Friday, August 31, 2018

ALSO-RANS

Someone asked: where are they?

Hans? Omar? Rachel?

Are the Democratic candidates who challenged Harley Rouda in the primaries now rallying their troops to work for Rouda? With enthusiasm and commitment?

I hope so. If not, what were they doing in the primaries?

If you know any of these folks and think they could use a nudge, please give them the elbow from me.

HEALTH CARE

See what I mean...?

Health care at risk.

Repeal and replace?

VP Pence assures us they'll do it--again!--if we let them, in November.

JOHN MCCAIN

I was no fan of John McCain's politics. His gift of Sarah Palin to the country undoubtedly strengthened the hand of the Tea Party and the emergent extreme right wing, and he toed the party line on almost every pro-Trump vote. To call him a "maverick" seems a misuse of that word.

But I have no doubt but that he was an honorable man, a man of courage and integrity, a man of service, the like of whom we no longer see among this country's governing elite. For this reason alone, I respected him and wished him well.

He will be missed. But I'm wondering, now, if he will prove of even greater service to his country in his death. Is it possible that his shining example of integrity and service will highlight the venality and self-promotion of the man who occupies (I use that word advisedly, because I question his legitimacy) the Oval Office? Will McCain veneration be accompanied, in the comparison, by Trump abhorrence?

And will those Republican senators who claimed to be his friends and admirers now seek to emulate that which they claimed to admire in their hero? Or is this too much to hope?

In any event, I would like to believe that the hearts and minds of American voters everywhere will be moved, if only by a fraction, by this man's death; and that his inherent decency will remind us all of the decency we too often sacrifice in favor of our self-oriented impulses and desires.

In which context, may I remind you to VOTE DEMOCRAT in November? And between now and then, to do everything in your power to persuade others to do the same?

FOR-PROFIT

Yesterday's New York Times lead editorial, The De Vos School for Promoting Debt, was a timely reminder of the selling-off of the US government. The Education Secretary's enthusiasm for for-profit education at all levels, from kindergarten through university, comes at the cost of the state education system which is charged with providing equal opportunity for all--not only those who can afford to buy it. The dismantling of regulations regarding standards and, in the NYT article, the relationship between debt and outcome, invites the unscrupulous to scam unwitting victims with impunity.

In the Trump administration, it seems, everything is either up for sale or soon-to-be for-profit: our national parks, our schools, our justice system, our prisons, our health care system, our infrastructure--even, for God's sake, our wars...!

And not least of course, the government itself. The profit motive is Trump's only guiding principle--especially, it seems, when applied to himself and his family. His cabinet of multi-millionaires, including the multi-millionaire De Vos, is a reflection of this, his own and only priority. Who is in government for the service any more, when there's a buck to be made for oneself or one's friends?

This is the capitalist system run amok.

Let's remind ourselves of this simple and self-evident truth: everything--yes, everything--costs more when there's someone sitting in the middle who needs to make a profit.

So let's remember, this November, that our "representative" in the US Congress, Dana Rohrabacher, is a willing part of this venal system. And manifest our displeasure by throwing him out of office.

(Footnote: Unfortunately the election system in our country is also monetized, Please consider a donation to the Harley Rouda campaign today!)

Thursday, August 30, 2018

SERVICE

Please see my thoughts on SERVICE in The Buddha Diaries today.

MORE QUESTIONS FOR MY REPUBLICAN FRIENDS...


If I could have a sensible conversation with a Republican voter, I would ask these simple questions:

Are you okay with the “repeal” of our hard-won health care system, depriving millions of access to affordable health insurance—including, perhaps, your own?

Are you okay with Republican plans to scuttle Medicare and Social Security benefits—including, perhaps, your own—in order to compensate for their tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans?

Are you okay with the promotion of fossil fuel production and consumption, at the risk of ravaging our fragile planet? Are you okay with disbelief in climate change? And the contempt for, and neglect of, renewable energy research and development?

Are you okay with America’s diminishing prestige and power in the world? With the alienation of traditional allies and the embrace of tyrants? With the surrender of American moral leadership?

Are you okay with a political party that seeks actively to suppress all evidence of malfeasance, and condones incompetence and corruption?

Are you okay with blind obedience to a President who fails to respond to a hostile attack on our country? Whose every action is rash and ill-considered? Who trashes his own judicial and intelligence leadership? Who indulges daily in petty smear and insult? Who dishonors his office—and us—in word and deed?

If the answer to each of those questions is Yes, if you're okay with all this, then I guess that, sadly, we have nothing to talk about.

If the answer is No, then I would invite you, with all respect for your traditional loyalties, to think about questioning your assumptions and changing your voting habits. It just makes better sense to cast a vote for Democratic candidates in November.

Here in CA 48, that's a vote for Harley Rouda! Please DONATE to the campaign.


Wednesday, August 29, 2018

CAN WE TALK?


It’s nice to know that I have a growing readership for this effort to draw attention to Harley Rouda’s bid to take the congressional seat now occupied by Dreadful Dana! Thank you for checking out my blog!

My fear, of course, in writing, is that I risk preaching to the choir. I would honestly wish to be talking to those who disagree with me--particularly those good, reasonable, open-minded people--there are some, no?--who are disenchanted with the fecklessness of the Republican-dominated House, but hesitant to abandon their traditional loyalty at the ballot box.

I still like to believe that thinking people can talk to one another with respect, where respect is reciprocated.

I would so much appreciate your help in reaching out to these people. If my posts make sense to you, please feel free to quote them, re-post them, or forward the link to those you think might be open to rational dialogue!

As Joan Rivers was fond of saying: can we talk?

DISTURBING...

I was talking with a friend at the gym yesterday. I have known him for years as a man I meet there regularly and inevitably chat with for a while. Not surprisingly, as a gym rat, he is much concerned with health and fitness, but beside that we often find ourselves talking about politics. He was a big pro-Hillary guy and is still a very big anti-Trump guy. He is generally well-informed and watches the news, as I do. His views are very much to the left of center.

And yet... here's the shocker: when I mentioned that I had attended the Harley Rouda town hall meeting the previous night, I was met with an almost blank stare. Turns out that, while my friend is vocally opposed to Rohrabacher, he was only vaguely aware of the Rouda campaign. He asked me to spell out the name, or at least to check how he thought the name was spelled, and promised to look into it--with enough of an abstracted air, however, to let me know I'd need to follow up with him. Which I will do today.

Here's the question: how many folks like my friend are out there? Who seem to be politically informed and would normally be expected to vote Democratic--and probably will--but whose active involvement and enthusiasm are badly needed if we're to defeat Rohrabacher? On a larger scale, if we're to defeat Trump and Trumpism? We need more than their vote. We need them to be spreading the word amongst their friends and persuading them of the need to tell their friends--and all of them, every single one, to VOTE!

What disturbed me about this exchange was the thought that the Rouda campaign still has a lot of work to do in raising consciousness and generating excitement. How was it possible, I asked myself, that a man like my friend could remain only minimally aware of this vitally important congressional race? I attribute part of this ignorance to him--and a part to us! We need to do more, and better, to wake up this electorate.

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

TOWN HALL

I had not had the opportunity to see and hear Harley in person until yesterday, when I seized the chance to attend his Town Hall meeting in Laguna Niguel.

As a one-time primary supporter of Dr. Hans Keirstead, I was pleased and impressed by the event. One questioner asked about Rouda's ability to attract the support of those who had voted for other candidates in the primary, I can vouch for the fact that in this one case, myself, there was never any question about the transference of my support for another Democratic candidate, but am now doubly pleased to be able to add enthusiasm to mere party loyalty.

What impressed me? First and foremost, that the candidate listened attentively to the questions he was asked, and actually answered those questions. Too often I've heard and watched as politicians take questions--whether from voters, debaters, interviewers, or the media--and answer the question they would like to have heard rather than the one that was actually asked. They veer off into what sounds more like a practiced position paper on some vaguely related issue and completely miss the point of what was a seriously asked question. I find this intensely annoying--but heard none of it last night.

So, good marks on that score. The candidate also seemed well-informed on a wide variety of issues, and was willing--on one occasion at least--to let his audience know when he needed more study on an issue before stating his views. Important, too, was the fact that his views on the issues of importance reflected my own, though I did think his eagerness to "reach across the aisle" seemed a little overly optimistic in view of Republican intransigence and the history of implacable opposition to everything Obama proposed during his presidency. My own view is that a measure of ruthless power will be needed to counteract the deployment of ruthless power on the other side.

Otherwise, let's see... As one who attaches great importance to language as a means to formulate and express a cogent idea, I appreciated the fact that our candidate is both eloquent and quick on his feet when it comes to articulating complex thought and subtle distinctions. High marks for that. And finally, when it comes to sheer likability (I tend to be suspicious of "charisma"--it seems that the current occupant of the White House has an abundance of that, for his base) Harley Rouda does well. He evinced a pleasant, easy sense of humor and self-deprecation, both of which are qualities I respond to. And he seemed like a man for whom personal integrity and honesty are a point of honor.

In short, he has my vote. In all honesty, he would have had my vote by simply being a Democrat, but now that I have seen him in action and listened to his answers to questions on the multiple issues facing our nation, he also has my enthusiastic support.


Monday, August 27, 2018

DISLOYALTY... ?

Here's what our "representative" told Fox Business Network:

“The fact that Jeff Sessions has not quit is a disloyalty to this president and to the country. The fact is, if he disagrees with what the president wants him to do, he should resign.”

Let's get rid of this guy!

THIS NOVEMBER

To put it simply, in this coming November election Democrats must overcome:

the result of years of Republican gerrymandering;
obscene amounts of dark money from private and corporate interests;
the effects of widespread voter suppression legislation;
potential misinformation distributed by foreign powers;
the possibility of polling booth and vote-count hacking;
an endless stream of lies and distortions from right-wing propagandists;
and more.

Not to mention the complacency and apathy of too many or our own voters.

(In addition, in 2020, we will need to prevail over the travesty of the Electoral College).

That's a tall order.

In response to all this, we have only our justified anger at the failure of Republicans in Congress to stand up and protect our democracy from the outright, blatant, boundless and shameless corruption of Trump and his cabinet of cronies... and our VOTE!

We MUST VOTE for the restitution of decency, fairness, reason, good judgment, and respect for the rule of law. Another congressional term with Republicans kissing the ring of our current fragrantly lawless would-be dictator will spell disaster for our country.


Friday, August 24, 2018

WHAT'S AT STAKE

"What will happen if the blue wave in the midterm elections falls short?" NYT columnist Paul Krugman asks in his op-ed piece this morning. "Clearly," he adds, "at this point it still might: Democrats will surely receive more votes than Republicans, but thanks to gerrymandering and population geography, the U.S. electoral system gives excess weight to rural, white voters who still have faith in President Trump. What if, thanks to that excess weight, the minority prevails?"

What if, indeed? Krugman foresees yet another attack on the Affordable Care Act, and this time it will probably be successful. Watch out for a vast new increase in the number of uninsured Americans... including, um, yourself?

Worse--just as bad?--Krugman plausibly predicts more Republican attempts to shred the already delicate social safety net. To compensate for the deficit their tax cuts have created, they will return to the familiar call to balance the budget. And what remains to be cut? The military? That's a laugh. No. What remains to be cut is the benefits you and I--and sooner or later the vast majority of Americans rely on. As Krugman concludes, in his worries about November: "Rule of law is definitely on the ballot. So is health care. But voters should realize that the threat to programs they count on is much broader: If the G.O.P. holds its majority, Social Security and Medicare as we know them will be very much in danger."

We must not be lulled into counting on the "blue wave." We can't allow ourselves to forget decades of Republican manipulation of the electoral system on every imaginable front, from "gerrymandering and population geography" to the travesty of Citizens United to the assault on Americans' right to vote. 

It's time for each one of us to add our weight to the pendulum, if we want it to start swinging the other way. I pledge to send another contribution to the Harley Rouda campaign today. Please join me! As we've discovered to our dismay, in politics, it's money that talks. It's our stake in the future of this country.

Thursday, August 23, 2018

GO HIGH

Democrats, in this current election cycle, should resist the tempting bait they've been offered in the form of the "president's" unending list of offenses--against the laws of our nation, against our national interest on the world stage, against common human decency--and instead focus on issues of urgent importance to voters: affordable health care for every American, a humane and comprehensive solution to the immigration crisis, a long view of the economy with a view to addressing the skewed distribution of wealth, equal opportunity in education and equal justice for all. These are traditional Democratic values.

Leave Republicans to stew in the morass they have created. It will only get worse. If Democrats deign to get down in that mud, they will succeed only in diminishing themselves in the eyes of voters. Michele Obama was right: When they go low, we go high.

We are justly outraged, but we can hold on to that justifiable outrage and still not be dragged down into the pit of moral turpitude that now infects the soul of virtually every Republican in Congress.

Be angry, yes. Be outraged. But let not the anger and the outrage define who we are. We have better fish to fry.

Voters will cast their ballots for our vision, not our self-righteous outrage.

So... with my apologies for the outrageous mix of metaphors, let's VOTE HARLEY ROUDA in November. Let's keep telling every friend, every neighbor to vote Harley Rouda too. For his values. That's our job, here in CA48.

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

SORRY, EARTH

Republicans today gloat over their utter disregard for the protection of this increasingly--and dangerously!--vulnerable planet we live on, celebrating with their "president" the EPA's rollback of sensible Obama-era rules on the regulation of power plant emissions...


To use a couple of favorite words of Tr*mp's, it's nothing less than disgusting and disgraceful. The picture turns my stomach.

The Republican Party has abandoned all decency, as well as all claim to conservative values and moral leadership. Yet this deeply frightening map of the 2016 election is a jolting reminder that, no matter how red the rest of the country, we here in CA48 MUST do our bit to bring about the needed change. 

Rohrabacher MUST go. We MUST send Harley Rouda to Washington to help clean up this dreadful mess we're in.


Friday, August 17, 2018

PARTY UNITY

I'm scared, honestly. I have been comforting myself with the thought that "America is better than this," but now I'm no so sure. I woke in the middle of the night last night and couldn't get back to sleep for all the racing thoughts about the danger that we're in.

The proximate cause was not only Trump's revocation of former CIA Director John Brennan's security clearance, but also his threat against a number of other prominent names in our intelligence and national security community. It's beginning to feel like a palace coup--but one directed by a man who would be king against his own palace guard. It's insanity--and insanity is in imminent danger of becoming the norm. More worrisome still is the cowed silence of almost all Republican voices in the face of this insanity, and the tacit complicity of the Republican leadership.

I have been purposefully, self-protectively skeptical about the "blue wave" that many predict for this November--including those of us who were equally confident of Hillary Clinton's election and the decisive defeat of Donald Trump. But there are many slips between cup and and the lip of election victory this year, and in 2020. There's the history of gerrymandering; long-orchestrated Republican superiority in local and state governments; continuing, too often successful efforts at voter suppression in Democratic-leaning communities and states; and, by no means least, outright election-tampering and cyberwarfare conducted against us with impunity by a foreign power.

Let's not kid ourselves: to defeat these odds is an uphill battle, friends. No laurels, until we've earned the right to wear them. No magic. No blue wave, until it actually thunders to the shore. Just constant vigilance and unfailing cooperation--even when that might involve the sacrifice of our own sacred cows. Now is not the time for petty egos or self-defeating ideological differences. We can take at least this one lesson from Republicans: it's party unity that guarantees success at the polls.

It is at our ultimate cost that we elevate diversity to a dominant guiding principle. Unity, above diversity, that's the ticket.

Thursday, August 16, 2018

TRUMP'S PARADE

Has the US Congress already authorized expenditures for Trump's PLANNED military parade? I hope not.

It should cause more than mere public outrage if this mockery of a "president" is allowed to fritter away the estimated $92 million--NINETY-TWO MILLION DOLLARS!-- on this travesty of self-glorification.

Congress must put a stop to this nonsense

So where does our congressional "representative" Rohrabacher stand? Will we hear his voice in justly furious opposition? Will he work to ensure it never happens?

I doubt it.




Wednesday, August 15, 2018

HELL HATH NO FURY...

Artemisia Gentileschi, Judith Beheading Holofernes

... if I may be excused for restoring to what, these days, may be interpreted as a misogynist stereotype. (It was actually coined in the late 17th/early 18th century by my fellow-countryman, the satirical playwright William Congreve).

Well, anyway, it seems that Tr*mp is finally confronted by a person as narcissistic, as ruthless, as implacable, as insatiable of media attention and personal adoration, and as lacking in decency and human compassion as himself.

Will the redoubtable Omarosa bring him down to size, where others--including all those craven Republicans in Congress--have notably shirked this urgently necessary task?

The great irony, of course, is that she is his own creation, made after his own image. Perhaps this monster will succeed in exposing the arrogant presumption of our Dr. Frankenstein. Perhaps the mob of angry, terrified villagers will turn tail, and show up with their pitchforks, shrieking at the White House gates.

We'll see.

Meantime, we last defenders of sanity and truth must show up at the polls and vote for Harley Rouda in November. Am I right? Will you bring your friends?

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

WORKING FOR US???? (PART III)

Re: the glossy Rohrabacher flyer, in which he touts his great work for CA 48... Item: the paragraph on "Illegal Immigration and Supporting ICE."

The scapegoating of immigrants has become a disgraceful national pastime amongst the supporters of the "president" Donald J Trump. It is no surprise to read Rohrabacher's full-throated endorsement of his dear leader's policies in this matter. He even "supports the President's [absurd] efforts to build a wall" (the parenthetical qualifier is mine).

America used to be a place where immigrants were welcomed. I am one myself. The "president's" wife is one. Immigrants, indeed, are what "made America great." Now that we're all here, of course--the particularly the white ones (like myself and Melania)--it's okay to build a wall to protect ourselves from all the others--particularly the brown ones from the south.

America does not have a great record when it comes to recognizing and accepting those who come to its shores in the hope of finding refuge from persecution. The rejection of so many Jews at the time of World War II and the Nazi persecution stands out as an odious blot on our historical record. Today, with asylum-seekers fleeing political persecution and violence arriving at our borders, our country's leaders chose to break up families and snatch small children from their mothers rather than allow them entry into this "land of the free."

Dana Rohrabacher is NOT "working for me"!

For a representative who will support a more humane and an ethical America, it's time to oust the man who kowtows to the current despicable occupant of our White House and elect a Democrat. A vote for Harley Rouda is a vote for decency and respect for human rights.



Monday, August 13, 2018

WORKING FOR US??? (PART II)

To return to the flyer sent out last week by our "representative," Dana Rohrabacher, who claims without much justification to be "working for us..." 

Regarding his efforts on the issue of health care, he writes: "In 2017, efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, fell flat. Congressman Rohrabacher believes that goal is still worth pursuing." 

Really? After more than 60 votes--how many is it now?--in out House of Representatives, all of which went down, properly, in flames, our congressman still "believes that goal [...] is worth pursuing"?

How many of his constituents, I wonder, would agree with him? How many of us a grateful simply to have--finally!--an attempt at an affordable national health insurance act? How many of us want to see it improved, and NOT wantonly destroyed for no better reason than that it was passed by Democrats (though based on a Republican model)? How many of us are angry that Republicans like Rohrabacher continue to waste the public's time and money on their ridiculous attempts to undo legislation that has been so clearly needed in America for so many years?

Hands up, those who think this man should be replaced by someone who will support the drive for universal health care... 

I thought so! So let's all get out there and vote for Harley Rouda. And bring along "our sisters and our cousins and our aunts"! Okay?

Friday, August 10, 2018

WORKING FOR US???

I don't know about you, but I had word from our presumptive "representative" in Congress, Dana Rohrabacher: one glossy flyer in the US mail and a digital version in yesterday's email.

He claims to be working for us. I beg to differ.

I have a  number of reactions, and I'll be posting more. But first I note with interest that what's missing from the digital version is a whole section titled "Constituent Services," in which the good congressman touts everything he does to serve his constituents. One thing he doesn't do is respond to their communications--or probably even read them.

I know this personally because, starting with the day after the Trump inauguration, I began to write an individual letter to him every day. I wrote for months--a total of over 250 letters in all, hand-signed and mailed hard-copy to his office. Not one of them was copied and pasted from other sources, they were all thoughtfully (even respectfully!) written. Yet I received not one single response. Well, I correct myself, in the early days I did receive three or four boilerplate position papers via email. But you'd think as a matter of courtesy alone he might have written at least a postcard!

In short, I do not feel "served" by Rohrabacher. If he cannot listen, let alone respond to a dissenting voice he is not serving his constituency, he is merely serving those voices that approve his right wing positions.

It's time to elect a man (yes! that's our choice! I'd love to elect a woman!) with a mind that can listen, think, and respond.

Please join me in doing everything possible to ensure the election of Democrat Harley Rouda.


Thursday, August 9, 2018

NO BLUE WAVE!!!

We Democrats made a huge mistake last time around. We simply never believed that the abominable Trump could be elected over Hillary Clinton--who so obviously had the experience, the temperament, the competence to serve.

We took it for granted she would defeat him as soundly as he deserved.

Don't let's forget what happened.

We can't afford to listen to talk of a "blue wave" this November! That's for the media to toy with, not for us voters.

I choose not to believe for one moment in talk of a blue wave.

It's up to us to ensure that every single Democrat understands the urgent necessity to vote. And to talk, as we can, to those of our Republican friends and neighbors who share our dismay at what Trump is doing to this country, along with the (yes! despicable!) Republican Party he has managed to co-opt and bend to his will.

We are not allowed for one minute to forget our children and our grandchildren, who will bear the costs of this disaster. If only for their sake, we can afford to TAKE NOTHING FOR GRANTED this time around.

NO BLUE WAVE! We cannot afford to be distracted from the edge inspired by our vigilance and anger.

Let's be sure to take our vigilance and anger to the ballot box and vote for Harley Rouda!

Wednesday, August 8, 2018

WILDFIRE!

So the "president" who two years AGO kindly informed us here in California that "there is no drought" now tells us (via tweet, how else?) that our devastating fires are being made worse by "bad environmental law which aren't allowing massive amounts of readily available water to be properly utilized. It is being diverted into the Pacific Ocean." Perhaps the "president" has not heard of "rivers"? He adds this wisdom: "Must tree clear to stop fire spreading!"

Yes! We need to cut down those useless forests anyway, to sell the lumber!

This man's ignorance and arrogance are bad enough. Worse, almost, is the fact that our own "representative" in California's 48th District enables and supports him in his deaf ear to what science is screaming in its effort to convince us. As the huge and terrifying article that occupies the entire New York Times Sunday Magazine makes clear, it's past time to act.

All the more urgent reason to replace our current incumbent with a Democrat, who understands the science and thinks clearly on this issue.






Tuesday, August 7, 2018

PROGRESS

Glad to see the Michelle Goldberg op-ed piece in yesterday's New York Times. Is it the change in Orange County demographics, or are affluent Orange County residents finally coming to their senses? Perhaps a bit of both. In any event, it bodes well for Harley Rouda--and eventually, the Democratic Party. Not to mention America and the rest of the world!

Saturday, August 4, 2018

GHOST GUNS

If aren't entitled to shout "Fire!" in a crowded theater, you should not be entitled to create and carry a "ghost" weapon--one made entirely in plastic on a 3-D printer, undetectable to the usual screening devices at airports and elsewhere. It appears the technology is such, now, that this is entirely possible, and is about to be released to any and all online. Trump and his Republicans are proving entirely too slow in acting to counter this potential menace. Trump trumpets loudly about protecting the American people from the threat of murderous immigrants. He should be more concerned about this more real and imminent danger.

Thanks to Harley Rouda for his rational and informed public statement on this issue in an NBC opinion piece: https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/3d-printed-guns-are-coming-america-unless-congress-acts-nra-ncna896321


Friday, August 3, 2018

RESPECTFULLY, TO REPUBLICAN VOTERS

I say "Republican voters" because to say "Republicans," these days, to is start out with division and antagonism. I talk a lot to people who think and vote like me, and it's past time we started talking to each other.

I want to talk to Republican voters in my district (CA 48) and of my generation. I'm 82, but I'm thinking anywhere between 65 and 85--and on up from there!

I'm guessing that we have a lot in common. I'm guessing that, like myself, you have pretty much always voted as your parents did--in your case "conservative," in mine "liberal"--well, back in the old country, "socialist."

I'm guessing that you are decent, good-hearted, hard-working people who share my values: in family, in the equality of opportunity for all, in the freedom to follow one's own beliefs and pursue one's goals and mission in life, in mutual respect and tolerance, in compassion for one's fellow human (and other!) beings.

I'm guessing that, living in Orange County, California, you are (like myself) somewhere between comfortably affluent and relatively wealthy.

I'm guessing that you were seduced, in the early 70s, by the California tax revolt, feeling unfairly burdened with taxes and wishing for a smaller, more efficient government. We parted ways a bit then, because I believe in the necessity of government to provide for a social structure that can assure our mutual security and the pursuit of our common interests. It is "big" because we are big, as a country, and our needs are infinitely complex.

I'm guessing that you were further seduced by the affable, affluent Ronald Reagan, who promised us that shining city on the hill--but without the burden of taxes or mutual responsibility.

And I'm guessing, perhaps wrongly, that you are as uncomfortable as I am with how things have deteriorated to where we stand in political America today. I'm guessing, perhaps wrongly, that you are uncomfortable with a president who talks and acts too often like a spoiled child, who must get his way at any cost. Who talks and acts too often like a mob boss. Who talks and acts like a boor in the community of world leaders. Who misrepresents our country and distorts its values.

And I'm guessing, again perhaps wrongly, that you are as uncomfortable as I am with a legislature (currently dominated and controlled by Republicans) that turns a blind eye to malfeasance, that tolerates what appears increasingly to be corruption, that refuses to take action against those who wish us ill, that seems to reject all ethical, social and economic responsibility; a legislature that thrives only on antagonism and vilification and fails significantly to take care of the business of this country.

In view of which I am presuming to ask you to take a different view, to change your mind in the face of a radically altered political landscape, to listen to the growing chorus of conservative intellectuals who are insisting that, to serve the interests of country rather than of party, it is time to cast your vote for a Democrat.

If not your inherited political inclination, if not the ingrained habit of voting for a particular party, if not the kind of loyalty that is in every other circumstance entirely admirable, then reason alone dictates an (even reluctant!) vote for Harley Rouda.

Thursday, August 2, 2018

HAPPY TO SEE...

... that our candidate received an enthusiastic endorsement from none other than Barack Obama. He included Harley Rouda among "leaders as diverse, patriotic, and big-hearted as the America they’re running to represent."

After the mean-spirited reign of Republicans for too long now, we sure need a big heart--as well as rational and well-considered policies.

Thanks for the welcome lift this morning, Mr. President! (And I don't mean the current occupant of our White House!)

Wednesday, August 1, 2018

QUESTIONS FOR REPUBLICAN VOTERS

If I could ever have a sensible conversation with a Republican voter, I would ask five questions:

Are you okay with a President who ignores the now proven Russian hacking of our election, which is tantamount to a hostile attack on our country; and who fails to take significant action to prevent the same from happening again?

Are you okay with a party that chooses to overlook all evidence of malfeasance, incompetence and moral and financial corruption on the part of its leader?

Are you okay with repeated attacks on the country's first effort at a much-needed national health care system, without plans for its replacement, let alone improvement?

Are you okay with the diminishing power and image of America throughout the world? With the intentional alienation of our traditional friends and the embrace of murderous tyrants?

Are you okay with the further enrichment of the wealthy, at the cost of programs to assist those less fortunate than ourselves?

If the answer to each of those questions is Yes, then I guess that, sadly, we have nothing to talk about.

If No, then we must talk. And I would encourage you to think about changing your voting habits, and to cast a vote for the Democrat, Harley Rouda.