Day: July 11, 2015

The Dangerous Mental Instability Of Donald Trump Endangers American Politics And Foreign Policy

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America is faced with a political crisis that many seem not to realize exists, as the Presidential Election campaign of 2016 evolves.

Businessman Donald Trump is looked at by many as a cartoon character, someone not to be taken seriously.

This is a major mistake, as Donald Trump is a maniac and an egotist who endangers American politics and foreign relations.

Many people laugh and say there is no way that Trump can be the Republican Presidential nominee, and no way he could be elected President.

While that certainly seems legitimate to believe, the discontent of the American people with their political system and the role of America in world affairs, means that there is no way to say how Americans at large might react to Trumps’s blustering, bullying, and braggadocio.

Trump has been on the attack against every Republican candidate for President, and has not minced words in his insults, and it makes great theater.

But his insults undermine the concept of civility and decency in our politics, and will lead to a further disillusionment and deterioration of our body politic.

It seems apparent that Trump will run as a third party candidate, since the GOP will do everything it can to prevent his nomination, and that will insure that the Democrats will win, the only good result that is likely to occur from the Trump candidacy.

But Trump should not be seen as simply a laughable figure who adds entertainment to the political scene.

He must be seen for what he really is—a dangerously mentally ill and unstable personality, who could cause the spread of racism and nativism as legitimate, since he is engaged in such beliefs. He could also cause international instability with his attacks on Mexico, Russia, China, Iran and other nations, as many ill informed Americans might agree with his sentiments on these nations, and could, therefore, provoke new stresses on President Obama’s ability to control foreign relations.

We do not need a “loose cannon” who has no limits and endangers the nation, as his rhetoric could also inspire “lone wolves” to attempt to harm President Barack Obama, as well as any and all of the Presidential candidates, and even, ironically, Donald Trump himself! Do not forget that Trump still contends that Obama was not born in the United States, and “Birthers” still congregate around him and his candidacy!

Theodore Roosevelt And Gifford Pinchot Turning Over In Their Graves At Republican Party War On National Parks And Other Environmental Concerns!

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The Republican Party a century ago had leaders who cared about the environment, and promoted conservation as a basic national policy.

Governor and later Senator Robert LaFollette, Sr. of Wisconsin; Senator George Norris of Nebraska; US Forestry Service Director and later Governor of Pennsylvania Gifford Pinchot; and President Theodore Roosevelt, all of them progressive Republicans in domestic affairs, made the promotion of national and state parks and monuments a priority. They set a standard for Democrats who followed their lead, including Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and now Barack Obama, who just announced three new national park designations in California, Nevada, and Texas. Obama has added 260 million acres and 19 national monuments in office, making him one of the great leaders on that endeavor. We should also mention Republican President Richard Nixon, who despite many faults and shortcomings, did enough to be rated number two among Presidents on the environment, by a conservation group.

Additionally, we were fortunate to have such outstanding Secretaries of the Interior as Harold Ickes under FDR; Stewart Udall under JFK and LBJ; Walter Hickel under Nixon; Cecil Andrus under Carter; and Bruce Babbitt under Clinton to emphasize the importance of the environment in all of its manifestations.

But the Republican Party of present times is anti conservation, anti environment, fights the concept of global warming and climate change, and has allowed itself to come under the influences of wealthy energy interests that would love to mine uranium in the Grand Canyon; destroy native American and paleontological sites; and conduct fracking for natural gas, despite the vast dangers to health and safety, including water pollution and greatly increased earthquake activity, as in Oklahoma, for instance. The Koch Brothers have had a particularly deleterious effect on the issue of the environment. And Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma is the worst possible enemy of the environmental movement in Congress, and is head, by seniority, of the Senate committee that deals with the subject.

The failure to see the importance of preserving our natural treasures is mind boggling, and those groups involved in promoting the environment know they have a massive challenge to keep what was given to us, and until the 20th century, was being gutted by rapacious capitalists in the oil, coal, natural gas, uranium, and lumber industries who only saw, and still see, only the almighty profit motive, including lack of concern for danger to wildlife!