"I WILL JUST BOMB THE SH*T OUT OF THEM...." What have we learned? What have we become?

Important questions to consider....  Who are we?  Who have we become? How did we get there?

Teddy Roosevelt more than a century ago when speaking about American foreign policy implementation famously said, "Walk softly but carry a big stick." Is that what we are presently doing?  Or, have we come a far distance from walking "softly" and, instead of "carrying" a "big stick", are we stalking the planet and bashing those with whom we have issues with a very large CLUB?  Have drones, missile strikes, and the "Mother of All Bombs" taken the place of negotiation and diplomacy?  Since Dwight Eisenhower warned us in his Farewell Address in January 1961 to "guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex", and, in "pursuit of the goal of peace with justice", that we be "confident but humble with power", our nation has fallen more and more frequently into using our excess military might to demand compliance with our own national foreign policy goals by other nations.  The tragedy of Viet Nam that cost the lives of tens of thousands of our young men and women for no positive or evident advance of the national interest was a generational blood-letting.  The first Gulf War, thankfully over in mere weeks, opened the door to a Middle East slog that has drained both American blood and treasure for more than a decade. The invasion of Iraq in the Second Gulf War in pursuit of non-existent WMDs in retaliation for the attack at the World Trade Center on 9-11 turned out to be a thinly-veiled fraud perpetrated on the Congress, the UN, our allies, and the American people by the Bush II administration - especially Neo-Cons Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. And, from 9-11 forward, the Iraq/Afgan War became an example of government propaganda at its best in the never-ending, Orwellian war.  Well... until Donald Trump....  and the dawn of "alternative facts."

Fast forward more than a decade, and as we are still mired in "wars" in Iraq, Afghanistan, and, more recently, a growing presence in Syria, we have  new hand at the switch and a new finger on the nuclear button.  Is Donald Trump more in the mold of the Supreme Commander of the largest military force ever assembled in the history of the world, the Allied Military Commander, Dwight Eisenhower who as General and, later, as President, lamented the bloodshed of war and cautioned against committing to "saber-rattling" as a tool of advancing our international relations?  Or, have we elected a President more in the mold of North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un - an autocrat who relies on lies, propaganda, and "alternative facts" to shield his citizens from the truth, especially when real facts do not support his world view or agenda?  Is Trump a President who prefers the "big stick" to "walking softly"?  Again, in his Farewell Address, President Eisenhower commented "as one who has witnessed the horror and lingering sadness of war - as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization" and that the "potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist",  that international relations must be based on "a confederation of equals with mutual trust and respect" and "cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield." Is President Trump a bringer of peace or a monger of war?

From the earliest days of his campaign of 2016, Donald Trump made no secret of his goals of dramatically expanding the lethal force of the US Military, often describing the largest, best trained, best funded, and most practiced military on the planet - larger than the next 12 nations on the planet - as weak, leaderless, and ineffective.  The US spends more tax money in our bristling Defense budget - nearly $6 BILLION a year - nine times Russian outlays and three times defense spending in China - in support of 3 million troops under arms plus all of their hardware and technology - more than any other budget category.  Yet, for President Trump - much more than anyone else is still not enough... and, his budget calls for substantial increases in military expenditures and cuts everywhere else to support that increase.  one might question, for what purpose?

The answer may lie in Trump's continuous bellicose or insulting comments that he has directed toward friend and foe alike.  Within the last several months, Trump has disparaged Mexico and other Latin American countries, derided Canada, hung up on the Australian Prime Minister, and refused to shake hands with the leader of Germany in addition to attacking NATO as having outlived its usefulness. (Last week, after a meeting with the NATO Chairperson, Trump relented and described NATO as "still relevant."). As everyone knows, Trump continues his "bromance" with Vladimir Putin and has recently warmed to the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, not to mention his recent congratulatory phone call to the Turkish Leader, Recep Erdogan on his tightening grip as he erodes the long-held democratic traditions of this troublesome NATO ally.

Trump also seems to be quick on the trigger. Just in the past month he launched 59 Tomahawk missiles against an airbase in Syria, further inflaming tensions with our allies and risking an expanded conflict with Russia (although the Putin was informed in advance of the US planned attack), and attacked Iran as "not living up to the spirit of the agreement" that had been hard-won by the US and 6 other nations to halt the Iranian development of nuclear weapons. And, although the regime' in Syria has proven itself vicious and inhumane in slaughtering their opponents on the battlefield and while held in detention centers as recently reported by Amnesty International that described mass hangings of thousands of opponents of Bashar al-Assad in Syrian prisons, and the resulting refugee crises, President Trump delivers bombs and missiles, not relief supplies, and continues to refuse to let Syrian refugees into our country.

And, in the case of North Korea, Trump has again flexed his military muscle in issuing numerous threats leveled against their unstable leader, Kim Jong-un and sending an "armada" of US naval ships, including an aircraft carrier, from military maneuvers with the Australian Navy toward North Korean waters.  This exercise in brinkmanship Syria and with North Korea could make the world a more dangerous place to call home, or it may call the bluff of both.  North Korea, already issuing open threats to sink a US aircraft carrier and escalating threats to South Korea, Japan, and Australia - all American allies - may very well be calling Trumps bluff while both Russia and China are moving military assets to their respective borders with North Korea.  Risky business, this.

Just more than a century ago, the world went to war in the "War to End All War" that took the lives of another generation.  Millions died in the long and bloody struggle that began almost as an accident. The world stumbled, piece by piece, into broad conflict that started with the assassination of a minor dignitary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria and his wife that took place in Bosnia. That assassination took place on June 28th, 1914 and was carried out by a lone Serbian nationalist - by modern descriptions, a "terrorist." Within one month, Austria declared war against Serbia and allies on both sides, bound by treaties, declared war on each other and WWI was underway. Countless millions died in long-forgotten places, thousands of towns were destroyed, nations disappeared from the map of Europe, other nations were inserted where that had not previously existed, and the seeds for the Second World War were sewn. Can history repeat?  Will it?

In 1961 Eisenhower cautioned, "we must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate... another war could  utterly destroy this civilization that has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years."  So, I ask this - Is anything really worth the risk?  And, is Donald Trump - the man at the switch - the person with his finger on the nuclear button, the man that you would trust to make these life-altering decisions?  Or, is he an unpredictable and unstable wild-man, ready to lash out at a moment's notice or on a whim to prove who is king of the mountain like his counterpart in North Korea?  Trump's most recent comment on the North Korean crisis:  "If China doesn't take care of it, we will." Feel better now?  Stay tuned.....    

THE DRUMBEAT OF DEMOCRACY MARCHES ON...... CAN IT BE SUSTAINED?

PHEW!   This has been quite the roller coaster ride.... and, we are only 3 months +/- into 45's reign. Along the way, we have won some and lost a big one - the Gorsuch appointment to the Supreme Court.  While we all know that the resistance effort would be fraught with peril - some known (like the constant "tweets" from the Prez) and some unknown (like some unprincipled Senate Dems abandoning ship and supporting the Trump agenda, Gorsuch included) - the sting of the Gorsuch appointment may very well turn out to be the "gift" that keeps on giving.... for decades.  Only time will tell just how much damage Gorsuch can do from his new lifetime perch.  On the other hand, your resolute activity in resisting the reactionary agenda of the new administration has produced stunning results.  So, at this period - the second "district work period" - as Congress is home for the Easter break and yet another opportunity for "Town Hall" activism presents itself - let's re-cap where we have traveled so far. And, although we did not win the recent Kansas 4th District special election to fill a seat in the House that had been held by Republican Mike Pompeo, now CIA Director, in a district that Trump carried by 20+ points, we did come within 7 points of the Republican candidate, reducing the margin of victory by 19 points!  If that trend were to be projected all the way to the next House elections in 2018, we would easily win control of the House and the Senate!  But, the road to that day is a long one.  This month the race to fill a vacancy in the Georgia 6th District previously held by Health Secretary Tom Price (don't you really want to slap his face for lying with a smile?), is a coin toss.  Although Price easily won that district last fall by 24 points, right now the Democratic candidate is well ahead in a field that is crowded by more than  dozen Republicans seeking to get to the run-off.  Tuesday, 4/18 is round one of the election and if no one gets 50% of the votes cast, a run-off will take place between the top two.  Looks like the Dem and one of the Rs will face off... But, just maybe.... Jon Ossoff can pull off the upset of the decade and win the seat outright this week....  If not, he will surely be in the run-off election against one of 18 Republicans seeking the party spot.  Hold on tight!

Again, congrats to all the members and activists engaged in the resistance! Nunes is off as chair of the House Intel Committee Russia investigation; Bannon is off the NSC; the AHCA failed to pass;the Muslim travel ban is blocked by the Courts so far; for the most part, Senate Dems held and the Gorsuch nomination filibuster was in place but the Senate Rs pulled the "Nuclear Option" trigger and succeeded in the Gorsuch appointment;  Prez T is sinking in the polls to new lows - presently at 38%, the lowest of a new President in history; Mike Flynn requested immunity; the Senate Intel Committee, headed by a Republican, so far looks legit.; and, public sentiment has taken a dramatic turn against the Trump reactionary policies and programs of this fake president.

Right from the Women's march on January 21st, your active engagement has proven to be the factor that galvanized the resistance movement across the nation which is saving our democracy from those who would dismantle, hobble, or destroy what took a century to carefully craft. From conservation and environmental protection and voting rights, to advancing the cause of encouraging quality education and civil rights, to caring for our poor, sick, and elderly, you are leading the way in defending our values that are under attack from the right-wing nuts currently at the switch.

Post cards, letters, phone calls, e-mail, rallies, marches, demonstrations, town halls, voter registrations and all the rest are making a real difference. But, know this..... You and I are engaged in the long game - with a common goal of taking our country back! Our commitment must be strong and continuous. We cannot let up, we cannot sit down, we cannot shut up until the goal is reached. And, that goal may take 2 years until the next congressional election or 4 years until the next presidential. Between now and then, the challenges will be great and they will be many. Our opponents will not go easy into the night. They have schemed far too long and worked too hard to lull the majority to sleep or to awaken their fears and prejudices, turning them into voters voting against their own interests. But, this shell game cannot work in the long term. People ultimately wake up... and, when they do, they will take their pound of flesh with a ferocious anger against those who tricked them, lied to them, and led them down a dark alley lined with false promises. That will be a day of reckoning and also the day when the fog of war blows away, and the smoke clears, and the American promise will again become a beacon of hope and a shining symbol of freedom, equality, and opportunity around the globe. 

Make no mistake, many battles loom ahead and we must be ever vigilant.  Without doubt, health care will again be under assault.  Then comes the Trump budget already proposed with massive cuts to education, environmental protection, social programs, women's health supports and Planned Parenthood, and numerous other programs reflective of American needs and values, and a massive expansion of spending on the US Military war machine - already the largest and strongest on the planet with spending levels greater than the next 20 nations added together!  Drain the swamp?  Nope.  Actually, drain the treasury - and our tax dollars - away from investments to build America and to educate and care for our people, to fund the military/industrial complex and the US War Machine to advance the corporate interests pulling the strings behind the scenes. And, then comes tax cuts for the large corporations and the wealthy at the expense of everyone and everything else.  Aside from dismantling of regulations that were designed over decades to protect us from bad food, ineffective drugs, corporate collusion and excess profits, consumer fraud, and threats to the environment, we are in the midst of defending the American future - the America that our children and their children will experience in the decades ahead.  The architecture of that alternative future is being designed and implemented RIGHT NOW.  The choices that we make today will shape the America of tomorrow.  We must engage.  We must stand up.  We must speak out.... WE MUST MARCH ON!  Stay engaged, stay active, and know that the future is counting on you and all of us.

RESIST! Bobby J