The Party's Over: Has the GOP Become Incapable of Leading the Nation?

by Nomad

It's becoming harder and harder to ignore the fact that the Republican Party is in chaos. Still worse, the problem is not going away any time soon. It's a battle for the heart and soul of the party. Some are asking whether all this insurgency and infighting has made the GOP incapable of governing the nation?

An article in the Los Angeles Times by Doyle McManus notes that despite having more conservatives in Congress than at any time since the 1920s, despite having control of both the Senate and the House, the GOP is a mess. Its radical minority has left the House with "no speaker, no cohesion and no strategy for turning its conservative agenda into law."

And, as McManus points out, they have nobody to blame (certainly not Obama) for this but themselves. The establishment Republicans have negligently allowed the extremists like Cruz and others to take control.

As soon as Speaker of the House John Boehner declared his intention to step down, he decided to blast the GOP radicals. calling them “false prophets” who misled their ever gullible voters. Boehner claimed that these firebrands purposely "whipped their people into a frenzy" with lies and false promises. Things, he said, they knew full well they could never keep. Like closing down Obamacare or impeaching the president over (fill in the blank).

Turkey in Shock After Bomb Blasts in Capital Kill Nearly 100 Peace Marchers

by Nomad

After twin bomb blasts rocked the Turkish capital on Saturday morning, many Turks are shell-shocked. and wonder how much worse will things get. 

Although the entire Turkish nation is in deep shock and mourning, for some of us this horrendous attack in Ankara yesterday didn't really come as a surprise.

The viciousness and the scale were however hard to comprehend.

 Violence, Tragedy and Insecurity

The double bombing at a little after ten on Saturday morning was the deadliest terrorist attack that Turkey has seen, Nearly 100 lives were lost and with hundreds more injured. There are, reports now say, something around 160 presently undergoing treatment at hospitals. The death toll is expected to rise since 65 of the injured are in intensive care. 

There were no claims of responsibility for the attack.   

Musical Sanity Break- A Change is Gonna Come- Aretha Franklin

by Nomad

"I Wasn't Always a Conservative...."

by Nomad

Recording the Police: When Your Constitutional Protections Mean Nothing

by Nomad

You may not know this but you really do have a constitutionally-protected right that is routinely ignored by law enforcement. And worse than that, there's not a lot you can do about it.

Civil liberties attorneys will tell you straight up that you have a right to photograph and videotape any public official doing their jobs when plainly visible in public spaces. And yes, that includes on-duty police officers. 

The Interference Limitation

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) adds that it is perfectly legal and that right includes recording the "outside of federal buildings, as well as transportation facilities, and police and other government officials carrying out their duties."

Delroy Burton, chairman of D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Union and a 21-year veteran on the force joins that chorus:

As a basic principle, we can’t tell you to stop recording. If you’re standing across the street videotaping, and I’m in a public place, carrying out my public functions, [then] I’m subject to recording, and there’s nothing legally the police officer can do to stop you from recording.”

There are some important limitations, of course.
In the course of recording, you do not have the right to put your life or the lives of others in danger. You cannot break the law in order to record, such as trespassing or disturbing a crime scene. You should not interfere with officers attempting to keep the peace in, for example, a riot or civil disturbance.  

The recording should be done in a transparent manner, and not in a surreptitious or covert way. If you record public servants without their knowledge, you could be accused of - get this- eavesdropping. Privacy laws protect the police too.

As Burton puts it succinctly "Record from a distance, stay out of the scene." As long as you are not directly involved, nothing more than a citizen witness, the police have no right to tell you to stop recording.

That's the theory, anyway.

The Forgetful Senator Graham and a Flooded Two-Way Street

by Nomad

When it comes to helping people in need, Americans have always been fairly generous. Austerity-obsessed Republicans  however sometimes tend to forget what goes around, comes around.

The Great Flood of 2015
In the aftermath of extensive and deadly flooding in his state, Republican presidential hopeful Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is now making a pitch for much needed federal relief. The situation is pretty dire, from the news reports.

Some residents in the effected areas have lost everything. Even as the rains have subsided, the dangers are still mounting. Dams have been breached and other infrastructure have collapsed and rivers are still rising.
CNN reported yesterday:

Eleven people are known dead in the state due to weather-related incidents. Of those, seven drowned, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety. Four others died in traffic accidents.

Local media is proclaiming the flooding a "catastrophe of incredible proportion."

The Governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, declared the flooding on this massive scale was a "1000 year event." A risky thing for her to say. It's almost (but not quite) as if she is saying that the climate has changed. Or something.
She'd better watch that kind of loose talk. In the past she has received campaign funding from the climate-change denying Koch brothers.
According to one source, “The Kochs love Nikki Haley." But it is a fickle kind of love as changeable as the weather.

Greenpeace points out that the brothers have for decades been actively financing climate denial groups and lobbying against a federal and state level any climate change legislation. It's really not much of a secret.

As you might or not know, Senator Graham is- in his meek and hopeless fashion- running for president and with a showing of less than 1%, right down there with Jim Gilmore, George Pataki, and Rand Paul. 

If an effort to show off his leadership skills, he told Wolf Blitzer:

"Let's just get through this thing, and whatever it costs, it costs.

Pearl S. Buck and the Privileges A Woman Must Give Up

by Nomad

A quote from a famous writer of the 1940s gives some stern advice for women voters of today. You can no longer afford the "privilege" of being complacent. 

Whenever I see women cheering in rallies for Republican conservatives, I wonder what kind of mindset would support the very elected officials who have showed so little respect for women's issues, such as women's health and reproductive choices. 

I ask myself how can so many women vote against their own interests. Where do these women come from?
One source gives a snapshot of the female conservative.

Married women are more likely to be conservative and, as the report shows, they're the one bright spot in a dark picture for the GOP. More importantly, while single women are more liberal, they don't vote as often as married women.

With so much at stake, why would any woman decide not to vote?

For such people, one writer gave a finger-wagging talking-to to women who don't concern themselves with politics.
In her 1941, book Of Men and Women,  Nobel Prize–winning author Pearl S. Buck wrote that certain attitudes had to change if women were ever going to make a positive impact politically:

What she has to give up will be her present privileges,

-the privilege of remaining ignorant in spite of education,

-the privilege of mental laziness,

-of not having to think thoroughly through any thing because she knows the ultimate decision will not rest on her,

-the privilege of being willful and capricious and irresponsible,

-the privilege of idleness and of having time to spend lavishly on self-adornment and amusement, and

-the privilege of escaping from the problems of life, by retreating from them into her home and considering that her whole duty is there.

She is, in short, to become an adult creature ready for the responsibilities of liberty."

Oregon, Obama and The Greatness of an Angry Man

by Nomad

In the aftermath of the Oregon shooting, the visibly upset President Obama spoke to reporters and to the nation.
He was not shocked. It's hard to be shocked when, as the UKGuardian points out, there's been on average a mass shooting – involving four or more injured people – nearly every day. There have been an astounding 994 mass shootings in 1,004 days. The president was angry and he made no effort to disguise the fact.

Somehow, said the president, this has become routine. The events, the reactions, the tears and the prayers. Why must this keep happening before something gets done. Is this something we have all become numb to?

He said the burden of guilt falls ultimately on the American people for not demanding more from their representatives in Washington in their respective state legislatures.

"This is a political choice that we make, to allow this to happen every few months in America. We collectively are answerable to those families who lose their loved ones."

"This is not, Obama said, "something I can do myself."

He asked the American public to consider the ways they can get their government to change the laws and to save lives. "To let young people grow up." He declared

"That will require a change of politics on this issue. If you think this is a problem then you should expect your elected officials to reflect your views."

The Intrinsic Good: Why All Conservatives Should Be Rallying Around Same-Sex Marriage

by Nomad

You would probably never consider the Supreme Court decision against same-same marriage bans to be a great victory for the conservatives. And yet, that's exactly what it was. They just refuse to admit it.

The Friends of the Court

The term, AMICI CURIAE, in Latin means the "friends of the court." These are respected citizens who offer fact-based evidence  as well as reasoned advice to the Supreme Court judges. This assistance is unquestionably a great asset to the justices.when they are tasked with difficult rulings. 

Such consultants are also failsafe against making judicial blunders. In theory, the more input from varied sources is given, the more balanced and well-thought out that decision will be.  

The group is normally made up "social and political conservatives, moderates, and libertarians from diverse backgrounds."

One look at the list of participants would reveal the truth about Senator Ted Cruz's ridiculous charge that the “tragic” Supreme Court decisions were a case of "judicial activism." In the case of the same sex marriage ban ruling, the group came from all walks of life.   

Many have served as elected or appointed officeholders in various Presidential administrations, as governors, mayors, and other officeholders in States and cities across the Nation, as members of Congress, as ambassadors, as military officers, as officials in political campaigns and political parties, and as advocates and activists for various political and social causes.

To claim this group of around 280 men and women from such varied political and social backgrounds could have an activist agenda is preposterous in the extreme.

When the SCOTUS was reviewing the constitutionality of state-level same sex marriage bans, the Amici dutifully reviewed as much information as it could find on the legality of same sex bans. Around 55 court cases were referenced and 19 authoritative texts were also consulted before they reached their conclusions.

The counsels, in addition, reviewed the constitutional and statutory provision with care. Due to the importance of the case and the ramifications of the decision, the amicus brief not a hastily drawn-up brief.

An Insidious Evil: Voting Rights Act, the SCOTUS Blunder and Voter ID Laws

by Nomad

A couple of years ago, one of the great legislative achievements from the 1960s was all but dismantled. Strange too since only seven years before it was gutted, both parties in Congress had voted to keep this landmark legislation around for another generation. We examine how this could have happened and what have been the effects.

In American history,  7 March 1965 became known as Bloody Sunday.

It was on this day that civil rights protesters clashed with Alabama State troopers. With billy clubs and tear gas, state troopers and county possemen beat, before the eyes of the nation, unarmed demonstrators. 

Despite that, two days later, a second march was organized. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was there and led the marchers and this time troopers stepped aside to let them pass. 

But that night, a gang of white thugs took their revenge of a civil rights activist, James Reeb. Reeb a white Boston minister, had come to join in the second march. Beaten to death by white men with clubs for his support of African American rights. Reeb became a martyr to the civil rights cause when he lapsed into a coma and died on 11 March 1965.

The entire nation shocked that such things could happen in the land of the free. What followed was remarkable, a national outcry against the activities of white racists leading to direct legislative action by Washington.

The Search for a Solution

On 15 March 1965, President Lyndon Johnson swiftly moved into action. He spoke before a joint session of Congress on a matter that was important to him and, he believed, important to the nation. The subject was the proposed Voting Rights Act, new laws which aimed at prohibiting racial discrimination in voting.

In certain areas of the nation, racial discrimination in voting was a deeply entrenched  problem. It had become “an insidious and pervasive evil,"  the result of an "unremitting and ingenious defiance of the Constitution.” The time had come to rectify this long-standing problem as the federal government sometimes had to do.

Dumping: Why Hospitals Continue to Abandon their Homeless Patients

by Nomad

The problem of hospital's dumping homeless patients back on the street is a shame for the nation.

The practice of homeless dumping has been for some time now a shame of the national healthcare system. Nobody is very much surprised that it happens. In a system where money outranks almost other considerations, priorities can pretty regularly become warped by the profit margin. The penniless and homeless simply aren't worth the expense of adequate healthcare when the chief aim is to make a return on investment. 

That's the harsh reality of privatized healthcare. 

In numerous incidents, hospital employees and/or emergency services  have been caught releasing back to the streets otherwise homeless patients who may be in need of expensive medical care. These patients should have been placed in shelters or in some kind of adequate facility. The street is the last place for them, for their sake's and for the sake of general public health.

Science, Evolution and The Magical Thinking of Dr. Ben Carson

by Nomad

Ben Carson's remarks on evolution may seem extraordinary for such an educated person. In fact, there's a very good explanation for his backward way of thinking.

A Relatively Modern Science Concept

This week, scientists at National Academy of Sciences in Washington have released a new version of the tree of life. 

The graphic shows everything science knows about the relationship of all living things on the planet. With the inclusion of 2.3 million species the graphic is the most complete of its kind.

As complete as it is, it is far from finished. With an estimated 8.7 million of species today, (that doesn't include the species that have gone extinct) there are still quite a lot of blank spaces to fill in the record.

One of the aspects of Darwin's theory of evolution was that all life -including humankind- is related and originated from the same primitive organisms. That every living thing, from microbes to fungus to giraffes, on the planet ultimately share a common ancestor. 

In some ways, it's a really ethereal idea which helps us find our place in the larger scheme of things. Our uniqueness as a life form comes in our knowing that place.

As one source explains:

The history of living things is documented through multiple lines of evidence that converge to tell the story of life through time.

Researcher Douglas Soltis of the University of Florida said:

"As important as showing what we do know about relationships, this first tree of life is also important in revealing what we don't know."

It's hard to find a better statement that better represents what science is really all about. Amid and in contrast to all of this marvelous science showing us the miraculous story of how life began, there was in the same week a video of Dr. Carson and his view of evolution. 

Carson on Newton

Before nodding spectators, Dr. Ben Carson, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital and Republican Presidential hopeful, expounded on his views about creationism vs. evolution at the conference called Celebration of Creation.

In Their World, Everything was Terrific in 2008

by Nomad

I am not sure how much more clearly you could put it than that.

Echo from the Suffrage: Twelve Reasons Why Women Should Vote

by Nomad

Here's an public ad for universal suffrage from the 1920s.

This list makes so much sense and yet, even today so many women voters stay at home.
  

1. Because those who obey the laws should help to choose those who make the laws.
2. Because laws affect women as much as men.
3. Because laws which affect women are now passed without consulting them. 
4. Because  laws affecting Children should include the woman's point of view as well as the man's.
5. Because laws affecting the home are voted on in every session of the legislature.
6. Because women have experience which would be helpful to legislation.
7. Because to deprive women of the vote is to lower their position in the common estimation. 
8. Because having the vote would increase the sense of responsibility among women toward questions of public importance.
9. Because public spirited mothers make public spirited sons.
10. Because about 8,000,000 women in the United States are wage workers, and the conditions under which they work are controlled by the law. 
11. Because the objections against their having the vote are based on prejudice, not on reason.
12. Because to sum up all reasons in one-- it is for the common good of all. 

A Question of Qualifications: A Closer Look at Carly Fiorina

by Nomad

When it comes to GOP candidates, like Donald Trump and Ben Carson, isn't it fair to ask: what kind of minimum qualifications necessary to be the Republican nominee in 2016? 

In the case of Carly Fiorina, her only qualification is her tenure as CEO of Hewlett-Packard. That's actually a liability.

When Carly Fiorina announced her decision to be a Republican candidate for 2016, many insiders questioned her thin qualifications to become president of the United States. 

For the better-informed voter or former HP employees, it was perhaps startling to hear point to her corporate business history as evidence.

Why?

It was exactly that subject - her tenure as CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP) from 1999 to 2005 that her Democratic opponent, Barbara Boxer, used against her in the 2010 California Senate race. It proved to be more than enough to make voters think twice about Fiorina.

Putting aside the particular details of the Fiorina business history, we need to be asking: 

Is running a corporation really the same as being president?     

Certainly any successful venture is something a candidate could legitimately point out. Indeed, management skills required overlap to some degree. 

However,  there are some crucial differences too. 

Jihad Reality: Why Disillusioned ISIS Defectors are Dropping Out

by Nomad

Disillusioned by what they witnessed, some former ISIS members have defected. Their testimony reveals the truth about the organization and the nature of the caliphate they have set up.

In Western society, we are pretty regularly taught not to dwell too deeply on mistakes we make in life. Move on and not look back in regret is the message.
However, in some instances, the mistakes we make can destroy our lives, the lives of people we care about and can affect in a direct and often damaging way, innocent victims. 

Shouldn't we as individuals take the time to stop and reflect on our bad decisions? And when mistakes happen on a grand scale, shouldn't society also sit back and make use of this bad example? 

I bring this point up after reading an article about former ISIS members who are now defecting from the organization and returning back to their homes. They are now testifying to the painful disillusionment they experienced and how their fantasy of jihad and a new world order were destroyed by the harsh barbarous reality on the ground.

The Re-Greening of Suburbia: How an Old Shopping Mall May Soon be Home to World's Largest Green Roof

by Nomad

One development proposal in California would see the world's largest green roof. It will provide an example of how green thinking will change the urban and suburban landscape.

The story of the shopping mall in some ways represents the story of mid-century America. A product of the automobile loving suburban culture of the 1960s, the mall as a cultural icon, critics say, is an idea that has passed its prime.

Many large-scale malls today have become less and less economically sustainable. In some areas of the country, malls are experiencing higher vacancies, being repurposed and are even being demolished.

The question is what is going to come next? 

In California, one developer is offering a possible answer.

Ben Carson vs John Kennedy: A Religious Test for the Executive Office?

by Nomad

Remarks from the Republican candidate, Dr. Ben Carson have called into question whether the White House is reserved for a limited category of Americans based on their faith.

On Sunday's Meet the Press,  GOP candidate Ben Carson 

was asked whether a candidate’s religious faith should be considered when Americans elect a president. He said:

“I guess it depends on what that faith is. If it’s inconsistent with the values and principles of America, then of course it should matter. But if it fits within the realm of America and consistent with the Constitution, no problem.”

Within "the realm of America" is a strange turn of phrase. Moreover, the Constitution has nothing to say about the faith of a prospective leader of the nation.  

Then when probed a little more, Carson stated:

"I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that."

It was a shocking thing to hear for so many reasons. Especially a nation which professes to believe that America that can be home to all faiths and that everybody- in theory- has a right to rise as far as they are capable of, even to the presidency. 

Has Carson really thought this through? Are atheists also excluded from holding the executive office? What about Mormons?

If Muslims should be forbidden then which religions make the cut? 

Reflections on the Quiet American Hero, Jimmy Carter

by Nomad

It's time to give credit where credit is long due. A look back at the remarkable retirement of Jimmy Carter, the humanitarian.

Few Presidents have had a more successful post-presidency than Jimmy Carter. Some have said he has re-invented the definition of what it means to be a former US president. 

In a world of politics, driven mad with ego and ambition, Carter has stood as a model of sacrifice and dedication to the service of his fellow human being. 

Blame Game: The Truth Behind Syrian President Assad's Accusation of Western Hypocrisy

by Nomad

In an attempt to deflect his role in the death of his nation and the subsequent exodus of its people, President Assad said it was all the West's fault and it was hypocritical to cry over dead children.

Yesterday The Wall Street Journal reported on an interview with the president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad. During the carefully arranged interview, Assad pointed the finger of blame and hypocrisy at Western countries. These countries, he implied, have backed rebels aiming at toppling the Assad regime. 

This, he claims, is turn what has led to the flood of refugees. 

The Interview and the Numbers

Seated before a panel of very sympathetic Russian reporters, President Assad explained that the reason for the mass desertion of the population is because of terrorism.

"Actually those refugees left Syria because of the terrorism, mainly because of the terrorists and because of the killing, and second because of the results of terrorism. When you have terrorism, and you have the destruction of the infrastructure, you won’t have the basic needs of living, so many people leave because of the terrorism and because they want to earn their living somewhere in this world.

“The West is supporting terrorists since the beginning of the crisis when it said that this was a peaceful uprising. The West is crying for them."

“How can you be sad for a child that dies at sea and you are not sad for the thousands of children, elderly, men and women who died at the hands of terrorists in Syria.”

If you are worried about them, stop supporting terrorists. That’s what we think regarding the crisis. This is the core of the whole issue of refugees.

(For the full interview click here.)

While there is no shortage of hypocrisy in this crisis, Assad's remarks certainly hit a new low in attempts to manipulate world opinion. 

The facts, however, speak for themselves.

"He Kept Us Safe": The Rovian Lie that JEB! Must Forever Cling To

by Nomad

During the Republican debate, JEB! unintentionally revealed his own seemingly insurmountable dilemma of trying to scrub his brother's dismal record.

Tabloid Politics

The agonizingly- immature GOP debates predictably boiled down into an oily smelly sludge, with candidates making ignorant claims about Planned Parenthood and "baby parts", about Kim Davis' right to ignore her oath of office, and about the long-disproved link between autism and vaccinations.

In every respect, it was tabloid politics. 

CNN, which hosted the debates, over-packaged the event in the most surreal way too. The eye-roller opening sounded like a trailer for a World Wrestling Smackdown event or a cheesy film trailer from the 1980s. 

And of course, there was something for Left to enjoy too. The personal attacks.

Planned Parenthood Files Lawsuit Against Arkansas for Blocking Healthcare for Poor Women

by Nomad

In an attempt to abolish abortion on a state by state basis, governors of a few states have cut Medicaid contracts with Planned Parenthood, a non-profit organization which provides reproductive health and maternal and child health services.. The problem is the action is, say lawyers for organization, illegal and they plan to sue.

Check out this reprinted article from Medical Daily.

Planned Parenthood Is Suing The State Of   Arkansas

Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit with the American Civil Liberties Union that alleges Governor Asa Hutchinson (R-Ark) “acted illegally” when he moved to terminate Medicaid contracts with the organization last month, The Hill reported. “Governor Hutchinson has no business telling women in Arkansas where they can and cannot go for cancer screenings, birth control, HIV tests…

Seriously...

by Nomad

No Ideas, No Options: Why the GOP Alternative to a Iran Nuclear Deal is All-out War

by Nomad

An opposition party is supposed to offer alternatives to the ruling parties initiatives. In the case of the Republican party, the alternative to the Iran Nuclear deal is military conflict.

As Congress mulls over the fine print in the Iran Nuclear Arms agreement, it is interesting to listen to some of the reactions of Republican candidates.
It was always perfectly clear that anything that emerged from Obama administration's efforts would be condemned by the Republicans. 

Had the agreement had the   diplomats of the Iranian Republic marching the Supreme Leader in chains to the waiting American warships, Republican Congressmen would have been complaining that the chains were of the wrong weight or that that the speed of the military escort was too slow.

The criticism began long before Congress ever got a chance to look over the actual agreement. That criticism, some say, had much more to do with the bad relationship between the parties and the Right's animosity toward Obama than the particulars of the Iran deal.

Have Republican Candidates Huckabee and Cruz Just Committed Treason in the Kim Davis Case?

by Nomad

Statements made by two Republican candidates regarding the Kim Davis case may have crossed a line by encouraging rebellion against the authority of the Supreme Court. And it's called treason.

Committing treason in a nation which prizes the right of free speech has always been tricky business. Unlike many other countries in the world, in the US, people are allowed to say pretty much whatever they want. 

However, the freedom of expression has, contrary to conventional wisdom, never been absolute or unlimited. There are slander and libel laws, for example. Calling for insurrection is also proscribed as a abuse of freedom of speech. 

The  U.S. Code Chapter 115  defines treason like this:,

“Whoever incites, sets on foot, assists, or engages in any rebellion or insurrection against the authority of the United States or the laws thereof, or gives aid or comfort thereto, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and shall be incapable of holding any office under the United States.”

Tomorrow's Headlines: Kentucky Group Petitions Town to Allow Stoning of Alleged Witch

by Nomad

I thought you might enjoy a break from the depressing news of the day with a little fun. Tomorrow's headlines is a regular spoofing of the news of the day. 

Honestly, though, parody stories like this just seem to write themselves. 

A group  of 250 townspeople in Twiddle, Kentucky, calling itself "God Sway," has petitioned the local town council for permission to stone to death a resident. 

Daniel H. Spofford, a spokesman for the 501(c) organization, claims that 65 year old widow - Lucretia Tobias- is a witch, a handmaiden to Satan. As of last weekend, more than half of the town's residents have signed the petition.

Spofford accused Tobias of performing various forms of magic and putting hexes on members of the neo-puritan group. Last week, Spofford claims, Tobias cast a spell on one local resident.

"That same week, all of his chickens died and his wife developed a nasty rash on her elbow. She was in a lot of pain too."

A leading member of the group told reporters (on condition of anonymity)

"Punishing the source of Satan's mischief has a long history in the US, going back before the nation was founded. It's part of our religious heritage."

A Report From the Borderlines: Where Tourists and Refugees Share an Island

by Nomad

The Greek island of Chios lies at the far east edge of Europe. Beyond that is Turkey and the rest of Asia and the Middle East. This island is also one of the corridors through which thousands of refugees and migrants are risking their lives in a bid for a new life in Europe.

The reaction to the viral- indeed iconic- photo of a dead child on the beach in Bodrum in Western Turkey has ignited a worldwide discussion about the plight of the refugees and migrants attempting to enter into Europe from the Middle East and North Africa. A collective conscience has apparently awoken from its slumber.

It's been a long time in coming. This sudden reaction to the death of one child seems a little hypocritical. Especially when refugee families and their children have been dying in the wine-dark sea for months now.

Although the struggles of refugees to cross into Europe has been going on for years now, the wave of illegal migration from Turkey really cranked up at the beginning of summer.

This tragedy didn't begin in Turkey, however. The roots go back years and a lot of children and families have suffered and have died without much notice.
Before this present crisis, it was Syrian children and entire families huddled in tents during the dead of winter on the border of Syria and Turkey. At that time, European leaders paid the minimal amount of lip service.
Before that, dead children at school being shelled by mortars in Damascus.
All of these children too were innocent casualties of a needlessly prolonged war.  

The Crossing

Last week I made a similar crossing from Turkey to Greece. Similar perhaps, but certainly not the same.  I came as a welcomed tourist with Euros in my pocket, not a desperate refugee in shabby clothes.  

Actually, every summer for the past few years, my Turkish friend, Inan and I have made the journey to the quiet relief of Chios. to escape the overcrowded, noisy and generally insufferable tourist "hotspots" back in Turkey.  

Headlines of the Future? President Trump Tweets German Chancellor Merkel is Smelly "Fat Pig"

by Nomad

Imagine this news story in 2017. 

In his first week at the White House, President Trump created a diplomatic firestorm after tweeting remarks about the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel. 

His tweet, posted at 2 am last Friday, labeled Merkel a "fat pig." A follow-up comment a few minutes later claimed that Merkel "reeks of sauerkraut and bratwurst."

The US ambassador Ben Carson was summoned to the Palais Schaumburg in Bonn for an explanation. An unnamed German official close to Merkel said that the remark was both "disrespectful and highly damaging" to US-German relations. 

When confronted by the press this morning, President Trump was nonchalant about the incident, telling reporters that he was just letting off steam and there was nothing to apologize for. 

"We have a great working relationship. Merkel loves me. We joke all the time about her body odor problem. And let me say this. You'd never know it by that unhappy face of hers, but Angela actually has a great sense of humor. "

Secretary of State Sarah Palin dismissed the controversy, calling it another "lamestream media conspiracy" to "oblisterate" the "reputation of the leader of the most freest nation in the world."

After only 7 days in office, this incident comes fast on the heels of last Monday's remarks in which he called Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin "a scary peep-squeak" and a "closet fairy."  

In response, Putin has ordered the return of all of its diplomats and the closing of the Russian embassy in Washington until President Trump formally apologizes. 

The Radical Republican: When the GOP Championed the 14th Amendment

by Nomad

One idea that many people have a hard time wrapping their heads around is how the platforms of the two major political parties in America have dramatically shifted over the last 150 years. 

This historical fact is brought into sharper focus with the recent talk by Republican Donald Trump about the possibility of repealing the 14th Amendment and citizen birth rights provisions.

With the Party in Disarray and Denial, the GOP has Become America's Zombie Party

by Nomad

After 2012, the Republican National Committee performed an "autopsy" on what went wrong. So many good ideas were suggested. By the looks of things, nothing has changed. Following the skillful autopsy, the GOP patient has become a political zombie. 

In the grim weeks following the Republican disaster in 2012, many in the top echelons of the Republican Party called for a concise heart-searching about what exactly is wrong with the Grand Old Party. 

Priebus' Call for Soul-Searching

The first and the hardest part of any rehabilitation was admitting there was a problem. The time had come to make that initial step. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus told CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight" at that time

"In order to get back in the game, you've got to look at and do a full autopsy of what happened."

Not a bad idea. Something had to be done to stop the decline. Denial was no longer an option.