A Year Like No Other
Many events in history have united Americans, such as our founding in 1776, the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to name a few. 2024 is shaping up to be another such year. While America today is divided in many ways, we are united in many ways, too. For example: 60% to 70% of Americans do not want to see a Biden-Trump rematch in the presidential election, according to an NBC News poll. 71% of Americans are dissatisfied with how democ
Jan 143 min read
Filibuster - Democrats?
The legislative filibuster rule in the Senate has long been one of the most important guardrails this country has in place to protect America from the majority party in the Senate passing laws that go too far or change things too dramatically. The filibuster is simply a procedural process that ends up requiring a 60-vote threshold for passing most legislation. That 60 vote requirement serves many valuable purposes. First, it forces Senators to actually talk to each other as t
Jan 142 min read
Tone It Down
Both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party have been claiming for quite some time now that the other Party is an existential "threat to democracy". Unfortunately, that rhetoric is taken by some individuals as a call to action that leads to such things as the attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband by an assailant who kept asking "Where is Nancy?" and the recent assasination attempt on Donald Trump. This divisive rhetoric has got to stop for two very important reasons. First,
Jan 141 min read
Bias in the Classroom
When I read the recent op-ed by Jonathon Zimmerman (12/4/24), it made me think of a similar experience I had recently while attending a political science class at a major university. Immediately after the election the professor decided to postpone the regular discussion and dedicate the entire class to discussing the results of the election. The tone was set, however, when the professor walked into class and announced that the election had been a "catastrophe". The entire
Jan 142 min read
Political Violence
I have viewed recent actions by the Trump administration to curtail freedom of speech with alarm. Their move to silence Jimmy Kimmel was misguided at best. Kimmel's comments were inaccurate, insensitive and divisive, not illegal. Similarly. Attorney General Bondi's threat to target individuals engaged in "hate speech" is a step down a slippery slope. The really bad news is that these actions simply continued similar approaches taken by the Biden administration. Biden not only
Jan 141 min read
Waste and Abuse Not Enough
The most dangerous issue we face today is the growing national debt. It endangers our economy and our national security. We owe over $36 trillion, and both Republicans and Democrats are to blame for this catastrophe. While some in Washington are trying to stop this runaway train, they face gale force winds. Republicans passed a House bill that would increase the debt by $2.7 trillion over the next 10 years. Predictably, the Democrats are severely criticizing the Republican pl
Jan 141 min read
Gerrymandering
It seems that we are facing yet another "threat to democracy". This time it comes as Texas takes the obnoxious practice of gerrymandering to a whole new level. Of course, gerrymandering has been around for a very long time and both parties have become experts in executing this process and thereby stealing elections away from the voting public. As a result, precious few House seats are ever taken out of their Democratic and Republican monopoly owners' hands. The bad news for D
Jan 141 min read
