Tag: history
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Trump and the Separation of Powers, Part II–The Military Power
I was planning to do a blog like this even before the US and Israel struck Iran about week and a half ago. Now it is imperative to me that I must do it and do it as soon as possible. First, some basics–1) The power to declare war belongs to Congress–this is not an…
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LBJ, DT, Vietnam and some history
Don’t worry, this won’t be real long. I’m too hyped on everything that’s going on now to stay patiently at the computer for too long. But I have to get some of these opinions down in print and out there to be read. The situation seems to change almost hourly, but as nearly I I’m…
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Hey, What Does That Mean?
As a former instructor in history and political science I have a few comments to make about the meanings of words and how people are likely to interpret them. This includes a real concern about how just about all aspects of the media use some words without any explanation of what the words mean. They…
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Time for the 25th? No, but let’s look at it
The recent announcement of The White House ordering troops into Portland OR is not the last straw. We’re not there yet. But Trump is getting closer. As I have mentioned before he has, by luck or by careful legal advice, managed to stay clear of anything out and out illegal or impeachable. Likely that will…
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What’s in a (Trumpish) Name?
Any even casual observer of the American scene should know by now that the President made one of his curious, seemingly weird actions recently. He changed the name of the Dept of Defense to the the Department of War. Or he said he did. Now it turns out he didn’t–not exactly, at least, and not…
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Trump and Other Nations–What’s Next and Where Are We Going Now?
There is so much to say about the Trump Administration that I don’t know where to start. I guess I’ll begin with foreign policy or whatever we should call Trump’s actions to and words about other countries. Not that there’s not a lot to say about domestic issues, but let’s put that off–a little while.…
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Closing In On–Well, What?
I haven’t written much about politics lately. I guess my writing urges have been worn down by too much political use. But I need to speak–briefly, anyway–about what is going on now. It appears that Trump has slightly closed the gap between himself and Harris and it now appears, at least for the moment, one…
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Debate Reflections
We’ve all had a day or two to reflect upon The Debate and to form opinions about it. The ones I’ve read or heard on TV tend to be fairly, though not absolutely, predictable. For the most part people on each side think(or say that they do)that their candidate won. Though I am admittedly not…
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Israel and Hamas-a Very Difficult American Issue-But Also Very Important
By now nearly everyone who is the slightest bit interested knows all the basic facts. Hamas is a terrorist organization which has brutally run Gaza for more than a decade and has never shown mercy or understanding, or any “give” except the opportunistic kind, in their dealings with others. They are as brutal with the…
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Time to Make a Choice
I have already communicated the fact that I watched the debate last week with increasing depression and disappointment as it went on. The President, far from being at his best, was closer to his worst. He looked haggard and worn, he spoke slowly and somewhat indistinctly at times and worst of all, he sometimes made…