Legislative Dysfunction- the Partially-Participatory U. S. Congress

Legislative Dysfunction- the Partially-Participatory U. S. Congress

In both houses of Congress, the respective representatives and senators are only partially participating in the people’s business- presumably the reason they were sent there in the first place.

For starters, the Democrat caucuses in both houses are fixated on two things and two things, only.

First, there’s last year’s election. Unable to come to grips with the fact that Donald Trump was able to wrest the presidency away from the presumptive princess of pre-ordained presidency, Hillary Clinton, and desperate in their need to find something that might explain their election night nightmare, the Democrats are desperate to find any linkage between Trump and Russia. So far, the only real linkage between the two seems to be the fact that both are able to spell each other’s name, and that’s about it. Never mind, though. Bob Mueller is still trying to find something, and who knows? Even a blind squirrel arrives upon an acorn every once in a while…

Second, there’s impeachment. If Russia turns out to be nothing, as apparently and evermore evidently seems to be the case, there’s only one way to undo the results of last fall’s election- impeach the s.o.b. who did this to their Hillary. Therein lies the problem, though- as much as they would love to impeach Donald Trump, finding the requisite high crime and/or misdemeanor could prove to be an unrealistic stretch. The best thing they have so far (firing James Comey, the singing and slithering snake who serves to destroy the president) won’t take them to the promised land they seek. If they can manage however to block any legislative undertaking, by either automatic “no” voting or by outright refusal to participate in any way, they can prevent the Republicans from accomplishing anything legislatively. That would be the only thing that might sweep them back into a majority in both houses, and make the impeachment of Trump all that much easier in the end- even if the real reason for doing so is nothing more than the fact that they really just don’t like the guy.

If that is not bad enough it is the Republicans who seem to be, wittingly or unwittingly, aiding and abetting the Democrats in their devilish designs to upend the election.

For the moderate mainstream milquetoast Republicans- the ones who just want to leave things as they are- they, too, are apoplectic about last year’s election. Their boy, Jeb Bush, got knocked out pretty easily by a political rookie who was just too perky for their staid and steady status quo. Then, if that wasn’t bad enough, the guy had to go ahead and beat Hillary Clinton- the same Hillary Clinton they pretend to hate, but are all-too-willing to work hand-in-hand with a fellow globalist. After all, Hillary wants the same one-world government they do, and it is pretty clear that Donald Trump doesn’t- the guy even goes around saying he wants to put America first, for cryin’ out loud! So, what do they do? Well-practiced in professional procrastination, they drag their feet in pursuit of process, even if that means adhering to arcane rules designed by Democrats to serve their own purposes, i.e. the (Robert) Byrd rule requiring a sixty-vote threshold on all matters budgetary. If anything would prevent balancing the budget or exercising fiscal restraint, it is that rule- but we digress.

Then, there are the Republicans who just hate Donald Trump. Led by his arch-nemesis, John McCain (R-AZ), the so-called “maverick” who would suck up to Barack Obama and either of the Clintons as surely as he would do everything he can to assail the current president. McCain, who insists upon staying wed to process and procedure even if nothing actually gets accomplished, pleads to the return to “regular order,” the fortress of filibuster for legislative failure. His acolytes, like fellow Arizonan Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Susan Collins (R-ME) and several others- you know, the ones who voted against ObamaCare and now refuse to repeal, replace or even repair the failed and designed-to-fail Affordable Care Act. They are the same batch of Republican rattlesnakes who once were oh-so-opposed to ObamaCare’s individual mandates, but now who insist that those same individual mandates remain in place for any chance of enacting tax cut legislation. Amazingly, the failure to pass this legislation will ensure that the Republicans return to minority status in both houses of Congress, and perhaps this is what they want deep down inside. Either that, or they are just plain stupid and, as we all know, you just can’t fix stupid.

While these same Republicans so vehemently opposed to Judge Roy Moore’s election to the Senate, based upon recent allegations of 38-year old sexual improprieties on the part of a man who previously won six state-wide elections, they are just as happy with keeping Senator Al Franken (D-MN) and Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) in their seats, despite far more recent, and for that matter, more credible claims of sexual impropriety. After all, Franken and Menendez are their pals, and Roy Moore is just another nationalist who won’t play along with their idea of what government should be.

Adding together the united-in-opposition-to-Trump Democrats, the anti-Trump, NeverTrump globalists and the let’s-just-keep-the-way-things-are and not-rock-the-boat slackers in the Republican caucuses of both houses, it will be stunning if President Donald Trump ever signs any meaningful legislation into law.

Than again, stunning seems to be the forte of one Donald Trump.

-Drew Nickell, 29 November 2017

© 2017 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.
author of “Bending Your Ear- a Collection of Essays on the Issues of Our Times”
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Sexual Misbehavior- the Dirty Little Secret which Permeates Throughout the Powerful

Sexual Misbehavior- the Dirty Little Secret which Permeates Throughout the Powerful

The United States, in the second decade of the twenty-first century, has become engulfed with the reality of sexual misbehavior, and is now confronted with revelations of its instances, going back four decades and beyond. The cancer of this decadence knows no bounds. It includes past presidents, the halls of congress, both Republicans and Democrats, and all departments of government on federal, state and local levels, including the judiciary. It encompasses academia, religious denominations, athletics on the college and professional level as well as theatrical, musical, broadcast and cable television, and motion picture enterprises. Its victims are usually young women and, in all-too-many instances, children both male and female.

For too many years, it has been whispered about, winked about, and cloaked within the secrecy of a culture which has aided and abetted this activity, in both its indulgence and in its omission. All the while, selective outrage has brought into question the validity of something very real- something that destroys innocent lives, ends what otherwise would be promising careers, and which metastasizes into the equally destructive emotions of denial, resignation, and, ultimately, acceptance of a misbegotten state of what is then deemed to be normal. In fact, it has almost come to be expected, which is the saddest commentary that can be made about the age in which we live.

Compounding the problem are those instances of false accusations, which honest brokers must grudgingly acknowledge exist, far and away the exception rather than the rule to be sure, but nevertheless very real. The use of moneys- private and public, to silence the accusations that should otherwise be pursued, bears witness to the fact that, all too often, the epidemic of sexual exploitation is inherently a problem of the rich and powerful, who utilize their wealth and influence to cover their awful deeds.

It is ironic that accusations of such behavior on the part of Roy Moore, the Alabama Judge who is in the final three weeks of his campaign for a seat in the U.S. Senate, has unintentionally forced the mainstream media to revisit the many accusations made against former President Bill Clinton of sexual misconduct, including forcible rape in the case of Juanita Broaddrick. These many accusations, which the mainstream media minimized, trivialized and attempted to conceal in a collusive effort to ensure his election in 1992, and his re-election in 1996, are now coming back into conversation a quarter-century later. There is no doubt that President Clinton’s wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, took an active part in attempting to destroy the reputation of her husband’s accusers, all the while pretending to be a crusader for women’s rights and defender of the most vulnerable among us. The so-called women’s movement shares in its own responsibility for giving the Clintons a pass, by mere virtue of their political party and support for abortion. Nevertheless, the hypocrisy of the women’s movement is thus exposed and can no longer be ignored by any who claim to be true supporters of women’s rights.

Unfortunately, all of the accusations against Judge Moore, true of false, may come to resemble Erwin Schrödinger’s “cat” in the unopened box, which may either be dead or alive. Since there is not enough time, to make the final determination of the truth in the matter(s) of Judge Roy Moore, prior to the special election that has been scheduled in early December, it may be the best solution to delay the election of Alabama’s U.S. Senate seat, until such time as an unencumbered and equitable election can rightly be held.

Otherwise, the good citizens of Alabama whose suffrage must decide this election, and the nation of which they are a part, might ultimately be disserved in the haste to vote for the sake of voting.

Nevertheless, the epidemic of sexual exploitation, by the rich and powerful across this country, must either be eradicated in its entirety, or it will bring about the ultimate destruction of our society, in the end.

 

-Drew Nickell, 16 November 2017

© 2017 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.

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Veterans Day

Veterans Day

Set aside to honor all who have served in the armed forces of the United States, Veterans Day is the American descendant of what once was observed, and what many countries still observe, as Armistice Day- commemorating the end of World War I.

At precisely the eleventh hour, on the morning of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, of 1918, the guns suddenly fell silent along the Belgian lowlands and hedgerows- ending what was, at that point in time, the costliest and deadliest war in human history. Six hours before, the Allied and Central Powers signed the armistice formally bringing an end to the hostilities. The armistice was to take effect at 11:00 am, local time. The very day before, more than 2,700 men lost their lives in a deadlocked war which, all told, saw the deaths of more than 8 million, including 116,708 Americans. According to prevailing thought at the time, World War I was supposed to be the war that would end all wars. Ironically, it proved to set up the scenario for the Second World War, in the third decade following, and all of the world history that ensued, ever since.

The ending of the First World War was commemorated as Armistice Day, here in the United States until 1954, when an act of Congress changed its designation to Veterans Day, honoring all who have ever served in the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard. As opposed to Memorial Day, honoring those who lost their lives while serving, Veterans Day honors all who have ever served- living and dead. It is a day to thank those who put country before self, and swore to protect this country from “all enemies, foreign and domestic,” with their very lives, if necessary. In short, it is their day.

Without reservation, it is these individuals who all of us should thank, while also calling to mind the silence of that eleventh hour, of the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, of 1918, when the guns fell silent in the hopes that we might finally see the end of war,  for all time.

That hope still lives in the hearts of all good people, everywhere.

Happy Veterans Day.

 

-Drew Nickell, Veterans Day, 2017

© 2017 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.

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Election 2017- America in Caricature, America in Miniature

Election 2017- America in Caricature, America in Miniature

When comparing, county by county, the results of the 2016 Presidential Election and the 2017 Gubernatorial Election, little change has taken place in Virginia.

No surprise.

Regardless, the 2017 Gubernatorial Election in Virginia casts the Old Dominion as the United States in miniature, revealing the fact of increased political polarization in both the commonwealth and in the nation.

A look at the 2016 U.S. election map shows a vast region of Donald Trump supporters, one that is rarely speckled with Hillary Clinton supporters. On the Pacific coast, along the southwest border and in the urban corridors of the northeast, Clinton support is prevalent, but nowhere else- save for counties along the central Mississippi River, where white voters are in the minority.

Taking a look at the 2016 Virginia election map, a similar trend of political polarization is revealed with vast areas of the state, where voters opted for Donald Trump. In the suburbs of Washington DC, in the heavily academic conclaves of Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia, and in the area of Virginia’s capital, Richmond, heavy support for Hillary Clinton is revealed, along with counties and cities in southeast Virginia where, again, white voters are in the minority.

Comparing the 2016 Virginia map to the 2017 Virginia map shows only two localities switching to benefit Ralph Northam (Chesapeake and Virginia Beach) and one locality switching to the benefit of Ed Gillespie (Bedford County). That aside, there is no change between the two elections.

As much as any Virginian is loath to admit it, the fact of the matter is that the Commonwealth of Virginia depends on federal dollars more than any other state when it comes to employment. Between civilian federal government employees in the Washington DC suburbs, military employment in Hampton Roads, and federally-funded employment in the state’s large universities, the Commonwealth is beholding to federal largesse as no other state in the entire country. Virginians vote where they work, and base their votes on the source of their jobs/benefits.

All of which begs the question, “Will it ever be possible for any of these densely populated regions to vote for a candidate from a party that says it wants to reduce the size of government?”

The same question can be asked of those regions in the country where, year-in and year-out, voters are steadfast in their support of Democrats running for national office. Those “blue” localities are the localities most dependent on federal tax dollars, in terms of both employment and dependency, and just happen to be represented by congressmen and senators most opposed to reforming the U.S tax code, reducing tax rates and repealing/replacing ObamaCare.

Was the 2017 gubernatorial election a rebuke of Trump’s presidency? Hardly.

The truth of the matter is that this is what happens when Republicans nominate an inside-the-beltway, oh-so-moderate, anti-Trump acolyte of both Bush administrations (like perennial loser Ed Gillespie), who distanced himself from Trump, refused to campaign with the president, and was FOR taking down Confederate monuments before he was against taking them down. Gillespie is the ultimate GOP insider, a transplant from New Jersey who, truth be told, never wanted Donald Trump to win the GOP nomination, and surely didn’t want Trump to win the White House, either. The media won’t spin it this way, but it’s the sorry and sad truth about politics in the Old Dominion.

Worse, it also reveals the widening chasm between those localities that feed at the federal trough, and those localities that are forced to fill the federal trough with nary a benefit, in return.

For more than a century, the Democrat Party has been the party of ever-expanding government, higher and higher taxes and the party of greater dependence for those whose votes are secured in precisely this manner. While the Republican Party has supposedly been the party of reducing the size of government, the party of lower taxes and spending, and reducing the number of dependents on the federal trough, they are stymied in the fear that the mainstream media will paint them as uncaring and intolerant. Hence the nomination of milquetoast, spineless, oh-so-moderate, mainstream Republicans whose only talent lies in snatching defeat from the jaws of what otherwise should be easy victory.

Therefore, such Republicans In Name Only (RINOs), like the Bushes, the McCains, and, most recently, the Gillespies, differ from Donald Trump in one way.

Trump is about winning, and these RINOs are not.

 

-Drew Nickell, 13 October 2017

© 2017 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.

author of “Bending Your Ear- a Collection of Essays on the Issues of Our Times”

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Murder in Sutherland Springs- The Elusive Truth about Mass Killings

Murder in Sutherland Springs- The Elusive Truth about Mass Killings

Why?

It seems to be the one thing that ties all mass killings together.

It is also the one thing on which we cannot seem to get a handle.

Why?

Every time a mass killing takes place- a killing in which the killer ends up dead- we are left with the question as to why the killer made the decision to deprive his victims of their own lives.

Oh, we can offer up “reasons” as to why these killings take place. Racism in all its forms (Charleston, Dallas), Islamic extremism (9-11, Fort Hood, San Bernardino, Orlando, and most recently, New York), and latent psychosis (Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, most recently, Las Vegas and, now,  Sutherland Springs) but, in all these instances, we still do not answer the fundamental question as to why these events occur.

Let’s face it. There are plenty of racists (among all races), plenty of Islamic extremists (around the world) and enough psychopaths (of all kinds) who DON’T go around killing people, so these “reasons” that are put forth cannot be the be-all and end-all when it comes to answering the question, “Why?”

We can blame the second amendment, we can blame the mental health system, we can blame the political atmosphere of late, we can the lay blame on all sorts of “bugaboos,” but doing so just leads us further away from the truth.

There is something deeper, more hideous, more malevolent dwelling within those who perpetrate mass killings, than within the rest of the “idioti” running around in the world. That “something” is the very something which psychiatrists and criminologists, and all of the expert analysts within and outside government, will never put their finger on because, at day’s end, that something is as intangible as an emotion, as irrational as a tantrum, and as old as man going back to the beginnings, when Cain slew Abel.

That something is “evil.”

If we as a people to not come to accept this fact, do not come to grips with the spirit of evil that ties all of this carnage together, and do not address this common denominator head on, then the killings will increase in number, in casualty and in frequency…

…and we will ask ourselves, “Why?”

 

-Drew Nickell, 6 November 2017

© 2017 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.

author of “Bending Your Ear- a Collection of Essays on the Issues of Our Times”

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In the Name of Tolerance and Diversity- the Poisoned Pill of Political Correctness

In the Name of Tolerance and Diversity- the Poisoned Pill of Political Correctness

Imagine, for a moment, you live in New York City- a vertical forest of concrete and steel, overrun with vehicular creatures below which crawl along the many miles of asphalt trails, beneath. Imagine while you love being there, whether resident or visitor, that something inside you yearns for the simple breeze in your face that comes from riding a bicycle. So you mount the two-wheeled conveyance, and head down a street set aside for fellow cyclists who yearn for the same sensation…

Unbeknownst to you, there is another who has been living here for a few years, courtesy of a program designed to diversify the countries from which entry visas are granted to foreigners based solely upon random selection. No effort is made to determine whether or not the person selected (who is also allowed to bring along their relatives into the United States) has any intention to assimilate, seek citizenship or embrace the tenets of our republic. After all, the whole point of the Diversity Visa Program is to guarantee diversity of those coming into a country whose population is already the most diverse in the entire world. Introduced by Sen. “Chuck” Schumer (D-NY) in 1990 as part of a larger bill overwhelmingly passed by both houses of congress, and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1990, provides up to 50,000 immigrant visas annually, drawn from random selection among all entries to individuals who are from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. One of these countries is Uzbekistan, from which Sayfullo Saipov emigrated in 2010. Following the call for jihad against the west, Saipov goes to a Home Depot store in New Jersey, rents a pickup truck for a nominal fee, drives to Manhattan and races some fifty miles per hour down the bike path- running over dozens, killing eight and injuring eleven more. Having exacted such carnage, the terrorist assailant then exits the rental truck, brandishing pellet and paintball guns in a failed attempt to commit suicide by cop, thereby waylaying his journey into a heaven of seventy two willing, waiting and wanting virgins.

Once again, all in the name of tolerance and diversity, the poisoned pill of political correctness exacts its toll among the most tolerant, at the hands of radicalized member of the world’s most intolerant religion, that being Islam.

“Allahu Akbar!” the battle cry of all such jihadists, is once again echoed on the sidewalks of New York.

Yet, in spite of the fact that such a modus operandi rears its ugly head for the eighth time since the beginning of summer, when calls for such vehicular attacks against the west were initiated by ISIS, President Donald Trump’s call for extreme vetting and a temporary halt to such immigration is met with accusations of racism and islamophobia by the globalist, politically-correct classes in both parties of congress, courts and colleges, alike. Never mind the fact we now face the very real possibility that such a scenario repeats itself again and again here in the United States.

Evidently, slaughter of innocents is the price we must pay so that we can prove to the world that we tolerate, encourage and promote the acceptance of those who, themselves, wish to annihilate our culture, our freedoms and our populace, all in the name of jihad…

…in short, a politically-correct  policy of suicidal stupidity.

-Drew Nickell, 1 November 2017

© 2017 by Drew Nickell, all rights reserved.

author of “Bending Your Ear- a Collection of Essays on the Issues of Our Times”

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