Those in the know can deal with snow, but move with care with black ice there.

The Oscar nominee list and many other horrific and egregious examples show we still have a long ways to go to realize Dr. King’s dream, so let’s resolve to continue working for equal opportunity and fair play for all Americans.  That’s the best thing we can do to celebrate his birthday!

It seems unfair that there’s only one day to honor them.  No matter your political proclivities, these men and women have fought bravely for this country to preserve our freedoms, including those freedoms to have and express our opinions freely.

We’ve made some progress.  During and after the Vietnam War, veterans got a bum rap.  I hate to use the trite phrase, but we now recognize their service and thank them for it.  Animosity in the Vietnam era always seemed odd to me; it was the time of the draft and the lottery.  Most had no choice about it.  Now all our service men and women are volunteers, skilled in what they do, and dedicated to keeping our country safe.

Let’s recognize their dedicated service, make sure they and their families are taken care of when they return to us, and applaud all those still in the service to this country today.  Do this each and every day, but especially today.

Maureen Dowd, NY Times columnist, recently quoted James Gleick, author, historian, and chronicler of how technology affects our lives.  (I remember him for his bio on Feynman.)  The quote: “Running for president is the new selfie.”  Considering the context in Ms. Dowd’s column, she was using it to refer to that most irascible and narcissistic of GOP candidates, Donald Trump, last seen in a revival-style meeting in the South (he even referred to Billy Graham).  But this post isn’t about Trump or even politics.  Instead, I’ll use the quote to explore the topic in the title.

One of the reasons I’m not active on Facebook anymore (there are many) is that I became tired of how incredibly narcissistic many FB users are.  People mounting internet soapboxes to send their harangues out to the world about myriads of causes from politics and religion to personal food choices is the least of it.  Zuckerberg and friends, super-narcissists in their own right, have tapped into a new 21^st century phenomenon (yeah, it started in the late 20^th): people are incredible narcissists, and it spans all generations, from Baby Boomers to Gen-Xers and Millennials.  Maybe they can’t have Warhol’s fifteen minutes of fame, but they can sure have their fifteen second chunks of it on FB—or so they think.

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Veinte de Julio — Colombian Independence.  Many of my readers know I spent many years in Colombia, South America, making many new friends, adding an international side to my family, and absorbing a culture that has influenced my life and my fiction (some of that “absorbing” came in liquid form, of course–cerveza and aguardiente became an important part of my Spanish vocabulary!).  Colombia’s recent history, from La Violencia to the FARC, right-wing death squads, and the war on drugs, has been filled with struggle.  The income gap there can make Americans stop and wonder what we’re worried about in the U.S.  But these struggles have tempered the steel of the Colombian people, as it has in many Latin American nations.  Let’s all salute the good Colombians on their day of independence!

What a way to celebrate Independence Day!  Congrats to the U.S. women’s team in winning the World Cup over Japan, 5-2, with three goals by Carli Lloyd in the first sixteen minutes.  I expected it to be a lot closer.  Congrats to the Japanese team too for hanging in there the whole game after that initial onslaught.  Everyone showed class, greatness, and awesome sportsmanship.  On to Rio!

The Supreme Court (SC) has made some anti-democratic (note the small “d”) and fascist-leaning decisions in recent years (you should recall that German corporations helped bring Hitler to power—some of those still exist!).  It’s forced a money-race that is tantamount to the rich elites and their toadies buying elections.  Both Dems and the GOP now play the latter game.  Hillary not only leads the small pack of Dem candidates (not that small, but certainly smaller than the GOP clown-contingent), but she also has the biggest “war chest,” AKA financial backing.  Yet she’s still wooing George Soros.

As bad as big money’s presence in American politics has become, thanks to the SC, we don’t need an anti-Citizens United amendment to stop that (it would be nice, but amendments are hard to come by).  We can redirect the money.  Mr. Soros, for example, has put up $5 million to mount legal action against laws restricting voter participation.  You see, the GOP knows they can’t win in a fair fight if everyone votes—demographics aren’t on their side—so they try to make sure all the uncool people, most of them poor and middle class folks, can’t vote against them.  You saw it in Selma and it continues, only it’s more subtle.  In fact, I can say it’s not racial anymore: You’re uncool simply if you vote Democratic.  You’re uncool if you think the rich elites have too much control.  You’re uncool if you think people deserve a safety net when they’re down and out.  You’re uncool if you think that people deserve reasonably priced but quality healthcare.

Of course, it’s the GOP that’s uncool.  In almost every state with a legislature dominated by the GOP, you can see atrocities committed.  Florida’s legislature passed the controversial Stand-Your-Ground law that allows you to blow away anyone you think is threatening you.  They also voted down a Medicaid proposal that would have helped thousands in dire need.  The atrocities happen in the U.S. Congress too, more so now with the GOP dominating both houses.  They don’t seem to give a rat’s ass about what most of the country thinks.  They think they know it all, they have the power, and they’ll make sure it stays that way—Koch brothers be praised.

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While Sen. Rubio’s announcement was overshadowed by ex-Sen. Clinton’s, the senator from Florida’s worries me more.  His party has practiced Orwell’s doublespeak for decades and he continues to do so—nothing new or surprising there—the party of Lincoln’s modern pols aren’t Honest Abes.  But my worry is about the double-image—the good-looking pol with that baby face and shock of perfect hair pretending to speak to a young generation as the prophet leading them into the promised land of upward mobility.  Instead of Moses, he’s the Pied Piper, of course.  He’s suave, sophisticate, and smooth-talking, but the false image of a caring progressive and “man of the people.”

As a writer, I search for the mot juste.  Let’s analyze the word “conservative” and what it means in current American politics.  It used to be that conservative meant someone who believed in the status quo and expressed a reluctance to try untested solutions to society’s problems, especially ones not thought through and analyzed for negative impact.  I recognize that there’s a place for that kind of conservatism—even the most flaming liberal practices some of that in her or his daily life.  The current GOP, especially ultra-conservatives aka Tea Partiers, in their disservice to the middle class and poor and their sycophant service to the one-percenters, has twisted that definition into something ugly, retrograde, and elitist.  That’s Marco Rubio’s true image that he’s trying to hide.  He’s no man of the people; he’s a mouthpiece for the rich elites in America.

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Italy is known for its change of governments, corruption, dalliances among public officials, unions abusing public trust, and ties to organized crime.  Is it any wonder the justice system is completely dysfunctional?  It isn’t alone, of course.  France and Spain and many Latin American “democracies” suffer equally from incompetence and corruption.  I’ve written about Argentina in these pages—their President was just exonerated from killing a special prosecutor on the eve of announcing an indictment against her.  Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru have long battled the often lucrative ties between public officials and drug cartels.

The Amanda Knox case in Italy is just the tip of the iceberg.  For those not paying attention, she’s the perfect example of what can happen when double jeopardy is allowed in judicial proceedings.  Italy’s keystone cops and keystone courts dragged this case on for eight years.  First, she was convicted.  Then she was exonerated.  Then they overturned the acquittal.  Finally, that same Supreme Court that overturned the acquittal closed the case.  I don’t have info on the ex-boyfriend, but the guy who committed the murder is already serving time.  That didn’t matter.  Italian prosecutors, pandering to local pressure groups and media attention like leaders of a lynch mob, went after Knox and her ex-boyfriend as willing accomplices.  Never mind that they’ve been tried for the same crime several times!

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[Note from Steve: Maybe the timing of this seems off…consider it corn beef and cabbage leftovers….]

Item: The new traitors.  I’m not going to pussyfoot around this issue.  While I abhor the general tone of New York’s leading rag, The Daily News, I’ll agree with its recent headline: the forty-seven (47) senators (nearly the entire GOP majority) are the new traitors in America.  Arrogant, egotistical, and uncouth, they have trampled on the U. S. Constitution, period.  I quote Article II, Section 2, Clause 2: “The President…shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur….”

That clause doesn’t say that the Senate has any power at all when it comes to initiating and pursuing treaties, which makes sense because the President and Secretary of State handle foreign policy and the President is Commander-and-Chief, traditionally the one who has to initiate peace in time of war.  These 47 GOP senators are traitors to the Constitution—their only job is to advise (the President doesn’t have to take their damn advice, ever!) and finally approve.  Their horning-in on the peace process with Iran is treason, plain and simple.

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