Category: Bob Small

Convention Of States Halfway There

Convention Of States Halfway There

By Bob Small

 Article V of the US Constitution says that a convention may be called on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States for proposing Amendments, which, . . . shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by Conventions in three fourths thereof.

This is the alternative to way that starts in Congress, and has not been used since 1787.

Now my radical friend, Scott of Vermont, sent me an article showing that West Virginia, on March 3,  became the 17th state to pass a Convention of States (COS), meaning that half of the necessary 34 States now support it.

 As to how a COS might work, Rob Natelson gives a good summary.

A planning session for a true Article V convention was held in 2017in Phoenix.

Hillary Clinton attacked, which means it should probably have been supported.  What happened at the 2017 session can be found here.

Convention Of States Halfway There

Though the 2022 proposal has not yet passed the Pennsylvania Legislature, one notable Pennsylvanian, former Senator Rick Santorum is actively stumping for it  “We’re at the time in America where we have to break the glass and pull the cord that says “pull here in case of emergency,” he said. “I think we have to come to that collective realization, that things are not going to get better doing what we have been doing”.  This is from a speech at The National Religious Broadcasters Meeting, where he went on to say that we were seeing “authoritanism that we never saw before.  We’re seeing it from both parties.”

The Convention of States website lists 64 percent of Pennsylvania voters supporting a convention.

There is conservative opposition, though, well summed up by The Freedom First Society.

Among the possible topics to be discussed would be congressional and Supreme Court term limits both of which are attractive to both left and right.

In the meantime, there is a bill slowly winding it’s way through the Pennsylvania Senate that would “allow voters to call for limited constitutional conventions for government reform”, regarding the Pennsylvania Constitution.

More on that in a future post.

Convention Of States Halfway There

Primary 2022 Part 2

Primary 2022 Part 2

By Bob Small

As discussed in a previous post, there was a Democracy Unplugged which, briefly became Delco Debates.

This change was due to some internecine fighting over goals and outcomes.  For context, in the mid-70’s I was briefly in some political party that could be called The East Philadelphia Socialist Concept, where three of us felt if  we could only overthrow the other three, then we could begin the Revolution.  Well this is what happened to Democracy Unplugged.  That, and we actually helped, albeit slightly, influence an actual election.

My guide to following these more interesting, less electable Candidates has always been Politics1.com

To follow the congressional races, go to “Governor and Statewide races” and locate Pennsylvania in the US Map, then scroll down past Gov, Lt. Gov and Senator to Congressional Races.  Tapping the name of a Candidate will lead you to his/her Facebook or Twitter page or website. 

We stopped at the 5th Congressional District, last time but now we’ll skip up to CD 12 and Republican Don Neville, the only tattoo artist on the whole CD Candidate list. He sees himself as an antidote to the “socialist/progressives” in this election.  He also advocates “parents rights to educational decisions”.

Primary 2022 Part 2

CD 14 only lists one Candidate, incumbent Guy Reschenthaler.  In this case, I blame theDemocrats for not fielding an opposition candidate.  Maybe my fellow Greens or the Libs can get someone on the Ballot by the August deadline.

CD 15 lists Libertarian Liz Terwilliger who believes in core Libertarian values “I believe in minimal government.  Government’s role is to protect and secure individual rights”

She works as a speech-language pathologist,

CD 16 has a farmer, Rick Telesz, running under the Democratic banner.  He sits on the steering committee for Rural Voices USA. He also sits on the PA Soybean Board, etc.

CD 17  includes Democratic Candidate Sean Meloy, who champions LGBTQ rights and is a member of the DNC.  If elected, he would be the first openly Gay member of Congress from Pennsylvania  If elected, he promises to hold corporations and special interests accountable.

CD 18 was eliminated in 2022, due to the 2020 Census. Democrat Mike Doyle had the honor of being the very last congressperson for this district.

Primary 2022 Part 2

Primary 2022 Is Coming And Politics1 Is A Good Tout Board

Primary 2022 Is Coming And Politics1 Is A Good Tout Board

By Bob Small

To begin with, I no longer support any candidate who might win.  In ’96 I voted for Bill Clinton who turned out to be everything he said he opposed. That learned me.  I do wonder how John McCain might have been as President, but his running mate scared me, and many others.   Now Obama’s VP scares many of us.  Oh well.

Since then, in my previous volunteer work with Democracy Unplugged, I have sought to give space to the “fringe” voices who will never hold elective office but may have some ideas we might want to hear, along with other “issue” forums.  For one example, see. Jan 30th, 2008  Democracy Unplugged Candidates Forum

My guide to locating these unheard voices has always been Politics.1, a website that lists almost all of the candidates running for the “larger” statewide offices.

Most recently, they cited Monaco’s pledge against Vladmir Putin as a reason for his imminent downfall, so they do have a sense of humor.

Pennsylvania’s Primary Election is May 17.

To follow the Congressional races, go to “Governor and Statewide races” and locate Pennsylvania in the US Map, then scroll down past governor, lieutenant governor and senator to congressional races.  Tapping the name of a candidate will lead you to his/her Facebook or Twitter or website page.

Primary 2022 Is Coming And Politics1 Is A Good Tout Board

Starting in CD 1, we have Henry Conoly, either a Green or a Libertarian, who actively opposes US involvement in Ukraine (see his whole Twitter feed)

CD 2 has Salem Snow who is a Kensington-based housing justice and medicare for all activist.

In CD 3 we had Daryl Brooks, a Republican frequent candidate and self-professed felon.

Skipping over to CD 5, which is Swarthmore’s own Mary Gay Scanlon, neither the Libertarian John Hayes or Proud Boys organizer Richard Schwetz have any websites, though Richard is all over the internet in Proud Boys mentions.  John Hayes, Republican,  is an anti-vaccine mandater, among other good qualities. However, I have to vote for my Swarthmore neighbor, or I will be shunned.  

Primary 2022 Is Coming And Politics1 Is A Good Tout Board

Censorship Always Backfires, Save Jesse

Censorship Always Backfires, Save Jesse

By Bob Small

Sometime in 2000, I received a t-Shirt from my daughter, then and now in Minneapolis (she said Philadelphia was too warm for her).  This t- Shirt had the map of Minnesota with the message “My Governor can beat your Governor”.  This was my introduction to then Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura, former professional wrestler, and, prior to that, a member of the US Navy Underwater Demolition Team.

Years later, I discovered he had a podcast on ITunes entitled  “The World According to Jesse”.

I learned how to “burn” podcasts to CD’s. This became one of the few political podcasts we both enjoy listening to together in the car.

However, there’s always a however in life, this podcast was one of the ones on RT aka Russia Today, which is sponsored by Russia, as VOA (Voice of America) is sponsored by the US government.  Recently, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Meta aka Facebook aka big media Google. etc, has banned RT from all it’s platforms, including ITunes.

Censorship Always Backfires, Save Jesse

However, RT can now be accessed via Rumble, soon to be the home of Truth Social.  

In a way, then, Vladmir Putin and Donald Trump will be, at least electronically, neighbors.

There are a number of reasons why this may not be as good an idea as it seems, leaving aside the first amendment rights of Jesse Ventura and other American presenters on RT.

“The act of censorship can have a totally counterproductive effect on the citizens who follow the banned media,”  said Ricardo Gutierrez, who is general secretary of the European Federation of Journalists. “In our opinion, it is always better to counteract the disinformation of propagandist or allegedly propagandist media by exposing their factual errors or bad journalism.”  

Secondly, neither BBC, Deutsche Welle (Germany), NPR or VOA make any pretense at objectivity.  All have their subjectivities.

Third, if both Mein Kampf  and The 1915 film Birth of a Nation are available at the click of a mouse, why not RT?

Also see podcast by TimcastIRL: https://rumble.com/vwe6o5-rt-rt-america-just-shut-down-lays-off-all-staff-leftists-gloat.html

And then today, my natal day, I discovered RT was again on all the online sites though without any reason for it’s resumption!  The internet seemed to be acting as if the banishment never happened!   That happens a lot on the internet.

Censorship Always Backfires, Save Jesse

Oliver Cromwell Revolutionary Drummer And African American

Oliver Cromwell Revolutionary Drummer And African American

By Bob Small

The DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution), as mentioned in a previous post, is changing who is remembered, both on their own and, sometimes, with a little push.

Most recently and locally, a long overdue plaque was placed at the house of the memorably named Oliver Cromwell, an Afro-American who served with George Washington from 1776 to the 1781 Battle of Yorktown. He accompanied George Washington as his regimental drummer during this time.  The plaque is at his last residence in Burlington, N.J..

Among other notable facts about Oliver Cromwell is that he lived to be 100, a rare feat in that time. He was born May 24, 1752. He was awarded a “Badge of Merit” for six years of faithful service and also received a war pension.

There is an Oliver Cromwell Black History Society founded in 1984.   They have given out over $20,000 to date for students particiating in the Black History Month Art and Essay Contests

Oliver Cromwell Revolutionary Drummer And African American

They also have a yearly “Oliver Cromwell Living History Award”. Contact information about the society can be found here.

In 1850, Oliver Cromwell told the census taker that his occupation was  “Drummer in the Revolution”.

Deb Hvizdos, the New Jersey DAR State Historian came across his story in 2017, shortly after taking over her position. 

“His story spoke to me,” she said. 

She began working on his case at that point, though the entire process took almost five years. 

This is not mentioned on either the New Jersey State Society of DAR –last updated on Sept. 26 –, nor on their national website, nor on the closest New Jersey Chapter to Burlington, The Colonel Thomas Reynolds Chapter of Mount Holly. 

To paraphrase Matthew 5:15 the DAR should not be hiding it’s light under a bushel.

As to Burlington, NJ, we spent some time there earlier in our lives during our “Quaker phrase.”

it was a place for regional Quaker meetings and had a long previous history of abolitionism, and, at the time, it felt like a modern version of “small town America”.  Have not been there in the proverbial ages, though the Burlington Quaker Meeting House and Conference Center, circa 1783, is still open for business.

Oliver Cromwell Revolutionary Drummer And African American

Pilgrims Were Peaceful Research Reveals

Pilgrims Were Peaceful Research Reveals

By Bob Small

Another organization I learned about from presentations at the 2021 Bill of Rights Banquet was the Plymouth Rock Foundation.

I was skeptical about many of its claims after first sailing through it voluminous website — especially the one regarding 50 years peaceful relationships with the Native Americans.

Reviewing numerous other websites, though, had my questions answered positively.

Especially interesting sections of the Foundations’ website are America’s Hometown Thanksgiving; A lesson from Plymouth, and Who were the Pilgrims.

Previously unknown to me was that The Pilgrims kept their treaties with the Pakauoket and Wampanong, and other tribes, from 1621 to 1675, when King Phillips War began and that started as was a civil war between tribes with the Pilgrims choosing a side.  In terms of percentage of population killed, this war was more than twice as costly as The Civil War and The Revolutionary War.

Also, the Wampanong brought deer and seafood.  The American Turkey Union should publicize this.

The Pilgrims, in England, were Seperatist Puritans who felt their congregations should separate from the Church of England as under the 1559 Act of Uniformity, it was illegal not to attend Church of England services. Penalties included both fines and Imprisonment.

Some of the sources I used to confirm the Foundation’s claims

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas.com/archive/2019/11/thanksgiving-belongs-wampanong-tribe-602422/

https://www.patriotledger.com/story/news/2020/11/13/pilgrim-400-arrival-provincetown-mashpee-wampanoag-nation-quadricentennial/6267362002/

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/native-intelligence-109314481/

Some of these articles use the models of restorative narrative.

This is a link meant for grade school students,  from Eastern Illinois University: https://castle.eiu.edu/-wow/classes/fa09/Plimouth?Lessons5.html

Having recently viewed Ken Burns documentary The West, one can only wish that other settlers, many of whom considered themselves Christians, would of followed the example of their Pilgrim predecessors, rather than violating almost every subsequent treaty with Native Americans.

Pilgrims Were Peaceful Research Reveals
Pilgrims Were Peaceful Research Reveals

Hospitals Endangered In Delco, Chesco

Hospitals Endangered In Delco, Chesco

By Bob Small

West Grove’s Jennersville Hospital closed on Dec. 31 and Caln’s Brandywine Hospital closed on Jan. 31.  These institutions in Chester County are owned by Tower Health and lost $42 million in the last fiscal year. 

In my Delaware County, Crozer Health Systems which operates Crozer- Chester, Delaware County Memorial, Springfield, and Taylor hospitals, along with outpatient centers and physician practices is being sold to ChristianaCare Health System. 

While Delaware County Memorial has closed its maternity ward, and Taylor has ended its hospice program, the hospitals are remaining open for the time being, according to Kevin M. Spiegel, chief executive officer of Crozer Health.

Hospitals Endangered In Delco, Chesco

We should note that Crozer Chester is the hospital for Chester, Pa., one of the poorest cities in the nation.  All four of these hospitals serve, or served, a population with limited medical coverage mobility, who were unable to use their coverage in other hospitals.

In the mean times, and these will be mean times, some of us have coverage that let us use hospitals in say, Delaware or Philadelphia.  Most in Chesco and Delco do not. Many of these residents will be scrambling to find a hospital to use.  Some may fail. For some, these are just regular routine tests, but for others…..

Since we started this article, Chester County Common Pleas Court Judge Edward Griffith has given hope to saving Brandywine and Jennersville hospitals by ordering Tower Health to resume negotiatons with Canyon Atlantic Partners. A sale fell through in December.

At a Feb. 15 town hall, State Senator Tim Kearney (D-26) responded, D-26, responded to my query about asset striping, citing the Hahnemann Hospital case, by saying that the State Legislature had various pending bills to address this.  He favored hospitals being run by non-profits such as ChristianaCare rather than for-profit entities like Crozer Health.

Hospitals Endangered In Delco, Chesco

Anschluss Of Hedgerow Theatre; Sanctuary For Arts Goes Full Austrian With Vax Policy

Anschluss Of Hedgerow Theatre; Sanctuary For Arts Goes Full Austrian With Vax Policy

By Bob Small

The Austrian Bundesrat, Feb. 3, voted 47-12 for Europe’s first vaccine mandate and President President Alexander Van der Bellen signed it into law.

Sad to say, one of the parties backing it is the Greens.

This type of frightening authoritarianism was discussed  in one of my previous posts.

Police in Austria will begin monitoring the unvaxed starting March 15 after which fine of up to the equivalent of $4,109 will begin, possibly followed by prison.  Weekly Saturday protests in Vienna have attracted tens of thousands of people yet have been remarkably, or not, underreported.

Anschluss Of Hedgerow Theatre; Fabled Sanctuary For Arts Goes Full Austrian With Vax Policy

Reaction has come from all Austrian opposition Parties, from the Liberal NEOS Party to the far right Freedom Party (FP). 

“The law is unconstitutional and not proportionate,” said Herbert Kickl, leader of the FP, said

“What we are dealing with here is a vaccine mandate that comes into effect just as the government is making it possible for those who aren’t vaccinated to enter a bar with a subsidised free test result and raise a glass to their resistance,”   Gerard Loacker, Health spokesman for NEOS.

Previously there were obligatory vaccine checks at all retail shops. 

Other European Countries are watching this carefully.

And in Delaware County, Pa., the fabled Hedgerow Theatre is now requiring patrons to provide proof of vaccination.

With her kindly permission, I’m quoting  fellow Swarthmorean Carol Kennedy’s response to Hedgerow:

Both the WHO and the CDC have acknowledged that a person can both catch and transmit Covid-19 even if he/she has been fully vaccinated. There is no advantage to a vaccination in terms of transmission. So requiring proof of vaccination is not scientifically based and even provides a false sense of security in terms of likelihood of catching or transmitting the disease. In fact, both my husband and myself caught Covid even though we were fully vaxxed.

We do not believe in any kind of medical apartheid that places the privileges and rights of one segment of the population above another based on personal medical choice.”

The very last thing this, or any country needs, is further division between  people.

Anschluss Of Hedgerow Theatre; Sanctuary For Arts Goes Full Austrian With Vax Policy

DAR Has Modernized In Cumberland County

DAR Has Modernized In Cumberland County

By Bob Small

This is the third in a series about organizations who made appearances at the 2021 Bill of Rights Banquet.

The Cumberland County chapter of the DAR (Daughters of The American Revolution, is a woman’s volunteer service organization. Projects include collecting personal care items for the Lebanon Valley DAR project andfor the DAR Project Patriot for the US Army Base in Vilseck, Germany.

They have also placed a bench near the American Revolutionary War Exhibit along the Army Heritage trail by the Carlisle Army Heritage Center. See their project page and Molly Pitcher for other examples and information.

DAR Has Modernized In Cumberland County

What I never knew was that Cumberland County was formed in 1750 from Lancaster County.

The Cumberland County DAR  was founded on May 9, 1895 with 12 Charter Members.

The National DAR itself had their first meeting  on Aug. 9, 1890 and was founded when the Sons of the American Revolution refused to allow women to join their group.

Unlike many legacy organizations, the DAR has found ways to reinvent itself.  The Christian Science Monitor elucidates this.

In 2020, the national DAR created the E Pluribus Union initiative which seeks to include previously excluded Patriots.  This project, for instance, includes an exhibition titled “Remembrance of  Noble Actions:  African Americans and Native Americans in the Revolutionary War”.

The first Afro-American was accepted by the national DAR in 1977. In 1984 their by-laws were rewritten to ban discrimination “on the basis of race and creed”, after previous incidents of exclusion.

More than 5,000 Afro-American men served in the Revolutionary War, along with Creoles, Frenchman and Mexicans.

Perhaps the most important test of any organization is whether they can include the truth of history as it really happened, not just as previously understood.

DAR Has Modernized In Cumberland County

Paramilitary Police Lead To Fear And Mistrust

Paramilitary Police Lead To Fear And Mistrust

By Bob Small

Students called Twitter rather than 911 during the Jan. 21 school shooting at Magruder High School in Montgomery County, Md.

The Washington Post failed to note this in the article I read. Further. there was a statement from Lee Holland, spokesperson from Montgomery County Police Union, making the point that the removal of school resource officers from the county’s schools was a failed social experiment with “no plans to secure our schools”. 

Could this be due to either a lack of trust in and/or  fear of the police? 

Maybe Antifa should have been called, then.

Seriously, how have we arrived at this place, and how do we move from here.

Paramilitary Police Lead To Fear And Mistrust

Is this yet another argument for returning to virtual learning or is social interaction more important than safety?  Is freedom to go to physically attend school the most important item?

Now the pace of police reform has proceeded at various paces, from measured to snail, throughout the country.  We do need the police, but the question has become which police do we need.  Do we still need the paramilitary police, sometimes answerable to no one, and trained to be  civilian soldiers, most ready to kill, rather than civilian policeman, ready to apprehend criminals, alive when possible.  In that vein, why on earth do police forces need tanks and other military equipment?

Is part of this the cultural matrix around the police?  Have the expectations around police changed that much from Dragnet to, say, CSI.  I don’t remember Jack Webb shooting to death every miscreant.  If we want to return to a time when we feel safe to call the police, and arrive at a time when minorities feel safe in calling the police in the first place, this requires the police, and the Courts to change.  When the police commit crimes, they must also be held responsible, just like any of us.  Period, end of sentence.

Hat tip Scott R.

Paramilitary Police Lead To Fear And Mistrust