Editor’s note: This week I wrote two blog entries. “Uninspired,”  a somewhat sarcastic look at the election campaign, was almost ready to publish before the shootings in El Paso and Dayton. After the attacks the sarcasm seemed a bit off, so “Bully Pulpit” will appear here first with the other entry right below it.  The switch in mood between the two fits well with the mood of the country.

Bully Pulpit

By Hank Silverberg

I have written several times before that words matter. And words from our leaders matter a lot. Theodore Roosevelt knew this well. He used what later became known as the “Bully Pulpit” to inspire Americans to take action. It helped break up monopolies and turn the USA into a world power at the turn of the 20th Century (see below). We have been reminded lately how effective the Bully Pulpit can be with all the looks back at John F. Kennedy’s call to put a man on the moon before the end of the 1960's .

But the Bully Pulpit can also be used to inspire violence, and it may have played a role in at least two of the mass shootings we have seen in this country over the last week.

Both the shooter at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in California, and the alleged Walmart shooter in El Paso, Texas, had written on social media of their hate for minorities, particularly Hispanics. I won’t use the shooter's names here, but the alleged shooter in El Paso wrote about the “Hispanic invasion” as part of his motivation for the attack. He also spouted several other slogans or examples used by white supremacists in their never-ending attack on American values and our strong nation of immigrants.    

The shooter in California, also a young white male, expressed similar hatred in his social media writings.

The word “invasion” has been used by Donald J. Trump numerous times in his reference to Hispanic migrants in those caravans coming north to our border. He even put U.S. troops on the border to stop what he called "an invasion."  

At a rally just last week in Florida, while discussing immigration, Trump expressed some frustration on his efforts to control it. How do you stop them? Someone in the audience said "shoot 'em!" Mr. Trump laughed and said, "only in the panhandle," and laughed again. Here's the video: 

https://youtu.be/C9AXGPo1vvM

Many people simply won’t acknowledge that Mr. Trump’s continued use of such words and his rants about sending minority congresswomen “back to where they came from” add fuel to the fire already being spread by hate groups all over the web. Some protestors at the rally were again beaten up by the crowd.    

John F. Kennedy inspired a generation to land on the moon with his use of words.  Is Trump inspiring a nation to shoot up department stores and folk festivals and kill people they have been told are "invaders"?   

I urge you to think about this as we approach the presidential election. Good words can inspire science, art and good work. Hateful words can increase the violence that remains a threat to our way of life.   

There will be more talk of gun control over the next few weeks. Conservatives will say this is not the time to discuss it, so close to the deadly events. But when is a better time? 

  We can start with three simple ideas. First, universal background checks on all gun buyers, no matter who they are or where they are in the country. Secondly, we can pass so called “Red Flag” laws that highlight those with diagnosed mental illness and prevent them from buying guns. We should add anyone involved in domestic violence to that list. Thirdly, we can also re-instate the “assault weapons ban” that worked effectively in the 1990’s to cut down gun violence (See Chart, the blue bars represent the ups and downs of gun violence). 

https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/

We  can comfort the injured and we can pray for the dead.  But frankly, that’s nowhere near enough. We've heard enough talking. It's time to act. 

Now I should note one of the President’s tweets on the events. 

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Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

Today’s shooting in El Paso, Texas, was not only tragic, it was an act of cowardice. I know that I stand with everyone in this Country to condemn today’s hateful act. There are no reasons or excuses that will ever justify killing innocent people....

12:19 AM - Aug 4, 2019

Twitter Ads info and privacy

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It was better than expected. But those words do not negate his three years of hateful rhetoric. Mr. Trump's continued attack on immigrants and other minorities are bound to incite others and lead to more violence. Words matter. 

The shooting in El Paso is being treated by law enforcement as "Domestic Terrorism." The threat from the right continues to be more violent than other sources. It's about time our President and his GOP followers take it more seriously.  

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Note to readers: from Webster's: T-R observed that the White House was a bully pulpit. For Roosevelt, bully was an adjective meaning "excellent" or "first-rate"—not the noun bully ("a blustering, browbeating person") that's so common today. Roosevelt understood the modern presidency's power of persuasion and recognized that it gave the incumbent the opportunity to exhort, instruct, or inspire. He took full advantage of his bully pulpit, speaking out about the danger of monopolies, the nation's growing role as a world power, and other issues important to him. Since the 1970s, bully pulpit has been used as a term for an office—especially a political office—that provides one with the opportunity to share one's views.

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  Here is the other blog I wrote for this week. 

Uninspired

By Hank Silverberg

“Not Left, Not Right, FORWARD!”  That slogan is being used by Andrew Yang, in his very long-shot effort to win the Democratic nomination for president. His main campaign pledge is to give every person in the United States a thousand dollars a year, to do whatever they want with it. It would stimulate the economy and create jobs, he says.  It’s pretty far fetched, and even though he says he is very good at math, the economics of his main concept is sketchy.  But I do like the slogan. We need to forget ideology and move forward with practical ideas. 

It is very early in the election season, but so far I have seen no one who inspires me or the nation. 

Words like “racist” and “socialist” are bantered about without people really thinking about what they are saying. In fact, I don’t think many Republicans even know what the political structure of Socialism is because they keep using the word incorrectly. They certainly don’t know what racism is, especially when the words come from the President.

All of the candidates, including Donald Trump, seem more interested in blasting another contender with a debate zinger or a tweet than they do about moving the county forward.

The Press hasn’t done very well either. The format on both debates seemed more geared towards reality TV than in getting real policy discussions going. The debates should have been delayed until the field narrowed a bit. When a panelist asks a question, the candidate should get enough time to answer it before being interrupted--by the same panelist. But I guess soundbites like “I wrote the damn bill!” or “I don’t think the Democratic party should be so surprised that so many Americans believe yada, yada yada,” make better TV. (Remember "Seinfeld," the TV show where the “yada” came from was “the show about nothing.”)  

After more than five hours of that debate, I still don’t know what “Medicare for all” means. I still don’t know what all those candidates plan to do about illegal immigration and children in cages, and I’d like to hear a little bit about how they plan to handle  North Korea's dictator or Iran (See my blog from last week). Maybe I should have watched the season finale of the mindless show “Bachelorette” instead. It got higher ratings than the debate.  

Here are a few other things I would like to say directly to the candidates:

Harris : I don’t care how Joe Biden voted on busing in the 1970’s. He has a good civil rights record. What will YOU do now about racial tension?

Biden: (Channeling Lloyd Benston) “Joe, we knew Barak Obama. Barak Obama was a friend of ours. You are no Barak Obama.” Show us Joe Biden.

Bernie: Stop yelling. We already know the big corporations and big pharma are ripping us off. What are you gonna do about it?

Warren: Stop yelling. We already know the big corporations and big pharma are ripping us off. What are you gonna do about it?

Mayor Pete: Can you show us a bit of your personality—please?

Booker: Nice try with your attacks on Trump. We need more of that. Now, how about explaining your relationship with Louis Farrakhan?    

Beto: Texas is not the whole United States. How are you going to do in Wisconsin?

Gillibrand: Do you have an original idea, or do you just want to endorse all the other candidate’s ideas?

Kobachar: You’re too nice to be President. Show us some chutzpa.

Bullock: Good ideas Governor, but Montana has only 3 electoral votes. 

Deblasio: Fuhgeddaboutit! No one eats pizza with a fork, even in Washington.

Gabbard: Stop dodging questions about your meeting with Bashir Assad or your support for the boycott of Israeli products. (Did you really say people like you voted for Trump?)

Yang: Love the slogan. It’s okay not to wear a tie, but find something else to do with your time. 

Williamson: Peace and love, drop out of the race. 

  (There are more candidates, but who can remember their names?)

  Donald Trump disgusts me and frightens a good portion of the country, but so far, none of the Democrats inspire me.   

So frankly, the first thing I want the Democrats to do after coming up with REAL health care reform, is for them to give me back the five-plus hours I spent watching the useless debates. Then I would like them to go out and find a candidate who can inspire us and move us “Not Left, Not right, Forward!”  

 NewsNotes:

While we were all talking about the Democrats and Trump was dissing the great city of Baltimore where his son- in- law is a major slum lord, his Administration continued to dismantle the country.

This alert came from the National Parks Conservation Association.

	National Parks Conservation Association (@NPCA)
8/2/19, 1:33 PM The Trump Administration cut 85% of Bears Ears National Monument to make way for mining and drilling. Now they've released a plan that doesn't even adequately protect the remaining 15%. Speak up and #StandWithBearsEars: secure.npca.org/site/Advocacy?… pic.twitter.com/2hc7oNnJHm

 Also this past week, the Department of Housing and Urban Development proposed weakening the regulations against discrimination in housing, residential leases and mortgages. If they are approved by Congress, they could destroy legal protections against housing discrimination that have been around for decades. The Consumer Federation of America says the proposed changes would make it much harder to prove housing discrimination based on race, gender, national origin or sexual orientation.  

It could bring back the days of red lining neighborhoods. 

All this leads to this question: Does Trump really mean half the things he says, or is it all a diversion so he can steal away the country’s riches for himself and his filthy rich buddies?

         (Your suggestions and comments are welcome)

(You can buy copies of my book at a reduced rate and with my signature at a reduced rate. email me at hsilverberg@gmail.com for a price list and details . Or you can purchase them at retail price at Amazon.com or BN.com. )