Gongol.com Archives: 2016 Weekly Archives
November 20, 2016
Mitt Romney meets with Donald Trump
It would be very good for the country if Mitt Romney were to serve in a high office during a Trump administration. Romney is a bona fide skeptic of Trump, and he doesn't need the job. That gives him both the moral authority and the freedom to act according to his conscience.
If the Democratic Party turns farther left because of 2016, they got it all wrong
The Democrats need to move toward the center, not the left. It does the country no good to have two wingnut political parties.
One major thing that hasn't changed since the election
Per the Census Bureau: "Around the time the 2020 Census is conducted, more than half of the nation's children are expected to be part of a minority race or ethnic group. This proportion is expected to continue to grow so that by 2060, just 36 percent of all children (people under age 18) will be single-race non-Hispanic white, compared with 52 percent today." This fact, probably more than anything else, will help to secure civil rights in the future. Becoming a majority-minority country is a process that is very good for the well-being of America; despite some fits and starts coming from people who aren't comfortable with the changing face of the country, most of us see and live within diverse family and friendship groups. That's a pretty significant social safeguard.
He wants government to stimulate the economy again. The evidence shows that it doesn't work like he says it does.
Hint: Clicking on a Facebook meme isn't the way
November 16, 2016
The protective pool isn't an option
A President (or President-elect) who ditches the press protective pool assigned to follow him or her is an individual who underestimates the weight of the office. The President is a walking and talking, living and breathing military command center. The American people require uncontested third-party confirmation at all times where that command center is located and in what condition it is kept. Anything less introduces a level of uncertainty equivalent to threatening the safety of the Pentagon. There should be no doubt about this: On 9/11, the President of the United States was evacuated to an airborne command post -- and even with a small staff, room was made for members of the press to evacuate with him. That's how important third-party validation of the President's security is to the continuity of government. Donald Trump ditched his protective pool this week. He cannot do that again.
Minnesota police officer charged with manslaughter over shooting of civilian
In the Philando Castile case, the county attorney says: "No reasonable officer who knew, saw and heard what Officer Yanez did at the time would have used deadly force under these circumstances." Remember, not only was an innocent man shot, there was a child in the back seat and an adult passenger in the front. The county attorney is showing courage by pursuing the case in this way -- but a Federal investigation ought to be conducted in every case involving a police-involved killing of a member of the public. Oversight regarding the use of deadly force should not be under-applied.
Wikileaks was used as a conscious tool of Russian influence
This is dirty politics at its most high-stakes
"[A]dversarial journalism, not access journalism"
That is what will be required of the mass media in the Trump Administration. Don't show up to be friendly. Show up to hold power to account.
Tough times to persist for Midwestern farmers
And that has a spillover impact on the rest of the regional economy
