Author: Paul

[This is a resubmission of a letter to the editor dated June 2, 2017. You publish so many letters by trail-only advocates, that it seems only right you might consider publishing a letter balancing out that position.]
Was it not generally understood, when the State financed the purchase of the UP rail line, that the rails would be used for public transit? Heaven knows we desperately need better public transit in this county. The “trail only” concept would be great for bicyclists and hikers, perhaps numbering in the dozens or even hundreds. But a conventional trolley, fed by neighborhood shuttle buses, would serve thousands: students, seniors, shoppers, workers, tourists, you name it. Not everyone can walk a long distance or ride a bicycle, but everyone does need public transportation.

Republicans elected Trump.. They managed to cobble together enough Electoral College votes in three key states to put him in the Wide House in spite of his opponent gaining almost 3 million more votes. Now, in order to protect the total control of government his election gave them, Republicans are doing everything in their power to keep Trump in office as POTUS. The Republican position is that Trump can do no wrong, can’t even say anything wrong. His every utterance is explained, rationalized, or justified. His every action is accepted and supported, even his blatant obstruction of justice in the firing of James Comey, which would get any other president impeached on the spot. But Trump is not any other president. He has a solid 30 to 35 percent of the voting base that will vote for him no matter what. That voting bloc is what will keep Republicans in power as long (and only as long) as Trump is in office. If he is ever impeached, or pulls a boner so egregious that even tribal Republicans can’t abide, at such a time, all bets are off. In the meantime, Republicans will shamelessly continue their uncritical support and adulation. And America will continue its downhill slide.

Have you heard of that as of today, glyphosphate will be added to the list of cancer-causing chemicals by the state of California?

A recent letter stated flatly that the Democrats have no platform that tells the voters what they stand for, but that the Republican Party does. That is only half true. Republicans have a platform, all right: 57 pages of hot air, campaign talking points repeated ad infinitum with so much excess verbiage it is difficult to ferret out the essence of it. On the other side (although poorly expressed by Hillary Clinton as a Democrat candidate for president) a progressive Democratic platform is clear and specific, containing among other things: a living wage, health care for all; tuition free college; fully funded public schools; racial, economic, and social justice; unfettered voting rights; unrestricted women’s health; prison sentencing reform; a progressive tax code; all-out greenhouse gas reduction; immigration reform; preservation of public lands; etc. There is a substantial difference between the two major political parties, and their respective platforms spell it out. Naysayers put the Democratic goals as “pie in the sky, too expensive, impossible to achieve”, etc., but there isn’t one issue that couldn’t be resolved if there were the political will to do so. Currently there are too many Republicans who simply do not want to share what they have with any have-nots. But, if and when we can persuade more of them to adopt the Kevin Durant philosophy of taking less so that the team will have more, then miracles can happen. The only losers in a Democratic win would be the super wealthy, and they wouldn’t even feel it.

From a back issue of Vanity Fair magazine: Trump “may be giving the American political system the roughing up it so sorely needs, but even the remote possibility that one of those tiny fingers could be within reach of the nuclear hot button should give any sane Republican the chills.”

Gladys Noruto (June 30, 2017) could benefit a great deal by learning that liberal social issues are hardly limited to “gay marriage, women’s rights, etc.” Actually, these are not liberal issues, anyway, but apply across the political spectrum. Liberal issues, on the other hand, are such things as: a living wage, universal healthcare, food security for the poor, racial justice, voting rights, a progressive tax code, tuition free college, fully funded public schools, affordable housing, to name a few. Sadly enough, while Republicans are beginning to accept LGBT and women’s rights as legitimate, they are almost universally opposed to these other social issues. And therein lies the difference between the two major political parties.
By the way: when do you think people might stop bashing Obama? It was old hat already when Mitch McConnell started it in 2009, and it still is.

The handwriting is already on the wall. Trump’s selection of cabinet members and department heads gives a clear indication of how he intends to govern. He clearly wants to dismantle the presidential administration so that nothing gets done that he doesn’t want done. And nothing whatever gets done that does not originate with him.. He has not needed to use his veto power yet because Congress has given him nothing to approve or reject. His refusal to fill hundreds of important government positions leaves us vulnerable to unforeseen calamities that are always, constantly, brewing somewhere, at home or abroad. And calamitous incompetence is not what you want when calamity does strike, as it unavoidably will sooner or later.

Shame! That is the only way to put it, the way Republican politicians rationalize and justify the Senate’s so-called healthcare bill. It reallyIn is nothing less than shameful. Everyone knows by now that this legislation is not about healthcare at all, but is merely a way of squeezing money out of a very important social program— Medicaid– which provides a crucial benefit for poor and elderly citizens. And all for the sole purpose of providing a multi-billion dollar tax break for the wealthiest 2% of Americans. Tell me if you can think of anything more shameful.

Donald Trump says: “Dreamers won’t be targeted.” That can only mean one thing: if you are a DACA, watch out! Bitter experience is a harsh teacher and if it tells us anything, it is that whatever Trump says, expect the opposite. Review the rules that apply to your DACA status and be certain to follow them to the letter. Even so, be aware that ICE makes up their own rules as they go along and interprets existing rules to fit their actions. You have been warned by Trump himself, so be extra careful.

Everyone knows how weird and incompetent Trump is, but he has something that effectively shields him from any corrective action his Republican Party might consider. And that shield is his very personification of the characteristics of so many Republican voters. He is, after all, a generic Republican. His actions and statements are exactly what rank and file Republicans want to see and hear. He is one of their own in every sense of the word. As long as Republicans hold all the cards, and the Donald holds the trump card, impeachment is not very likely.