History – Page 10 – Doug's Views

November 7, 2012April 18, 2020

2012 US Election Is Over: Majority Rejects Bigotry

President Obama & Family @ Victory party 2012

The 2012 US Presidential election is now over, pending the final results, and one thing was clear to me. A majority of voters rejected the GOP campaign of dishonesty, hate, and bigotry paid for by entitled billionaires. President Obama was re-elected, gay marriage rights secured in a couple of states, pot legalized in one state, and a number of women were elected for the first time to the US Senate and a couple of rape apologists were defeated. I was very nervous at the start of the day but am relieved that this country didn’t fall over a cliff to the dark side.

The best news is President Obama was re-elected. Nate Silver’s Fivethirtyeight Blog was dead on for the results. Once again the GOP lost by dismissing science.

November 4, 2012April 18, 2020

Republicans, Mitt Romney & John C. Calhoun – Together Again

created image of John C. Calhoun & Mitt Romney

John C. Calhoun & Mitt Romney: Twins?

You know you are losing an election when you and your party are compared to the ‘planter elite’ that reigned, in the US, in the mid 1800’s. An essay by Mike Lux is a stinging indictment of what passes for Republican party politics today and he compares it to the politics of John C. Calhoun and the later ‘Robber Barons’ of the 1880’s. Ouch. One really doesn’t bring back the dead like John C. Calhoun unless it’s serious and I believe that this time in history is serious for the choice we all need to make on Tuesday.

October 29, 2012April 18, 2020

Hidden Scout Files Show More Interest In Preventing Bad Publicity

A few weeks ago, as the result of a lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), files with names of people excluded from the Boy Scouts from 1965-1985 was released to the public. These “perversion files” list names and details of adults who were kicked out either because they abused the boys they were in charge of or were accused of abusing boys. The BSA attempted to keep these files hidden. One file for a man in my area illustrates why BSA and similar groups are on the wrong side of the child abuse reporting issue. Identifying abusers and protecting children is FAR more important than any bad public relations for doing so.

When the files were released I was interested in checking them out. I was a Boy Scout from the mid 70’s to 1985. Although I never experienced any abuse, I wanted to see if any leaders I might have known back then was on the list. Luckily there was no one from my area in the files.

October 21, 2012April 18, 2020

It’s As If Paul Ryan Says Obama Is At War With Horse Drawn Buggies

created clipart of a horse drawn buggy with coal text written on it

Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan visited Belmont county, in Ohio, Saturday to claim that President Obama has a war on Coal. It is part of the Romney-Ryan plan to drill for more oil, keep the huge handouts to Big Oil, reduce pollution regulations, and stop government assistance to green energy. Of course this also means telling Coal miners that their jobs are in danger even though no matter who is the President their jobs are in danger. If we were at the beginning of the 20th century, Paul Ryan would be complaining about President Obama having a war on horse drawn buggies. Coal is a dying source for energy much like buggies gave way to the better technology of the automobile.

October 19, 2012April 18, 2020

Failure Of Green Energy Companies Doesn’t Mean We Don’t Need Green Energy

President Obama visits a wind turbine factory

A couple of my conservative friends post on Facebook with glee every time a green energy company that received government loans fails or if the Chevy Volt has problems. They are against spending any tax payer money on research or production of technology that will free us from a dying petroleum based energy system. They are missing the point. The failure of specific companies doesn’t mean the technology is faulty. Government support for innovation of technology is actually a common practice and is one reason we enjoy some of the things we have in our lives like computers. It would also strengthen our country against the evildoers.

One of my conservative friends posted me a link to this article: