Alternate Universe

Long ago there was a Star Trek episode where the intrepid Star Trek crew were thrust into an alternative universe aboard the Enterprise. In that  universe Spock had a beard and in a Machiavellian way had overthrown Kirk and taken over the ship. They managed to persuade "bad Spock" to help them get back to their world.

I propose an alternative universe speech from the President in the Oval Office a few days after the 2016 election:

Good evening my fellow Americans. I speak to you in my first time as president from the Oval Office. Now that the election is over, the inauguration complete, and I am settling into my role as your president, I want to speak to you on some important issues of the day.

As a first time candidate for political office I was perhaps unprepared for the intensity of a presidential election, the day-to-day back and forth. I'm a New York guy who speaks my mind, so I often found myself battling the opposing candidates, responding to attacks, and yes, launching some of my own. I regret my part in dragging down the discourse, and I hope my opponents feel the same way. However, being president is not being a candidate. It is time for me and for everyone else to put aside personal attack politics and focus on the needs of our country. I'm retiring the nicknames and will focus all of my energy toward driving our agenda and working with Congress to achieve our goals. Please watch my Twitter account for a daily reminder of what we are trying to accomplish.

One of the first things I wish to address is the attack on our democracy by the Russian nation. While I hope to have a positive relationship with President Putin and the Russian nation, I cannot as a guardian of our democratic institutions stand by and ignore the clear evidence that individuals and institutions close to the Russian government attempted to interfere with this election. Tonight I am directing the following as a response:

• I have summoned FBI Director James Comey and leaders of the Justice Department to the White House for an update on the investigation into Russian interference. I have signed a Presidential directive to ensure that investigators have all of the resources our nation can provide to get to the bottom of this. I have instructed Mr. Comey to submit a monthly report to my office and demanded that he vigorously investigate any individuals who participated in this attack. If anyone employed by my campaign was involved, they should be prosecuted to the extent the law allows. In my administration no one will be above the law. I expect a full report from Mr. Comey on my desk no later than six months from today. If investigators need more time they will be given it, but a matter of this urgency should be given top priority.
• I am appointing a Presidential Commission to examine this interference from a policy perspective. I have asked former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and former C.I.A. director Leon Panetta to serve as co-chairs, with the remaining members appointed in equal numbers by me and the Democratic leaders in Congress. The commission will examine all aspects of election interference and recommend changes in law to prevent it from happening again. I will present their recommendations to Congress and demand expeditious approval to protect our nation.
• Today I called the Russian ambassador to the United States to the Oval Office to meet with me. I told him in no uncertain terms that the United States of American will not tolerate this interference in our electoral process. I will ask Mr. Putin for a meeting at the earliest possible time and relay the same message to him unequivocally. Hopefully we can build a good relationship with Russia, but friendly nations do not behave this way toward one another. If it is true that the Russians attempted to influence the election in may favor, they badly miscalculated who I am. American democracy is our birthright and I will fight for it.

Of course, Russia is not the only issue that we face today. While I will save many of these issues for my State of the Union address, I wish to speak from the heart on the issue of immigration. During the campaign I said many things about our immigration system. I believe that our immigration laws need to be updated and that a nation needs strong borders. However, I also understand the plight of those currently living here in undocumented status, the Dreamers, and those who attempt to enter our country seeking a better life. I campaigned on building a wall and still believe that this is one of many things that need to happen to modernize our immigration system. I also recognize that we speak with many voices as a nation on this subject and that finding a path we can agree on will be difficult.

In a meeting with the Congressional leadership today I committed to working with them to develop a comprehensive immigration law to replace our current system.  The key components of this law will include border security, reforms in legal immigration, increases in courts to handle immigration cases, and resolving the status of those currently here. I asked them to erase all of their "red lines" and told them I would do so myself. I want a proposal that will receive a bipartisan majority in both houses of Congress and I want it during my first 90 days in office. We may not satisfy the most zealous advocates on either side of this debate, but we will do what we were sent here to do...govern this nation in a responsible manner. I will be holding weekly meetings with Congressional leadership in the White House, and will continue to do so until we can see action.

You elected me in part because I'm not part of the status quo, the inaction that has plagued our government under Congresses and presidents of both parties on challenging issues.  I urge my partners in Congress to throw out their preconceived ideas, their political talking points, their inflammatory rhetoric, and their appeals to the extreme bases that often exist in all parties. I commit to doing the same and will instruct all in my administration to do so. If we work together we will find a common sense solution to this vexing problem. 

In the coming days and weeks you will hear me discuss health care, problems in the Middle East, excessive regulation, our crumbling infrastructure, and many other issues our nation faces. I approach all of these issues as president of all the people, working with anyone who has a good idea that will improve the issues we face. I will bring in experts from both parties to advise me on these issues and will continue to assemble some of the best and most creative minds in the country to serve in my administration.

The Bible notes that there is a season to all things. Tonight marks the season in my administration to get to work on the most important issues we face.  The election is over and it is time to work together to accomplish great things.  I will not hesitate to speak my mind, but I will always do so from the point of view of wanting to move us forward as a nation. I ask you to pray for me and for our elected representatives as we begin this journey together.

Thank you......and God bless the United States of America.

The Immigration Conundrum

In spite of my distaste for President Trump the immigration issue did not just arise when he was elected. In fact, a good argument can be made that his election was in a very large part a reaction to the increased numbers of immigrants, both legal and "illegal" of the past few decades, along with the changes brought by this influx and other changes in society.The  We see this across Europe now as populist governments opposed to immigration have sprung up across the continent, most recently in Italy.

The post-war consensus that has governed the western world has been fraying on the edges as nationalist candidates opposed to immigration and generous refugee policies have risen to power in the United States and Europe. Both sides of the continent have been governed by center-right to center-left parties and coalitions who had their own distinctive philosophies, but remained in broad agreement with the set of values that has defined our civilization since the end of the war. This consensus was rooted in international institutions, a world trade system governed by a set of rules and treaties, a defense system rooted in cooperation against outside threats, and an immigration system that allowed for the importation of refugees from war-torn nations and immigrants from the 3rd world.

Now the center is not holding, and large swathes of people have looked to non-mainstream candidates and parties to address their frustration with the changes in society that have occurred over these decades. This is misguided in my view because the post-war years have brought unprecedented peace and prosperity to the western world and I am deeply uncomfortable with replacing it with a yet-to-be-known set of values centered around nationalism, resentment, and anger. The rhetoric and sentiments blowing back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean have led us to the possibility of trade wars that benefit no one, and increasingly strident language and actions regarding immigration.

It has been said that if the political mainstream does not address issues that are roiling public sentiment that politicians outside the mainstream will step in to fill the void. Public polling on this issue can be a bit confusing, but it is obvious that there is at least a substantial minority of voters that are very upset by decades of large scale immigration. Into this void stepped Donald Trump and the angry man became the voice of these angry voters. Enough mainstream voters were repulsed by the other candidate to support him as well, and he rode this wave narrowly into the White House. His rhetoric about rapists and making Mexico pay for a wall resonated with these voters and thrilled them. He gets it! He's mad like us! Build the wall! Toss them out! Make Mexico pay for it!

But a Trump was only possible because of the inaction of both parties during the past twenty years on a growing issue. Congress has failed repeatedly to come up with a comprehensive immigration plan that address both border security and the status of the millions of undocumented people living in our nation right now. George W. Bush had a moment where action was possible but Congress failed to act. Barrack Obama had a filibuster-proof majority and Congress again failed to act. Each side has jockeyed for position and preferred to have this an issue rather than come up with a solution. This is a failure of leadership across the political spectrum.

There are a few things that are true that many politicians and a large chunk of the public refuse to acknowledge:

1. The public has no confidence (with good reason) to believe in the enforcement of our southern border. It is not unreasonable to accept that a nation should have defined borders and control over who enters the country. Without a stable and enforceable border it will be difficult to convince voters that other changes need to occur. A 3000 mile wall may not be the way to do it, and it is silly to ask Mexico to pay for it, but strong, sensible, compassionate, and highly effective border enforcement is a pre-requisite to a solution.
2. Estimates of undocumented people in the United States range from 10-30 million people. Without turning the country into a police state you are never going to expel even a fraction of these people. Its a fantasy to believe otherwise.
3. People come here out of desperation and in a hope of a future. We in this country have never been faced with that kind of hopelessness and desperation.  This doesn't mean we have to accept all comers or have "open borders", but we need to understand why they come. Much more should be done to assist in stabilizing the nations south of our border to reduce the demand.
4. These immigrants are doing a lot of the work no one else wants to do. Just watch roofers carrying shingles up a ladder in the 105 degree Oklahoma heat and hammering shingles all day long, laying concrete, cleaning office buildings at night, picking vegetables, etc. Yes, I suppose if wages were raised high enough there might be Americans willing to do some of these jobs. Don't count on it. We have become addicted to the cheaper labor and the economic benefits it provides to us all.
5. I have known many of the "Dreamers" or "DACA" population. While it runs the gamut, a lot of these young people are just looking for a better life in a nation they came to when they were young. Many have no memory of the country of their birth and have never visited it. Some don't even speak Spanish well and many of them don't read or write it well. It is senseless not to come up with a solution for them.

The makings of a deal are there, but it would require leadership and a commitment from both parties to compromise. Right now the political will is not there on either side of the aisle.  It is easier to rile up the angry on the Trumpian side or elicit outrage and hashtags on the progressive side. It is time for the center to assert itself again and come up with a broad solution that encompasses an effective border and a practical way to deal with people who are already here. 

This is where Trump could have an opportunity to make a positive difference if he chose to do so. It was said that, "only Nixon could go to China".  He would have to accept that he won't get everything he wants and that his "four pillars" will probably not emerge from a deal the way he would prefer. Chuck Schumer would have to risk alienating the "no borders" progressive partisans and be willing to legislate real and verifiable border enforcement in exchange for real and meaningful resolutions for people already here (yes, including a path to citizenship!) They would both anger their base Do have the courage and vision to do so? Are they willing to provide cover for their members of Congress to support it?

If not, we can keep going the way we are going. Trump will get re-elected and the issue will rage on without much resolution. He won't get his wall and the DACA population will remain in limbo. A Democrat might defeat him and the current muddle will continue onward. They won't enforce the border and Congress will not be able to pass DACA relief.

A conservative president of the past generation said this in his farewell address to the nation:

I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.

It is time to update our immigration system based on these values consistent with effective borders and compassion for those who have struggled to get here. 

Its time for the center to hold once again.

Whither Trump?

I wish I could say that my antipathy toward Donald Trump is because I don't like the man. I don't have to like everyone in politics or in any other field of endeavor. I've known people in my own profession that I didn't particularly "like", but acknowledge their general competence and good intentions. "Like" is a visceral term. Sometimes we don't like someone and can't even explain why.
I don't find that hard here.

I could begin with a lot of things, but it might be useful to review a few of Mr. Trump's forays into racially charged issues.

Mr. Trump has shown the public for over 50 years who he is and continues to do so today. He has spent his entire adult life in the public eye, much of that by his own choice, his own thirst for fame and publicity. He built a brand and a real estate empire as a "playboy" whose name embodied glitz and the finer things in life ("Get your Trump steaks here!"). He chased women throughout those fifty years, married or not. He liked that brand, the playboy with a woman on his arm, the glamour of it all, the appearance it created. It was part of his brand. The beauty pageants, the casinos, the big man about town, the controversies....all nourished and fed his need to be noticed and known.

He also liked to wander into the political and public opinion arena, pontificating on this or that issue. One may remember his insistence that the "Central Park Five" were guilty even after another man plead guilty, DNA evidence found only the confessor's DNA on the woman, and prosecutors dropped the charges. He continued to attack the young men even after they won a wrongful imprisonment settlement from the city of New York. After all, "maybe hate is what we need if we're going to get something done." He continued to defend his belief as recently as 2016. 

But hey, we've all been wrong before and held on to our wrongful beliefs a bit long, right? Life is so much easier when you are never wrong.  It can happen to anyone. Alas, this is not just a one shot deal.

Mr. Trump paid a $250,000 fine after he secretly funded attack ads on the Mohawk Tribe in an attempt to halt their development of a competing casino. In the ads he showed pictures of needles and drugs, asking, "are these the neighbors we want?", smearing the tribe as a bunch of thieves and drug addicts. He paid the fine because he concealed his funding of the ads, violating New York law.  Well, at least he didn't call them rapists and murderers.  He could have at least added that some of them are good people to balance it out. 

He criticized the law signed by President Reagan that allowed Indian gaming, stating that allowing Native Americans into his gaming world would bring out, "the biggest organized problem since Al Capone." When asked to substantiate his charges he told Congress, "well, people talk and have told me that."  Its ok though because he did note that, "no one loves Native Americans more than me."

He does wonder how some Native Americans just don't look Indian to him. Who needs Ancestry DNA? Maybe we can just ask the man if the issue arises. 

Then there was the Hispanic Miss Universe contestant that Mr. Trump referred to as "Miss Housekeeping" and "Miss Piggy".  Or you could go with, “I have black guys counting my money. … I hate it. The only guys I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes all day.” (USA Today, May 20, 1991)

I can already hear you out there now..."He's just not politically correct!" "He's changed now!" "The media take his perfectly innocent statements and actions and mischaracterize them!"  or "Maybe he's obnoxious but he's better than Hillary!"  

Sigh.

These brief snippets are direct quotes or from official records.  I never saw where he denied any of them.

Not being politically correct is not a license to smear broad groups of people, casual racism, or using stereotypes. I don't like political correctness either, but I don't understand how someone could read this and not have their stomach churn just a bit.  

I didn't vote for Hillary either and could not support her then or now. But she doesn't get to be the voodoo doll that is waved around to excuse the moral excrement that oozes from this guy.  She won't be president. He is the president. I understand that the choices were lousy and that people voted for who in their  mind was the "lesser of two evils". 

Just don't tell me you don't know who the man is. He's been telling you exactly who he is for a long time.

What This Blog Is Not

Greetings!

Its been awhile since I published anything online. Then, as now, I find myself with something to say and not a natural place to say it.  When I say it out loud it feels disjointed and repetitive. Maybe I can make some sense of things here, putting my thoughts in one place and not always feeling like I've left out something important that capsulizes my thoughts. That is what "New Post" is for!

To be clear....

This is NOT about suicidal musings. I have lived long enough to see many things flipped on their head and that is what this is about.  Republicans attack the F.B.I., and Democrats sound like J. Edgar Hoover reincarnated. Roles are reversed when it comes to local law enforcement and police shootings of unarmed suspects. THEN many Republicans turn to their "no questions asked" deference to law enforcement and many Democrats relocate their inner ACLU.

This is NOT saying I've lived long enough and there isn't anymore to see or learn. I hope I live much longer. Maybe I can see things circle around again.

Even though I am posting as "Politically Homeless" this is NOT an expression of personal unhappiness.  I am happy in marriage, life, and work. I am disturbed by the political direction of the country and the values of both parties as currently expressed by their leadership. Our politics suck but life is good!

I DO feel like we are in a strange place as a nation and a people. The inconsistency and hypocrisy I see is discouraging.  The Republican Party and the conservative movement have been taken over by a president with no moral bearings, no dignity, no compassion, only focused on "winning", inclusive of the racist "Alt Right", and a "nationalism" in which I see a dark side.  The Democrats can't decide if they want to be a party of the middle class, the party of identity politics, the Bernie movement, or something else. I don't see a vision for the country in what they say...only a dislike of Trump. That's not nearly enough. A Democratic candidate that would focus on "bread and butter" issues and unifying the country could be a powerful force. It is more likely that they will nominate someone just as divisive as Trump. For shame.

So for now I find myself with few voices to represent my beliefs in national politics. There are a few rays of sunshine that I will write about later.

I'll see where this goes. For now, you know what its not!