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Wednesday, September 11, 2019
The Dem Debate
I'm looking forward to Thursday's debate by the ten Democratic candidates. Could be a game changer as everyone will be looking to peel off some of Biden's support. But, three hours? That is going to take a real marathon effort. I usually get some help from the team at fivethirtyeight.com with their running commentary on the debaters' performances. I wish I had that kind of mental agility. I'm wondering what other strategies people have for sticking it out to the end?
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
Can Trump Ever Do Anything Right?
It seems like the odds are against it.
A lot of people will be pleased by the firing of John Bolton, who as a national security adviser clearly posed a danger to humanity. It seems that the best thing Trump can be credited with, however, is correcting the mistake of hiring a right wing ideologue to occupy a position that demands unclouded objectivity. The conclusion is also inescapable that both the hiring and firing had nothing at all to do with Bolton's capabilities and judgment and everything to do with Trump's need to be at the center of uncritical attention.
In regard to the circumstances surrounding Bolton's dismissal it is also clear that Trump bungled what he saw as a great opportunity to be at the center of an historic deal in the ending of the eighteen year conflict in Afghanistan. It appears that an agreement had been largely hammered out by the diplomats and all that was really needed to complete the deal was an announcement that would sit comfortably with all parties including the Afghan government. Instead, Trump went for grandstanding at Camp David, which wasted the opportunity as well as losing support even in his own party.
So, while there may be an outside chance that Trump could stumble into doing something to benefit the country and the world, the likelihood of his turning any scenario into a disaster through his narcissism and unpredictability is just too great to tolerate.
A lot of people will be pleased by the firing of John Bolton, who as a national security adviser clearly posed a danger to humanity. It seems that the best thing Trump can be credited with, however, is correcting the mistake of hiring a right wing ideologue to occupy a position that demands unclouded objectivity. The conclusion is also inescapable that both the hiring and firing had nothing at all to do with Bolton's capabilities and judgment and everything to do with Trump's need to be at the center of uncritical attention.
In regard to the circumstances surrounding Bolton's dismissal it is also clear that Trump bungled what he saw as a great opportunity to be at the center of an historic deal in the ending of the eighteen year conflict in Afghanistan. It appears that an agreement had been largely hammered out by the diplomats and all that was really needed to complete the deal was an announcement that would sit comfortably with all parties including the Afghan government. Instead, Trump went for grandstanding at Camp David, which wasted the opportunity as well as losing support even in his own party.
So, while there may be an outside chance that Trump could stumble into doing something to benefit the country and the world, the likelihood of his turning any scenario into a disaster through his narcissism and unpredictability is just too great to tolerate.
 |
| Smithsonian Mag |
Monday, September 9, 2019
Monday, September 2, 2019
Let him play
Saturday, August 24, 2019
guns and politics
I got to the Albuquerque City Council chambers a half hour before the sign-up would start for comments on the proposal to urge a state law establishing the Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) Act. There were already about twenty people ahead of me in the line, but I was still within the thirty commenter limit. I didn't keep a tally of the speakers. I think about two-thirds were NRA supporters, though I don't recall any stating that affiliation.
The first commenter was a heavily tattooed drama queen who held up a pocket copy of the Constitution and loudly demanded to know if any of the councilors had read it. She slammed the booklet on the podium and made a series of derogatory statements about politicians. That set the tone for many of the subsequent commenters, though none of the others delivered their message with such verve.
There were a lot of shade tree lawyers, along with a couple who professed expertise in police work and terrorism monitoring. The common threads were claims about Red Flag laws violating various parts of the Bill of Rights and judgments that the proposed legislation would not obtain the desired results -- all the usual NRA talking points with no supporting evidence.
I decided to use my 1.5 minutes to highlight a couple well-established facts; that a substantial majority of Americans support Red Flag laws, and included in that group is a majority of gun owners who also support other common sense gun regulation. I said I thought the ERPO Act resolution was a small step, but one in the right direction, and I urged the councilors to keep on with their initiative.
The proposal that the city urge passage of a state Red Flag law passed four to two. One of the two against supporting the recommendation said about six times that she was for "reform", but then said she would not support the recommendation to the State legislature because there was no way to know exactly what the State law would say. That same pathetic evasion was also cited by the other "no" voting councilor. Three other councilors did not show their faces at the meeting.
So now New Mexicans will have to wait for 2020 to see what happens with the Red Flag law and other gun control measures. As is always the case, a lot of momentum toward gun regulation has built up following the latest horrific massacres. It remains to be seen how much of that momentum can be sustained long enough to force the law makers to take action.
Meanwhile, there are a lot of excellent articles appearing every day on the subject of gun violence and how it might be reduced:
A chill in the air: The problem of teen suicide (Searchlight New Mexico)
Can We Prevent Mass Shootings By Preventing Suicide? (FiveThirtyEight)
Why extreme risk protection orders can make a difference (The NM Political Report)
The first commenter was a heavily tattooed drama queen who held up a pocket copy of the Constitution and loudly demanded to know if any of the councilors had read it. She slammed the booklet on the podium and made a series of derogatory statements about politicians. That set the tone for many of the subsequent commenters, though none of the others delivered their message with such verve.
There were a lot of shade tree lawyers, along with a couple who professed expertise in police work and terrorism monitoring. The common threads were claims about Red Flag laws violating various parts of the Bill of Rights and judgments that the proposed legislation would not obtain the desired results -- all the usual NRA talking points with no supporting evidence.
I decided to use my 1.5 minutes to highlight a couple well-established facts; that a substantial majority of Americans support Red Flag laws, and included in that group is a majority of gun owners who also support other common sense gun regulation. I said I thought the ERPO Act resolution was a small step, but one in the right direction, and I urged the councilors to keep on with their initiative.
The proposal that the city urge passage of a state Red Flag law passed four to two. One of the two against supporting the recommendation said about six times that she was for "reform", but then said she would not support the recommendation to the State legislature because there was no way to know exactly what the State law would say. That same pathetic evasion was also cited by the other "no" voting councilor. Three other councilors did not show their faces at the meeting.
So now New Mexicans will have to wait for 2020 to see what happens with the Red Flag law and other gun control measures. As is always the case, a lot of momentum toward gun regulation has built up following the latest horrific massacres. It remains to be seen how much of that momentum can be sustained long enough to force the law makers to take action.
Meanwhile, there are a lot of excellent articles appearing every day on the subject of gun violence and how it might be reduced:
A chill in the air: The problem of teen suicide (Searchlight New Mexico)
Can We Prevent Mass Shootings By Preventing Suicide? (FiveThirtyEight)
Why extreme risk protection orders can make a difference (The NM Political Report)
Friday, August 23, 2019
guns and bombs
There were a couple gun violence prevention events in Albuquerque last Saturday. One was sponsored by congresswoman Deb Haaland. The other was a town hall at the downtown Methodist Church under the direction of three city councilors who were encouraging the State to pass a Red Flag law. We opted to go to the church event to hear what our rep, Ike Benton, had to say about the Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) Act which he hoped the State legislature could be persuaded to adopt. The panel of speakers included three city councilors, six state legislators and an Albuquerque Public Schools board member.
After the panel presentations, the group of a hundred or so attendees broke out into three discussion groups. At that point we were informed that a bomb threat had been received. We were told to stay in place while a police team swept the area. No one gave much credence to the threat, but it was reassuring to see the quick law enforcement response.
Our discussion group included activists from several local groups and a lot of good ideas, mixed in with a large dose of frustration over the halting pace of reform efforts. I contributed the thought that the ban on CDC research into gun violence did not mean that such research and information dissemination could not be conducted by other local entities including UNM and city government.
A thorough sorting out of fundamentals is essential to ensure that proposed remedies are based on a solid understanding of underlying psychological and political realities. I said it seemed important to me to recognize that gun possession is often folded into identity formation which helps to explain the often irrational response to common sense firearms regulation by gun owners. There are a lot of gun owners who clearly are not a threat to themselves or others, but who at the same time present a challenge to sensible gun control measures because of paranoid fears stoked by National Rifle Association propaganda.
Councilor Benton said that the NRA was planning to send a contingent of supporters to dominate the public comments at the upcoming City Council meeting. He expressed the hope that some of us would also show up to challenge the NRA effort to stop city endorsement of the ERPO Act. I decided to take a shot at getting on the public comment list on Monday.
After the panel presentations, the group of a hundred or so attendees broke out into three discussion groups. At that point we were informed that a bomb threat had been received. We were told to stay in place while a police team swept the area. No one gave much credence to the threat, but it was reassuring to see the quick law enforcement response.
Our discussion group included activists from several local groups and a lot of good ideas, mixed in with a large dose of frustration over the halting pace of reform efforts. I contributed the thought that the ban on CDC research into gun violence did not mean that such research and information dissemination could not be conducted by other local entities including UNM and city government.
A thorough sorting out of fundamentals is essential to ensure that proposed remedies are based on a solid understanding of underlying psychological and political realities. I said it seemed important to me to recognize that gun possession is often folded into identity formation which helps to explain the often irrational response to common sense firearms regulation by gun owners. There are a lot of gun owners who clearly are not a threat to themselves or others, but who at the same time present a challenge to sensible gun control measures because of paranoid fears stoked by National Rifle Association propaganda.
Councilor Benton said that the NRA was planning to send a contingent of supporters to dominate the public comments at the upcoming City Council meeting. He expressed the hope that some of us would also show up to challenge the NRA effort to stop city endorsement of the ERPO Act. I decided to take a shot at getting on the public comment list on Monday.
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
guns
I first met John when I visited his home in Hillsboro in the course of doing in-home computer trouble shooting for a southern New Mexico internet service provider. John was an accomplished photographer and I went out of my way to visit with him whenever I was in the vicinity. We spent some time outdoors together doing photography and we also did a little target shooting.
One night, I don't recall if it was a problem with the electricity or the gas, John's old house burned to the ground. He lost a lifetime of photographic work and pretty much everything else, including guns and photo gear. He lived in an rv on the home site for a time after the fire, and finally moved down from mountainous Hillsboro to river-side Truth or Consequences.
I saw less of John after the move because my service area did not extend that far from Las Cruces. Then, in 2008 we moved to Albuquerque even further away, but we still stopped in to see John on occasional trips between Albuquerque and Las Cruces. John cultivated a circle of artist friends in T or C, continued to do some photography and began seriously collecting antique guns.
On December 14, 2012 Adam Lanza killed twenty 6 and 7 year old children at Sandy Hook Elementary School with an assault rifle, along with six adults at the school. He had murdered his mother at home before going to the school, and he finally shot himself after the massacre.
The next morning, John got on his computer and emailed everyone he knew to express his alarm over Sandy Hook. He was worried that the public reaction to the mass shooting would result in efforts to curb gun ownership.
I was appalled by the fact that, in the face of the deaths of all those children and the bottomless grief of parents, John's first thoughts were directed toward his gun collection. It seemed an utterly obscene reaction, and it put an end to our friendship.
Since then, Sandy Hook-type incidents have been replicated many times, as have the reactions of NRA supporters which have seemed equally obscene as what John expressed.
(... to be continued)
One night, I don't recall if it was a problem with the electricity or the gas, John's old house burned to the ground. He lost a lifetime of photographic work and pretty much everything else, including guns and photo gear. He lived in an rv on the home site for a time after the fire, and finally moved down from mountainous Hillsboro to river-side Truth or Consequences.
I saw less of John after the move because my service area did not extend that far from Las Cruces. Then, in 2008 we moved to Albuquerque even further away, but we still stopped in to see John on occasional trips between Albuquerque and Las Cruces. John cultivated a circle of artist friends in T or C, continued to do some photography and began seriously collecting antique guns.
* * *
On December 14, 2012 Adam Lanza killed twenty 6 and 7 year old children at Sandy Hook Elementary School with an assault rifle, along with six adults at the school. He had murdered his mother at home before going to the school, and he finally shot himself after the massacre.
 |
| wikipedia |
The next morning, John got on his computer and emailed everyone he knew to express his alarm over Sandy Hook. He was worried that the public reaction to the mass shooting would result in efforts to curb gun ownership.
I was appalled by the fact that, in the face of the deaths of all those children and the bottomless grief of parents, John's first thoughts were directed toward his gun collection. It seemed an utterly obscene reaction, and it put an end to our friendship.
Since then, Sandy Hook-type incidents have been replicated many times, as have the reactions of NRA supporters which have seemed equally obscene as what John expressed.
(... to be continued)
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