Sunday Morning Coming Down

The elections are over and the results are in.  We now have divided governance.  I wish more time was spent on solving problems that are big, complicated and now much more pressing.  The idea that leaving the Paris Climate Accords will help achieve greenhouse gas reductions is a problem.  Not leading when by default this country is a leader makes very little sense. Questioning what the scientific community agrees is a problem while the Camp Fire burns, hurricanes are getting stronger and the inland floods aren't five hundred year events and droughts are getting worse worldwide and the sea levels are rising isn't good public policy. The existential nature of the problem affects how we will live and where we will live.  It is certainly a matter for politics but it goes way beyond "where you stand on an issue depends on where you sit".  This is something that will require a strong consensus, money, and sacrifice.  The details are in many ways maddenin...

The United States Senate should do whatever is necessary to recover the power to advice and consent for Cabinet Officers. The President has appointed someone to the position of Attorney General who may not believe in the Supreme Court's power to review laws passed by Congress as in  Marbury vs. Madison.  The Department of Justice already has a process for temporary appointments to fill vacancies for high level positions that occur.  It should not be ignored. To ask for the Attorney General to resign without a legitimate cause is suspect.  To reach down into the bureaucracy to appoint someone to a position that would normally require Senate approval is to disrespect a process that has served this country well. And finally the appointee's resume and actions as a lawyer and commentator need a serious review by the Senate.  The process that got his name to the President needs a serious investigation.

Elliot Richardson wrote the following: I am a moderate – a radical moderate. I believe profoundly in the ultimate value of human dignity and equality. I therefore believe as well in such essential contributions to these ends as fairness, tolerance, and mutual respect. In seeking to be fair, tolerant, and respectful I need to call upon all the empathy, understanding, rationality, skepticism, balance, and objectivity I can muster.

I'm going to give the Pensacola News Journal credit for their editorial on November 3, 2018.  Pensacola is about as far away from Miami as you can get and still be in Florida culturally and geographically and still be in Florida.  Why the good folks in the Florida Legislature haven't already taken care of this issue is beyond me. ►" Amendment 4 is the most significant of the measures, civically and morally. This is the voting rights restoration amendment. The League of Women Voters non-partisan voting guide aptly summarizes Amendment 4 as “restoring the voting rights of ex-felons after they’ve completed their sentences, except for those convicted of murder or felony sex offenses.” The League notes that, “Currently, ex-felons who complete their sentences must seek permission to vote from the Florida Cabinet, which rarely agrees.” That’s true. And it is embarrassing. Most states in the country have processes for automatic rights restoration once someone ha...

Oprah Winfrey spoke about voting this afternoon.  “For anybody here who has an ancestor who didn’t have the right to vote, and you are choosing not to vote — wherever you are in this state, in this country, you are dishonoring your family,” said Ms. Winfrey, who, like Ms. Abrams, is a black woman born in Mississippi. “You are disrespecting and disregarding their legacy, their suffering and their dreams when you don’t vote.” Voting is vital in a democracy.  If you think voting is inconvenient or doesn't matter, ask Hillary Clinton or Al Gore where just a relatively small number of votes might have changed history. I have lived through eight years of Rick Scott as the governor of Florida and after refusing to expand Medicaid as governor.  I've made it to the age where Medicare has kicked in.  I'm blessed and I've voted for Andrew Gilum who say he will work to expand Medicaid and Bill Nelson who has also promised to promised to support medicare and the ACA whi...