Closing Out the Old Year

The fresh new-born baby of 2018, having long ago atrophied into a wizened old man, it is now time to say good-bye to a year strangely and unexpectedly filled with hope, albeit alongside bizarreness on a level never seen before in the U.S. executive branch.

But time to move on it surely is.  I am in process of understanding how this blog can be most useful.  This process, and a holiday rush, have meant a slowing of post frequency here in recent times.  It seems clear, however, that there is a place more than ever for rationality, study, and civil discourse.  This last statement may seem counter-intuitive what with raging "twitter wars" and the like.

At least we can say the American public is no more enamored of the banality, frivolousness, and sheer cruelty which can be on today's Internet.  They still, more than ever, want to be called to honor their better selves.

Perhaps, perhaps it is just possible there is a quite valuable role to be played by bloggers.   And perhaps the uncertainly of now opens up a golden opportunity for patriots, even of the musical kind. 

Forbes Magazine Lays Out Five Interlocking Conspiracies Affecting 2016 Election

... we do appear to be at a turning point, since we finally know what hold Putin has over Trump. Yet, we may be rather “at the end of the beginning,” in that we finally know how and why Trump became president.” The beginning of the end” will come once there is a viable path towards doing something about it.

Forbes magazine has laid out for the American people a scheme of five interlocking conspiracies which were carried out beginning in 2015 and continuing through 2016 and beyond, which Forbes says furthered Donald Trump's financial interests at the expense of the American people.

The article speaks for itself and is a must-read.

How Trump Deprived America of a Free Election: Forbes

Have I Not Even My Own Name Anymore?

The magazine label reads first, "READ MORE AT NEWYORKER.COM,"  then it says,

MY NAME
MY ADDRESS.

Now, I like The New Yorker all right, except for their inexplicable use of profanity, but it was a little jarring to see a promotion for the magazine's web site printed as if it were part of my address.

But this is what it has come to as we approach the final years of the second decade of the 21st Century.   People are "customers," "targets," and more.  Is it not this way of seeing people, which gets us angry?  Are we human still?  Or are we merely entities to be enticed, deceived, and exploited by big businesses?   (As I understand it The New Yorker is owned by Conde Nast and, along with other magazines in the group, is suffering circulation woes.  I sympathize with their plight.)  

It is long past time for a revision in the way our vast marketing and financial worlds are ordered.

People are tired of being ordered around.  


Best wishes from TMP for a wonderful Christmas lead-in period.  

Moment for History

Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama

 

 

 

Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama, elected one year ago this month, brought to justice the men who bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963.   You can clink on the link below for more information.

Then-Attorney Jones acting in his official capacity as a federal prosecutor was responsible for charging these criminals.  Any time is a good time to remember heroes such as Sen. Jones -- including this time. 


How Church Bombers Were Brought to Justice

A Breakfast with Words

Via Patriot in Exigency --


I could also say "a breakfast of words," as I so enjoyed reading this morning the introductory material to Thomas A. Bailey's book entitled A Diplomatic History of the American People, originally published in 1940...

Read more at Patriot in Exigency 

Mid-Terms Cement Fears of a Crisis in Democracy

Quick Link --

Tuesday's results and their fall-out have crystalized concerns about a crisis in democracy on the part of many.  As the Republican-led Senate posted gains in seats, citizens have been wondering just how this happened.   At the link below, writer Jonathan Freedland explains just how this has happened, at least technically.

Not mentioned in the article is the effect of big money on politics.  Surely we can blame big money in politics upon the capitalist system which creates not only a vast imbalance in wealth, but undue political power on the part of the wealthy. 

A must-read:
The Crisis in Democracy

Democrats Make Strong Gains in East and Midwest

Win Control of House of Representatives

and Seven Governorships

Gain Also in South and West

Mid-term election results reflect concerns about health care, economy, and the nature of public discourse.

Details coming soon

NAACP Charges Voting Machine Irregularities in Texas Counties

Quick Link --


Voting Machines Said to Switch Votes to Republican

Greg Palast on the Latest Voter Suppression News

Greg Palast Speaks on "Democracy Now," about a "very serious" voter suppression tactic being used by the Georgia Secretary of State, who is himself a candidate for Governor of Georgia.  Palast and others are suing Kemp (the Secretary) for violations of voting rights laws.  See the video below.  

V

More on Voter List Purges Coming Soon

I'll have more on the voter list purges in Georgia shortly. 

Please check back here later.

Greg Palast Sues

via Patriot in Exigency


My companion web log reports on the new Greg Palast lawsuit seeking to stop voter purges. 




https://patriotinexigency.blogspot.com/2018/10/greg-palast-and-cohort-sue-georgia.html

Mother Jones' Words Still Ring True

Sunday Inspiration.

The words of Mother Jones as related by   Elliott J. Gorn in Mother Jones.  The Most Dangerous Woman in America


"'...we are face to face with a conflict of the classes.'  Her fundamental assumption was the labor theory of value -- that the worth of goods comes from workers combining their toil and skill with natural resources.   From this followed the belief that capitalists unjustly deprive workers of the product of their labor, that the earth's treasures rightfully belong to the people, that the primary identity of those who toil for a living is with each other, and that out of such awareness will come change.    Government, she insisted, was a prisoner of capital.  'You assume that you live in a republic, but it is a mistake;   you live under the flag of an oligarchy.   Your President and Congress do not represent the people.  They represent the robber class, and do not represent the working class.'"

N.B.   Mother Jones was a labor activist in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.   She affected people greatly through her love of workers, their children, and families.

New Twitter Account Details Women's Reluctance to Report Assault

A new Twitter account and hashtag (#whyididntreport) is telling the stories of women and the trauma associated with sexual assault crimes. 

As drama unfolds in Washington, America struggles to find a constructive way forward.   The voices of  the women themselves seems to be a good place to start.

"Why I Didn't Report" Twitter Account

Travel Through North Carolina "Not Advised"

"...it's so bad that the state transportation department gave this notice... : 'Travel not advised in or through North Carolina.'"

-- MSN News today

Affidavit in Brief

The Musical Patriot has seen voter suppression, mostly by Republicans, to be verifiable fact and a very large problem.  The evidence for this statement can be found below -- and elsewhere.

Republican Operatives in Huge Voter Suppression Effort

T he New York Times  today printed an important article entitled, "The Voter Fraud Lie," on the first page of the Sunday Review section.  This article by Carol Anderson, professor at Methodist-affiliated Emory University in Atlanta, details in significant detail what the Republicans learned from the 2000 election fiasco.

As long-time readers of this blog know, Republicans have raised the false flag of alarm against so-called voter fraud.  This supposed pervasive problem exists on a miniscule scale with most offenses being the result of malfeasance rather than turpitude.   What long-time readers may also recall is that the lie of wide-spread voter fraud is one of only nine methods of vote manipulation used by the now-corrupted Republican Party.

My only criticism of the article is ending it with two sentences which leave us as voters in a most precarious position.  For voters are fighting back all across the country, legislatively, in courts, and even door to door.

Letter to Readers

I have been on summer break from blogging during these past few weeks.  It has been a working vacation, with much to do.

Then, too, it is taking some time to sort out all that is happening here in the United States at the federal level.  However, it remains abundantly clear that what is going on now with the chief executive is a product of a calculated effort based largely on voter-suppression.  This effort was paid for by others.  Names can be named and have.

So to blame one person alone is inappropriate, if understandable.  Let us all be about the business of opposing attacks on truth wherever they may come from.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


During this vacation period I have read numerous interesting articles and book passages.   Most recently I have read the article on the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America in the periodical, In These Times.  I commend it to you enthusiastically.   

Uniting Our Country

 

I am grateful for the counter-protestors who showed up in Washington, D.C. yesterday to stand up for justice to all Americans.  Their courage was ever so important at this "messed-up time" in our country, as one person described it. 

The one thing a tolerant country cannot condone is intolerance.  The brave counter-protestors of Sunday made a major contribution in helping make this clear.

Bravo, and thank you!


-- The Musical Patriot  



Photo courtesy MPR.org 

Via Kansas City Star --

Unions achieved a gigantic victory in Missouri, defeating an anti-union effort in Missouri by a 4-1 margin according to reports.  Missouri now steps to the fore-front in the movement to preserve and extend workers' rights in America.   Congratulations, Show Me State!

Video not playing?  See link below.

Unions Win Big-Time in Missouri

Hearables: Hi-Tech or Technopoly?

 

Quick Link --

How about an earpiece which would instantly translate someone's speech in another language from across the room?  How about a smartphone in the ear for a doctor to use while examining you?

All this would be possible with a new device now under developing.  The device, called a hearable, would have many of the same functions as current smartphone apps.

Whether this is a good idea for society and culture, like so many other whiz-bang inventions, is another story.  Read more at the linked article.    


Hearables: Hi-Tech or Technopoly?


Image courtesy Fast Company

Where Have the Voters Gone?

According to the esteemed journalist, Greg Palast, two million voters have vanished from the voting rolls in America.  Where have these people gone?

RUSH POST --



What we have is a silent kidnapping of Voting Rights in America by the hundreds of thousands. As a journalist, it’s not my job to end these games — that’s your job. My job as a journalist is to expose it.  I’m going to get these lists… I have a couple of million names already, and I can tell you these are not people who have moved, these are not people who are voting twice, these are not alien voters, they’re just people with common names whose crime is voting while Black, voting while hispanic, voting while Asian-American, or voting as a student — which has become nearly criminalized in America.
For a list of the upcoming National Commission for Voter Justice Regional Hearings visit: nationalcvj.org/timetable/

Read the full story here:
https://www.gregpalast.com/palast-testifies-in-front-of-national-commission-for-voter-justice/

Sunday Inspiration

R evered by three major religions, as well as others, the Hebrew Testament of the Bible is rich with imagery.  And it contains many lessons for our times, no matter one's religion or lack thereof.

I believe the Psalm quoted below has a bearing on our times, especially in the U.S., but in many other places as well.  If I may be permitted one comment of interpretation.   Where are we, perhaps, guilty of boasting?

Psalm 75

We give thanks to you, God,

we give thanks as we invoke your name,

as we recount your marvels.

'At the moment I decide

I will dispense strict justice;

the earth shall quake and all its inhabitants,

it is I who poised its columns.

'I said to the boastful:  Enough of boasting!

and to the wicked:  How dare you raise your horn,

how dare you raise your horn like that,

how dare you speak so boldly!'

Not from the east, nor from the west,

not from the desert, nor from the mountains,

but from God the judgment comes,

lowering one, raising another.

Yahweh is holding a cup 

of frothing wine, heavily drugged;

he pours it out, they drain it to the dregs,

all drink of it, the wicked of the earth.

But I will never stop proclaiming the God of Jacob

or playing in his honor;

I will cut off the horns of all the wicked

and raise the horns of the virtuous.  

-- Jerusalem Bible

World-Renowned Linguist, Noam Chomsky, Analyzes Media Irresponsibility

Professor Chomsky puts today's issues in perspective.

Many thanks to Democracy Now for this video up-load

Democracy Now! broadcast -- July 27, 2018

In Our Dark Night, Hope

A voice from the past brings hope today.  See how apt are the words of the Jimmy Carter of 1976 for our times now.






Courtesy NBC, CSPAN.  Via YouTube

Congressional Hearing Damages Democracy: Washington Post

via Musical Patriot in Exigency  --  



https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-strzok-hearing-damaged-our-democracy/2018/07/12/fae9ef0c-860e-11e8-8553-a3ce89036c78_story.html?utm_term=.38b7ecddc9d2

Confusion Reigns

World and Blog Remain


Dear Reader,

Y our Musical Patriot is still here, still reading, still attempting to understand how America and the world has come to this point.  The upshot, for me, is that the oligarchs and plutocrats have taken another step toward tightening their grip on our economy by the installation of their man, Our Military Leader (a.k.a. OML) in the White House. 

Internet co-founder Tim Berners-Lee

And yet there is push-back -- push-back from many sources.  Average citizens are getting highly involved in the political and election processes.  Democrats, even socialist-type Democrats, are winning virtually everywhere in special elections and primaries.  It is a hopeful development.  (See last week's New York Times for an article on this development.)

The European Union, aided by major American Internet players, threw this and other bloggers for a loop recently with new laws -- laws which, in truth, have no validity in the U.S. as far as I have been able to determine.

Now comes news of the Solid research program being run by Internet co-founder Timothy Berners-Lee.  This new research effort attempts to restore the original version of the Internet as an open source of information, not one controlled by big financial companies.  While his goal does not seem to me to represent a new utopia, it does at least hold the promise of a reduction in spying and profiteering "social media" outfits.  Let's hope so, at the least.   

A Sincere Hope

I hope readers around the world are finding my new blog location on the Worldwide Web.  It is a distinct honor and pleasure to continue posting at my new site.  For the web address see the box to the right entitled "Now at Musical Patriot in America."

As We Transit

Please check out the latest at Musical Patriot in America at the box to the left of this column.  During this time of transition, I look forward to seeing you at my new blog. 



New Blog link:
https://musicalpatriotinamerica.wordpress.com/

Musical Patriot Continues

Announcing New Blog Address

The Musical Patriot is pleased to announce a new blog and host at the link shown below.

Late last week, Google, host of the blog you are now reading, sent out a notice to bloggers indicating that bloggers (in the United States) were now responsible for making sure they were in compliance with a European Union law.  This was something I was totally unprepared to do for two reasons.  First, I had no way of knowing just what the law said.  Second, and most important, as an American citizen I have no obligation to defend or even obey any foreign law while on U.S. soil.

But beyond all that, I became very concerned if such a law as the European Internet privacy act were to be accepted, other measures attempting to tie the hands of American bloggers and bloggers everywhere could follow.  Thus, my stern warning to Europeans to immediately stop accessing this blog.

Now, I am glad to say I have at least a temporary solution.  The fix is represented by the link below.  I I now have a new blog and host.  The new host is handling this issue much better than has Google.

So, I hope you will join me at the new blog, no matter your nationality -- including very much those in European nations.  This welcome will continue to be extended warmly until ill-informed (even if well-meaning) bureaucrats again act to enforce inappropriate restrictions on Internet freedom.


New Blog Address

European Laws Wreak Havoc

Sad and Confused

A s mentioned elsewhere on this page, new privacy laws passed by the European Union have been announced in the United States.  These laws have no force in our country, of course.  While I very much sympathize with the desire for privacy on the world-wide web, Google is placing the responsibility for adhering to this European edict on the bloggers.   This is a responsibility I was totally unprepared to accept and deal with.  Thus, most regretfully, I sincerely ask Europeans to temporarily cease their use of this blog.  Failure to comply could endanger the overall availability of this blog.  When and if things are clearer -- and the way is cleared, as well -- I will be glad to welcome Europeans back.  I love you and need you.   Perhaps in the future politicians in Europe and companies in the U. S. will be more thoughtful in their words and actions.

Americans' Income Growth Halted for Some Fifty Years: Time Magazine

Another magazine last week delved into what has gone wrong with the economy.  I am reading the fulsome article by Steven Brill in Time magazine which is replete with facts and figures showing just what has happened to the nation's economy over the last fifty years. 

I'm not sure this article shows the antecedents to the events of 1968-9.  However, there is a large history before any stagnation beginning five decades ago. 

Nevertheless, it is very worthwhile to point out that wages have essentially remained flat since at least 1973.  Thus the expectations of an entire generation for success and fulfillment through the "American way of life," has been seriously stymied.

I'll have more on this important article in an up-date soon.  

The Decimation of the Government of a Republic

Rush post --

U P - D A T E

Terry Gross on the "Fresh Air" radio program today interviewed New Yorker magazine staff writer, Evan Osnos, on the attacks on government as we know it by Our Military Leader.  This was an interview of grave import.

Apparently, there is no audio of this program available on line.  When and if I find such I will let you know. 

In the meantime the Osnos magazine article can be viewed here:
New Yorker Article

A Telling Video, Sweetly Done

Courtesy NBC

The Word Gets Out

Via Patriot in Exigency --  

Today, I had the chance to show a friend the trailer for the Greg Palast movie, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy:  The Stolen Election," at her workplace.  This trailer was a revelation to her as she had not really understood what had actually happened in the fall 2016 election.

It is tragic how little-known the issue of corruption in elections really is.  People have simply assumed they would have been told if there were any major problem.  But in a system which has become corrupted -- which ours surely has -- the truth is usually the first casualty.

And yet the word gets out.  It is a horror the truth comes out in little more than dribs and drabs.  Yet, if direction is important, at least things are moving in the right direction. We need every responsible adult to help get the word out.

See: 
http://www.gregpalast.com/


Your Musical Patriot has recently had some periodic issues with illness.  There is not danger to life and limb, but the situation has somewhat slowed my out-put.  I hope to be doing better on a more consistent basis in the near future.  Thank you so much for being a reader of The Musical Patriot.

Where Have All the (Young) Fast-Food Workers Gone?

Youth workers in our economy are finding ways to spend their time, whether it be through traditional jobs, or businesses they start on their own, or through money-earning schemes on the Internet.  They are also still working in fast-food restaurants, just at a much-reduced rate.  The story hyper-linked below tells more.

I am fortunate to have some young friends who are good enough to tell me about their work.  Most stories are not cheerful, although they are striving to do their best on the job.

What does seem clear is a major shift is underway, from adolescents and young adults who "must" work in fast-food to a cadre of youthful citizens who are finding other ways to occupy their time whether it be through school, video games, music-making or any number of other ventures.  That is the story the present article doesn't tell.

I hope to have more to report on this matter at a later time.  For the present the Times article gives a good introduction to the new struggles of fast-food restaurant owners and managers.  (Can this just possibly be a good omen?)


Where Have All the (Young) Workers Gone

Later: The Stunning Labor Shortage in Fast Food

Coming soon --  

Fast food restaurants hurting for workers, New York Times reports

Week-end Inspiration: "We Are the World." 1985

Poetry in song.   The great pop singers of the time.  

It is an honor to present this to you now.  

-- TMP

Erdogan the Magnificent

In her new book, Madeleine Albright satirizes Erdogan, the leader of Turkey, as "The Magnificent."  This is an apt send-up of Turkey's current tyrant.

I have just started the relevant chapter, but have already read much of value about Turkey after World War I.  It is an important history.  It is a story of a descent from a nascent democracy into the authoritarian-run nation of today.

We should empathize with the Turkish as they experience the loss of true democracy.  

I'll be back later with more of the story.

Award-Winning Journalist Greg Palast Teams with Kansas ACLU

Voter Suppression Tactics Targeted


I thought it was about time to check in with award-winning journalist, Greg Palast.  Palast, in case you are not aware has written for Rolling Stone, The Guardian, and other esteemed periodicals about the vote suppression efforts of Republicans all across the country.

Now comes word from Palast earlier this month that he has teamed up with the ACLU of Kansas to attack the purge lists compiled by that state's Secretary of State, Chris Kobach.  These purge lists end up targeting minorities, attempting to throw them off voting roles.

This matter is the great hidden news story of our time and needs to be widely known.  Please forward this post as widely as possible.

 


Latest News on Greg Palast
(contains tasteful and needed fund-raising appeal)

Albright's Warning -- II

Briefly --

As recent readers here know, I have been somewhat touting the new Madeleine Albright book, Fascism:  A Warning.  I am now reading about Serbia and Milosevic.  This is a tragedy on a much smaller scale than that which faced either Italy or Germany under Mussolini and Hitler.  Yet it represents a tragedy nevertheless, with its horror stories of mass murders and Serbian version of concentration camps.

Fascism, we learn, can appear most anywhere -- here, there, everywhere -- and even in us.  Let us be, then, about the business of learning as much as we can about this hideous political affliction.  

Albright's Warning

I was very fortunate to be able to obtain a copy of Madeleine Albright's new book, Fascism: A Warning, on the day of release.  I am finishing up the first few chapters and am very impressed with the history of the early days of fascism in both Italy and Germany.  The history in Italy is especially welcome as this is less well-known.

Dear Friends, we are living in dire and bitter times.  The kind of fascism which is spreading now in the U.S. is not limited to that country.  Despots around the world have been emboldened to confront the free press and others not committed with obeisance to the dictator.

While the U. S. and Europe still remain relatively free, those of us who care about the truth and about justice for the common man and woman, have a sacred duty to respond to this crisis, to speak up and do everything sanely possible to prevent any downward spiral into the dark abyss of authoritarianism, despotism, and -- yes -- fascism. 

Fascism: A Warning

THE BOOK

In this new book by Madeleine Albright, former U. S. Secretary of State, a serious warning about the rise of fascism sends out a light upon our troubled country and world.  The publisher's description below gives a good summary of what to expect.

While I have not read the book (the official release date is supposedly the 10th), I think this is an important work.  I have some concerns about conflating fascism with communism -- both systems which confronted Albright and her family -- still there is obviously good history here.  And let us not be afraid to call a spade a spade. 

                                                                                              -- TMP  

About the Book

A personal and urgent examination of Fascism in the twentieth century and how its legacy shapes today’s world, written by one of America’s most admired public servants, the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state

A Fascist, observes Madeleine Albright, “is someone who claims to speak for a whole nation or group, is utterly unconcerned with the rights of others, and is willing to use violence and whatever other means are necessary to achieve the goals he or she might have.” 

The twentieth century was defined by the clash between democracy and Fascism, a struggle that created uncertainty about the survival of human freedom and left millions dead. Given the horrors of that experience, one might expect the world to reject the spiritual successors to Hitler and Mussolini should they arise in our era.[*] In Fascism: A Warning, Madeleine Albright draws on her experiences as a child in war-torn Europe and her distinguished career as a diplomat to question that assumption.

Fascism, as she shows, not only endured through the twentieth century but now presents a more virulent threat to peace and justice than at any time since the end of World War II.  The momentum toward democracy that swept the world when the Berlin Wall fell has gone into reverse.  The United States, which historically championed the free world, is led by a president who exacerbates division and heaps scorn on democratic institutions.  In many countries, economic, technological, and cultural factors are weakening the political center and empowering the extremes of right and left.  Contemporary leaders such as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are employing many of the tactics used by Fascists in the 1920s and 30s.

Fascism: A Warning is a book for our times that is relevant to all times.  Written  by someone who has not only studied history but helped to shape it, this call to arms teaches us the lessons we must understand and the questions we must answer if we are to save ourselves from repeating the tragic errors of the past.

* Most people now alive clearly have no personal memory of Hitler or Mussolini.   -- TMP  

Madeleine Albright Warns of Signs of Fascism in America

Madaleine Albright

Former Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, warns in a new book of signs of creeping fascism in the U.S. and around the world.  This is, of course, a theme I have centered on here in the past.  Albright is clearly on the right track with her views.

In an interview with Terry Gross of the popular radio program Fresh Air, Albright specifically warns of the current U.S. President's tirades against the press, for example. 

The move to authoritarianism is often not overnight.  In fact, things can proceed so slowly that most people don't notice the shift.  Others who know their history, know better.  I hope you, dear reader, are in the second category. 

Madeleine Albright Warns of Creeping Fascism

Sinclair Statement Said to Be One Step Closer to American-Style State-Run Media

 Rush Link

Sinclair Broadcasting Forced Orwellian Statement on Local Stations

At least one station opts out

Rep. Adam Schiff

Sinclair Broadcasting, a rightist media company, has tried to require local stations to broadcast a statement decrying so-called fake news, a mantra of Our Military Leader (Oval Office Occupant).  Most stations have complied, but at least one station has not.

Public figures from Dan Rather to Tom DeLay have strongly criticized Sinclair.  It is time to move away from private profit-making corporations controlling our media.  (See Robert McChesney link elsewhere on this blog page.)   


Sinclair Forced Statement on Stations

Teachers on the Move as Legislatures Dawdle

Teachers in Republican-led states are marching for better pay and funding for schools.  You can read more at the link appearing at the end of this post.

Certainly it is long past time that legislatures responsible for schools fully fund the education of our young citizens of tomorrow.  The future of the nation depends on such support.


Teachers March for Fair Pay and Better Conditions

News and Rumors Swirl Around White House, Capitol

In reviewing the news of the last couple of days or so, I am presented with the image of a whirling gyro in a dust storm.  There are so many stories spinning one is blinded by the grimy cloud. 

Political parties are being re-aligned before our eyes.  That is, members of parties, especially the Republican Party, are getting shaken out, as it were, by The Mueller investigation, primarily, but by other issues -- such as the boudoir controversies of Our Military Leader -- as well. 

To a performing musician such as myself, it speaks of the need for the organizing effect which good art can bring about, whether it be music, painting, dance, or sculpture.  Perhaps it is time to re-invest in the arts -- for our simple sanity, if for no other reason.  

Former White House Aide Gerson Throws Light on Putin Infatuation

Michael Gerson, who served in the George W. Bush Administration casts light on the mysterious infatuation Trump seems to have toward Vladimir Putin.  There are things to admire in any leader and I have nothing against the Russian people.  But a certain kind of fawning can be dangerous in a President.  Mr. Gerson explains at the link below.

Michael Gerson

Former White House Aide Informs and Enlightens

Kansas Vote Suppressor Kobach Flails in Court Proceedings

Kansas Secretary of State and Gubernatorial Candidate Chris Kobach is having his mettle tested in District Court over a lawsuit filed by the ACLU contesting his efforts to keep legitimate citizens from registering to vote.  The full story is told by The New York Times at the link below.

It is heartening and even thrilling to see Kobach subjected to a strong dose of reality via the legal process.  Chris Kobach is the crown prince of voter suppression efforts in the U.S.  His aggressive efforts to block legal citizens from registering to vote simply on the basis of their ethnic or national heritage is abominable.

The courts are stepping up to the plate to try to stop these new Jim Crow efforts.  Let us wish them well as they help preserve the rule of law in our beloved country.



Kansas Vote-Suppressing Official Flails in Court


Photo Courtesy ACLU.org 

Democrat Lamb Appears to Best Republican Opponent in Pennsylvania

Breathless

Events Reach New Climax

Our Military Leader Blindsides America Again


Even though I have written and reported on the facts of a Republican-lead theft of the Presidential election of 2016, and even though I do not yet have the staff to keep up with this President's administration -- still I wanted to express my dismay and concern about the latest astonishing firings coming from the Oval Office. 

While I cannot say I was pleased with Mr. Tillerson (see comment about a stolen election above), he did seem to be a mature adult.  At this point, almost all we can say is time will tell whether a new head at the State Department will make any kind of substantive difference.

Meanwhile, the ship of state careers and careens with a solitary and capricious captain at its helm.  Let us hope there are enough life rafts on this Titanic voyage.  

Former Rep. Scarborough Compares Trump to Mussolini

It is time to tell the media to stop treating OML* like a normal President.  First, he is the beneficiary of a stolen election (stolen not by Russians but by big-money operatives right here in the U.S.)  Second, he is unlike any President we have ever had.  No matter what one thought of his main opponent in the past race, surely OML is not the answer.  The time-honored techniques of propaganda, including the oft-repeated lie, are all too apparent.  Plus, there is the Scarborough denunciation.

It is long past time to hold the media accountable.  


Via Patriot in Exigency --  
Scarborough Compares Trump to Mussolini



*OML = Our Military Leader

Rep. Maxine Waters Says Black Women Key to Removing Trump from Office

Quick Link --  


Maxine Waters On How to Get Trump Out of Office


More on this matter later.

--  TMP    

Kansan's Voter Suppression Scheme Goes to Court

I M P O R T A N T 

via e-mail:  


Trump’s Alien Voter Claim Goes to Court
Kobach rule blocks 1 in 7 New Voters
Could decide 2018 & 2020 Races
By Greg Palast for Alternet

The mainstream media has simply missed the voting rights trial whose outcome could unleash the newest mass vote suppression weapon, the invention of Donald Trump’s chief vote suppression tactician, Kris Kobach of Kansas.


Clip from Palast's film The Best Democracy Money Can Buy
On Tuesday, the trial of the lawsuit by the League of Women Voters against Kobach, Kansas’ Republican Secretary of State, began in a Kansas City courtroom. The League has sued to block the state’s law, drafted by Kobach, requiring all new voters to show proof of citizenship.

Kobach’s law has blocked an astonishing 1 in 7 new registrants from voting in the state because they did not satisfy his citizenship paperwork requirement.

The ACLU, which represents the League of Women Voters, has sent in its top litigators, led by its voting rights director Dale Ho, because of the nationwide implications of the case. If Kobach’s law is upheld and spreads to other GOP controlled states, just over one million Americans could lose their right to vote by 2020.



Oddly, Kobach has chosen a lawyer with little courtroom knowledge—himself.

Judge Julie Robinson was not amused by what many see as a publicity stunt. Robinson, the chief justice of the federal district for Kansas, excoriated Kobach for not knowing “Evidence 101,” and curtly coached Kobach’s amateur team on the correct procedure for cross-examination.

Buffoonish antics in the courtroom drew some laughter. But the partisan result of Kobach’s law is deadly serious. According to the ACLU’s expert witness, University of Florida professor Michael McDonald, nearly half (44.6%) of the voters blocked are young, 18 to 29 years old.

It cannot be lost on Kobach, former Chairman of the Kansas GOP, that young Americans voted overwhelmingly Democratic, 55% for Clinton and only 36% for Trump in 2016.

To justify the paper proof-of-citizenship requirement, Kobach told the court the requirement has blocked 30,000 non-citizens from voting in Kansas. However, he has been unable to prove that even a single one of the 35,314 voters blocked by the law is an alien.

Kobach’s Alien Voter Hunt
Just after the 2016 election, Secretary Kobach called me to confirm he was the source of Donald Trump’s claim that a million aliens voted in the 2016 election. (Kobach also confirmed it was his idea to force Mexico to pay for Trump’s border wall.)

Noting to Kobach that he is the nation’s only Secretary of State with the power to prosecute illegal voters, I asked if he planned mass arrests of alien voters. (Kobach had claimed on Fox News, for example, that “50 Somalians are stealing my vote!”)

Kobach told me, “Just wait! Convictions are coming.”

I’ve waited. But so far, his manhunt, begun five years ago, has produced just a single conviction of a non-citizen voter out of 1.8 million Kansas registrants. Nevertheless, tens of thousands of Kansans are blocked because they cannot produce the evidence—an original birth certificate or passport or naturalization papers—his law requires.

---

Call From the Prison Parking Lot?
Not surprisingly, lower-income voters are less likely to hold these documents—and less likely to vote Republican. Voters earning less than $50,000 per year voted 53% to 41% against Trump.

And no, neither a driver’s license nor a Social Security card proves citizenship. The alternative, obtaining a birth certificate, can be a costly paper chase, as plaintiff Donna Bucci testified. Bucci, who gets by on the limited income she earns working in a local prison cafeteria, told the court Tuesday that she could not pay both her rent and the $50-$60 total cost to obtain her birth certificate from Maryland.

Kobach cross-examined her, hoping to get Bucci to admit to simple laziness. Kobach asked her why she didn’t call during work hours to arrange a special hearing before a state agency. Bucci replied that no cell phones are allowed inside prisons. Kobach attacked, asking why she couldn’t have run to her car during a break and phoned from the parking lot.

But even if Bucci had reached officials and obtained a hearing date, it would cost her a day of work, assuming she would be allowed the day off, to attend the hearing.

Judge Robinson will have to determine whether this bureaucratic rigmarole constitutes an unfair obstacle to voting. The National Voter Registration Act permits states to require only the “minimum amount” of information from a voter.

Up to now, “minimum” has meant checking the box on a registration form by which you swear, under penalty of imprisonment, that you are a citizen, and signing your name, to complete the registration form.

Neither Kobach nor his spokeswoman have responded to our requests for comment.

The jury-less bench trial is expected to run through Friday.
 

Danger for White House Rises

Rush Post --

“... it’s likely that a number of additional people will be going to jail and that Trump’s criminal conduct on one or more levels will be apparent."

                                                                  --  Harry Litman, a former deputy assistant attorney general. 

Last several days have seen a flurry of developments in the Mueller investigation, says The Hill: 



Waters Said to Be Rising for White House Amid Mueller Investigations

Why the Arming of Teachers Depresses Interest in Teaching as a Career

The Dean of the School of Education at American University says arming teachers will discourage college students and others from pursuing a career in education.  As an educator myself I can attest to the fact that arming teachers is no panacea for the problem of violence in schools.  And as the writer of this article makes so clear, it is no encouragement to potential teachers.


Arming Teachers A Bad Idea

Economic "Violence" Sets the Stage for Physical Violence

New Series:  The Violent Nation


The article referenced here invites careful consideration.  I like it quite a lot.  At the same time -- as the article suggests -- there is more to the story of mass killings than social conditions.  But this article shows important ties between public policies, especially beginning in the Reagan years and rising anger in the workplace and beyond.

Recommended. 


Economic "Violence" Begets Physical Violence

Water Systems Major Part of Nation's Infrastructure

The web site ScienceDaily reported early last year that water rates in the U. S. had increased 41% just since 2010.  At this rate the percentage of households unable to afford water would triple to some 36%.   

As politicians promise action on infrastructure, it is good to look at specifics.  Most infrastructure projects in the U.S. are financed at the local and state level.  But, clearly, the federal government has a role to play.  By most estimates, the U. S. is behind in necessary repairs to water systems, I believe.  This threatens to endanger access to this essential resource.

Read more at the link here:


Water Costs Rising Quickly

An Anti-fascist Group. In Nazi Germany

I knew Hitler had his detractors before he assumed power.  And I was aware of Dietrich Bonhoffer and the confessing church.  But college students in 1942?  That was long after the lead-up to Hitler's ascension to the Chancellorship.

Yet in 1942 a group of students in Munich began distributing white-hot pamphlets denouncing in no uncertain terms the inhumanity of the Jewish pogroms and other atrocities of the Hitler regime.  This group was called The White Rose and made themselves useful by writing such things as "Every honest German today is ashamed of his government."   And -- "Here we see the most frightful crime against human dignity, a crime that is unparalleled in the whole of history.  For Jews, too, are human beings."

These quotes are from a New York Times editorial from Thursday, February 22, 2018.  Later in the article the writer claims we are far from fascism in this country.  I beg to differ, for what is the difference between targeting Jews and targeting youthful immigrants who were brought here by parents as children?

The balance of the op-ed, however, is most useful indeed. 


The Sweet Smell of the White Rose

Did Russia Determine the Outcome of Election 2016?

The indictment does not say that Russia changed the outcome of the election, a fact that Mr. Rosenstein noted repeatedly. American intelligence officials have said they have no way of calculating the effect of the Russian influence.

-- The New York Times

Nyet.  No.  Russia did not determine the outcome of the 2016 Election.  Republican operatives took care of that dastardly deed.  This according to the esteemed reporter Greg Palast as related on this blog numerous times.  Republicans used nine different methods of voter suppression including voter I.D. laws, voter caging, and various other dirty tricks.  This is all being documented on gregpalast.com  .   This news has also been shared on the blog you are now reading.  I have been proud to be one of the first and the few to report on this issue.  So -- while what Russia did was execrable, their efforts did not decide the outcome.   

gregpalast.com

Voice Heard in the Patriotic Countryside: I Ain't Doin' No Parade

Americans are remembering what we fought against in World War II.  


GIF credit:  Talking Points Memo

It's Worse Than Most People Think

Rush Post --

A Kleptocrat at Work

Earlier this evening I purchased a brand-new book entitled It's Even Worse Than You Think.  Perhaps you have heard of it. The book shines a huge flood-light on the machinations of Our Military Leader (OML) now sitting in the Oval Office in Washington.  The author is long-time investigator of OML, David Cay Johnston.  Johnston teaches at Syracuse University's College of Law and has followed the  p-Resident (if that he can be called) for many years.

I have also begun reading Fire and Fury, another recent and famous book.  So far, of the two, It's Even Worse Than You Think is the more important of the two.

There will be more to say later.  

Rule of Law Under Serious Attack from White House

U R G E N T

 

 Quick Link --

When reason leaves, and hysteria walks in through the door:

 

Rule of Law Under Attack at White House 

Dear Wealthy American:

I Don't Care


Dear Super-wealthy American:


I don't care.  Of course, I care about you as a person.  But about your wealth, I don't give a rip.  A million is fine.   Maybe two million.  Heck, even five million may be okay.  But, tens of billions of dollars?  Not a chance!

As one friend said, America is about coming from one challenging situation into another challenging situation, but one with a real chance of success through honest work.  And in your case, you have received many, many billions of dollars because of a corrupt and evil system -- one which takes from the many to give to the few.

This is a system which is unsustainable, for history shows that a top-heavy economy cannot forever be supported.  Sooner or later it crashes of its own weight and hubris.

But back to the subject of caring, or the lack thereof.  Some of your friends have expressed a healthy (almost) regret at having "made" so much money.  Perhaps you have felt this, too.  Indeed there is an underlying unease which one can come to by possessing ill-gotten gain.

So it is good to say that I don't care.   I don't care how many billions in wealth you and your cohorts have lost over the last week.  The sooner the world is rid of the evil system which brought you ever so much extra money, the better off we will all be -- including yourself.

May you live a long and happy life -- with much less money.


Sincerely,

The Musical Patriot 

Dow Jones Plunge

The world today is concerned about the steep decline in stock prices.  I am monitoring the situation and plan to have more to say in the near future.  

For now -- this stock market plunge may be a sign the profit system has become unsupportable.  Only time will tell for sure.  

Please return here soon for more.


Photo courtesy Socialist Worker (.org)   

Rep. Kennedy's Democratic Response

Experienced Financial Analyst Warns of Huge Collapse

Well-known financial analyst Jim Rogers is expecting the biggest financial collapse of his life-time in the next few years according to the web site linked to below.  This startling prediction is contained in an interview he gave to Business Insider.

Other experts have been giving similar warnings over the last several years.  The main problem is the increasing appearance of economic "bubbles" which are cropping up again, according to Rogers.

His interview here is filled with historic facts providing context -- and a most urgent warning.  

Experienced Financial Analyst Warns of Impending Economic Collapse

A Useful Corporation Watchdog

The link below takes you to a web site which usefully monitors corporations and their misuse of power.  Though British-based, the web site has much useful information and many resources to help the citizen monitor global corporations.

We live in a time of unprecedented corporate power, with often dire consequences for the earth's people.  If information is power, this web site can help reverse the current flow of power.   

http://www.corporatewatch.org

Staying Abreast

Today I will be up-dating my knowledge of current events.  I will have more to say later.

In the meantime, I am almost finished with Move Fast and Break Things, a path-breaking work by Jonathan Taplin.  This is a book which is difficult to over-praise, what with its ample research and breadth of understanding regarding the underminers of democracy.  About this, too, I will have more to say soon.

Move fast and reconstruct things? 

Have Transgender Advocates Gone Too Far?

 This subject is not one I would have been likely to deal with in the past.  However, as transgender advocates have moved into the public schools to lecture to students reportedly as young as elementary age, it is appropriate to begin to examine this issue more closely.

Personally, I am for the maximum freedom for most people, excluding the harming of others or oneself.  In this particular rather narrow case it appears harm has been done.  You are invited to see for yourself in the following brief example.

Born a boy, Patrick Mitchell spent the past two years living as a girl after being diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Then six months ago, the unthinkable happened - 14-year-old Patrick changed his mind. Full story: https://t.co/8wZoArDsne #60Mins pic.twitter.com/yOV2lSJxRY

— 60 Minutes Australia (@60Mins) January 15, 2018

Greek Church Condemns Racism; Joins Conference

Photo of The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King at link below

The Greek Orthodox Church in America has joined with other Christians in condemning racism in America and around the world.  They have  joined with numerous other Christian churches in a new effort to oppose racism.   There is more information at the link below.

On this national holiday honoring Rev. King, his message is more pertinent -- and urgent --than ever.   


Greek Church Condemns Racism

Saturday Poetry

SONG OF MYSELF

by 

Walt Whitman

                    1

I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you,
I loaf and invite my soul,
I lean and loaf at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.
My tongue, every atom of my blood, formed from this soil, this air,
Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same,
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,
Hoping to cease not till death.
Creeds and schools in abeyance,
Retiring back awhile sufficed at what they are, but never forgotten,
I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard,
Nature without check with original energy. 


excerpt from "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

Progress for Workers

Quick Link --

New York City has come up with an innovative way to support workers' right to organize -- by making it easier to join non-union organizations which advocate for higher wages and benefits.  This appears to be a major advance for workers.   
 

The New York Times article:
Progress for Workers

Is There an Intelligent Choice on Marijuana Policy?

As the federal Department of Justice announces U. S. attorneys will no longer look the other way in states which have legalized recreational marijuana use, the rational individual looks for a smart alternative.  Is there an approach other than legalization on the one hand, and going after individual users on the other?

The people at an organization called Smart Approaches to Marijuana say yes.  You can read more about there mission at the link below.

Surely, we do not need another "Big Tobacco" in this country.  And recreational marijuana use does, afterall, involve smoking -- an activity which is not healthy no matter what you put in the pipe.  


A Smarter Choice on Marijuana?