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.