Suggested Discussion Outline - Team of Rivals

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johnkarls
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Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:43 pm

Suggested Discussion Outline - Team of Rivals

Post by johnkarls »

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SUGGESTED DISUCSSION OUTLINE

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1. BI-PARTISANSHIP IN CABINET SELECTIONS

As a result of Goodwin's "Team of Rivals" Lincoln is often cited as a political genius for putting his chief political rivals in his cabinet. Is this practical or even desirable today???

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2. THE POST-CIVIL-WAR CONTINUATION OF ECONOMIC SLAVERY TO THE PRESENT DAY

Much has been written about the plight of African-Americans who remained in the American South in agricultural jobs. And much has been written about the plight of African-Americans who moved north to take the worst jobs in society ("yours truly" grew up in Saginaw MI with its two dozen General Motors plants - GMC was "an equal opportunity employer" only in the sense that it hired African Americans for its foundries (which were 99% African-American while its factories were 99% white!!!)).

Many of you will recall my railing last fall against the Supreme Court's repeal of "Brown v. Board" and the conviction of "The Jena Six" (please see the November 8th materials on our Bulletin Board = http://www.drinkingliberallyslc.org/reading).

But the basic problem remains (1) confining the overwhelming majority of African-Americans to inner-city ghettoes and God forbid we should ever have to see any of them on national TV, even following a natural disaster such as Hurricane Katrina, while (2) funding public school with property taxes, knowing full well that there is NO PROPERTY TAX BASE in the inner-city ghettoes!!!

No wonder that the 50 largest inner-city ghettoes with 180 "I Have A Dream" programs (tutoring/mentoring from third-grade to HS graduation with a guarantee of college tuition) when "yours truly" sponsored one of the programs with 200 kids and served as the volunteer treasurer of IHAD-National in the 1990's -- featured 99% single-adult households, AND 75% TO 80% OF TOTAL HOUSEHOLDS HEADED BY A SINGLE-ADULT DRUG ADDICT WHO TURNS ANY WELFARE CHECKS OVER TO THE PUSHER SO THE KIDS HAVE TO STEAL JUST IN ORDER TO EAT!!!

Is it enough to salve our consciences to vote for President for an African-American who beat the odds, and then to continue to do nothing about the millions of inner-city kids who have no realistic chance of beating the odds???

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3. MODERN-DAY CHINA AND THE POST-CIVIL-WAR EMIGRATION OF SLAVERY TO LATIN AMERICA

In discussing the Civil War, Dorothy Kearns Goodwin "turns a blind eye" to another important consequence of the elimination of "de jure" slavery in the United States.

In "Mexico" James Michener describes how many, if not most, Southern plantation owners simply moved operations to Latin America following the American Civil War!!!

Which, of course, is one of the reasons why African-Americans who stayed in the American South to remain in agricultural jobs were literally competing with "slave labor" further south!!!

Some questions for the modern day =

Should American workers have to compete with foreign workers who are slaving for starvation wages???

Should American workers have to compete with child-labor in foreign countries in which every family member must work???

Should the U.S. lead a world-wide boycott of Chinese goods until its factories are powered by clean energy??? (NB: China is building more than 1 coal-fired electrical plant PER WEEK and, if one wants to deal effectively with global warming then what is the alternative??? Invading China???)

Etc., etc.

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4. DOROTHY KEARNS GOODWIN'S FAILURE TO COMMENT ON THE REPLACEMENT OF THE WHIG PARTY BY THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND THE DESIRABLITY OF MORE THAN TWO POLITICAL PARTIES

Abraham Lincoln was a Whig for most of his life!!!

So why did "Team of Rivals" ignore (1) the death of the Whig Party and the birth of the Republican Party, and (2) whether, AS THE FOUNDING FATHERS BELIEVED, A TWO-PARTY SYSTEM WOULD BE AN ABSOLUTE DISASTER!!!

By way of background, the Whig Party which had been formed in opposition to the Democratic Party and its incessant championing of the Executive Branch over Congress, imploded over the issue of slavery!!! The anti-slavery wing of the Whig Party became the Republican Party, and the pro-slavery wing joined the Democratic Party!!!

It should be obvious that two parties that try to address every issue ARE, AS THE FOUNDING FATHERS FEARED, AN ABSOLUTE DISASTER TO ACCOMPLISHING ANYTHING!!!

Take, for example, health care.

It was first proposed by President Harry S. Truman more than half a century ago - ABOUT THE TIME THE REST OF THE CIVILIZED WORLD EMBRACED UNIVERSAL SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH CARE (which could be thought of as "Medicare for All").

Only Dennis Kucinich proposed universal single-payer health care during this election cycle!!! And Barack Obama, who (like Hillary) only wants to make health insurance available to everyone, would not (UNLIKE HILLARY) require anyone to buy the insurance!!! (The lack of such a mandate left double digits still uninsured under the Massachusetts "universal" health care act.)

So what if we (like post-WWII France and like Israel throughout its existence) had zillions of political parties, each dedicated to a single issue???

Don't you think that during the 60 years since President Truman first proposed universal single-payer health care, our US-PHC party would have held the balance of power on an important enough non-health issue that the decision maker(s) (whether the President or a wannabe majority in Congress) would have been willing to enact US-PHC to get our support???

And don't you think that if we fail to "get smart" on single-issue parties, our great-grand-children will be wondering in another 60 years why America still does not have universal single-payer health care!!!

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5. OTHER (anything about "Team of Rivals" that anyone else wants to raise)

BillV
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Re: Suggested Discussion Outline - Team of Rivals

Post by BillV »

---------------------------- Original Message ----------------------------
Subject: Re: READing Liberally THIS WEDNESday Oct 8th
From: Bill Vogel
Date: Sat, October 4, 2008 3:53 pm
To: ReadingLiberallyEmailList@johnkarls.com
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John,

Interesting posted materials as always. The Proposed Discussion Outline brings to mind two books I read in the past –

Sundown Towns, by James W. Loewen (2006), about 20th century segregation in the Midwest – so-called “sundown towns” did not permit African-Americans inside their borders after sundown; and

Lost White Tribes, by Riccardo Orizio, about, among other groups, post-civil war Confederate emigrants in Brazil whose 1865 ways of life continue to this day.

Hope to join you Wednesday.

Bill V.

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