The Donald

Donald Trump while a very wealthy businessman should not be running for president. While he has shied away from declaring officially before he now deiced to join the circus that is the Republican nomination process. The fact that a man like Trump is running for the nomination can only hurt the Republican Party as a whole. Now let me get a few thing straights.

I’m a Democrat whom believes there are some legitimate Republican choices for president with Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, and Jeb Bush being top tier candidates.

With that said it seems that anyone whom has a tiny chance of capturing the Republican Nomination is throwing in their hat and trying to capture the nomination. Donald Trump is just a confirmation of this trend. With such a large field it will only take a small percentage of votes to hang on in the primaries.

In the past both in 2008 and 2012 the Donald flirted with trying to capture the nomination but decided not to. The Donald has finally decided to officially seek the nomination increasing the number of Republican’s running for president to twelve. I say currently because this number may very well increase in the next few weeks. Though many of these candidates will withdraw or be forced to withdraw I fear that the number of Republican candidates (and the quality of one in particular) will harm the Republican brand in the general Presidential election.

So the problem with the Donald is not that he’s a businessman whom has never held public office. After all everyone has to start somewhere so why not go big and run for President. Even the wealth is not a problem after all a man whom can make over a billion dollars can surely run a nation. No the problem is that the Donald is a celebrity joke. He is a man who creates falsehoods such as the Obama birther conspiracy, who arrogantly delights in displaying his wealth ( as many American struggle to find high paying jobs) and whose best known comments on any matter is “your fired”.

While I absolutely hope that Hilary Clinton wins the Presidential election I do not believe the Republican Party should be harmed by the words or actions of the Donald. He has a right of course to seek the nomination but will surely make a fool of himself and the Republican Party. God help America if the Donald is somehow elected.

A Conservative congress. Progress on legislation?

Speaker Boehner & Majority Leader McConnell

The 114th Congress has already begun, just yesterday Congressman John Boehner, a Republican from Ohio, was reelected as the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Speaker Boehner needed 205 votes to win the speakership and won with 216 votes. For the past years Speaker Boehner has had to hold a possible revolt from the more Conservative elements of the GOP, namely the Tea Party. This year only twenty-four conservative Republican representatives went against the party line and voted not to elect Congressman Boehner as Speaker of the House.

Luckily for Speaker Boehner, the Republican Party, and the rest of the country Tea Party influence has been waning the past few years. The Republican National Committee during the 2014 midterm election cycle heavily vetted its congressional candidates and poured massive amounts of money into congressional primary campaigns to squash Tea Party backed upstarts whom threaten to taint the Republican Party with insensitive, ridiculous rhetoric and policy.

With that said I fear that this division within the Republican caucus right at the beginning of the 114th Congress may be, as it has been in past years, a preview of things to come. The Republican mainstream has had to take a decidedly right turn as ultra conservatives have routinely attacked any GOP members (including the congressional Republican leadership) whom sought compromise with the Democrats and to a greater extent President Barack Obama’s agenda.

Although the fire of the Tea Party may be dying down, grassroots conservative groups are still a forced to be reckoned with for the GOP. Speaker Boehner, along with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, may reject compromise in order to whip up conservative support for Republican’s in 2016 and retain the loyalty of rank and file members.

Speaker Boehner

With the Republican’s controlling the House and the Senate by good majorities the burden of legislating now fall upon the shoulders of Republican representatives. There still exists ultra conservatives in both the House and the Senate whom will force party leaders such as Speaker Boehner and Majority Leader McConnell to reject common sense legislation proposed by Democrats in order to whip up their conservative base. Though the threat of a loss to Democrats in the 2016 Presidential elections looms I fear that again the 114th Congress will be a do nothing Congress and that the Republican Party will remain the obstructionist party.

Hacking Away at our Freedoms

Cyber warfare will usher in the next stage of conflict between nations. Cyber warfare is when one nation, through digital means, digitally attacks another nation. The attacks can target infrastructure, steal information, disrupt relations with international allies and are generally hard to pinpoint and punish. While seemingly less dangerous as other forms of conflict Cyber warfare and its co cyber terrorism cant threatened the national security of the United States and the American way of life.

Of course, why bring this up now? In the past few days Sony Entertainment was digitally attacked by unknown entity, this entity is assumed to be the rogue nation that is North Korea.

The theory is simple a plausible, Sony was scheduled to release the film the Interview starring James Franco and Seth Rogen, on December 25th. The films plot is that Franco and Rogan will conduct and interview Kim Jong-Un and attempt to kill him.

Image that appeared on Sony Entertainment’s computers after the hack

Not surprisingly North Korea, whom considers their national leader Kim Jong-Un a powerful savior, had a bit of a problem with the Interview. And so Sony was digitally attacked, disrupting the multinational companies for days and releasing confidential emails. The attacks and the emails sent the political and digital world into a tailspin.

While the US can respond and will respond, international laws regarding cyber warfare are difficult to enforce, and so little substantive harm will come to North Korea or at least to its leaders. To make matters worse, Sony along with several national movie theater chains decided, in light of the cyber attack, not to show the movie.

Political and entertainment scions President Barack Obama and George Clooney denounced the decisions believing its sets a dangerous precedent for censorship in the US by the decree of another nation.

I must agree, with President Obama and Clooney. Freedom of Speech, which film fall under, must be rigorously defended. Due to the actions of an outside nation, entertainment companies should not grovel to meet that nation’s demands.

The US must remain a place of free intellectual and cultural expression, a place were films like the Interview, that mock political leaders, can be shown and celebrated, if it does not, our very of life, our freedom to express ourselves, would slowly but surely unravel.

The Midterms: A Test for America

“They be a corrupt one and the hour be late,” kinda said author of Herman Melville. In two days time the fate of which political party controls our two chambers will be decided, though in reality the fate of both the House of Representatives and the United States Senate was decided along ago.

Basically pundits, citizens, and anyone with halve a brain believes that the Republican Party will undoubtedly capture control of the United States.

The nation can look forward to a Congress controlled by one party and Executive Branch controlled by another. I cannot say with certainty what will happen but only look at the state of the government during the last two years of George W. Bush’s Administration. During this time the Republicans may have controlled the Executive Branch but Democrats had captured control of the House of Representatives and the United States Senate due to President’s Bush unpopularity. This period of divided government lead to political grandstanding and gridlock.

I fear with Republican control of congress complete and Democrat’s controlling the Executive Branch for at least two more years this government will maintain its current lack of productivity.

There are several reasons why Democrats will lose control of the senate and undoubtedly lose a few more House of Representative seats. One there is a historical trend in the US where the party in power, after an incumbent presidents reelection, loses Congressional seats. Two President Obama is very unpopular in the minds of most Americans, they will not reward Obama’s party with Congressional Representatives in light of his perceived failures.

Third, people whom would vote Democrat such as the young, poor, and ethic minorities rarely turnout in large number for midterm elections. Instead you are simply left with a subset of the population, the Republican subset, whom include the white, the old and the rich.

With the above factors in mind, Democrats, undoubtedly will lose control of the Senate. Obama has failed in the mind of the public, his party will be hurt because of such perceptions. I hope the new Congress will be able to work with the President, I believe though that we are going to see continual legislation coming from Congress and President Obama continually vetoing such legislation.

In the end few members of this new congress will standout and few notable pieces legislation will be passed. Simply put the current political system is broken, these midterm elections will do little to change that.

Compromise: A Necessary Good

The Founding Fathers were forced to compromise some of their deeply cherished beliefs to find the United States of America. From slavery, check and balances, even the location of the capital itself America was formed upon the ability to put the needs of the nation ahead of the needs of one selves. The Founding Fathers understood what politicians today don’t or can’t; that compromising ones ideals for a better future does not mean you must compromise yourself.

Today such traits are not welcomed in our national leader, instead such traits are vilified. Instead of compromise one is accused of compromising integrity or the trust of ones constituents. It is a shame what our nation’s political process has come to, battle lines are drawn and a politician must not cross them.

For example a popular social issue in the United States, is Marriage equality for same-sex couples. The Democrats are pro-marriage equality, the Republicans are anti-marriage equality. So Democrats take up one side and Republicans take up the other, no one is left to fill the void.

Instead of our national representatives creating meaningful federal legislation states are left to sort out the fate of same-sex couples. This is not an issue of states rights but simply of the ability of citizens to engage in “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.

Of course some progress could be made on the marriage equality front with the creation of meaningful compromises such as preserving traditional marriage for religious/spiritual reason but giving civil unions the same legal rights as marriage. Of course any politician whom attempted such a compromise would be called names such as a “flip-flopper” or even worse a politician.

(Disclaimer: I fully support marriage equality)

The example above is only one example of how political compromises can truly put this nation back on the path of greatness. Compromise is not a weakness in politics (generally) but a strength. The media, gerrymandering, and most prominently the American public contribute to this toxic anti-compromising political culture. Only through politically literate citizens will compromise be seen as a means of putting the nation forward.

Mining Space: Humanity’s Cosmic Expansion

Space, the Final Frontier, has long been a topic of human interest. I believe interest in space peaked in the 1960s during the space race between the United States of America and the Soviet Union. Is then that John F. Kennedy gave Americans the challenge of putting a man on the moon, while the man would not live such a goal would continue.

Mission Accomplished.

But then what?

America, and may I say the world, grew disinterested with space exploration. We had gotten man to the moon but was it possible to go farther still. Budgets cut, economies damaged, exploring the cosmos fall far on priorities. Yet the trouble for American space exploration was not over.

On August 31, 2011 the US space shuttle program was grounded Currently the only way to get to the International Space Station (ISS), a pinnacle of human space engineering, is to take the Russian’s Soyuz spacecraft. On top of all this no space faring nation takes bold leaps in the realm of manned space travel.

Luckily there are a brave few entrepreneur, willing to challenge the unknowns of manned space explorations. Elon Musk I believe is the most prominent and influential man in the field of manned space travel. His company, Space X, is regularly awarded multibillion dollar contracts to deliver cargo to the ISS. Currently Musk is working on developing a rapidly reusable rocket and has plans to put humans on Mars by 2030.

While I wholeheartedly believe in Musk’ mission and believe he will succeed, there is something else that is required to push humanity into mass space migration.

It is a time-honored tradition of greed; space must be profitable in order for space migration to take off. Currently space is not profitable, from a purely economical standpoint space is worthless. Of course space exploration is more than about a simple profit, it is about engaging in the human spirit of exploration and ensuring the continued survival of humanity.

Yet the need for a source of space capital remains. I believe that such a source of space capital can come from those fast traveling cosmic rocks known as asteroids.

Asteroid Mining!

Asteroid Mining is the future of space commerce and space exploration. Compare it to the exploration of the Americas during the Age of Exploration (1492-1700). Once riches such as gold and silver were discovered and harvested a wave of European nations began sending people to the new world. I believe the same parallel can be drawn between the exploration of the Americas and Space exploration. One, asteroids are a major source of material wealth, asteroids contain metals such as platinum, iron, nickel, and cobalt.

The problem is that currently no manned made object has ever landed on an asteroid although the Rosetta is currently in the process of doing so. Another problem is the mining of asteroids, while I certainly believe that we have the technology to mine asteroids it simply hasn’t been done. The reasons, I believe, is that it will cost billions of dollars to track, land, and then mine an asteroid. But I believe it will be done within my lifetime, an organization, a man, a woman, or a government will successfully be able to mine an asteroid.

Simply put asteroid mining must become a commonality, not an impossibility. And so it will become. Once space is commercialized the mass colonization of mars and our solar system will begin.

Rick Perry: A Probable Presidential Contender

Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, was a Republican Presidential Candidate whom would ultimately lose the race for his party’s nomination to Mitt Romney in the 2012 Republican primaries. It is commonly believed that Rick Perry has his eyes set on the presidency.

Governor Perry was lampooned by his own party for two (Primary reasons) seeming uniformed and (more importantly not being conservative enough, a man not ready to lead the United States of America. Furthermore Perry did not come off conservative enough to gain the votes required to emerge as his party’s nominee for President of the United States.

For the past two years Perry has attempted to reinvent his public image. Who he is trying to be seems simple (and may prove effective) a zealous defender of American conservatism.

This new image has already shown. As we have seen during the border crisis which involves underage immigrants slipping over the Mexican-Texan border, Perry is attempting to come off as an uncompromising conservative whom will not allow for US sovereignty to be violated.

Such a persona has manifested itself in several ways. For one Perry issued his famous quip “I appreciate the offer to greet you at Austin-Bergstrom Airport, but a quick handshake on the tarmac will not allow for a thoughtful discussion.” After refusing President Barack Obama’s invitation for a handshake on the tarmac immediately upon Obama arriving in Texas via Air Force One.

Perry as stated above must appear to be a fully entrenched conservative. The issue wasn’t Perry not wanting a photo-op, he would go on to release several of those, instead (as all far right Republicans know) Perry must be publicly against Obama on all issues (ranging from simple photo-ops to the implementation of a national healthcare system) in order to have a shot at a presidential run.

For a guy whom appears to detest so called photo-ops Perry is sure good at setting one up. It wasn’t long after refusing Obama’s invitation that he released this picture.

The above picture is simply an example of Perry’s tough guy conservative persona. Perry as stated above cannot positively associate himself with Obama, lest the Republican voter base catch wind.

I undoubtedly believe that Perry will seek the Republican nomination for President of the United States in 2016, will he win such a covet prize, that remains to be seen.

 

Israel and Hamas: It Begins

Well we all knew it would come to this Israel has launched a ground assault against Gaza no doubt to root out Hamas and prevent rockets from being fired into Israel. Civilian casualties and international horror at the carnage to come is sure to follow.

Immigration, Obama, and the Children

President Obama must confront an immigration crisis, one that touches the very fabric of America’s national character. Children from Latin American countries, countries often with high rates of crime and poverty, are encouraged by their parents to make a dangerous hundred miles long journey to the United States. These parents do care and love their children, they believe that the only way for their children to live a life free from poverty and crime is through immigration to the US, whether that be legal or otherwise.

President Obama along with Congress must respond to the children coming over our borders and into the Unites States. President Obama is being criticized by Republicans for not going to the border and confronting the issue personally. While I do believe President Obama should go down to the border to show that he is taking an active interest in the well being of these children I also believe that such a gesture would be largely symbolic.

President Obama is on the right path (or should I say the left path, pun intended) asking Congress to appropriate him $3.7 billion to deal with the influx of youth immigrants from Latin America. Yet Republicans seem to be addressing political brinksmanship then attempting to solve the problem of the illegal minor immigrants. Instead they blame Obama for the current problem for not providing the US-Mexico border with enough security throughout his tenure as President of the United States.
I do not agree with the GOP on this issue. There is more border security personnel patrolling the border under President Obama then under President Bush yet Republicans still blame President Obama for the current immigration crisis.

If the Republican Caucus of Congress wishes to solve this crisis, instead of shifting blame upon President Obama, they should agree to his $3.7 billion appropriation measure.

Executive Power? To use or not to use

President Obama recently delivered a speech vowing to bypass congress when it comes to enacting meaningful immigration reform. While the power and sovereignty of Congress’ rights must be protected the President of the United States cannot allow legislation, which will impact millions (And the future of the United States itself), to be stonewalled in Congress.

I believe that Obama is justified in the route he plans to take regarding immigration reform. While it is not the Presidents job to enact meaningful legislation it is in is mandate to develop meaningful legislation and care for the citizens of the United States.

If Congress will not pass or push for legislation that will benefit millions, then I believe that the President of the United States has the legal ability as well as the legal responsibility to use Executive Orders to pass transformative legislation that congress refuses to address.