Tomorrow is Election Day, 2020!

Tomorrow we go to the polls to elect our leader for the next four years, and it is imperative that we all vote for JOE BIDEN.  The very soul of our nation depends on it.

 Four years ago we elected the most unfit man ever to hold that office.  He has disgraced our country and we must show the world that we realize that we made a mistake, but we corrected it at the very first chance we got. 

 I listen to Trump supporters who tell me that that know Trump is not perfect and they recognize the flaws of his character, but they ignore them because he lowered their taxes or reduced some regulations they did not like.  They have dozens of reasons to rationalize their choice.  Some of Trump’s policies have indeed been good and beneficial to our people.

BUT THE ENDS DO NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS.   We cannot not sacrifice our integrity as a nation for short-term benefits.   The Devil always temps us; it takes true strength of character to stand up for what is right even though it may mean we don’t get what we want right now.   Did we not learn anything from the very first lesson in the Bible?

As a Christian, I try to teach my kids the lessons that Jesus taught us.  I try to teach my kids the difference between right and wrong.  I try to teach them to treat other people with dignity.  I try to teach them to treat other people the way they want to be treated.  I try to teach them to help others less fortunate.  I try to teach them that honesty is the best policy; that a man’s word is his bond; that his reputation for honesty is his most important asset.  I try to teach them that we are all children of God.  “Red and yellow, black, and white, they are precious in his sight.”:  What a beautiful thought, and one that we all need to remember. I try to teach my children that racism and prejudice are the tools of the devil. 

How can I teach my children these things by supporting a man whose actions are just the opposite of all of these things?   What kind of message would I be sending to my kids?

What kind of message are we sending to all of our children?   What kind of message are we sending to the rest of the world?

Over the past 100 years, we have been the beacon of democracy throughout the world.  We have been there for our friends when they needed us.  We stood up for the weaker countries and shed our blood to defend their freedom.  Our word was our bond.  Under our leadership, Democracy spread like wildfire throughout the world. Monarchies, dictatorships, and communism all diminished under the light of our democracy.  When a country was in need, we gave.  We shared our ideals, and backed them up with financial aid, and even our very lives.

Even though our ideals cost us a lot of money and lives, we prospered beyond anyone’s wildest dreams.  We went from being an isolated nation before World War I to being the world’s only superpower. We became the richest, most prosperous nation in the world.  Our people prospered.  We educated our children.  We reduced Illiteracy.  We wiped out many childhood diseases.  We went from horse and buggy to putting a man on the moon! 

But in the last four years, our shining light has been darkened.  We have become the laughingstock of the world. Our word is no longer any good. Indeed, we have abandoned our allies and left them to die on the battlefield.  We have alienated our friends and embraced our enemies. Without our leadership, we are seeing democracy crumple in countries all over the world.  Here at home, civil unrest is at its highest since the Civil War.  We are no longer a united people but a divided one.

Our Presidency is more than just an office. The President is our moral leader as well.  He not only sets the general policies and directions our nation takes, but he embodies all that we stand for as well.

Donald Trump is a pathological liar.  We cannot believe anything that he says.  He cannot be trusted.  He has lied over 20,000 times since taking office!  How can we teach our children that honesty is the best policy when our leader lies over 10 times every day? 

Donald Trump has mocked our Constitution.  He has abused the power of his office.  He has ignored the checks and balances our founding fathers built into the Constitution.  His corruption has spread like a cancer throughout his Administration and the Republican party itself.

We need a leader that can unite us in times of crisis.  When our country split apart, Lincoln led us through our bloodiest period and reunited us.  When we were attacked by the Japanese on December 7, 1941, FDR stepped up and led us through four years of hell, but kept us united.  As a result, we defeated fascism and rose out of the Great Depression at the same time.  When we were attacked on September 11, 2001, George W. Bush stepped up and united us.  His approval rating was over 90% during that crisis!

Now, during the past year, we have suffered another huge crisis; one that has killed more Americans than died in Vietnam and Korea combined.  During this crisis, Trump has FAILED us miserably.  Not only has he failed to unite us, he actively tries to divide us.  He has failed to follow the policies of his own experts and has not only ignored them, but ridiculed them as well.  This virus originated in China, which is about as far away from us as we can get.  Yet our infection and death rate is the worst in the world.  The counties closest to China, such as Vietnam and Japan, followed the advice of the experts and have had only a handful of deaths.

Trump’s failure of leadership not only has costs the very lives of tens of thousands of Americans, but has destroyed our economy as well.  Trump inherited a booming economy.  Indeed, it was the longest peacetime expansion in the past 100 years. Now, we are seeing the highest unemployment numbers since the Great Depression.  Even before the pandemic, Trump was only able to sustain the economic growth under Obama by vastly increasing the deficit, mortgaging our children’s future for our short-term goals.

Freedom of the press is one of our most important rights. Democracy depends on knowledge and transparency.  For 200 years, our press has served to keep our leaders honest.  It has served as a check against abuse of power.  Trump has not only attacked the media, he has successfully convinced many Americans that the press is the enemy of the people.  These are not the actions of a leader of a Democracy, they are the tyrannical actions of a dictator.

Both Presidents Obama and Bush were relentlessly attacked by citizens who disagreed with their policies.  But they both realized that Freedom of speech is essential to our Democracy, for it’s the right of every American to speak their minds and hold our leaders accountable for their actions that gives us our strength and that’s why it’s the very first right embodied in our Bill of Rights.   That’s why neither Bush nor Obama ever personally attached those who criticized their actions.  The recognized that their position of power could easily be abused and that accepting criticism was a core part of their job.   Trump, on the other hand, has done just the opposite.  He has used the megaphone of his office to attack and drown out all those who disagree with him.  These are not the actions of a democratic leader; they are the actions of a tyrant.

We need a president that we UNITE our people, especially in times of crisis.  Instead, Trump has used crises as an opportunity to divide us even further.  We are seeing civil unrest and riots all over our country at a level unseen in decades. Instead of recognizing and addressing the legitimate concerns of the people, he has chosen to attack them.

Get out tomorrow and VOTE.  Cast a vote to HEAL our country.  Cast a vote for DEMOCRACY.  Cast a vote for FREEDOM.   Cast a vote for INTEGRITY.    Vote for JOE BIDEN.

 

Endorsement of Joe Biden

 

I am a lifelong Republican. 

 I have donated money to most of our local Republican candidates, including Ben Cline, Emmet Hanger, Dickie Bell, Steve Landes, and others. I have never a single penny to any Democratic candidate.

 I marched in several parades to help Ben Cline get elected.

 I served as Vice Chair to the Augusta County Republican Committee.

 

I ENDORSE 

JOE BIDEN FOR PRESIDENT.

 

Why?  Because I believe in the principles and values outlined in our Republican Creed:

 

“That the free enterprise system is the most productive supplier of human needs and economic justice”

 

Donald Trump’s withdrawal from trade agreements and his arbitrary and vindicate tariffs flies in the face of free enterprise, not to mention his disgraceful efforts to hurt American companies such as Goodyear and Amazon simply because they did not agree with his political policies. Donald Trump has failed us miserably, and this alone is reason enough to realize he is unfit for the office of President.

 

“That all individuals are entitled to equal rights, justice, and opportunities and should assume their responsibilities as citizens in a free society”
 

Almost every one of Trump’s words and actions are designed to enrich himself and his cronies at the expense of the good people of our country. Under Trump, millions of Americans have lost their health insurance.  He has used his power to pardon to reward those loyal to him. He has further sabotaged our already-broken immigration system by slashing quotas, dividing families, and instilling fear in many. Remember, our creed states, “All Individuals”, not simply all citizens.  For Trump, justice comes second to loyalty to him. He has rewarded those loyal to himself while punishing those that disagree or otherwise oppose him, not only by his words – think Twitter – but by his actions as well.   Donald Trump has failed us miserably, and this alone is reason enough to realize he is unfit for the office of President.

 

“That fiscal responsibility and budgetary restraints must be exercised at all levels of government”

 Fiscal responsibility means paying your bills.  Trump promised to balance the budget and start to pay of our National Debt.  Instead, he increased both the deficit and national debt to historic levels during a time of economic boom, and that was well before the Covid-19 crisis. Sometimes it’s necessary to run a deficit to stimulate the economy in times of economic downturn, but during economic booms its equally important to be fiscally responsible by balancing the budget and repaying the debt that was incurred. Donald Trump has failed us miserably, and this alone is reason enough to realize he is unfit for the office of President.

  

“That the Federal Government must preserve individual liberty by observing Constitutional limitations”

 Trump has ignored Constitutional limitations by abusing his executive authority, issuing illegal executive orders, ignoring Congressional subpoenas, and actively obstructing justice on numerous occasions. Donald Trump has failed us miserably, and this alone is reason enough to realize he is unfit for the office of President. 

 

 “That peace is best preserved through a strong national defense”

 They key to a strong national defense is a strong system of allies.  World wars I and II were won be a strong collation of allied nations.  When we were attacked on September 11, 2001, our allies came to our defense as was required of member nations of NATO.  Trump has done everything he could to destroy NATO.  He has alienated our allies while embracing our enemies.  Worst of all, he abandoned our allies on the battlefield leaving them die.  Of all of his abominable actions, this is arguably the worst, and this alone is reason enough to realize he is unfit for the office of President.

  

“That faith in God, as recognized by our Founding Fathers is essential to the moral fiber of the Nation”

 A true Christian leads by example, he does not use it as a weapon to attack others or as political props.  Christians use the lessons, values, and morals taught us in the bible to guide us as we live our lives. Trump has no morality, ethics, or willingness to follow those principles.  For him, everything is about himself. Donald Trump has failed us miserably, and this alone is reason enough to realize he is unfit for the office of President.

 

 We need a leader that we can trust.  Donald Trump has LIED to the American People over 20,000 times since taking office.  He repeats the same lies every after they have been totally debunked.  He endorses crazy conspiracy theories while ignoring the advice from our intelligence agencies, scientists, and learned scholars.  He has attacked the media, labeling anything that is not flattering to himself as “Fake News”.  He promised to “Drain the Swamp” by banning government expenses from working as lobbyists right after leaving government service, but issued waivers that excluded much of his own staff.  Even worse, in multiple occasions, he has appointed lobbyists to run the very agencies whose job is to oversight their industries.

 Donald Trump is NOT a Republican, he is a charlatan simply telling his followers what they want to hear so that they will allow him to ignore existing laws, obstruct justice, and divide our country solely to pursue his own personal agenda to enrich himself and his cronies.  He has ignored all of the principles and values under which our party was founded. 

 On the other hand, Joe Biden has a long and distinguished history of serving his country and upholding these principles. He has shown us by his actions that his morality and faith in God are not merely words spoken to gather votes, but are the guiding principles in his life.  His perseverance during times of extremely personal crises have shown us that he has the courage, ethics, and morality to lead our nation out of this time of darkness by uniting rather than dividing us.

 Perhaps most importantly of all, a President’s job is lead and unite the people.  We are, after all, the UNITED States.  Instead, Trump has divided us.  Every one of his words and actions are designed to enrich himself by dividing us.  He actions have done great harm to our moral fiber as a nation, and he is totally unfit to hold the office of President of the United States.

  

As a TRUE REPUBLICAN, I proudly ENDORSE JOE BIDEN for PRESIDENT of the United States.

 

 

Defunding the Police

I have seen protesters demanding that we defund the police, or even dismantle them.

I understand their frustration and desire for dramatic changes.

But demanding the defunding or dismantling of the police makes no sense.  If I see a mouse in my house, I’ll buy a cat or a mouse trap.  I won’t burn down my house.

What we need is more accountability and transparency from our existing police departments.  We need to eliminate the “blue wall of silence”.  Every policeman must realize that we WILL hold them to the highest standard because we are entrusting them with our lives.

Specific actions can be taken:

(1) Every department needs a civilian oversight committee, whose members are either elected or appointed to one or two year terms.  If appointed, these committees must be large enough to ensure that they reflect the racial makeup of their jurisdiction.  No person should be able to serve on a committee for more than one term.  This will ensure prevent a new “establishment” from entrenching itself.

(2) Mandate the use of video cameras on all patrol cars and persons on patrol. These videos must be made public as much as possible, without compromising investigations or citizens’ privacies.  The decision on when to release these videos should be made by the civilian oversight committee.

(3) Set policies that officers who witness serious misconduct must report it, and, when possible, actively intervene to stop it.  “Serious” misconduct would include any conduct that could result in a felony or civil rights charge against the officer.

(4) Identify officers whose attitude does not reflect the proper values and respect for all citizens that is required of them.  These officers should be terminated, or, at the very least, removed from the street until they have received counseling and additional training to correct the issues.  In larger departments, annual reviews for all officers should be conducted using an independent counselor or board.

(5) Every department needs to maintain statistics detailing the quantity and reason for all police/citizen contacts, arrests, complaints, prosecutions, etc., using a national standard that uniformly classifies types of encounters, broken down by race, sex, age, geographic area, etc.  We need a NATIONAL website that will make these statistics publicly available.  This website would not only let us look at any individual department, city, or even neighborhood, but would show averages for each category as a whole, and also broken down by state, city, and even city size.  Police departments that fall below par would be identified and correct measures taken.

(6) Emphasize community involvement.  The public should be encouraged to meet their patrolman, and given ample opportunities to do so.  “Ride a longs”, “Citizen Police Academies”,  and other such programs should be offered that allow the public to see not only how the police operate, but WHY they take the actions that they do.

BUT THAT’S NOT ENOUGH!

We need to take actions to address the underlying social and economic problems plaguing our communities, such as poverty, hunger, healthcare including mental health, inadequate child care services, income inequality, below-par educational inner-city schools, gangs, the homeless, drugs, and other issues which lead to crime.

We need to stop treating drug addicts as criminals and offer them treatment and support. That includes programs to identify and enable early intervention.

It cost’s the taxpayers an average $31,000 per year to keep someone in prison, and the average inmate spends two years in prison.  That’s $64,000 every time we send someone to jail.  For far less than that, we could help them get back on their feet by making sure that they have food, a decent place to live, and providing meaningful job training and assistance.

We need to eliminate this fear of giving help to a community because someone might get something they don’t deserve.  We setup our current support and aid programs in a way that makes it difficult for many to get access to the services they need.  We are so worried about someone getting food stamps that doesn’t deserve it, we make it so that many people who DO need them don’t.  I would rather see ten people get them who don’t need them than one person who does need then get deprived.   (Of course, when we find those that do abuse the system, they do need to be held accountable.)

Most people DO WANT TO WORK.  There is tremendous satisfaction to being able to support one’s self and their family.  It builds self-esteem, and people NEED THAT.   It’s the lack of self-esteem and pride that leads many into a sense of hopelessness, and that is the major underlying cause of most of our social ills.

Let’s give people the TOOLS they need to success.  Let’s make sure that EVERY PERSON in the county has the CHANCE to succeed. 

Why we need to be able to trust our President

For 200 years, our country has built a reputation of trust.  When we committed to support our allies, they could take that to the bank.  This week, President Trump abandoned our Kurdish Allies and left them to die unprotected.   AND TODAY, SOME OF THEM DIED.  This is not a petty tweet insulting someone.   This is not “Trump being Trump”.   These Kurds put everything on the line to help us defeat ISIS.  AND WE LEFT THEM TO DIE when we no longer needed them.   200 years of our hard-earned reputation of trust – trust earned with the blood of millions of Americans – has been shattered by the disgraceful act of a despicable man.

The situation in Syria between the Kurds and Turkey appears to be more complicated than most people realize.   Both Turkey and the Kurds have worked with us to defeat ISIS.  There are many factions in the middle east that hate each other, and allegiances seem to shift often.  The presence of U.S. forces in the area not only helps in the fight against ISIS, but helps keep the peace between our allies as well.  In this case, it appears that the presence of only around 100 U.S. troops was what was preventing Turkey from attacking the Kurds.

Perhaps there was a good reason for his actions. Maybe some top-secret intelligence that we, the public, do not have access to made this decision necessary. This is why it is so important to have a President that we can trust.  Because he has access to the intelligence, we depend on him to properly understand it and make the correct decisions.   Ordinary U.S. citizens do not have access to the intelligence needed to fully understand the situation, let alone be able to make the proper decisions on how to deploy our military and/or diplomatic corps. 

But Donald Trump has proven himself to be untrustworthy and unfit.  While many of his lies, tweets, and actions are petty and relatively harmless, or even designed just to troll the media and his distractors, their cumulative effect is to destroy the public’s trust that we must have in our president. 

If we can’t believe what he says about easily verifiable facts, how can we be expected to believe him about matters of grave concern, such as this week’s decision to abandon our allies in Syria?

LOST: Accountability & Integrity in the GOP

I am a proud Republican. I have been a Republican all of my life. I voted for Reagan and both Bushes. I have never donated a single penny to a Democratic Candidate. 

The Republican Party was founded on a set of values and principles which are expounded in our Republican Creed, and exemplified by our greatest leaders, including Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Eisenhower. 

“Our great President Dwight D. Eisenhower has counseled us further: "In all those things which deal with people, be liberal, be human. In all those things which deal with people's money, or their economy, or their form of government, be conservative."
--- 1956 Republican Party Platform

I will wholeheartedly support any Republican candidate whose actions and words reflect the values on which our party was founded.  In the past two years, I have made financial donations to most of our local representatives, including Dickie Bell, Emmet Hanger, Ben Cline, and Steve Landes. I have marched in parades. I joined the local Augusta County Republican Committee in an effort to make a difference.

But my honor and integrity are not for sale.  Period.

I feel that it is our duty, as Republicans, not only to support our elected officials while they govern using the values and principles of our party, it is also our duty as Republicans to call them out and hold them accountable when they fail to live up to our values and principles.

Sadly, there are very few TRUE Republicans left in leadership positions in the Republican Party today. 

Today’s GOP party leaders and elected officials are failing us miserably. Corruption is running rampant at every level of our party. Our GOP leaders speak often of our Republican Creed, but their words ring hollow. Their actions do not even come close to what our creed requires. 

What’s worse, when anyone speaks out against what they want to hear, they are immediately labeled as “liberals”, “closet Democrats”, or RINO’s.  The real irony is that it’s today's GOP leaders that are the real RINO's.   And they have the gall to call us true Republicans RINO's!

This week was just another example of the corruption that pervades our party. There can be no defense when a sitting President calls the leader of another country and asks them to investigate his chief political rival, and to coordinate that investigation with his personal attorney. 

The transcript released by the White House itself reveals our President doing just that.

This disgraceful action cannot be blamed on the Democrats. It cannot be blamed on the media. It cannot be blamed on the whistleblower. It cannot be blamed on Adam Schiff. It cannot be dismissed because of “all the things he has accomplished as President.” 

Richard Nixon accomplished much during his presidency. He established trade with China. He created the Environmental Protection Agency. He signed into law both the Clean Air Act and the Endangered Species Act. He started the process of getting us out of the Vietnam War. He balanced the budget. He established OSHA. Voting age was lowered by Constitutional Amendment during his watch, and he supported the ERA amendment. He won re-election by one of the widest margins ever: 520 electoral votes to McGovern’s 17 votes.  He carried FORTY-NINE states!

But when it was revealed he obstructed justice, our own Republican Leaders did their duty and held him accountable..

It’s time for our current party leaders and elected officials to step up and DO THEIR DUTY as well.  

OH, YEAH:  Our Republican Party Platform used to say this as well: 

“We believe that basic to governmental integrity are unimpeachable ethical standards and irreproachable personal conduct by all people in government. We shall continue our insistence on honesty as an indispensable requirement of public service. We shall continue to root out corruption whenever and wherever it appears.”

The Wall

This entire “Build the Wall” nonsense could be eliminated if both sides would just relax and actually communicate with each other.

First, let’s look at what President Trump is actually asking for.  He wants $5.7 billion dollars.  But how is it to be used exactly?  I have not seen any details, although I have heard some reports say that not all of that is for actual construction.   I have read that this is to cover 230 miles of the border.  Exactly where is this portion of the wall to be built?  Will this replace an existing fence or wall, or will it be constructed where there is currently no barrier at all?   Will we need to use eminent domain to get the land needed for any portion of this 230 miles of wall?

I would be more inclined to support the $5.7 billion dollar funding request if I knew what I was buying.  We all ridiculed Pelosi for saying we had to pass the law to know what was in the law.  This sounds like the same thing.  Mr. President, please just provide the details on the exact breakdown and time frame you are talking about.

I would also be more inclined to support the $5.7 billion if the wall construction was just part of a project that would include the use of modern technology and an increased number of border agents as well.

We also need to look at how much of the border actually needs a physical, man-made barrier.  Take 20 minutes and use Google Maps and Google Satellite to zoom all the way in on the actual border and look at it all. 

It’s plain to see that there are vast sections of the border that not only do not need a wall, but where physical construction of any type of barrier would be impractical.  There are hundreds of miles of border that are so isolated that a wall would serve no purpose.  If someone did manage to even reach the wall, they would have days to get over it before any law enforcement would arrive to stop them.  And then they would have hundreds of more miles to go to reach civilization.  Other parts of the border are mountainous and just as isolated.

Then there is the Rio Grande river.  Parts of it have carved out a canyon that has steep cliff hundreds of feet tall on each side, rendering crossing impossible for anybody not named Evil Knievel.  Other parts of the river are flatter, but any wall, or even a fence, constructed there would dam up the river.  Any wall there would eventually be washed away, and if it wasn’t, would violate water rights treaties we have with Mexico that prevents either country from interfering with the flow of the river.

But what is pretty clear from looking at the Google Satellite is that where the border is anywhere near a town or road, there is already either a wall, fence, river, or impassable terrain already in place.

The truth is no reasonable person can think that a wall across the entire southern border is even feasible.  But no one wants a border that can be easily crossed at will, either. 

The solution is to make sure adequate security is used all along our border.  Key crossing areas, such as those near major highways and large cities, need a physical wall.  In other locations, a strong fence would suffice.  But the terrain itself is all that is needed along vast parts of the border.

But the most aggravating part of this issue is the fact that wall is a solution in search of a problem.  Illegal border crossings have been declining for the past ten or fifteen years, and are at their lowest levels in decades.  Most of the drugs entering our country come across through legal ports or from the ocean.  While this does not mean we can relax our border security, there is no reason that this border issue should be a major issue at this time, and it certainly does not even come close to being any type of emergency.

Both sides should work together to come up with a solution that address all aspects of our immigration system.  Remember, illegal border crossings are just a symptom indicating a much large issue.  Addressing real immigration reform is the answer.

"How to pass Laws for Guns and Voting" for Dummies and Congress.

The rights to vote and to bear arms are two of our most precious and fundamental rights, and they must be protected.  Many people have concerns that laws put into place to ensure that the mentally ill and felons (whose civil rights have not been restored) are imposing unreasonable burdens on law-abiding citizens who want to exercise their rights to vote and/or buy a firearm.

Republicans are concerned that the Democrats want to take away our guns, and fight every effort to impose any restrictions. But they are very concerned with preventing voter fraud.

Democrats, on the other hand, are afraid that the Republicans’ requirements for voter registration are really designed to disenfranchise minority voters. The Democrats also want to do something about the gun violence in our country.

Nether side is willing to work with the other.

HERE’S AN IDEA:

Let’s make the requirements to vote and the requirements to purchase a firearm EXACTLY THE SAME.  

Let Congress setup whatever waiting periods, registration procedures, background checks, and/or identity verification requirements that they feel is necessary.  But whatever requirements they pass apply equally to the right to vote and the right to buy a gun.   If they cannot pass a law within 90 days, all current restrictions on both go away.

Maybe then the members of Congress can start to work together and DO THEIR JOB and pass a reasonable law.

Hint:  THIS IS NOT HARD.   Start with a simple background check, 15 day waiting period, a valid birth certificate, and an annual renewal.