HAND IN HAND

I sent my end of the year contribution to Hand in Hand today. There are so many worthy causes that are important, but unfortunately my budget is limited and therefore my contributions must be focused. I am a Jew concerned for the safety of my fellow Jews and all other people on Earth everywhere, but I am particularly concerned with Israel which has the greatest concentration of Jews (about 40 per cent of all the Jews in the world) and where that population still faces an existential threat. Israel/Palestine (the land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River) also is home to a large number of our cousins, the Palestinian and Israeli Arabs. After about a century of conflict, bringing permanent peace and equality to the people in that land must come primarily from the bottom up, not just from negotiation by politicians at the top. Hand in Hand is supported by Reuven Rivlin (the president of Israel). Googling Netanyahu (the prime minister of Israel) and Hand in Hand comes up with no result, positive or negative.

HEALTHCARE

During his 2 terms in office, President Obama, despite obstruction by the Republican Congress, was able to craft a system of mandated, affordable, comprehensive quality health insurance which resulted in coverage for most Americans. It had a rough start but ultimately took root and became successful. During the 8 years of the Obama administration the stated goal of Senator McConnell the leader of the Republicans in the Senate was to make the Obama presidency fail. They failed in that goal despite controlling both houses of Congress by the end of the 8 years.
The goal of Trump during his 2 years as president has been to undo all accomplishments associated with the name Obama including Obamacare (the Affordable Care Act), but they failed. The American people had tasted Obamacare and they liked it. The people who especially benefitted from it included the blue collar Whites who had voted for Trump. When they realized that Trump wanted to take away their health care they rebelled. No matter how hard they tried, Trump and the Republicans could not come up with a replacement for Obamacare. So Obamacare remains, perhaps a little weakened but still there.
So now the task of the incoming Democratic Blue Wave House of Representatives will be to revive and enhance Obamacare. Some say the goal should be Single Payer. Although I would be OK with Single Payer health insurance if that is how it ultimately plays out, I don't think that should necessarily be an ideological goal. The goal should be, as it was under Obamacare, mandated, affordable, comprehensive, quality health insurance with no precondition. It has to be mandated because that is how insurance works. Well people have to pay in as well as sick people. If a person does not join and develops a potentially fatal illness or injury would he then say "let me die because I did not join when I was well?"  It has to be affordable so that everyone can participate. It has to be comprehensive and quality to include maintenance of wellness which will keep down the costs as well as making a better life for the population. It should not be a cheap predatory plan which does not produce the necessary services. I also think a public option would be a good idea to fill in the gap where effective private insurance is not available. It also would insure competition with private insurance. If the public option drives out private insurance because the private can't compete OK, but I doubt that that will occur in every case everywhere. In any event the goal should be mandated, affordable, comprehensive, quality health insurance with no preconditions however that comes about.

AFTER THE 2018 MIDTERM ELECTIONS

Now that the mid-terms are over and as predicted the Democrats won the House of Representatives, the Republicans kept the Senate and even gained a few seats there, and of course Trump is still the president, where do we go from here? What the Democrats in the House do over the next 2 years might be more challenging and consequential than winning the House. Some think the House needs younger, more Left leadership, but I think Nancy Pelosi is an experienced old warrior and the right person for the job. The Blue victory in the house was not just a victory for Democrats, but rather for reason, truth, compassion, and real American values. It included not just Democrats, but also anti-Trumpism Republicans and Independents. The challenge is to promote those values and negotiate with Trump and the Republicans without giving in to Trumpism.

Since I wrote the above first paragraph, Trump fired Jeff Sessions (resigned at request of the president = fired by the president) and almost immediately replaced him with Trump’s lackey Whitaker who has stated that he opposes the Mueller investigation and is known as a hard line Trumper. I was going to say that the Democrats in the House of Representatives might work in a bipartisan way while staying firm on the important issues. Well, this is the most important issue. Polls have showed that the most important issues to Americans are first of all healthcare and second immigration, but above all we must save our American democracy and system of laws. For Trump, law is whatever he can get away with. Trump knows what misdeeds he has committed. He is desperate to hide what he has done (which might actually be criminal) and is now going over the line to obstruct the Mueller probe which equals obstruction of justice. This is the point at which we must protect our democracy. Trump appears to be at the point of trying to turn America into a Putin-style dictatorship.

Let’s hope that Mueller has anticipated this event and has a plan. What has Mueller found concerning Trump? (obstruction of justice? using his position for personal financial gain? acting as an agent for Putin, a foreign dictator?). Americans (Democrats, non-Trumpian Republicans, Independents) must stand up for Mueller and do peaceful protest. Things apparently are coming to a head. Will American justice, freedom, and honesty prevail or will we descend into a Trumpian/Putinian dictatorship?

EVOLUTION OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

The Republican Party began in Lincoln's time as a party that was the financially conservative party of the Industrial Northeast and the socially liberal party to end slavery. The Democratic Party was the financially liberal and socially conservative party of the rural South in which slavery existed. In recent years the Republican Party has remained the party of the very wealthy but has increasingly become infiltrated by people who are to the far right socially as well as financially. With the election of Trump, we now see a marriage between extreme nativism and a financial policy that serves the very wealthy big donors at the expense of ordinary citizens. Financially Trump especially represents the fast buck wealthy. A perfect example is the Republican plan to deregulate health insurance to the benefit of cheap fly by night junk insurance plans that lure in the unsuspecting with skeleton insurance policies that do not provide comprehensive health care. This is typical Trump. Do what looks good but is rotten underneath (whatever you can get away with). There are so many other things wrong with the Trump (formerly Republican) Party, but they are too numerous to mention here.
VOTE ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, TO THROW TRUMP'S GANG OUT OF CONGRESS AND BRING HONESTY AND INTEGRITY BACK TO OUR GOVERNMENT!

A THIEF'S HAT IS BURNING

There is a Yiddish expression, “auf a ganif brent der hittel” (a thief’s hat is burning). It refers to someone who keeps expressing his innocence because he knows he is guilty. This is what we are seeing with Donald Trump. He keeps repeating “no collusion” which indicates that he is probably guilty of collusion (conspiring with Vladimir Putin to influence the outcome of the 2016 US presidential election). He keeps calling the investigation of Russian meddling into our elections a “witch hunt” because he sees the investigators bearing down on him. It frightens him greatly because he is aware of his guilt and his “hat is burning.”

RUSSIA

Russia has excelled in the arts and literature. It has produced great musicians (Haifetz, Rubenstein, and others), composers (Tchaikovsky, Glazunov, Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov, and others), writers (Dostoyevsky, Chekov, Tolstoy,and others), ballet dancers (Pavlova, Nijinsky, and others). In the sciences, the Russian chemist Mendeleev formulated the periodic table of elements, the physiologist Pavlov did research in conditioning behavior. There have been many other great Russian scientists. One might say that out of one of the largest populations in the world one is bound to find some talented people, but nonetheless one can not deny that the Russian people have excelled in the arts and sciences.

However, when it comes to government, Russia has fallen behind both historically and in the present. Russia lived through centuries of oppressive Czarist rule, but during most of that time most countries were monarchies. The end of serfdom came late to Russia when Alexander II (probably the most progressive of all Russian czars) freed the serfs in 1861, but after he was assassinated in 1881 his son Alexander III became one of the most repressive czars. After the first Russian Revolution in 1917 the Provisional Government led by Alexander Kerensky attempted democracy but failed and was overturned after 8 months by the October Revolution which brought in the Communist government lead by Lenin, later Stalin, and then a succession of other leaders. The Communist government ultimately brought order and socialism combined with authoritarianism which became particularly repressive under Stalin. Communism ended and the Soviet Union broke up into 15 independent republics in 1991, leaving Russia as smaller than the Soviet Union but still one of the largest countries in the world. The socialist side of communism then ended in Russia bringing a reactive extreme capitalism. Russia under Boris Yeltsen became afflicted with chaos and poverty. Then Putin stepped in and brought order but also extreme authoritarianism, nativism, and repression of anyone who opposed him. Russia’s brief and poorly executed flirtation with democracy ended, which is where Russia is today.

Russia has long been an introvert country with a fear of intrusion from the West. The idea of their former republics and satellites joining the West and bringing NATO to their western border drives them crazy. In Putin’s view, his mission is to protect Russia by undermining and weakening the West, especially the USA. This policy is a continuation of what the Communist Soviet union did during the cold war. But now instead of the communist Soviet Union dictatorship it is an oligarchical kleptocratic Russian dictatorship. It is still the same Russian paranoia and anti-globalism. It is Putin’s view that democracy brings chaos and dictatorship brings stability. Now Putin’s intelligence services have compromised a number of leaders in their former satellites and beyond. It appears that they have been successful at the present time in compromising the American president (Trump) and a number of gullible Trump supporter including those in the American Congress. However, the election of Trump has awakened the American people to the threat. Since Trump’s election, Americans have demonstrated in large numbers and have joined campaigns to encourage voters. The free press which at first tried to be even handed finally realized that it is impossible to be even handed with a perpetual liar like Trump. Our intelligence services which Putin thought were asleep have been watching Putin’s hackers all along and compiling the truth.

Unlike Russia, we have an almost 250 years history of democracy, immigration, and diversity. Democracy appears to be fragile, but here in America now awakened, it will come roaring back. And when it returns, our alliance with NATO will be stronger than ever.

One last thing, we hear in the news about Russian hacking and the Russian threat. The enemy is Putin, not all the Russians. There are people in Russia who would oppose him, but it is not safe to do so. A number of his opponents have been assassinated. Democracy does not always come easily. Perhaps one day it will come to Russia.

A NOTE TO NETANYAHU CONCERNING TRUMP

Mr. Netanyahu,
Your love affair with Donald Trump goes against the interests of the Jewish people and makes Israel less safe. Most Jews in America oppose Trump and are turned off by your support of him. The American Jews are Israel’s most numerous and important supporters in the Diaspora, but your support of Trump drives a wedge between American Jewry and Israel. Most of us are ardent supporters of Israel but you create a conflict which weakens that support. We are now torn between our concern for Israel and our concern for our own country which has been taken over by a tyrant in the service of Vladimir Putin.

Trump colludes with Putin in his attack on democracy and has broken our alliance with the western democratic nations including Canada, Western Europe, and others. In the long run it is in Israel’s interest to be part of the democratic world and not part of an autocratic axis led by Putin and followed by Trump.

I know you are opposed to the Iran deal, but it is actually a fairly good deal with verifications that have been working and therefore protects Israel. If we are lucky, Europe will keep it going despite Trump. As for moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, any benefit to Israel is only symbolic while it further isolates Israel, removes America as a broker in future negotiations, and mainly benefits Israel’s enemies. The good that Israel is doing is being drowned out by the bad. And you can not blame it all on Israel’s enemies. Much of it is self-inflicted by the Hard Right leaders and settlers to whom you pander.

Trump is temporary. Americans are increasingly becoming fed up with Trump’s corruption, immorality, incompetence, and treason in the service of Putin. Mr. Netanyahu, your affair with Trump is putting Israel on the wrong side of history. The Mueller Investigation is closing in on Trump, and after the November election he will most likely no longer have control over Congress. Trump might very well be impeached and removed from the presidency. When Trump is gone, we Jews in America will still support Israel, but that support will be more difficult, and Israel will have to repair the damage it will have done to itself.