Category Archives: Progressives

by Barry Kelly | February 6, 2017 · 7:35 am

The Professor: The Transfer of Power in America

“I had a different lecture prepared, but what I have observed for the last weeks has me so concerned, I have another message for today,” the professor said after his honors class had settled into their seats. He could tell he had their immediate attention. “There are several attributes of our way of government that are unique and commendable. Perhaps the most unique is our long tradition of the transfer of power following presidential elections. For a ruler and the ruling group to peacefully give up power to an opponent group is the most startling of all the benefits our country’s founders built into the Constitution.

“Since our independence, our political parties have often held contentious political campaigns. When the votes were counted, the party with the majority of electoral votes claimed the right to govern for the next four years and the losing party peacefully assumed the role of the opposition party and mostly assisted in the orderly transfer of power while the world looked on in wonder.

“This time, it is different. This time the stakes were very high. Either the nation continued the Obama/Clinton path to socialism or elected Donald Trump to lead us back to individual freedom, capitalism, and a free-market economy. There was another less visible choice: Give up much of our uniqueness and sovereignty for equal membership in a world government. Very basic issues. Another eight, or even four years, of progressive rule and it would be nearly impossible to return to the constitutional government designed by our founders.

“President Obama, progressive Congressional leaders, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, the liberal media, ranking members of the civil service, many liberal university professors, and the hidden financiers and organizers of street violence are vigorously resisting the orderly transfer of power from one party to the other. They claim the Trump administration is illegitimate. He lost the popular vote, the Russians assisted him, the electoral college system needs to be scrapped, and all his cabinet choices must be fought with all the resources and energy the progressives can bring to bear to defeat this illegitimate Republican victory.

“Today, the traditional Democratic Party has been captured by the far-left wing of the party and is in danger of becoming a party of both coasts. California, Oregon, Washington, New York, and a handful of other northeastern coastal states. It is hard to imagine a democratic system of government based on only one viable party. The socialists/progressives won’t give up resisting an orderly transfer of power. Not only they, but all of us will suffer from the collapse of America’s ability to celebrate a peaceful transfer of power every four years. Our democratic republic is at risk today. My generation and America depend upon your strength and wisdom to save this great and unique nation.

“This subject is so important to me that I want to devote the next class period to discussing this problem. Please reflect on what I’ve said and be ready to discuss it further.”

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Filed under Conservative views, Intelligence & Politics, Obama, Politics, Progressives, trump

by Barry Kelly | January 29, 2017 · 7:54 am

The Professor: America’s Great Pillars

The Professor looked up as his small honors political science filed in through the door and took a a seat around the conference table. He let them get settled before speaking.

“I’ve looked over your papers on the staffing of the Trump Administration. You’re making progress,” he said, giving a slight smile. “I’ll select a few of them to be presented before the class. Today, I want you to reflect upon why America is such a different kind of place than most of the rest of the world. What happened? Was it caused by circumstances, sheer coincidences, divine intervention, or some other phenomena? To help you open your minds, I’ll tell you what I think. Recognize that what I’m going to say is, at best, thoughtful conjecture. Please don’t ask me to lay out proof. Most of recorded history is slanted to meet the views and limited observations of the writers. Recorded history is such a small percentage of what happened in the passing of time that, I believe, it should only be used to help you get your analytic thinking started.

“Individual freedom and justice are the two pillars upon which our system of government has been built. From those two pillars come the rule of law and individual freedom of choice. I believe what we were in the 1600s and what we are now is due to the freedom individuals had to seek their own destinies. America is a great nation, the greatest nation in the history of the world. But we are not great because of what the early settlers brought with them. Rather, we are great because of what they left behind in Europe and Asia.

“Our black citizens from Africa never had that same opportunity. Whatever impediments to progress and individual freedom they left behind, they found no advantages when they got here. They did not get off the slave ships into a land of individual freedom and opportunity for them. Instead, they found slavery, and slavery is as far from individual freedom as you can get. Their freedom of choice did not even begin for centuries, until after the Civil War.

“For others, the cultures, rulers, and religions their ancestors sailed away from did not recognize the individual as the basis of society. Conformity to the culture and religion and obedience to the monarch was the code to survival. Nowhere was empowerment of the individual encouraged or tolerated. The genius and drive of individuals to seek their potential and, in the process, build the nation and give the opportunity for masses of people to rise above the subsistence level was never allowed in Europe or Asia when America was being settled. The concept of equality in Europe, Asia, and most of the rest of the world is still not based on the freedom of the individual. To achieve the control necessary for the centralized management of goals, individual freedom is discouraged.

“In those lands, equality is achieved by pulling down or penalizing individual success for the good of the many, instead of encouraging a general uplifting of society. The Fabian socialists, until now mostly in Europe, would argue that approach is simply sacrificing the few for equality of the many. This approach has not worked so far, but its adherents seem to have difficulty recognizing the lessons of history and the costly record in human terms of centralized social engineering from the left or right.

“We have just elected to abandon another quest to level the playing field via social engineering led by a progressive elite. Instead, we need to work toward equal opportunity for all citizens by understanding that equal opportunity does not mean everyone gets an equal share of earned wealth. We all have different levels of ability, motivation, discipline, and luck. To have true individual freedom, we must let those factors play out with little or no meddling by bureaucratic centralists with the ‘best of intentions.’

“It is the people who built this great nation. Not as directed by the government, but by the individual efforts of Americans striving to improve themselves and the country they lived in. For sure, America has natural resources, a good climate, and a protected strategic location. But those are not the reasons we are and can remain a great nation. Greatness is from the work of a proud and free people.”

The Professor paused for a moment to let his words sink in.

“There, in some 700 or so words, I’ve covered hundreds of years, maybe many more. Now it’s your turn. Take the rest of the class to write down your thoughts and reflections on what makes America great, then and now.”

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The Professor: Obama’s Real Legacy

“Welcome, class. Today it is my turn to pick an opening subject,” the Professor said to his honors political science class, smiling. “Two of them. The first is about the art and science of polling, and the second is my version of the ‘Obama legacy’ now that he’s no longer in office.

“Later in the semester, we’ll get some experience in poll-taking from one of my political friends. One of my basic rules of human behavior is that people do what they know how to do even if their experience is not applicable to understanding and predicting current events. That is what pollsters are doing today. The polling models to cover the election where almost universally wrong. The existing sample polled did not represent most of the voters. Polling depends on the relevance of the sample. If the sample of voters polled does not represent the actual voting pool, the results are going to be misleading. That is what happened.

“It will take time and testing to develop a more relevant sample of voters. In the meantime, the pollsters and their consumers will continue with the old model that the Trump campaign destroyed. Do not pay much, if any, attention to them until the polling innovators have time to develop new models.

“Now for my broad-brush description of the ‘Obama legacy.’ By now, you all know about my personal political beliefs, but I believe most historians will agree with my general points. Perhaps the most important part of the Obama legacy is how his tenure has moved the political center of American politics to the center-right. President Obama’s focus on transforming America by redistributing both individual and national wealth was a push to move America into a socialist economy. National health insurance, heavy regulation of banking and finance, energy, and manufacturing designed to bring the means of production and distribution under the control of a government of elite intellectuals all were pieces of the socialist mosaic. The other pieces were political moves to enhance the office of the president, weaken the legislature and move toward a one-party system by discrediting and destroying the Republican Party.

“He encouraged class warfare with his constant slogans of ‘level the playing field,’ ‘give everyone a fair shot,’ and ‘reduce income inequality.’ President Obama never missed a chance to play the race card in any police/community street violence and immigration issue.

“President Obama also presided over the weakening of America’s military strength and economic power in favor of international organizations in order to bring about a new world order from the vestiges of western colonialism. Perhaps, most of all, he failed to protect the nation from radical Islam and to provide both the hope and reality of increasing prosperity to our citizens.

“That’s my version of the ‘Obama legacy.’ Does anyone disagree?”

No students raised their hands, and the Professor nodded. He knew he had presented the facts fairly; he hoped history would do the same.

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Filed under class warfare, Conservative views, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, Obama, Politics, Progressives, Republicans, Terrorism

by Barry Kelly | January 9, 2017 · 7:37 am

The Professor: Russia, Hacking and the Election

“Okay! We’re all here. First the question period. I know you see this as a chance to listen to me rather than the reverse. That’s okay with me. You know by now I’m not the usual teacher. I want you to leave this University knowing how to think and find solutions to problems. Part of that is to encourage you to think outside the box. But that is only part of the process of analyzing problems and selling your solution. You must develop an instinct to know when thinking inside the box is just as important. Most complex problems require both kinds of thinking. Why search for a new type of solution when there is an existing one that works well?

“So, who has a question they would like me to discuss?”

The Professor pointed at Alison and said, “Alison, let’s hear your question.”

“TV and the print media are constantly railing about the Russians hacking into our elections to favor President-elect Trump. It sounds like this is more about partisan politics than it is about Russian influence. What is really going on?”

“I think you know most of the answer, but I’ll tell you what I think. Great powers have been intercepting the communications of both opponents and friends throughout history. Hacking, as a form of collection, is at least five decades old. From a very primitive beginning, it has gotten much more sophisticated. The point here is that all powerful nations are engaged. So no one should be surprised that foreign nations will attack our communications systems, particularly those used by important people who don’t have the sense to protect their information. Hacking is not an act of war. A hacking attack on the national grid, the transportation system and some others would be. But senators Lindsay Graham and John McCain, who are making such a scene about wanting to punish the Russians and discredit the landslide victory of Donald Trump over the hacking and disclosure of emails associated with the Clinton campaign, are just over-heated politicians who can only be cured by term limits.

“These two senators sat through the entire tenure of the Obama Administration and, even with a Republican Congress, did next to nothing to stop the destruction of our military forces, the mistreatment of veterans, and the alienation of our allies. Closing of Guantanamo Bay and stopping Trump seems to be their main agenda.

“The Obama intelligence organizations have decided that the Russians were attempting to influence the election by releasing hacked items from Democratic email servers. President-elect Trump doesn’t trust their analysis. He shouldn’t. These are the ranking officials that lied about the Benghazi ‘talking points,’ refused to conduct a real investigation of Hillary Clinton’s illegal server and the consequent mishandling of highly classified material, and produced intelligence on ISIS to fit the White House view of them as the junior varsity. Are these people to be trusted? I think not. The rank and file of the several intelligence organizations are solid, hard-working men and women who take incredible personal risks to serve the nation, but their leadership is suspect.

“I don’t believe anyone in the Obama Administration wants a real investigation of Russian, Chinese or other hackers. Too much would be uncovered, such as what classified material did these hackers get from the Clinton email server.

“Bottom line is that what is going on is a failed President leaving office and trying to rewrite his record and constrain his successor.”

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Filed under Barry Kelly, Clinton, Conservative views, democrats, Eight Decades of Insights, Intelligence & Politics, ISIS, Obama, political solutions, Progressives, Republicans, Russia, trump

Tagged as hacking, Obama, Russia, trump

by Barry Kelly | December 22, 2016 · 7:39 am

The Professor: What Does the Election Mean?

“Before I start this morning session, do you have any fundamental questions to ask?”

Several hands were raised, and the Professor nodded at Carlos, who asked, “What does this election mean in the context of two-party government in the coming decade?”

“A good but very broad question. The Democrats or Progressives who now control the party picked a very poor candidate who had poor people skills and a heavy load of not very acceptable baggage. The Democratic message was more of the same, even though it was clear most Americans thought the Obama Administration was on the wrong course. People wanted to take a chance on change and Hillary Clinton offered more of the same.

“In its desire to push a very socialist agenda, the Democratic Party lost touch with the people, who I believe were fed up with the ideology of both the right and the left. President-elect Trump presented the people with a pragmatic approach. A decade ago, he could have fit into either party. This man made his fortune by recognizing problems and working to solve them. With him, ‘the issue is always the issue,’ unlike both Obama and Clinton who follow Saul Alinsky’s axiom that ‘the issue is never the issue.’ The difference is that the Alinsky Progressives were focused on seizing power to bring about a transformational distribution of wealth; people like Trump were about solving problems and making things work.

“This landslide election is a rejection of the Progressive socialist ideology and a return of the voters to a more central political position. If the Democrats continue to push a socialist agenda in 2020, the party will self-destruct. But there will always be nearly half of the citizens holding on to an embedded belief that being rich is bad and that peace is achieved not through strength but through understanding and appeasement. To them there is no need for a strong military or a strong national economy.

“These people believe President Obama’s deliberate weakening of the military and his total focus on distributing wealth nationally and internationally were needed steps to bring about equality and social justice in both America and the world. This belief is rooted in two primary drives. One is the distrust of European immigrants for wealth and corrupt aristocratic government. Our history has seen the establishment and demise of several local communes based on the philosophy of ‘from each according to their ability and to each depending their need.’ The other is the emphasis the Christian religion puts on the message of love, forgiveness, the evil of wealth, and the belief that peace and justice come from treating other people and nations the way you would like them to treat you. That is a wonderful belief for individuals dealing with others, but it doesn’t work on a larger scale or between nations. Instead, it results in the development of elite leadership and the use of force. The use of coercion to achieve social change and economic functioning has always resulted in elite rule and the loss of individual choice. Nevertheless, the ‘have-nots’ of any society have always resented the ‘haves’ and will be attracted to the slogans of the socialists championing ‘a fair shot for everyone,’ ‘income equality,’ and ‘a balanced playing field.’

“In our last three presidential elections, more than half of the people have voted for a candidate pushing the same old slogans. The problem for the Trump Administration will be to mix governing with pragmatism and a populist message. All our citizens must see they are sharing the better life.

“Otherwise, it will be an even sharper turn toward the hate-America, guilt-driven governing philosophy of the Obama/Clinton era. I’m not sure we can continue to pull back from the progressive abyss so much of our world has fallen into.

“Personally, I am pleased and excited by the possibilities of a new administration. You will all have to work hard to lead our nation between the excesses of both the left and the right of our two-party system of government. Both contain the seeds of tyranny. There is a place in the center that is right for us.”

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