Politics « The Ramblings of An Eternal Student of Life

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

◊ Not Easy To Talk With Partisan Republicans!

Current Affairs ... Politics ...

Many political observers today talk regretfully the growing polarization occurring amidst the American populace. A lot of people are still rather apathetic about politics, but for those who do take an interest, they often become quite vehement about the leaders, candidates and political party that they support. There is evidence that more and more families have cut holiday dinners and family get-togethers short in recent years so as to avoid political arguments from breaking out.

Some pundits encourage those of us with political opinions and interests to engage people with opposite views, so as to maintain the ability to exchange views respectfully even though everyone retains their own opinions. The Aspen Institute even has a “Better Arguments Project” to encourage such conversations.

At my place of work, I regularly discuss politics with one of the attorneys. My workmate is an intelligent Republican conservative. He was not particularly thrilled by Donald Trump during the 2016 GOP primaries. However, since Trump’s election, he got on board the Trump train and has been an ardent supporter of the President, and a vehement critic of the Democrats. For most of my life I considered myself a Democrat, although in recent years I find myself taking a more centrist and independent position on many issues. However, I still sympathize with much of what the Democratic Party supports, even if I often disagree with » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 11:35 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

◊ All Bernie’s Money

Art & Entertainment ... Politics ...

A friend with somewhat conservative political leanings recently sent me a link to an interesting political video critical of liberal Democrats (specifically Bernie Sanders), specifically their proposals to make college education free, forgive the college loan debts of recent graduates, and otherwise shower the public with a variety of free government benefits. What’s interesting and rather entertaining about this particular commentary is that its message is conveyed by song; specifically the rewording of an old Beatles classic (i.e., “All My Loving”). And on top of that, the song is performed by a mock-Beatles combo staged to imitate the Fab Four’s big American TV debut on the Ed Sullivan Show, way back on Feb. 9, 1964.

The video’s maker is a fellow named “Remy”, who has a series of conservative and libertarian-twinged commentary videos on You Tube. Many of his works have a twinge of humor to them despite their sharp acerbic edge. In “Bob’s Money” it appears that Mr. Remy himself plays all of the characters – John, Paul, George, Ringo — AND Bob. Only Bernie Sanders and Ed Sullivan get to make cameo appearances. In this rendition, the pseudo-Beatles are been renamed “The Candidates”, and “All My Loving” has become “All Bob’s Money”.

As a Beatles trivia footnote, “All My Loving” was the band’s opening song on the Ed Sullivan performance. » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 8:27 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Thursday, August 8, 2019

◊ Maybe Michelle O is the ONE?

Politics ...

A few days ago (Aug 3), I posted some raw thoughts on the state of the Democratic Presidential candidate situation, and I opined that the odds of a brokered convention were fairly significant, although still less than 50-50 (I would say maybe 1 out of 3). And I thought that if the primary delegate system does break down in Milwaukee next July, Hilary Clinton would have a good shot of being the Chosen One. I felt that Michelle Obama was a bit too classy and maybe a bit too frail to take Trump on face-to-face; despite the buzz that she is getting, e.g. Michael Moore’s recent promotion of a Michelle Obama candidacy.

However, a few days later, I was discussing my theory about Hilary with my conservative Trump-supporting political friend at work, and he said that thinks it would be good if Michelle does not run.

Which got me thinking . . . hey, if a rabid Trump supporter says that Michelle’s staying on the sidelines would be good, then perhaps I was missing something in my previous analysis. I wrote my friend a response to his response, and I will share some of it next: » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 9:04 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Saturday, August 3, 2019

◊ Catching Up, on politics, Twitter style

Politics ...

OK, I’ve fallen behind again with my blog. Problem is, I want to write some brilliant essay on a deep subject, and life keeps distracting me from it. Once upon a time, I could fight off those distractions and post something twice a week. But now I’m gettin’ old.

So until I get around to completing my next brilliant essay (and yes, that is sort of a joke), I’m gonna give in and treat this blog like a Twitter account (which I don’t have, and never will!). I.e., I’m going to lower my standards and post some raw stuff without much detail. Just to keep it from dying.

Here are my thoughts from the 2nd Democratic debates, last Tuesday and Wednesday. I actually wrote these for a friend of mine at work, someone who is also a wannabe political pundit (but a very conservative one, very much a supporter of Trump and his world). But I am now going to share them with whoever might be interested here, raw though they are — to wit: » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 5:00 pm No Comments Yet / Leave a Comment

Saturday, June 8, 2019

◊ The End of Big Nations in the West?

History ... Politics ... Society ...

Not long ago, I was discussing the political situation in Europe with a small group of politically progressive people from my Zen group. We were lamenting the rise of nationalism in Britain and elsewhere, and we noted that the Euro Union project seemed doomed at this point. The dream of a “United States of Europe” had passed, and Europe is now separating into what it has been for most of the years since the end of the Roman Empire, an amalgamation of geographically small nations (with the exception of Russia, of course; but then again, the question of whether Russia should be considered part of Europe has always been confounding – in some ways it is, in a lot of ways it isn’t). One member of the group, one of the most progressive of the bunch, commented that perhaps this isn’t such a bad thing – perhaps smaller nations are better than a big empire-like state.

Smaller national boundaries arguably allow for preservation of localism and cultural uniqueness, and give citizens a greater sense of belonging and political empowerment. Supposedly more and more Europeans have been complaining about cumbersome mandates and inflexible policies issued by a distant bureaucratic elite in Brussels. And it might also be argued that smaller nations can’t do as much harm to the world economically and politically, since they would be roughly equal in terms of economic and military capacity.

Of course, throughout history this has not turned out to always be true; for many years, Germany has been a “powerhouse” in Europe despite not having any special geographic advantage, and has been able to reek havoc more than once in world history. And smaller but powerful states can form » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 10:04 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

◊ The Democratic Presidential Candidate Race: A Binary Matter

Current Affairs ... Politics ...

OK, it’s still pretty early to talk about the 2020 Presidential candidate selection process and the general election. However, it’s no longer “too early”. Most of the Democratic candidates have declared their intent, and all that remains is for Joe Biden to make it official. On the Republican side — of course, Trump owns the show, the Muller report obviously isn’t going to stop him. It will be interesting to see if anyone dares to challenge him, maybe John Kasich will take up the quixotic mantle, dream the impossible dream? It would at least make the GOP primary process somewhat interesting. And then there’s already Bill Weld, so at least someone is going to go down fighting the Trump Goliath. And the 3rd party field is off to a good start with Howard Schultz (early polls indicate that Schultz might bleed more votes from the Democratic challenger than from Trump).

On the Democratic side, there is a plethora of potential candidates at this point; I believe that the latest count is up to 16, and Joe will make 17, However, it all really sums up to a digital choice: Bernie (or younger reasonable facsimile) or Joe (or younger reasonable facsimile).

The argument for Joe and the pragmatists — Here are some thoughts from a recent Wall St Journal article from Ted Van Dyk, a Democratic party activist since the 1980s. According to Van Dyk, many say that the Democrats need to offer “just the opposite” of Trump . . . not only in terms of policy, but in terms of governing style.

The first is continuing public disenchantment with political, media, financial and cultural establishments. It is this disenchantment that brought Mr. Trump to the White House in the first place and, additionally, almost brought Sen. Bernie Sanders, not even a Democrat, the Democratic presidential nomination.

In Mr. Trump’s case, voters knew he was boorish, narcissistic, a business and financial freewheeler, a womanizer, and » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 9:05 pm Read Comments (3) / Leave a Comment

Tuesday, December 18, 2018

◊ Trump As Monster?

Personal Reflections ... Politics ...

Here’s a quote from the diary of Dag Hammarskjold (“Markings”), one that may apply when deeply pondering Donald Trump — i.e., just who is this man? —

1951 — “Assenting to his possibility — why? Does he sacrifice himself for others, yet for his own sake – in megalomania? Or does he realize himself for the sake of others? The difference is that between a monster and a man. ‘A new commandment I give unto you: that ye love one another.'”

FINAL CONUNDRUM — if there is a “Monster”, what to do? The fastest way to dispose of a monster is to create a new monster. You may well vanquish the old monster. But then what to do with the new monster? How do you answer to that “new commandment” when dealing with a Donald J. Trump?

◊ posted by Jim G @ 8:45 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Friday, December 14, 2018

◊ The “Last Mohegan” from the Tribe of No-Tribe

Personal Reflections ... Politics ...

A friend of mine recently sent me a link to an “Observation” post on the Scientific American web site entitled “Why Smart People Are Vulnerable to Putting Tribe Before Truth“. In sum, intelligent people are becoming more and more partisan, mostly on the “liberal-progressive” side although intelligent conservatives are still quite common (and just as biased). The article gives a good explanation of the driving forces behind this trend, and provides some empirical evidence from various studies to support this claim. Here’s the theory in a nutshell:

As counter-intuitive as it sounds, it is perfectly rational to use one’s reason this way in a science communication environment polluted by tribalism . . . What an ordinary member of the public thinks about climate change, for example, has no impact on the climate. Nor does anything that she does as a consumer or a voter; her individual impact is too small to make a difference. Accordingly, when she is acting in one of these capacities, any mistake she makes about the best available scientific evidence will have zero impact on her or anyone she cares about . . . But given what positions on climate change have now come to signify about one’s group allegiances, adopting the “wrong” position in interactions with her peers could rupture bonds on which she depends heavily for emotional and material well-being. Under these pathological conditions, she will predictably use her reasoning not to discern the truth but to form and persist in beliefs characteristic of her group, a tendency known as “identity-protective cognition.”

Yea, it’s sad, isn’t it. For 99.9% of us, our views on things don’t make any difference » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 11:51 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Thursday, August 9, 2018

◊ Measuring American Social Cohesion (or lack thereof)

Current Affairs ... Politics ... Society ...

I’m not the only person these days who wonders if American society is becoming one big dysfunctional family. Or to what degree is it really “one” anymore. “One Nation Under God, Indivisible”? There sure seem to be a lot of divisions these days. Some pundits even talk about the coming of a “New Civil War” or a “Soft Civil War”.

They don’t anticipate another territorial shooting war led by a modern Robert E. Lee or William Tecumseh Sherman, but they do see increasing social and economic polarization that could cause large-scale disruptions in interstate trade, citizen mobility, cultural interchange, and political cooperation between regions and through other ways of dividing people. Today’s version of Bull Run, Chickamauga, Gettysburg, Seven Days and Shiloh may be fought largely on-line, given how important the internet and social media has become to so many areas of daily life. America today has quite a number of ways in which people seem to be dividing into “them versus us” groups. Of course, the big divisor seems to be political beliefs and philosophies (progressives versus conservatives, etc.), but in some ways, it even appears that men and women are preparing for battle!

For instance, we now have a cable TV series that picks up where #MeToo leaves off, i.e. about a female terrorist movement that kills men (i.e. Dietland, which I have been watching this summer). In the original American Civil War, the battles were between the same two governments. In a 21st Century version, the combatants will be different for most every major battle. » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 9:17 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

Thursday, June 28, 2018

◊ Can Kamala Harris Prevent a “Soft” Civil War?

Current Affairs ... Politics ...

In my last post, I reviewed the 2020 Presidential primary situation for the Democrats, and concluded that Senator Kamala Harris is starting to emerge from the fog as an early favorite for the nomination. I considered some of the pros and cons for Harris, including her strategic positioning amidst potential Democratic voting blocks in November, and concluded that she would have a fighting chance of beating Donald Trump, especially if Trump continues to alienate Hispanics. However, I opined that Senator Harris still needs to “up her game” a bit to achieve the stature of a national leader (and towards achieving nation-wide name recognition — in that vein, I have noticed that CNN and MSNBC are giving Senator Harris a lot more air-time these days).

Although I respect Senator Harris and I would sincerely consider supporting and voting for her in 2020, my personal favorite potential candidate remains Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. Interestingly, both Harris and Klobuchar are former prosecutors and former Attorneys General. In a previous blog post, I explained why I believed that Klobuchar could win and would be a good President. And I stand by that opinion one year later.

However, being a political realist, I understand that Harris is closer to “where the Party is” today, with its continuing leftward shift. And I will admit that Harris, as an African American (actually, the child of a Tamil Indian mother and a Nigerian father – or roughly akin to Barack Obama with his American Caucasian mother and his Kenyan father), can probably inspire higher levels of black turnout, which could make the difference in several of the midwestern swing states that Clinton lost in 2016. I believe that Senator Klobuchar would also have the chance of taking » continue reading …

◊ posted by Jim G @ 8:11 pm Read Comment (1) / Leave a Comment

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