“I Still Believe In My Country And Party”

by with 4 Comments CultureFeatured

[Last year we published several articles under the category “Define Your Patriotism.” In light of the NFL controversy and other major issues, such as proposed tariffs and the upcoming North Korea Summit, we felt that revisiting several articles in this category would be helpful at a time when many of us might be questioning our patriotism.] 

My first association of patriotism with myself comes from my family history of military service. All of my brothers, my sister, my uncles and aunts, grandparents and great aunts were in the Army. The vast majority served in wartime, and so did I. How I was raised undoubtedly framed how I’ve thought about my country, and I’m not afraid at all to say that I’m very, very inclined to side with my own country over the World. However, I do feel that our position gives us a responsibility to have an impact in the World. American values – freedom of expression and religion, human rights, property rights, self-determination, and the idea that those rights are worth dying for – for all people – frame how I think about my country and the World.

Related: “Patriotism Is A Dirty Word”

The last few years of politics in the street have been hard to watch, but I still believe our core ideals (though we may not always follow them) are the best in human history, and our system will ultimately bring us back to our ideals. Populism has its place in the center of a democracy, but the Bill of Rights is there to keep the majority from oppressing the minorities. An electoral college makes sure our leadership reflects both the will of all people and the importance of consensus of the different ways of life across our many states and districts. The three branches of government are there to keep any one branch of government from dominating the others, and the Bill of Rights contains the elements that keep all branches of government from ever wrestling power from our citizens. That’s the brilliance of American democracy.

I believe in promoting our values overseas, and the idea of our ideals making possible again Reagan’s idea of the “Shining City upon a Hill”. We are still the country that brought down the Soviet Union with a steady and orchestrated combination of military and economic might, and I believe the US still has a leadership role to play in the World that we should not surrender to Europe, China or a global coalition.

The daily politics of the past few years has bothered me a lot. It feels like a bulk of the country thinks about either “I want this, or I need this, so I have a right”, or “mine is mine”, or at least each side frames the other that way- very successfully. Natural rights aren’t things people have to do for you, they are things they can’t do for you. Citizens have the right to be treated equally before the courts, to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Whether they catch happiness or fail is up to their desire, determination and ability, and failure is part of life. Collective healthcare may or may not be a good idea, but it’s a privilege and not a right that one person (regardless of their means) provides that care for another.

By the same token, far too many with means focus only on “what’s mine is mine”. The free markets of the US, the roads we drive on and the infrastructure of safety and order that predicate the wealth-creation of our country require that everyone in the US must have an opportunity to succeed and a place in society. Without that, the environment of order that makes our economy great doesn’t work. Furthermore, whether inside or outside of government, our duty to our fellow man isn’t one we can forget by pushing others away. It may be that’s not the job of the government, but if it’s not, it’s because we private citizens instead make the active effort to create that opportunity for others on our own. If you say it’s the private market’s job because the private market is more efficient (as I do believe), you are placing that responsibility for your fellow citizens holistically on your church, your private organization or on yourself. You can’t say “I already pay my taxes so I’m good” and then just fight for lower taxes.

Conservatism didn’t use to be just about saying “no.” It used to be a vision for the US that our founders’ ideals were superior – that America has a dominant place in the World- and a vision with a place for all people.   We were the ‘Party of Lincoln’ when we were the first to foster the idea that “all men were created equal” really meant all men- and then all humans. We were the ‘Party of Reagan’ when we believed in our special role with a duty to defend the World and promote democracy globally. I still believe in my country and my party, and it’s my hope that in the coming years, my patriotism will help me guide those I care about in making sure that our next evolution in conservatism is not simply the ‘Party of Me.’

How do you define your patriotism?

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This article was originally published on 3 July 2017.

Korean Reunification Will Never Work, and Here’s Why

by with No Comment FeaturedGlobal

In response to Trump Succeeds Where Obama Did Not

I have great hope for the upcoming talks with North Korea, and I agree that the tone and setting are different than they’ve ever been before.  That said, while there is a possibility of everyone getting what they want (and thus currently a sense of great optimism in the possibility by all sides, and a thrust of welcoming outreach as each party sets up for the talks), there remain quite a few conflicting, zero-sum core objectives that are likely to color the actual talks and their ultimate impact.

First among these is reunification itself.  While reunification is a North and South objective, “reunification” looks very different in the minds of the two heads of state.  These two nations remain at war because each of their governments is unwilling to not be the surviving entity.  Further, reunification is China’s worst outcome.  China is at times uncomfortable with the DPRK and sees a nuclear North as problematic, but ultimately, their needs are best met by having a divided Korea and a buffer state between China and US-aligned South Korea.  North Korea is unlikely to re-align with the West regardless of North/South relations, and is unlikely to open itself up much at all.

Northern power is based on their own narrative and control of information.  Strict adherence to this policy has given the Kim dynasty firm control over a starving population.  Family reunification on any meaningful scale is likely to provide an infection of truth that might well topple their hold on the hearts and minds of the North Korean people.  As such, hopes of reunification (even among families) seems hard to imagine.

Additionally, we have come to this place precisely because the DPRK is on the brink of developing a nuclear missile that can hit the US mainland.  This attention and recognition was precisely the DPRK’s objective in building this weapon, and when the talks are over and the DPRK improves its situation from desperately starving to abject poverty through foreign aid, they are likely to realize once again that their best alternative is to tear up any nuclear concessions and go back to threatening the world with nuclear weapons.

What worries me is the only end to this loop is a sub-optimal outcome nearly everyone in the region.  Imagine a world where the DPRK after successful agreements violates those concessions and returns to weapon production.  The US strikes a deal with China that the US will destroy the weapons sites with force, but will allow China (not South Korea) to enter.  South Korea bears the brunt of a conventional artillery barrage, but repels a DPRK advance – but at great loss of life.  North Korea becomes either part of China proper or a puppet vassal state, likely ending the prospect of Korean reunification for at least the next 100 years.  In order to gain China’s acquiescence, the US would likely have to agree to cede our heavy presence in the Pacific – greatly reducing the US footprint on land and water, and likely leaving South Korea, Taiwan, Australia and Japan to deal with China as the unequivocal regional hegemon.

And Trump may well like that deal.  It protects the US from a nuclear threat (America first), moves the US back from our global posture (which he has said from the start is among his objectives), and in exchange for the US conceding regional hegemony to China (which he and many others see as merely a realistic eventuality), he is likely to get strong trade concessions that will benefit US industry in the short term.  In the thousand year sense, China also likes that deal – with the US gone from the region, they return to their rightful place atop the Asian region- achieved through negotiations, money and Korean (not Chinese) blood.

So while all of that is good for the US and China, it may be a bit early to start handing out Nobel Prizes.  The Trump/Xi version of Realpolitik is more likely to look like it did in the Franco-Prussian era- like two great powers carving out their spheres of influence.  Perhaps I’m wrong.  But we will see…

Trump is Clearly a Fan of UCLA Basketball

by with 3 Comments Sports

Before I begin this article, I think it’s important to state that I do not have children. I have no nieces or nephews. I’m rarely in the presence of young people. That includes everyone from those racking up Disney points, to those who voted in the 2008 election. My experience with young people is limited to being a long-term substitute teacher for several months, to law enforcement, to well… that’s about it. And it’s been years since I was either one; however, spoiler alert, the acts and ways of young people don’t change. They will always do naive things without thinking.

The most recent news about the Ball basketball family isn’t Lonzo Ball’s league-worst shooting percentage, the family’s terrible reality show, or the Big Baller Brand’s latest attempt to sell overpriced sporting apparel. It may sound like I don’t like the Ball family, which is led by the Don King and patriarch of the family, Lavar Ball; but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I support Lavar Ball and his outlandish acts, even his more than over the top sound bites. History has shown that when there’s a “Puff Daddy” to the father of Venus and Serena Williams to Flava Flav, a hype man/father/loud supporter of a particular talent, said talent generally does very well. Plus, the family last name is Ball – how cool is that? It’s like a military family with the last name “Sergeant.” And yes, I’ve met a Sergeant Sergeant before. Anyway, I digress.

LiAngelo Ball, Cody Riley, and Jalen Hill, all three freshmen of the UCLA Basketball team, decided to make the good (insert sarcasm) decision to steal sunglasses from an upscale and well-monitored store in China. Not Chinatown, New York City, but actual China. Not smart, I get it; however, teenagers and young people, until a real-life experience hits them, make a lot of dumb decisions.

To be clear, this isn’t about a lack of intelligence or common sense, but about the notion that young people are very naïve and arrogant at times. Mix in budding basketball stars of a premier basketball school, no life experience or knowledge regarding the nation they were in, and presto! An arrest for shoplifting, in China.

Speaking of the arrest… before anyone goes on a pious rant that it’s because “Lavar Ball is overbearing” and “poor little LiAngelo is acting out,” or the classic, these young black men with the world given to them “doing something stupid just wanna mess it up,” I’m very sure no player has ever wanted to just give back their fame and potential riches. LiAngelo and the others are doing what every other young person, I would say younger than 25, has and/or will do. That is an act depending on the opportunity, situation, person, etc., something very stupid that will either begin the process of true maturity, or will begin a negative trend of behavior sure to render a consequence that jeopardizes everything. It’s not like young people don’t possess the moral power to do right instead of wrong. But they do lack the need to understand that even the littlest wrongs can have a major impact that comes with major consequences, consequences they don’t foresee.

I will bet any amount of money these young basketball players never took into account that they were in a communist country. China’s legal system and procedures are nothing like the United States’. Another factor – they probably didn’t think they would get caught, or were important enough that if they did get caught they wouldn’t get in trouble. Yes, that has much to do with young athletes being treated like royalty early and far too often; however, that’s not that big of a deal. For the most part, most college and young professional athletes, both men and women, behave accordingly, given the circumstances they could easily act a fool.

Fortunately for the players, ole 45 made a few calls and apparently even Lavar Ball knew a few people, and the players escaped a “Midnight Express” situation. 

Once the players settle back in the U.S. their consequences will probably exceed their crime. The moral joke, which is the NCAA, will likely overreach and make “an example” of them.

In the final analysis, all we can do as responsible adults is stress the importance to young people to think beyond the current, and understand their negative acts last three times longer than their positive ones. We must stress that life is mostly about decision making, and the better one’s life, has much to do with his or her choices. I think young people, including star athletes, generally understand that. This incident was a technical foul they couldn’t argue with the refs about. But it didn’t matter, because as crazy as it sounds, Trump was there to help them win the game.

Venezuela: A Nation Divided And Why It Matters, Pt. II

by with No Comment International

(Part I includes reasons 1 and 2)

Here are reasons 3 – 5 why the crisis in Venezuela matters to not just you, but to everyone else in the world.

III. It could turn Venezuelans to hate America in the region

  • Dictators in Latin America love to find sentiment to rage against the United States. From Fidel Castro’s passionate denunciations of the American “imperialists” to Venezuelans late president Hugo Chavez, who spoke out against George W. Bush at the UN in 2006.
  • So it’s no surprise that Maduro is using the same rhetoric to stoke up flames of anti-American sentiment throughout the region.
  • Latin Americans are cautious and sensitive to what some consider “imperialist” policies coming from Washington, making it very easy for leaders like Maduro to build up dissent for the United States.
  • With this being said, it is important for the U.S. to play an active role in Latin America so that it can combat the negative remarks and false images that dictators are trying to create.

 

IV. It has created unimaginable suffering

  • Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” There is a fundamental human reason why we should care and pay attention to what is currently taking place in Venezuela. Venezuelans are going through unimaginable suffering, and it’s unfathomable to many of us.
  • High inflation, especially soaring food prices means that many people are not just skipping meals, but are not eating all together. According to a national survey conducted by three of the country’s major universities, the percentage of malnourished Venezuelans is increasing.
  • Some have jokingly dubbed this the “Maduro diet” who has said that doing without “makes you tough.” WTF?
  • There have also been shortages on basic goods such as toilet paper and medical supplies. Venezuela can’t pay to import goods because its government is desperately strapped for cash after years of foolish spending. The sight of people sifting through trash to find food is unfortunately a common sight.

 

V. This could ultimately hurt us in our pocketbook.

  • This crisis in Caracas could hit American citizens where it hurts the most: The gas pump.
  • The US is the main buyer of Venezuelan oil, so there’s a very intimate relationship between both governments, in that regard at least.
  • If President Trump decided to actually follow through on his threat to place heavy sanctions on Venezuelan oil, or bar shipments to the U.S., Venezuela would be crippled because at this point that is their only source of income. Its humanitarian crisis would worsen. But surprisingly, the sanctions would hurt us as well, because Venezuela is third in oil exports to the U.S., right behind Saudi Arabia and Canada.
  • Sanctions would force the U.S. to buy oil elsewhere, which means that it would inadvertently force you and I to shell out more money when we decide to visit our local BP or Mobil gas station.

So pay attention, this is bigger than our media is leading you to believe. This crisis in Venezuela can definitely get out of control, if it already hasn’t.

Venezuela: A Nation Divided And Why It Matters, Pt. I

by with No Comment International

As of this year, you have probably seen the news reports: The Vice specials, and AJ+’s coverage of the protests in the streets, the long lines at the stores. But you probably have not paid enough attention to the actual chaos gripping Venezuela.

How are the events taking place in a socialist nation of 30 million people, thousands of miles away, relevant to you in the U.S.?

Here are 5 reasons why the crisis in Venezuela matters to not just you, but to everyone else in the world.

I. It’s creating thousands of new refugees

  • The lack of food and medicine, soaring inflation, political instability, and violence are all key ingredients of creating refugees. This has and is currently taking place in Venezuela, and has forced tens of thousands of its citizens to flee. These same refugees are now the top asylum seekers in the U.S., ahead of citizens from countries like El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and China. This is, in fact, the first time that Venezuelans have topped the list.
  • As of now, more than 21,600 Venezuelans have sought asylum so far in 2017. That number has increased by as much as four times since 2015 when 5,605 Venezuelans applied for asylum.
  • What makes this all the more challenging is that with the current American political climate, a wave of new asylum-seekers would not be welcomed with open arms.
  • There is currently a rise in xenophobia in the U.S., and a flood of Venezuelans from across the social strata into our country creates an opportunity for U.S. politicians to use them as pawns for their political agendas.

 

II. It’s an attack on democracy – which is disconcerting

  • Observers of this conflict have noted that what is currently going on politically in Venezuela over the last few years is an attack on the people’s ability to choose how they wish to be governed, which is also an attack on their presumed liberties.
  • President Nicolas Maduro filled the Venezuelan Supreme court with his supporters so that he would be able to block any impeachment attempts after the country’s opposition leaders won a majority of seats in the National Assembly in 2015.
  • To make matters worse, the Maduro-backed Supreme court then briefly tried to deconstruct the National Assembly and grab hold of its legislative powers, which only ignited a wave of violent protests that have continued almost every day since March 2017. As many as 100 people have been killed since then.
  • Last week the country held an election that was highly controversial to create a new lawmaking body, named the Constituent Assembly. The 545-seat legislative body, packed with Maduro’s supporters, would finally have the power to rewrite the country’s 1999 constitution and promptly take control of all branches of Venezuela’s government under Maduro.
  • With what is currently taking place in our own country, this should make ALL Americans sit up and pay attention. Having a leader try and bend the will of the government to suit his needs is something we all have become quite accustomed to in the U.S.

 

Part II includes reasons 3 – 5.

Black Families Under Attack?

by with 5 Comments CultureFeatured

Once again, the one and only Dr. Umar Johnson has made headlines; this time is for the exchange he had during an interview on the Roland Martin show. Overall, I felt the interview portion by Roland Martin was the typical question and answer session one would expect of a host and their guest. Roland asked Dr. Johnson a range of tough questions to break down all the backlash Dr. Johnson was receiving from an earlier interview he did with The Breakfast Club. Unfortunately, the Roland Martin interview took a turn for the worse and became more of an attack session on Dr. Johnson when the panelists were brought in. Only A. Scott Bolden was composed and actually tried to listen to Dr. Johnson for understanding, and not just listen to respond. Also, despite Roland questioning Dr. Johnson on a variety of topics, the panelists did not want to talk about anything other than Dr. Johnson’s stance on inter-racial marriage. Dr. Johnson strongly believes in order to save the Black family, Black men must choose to commit to and marry a Black woman.

Don’t get me wrong, I do believe a person should love who they want and who makes them feel as if they are the only person that matters on the planet. There is no greater feeling than to find that special someone who you connect with mentally, spiritually, and physically, no matter what ethnic background they come from. However, I also see truth in what Dr. Johnson says. How can you create a Black family if both parents are not Black? Simple, you can’t. Dr. Johnson was not saying anything was wrong with inter-racial couples and families, he was just stating the increased trend of Black men marrying non-Black women is detrimental to the preservation and strengthening of the Black family unit as a whole.

Other ethnic groups marry within their ethnic group all the time without receiving backlash. As for me, I am Black. My mom is Black. My dad is Black. My sister is Black. My aunties, uncles, and cousins are Black. In the words of James Brown, I’m Black and I’m Proud! I have dreams of marrying a nice chocolate Black man and having Black children who we will teach to love the skin they’re in because unfortunately there will be times society will make our future children feel like being Black is a bad thing, when in actuality being Black is truly nothing to be ashamed of. I do not think loving who I am and wanting to marry someone who has similar cultural roots should be viewed as a problem, but I digress.

My main issue with Dr. Johnson is not what he says, but how he says it. Many times I do not like the extremist delivery Dr. Johnson chooses to take in his speeches and videos. Also, when called out for inconsistencies (i.e. lack of financial transparency for the school he’s trying to build), Dr. Johnson tends to become rude and dismissive, which rubs me the wrong way. However, I do believe every movement needs an extremist or someone to be labeled as radical who viciously shakes you out of your comfort zone. Dr. Umar Johnson takes on that role for Pan-Afrikanism. Now as much I am not the biggest fan of Dr. Umar Johnson’s message delivery, I must say I always learn at least one thing from him whenever he speaks. During his interview, Dr. Johnson clarified that Mandarin is taught as a secondary language in the South African School Systems. Knowing that China has one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and also has one of the world’s largest military, I thought South Africa is on to something. South Africa is being forward thinking and preparing their students, who will be their future leaders, to conduct business with the Chinese. We in America love to excessively dwell in our greatness as “leaders of the free world.” We expect others to adapt and accommodate us when we work and travel overseas, and not put in the effort to figure out the country’s proper customaries and language. For example, how many times have you been on vacation abroad and witnessed arrogance mixed with frustration of fellow Americans who are mad no one around speaks English or does things the ‘American way”? I’ll wait…

Overall, everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, even a ‘radial’ thinker like Dr. Johnson. Interviews that are considered good journalism seek to understand the interviewee’s stance rather than attacking and trying to get the interviewee to change their opinion on the subject being discussed. In this regard, Roland Martin and his panelists failed.

Video: Roland Martin Dr. Umar Johnson Interview

Stop Traveling To Bad Places

by with One Comment FeaturedGlobal

The death of Otto Wambier a few weeks ago is truly a tragedy for America, but it was preventable.  The US State Dept. offers an extensive warning against travel to the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), which as it happens is about the least democratic country on the face of the earth.  That warning by the State Dept. is there because since 1996, at least 16 Americans, 1 Australian and 1 Canadian have been detained in the DPRK for “crimes” such as going short distances from their hotel without approval, taking photos of innocuous things without permission and bringing Bibles into the country in their bags.  Additionally, as the DPRK still recognizes only a cease-fire, it still considers itself in a state of active war with the US, and tries any US citizen under “wartime law”.  That may not be any worse actually than what they do to anyone else, but it should be enough to reinforce that it’s not a good idea to go there.

 One thing many people forget while living safely within the United States, where rights are guaranteed, is how different that is from most of human history and even large swaths of the World today.  Americans have no rights in the DPRK because no one has rights in the DPRK- even (and actually especially) the country’s own citizens.  According to multiple reputable media sources, Kim Jong Un fed his uncle to 120 dogs that had not eaten for 3 days in front of 300 senior officials in a process that lasted for about an hour.

 The US has numerous issues in dealing with the DPRK.  In addition to their regular and barbarous treatment of their own citizens, they continue to use any and all available resources toward the production of arms and particularly nuclear weapons, which they have now shown can reach all of Japan and likely parts of the US.  Despite nearly infinite sanctions against the country, and substantial sanctions against foreign governments providing aid to the country, they persist.  But as the DPRK is still armed with nuclear weapons and crazy, the US has never attempted an armed rescue of US citizens, which would be very likely to result in the deaths of all the prisoners before they could be reached, and re-start shelling (and a possible nuclear attack) on South Korea, Japan or possibly even the US.  In 2009, Bill Clinton was able to negotiate the release of two US citizens by traveling to the country personally.  This only accelerated the pace of the DPRK taking US citizens.  Ostensibly to repeat the media event of Bill Clinton in Pyongyang, 13 of the 16 citizens mentioned above were taken after Clinton’s visit.

 So the lesson for most of us should be don’t go there.  It’s a bad place- and there are bad places left in the World.  Perhaps the first and second citizens could have thought it might work out okay, but the 17th should be pretty sure that it might not.  And if you do go there, evidence has shown that the US government making a big deal out of getting you out leads to more people taken.  Over time, that means that the likelihood of the next person to enter being taken for “crimes” is exponentially higher than the last person who left, and the likelihood of the US government being able to come get you becomes substantially lower.

 Further, it side tracks what the US is able to do with regard to managing China- sometimes side-tracking half of the discussion time that could be used to discuss nuclearization of the Korean peninsula, kidnapping of Japanese fishermen and missiles fired over Japanese airspace with discussions about getting back a US citizen who thought this would be the “tourist trip of a lifetime”.

There is evil still in the World- and a lot of it is there.  Our country will do what it can for you and should continue to do so, but individual judgment is still an individual responsibility, and if you choose to enter the lion’s den, don’t be surprised at the consequences.