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Saturday, July 20, 2019



Neigihborhood Buzz - The Blog
Editor - Jerry Meyer


 Click on the link above for information about the Villages Democrats
including the times and places of club meetings
as well as meetings of interest of affiliated clubs and groups


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We’ve seen this before !

Huey Long, a Louisiana Governor and later a U.S. Senator, was a populist hero and corrupt demagogue.  He espoused social reform and justice while getting his way by using graft and corruption.
 
The state’s black community did not benefit from his reputation as a reformer.  He gave speeches warning of “Negro domination,” and expanded segregation from trains to buses.

A favorite tactic with opponents, was to claim they were of black descent.

In the late 40s and early 50s Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin spent almost five years trying to expose communists and other left leaning “Loyalty Risks to a public fearful of communist subversion.

McCarthy’s accusations that the government was packed with traitors and spies became so intimidating few people dared to challenge him. Newsman Edward R. Murrow finally had enough and called him out, but it was not until McCarthy attacked the Army that he was censured by the Senate. By that time many lives had been ruined by his accusations.

Ironically McCarthy’s attorney through his machinations was Roy Cohn, who later was a personal attorney to Donald Trump.

Trump is now fending off charges of racism after attacking four freshmen Congresswomen. The four, all women of color, are outspoken critics of the President.

As his style, Trump went on the attack, accusing the women of spewing vile, hateful and disgusting remarks, adding that if they were not happy here they could leave. He apparently did not know or did not care that three were born in the U.S. and the other is a naturalized citizen.

Initially this seemed to be an attempt to distract attention from the chaos on the border.  A visit by Vice President Pence only verified that migrants were packed into holding areas, without access to showers.  There are also allegations of lack of food and hygiene items, as well as the ongoing concerns about separation of  families.

However as Trump continued his attack on the four women, brushing aside charges of racism, stories about conditions on the border worked their way back into  the news cycle.

It is now apparent Trump and the party leadership intend to stay with the attack on the Congresswomen and bear down on the accusation they are socialists.  “Socialism” is the term to which the Republicans are hitching their star for the 2020 elections.

Trump’s racist tendencies have been on display for years, including taking out newspaper ads seeking extreme punishment for the Central Park Five.  The five young black men were later found to have no connection to raping a woman in New York’s Central Park, but it came only after years in prison.

More recently Trump hung  on as a “birther,” refusing to accept that President Obama was born in the U.S.

There is no doubt that what the President said was racist. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in its’ rules protecting individuals from employment discrimination, says a phrase such as “go back where you came from,” is potentially illegal.

Legal or illegal, this incident is unlikely to change the minds of Trump sycophants.

I would like to see Trump impeached, but there aren’t the votes in the Senate to make that happen.   So I am going along with columnist Tom Friedman who says Democrats should go about the business of picking a candidate who can beat Trump in the election and vote him out.


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On July 12th the House passed HR 2500, the FY 2020 NDAA on a strictly partisan basis with NO Republicans voting to support our military and their families, nor for surviving spouses and children of military members and retirees who passed because of illness or injuries associated with their military service, all of which were provided for the Bill.  
In remarks on the floor during the debate on the Bill, House Armed Services Committee Chair Adam Smith quoted Ranking Member Mac Thornberry from last year’s deliberations:
Look, on the defense bill, you can always have a bunch of excuses for why you don’t support it. But, at the end of the day, if you don’t support it, you are not supporting funding our military and you are not supporting giving our troops what they need.”

Similarly, Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, an Annapolis Grad, a veteran of combat service in the Navy and member of the House Armed Services Committee quoted the late Senator John McCain on the same subject:
“How do we explain to Americans who are risking their lives for us that we could not summon the courage to take some hard votes?
How do we explain that we could not come together and work together when it mattered most?
The fundamental purpose of this legislation, which has united Members from both sides of the aisle, is to provide our Armed Forces what they need to do the jobs we ask of them.”

The key provisions in the Bill which will take care the military community include:
  • The largest pay raise for our troops in 10 years
  • The repeal of what has been called the Widows Tax
  • A tenant’s bill of rights to protect military families and the housing that we have heard so many complaints about
  • Paid family and medical leave for all Federal employees, including all DOD employees.

Yet, despite the appeal from the floor to stay true to the 58-year history of bipartisan support for the annual National Defense Authorization Acts, not one Republican voted for it.   One of the most egregious aspects of this vote is that 135 Republicans who were co-sponsors of a stand-alone Bill to repeal the Widows Tax (introduced by their colleague, Republican Congressman Wilson of SC), blindly followed their leadership in voting against the NDAA. 

This is not just a disappointment; it is an OUTRAGE !

One can only hope that there will be more collegiality when the House and Senate Conference Committee meets to reconcile the differences  in the provisions of their respective bills and after it is returned to each house for a re-vote to go on to the President for signature. 

You’ll read and hear many accusations about who is at fault and what was so unacceptable in the Bill depending on which news source you rely on.

 The bold truth can be found in the dialogue from the floor debate regarding passage of HR 2500
in the Congressional Record of the proceedings from July 12th :



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Sumter Democrats The Villages Democrats Neighborhood Buzz A blog for Democrats and Independents Editor  -  Jerry Meyer ...