Thursday, September 29, 2016

125 Scholars and Writers for Trump

"Writers and Scholars for Trump Given our choices in the presidential election, we believe that Donald Trump is the candidate most likely to restore the promise of America, and we urge you to support him as we do. Charles Akeman, University of California, Santa Barbara Jeffrey H. Anderson, Ph.D., author of “An Alternative to Obamacare” and “The Main Street Tax Plan” Hadley Arkes, Amherst College emeritus, author of “ Larry P. Arnn, Hillsdale College, author of “Churchill’s Trial: Winston Churchill and the Salvation of Free Government” Stephen H. Balch, Texas Tech University, National Humanities Medal, co-author of “Western Civilization and the Academy” Mark Bauerlein, Emory University, author of “The Digital Divide: Arguments for and Against Facebook, Google, Texting, and the Age of Social Networking” Darren Beattie, Duke University Roger Beckett, Ashland University Bill Bennett, former Secretary of Education, author of “America: The Last, Best Hope” Denis Binder, S.J.D., Chapman University, author of “Can We Secure the Hallowed Elms of Academe” Conrad Black, author of “Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom” Constitutional Illusions and Anchoring Truths: The Touchstone of the Natural Law” Jay Bergman, Central CT. State University, author of “Meeting the Demands of Reason: The Life and Thought of Andrei Sakharov” Daniel A. Bonevac, University of Texas, author of “Deduction: Introductory Symbolic Logic” Andrew Bostom, Brown University, author of “Sharia versus Freedom” James Bowman, Ethics and Public Policy Center, author of “Honor: A History” F.H. Buckley, George Mason University, author of “The Way Back: Restoring the Promise of America” Thomas E. Brennan, lawyer and former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Michigan Chris Buskirk, editor and writer, American Greatness Jim Capua, Ph.D., writer Timothy W. Caspar, Hillsdale College, author of “Recovering the Ancient View of Founding: A Commentary on Cicero's De Legibus” Lionel Chetwynd, Oscar and Emmy nominated producer, director, screenwriter of “Miracle on Ice” and “Hanoi Hilton” Lynn Chu, Writers’ Representatives, LLC Mickey Craig, Hillsdale College Arnold Cusmariu, writer Glynn Custred, CSU-Haywood emeritus, author of “A History of Anthropology as a Holistic Science” Donn Dears, author of “Nothing to Fear” David Deming, University of Oklahoma Marshall DeRosa, Florida Atlantic University Michael Doran, Hudson Institute, former senior director of the National Security Council John C. Eastman, Chapman University Fowler School of Law and the Claremont Institute, author of “Born in the U.S.A? Reassessing Birthright Citizenship in the Wake of 9/11” Nicholas Capaldi, Loyola University New Orleans, co-author of “Liberty and Equality in Political Economy” Edward Erler, CSU San Bernardino, co-author of “The Founders on Citizenship and Immigration: Principles and Challenges in America” Clarice Feldman, lawyer and writer Peter J. Ferrara, Heartland Institute, author of “Power to the People: The New Road to Freedom and Prosperity for the Poor, Seniors and Those Most In Need of the World's Best Health Care” Burton W. Folsom, Jr., Hillsdale College, co-author of “The Myth of the Robber Barons” John Fonte, Ph.D., author of “Sovereignty or Submission” William A. Frank, University of Dallas, author of “Duns Scotus, Metaphysician” Neal B. Freeman, writer, businessman, Peabody Award-winning television producer Bruce Frohnen, Ohio Northern University, author of “Constitutional Morality and the Rise of Quasi-Law” (with George W. Carey) George Gilder, author of “Wealth and Poverty” and “The Scandal of Money: Why Wall Street Recovers But the Economy Never Does” Callista Gingrich, co-author of “Rediscovering God in America” Newt Gingrich, Ph.D., former Speaker of the House, co-author of “A Nation Like No Other: Why American Exceptionalism Matters” Tom Giovanetti, writer Esther Goldberg, lawyer and writer for The American Spectator Mary Grabar, co-author of “The Crisis in American Journalism and the Conservative Response” Lino Gragila, University of Texas—Austin, author of “Disaster by Decree” David P. Goldman, author of “How Civilizations Die: (And Why Islam Is Dying Too)” Susan Hanssen, University of Dallas, author of “Shall We Go to Rome?: The Last Days of Henry Adams” Darren Guerra, Biola University, author of “Perfecting the Constitution: The Case for the Article V Amendment Process” Leon Hadar, Ph.D., author of “Sandstorm: Policy Failure in the Middle East” Bruce Heiden, Ohio State University, author of “Homer’s Cosmic Fabrication” Anne Hendershott, Franciscan University of Steubenville, co-author of “Renewal: How a New Generation of Faithful Priests and Bishops Is Revitalizing the Catholic Church” Phillip Henderson, Catholic University of America, author of “Managing the Presidency: The Eisenhower Legacy” Arthur Herman, Ph.D., author “Douglas MacArthur: American Warrior” David Horowitz, editor and author of “The Left In Power: Clinton to Obama” Deal Hudson, Ph.D., editor and author of “An American Conversion” Carol Iannone, editor and writer Christina Jeffrey, Ph.D., author of “The UN/State Department Refugee Program Comes to Spartanburg” Douglas Jeffrey, Hillsdale College, editor of Imprimis Marjorie Jeffrey, writer Robert C. Jeffrey, Wofford College Charles C. Johnson, author of “Why Coolidge Matters” Brian T. Kennedy, writer, The American Strategy Group Jack Kerwick, Rowan College, author of “Misguided Guardians: The Conservative Case Against Neoconservatism” (forthcoming) Charles Kesler, Claremont McKenna College, editor Claremont Review of Books, author of “I Am the Change: Barack Obama and the Future of Liberalism” Robert D. King, University of Texas—Austin, author of “Nehru and the Language Politics of India” Michael Kochin, Tel Aviv University Robert C. Koons, University of Texas—Austin, co-author of “Metaphysics: The Fundamentals” Roger Kimball, editor and author of “The Fortunes of Permanence: Culture and Anarchy in an Age of Amnesia” E. Christian Kopff, University of Colorado Boulder, author of “Virgil and the Cyclic Epics” Michael Ledeen, Ph.D., co-author of NY Times best-seller “Field of Fight” Seth Leibsohn, radio host and co-author of “The Fight of Our Lives: Knowing the Enemy, Speaking the Truth, and Choosing to Win the War Against Radical Islam” Thomas Lifson, Ph.D., editor and writer, American Thinker Margaret Lindsay, Ph.D., writer Thomas Lindsay, Ph.D., co-author of “Investigating American Democracy” Robert Oscar Lopez, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, author of “ Herb London, Ph.D., author of “The Encyclopedia of Militant Islam” John R. Lott, Jr., Ph.D., author of “More Guns, Less Crime” Doug Mainwaring, author of “Marriage Ground Zero” (forthcoming) Ted Roosevelt Malloch, Oxford University, co-author of “America’s Spiritual Capital” Ken Masugi, Johns Hopkins University, co-author of “The Supreme Court and American Constitutionalism” Daniel McCarthy, editor and writer, contributor to “Dilemmas of American Conservatism” Roger Meiners, University of Texas—Arlington, author of “Gridlock in Government” Allen Mendenhall, Faulkner University, author of “Literature and Liberty” Tiffany Jones Miller, University of Dallas Brian Patrick Mitchell, Academy of Philosophy and Letters Laurie Morrow, Ph.D., co-author of “Conversations on Philanthropy” Steve Moore, co-author of “Fueling Freedom: Exposing the Mad War on Energy” Lawrence Kudlow, Co-author of “JFK and the Reagan Revolution: A Secret History of American Prosperity” Colorful Conservative: American Conversations with the Ancients from Wheatley to The Whitman” Steve Mosher, Population Research Institute Maureen Mullarkey, writer for The Federalist George Neumayr, co-author of Marita Noon, author of “Energy Freedom” Michael J. O’Shea, writer David Palm, Azusa Pacific University Svetozar Pejovich, Texas A & M emeritus, author of “The Economics of Property Rights” Ronald J. Pestritto, Hillsdale College, author of “Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism” Fran Fawcett Peterson, writer Paul C. Peterson, Coastal Carolina University emeritus James Piereson, Ph.D., author of “ Julie Ponzi, editor and writer, American Greatness Stephen B. Presser, Northwestern University, author of “Law Professors: Three Centuries of Shaping American Law (forthcoming) Frank Price, screenwriter and producer, former CEO Columbia Pictures, former president Universal Pictures Mark Pulliam, lawyer and writer Eric Rasmusen, University of Indiana, co-author of “Measuring Judicial Independence: The Political Economy of Judging in Japan” Alfred Regnery, lawyer and author of “Upstream: The Ascendance of American Conservatism” R.R. Reno, editor and author of “In the Ruins of the Church” William Murchison, author of “The Cost of Liberty: The Life of John Dickinson” Deroy Murdock, columnist and writer “No Higher Power: Obama's War on Religious Freedom” Shattered Consensus: The Rise and Decline of America’s Postwar Political Order” D.N. Robinson, Oxford University, author of “The American Founding: Its Intellectual and Moral Framework” Erik S. Root, Ph.D., Roger Bacon Academy, author of “All Honor to Jefferson?” Milton Rosenberg, University of Chicago emeritus Constance Rossum, University of La Verne, co-author of “Rehabilitating Rehabilitation” Ralph A. Rossum, Claremont McKenna College, author of “Antonin Scalia’s Jurisprudence: Text and Tradition” Ronald Rotunda, Chapman University, co-author of “Treatise on Constitutional Law” (6 volumes) Paul Rubin, Emory University, author of “Darwinian Politics: The Evolutionary Origin of Freedom” Ronald J. Rychlak, University of Mississippi, author of “Disinformation” D. Brian Scarnecchia, Ave Maria University, author of “Bioethics, Law and Human Life Issues” Lisa Schiffren, writer, former White House speechwriter Harold See, Belmont University Roger L. Simon, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter, co-founder PJ Media, author of “I Know Best: How Moral Narcissism Is Destroying Our Republic, If It Hasn’t Already” S. Fred Singer, University of Virginia emeritus, author of “Global Climate Change: Human and Natural Influences” Scott Soames, University of Southern California, author of “The Analytic Tradition in Philosophy” Don Surber, author of “Trump the Press” Larry Schweikart, University of Dayton, retired, co-author of NY Times bestseller “A Patriot's History of the United States” Carol Swain, Vanderbilt University, author of “Be the People: A Call to Reclaim America's Faith and Promise” Dennis Teti, writer Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, author of “Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future” James Trefil, George Mason University, author of “The Encyclopedia of Science and Technology” Michael P. Tremoglie, writer R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr., editor and author of “The Death of Liberalism” Jeffrey Wallin, co-author of “An Uncertain Legacy: Essays on the Pursuit of Liberty” Bradley C.S. Watson, Saint Vincent College, author of “Living Constitution, Dying Faith: Progressivism and the New Science of Jurisprudence” Robert Weissberg, University of Illinois emeritus, author of “Bad Students, Not Bad Schools” Diana West, author of “The Death of the Grown-up” Thomas G. West, author of “Vindicating the Founders” Victor Williams, Chair, Lawyers and Law Professors for Trump J. Eric Wise, lawyer and writer S. Stanley Young, North Carolina State University Scot J. Zentner, CSU San Bernardino, author of “Liberalism and Executive Power: Woodrow Wilson and the American Founders” John Zmirak, Ph.D., author of “The Politically Incorrect Guide to Catholicism” The views expressed do not represent the opinions of the colleges, universities and institutions of those who have signed this letter. For further information, please contact Frank Buckley at fbuckley@gmu.edu." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Professor Frank Buckley organized on short notice without a public can a list of scholars and writers who support Donald Trump for President. An earlier list is "Economists for Trump." Many others would have signed, but they justly feared for their employment in academia and Hollywood. Thus, their support remains private. Too many conservatives today remain in the "closet" in today's colleges and universities and Hollywood - erstwhile bastions of tolerance. My reason for supporting Donald Trump is easy. Four candidates are still in th race for President. He is the only one of the four who offers a chance to reverse America's accelerating decline. Hillary Clinton is the epitome of the status quo, which means increasing decline.

Donald trump Did Not Humiliate, Shama. and Then Make Fun of a 12 Year Old Rape Victim - Hillary Clinton Did!

Donald Trump did not humiliate a 12 year old rape victim and then make fun of her, but Hillary Clinton did. Hillary Clinton slammed him in the debate with Alicia Machado, the former Miss Universe. Ms. Machado had gained substantial weight in violation of her contract 20 years ago. She presents a compelling picture of being body-shamed by Trump His insults in today’s hypersensitive world are outrageous and unconscionable. Trump had no response. Trump had no response because he was unprepared. He had a simple, devastating response that would have destroyed Clinton’s case. All he had to say was: “I may have insulted her 2 decades ago to push her to reduce her weigh, but I never humiliated, shamed, and made fun of a 12 year old rape victim. My opponent Hillary Clinton did.” But no, he had to get defensive, just one of many missed opportunities in the debate. The young Hillary Clinton was assigned by the court to represent a defendant accused of raping a 12 year old girl. Hillary had a duty to represent him to the full extent possible, but not unethically. Her proper defense was getting a key piece of evidence excluded because the police blew the chain of evidence. The unconscionable was the filing of an affidavit signed by Hillary herself. She wrote: “I have been informed that the complainant is mentally unstable with a tendency to seek out older men and engage in fantasizing. I have also been informed that she has in the past made false accusations against persons, claiming they had attacked her body. Also that she exhibits unusual stubbornness and temper when she does not get her way.” No evidence existed to justify these statements. This is like Senator Harry Reid’s false statements about Governor Mitt Romney four years ago. Governor Romney could have defended himself, but the young, defiled girl had no way of defending herself against these scurrilous statements. The affidavit continued though with Clinton further stating that a child psychologist told her that early adolescent children “tend to exaggerate or romanticize sexual experiences, especially when they come from disorganized families. The victim was 12 years old! Hillary Clinton knew her client had raped the 12 year old. She was attacking the young girl, the victim, as the wrongdoer – a defense reviled in rape cases, such that prior sexual history is inadmissible. The advocate for women rights made the young girl the defendant. The story continues with an early 1980’s audio taped conversation that a reporter uncovered in 2014. The tape is Hillary Clinton talking about the case to a reporter for a possible article.. She said “He took a lie-detector test. I had him take a polygraph, which he passed, which forever destroyed my faith in polygraphs. She was laughing as she said these remark, pouring salt into open wounds. The now 50 year old victim was re-traumatized by listening to the tape, especially Hillary boastful, callous remarks. She says Hillary ‘took her through Hell” and “lied like a dog.” She asked of Hillary Clinton: “And you’re supposed to be for women? You call that for women, what you done to me?” Imagine that, Hillary Clinton was lying in the 1970’s. Yes, Donald Trump could have, should have responded to Hillary Clinton with the rape case. That far outweighs the stigma of his alleged insults to Miss Universe. He is now being tagged as a MCP because of boorish behavior, whereas he could have gained support among woman voters with the tale of the tape. Maybe he will be better prepared next time.

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Reflections on the Clinton-Trump Debate

It was definitely not the Lincoln-Douglas Debates The consummate policy wonk from Illinois, Connecticut, Arkansas, New York, and D.C. debated the not quite ready for prime time debater from New York. The well prepared Clinton debated the unprepared or under prepared Trump, who was unfamiliar with this type of debate. Clinton certainly won on points, but did she win in the hearts and minds of Americans? Clinton won on talking points, policy papers, 30 years of experience, and the standard Democratic bromides of tax increases on the rich and and sticking it to Wall Street (Does she plan to return her $675,000 in speaking fees to Goldman Sachs?) Trump talked tax relief, excessive regulation, law and order, and relief for the inner cities Clinton had to be careful with “law and order” because she could not risk losing the inner city Black vote Law and order are powerful words, that resonate with much of the public, but two words were missing from the debate: Freedom Liberty Trump complained of excessive regulation, but nothing about freeing the people from the increasing yoke of an ever expanding government Both candidates favor expanding the role of the government, Clinton simply much faster than Trump. Hillary was Hillary and the Donald was Donald. Hillary showed she had stamina, not just from the well-practiced, memorized one-liners, but because she made it through the 1½ debate without any discernible physical problems. Hillary also showed that she will even lie during a nationally televised debate. Hillary glibly ran on the status quo She ran to perpetuate the status quo. She offered nothing new Donald Trump represents a break with the past, even in his debating style Americans feel the country is sliding downwards She offered bromides He offered alternatives Yet, this was a debate He missed opportunities to respond with one liners, that would be devastating to her, but didn’t. He missed opportunities to hammer home her glaring weaknesses He let her make him the subject of the debate rather than him forcing her to justify her failures, lies, and other improprieties He missed his chance, and knows it today He did not prepare as she had, but debated in the style that got him through the primary season, beating 16 experienced, mostly traditional candidates That was then, this is now Lester Holt was not fair to him in the debate. So what? Holt asked unforeseeable questions. Trump should have been prepared with quick answers to return to his main points. If Lester Holt did not raise Benghazi or the Clinton Foundation, trump should have. Clinton was Clinton, and Trump heeds the beat of a different drummer. She won the evening The campaign is not over

Friday, September 23, 2016

Law and Order: Donald Trump's Trump Card in the Debates and General Election

Donald Trump has a major hurdle in the general election despite recent swings in the polls. We know he has little chance with minorities, especially African Americans and Hispanics, under normal circumstances. The traditional white Protestant core of American values is now down to 47% of the population. The White vote is not going to carry the election for him in the traditional blue states, or even in many of the swing states. His problem is deeper than just ethnic voting. Republicans have been slipping for decades in the affluent suburbs, the core of their vote outside the central cities. Trump’s support has been positively hemorrhaging in the suburbs. The educated, middle class suburban voter, male and female, does not like Donald Trump. Forget the swing states; lose the suburbs and lose the election. His chance is that these voters are not in a lovefest with Hillary Clinton. Suburbanites are as apprehensive as the rest of America about the country’s future. Security, national and domestic, is a major concern. Always remember that security is a major reason for living in the suburbs. Americans are witnessing the international shaming of America. They will remember Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s failed Russian reset. Jewish voters have seen President Obama humiliating Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, and imperiling Israel. They see the ineffectual response of the Administration to San Bernardino, Orlando, and New York/New Jersey. They witness the attacks on police, in cities like Philadelphia, Baton Rouge, Detroit, and Dallas. They’re repelled by the riots in Baltimore, Ferguson, Milwaukee, and Charleston. They know the riots can spill over into the suburbs. They see crime rising as the police are neutered. The Democrats are hoping Baltimore, Ferguson, Milwaukee, and now Charleston will gin up the African American vote as Hillary tries to get an unenthusiastic minority base to turn out in Obama numbers. She is thus pandering to the African American vote, adopting the mantra of Black Lives Matter. (Senator Paul Tsongas referred to her husband, Governor Clinton, during the 1992 primaries as a “Pander Bear”). Law and order is not a partisan or racial issue. The African American mothers in Chicago want, and need law and order just as much, if not more so, than the suburban moms. The African American merchants looted in Ferguson want, and need, law and order as much as do the affluent suburban merchants. All the residents of Baltimore need law and order. Donald Trump can tap into that primordial fear. Hillary Clinton can try, but it would be as unbelievable as any of her statements. That is his opportunity in the suburbs. If he can bring the suburbs back into the Republican fold, and reduce the large Democratic vote among African Americans, Hispanics, and Jews, he will win. Donald Trump can do it.

And Now Minnesota, New Jersey/New York: More Sudden Jihad Syndrome and Ineffectual Presidential Respose, but Not Quite Samo, Samo

America was lucky with the Shoe Bomber We were also lucky with the Underwear Bomber, who will meet Allah with apparently a burnt scrotum. The Times Square Bomber could have caused severe damage in Times Square, but failed. Our Chicken Restaurant New York/New Jersey Bomber came close to a mass disaster, but “fortunately” only injured 29. America was unlucky with the Fort Hood shooter, the Boston Marathon, Minnesota, Chattanooga, Orlando, San Bernardino, with several fatalities in these attacks on America. The response is mostly the same. The President emphasizes they are Lone Wolf assailants without knowing all the facts. The odds are very slim that the bomber could have received the materials and assembled his bombs in his apartment above the family’s chicken restaurant without anyone noticing. The odds are slim that he could have transported the bombs to the various locations without assistance. Rather or not the recent terrorist attacks are Lone Wolfs remain to be determined. Dahir Adan, the grim knifer, asked potential victims if they were Muslim. He also claimed he was acting on behalf of ISIS, which immediately claimed ownership of the attacks. The President refuses to use the phrase “Islamic Terrorist, much less “radical Islamic terrorism.” White House Press Spokesman Josh Earnest said our battle with ISIS is “A war of narratives.” ISIS is trying to blow us up and kill us, and we fight back with words. The federal complaint against the grim bomber excised comments about ISIS and terrorist leaders/ The mainstream media downplays the Muslim religion of the terrorist, as if the public can’t figure it out for themselves. The names Dahir Adan and Ahmed Khan Rahami tell the public all it needs to know. Yet again, the FBI failed to connect the dots and follow up on earlier leads. Yet, it’s not samo, samo. First. The President did not dial up his robomatic calls for gun control. The St. Cloud, Minnesota attacks were by knives. The New Jersey/New York incidents involved pressure cooker bombs. The second is that the many authorities, but not New York City Mayor De Blasio, immediately called the incidents “terrorist attacks.”

Saturday, September 17, 2016

September 17, Constitution Day

Our Founding fathers crated the three most significant, secular documents in the history of civilization: The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. A Second Miracle in Philadelphia occurred on September 17, 1987. 40 Americans signed he Constitution. Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, approved on July 4, 1776. We celebrate the 4th of July with fireworks, parades, BBQ’s, speeches, games, and a paid holiday. Independence was won with the 13 original colonies technically becoming 13 independent states. They drafted the Articles of Confederation, essentially a treaty for a loose confederation of states. The Articles failed. The government was underfunded. It lacked taxation powers. No military capability existed to defend the country. It had no power to promote commerce between the states. No judiciary existed. Every state had one vote with changes needing an unanimous vote. A new meeting was called in Philadelphia with representatives of the 13 states to amend the Articles. They soon recognized that amending the Articles would not work. The Articles had to be scrapped, to be replace by a whole new Constitution. These men succeeded in crafting an amazing, revolutionary document in the history of civilization. “We the people,” the first words of the Constitution, says it all. The Preamble, as in the words of Abraham Lincoln, is “a government of the people, by the people, for the people.” The Constitution was not for a king or queen, a sultan, tsar, emir, pope, archbishop, ayatollah, or a God. It is for the people. The Constitution signifies that the United States will be governed by the Rule of Law rather than by the Rule of Man The government is serve the people, not for the people to serve the government. Thus, the United States government is a government of specific, enumerated powers. Its main powers are the Commerce, Property, Spending, and Taxation Clauses along with the Necessary and Proper Clause. States are restricted by the Supremacy Clause. States surrendered much of their individual sovereignty for the greater good of a unified nation. Five states, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, had earlier surrendered their western land claims during the Articles of Confederation. States can no longer restrain commerce among the states - one of the major goals 2 centuries later in creating the European Union. The Constitution contains the Equal Footing Clause whereby any new state enters the Union as an equal state with the original 13 colonies. The drafters were wary of placing too much power in any branch of government. Thus, we have a balance of powers between the executive, judicial, and legislative branches. Problems of population differences between the states were solved by creating a bi-cameral legislature. Every state has 2 senators in the Senate while representation in the House of Representatives is proportional to population. The Constitution did not solve all problems. The slavery issue almost derailed the Constitution process. Even many of the leading Southerners recognized that slavery was an abomination, but the economy of the southern states depended on slavery. The final draft has three clauses relating to slavery, but never once do the words “slave” or “slavery” appear in the final document. The infamous 3/5 Clause provides that free men count as one, but others only 3/5 for purposes of the House of representatives. Incidentally, free Blacks counted as one. Clause 9 of Article I forbad restrictions on the slave trade until 1808, but didn’t use the word “slave.” Clause 2 of Article IV, the fugitive slave provision, gave no protection to the fugitives, again without using the “slave” word. These were the tradeoffs and concessions needed for the Southern States to acquiesce. The United States of America would not have come into existence without them. A major problem is that only about 5% of the population, white property owning males could vote in 1787 Perhaps the most important provision in the Constitution is Article V, which allows for amendments to the Constitution. The Amendments facilitated the road to equality. The 13th Amendment ended slavery, the 19th gave women the vote, and the 24th, ended the Poll Tax in federal elections. The first ten amendments constitute the Bill of Rights, as significant as the Magna Carta in laying out rights. Debates during the drafting and ratification of the Constitution illustrated the need for the Constitution to provide specific protections for the people. The Bill of Rights, as a separate document, was ratified four years after the Constitution. Two significant amendments illustrate the desire of the framers for a limited government. The Ninth Amendment, the oft-forgotten Ninth Amendment, simply states: “The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” The Tenth Amendment similarly provides “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” So where are the fireworks, BBQ’s, parades, speeches, and the paid holiday? Perhaps the Constitution has lost some of its luster We have a President, a former Constitutional Law Professor, who has expressed that the Constitution has fundamental flaws, and acts as if the Constitution does not exist. The Constitution’s protection lies in the hands of the federal judiciary, especially nine Supreme Court Justices. We have a Supreme Court which has progressively expanded the powers of the United States government since the days of the New Deal, thereby eviscerating the rights of the people. Justice Kennedy often looks to the social justice of Western Europe for his Constitutional wisdom. Justice Sotomayor is motivated by social justice. Justice Ginsburg in 2012 advised Egypt not to look to the old United States Constitution, but instead to the South African Constitution or the European Convention on Human Rights in drafting their new government. Chief Justice Roberts twisted the Constitution to uphold ObamaCare and vastly expand even further the power of the federal government over the people. The Constitution is not a perfect document, but it has served us well for 239 years. It is up to the American people to preserve it.

Friday, September 16, 2016

Hillary Clinton Complains of Media Bias - What Da?

The mainstream media hath no shame, no pride, no Integrity in sliming Donald Trump. The mainstream media has been carrying Secretary Clinton’s water and covering up for her, but it’s become a heavy burden. The mainstream media has an almost 6 decade history of sliming Republican nominees for President, starting with Vice President Nixon in 1960. He was “Tricky Dickie.” They eventually got their way by blowing up Watergate, ignoring the illegal acts of the Kennedys and Johnsons. Hath the mainstream media no shame in its vicious, visceral Republican animus? Nope, Cokie Roberts of ABC and NPR called Obama backers “morally tainted.” Chris Matthews, who once said President Obama “sent a tingle up his leg,” said vote for Hillary or don’t vote. Hath the media no integrity? Jim Rutenberg on the front page of the New York Times wrote: “If you view a trump presidency as something that’s potentially dangerous, then your reporting is going to reflect that.” Let me add, especially if the publisher of the New York Times, Pinch Sulzberger, wants you to. Senator Barry Goldwater was portrayed as a fascist war-mongrel, who would drag the country into war. As with Donald Trump, Senator Goldwater’s own words came back to haunt him. President Ford was a dumb klutz. Governor Reagan was a stupid, wild cowboy. President Reagan was losing it. President George H. W. Bush was an eastern elitist out of touch with the American people. Sounds a lot like Governor Mitt Romney. Governor George W. Bush was a stupid, draft dodging dunce, perhaps a cokehead. Senator McCain owned a large number of rich homes. Governor Palin was crucified by the media. The media trashed Governor Romney by repeating libels of Senator Harry Reid and President Obama’s Associate Campaign Manager, Stephanie Cutler. Senator Reid entered Congress poor and became a multi-millionaire through sweetheart real estate transactions, but, except for the Los Angeles Times, the media ignored his chicanery.. The media would have dumped on Donald Trump if he had said he “short-circuited” an answer, which was a lie. Secretary Clinton received a pass from the media on her short-circuit. The New York Times lambasted Paul Manaford for supposedly receiving $12 million from a dubious Ukrainian. Yet, they did not mention Bill Clinton’s $500,000 speaking fee from a Russian company. The Russian company received State Department approval to acquire a Canadian company which controlled much of the uranium production in America. That is apparently what Secretary Clinton meant by a Russian “reset.” The Secretary also met with a Ukrainian businessman, who donated $8.6 million to the Clinton Foundation. Two more media examples. Donald Trump said he would subject immigrants from certain countries to “extreme scrutiny” if they wished to enter the United States. The Los Angeles Times’ front page headline was: Trump seeks ‘extreme’ test for immigrants,” making his statement appear extreme. The ScienceTimes section of the New York Times featured a front page article on whether psychotherapists should analyze public figures. The “Goldwater Rule” of the American Psychiatric Association, adopted in 1973, says it’s unethical to do so. The article neutral on its face, repeats all the charges on his sanity. By way of contrast, the media does not discuss the issue of Secretary Clinton’s health. She suffered a major concussion in December 2012 and appears to be suffering from Post-concussion symbol. She appears confused and wobbly on occasions, Headaches, confusion, hesitations in speech, being wobbly have characterized her recent appearances, but have been ignored by the media. President Obama lives by the teleprompter (TOTUS) without a peep from the media, but it’s newsworthy to the media when Donald Trump uses it a few times. President George W. Bush was crucified by the media and democrats for not properly handling Hurricane Katrina. Presidential candidate Senator Obama mocked him for doing a flyover. Yet, Louisiana, which is suffering the greatest flooding since Hurricane Sandy and 115,000 displaced, will not interfere with the President’s golfing on Martha’s Vineyard. Secretary Clinton phoned it in to Louisiana’s governor, while Donald Trump was in Louisiana today helping out. Finally, the President was shamed into announcing he will go to Louisiana on Tuesday after 8 rounds in 12 days. ____________________________________________________________________________ That was the draft from 3 weeks ago. Now we can say that Yes, some media do have a sense of journalistic integrity. The pay to play corruption of the Clinton Foundation and the State Department was too much too swallow. Many of the mainstream media have said enough is enough. It’s time to end the Clinton Foundation. They recognize that this is not just Hillary Clinton’s boring email Republican witch hunt. They now know, and we now know, why the Secretary of State set up a private email server to handle her personal and government email, and continued to lie about it. It was to prevent discovery of incriminating, essential corrupt, transactions by the Clintons. They used the Foundation as the front for pay to play. It also explains why the Clintons tried to erase the servers. The Secretary when asked about scrubbing the server, arrogantly joked “You mean with a brush?’ (cackle, cackle) The Associated Press led the way. It reported that based on the State Department logs, Secretary Clinton had 154 meetings with person s who were not federal employees or foreign government representatives. 85 of these were with donors to the Clinton Foundation. Their contributions totaled at least $156 million. An additional $170 million, give or take a few dollars, came from 16 foreign governments. The Secretary’s response is that the AP did not tell the full story. That’s correct because the State Department has only released 2 years of logs, and is dragging its feet on the other 2 years. The Secretary and her acolytes are now complaining of media bias against her for continuing to discuss her emails and now her health. Matt Lauer in hosting the Commander in Chief Forum on September 7 was criticized by the media for asking her a hardball question on her media, noting FBI Director Comey’s statements questioning her factual statements on the emails. She said she disagreed with the FBI Director. He was simply doing his job. Questions have been circulating about her health. She and her people denied any health issues. They also blame it on more of the right wing conservative and alt right. She collapsed in public after several coughing fits in public. Finally, her doctor confirmed she has pneumonia. However, no MRI’s have been released, a critical tool in light of her past concussion. One her answers to the FBI about State Department instructions about classified information was that she couldn’t remember because of her concussion. She still seems to be wearing sun glasses They complain of the extensive free publicity the media gave Donald Trump during the primaries. They did, but a substantial amount was the nature of “Can you believe what he just said?” Media bias? General Colin Powell’s emails have been hacked and released. He had unfavorable comments about the two candidates. He called Donald Trump a “national disgrace and international pariah.” That received substantial airplay on CNN. The General’s comments of Hillary Clinton were just as brutal. Two statements especially stand out. The first is “Everything H.R.C. touches she kind of screws up with hubris.” The second is that he would ‘rather not have to vote for her.” She “has a long track record, unbridled ambition, greedy, not transformative.” Hubris Arrogance That and her pathological mendacity are her problems. She’s not used to media criticism. She doesn’t expect it, and can’t handle it.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

The United States 15 Years After 9/11

The United States was split on 9/10 with Democrats hating President Bush and the Supreme Court for stealing the election. Then came 9/11 and three days of Kumbala. Congress was all in for Afghanistan. Senator John Kerry stood out among Democrats for voting for the War in Iraq before voting against it. Senator Clinton voted for the War, but now admits it was a mistake – one of many she’s made. The United States is less secure today than on 9/11. President Obama snatched defeat from victory in Iraq and Afghanistan. President Obama whiffed on Syria, and promoted chaos in Libya, letting a radical Islamic organization, ISIS, rise to power and aid, abet and encourage terrorism in the United States, Belgium, and France. He has funded Iran, the leader in state sponsored terrorism – the total bill seems to be growing daily. He has expressed contempt for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu while anti-Semitism is going viral on the nation’s campuses. He is relying upon the United Nations to bypass the treaty power of Congress. Secretary of State Clinton was an integral player in the failed Obama Foreign Policy. His War on Coal, actually war on fossil fuels, is weakening the American economy. He started his Administration with an apology tour, weakened and diminished the nation’s military, and is finishing his administration with his presidency and the United States held in contempt by China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia Bullies, like Vladimir Putin, feed on weakness. Secretary Clinton has repeatedly spoken out on the invective of Donald Trump, but on Friday said half of Donald trump’s supporters are deplorable: “To just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Donald trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, - you name it.” Her arrogance and contempt for the American people surfaced, once again, out of her troubled vocal cords. America has been attacked in Fort Hood, Boston, Orlando and San Bernardino, but the President and Secretary Clinton refuse to recognize “radical Islamic terrorism.” People are increasingly becoming anti-Islam, or at least new Muslim refugees from the Mideast. They want the borders closed. Race riots have wracked our cities, while police have been murdered in Baton Rouge, Dallas, and New York City. African Americans have valid concerns about police brutality, but the Ferguson narrative was based on a fraudulent premise. Police have been successfully prosecuted for wrongful shootings and excessive force short of death. The American people know Black Lives Matter, but they know that equally All Lives Matter. Some of our campuses are suffering from a paroxysm of political correctness with trigger warnings and safe zones crippling freedom of speech while some universities try to rewrite history. The donors and parents of the University of Missouri have expressed their dismay with the response to student protests. They see upward mobility draining away with jobs leaving the country. The middle class is being squeezed. The American people are not elitists, but Obama and the Clintons are. They see the judiciary, led by the factionalism on the Supreme Court, legislating and turning the Republic into the rule of man rather than the Rule of Law. They watch the President and the judiciary eviscerate traditional American values. The American people are troubled, distressed, and in a surly mood. The President has pursued an eight year policy of redistribution rather than economic growth. The larger government grows, they less room exists for the private sector to create economic wealth and jobs. The economy, as in Europe, stagnates. President Obama has frequently lied to the American people, while Secretary Clinton can’t stop lying. Americans are in a surly mood because of a: Failed foreign policy, Failed economic policy Failed security Failed race relations They feel ignored by the political leaders, both Democrats and Republicans. They want change. And yet, Secretary Clinton may become the next President of a divided nation offering more of the same. We are looking at a divided country after November 8. Such is the state of United States 15 years after 9/11.

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Happy Labor Day College Students; The NLRB is raising Your Tuition

Monday was Labor Day – the day to celebrate workers and the Labor Movement. You would not know it this year, but labor day is the traditional day of starting the fall election campaigns. Labor Day also often marks the new academic year. Let’s see how Labor and academics meet. First, let’s look at the status of the labor unions today. The good news is that the unionized percent of the labor force is 11.1%, the same as last year, down from 20.1% in 1983. Roughly 14.8% of the workers are unionized, down from 17.7 million in 1983. The interesting fact is that only 6.7% of the private labor market is unionized compared to 35.2% of the public sector. The unions are struggling valiantly to hold their own. Even the pro-labor NLRB has been unable to increase union membership. It views its mission to be increase union membership, which brings us yo academe, the relatively union free academe. The Obama Administration is decrying the cost of college. The Democratic candidates, Senator Sanders and Secretary Clinton, advocate free college – free tuition. “Free, Free, Free” is the mantra of the Clinton campaign to win the college student votes. Writing off student loans is to appeal to the Millennials. Someone forgot to tell the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) about the soaring cost of higher education and student indebtedness. It voted in August to raise tuition at our major private universities. It would have also done so at our public universities, but the NLRB lacks jurisdiction over them. The NLRB is not the Department of Education, or any other agency with jurisdiction over education, so how can it raise tuition? It indirectly raised tuition by increasing the costs of the institutions. It held in August that graduate teaching assistants and graduate research assistants are employees subject to the National Labor Relations Act. The Board held that all employees are subject to the Act’s jurisdiction unless they fall into a specific exemption. No exemptions exist for students. The NLRB thereby overruled its 2004 decision which held graduates teaching classes are not employees under the act. It also overruled a 1974 decision that held graduate research students were not employees under the act. The research was viewed as a part of their learning process.; i.e. education, not employment. The only way to learn to do research is to do it. The Columbia graduate students are represented by the United Auto Workers (UAW). Also in the act are the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the Association of University professors, and the Teamsters. The UAW is also organizing at Harvard. The SEIU is active at Duke, Northwestern, and St. Louis Universities. The purpose of unionization is to increase wages and improve working conditions. Let’s imagine the teamsters and UAW on the campus picket lines. Let’s also remember what the UAW did to the auto industry. Let us also recognize though that graduate students serving as teachers were often treated as indentured labor. They worked long hours for little compensation in exchange for free tuition and a small stipend. The teaching loads often delayed the completion of the Ph.D. Even today graduate students and adjuncts are cheap costs compared to fulltime professors. They can reduce the number of the soon to be higher compensated graduate students or have the professors teach more classes, either of which will raise tuition. There will also be clashes over jurisdiction and job classifications, such as in the assembly plants. Academic fights over who can teach which courses could be dramatic. Soon there will be fully compensated shop stewards in the universities and faculty lounges.

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Secretary Clinton Surpasses Rosemary Woods in Missing

We Learn from the Recently Released FBI Tapes that Secretary Clinton is Forgetful and suffered from a concussion. The FBI issued its redacted transcript of their interview with Secretary Clinton. She answered 35 questions in 3 hours with “I don’t recall.” One of the questions referred to an email sent under her signature in 2011. It advised State Department employees from using personal email usage. The irony must have escaped her as she replied “I don’t recall.” That’s quite a memory loss for such an erstwhile brilliant graduate of Wellesley and Yale Law School. When asked about an email, clearly marked with a “c” denoting classified, her response was especially absurd. She responded that she thought the “c” was a paragraph listing format. The most hilarious response by the “most qualified candidate with the most expertise” was to the question of whether she recalled any briefing or training by staff relating to retention of federal records and handling of classifications. She again responded that she couldn’t recall, but this time because she was still suffering from her one-time coma. She also said didn’t understand the classification system. We see excessive ignorance from one with such expertise! Secretary Clinton is not suffering, so far as we know, from early-stage dementia, but from lawyeritis. Don’t expect a full set of medical records or the transcripts from her Goldman Sachs speeches. Hillary’s answers are precisely what lawyers tell their clients to say to avoid perjury or lying to authorities charges (Martha Stewart’s crime): “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember.” It’s hard to dispute these statements, unlike a factual assertion which law enforcement knows is false. She is not the only Clinton afflicted with lawyeritis. Both her husband, President Clinton, as well as Bill Gates also sounded like the village idiots in their depositions a decade ago, her husband over Paula Jones and Bill Gates in an antitrust lawsuit. Remember her statement when the email scandal first broke a few years ago that she only wanted to use one device? The FBI revealed that she used 13 mobile devices and 5 IPads. All 13 mobile devices and 2 IPads are now missing, perhaps in the same niche once occupied by the Rose Law Firm billing records. Remember her “joke” a year ago about wiping her server “with a cloth or something?” An aide actually used a program called BleachBit to wipe her emails. That shows both intent (to everyone except FBI Director Comey) and obstruction of justice/tampering with evidence. The BleachBit was applied 3 weeks after Congress requested the information. As if we didn’t know before how careless she was with classified material, we learn that she took her BlackBerry into a secure area in which such electronic equipment was barred. Once again, one rule for the Clintons and another for everyone else. Rosemary Woods and President Nixon had 18 missing minutes from the tapes. Secretary Clinton is missing tapes, devices, and her memory/mind by the thousands. Secretary Clinton has even been missing from the campaign trail.

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Colin Kaepernick is a $61 Million Idiot

Colin Kaepernick, the has-been QB star of the once great San Francisco 49ers, has every right to refuse to stand and salute the American Flag. Colin Kapernick has every constitutional right to burn the American Flag if he wishes. Colin Kaepernick has every right to wear socks with cartoonish police officers and the word “Pig” on them. Colin Kaepernick has every right to say: “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.” Colin Kaepernick has every right to comment on Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump: ”I mean, you have Hillary who has called black teens or black kids super predators. You have Donald Trump who’s openly racist. I mean, we have a Presidential candidate who’s deleted emails and done things illegally and is a presidential candidate. That doesn’t make sense to me, because if that was any other person, you’d be in prison.” Colin Kaepernick has every right to be a buffoon and idiot. The American Flag and the Republic for which it stands, including the First Amendment, gives him that right. Colin Kaepernick was apparently harassed by police while in college, and hasn’t forgotten or forgiven. He has spoken out against the oppression of African Americans by whites and the police. Who has oppressed him? Is it the York family, the white owners of the 49ers, who gave him a 6 year, $126 million, with $61 million guaranteed. Even if, as is presently foreseeable, he rides the bench this year risking splinters in his gluteus maximus, he will earn a guaranteed $19 million. Was it John Harbaugh, the white 49er head coach, who turned him into an all-star QB for a few years? Was it the white couple who adopted him? Is it the white police officers and prosecutors who have been prosecuting white police officers who have wrongfully shot blacks? Is it the white police officers providing security to Colin Kaepernick? Is it the NFL which refused to let the Dallas Cowboys wear a helmet decal in memory of the 5 police officers killed and 7 wounded by a crazed black sniper? Is it the white fans who root for the black athletes, who are most of the NBA and NFL players? Is it the affluent taxpayers, and especially the affluent white parents who pay high tuition, to subsidize the minority students at our colleges and universities? Is it our deceased sailors and soldiers who fought under the American flag to preserve the right of idiots to act stupidly? Is it our disabled veterans who live with pain so that the Colin Kaepernicks of the country can trash the Flag and America? Hope Solo and Ryan Lochte also have to right to say stupid things and act like an idiot. Have they been oppressed by whites?