Filling Jamie Raskin's State Senate Seat in District 20

Last Thursday there was an excellent forum for 4 candidates who have announced that they would like to be selected to fill the vacancy in the Maryland State Senate created when Jamie Raskin was elected on Nov. 8 to become a Congresman and shortly thereafter resigned his State Senate seat.

According to the Maryland Constitution, the selection of people to fill vacancies in the legislature is made the county central committee for the party of the person who resigned, so in this case the MCDCC (Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee). 

Many people are not aware that in every election where we elect a governor, Democratic voters also elect 8 members of MCDCC at large and 2 from each legislative district, and then MCDCC selects gender-balance members to insure that there is an equal number of male and female members. The members of MCDCC are in charge of the Democratic party in our county and their meetings are open to the public.

The 4 people at the forum last Thursday were current State Delegates David Moon and Will Smith, the head of the ACLU in MoCo and Progressive Neighbors Darian Unger, and newcomer in politics Scott Brown (not the former Republican Senator from Massachusetts but a much younger and better looking Scott Brown).

Although many feel the current Delegates are front runners, the others have many points in their favor too.

I'll start with Scott Brown, since he has had the least publicity. To give a sample of what he does, when we had our recent question on term limits on the ballot Scott, without anyone's urging, decided that term limits would be a bad idea for MoCo and made a terrific video giving the reasons for that position. The video was filled with facts and also was very funny to get people's attention. If Scott Brown is not successful in his  current race, he is definitely a person to watch for political office in the future.

The other non-incumbent is Darian Unger. I have worked with and watched him for years and have found him to be one of the most dedicated citizens in our county. He's a Professor at Howard University and a volunteer firefighter, in addition to being a husband and father of three. Darian is, I believe, the only person running for this position who not only said he doesn't like the appointment system of filling vacancies (all candidates said that) but Darian also pledged not to run for reelection if he wins, proving how much he believes in this position.

Delegate David Moon is known by just about everyone who follows politics in MoCo. He was campaign manager for Jamie Raskin and Nancy Navarro, but I believe he became known much more when he ran Maryland Juice, a blog on which he posted important facts that often were not available anywhere else. He also was the prime mover in the Maryland Constitutional amendment that was adopted Nov. 8, requiring vacancies in the offices of Maryland Attorney General and Comptroller to be filled from the same party as the person who was elected to that position.

Delegate Will Smith is also running for this State Senate seat. At the forum on Thursday he was the most well-organized candidate with lots of volunteers wearing t-shirts urging votes for him and a very slick and long brochure listing his qualifications and achievements. He also pointed out during the discussion that he was one of the most successful freshman Delegates in Annapolis in terms of having his bills enacted into law.

If I were on MCDCC I would not know how to vote on this. All four candidates, including the non-incumbents have great qualifications and potential. The decision will be made on December 7 and you can bet all the candidates will be in touch with the 28 voters on MCDCC. For the rest of us, we can attend and watch, and hear what the candidates say to MCDCC on December 7 (the location of that meeting has not yet been announced). I hope all of them will be successful, if not in this race then in future races. 

How Did Trump Win? Who's Responsible?

There will be many who know, for sure, why Trump defeated Hillary Clinton. And they will love to point out who is responsible and it will be anyone other than themselves. The leaders of the Hillary campaign already did that.

First, though, I must repeat that the statement that Trump beat Hillary is untrue. It is now clear that Hillary Clinton got many more votes than Donald Trump. The only reason Trump will become president is that we still adhere to the horrible electoral college system, which was intended to insure that the votes of the U.S. people did NOT decide who would be president. But there's nothing we can do about that.

So why did Hillary lose? She was a bad candidate although she would have been a great president. She was foolish or worse to use a private mail server in her basement and to allow so much of the campaign to focus on this. She didn't excite young people as much as Bernie did. She wasn't a good speaker. She didn't have exciting policies. FBI Director Comey unfairly and horribly interfered with the election process. There is now solid evidence that Putin in Russia interfered with our election process to help elect Trump, whom he obviously assumes will do things to help Russia. There was definitely voter suppression, demanding that people show id's even when there is no evidence that is needed to insure fair elections, and many Republican leaders cut back on early voting and did other things targeted to lower voting by those they thought, probably correctly, would vote for Democrats. The third party candidates probably drained votes that might have made the election outcome different. The media allowed Trump and his surrogates to lie to the voters and kept inviting them back on their shows to lie more, as if the whole campaign was a joke or a football game. And unquestionably some, possibly many, of Trump's supporters hate African-Americans, women, Muslims, Jews, any immigrants, and others. The KKK and Nazis are claiming some credit for Trump's election and they are right. And, we must sadly admit, some of our fellow citizens hate people who are not like them. At the same time, we have to admit that some people who voted for Trump are having bad lives and/or just want change. Many of them, to our great cheers, voted for Barack Obama before voting for Donald Trump.

All these things are true but they don't matter now. Trump will take over as president on January 20, 2017, and he has Republican majorities in the Senate and House of Representatives, and probably soon on the Supreme Court.

As Senator Elizabeth Warren and others have said, we have to deal with what we have now. Paul Krugman wrote that the answer is not to stay out of politics. The beliefs of those who supported Hillary are fundamentally right, and of Trump and those who supported him are wrong. All people should be treated with respect and fairness. No people should be treated badly because of their religion, gender, or anything else other than what type of people they are. Civil liberties are important and we should never allow our country to be seen as torturers or killers of innocent families of anyone, even terrorists. All people should be entitled to health care. Those who make the most money should pay higher tax percentages than those who make less. College students should not be burdened for their lives by having to pay off education loans. 

We should continue to stand up for these principles, no matter what is going on. After we get over our deep depression -- I don't know how long that will take me -- we should start all over again to protect the principles in which we believe.

Paul Krugman on What We Should Do About the Trump Victory

First, in my opinion, we should remember that Hillary Clinton won more votes in the 2016 U.S. presidential election than did Donald Trump. The only reason Trump won is that the U.S. is the only country in the world that has something called the electoral college, a relic of a time when the "best" people in our country felt you couldn't trust the people to select the "right" person to be president.

That's pretty ironic since the weird electoral college system has produce a winner who is clearly not qualified to be president, while the vote of the people would have produced a winner who was one of the most qualified ever to run for president.

Still, we are stuck with the electoral college system and everyone knew it, so Trump is legally going to be president of the U.S. What do the rest of us do about that?

I think Paul Krugman made the best case in his NY Times column titled, "Thought for the Horrified," which is available at http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/11/opinion/thoughts-for-the-horrified.html?smid=fb-nytopinion&smtyp=cur&_r=0. 

First, we take a little vacation from thinking about this. Do some gardening, watch silly movies, read books we like. I, like so many people, was extremely depressed and each day when I woke up I hoped the election results had been a bad dream.

"First of all, remember that elections determine who gets the power, not who offers the truth. The Trump campaign was unprecedented in its dishonesty; the fact that the lies didn’t exact a political price, that they even resonated with a large bloc of voters, doesn’t make them any less false....  Lies are lies, no matter how much power backs them up.

"And once we’re talking about intellectual honesty, everyone needs to face up to the unpleasant reality that a Trump administration will do immense damage to America and the world. Of course I could be wrong; maybe the man in office will be completely different from the man we’ve seen so far. But it’s unlikely.

"Unfortunately, we’re not just talking about four bad years. Tuesday’s fallout will last for decades, maybe generations." Climate change, Supreme Court Justices, voter suppression, racial discrimination. civil liberties.

"The White House will soon be occupied by a man with obvious authoritarian instincts, and Congress controlled by a party that has shown no inclination to stand up against him. How bad will it get? Nobody knows.

"Trumpist policies won’t help the people who voted for Donald Trump — in fact, his supporters will end up much worse off.

"So where does this leave us? What, as concerned and horrified citizens, should we do?

"One natural response would be quietism, turning one’s back on politics....It’s definitely tempting to conclude that the world is going to hell, but that there’s nothing you can do about it.

"But that is, in the end, no way for citizens of a democracy — which we still are, one hopes — to live. I’m not saying that we should all volunteer to die on the barricades; I don’t think it’s going to come to that, although I wish I was sure. But I don’t see how you can hang on to your own self-respect unless you’re willing to stand up for the truth and fundamental American values.

"Maybe America isn’t special, it’s just another republic that had its day, but is in the process of devolving into a corrupt nation ruled by strongmen.

"But I’m not ready to accept that this is inevitable — because accepting it as inevitable would become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The road back to what America should be is going to be longer and harder than any of us expected, and we might not make it. But we have to try."

Final Summary on Term Limits

Since we're getting close to the end of early voting in MoCo and close to election day (Nov. 8), I thought it might be useful, at least to me, to make some points about term limits, Question B on our ballot. I'll mix facts and opinions and make it clear which is which: 

(1) The current County Council Members have, in my opinion, make some very poor decisions in the last couple of years. This has made it much easier for those who support term limits to gather petition signatures, and possible to win on election day. I write this despite the fact that some ignorant people have said since the Council appointed me to a position I must slavishly do their bidding and I might even be getting paid by them to write that term limits are a bad idea. 

(2) It is a provable fact that term limits will not help at all for those who feel the Council has made some poor decisions. Those who say such things as that I-270 is crowded, the Council adopted a large property tax increase, and the Council adopted higher salaries may be right -- but it should be noted that no increase in Council salaries can take place until after an election, so where were the anti-salary increase people when the last election was held in 2014? What is a provable fact is that term limits have nothing to do with these issues and won't solve a single one of them. The proponents of term limits haven't even tried to present facts to support their claims, since there are no facts or evidence that support their position. 

(3) It's also a provable fact that term limits will not solve a single problem anyone has with our County Council. I have what is now an 89 page research paper (I update it when I see new facts) that summarizes all the research on this subject. Every book and article agrees -- after extensive research of what has happened in the 15 states, 9 large cities, and many counties that have adopted term limits -- that term limits do not lead to "new ideas," do not result in lower but rather higher spending and taxes, lower voter turnout, give much more power to paid lobbyists, and fewer women and minorities are elected. There are many effective ways to deal with Council actions with which you disagree. Term limits is not one of them. 

(4) Although the proponents of term limits will claim victory if they win the upcoming election, their claim will be false. Four of the 5 Council Members who may become term limited, plus the Council Executive, are not running for reelection in 2018 even if term limits are defeated. So the proponents of term limits are wasting their time and the voters' time.. 

(5) The only logical thing for MoCo voters to do about this issue is to defeat Question B on the ballot next week, and then work on other issues such as a firm Charter cap on tax and salary increases, and restructuring of the Council so we don't have 3 of the at-large members all from the same part of the Council. The Charter Review Commission is available to receive these suggestions. 

(6) Of course, the real solution to all the issues that have been raised is for voters to become better educated, vote for Council members whose views you like and vote against those you feel are not representing you well, regardless of how long or short a time they have been in office.

Steve Roberts - A Great Political Explainer

Not Just Cokie Roberts' Husband

My wife and I heard Steve Roberts give a talk analyzing the current presidential election, updating the talk we heard him give a couple of months ago.

He is terrific. He talked about the Trump phenomenon, based mainly on his being a good entertainer who is very comfortable with television. He talked about Hillary, extremely capable and prepared to be president, unlike Trump, but having trouble as a campaigner. And he went on for almost 2 hours, also answering every single question from the audience.

His conclusion: Hillary Clinton is likely to win the  presidency, but everyone was wrong about Trump not being able to get the Republican nomination so they could be wrong again about who will win the election on November 8.

Leonard Teitelbaum and Millie Topper

My wife and I went to two funeral in the last couple of weeks, both for very nice and capable people.

Millie Topper was a real character, one of the most activist Democrats in our county. She was an enthusiastic volunteer for candidates and her party. Most importantly, she cared about other people and their lives. Ben Kramer gave the main eulogy at her funeral and he played a phone message that Millie had left on his phone, wishing him and Cindy a happy Jewish New Year and many more. That's the kind of person Millie was.

Len Teitelbaum was a former member of the Maryland State Senate and House of Delegates. He was always a gentleman who had hundreds of friends. When I interviewed him and asked what he considered his greatest accomplishment, he mentioned creation of a Holocaust museum in Baltimore and then a funny story. One time when he was in Annapolis, he was asked to have dinner with a group of Republican legislators. They had a great time together, and the next day the Republicans introduced a motion in the legislature to make Len Teitelbaum a Republican for a day. That showed how everyone liked Len.

These are the types of MoCo political people of which we can all be proud.

Red Mass

This morning my wife and I attended the Red Mass. That's a Catholic Mass in DC that is held the Sunday before the Supreme Court starts its session each year. (What about separation of Church and State? Who knows?) 

Some may remember an episode of The West Wing titled Red Mass.

It's presided over by Cardinal Wuerl of DC and we were sitting on the aisle so we were close, as they passed by, to Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, and Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, plus Attorney General Loretta Lynch. I think they're all, except Breyer, Catholic but I don't know about Lynch. Cardinal Wuerl was at Leisure World on Barbara's and my 100th weekly anniversary, and today was our 300 week anniversary. When he greeted us after the Red Mass we told him that, and he immediately gave us another blessing.

Fiorello! - "Little Tin Box"

Last night my wife and I saw Fiorello! (the exclamation is part of the title.) It was the first musical I saw, in the 1960s, It's great as a musical, a love story, and a cynical view of politics. The best song is an answer to the question, the gist of which is how did you manage on a small city salary to buy a yacht. The answer: I save my pennies in a "Little Tin Box."

Apparently Trump Can't Stop Attacking Harmless People

Donald Trump is the only candidate for U.S. President who seems to adore writing tweets, which can only record short thoughts. And does he use this to tell the voters about his policies on issues that matter? No, all he can do is attack people who done nothing to harm anyone else.

Trump was awake in the middle of the night last night. Did he read a book? Of course not. Did he watch the tv news to learn what was going on in the world? Not that either.

Instead he got on Twitter to send more nasty tweets about a former Miss Universe whom he attacked for gaining weight, calling her Miss Piggy. Now he is attacking her for allegedly being in a sex tape.

This from a man who bragged about his adulteries, who regularly tries to shame women, and who probably would have been honored to have been in a sex tape himself. And he continues to hint that he will attack Hillary Clinton over illicit sex, not by her but by her husband. Trump's 3 spouses haven't engaged in illicit sex but Donald Trump brags that he did that.

More Inhumane News about Donald Trump 

According to the LA Times and videos on tv, Donald Trump followed up on his shaming of a decent women who gained weight on Tuesday by asking at a rally on Wednesday in Iowa for all "non-Christian-conservatives" to raise their hands and asking the crowd if he should kick them out. He said this was a joke. There are some things you don't joke about. Any decent person knows that.

MoCo Board of Education Election in 2016

There are important elections this year in Montgomery County, Maryland -- U.S. president, U.S. Senator from Maryland, Congresmen, term limits. However, please don't forget one of the most important and most overlooked -- the election of members of the MoCo Board of Education.

There are 7 members of the MoCo BOE elected by voters (another is elected by students). Every MoCo voter can vote for those in every contest, even those designated for a district you don't live in.

The members of the MoCo BOE have control over more than half your county tax money, almost $2.5 billion. Is your money being spent wisely by these people? Many think the answer is "No." Find out for yourself.

There was a debate last night by the 6 people running for 3 spots on the MoCo BOE this year. Many of them disagreed strongly with each other. For example, do you think they should use zero-based budgeting, meaning no spending is automatically approved just because it was approved last year? Some support this; some candidates didn't say a word about it. If you support this, find out which candidates are on your side and vote for them.

The candidates (in alphabetical order by district) and their websites are:

At Large:
Jeanette Dixon - https://jeanettedixon.org/
Phil Kaufmann - http://philkauffman.com/

District 2
Brandon Rippeon 
Rebecca Smondrowski - www.rebeccaonboard.org

District 4
Shebra Evans - http://www.shebraevans.com/
Anjali Reed Phukan - anjali4md.weebly.com

Why Nobody Should Vote for Any Third Party Candidate

Some people don't like either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton and are thinking of voting for a third party candidate, Gary Johnson the Libertarian Party candidate, or Jill Stein the Green Party candidate. That would be a serious mistake.

It's not just a mistake because it might help elect the most incapable, ignorant, and self-centered person ever to run for president.

Gary Johnson, when asked about Aleppo, asked what that is. Then when he was asked to name a single world leader who he respected, he said he was having an "Aleppo moment." That is disqualifying.

Jill Stein has commented somewhat favorably about the harmful myth that vaccinations cause autism.

Both lack the slightest knowledge of foreign affairs that Hillary Clinton has in abundance. Even if you recognize that Trump is the greatest fool ever to run, voting Libertarian or Green is not a reasonable response. Every thinking person has to do all we can to elect the highly qualified Hillary Clinton.

More About Donald Trump as a Person

There are plenty of reasons to be disgusted that Donald Trump has been nominated for president by a major party. He has no comprehension of any political issue, he blithely talks about starting a war if someone gives an American ship the finger, he worries our allies by saying we won't defend them unless they pay us, he encourages the dictator Putin to act more irresponsibly.

But there are more reasons to be horrified by this man. He doesn't care about anyone but himself. He seems to not have the slightest bit of empathy for anyone, even a relative.

The New Yorker had a story about Donald Trump cutting off health insurance for his nephew who had cerebral palsy because the child's father had the nerve to question Donald Trump's will. Donald Trump actually didn't care what happened to his nephew.

This is in addition to saying, when asked two days after his debate with Hillary Clinton, if he had anything further to say about the Miss Universe whom he shamed. He started by saying he didn't have anything further to say. Then he went on and on about how awful she was for gaining weight, something that most people, including Donald Trump, have struggled with.
 

Comments on the 1st Clinton - Trump Debate

Trump bragged that he didn't pay any income taxes and said that "made me smart." How does the average person who pays thousands of dollars in taxes each year feel about a billionaire who brags that he pays no taxes while you pay so much in taxes? Is he your kind of guy?

By Dan Rather: "Our Founders believed in reason and the power of intellect. Donald Trump made clear tonight by his wilful ignorance of important issues that he does not. Our founders feared the accumulation of power, they loathed vanity, and tried to build in protections against the demagogues who would appeal to mankind’s basest instincts. Donald Trump relishes in all of these impulses. For him they are instinctual and a prescription for success."

From the Forward website: Outright lies that Trump uttered in last night's debate, and got away with:
He said that the public can learn as much from his financial disclosures as from his tax returns. False. He claimed again that Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign started the birther movement. False. He claimed that he didn’t support the war in Iraq, when he did. He mischaracterized the origins of the Islamic State and the nature of the NATO alliance. He lamented the failed economy in Michigan and Ohio when, in fact, both states gained tens of thousands of jobs in the last year. He predicted the Fed would raise interest rates if Clinton were elected, which one analysis called a “baseless accusation.” He overstated how much control China has over North Korea, and claimed that the Obama administration has done nothing to update America’s nuclear arsenal when it is spending tens of billions of dollars on modernization. He implied that China could be behind recent cyber-attacks, when he must have known that intelligence specialists are pretty damn sure it was Russia. Soon after he said that the murder rate in New York City rose after “stop and frisk” was ruled unconstitutional, the NYPD swiftly corrected him: It’s gone down.

Term Limit Debate

Last night The Sentinel newspaper sponsored a debate on term limits between Robin Ficker and me. I think the debate was mostly polite and concentrated on the issues. I've been told that everyone will be able to see it soon (don't how how soon) on The Sentinel's website.

The headline on the WHAG tv website was that I was "calm and confident" and I'm very happy with that description.

My main point is that although term limits might sound good, they have been proven to be very bad. They have been in  effect in many parts of the country for a very long time and they have been studied by many reputable scholars.

The result of this research is that term limits do not lead to more women and minorities being elected, result in higher spending and taxes, do not bring in truly new people but mainly relatives of those who are term-limited, and result in lower rather than higher voter turnout. My proof of this is detailed in an 85 page research paper with tons of footnotes and bibliography entries that anyone can request from me.

Many people are angry with their government in general and the MoCo Council in particular. I understand that. However, imposing term limits will not make anything better and there is solid proof that it will make things worse.

All of this is not to mention the main point. Imposing term limits is anti-democratic. It takes away from the voters the power to vote for whomever they wish. Voters can get rid of long-term incumbents the proper way, by putting together a campaign to elect an alternative. It is not true -- this is provable -- that it's impossible to beat an incumbent. Term limits are not needed and they do harm. Everyone should vote against term limits if you want good government.

Lies by Donald Trump - continued 

Donald Trump says Hillary Clinton wants to repeal the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution (allowing citizens to have guns) and wants to take away all Americans' guns.

That is another Trump lie. Hillary has never said this and has never even hinted it.

Hillary Clinton supports reasonable gun safety measures, such as prohibiting certifiably insane people from having guns, by having background checks for those who want to buy guns. Is anyone against that? Does Donald Trump want insane people to have guns?

But Trump doesn't end with this lie. He said he wants Hillary Clinton's Secret Service protection detail to give up their guns, and earlier he said if Hillary is elected and appoints judges the Second Amendment people should do something about that. He is literally encouraging people to shoot her.

This may be the lowest thing Donald Trump has said, but it's difficult to determine if this is lower than making fun of a disabled reporter, attacking the parents of an American soldier who died in Iraq, and saying most Mexicans who come to the U.S. are rapists.


 

One of Donald Trump's Biggest Lies - Birtherism

Yesterday Donald Trump said Barack Obama was born in the U.S. and he hopes no one will talk about this any longer. He is wrong. He is lying.

He said Hillary Clinton started the birther movement when she was running against Barack Obama in the 2008 primary election. Even if he can find some obscure memo written by some low level person in Hillary's campaign, Hillary never said or implied that Barack Obama was born outside the U.S. 

At the same time, Donald Trump said that over and over for many years. He even said he has sent a team of investigators to Hawaii and "they cannot believe what they are finding." So why didn't he ever tell us "what they are finding?" Because he was lying the whole time.

He and many of his supporters cannot stand the fact that the president is African American. They feel they have to try to claim he isn't American to try to undermine him.

Barack Obama has been one of the best presidents in U.S. history. The economy is far better now than when he took office, millions more Americans have health insurance, and our allies overseas respect him, unlike their view of Donald Trump.
 

The Law on Petitions Has To Be Followed

The Maryland Constitution allowed citizens to file petitions to amend County Charter. It requires 10,000 proper signatures.

Some have argued that it is "despicable" for anyone to challenge petitions. I wonder if they would find it equally despicable if others filed petitions for something they didn't like and there were problems with those petitions.

It is perfectly reasonable for people to look at petition signatures to find out if the Board of Elections handled them properly. Even the lawyer for the MoCo Board of Elections said in court that humans can make mistakes. 

There is no doubt at all that the Board of Elections made some mistakes when it reviewed the term limits petitions. For example, there are some instances where there are no signatures yet the Board of Elections staff marked them ok.

Citizens have a right under our state constitution to petition for charter amendments. All citizens have the right to examine and challenge those petitions if it appears they weren't collected properly.
 

Research Papers on Term Limits

Term limit papers by two members of the MoCo Charter Review Commission, Larry Lauer and me (and my wife) are available for reading at http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/crc/
You can click on "Term limit paper 1" and "Term limit paper 2"
 

Donald Trump Asked for African American Votes --- To an Audience that was Almost Completely White

Donald Trump gave a speech yesterday asking African Americans to vote for him because, according to him, Democrats haven't done enough for African Americans.

He gave this speech to an audience that was almost completely white. And he did this after refusing to speak to the NAACP and other African American audiences.

That should be enough said.

Our Brand of Democracy is Hard --- President Barack Obama

President Obama is right. Democracy is hard and unfortunately it's becoming less popular. 

Amazingly, Americans and especially young Americans in larger numbers believe democracy is a bad way to run a country and perhaps the military should be in charge. (See today's Washington Post, op-ed page, citing a study in Journal of Democracy.)

That sounds crazy but it fits the facts. Americans, especially young ones, have low opinions of almost all parts of society and show it by having a dismal voting turnout and by supporting a candidate who spouts authoritarian views. ("Only I can fix it," etc.)

This is horrible to contemplate. What happens to a country that loses faith in democracy and supports giving power to a man who is viewed as strong and "tells it like it is" and is willing to ignore key parts of our Constitution? Answer: See Germany in the 1930s.

"I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves, And if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power. --- Thomas Jefferson

 

But look at the faces of young people at Trump rallies and listen to the Trump supporters such as those in the video at https://youtu.be/6MubunsD-7g 

 

We live in difficult times, but our country has survived worse --- revolution against the greatest military power, Civil War that resulted in the deaths of 2% of our population and that reverberates more than 150 years later, Depression and World War 2. Still, we need to do more now. 

 

Apparently we are not educating children to understand what America is all about, what democracy means, and anything about our history. That's probably the only answer for the future.

 

Rudy Giuliani Seems to Have a Poor Memory

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani used to include "9/11" in every speech. Now he apparently thinks it never happened.

Here's his quote from a speech today: "Under those eight years, before Obama came along, we didn't have any successful radical Islamic terrorist attack in the United States. They all started when Clinton and Obama got into office."

He must have just forgotten what happened in NYC on September 11, 2001, that resulted in the deaths of almost 3,000 innocent people.

What is Freedom of the Press?

According to Donald Trump, ""It is not 'freedom of the press' when newspapers and others are allowed to say and write whatever they want even if it is completely false!"

That is precisely what freedom of the press says. The Founding Fathers knew what they were doing and saying when they included this in the First Amendment. 

“If men are to be precluded from offering their sentiments on a matter, which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences that can invite the consideration of mankind, reason is of no use to us; the freedom of speech may be taken away, and dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the slaughter.”
— George Washington

“If there is any principle of the Constitution that more imperatively calls for attachment than any other it is the principle of free thought — not free thought for those who agree with us but freedom for the thought that we hate.”
— Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.

From the First Amendment Center: "Unless restricted by a valid prior restraint (which is rare), the news media are free to publish any information or opinion they desire. This freedom, however, does not immunize them from liability for what they publish. A newspaper that publishes false information about a person, for example, can be sued for libel. A television station similarly can be sued if it broadcasts a story that unlawfully invades a person’s privacy. Because such liability can be staggering, most journalists strive to exercise their freedom to publish in a responsible and ethical manner."
and

"The reporters and editors at my local newspaper are highly biased. Is there a federal regulator who should know about this?

No. Under the First Amendment, newspapers and magazines can publish information as they see fit, biased or not. If published information is libelous, the publication can be sued by the person claiming to be libeled. But the federal government does not and cannot regulate newspaper content."

 

Is it "ISIS" or "ISIL" or Some Other Term?

Donald Trump says "everyone" calls the terrorist group in the Middle East "ISIS" and President Obama calls it "ISIL" only to "annoy people." Is there any truth to this? No.

ISIS stands for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. ISIL stands for Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. Levant derives from the Italian for "rising" implying the rising sun in the east, east of Italy meaning the middle east. 

The Levant refers to the whole area where this terrorist organization wants to restore an Islamic State. That includes southern Turkey through Syria to Egypt, also including Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan. So, it seems to me that ISIL is more correct in identifying what ISIS/ISIL wants to accomplish.

The Associated Press describes the ISIS vs. ISIL language difference as follows:

In Arabic, the group is known as Al-Dawla Al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham, or the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham. The term “al-Sham” refers to a region stretching from southern Turkey through Syria to Egypt (also including Lebanon, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan). The group’s stated goal is to restore an Islamic state, or caliphate, in this entire area.
The standard English term for this broad territory is “the Levant.” Therefore, AP’s translation of the group’s name is the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL.

ISIS or ISIL is also sometimes referred to as DAIISH, which may be more accurate because it is closer to the Arabic name for this organization, but few in the English-speaking world use DAIISH.

So, is Trump correct that President Obama only uses ISIL to annoy people. No. ISIL is more accurate than ISIS, but does Donald Trump know any of this information?

We Should Keep Discussion of Term Limits Civil

I have noticed that some people seen unable to discuss whether or not MoCo should adopt term limits without sinking to nastiness. That is unnecessary and unhelpful.

Those who wish to say term limits are good can make their arguments calmly, such as saying it will bring new blood into politics. Those who wish to say term limits will not do any good and might do harm can also make their arguments calmly.

There is no need for anger, and those who act that way show the weakness of their case. On this topic, as on almost all topics, there should be calm discussion based on evidence, so the public can obtain all the facts with which to make informed decisions.

Trump Shows His True Feelings Again - His People Try to Explain it Away but They Can't

“If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks,” Mr. Trump said, as the crowd began to boo. He quickly added: “Although the Second Amendment people — maybe there is, I don’t know.” 

Now his campaign people, trying to fix yet another mess, are saying he meant people who support the 2nd amendment should vote. 

But that is obviously a false claim, since Trump said "If she gets to pick her judges ... Second Amendment people -- maybe there is." If Hillary Clinton is picking her judges then she has already been elected and there is no more voting by anyone.

Even if he was only "joking" as he may say later, how irresponsible is it for a candidate for president to joke about people assassinating a president? Obviously it's the same Trump, not a new version.

National Purple Heart Day

Today is Purple Heart Day, commemorating the day on which George Washington created this medal. He did it in 1782 and only awarded it to 3 soldiers in the Revolutionary War, all personally by him.

My father and uncle served honorably in World War 2 although I, like Donald Trump, had a medical deferment, in my case because of asthma that often put me in a hospital. Donald Trump claimed heel spurs.

The service of my father and uncle in World War 2 make it so disgusting to me that anyone would say, as Trump did, "I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This [having a veteran hand it to him] was much easier."

No sane person wants to get the Purple Heart because it is only given to a U.S. serviceman or women who has been wounded or killed. It is a solemn award, not to be treated as a joke.

AARP is Supporting ALEC Financially - Horrible

AARP is giving financial support to ALEC, the organization that supports all the worst right-wing legislation in states.

AARP attempts to justify this as follows:

"In 2016, AARP paid a fee to ALEC, which gave us an opportunity to engage with state legislators and advance our members’ priorities from a position of strength at ALEC’s annual meeting."

This is pure bull. AARP can "advance our members' priorities" without having anything to do with this vile organization of ALEC.

This is a matter of principle and morality. I am seriously considering dropping my membership of 41 years and urging everyone I know to do that too.

Failure of MoCo's 911 System

Yesterday, August 2, 2016, the MoCo Council held a hearing on why the MoCo 911 emergency phone system failed for 2 hours on July 9. The briefing was a little difficult to understand but it sounded as if the problem was caused by a cooling system that had a leak.

Council Members said this was unacceptable and could never happen again.

In case the 911 system ever goes down again, everyone should have the following numbers to call directly to MoCo police stations:
Non-emergency: 301-279+8000
District 1D - 240-773-6070
District 2D - 240-773-6700
District 3D - 240-773-6800
District 4D - 240-773-5500
District 5D - 240-773-6200
District 6D - 240-773-5700

The West Wing

The West Wing was a terrific tv show from about 20 years ago. It had humor and great writing and its best quality was that it tackled serious issues with intelligence.

My wife and I are re-watching it and we just saw a show where the opponent of President Bartlet is shown to be unintelligent. In the episode we saw tonight the opponent is trying to get out of debates because he known that he isn't very smart and doesn't want to be seen that way. Sound familiar?
 

Papers About Term Limits

Two members of the Montgomery County Charter Review Commission (CRC) have written papers about term limits in preparation for the CRC responding to the County Council request for the CRC's recommendation on this subject. 


Since all the work of the CRC is public, these papers are too, so if anyone would like copies feel free to send me an email at besselpaulm@comcast.net Please be clear in your message, and sign it and let me know who you are and any affiliations.

The current plan is that the CRC will discuss the issue of term limits at its meeting on August 24, in the County Council building, 8am in the morning, 6th floor conference room unless we need a larger room.

The public is invited and welcome to make brief comments at the start of the meeting. If you plan to attend please send me an email at the email address above so we'll know how large a room we'll need. The CRC will vote on its position on term limits at the following meeting, September 14.

Trump and the Khan Family

It is amazing that anyone could be so heartless as to try to demean a mother and father whose son died while in the U.S. Army and defending his fellow soldiers.

What should a candidate say about those parents? "I'd like to hear from the wife" or "Who wrote that? Did Hillary's script writers write it" or "I've made many sacrifices. I work very hard."

The only thing that can be said about someone who would say that, as Mr. Khazir Khan, the father of the sacrificed soldier did, that Donald Trump has a "black soul."

And what makes this worse is that the candidate dodged the draft because he claimed a minor heel spur --- yet he engages in all sorts of sports. And none of his sons apparently gave the slightest thought to volunteer to join the U.S. armed forces, as Mr. Khan's son did. Yet Donald Trump claims to be a patriot and questions Muslims such as Mr. Khan and his son.

This is all an embarrassment to our country.

Some Interesting Registration Statistics

Maryland Governor Larry Hogan was elected in November 2014. From that time until April 2016 (the latest month for which the Maryland Board of Elections has posted registration statistics) here is how the number of registrations has changed in Maryland:

Democrats - increase of 2%
Republicans - increase of 4%
Unaffiliated - increase of 1%

In Montgomery County the corresponding statistics are:

Democrats - increase of 3%
Republicans - no change
Unaffiliated -  decrease of 4%
 

Term Limits - Good or Bad for Citizens?

Term limits are provisions in constitutions or charters, or legislation, that say that no person can hold an office more than a certain number of times, even if he or she wants to and his or her voters want to reelect that person.

Term limit proposals are the result of people's frustration with government bodies that they feel are not doing a good job. But do term limits bring about better results for citizens? They have been around for about 20 years so there is significant scholarly research about them, and that research indicates that term limits do not accomplish what their proponents say they will.

The main benefit is supposed to be to get rid of career politicians who are "bad," and replace them with citizen-legislators who truly care about the people. That sounds good, but over the course of about 20 years in states with term limits (several states had term limits and repealed them) there seems to be no improvement in the quality of legislators and their service to the people.

Still, the frustration of citizens with governments that they feel are not doing a good job will probably continue to lead to efforts to have term limits. It would be good if before voting for them, people examined the facts about what has happened in places where term limits have been imposed to see if they accomplish the goals stated for them.

Bill 10-16, Deferral of Property Taxes for Certain Seniors

A bill has been introduced in the MoCo Council that would defer property tax increases for those over 65 with incomes under $80,000. In effect, all taxes could be deferred as long as you live in your house.

This bill was introduced by Council Member Roger Berliner, with support from Council Members Sidney Katz and Hans Riemer.

The hearing on this bill is Tuesday, April 26, 2016, at 1:30pm, in the County Council building (100 Maryland Ave, Rockville), 3rd floor hearing room. Every MoCo citizen is welcome to attend and speak in favor of this bill if you sign up in advance on the Council website, or to write to the Council with your opinion of this bill. 

The more seniors who speak in favor of this tax deferral bill, the more likely it is to be adopted.

You can obtain further details about this at http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/Resources/Files/bill/2016/Packets/20160405_12A.pdf and you can sign up to testify on it at http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/PHSignUp.html

An Attempt at an Objective View of the 2016 Primary Election in the U.S., Maryland, District 8

In 16 days we'll know the results in the Maryland primary election. I thought I would try to write an objective analysis of the races here, as I see them.

In the Democratic presidential race, Hillary Clinton is one of the most well-prepared candidates in history. That doesn't always mean that's the best person to be president (example, Andrew Johnson) but it is definitely an important consideration. Ms. Clinton's policies are definitely in line with traditional Democratic principles and in my opinion she would probably be as excellent a president as Barack Obama has been.

Sen. Bernie Sanders has performed a good service by bringing up one of the most important issues of our time, the unfairness of the difference between the richest Americans who seem to have been very greedy the last few decades and the vast majority of Americans who have found it much more difficult to live well the last few decades. On the other hand, he doesn't have nearly foreign policy experience of Hillary Clinton.

In the race for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senator from Maryland, Congressman Chris Van Hollen has done everything an excellent Congressman could and should. He is a leading member of the leadership of the House of Representatives as the leading Democrat on the Budget Committee, he has a masterful command of all aspects of Congress, and his constituent service is fabulous.

On all these indices, unfortunately Cong. Donna Edwards fails. She has been judged by independent groups as one of the least effective members of Congress, her staff provides very poor constituent service, and for those who are interested in U.S. support of Israel, she has a very poor score on that issue.

In the District 8 Democratic race we have so many good candidates it is difficult to choose.

State Sen. Jamie Raskin is considered by all to be brilliant and a very effective legislator. He has tons of energy and a great record of accomplishment on many policies that are very important to the voters in the 8th Congressional district. He would undoubtedly be an excellent Congressman.

State Del. Kumar Barve has just as good a record for his legislative service. He served for many years as a great Majority Leader of the House of Delegates and by all accounts did a great job. He would also undoubtedly be an excellent Congressman. 

Kathleen Matthews is a very smart woman with a very interesting record, and she is right that being a legislator should not be the only road to Congress. However, she has not done much in the 8th Congressional district in the past.

Del. Ana Sol Guttierez is a pathfinder as the first Latina in many ways. She has done very good work as a legislator and probably would also be a very good Congressperson.

David Trone is surprisingly good when you talk with him, although he has never held any elective or appointive political office. It cannot be denied that he created an amazingly good business, but many question is that is enough and if anyone should in effect be able to buy an election to Congress.

Will Jawando and Joel Rubin are the kind of people you like the minute you meet them. Both have been involved with famous politicians and will probably be very good politicians themselves in the future.

David Anderson is a nice guy who has very different views from all the other candidates, being much more centrist. If you think the Democratic party has become too leftist, he's the one for you.

In the race for MoCo Board of Education At Large, there are five candidates.

If you like what the Board of Ed has done in the past, your candidate is Phil Kauffman.

If you want significant change in the way $2.4 billion of your tax dollars are spent on our schools, one of the best selections could be Jeanette Dixon. She is the only candidate I have heard say she supports zero-based budgeting and a much stricter look at how the huge amount of money given to the MoCo school system is spent.

Another good candidate is Sebastian Johnson. He was a student member of the Bd of Ed in the past, he is young and enthusiastic, and he seems to be very bright. I'll be interested in hearing more about his views on how the Bd of Ed handles its money.

 

 

Review of An Evening with Jim Lehrer

 

My wife and I attended "An Evening with Jim Lehrer," the justly-famous newsman and Presidential debate moderator. He was funny, smart, and entertaining. Our review of the evening is at http://dcmetrotheaterarts.com/2016/03/25/jim-lehrer-writers-center/

 

Coming to the Key Time on Open Meetings Bills

We're coming to the most important time in this year's session of the Maryland General Assembly for all bills. This coming Monday is "crossover day," when bills that have not been passed in one house will have a much more difficult time to be passed in both houses.

The latest information is that the bills to increase training for members of Maryland public bodies have been amended in the House committee considering them, but we don't yet know if the amendments help or hurt the cause of open meetings.

So, if you believe as strongly as I do in the need for more action to make all public bodies in Maryland more concerned about opening their meetings, with limited exceptions, to public view, please contact your Delegates and Senators now.

The bill number is HB 823, sponsored by Delegate Marice Morales of Montgomery County.
 

Good Article on Open Meetings - Arguments Against More Training are Specious

Sunshine Week for Marylanders: Oh, that free Open Meetings Act training is so darned difficult!
By dadadata, on Daily Kos 
2016/03/15 · 12:41
You'd think the online training for the Open Meetings Act was like corralling a giant rock crusher on a rampage.
Would your local government rather you stay in the dark, like mushrooms do? 
If testimony in the General Assembly by Maryland Association of Counties and the Maryland Municipal League every year is the measure, the answer is “yes.”
Each time the idea of making local government and its board and commission members aware of the law concerning open meetings and how to conduct public business comes up in the General Assembly, they haul out the same set of excuses  - which your elected representatives in Annapolis parrot.
The two organizations are supported by local government memberships (your money), and the members are councilmembers and commissioners (your elected representatives). MACo and MML lobbyists aren't, technically, lobbyists because they've convinced the General Assembly to exempt these local government membership organizations. But in truth, they lobby for loopholes.
MACo-MML Top 10 Reasons
                                                         ... why members of boards and commissions should not have to take the free online Open Meetings Act training:
10. No internet at home.
Use the Public Library, paid for by public money.
9. Volunteers don't have the time.
There's no board in Maryland that consumes less than two hours a year, which is what the training should take.
8. Forced training means fewer volunteers.
    a --If volunteers don't want to learn how to properly conduct public business they shouldn't be appointed to any committee conducting public business.
    b --The more citizens that know how meetings are to be properly conducted, the better. The volunteers will return to being plain citizens. They might find the knowledge valuable.
    c --Ask your local zoning board how much annual training they must take. I've yet to see a zoning board short of members except when the council or commissioners are fooling around with appointments for reasons of their own.
7. Because
  6. Because
    5. Because
      4. Because
        3. Because
          2. Because
And the Number 1 reason, according to MACo written testimony:
1. “However, the inclusion of all officers will place a burden on all sizes of public bodies and will be especially challenging for small volunteer bodies that in many cases are already struggling to attract participants.”
Yes, the same 35-word comment is used in opposing four bills in this year’s session; the same paragraph, without any data to back up the “many” bodies “struggling” to find members, is recycled every year.
The “participants” are bound by the law whether they know it or not (and there are many who don’t). Something else probably causes the “struggle” for members.
It’s long past time for MML and MACo to step out of their box, stop claiming that knowing the law costs money and take the right stand on training in Maryland’s Open Meetings Act. If anything costs money, it’s public bodies responding to avoidable citizen complaints to the Open Meetings Compliance Board.
When the local government members of MML and MACo speak up and say, “Get out of the way of sensible legislation,” then the municipal lobbyists  will.
    There are a couple of bills to make more training mandatory in front of the General Assembly.
    Want to train yourself? It takes about 2 hours, and you can stop and go back later: www.igsr.umd.edu/… The website is maintained by the University of Maryland.

 

Sunshine Week

This week is "National Sunshine Week," which occurs each March to coincide with the birthday of James Madison and Freedom of Information Day. It is a time for discussions and programs on the subject that government functions best when it operates in the open.

Most Marylanders would probably think that our state is among the best for open meetings but the opposite is true. As mentioned in a Baltimore Sun op-ed today, "A 2015 report by the State Integrity Project ranks Maryland 41st out of 50 states, with a grade of "F" for access to public information. This is an embarrassment, and Marylanders deserve better."

There are still too many violations of the Open Meetings Act, including a recent one that I brought and won against the MoCo Board of Elections. Too many people, including members of the MoCo Board of  Education, said they consider this to be a matter of "technicalities."

The public has a right to watch just about all government meetings and to obtain just about all government documents. There are a few exceptions but in practice many government bodies act as if the rule should be secrecy rather than openness.

Several bills were introduced in the Maryland General Assembly this year to strengthen the Open Meetings Act, but they were opposed by those with influence in Annapolis. This is a sorry situation.

How to Handle Yourself at a Candidate Forum

My wife and I attend many candidate forums and sometimes we want to scream. It's not that we disagree that much with what the candidates are saying, since in MoCo the answers on the issues are pretty much the same. But sometimes candidates seem to not know anything about how to act.

First and foremost, speak loudly. over and over, including at tonight's Board of Ed forum, some candidates speak so quietly that most people can't hear them. They might as well not be there.

Next, learn how to handle a microphone. You wouldn't believe how many candidates move their heads to look in different directions while keeping the microphone in the same place, away from their mouths. A related problem is candidates who move their hands when talking, including moving the microphone all over, everywhere except where their mouths are.

And how many candidates have you heard who seem to be bored, speaking in monotones. If they're excited about asking for our votes, why don't they demonstrate that by speaking excitedly to us?

Another issue involves body language. Some candidates seem to think that when they're not speaking no one can see them. They look all around, seem to be sleeping, putting their hands all over their faces. We can see all this and it doesn't make us want to have you as our enthusiastic representative.

And then there are the moderators. The first rule for moderators is STOP talking. Too often the moderators talk endlessly about how many seconds each candidates will have to speak. We don't care. Tell the candidates before the forum. And don't try to be funny or impose you opinions. We're there to hear the candidates. Say "Welcome to this candidate forum" and then immediately ask the candidates to give their opening statements. And keep track of who is to be called on, so you're not saying, "Who are we up to?" That just makes you look lazy.

Candidate forums can be interesting, but the candidates and moderators have to help make them so.