Being bipartisan; recognizing America's penchant for humor and horror (in the tradition of American comic Richard Pryor), I raise to take Donald Trump's good advice: this, dear readers, is what I see going on and abroad and at home in the US, what its challenges with ISIS are! ISIS’s two most important drivers are its economic engine, its illegal oil sales and tributes; and its recruiting, in the Mideast and abroad, especially in the US. ISIS's social media and social networks successfully have successfully inspires domestic lone wolves and family/friends--a greater problem than attacks from terrorists who have gained illegal entry!A focus on domestic lone wolves and outliers is the right methodology: the straight lines of violence against America have internal, psychological turns that should be reviewed and considered. Disaffected youth--at home and globally--are tuned to conquerors and scapegoats, religion, race, inventing themselves through violence.Tell Trump border wars are a relic of military campaigns like Korea (the 38th parallel) and Vietnam (the 17 parallel), whose fighting and peace borders centered on a latitude parallel. Globalization provides new ways of waging violent struggle. Map these new ways without regard to ideology; knowing the methods are more important than debating the justifications. Fear will influence the methods of some, but fear in the long run has a negative effect--no army plans from fear! No lasting victory is won in fear!ISIS justifies violence as a return strike for the West's long history of invader violence and disrespect. The radicalized dialogue listens and looks at the screams of the West for military attacks, bombings, ground troops as more evidence of campaigns of death. This posturing attracts new fighters.To ISIS offers of comradeship, pay, and brides, American youth counter as outliers, reveling in silence and defiance--committing suicide after attacks at home in this new war declared over bad behavior and bad blood, and a god who supposedly finds divine favor in death.Trump never considers the consequences of his mouth. Nothing sensible for ISIS's defeat will emerge from him. Its poison is a new stir of the spoon. Put behavior before faith. For one, it puts first the monstrous need to kill.American cotton. 1938

NBC, one of America's original television and news networks, reported today in a twitter post from its account that "white men" are America's biggest threat for domestic "terrorism," despite polls showing most Americans think differently. Weekly polls show rapidly increasing concerns over border control with Mexico, Latino residents who have crossed the border, and the Obama administration proposal to accept 20,000 Syria refugees for resettlement. Within 10 days, 31 Republican governors had rejected the idea of resettlement and agreed to defy federal law and reject local requests from citizen's groups. It is not clear exactly how the 31 states which extend across the country, from east to west, will stop the refugees from entering their states, since they would have proper papers and would not be breaking any state or federal laws. In the US, one is able to travel freely across states borders and travel is an equal right, which does not allow for groups or nationalities of people to be singled out and denied the right without reason of constitutional law.On its website, Global Post reports: [http://www.globalpost.com/article/6592741/2015/06/24/white-americans-are-biggest-terror-threat-united-states]"White Americans are the biggest terror threat in the United States, according to a study by the New America Foundation. The Washington-based research organization did a review of “terror” attacks on US soil since Sept. 11, 2001 and found that most of them were carried out by radical anti-government groups or white supremacists.Almost twice as many people have died in attacks by right-wing groups in America than have died in attacks by Muslim extremists. "Increasingly, American terrorists attacks have been about race and many attacks on college campuses are non-violent and involve derogatory names and slurs on dorm doors and in public places, as threats and warnings from unknown sources. Some American terrorists attacks that targeted blacks have resulted in death and injury. In Minneapolis, MN last week, while marching for justice in the case of a youth shot by a police officer, a group of black protesters were deliberately struck by a car with four white supremacists inside. The planned attack injured 5 people. All 4 criminals were rounded up the next day and arrested.On June 17, 2015, a young white man attended a prayer meeting at a historic African-American church in Charleston, and after shoot and killed 9 members inside the church (the oldest, 86; the youngest, 24), including the church's pastor. His website indicated that he wanted to start a race war and had deliberated targeted the church to trigger hate.In the mean time, Pakistan is being ignored by the major nations as a target source of nuclear weaponry and material for bombs. Putting Pakistan on the back burner may turn out to be a mistake. Many areas of the country are not governed by the existing state. Their independence of ties to the central government make these regions preferring stating areas (from drugs to weapons), a historic role that began in the fight against Soviet occupation. Its focus could shift to Pakistan's nuclear weapons.A nuclear-capable ballistic missile at a parade in Islamabad.

America will elect a new President next year as Barack Obama ends his eight years in office. The election has increased the differences between America's political parties and the candidates from both parties who seek the country's highest political office. The attacks in Paris, Beirut, and Bamako (in Mali, Africa) have brought attention to the plight of the displaced--the millions of refugees, especially from Syria. Once a part of Turkey, Syria is located along the Mediterranean Sea and is a part of southwestern Asia; its capital, Damascus, is one of the important trade and cultural centers of the ancient world, but today it is caught in a violent civil war that has killed thousands of civilians. Families with children are fleeing the violence. Their homes are being bombed, troops are killing many of those who survive. The country--and its families--are engulfed in war. The battles are destroying this ancient nation.Many of the Syrian refugees are fleeing to Europe, but US President Barack Obama's has announced that he will allow the US to accept 20,000 refugees into the US. The announcement stirred immediate opposition from political leaders and many citizens who thought it would be easy for terrorists to enter the country in the swell of refugees. They denounced the President's decision. They appealed to fears while avoiding any evidence that describes the actual screening process for refugees entering the country.But in America, many debates are carried out in social media, especially Twitter. To show how Twitter can influence the debate, the posts below share the powerful story of one refugee family from Bosnia who entered America in 1994, fleeing the civil conflicts in Bosnia. the posts below describe the screen process from the point of view of a person whose family participated in the review and made it to America. They also show the power of social media.The posts were written by Arnessa. She is also the founder and director of the Bosniak American Association of Iowa. The group is a non-profit organization that seeks to foster and promote Bosnian American heritage and activism.If your story is true, if the documents are valid and everything checks out against their databases, then you get called in for an interview.Over the next 12 months they will review you the information you provided, check the validity of your documents and check your references.This is the first step so let's say month 1.You have to provide their contact information as well. If some of them are dead you have to provide proof they are dead or missing.You have to provide them with names of ALL your family members, dead and alive. All your friends, neighbors, teachers. Everyone.You have to write down your story. All your family members do. Where you were born, where you are now, what you're doing, everything.This is the 1st interview of the many you will have. You sit in a room with a desk and a chair. A UN official is there to ask you questions.You tell them your story. Your mother tells them your story. Your father tells them your story. Your 7 year old brother does as well.They split you up so you tell your stories individually. Then you tell your story together. You tell them about the war & after the war.Because Yugoslavia was a socialist country, my parents also had to tell their before the war story. Were they communists, dissidents?They ask you a lot about the war and communism. Did you support the war? Did you take up arms? Were you in the military?How do you feel about communism? Did you think Tito was a good ruler? Are you religious? How religious are you?Was anybody in your family in the military? If you were in a concentration camp during the war you had to provide proof that you were.You tell your story again to a different official. And again. And again. And then again. Lets call this month 18 now.They ask you, a child, the same questions they ask of the adults. It doesn't matter that you don't know what the words "treason" mean.They ask you to submit more proof. You have to do a retina eye scan. You have to get a medical exam. You do another interview.But you survived. You're in America. You are now safe. Wait....there are more interviews to be had.You get to sleep for the night and in the morning you go to the immigration & refugee center. More questions.You tell them your story again. You provide all the documents again (even though they have them already). You answer more questions.You have to do another medical exam. You have to get 7 shots in one day. Your little brother screams b/c he's a baby & shots hurt.They give you 1 month of medicaid, 1 month of food stamps, old donated furniture & nothing else.Your parents find jobs. Both of them. They find two jobs. They don't sleep because they work 2 full time jobs. You barely see them.Your first day of class you get called a terrorist. The kids tell you that you are dirty and probably have lice.Month 1 in America is over. No more assistance. Your parents b/c of their two jobs are able to buy real furniture and a car.You are thankful. You have a bed now. You never see your parents but you have food, a place to sleep and even a car. You're grateful.You're thankful for the fact you got a chance to survive that you spend all your free time volunteering and giving back to the community.You are also required to take English classes and job placement classes, as well as a class on how to act in America.From Arnessa's post, despite the protests of those who oppose the President's decision, does America have anything to fear from refugees?Bosnia, 1994.

[Writer's note: portions of this blog have previously been published on a variety of American media and political websites as a first draft of important events and debates in global history. This context is especially important as ISIS/ISIL has executed a Chinese citizen, whose death China has strongly condemned and vowed to pursue justice for this unconscionable killing. I have edited and reorganized the posts and added new information for China Daily readers. If you have questions about the cultural references or the content, please leave a comment and I promise to respond. Thank you for reading! /wr]The exploding plane has been quickly forgotten. The Russians denied it, so did the Egyptians; then the Russians confessed and came clean. The flight, loaded with Russian passengers returning from a Red Sea resort, exploded. In mid-air! Over the Sinai peninsula in Egypt. A bomb ripped the plane apart with the force of a kilogram of TNT, turning the French-built Airbus A320, Russian Metrojet into a debris field of plastic and metal also littered and interlaced with the remains of 224 bodies, mainly Russians flying to St. Petersburg, the home of Russia's czars, a historic city of great architectural palaces and art. At first, the Egyptians hedged and the Russians denied a bomb killed the passengers and blew up the plane. But after 17 days, the evidence of the event could no longer be ignored or denied. A bomb caused the blast and the deaths and devastation. As it had from the beginning, ISIS claimed the responsibility. The ISIS terrorists claimed it was in retaliation for Russia flying air strikes in Syria. ISIS blew up the plane because the Russian Air Force had begun striking ISIS positions in Syria and killing ISIS followers. The plane exploding was only 3 weeks ago. But in the news cycle the exploding plane has been forgotten; it's B roll.The bombing of the plane and the instant mid-sky death of 224 passengers scattered in a debris field in the Sinai has been pushed aside by bullets fired from full clips of the Russian rifle, the Kalashnikov AK 47, first made in 1949, the most common weapon in use by military units, terrorists and insurgencies around the world--9 million rifles still in use! Five of those 9 million were used in Paris last Friday night to kill the patrons of Paris cafes, sitting outside along the sidewalks and inside at tables, and at a concert hall where an American band was performing. So far, 129 have died, their bodies and the wounded a debris field that littered the early night streets and venues of Paris' 11th Arrondissement, a working class district in the heart of Paris. In 3 weeks, ISIS executed the most divergent attacks on targets and countries of any terrorist group. The series included Russia and France, bombing an airliner and butchering diners and concert goers; one attack in the desert of the Sinai, one in the world's most romantic city, Paris; both with terrific carnage that changed political conversations from West to East. In the US, too much of the debate is being driven by GOP superficiality and cliche. Example: Newt Gingrich screams on Fox about names while silent about bombs and their production, or the expansion of international terrorism into Europe using European residents who have been radicalized; never a solution or measure of helpful common sense in his blame. Adding chaos, his pillorying partisanship over nonsense expands the perception of confusion. Gingrich politically loots the tragedies that follow terror. The objectives in fighting terrorism must target its stages of development at its lowest level. What do we know about how its money is laundered and funneled? How near or far are we from intercepting the right communications? Are we monitoring physical spaces where weapons may be made? Can each security approach be rethought and refined? Terrorism is played out on a different grid than state conflicts–terrorism is more a social activity than a military attack. Responding with missiles, and state armies will have little effect except to inflame the peer pressure that creates suicide bombers. Terrorism is small war with a big impact; as it coalesces, it grows, gathers and dispenses evil, individual by individual. Those individuals are a part of a process all nations must become better at intercepting. The US is able to target key leaders; its drones have answered every Obama promise. Now we need to target key followers. Refine the patterns and data that enable small active family-and-friend cells to be accurately identified. Let passion clarify the course and not let anger cloud its steps! This is a quantum war, individual attacks in spaced intervals against soft civilian targets selected for massive killing. It is a media war and a subterranean war, its human assets hidden and mobile, its amoeba-like command structure ubiquitous in the shadows. How did this terrible butchery begin? Fact: President Bush negotiated and signed with Iraq the "Status of Forces Agreement" for the withdrawal of US troops. The agreement Bush signed called for the "full withdrawal" of troops by 2011, and was approved by 27 of 28 of the Iraqi cabinet members and its parliament. Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki then insisted on full withdrawal of US forces, despite US (under Obama) objections. Given that Iraq was a sovereign state (Nuri Kamal al-Maliki was handpicked by Bush, who "looked into his eyes"), the continued presence of US troops against Iraq objections would have been a re-invasion of the country and a breach of the signed agreement. Al-Maliki's motives were obvious: he wanted the spoils. He inflamed sectarian warfare between different religious and ethnic fractions, expanded power and corruption for his fraction, which led to Iraq crumbling, creating the conditions for ISIS and its knells of death. As they often are, Republican objections are chimeras of their own deals and errors. The GOP Congress omitted facts, distorted the chain of events, and cast their net of blame solely on Obama. It's a political maneuver they favor: Jeb Bush recently said his brother keep the country save, neatly omitting his brother was President when 9/11 occurred! (My favorite example lies outside of terrorism: it is the GOP blame of the global recession not on the insatiable greed of big banks but on diversifying mortgages for working families under community reinvestment. My second favorite: ignoring the debt limit for money Congress has authorized and spent.) The facts under the hype reveal their flip! These facts seldom see light. Leave aside the logjam of politics and focus on new thinking: the traditional invade/don't invade, boots/no boots, rhetoric equals strength breaks down when confronted with terror--as Obama noted in his 2009 Nobel speech. The current paradigm lives too much in the moment and ignores the dangers of the edge--terrorism cuts both ways. Yes, we are all mad, some fearful; yes, our leaders are partisan, even against the common interest and common sense. Examples: Eric Cantor refused to support assistance for his district's storm disaster. GOP governors replaced the Obamacare fight with a call for the Ebola quarantine, then railed against the 50,000 children fleeing violence and death in Central America towns controlled by vicious drug gangs; they opposed the deportation of criminals before families among undocumented residents. The same governors who oppose Syrian refugees, oppose the expansion of Medicaid to their state's seniors. Some Republican state legislatures passed bills nullifying any federal action they disagreed with; South Carolina and others voted to establish their own currency. They conveniently ignore the 24 month triple screening for refugees. They posit the false and entirely misleading idea that the Syrians entering Europe would be freshly picked--ahead of those already in camps--and flown to the US with cursory only vetting. It's not so! That said, the Administration failed to get the facts and details out in front of the policy, the only way to combat the misrepresentations. When the details collapse, common sense collapses. Obscured and blocked by the partisan fight is the failure to fight terrorism with new means. These terrorists rent cars! (They may share frequent flier miles!) A keen focus on the finances of terror will hasten its defeat. On Sept. 16, 2014, I wrote in the New York Times: Two of ISIL’s most important drivers are its economic engine and its recruiting. Turkey is the center of an ISIL smuggling operation that produces revenues of $1-3 million a day from sales of black market oil. This money fuels ISIL’s military operations, pays its combatants, supplies its stores. Without it, ISIL would be ineffective in the field. Take away the two pillars, revenue and recruiting; and what’s left? On Sept. 26, 2014, I wrote: One better way would be to turn the money off; imaginary fantasies have real consequences when cash is put behind them. ISIL provides the perfect opportunity to stop wealth from enabling conflict at even greater expense. How did ISIL go from the bottom heap of terrorists trying to catch a rocket ride to the top of the pack, in a little more than a year? Money! Not their fervor or charisma, not their skills at arms or their ruthlessness; what has made ISIL the first destination of the globe’s dispossessed children is money, cloaked by the false nexus of fighting for faith against militarist capitalism.Money put ISIL on the world stage; Dry up the money. Watch what happens when the bullets run out. ISIL will join the list of beggars looking for sponsors, whining about what used to be. Putting rigorous resources to halt the sources of dark money is certainly a way of shutting down ISIL’s field strength. Calling Obama weak or pausing refugee resettlement is not a solution or an answer to an expanding crisis.Twitter circulated a picture of young Syrian children arriving at an airport in Washington state, carrying gifts of flowers, looked dazed and beleaguered by their new surroundings; the text reminded everyone that these are the Syrian refugees 31 GOP governors fear are terrorist embeds.Ok--the image twisted and stretched the governor's stands--but also reflected how twisted is their claim their opposition is only prudent. Not so! Their stands are politically aberrant!Here's why: official reports say only 2% of US Syrian refugees are prime age males; the US resettlement program has been operating without incident for several years; the vetting process sets priorities, overlaps and takes at least 18 months; resettled families have US sponsors who work closely with the families; stopping refugee entry doesn't fight terrorism; the details, process, and empirical evidence of refugee entry and management support no evidence of threat. Germany has accepted a million; two million have settled in Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey--all without incident.Why the howling? The GOP sees Obama as the real threat--not the refugees! Cruz, Trump and others say so! The GOP pushes mightily against the President on issues from personal to policy, purely for politics. Every challenge has been presented on a platter and pillar of fear and mistrust. It has become so ridiculous that the Roanoke, Virginia mayor cited the shameful Japanese internment as an compelling national example. The GOP is creating shibboleths blaming the victims of terrorism in order to attack and undercut the President--against the evidence!--but is willing to allow watchlisted US residents to buy guns (no background checks!); nor did the GOP block Saudi citizens from entry after 9/11. Its candidates and governors continue to weaken American values (a prime mission of terrorists!) by proposing actions that aid global terrorist recruitment and raise terrorists morale by giving the appearance that the long arms of their campaign is working--by the mere influence of media threats and distant actions which leverage and trigger the dynamics of contradictions in US politics which aid and advance their cause, without a fight.

"The Republican revolution — made up of a majority-of-minorities (anti-women’s rights/civil rights, zealots, disciples, protectors of white privilege, the authoritarian right, and anarchists) — has a new secret calling among the elite that goes unspoken."I absolutely agree! This sentence by another writer also caught my eye and captured my excitement: “The concept of the nation state is evolving away from commercial interests.” I agree, internationally — and nationally. The US budget (equal to the world’s 4th largest GDP!) is simply another target for conquest, with commercial interests through Congress dividing up the spoils into giant neat and messy piles!The Republican revolution — made up of a majority-of-minorities (anti-women’s rights/civil rights, zealots, disciples, protectors of white privilege, the authoritarian right, and anarchists) — has a new secret calling among the elite that goes unspoken — the control of the federal budget for private interests! This goal never drops from any official lips. The real issue is not just income vs. distribution (Bernie), “good jobs” (Hillary), or a “greatness fix” (any Republican!) — but a real mean, ugly fight that breaks tradition and democracy for power and greed. National benefits or national wealth? As “Black lives matter” reminds communities about segmenting the disenfranchised by color, national wealth will not include the poor or infirm — seen only as drains on gains.The state is simply another marketplace! Embedded with its own capital stream, legal authority, and enforcement (and the myths of Obama planned detentions and killings; Tom Clancy, the author, the latest by radio accounts!), the budget has a bulls-eye and an Republican administration would be the world’s biggest flash mob! The poor, however, will recall the events of the mobs of the Bataan death march. A Photo from the US National Archives of the Bataan Death March. 1942.

In America, Republicans want less government, more private power--including private control of the government. Democrats want more citizens and social benefits--including strong public institutions like schools and colleges in many fields. When Republicans speak of reducing the budget, they really have in mind taking over the budget, and with full control dividing its spoils, right now mainly as tax cuts and acts of vengeance, recent against Planned Parenthood. The budget would be assigned to many small coalitions of power centers, with multiple overlap. Their goal is to build a team it which all the disparate fractions win, with each advance. It represents a foundational shift in American democracy to an zealot-driven Authoritarian Right.The current Republican Party has its roots in John C. Calhoun's theory: he proposed America as a democracy of minority majorities; parties that put together small outlying groups of disparate votes could build a winning base. So today's GOP is a party of a majority-of-minorities (anti-women's rights/civil rights, anti-taxes and safety nets, evangelical, zealots, groups supporting white privilege and anarchists). It is effective in only two ways: its majority-of-minorities status works well within states, where the GOP is effective at organizing and good at outsourcing its fear and blame. It is effective at using fear and blame to conceal how its tax plans are a bonanza for the rich. It is a party of fragments, concentrically stitched. Asians Are Voting Democratic In America Today, 17.6 million Asians live in in America. Across national boundaries and language, collectively they vote Democratic and have won elections to offices in cities and state government and in the US Congress as Democrats. In the 2012 Presidential election, Asians voted Democratic 73 percent. In the Congress, the Asia Pacific House Caucus has 18 members (including non-Asian). Ethnic groups, except Hispanics whose backgrounds often involve diverse ideological views, tend to support parties that reflect their world view and its obligations of self and family to government and society. The Asian vote reflects this organic tie, between past and future described in politics and family. Too much of the GOP rhetoric is uncomfortable when it comes to freedom and points backwards when it comes to progress. The Asian vote shows a silent disdain for the party's tone and direction. Both go against the very American Promise that brought Asians to America. The GOP has not partnered within or without with Asia, its international outreach only seems to attract a few opportunists.Democrats to continue to attract Asian voters must listen closely and work to improve these ties! Two Presidents: President Xi Jinping of China and President Barack Obama of the USA.

Their ideas (Republican ideas) on race had slightly more leverage in the last two US elections than their conservative views. The example of Obamacare consistently revealed the Krugman-cited “epistemic closure:” loved the coverage, hated him. The GOP endorsement by voters was a backlash about the ideas of race-in-power and reflected strong state organizing activity more than any real affinity (proved by Obama’s 2nd win).The GOP is still a majority-of-minorities party (groups from anti-women’s rights/civil rights, zealots, and disciples).It does see awaiting victory: the world’s 4th largest political economy! The federal budget ranks 4th among global GDPs! Solely controlled by Congress and the President — the people have no direct say.Looking for nuggets of gold? Inside the budget is a safety net (social security!) whose legal obligations on the budget make it the world’s 25th largest GDP — the largest pool of firewalled public cash anywhere!That Ryan’s function: to teach and educate the Freedom Caucus about the trillions at stake! Trillions for the private sector — not for cuts! Ryan knows the numbers. He’s persuasive in his element.The GOP is campaigning in their cultural element (taxes, fear, failure), avoiding every mention of the real prize: control of a giant political economy that would rank 4th among global GDPs, with a pool of cash that would rank 25th among all national outputs.The strategy here is theft! Pilgrims called to refute racist views declare the government the culprit! The rich — the best, the brightest! — the helpers, share the spoils.Signares. African Women from St. Louis. Senegal. circa1740s.

Forgive me, but I see race as a silent partner in most American values, in the collective outlook expressed as boos on issues of honesty during the televised debates. Nobel economist Paul Krugman in his New York Times column is right--the US elections are a political marketplace full of scams! Take honesty, the most dangerous denial is not Ben Carson's but Carly Fiornia's; his, personal income, false promises; hers, fiduciary responsibility, material misrepresentation. She lies not suggesting error, but with an angry edge of unrelenting disdain and hardness about her claims.But the new theory! (Tying race, GOP candidates, political economy & values!) Our empirical model assumes: What if the black guy (US President Barack Obama) did good: disasters cleaned up (BP oil spills, hurricanes, massive fires, floods, snow storms), economy recovered (investments and profits reach records, but wages low), taxes steady (cuts for the rich blocked), safety nets sustained, expanded (Obamacare or the ACA). Opponents have two choices: attack with the failing examples found in any big system--or embrace America's fascination with the outlaw, lift it above the margins for a return to the mainstream. The new normal has been too well received! So mount up the outlaws and turn them into a posse for a reset!Here they come! Revolutionary leaders! Each with a specialty, income graft for self and friends a common theme; they unite to shift US national values to the authoritarian right. Their thinking goes: We must meet the stretch threat (think police violence, esp. those officers who find it an easy stretch to classify all defiant actions as threatening), we can't guarantee the good people (Barack, et al.) will stay good! Resist deception! Be vigilant! Mean is better!So the mean, greedy people, some quiet spoken, others harsh and angry, are running for office. They are creating a public climate. Changing the values in the public trust. The Republican candidates have not visited (aye, two) Mother Emanuel AME Church or offered tribute to Charleston's martyrs. In 3 debates, no moderator has asked about this silence and its omission. And South Carolina is an early state. Hillary Clinton sat front row; Joe Biden stayed over for church, and President Obama give the eulogy for Rev. Clementa C. Pinckney, Emanuel's pastor, a state senator, husband and father of two, killed as one of the nine martyrs.Leadership is sitting a standard for child safety--the woodshed is done. The nine Charleston families offered forgiveness; Richland County's Sheriff is offering blame and cause and effect. By silent consent, Republican candidates, then, are the political arms of Sheriffs like Richland County, South Carolina's Leon Lott (my home state!) who acted like an Spring Valley 8th grader saying "she started it." A parent-less 15-year old child (in state custody!), deeply depressed (we, a community, know the difference between a child out of control and one deeply depressed, without energy or will, who has shut down) broke inside and frozen in her hurt and pain--she met vicious, physical, brutal violence. With her in the seat, a muscle-building police officer flipped her chair upside down, then snatched her out, dragged her and sent her sprawling through the air. She was arrested and put in handcuffs and blamed by the sheriff as if her pain and childhood can be dismissed. Because she quietly did not comply with male adults whose demands stretched the threat, making her feel afraid and unsafe--as easy as Carson and Carly countered that real truths were false. Leadership is sitting a standard for child safety — the woodshed is done. The nine Charleston families offered forgiveness; Richland County’s Sheriff is offering blame and a false narrative of cause and effect. He sees the child’s actions as a “command problem,” “a failure to obey.” Really, it’s a child’s problem: she is scared, abandoned, in pain, withdrawn; authority made her shut down. The President may have stopped the sales of military equipment to police departments, the war-time mindset is still there, front and center: listen to the sheriff’s read of an orphaned girl. We hug our kids. Not cartwheel them upside down backwards in their school desks and sling them down the room. We hug our kids. Not handcuff them. By their silent objections, Republican presidential candidates, then, are the political arms of Sheriffs like Richland County, South Carolina’s Leon Lott (my home state!) who himself acted like an Spring Valley 8th grader saying “she started it.” A parent-less 15-year old child (in state custody!), deeply depressed (we, a community, know the difference between a child out of control and one deeply depressed — without energy or will, who has shut down) — broke inside and frozen in her hurt and pain — she met vicious, physical, brutal violence. With her in the seat, a muscle-building police officer flipped her chair backwards and upside down, then snatched her out, dragged her and sent her sprawling through the air. The officer through his lawyer says these violent actions of physical aggression, his escalating during the entire sequence, were lawful and proper. She was arrested and put in handcuffs by the officer and blamed by the sheriff as if her pain and childhood can be dismissed. It was a rehearsed action, a reflex narrative, for the courts and cameras. Its crime sense.It clearly ignores the needs and circumstances of the child. That phone was her touchstone. Because she quietly did not comply with male adults whose demands stretched the threat, making her feel afraid and unsafe — fearful and frozen, her shut down easily misinterpreted — as easy as Carson and Carly countered at the debate that real truths were false.Officer Ben Files Assaults Student.Sheriff Deputy Ben Files Assaults Student.Sheriff Deputy Ben Files Assaults Student.

Governing--providing for the common good, peace, and economic growth--and politics--scoring political points, attacking your opponents, and casting blame--are two different activities that often follow the same path. Good politicians used to separate politics from governing. Two US Southerners set two different paths on race, in politics and governance. Strom Thurmond, a US senator from South Carolina, who talked outrageously, always lost the important votes; he ended the Helm's filibuster against the King Holiday bill and gave race-blind constituent service and community grants. George Wallace, a governor of Alabama who had stood against black civil rights, barred the doors of his state's university, flanked by armed state patrols. Later, he visited every black community to tell people his views changed when he was shot and disabled. He won again, and appointed more African-Americans to state office than any other Alabama governor. In a spring 2015 primary, a Mississippi Republican received African-American help against a Tea Party opponent. Power is changing the fundamental agreements about the political economy. In America, the choice is between national benefits or national wealth. Which way? Which party? What's the local guidance? The role of politics--the heavyweight fights for power, the efforts to embarrass your opponents--takes place in the very same historic American buildings built to govern America. But the Capitol in which the Senate and the House of Representatives meet were built after America developed its two party system, unique among nations. From its earliest days, America mixed politics with governance. Slavery was its earliest, most important intersection; slavery exposed tensions between government and freedom, and freedom and equality. The two American parties reflect these two positions in their ideals. Those governing recognize the enormous advances of power. American democracy by its structure and founding ideas also has a tension between the common good and those who want to consolidate power over the common will. In America, one side pretends their governing is only for the benefit of "the American people," since it ignores the nearly 50 or more percent of the people who voted for the other side and seek different policies. The two parties divide America's people into two large groups by states that want different laws and approaches to governing. But America's political economy is so large, governing also means incredible power. One party denies its politics. Its denial has helped make that one party, the Republican party, become a wealthy, majority-of-a-minority party. But as a majority-of-minorities, they build state parties to control national elections. Many of their US House winners from the states are members of the Tea Party. They love political battles over budgets and funding. They once shut down the entire US government by refusing to vote to fund it, and closed it for 18 days. (The US lost $24 billion in GDP during the period.) The 11 hour US House Select Committee on Behghazi hearing, in which former Senator and US Secretary of State was the only witness was an important hearing on American governing and politics--although one side denied it! Both parties named appointees to the Select Committee, many newcomers, and this was their first national test! The hearing was televised. The Committee members and Mrs. Clinton would be viewed by a large set of Americans, around 42 million (over 3x times of the 14 million combined households for cable's premier public service live telecasts, C-SPAN and C-SPAN2). Once sworn in, Clinton remained seated at the witness table alone with a microphone in front of an elevated dais that curved around the room where the House members of both parties set. Late, in the last hours, Secretary Clinton got questions about her emails, the amount of emails, the search for emails, emails to whom, about what--including email traffic between staff. However, the State Department does its most important correspondence, personal notes, and documents, by cable; the diplomatic system that encrypts and sends documents to protect their security. The Select Committee had not requested or reviewed any of the cables tied to the tragedy at Benghazi. In Benghazi, a small band of Libyan insurgents attacked the small US consulate and killed the US ambassador and three of the US embassy staff. The unspoken politics in the room is that: commanders are humiliated and retired for their battlefront errors— a mission of duty completely at odds with today's quick strikes, unknown attacks behind any door, in a time when the best decisions are often made at the lower level, closest to the field, a point every community organizer knows, including the US Commander-in-Chief. Today is big power politics. Emails. For 11 hours. Why shift the focus away from the responsibility of the President, it is his oversight—he is charged with protecting the lives of every single American, esp. those in service of government—to the Secretary of State? Simple politics. Blaming the President scores no political points, this is his last term. Putting blame on Mrs. Clinton could score big: she is the leading candidate and flavored to win the Democratic party's nomination next summer. So put her under the heat lamp. It's an email roast. Democrats on the committee pointed out the politics. The official report by an independent review committee had long ago submitted its report and most of its recommendations were in place. A November 2014 Republican-lead House report found the Obama administration had no fault. The new committee took the plight of leadership and emails. Questions asked about her mails included search words (Mrs. Clinton didn't know.), changing volume (Important business was done face to face or by diplomatic cable.), staff emails (Mrs. Clinton was unfamiliar with the employees or their messages to each other.). The Republicans tried to equate missing emails to neglect. Emails were their political tea leaves. One House member drew a different outline. He suggested a conspiracy between the State Department and the CIA, to fit a narrative together. Another member, for the cameras, dramatically hand shredded paper into smaller pieces, signaling what he thought Mrs. Clinton thought of the lives of the dead, and what he thought of her. The entire 11 hours found no specific errors and generated no suggestions for keeping Americans on duty abroad safe from armed attacks. It is generally thought that Mrs. Clinton won the day. Her calm, listening leadership made strong political points and, not surprisingly, in her remarks, she turned to the governing tasks, the hearing's purpose. Her opponents had a much more difficult task: in order to generate blame, they would have to slander death.

Political economies represent political will--the will of the people or the will of the powerful--only rarely do both interests align! But seldom do we see what we find now in America, a case in which nearly half of the people oppose their interests! How come?Convention says anger. (I heard anger mentioned 3 times on television while reading this note!) Look closer, I say, comfort. The use of blame is not in anger. It's a source of comfort for those who accept the labels of lazy for the unemployed, broken and undeserving for the poor, or slaves of government for citizens in socialist states. This comfort comes from concentric confusions, a fractured world view comfortable--even exhilarated by its tangled tensions--because others are at fault.Trump's lead in the polls is simply an "I told you so." It signals it's okay to believe the myths: about others, about safety, about the rich creating jobs (rather than getting rich by killing jobs!), that Carly is right, that Dr. Ben is our kind of nut, that (like Tupac!) Ben Laden isn't dead and Barack is solely a citizen of Kenya and we should shut up and wait.The source of this comfort ties directly to the strange twists required to accommodate the political economy of slavery, whose distant echoes of logic about the nature of people and society still resonate today!Its comfort, not its anger, is its staying, shaping power.