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|
There is only one overriding
issue of political concern right now, encompassing much of what appears on
this blog. That is how to defeat Republicans on Nov. 8, about 25 weeks
from now. The future of democracy in the United States is at
stake. Really. |
|
To win in November, Democrats must capture
the votes of women and persons of color, groups whose interests Republican actions
consistently attack. Vice President Harris should lead
this effort keyed to preserving both abortion rights and voting rights. |
JL
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The Only Way to End Gun Violence
So What Happened: This encouraged the possession of weapons, including assault
weapons, by many Americans. Since then, there have been many mass shootings,
some carried out by mentally ill murderers and some based on various kinds of
hatred. The latest took place only yesterday at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. It
now must end. It now must end. It now must end.
 |
| Family grieving at Texas school shooting site, reminiscent of Sandy Hook, Parkland, Pulse, Las Vegas, Buffalo, El Paso, Columbine, Aurora, and Pittsburgh shootings and many more resulting from absence of sorely needed gun reform laws |
Where Are We Now: It is time to forget about whatever the Supreme
Court and legislators on State and Federal levels have to say about the problem
of gun violence. They have had their chance and they have blown it allowing this danger to all Americans to continue,
culminating in a national crisis that can strike anywhere in the country at
any time. It is time to stop playing around. It is time to ignore the politicians.
What MUST Be Done: I believe
that until adequate legislation to control the possession of weapons by
civilians is passed, the Second Amendment to the Constitution should be temporarily
suspended. As presently interpreted, it says that ‘the
right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.’ This provides a right to the American people that they have repeatedly
proven is too dangerous for them to have.
Thousands of dead bodies, many of them children, are proof of this. It is time to 'infringe' on that right. This would mean that government agencies on all levels would have the
power to confiscate most weapons in the hands of civilians. This might seem harsh
but starting to do it by demanding that weapons must be turned in, with non-compliance
resulting in arrest, would serve to move legislators to rapidly enact real gun
reform. Once that is accomplished, the
Second Amendment would be reinstated.
The Hard Choice Before Us: President Biden spoke to the nation last night, prayerfully declaring
that something must finally be done to stop gun violence and end the influence
of the gun lobby. But we have heard
these words before and the SCOTUS and Congress, as I point out, have ‘blown
it.’ It is too late for
more appeals to legislators and judges.
We have been there before and nothing happens. I repeat, nothing happens.
The President must go
before Congress, with the Justices of the SCOTUS invited to attend, and ask
that the radical and extraordinary step of suspending the Second Amendment be
taken without delay until a solution that will end gun violence is found.
 |
| Will He Do It? |
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You may disagree with me on this, but you know down deep,
damn it, that I am right! It is the only
way. Trust your gut! Suspend the Second
Amendment until we have a solution. Otherwise, we will not have one, ever.
(And those who will argue that the Second Amendment allows the possession
of weapons by civilians to oppose the possibility of a tyrannical government
must step aside in the face of this national crisis.)
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I have made donations and participated in demonstrations to
fight gun violence for years. The many shootings over the years were brought
close to home with the 2018 murders at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in
Parkland, Florida, just a few miles from where I live.
I still have signs in my garage from the demonstrations I participated
in at that time and occasionally still wear a tee shirt identifying the wearer
as a ‘Grandparent Against Assault Weapons.’
I even had a sign in the rear window of my car reading ‘Want an Assault
Rifle? Join the Army’ which I still display, probably the only such sign remaining
in all of Palm Beach and Broward Counties four years after the Parkland
shooting. (Right now, a judge is having
great difficulty empaneling a jury to determine the sentence for the Parkland
murderer, over four years later.)
JL
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IF YOU LIKE THIS BLOG, PLEASE FORWARD IT TO AT LEAST ONE OR MORE FRIENDS OR FAMILY MEMBERS WHOM YOU FEEL MIGHT ENJOY READING IT. Suggest that they visit www.jackspotpourri.com. A simpler method might be to click on the envelope at the bottom left corner of each posting, which looks like this 
. Clicking on it makes it easy to forward a very basic, abbreviated version of the blog.
JL
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More Good Advice for Democrats
from Me
Last week, according to Charlie
Sykes on MSNBC, in the aftermath of the May 14 mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket
by an admitted white supremacist, all but one House Republican voted against a
bill aimed at addressing domestic terrorism, which this attack clearly was demonstrated by what the shooter had written. Sykes said that it was ‘a noticeably and
infuriating pivot of which Democrats should take note.’
‘The traditional party of law and
order has gone noticeably soft on terrorism — or at least this kind of
terrorism,’ wrote Sykes. ‘The Trumpified GOP may brush off allegations of
racism, but its new squishiness on terrorism undermines a key pillar of its
electoral strength, and — unless the Democrats are idiots — its about-face
should be a potent wedge issue this year.’
I wonder if charges of being ‘soft on terrorism’ carry as much weight as
charges that one is ‘soft on communism.’
In my opinion, despite this ‘potent wedge’ being given to them,
Democrats should stick to my recommendation that they concentrate their
resources on mobilizing the votes of (1) all people of color, Black,
Brown, or whatever, whose voting rights are being threatened as well as those
of (2) women, all of whom are threatened by anti-abortion laws in State
legislatures and politicized courts. Republicans at all levels do not act
in the interests of these two groups.
Democrats do. It is that simple.
JL
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Republicans Shout “Sieg Heil”
When Charles Lindbergh visited Germany in 1938, Herman Goering honored
him with that country’s ‘Grand Cross of the German Eagle.’ That was the highest medal Germany awarded to
foreigners. Henry Ford received the same
decoration in absentia. Both these men were
admirers of Adolf Hitler and opponents of democracy, not only in Germany, but
in the United States as well.
 |
| Goering Pinning Nazi Medal on Lindbergh in 1938 |
Many of today’s Republican leadership are attending the
Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) meeting in Budapest where
Hungarian President Victor Orban, whose domestic policies identify him as a
similar opponent of democracy as were the Nazis in Germany in the 1930s, is the
keynote speaker. Many of these Republicans at the CPAC gathering have political
views that are not unlike those of Lindbergh and Ford in 1938.
Too bad that when they arrive back home, the immigration
people at the airport will not check them for any repressive ideas they picked
up from Orban, as they routinely check suspicious-looking characters for drugs.
JL
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Putting China on Guard
President Biden answered a reporter’s question the other day by
saying that the United States would defend Taiwan militarily, a step further
than what we are doing in Ukraine, should China attack Taiwan. That statement is
sure to be gradually ‘walked back’ to our earlier more ambiguous position.
That’s fine because the message still got through to the Chinese. While not quite a ‘red line’ that they must not
cross, it is nevertheless a more distinct line than what existed before.
JL
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Newspapers, Newspapers, Newspapers!
Comparing the Sun Sentinel to the Palm Beach Post
While I am on a kick about newspapers (see my previous posting),
let me report that the South Florida Sun Sentinel just published a letter from
me on its Opinion page. Here is a copy.
“It should be noted that the actions of scam movers and property
stealers, both written about in this week’s Sun Sentinel, would not have been
possible without the services of the lawyers they hired to provide the tools to
carry out their schemes.
Add to this the complicity of lawyers in the questionable roof
replacements that are wrecking the property insurance market in Florida, and we
have a profession that ought to be ashamed of itself. Protecting the rights of the accused is not
the same as aiding them in carrying out their crimes.”
The articles to which I referred were about (1) movers who raise
the price of a move after they have picked up the load, citing the fine print
in the contract and refuse to deliver it until the higher price is paid,
meanwhile storing the furniture, etc. in an out-state warehouse maintained for
that purpose, and (2) sellers who fraudulently claim to own properties and sell
them to unsuspecting buyers. In both situations, corporate name changes are
involved to aid in evading responsibility.
But getting back to ‘newspapers,’ they remain a far more
reliable source of information than other media. The same material might be available on TV or
the internet, but it lacks the permanence of something printed on paper held
before your eyes. Benjamin Franklin’s famous quote, “Once something is kissed
by printer’s ink, it lives forever” doesn’t quite apply to TV and internet
reporting.
I might add at this point, that I have cancelled my subscription
to the Palm Beach Post, replacing it with a three-month subscription to the
South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Thus far I have found the Fort Lauderdale-based Sun Sentinel to
be better than the Post when it comes to local coverage of the southern
part of Palm Beach County and has a better sports section. The Palm Beach
Post, however, provides nationally syndicated columnists, both liberal and
conservative, which the Sun Sentinel does not. Their editorial policies
seem to be similar as does their national, State, and foreign news coverage. The
Post does have a ‘cleaner’ appearance than the Sun Sentinel does,
which looks ‘tighter.’
The ownership of the Post by Gannett seems to have
affected it more than the Sun Sentinel’s ownership by the Chicago
Tribune has affected that paper, leaving it as a local newspaper while the Post
has been turned into a local version of a State-wide newspaper. That’s the important
difference between the two papers that I have noticed. I am aware that
ownership of the Chicago Tribune was purchased by a cost-cutting hedge
fund about fifteen months ago so this all might change soon. The real tragedy is what has happened to the
newspaper industry in this country and the way many Americans get what passes
for news.
While you still can, read a real newspaper every day.
JL
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Florida’s Hispanic Votes Up for Grabs
I have my doubts about whether President Biden’s modification of
American policy toward Cuba and Venezuela will change the way Hispanic voters
in Florida cast their ballots.
Those who believe that the only course of action would be the complete
replacement of the present governments of these two countries with true
democracies were voting for Republicans anyway. They feel that any ‘gradual’
steps that might eventually lead up to that happening are just a waste of time
and actually serve to strengthen these two dictatorships. They are convinced
that the Democrats are similar to the socialists and communists they or their
parents fled. That is another Republican lie too many Hispanics have been
suckered into believing.
What is wrong with raising the amount of money Americans can
send to their families still in Cuba, allowing such remittances to be sent to
Cuban entrepreneurs as well as to families and easing travel restrictions for
families in both direction? Nothing.
And what is wrong with encouraging the Venezuelan dictator to
engage in talks with the opposition leader there, who is backed by the U.S.? Again, Nothing. Of course, Maduro won’t agree
to this, even if it results in an easing of sanctions on his country, but that will
put him in a bad light in the eyes of Venezuelans, which is a good thing.
Florida’s Hispanic voters should know that Cuban and Venezuelan
dictatorships just aren’t going to disappear by themselves. They’ve waited in vain for years for this to
happen. President Biden’s ideas at least open the door to that eventually
happening. Republicans prefer to keep
the door locked and let the dictators call the shots in their countries, continuing
the miserable lives of the people who live there. Then they use that to
campaign for Hispanic votes and blame the Democrats for allowing it. Were Biden
to begin to change that, they would lose an issue.
Other than the inconvincible Hispanic voters who will vote
Republican come hell or high water, the ones still celebrating the failed Bay
of Pigs landing in the parking lot of the Versailles Restaurant on Calle Ocho
in Miami, the rest of Florida’s Hispanic vote depends upon how strongly the
Democrats explain that voting for those who support guaranteeing fair elections
for all citizens, particularly non-white minorities of which they are one, as
well as for a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion, will benefit them
far more than believing Republican lies.
JL
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The Origin of the Universe
While there is a cosmological explanation for the
existence of the universe, the ‘Big Bang Theory’ (the real one, not the TV
sit-com), it is far too complicated for ordinary people to understand. But ordinary people generally do accept the
fact that the universe does indeed exist and that its existence can be traced
back to some power or event which created it. Those that believe that it ‘was
always there,’ requiring no further explanation, are just ‘begging the
question’ and dodging the task of looking for an explanation.
The idea of a cosmologically-defined ‘power’ is
harder for people to grasp than one associating the creation of the universe
with the idea of a quasi-anthropomorphic ‘creator,’ working behind the scenes,
or up in the heavens as painted by Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel in Rome.
That is the direction which religions, which
are no more than organized ways of coming up with answers to questions which
must be accepted on the basis of faith alone, have chosen. Really then, except for the very, very few
who can understand the scientific explanation mentioned above and those who blindly
accept what ‘science’ says without fully understanding it, most of us are left
with religious explanations.
Some may call that ‘creator’ by the generic
term ‘god,’ capitalizing it as ‘God,’ but the title ‘Creator’ seems to be more
descriptive and accurate for those who accept this religious explanation for
the creation of the universe. The Hebrews believed this and considered him (or
her, or it) too holy to even utter its name, or even to be seen. They were so much in awe that they were content
to simply call him (or her or it) something that amounted to ‘Creator.’
The Hebrew introduction to most prayers simply refers
to the deity as ‘our lord, our god, king of the universe’ (Adonoi, Elohanu,
Melech H’olom) but never mentions a name nor describes him, her, or whatever.
That’s why I prefer ‘Creator.’ It gives human beings a broad range of choices
to make for themselves as to what to believe regarding the creation of the
universe. And that’s why we have a multitude of religions on this planet.
JL
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