Wednesday, November 9, 2016

A RIGGED ELECTION

     Irony of ironies! Donald Trump repeatedly criticized  the election process during the month prior to the election yesterday as "rigged".  Well it was rigged in favor of Trump, but not by Hillary Clinton's team or the democrats.  It was rigged not by Trump the accuser, but by our illustrious forefathers who designed and scripted the rigged process called the Electoral College.  Here again for the second time in this century, a candidate for president registered a clear majority vote of the electorate, but lost the election in the archaic process called the  Electoral College (which is neither  fair to the electorate nor a college in any way).  
          The message is clear.  As long as this absurd excuse for a democratic election stands as part of our process, the United States is a grossly imperfect democracy.   As part of our getting together and healing, let us all unite and get rid it ASAP. It is the non-partisan thing to do. 
          In the meantime, no member of the Trump team should consider this election a mandate,  You won by a rigged system.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

The "Torture Candidates" Unworthy of The Nomination

This past week in New Hampshire, presidential candidates Donald Trump and Ted Cruz stated that they would advocate return of water-boarding and other forms of torture in the name of national security. For the record, it should be recalled that candidate Ben Carson had done so back in 2014 in editorials. It should be recalled that in December of 2014, CIA Director Brennan testified before Congress that torture did not add to intelligence effectiveness.  Further, that whether torture saved lives was "unknowable".  What is knowable and factual is that the CIA secretly used foreign prisons and agents to torture at sites out of the United States, euphemistically called "rendition". In so doing we shredded our constitution, twisted the law and trampled on all that we stand for and gave the enemy jihadists an enormous propaganda wedge.  The Senate Report on Torture of some 500 pages was extracted from 6500 pages--we had only a glimpse of the truth.  Perhaps this is the price of a never ending state of war. But war, Candidates Trump and Cruz, can never become an excuse for abandoning our principles of civilization.  You cannot paint your enemy as uncivilized when you yourself are not. To return to the failed policy of  President George W. Bush is terribly devoid of any enlightened leadership.  I hope the voters of New Hampshire take note today.