Tantamount To Surrender

I've heard this mantra on the left before.   Since Democrats and Republicans vying for power are both so married to big business lobbyists and their money, many liberals say we should stay away from the polls on election day.   Yeah, that'll show 'em... not.    As a left of center guy myself, I believe that is seriously messed up thinking.    That passive approach plays right into the hands of right wing activists who have already been trying their utmost to make it more difficult if not impossible for different groups that lean Democratic to cast their ballot.   This liberal call for a ballot boycott also strikes me as a path of least resistance.   Translate that to lazy.   I know 66% of Democratic voters would like Hillary Clinton to have some viable challenger to provide a choice in the primaries.   Wall Street critic and liberal Senator Elizabeth Warren has consistently denied any interest in running, yet many in her party refuse to accept Hillary Clinton as the inevitable candidate.   I've even heard these progressive purists say it would suit us right to have the GOP take the executive branch and make it a clean sweep and teach us all a lesson.    Hmmm, does that sound a bit like the all-or-nothing approach of the Tea Party?    They too are ready to take their mainstream party down in the interest of their ideology.

Conservatives may be on the losing end of the younger and more ethnically diverse demographic shift in the United States, but they still do one thing well.   They vote.   Republican politicians tried their best to prevent access to Florida polling places in 2012, but voters braved the long lines anyway.   Voter participation like this should be encouraging and access should be easier.   You may not agree 100% with the choices, but we can't allow a well financed and orchestrated movement to turn the reform clock back to the "good old days."    That would dishonor the work that has been done, even in this gridlocked government.

Don't Answer

I may be the winner of a free Disney vacation! Microsoft support tells me my computer has been hacked, but they can help me out with a little personal info.   Rachel let me know there are no problems with my credit card account, but if I press something I can get a lower rate.    

My home phone land line has morphed into a receptacle for an endless stream of scammers who will do anything to empty out my bank account.   This continues to happen several times per day, often repeatedly from the same bogus automated or boiler room callers that may not even be where my caller ID says they are and perhaps even in another country. Unwanted phone calls are an increasing intrusion into my home and privacy.   It's gotten totally out of control.   At least with email phishing schemes I just have to avoid clicking on mysterious looking attachments to avoid malware choking my computer.   With my sometimes very early work hours, I often ward off sleep deprivation by coming home to grab a nap early in the afternoon before going back out to finish up what I have to do.   I always have to wonder whether a phony phone call is going to jolt me out of a refreshing catnap or break my concentration on work I am doing in my home office.   

Yes, I have put my number on a national Do Not Call registry.   Criminals are not deterred by that.   I do have a call blocking feature, but that doesn't prevent the first scam call and the phone will still ring once before blocking a repeat scammer.   I often Google the numbers and they invariably contain complaints about the same few scams.  They usually hang up before your voicemail picks up.   If you call the number back, you often get a "no longer in service" message anyway, so don't bother.   Of course, many "legitimate" companies buy or share phone lists based on your giving the most basic information by entering a contest or responding to a survey.   The real hardcore scumbags will target the elderly who may be on fixed incomes.   A few years back, my mother was the target of con artists calling from the 876 Jamaica area code.  Fortunately, they never got access to financial information. ABC News had reported that some Jamaican gang members would actually kill each other to get ahold of these phone lists the same way gangs fight for drug turf.   They were especially unpleasant solicitors who have thankfully gone away.   My mother had a slightly more optimistic view of human nature, thinking they can't all be liars.   In this scammer underworld, I'll stand by my more jaded view.   And no, the IRS won't call you for owed taxes.   Just hang up.          

Winter Whining?

I recently saw a post from a Facebook friend complaining about people complaining.   In this case, he was sick of hearing people acting all upset over the wintry weather, suggesting these malcontents could shut up and relocate to a warmer climate.    After all, it is winter in New England.   What did you expect?    That made sense to me most of my life, when cold temperatures and heavy snowfalls were not unprecedented.   This season, however, brought a nonstop combination of low temps and heavy snow accumulations that I don't remember in all of my not so short lifetime.  

 

A little cabin fever is one thing, but any year when you have to dig yourself out from 100 inches of snow, pay hundreds to some guys to shovel your roof and still get a leak in the den ceiling is not my idea of an average winter.   Maybe this is par for the course 400 miles to our north, but four out of the past five winters have been unrelenting around here.   Sky high fuel bills, commuting in a business where your presence is especially required during storms and a few chance encounters between my car and an icy snow bank all add up to serious business.   This has also been the slowest February/March ever for businesses I call on for our direct mail ad publications.   If you want to gripe a bit, don't let me stop you.   Maybe this will help us all appreciate the arrival of spring... and milder winters ahead.    When people stop complaining, that's really when we need to worry.   Remember, you won't hear too many discouraging words in North Korea.

America's First Diplomatic End-Run

Edmond-Charles Genêt 

America's founding fathers set a solid precedent in heading off one of this nation's first foreign policy crises in 1793.   Edmond-Charles Genêt  had been made the French ambassador to the United States during the French Revolution.   Genêt traveled through the new United States taking his government's cause directly to the American people before even presenting his diplomatic credentials to President Washington.  By trying to export the French Revolution, "Citizen Genêt" stirred up a lot of angry emotions from South Carolina north to Pennsylvania, much to the chagrin of a U.S. administration which professed neutrality between warring European nations.    American factions under Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, usually at odds with each other, agreed that Genêt had to go and President Washington asked France to recall Genêt.   Meanwhile, the political situation in Genêt's home country had gotten so volatile during the French "Reign of Terror" that the fiery ambassador had to request asylum here to avoid the guillotine there.   The consensus of Washington's cabinet meant Genet would lose his job but not his head.   The U.S. successfully averted major European entanglements until the War of 1812.    France had been an important ally of the United States during the American Revolution, but Washington wisely recognized the French Revolution as a different phenomenon.

It is no secret that House and Senate Republicans will do anything to derail President Obama, but even the early heated factions of the late 18th century could come together in presenting the United States as one when dealing with other nations.   Like France, Israel has historically been been a strong ally of the United States.   Extending an invitation to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress two weeks before he faces his own very contentious election without discussing this with President Obama is a horrible precedent set by Speaker Boehner.   To pretend that this invitation is anything other than pure partisan politics designed to insult President Obama is a big lie and a mockery of the executive branch itself.   Most Americans share Israel's concerns over Iran's potential nuclear capability, but Netanyahu failed to use his bully pulpit by offering any viable options to the current nuclear negotiations with the Iranian regime.   For all we know, upcoming elections could change Israel's leadership soon.   Where will all this GOP equating Netanyahu with Churchill  and Obama with Chamberlain get us then?

UPDATE 3/9/15:   47 GOP U.S. Senators sent a letter directly to Iran's ayatollahs stating they or the next President could scrap any deal resulting from the current nuclear negotiations made between the U.S. and Iran.   Does the Iranian regime really need an American civics lesson?    Perhaps that course could include the Logan Act of 1799, which these Republicans violated with this latest shameful diplomatic end-run.