THE SOUTH AND THE REST OF THE COUNTRY (Posted December 12, 2013)
I have lived in the South for the past 35 years. I enjoy it here—the people are gentle and nice, the weather is good and, being in Atlanta, we have a business and transportation hub that is the foremost of its kind in the world.
So the South has much going for it; yet my sense is that, 150 years after the great Civil War, people here still do not see themselves as being part of the USA.
While I am certain that there are many reasons for this, as somewhat of an outsider, I think the reasons have to do with the lingering effects of the Civil War.
Since then, the South has continually been under the thumb of the Federal Government—beaten badly in the War, then continuously scrutinized beginning with re-construction all the way through the desegregation efforts of the 20th century.
Now we have a situation where, in addition to being pressured by the Federal Government on all the these issues, the South is being belabored by a Federal Government that is headed BY A BLACK MAN!
What could be worse?
I honestly believed that we had gotten by our racist past, but clearly it has been present all this time—lingering just beneath the surface and being kept in check by a system of political correctness whereby you never say exactly what’s on your mind. But the election of a black president has brought back all of the seething hatreds that have been a fundamental part of this country from its very beginnings. The only difference being that the current generation of bigots coats their language a bit differently–instead of using the N-word, they call the President a muslim, a marxist, a Kenyan, etc.
Give me an old-fashioned bigot any time. He may use the N-word, but at least you know what’s really on his mind.
Despite all of the effort of the last 250 years, it seems that we still have a long way to go.
A sad state of affairs indeed.
FOOD STAMPS AND THE CONGRESS(Posted December 5, 2013)
Once again we have an example of the extent to which the Congress is out of touch with the American people.
I watched in horror in the 1960s as a bunch of old, white men condemned a generation of young men to die in a thankless, disgraceful war in Vietnam. Today I see another generation of mostly old, white men(some of whom are the same people) who are highly desirous of inflicting more pain & suffering on people who are in great need by making draconian cuts to the Food Stamp program.
It speaks volumes in my mind of what might be done to fix the problem: namely, we need to clean out the “good old boys club” and get more women elected to Congress.
I just happen to believe that, if we had 535 FEMALE members of Congress, we would not be cutting the food stamp program.
CAN WASHINGTON BE COUNTED ON TO FIX PROBLEMS?(Posted November 26, 2013)
Public confidence in the Federal government is at an all-time low—and for good reason.
Just look at the turmoil we’ve been through over the last few years trying to solve some of the nation’s problems—immigration, health care, social security, just to name a few.
One of the reasons for the continuing impasse is the polarization that exists in Congress between the two parties; the other reason has to do with the complicated approaches we take as we attempt to get something done.
Take Health care and Social Security for example. If we want to fix health care, do it the easy way: MEDICARE FOR ALL; if we want to fix Social Security, REMOVE THE CAP.
What could be easier? I guess the DC Pols just want to justify their paychecks by looking busy while working on these very complicated solutions to simple problems.
THE WASHINGTON NAVAL YARD SHOOTING: AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM ON DISPLAY ONCE AGAIN (Posted Friday, September 26, 2013)
Reference: OP/ED article: “A PLEA FOR CAUTION FROM RUSSIA” by Vladimir Putin, Thursday, September 25, 2013
The subject OP/ED article was refreshing in the way it offered a much-needed counterpoint to the heretofore un-challenged notion that the United States is “exceptional”.
The evidence contrary to this belief certainly seems to be on Mr. Putin’s side. Consider these realities of 21st century America:
The United States has continued to
-keep an entire race of people subjugated for most of our history;
-refuse to assimilate native Americans or even to acknowledge their rightful place in the North American continent;
-tolerate 30 million crimes and over 10 thousand homicides each and every year;
-have over 50 million people without health insurance who are unable to obtain medical care in spite of the fact that our nation possesses some of the most advanced medical technology in the world;
-experience extreme levels of poverty, with one in 6 adults and one in five children living this way;
And the list goes on.
President Putin was spot on! This nation has no right whatsoever to the claim of exceptionalism.