Film Recommendation for Bob Mueller
Saw an
interesting film the other evening. “The
International” (2009) is about a corrupt bank involved in international arms
dealing.
Jack Lippman
Pass the Chopsticks
More and more, I like to eat in Asian restaurants. It used to just be Chinese restaurants (that was part of my heritage, being brought up in North Jersey) but now it also includes Japanese restaurants, Thai restaurants, Vietnamese restaurants and those that are a combination of all the above. I believe that’s called “Asian Fusion.”
How did
this every happen? I suppose it is
natural since I drive a car made in Japan, wear underwear made in Indonesia,
wear shorts from Sri Lanka and am currently wearing a tennis shirt that comes
from Vietnam. I think there is something
in these products that infiltrates my system and directs me to Asian
restaurants. Incidentally, my favorite
“Asian Fusion” restaurant down here in Florida is “Sweet Ginger” (it has Vietnamese
roots) near City Place in West Palm Beach, close to the Kravis Center. For sushi, I like a place called Sushi Simon
in Boynton. If I am going for authentic
Thai, I prefer the “House of Siam” in downtown Delray Beach.
JLWanna Be Published?
Received
an interesting email the other day from a lady up in suburban Detroit. I pass it on to you and suggest you check out
her website, particularly if you like to write.
"Dear Jack,
I was sent your blog and found it
interesting. I publish soft cover books, including anthologies of other
people’s writings in a series called VOICES. This is a hobby, not a business.
Can you post in your blog a call for stories to be included in the up-coming
VOICES?
Currently I am collecting manuscripts from three audiences; 1)
TEEN WRITERS - which will be all genres, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, essay
and up to 10 pages in length; COMING TO AMERICA stories and poems for any
immigrant or family member, up to 20 pages; and writings of any kind from DACA.
They can just email me their manuscript. THERE IS NO COST, NO
COMPENSATION, and they can keep all rights to their own work. All
material has to be original and not plagiarized. Books usually take 3-6 months
to be in print. Looking forward to hearing from you.
Faye Menczer Ascher
Check out my NEW
website BY CLICKING HERE! If you like what you see, become a subscriber and
get the latest updates. And if the link doesn't work, just visit http://www.bubbiepublishing.com/ "
JL
Republicans, Anarchists and Democrats
Over the
years, Republicans have been very difficult to understand. They have always been known for being
champions of free enterprise, lower taxes and an economic policy which favors
businesses and wealthy investors which they seriously believe will result in
business growth benefiting all Americans regardless of where they are on the
economic ladder. They believe in
accomplishing this with as little government involvement and regulation as
possible. Whether or not you agree with
this is not important. What is important
is that this kind of thinking on the part of Republicans has always been part
of an intellectually legitimate approach to government.
Unfortunately,
this approach does not work and sooner or later, the people get wise to this
fact and stop voting for Republicans, leaving the G.O.P. with a big
problem. How can they get enough votes
to get their candidates elected?
There has
always been a wing of the Republican Party which is composed of crypto-anarchists. They do not believe in government. They know that in socialist countries, where
the government owns the means of production, everything is subject
to some degree of government control. In
a communist state, where not only is the means of production owned by the
government, but mostly everything else is as well, personal liberties, which
can remain under socialism, disappear.
Ostensibly, the nation’s wealth is shared among the people, but this
never really happens. Thinking simplistically, this anarchist wing
of the Republican Party, afraid of this happening here, considers any degree of
government involvement, however innocuous, to be a step on the road to
totalitarian Communism. Hence, they
oppose government. Sounds dumb, but to them those holding government jobs are "bureaucrats" whom they are sure are lazy, inefficient and overpaid and to be scorned. This is what motivates them to want to "Drain the Swamp."
The libertarian doctrines espoused by
Ayn Rand in her books (Atlas Shrugged, the
Fountainhead) glorified this denigration of government. This is the basis of what many Republicans
believe today. Senator Rand Paul of
Kentucky is even named after her. 
Steve Bannon, former advisor to the
President, set about “deconstructing government” the day he showed up in the
White House. He has since been fired,
but his spirit leads the anarchist wing of the Party today. This is offensive to more traditional
Republicans who still believe in the necessity of having a government which
does more for its citizens than just defending our borders with a military
force.
To get
elected, Republicans have accepted the support of the anarchists, including the
NRA, the White Supremacists, and other groups with right wing agendas which
they legitimatize by wrapping themselves in the American Flag, or even
evangelical Christianity. The Republicans
have now reached the point where these nut-jobs whose votes they needed now
control their party. That is how we
ended up with Donald Trump in the White House.
A saner Republican could not win their nomination! The election in
Alabama of right wing nut job Roy Moore over a more traditional Republican (who
even had the President Trump’s endorsement) to the Senate is proof of this. The inmates are running the G.O.P. asylum.
The
remaining Republicans have nowhere to go.
Their Congressional leadership started falling apart because of the
anarchists when Speaker John Boehner, who could not work with them, resigned in
2015. Other Republicans will follow,
probably either forming their own party rather than remain part of the Right
Wing Nut Job Anarchist Republican Party.
Some may even become Democrats.
For all intents and purposes, the Republican Party as we have known it
has died. The autopsy will conclude that
it committed suicide.
In 2018, I
urge Democratic candidates to ask their Republican opponents where they stand
in regard to the things for which President Trump stands, some of which echo
the position of the anarchists. Some candidates will support him. Some candidates will not. Depends on what kind of Republican they
are. Either way, there will be some
disenchanted Republicans who will be provided with a reason not to support
their candidates. Democrats must exploit this schism in the G.O.P. That is how the
Democrats will win in 2018.
JL
I Occasionally Post this on the Blog with Good Reason
While H.L Mencken, during his lifetime, said and wrote
many things which were reprehensible, he also possessed the wisdom to have
written a wonderful quote which I have posted several times on the blog. Here it is again, but this time accompanied by a clever photograph provided by the "Occupy - Democrats" folks.
We have reached that day.
JL
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