Lots of Political Ranting
Jun. 20th, 2018 11:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fauxkloreRant the First – Trade Wars: It is true that there are some issues with tariffs other countries impose on us, but the way to deal with that is on an individual case by case basis instead of totally destroying U.S. trade and, hence, the broader economy.
Rant the Second – Virginia Politics: Once again, the Virginia Republican Party has proved their ability to find the looniest de la loony. I refer to Corey Stewart winning last week’s Republican Senate primary. This is a guy who parades around on a horse waving a Confederate flag and chanting anti-immigration slogans. Not that the other two guys running were much saner, but still…
In the meantime, my Congressional district didn’t have competitive races for either party. But we are going to have fun in November because, in addition to the incumbent Democrat (a man whose opinions I generally agree with, but whose personality I find grating), we have not only a Republican and a Libertarian running, but also the first person to run for office in Virginia as a Whig in over 160 years! This amuses me to no end.
I did go and look up the Modern Whig Party platform and, while there are some good points, I have reservations about their opposition to affirmative action, their view on gun ownership, their support for charter schools, and their support for a voucher system for health care. So, no, they aren’t the Dead Armadillos I am seeking. (That’s a quote from Jim Hightower – "There’s nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos." I am about as middle of the road politically as one can get; hence, I must be a dead armadillo.) At any rate, it hardly matters because my district is so blue it is practically indigo.
A Brief Comment on Israel: The best thing I have read recently about how Israel deals with Gaza explained that the heart of the issue over how to react to the protests is whether the Gazans are acting as civil protestors or are committing acts of war. There are valid arguments both ways and those govern which aspects of international law are applicable.
The UN and Human Rights: I am actually perfectly fine with the U.S. pulling out of the U.N. Human Rights Council. In addition to concerns about their excessive focus on Israel, I have specific concerns that their list of country-specific mandate holders does not address several countries that are known abusers of human rights, including Venezuela and Zimbabwe. I also believe that their approach to freedom of expression is ineffective and dangerous.
Rant the Third – Immigration: The notion of refusing asylum to people fleeing gang violence and domestic violence is simply immoral. And separating asylees from the children they are trying to protect is particularly heinous. (Note that the warehousing of children which occurred under Obama was: a) limited to unaccompanied minors and b) was much shorter term, in general. And it was still problematic.) The only positive I see is that this issue does provide a way to see which people in my social circles are complete monsters.
GUT: In accordance with the Grand Unified Theory of Politics, Economics, and the American League East, it is all the fault of the New York Yankees.
Rant the Fourth – Space Force: The idea of a Space Force is not at all ridiculous and has, in fact, been discussed periodically for at least the past 15 or so years. The timing of Trump’s announcement was, however, interesting because there is a report to Congress (in response to an item out of last year’s Authorization Act) that is due August 1st. It would more typical to wait for the results of that report.
Rant the Second – Virginia Politics: Once again, the Virginia Republican Party has proved their ability to find the looniest de la loony. I refer to Corey Stewart winning last week’s Republican Senate primary. This is a guy who parades around on a horse waving a Confederate flag and chanting anti-immigration slogans. Not that the other two guys running were much saner, but still…
In the meantime, my Congressional district didn’t have competitive races for either party. But we are going to have fun in November because, in addition to the incumbent Democrat (a man whose opinions I generally agree with, but whose personality I find grating), we have not only a Republican and a Libertarian running, but also the first person to run for office in Virginia as a Whig in over 160 years! This amuses me to no end.
I did go and look up the Modern Whig Party platform and, while there are some good points, I have reservations about their opposition to affirmative action, their view on gun ownership, their support for charter schools, and their support for a voucher system for health care. So, no, they aren’t the Dead Armadillos I am seeking. (That’s a quote from Jim Hightower – "There’s nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos." I am about as middle of the road politically as one can get; hence, I must be a dead armadillo.) At any rate, it hardly matters because my district is so blue it is practically indigo.
A Brief Comment on Israel: The best thing I have read recently about how Israel deals with Gaza explained that the heart of the issue over how to react to the protests is whether the Gazans are acting as civil protestors or are committing acts of war. There are valid arguments both ways and those govern which aspects of international law are applicable.
The UN and Human Rights: I am actually perfectly fine with the U.S. pulling out of the U.N. Human Rights Council. In addition to concerns about their excessive focus on Israel, I have specific concerns that their list of country-specific mandate holders does not address several countries that are known abusers of human rights, including Venezuela and Zimbabwe. I also believe that their approach to freedom of expression is ineffective and dangerous.
Rant the Third – Immigration: The notion of refusing asylum to people fleeing gang violence and domestic violence is simply immoral. And separating asylees from the children they are trying to protect is particularly heinous. (Note that the warehousing of children which occurred under Obama was: a) limited to unaccompanied minors and b) was much shorter term, in general. And it was still problematic.) The only positive I see is that this issue does provide a way to see which people in my social circles are complete monsters.
GUT: In accordance with the Grand Unified Theory of Politics, Economics, and the American League East, it is all the fault of the New York Yankees.
Rant the Fourth – Space Force: The idea of a Space Force is not at all ridiculous and has, in fact, been discussed periodically for at least the past 15 or so years. The timing of Trump’s announcement was, however, interesting because there is a report to Congress (in response to an item out of last year’s Authorization Act) that is due August 1st. It would more typical to wait for the results of that report.
