Second Amendment Folly

The 2nd amendment was written in the 18th century and taken out of context in this the 21st century, as it was in the late 20th century.

To, "bear arms," in the 18th century included muzzle loading: pistols, muskets and rifles; swords; bow and arrow; spear; lance and pike... As it was when serving in the British military.

The, “well regulated militia,” part referred to the Militia Act of 1792.

The founding fathers were trying to avoid forming a standing army as we'd just been liberated from the only colonial power, England, to have said full-time military; cudgel of the monarchy against citizens and colonials.

Article 1, Section 8 (clause 12 – 16) of the Constitution defines the establishment of an army, militia and navy. The Revolutionary War had made clear the limits of a land based fighting force dependent solely on a militia.

The, “second amendment rights,” declared by any who want to carry a gun, any and everywhere, don't exist. Carrying a gun, a tool designed to kill, should require training, licensing and limits.

The Fallacy of Cryptocurrency

The only functional use for cryptocurrency is crime.

Cryptocurrency was fashioned by geeks because, as the Republican party made it's hard right turn (becoming the Qpublican party) it's two primary considerations were: supply side economics (based on a laffer/laugher curve); "government is the problem," self-fulfilling, operating philosophy.

That created two major problems: the US government (via agencies such as FFRDCs) drove and funded US research and development and also caused, or built out, the vast majority of the US's common-carrier infrastructure (transportation, power, telecommunications, education, etc...); "capital flight to safety," was largely a movement of cash from risky/speculative investments to safe investments (largely US Treasury notes).  

The currency of international trade, especially hydrocarbons (coal, oil and gas), was in the most stable currency in the world: the US dollar.

All this put the lie to the basic, Qpublican (libertarian consuming) raison d'etre.

Cryptocurrency was an attempt to provide an alternative to the US dollar as a very stable, internationally exchanged currency, that's also (almost covertly) secretive in nature.

Cryptocurrency, regardless of brand name, are a failure.

Replacement Theory Debunked

 An opinion in the Washington Post about , “replacement theory,” expressed something similar to this: “White supremacists and white nationalists to begin to take hold of the Qpublican party... Is a reflection of the lasting impact Trump has had on the movement.”

Nonsense.

White people, of extraordinary self-importance, have been a problem since Europeans began to migrate en masse to the Americas/western hemisphere.  Blue bloods/White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASP) were a problem, from the start, for anybody that wasn't one of them. 

For the record I am, by birth, a WASP.

The first (un)Civil War ended without major consequences for the traitors that formed the confederacy, and the start of the re-prosecution of the next (un)Civil War was born immediately thereafter.

The demographic known as minority-majority has been driving the White, right wingnut folks out of their underutilized minds since the statistics became apparent.  Two terms of an African American President drove them over the edge, resulting in a situation where an orange menace could be elected President; violent insurrection when a second/extended term was not accomplished.

Replacement theory is baseless because to be replaced you must, first, be missing and someone must notice the absence; believe you need to be replaced.

Re-establishing the US Federal Government's Leadership

During WWII and the Cold War research and development was driven by: the Dept. of the Army; DOD;  ARPA & DARPA; FFRDCs (Federally Funded Research and Development Centers)...  True public - private partnerships; driven and funded by the US government.

In the last half century a reactionary movement started to take the government out of the driver's seat because they drove integration (e.g., Tuskegee Airmen & "hidden figures") while driving innovation.  When the Johnson administration topped off this progress with the Civil and Voting Rights Acts it was assumed that, "they had lost the south for 50 years."  They had, in fact, driven the Republicans (plus the remnants of the confederacy) into total reactionary mode.

The Republicans acquired the, "Dixiecrats," during the Reagan administration and adopted the Republican party's self-fulfilling philosophy of, "government is the problem."  Republican administrations started funneling public money, when they bothered to generate (taxes) it, to the private sector.

The reactionaries truly lost what little sanity that they'd had after two terms of an Obama administration... Leading to the 45 administration and January 6, 2021 when there was not a second (45) term.

FDR had demonstrated, via the New Deal, what government could accomplish with proper citizen, voter, direction...  The Biden administration's pushing ahead with the Green New Deal and the For the People Act (H.R. 1) will re-establish federal governance as a driver of extraordinary potential...

Scares the fecal matter out of the reactionaries who took the Republican party to Qpublican extremes.

Incidents on the Southern Border

The border twixt the USA and Mexico, as it is now known, is long and has been fluid since well before 1492. The definition of said border has been defined and observed since the late 19^th century. There are communities that have existed, and continue to function, astride the border for centuries. The Bracero Program (during WWII), NAFTA and now the SMCA have necessitated traffic, goods and people, travel back and forth between our countries in constant and enormous volumes.

Migrants, from multiple countries south of the border, have created a problem. The source of said problem, unfortunately, is ill will expressed by extremist, white supremacists north of the border. This ill will has been the key ingredient to a migration situation some have viewed as untenable.

The handling of the migrant situation on the southern border has been described politely as horribly insufficient for decades.  The 45 administration took a bad problem and created an international disgrace by attempting to pretend that the border could just be closed to migrants.  Then they terminated programs designed to help Central American countries deal with the issues that motivate their citizens to flee en masse, pretending that that would do anything but what it did; exacerbate the problem.

Multiple pundits are upset that their warnings to the incoming administration were not received and acted upon properly.  They, especially the various government officials, really should make helpful suggestions, introduce useful regulatory change, or STFU. 

President Biden was VP Biden when the Obama administration tried, while a destructively uncooperative Qpublican legislature helped not at all, to deal with what was already chaos at the southern, US border; he really is already aware that there's a rather enormous, ongoing problem.

The 45 administration did it's level worst to make the transition to the Biden administration as dysfunctional as possible; southern border included.

Yes, it's a mess and if these legislators were in congress as far back as the Obama administration, or before, and they've not developed constructive ideas, beyond warning the current President about the international disgrace on our border with Mexico (especially the Qpublicans whose efforts have been criminally negligent, at best), they are a very large part of the problem.

The Way Forward

The slight Democratic majorities in the US federal government are hamstrung by regulatory hurdles that have allowed Qpublican obstructionists, from Gingrich to McConnell, to impede the progress good government had been making.

Republicans openly adopted the perspective of, "government is the problem," in the Reagan administration.  This strategy became important as government had moved the nation closer to equal protection under the law, equal rights and voting rights for all Americans.  

This link provides an introduction to documentation, from multiple sources, that reveal government (especially during Democratic majorities) is a primary driver of good civil and economic results:

http://blueboomerhd.blogspot.com/2020/11/voting-in-your-own-best-interest.html

The Bracero program (started during WWII) and NAFTA added to what has been fluid movement of people and goods across the southern border of the United States.  Said ease of movement added to the minority-majority (northern European Americans, "white," people becoming the largest minority, no longer the majority, and the combination of all the folks of color are becoming the new majority) demographic trend happening across the United States; via all borders and points of entry.

The Republican's response was to make an extremely hard right turn, becoming the Qpublican party (the return to Civil War insurrectionism).  The obstructions to government function had been put in place already and the Qpublicans availed themselves of said ability to make, "government bad," into self-fulfilling prophecy.

An article laying bare the consequences Texas has faced after decades of electing politicians from the Republican/Qpublican, self-fulfilling bad government, party:

Texas Monthly, 04.21, page 42, News & Politics

In order to undo the damage being done by Qpublicans the Democrats must tear down impediments, including the filibuster in the US Senate, to good government then follow through with the programs designed to bring economic and civil benefits to as close to everybody as is possible.

Building Back Better has Begun!

It is said that, “We have to have bipartisan cooperation if we’re going to tackle these items,” said Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.).

Wrong.

To Build Back Better we must work for bi-partisan constituents not legislators.  The US House and Senate spent multiple weeks in bi-partisan discussions of the Covid relief bill, that was essentially what the Democratic majority in the House had passed in May of 2020, for the bill to receive precisely 0 (ZERO) Qpublican votes in both House and Senate.

The Clinton administration finally picked up the mess made in the Reagan and HW Bush administrations, then we hemmed and hawed amongst ourselves while Republicans marketed their, largely fraudulent, message much better and we got a W Bush administration.

The Obama administration picked up the mess made by the W Bush administration, then we (Democrats), once again, began to second guess ourselves while the Republicans, again, marketed better and the orange menace's administration (along with the final stage of transformation from Republican to Qpublican) happened.

President Biden is a veteran of the machinations of the Q(Re)publicans in the US federal government and knows we not only must go big, we must market better than the Qpublicans or, once again, we'll fix what was broken only to be sent packing afterward.

The USA has made phenomenal things happen repeatedly when the government has provided around 30% (more when needed) of the money spent into the national economy.  We must do it again, market and take proper credit for, building back better such that we stay and keep the trajectory of the nation (and with us the rest of the world) onward and upward.