A report on the PBS NewsHour this week brought to our attention an issue that we had previously overlooked. The report, which can be viewed here, concerned the inability of the Veterans Affairs Department (VA) to pay for in vitro fertilization (IVF) for veterans who have suffered wounds that make it impossible for them to conceive children any other way.Read More »Special Bulletin. Veterans and In Vitro Fertilization
We had hoped to begin 2016 on an optimistic note, but after waiting until the eleventh hour and beyond, it seems to have eluded us. For RINOs, the continued presence of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz atop the Republican leaderboard is singularly depressing. We do not accept that the nomination of either is inevitable, but it is more of a risk than we can understand or accept.Read More »Blog No. 89. Trump and Cruz: Republican Scylla and Charybdis
Veteran followers of RINOcracy.com may recall that two years ago at Christmas, we posted an Ogden Nash poem, “A Carol for Children.” The poem was published in The New Yorker in December, 1935 and reprinted by The New York Times as its lead editorial on Christmas Day, 1978. In each case, the poem spoke to the troubled times at hand and we felt that it was equally appropriate in 2013. Last year, we reached the same conclusion and, sadly, it seems even more compelling this year.
The poem is not a “merry” one at all and the tradition that we carry on is one that we would like to find reason to discontinue. Yet surely Christmas is a time to look past Santa and Rudolf, egg nog and tinsel, and reflect on the more serious meaning of the occasion. And what can be more central to that meaning than the promise of a better world for our children and generations to come.
A Carol for ChildrenRead More »Christmas 2015; A Carol for Children
It has been clear for some time that Lindsey Graham was not going to be the Republican nominee for President. Yet it had been our hope that enough lightning would strike to propel him at least onto the main stage of the Republican debates, where his presence was sorely needed. Graham’s inability to gain visible support was as baffling and depressing to us as Donald Trump’s successes. (In our previous blog we referred to Trump, as others had, as The Teflon Don. Our friend, Suzanne Garment writing for Reuters, has suggested that Teflon doesn’t begin to capture Trump’s magical quality, “Truth is Superman, but Donald Trump is pure Kryptonite.” )Read More »Special Bulletin. Lindsey Graham: Ave Atque Vale.
Through some magical power, Donald Trump has managed to enter a fact-free zone that can only be the envy of his competitors. Unlike the statements of the other candidates, Trump’s are not scrutinized for accuracy, and indeed they are generally assumed to be unprovable or flatly wrong. No, Trump’s pronouncements are assessed primarily on the degree unpleasantness with which they are delivered. (We imagine a campaign logo: “The Surly Bird Gets the Worm.”) He appears to have succeeded John Gotti to the title of the Teflon Don.
Other candidates have attempted to pick him up on this or that fact, and Glenn Kessler has depleted his inventory of Pinocchios in making multiple awards to the Donald. But no one, so far as we know, has made a comprehensive review of Trump’s claims and observations, even within the limits of a single debate. We though it might be a useful experiment applied to the Fifth Debate. Confined to that debate the experiment is obviously limited and will omit any number of his more noxious expostulations. Nevertheless, one has to start somewhere. What follows is the entirety of what Trump had to say at the Fifth Republican Debate, omitting only various personal comments directed at other candidates or the moderators. We have supplied headings and questions and comments in bold.Read More »Blog No. 88. Teflon Don: Did He Really Say That?
The President’s recent address from the Oval Office was clearly intended to reassure the nation. Whether anyone in fact felt reassured is highly questionable. As many observers noted, he offered nothing new to a strategy that has shown little sign of success thus far and gives little reason to believe that it will be more successful going forward. In fairness to the President, however, none of the current candidates for the presidency have offered a particularly persuasive path to a successful outcome for our struggle with ISIS and related elements of radical Islam.
The most detailed and comprehensive proposal for combating ISIS was provided by Hillary Clinton in a speech on November 14. Clinton’s proposal was similar to Obama’s existing policy, notably in prescribing a highly restricted role for American ground troops and hopeful reliance on the “65 country coalition.” It differed principally in a tone of greater urgency and a recognition, even before the San Bernardino shooting, that the past and present levels of effort were insufficient:Read More »Blog No. 87. The President, the Contenders and ISIS
In Part I, we considered some aspects of the recent wave of campus protests centered on perceptions of racism on campus, both individual and institutional. We continue that discussion here and begin with protesters’ attacks on individual college administrators.Read More »Blog No. 86, Part II. More on Racial Protests on Campus
The New York Times on December 2 carried yet another story of Republican leadership fretting about Donald Trump, “Wary of Donald Trump, G.O.P. Leaders Are Caught in a Standoff.” The article quoted among others, Senator Lindsey Graham on the effect of a Trump nomination. As a candidate himself, and one who is trailing Trump by a wide margin in the polls, Graham is not exactly a disinterested observer. Yet his succinct precis bears repeating:
“It would be an utter, complete and total disaster,” Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, himself a presidential candidate who has tangled with Mr. Trump, said of his rival’s effect on lower-tier Republican candidates. “If you’re a xenophobic, race-baiting, religious bigot, you’re going to have a hard time being president of the United States, and you’re going to do irreparable damage to the party.”
Read More »Special Bulletin. Donald Trump: Again and Still and What to Do?
A few weeks ago, we were trying to collect our thoughts with a view to writing something about race relations in the United States. Specifically, we were thinking of the ways in which blacks and whites view, and often misunderstand, each other and how that relates to issues of racial injustice involving, for example, discrimination in housing and employment and distortions of the criminal justice system. Then we were interrupted by the events at the University of Missouri and the ensuing wave of protests at campuses across the country. Perhaps in common with many readers of RINOcracy.com, we had trouble deciding what to make of it all. We are still not certain, but thought we would share a few tentative observations in hopes that they would be of interest and with the thought of returning in a later blog to perhaps more significant racial issues.
It has seemed to us that the campus protesters may have something in common with the supporters of Donald Trump, a comparison, we recognize, that will not please either group. In the case of each, however, we think that there are genuine reasons for their members to be upset, and even angry, but that their response has not been particularly constructive. We can understand Trump supporters who feel that the government has not functioned well, has not listened to their concerns, and has favored others at their expense. We think, however, that they err in channeling their anger and frustration into support of a candidate who, in our view, is manifestly unqualified, by experience or temperament, to be president. As for the campus protesters, we do not doubt that many have observed or been the recipient of some form of racial animus. Such experiences are at best regrettable and at worst deplorable. We do not believe, however, that the protesters serve their own cause, or the cause of the larger minority community, by noisy or even violent demonstrations in support of demands that often appear extravagant.Read More »Blog No. 86 Racial Protests On Campus: A Curious Phenomenon, Part I
If anyone here remembers the Fourth GOP Debate with Fox Business News on November 10, please raise your hand. Ah, that’s what we thought.
Given the passage of time, the intervening events of Islamic terrorism in Paris and Mali, the debate over refugees and the almost daily embarrassments from Donald Trump, it was inevitable the Fourth Debate would not have a lengthy shelf-life. Nevertheless, the issues raised at the debate, and the candidates’ approaches to them will continue to hover over the campaign. So perhaps it is useful to refresh some recollections to better appreciate the next debate (scheduled for December 15 in Las Vegas and to be sponsored by CNN and Salem Radio).Read More »Blog No. 85 After Paris and Between Debates: Whither the GOP?