04-13-2022 - A Michigan Jury, the AG's Delay, Holiday Greetings and Why the GOP Should Be Abolished

 

IF YOU LIKE THIS BLOG, PLEASE SHARE IT WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND OTHERS YOU FEEL MIGHT ENJOY READING IT. 

 JL 

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A Michigan Jury and Inside Garland's Head

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer

A Michigan jury recently acquitted the four men who had planned to kidnap the State’s governor. They objected to, among other things, her policies concerning the Covid19 pandemic.  Their documented conversations played at the trial included talking about blowing up a bridge, killing the governor and other violence.  The group they belonged to was armed in a military manner, although this was mostly ‘for show.’  

Their defense attorney had claimed that they hadn’t said anything shocking.  After the decision, he was quoted as saying “If you don’t like the governor and it’s rough talk, I can do that in our country.  That’s what’s beautiful about this country.  That’s what great about it. So hurrah, freedom in America.  It’s still here.”  Putting the shoe on the other foot, I wonder what would happen to a Floridian who openly advocated the killing of Governor Ron DeSantis and if prosecuted for that, what a Florida jury might decide. 

The Michigan jury’s decision is part of the reason Attorney General Garland isn’t rushing into prosecuting those who inspired the January 6 insurrection, including the defeated former president and his aides.  With decisions from juries like this possible and a SCOTUS that might just agree with them, any American can threaten the life of government officials they oppose and propose other acts of violence against the State.  

This is what happened on January 6, 2021 when the vote-counting rules established by the Constitution were violently attacked and the life of the Vice President threatened with a gallows built in front of the Capitol.  In today’s America, such “rough talk” is acceptable because some think it is included in the freedoms we enjoy.   Those who understand history know that it isn’t.  It emulates the way the Nazis came to power in Germany in 1932.  That kind of behavior describes too many Republicans today. 

But still the fear of a jury deciding against conviction and courts upholding that decision, if challenged, causes the Attorney General to hesitate starting prosecutions which might end up with the accused walking out of the courthouse with a veneer of innocence.

JL 

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Holiday Greetings

This week marks the beginning of the Passover holiday for Jews as well as the Easter holiday for Christians and Ramadan for Muslims.  I hope all enjoy and benefit from these holidays.  

In connection with the Jewish celebration of Passover, here is a bit from a weekly newsletter put out by a guy in Chicago that usually deals with Israeli issues. It is a list of ten signs that you are at a ‘Republican’ seder. (A seder is the festive meal served during the Passover holiday.)  It is humorously political. But after all, Passover does deal with the politics of a minority fleeing political oppression, so it is in a sense, appropriate.  Here goes:

10. Guests refuse to answer the four questions, part of the seder ritual, without a subpoena. 

9. They demand a recount of the ten plagues, also part of the seder ritual.

8. They defend not increasing the minimum wage on the grounds that according to Chad Gadya (a children’s song sung at seders), it still costs only two ‘zuzzim’ to buy a goat.

7. The ‘afikomen’ is hidden in the Cayman Islands.

6. Guests refuse to open the door for Elijah until they see his immigration papers. 

5. They attack Moses for negotiating a deal with Pharoah because why would we negotiate with our enemies? 

4. They don't understand why the Egyptians didn’t cure the plagues with hydroxychloroquine.

3. They omit the parts about slavery from the Haggadah because it reminds them of Critical Race Theory.

 2. They keep saying “when do we get to the miracle of the Jewish space lasers?” 

And the number one sign that you might be at a ‘Republican’ seder:

1. They end the seder by singing "Next year in Mar-a-Lago."

The author closes by wishing everyone a sweet Pesach.  I do that as well, along with a joyous Easter and a rewarding Ramadam.

 JL 

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An Argument for the Abolition of the GOP

Here’s a letter from Tuesday’s Palm Beach Post.  I agree wholeheartedly and urge that it be passed on to your friends and relatives. Perhaps it might reach some Republicans. 

“In 1940 Thomas Mann warned America that if fascism were to come to its shores, it would arrive in the name of freedom.  And so it has.  With the Jan. 6 insurrection, it made an ugly appearance intending to disabuse the people of the belief that Mr. Biden was the duly elected president. 

Clearly, the Trump-Putin alliance is not so stupid as to openly admit its fascism.  That’s because in its deceptiveness, it promotes itself as the party of freedom.  Regrettably because of its fascism, however inchoate, the GOP has in part lost its love of life and of life-giving values.  Genuine respect, compassion and friendship are of no concern.   Truth, goodness and beauty hold no interest.  For some, they are merely signs of weakness.  Life instead is a willful struggle to gain and retain power in its crudest form.  It feeds on limited rancor, vilification and hatred.  It has no appetite for solving social problems.

In essence fascism in the GOP is a destructively divisive and deadly force in politics and life itself.  Its very existence is an argument for its abolition.”

 JL 

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Advice: There are two reasons why people move to Florida:  lower taxes and a better climate.  No other reasons exist.  Everything else Florida offers is available elsewhere, even better!   Retirees and others planning on moving to the ‘Sunshine State’ should consider the 47 other acceptable choices.
(Right now, Texas and Oklahoma are as bad choices as Florida.)

JL 

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No mention of Covid19 or Ukraine in today's blog posting ... but wait, interesting material for you is in the works

 

 

 

04-07-2022 - - Toilet Paper, Will Smith, Democracy's Flaw, Israel, KIdman, Zelenskyy and Much More!

 

IF YOU LIKE THIS BLOG, PLEASE SHARE IT WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND OTHERS YOU FEEL MIGHT ENJOY READING IT.

JL

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Something to Put Behind You

One thing we all use is toilet paper.  Koch Industries is one of the American companies still doing business with Putin’s Russia, despite their aggression and unnecessary brutality against civilians in Ukraine. The least you can do is to not use Koch products with which to wipe!  They include Angel Soft, Quilted Northern, Soft 'n Gentle, Costco’s house brand, and anything made by Koch-owned Georgia-Pacific. (You should also avoid other Koch paper products such as Brawny and Sparkle paper towels, Vanity napkins and Dixie Cups.)

Acceptable wipes include Charmin, Cottonelle and Scott. As for other paper products, Bounty paper towels and Chinet napkins and paper plates are okay too.  But watch out for house brands which might come from Russia’s economic supporters at Koch-owned Georgia-Pacific. 

JL

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Pulling No Punches on Will Smith

Actor Will Smith slapped MC Chris Rock during the 2022 Oscar ceremonies and much has been written and spoken about it.  Here are my feelings about the incident as I saw it. 

Many in the traditional Hollywood audience of screen professionals were shocked.  I suspect that some among them, although never speaking up, had been personally bothered by the recognition many actors of color were receiving in the Awards, an area which until a few years ago was almost entirely the preserve of white actors.  I won’t get into that, but I wonder how many of those still harboring remnants of a heritage of bigotry were quietly thinking, and excuse my language, ‘that’s how n----rs behave.”  Years of progress in the struggle against racism were threatened by Smith’s behavior. Few seem to be mentioning this.

That is the way Will Smith, a talented actor but still an individual, behaved in response to some ‘humor’ from Rock directly at his family earlier.  It was solely Will Smith’s personal ill-thought-out behavior, and in no way should it be extended to those who share his skin color.  He should have thought before swinging.  In the eyes of viewers, his action represented a diminishing of the high level of achievement he had reached before the cameras and elsewhere.  And the awards, including those to “people of color” were all well deserved.

 

JL

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Democracy Permits the Election of Bad People

The challenge facing our democracy was well illustrated when 63 Republicans voted against a House measure upholding the founding democratic principles of NATO,  (individual liberty, human rights, democracy, and the rule of law).  

These Representatives were legitimately elected by their constituents.  Simillarly elected were most of their party who are engaged in culture wars which are pushing today’s right wing away from democracy and toward authoritarianism, including taking away the health care that the ACA has brought to many Americans as well as other rights now guaranteed by the Constitution and its Amendments.

This is the Achilles heel of a democracy that allows the election of people who are intent on destroying it. How do we meet that challenge?  Suggestions, please.

 

JL

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Kidman and Zelenskyy 

Nicole Kidman

Heard an interview the other day on NPR.  Terry Gross was interviewing Nicole Kidman on her daily “Fresh Air” program.  Kidman explained the great pains she goes to in order to become the character she plays in her films and how difficult it is when she tries to return to her own self, at the end of the filming, or even after a day of filming. "You feel at times you're teetering on the edge of something that's quite dangerous," Kidman said. "What I've found is by having the most stable, nourishing, loving family is my balance ... and it gives me the chance to go into these places and then be still and not become untethered.”

Which brings us to actor Vladimir Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, who is in real life is now duplicating the role he played a few years ago in a supposedly humorous Ukrainian TV sitcom, where a schoolteacher became the nation’s president.  The danger of confusing his theatrical presidency with his real, actual presidency can present dangers. It appears that he is capable of handling them without becoming “untethered” while “teetering on the edge of something that is quite dangerous,” as Kidman put it. I suspect the Russians can attest to that.

 JL

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Israeli Approach to Ukraine and Why 

 For an insightful view of the Ukrainian situation from an Israeli standpoint, check out this article which appeared on Bari Weiss’ Common Sense daily newsletter.  I don’t always buy into what appears there, but this is worth reading.  PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ IT.  If that doesn't work, just go to:

 https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/ukraine-learns-the-israel-lesson?s=r

 JL

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More on Homeowners Insurance in Floriduh

In the last posting of this blog, I wrote about the Homeowner’ Insurance disaster in Florida.  The Palm Beach Post covered the same material in its page one headline story on Saturday, April 2. 

I would like to make one point clear.  Unbelievably, State-controlled Citizens Property Insurance rates (supposedly the company of ‘last resort’ for Florida homeowners) were actually lower than what private companies were offering and causing a great increase in its business. That is a never-before-encountered situation and the reason why they are asking for an 11% premium increase (maximum law allows) to make sure they stayed more costly than private companies.

Citizens rates were always much higher than those of private companies, but private companies’ rates have so increased that they now are in many cases, especially when less expensive private policies are being renewed, higher than those of Citizens. Both are now at obscenely high levels, the only difference being that Citizens, by law, had to issue you a policy whereas private companies could decline to insure you.  

It isn’t just a matter of rates, however. I believe the increase in the number of Citizens’ policyholders is due to the impossibility of homeowners with roofs over fifteen years old from switching companies when facing tremendous rate increases or avoiding being dropped by their existing companies. Regardless of rates, they had no place else to go. The causes of the rate increases and unavailability of coverage due to roof age were explained in my posting and in the Post article.  Basically, it is that eventual roof replacement is a ‘certainty,’ as opposed to other hazards covered by Homeowners insurance, most of which may never occur, and the availability of unethical roofers, inspectors and lawyers who squeeze such claims into ‘windstorm’ damage provisions.  There, they litigate until the insurer finds it less costly to just give up and pay for the new roof rather than pay lawyers to try to enforce policy provisions.

I proposed that the only solution other than the obvious but unlikely one of getting rid of unethical roofers, inspectors, and lawyers, is to eliminate the ‘certain’ hazard of roofs needing replacement sooner or later from all homeowners’ insurance policies, so spurious roof claims from windstorm damage would not exist.  As I suggested, a home equity loan to cover the cost of roof replacement would probably be a less expensive solution, one to which one would turn only when the roof actually needed to be replaced, than paying higher homeowners’ insurance premiums year after year.  Remember, tile roofs last 25 to 50 years, so the odds are on the side of the homeowners.

And of course, the name of that football bowl game played each December in Boca Raton needs to be changed.  It lends credibility to what’s going on!

JL

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 My Letter to the Post and an Analysis of Column Which I Criticized  (Floridians Take Note)

The Palm Beach Post published the following letter from me on March 31.  I hope Democratic leadership takes notice.  Here is my letter:

 

”It is not enough for Democrats to merely disagree with the ‘your turn’ column written by Republican leader Evan Power.  His words should serve as a target for them to use to solidify their ranks, identify their opponents and promote the voter registration efforts needed to take away Republican control of what goes on in Tallahassee in November.”

 

Here is the column to which the letter refers, with my commentary inserted.  Power’s words are in blue.  Mine are in red:

 

Lawmaking session a victory for Republicans | Opinion - Your Turn

Evan Power

The radical left and their friends in the media are in complete meltdown over Florida’s legislative session. (All who are dissatisfied with the legislative session are not just “the radical left and their friends. There are many, many, more.) They claim the session was about “culture wars” and believe, “The best thing the Florida Legislature did was adjourn.”

Why has the media been so horrified? It is simply because an increasingly red state is governing conservatively.  

 

Florida has led the nation during COVID by choosing to be open and allowing residents personal freedom from mask and vaccine mandates. (And to risk Covid infections spreading among the State’s population, especially its many seniors.) These policies were so popular that lockdown Democratic leaders decided to vacation in Florida while leaving their destructive policies in place in their states. (No evidence that they did this and their policies were not destructive.)  Now, facing universally high disapproval, they are now dropping their own mandates. (Dropping mandates, not because of supposed disapproval, but because masking and vaccination indeed reduced the virus’ spread.)

During this legislative session, Republicans led the way with record tax breaks, (for whom?) bonuses for our law enforcement officers (The money came from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, opposed by almost all Republicans), greater election integrity (a lie – the reverse is true, as the courts just ruled), protecting human life (by attacking women’s rights to choose what to do with her body), and protecting parents’ rights regarding education from grades K-3 (allowing non-educators to overrule elected school boards.)

The left and its allies couldn’t honestly argue against this kind of agenda that is popular with the voters of Florida (we’ll see on Nov. 8), so they had to invent reasons to oppose the policies.

If you read the social media of Democratic members, you would think there was legislation to prevent the term “gay” or to forbid the teaching of race in classrooms. (Another pair of lies.  Granted that the legislation doesn’t specifically use the word ‘gay,’ HB1557 clearly deals with it by referring to classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in certain grade levels. And HB7 similarly dealt with race, limiting what could be discussed in schools.  Copies of both fascist bills appear below)  None of this was true, and this misinformation was used to try to oppose the idea that parents, not teachers and bureaucrats, should guide what students learn in their classrooms. (A crazy idea. We elect school boards … he calls them and their professional staff  bureaucrats … and hire teachers to teach. Parents should not ‘guide’ what students learn in classrooms. They are unqualified to do so.  If they dislike public schools, there are other choices for them.)

Florida is changing. But, those changes are for the better, with thousands and thousands of people fleeing to Florida because of the freedom and policies that are being implemented in the Free State of Florida. (They come here for the weather and lower taxes. Not for freedom. The Constitution gives them that.)

These successes have allowed over 10 counties to flip from Democrat to Republican in the last several years. (True … with the aid of ghost candidates if necessary and sadly, many misinformed voters) Now, for the first time, Republicans outnumber registered Democrats in the Sunshine State. (In Florida, out of over 14,000,000 registered voters, there are just 90,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats but there are over 3,800,000 voters registered as having ‘no party affiliation’ most of whom traditionally vote Democratic.)

As we saw in Virginia last November with the election of Gov. Youngkin and in recent polling from across the nation, voters are growing tired of the overreach of their government in implementing mandates and control over their children in public schools. (Youngkin hid his conservatism to get elected and showed his true colors once elected. He will not be re-elected because Virginians are smarter and better educated than Floridians.)

Unfortunately, as the voters reject the government overreach, the Democrats are being forced to create their own fake reality by labeling every policy as a culture war, racist policy, or discrimination. Voters should be on the lookout for these false claims and be prepared to fight back. (A difficult chore since there actually is racism and discrimination in Florida. Calling it a ‘culture war’ diminishes the truth.)

Luckily, we have leaders like Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has not backed down from the attacks from the far left and their friends in the media. Instead, he stepped up and took on the mischaracterizations and lies head-on.  (With more lies and appeal to the misinformed, the gullible, and the bigoted.)

In his speeches, Gov. DeSantis likes to say, “I have only begun to fight.” The people of Florida should join in him that fight. (The quote is from John Paul Jones whose frigate was battling two English ships in 1779.  He won the battle, seizing one of the English ships but his own ship sank anyway. Sort of like what DeSantis is doing to the Republican Party, which will eventually sink too, despite occasional victories.)

Republicans, independents, and even Democrats who see the threat of the government’s attempt to control every aspect of their lives need to join the fight to hold these leaders accountable.  (Providing necessary services which the private sector is unable or unwilling to provide is not controlling citizens’ lives.)

Florida has become the model for freedom in America. This November, we have a chance to send a strong message that Florida stands for freedom by re-electing Gov. DeSantis and our Republican team and rejecting the contrived narratives of the Democrats and the media. (What Power has written is of course a contrived narrative.)

Evan Power is chairman of the Leon County Republican Party and chair of Chairs of the Republican Party of Florida.”

CS/CS/HB 1557: Parental Rights in Education

GENERAL BILL by Judiciary Committee ; Education and Employment Committee ; Harding ; Grall ; (CO-INTRODUCERS) Avila ; Bell ; Borrero ; Byrd ; Fernandez-Barquin ; Fetterhoff ; Fine ; Fischer ; Latvala ; Maggard ; McClain ; Plakon ; Roach ; Roth ; Sirois ; Snyder ; Truenow ; Yarborough

Parental Rights in Education; Requires district school boards to adopt procedures that comport with certain provisions of law for notifying student's parent of specified information; requires such procedures to reinforce fundamental right of parents to make decisions regarding upbringing & control of their children; prohibits school district from adopting procedures or student support forms that prohibit school district personnel from notifying parent about specified information or that encourage student to withhold from parent such information; prohibits school district personnel from discouraging or prohibiting parental notification & involvement in critical decisions affecting student's mental, emotional, or physical well-being; prohibits classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in certain grade levels; requires school districts to notify parents of healthcare services; authorizes parent to bring action against school district to obtain declaratory judgment; provides for additional award of injunctive relief, damages, & reasonable attorney fees & court costs to certain parents.

Effective Date: 7/1/2022

CS/HB 7: Individual Freedom

GENERAL BILL by Education and Employment Committee ; Avila ; (CO-INTRODUCERS) Bell ; Borrero ; Byrd ; Fernandez-Barquin ; Fine ; Fischer ; Grall ; Latvala ; Maggard ; Massullo ; McClain ; Overdorf ; Payne ; Roth ; Shoaf ; Sirois ; Truenow ; Yarborough

Individual Freedom; Provides that subjecting individuals to specified concepts under certain circumstances constitutes discrimination based on race, color, sex, or national origin; revising requirements for required instruction on the history of African Americans; requiring the department to prepare and offer certain standards and curriculum; authorizing the department to seek input from a specified organization for certain purposes; prohibits instructional materials reviewers from recommending instructional materials that contain any matter that contradicts certain principles; requires DOE to review school district professional development systems for compliance with certain provisions of law.

Effective Date: 7/1/2022

 

JL

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3-31-2022 - Florida Homeowners' Insurance, Virginia Thomas and James Madison

 

IF YOU LIKE THIS BLOG, PLEASE SHARE IT WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND OTHERS YOU FEEL MIGHT ENJOY READING IT.

JL

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The Florida Homeowners' Insurance Disaster

Homeowners insurance is an unmitigated disaster in Florida.  And that is proper usage of the word ‘unmitigated.’  Nothing is being done to deal with it.  The imbecilic legislature in Tallahassee, aware of the problem, did nothing about it during their last session and spent their time bashing gays and catering to book burners.  

Homeowners who have been used to paying about $3,000 annually for a policy are now being renewed at double that price if they are not being dropped entirely by their insurer. (Replacing coverage with another company is near impossible if a home’s roof is more than fifteen years old.  More about that follows.  It is the crux of the problem.)  An interesting article about this problem may be found by checking out a story originating with a Naples TV station.  https://www.winknews.com/2022/02/17/floridians-running-out-of-options-for-home-insurance/   Also, You can click here to read it.

But here is my personal take on the situation.  Homeowners insurance is intended to protect homeowners against losses which involve very few of them, such as fires, burglaries and bursting pipes. At a low cost, the homeowner purchases peace of mind against events highly unlikely to, but nevertheless possibly, happening to them. 

In Floriduh, however, such events are not so rare.  Damage caused by windstorms, a polite way of referring to hurricanes and such climatological events is not uncommon.  A system to cover them at a reasonable price has been developed.  For such claims, homeowners’ insurance has higher deductibles and it limits coverage.  Most homeowners accept the fact that for such events, which have a greater possibility of occurring than a fire, for example, they must prepare to share in the cost of replacing whatever is damaged. 

Most likely though, most homeowners will not have claims for the events I’ve mentioned above. They’re akin to the likelihood of your automobile being ‘totalled’ in an accident. Possible, but unlikely during your ownership of a vehicle.

These events, for which insurance protection is purchased, are uncertain ones.  They may never occur.  Contrast this with life insurance, which is priced to cover an event certain to occur, death.  If an anticipated loss is certain to occur, homeowners’ insurance as we know it now, is incapable of covering it without enormous price increases . Roof replacement is such an event.  Like death, it is a certainty.  All roofs, sooner or later, must be replaced.

 Homeowners insurance won’t pay for routine maintenance of roofs, but cooperative inspectors, roofing contractors, and always available attorneys, stand ready to turn roof replacement into an event coverable by homeowners’ insurance.  Without getting into the ethics of this, it is what is demolishing the homeowners’ insurance marketplace in Floriduh.  Many claims are valid and should be paid.  Others are not and exceed the number of claims anticipated by the homeowners’ insurance company’s actuaries who determine the rates.  Actuaries depend on studies that have placed the lifetime of a tile roof in Florida at anywhere from 25 to 50 years, and factor in the expected frequency of windstorms as well.  Claims have exceeded their anticipated numbers, despite built-in cushions. 

The State makes the Citizens Property Insurance Co. available to homeowners who cannot get or afford coverage elsewhere, or are turned down if they try to move their policy to another company.  Citizens' prices are very high.  The renewal rates of private companies are now equal to or exceeding those of Citizens!  No company wants new policyholders with roofs over fifteen years old. Citizens cannot turn them down though!

It occurs to me that a simple solution might be to clearly exclude any roof damage whatsoever from homeowners’ insurance.  Availability of such an option might take legislation by the State.   A few broken tiles or a limited leak should be, and presently is, the responsibility of the homeowner. That is considered maintenance and not a “loss.”  When a roof reaches the point where it must be replaced, as they all do eventually, even if the cause can be related to a “a windstorm,” replacement would be entirely up to the homeowner. 

All roofs are certain to reach that point sooner or later. We all hope “later.”  To pay for their replacement, and a typical cost right now would be in the $35,000 range, a home equity loan, to be repaid over many years, would seem to be a logical solution.  That would probably be less costly on an annual basis than the increases to the level to which homeowners’ insurance premiums are now rising.  Problem solved? I don’t know.

JL

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Justice Thomas' Wife

Some people throw around more weight than others.  I can send emails and make phone calls to the Chief of Staff of the President of the United States repeatedly and I am certain that, at best, they will be seen by a lower-level clerk in his office and go no further.  But it is my right and the right of any American to communicate in that manner.  

For various reason, however, what some people communicate gets to where it is directed, bypassing someone who just counts it and files it away and that is the end of it.  The scanners recognize such communications. Usually, they are directed to a confidential address not available to the general public.  

That is why what Virginia Thomas emailed to the White House Chief of Staff carries more weight than my words or yours would carry. After all, she is the wife of the longest serving Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.  She is also a leading advocate of right-wing extremist causes with access, due to her martial status, to the defeated former president.

Her messages might be considered treasonous but from someone else, would be ignored.  In view of her husband’s position, however, they must not be.  And of course, he must recuse himself from any cases involving the matters about which his wife wrote to Mark Meadows, Chief of Staff of the defeated former president, who remains crazy enough to believe he didn’t lose the election of 2020.

 JL

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Madison

Don't Let the Right Wing Steal Madison - Possibly Heavy reading 

Some ‘traditionalists’ or ‘originalists’ turn to James Madison in defending their idea of what our government should be.  Their position is that the individual states, federated together, were the crux of the Constitution and that’s where power correctly should rest.  Today’s Federalist Society advocates that position and Madison identified that position as ‘federal.’ 

By picking and choosing and selectively quoting, those intent of reducing democracy in the United States often turn to some of James Madison’s words in the Federalist Papers, a series of articles by Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, aimed at getting New York to support the proposed Constitution.  In Number 39, Madison concluded, after digging deeply into the differences between the nature of the proposed Constitution’s federal features and its national features, that

“the proposed Constitution … is, in strictness, neither a national nor a federal Constitution, but a composition of both. In its foundation, it is federal, not national; in the sources from which the ordinary powers of the government are drawn, it is partly federal and partly national;  in the operation of these powers, it is national, not federal; in the extent of them, again, it is federal, not national; and, finally, in the authoritative mode of introducing amendments, it is neither wholly federal nor wholly national.”

Earlier in Number 39, Madison’s true feelings are hinted at in his discussion of the operation of government, which he wrote was national in nature. (In today’s terms, ‘national’ may be taken to mean based in a central government in Washington.)   In explaining this, Madison wrote that:

“So far the national countenance of the government on this side seems to be disfigured by a few federal features.  But this blemish is perhaps unavoidable in any plan; and the operation of the government on the people, in their individual capacities, in its ordinary and most essential proceeding, it in this relation, a national government.” 

Madison bent over backwards to expound the ‘states rights’ arguments of those who believed the Constitution was ‘federal’ in nature.  Remember that the ‘Federalist Papers’ were intended to gain New York’s support for the proposed Constitution and Madison recognized that such support had to come from those who were on the ‘federal’ side as well as on the ‘national’ side.  His was a masterful job of fence-sitting.

But while he did not ignore the ‘federal’ belief in the power of the individual states, Madison made clear that the operation of the government was national in nature.  Note his use of the words ‘disfigured’ and ‘blemish’ in the quote cited above.  This suggests where he stood, at least regarding a federal or a national approach to the operation of government.  As for the source and extent of the power of the national government, he granted that these were more, though not entirely, federal in nature.  The original composition of the Senate, the Electoral College, and the Amendment process were and continue to be evidence of this. 

But to Madison, and as history has proven, the operation of the government is what counted most, regardless of the extent and source of its powers originating in, and limitable by, the individual states.  Today’s Federalists still believe the states have that power.  That’s why we call them ‘traditionalists.’  But this does not hold true about the operation of government, which Madison declared to be national.  Things get done in Washington which would never get done if they were left to the 50 States individually.

JL

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03-27-2022 - Basketball, Ukraine, Punches and a Short Story

 

IF YOU LIKE THIS BLOG, PLEASE SHARE IT WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND OTHERS YOU FEEL MIGHT ENJOY READING IT.

JL

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Aroma Around College Basketball

The vast number of college basketball players transferring from one school to another as permitted by the NCAA’s liberalized ‘transfer portal’ rules make a mockery of college sports. (The same thing to a somewhat lesser extent applies to college football, which is not governed by the NCAA.) There is a stench to it.

Consider the five such transfer students who are on the University of Kentucky’s basketball roster.  Without their presence, Kentucky probably would not have been in the NCAA tournament.  And this is just an example.  These student-athletes never applied to college to get a free education in exchange for their skills on the court, the way things used to be.  They applied so they could play basketball there. Period. And when another opportunity, one more likely to better display their skills at another college, presented itself, they took it.  While they bring a lot of revenue to the many schools involved, they take up space which might be filled by real students. 

It only takes a couple of athletes transferring from major basketball ‘powers’ to make a small college’s team successful. Some of the schools in the NCAA tournament which you never heard of before fall into that category.   Their “stars” came from Power Five schools, where they were first recruited.  (Admittedly, some small college players also end up transferring to bigger schools that recruit them after spotting them play a year or two at another school.) Some even came from the national basketball teams of other countries and, outside of playing basketball, had no other motivation for seeking higher education in the United States.

Hassan Drame played for the
Mali national team before coming to the U.S.A.

This aroma even extends to high school athletes who switch where they are getting their secondary school education, based not on where they live, but on the basketball program at the school to which they are transferring, usually a non-public school. Florida is the hotbed of such activity. 

The fault for this lies with college presidents and the boards of trustees who hire them. Believe it or not, there are many colleges in this country where athletics are not emphasized.  The University of Chicago is a famous one, and there are many, many, more.  Their names, however, do not appear on the sports pages. 

When you see many teaching assistants and professors EDUCATED OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES at the blackboard, teaching classes and running laboratories, you can bet the undergraduate schools where they studied didn’t play in any bowl games or basketball tournaments. Look at the names of the scholars getting Ph.D.’s these days and writing papers on scientific and historical matters.  

JL

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Short Story Time

Here's an original short story which I dedicate to the Governor of Florida. 

Enola

Jack Lippman

Jim had an idea why he had been called into the principal’s office.  He knew when he accepted the assignment to teach the advanced placement course in history at the high school that he would be dealing with subjects which some considered to be controversial, but he felt that he could successfully handle them.

Mr. Carlucci smiled.  “Jim, I want you to know that you are probably the most highly respected social studies teacher not only in South High School but in the entire district.  That’s why you were selected to teach this advanced placement course.”

“Mr. Carlucci, please get to the point.  I know you didn’t ask for this meeting just to compliment me.”

“Please, Jim. We’ve known each other for a long time. Please call me Paul.”

“Okay, Paul, but what’s the deal? Why are we talking?”

“There’ve been complaints, Jim.  Parents.”

Jim relaxed a bit and interrupted.  “As I anticipated. Particularly when we got to the end of World War Two in the Pacific.  There are some issues there, I know, and I believe I touched all the bases, leaving no opinions out.  But what’s the complaint?”

“Hiroshima, Jim, it’s what happened there.”

Jim stiffened a bit, replying to the principal.  “Sure, President Truman authorized the use of the atomic bomb to end the war, killing over a hundred thousand innocent civilians in Hiroshima. And a load more a few days later in Nagasaki to show that we weren’t kidding.  We all know that but consider the alternative he faced.   I explained to the kids that our not using the bomb would have meant invading Japan itself to end the war. That would have meant a lengthy struggle taking many years perhaps, presenting tremendous logistical problems, and costing many lives.  Knowing the ferocity of the Japanese soldiers, losing 200,000 American lives in such an invasion was a conservative estimate.  We wrote papers on both sides of the argument, held debates, and spent two weeks on the unit.  I think the kids learned a lot.”

“I know, I know.  You did a great job, Jim.”

“So what’s the complaint?” Jim answered.  “Could it have been on our discussions of nuclear disarmament, never using such weapons again?  Making them illegal?  Or talking about the morality of using the wholesale killing of an innocent civilian population as a weapon?  Or maybe how nuclear weapons served to deter a future war where everyone would be a loser so long as both sides had the ability to vaporize the other’s major cities?  Both having the power to initiate mutual annihilation would serve to prevent that awful thing from happening.   That’s the way it seems to have worked out, Paul, over the years since Hiroshima. Like I asked you, what’s wrong with teaching the kids about the way things are?  What’s the complaint?”

“Jim, there’s not a word you’ve said that I don’t agree with,” answered the principal.

“So what, specifically, is it that these parents are complaining about? Jim asked. “Why are we talking?” 

“The bombing of Hiroshima, Jim.”

“What about it?  We covered it thoroughly.”

“Two of your students’ parents objected to your identifying the plane which dropped the bomb.”

“Sure, it was a B-29 Super Fortress, right?”

“Yes, yes, but the crew had painted a nickname on the plane’s nose. You mentioned that.”

“Of course, of course.  It became famous!”

Jim hesitated, holding his hand to his mouth.  “Oh my God!” he exploded, “Oh my God!”

“Yes, Jim. That’s it.  From now on, when you teach this course, and I want you to continue teaching it, you cannot mention that B-29’s nickname.  This is Florida, you know.  You risk losing your job, and the school district stands to lose some State funding, if we permit you to mention that plane’s name in your classroom.”

Jim got up and ran out of the principal’s office into the hallway, screaming at the top of his lungs, “ Oh my God, Enola Gay! Enola Gay! Enola Gay!”

JL

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Ukraine Must Be Saved

Vladimir Putin's fear of Ukraine is not a military one. It is an ideological one. He feels threatened by the more liberal democracy which prevails there and which might be sufficiently contagious to spread to Russia. That would herald his downfall. That is the basis for his invasion, after which he had hoped to install a government friendly to him. When President Biden said "this man cannot remain in power," it was a message to the Russians to find a way to get rid of him. Like our own, Ukraine's democracy is not perfect, but this is not the time to criticize it. It first must be saved.

JL

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Pulling Punches 

Just as we expend less than our maximum efforts in aiding Ukraine in its struggle against Russian expansionism out of fear of elevating it to World War Three, we also dilute justice in our country by soft-pedalling certain investigations and prosecutions out of fear of their bringing about a continuation of the Civil War which apparently did not fully end in 1865. I ask how long will we continue to ‘pull our punches?’  

An example of this is the new Manhattan District Attorney not continuing to pursue an indictment of the defeated former president for obvious financial skullduggery.  Rather than attribute this to unadmitted support for the ruler of Mar-a-Lago on his part, I suspect he just feels it would involve too great an amount of the DA’s office’s resources and last forever.  I am reminded of the quasi-sport of greased pig wrestling, occasionally encountered at county fairs, messy and taking a long time since the pigs seem to enjoy it.

JL

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