Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Just a 10 minute drive from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School a beautiful 35 foot high wooden temple stands out among government buildings and city traffic in Coral Springs.  The towering work of art named The Temple of Time officially opened on Valentine’s Day, the one-year mark of the MSD massacre.  It’s meant to be a haven for those still grieving in the brokenhearted community.  Artist David Best, of California, built his first temple 19 years ago in Nevada.  He has since created more than a dozen temples from Nepal to Ireland.  

After some time has passed, traditionally the temples have been set ablaze in a ceremonial fire.  Though many in the MSD community wish otherwise, The Temple in memory of those slain will meet the same fate in May - the purpose of burning the temple to the ground is to cast off the pain and sorrrow.  

More than 500 volunteers, most of them local, worked together to erect the temple - since Valentine’s Day mourners have been writing messages of hope and love throughout the wooden temple.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Women have mental illness too,

yet 98% of mass shootings are committed by men -

This isn’t about mental illness,

it’s about violent men and their easy access to killing machines.

Paul Richard Hain

Stewart, yes indeed, strangers could not be donors because it was presumed money was being exchanged, a violation of the rules.  Something good happened, though. Three years ago, the hospital was being contacted by people with no affiliation to those needing an organ transplant, that remarkably want to donate an organ to help strangers!  The hospital began keeping records of those making the offer.  If the stranger did not know the recipient, there could not be an exchange of money. They began a philanthropic donor list  of volunteers.  Over the years, the list grew.  They had to be qualified physically and psychologically.  They now draw donors from the list for transplantation.

Including this program and persons who have indicated on their driver's license that they are a donor, there are 121,000 patients waiting for an organ everyday.  About 17-20 die waiting each day.

Donald Henry Kuehn

Stewart Myrent

​Don, thanks so much for the view of Trump from the other side of 'the pond'.  It was not only hilarious, but made a lot of sense, even if you are barely paying attention.  But. I feel as though MY skirts are getting dirty, just by being from the same country as you-know-who.  Please relay to the British - this is not my fault.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Trump is a malignant force.  

“Everything (he) touches dies.” (Republican Rick Wilson wrote the book.)

Have you ever seen Trump smile? ever heard him laugh?

Jack Edmund Bookwalter

Stewart Myrent

​Jack, very nice to hear from you & I really liked your riposte, "No dumber than Brexit.", when queried by those limeys, as to how we could elect a president Trump.  I do agree that the whole Brexit fiasco, is as stupid as us having a Trump for president - but, go figure.  I'm pretty sure that the Brexit vote was driven by uninformed, nationalistic & jingoistic motivations (fear of 'the other'), fairly similar to what we had here, in the last presidential election.  However, if you would have blamed our situation on the Electoral College, they would have no understanding of it.  But, I'm pretty sure that the limeys, would be as hard-put to understand the Electoral College, as we are, to understand the Brexit vote.  Janis, as much as you are hoping that Congress will do the right thing, relative to the gun laws in this country, I wouldn't hold my breath, as the Democrats are as complicit in this BS, as the Republicans.  If that weren't the case, sensible gun laws would have been put in place long ago.

Stewart Myrent

Just saw a thing on the ongoing Munich Security Conference, where vice-president Pence opened his speech with greetings from the 45th president, Donald Trump.  And was met with stony silence (he was expecting applause - his notes showed a pause, for applause).  At this same conference, Angela Merkel, criticized Trump for threatening to charge tariffs on German autos made in the U.S., labelling them 'security risks'.  After pointing out the absurdity of that reasoning, she received almost universal approbation & applause.  The reason that the applause was 'almost' universal, was that one person did not join in the approbation & applause - Ivanka Trump was sitting in the audience & was the one person who did not enjoy Merkel's speech.  Thought it was interesting.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

“Let us cross the river of our divides...” --Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), candidate for Democratic Presidential nomination.  She’s real, she’s a truth teller - she doesn’t pander.  She wants the country to reach high expectations.  She has strength and courage, she’s honest and direct... and she has a sense of humor.  

“We need more than aspirational, we need serious action,” says Klobuchar.

Stewart Myrent

​Janis, I don't know much about Amy Klobucher (D-MN), but, as you know, I am hoping that our next president will be a woman, as I had hoped that our current president would be a woman.  I have no idea if she would be a good president, or not.  (I can't imagine that she would be worse than the current occupant of the Oval Office, as our commander-in-chief).  But Janis, you said, "...she doesn't pander."  Janis, please, I don't think I've ever seen a politician who doesn't pander.  That's how you get elected - by pandering to your audience.  I think, perhaps, that you just don't realize that Amy has been pandering directly to you - in fact, I think that you are part of her 'target audience'.  But, don't get me wrong, I don't mind that she's pandering - I think that if she's going to have a real shot at the presidency, she's gonna have to hone those pandering skills.  Janis, it may not seem like it, but she's pandering.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

The difference between people who support Trump and people who do not is more than political.  

Consider conservatives who oppose Trump: George Will, Jennifer Rubin, Peter Wehner, Bill Kristol, the late Charles Krauthammer, Ralph Peters, Max Boot, Stuart Stevens, Christine Todd Whitman, Bill Weld, John Kasich, Evan McMullin, Richard Painter, David Frum, Michael Gerson, Bret Stephens, Rick Wilson, Mike Murphy, Nicolle Wallace, Rick Tyler, Steve Schmidt, Erick Erickson...

David St. Pierre Bantz

There are now at least 10 announced candidates (including 4 women) for the Democratic nomination for President and others who may announce soon:

Andrew Yang Nov 6
Elizabeth Warren Feb 9
Tulsi Gabbard Jan 11
Julian Castro Jan 12
Kirsten Gillibrand Jan 15
Kamala Harris Jan 21
Pete Buttigieg Jan 23
Cory Booker Feb 1
Amy Klobuchar Feb 10
Bernie Sanders Feb 18
Joe Biden ?
Beto O'Rourke 
Michael Bloomberg ?
Sherrod Brown ?

With that large a field, potential supporters are likely to triage, in particular, identifying traits that make some candidates a poor choice so as to focus on others. For me, hoping for a constructive alternative that speaks to key needs and opportunities for change - such as re-invigorating civil democratic governance, affordable healthcare for all, economic gains for all rather than only plutocrats, addressing climate disruption/collapse - self-professed middle of the road candidates rule themselves out by foreclosing substantial progress needed and accepting the destructive and false framing of plutocrats and authoritarians. Moreover, that moderate, compromising, make only small changes approach is an implausible strategy to defeat the incument; "things are pretty good, just need tweaking by me" failed in 2016 and will fail worse in 2020, IMHO.

If a politician says we "cannot afford" basic health care, because that may require collective spending using taxes, but is unwilling to consider the human and financial costs of inefficient and ineffective U.S. healthcare system based on fee-for-service and insurance bureaucrats making life and death decisions, then that politician will not address let alone solve the U.S. health care crisis but will be working for the continued large profits of insurance and pharmaceutical industries at the expense of our health.

If a politician says we "cannot take strong action" to provide potable water or reduce climate-altering methane and CO2 because that would disrupt profitable fossil fuel and chemical industries, then that politician is collaborating in the destruction of human and animal life on earth for the sake of next year's profits (and campaign donations).

If a politician bemoans low voter turn-out, foreign espionage undermining our elections, and the corrosive effects of anonymous PACs turning campaigns into brawls,  but is unwilling to throttle use of money (because "money is speech") or the roles of PACs and Corporation (becaue "corporations are people too") then that politician is part of the degradation of representative democracy to government by and for plutocrats.

Amy Klobuchar has sneeringly dismissed the progressive suggestions of other candidates and used the "we can't afford" mantra, smugly assuring us that she "has to tell the truth" while fully adopting the false framing that has sustained reactionary and inhumane policies of the far right plutocrats in charge today.  As if that weren't enough, she has essentially acknowledged charges by former employees that she is an abusive boss who has created a toxic work environment in which her staff are publicly shamed and humiliated ("I have high standards" she retorts). I've had more than I can bear of that sort of egotistical and authoritarian "leadership" in the current administration. Democrats can do better and if they don't, they will not inspire the work needed to win against an incumbent who is a genius at revving up resentment and false fears.

Stewart Myrent

Just saw something that alarmed me.  President Trump just called the NY Times, "a true enemy of the people."  Now, I get that the president probably hates the NY Times, as their reporting on the misdeeds of the president & his entire entourage of people of questionable character (not to mention enumerating his lies), are contributing to the vexatious & disconcerted feelings this president is experiencing, relative to said newspaper.  But to refer to a long-established & highly regarded daily newspaper, like the NY Times (very much unlike, say, The National Enquirer), as "a true enemy of the people.", to me, smacks of bulls---, chicanery, & despotism, that is scarily, reminiscent of Nazism in the 1930's & every other autocratic government in history.  The 1st Amendment of the U.S Constitution guarantees free speech for all of us, but also guarantees free speech to the press.  When will the U.S. Congress finally have had enough?  What will it take to hold accountable, a president who has openly flouted so many of our laws, violated so many Constitutional standards (not the least of which, the emoluments clause), and who seems to feel that he is above the law?  Is that one of the perks of being president, that you are above the law?  I kind of get it, if it's a speeding ticket - not so much, if it's the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitutuion.  So, for all you conservative thinkers out there & all you Congresspeople, what will it take to realize that the president is not all there & is extremely BAD for this country, in just about every possible way?

Stewart Myrent

I forgot to mention in my previous post, that I saw Trump on TV yesterday, saying that the wall he's gonna build, will be more difficult to scale than Mt. Everest.  I am NOT making this up!  I've never scaled Mt. Everest & I have never scaled any border wall, be it very tall, or very short, but if I have a choice, I'm picking the border wall (regardless of height) every single time, over trying to scale Mt. Everest.  I have certainly heard of hyperbole, but after a while, it just seems more like lies & deception.  But, some of the stuff he says, and does, make absolutely no sense to me, and I consider myself a sane. rational person.  Which is why I am starting to wonder, is our president nuts?  He certainly seems to be a crazy person, to me, but I am neither a clinical psychologist, nor psychiatrist, however, I am starting to feel that I am, perhaps, as good a judge as any, to discern aberrant behavior & speech.  Once again, what will it take for Congress to assert their equal branch powers, to constrain him?

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

I appreciate feedback from any and all about Amy Klobuchar.  

I have a lot of family in Minnesota deeply rooted in the Democratic Farmer Labor Party.  They are all very liberal - and they love Amy Klobuchar.  Whatever it is she brings to the table - and accomplishes - passes muster with them.  She wins elections throughout Minnesota with large margins - she doesn’t seem captive to any one political group.  I am interested in the fact that Amy Klobuchar and Bernie Sanders, Sherrod Brown, Michael Bennet, and Jeff Merkley voted with the veto proof majority for the budget deal to keep the government open.  Other presidential candidates and hopefuls of both parties voted against the budget deal - what’s that about?***

No Democratic candidate yet has my support - I am listening to all the candidates and will vote for the nominee of the Democratic Party.  I understand the disappointment with Amy Klobuchar falling short of progressive goals saying, “We need more than aspirational, we need serious action.”  

First and foremost, I want to free the country of Donald Trump.  

As to a toxic work environment, I’m not for Zero-tolerance.  I will listen to staff who put their name to charges of Amy Klobuchar’s authoritarian “leadership” style.  What I have seen for myself is her demeanor questioning Brett Kavanaugh - far more adept than what I saw from Kamala Harris or Cory Booker.

Amy Klobuchar has a sense of humor - we’ve learned the hard way what a plus a sense of humor is for leaders.

***U.S. Senate Nays on Roll Call Vote 116th Congress - 1st Session

On the Conference Report to accompany H.J. Res.31) 

Vote Number: 26             Vote Date: February 14, 2019 

Booker (D-NJ); Braun (R-IN); Cotton (R-AR); Cruz (R-TX); Gillibrand (D-NY); Harris (D-CA); Hawley (R-MO); Inhofe (R-OK); Lee (R-UT); Markey (D-MA); Paul (R-KY); Rubio (R-FL); Sasse (R-NE); Scott (R-SC); Toomey (R-PA); Warren (D-MA)                                                                                                                                        

***

Burr (R-NC) did not vote on the bill.

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Opinions  

A very British lesson for the American left

The Washington Post

By E.J. Dionne Jr.

February 20, 2019

Does the bolt of eight members of Parliament from the British Labour Party out of frustration with its left-wing leader, Jeremy Corbyn, have anything to teach Democrats in the United States?

There’s a case for saying no, because Corbyn is well to the left of anyone bidding to lead the Democratic Party. That would include Sen. Bernie Sanders, the democratic socialist who announced Tuesday that he’s again seeking the presidency. The independent from Vermont is a lefty for sure, but his worldview is rooted in less radical forms of socialism than Corbyn’s, and his foreign policy views are somewhat more conventional than the Labour leader’s.

Competing with Sanders for support from the democratic left is Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). She proudly insists that she’s a capitalist, a boast that would make Corbyn shudder.

Moreover, a core beef of the center-left British rebels has to do with Corbyn’s handling of Brexit, an issue that — mercifully — the United States does not have to deal with.

Most Labour Party moderates, and the vast majority of its members, want their leadership to push hard for a second referendum to reverse the country’s narrow 2016 decision to leave the European Union. But Corbyn is well known to be, at best, ambivalent about membership in the E.U. (he opposed it in the past as a capitalist club) and has, up to now, not made a second referendum central to his strategy.

Corbyn’s critics like to say he’s had a “bad Brexit,” by which they mean that he has failed to take advantage of Prime Minister Theresa May’s chaotic performance. Her complex approach to leaving the E.U. has suffered one parliamentary defeat after another and split her Conservative Party.

Indeed, the revolt of the pro-Europe center broadened on Wednesday when three Conservative MPs quit their own party to join the new Independent Group.

Yet Corbyn-led Labour has not opened anything like the large advantage in the polls that an opposition ought to have in these circumstances.

A particular flash point is Corbyn’s lack of real energy or clarity in confronting an outbreak of left-wing anti-Semitism. This was the prime motivation behind MP Luciana Berger’s decision to leave the party. Berger, who is Jewish, has been treated barbarously by some on the “Brocialist” left.

“I cannot remain in a party that I have come to the sickening conclusion is institutionally anti-Semitic,” Berger said. On Tuesday, an eighth Labour parliamentarian, Joan Ryan, joined the flight, citing a “culture of anti-Jewish racism” in the party she has belonged to for four decades.

So why should Democrats in the United States care about any of this?

Begin with the fact that Labour and the Democrats have historically had a lot in common as reformist center-left parties. President Bill Clinton and British Prime Minister Tony Blair were close allies in creating a middle-of-the-road politics that sought to accommodate the left to the market rhythms of the Reagan and Thatcher eras. Blair’s “New Labour” in the mid-1990s echoed Clinton’s “New Democrats” from a few years earlier.

But the “neo-liberalism” the left associates with Clinton and Blair came under fierce progressive assault after the 2008 economic implosion for being too financier-friendly, insufficiently attentive to rising inequality and too confident in the benefits of free trade and deregulation. The backlash in Britain was particularly vigorous in response to Blair’s strong support for President George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq.

Again, whatever Republicans may claim, Democrats are a long way from embracing Corbynism. But the bitterness of the growing divide between the left and center-left in Britain is a warning of how debilitating intra-progressive strife could become in Congress and in the 2020 primaries.

Given that the defeat of President Trump is the absolutely necessary first step toward a more humane politics, more moderate and more adventurous Democrats can ill afford to concentrate their fire on each other. The stakes are too high for self-indulgent sectarianism.

And differences in approach over how to guarantee everyone health coverage or how to fight climate change are less important than agreeing that both problems are urgent and need solving. Remembering that your opponents would prefer to do nothing at all on these issues is a good way to put such disagreements into perspective.

It’s an irony of recent Labour Party history that both Blair and Corbyn invoked a commitment to stand up for “the many, not the few” as the battle cry of their very different campaigns. Nothing makes the privileged few happier than a left that becomes too maximalist to win, and then tears itself apart.

Frances Garfield (Brown)

Hi Janis. I enjoy reading your messages everyday. Keep up the interesting letters and I find out who is good and who is not! Besides reading the Chicago Tribune, hearing the news, I find out so much information about Trump, and the lies he says and believes. It is important to get rid of him soon!

-fran

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

There are 620 days 'til the 2020 General Election on November 3, 2020.

Per Gallup state-by-state polling data re Trump’s approval rating, if the 2020 election were now, Trump would almost certainly lose.  

We know, approval rating does not necessarily predict voting - according to exit polling during the 2016 election only 38% of voters viewed Trump favorably - we know how that turned out.  People who don’t approve of Trump vote for Trump.

Hi Fran. Thanks for your encouragement - we’ll hang in there together.  It’s important to keep perspective and work together to defeat Trump.  Our work's cut out for us.

David, I heard Amy Klobuchar had an aide get her a salad to eat on a flight.  He delivered the salad with apologies - he'd lost the plastic silverware.  Amy was not pleased.  She pulled a comb from her bag, used it to eat the salad, then gave the comb to her aide to wash... 

Sounds like me I thought, only I also would have expected him to wash my comb before I ate the salad. lol

Stewart Myrent

​I haven't posted in the last few days & there are some things I feel compelled to address.  Janis, I could be wrong, but it seems to me, that you are possibly being swayed, positively, into Amy Klobuchar's camp, by the things you mentioned about familial history.  You said she, "has a sense of humor..."  I get why that's important, but I have a sense of humor (possibly better-developed than hers).  We ALL should have a sense of humor, but I get that it is sorely lacking in some people.  The other thing I wanted to ask about, is the story of Amy Klobuchar's mid-flight salad.  How you have heard the details of that flight, I don't know, but I would agree that I would have had the aide wash the comb BEFORE chowing down on that salad.  But, do you know that Amy didn't have him wash the comb pre-meal?  Steve, I agree that Trump will do WHATEVER IT TAKES to divert attention from Michael Cohen's multiple testimonies before Congress.  Do you know which one will be the public testimony on Wednesday?  About a week ago, I posted that, "...I have a feeling that it's not nearly as crazy as it's going to get.  (And I mean REAL soon.)"  So, I think we are on the same page on this.  "Buckle your seat belts...", indeed!

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

The ten year old story of Amy Klobuchar using a comb to eat her salad was front page news Friday in The New York Times.

Actually Amy Klobuchar caught my attention when she questioned Brett Kavanaugh.  Her demeanor was professional.  I knew she was a close friend of John McCain and had influenced his thumbs down vote to undo Obamacare.  Most recently, Klobuchar voted for the budget deal to keep the government open. 

Amy Klobuchar is not an idealogue, she's not an anarchist, she's not a grandstander.  She shows herself as a person who understands governance, which is all about working across the aisle... she works for compromise to make incremental change.  The influence she had on John McCain's thumbs down vote speaks volumes to me about her openness and her ability to influence her colleagues.

I am listening to all the Democratic presidential candidates - a medley of voices.  Discussion that explores ideas and opens the way to new and better solutions is critical to becoming a "more perfect union".

Remembering that our opponents would prefer to do nothing at all about guaranteeing health coverage to all Americans or how to fight climate change puts Democrats' disagreements into perspective.

"The defeat of Trump is the absolutely necessary first step."

(I'm waiting for someone to claim that Donald Trump is a Democratic plot to destroy the Republican Party.)

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

A big component of what’s wrong with our government today is that policies and decisions are not based on fact.  Democrats finally have powerful voices in Congress.  We do not need to join conservatives in degrading the importance of factual truth.  After hearing AOC’s tendency to exaggerate or misstate basic facts in several interviews making up “facts” to support her idea of “morally right” positions is no better than Trump and his administration.

Anderson Cooper on “60 Minutes” confronted AOC with The Washington Post Fact Checker’s Four-Pinocchio verdict on her claim about $21 trillion in waste at the Pentagon.  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's response: “I think that there’s a lot of people more concerned about being precisely, factually, and semantically correct than about being morally right.”  

...like well maybe I was wrong, but at least my cause is just... is a slippery slope.  AOC’s comments / misstatements may well be aspirational rather than malicious or deliberate, but if she wants to be taken seriously she needs to put her head down and do her homework, and be a whole lot more respectful of the office she holds taking care about what she says and does in the future.  She's no longer a tree-shaker, she's been elected to be a jelly-maker.

It is important to recognize that using exaggerated or made-up facts is the underlying ethos of the Trump presidency (and the argument for Brexit).

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

a medley of voices at the Oscars... who needs a host?

a ceremony marked by diversity, inclusiveness, and firsts... 

Stewart Myrent

Janis, I really don't care about the Oscars, as the only one of the nominated films I had seen, was 'Bohemian Rhapsody', which was great.  However, at first, I didn't realize that story of Amy's mid-flight salad was 10 years-old,  (I guess I assumed the flight was part of her candidacy-announcing, recently.), but featured on the front page of the NY Times on Friday.  I wasn't aware that a story of that type, would make it onto the front page of the NY Times & after a 10-year passage of time.  I wonder why?  Also, I liked & agreed with your comments on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez' response to Anderson Cooper, "I think that there's a lot of people more concerned about being precisely, factually, and semantically correct than being morally right."  I couldn't agree more with your comments, as I would not be shocked if those very words, came out of someone's mouth at the current White House.  However, I feel that you let her off a little easily, by giving her a relatively mild rebuke, relative to her loose comments & unconstructive behavior.  (Is it that she's a freshman Congresswoman, or is it that she's just a woman)?  By the way, Donald Trump IS a Democratic plot to destroy the Republican Party.  (And our ultimate plans for him, will be as satisfying as Putin's plans for him.  However, the Republicans do NOT have to go down with the ship, if they will re-gain some semblance of the Grand Old Party (party of fiscal conservatism, at the very least), which we all grew up with.  My advice is, Republicans, save yourselves, before it's too late, lest your great-grandkids asks questions like, "What happened to the Know-Nothings, the Copperheads, and that Republican Party, that Lincoln started?"  Do you really want your great-grandkids lumping you in with the Know-Nothings & Copperheads?

Janis Kliphardt (Emery)

Steve, seeing how long the trip to VietNam is on Air Force One gives me an appreciation for how long and complicated it is for you to travel to U.S. from your home in Thailand.  Trump is now in your neck of the woods for second summit with Kim Jong Un.

On this side of the world, Michael Cohen is now on Capitol Hill to begin three days of testimony.

The counter programming begins...