When I was a young man with either a car or house to maintain, I always felt pride in buying the right tool to do the job. I felt, wow, bring it on, I’m ready.

Now that I’m older I might buy a tool to perform some repair or maintenance, but I usually hope I never need to use the tool again.

As my elected representative I’m concerned that President Trump and his administration seems intent on increasing our military and defense expenditures. We are not involved in any declared war. We spend tremendous amounts on a nuclear arsenal we can never use and seem intent on spending more for unusable weapons. We spend more than any country and most of the collective world. Please stop it.

I also feel that the recent statements President Trump made at the United Nations intolerable. I expect you to say so. Stand up and speak. That’s why you were elected.

No defense allocations without plans for demilitarization.

We can’t educate our children, attend to the sick and disabled, but we can spend money on weapons – nuclear weapons at that.

You’re either part of the solution or the problem.

Eric Holder

Hiring Eric Holder to look into malfeasance is a perfect way to insure money trumps morality. No one goes to jail for crime with Eric in charge if they or others can pay both fines and lawyers.

Amazing that the “Holder Doctrine” essentially puts economics above justice or equity or law. Corruption justified and paid for.

Dear Senator,

The recent group of racists and misogynists must not be allowed to take office in our government. During the Obama administration many legitimate appointments were not given the opportunity for a Senate approval and I believe this strategy should be deployed during the Trump administration. Obama was elected with a majority of the popular vote, but Trump was not. If it was acceptable for the Supreme Court to stay at eight justices, why not stay there or let it go lower during a Trump administration? Unless you believe resistance is futile, resist. If you think it futile, resign.

Very truly yours,

I watched the presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. I’ve also heard many of the reports and reviews, but believe the fundamentals have been missed. Most people thought of the debate as a heavy-weight fight. No, it was WWF. It was merely a nicely scripted dialogue providing room for talking points.

The bi-partisan group that sponsored the debate is indeed bi-partisan. It has partisans on it from two sides. Other sides were excluded and the forum served the interest of those two sides. WWF. Not a fight and not a brawl. Not too democratic either.

Why do we allow our leaders to escape from responsibility? I was taught that as your position ascends, so does your need to be circumspect in actions taken. Now it seems that we are told to “cut some slack” for leaders who go astray or allow others to take the fall or pay for the costs of irresponsibility.

General Patraeus leaked classified information, but rather than expect someone with rank to know better, we forgive him because he was high ranking and had previously held positions of power. Was he successful in his prior endeavors? History will tell, but they did save him from jail.

UBS launder’s murderous drug cartel money and receives only fines paid by shareholders and tax payers. No one responsible went to jail.

Hillary Clinton uses a server in her Husband’s office for official email. Could you do that at your job? Would your employer allow that? Do you know any employer that would allow that? No, I don’t either. Yet Hillary thinks she can explain it away with umbrage and lies about limits on phones she wants to carry. If you think you should be able to operate in secret as a cabinet secretary, what would you think you should be able to do as president?

The troops at Abu Ghraib who mistreated prisoners went to jail. No one in the chain of command did. The same chain of command that works so well mitigating sexual assaults.

Prosecutors, police and civil servants expect complete indemnification for official wrong-doing – where are those higher standards? When I was a young man in the army, I was trained as a military policeman. The guiding principle was that in order to “police” others, our own behavior had to be above reproach. With our authority came responsibility and the need to adhere to the highest standards.

Better for Humanity

Good news, Ringling Brother’s Circus will phase out the use of elephants in it’s circus performances. I wonder how long before the political circuses phase out elephants?

When I was a young Minnesotan of the baby boom, I remember a disdain coupled with amusement for the customs of Native Americans. Now many years later I have come to believe that among the most amusing of those customs – the Rain Dance – is indeed a reality. Unfortunately not in the beneficient manner originally contemplated by those Native American’s, but by an entirely different group using much less aware behavior to greater consequence. Now this new dance doesn’t promise rain on demand, but has changed the rain, the wind, the snow and the air we breathe. This new dance is fueled not by food, but by waste. It’s fueled by dead things, once alive things reduced to their elemental carbon. When you see a cloud of smoke from coal or oil, you must see it as the spreading of all those leaves and animals that died on the forest floor – going to mulch, decay, their elemental dead carbon filling the air we breathe. Breathing death. Spreading the air with death has repercussions. A few Souix dancing didn’t create rain on demand, but hundreds of millions dancing with carbon has changed everything. More rain, less rain, but not in the way that helps.

Tomatoes

I saw the tomatoes a friend from Minnesota grew in his garden one year – a magnificent group of heirlooms and beefsteaks of immense size and spectacular quality. I asked what he thought and he said it was ok. Not too bad.

A friend from New Orleans also gardens, albeit a bit less successfully. He had three small tomatoes – mostly a bit green. He noted a small one that was turning red and was immensely proud – We’ll be eating well tonight he said!

Why I left Minnesota and love New Orleans.

When the system of justice fails, how do you secure change?

Death by police in the black community must stop. Selling loose cigarets, wearing a hoodie, hands in pockets, kids with toys – all have resulted in excessive and systemic police violence. If police are somehow unable to distinguish guns from toys or drills resulting in deadly force and are also working in great fear of their own community, they should seek other careers.

The community of those that feel change must start, has a wonderful weapon at their disposal – the boycott. Boycotting the bus system in Birmingham brought change years ago. Now, lets start by a system of rolling boycotts of corporations that are part of the problem because of their history of exploiting low paid workers and their market and political power. What would happen if anyone with a social conscience decided to boycott Walmart on Monday, Kroger on Tuesday, Target on Wednesday, Walgreen on Thursday, Walmart on Friday, McDonalds on Saturday and Sunday?

I wonder how long it would take for these corporations to feel economic pain and begin to lobby for changes in policing in order to maintain their profits. I bet it would be a lot quicker than waiting for police and politicians to responding to citizens. Write all the letters you can, demonstrate until you drop and nothing much seems to happen. Stop spending and the results would be a whole lot quicker.

I really don’t care who gets boycotted or when. Everyone is free to suggest who and when, but a bit of coordination would make things highly visible, very quickly. Those in power only seem to respect violence and money. Rejecting violence is essential – it just leads to more violence, but money always speaks loudly!

Another tactic would be to fill your cart at a retailer, wait in line and then decide not to buy the goods and leave. This bit of civil disobedience would be more work, but would cause great heartburn among those retailers so targeted.

Hands up, don’t shoot! I can’t breathe! Where can this go?