Bob Lord

If someone takes an action he knows will cause the loss of thousands of innocent lives, would you consider him a mass murderer?

Would your answer change if his action was really good for his country’s economy?

Today, 71 Senators voted to dismiss a resolution that would have blocked the sale of $1.15 billion worth of industrial strength arms to Saudi Arabia. The sale now will go through. Saudi Arabia has been using its American supplied armaments to wreak havoc on the population of Yemen. How bad could the death toll get? Horrific. From Nika Knight of Common Dreams in “Indifferent to Yemen’s Misery,” Senate Approves Massive Saudi Arms Deal, quoting Ray Offenheiser of Oxfam America:

“Today, millions of Yemenis are on the verge of starvation and more than 10,000 children under 5 have died from preventable diseases. Every tank, missile, and gallon of jet fuel supplied by the U.S. to the Saudi-led coalition is a clear signal that the U.S. is indifferent to Yemen’s misery.”

In relative terms, those 10,000 dead Yemeni children would be the equivalent of 125,000 or so dead American children.

Why do 71 of our esteemed Senators want to be complicit in this?

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This story threatens to destroy the remaining sliver of respect I have for the Democratic Party.

When I ran for Congress, there was nobody’s support I was happier to have than Raul Grijalva’s. I remember meeting with leaders of the Tohono O’dham Nation and asking them, kind of half-jokingly, if I just voted the same way as Grijalva would we be good. The immediate response: Yes.

I’ve always considered Raul Grijalva and Keith Ellison to be in a class by themselves. The two I could always count on to do the right thing.

So, I was saddened to see Hypocrisy? Congressman Raul Grijalva’s family owns stock in Enbridge, the company building the Dakota Access Pipeline in Three Sonorans a few days ago. I’ve posted a lede to the piece after the jump, for those who want to read more, but here’s the takeaway:

This week Raul Grijalva headed up to Standing Rock to protest the Dakota Pipeline…

… or was he going to check on his investment; Raul’s family owns stock in the very company building this pipeline, Enbridge Energy Partners!

Am I writing Grijalva off? No, not just yet. 

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There’s nothing like a campaign gaffe to expose the hypocrisy of partisan political hacks.

And so it is with Gary Johnson’s immediately infamous “Aleppo moment.” For those who didn’t see it, Johnson, the Libertarian nominee, when asked on MSNBC what he thought about Aleppo, inquired what Aleppo was.

For one glorious moment, Republican and Democratic Party hacks were in sync: Johnson is a complete clown, the right and left agreed, completely unfit for the presidency.

So, I asked my Facebook friends if someone who subscribes to the Libertarian philosophy should abandon Johnson in favor of a candidate with an entirely different governing philosophy, all because Johnson didn’t know what Aleppo is.

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With all the talk of Trump getting trounced in the polls, you wouldn’t think there are states in which he’s outperforming Romney and McCain.

But you’d be wrong, at least according a new Washington Post state-by-state presidential poll, one of the most comprehensive polls I’ve ever seen, with more than 75,000 voters surveyed. In Iowa, North Dakota, Maine, and Wisconsin, Trump is performing quite well, compared to Romney and McCain.

Of course, there are states where Trump is doing stunningly worse than his predecessors. Texas, Arizona, and Mississippi, for example, are now toss-ups. New Mexico appears bluer than Connecticut in this election. 

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Tammy and I have a running joke about how easily she sobs during a movie or when reading a book and how I never do.

Not this time. Reading Ann Jones’ They Were Soldiers: How the Wounded Return from America’s Wars: The Untold Story, I didn’t just sob, but broke down a few times. They were anger-fueled breakdowns, but breakdowns nonetheless. 

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