Tragedy in Orlando, Modest Donald, The "BIG" Party, Horizontal Inequality and a Word from Baltasar Gracian

                                                                                           

Modest Donald

Like millions of other Americans, I am not privy to the tax returns of the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee.  If I were, I might know something about how charitable he actually is, and how committed he is to the community, and ultimately, to the nation in which he lives. 

 

One indicator of who are major charitable donors here in Palm Beach County are the publications of the Kravis Center and the Norton Museum, where pictures of donors at their various “galas” and listings of those at various levels of financial support sometime appear.  

  A Gallery at the Norton

Inside the Kravis

Many of these donors, like the presumptive Republican Presidential nominee, are only part-time residents here but this does not seem to place a damper on their generosity toward these two major cultural institutions in Palm Beach County.  I would assume Mr. Trump who claims to be quite wealthy also is among these community-minded donors and that the absence of his name in the listings I refer to is only a testimony to his modesty.  

Jack Lippman

                                             

Tragedy in Orlando

Homophopia blended with a hidden infatuation with radical Islam were the outlets for the anger of the Orlando killer.  If he had not been a Muslim and if there had not been an ISIS for him to claim allegiance to, it would have been some other group, even God, that he would have claimed as his guiding star.  How many troubled individuals are there in this country with souls mired in failure and lack of achievement whose anger quietly boils within them until it settles on  victims to strike at as the object of their hatred? 

Identifying them is a Herculean task.  The only way it can be effectively done involves the loss of a significant part of the freedoms which form the foundation of this nation.  Unfortunately, some of that will happen, but it will also be necessary to eliminate the radical Islam toward which such anger looks for solutions.  That can only be done within the framework of Islam, and specifically, with the earnest cooperation of Muslim governments throughout the world and Muslim clerics in this country, many of whom do not even recognize the extremists who worship in their mosques.  And of course, the causes of such anger, in all Americans, not just Muslims, must be addressed.

    *     *    *

As for the weapons such killers use, outlawing them will make their bloody work more difficult, but needless to say, if they cannot find one weapon, they will settle on another. 

 

Outside of battlefield use, why would anyone own an AR-15?

 

Nevertheless, there is no reason why assault weapons, designed for war, should remain legal in this country.  The failure of Congress to make them illegal paired with the Supreme Court majority’s gross misreading of the Second Amendment, is tragic.  If the Second Amendment is to be construed to permit American citizens to possess arms, including  weapons of war, and that is what assault rifles are, it is just a narrow jump to reading that Amendment to allow individuals to make war.  Why else would they be allowed to possess weapons of war?  And that war would be have to be against the government of the United States. Who else?  Such treason was dealt with by Abraham Lincoln, a century and a half ago. 

JL

                                       

The "BIG" Party

In the last posting, I described a "dream" in which the Republican Party considered renaming itself the "Hypocritical" Party.  (Go back and read it.).   These "Hippos," would comprise what could also be known as the "BIG" Party.  This would stand for their voting base, a majority of which clearly preferred Donald Trump as their nominee.  Bigoted, Ignorant and Gullible, those are the hallmarks of the Hypocritical Party.    This would not have been the case had not that party cultivated this base for the past quarter of a century.  Check out The "Farmer and the Viper," Aesop's Fables (Number 176)  where kindness to evil was met by betrayal.

  

 (The G.O.P. establishment was "kind" to its extreme right wing and took them in because they wanted their voters' support, only to be betrayed by them in the 2016 nominating process.  They got bitten by the viper they nursed.)

 JL

                                            

Horizontal Inequality

Thomas Friedman had an interesting column in the Times last week.  In writing about “inequality,” he touched upon how it was applicable to entire groups within our society, and not simply to individuals.  His column, “Hillary and the Horizontals,” is well worth reading.   Click here!

JL

                                       

Baltasar

Three hundred years ago, Baltasar Gracian, a Spanish Jesuit Scholar who was occasionally at odds with his superiors, wrote the "Art of Worldly Wisdom."  I often include excerpts on this blog.   This one, (No. 161) is directed at both Presidential candidates.

                                              

"Know your own sweet faults.  Even the most perfect person cannot escape them, but why marry them or take them as lovers?  There are defects of the intellect and they are greatest - or noticed most easily - in people of great intelligence.  Not because the person himself is not aware of them, but because he loves them.  Two evils in one: irrational affection bestowed on faults.  They are moles on the face of perfection.  They repel others but to us they look like beauty marks.  Here is a gallant way to conquer yourself, and add to your gifts.  Others are quick to notice your faults.  Instead of admiring your talent, they dwell on your defect, and use it to tarnish your other gifts."

I suppose this means that one should not be proud of what others might consider to be one's faults.  Recognize them as faults, no matter how much you feel that they are not.  And soft-pedal them.

JL  

                                            

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