alexanderboulton

With the tumultuous events of the past year slowly receding in our rear view mirror, we can reasonably say that the world of 2017 is going to be fundamentally different from the year 2016.  A great transformation has occurred in the past few months that will leave the United States and the world dramatically changed.  We should not pretend that the world continues to revolve around the sun in its same orbit, and that nothing has changed.   The election of President-elect Trump, which left many conservatives elated, and many liberals in despair, is only part of a larger picture of a revolution in world affairs. In the aftermath of the Cold War, many commentators described a “new world order,” in which ancient conflicts of us-against-them, of capitalists versus communists, and of democracies versus tyrannies, were all replaced by America’s leadership in a community of nations.  For a long period from 1989 to very recently, America developed friendships with Russia and China.  We had strong allies and friends around the world in Europe and the Middle East.  Despite the rise of fundamentalist Islamic groups who were animated by a hatred of the United States, we continued a policy of advancing our mutual interests with much of the Islamic world.  In 1990, we fought alongside Arab nations to curb the aggression of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.  We “led from behind” against first Al Queda and then ISIL, helping to stabilize nation-states in crisis, while avoiding direct U.S. involvement which would foster more hatred of the U.S.  The global community was further strengthened by expanding economic markets with the European Union and the North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement.

We have watched this new world order unravel during the Obama Presidency. Russia and China have entered a new phase of imperialistic expansion.  Old allies, Turkey, the Philippines, and recently Israel are increasingly antagonistic.  The European Union has been weakened by the British decision to leave, with other nations nearing important decisions on their future in the Union.

In the United States, the election of Donald Trump is only one sign of a great revolution in world affairs. His personal, confrontational style, which propelled his success in business, will soon be translated into American foreign policy with much more uncertain results.  A realignment of our international relationships, especially with Russia, Israel, and the United Nations, threatens a period of increased instability around the world.  Meanwhile, American domestic policies especially around issues of immigration, abortion, health, education, and the environment are being wrenched in a radically conservative direction.

Despite the swiftness of these dramatic changes in world and domestic affairs, we should perhaps not be surprised.  The storm was brewing for a long time before the clouds opened up and the lightning struck.  The expansion of the role of mass media and social media, which allow us to cherry pick the news and the facts that we want, and identify with communities that know no geographic boundaries has allowed numerous factions to form in opposition to the status quo.

The power structures, centralized political institutions, scientific and educational organizations, that offered intellectual coherence, political stability, prosperity, and some degree of justice to large numbers of people have been largely discredited, despite their undeniable accomplishments.  In this environment, groups with very narrowly-focused agendas, from the Tea Party, to ISIL, to left-handed basket weavers, have proliferated.

Corporations and big businesses have played both a positive and a negative role in this by advancing globalization through the expansion of markets, while at the same time appealing to smaller and smaller market niches.

Similarly, American political parties have played an important role.  Both parties mix pragmatic realism with abstract ideology, and both parties embrace the ideal of personal freedom.  There the similarities stop, and it is a disservice to both of them to argue, as many people do, that both parties are alike.  For most Republicans, personal freedom means the ability for individuals to engage in “the pursuit of happiness.”  Individual initiative, moral responsibility, “pulling yourself up by the boot straps” are their important watch words.  They complain of paying taxes to support government programs that create a culture of dependency and distort the natural competition to improve oneself.  Democrats, on the other hand, believe that personal freedom depends on equal opportunities to education, access to health care, and good jobs, and a clean environment, and that only a strong and active government can insure the greatest good for the greatest number.

There are strong arguments in favor of both these positions, and until we work out these fundamental contradictions, the world will continue to unravel.

Published in the Baltimore Sun, January 22, 2017

Be careful what you wish for.  If you voted for change in the last election, you are going to get plenty of it.

Trump will dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency, starting by placing Myron Ebell, a climate change denier at its head.  The progress that the US has made working with other countries to combat global warming will be at risk.  There will be more erratic weather patterns, rising sea levels, hurricanes, fires, droughts floods and famines.

Trump’s isolationist foreign policy will reduce US influence around the world.  His criticism of American commitments to our allies in NATO and South Korea raises uncertainty about our policies, and threatens America’s continuing influence around the world.  Russian President, Vladimir Putin is likely to take advantage of what he sees as America’s weakness, and Trumps’ wide-spread economic interests in Russia and elsewhere will only complicate America’s foreign relations.

Trump will nominate a new justice to the Supreme Court who will turn the court in a conservative direction for the next couple of decades.  The Court will continue to disable voting rights, limit women’s rights, and allow corporations to spend unlimited funds on political elections.

Some things will not change.  Workers in rust-belt America will continue to look for a decreasing number of jobs.  Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act) will not be repealed.  We will all be able to continue to watch the greatest reality TV show of all time . . .   until they turn off the power.

It will take a while for the shock of the Presidential election to sink in.

Voters in California, Massachusetts, and Nevada approved the recreational use of Marijuana.  They will need plenty of it.

Economic markets around the world were already in turmoil before the final results came in Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.  Millions of new arrivals to the U.S. fear that a Trump administration will begin a massive campaign of deportation.  Women’s rights advocates fear more stringent restrictions on a woman’s right to control her own body.  Millions of people who have benefited from the Affordable Care Act (including millennials who are covered by their parents’ health insurance policies) are afraid of losing coverage.

The “Tea Party,” Rush Limbaugh, and Fox News, and the most radical members of the Republican Party the will control the three branches of Government: the Presidency, the Congress, and the Judiciary system.

The joy that many Trump supporters are experiencing now, probably will not last long, as the full consequences of their victory becomes clearer.

Hillary was wrong.  “Love Trumps Hate” was a nice campaign slogan, but for now bigotry and hate have won.

This election is historical because there is not only one, but two qualified women candidates running for President of the United States. Jill Stein is the green party presidential candidate fighting for your vote. Stein has many exciting new ideas. The Green New Deal, for example, would create millions of jobs by transitioning to 100% clean renewable energy by 2030. This would be accomplished by investing in public transit, sustainable agriculture, and conservation. Stein also has the End Poverty goal, which is a goal to guarantee economic human rights to everyone in the United States. The goal would include access to food, water, housing, and utilities, with effective anti-poverty programs to ensure every American a life of dignity.  – – Karalyn

Hillary Clinton should be the next president of the United States because of her previous political experience, her focus on a strong and healthy economy, and her focus on helping the youth of the nation through her plans for education. Having served as the former secretary of state, U.S. senator, and a former First Lady, Clinton will have far more experience in the political world than her opponent. Clinton’s opponent, Donald Trump, has shown signs of being temperamentally unfit for the position and is viewed by many as being unqualified for presidency.  – – Matt

Donald Trump should be President because we need a President that is not a “career politician.” He has an outside perspective and is using his own money to fund his campaign, which reduces the chances of big business and other huge campaign spenders from influencing his policies. His policies will cut taxes on big companies which will act as an incentive for companies to keep their business and money in the United States, which will benefit the American people and the economy. The American people need to have assured security and jobs and the stricter boarder policies that Trump supports would do just that. – – Mary Sue

There is really only one reason as to why Americans should vote for Gary Johnson on November 8^th. After careful examination of the political landscape, the sole motivation needed to vote Johnson is that he is not one of the other two main party candidates. Johnson has an exponentially better personality and demeanor than Donald Trump and a far less questionable political history than Hillary Clinton. Johnson also spent two successful terms as governor of New Mexico and has a strong platform, including criminal justice reform, uncomplicating immigration, strong foreign policy and national defense, and implementing federal government term limits.  – – Victor

Mix and match game:  Identify the political candidate these stars will vote for November 8:

1. Beyonce
2. Kid Rock
3. Kanye West
4. Dennis Rodman
5. Kim Kardashian
6. Ted Nugent
7. George Clooney
8. Mike Tyson.

Department of Anything Could Happen:

Likely: Iraqi troops supported by the US will drive ISIS out of Mosul; The city of Aleppo in Syria will fall to the government forces of President Bashar al-Assad;  The migration crisis in Europe will continue to displace millions of people.  Hillary Clinton will win the Presidential election; The earth will continue to get warmer and the oceans will rise.

Less Likely: Coach John Harbaugh will return for another season with the Ravens; The Democrats will win the House of Representatives.  The Cubs will win the World Series. Donald Trump will apologize for anything.

Where is Bob Dylan?  He still has not acknowledged his Nobel Prize for literature.

Answers to Mix and Match: a. Clinton, b. Trump, c. Clinton, d. Trump, e. Clinton, F. Trump, g. Clinton, H. Trump

If you see Robert Zimmerman, alias Bob Dylan, please tell him that he has won the Nobel Prize for literature.  The Nobel Prize committee has stopped trying to contact Dylan who has been out of touch ever since the award was announced.

Can the Presidential campaign get any weirder?  More women are claiming that Donald Trump sexually abused them, and Trump is already claiming that the election is rigged before any votes have been tallied.  Meanwhile the hacked e-mails of Clinton’s friend John Podesta are revealing some of the inner workings of the Clinton campaign.  Despite daily charges of corruption, there is no evidence that Clinton is culpable of an illegality.

Iraqi forces have launched an attack on the Isis stronghold of Mosul.  The campaign to liberate Iraq’s second largest city may take months to complete and may lead to another humanitarian crisis as hundreds of thousands flee the city to take shelter in migrant camps that are already being prepared to accept them.

If you find $916,000,000, please contact Donald J. Trump.   He has looked everywhere for the nearly one billion dollars, and can’t find it.  Question for Donald:  Where was the last place you saw it?  His friends Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie say that this shows that he is genius. – – Alex

Is the Cold War starting up again?

Monday morning United States officials announced that the cease fire in Syria has ended and bilateral talks between the United States and Russia have been suspended. Talks between the two countries came to a close after the United States lost patience with Russia’s constant failure to comply with the agreements they had promised. Secretary of State, John Kerry told the media that the deciding factor was Russian and Syrian force’s intensified attacks on civilian areas in Aleppo. – – Matt

A teenager doing a one-week internship at Keele University in England discovered a new planet on his second day on the job.  Fifteen year old, Tom Wagg, found the planet which orbits around a star in the constellation Hydra. He named it WASP-142b, after the program he is in, Wide Angle Search for Planets. It was passing between the star and earth, causing the brightness of the star to dim, making it possible for him to spot. – – Karalyn

Every four years the presidential race tightens.  A twenty point lead in August becomes a ten point lead in September.  A five-point lead in October becomes neck and neck by the first week in November.  This phenomenon of politics is built into the American political system, and is largely a product of the structure of news coverage which is dominated by the necessity to attract readers and viewers and to sell advertising space.  To do this news outlets must tell a dramatic story of conflicting parties and personalities, while at the same time appearing objective.

The result is a narrative in which both candidates are flawed, and both parties are corrupt.  In this narrative, there is little that distinguishes the candidates.  Clear-cut differences of policies or philosophies are blurred, and undecided voters have little to base their decision on other than personalities.

In the final days before an election, candidates’ personal characteristics become more important than their policy proposals and their political and social philosophies.  The presidential election of 2016, more than perhaps any other in recent history, is a referendum of the candidates’ characters.

To understand what the candidates actually believe and what they would do if they were in the White House, a little history should help.  Over the course of the twentieth century, and perhaps earlier, the politics of personality increasingly gave way to an iniquitous politics of character assassination.  Some people trace the origin of this toxic political environment to the rough-handling of Robert Bork in his failed attempt to join the Supreme Court in 1987.  Others blame Richard Nixon’s “enemies list,” and his forced resignation from office in 1974.  Still others trace it back to the original conflict between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson.  Clearly it has a long history, and neither side can say, “he/she started it.”

One thing is clear.  This election cycle is unique in modern history.  There is the growing sense that everything has been turned upside down.

The Democrats, traditionally the party of “the little guy,” are now seen by many as the party of the establishment, of stability, and the status quo.  The Republicans, traditionally the party of “big business,” meanwhile, under Donald Trump, have been lifted by an up-swelling of populist, anti-government sentiment.  Republicans who have traditionally believed that everyone should “pull themselves up by their bootstraps,” now put their faith in a charismatic individual whose personal powers alone can save them in a faltering economy.  Somethings have remained the same.  While the Republican Party has undergone a seismic shift in its policies and philosophy, Democrats still believe that the federal government, working with the private sector has the responsibility and the power to help every member of society.

One other thing has not changed.  Over the course of the past thirty years, Republicans have distilled a dislike of Hillary Clinton into a toxic poison of hatred.  They have engaged in a three-decade long campaign to discredit and vilify her. They have spent millions of dollars of private, and public funds to investigate every aspect of her life.  Public prosecutors, Congressional committees, private investigators have subpoenaed, scrutinized, examined, inspected, and analyzed, virtually everything Hillary has ever said or written.  The names, Whitewater, Travelgate, Benghazi, and many others have become part of the American political lexicon.  All of these investigations have led us nowhere.  Liberal and conservative commentators oftetn comment saying, “there is no conclusive evidence so far of wrong-doing.”  It would be more accurate to say, “There is no evidence.”

Where evidence of wrong-doing has been absent, however, Hillary’s critics have resorted to rumors and outright lies.  These usually get started on social media sites on the internet, and then are picked up by Fox News or Rush Limbaugh, and ultimately end up in common circulation.

The “vast right-wing conspiracy” to discredit her is still alive.

Certainly, Hillary is not blameless.  Like everyone she has made mistakes.  Like every politician she has compromised when she perhaps should have stood her ground.  (Her biggest mistake was probably voting for the Iraq War in 2003.)

The cloud of scandal that surrounds Hillary is not an accident.  It has been carefully created over the years by her political rivals aided by a media adjective.

Every new piece of (mis-)information feeds the culture of suspicion, and becomes more evidence that the rumors are true.

The irony is that Hillary has been working for the past forty years to make American lives better, for people to have health care, for women and children, etc. etc.  While there is a plethora of evidence that her opponent has actually been involved in corrupt business practices.  Bribed an Attorney General in Florida not to investigate fraud in his Trump University, and then hid evidence of the bribe in misreporting on his tax forms (paid a 2,500 fine by the IRS.

The Clinton Foundation, working around the world to improve health conditions, save lives from HV Aids.

Upside down.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt are splits-ville.  A certain history professor at Adlai Stevenson University is denying rumors that he is responsible for their breakup.

Last week was a bad one for Hillary Clinton who had a bout of pneumonia and has been criticized for saying that half of Trump’s supporters are in a “basket of deplorables.”

This week might be even worse for Donald Trump, who has been fined by the IRS for making an illegal campaign contribution of $25,000 to Pamela Bondi, the Attorney General of Florida, who decided several days later not to join a lawsuit against Trump University.

Trump has not disclosed his personal tax returns, but the tax returns of his family charitable foundation are open public records, and reveal that Trump used over a quarter million dollars of the charity’s money to settle lawsuits against his businesses in violation of the law.

It probably is not surprising that many Republican Party leaders have refused to endorse Trump, and that George H.W. Bush (41), father of George W (43), and Jeb, is reportedly going to vote for Hillary.

A short-lived ceasefire in Syria ended when a convoy of trucks bringing aid to besieged Syrians was attacked, apparently by Russian aircraft.  There is no end in sight for the six-year civil war in Syria, which has dislocated eleven million people, creating a refugee crisis in Europe.

Victor writes: Saturday morning the small town of Seaside Park, New Jersey was rocked by an explosion. A garbage can near the starting line of a Marine Corps charity run erupted, spraying shrapnel and flames into the crowd. Miraculously, no one was injured, but police found several more unexploded devices nearby. The New York City neighborhood of Chelsea, unfortunately, was not so lucky. That evening, another device went off, injuring 29 people.  The lone-wolf suspect, Ahmad Khan Rahami, was arrested the following day after a shootout with the police.