Preserving American Values

Our nation stands under attack … not from without but from within. American values, our politics, and our culture have been corrupted.

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about

Websites: www.westillholdthesetruths.weebly.com; www.preservingamericanvalues.com; www.thepracticalbuddhist.com. A graduate of Brown U. and U. of Chicago Law School, I’ve had a varied career as a legal aid lawyer, survey researcher, nonprofit executive, management consultant, composer, teacher, and author. I have authored 7 books on topics as varied as Buddhism, child rearing, and politics, the latter of which received a pre-publication endorsement from James Fallows, National Correspondent, The Atlantic. My Buddhist blog was selected as one of the top 50 Buddhist blogs on the web.

Category: Politics

  • Make Use of Conservative and Evangelical Voices Against Trump

    To the extent that they can, it is absolutely critical in light of the total subservience to Trump of Congressional Republicans that the Democrats make good use of the conservative and evangelical voices that have spoken in support of Trump’s impeachment.  This is their only opportunity to show that this not a partisan effort but rather…

  • Some Republican Senators Have Crossed a Line and Disqualified Themselves as Impeachment Jurors

    In an impeachment, the Senate’s role is to sit in judgment and vote either to convict or acquit the person charged.  The Senators are the jury.  No Senator is appointed to play the role of defense counsel.  That role is undertaken by the President’s lawyers.   As jurors, when the impeachment trial begins, the Senators swear an oath to…

  • The Clear Case for Trump’s Impeachment

    There has been so much information gathered regarding Trump’s abuse of power that sometime it’s hard to see the forest for the trees.  But it is critically important to keep things simple and clear.  Let’s review the facts. 1.  The Main Piece of Evidence: Trump is on record as having said to the Ukraine president, when asked…

  • Republican Congressmen – Have You No Shame?

    During the 1954 Army-McCarthy hearings, Senator Joe McCarthy (R) was finally stopped by the question of Joseph Welch, attorney for the Army.  Welch said, “At long last, sir, have you left no sense of decency?”  The quote is often paraphrased as, “Have you no shame?” After watching the actions of Congressional Republicans since Trump took office, but…

  • The Need for Mass Outrage, Civil Disobedience

    There was an opinion piece in The New York Times recently that criticized President Obama for wagging his finger at the younger generation who get off on being judgmental and insist on purity.  “That’s not activism.  That’s not bringing about change,  If all you’re doing is casting stones, that probably won’t get you far.”  The opinion writer was very offended and…

  • OMG, Could Republicans Not Care About Abuse of Power?

    I just had a startling thought.  I have always thought that the reason why most Republicans in Congress were dismissive of the Democrat’s push for impeachment was that they just didn’t think there was iron-clad proof of Trump’s abuse of office and obstruction of justice.  No matter how clear it seemed, they just wished away the facts.…

  • The 2020 Election Is About the Survival of American Democracy, of Our Historic Values

    The title of this piece may strike the reader as over the top, but it really isn’t.  Because it isn’t about whether the form of democracy will survive.  It probably will despite some dark words from Trump at one point about his supporters not accepting a narrow loss.  This post is about whether the concept of democracy that…

  • The Hidden Finding in the Mueller Testimony

    The New York Times and other major media depicted Mueller’s testimony as being a loss for the Democrats.  Nothing new was revealed, no existing facts were heightened or sensationalized.  It was nothing more than a regurgitation of the Report.  Certainly nothing happened that caused any Republicans in Congress to give second thoughts about whether to stand behind Trump. However,…

  • The Democratic Platform for 2020?

    I have argued for years that Democrats need to have a cohesive positive vision for America that speaks to the average American, and policies that flow from it (see my book, We Still Hold These Truths, and my post “The Perennial Search for the Democrats’ Mission”).  Never has that been more important than for the 2020 election.  …

  • Asylum v Illegal Immigration – Trump Disregards the Truth

    I read a fact recently that I have not seen reported anywhere before that would have a huge impact on the discussion of Trump’s actions regarding those trying to enter the U.S. from our southern border In the past, virtually all those crossing the border illegally were single men from Mexico looking for jobs in…