I use this blog as a place to check in and check out what is going on of significance.

That I am posting entirely Alan Grayson's blog today without further comment means that I am totally endorsing the contents of his blogpost.  I find it a useful reminder for all of us.  Besides, I like his standard salutary closing:  Courage!

-- Michael Anthony Joseph Ceurvorst, henceforth in this blog "majc" pronounced "magic", fittingly ironic, because I credit science and hard work over lies and fictitious wishes.

Enjoy the blog-cum-retrospective below:

Dear Michael Anthony,

These seem like desperate times, because they are.  A dangerous fool has taken a four-year lease on the White House.  Dirty Money and gerrymandering have given the Party of Corporate Tools commanding control of both the House and the Senate.  The Supreme Court is dominated by right-wing shills who think that the rich and multinational corporations don’t have enough “rights,” and they intend to solve that problem.

And we just lost a House race pitting our singer in a cowboy hat against their Lord Voldemort lookalike who body-slammed a reporter on the night before the election.

So, no, we don’t live in Utopia, Paradise, Shangri-la, Eden, Wonderland, Heaven or Cloud Nine.  For God’s sake, I wouldn’t even call this Cloud Six.

But be patient.  As Martin Luther King, Jr., put it, “the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Many of the great progressive ideas that came to fruition in the 20^thcentury had their roots in the 19^th century.  The great progressives of that earlier era promoted the ideals of fairness, opportunity and equality, against a recalcitrant conservative power structure.

Larger-than-life Progressives like Theodore Roosevelt, “Fighting Bob” LaFollette, William Jennings Bryant, Eugene Debs, Upton Sinclair and Woodie Guthrie fertilized the political ground from which sprang women’s rights, the 40-hour work week, child labor laws, the right to organize, a progressive income tax, near-universal healthcare, social security, protection of the environment and civil rights.

In our own time, racial and gender equality have made enormous strides, we’ve had breakthroughs on marriage equality and ending marijuana prohibition, and we’ve taken some baby steps to redress global warming and climate disruption.

These lofty goals were not accomplished overnight.  It took generations of fighting for what was right, on the field of political battle, to accomplish real progress.  The victories of progressives were mixed with many losses.  “Two steps forward, one step back.”  For sure, many great political leaders, always promoting The Cause, won some elections and lost some elections.  But the good ones never gave up.

Not long ago, a political consultant asked me why I write my own emails, and bother to incorporate ideas, principles, metaphors, history, literary and cultural references, figures of speech, and the occasional joke.  Why bother?

I told him that I belong to a group of people who are politically aware and intelligent, and we place our faith in working together to promote justice, equality, compassion and peace.  I don’t have to dumb it down for you.  We’re on the same page.  I “get it,” and so do you.

We progressives have an essential mission, a cause that can withstand the changing winds of political fortune.  For me, for you, for us, it’s the cause that counts, not personal political victories.

What benefit can an elected official have to ‘We, The People,” unless he or she is motivated by – and committed to -- the progressive ideal that everyone should reach his or her full potential, unchained by hunger, racism, poverty, prejudice, ignorance, or poor health?

My loss in my US Senate race last year was no more than a personal bump in the road.  I still have a voice, and I will raise it in support of our shared beliefs and goals.  I will continue our battles for justice, equality, compassion and peace.  Maybe we will enjoy the sweet taste of victory, or maybe that joy will fall to our children.  But we will prevail.  Together, we will prevail.

Courage,

Alan Grayson

"I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are still truly good at heart."

- The Diary of Anne Frank (1944).

Health Care For All Now!

Further to the Schatz post here is Tulsi on this.  We can expect Senator Hirono to weigh in similarly tomorrow if not before:

Michael,

As I am sure you know, Republicans passed a bill yesterday in the House that begins to strip away access to healthcare for millions of Americans, while providing huge giveaways to big pharma and insurance companies. In addition to the age-tax that hurts our seniors, severe cuts to Medicaid, and weakening provisions ensuring those with pre-existing conditions will be covered, 7 million veterans would lose access to health care tax credits. 

Here’s what we know: Our healthcare system is broken. It needs systemic reform. However, the AHCA legislation would only make things worse. What we need is real change that will truly put the health and wellbeing of people over corporate profits. This is why I support the Medicare for All legislation (HR 676).

Will you sign on as a citizen co-sponsor to Medicare for All?

Medicare and Medicaid help nearly 130 million Americans, including 570,000 people in Hawaiʻi, access affordable quality health care. We want everyone to be able to access care through these programs. There is no reason why the health care access available to citizens of so many other developed nations cannot be available to ours.

In order to make this kind of serious change, we need to seriously raise our voices together. As we have learned in the past, the road to improving our health care system is challenging. That’s why it is so important that we act now. Please consider joining us in this critical effort to improve our health care -- not hurt it. Sign on as a citizen co-sponsor.

As always, thank you for your dedication.

Aloha,

Tulsi

SIGN UP

Our Values and our Policies: Health care in U.S.: Moral imperative, moral repulsion

dear citizens all, aloha,

     Seldom do we have such a stark reminder of why we need concerted political action:  the travesty of a bill purporting to provide health care that in fact needs to be vigorously opposed because it is patently destructive to health care in America for those on the middle and bottom rungs of the economic ladder.

     The years-long fight for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) brought together many disparate elements to get part way toward the real moral imperative, health care for all in 21st century America.

     Universal health care represents our values and our driving health care policy in the Democratic Party, from FDR forward.

After signing the ACA , Mr. Obama declared in a phone call to supporters that this was not the bill he wanted to sign, -- he wanted "single payer" -- but he cautioned that progress has always come in increments, whether in civil and human rights, gender equality, voting, social security or health care.

     I regret that we did not work harder to build broader consensus on Medicare/Medicaid for all, but we should not lose sight of the fact that we have already achieved a broad consensus on the idea of universal health care, which must be part of our core platform going forward.

     The attempt to obliterate any achievements of the Obama two-term presidency continues to be an evident driver of the Trump Administration's focus and of the no-longer Grand Old Party's operatives.

     I share the moral outrage palpable in the Washington Post's Plumline piece today and invite all of us to read it twice.

     There are plenty of talking points in this piece for us to use in our conversations, social media, and correspondence.  Check it out!

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/43396-every-republican-who-voted-for-this-abomination-must-be-held-accountable

     Secondly, Senator Hirono will be with us tomorrow on Kauai (see previous posts).  RSVP if you can to ensure your free ticket will get you in even if the event is "overbooked", that is, more want in than there is room for.

     I would be very surprised if she did not agree 100% with senior Hawaii Senator Brian Schatz on what just happened.  His note is below.

     Our questions for Mazie and all our reps have to be: How do we get to universal health care now while defeating the GOP-House passed abomination and hold those who voted for it accountable now and at the polls?

To borrow a legislator's tagline:

Courage!

Michael


from Senator Schatz:

Michael,

Today’s vote by House Republicans to pass “Trumpcare” was appalling. There was no bill text, no cost estimates, and no public hearings. The only thing we know for sure is that it will hurt millions of Americans.

Here’s just a sample of what they passed in the House:

• Making sexual assault and domestic violence a pre-existing condition (that will not be covered).
• Cutting over 800 billion from Medicaid. Targeting the most needy among us.
• Cutting special education funding.
• Instituting an “age tax” allowing insurers to charge older Americans 5 times more than they charge younger Americans.

This is an awful bill, written in a back room, that only serves the wealthy at the expense of everyday Americans. I could not make this legislation worse if I tried.

Now the fight moves to the U.S. Senate. It’s going to take everything we have to stop this bill, and what we all do next will determine the healthcare of millions of people.

I will do everything in my power to stop this disastrous legislation in the Senate, but I can't do it alone. Will you add your name and say you’re ready to do everything you can to resist and fight back? Add your name here.

Republicans hope we back down and give them a victory. Let’s show them we’re just getting started.

Thank you and keep resisting,

Brian Schatz
U.S. Senator

Your thoughts? Suggestions?

Does Hawaii need THAAD? Not Yet.

President Trump is rattling American Sabres at North Korea because of that country's missile program and its efforts to obtain a viable Nuclear weapon.  Kauai residents should be assured that there is little chance today of a North Korean missile, the Musudan which is on a mobile launcher, hitting our shores since it has a range of 2500 miles and the Korean Peninsula is 3500 miles away.  The three-stage Taepodong-2 might be improved enough in the future to be able to reach Hawaii, but it requires a fixed launch site of which there are only two and they are nearly 5000 miles away.

NPR reports that THAAD, which costs nearly $1B per battery, can protect a "bubble" of only 100 miles.  There are 6 known THAAD batteries as of today.  Only one of which is in Hawaii and it was placed at PMRF to test the system not to actually defend against anything.

THAAD is reported to have limited effectiveness against Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles which are defined to have a minimum range of 3500 miles, and so far THAAD has only been tested against Short-Range Ballistic Missiles.   THAAD is not the only ABM system available to the US and South Korea.

South Korea is soon holding elections and the forecast winner of those elections, Moon Jae-in, does not want to pay for a THAAD battery.  Just like Mexico is not going to pay for Trump's wall.  It was deployed by Trump without consultation with the South Koreans.  Recall that Trump is pushing to renegotiate trade deals with South Korea.  Residents of South Korea are protesting the THAAD deployment and saying NO!

China has halted construction projects in South Korea because of their concerns over THAAD radar penetrating deep into China.

THAAD is useless in protecting against the thousands of artillery pieces that are today within range of Seoul, the South Korean capital.  If hostilities break out, North Korea's minuscule ballistic missile system, which has not been shown to be capable of carrying a nuclear weapon, will be the least of the worries.

This deployment will not "Make America Great Again", rather it shows our country as a bully that thinks it can push everyone else in the world around.

Our Representative Tulsi Gabbard, who recently in The Garden Island acknowledged the potential threat from North Korea, correctly I believe, has voted against strengthened sanctions against North Korea.

Additional Information:

This YouTube video gives a brief overview of THAAD and discusses its failures.

• I love Putin's expression when he is told that THAAD is just a jobs program.
• Ted Postol testifies that THAAD is extremely easy to defeat.
• Raytheon has a habit of lying about the success of their ABM tests.

The Missile Defense Agency web site.  Under the "Elements" link you can find a description of the components of the ABM system.

A UPI article on THAAD problems against NK missiles.  Note that this article discusses other missiles than the ones above.

An LA Times article: $40-BILLION MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM PROVES UNRELIABLE.  This article is about the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense System, not THAAD.

• From 1999 through March of this year (2014), Boeing spent $261.6 million on general lobbying of the federal government and Raytheon spent $144.4 million, public records show.
• Though both North Korea and Iran have launched crude unarmed missiles, U.S. intelligence assessments provided to Congress indicate that neither country has the capability to deliver a long-range, nuclear-tipped missile to the United States.
• It typically takes a year or more to disassemble and restore a kill vehicle.
• 
  

More information can be obtained by googling: theodore postol thaad

Dear citizens all,

     What do you want our Congressional Representatives, here Tulsi Gabbard but also Senators Brian Schatz and Mazie Hirono, to do, to focus on in May 2017?

     I want them to focus on, to address specifically, Congressional appointment of a special prosecutor with power of subpoena to pursue and to publish the findings of grounds of impeachment and possible criminal indictment of President Donald J. Trump.

     I am very concerned that our top intelligence agencies' conclusion with a high degree of confidence that Russia interfered in our 2016 elections to further Trump's election prospects and to undermine confidence in our democracy is not being adequately pursued in the four Congressional probes underway, largely because they are partisan led and are re-focusing on leaks and on Secretary Clinton, as requested by President Trump.

     Does that not deserve extensive non-partisan investigation for the sake of the country and our democracy?  We need to prevent such efforts continuing in the U.S. and as a Russian tactic to undermine NATO, the EU and the U.S.   The same tactics have been underway as well in France, Austria, the UK, and a Nordic country.

      Treason is at issue if there was collusion of his Presidential campaign with the government or intelligence organs of Russia to influence the outcome of the U.S. 2016 elections.  The direct financial benefits to his campaign manager Manafort, to Trump's National Security Advisor Flynn, and a dozen others affiliated with the campaign form a pattern that is worth pursuing; we need a public accounting.

     Then there are Mr. Trump's in-your-face and persisting violations of the U.S. Constitution's emoluments clause, the suspiciously timed approval of Chinese trademarks for Ivanka Trump's branding while she is working in the Oval Office and while the President of China was visiting, among many other questions about business and financial issues, such as the Pennsylvania Avenue Trump hotel now being used by foreign dignitaries who want to see Mr. Trump.

     I do feel our country is at risk when a president and an adversary try to undermine and intimidate the free press, the judiciary, and human and civil rights, in multiple ways.

     But this is a blog post meant to elicit your views and hopefully enlist your support in speaking with our representatives on this issue, which I consider fundamental.  Impeachment won't happen unless the electorate demands it.

     Your views?

Michael
Michael A. Ceurvorst
d16-2 precinct president


     When Tulsi came to Kauai for her Town Hall at the War Veterans Center, I took notes and spoke with her at the end of the event.  We have spoken many times before.



     My notes below are for reference, recall, and editing.  Missing are ACLU rep Susan Storm's apt question on impeachment and Tulsi's answer that Pence might be worse but she is investigating impeachment because it is something being looked at in several circles.

For a lengthy if rambling overview including both research and journalistic persistence, see Evan Osnos' article in the current New Yorker:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/08/how-trump-could-get-fired.
Osnos has been writing about Trump for a long time.  He also mentions American University historian Alan Lichtman's new book, meant as an "how-to" for impeachment.

     Others, such as Kauai Indivisible's Lee Ann Spencer, felt Tulsi's answers, while noddingly right, were too generalized and didn't provide enough specific how-to's in moving forward.

John Zwiebel has a number of useful links and comments I invite him to post here.

Tulsi

The Veterans War Memorial was jam packed.  Tulsi did an initial and intentionally short presentation on herself, her committee assignments, and an update re North Korea as a threat to Hawaii, then opened it up for about an hour of Q&A.  Sheets of red and green construction paper were divided and handed to audience members with the instruction, if you agree with what Tulsi is saying, hold the green up. If you disagree, hold the red up.  Q's were submitted in writing and were allowed from the floor, but there were dozens of questions and only about a dozen got asked and answered, ranging from 

-- her moral compass as a Democrat, [she had no ready answer to the questioner who had voted first for Harry Truman]

-- to Syria visit with Assad and her opposition to wars of regime change, 

--  Bridget Hammerquist's protect-our-waters against the industrial dairy, EPA decimation [reply started with malama aina and to care for, not to use and amuse and ended with "water is life and we cannot forget that'],  

--  to exploitative monopolistic Hawaiian Airways [answer included a HI AL bill she cointroduced to exempt two places from extra taxes that will be put on airline tickets under the designation already enjoyed under "essential air services designation'], 

--  Ray Catania supporter of unionizing asked her stance on HR785, a national right-to-work law meant by GOP to cripple and even eliminate unions [answer:  Tulsi strongly defends and believes in the right of collective organizing and bargaining and so opposes HR 785]

-- Education.  Trump and Ryan budget proposals that would, under DeVos, end all support for teacher education and development entirely and end all funds for after school services [Answer: a real slap in the face to educators and would hurt the very people most in need.  Tulsi referred here as she had elsewhere to touring with Bernie Sanders and education as a right... lots of cheers. Tulsi referred to a very good bipartisan education bill passed the house in 2016 which teachers unions supported but that got killed.  She hopes to bring it back "our responsibility to keiki is not a partisan issue" more cheers]

--  prison reform and juvenile sentencing [Answer:  needs to be part of the entire criminal justice reform, enlisting federal, state and local cooperation.  Current Congress efforts do not address root cause, we need to seek ways to divert juveniles from criminal system. The decriminalization of marijuana at the federal level has not occurred, and while the GOP wants to build more prisons, there are marijuana possession arrests in the U.S. every 43 seconds, ruining so many lives.  Tulsi cited a doctor who said he has never in his 20+ years of practice handled a single life-threatened mj overdose but he handles so many alcohol-related life-threatening cases.  Something is wrong with that, so she is working on removing mj from the fed. designation as a class 1 controlled substance.

--  Russian involvement in Trump campaign and 2016 elections:  [Yes, transparency necessary, must pursue to get to bottom of this.  Must get disclosure of Trump's financial interests.  She's co-introduced legislation to require Pres. to submit annual disclosure of financial interests statements as members of Congress now do.]

--  Medicare for all?  [Yes, her support of Sanders again invoked, again more cheers.  Plus, need to address, in connection with immigration reform, shortage of health care providers, esp. in rural areas, and she backs legislation allowing importation of Canadian prescription drugs that had been forbidden by previous GOP legislation, and must allow Medicare to bargain for Rx drugs.  Health care is a fundamental right.  More cheers]

-- James Armstrong thanked her for votes to keep us out of wars and then focussed on ongoing problems in VA care, citing 22 suicides a day, long wait times, etc. [Tulsi touted VA Accountability Act giving VA Administrator the power to fire and remove bad actors at VA at any level, including the top, and to prevent them from getting bonuses, as now happens, unless issues clarified. Wrong for us not to care for returning fighters. Efforts to provide more care, including for "invisible wounds" when vets return, and she is working for that.

-- Restoration of Glass-Steagall and cutting out or weakening CFSB? [Tulsi:  this is my sixth town hall and the first time this important question has been raised:  She thinks Dodd-Frank needs some tweaks but not abolition, is completely for restoration of Glass-Steagall safeguards/separation, sees needs to keep consumer finance protection.  Does see negative effects of current law on community banks whereby small banks have had to increase compliance officer employees from 2 to 50, in one instance, and thus carry a burden that the big banks easily absorb.  T says there are greater risks now than before with Wall Street remaining unchecked and receiving handouts, unlike the community-based banks. An add-on note:  This is not just a GOP issue.  Too many of her colleagues in the Finance Committees, both Dems and Republicans, seem beholden to financial industry, tied to Wall Street handouts -- she used slightly different words but that was clearly the msg -- so we need the public/grass roots to make their interests clear. 

-- Should Jones Act from the 1920s be repealed as it contributes to huge costs for shipping things to HI? [Tulsi understands the question but still supports Jones Act as relevant now because its fundamental purpose of ensuring a merchant marine available in crises and in war by becoming part of the USN is still a real need, and the Jones Act does support smaller shippers and keeps them going

-- Thank you for "Stop Arming the Terrorists" Bill  [T submitted that with cosponsors because she realized we are funding fighting the terrorists -- Al Qaeda and ISIS are real terrorists who intend to harm and try to harm the US and we need to defeat them -- while at the same time through CIA and others we are funding and arming groups in Syria and elsewhere that are working with or directly part of Al Qaeda and ISIS.  It makes no sense once you realize the contradictions.  Some cheers.]

-- Coalition building? [When in 2013 T. won her Congressional seat and realized how poisonous the partisanship was, she said she asked herself

 "what could I do to carry with her the spirit of aloha and to increase the chances of cooperative work on common problems. I thought I should not overthink this.  So I called my Mom.  Mom, could you make me 435 little boxes of your secret macadamia-nut chocolates? Not even I have that recipe.  She won't give it up. 

 When I explained to her why, she said, OK, honey.  I'll do that. 

Mom, I need them next week.

OK,honey.

Mom, that's not all. Can you also make 435 BIG boxes?  That's for their staffs.

OK, honey.  It will take me a little longer.

So Mom got two big pots going and stirred two pots at a time.  I did a hand-written note with each one, saying something simple like, this is a bit of aloha from Hawaii, a spirit of openness.  I would like to work together.  Within three days we had even senior Republican leaders crossing the aisle and asking where the Hawaii rep with the candies was.  Many said they had eaten the whole box themselves and they needed another one to take home to their spouse.  And oh, what were Hawaii's needs in finance, from those on that committee, or transport....  

So it is not complicated to reach out.  That is a beginning of coalition building, so important now.