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;
The theme of this column is treating all people with a threshold of respect. So I begin by adding one more story about my wonderful and even heroic father, Federal District Judge William P. Gray. (I hope you remember and utilize his comment that “You have every right to disagree, but you have no right to be disagreeable.”) But this new story is as follows: Many years ago my father was asked if he would agree to take a tour of the Federal Correctional Facility at Lompoc, California. Naturally he agreed, and he took my mother with him. While he was there the warden told him that, coincidentally, there would be a talent show later that afternoon presented by some of the inmates, so would they like to attend?
While on my recent vacation I read a book written by four members of the Pacific Research Institute (PRI) entitled NO WAY HOME: The Crisis of Homelessness and How to Fix It with Intelligence and Humanity (Encounter Books). And the title says it all. In that regard I hope you agree with me that having such a large homeless population is a blight upon who we are as a country. All lawful residents in our country should have a place of shelter for themselves and their possessions. But today California alone has more than 150,000 people who are homeless. Why?
The Trump momentum continues to close the gap on the swing states. Trump/Vance are now leading Harris/Walz in five of the seven targeted swing states according to SurveyFever.com. The remaining states of MI and PA are both tied at 48 all. Trump has now taken the lead and is in position to surpass the 270 Electoral votes needed for the win. We have watched a steady movement of support by Trump each week of the tracking study.
The Trump momentum continues. Trump/Vance are now leading Harris/Walz in four of the seven targeted swing states according to SurveyFever.com. The remaining states of WI, MI and PA are all within a narrow one-point percentage. If Trump can take the lead in any one of these three remaining targeted swing states, he will surpass the 270 Electoral votes needed for the win.
Looking at this week’s tracking study, the momentum for Trump has continued. In particular North Carolina, which showed a major change of direction as Trump has now taken the lead in that state. Nevada has been added to the Presidential tracking study this week, with Trump ahead in Nevada. The Trump/Vance ticket leads in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina. Of the remaining targeted swing states Harris/Walz lead in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. In the US Senate races there has been no major movement in the toss-up states.
I just returned from a reunion of my Class of 1962 at John Muir High School in Pasadena. Since pretty much all of us are or soon will be 80 years old our reunion was called our class’s 80th Birthday Party. And what a good time we had! Of course so many of our classmates either were too disabled to attend or were no longer on this earth. So that reminded me, as I am trying to remind you, to enjoy our lives while we have them, and to be appreciative of our good fortune at all times!
For this week of the Jack News sponsored SurveyFever.com tracking studies we see the Michigan race for President tighten. Harris has a slight half a point advantage over Trump. In both Arizona and Georgia Trump has grown stronger to increase his lead over Harris beyond the margin of error. Harris does remain ahead in four of the targeted swing states Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina. Republican Senate candidates continue to stay strong with their positions in Montana and West Virginia.
Some of the best people I have ever met in my life have come from my involvement in trying to help our country change its drug policy. One of those people is my friend James E. (Jim) Gierach, who is a former state prosecutor in Illinois and director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) who has just written a book entitled The Silver Bullet Solution: Is it time to end the War on Drugs? And Jim just sent out what he calls his “Gierach Drug Policy Declaration,” which I have his permission to forward on to our 2 Paragraphs Family for your consideration.
This week’s tracking study was consistent with the previous week for the Jack News sponsored SurveyFever.com studies. Trump shows strength in two of the six targeted swing states, while Harris maintains her position in the other four. Trumps support in Arizona and Georgia has remained consistent after capturing the lead in those two states several weeks ago. Harris is maintaining her ground in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and North Carolina.
When I was seeking to become a federal prosecutor in Los Angeles part of the application process was to emphasize that, as a prosecutor, we were always to try to “Do the Right Thing for the Right Reason – Every Time!” If we made a mistake along the way, they would have our backs, but if we did things for political, personal or vindictive reasons, etc., we would be held accountable. After I became a trial court judge I have had many opportunities to speak to prosecutors and police officers, and I have often reaffirmed with them the importance of adhering to that challenge.
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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