A hopeful thought

A New Beginning

As we enter 2018, I have decided to drop the conceit of this blog that Donald Trump doesn't exist. He exists, he is evil, and he is a huge step backwards for this country. But I had said that in 2018 I was going to cover the local races that don't get enough coverage, and I can't do that without acknowledging that we have a president who hates half his country.

An explanation of the topic for this week

But before I move on to covering the Massachusetts races, I want to talk about one hopeful thing: The Unionis winning the Civil War.

Depending on which history book you read, you may say that the Union won the Civil War 150 years ago, or you may say that the military victory of the Union in the war presaged a political victory by the Confederacy in the Reconstruction, leading to 100 years of continued slavery by a different name. We are finally starting to move past the "Jim Crow" era... or we were.

The reason that Trump's victory hit me so hard was that I hadn't realized so many people actually wanted to bring back racist policies. I had had plenty of disagreements with people about what is the best way to dismantle racism, but the idea that the country was racist enough to want to bring "Jim Crow" back, that the country elected Donald J. Trump... That broke me a little bit.

But my talk about Massachusetts seceding from the United States doesn't make sense. This week, Let's look at the things that the Confederacy (as a metaphor for the political ideology behind Trump) wants that the Union (as a metaphor for the political ideology opposed to Trump) doesn't want, and vice versa. This isn't a discussion of who would win in a second civil war, merely a discussion of the fact that the Union is currently winning the war as it is being fought.

The Issues

This is a list of a few issues in which the Union and the Confederacy disagree. I do try to be fair in this list to both sides of the issue. Please let me know if there is a place where I mischaracterized the way the one side or the other sees an issue. Yes, I am aware that the Union and the Confederacy are not monoliths and that this drastically oversimplifies the issues!

• Guns
• The Confederacy wants people to have more guns, and believes that guns make the world more safe.
• The Union wants people to have fewer guns, and believes that guns make the world less safe.
• This is clearly a draw. There are state-by-state gun regulations, but federal regulations are very limited.
• Family Planning
• The Confederacy thinks that unborn babies have the right to grow up and live their lives, and that birth control is wrong.
• The Union thinks that women have the right to decide when and if to have children.
• The Union's view is the law of the land. The Confederacy has been stopped from passing laws even at the state level to protect its worldview.
• Social Dominance
• The Confederacy thinks that there is a particular hierarchy among people, and that white people are above other colors. Also, men are above women. They point to differences in educational attainment, annual earnings, and crime statistics as evidence of this view.
• The Union thinks that everyone should have equal opportunities, and point to differences in educational attainment, annual earnings, and crime statistics to show that the system is not providing an even footing.
• Again, this is a draw. Federal law protects people of color, but the system still discriminates against them in subtle and not-so-subtle ways.
• Healthcare
• The Confederacy thinks that everyone should pay for themselves; being able to afford this is a matter of personal responsibility, and no one is responsible for those who can't afford healthcare.
• The Union thinks that everyone should take care of everyone else.
• This is another tie. Despite the fact that Republicans continually try to repeal it, ObamaCare is a Republican idea of how to administer healthcare. No one is particularly happy with it, but it is a compromise that both sides had a part in crafting.

On these four issues, as you can see, the country is either in a draw or siding with liberals. If "the Union" were to secede, very little would change in Union states, except that we could set up customs checkpoints to keep guns out. In the Confederate states, however, women would be left without sex ed, contraception, or access to abortions; people of color and women would lose more and rights, starting with the much tighter restriction of their voting rights; and healthcare would be restricted to the wealthy.

The Take-away Message

It is just a hopeful thought that... well, The Union is winning the Civil War, despite the election of a Jim Crow advocate like Trump.

Middle East Trip (Part 2: Saudi Arabia)

This story is fiction but the links are to real events.

President John McCain visited Saudi Arabia today for the first time in his presidency. He has, of course, visited numerous times prior to this as a Senator. In Saudi Arabia, President McCain emphasized the United States' commitment to human rights. President McCain praised the Sunni nation's progress on women's rights, but asked that Saudi Arabia expand freedom of the press, and allow Christians to worship openly.

The president drew criticism for the size of the arms deal he signed with the King Salmon Saudi Arabia. We sold the Saudis nearly $190,000,000 ($190 billion) in tanks, helicopters, fighter jets, and bombers, with the expectation that Saudi Arabia will continue its war in Yemen. Numerous defense industry stocks are up on the news.

Next week, I will discuss President McCain's visit to Israel.

Middle East Trip (Part 1)

This story is fiction. John McCain is not president. Though the story is false, the links are real. I write this blog to maintain my sanity, to remind myself what a real president would do.

President McCain left today on yet another overseas trip, this time to visit our allies in the Middle East. His itinerary includes Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey, and Vatican City.

Before leaving, he made sure to congratulate President Hassan Rouhanni of Iran on his landslide re-election, a rejection of right-wing extremist candidate Ebrahim Raisi. Rouhanni was the leader who negotiated the deal which ended Iran's nuclear program.

Rouhanni's re-election signifies the third election in a row in which racist candidates have been rejected after the racism-inspired Brexit vote last year. First, the far-right racist Geert Wilders was defeated in Holland, and then centrist Emanuel Macron defeated far-right racist Marine LePen. In the four-way race between Clinton, Johnson, Stein, and McMullin, the United States appears to have avoided having a far-right racist candidate this time, though we have had such a candidate in the past.

Tomorrow, I will write about President McCain's trip to Saudi Arabia.

Replacing Merrick Garland

This blog is fiction.

President John McCain has revealed his short list of moderate conservative justices to fill the seat left vacant last year by the Senate's refusal to have hearings on former president Barrack Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland. He had initially nominated Neil Gorsuch, but had to withdraw the nomination when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell threatened to remove the filibuster from the Senate.

Let's take a look at the nominees.
• Roger Gregory, a judge who was nominated first by President Clinton and then again by President Bush to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Barrington Parker, a judge elevated to the district court level by Clinton and then to the Second Circuit by Bush.
• Michael McConnell, a former judge on the tenth circuit who currently teaches at Stanford Law School.

A Tangled Web of Enemies

This blog is fiction, but is based on real events. John McCain is not actually president right now. The real president thinks he is running a reality TV show, and is going for ratings, rather than what is good for the American people.

President John McCain signed a formal declaration of war today against the nation of Syria. Former president Barack Obama had sought a formal declaration of war, but had been denied by congress. This will give President McCain much more latitude in fighting the Syrian government and ISIS.

This declaration of war specifically names Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as a target, a move which is likely to increase tensions with Russia. This is important because Russia was the sole dissenting vote on the UN Security Council when the US asked the international body to authorize force against North Korea. North Korea has violated numerous UN resolutions in its testing of both nuclear weapons, and ballistic missiles. Its latest test failed this week, due to a faulty part sold to North Korea by China. China denies that it intentionally sold faulty weapons to North Korea after US President John McCain canceled the Trans-Pacific Partnership in exchange for China's support in the UN security council.

Preventing the Nuclear Option

This is fiction, but it is based on the real world. Starting today, I will try to post a shorter article once per day, rather than the weekly roundup.

President John McCain withdrew his nomination today for Supreme Court nominee, Neil Gorsuch. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell had threatened to use the "nuclear option" to end the use of a filibuster by Senate democrats, and rather than let that happen, President McCain withdrew the nomination.

It is unclear at this time whom President McCain will nominate to the bench, but he promises to choose a judge only moderately to the right of Judge Merrick Garland.

ObamaCare Repeal

This blog is fiction, but the links are real. I can't handle a world where the USA, the country I love, would elect a racist reality tv star as president, so I maintain a blog in which it is not true. Please, join me in this ordinary world for a few moments... but also, click the links to read about the real world.

The ObamaCare repeal bill, championed by President McCain and House Speaker Paul Ryan, faced a nail-biter vote this week. The vote had to be postponed Thursday, when the House Freedom Caucus said that all 23 of their members would vote against the bill. The bill was eventually pulled before a vote.

In preparation for the upcoming NATO summit, Secretary of State Douglas Lute, said "I was born for this job."

President McCain responded with condolences and solidarity after the London terror attack this week. The terrorist appears to have been a native-born Kentish man, who had been investigated by MI-5 for connections to terrorism, but was not under surveillance at the time of the attack.

In the aftermath of this, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has become something of a hero for his calm, well-planned response to this attack. His police chief had a list of the attacker's known associates on his desk from past investigations, and several arrests had been made within 24 hours of the attack.

President McCain submitted a draft budget to congress this week. The budget makes only minor cuts to social programs or to most government agencies, but would end sequester cuts to the military. (Remember that, in 2013, when the United States was approaching the "Fiscal Cliff", the deal which allowed us to pay our debts included deep cuts to military and social programs.) This budget is sure to run afoul of fiscally conservative members of President McCain's own party, due to the large increases in spending and only limited savings, as well as Democrats who will oppose the cuts to social programs.