In all of human history and pre-history, homo sapiens have generated heat and light by burning something—dung, wood, candles, coal, kerosene, oil, and natural gas. Now we stand at the crossroads of energy history; with 7 billion of us burning stuff to stay alive and well, we are gradually undermining our own survival. We can’t continue going the same way.
Enter the renewables—wind, water, and solar. Nothing needs to be burned, and they are commonly available without digging or drilling. But instead of being grateful to modern science, we are treated to cries of panic and anger from those who make money by burning stuff.
Charging into the breach is brave Sir Tucker of Carlson, tilting at windmills on the Texas plains. We (the imperial we) are saved! Tell the people, Sir Tucker, that if it wasn’t for those liberal windmills, there wouldn’t have been a power outage. In the defense of corporate liberty, truth doesn’t matter.
But let’s say truth does matter. Then we would have to say that Texas, in order to avoid federal regulations, set up their own power grid in 1932. We would have to say that, being Texas, this highly oil-and-gas-dependent grid was run on the cheap, and avoided much maintenance and innovation that had been recommended after prior blackouts. And we’d have to say that renewable energy accounts for only 10% of Texas’ total energy profile; it was the lack of new technology, not its existence, that led to the breakdown of the grid.
Sir Tucker, it should be noted, fended off a defamation suit by having his lawyer claim in court that no reasonable person would assume that he tells the truth on his show.
But would a reasonable person use coveted air time to blow holes in the core values—truth, trust, and civility—upon which democracy rests, just because it pays well?
JEFFREY HOBBS, Springfield, Ill.
In “Hey Joe! These Are Our Demands” [1/1-15/21 TPP], Ted Rall makes some pretty good cases. To his demands, I would add a couple more.
1) Legislate federal election laws for federal elections. No more confusing state-by-state requirements for special IDs and the like. Standardize machines and methods for counting votes. Give all voters the option to vote by mail.
2) Abolish No Child Left Behind. After nearly 20 years of this program, we see a generation of bored malcontents whose public school education has taught them to pass government-required tests, but little else. In many districts, classes for music, cooking, art, mechanics and other “fun” subjects have been gradually eliminated, as well as firm groundings in language skills, civics and government.
Not having been taught any different, a mob of these misinformed people answered a Trumpet call to storm the Capitol and force Congress to overturn an election, as if Congress has that power. “Certify” and “overturn” are not synonymous.
Restore our public schools to places where students can find pleasure in learning, and develop their individual abilities and self-esteem, without fear or censure.
BETTY CROWDER, Honeydew, Calif.
The Republicans won’t convict Trump for a three-month-long campaign to steal the election from Biden, culminating in a murderous riot he incited at he Capitol on Jan. 6. There aren’t 17 Republicans that will put their Country over Party loyalty to a liar, COVID denier and insurrectionist!
It’s not “free speech” to spend three months orchestrating a coup attempt against a democratically elected president culminating in calling for a deadly march to invade the Capitol.
It’s not unconstitutional to convict a president who incited insurrection (perhaps seditious) after leaving office. The framers saw this possibility, there’s precedent and, if not convicted, a future president “could shoot someone on 5th Ave and get away with it” during his last month in office (sound familiar?)
Our democracy is at risk and the new GOPQ cowards instead are worried about licking Trump’s boots.
T. MINNERICK, Elgin, Ill.
In response to my note to Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) asking her to convict Donald Trump she replied: nn“As I’ve said, President Trump exhibited poor leadership and holds some responsibility for the anarchy that ensued at the heart of our democracy.
“My concern right now is that the president is no longer in office. As such, Congress would be opening itself to a dangerous standard of using impeachment as a tool for political revenge against a private citizen, and the only remedy at this point is to strip the convicted of their ability to run for future office — a move that would undoubtedly strip millions of voters of their ability to choose a candidate in the next election.”
How does Ernst go from Trump having “some responsibility” to labeling his impeachment “political revenge”? And, if she thinks Trump is somewhat responsible or now agrees that the House Managers have shown that Trump is singularly responsible, why would she be concerned that people won’t be able to vote Trump, or a future ex-president back into office in the next election after being convicted of inciting an insurrection?
STEVE KLECKNER, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
I gladly learned that 43 Republicans voted to acquit Donald Trump in his impeachment trial. Because now the spotlight will be on them.
Donald Trump has committed the crime of incitement to insurrection. This is a serious criminal offense for which Trump will go to jail for a period of up to 10 years. When the Justice Department brings this case, they will already have the case provided by the House Democrats, which Mitch McConnell declared has proved the case against Trump. Now, when the Justice Department convicts Trump, all those Republicans who voted to acquit will be hung with an albatross around their necks. They will be painted as voting with politics in mind, not justice. The senators who voted to acquit who face reelection in 2022 include: Marco Rubio, Rand Paul. Chuck Grassley, Tim Scott, Todd Young, Ron Johnson, Roy Blunt, John Boozman, John Neely Kennedy, John Thune, John Hoeven, James Lankford, Jerry Moran, Mike Lee and Mike Crapo. The Trump vote to acquit will be a target on their back.
LEE KNOHL, Evanston, Ill.
Re: Bob Burnett’s article, “In Defense of Civility” [2/15/21 TPP] nnWho could deny that our reliance on electronic communications has lessened our civility? Just imagine how even the first primitive phones stimulated gossip and slander among those who used them without pausing to reflect before choosing their words.
Yet, what I find most encouraging about the possibility of regaining our civility is that children don’t have to be gifted to master it. What it takes is concerned parents (or guardians) to teach civility to their children and make certain they don’t become lax in its practice. And all of us can participate by praising children who show kindness towards others.
Perhaps we, as a society, are to blame for the abysmal depths into which our civility has fallen. Far too many parents spare no expense to make certain that their offspring are successful in academics, and consider it even better if they are outstanding athletes.
What a pity! They want their children to become success machines, but give little thought to their manners which, after all, are just a matter of common decency.
As Mr. Burnett so admirably explains, “Civility is the moral framework for civil society, without which democracy cannot function.”
DAVID QUINTERO, Monrovia, Calif.
Did you know that in 1999 Donald Trump proposed the passage of a new “National Wealth Tax”of 14.25% on all individuals who have a net-worth of $10 million and higher? If you doubt me, just look it up online.
In 2018, the Opinion Editor of USA Today wrote that he loved the idea. So do I.
But it makes me wonder if we all were “played” and “conned” for the past four years in a kind of “Bizarro-World” by someone who was a bit of a “Fake-Conservative”.
That 1999 proposal of his was something that only the most “liberal/progressive” political person would believe in. Not even Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or Elizabeth Warren have ever dared to propose such a large far-left-of-center policy..Someone who did was Louisiana Sen. Huey Long (and his “Share The Wealth” clubs) who was far to the political left of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
STEWART B. EPSTEIN, Rochester, N.Y.
[Editor’s Note: Sen. Warren has proposed a wealth tax of 2% tax on fortunes above $50 million. And Trump apparently had forgotten the wealth tax by the time he became president. Instead, he cut taxes for the wealthy.]
For decades, the mental and physical torture of animals in Iowa’s Industrial Confined Animal buildings has been reported and ignored in our supposedly humane state. This involves chickens, turkeys, cattle, and in the largest part, pigs, who are known to have mental and emotional capacities at or above that of our beloved family dogs.
Recently Matt Johnson, raised in Iowa and now from California, planted an electronic recording device in several Iowa Select Hog Farms in Grundy County (just north of me) and Wright County (where I was born). He then remotely recorded actions of Iowa Select when large numbers of either sick or over-abundant hogs needed to be disposed, this by simply shutting down ventilation to the buildings (Auschwitz style). The pictures rolled as hogs shrieked and screamed for several hours while suffocating, then showed workers walking over hog carcasses killing any still showing life with a bolt gun.
Johnson, a member of Direct Action Everywhere, was to be on trial in Grundy County Feb. 1 on charges of electronic eavesdropping and third degree burglary (felonies). However, just recently Iowa Select representatives decided to drop the charges in order to avoid having to give testimony under oath about their policies/procedures, and to not incur further bad publicity by the showing of more photos and evidence of this industrial cesspool of abuse, environmental degradation, and greed.
Gov. Kim Reynolds is heavily backed by factory farms in Iowa, as is House member Dean Fisher (in my district, sorry to say). Not long ago, Fisher squashed a bill from 200 petitioners that called for debate in the House seeking stronger protections against abuses of factory farms. Recently he has bragged about owning guns. I’m so not scared. Matt Johnson, the young man involved, has a stronger backbone and apparently deeper soul than all the factory farmers in Iowa combined, as well as many of our politicians.
MARY McBEE, Tama, Iowa
From The Progressive Populist, March 15, 2021
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