towards the U.S.? Is he going to invade us? If we invade Syria you can rest assured that action will breed terrorists who will invade us.
If Assad is a threat to the region, don't Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait have enough U.S. equipment to take on Assad?
If the U.S. sticks its nose into Syria, it will only give these countries cover to not take action themselves, leaving us as the fall guy when things go badly.
Before you were born, the Department of War became the Department of Defense. Unfortunately, several times since the Department of Defense has become the Department of Offense with disastrous results for troops, our citizens, the economy, and other countries' views towards us.
If we are truly to have a Department of Defense, what is the threat that dictators like Assad pose towards the U.S.? Is he going to invade us? If we invade Syria you can rest assured that action will breed terrorists who will invade us.
If Assad is a threat to the region, don't Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait have enough U.S. equipment to take on Assad?
If the U.S. sticks its nose into Syria, it will only give these countries cover to not take action themselves, leaving us as the fall guy when things go badly.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Quote of the Day: Republicans, Hagel, and Iraq
"Strip away all the demagoguery and there seems to be one reason and one reason only the neocons loathe Chuck Hagel. He was right about Iraq, and they were wrong."
- "Readers View, GOP has no reason to reject Obama Cabinet picks", James J. Amato, Duluth News Tribune, 2013-01-20
- "Readers View, GOP has no reason to reject Obama Cabinet picks", James J. Amato, Duluth News Tribune, 2013-01-20
Monday, January 21, 2013
Great speech but erroneous mathematics
President Obama gave an inspiring inaugural speech, but he stated a mathematical impossibility. He used an incorrect advertising pitch in his statement that "America's possibilities are limitless".
We may never attain all of our possibilities but they are mathematically limited. We have only a limited amount of people, a limited amount of land, a limited amount of resources, and a limited amount of time.
Let us hope that many good things come about for our country, but, whether we live another ten years or another hundred, we won't see many possible benefits that should happen in our lifetimes.
We may never attain all of our possibilities but they are mathematically limited. We have only a limited amount of people, a limited amount of land, a limited amount of resources, and a limited amount of time.
Let us hope that many good things come about for our country, but, whether we live another ten years or another hundred, we won't see many possible benefits that should happen in our lifetimes.
Wednesday, May 09, 2012
The coming battle of the no-shows
The 2012 elections may be determined, not by who votes, but who does not vote.
If President Obama doesn't actively support gay marriage, many gay rights supporters might stay away.
If President Obama actively supports gay marriage, many who don't care for the issue might stay away.
Because Mitt Romney is a Mormon, many "conservatives" might stay away.
If Mitt Romney wavers on any of the "conservative" issues, "conservatives" might stay away.
If Mitt Romney strictly follows the "conservative" script, many RINOs might stay away.
Wherever you stand on the issues, don't give the election to the candidate with whom you disagree the most. Show up and vote on November 6, 2012!
Remember: the 1% may have the money but the 99% have the votes!
If President Obama doesn't actively support gay marriage, many gay rights supporters might stay away.
If President Obama actively supports gay marriage, many who don't care for the issue might stay away.
Because Mitt Romney is a Mormon, many "conservatives" might stay away.
If Mitt Romney wavers on any of the "conservative" issues, "conservatives" might stay away.
If Mitt Romney strictly follows the "conservative" script, many RINOs might stay away.
Wherever you stand on the issues, don't give the election to the candidate with whom you disagree the most. Show up and vote on November 6, 2012!
Remember: the 1% may have the money but the 99% have the votes!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Let's kick the Koch-Cain habit!
Who decides the government of the United States? We the People or they the money?
Who decides the government of the United States? A well-informed populace of high-turnout voters or a secretive group of manipulators who only want their "people" to vote?
I thought I had a new revelation of how manipulated we are when I read "Pizza Magnate Herman Cain Has Extensive Ties to Powerful Koch Group", Huffington Post, Ryan J. Foley, 2011-10-16. I started playing around with Koch being the start of Kochaine and then thought, oh, Koch-Cain.
Well, I was late to the party again. I found about 16,800 results for "Koch-Cain" as a single phrase. The first two were "Billionaire puppeteers at it again? Exploring the connection between Koch brothers and Herman Cain", and "Does GOP Cocaine = Koch-Cain? Are Koch bros Buying GOP Pres Nomination by Supporting Herman Cain?"
I haven't seen anyone writing this yet, but I have a feeling that besides Cain being a puppet of the Koch brothers, he is cynically being used as their "black candidate" against Barack Obama.
If you don't like this cynicism and manipulation, if you would rather have democracy than plutocracy, be sure to vote in every election, especially in November 2012. Please put in VOTE in capital letters on your calendar for November 6, 2012. Please ask all your friends and relatives to do so. To avoid any manipulation, be sure you have registered well before and have a valid ID.
Who decides the government of the United States? A well-informed populace of high-turnout voters or a secretive group of manipulators who only want their "people" to vote?
I thought I had a new revelation of how manipulated we are when I read "Pizza Magnate Herman Cain Has Extensive Ties to Powerful Koch Group", Huffington Post, Ryan J. Foley, 2011-10-16. I started playing around with Koch being the start of Kochaine and then thought, oh, Koch-Cain.
Well, I was late to the party again. I found about 16,800 results for "Koch-Cain" as a single phrase. The first two were "Billionaire puppeteers at it again? Exploring the connection between Koch brothers and Herman Cain", and "Does GOP Cocaine = Koch-Cain? Are Koch bros Buying GOP Pres Nomination by Supporting Herman Cain?"
I haven't seen anyone writing this yet, but I have a feeling that besides Cain being a puppet of the Koch brothers, he is cynically being used as their "black candidate" against Barack Obama.
If you don't like this cynicism and manipulation, if you would rather have democracy than plutocracy, be sure to vote in every election, especially in November 2012. Please put in VOTE in capital letters on your calendar for November 6, 2012. Please ask all your friends and relatives to do so. To avoid any manipulation, be sure you have registered well before and have a valid ID.
Saturday, February 05, 2011
Letter on Egypt to President Obama
In November 2008 many voted for "Change". As far as foreign policy goes, nothing has changed. It is still the same old "national security" and "national interest" leading to greater insecurity and results contrary to our real national interests.
If you haven't already read Andrew Bacevich's "Washington Rules", please do so as soon as possible.
The U.S. is still propping up anti-democratic autocrats like Hosni Mubarak despite very strong dissatisfaction from a large number of people. And U.S. diplomats are still supportive of him, buying his line that he is standing between stability and chaos. Remember the Shah of Iran and his Savak.
Sent via webform at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
If you haven't already read Andrew Bacevich's "Washington Rules", please do so as soon as possible.
The U.S. is still propping up anti-democratic autocrats like Hosni Mubarak despite very strong dissatisfaction from a large number of people. And U.S. diplomats are still supportive of him, buying his line that he is standing between stability and chaos. Remember the Shah of Iran and his Savak.
Sent via webform at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact
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