Toxic Politics

Today, I put up a guest post from Rudy Costello, a friend and longtime student of American history. Originally, a response to an op-ed in our local newspaper I post it here since the left-leaning newspaper predictably declined to print it. 

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Christopher Shays, a former Republican congressman from Connecticut’s Fairfield County, penned a recent op-ed in the Connecticut Post  in which he laments the toxic political discourse in our country, and claims that our leadership lacks objectivity.

 

The whole essay lays blame on one person, his supporters and his party. He opens his essay with references to how the German and Italian people were swept up by the likes of Hitler and Mussolini. The reference is all too clear ; yet what can be more toxic than a statement like that! Yes, what happened on January 6 should never happen again. It should be a wakeup call for political leaders of both parties that our democracy becomes very fragile when government is unresponsive to the  concerns of the electorate and manipulative in their raw exercise of power.

 

This poisonous political climate began years before 1/6/2021, not as a result of disputed election vote tallies, rules , and court cases. It started during the presidential campaign of 2016 when each of the major parties failed to nominate someone who could be wholly trusted. Americans should never be left with such a choice. Nevertheless, the battle lines were drawn; the issues were presented and debated; and the voters decided. 

 

What followed was a relentless attack on the new president which continued on both him and his supporters for the next four years. It was a series of partisan assaults, accusations and  investigations fueled by phony conspiracy theories at the highest level of government while being promoted by a hostile media. Two failed attempts to remove the president from office was an unprecedented attack on the President and the Presidency itself for purely political advantage. Some saw it as an attempt to subvert the will of the people.

 

What continued during this very toxic period were very well orchestrated rants against the President , his cabinet and his supporters by the likes of Congresswoman Maxine Waters and others. Personal and physical  attacks on government officials in restaurants and on the streets of Washington, DC brought opposition to a whole new level. 

 

Who can forget one of the most outrageous scenes in the history of the US Congress when Speaker Pelosi maliciously tore up her copy of President Trump's State of the Union address as the Nation watched on TV?  Talking about toxicity in full view, recall the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

 

 Unfortunately, the election of 2020 was held during this unfavorable political climate compounded by an unprecedented pandemic. It was a perfect storm. The unscrupulous ways the 2020 election was conducted and monitored included heavily biased campaign news coverage, slanted presidential debate platforms, inaccurate and misleading polling numbers and the manipulation of voting rules and procedures had all the ingredients for toxic politics.

 

 Even with the defeat of Donald Trump in his re-election bid,  Americans are still as divided as ever. The Democrats, not satisfied with their unremarkable victory are doubling down. They continue on  the road of the politics of destruction. Their party is heavily invested in the politics of race- the most vile form of toxic leadership. They continue playing pandemic politics as they did when demonizing President Trump's response to the crisis. 

Former Congressman Shays wishes he were back in Congress. There was a time I wished that as well but if his article is an indication of a campaign strategy, he should stay retired. Instead, why not get back into the game to help fight inflation, soaring energy prices, the disaster at the southern border, rampant urban crime and the dangerous moves toward unchecked federal power. Democrats won't let Trump go . Is their hold on power so tenuous that they need him as their only political strategy? ###

 

 

 

Private Property

  

 

There was rioting and looting in the streets of Los Angeles after the hometown LA Rams won a narrow victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in the Super Bowl. In addition to the disturbances and vandalism in the streets, store surveillance videos showed dozens of mainly young black men looting a jewelry store. 

 

They were ransacking and cleaning out the shelves not for the necessities of life but for high end merchandise for later sale for profit. In other words, they took property that did not belong to them for their own personal gain. 

 

Such looting has become more and more prevalent in American cities in the past two years. It is a very dangerous phenomenon, and poses more risk to our Republic and American way of life than the so-called Insurrection of January 6, 2021.

 

The foundation of our American way of life is not democracy. After all, despite popular voting we are not and have never really been a democracy. Most of our major cities, for example, are ruled by politicians elected by a small portion of the electorate.

 

No, the foundation of our way of life is private property, or the right to acquire and keep our own property. I am not going to write a history of private property, but the concept goes back to the dawn of history. Our Constitution did not give us this right. Our Founding Fathers assumed that the right to private property already existed, and that it was sacrosanct.

 

One of the reasons for the inclusion of a Bill of Rights in  our Constitution was to limit or prevent the new government from interfering with our rights, including the right to own property.

 

Today’s Progressives, even those sympathetic to Communism, tacitly affirm the right to private property. Senator Bernie Sanders does not share his Vermont home with strangers. Representative Alexandra  Ocasio Cortes of New York does not let others use her lipstick. It is hers to use as she wants.  Before she became AOC, she was a bartender, but I doubt if she ever gave away drinks for free.  Lebron James does not let others use his prized sneakers. Actually, he makes millions by endorsing sneakers and other products. He does not give them away for free. They are his property, and he is free to use them as he pleases.  God forbid that President Joe Biden would allow squatters on his Delaware estate to use the bathrooms and raid the pantry. 

 

The right to private property is the main reason why immigrants have always come to this country. Even modern Russian oligarchs buy real estate in New York city because their money is not safe back home. Chinese immigrants to California exchange their Xuan for dollars and then pay cash for million-dollar homes, secure in their right of ownership. For as long as I can recall, immigrants from Greece have been buying or opening diners with the assurance that their property cannot be taken from them without just compensation. Other immigrants own fruit and vegetable stores, motels, liquor stores, and convenience stores with the same assurance.

 

From the origins of our country, we have tacitly given up our right to defend ourselves and our property to law enforcement agencies. Most of us have, for example, accepted various gun control laws with the assumption that our laws and police will protect us. 

 

However, it is obvious that in the past few years crimes against life and property have dramatically increased. Although  most of us have not personally been affected, statistics, not anecdotes, show remarkable increases in shootings, murders, rapes, car thefts, and lootings, especially in our major cities. 

 

Even worse is the fact that progressive politicians have not only refused to take action, but also have actually abetted the crime wave by making excuses for the looters, or refusing to prosecute them.  Call for defunding or eliminating police, have just made things worse. Bail reform has also played a major part in releasing offenders back on the streets.

 

On the other hand, progressive politicians have invoked emergency powers to force the law-abiding 99% of the population, both black and white, to comply with Covid mandates.  The same politicians who insist on strict gun control laws for law abiding citizens, balk at proven measures to keep guns out of the hands of criminal gangs.

 

Just this week, the local Selectwoman of my hometown, quiet, suburban Fairfield, announced that our police are relatively hamstrung in dealing with gangs of motorcyclists driving recklessly through our streets. When police approach them, they just speed away secure in the knowledge that police are forbidden to engage in active pursuit. Usually, their vehicles sport stolen license plates or none at all. Like the looters, they openly flaunt the law with impunity. 

 

This may seem like a small matter to some, but experience has shown that the prevention of minor crimes has the effect of reducing the incidence of major attacks on life and property.

 

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Love Songs

My wife and I celebrate our 59th wedding anniversary today. We were married on February 9, 1963. In an earlier post about our courtship, I called it a fine romance that has lasted to the present day. With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I'd like to post some of our favorite song lyrics that have a special meaning for us.

"Love Walked In" is perhaps the best song ever written by George and Ira Gershwin. My favorite version is by Jazz vocalist Chris Conner, but here is a link to an upbeat version by The Hilltoppers.

Love walked right in and drove the shadows away

Love walked right in and brought my sunniest day

One magic moment and my heart seemed to know that love said hello

though not a word was spoken

One look and I forgot the gloom of the past

One look and I had found my future at last

One look and I had found a world completely new

when love walked in with you.

Anne Murray has always been a great favorite, Here is a link to her version of "You Needed Me." 

I cried a tear, you wiped it dry

I was confused, you cleared my mind

I sold my soul, you bought it back for me

And held me up and gave me dignity

Somehow you needed me

You gave me strength to stand alone again

You put me high upon a pedestal

So high that I could almost see eternity

You needed me, you needed me

And I can't believe it's you

I can't believe it's true

I needed you and you were there

and I'll never leave, why should I leave?

I'd be a fool 'cause I finally found someone who really cares

You held my hand when it was cold

when I was lost, you took me home

You gave me hope when I was at the end

You turned my lies back into truth again

You even called me "friend"

You gave me strength to stand alone again

to face the world out on my own again

You put me high upon a pedestal

So high that I could almost see eternity

You needed me, you needed me

You needed me, you needed me.

Perhaps the greatest love lyric was written almost 2000 years ago by a Jewish tentmaker. As far as I know the words have not been put to music.

 

      Love is patient, love is kind.

      It is not jealous, it is not pompous,

      it is not inflated, it is not rude,

      it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered,     it does not brood over injury,

      it does not rejoice over wrongdoing

      but rejoices with the truth.

      It bears all things, believes all things,

      hopes all things, endures all things.

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PS.  Here's one last song for Lyn. Click on the link or see the video below.

Success Sequence

 

Wendy Wang

The obvious success of Asian immigrants to this country is hard to square with a systemic racism narrative. If there is systemic racism in America, why do the children of Asian immigrants do so well that American universities have to take measures to prevent too many Asian students from being admitted?  Below is a post written three years ago that tried to answer the question.

It’s college admissions time in the USA again, and letters of acceptance and rejection are being mailed out. Inevitably, elite colleges and universities will find themselves overwhelmed with extremely qualified applicants with Asian backgrounds. It has long been suspected that admissions offices impose quotas to keep the number of Asian students down. On the other hand, affirmative action administrators  will bend over backwards to find qualified black applicants. 

Why do Asian students do so well in school while black students do so badly? It is easy to blame prejudice and racism but my own experience has led me to believe that the reason is cultural. A recent Wall Street Journal op-ed by Wendy Wang, the Director of Research at the Institute for Family Studies, bore out my suspicions. 

Ms. Wang argued that there is a “sequence” that must be followed to achieve success in rising out of poverty. The sequence begins with education, at least a high school diploma, followed by a job, and only then marriage and children. There will be exceptions but her research shows that failure to follow this sequence results in a high probability of a life of poverty or worse. In other words, if children come before marriage, work, and education the results are disastrous.

Wang cited statistics concerning so-called millennials from a study that tracked young adults from their teenage years to early adulthood. Of those who failed to follow the “sequence”, 53% were in poverty. The rate dropped to 31% for those who had at least a high school diploma, and 16% for those with a full-time job. Finally, the poverty rate dropped to 3% for those who held off having children until married.

Interestingly, the success sequence worked extremely well for young adults from low income backgrounds. “Eighty percent of those with lower income backgrounds made it into middle or upper income brackets when they followed all three steps.” Missing one of the steps or putting them out of sequence, like having children before marriage, led to a very high probability of failure.

Ms. Wang cited her own Asian background. In the small Chinese city in which she grew up there were practically no childbirths before marriage. It was unthinkable. Today in China, Japan, and South Korea the out of wedlock birthrate is only 4%. Compare that rate to America’s urban centers where the out of wedlock births often exceed children born to married couples.

I know a young white woman with a degree in elementary education from a fine college who started her teaching career as a first grade teacher in a Bridgeport school made up largely of black and hispanic children. Her college degree could not have prepared her for the chaos she encountered on her first day. Every day presented new pathological personal and social behaviors, and these were only first graders. In many ways, first grade is pivotal for it is then that the mind is ready to learn how to read. If the opportunity is missed, students will inevitably fall behind and never catch up.

Sadly and significantly, the teacher told me that on Parent’s Night, only four parents showed up to hear about their child’s progress. Maybe parent is the wrong word because most of these Bridgeport first graders didn’t have parents. They were being raised by grandparents some of whom were not even in their forties. Sometimes even great-grandparents were the caregivers for these children. Moreover, in most cases there were no men involved in the raising of these children. 

No amount of money will rectify the tremendous social disaster that has taken place in American cities in the past few generations. Unwed teenage pregnancies create an almost impossible educational problem. To get an education certificate today, teachers have to take courses that would almost qualify them as master psychologists. 

Even the best teachers will not be able to overcome this cultural disaster.  There is a high probability that the parentless first grader will come to regard school as a prison and even before he or she gets to eight grade they will likely be attacking classmates and teachers, and destroying school property. Next, the probability is also very high that they will join a street gang, become a drug addict or dealer, and eventually wind up in jail or dead on the street.

Some will argue that Ms. Wang’s “sequence” success formula of education, work, marriage, and children is old fashioned. Actually, the success formula she finds in Asia was once the norm in the USA, especially among that generation that we now fondly recall as the “greatest generation.” Some may also argue that just getting an education and a job is sufficient for success, and that marriage and children are no longer necessary. However, another recent news article indicated that there is an epidemic of loneliness and depression sweeping over the country today that seems to indicate that love and marriage are still part of the success sequence.

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