Good morning to our 2 Paragraphs Family. At the end of this coming July the Libertarian Party of California will be having its annual convention when I anticipate submitting a proposal for its new party platform. A draft of it is now being submitted to you for your thoughts and comments. All feedback is appreciated! Here is the draft:
A friend and neighbor of mine has a bumper sticker on his car that says: “Trump/Vance 2024 Never Surrender.” Flat out, I have no problem with people publicly supporting their political candidates, and in fact appreciate it when they do. But I have a large problem with saying “Never Surrender,” because it strongly implies that we are at war with each other! And this directly contributes to the polarization
What every successful civilization needs is leaders. “Leadership is defined as the ability of an individual or group to influence and guide others towards achieving shared goals. It involves aligning people in a collective direction and enabling them to work together effectively. Key characteristics of good leaders include vision, communication, integrity and the ability to inspire others.” So what does it take to be a leader?
The “Common Wisdom” is that when a President appoints a Justice to the US Supreme Court that the President can count upon that Justice pursuing the President’s agenda. But a close friend of mine, who is truly aware of realities in today’s world, actually sent me a list of Justices in significant cases since 1940 who voted against the Presidents who had appointed them.
There was an editorial in the May 2, 2024 edition of the Orange County Register about which we all should be concerned. It called attention to the fact that a graduate student at Tufts University who is here on a student visa was recently arrested and taken to a Louisiana jail and is being threatened with deportation for doing nothing more than writing a Pro-Palestinian op-ed piece for a local newspaper. The thrust of her column was to protest American support for the war in Gaza. It did not recommend violence or otherwise taking inappropriate action. But if that is not a violation of our Free Speech Rights under our Constitution, I have trouble thinking about what could be a greater threat. So I believe we all should be concerned about this result.
It really is not so hard. In my view, our nation’s immigration policy should be based upon the following five maxims:
1. It is our decision who comes into our country either to visit or to live, and not the visitor’s;
2. One strong reason our country is Great is because over the years so many people from around the world have immigrated here so they can roll up their sleaves and pursue the American Dream. Those who have shown they are a boon to themselves, their families and our country who have not already become citizens should their paths be streamlined to become citizens;
We have all been aware of the New York trial court judge’s threat to impose a Gag Order on former President Donald Trump. But we should also be aware of the complicated issues surrounding this situation! From the beginning of my judicial career back in judges’ college in 1984 the instructors told us not to issue orders that we could not enforce.
Here is a great idea that I have lifted from Wayne Allyn Root, who was the Libertarian candidate for Vice President in 2008: Candidates should run on a platform of ending all taxes on Social Security. Why? Focus upon this: workers have been required, often for many decades, to pay into Social Security without getting any tax deductions for their contributions.
Like many of you, recently I have been reading about a federal judge declaring illegal a revised version of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which prevents the deportation of thousands of immigrants who were brought to this country at an early age. I believe that People of Good Will would not want to deport young people in this situation, many of whom can’t even remember living in their foreign countries of birth.
As most of you are probably aware, today is the 22nd anniversary of the violent attack upon our country by Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda group – truly an act of war. What you may not be familiar with is the book Fool’s Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan, by Scott Horton (The Libertarian Institute, 2017). In this book Mr. Horton states that our CIA lured the then Soviet Union into Afghanistan in an effort to destabilize the Soviet Union.
According to Reason Magazine this year is the 300th anniversary of the birth of Adam Smith, who is considered by many to be history’s strongest spokesperson for the Free Market. For example, Adam Smith wrote in his famous book entitled Wealth of Nations: “By means of glasses, hotbeds, and hotwalls, very good grapes can be raised in Scotland, and very good wine too can be made of them at about thirty times the expense for which at least equally good can be brought from Foreign countries.
According to the Pacific Legal Foundation, when American poet Robert Frost was being interviewed on a 1952 television show, he said that he preferred to spend time with people who have “a definite personality.” In fact the best trait in people, Frost went on, “is taut boldness.” This is consistent with my research about the views of all 55 delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, where they bickered, debated and even fought about almost every issue.
Toward the end of the 18th century, England began sending convicts to Australia. The transportation was privately provided but publicly funded. But a lot of convicts died along the way from disease due to overcrowding, poor nutrition and little or no medical treatment. In fact, between 1790 and 1792, 12% of the convicts died, to the dismay of many good-hearted English men and women who thought that banishment to Australia shouldn’t be a death sentence. On one ship 37% perished.
I am writing this edition on the Fourth of July, and thinking about where we are as a country. And that has led me also to wonder if this 2 Paragraphs series is living up to expectations. Why? Because seldom do I get feedback that discusses or enlarges upon the issues, or challenges me with countering points of view. So now I am asking you to give me some honest feedback.
In April of 1831 Alexis de Tocqueville set out for the United States from his native France to study the American penal system. So for nine months he traveled by steamboat, stagecoach, horse and canoe to numerous places in our country, all the while meeting and speaking with large numbers of people. Then he returned to France and wrote about what he had seen and learned about our penal system.
Happy Memorial Day, which is today. But as we use the day and weekend to gather with family and friends to travel and have good times, let us also remember the meaning of this day. According to the Congressional Research Service, it is a day of reflection and remembrance of those who died while serving in the U.S. military.
Started in 2016, the Jack News provides a pragmatic look at political discussion with some satire. An independent journalistic endeavor, we have no ties to other media outlets or services. We write our own commentary and form our own opinions.
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