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;
Taking many lessons and insights I gathered while presiding over our high school Peer Court program over the years, I wrote a musical entitled “Americans All,” which takes place in an after-school “detention” class room, and is meant to help mentor our junior high and high school students. Peer Court is a program that involves subjects from some real juvenile court cases who have been screened by the probation department and who have acknowledged that they committed the violations.
One of the things that I believe sets me aside from most people is that, at a fairly early age, maybe while in high school, I decided that one of the worst things that can happen to people is to be on their deathbeds, look back over their lives and think “I wish I would have,” or “I wish I would not have.” And, I am gratified to say, I will not be in that position.
Right after the 2020 elections, this column strongly proposed that Congress establish a transparently-neutral commission, probably comprised of retired judges, to investigate all allegations of fraud and suppression of information in and during our nation’s elections and then to disclose publicly its findings on those issues, regardless of where they lead us.
In the February 26, 2023 edition of the Orange County Register there was a Letter to the Editor that caught my eye that included the following statement: “I once had a political science professor who never told us his opinion and encouraged robust dialogue in class. A student asked him one time why he bounces all over the issues and never provides the class with his opinion.
When I was a child my parents drummed it into my head: “Jimmy, if you ever get lost what will you do?” Correct Answer: “I will find a policeman; he is my friend.” Regretfully that is seldom taught in our society today. Why? Because due to police unions and the doctrine of “qualified immunity,” police who misbehave are often not able to be held responsible for their actions.
Recently I read a pamphlet entitled “Great Myths of the Great Depression” by Lawrence W. Reed of the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE). This article discusses the history of government actions that caused and perpetuated the Great Depression which lasted from 1929 until the middle of World War II.
On Sunday, January 29, 2023 the Orange County Register carried a story that originated in the New York Times entitled “Oil Drilled in Amazon Rainforest Ends Up in California.” The article stated that, due to the Ecuadorian government’s need for revenue, it is now allowing oil to be drilled in its Yasuni National Park, which it used to protect.
As has been written before in this column, the biggest issue facing our country today is the problem of so many of our public schools failing our children. And that is as tragic as it is unnecessary. Why? Because today, particularly in lower economic neighborhoods, there is virtually no competition in education.
Some of the lyrics in singer/songwriter Bob Dylan’s song It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding are “If you’re not busy being born, you’re busy dying.” I believe that this is not only true for people, it is also true for countries. And I further believe that the United States of America is still busy being born! Do you agree? Well, if so, our Great Country should not be hesitant to change some of our national approaches.
Page one of the July 24-30, 2024 edition of The Epoch Times featured an article entitled “Mothers Blame China, Cartels” with the subtitle of “Fentanyl is ‘weapon of mass destruction’ destroying families.” Of course there are many people in the world who will try to make easy money by selling contraband. For openers, just remember people like Al Capone who took advantage of our nation’s policy of Alcohol Prohibition.
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