A Plea to Republican Voters

You hate us more than we hate you!

Paul Pelosi was attacked early Friday morning and is lucky to be alive, hospitalized, and on the mend.  But what was the grievance of this (un-named) perpetrator against Paul Pelosi?  That he was the husband of Nancy Pelosi?  What had Mrs. Pelosi ever done to him?  What had we Americans done to those who ransacked the Capitol building on January 6th?  Why, nothing really, except to have won an election, one that Republicans wanted to win, badly.

Golden State

A friend again!

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I am a Golden State Warriors fan.

Andrew Wiggins just signed a 4-year contract worth $109 million.  He is not worth that kind of money.  That is some 2,000 times more than most Americans earn!

Jordan Poole just signed a 4-year contract worth $140 million.  While he is worth more than Andrew Wiggins, he is not worth that kind of money.

Their star player, Steph Curry, is on his second year of a 4-year contract worth $215 million.  While he is worth more than Jordan Poole, he too is not worth that kind of money.

Columbus Day

Christopher Columbus did not, of course, “discover America.”  And he knew this as soon as he landed and was greeted by natives who were living where he embarked.  Their ancestors had lived here for 12,000 or 50,000 years, take your pick.  Columbus knew they were human, but he treated them rather inhumanely.  And today, because of his actions and the actions of millions of Europeans who followed him, some of his statues have been torn down.  Even the holiday of Columbus Day is threatened.  Is this a good idea?

The Right to an Abortion

I don’t recall which Republican talking heads (many) have argued that the right to an abortion is not mentioned in the Constitution.  It seems like a compelling argument, but it is really a very poor argument against the right to an abortion, and here is why.

The U.S. Constitution consists of two main parts, plus the accumulated decisions of the Supreme Court.  The first part is the Constitution proper, and the second part is the 27 amendments to the Constitution proper.

The Next Steps in Private Transportation

So, here is an idea, or two, about private automobile transportation.

First idea: EVs – or electric vehicles, or Tesla’s and their competition – still depend mostly on fossil fuel energy (petrol, natural gas, coal, ethanol) to fuel their electric batteries.  So, why not solar powered automobiles?  With much smaller batteries for driving in sun-less conditions.  Another advantage would be far fewer charging stations.  Today’s EV charging stations are partially funded by the government; those who do not drive EVs pay for them.  We have solar electricity for our homes, solar powered automobiles are not far behind.

Bob Dylan's False Prophet

Click on Image, then Full Screen

On Cancelling Student Debt

In my email Inbox, "Can Bernie send you a "'Cancel ALL student debt' sticker?"

Hell, NO!

Bernie Talks ...

Bernie Sanders wants us to cancel all student debt.  I agree with several of Sanders’ progressive ideas, but this idea is an AWFUL idea!

A Constitutional Right to Privacy

In my recent blog post, The Leak, I wrote about Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, No. 19-1392, 597 U.S. ___, the SCOTUS case that overturned Roe v. Wade.  While this unhappy decision did not rest solely on the controversial notion that there is no Constitutional right to privacy, Justice Clarence Thomas did go out of his way to suggest that other SCOTUS decisions that relied on privacy could be rolled back based on that interpretation of the law.  That is what I want to talk about in this essay: the Constitutional right to privacy, does it exist in the law?

The Leak

It’s Monday, May 2nd, early evening.  Politico publishes this on its website: Supreme Court has voted to overturn abortion rights, draft opinion shows.  And here is the leaked draft opinion, unabridged: Justice Alito's initial draft abortion opinion which would overturn Roe v. Wade.

Roe v Wade has been overturned!  No, not so fast!  This document is only a draft opinion of Associate Justice Samuel Alito, probably written in February; the Court’s final ruling won’t come down until late June or early July.  But already, Justice Alito has become the hero of the Right and the villain of the Left.  Same for the leaker.  Indeed, the leak itself has taken on a life of its own.

Money in Politics

How important is money – particularly BIG Money – in politics?  Really!

Well, the truth is: it is very important!  But at the same time, it is also pretty unimportant!

The promise of Big Money to help a candidate for high office win his next election is hard to resist.  The threat of Big Money to hurt a candidate’s chances to win his next election is also hard to resist.   Indeed, even more important than impacting election outcomes is the power that Big Money purchases to influence – or even write – legislation that favors its own interests.  Even if YOUR candidate refuses Big Money, enough other legislators will go along with Big Money’s demands that it won’t matter if YOUR guy is incorruptible.

But how can it be true at the same time that Big Money is not really important?