Tonight is an exercise in democracy mandated by the Constitution. The President speaks to both houses of Congress. The fact that Donald Trump is President is beside the point. All members should attend and behave themselves. If they don’t like what is being said, they should sit there quietly.
Unfortunately, some give politics a higher priority than democracy. A few are planning to boycott the event. A walkout or verbal protest is possible. Let’s hope everyone behaves like a respectable elected representative of the people and not a political rabble rouser.
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Immigration is certainly a highly debated issue. However, there is broad consensus that there should be no mass deportation of people brought here illegally by their parents. Many have known no other home and have become productive citizens. To send them to a strange land is downright cruel. Unfortunately almost everyone involved in the issue has mishandled it.
Legislation was proposed during the Obama administration but filibustered by Senate Republicans. Neither side made a real effort at compromise. In response, President Obama created DACA. This was an entire new government program that was counter to existing law. He went way beyond his presidential authority. The Trump administration announced in September that it would be cancelled six months into the future. If his purpose was to get Congress to act so that this is done in a constitutional way, then I applaud him. However, I fear it was done to hold the dreamers hostage to get his immigration bill through. Then a federal judge ruled that President Trump doesn’t have the power to repeal it. I seriously doubt that the framers of the Constitution wanted the forty-fourth president to have extraordinary powers available to no other president. Negotiations began. Trump demanded his entire immigration program be passed while Democrats refused to concede anything. That lead to the idiotic government shutdown. Hopefully both sides will negotiate a compromise. However, I’m not holding my breath waiting for it. Thank goodness saner heads have prevailed and this government shutdown silliness is over. While the Democrats should take the heat for this one, both parties are serving us poorly. Far too many of our elected leaders are focused on using every weapon possible to bludgeon the other side and refusing to compromise. Political infighting and maintain ideological purity is more important to them than the needs of the country.
The only reason we even have a country is that men with differing views got together and worked out a compromise. That is how a democracy is supposed to work. It is certainly possible to have strong views and still be willing to work with the other side. Nobody will doubt Ted Kennedy’s liberal credentials but he often worked with Republicans to get legislation passed. I once heard former Oklahoma Senator Tom Corburn say he was so concerned about the state of the country that he was willing to give more than 50% of what he wanted to get something done. I urge you do follow my example and say no to both parties. It can be frustrating to be stuck with the choices they give us. Please be patient. One day our voices will be heard. As of this writing, the government is shut down. Both parties are blaming each other but the fault clearly lies with the Democrats. Republicans, with the help of a few Democrats, secured sufficient votes to pass the bill but Democrats chose to filibuster it. It looks to me that this was a deliberate political decision that has nothing to do with DACA. Even though they did it, they are blaming Republicans. They claim that it’s their fault since they control Congress.
I believe in the filibuster. It keeps the majority from running roughshod over the minority. However, the minority must use it responsibly. That is clearly not the case here. When the Republicans shut down the government (also a really stupid move) they were called arsonists, terrorists and bomb throwers. Evidently it is now something noble. Democrats continue to amaze me with their unbelievable stupidity. I can’t understand how they can think that sabotaging the government and inconveniencing millions is a good idea. They are just like those people in New Jersey who thought that closing lanes and creating a traffic jam was a smart political move. I intended this blog to discuss my political opinions. It was never meant to be about me. My life has changed so much these last few days that I have to write about it.
My back was bothering me so I went to a spinal orthopedist. After taking some x-rays, he told me that the problem was in my hips and both would need to be replaced. This was certainly unwelcome news since I am overdue for a knee replacement. Something showed up on the MRI. Another MRI indicated there was a growth. The next step was to get a CT scan and see the oncologist. The appointment was on Friday. I thought I was prepared to hear that I have cancer. I was most definitely not prepared to hear that there is a malignant tumor the size of a volleyball in my abdomin. I spent a couple of days calling people. Telling my elderly parents was really hard. Everyone has been incredibly supportive. I feel really blessed to have them in my life. I am an analytical, math geek type of person. It has served me well. I haven’t freaked out and have laid out everything that needs to be done. Now I need to wrap my head around this. I feel the same as I did before. Obviously this could be a bump in the road or the end of the road. It is really bizarre. There are a number of items on my bucket list. My initial thought was why bother with it if I can’t complete them. The journey is what’s important, not the destination. I had been planning a trip this fall and am back working on it. Whether or not I go is beside the point. It is so easy to get wrapped up in our daily lives that we forget what is really important. We must make each day count because none of us know how many are left. Next time I will be back bashing one or both political parties. I am certainly no fan of Donald Trump. Like it or not, the election is over. Now is the time for Democrats to focus on upcoming elections. They have a lot of work to do, including developing a cohesive statement of what they stand for and reaching out to voters that deserted them. Instead, many Democrats are still trying to get rid of President Trump.
First they tried election recounts. Then they tried to convince Republicans electors to vote for Clinton in the Electoral College. Fourteen months later they are still working on two approaches. One is to remove him from office by declaring him mentally unfit under the 25th Amendment. No matter what they do, the vice president would need to go along with them. That certainly won’t happen. The other approach is to impeach him. According to some Democrats, nasty texts and unproven charges of collusion with the Russians qualify as high crimes and misdemeanors. That is utterly ridiculous. Even if they get control of the House, there is absolutely no way 2/3 of the Senate would vote to convict. I realize that I have been attacking Democrats a lot lately. It is not a matter of partisan prejudice. As an independent moderate, I am disgusted with both parties. As a political analyst, I am frustrated by their unbelievable incompetence as they try to rebuild the party. We are hearing talk of a “Blue Wave”, a huge Democratic win in the fall election. In its most extreme form, there is talk of winning the Senate and Texas turning Democratic. Promoters of this theory cite the election of two Democratic governors, Doug Jones winning in Alabama, President Trump’s unpopularity, a poll showing people prefer Democrats and the low ratings given to Congress.
The governors won in New Jersey and Virginia, two Democratic states. There is no way Jones would have won without the accusations of sexual misconduct against Moore. President Trump is about as unpopular as he was on Election Day. Polls ten months out are meaningless. People have hated Congress and liked their representatives for decades. Even if there was more solid evidence of a blue wave, Democrats must overcome a number of hurdles. They include: 1. Disunity – There is a deep division between the Establishment and Far Left. The GOP has the same issue but it’s less intense. 2. Numbers – It is virtually impossible for them to win the Senate. They have to defend ten seats Trump won while Republicans have only one seat Clinton won. 3. Message – They need to state what they are FOR. Virtually their only message is to vote for them because Trump and the Republicans are evil. 4. Become a national party again – Much of their success comes from the Pacific states and Atlantic states from Virginia on north. The other thirty-five present a much different picture. Hillary Clinton won in only six, Democrats hold both Senate seats in only five, they have a majority of the congressional delegation in four and control the governor’s mansion in only three. Can we actually have a blue wave? In politics almost anything is possible. However, they have made little progress in the sixteen months since the election. Their best hope is that Republicans will be even more fouled up. |
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