Archive for the ‘Partisan Politics’ category
A Growing Fear in a Dark and Dangerous Time
November 29, 2017I just have to say it. There comes a time when we have to recognize and admit that we are dealing with matters far beyond the normal boundaries of political discord; when what we are faced with is something far more distressing and dangerous than merely a clash of political ideologies; that there is a sickness present in our nation that has not only turned the American political scene toxic but threatens to upend the very stability of the planet. That time of recognition has long since passed.
Today, November 29, 2017, as I read this morning’s news, I was shaken by two reports that at any other time would seem completely distinct one from the other, but at this time in American history are inextricably linked. One was the report of the fact that North Korea’s latest missile test seems to indicate that they now have the capability of firing missiles that will reach the USA. The other was the report of Matt Lauer’s firing by NBC for a complaint of sexual misconduct.
While the situation that led to the firing of an American media icon such as Matt Lauer is saddening on so many levels, what was additionally deeply disturbing about the report was how President Trump once again jumped upon this opportunity to Tweet another attack on the mainstream media. One would think that a rational human being who has been accused of sexual misconduct by 16 women and who has been caught on tape personally bragging about having been engaged is such behaviors would not take every opportunity to rant about the sexual misconduct of his detractors and opponents while at the same time defending the sexual misconduct of his allies. One would think that a rational person in a similar situation as the President would choose the course of silence on this issue simply as a matter of self-preservation; simply out of a concern that the bullet he dodged in the past is still out there and may strike him down in the near future, re-directed straight at him by his own words. But that is not our President. Rather, as if his own record was as clean as the freshly driven snow in matters of sexual misconduct, he has spared no efforts in his calls for the political undoing of opponents such as Al Franken because of the sexual misconduct for which they have been charged, while at the same time vigorously defending his allies such as Roy Moore against charges far more extensive and dark than those leveled against his opponents. Even when, as reported in this morning’s news, NBC took a preemptive posture by firing Matt Lauer after 1 complaint and before the story broke in the press, instead of praising NBC for its taking swift and decisive action in defense of their code of professional conduct, he still sought a way to attack them because, in his distorted perceptions, they are what he has called “fake news.”
Once again President Trump has demonstrated himself to be a rather strange, sick, and dangerous combination of a false sense of invulnerability and invincibility, a near total lack of self-control, and an unrelenting narcissism, topped off with a malevolent bigotry against anyone who thinks, acts, feels, believes, or looks differently than himself, especially women.
And that brings us to the report about North Korean missile capabilities. The very real nuclear threat posed by North Korea has been a challenge which at least 3 presidents before Trump have struggled. Clinton, Bush, and Obama all have sought ways to keep the North Koreans in check in order to avoid what could easily turn into a nuclear holocaust. Then along comes President Trump with his unearned and undeserved bravado, his delusion that no one can stand up to the United States of America, and his unrestrained mean spirited assaults on anyone who disagrees with him. He intentionally pokes the bear with his threatening North Korea with total destruction as he personally insults its erratic leader, Kim Jong-un, calling him “Rocket Man” and doing so on the international stage of the U.N. No wonder that this “Rocket Man” has sought to produce a missile with the capability of delivering a nuclear payload to our very shores. At no time since the Cuban Missile Crisis have Americans found themselves more immediately under the threat of nuclear destruction than we do now. Why? Of course the North Koreans and Kim Jong-un have something to do with it, but not as much as does the actions and attitudes – and dare I say the mental instability – of our current President. For it has been Donald Trump, with his over inflated ego and the ever-present bullying tactics that he has brought from the manner in which he conducted his businesses to the way he now conducts the business of our nation, who has brought us to the brink of a nuclear war.
This crisis with North Korea is but one instance of how America, and the world, have suffered as a result of the fundamental character and personality flaws of our President. Literally in a world where every other nation has accepted as fact the science of climate change, the U.S. now stands alone in not signing onto the Paris Climate Accords. Before he won the election, Donald Trump was a proponent of an American racism. Whether or not he founded the “Birther Movement” he never relented in challenging Obama’s right to be President on the grounds that Obama was never a “true” American. Since his election, in what only can be understood as a manifestation of a racist hatred of Obama, he has sought to undo every single accomplishment of the Obama administration, regardless of how many Americans he injures in the process. He simply seeks to erase Obama – the first black president – from the annals of American history. Also, in yet another manifestation of racism, he has been seeking to purge the American society of what he considers to be foreign interlopers such as Muslims, Latinos, and most recently Haitian refugees. When it came to the hurricane victims of Puerto Rico, his resistance to offer them the same unrestricted aid that the Florida and Texas victims received is a testimony as to how much it galled him that these Latinos were deserving of all the services available to those on the mainland because they, too, were and are full and legitimate American citizens. When African American professional football players chose to respectfully kneel (as if in prayer) during the singing of the National Anthem – kneeling out of concern for the injustice of a “shoot first and ask questions later” attitude taken by too many of our law enforcement officers when it comes to African American suspects – our President was far more concerned with respect for a song than he was with respect for human lives, that is if those lives were black lives. And who can forget that this was the man who referred to Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists as being “fine people”? How can those who choose to embrace an ideology of hate and bigotry be defined as “fine people”? Who would define them so? Only those who share their beliefs.
There is a sickness in the White House which threatens all Americans and indeed, all the world. It is not a matter of Republican vs. Democrat for it has nothing to do with political parties or with conservative vs. liberal political ideologies. It is true that personally, I am a Democrat and a liberal, but as a Democrat and a liberal I have survived Conservative Republican administrations in the past. I have lived through the Eisenhower, the Nixon, the Ford, the Reagan, and the Bush (Both Bushes) years. Though those men may not have been my personal choices for President, they were the choice of the people, having been democratically elected. That is what makes America great. But this time is different. The irresponsible actions and beliefs of the current occupant of the White House put us all in danger; in danger of destroying our world in so many ways, such as ecologically or physically. But if that is too much to grasp or believe, how can one question but that he is in the process of destroying the very soul of our nation; our nations which has always sought to lift up the fallen, heal the sick, set free the captive, and welcome the stranger? Yet today we are being led down many dark roads, whether they be in the directions our nation is taking when it comes to health care for all, the protection of our environment, our response to gun violence, our relationships with other nations, or our treatment of minorities and immigrants?
Is this a rant? I guess it is. But it is a rant born out of a deep seated and growing fear I possess for the very future of our nation and our planet if we continue along the path that President Trump has mapped out for our nation. I SPEAK ONLY FOR MYSELF and not for any group or organization with which I am affiliated or associated, but I suspect that many others share my concerns.
Pre-Caucus Reflections
January 30, 2016As many of you know, the Cantor and I will be leaving tomorrow to attend the annual meeting of the Mid West Association of Reform Rabbis. This particular gathering is without question my favorite of all my professional meetings and that is not just because it takes me annually to sunny and warm Scottsdale, Arizona in the midst of our Mid West winters. However, as much as I enjoy this annual gathering, this year it also makes me sad. It makes me sad because it will be pulling the Cantor and I, as well as the other Iowa Reform rabbis, away from the Iowa Caucuses. The Cantor and I have lived in this community for over 30 years and this will be the first time that we will not be attending the caucuses, and I feel very bad about that.
The Iowa Caucus experience is one of those “You-Had-To-Have-Been-There” type of events. It is not something that you can fully explain to others; at least not so that they can truly appreciate it. Our congregation draws from both sides of the River and how I wish we could give our Illinois congregants guest passes to the Caucuses just so that they can have the experience and not just assume that it is a glorified primary, for it is not. Indeed, on a personal level, being a registered member of one of the political parties, still I have this fantasy of being a fly on the wall at a caucus meeting of the other party, if for no other reason, the entertainment value of it all.
When the Cantor and I first came to Iowa, no political process could have been more foreign to us than the Caucus process. Growing up as we did in big cities of big states – New York and Detroit – our exposure to the political process was always rather impersonal and mechanical. Only once in my 25 years of living in New York City did I ever get to even see a presidential candidate in the flesh. It was Lyndon Johnson, back in 1964. He made a stump speech on the corner of Fordham Road and the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. Thousands crowded the streets and from my vantage point, he looked about a 1/4 inch tall and there was no way I could even begin to make out his facial features. Since we have come to Iowa, we have not only experienced candidates in small groups but have enjoyed personal face-to-face conversations with several of them and even have had some of them, like John Kerry serve us food at a pancake breakfast. Now how many Americans can say that they have had the current Secretary of State plop a couple of pancakes on their plate?
But as exciting as all of that is – and you have to admit that it is very exciting to enjoy the exposure and the access that we have to these stars of the American political scene – in the end it does not even begin to compare with actually participating in the caucus itself. For attending and participating in a caucus is almost like stepping back in history, to a time when America was a more intimate place and the political process was really very personal; when not only your vote counted but also your voice.
I have to admit that at the first caucus we attended, we were pretty much thrown for a loop. We didn’t know what to expect and we surely did not expect the small group dynamics which is the heart and soul of the caucus event. There we were, with this mass of people in this site when we were told, “Those who are caucusing for this candidate meet in this corner and those who are caucusing for that candidate meet in that corner…” and so on. So, a bit disoriented, we walked to where the supporters of our candidate were gathering. Honestly, I cannot remember whether or not the Cantor and I were supporting the same candidate. A head count was taken and then we waited to find out whether our group was viable; whether we numbered enough to meet the minimum required percentage of the total population of our caucus site.
Well, we did, but other groups didn’t. So, somehow or other a leader of our group arose – I am not quite sure how – and he started tasking us on how to approach the members of the non-viable groups and convince them to join our ranks. So we went out to hock our wares; to convince these people to throw their support behind our candidate. Suddenly we found ourselves being not just voters but campaigners; advocates for our candidate, promoting the strengths of our candidate’s platform. In other words, we were called upon to be informed of the issues and where our candidate stood on them. We were called upon, not only to present to others where our candidate stood on the various issues but also why we personally felt that our candidate’s take on those issues were so important for the future of America.
Then there came the point where we had to gather with our new “converts”, take a new head count, report it to the officials so it could be submitted, and the rest was history.
There are those in other states who mock the Iowa Caucuses and shake their head in disbelief that such a small and unimportant state should have such a significant say in the future of our nation. I am sure that part of their mockery is pure jealousy, but most of it is pure ignorance; ignorance of what the caucus process is really like. Back in their states, they will vote on candidates without ever having set eyes on them except on television. Some of them will seriously explore and compare the platforms of the various candidates but most of them will depend upon those horrible, back biting, blood thirsty, campaign ads for the making of their decision. They may or may not ever engage in a conversation about the issues and which candidate holds what position on them. With little or no serious discussion, they will walk into a voting booth and cast their ballot.
But we, on the other hand, have received the greatest gift democracy can offer; the opportunity to become highly informed on the issues, to seriously grapple with the different stands of the candidates, and to participate in an electoral process which is not just isolated and solitary but is vibrant and interactive, and most of all, one that challenges us to be the most responsible voters we can possibly be.
This coming Monday I will surely miss participating in that process but if you are an Iowa resident, you need not miss it. I implore you not to miss it, no matter what party you identify with. In our democracy we say that our elections are the voice of the people. No where is that more true than in Iowa during the Caucuses. So make your voice heard! Don’t be one of those pathetic Americans who, after all is said and done, rants and rails about their bitterness, and complains that they did not have a say.