Opinion, Politics, Religion

Proclaim Liberty throughout the land

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

*******************************************************

Some seventy-five years ago a mid-sized cruise ship sailed from Hamburg, bound for Havana, Cuba. Aboard were almost 1,000 passengers who had proper visas to allow them to land in Cuba where they would have sought asylum from the growing Nazi mayhem that had developed in Germany.

The vessel arrived in Havana harbor, to find that some laws had been changed and their visas were no longer valid. When pleadings and appeals were ignored Captain Schroder took the ship to a point near Miami. The passengers were refused entry to the land of the free. They sailed slowly up the east coast while people ashore all the way to Ottawa tried to arrange a refuge for these Jews from the then impending holocaust.

But no, and finally the MV St Louis returned to Europe. The passengers were distributed among several countries, about 300 to Britain, some to Holland and Belgium, a few to Switzerland and the rest safely to France. Safe, that is, until May of 1940 when the Nazi war machine burst forth onto Western Europe.

Most of the refugees trapped there were eventually rounded up and sent to their deaths in the gas chambers. Thank you very much America.

Can you imagine the raw brainpower of these refugees and their descendants that we lost when they were sent back to Nazi Europe?  How many doctors, scientists, educators and successful entrepreneurs, that could have enriched our nation were denied the simple asylum that international law and common Christian decency demands.

And now we are presented with a very large number of men, women and young children, fleeing violence, murder and mayhem have arrived seeking some of that loudly proclaimed Christian charity. And who are these people? They are the survivors of an even larger group who actually set forth to reach the modern promised land. The survivors who are most likely to become a productive member of our society.  The same hypocrites who have been complaining that the President has been ignoring the laws that many of them voted for and were signed with some fanfare during the last administration are now demanding that President Obama ignore those laws and immediately send these people who risked so much and endured so many dangers be sent back to a modern holocaust while they bloviate in the Senate and House chambers, contributing nothing to any solution.

If only there were some way to ship some Congressmen to these destitute Central American nations for a week or two so they had the time to rest and read their bibles and learn what suffering and physical danger there is to the people living there.

As our good Christian Congressmen are aware, their Bible demands;

Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy.

Deliver the poor and needy: rid them out of the hand of the wicked.

Psalms 82:3-4

© 2014, Charlie Jensen, All Rights Reserved

Opinion, Politics

Solomon’s Wisdom

I see our venerated Supreme Court opening another box of Pandora’s unmentionables. They, in the person of Mr. Thomas, a Constitutional scholar of limited repute, have announced that they will review a case concerning Ohio’s law banning knowingly false political statements about candidates.

Unfortunately, Freedom of Speech has to include the freedom to state an opinion that others consider a prevarication to some degree.

Proving that something is a demonstrable lie and is known to be false by the person speaking would require something in short supply, the Wisdom of Solomon.

I am all for being truthful, especially in political advertisements both by opposing candidates as well as our guardians of Democracy operating on the invisible and often abused public airwaves. In fact, I prefer truth in all my dealings, but accept that what one person considers to be biblical truth, others with somewhat more realistic views and possibly a better education might just consider to be warmed over myths from the days of Gilgamesh.

How, in the Celestial Teapot’s name would one judge a statement after the fact when the accused liar says, “Well, not only did I believe my comments were true when I spoke them, I still, despite what adversaries say, believe my remarks are essentially pure, unvarnished truth.”

Can anyone imagine any real benefit to further involving our already overworked courts in such Tomfoolery or our underworked Congress in fashioning additional exceptions to whatever clumsily worded legislation they produce to protect their most generous special interests pay for?

© 2014, Charlie Jensen, All Rights Reserved

Opinion, Politics

The State of Health Care in Texas

In the news last week was an article about the deep cuts the State of Texas has made in the safety net of funding to access health care. In an effort to curtail women’s access to abortions, a religious idea, all kinds of other routine medical services have been blocked, such as cervical screenings and mammograms that can detect cancer at early treatable stages.

Personally, this issue affects me as a husband with daughters and grandchildren, several of whom live in the Dallas area. Beyond that, I hope every woman in Texas from El Paso to Beaumont talks to her female friends about the importance of their vote and drags their boyfriend, husband or significant other to the polls insisting, as women can do, that he vote for a change in Texas government and laws.

It is up to the people who are being harmed by the right wing to stand up themselves and do something about the situation and that means registering and voting.

Upon posting my general feelings on Facebook one reader commented.

Charlie, these people are not being harmed by the right. They are being harmed by the left who has turned many into dependent people that don’t know how to take care of themselves. What a cruel thing to do to people.

Followed by another reader.

Cruelty is dying of a disease or cancer that could have been detected early and treated. Denying healthcare and food to people is cruel. Denying livable wages is cruel. Denying equal pay for equal work is cruel. Cruelty is watching the right wing declare corporations as people, their governors gathering in Las Vegas to prostitute themselves to a billionaire geezer and then blaming the poor for being poor.

Oh Judy, since I don’t know you I’ll try not to make references to where your head is perched, but you have swallowed a load of right-wing propaganda and there really isn’t any easy way to explain to you how wrong your ideas are.

Would you say that a single mother abandoned by her husband, with two or more children struggling on a minimal salary job and wanting to have the opportunity for some health care at the local Planned Parenthood clinic to make sure she will be alive to raise her children was harmed by the political left and turned into a dependent person ? Or are she and her children victims of circumstances somewhat beyond their control?

That is the sort of person that I know dwells in that never-never land of crushing poverty, missed opportunity and is now being deprived of the right to vote. Now madam, I know of many people in similar situations and obviously you do not. The wonderful thing is that I know of several who have climbed out of that situation and are now functioning citizens who have fair jobs, pay taxes and are educating their children.

All they needed was a little help and a fair chance at a critical time in their lives, something that your philosophy does not extend to them.

I doubt my words will change your mind as people like you prefer to stay inside the bubble of BS mountain where the myths of the welfare queen who drives a Cadillac to the gub’ment office and really manages to live like royalty on food stamps and section eight housing, myths that are like the web of garbage that flows around and around the North Pacific gyre in circles, smothering any fresh ideas that might light up your closed mind.

Here is a test. Do you recall how many right-wing political commentators virtually swore that the ACA would be a failure, that it was: “… a train wreck…”, to quote John Boehner, and that they would never get the 6,000,000 or 7,000,000 people signed up through the website by March 31st? But they were wrong and other than whining about the books being cooked they have unapologetically shut up about it. Why were they wrong?

These same people sat there and confidently predicted that Mitt Romney would win the election by a 4 or 5% vote margin. But they were wrong, and not just by a little bit either. Why is that?

Others from the same part of the political spectrum insisted that Saddam Hussein was building a nuclear weapon and was an al Qaida supporter, a few of whom still peddle that same lime of BS even after it being proven totally false.  But once the country was “liberated” inspectors, military as well as civilian, roamed the hillsides and down under the cities for weeks looking for the non-existent Weapons of Mass Destruction finding none. The prophets of doom were wrong. Why?

If I were listening to people who have been consistently wrong over a series of decisions and predictions, I’d have the intellectual curiosity to try to figure out why that was so, and would quietly do some independent research. I’d also be very suspicious about any other predictions or statements that that source made until he, or she, or they, had established a better track record.

I would go on but more than likely you have snapped down the lid on your thinking by now and decided that I am just making this up. But if you want to get on the right side of history there is a chance but you’ll have to suspend blind belief and check out facts on your own. As Ronnie Reagan often said “….. doveryai, no proveryai….”, the former is worthless without the latter.

Opinion, Politics

The Koch Brothers Businesses

If you care about this country and want to preserve your right to vote and fairly influence elections, Cut and Paste this list to “Word”, Print it out and then Keep a Copy Handy, especially the top sections which are consumer products we all use.
You can effect a change but it will take the determined effort of a large part of the nation, but it all starts with you and me.

Gasoline:
 Chevron
Union
Union 76
Conoco

Koch Industry/Georgia-Pacific Products:
 Angel Soft toilet paper
Brawny paper towels
Dixie plates, bowls, napkins and cups
Mardi Gras napkins and towels
Quilted Northern toilet paper
Soft ‘n Gentle toilet paper
Sparkle napkins
Vanity fair napkins
Zee napkins

Koch Industry/Invista Products:
 COMFOREL® fiberfill
COOLMAX® fabric
CORDURA® fabric
DACRON® fiber
POLYSHIELD® resin
SOLARMAX® fabric
SOMERELLE® bedding products
STAINMASTER® carpet
SUPPLEX® fabric
TACTEL® fiber
TACTESSE® carpet fiber
TERATE® polyols
TERATHANE® polyether glycol
THERMOLITE® fabric
PHENREZ® resin
POLARGUARD® fiber and
LYCRA® fiber

Georgia Pacific Building products:
 Dense Armor Drywall and Decking
ToughArmor Gypsum board
Georgia pacific Plytanium Plywood
Flexrock
Densglass sheathing
G/P Industrial plasters (some products used by a lot of crafters)-
Agricultural Plaster
Arts & Crafts Plaster
Dental Plaster
General Purpose Plaster
Glass-reinforced Gypsum (GRG),etc.

Opinion, Politics

At the Water’s Edge

Throughout the 200 years of this nation’s history,  just about all honorable Senators, Representatives, even ex-Presidents and Vice Presidents adhered to the general principle that politics ended at the waters edge.

That meant that in a time of war or national crisis they stepped back from bloviatring about foreign policy and international decisions and supported the elected president, creating a united front to those who would harm us. If they had some alternative idea they communicated that, not to the public or in the press and definitely not to the enemy, but to the department heads and  administration executives who were then free to listen and utilize, ignore or modify the advice, based on their judgment as the operating part of the elected government.

Interestingly, when he was chairman of the Republican Party, Michael Steele took a stand inside the formerly Grand Old Party. Addressing his internal critics he said,

“I’m the chairman. Deal with it,”

“I tell them to get a life, I’m looking them in the eye and say I’ve had enough of it. If you don’t want me in the job, fire me. But until then, shut up. Get with the program or get out of the way.”

He was not actually talking about international problems or decisions, but his comments do apply in this way.

I think the President should say something similar, such as;

“I am the elected President.

Deal with it.

If you disagree strongly with my decisions work towards winning the next election, but till then shut up about foreign policy and for God’s sake stop giving aid and comfort to our enemies.”

And make no mistake about it, the constant criticism of every statement and decision made by this president and his administration, small, large and intermediate, foreign or domestic, are both giving aid and comfort to our international enemies as well as firing up our own lunatic fringe to the point where I am as afraid of their irrational actions as I am of some Al Quida operative damaging an aircraft in flight.

Those who persist in joining in with the disaffected minority and use their position to attempt to conduct their own private foreign policy seem to have forgotten this concept, one that had served to make this country great, especially those discarded presidential candidates who failed in their efforts to win he votes of the citizenry. There is a reason Senator McCain and later Ex- Governor Mitt Romney, for instance were not chosen to run the country. The people , in their collective wisdom, who are supposed to make that decision evaluated their pro-offered comments and policies and decided that neither was worthy of the office. And judging by their recent complaints and proposals the electorate did the right thing.

And the people who blindly nod their heads without thinking about what their terrorist fellow travelers are really saying and doing are also a part of the effort to give aid and comfort to those who wish us and our system no good.

Starting during the Clinton Administration some members of the Republican Party began to act in total opposition to anything the elected president attempted culminating in the disgraceful obstructionist policies we have been seeing these last few years.

I am glad that the Democratic MAJORITY in the Senate found the intestinal fortitude needed to act like a MAJORITY even to the extent of altering the rules of the Senate concerning cloture. In most democracies majority rule means just that and the gentlemen’s rules enacted by the Senate in the eighteenth century have outworn their usefulness,

Failing that it is time to fold our tents in Washington and admit that under the current arrangement the country is ungovernable.