Poetry Corner
Here’ a poem I’ve written that might have some meaning to Floridians living in Palm Beach County:
Westward Ho!
From Fed’ral Highway driving west,
Go
cross the road that’s called Seacrest,
Speed
over Congress, then through Jog,
What years before was swamp and bog.
On Military prancing,
On
El Clair Ranch, a’dancing,
Through
Hagen Ranch, a’flyin,
Pass
the road named after Lyon.
Once
you’re past Four-Forty-One,
Watch
for gators in the sun.
Other
creatures, quite a bunch,
Some
will be a python’s lunch.
When
you reach Im-mok’-a-lee,
Skip
signs to Naples that you’ll see,
You’re
almost there, it can’t be far,
Just
speed ahead, in your car.
But
when she floats, then you’ll know,
Too late to shout, ‘Westward Ho,’
Too late to hit your brakes real slow,
You’ve
reached the Gulf of Mexico,
You’re
IN the Gulf of Mexico!
JL
The Task Before Us
Trumpublicans are busy gaming the legal system as it affects their likely presidential candidate with delays that will last far beyond the November election and litigating for Court opinions permitting them to lie and spread disinformation without impediment, under the guise of freedom of speech. What was once 48 months to defend against these two strategies has shrunk to well under eight months!
That is not enough time to stop them from playing these games. It would be a misdirection of Democrats’ energy and resources to bother to fight their delaying tactics and their lies at this point. We can hope, of course, that the defeated and indicted former president will continue to make an ass of himself to appeal to his base, and incidentally lose millions of independent and 'true' Republican voters in doing so, but we cannot count on that being enough.
The only reliable antidote to their tactics is a massive outpouring of votes at the national and State levels in November to repudiate them.
Begin working to make that happen before dinner tonight. That is the task before us. Tomorrow, after breakfast, may be too late. Hint: Forwarding this posting of Jackspotpourri to your friends, neighbors, and relatives might be a good start.
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I was about to list a whole bunch of things about which Democrats can brag, from the economy to standing up against Trumpubican attacks on abortion rights but instead, I am starting with a letter which appeared in the Palm Post the other day that touches most of the bases:
‘Four years ago we were living through chaotic and dark times. 30,000 people a month were dying of COVID, while former President Trump downplayed its existence. The Dow lost 35% of its value, plunging 10,000 to 20,000 points. Every day featured news about Trump’s antics, his ineptitude, his inability to lead, and his coddling of dictators. Joe Biden promised he would tame COVID, stabilize our economy, bring dignity and competence back to our government, and restore our relations with our friends and allies. 'And here we are today, COVID a distant memory, the Dow nearing 40,000, our 401k’s secure, our economy leading the world, our allies working in unison with us again, and a calm, professional, consistent management of the nation’s business back on track. Trump would like to drag us back down into that chaos, that darkness, that constant focus on the one person that matters to Trump — himself. Are you better off than four years ago? For me the answer is 'yes.'
Yes, that's a fine letter!
Don’t underestimate the job the President has done in rebuilding our connections to other freedom-loving nations, especially our NATO partners, relations to which were shredded by his predecessor in office. His standing up for Ukraine in their struggle with Russia keeps their aggressive behavior out of Western Europe and from our doorstep. And don’t forget his defense of the rights of women concerning abortion, made difficult by his predecessor’s Supreme Court appointees. Spread this message.
Joe Biden is on the people’s side. Donald Trump is not. He is for himself. But the echoing of his lies by the MAGA minority massages his ego into believing otherwise.
Counting on his continuing to make a fool of himself or waiting for our legal system to catch up with him isn’t enough. Your time, energy, and occasional donations (if you can afford them) to deserving candidates are needed to preserve representative democracy in this country. That is the task before us. The next move is yours, and as I suggested above, the time is now, not tomorrow.
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A friend asked me the other day where would be the best place to make a political donation, in view of the many pleas for donations received daily online and in the mail. Right now, at least for Floridians, I would recommend a donation to support Debbie Muscarsel-Powell in her Senate race. Control of the Senate is at stake and the incumbent, when it comes down to it, is no friend of Medicare nor Social Security. Permit me to point out that neither of these programs are 'entitlements,' as preached by him. Beneficiaries of these programs have contributed toward them, through payroll deductions, for years. For more information about Ms. Muscarsel-Powell, or to donate, visit https://www.debbieforflorida.com/ or CLICK RIGHT HERE.
JL
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Where I Stand - You're Entitled to Know
As you might suspect from following Jackspotpourri, I do have strong personal opinions, often more extreme than the positions of those candidates I support. I am not ashamed of these positions and now restate them, recognizing that not everyone shares them. And if you don't agree with me, that's fine too.
1. If President Biden is re-elected in November, and has Democratic majorities in both Houses of Congress, he must immediately expand the Supreme Court, appointing four additional Justices.
2. Peace in the Middle East is possible only if two changes occur, and they are related to one another. While we are not yet at the point where they will take place, bringing them about should be our goal. One change is that all groups and nations supporting the Palestinians must agree to the establishment of a Palestinian state that would live peacefully alongside the State of Israel, whose permanent existence would be recognized by all of them and not be challenged by any of them in any manner whatsoever. The other change is that the State of Israel must officially end settlements, past, present, or future, by Israelis in the areas destined to be included in a new Palestinian state. Only then will there be peace. Neither side will be happy initially with such changes, having to abandon their long-existing positions, but eventually they will come to enjoy the peace such changes will bring about.
JL
* * *
Massacre in Moscow
Both the United States and Russia failed miserably in their efforts to understand the region known as Afghanistan which they mistakenly thought of as a governable nation. Being able to grow poppies and inspire terrorists, in an environment dominated by an unforgiving religious zealotry, does not entitle an area to claim to be a nation.
The deadly attack on the rock concert in suburban Moscow by Afghanistani-inspired ISIS terrorists echoes the attack on an Israeli rock concert by Hamas terrorists. Though not tied to ISIS, Hamas' philosophy also stems from Islamic extremism. Supposedly defeated in Iraq and Syria, ISIS still exists in the Islamic world. They play by their own rules. And other extremists follow.
It is up to the United States, Russia, Western Europe, and the rest of the Islamic world, including Iran, to deal with such terrorism, a task made difficult by its masquerading as a religious movement as much as a political one.
Even though the warnings, made possible by our superior intelligence operations, went unheeded, the United States did alert the Russians of the possible Moscow attack. This points up that Islamic extremism is a beast of its own, overriding whatever disagreements non-Islamic nations might have among themselves.
JL
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Housekeeping on Jackspotpourri
Singaporeans!
I don’t know why but I still am getting a large number of ‘hits’ on Jackspotpourri from Singapore. They might represent individual internet users, or possibly a government, business, academic, or private entity. I just don’t know. If any Singaporean has an explanation, please let me know by Email (jacklippman18@gmail.com). And if you don’t want to send me such an Email, I will understand.
Email Alerts: If you are NOT receiving emails from me alerting you each time there is a new posting on Jackspotpourri, just send me your email address and we’ll see that you do. And if you are forwarding a posting to someone, you might suggest that they do the same, so they will be similarly alerted. You can pass those email addresses to me by email at jacklippman18@gmail.com.
Forwarding Postings: Please forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it. Friends, relatives, enemies, etc.
If you want to send someone the blog, you can just tell them to check it out by visiting https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com or you can provide a link to that address in your email to them.
There’s another, perhaps easier, method of forwarding it though! Google Blogspot, the platform on which Jackspotpourri is prepared, makes that possible. If you click on the tiny envelope with the arrow at the bottom of every posting, you will have the opportunity to list up to ten email addresses to which that blog posting will be forwarded, along with a brief comment from you. Each will receive a link to click that will directly connect them to the blog.
Either way will work, sending them the link to https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com, or clicking on the envelope at the bottom of this posting.
Again, I urge you to forward this posting to anyone you think might benefit from reading it, particularly if they are a registered voter.
This is an election year. Spread the word.
JL
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