AOC Speaks the Truth About the State of Our Government

One of the key aspects of being in politics (as I see it) is the ability to clearly communicate with the voting public. Supporting legislation that fits within your belief system is good and obviously part of the job. But if the public is not aware of it, it makes us wonder if we voted for the right person.

The frustration coming from many Democrats is that while those in power are doing what they were hired to do, their Achilles heel is messaging. Meanwhile, the Republicans are exceptional at sharing their message. However, the implication is that they want to tear down this country and rebuilt it as a religious autocracy in which anyone who is not a caucasian Christian heterosexual male is a second-class citizen.

Last week, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Though I thoroughly dislike her stance on Israel, she speaks the truth about what must be done to save America from itself.

If only those at the top would listen…

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Thoughts On Bill Clinton’s #Metoo Comments

A Presidential Impeachment is history making. 20 years, Bill Clinton was nearly impeached for lying about the sexual liaison he had with then White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

While promoting his new book, The President Is Missing, (co-written with James Patterson) on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, President Clinton was asked about the scandal.

 

I believe that we have to take the following into consideration when passing judgement on President Clinton:

1. He was not the first and will not be the last public official who is caught having an extramarital affair.
2. An older male manager taking sexual advantage of a younger female employee is nothing new. Working women throughout history have dealt with this problem for an untold number of generations.
3. We didn’t have the language or the perspective in 1998 that we have today. The #Metoo movement has shined a necessarily uncomfortable spotlight on the issue of sexual harassment and assault, especially in the workplace.
4. Unlike other men accused of a similar crime (especially you know who), President Clinton appears from my perspective to be genuinely contrite about his actions.

However, his apologies cannot and will not absolve him of his actions. While his reputation has recovered, the reputations of the women linked to the scandal will forever be tainted. Monica Lewinsky will never lead a normal life. Hillary Clinton perhaps could have perhaps won the 2016 Presidential election, if not for her husband’s past misdeeds.

I don’t know if I will ever completely forgive President Clinton. But at the same time, I appreciate the apology and his support for the #Metoo movement. If there is any silver lining in this story, it is that the #Metoo movement is not going away. It is only getting stronger and will continue to grow until women are treated equal to men.

Thoughts On Michelle Wolf And White House Correspondents’ Dinner

A good comedian knows how to make audiences laugh while making them think at the same time.

Michelle Wolf made the audience laugh at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night. She also made quite a few people angry.

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is at its core, supposed to be a roast. It’s supposed to be an opportunity for both politicians and members of the press to relax and have a congenial laugh at each other’s expense. The problem in regards to the response to her act as I see it is two-fold. The first issue is that you know who did not attend either last year or this year’s dinner because underneath his braggadocios b*llshit, he is really thin-skinned and cannot take a joke. The second issue is that politics these days is such a sensitive topic that it doesn’t take much to push someone’s buttons.

Personally, I thought she was really funny. No one was left off the hook, regardless of political affiliation or title. She is also a woman who is not afraid to step out of the box of always being nice or complementary. It’s 2018, that concept alone still makes some people feel uncomfortable.

I could go on, but I think Stephen Colbert hit the nail on the head.

There has been some talk of this year being the last year that the dinner is held. That conversation has been started by you know who, not surprisingly. The tradition needs to continue. Not only because it represents what democracy truly looks like, but also because it humanizes adversaries who are normally at each other’s throats. We will need that humanity to ensure that the American democracy lives on long after this generation is gone.

Trump’s New Immigration Policy

America, despite its lofty ideals of freedom and diversity, can sometimes be described as “do as I say, not as I do”.

Our immigration policy history is not as welcoming as we might think. Added to the list of these policies is President Trump’s new immigration policy, if Congress agrees to codify it into law, will be one more blemish on the lofty ideals that we claim to be proud of.

Unless someone can say that they have Native American ancestry (and even their ancestors had to come from somewhere else), we are all immigrants. Most Americans can trace their family back to someone who chose to leave their family and their homeland for a new life in America. That is the first issue that I have with the proposed amendment to the immigration policy. The second is a reply to the b*llsh*t excuse that has been used for generations to prevent new immigrants from coming into the country: they will take our jobs. While some new immigrants may have a professional background and a degree, many others have to start from scratch. Find me an American citizen who wants to spend their days picking vegetables under a hot sun or washing dishes in a restaurant and earning minimum wage. That person is unlikely to be found.

I could go on, but I think Stephen Colbert’s response and satirical revision of Emma Lazarus’s The New Colossus in response to the new proposed policy says it all.