Republican Crisis

The Republican debate existed yesterday in Detroit inside of the Fox Theater. That is ironic since the Republican Party has a long history of promoting austerity and the worship of American exceptionalism. The Republican Party is in disarray. Before the debate, Mitt Romney denounced Donald Trump is a historic speech at Utah State University in Salt Lake City. Mitt Romney criticized Donald Trump from the right. Romney called Trump a fraud, a threat to democracy, and a man grossly unfit to be President. His speech lasted for 20 minutes. Many of his words are accurate. Romney is right to say that Donald Trump has failed in many business ventures, he promotes misogyny, that his anti-Muslim views are repugnant, and that he has shown “absurd third-grade theatrics.” Yet, it is very odd for Romney to criticize Trump when his fortune in private equity investing is real and Romney has economic scandals of his own too. Mitt Romney failed to defeat President Barack Obama during the previous 2012 Presidential election. Romney believed that Trumps’ nationalistic economic policy “would instigate a trade war that would raise prices for consumers, kill export jobs, and lead entrepreneurs and businesses to flee America.” Significantly, he criticized Trump from the right on the question of cutting Social Security and Medicare, which Trump claims to oppose. Romney declared that Trump’s “refusal to reform entitlements and to honestly address spending would balloon the deficit and the national debt.” Romney promotes a reactionary foreign policy like Trump. The difference is that Romney wants imperialism to be shown in a slicker fashion. Romney said the following words: “Mr. Trump is directing our anger for less than noble purposes. He creates scapegoats of Muslims and Mexican immigrants, he calls for the use of torture and for killing the innocent children and family members of terrorists. He cheers assaults on protesters. He applauds the prospect of twisting the Constitution to limit First Amendment freedom of the press. This is the very brand of anger that has led other nations into the abyss.” Well, Mitt Romney is right in that previous quotation. It is very unprecedented for one Republican leader to go on national TV to criticize another Republican candidate in this fashion. Trump (who is being sued over his Trump University situation. Many people are suing Trump over the university situation. Trump promotes "get rich quick" schemes) has used demagogic and empty appeals. People, including many of the working class, are angry because of economic conditions in America.

Many Republican foreign policy people (including neo-cons) signed an open letter to refuse to support Trump even if he is the nominee for the Republican Party. The signatories include former Bush administration officials like Michael Chertoff, Eric Edelman, Peter Feaver, Frances Townsend, Philip Zelikow and Robert Zoellick, as well as academic and media advocates of the war with Iraq like Max Boot, Eliot Cohen, Niall Ferguson and Robert Kagan. These people are extremists and war criminals. Obviously, Trump’s anti-Muslim statements are evil, anti-democratic, and deplorable. The GOP has a long history of working with racist and anti-democratic forces from the Southern Strategy (when Nixon wanted to co-opt the George Wallace movement. Even during the 1964 Goldwater campaign, many of his supporters were racists who opposed the Civil Rights Act under the guise of “states’ rights.” Goldwater was wrong to oppose the Civil Rights Act. He said that he opposed the CRA because of ideological reasons in the sense of promoting anti-federalism not for racial aminus) to our time. The Republican debate in Detroit was filled with vulgarity, hate, and disgracefulness. There was talking over each other and shouting. John Kasich wanted the other candidates to act as grown ups. The candidates attacked each other without discussing issues of the environment, Black Lives Matter, the criminal justice system, and about women’s rights. They promoted far right positions in immigration, terrorism, and on social issues. Millions of working people face harsh conditions today and they don’t need austerity. They need an active program of economic justice. When, after 90 minutes of a debate in Detroit, the interviewers finally asked the obligatory question about the lead poisoning of children in Flint and the mass unemployment and deindustrialization throughout southeast Michigan, the candidates had difficulty disguising their lack of interest in the subject. They either made perfunctory statements of sympathy, or, in the case of Cruz, took the opportunity to launch into a diatribe against any interference with the operation of the market. The truth is that the market is not divine and can never solve every problem on Earth. The Flint water crisis was caused by Republicans and Democrats who didn’t care about the people of Flint. Some of these evil people covered up about what they have done (as documented even by e-mails) and now people are poisoned. It is right to send millions of dollars at least to help the people of Flint, Michigan to replace the pipes and rebuild infrastructure. Also, anyone involved in the poisoned water crisis should be prosecuted and evil people (involved in this violation of human rights) should be sued as well. Trump, Cruz, Rubio, and Kasich refused to outline a radical response to the Flint crisis. Cruz wants to end all restrictions on the use of force among the police and support the police even when they kill unarmed citizens. So, we know how the GOP candidates think. They have backward views that I won’t follow at all.

I will pass on watching that biopic. There are plenty of other black actresses that can play her too. As other great people in the world have mentioned, it is a total disgrace that this "biopic" has made an offensive caricature against the late Sister Nina Simone. Nina Simone deserves much better than this. The prosthetics, the makeup, and the historical revisionism of that so-called "film" never captured the soul, the humanity, and the pure blackness of the legacy of Nina Simone. We know about Nina Simone's life. We know that Sister Nina was adamantly opposed to colorism and a sugarcoating of the contributions of the civil rights movement. That biopic makes a mockery of the black freedom struggle and I won't watch it at all. We are in favor of our people being represented fairly and with accuracy. We have power and one way of using our power is to not send one cent to the movie. People have every right to disagree with the biopic and with Zoe Saldana playing Nina Simone. The producers are wrong too. Just because many people disagree with Zoe Saldana (I don't believe that Zoe should be called out of her name), doesn't mean that they all want to spew personal, hateful vitriol against her. Also, we, who disagree with this disrespectful film, shouldn't be slandered as haters, extremists, and malcontents either. From using a prosthetic nose to following an inaccurate script is the height of disrespect to a legendary black woman legend like Nina Simone. We just disagree with Saldana on this issue. Nina Simone's daughter's response just showed how Nina Simone's legacy should never be sugarcoated in order for some to make an inaccurate film. Nina Simone is a woman with a powerful legacy and that biopic disrespects Nina in so many ways. We desire our heroes like Nina Simone to be respected and honored.


There is so much to mention (about a Baltimore cop punching and kicking a child in a school). First, the police terrorism is found heavily in America and overseas. We face a crisis where many cops violate their oath (to protect and serve) and some of them decide to abuse the human rights of people, which signifies the harsh disrespect of human lives. The cop slapping and kicking a black child should be prosecuted period. That is wrong. That cop is a disgrace and accountability must exist. No one, regardless of his or her background, should be physically abused by any cop. This story is why we oppose police terrorists. This is why there is so much suspicion among us about the police. The police have been involved in suppression of workers' rights, harming civil rights activists, and harming other human beings in a myriad of ways. There are plenty of alternatives that that cop could have used to find answers. Cops should never be in schools where they act in any way possible like some authoritarian criminal. Many of these police officers are out of control. I'm glad that video camera footage exists of this incident, because the Baltimore Police Department could have lied and defended the cop's actions completely. Anyone should be disgusted on how that child was treated and that cop should be convicted of assault and battery. Our school systems must be transformed (in reducing class sizes, creating more investments in STEM, funding more mentors in schools, and other solutions), so students don't have be feared of being brutalized by cops. We are completely appalled about how a black youth is mistreated in this fragrantly evil fashion. Laws must be changed, so cops who do evil are held accountable. Any law that violates our human rights must be ended. I have 3 words for the police. We know those words are. They are: CLEAN YOUR HOUSE. What other 3 words did you think that I was going to type? LOL. Likewise, we are always committed to stand up for the human rights of black people.


I certainly believe that there should be no excessive amount of standardized testing. Teachers should have more flexibility in outlining curriculum and education must be utilized in a more holistic approach. Poor communities deserve to have the adequate resources that promote a strong educational experience just like the richer communities readily have. Other industrialized nations do not fund public schools with local property taxes. Instead, they provide equal per-student funding from general tax revenues for all schools throughout the country. Some nations also provide extra funding for disadvantaged students. Studies have proven by smaller class sizes, investments in the arts plus music, and other solutions have worked. Education should be available to every child in America. We want any school (whether public schools or non-public schools) to be strong. We want public education to be protected. Also, we want schools to show the truth on history, culture, etc. without corporate indoctrination. True education is about showing the truth to students.

By Timothy