Fairway Frank's View of Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter has been very successful in raising the awareness of racial tensions in America. Unfortunately, the movement is now adding to those tensions. It is past time for BLM to get things under control.

When I see violence being carried out with the message that America is racist, I am offended. I hate to say this but it makes me feel like a white-American under attack, not the race-neutral-American that we should all strive to be. This is how the violent protestors are making race relations worse.

My reaction to the first BLM inspired violence was that it mirrored the Tea Party experience. Whenever an idiot at a Tea Party event said something racist, the news media played it up as though everyone associated with the Tea Party was racist. When the first BLM protests turned violent, I thought it was a few idiots that were ruining the reputation of a movement that had a message to deliver. However, the number of people that are now participating in violent acts of property damage and bodily injury is not few. And acts of violence are much more repugnant than a racist slur. In addition to the harm it causes, violence is a statement that there is no room for negotiating, there is only an option to surrender to the perpetrators demands. It is societal extortion. And, that angers people. Even people that want to make things better do not wish to engage with extortionists.

Jessie Jackson stated that the violence related to the police shootings is justified. When a leader of the black community specifically condones violence, we are in trouble. The situation has reached crisis level. Is there not a leader in America that can step to the plate and annunciate the BLM mission and provide hope to the black community that America will do better? Probably not, because there are no new ideas floating around to make America better.

If the issue is cops shooting black people, there is no argument. We all agree that some of the shootings have been horrible, unnecessary tragedies. Fortunately, big brother has arrived and we can now see all the horrors perpetrated on planet earth. The light of day that has been shined on the problem will fix the problem. Protests to keep the pressure on to fix the problem faster (like not standing for the national anthem and protest marches) are fine, violence is not.

But the problem is much deeper than cop shootings. An African-American on television best summed the problem when he stated that when a black cop shoots a black man it is not the black cop that is shooting, it is “the system” that employs the black cop that shoots the black man. This is a clear statement that some blacks do not believe that they have any stake in “the system.” The perspective is that they do not control the system with their vote and they do not shape the system with their voices. They are merely victims of the system. I am not stating that this is the perspective of all black people, but the number of black people that resonate with the message of BLM makes me think that the number is significant. And, we should be listening.

By the way, “the system” is society at large with its values and norms that get codified into law and then enforced by society at large – not just by police. It is the neighbor that sees something and calls the cops to help another neighbor. It is the citizen that witnesses a crime and comes forth to make sure justice is served. The system is society.

The problem is not cops shooting black people, it is societal breakdown. One group of society perceives itself as being the prey of another group of society. That is scary. If I were black and felt that way, I would be scared to death. The additional fear that I have no way of fixing the problem would be even worse. I would like to think that I would not strike out with an act of violence, but let us be honest, survival is a strong instinct.

The conditions of our inner-cities is a picture of what is wrong with America. Our policies have not made life better in our inner-cities for the six decades of my life. Yet we have not done anything different in those sixty years. Maybe we should try something new. And, maybe we should include those that live in the inner-cities in developing and implementing those new ideas.

In summary, BLM does not exist because cops are shooting black people, it exists because we have created a “system” that does not do anything to improve the conditions of economically disadvantaged people. We have tried to make things better. Over and over, and over for at least sixty years. It’s time for some new ideas.

In a future post, I will lay out some ideas for what we should do to make things better. My ideas will be only that, ideas for the effected people to take a look at and work with their communities to see if they are helpful and capable of being implemented. They will also be for all Americans to ponder - to see what we would be willing to do to make America better.

Write in FairwayFrank.com for President

I offer a symbolic alternative to the two major presidential candidates. On election day, write in fairwayfrank.com (Frank Coyle, fairwayfrank.com, Pennsylvania) on your ballot. Here is why:

We cannot vote for either Mr. Trump or Secretary Clinton. Mr. Trump is hard to read, I think his intentions may be good, but I am not sure. Is he really inspired to make America great again or is he making the Trump brand great? I have the same trust issue with Secretary Clinton, only greater. Does she want to help the little guy or is she planning on lining the Clintons' pockets. Secretary Clinton’s trust issue is greater than Mr. Trump’s but Mr. Trump is crude and would poorly represent the United States of America.

At best, both are less than transparent on matters that Americans should know about (taxes, emails, foreign deal making, health) before casting a vote. So I will not vote for either and you should not either.

Policy matters are not leading me to pick one candidate over the other either. We are a deeply divided nation because of our silly primary process that requires candidates to pander to the extremes of their respective parties. The reality is that most Americans are moderates. AND, Americans want solutions and action that our polarized system cannot provide.

Here are the principles of my 7-point plan:

1. Require every resident of the United States to register now. Then, build the wall. Those without a criminal history that register will be provided a pathway to citizenship. I do not want 10 or 20 million people living in the shadows. I want everyone living here to pledge their allegiance to the United States of America. After the registration period, if you are not registered, you get deported the first time you show up on any government agency’s radar screen. If you arrive after the registration period, you cannot stay. And, we will have systems in place to identify those that overstay their welcome.

2. Reform our tax code to stop American businesses from leaving. In fact, I will make America’s tax code appealing enough to attract foreign businesses to move here.

The tax reforms will remove all loop holes except those for people; charitable contributions, education expenses, child/elder/illness care expenses, and home mortgage interest. I do not have a staff of economists assisting me in developing this plan but economists have stated that we can lower our tax rates in a revenue-neutral manner by eliminating loop holes. However, loop holes cannot be removed in one day. That would wreak havoc on the stock market. Rather, each business that is adversely affected by the new, loop-hole-free tax code can fill out two forms: 1) using the old tax code, and 2) one using the new, loop-hole-free tax code. In year-one, any adverse impact on a business will be limited to 20% of the higher, loop-hole-free tax bill; year-two would be 40%; year-three 60%; year-four 80% and by year-five we will have our new tax code implemented. Businesses that see a savings from the new tax code get to keep those savings in year-one. I would expect that small businesses (those that create jobs without using loop holes) would see tax savings immediately.

Special interest groups will undoubtedly cry of horrible effects from the elimination of loop holes. But with a five year notice to get ready, they will have to just stop crying. By the way, to remain revenue-neutral, the tax rates would also be lowered in five steps. The exact tax rates will be determined by economists – but they will surely be lower. No credit for economic growth will be factored into the revenue calculations. Any additional revenue from growth will go toward paying down our national debt. Businesses that move to the United States will be offered the expected year-five tax rates immediately and guaranteed that they will not be raised for ten years. We want them to come here. There will also be a one-time tax amnesty for American businesses to bring their cash home - as long as they invest it in building more business and jobs here.

3. Enact a stimulus plan to rebuild America’s infrastructure. In year-one, the plan will only fund the research (what should we do) and design (engineering) work needed to identify and prepare for the rebuilding. I was not happy with the not-so-shovel-ready projects of our last stimulus plan. Stimulus projects will have three major goals, 1) to make our infrastructure more efficient for competitive advantage in a global economy, 2) to develop and deploy technology to provide cleaner energy, and 3) to train and employ people that have been left out of our not-so-great economic recovery.

BTW: cleaner energy should not be achieved by making fossil fuels more expensive so that renewable sources become cost effective. Rather, renewable energy must be made more cost effective so that they can fairly compete with fossil fuels. We also need to explore carbon-capture technologies so that we can cleanly burn fossil fuels.

4. This is not meant to be cruel, but we must capitalize on Europe’s immigrant and terrorism problem by cajoling them to work with us to form a world-wide terrorism military task force. This multilateral force should be heavy on special operation forces and strike terrorists that export or inspire attacks. Strike them in their home territory – to completely eliminate them. We must also demand that legitimate local governments step up to maintain the peace after we eliminate the terrorists. To be clear, I am saying that I would take the fight to the terrorist in whatever means necessary to protect Americans. Nothing is off the table except nation building. If local governments cannot maintain the peace, we will only do enough to prevent genocide and/or civil wars like that in Syria. This is intentionally vague, but you can see my bent towards taking action rather than inaction. The world is a safer place when America leads.

On the domestic front, we must provide the Department of Homeland Security any and all tools necessary to keep us safe. That means some infringement on our civil liberties. Measures should assure that our personal information is not abused, but we cannot live in an encrypted world when our enemies use the encryption to plot attacks against us.

5. I believe that the majority of our “income-inequality,” “racial-inequality,” and “gender-inequalities” are the result of a lousy economy. The items noted about will improve the economy and lessen the inequalities. But, they will not eliminate them. I will form teams (income, race, gender) of leaders from all communities in America, rich, poor, white, black, Hispanic, Asian, Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Democrats and Republicans and charge each team with issuing a report on what people see as wrong with America and what they believe can be done to fix those wrongs. These teams and their reports will be given the power of my bully-pulpit to start a real conversation in America. My goal is to understand and fix the problems and to have the average guy on the street also understand the problem and be a part of the fixing.

BTW, protesting by ignoring the national anthem or raising a fist is what America is all about. However, violence will never be an acceptable form of protest.

6. Obamacare will not be repealed and replaced – it will be fixed. Those that have health benefits at their place of work do not know of the Obamacare problems. Those with very little income have benefited from Obamacare. Those in the middle (self-paying healthcare people) have seen their premiums skyrocket and their deductibles rise even faster than their premiums. The problem is that only 5% (approximately) of Americans are in the self-paying healthcare pool. Unfortunately, this pool has almost all of the previously “could not get insurance” people. My solution is a public plan that all federal government employees will be a part of and which local governments and businesses can join if they wish. This will increase the risk pool that those most harmed by Obamacare reside in and therefore, reduce their costs. ALL employees of the federal government should eat their own cooking including Congress.

          Unfortunately, my plan will not allow people to keep their plan if they like their plan or to keep their doctor if they like their doctor. But, I am letting you know that now. This aspect of Obamacare cannot be fixed.

7. My cabinet will be an even mix of Republicans and Democrats. Preferably those with current/recent experience in the Senate and Congress. I want leaders that have been successful in passing legislation on my team. I want them to develop the details that they can help get passed in Congress. I want results, not finger-pointing and blame calling.

That is my basic 7-point plan. Short on details because I do not have the resources available to be able to develop the details. What I have is the information provided by the two major candidates and parties – their ideas and their plans. I also have the benefit of reading opinions of journalists and economists that have reviewed the plans. I also have some of my own creative ideas. It does not take a rocket scientist to improve on the greatness of America – it just takes common sense and a willingness to compromise.

So, as a symbolic gesture that you do not endorse either major party’s candidate, that you deplore the existing primary selection process, and that you want my plan put into action: WRITE IN FairwayFrank.com (Frank Coyle, fairwayfrank.com, Pennsylvania) for your selection to be President of the United States of America (POTUS). It will be more symbolic than voting for either the Libertarian or Green Party candidates because, in addition to voting against one of the big two, it will also be voting for the above plan.

A few items of self-disclosure: I changed my party affiliation from Independent to Republican this year to vote against Mr. Trump in the primary. I do not have the temperament to be POTUS. Actually, I am an Irish-American with a temper. Finally, I would never want the job. I do not understand why anyone would want the job.

          God bless, and God bless the United States of America.

P.S.: Please email this to all your friends. We could put a scare into the "establishment"  of both parties. Maybe they would even act on this straightforward plan.

P.S.S.: If you would like to see a discussion on a specific issue, send me an email at fc@fairwayfrank.com, or just leave a comment here.

The Espionage Act Does Not Protect American Lives

FBI Director Comey has deemed that criminal intent is required to bring charges against anyone that handles our state secrets in a grossly negligent manner. Therefore, there are no consequences for haphazardly mishandling our state secrets. Thus, the Espionage Act does not protect our state secrets, nor does it protect American lives. It merely prevents criminal intent.

Criminal intent is not a requirement to prosecute a private sector executive. In the not-so-good-old-days, a small number of corporate executives operated with plausible deniability in order to run their companies in unscrupulous ways. Lower-level managers would take the fall in criminal actions taken against their companies. Then came Enron. Enron executives went to jail because the court decided that those executives either knew or should have known what was going on within their company. Criminal intent could not be established if the executive knew nothing about the crime. But if the law requires the executive to run the company in a competent and responsible manner, then (with or without criminal intent) the executive is criminally accountable.

As a result of the Enron disaster, Congress passed the Sorbanes-Oxley Act to codify the requirement that corporate executives be competent and diligent in the execution of their duties as fiduciaries of private investors, employees and retirees. The Act focused on financial matters of publicly traded corporations. However, the Act set the tone of accountability in all aspects of corporate governance (or lack thereof). Because of the Act, corporate executives know that they will go to jail if they are grossly negligent in their duties. Unfortunately, the premise of competence and diligence put forward in the Act only applies to the private sector. The executives that run our $3 trillion per year government have no such requirements.

Those with the fiduciary responsibility of protecting our state secrets that can put our citizen soldiers’ lives at risk should be competent. Unfortunately, the enforcement of our laws explicitly removes the requirement of competence and diligence. The required proof of “criminal intent” to enforce the Espionage Act’s gross negligence clause is a release from competency requirements. It allows “extremely careless” handling of our state secrets to be perpetrated with impunity.

The concern is not the Clinton emails. Those emails are gone. The concern is the next government executive that handles our state secrets in an “extremely careless” manner. There are no consequences in place to prevent a Clintonesque repeat. The discussion herein presents the case for why existing precedent is wrong: The Espionage Act does not protect our state secrets, nor does it protect American lives. It merely prevents criminal intent.

The recent leaks of Secretary Powell's and the DNC's emails are reminders of how vulnerable we are to cyber-attacks. We must act swiftly to strengthen the protection of our state secrets. The Espionage Act must be rewritten. It must specifically legislate that gross negligence does not require criminal intent. A strengthened Espionage Act will bring the accountability and competence of the private sector to the halls of our government. Thus, we will protect our state secrets and the lives of Americans. 
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PLEASE: Click on the "email" button below this blog post and send this article to your congressional representative and to your senators. Email this article to your friends and tell them to do the same. If we push Congress for this change, future American courts will be able to deem that our government executives either knew or should have known how to recognize and protect our state secrets. We will save American lives.

Things That Turned My Head This Week, 8/25/2016

The whole world created an ugly American story out of the Olympic swimmers' supposed robbery in Rio. Is it just me or is being extorted at the point of a gun also known as armed robbery? Okay, while in a state of intoxication the swimmers did not act appropriately, but still, armed robbery is armed robbery. The swimmers got a raw deal. The Matt Lauer interview especially irritated me. It was inappropriate, wrongly slanted and replayed way too much. Bottom line, good young men are now paying a price far out of proportion with their misdeeds. I would cheer the endorsers that stand by them. Had such an episode played out in an inner-city of America with African American young men there would have been protests across the country - and rightfully so. And, Matt Lauer would have conducted a much different interview.

The FBI said they found another 15,000 Clinton emails. This did not surprise me. The fact they are still looking is what surprised me. I thought Director Comey said that the investigation was over?

Maybe I was out of the loop on this one. News reports this week informed me that the FBI is NOT investigating the Clinton Foundation and its alleged improprieties with the Clinton State Department. I do not know why I was under the impression that this was an active investigation. I was disappointed to hear that the FBI wanted to start such an investigation but was stopped by higher ups in the DOJ. Maybe that Bill Clinton/Loretta Lynch meeting on the tarmac was productive for the Clintons. Remember this paragraph when you read about Julian Assange later in this random collection of thoughts and reactions.

Until yesterday’s use of “bigot,” Donald Trump had gone a whole week without stepping in his own mess. A week is a long time for Mr. Trump.

Another Mr. Trump item: He is softening his stance on deporting illegal immigrant. The fact that it took so long to get there is what turned my head. His new position sounds a lot like all his Republican rivals that he disparaged during the primary.

The media has begun to question Secretary Clinton’s ethics. Again, this is not a surprise. The fact that it took so long is the surprise. Could it be the new Trump team has not only planted the seeds but brought in the Miracle Grow? Obviously, this issue is going to have a long shelf life. Again, hold this thought when reading about Julian Assange.

Another Secretary Clinton item: Is proclaiming that the Clinton Foundation will stop accepting donations from foreign governments and corporations a marketing stroke of genius? It is the same thing as President Obama calling for gun control immediately following each mass shooting? What happens after such a call – a large spike in gun sales. I can only imagine that the Clinton Foundation will be besieged with foreign donations between now and election day. Foreigners wanting access to the newly elected President Clinton have to pay big before the deadline. Let us follow the donations during the reverse fire-sale.

I also learned this week that the Obama Administration had a written Memorandum of Understanding with the Clinton Foundation in order to assure that Foundation would have a firewall between it and the State Department. How did Huma Abedin’s collection of simultaneous full-time salaries from both the Clinton Foundation and the State Department navigate that firewall? Just wondering.

Julian Assange stated that he has “documents” from the Presidential campaign with a suggestion (but not a confirmation) that they are from Secretary Clinton’s campaign. He also stated that he is holding on to them to stage the perfect release in both timing, format and venue. He did rain on the DNC staff before the Democratic Convention and caused several DNC staff (including Debbie Wasserman Shultz) to resign. But my gut tells me he is bluffing this time. It’s a good bluff. President Obama and Attorney General Lynch have to be wondering what WikiLeaks might have. If they know anything that should end the Secretary’s nomination – and they are not acting on such information, they could look really bad if Julian Assange lets the world know about it. BTW, I wonder who put a stop to the Clinton Foundation investigation.

Finally, this is not a new head turn. It’s just a pondering. Do you think Vice President Biden is prepping for the presidential debates yet? I have to think he should be warming up for the DNC’s call to the bullpen. If Mr. Trump is successful in damaging Secretary Clinton too severely too soon, he will be facing Mr. Biden in November. You don’t need a pollster to figure out the Vice President would beat Mr. Trump in a landslide. If the damage comes late, the Democrats won’t have enough time to rebuild the Party image and even Mr. Trump could beat Mr. Biden in such a scenario. However, even then, Mr. Biden would have a 50/50 chance.

Isn’t presidential campaign season fun?

Clinton, Lynch, Arizona – Read the Tea Leaves (and Terrorism in Turkey too)

Nobody bumps into each other on the tarmac of an airport -  not even jet-setters. So when Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton met on the Attorney General’s plane at the Phoenix, Arizona airport, something was funny.

Ex parte communications are out of bounds and both the Attorney General and Bill Clinton (himself a former prosecutor) know this well. Assuming that the investigations are continuing, this meeting was improper. However, remove that assumption and the meeting may not have been improper at all. That is; if one or both of the investigations are completed and an indictment is pending, this meeting may not be out of bounds.

So (according to the Attorney General) they primarily chatted about the Clinton’s grandchildren, their travels, and Bill’s golf game. Oh well, call me a conspiracy theorist but here is how I read the tea leaves: The Attorney General is about to lay the law down on Bill’s wife and she gave Bill the courtesy of a pre-indictment meeting to discuss the manner in which this unpleasant event will unfold. A surrender deal of sorts.

Look for President Obama to be campaigning with the newly anointed presumptive Democratic presidential candidate next week – Joe Biden.

UPDATE at 10:30 AM EDT: The Attorney General has semi-reused herself from the Clinton investigations. She has released a public statement that she will accept the recommendations of the FBI agents investigating the Clinton matters. I would say that this meeting with Bill Clinton worked out very well for the Attorney General. She removed herself from the inevitable firestorm between President Obama and the Clintons that will begin as soon as the indictment comes down. Well done Mrs. Attorney General. All of this also means that the timing may be pushed back a bit further - but I still believe that it is inevitable. Joe Biden is warming up in the bullpen.

And now on to the Turkey terrorist attack…

While I am in this conspiracy uncovering thought process, I have another question. Was it me or did it seem odd that the terrorist attack in Turkey (the n^th in a series of n+x in Turkey) was given wall-to-wall coverage by all the major cable news networks (CNN, MSNBC, FNC) some twelve hours after it happened? The previous n-1 such attacks in Turkey did not get this much coverage.

There have been multiple terrorist attacks in Turkey in the past six months alone. Yet, this one, all of a sudden, gets all the attention of a Western terrorist attack (like Paris, Brussels, or Orlando). It deserves this attention as all terrorist attacks do (whether a Western attack or not). But, in the past, non-Western attacks have not received this attention. Could it be that someone of influence (maybe the White House) told the networks that they were being biased in not covering a horrific terrorist attack against an Islamic country?

Turkey, a NATO member, with the attention of an empathetic Western world weary with terrorism could invoke article 5 of the treaty. They already invoked the 4^th article that requires that all NATO members meet to discuss the attack on their sovereign territory. Will that meeting result in the invocation of article 5? That is; an attack on one NATO member is considered an attack on all NATO countries. What a better way to declare war on ISIS but through a Muslim country?

Trump Now Scares Me – He Could Actually Win It All

Until today, this blog assumed that eventually America would wake up and smell the Trump coffee, have a laugh, then move onto a serious candidate. If the Republicans were unable to stop Trump, for sure the American public would thwart him in the general election. Today, this no longer appears to be a certainty.

It is not Mr. Trump’s foreign affairs speech today that changed future possibilities. It is the inevitability that Mr. Trump will win the Republican nomination (following his five state victory yesterday) and the realization the Secretary Clinton will not be able to handle the rascal. The speech, by the way, did not make Mr. Trump appear presidential. Being presidential appears to no longer be a requirement for the job. We have allowed far too many of our standards to be lowered.

For all the pundits speaking of the vast experience of Secretary Clinton – she really does not have much street fighting experience. She has competed in two senatorial elections and two presidential primaries. That is three more political campaigns than Mr. Trump has competed in – but both of the senatorial campaigns were not competitive and she lost her first presidential primary. Secretary Clinton was served those senatorial elections on a silver platter by the Democratic machine that loves her Clinton last name. The current primary campaign had no serious contenders. Furthermore, Bernie Sanders let Secretary Clinton off the hook on her questions of character (her emails, her own email server, Benghazi, and the Clinton Foundation donations from people, companies and/or countries doing business with her State Department).

Rest assured that Mr. Trump is not going to give Secretary Clinton a pass on these issues. These issues can severely damage Secretary Clinton’s trust and likability ratings. Secretary Clinton does not have any street fighting experience. but Donald Trump does. He is a down in the mud brawler. He is so unpredictable that the weak retail politician that Secretary Clinton is will be unable to respond with some quick witted response to the outrageous comments that Mr. Trump is sure to make. “Crooked Hillary.”

Then there is the hand grenade that Mr. Trump tossed into the Clinton campaign headquarters (right between Hillary and Bill). That hand grenade is sitting there for Secretary Clinton to think about from now until the November elections. Mr. Trump tossed this hand grenade from the O’Reilly Factor cable show last week. Mr. Trump said that if Secretary Clinton is not prosecuted by the Justice Department for her emails that he (when elected President) might take another look at the case. Mr. Trump stated that the statute of limitations will not yet have expired when he takes office.

There it is, the hand grenade that Hillary has to look at every time she thinks about some negative campaigning against Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump also stated that he expects Secretary Clinton to campaign fairly. If she does not campaign fairly, he will be taking another look at the Justice Department’s investigation into Secretary Clinton.

The hand grenade is brilliant – which is not something this blog has ever stated about anything done by Mr. Trump. As long as Hillary plays fairly (whatever that means to Mr. Trump), she won’t have to worry about going to jail. By the way, numerous legal pundits have stated that Secretary Clinton’s handling of classified emails was a felony. Whether the current Democratic administration will actually bring charges is questionable. So why does the FBI have 147 agents investigating the matter? Why have Secretary Clinton’s top aides just received subpoenas? Why did the techie that wiped Secretary Clinton’s email server clean plead the 5^th – and why is he now being granted immunity so that he can testify? Why did Secretary Clinton have the techie wipe the server clean in the first place? Looks a lot like Tom Brady’s broken cell phone and you know how the judge ruled on that. There is a lot of smoke surrounding Secretary Clinton. Does anybody think there could be fire?

 It is unclear why the media have not paid any attention to this hand grenade. Maybe it is because Secretary Clinton gets off easy with the press. The press (along with Bernie Sanders) has given Secretary Clinton a pass on her many serious issues. Maybe nobody else noticed the hand grenade. Really? This blog is the only entity that saw the hand grenade being tossed? Well once the calendar turns to July, the heat will be on. The general election street fighting will begin and the press will have to cover every minute of it - even the to-this-point-in-time ignored hand grenade. Actually, Trump and Clinton are not going to wait until July. Oh, wait a minute – that hand grenade was the first punch.

The general election will be as much of a street fight as the Republican primary campaign has been. America will the laughing stock of the world and it is now very possible that Mr. Trump could win it all. This blog is now terrified.

New York, Please Count to Ten Before You Vote

President Abraham Lincoln, March 4, 1861: “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature”.

It is time again for Americans to stop being enemies. We must not be enemies based on our last names, our religion, our gender, our economic status, or even by our political ideologies. We must all allow ourselves to be touched by the better angels of our nature. We must not act out of anger and fear but from compassion and good faith that we can all work together to solve our problems. America’s problems are not caused by one religion, or by the rich or the poor. America’s problems are caused by technological disruptions to the global economy that have impacted wealthy nations more adversely than developing nations.

In the past, America has been able to work together to solve our problems. Today we are unable to do this. Not because we no longer have the brain power and work ethic that has made America great – it is because we have become so polarized that we cannot find enough common ground to summon the American spirit into action. It is because we have a dearth of leadership that can bring people together.

What America needs is leadership to harness the spirit of Americans towards addressing our problems – not a fear monger that leads Americans to believe that they have no part in solving our problems other than to point to a group of people as the cause of our problems.  Does anyone believe that deporting all illegal immigrants would solve our problems? Would deporting every Muslim solve our problems? Would torturing people solve our problems? Did shutting down the government solve our problems?

Not one of these actions, nor all in combination would solve our problems. To the contrary, each and all of these actions would only make things worse. Irrational actions as a result of fear and/or anger rarely make things better. As children, we were all taught to count to ten before responding to someone that had made us angry. If ever there was a time to count to ten, it is that moment in New York right now. One thing is certain, Donald Trump has made Americans angry.

It is my sincere hope that after counting to ten, New Yorkers will choose a leader that speaks to unity rather than divisiveness; a leader that offers rational solutions rather than blame calling; a leader with the character required to be the leader of the free world; a leader that provides the confidence of being able to manage a world conflict with maturity rather than with a tweet; a leader that knows the issues and has a track record of solving issues; a leader that can work within the framework of a democracy.

New York, please count to ten. Donald Trump has provided plain descriptions of many of America’s problems and his blunt talk and bravado does provide a sense that he will actually do something about those problems. Unfortunately, he doesn’t speak to the main problem America faces: the lack of leadership required to unite people to work together to solve our problems.

Mr. Trump should be credited with awakening our politicians to the severe mistrust we all have with Washington politicians. Mr. Trump’s identification of the many problems we face also sheds light on our government’s incompetence to fix these problems. But please do not be fooled into thinking that Donald Trump can fix the problems by his mere determination. Polarization in Washington is our biggest problem. A man that believes that he can be the dictator in a constitutionally democratic government can only further polarize Washington.

Donald Trump has some good ideas. We need a wall on our border. But we need to get Democrats and Republicans to agree to such an action. The President is not a dictator. Government is not a business. Donald Trump is the dictator of his business because he owns the business. In America, 330 million people own the country.

The only area where our president has near dictator authority is in the use of military power. Do you believe that Donald Trump has the maturity of restraint necessary to prevent world disasters? Would Donald Trump tweet out his anger at Russia’s President Putin or would he air mail a nuclear missile instead? His behavior to this point must lead us to conclude that we do not know what he would do. Please count to ten – either choice (the tweet or the missile) is not good.

Mr. Trump speaks with common sense on some issues and with complete ignorance on others. Building a wall (or at least controlling our border) is common sense. Torture is a really bad idea. It sounds good to say that the terrorists torture our soldiers so we are going to torture the terrorists. But we are Americans and after we count to ten, we know we are better than the terrorists. Torture is beneath us. After being interviewed on the issue of abortion, Mr. Trump changed his position three times in three hours because he had not previously thought the issue through. Then there is the Middle East. How many common sense solutions has he provided on the Syrian situation? First it was let the Russians handle it. Then it was let Syrian’s neighbors handle it. Then it was let the Russian’s take out ISIS and then we’ll take out Syrian President al-Assad. Mr. Trump’s reactionary solutions sound like common sense in the moment of his reaction, but they do not stand up to the test of time – if they did, they would not have changed so frequently.

If Mr. Trump gets that 3AM call with an issue of world war or peace, will he have enough principle and knowledge to confidently make the right call? We do not have any facts to tell us the answer is yes. Actually, his behavior and changing positions suggest that the answer is no. At best we do not know.

With Donald Trump disqualified for consideration by actually considering the consequences, Senator Cruz may arise as a potential replacement. However, the Senator is also a polarizing politician that has been unable to gather support from his fellow members of the Senate (except for a mere two at this point in time). Senator Cruz single-handedly shut down the government during the “fiscal cliff.” He is proposing to patrol Muslim neighborhoods to root out radical Islamists. Need it be mentioned that he used the term “New York values” in a disparagingly manner? Again, count to ten before selecting Senator Cruz. He offers no solution to America’s greatest challenge – the lack of unifying leadership.

So that leaves one man standing – Governor John Kasich of Ohio. Fairway Frank endorsed Governor Kasich on January 22, 2016 when there were still 17 candidates in the Republican race. My reason stated for endorsing Governor Kasich was that he was a unifier – a leader willing to work with the other side. Governor Kasich is a man that knows how the America government works and he has made it work. He is a good and honest man that has the character required for the job. He is a man we can be proud to call our President.

Consider the three Republican candidates remaining, and picture which one you would consider a statesman. That is the one that should be our president.

Today (April 12, 2016) Governor Kasich gave a speech in New York titled “Two Paths.” As of the writing of this blog entry, the speech is not yet available online for viewing. Had it been available, a link would have been provided here. In fact, this blog entry will be updated with the link as soon as it becomes available. Governor Kasich’s speech is powerful. It summons the better angles of our nature to select between two paths: one of darkness and division or the positive path of problem solving through working together. I encourage all readers to watch Governor Kasich’s speech.

Count to ten New York. Your vote will select the path for all America. Your vote could put Donald Trump’s delegate count high enough to enable him to clinch the total delegates required before the nominating convention. Or, your vote could deny Donald Trump this advantage and provide America with more time to consider what we are doing.

It is a near impossibility for Donald Trump to win the general election so voting for him to be the Republican nominee is giving the Democrats the presidency and maybe both houses of Congress. If you still think the statement of voting for Donald Trump to be the Republican Party nominee is a noble cause because it sends a message to Washington – you’re correct. But that message has already been sent and received. Again, Mr. Trump deserves credit for making Washington aware of the anger and distrust of the American people. That alone however, does not qualify him to be the president.

Your vote may satisfy the anger you feel but it will not magnify the message already received in Washington (Americans are distrustful and angry at an incompetent government). Forego the personal satisfaction of the anger venting vote and remember what President Kennedy said in his inaugural speech: “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” Kenney’s inaugural speech in 1961 came 100 years after Lincoln’s in 1861.

This appeal does not come from the “Stop Trump Movement” nor from the “Establishment.” The author has never held a political office nor aspired to do so. The author is a member of no political organization. Furthermore, the author has been a registered independent for the past ten years because of the divisiveness perpetrated by both parties. Recently, the author changed his registration to Republican so that he can vote for Governor Kasich in the Pennsylvania primary elections on April 26^th. Following the Pennsylvania primaries, the author intends to re-register as an independent.

This blog entry goes directly to the purpose stated on the banner of the blog itself: “This blog is dedicated to public awareness of the issues facing America, civil discourse, and a search for leadership!” I believe that Governor Kasich is the leader we are all searching for!

As an American concerned about all the issues you are concerned about – I strongly urge New York Republicans to count to ten before you vote.