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If one puts this question into a historical perspective, the African American attraction to the Democratic Party makes no sense to me.

Slavery history: Hunter-gatherers and primitive farmers had no use for a slave. They collected or grew just enough food for themselves.

But, once people gathered in towns and cities, a surplus of food created in the countryside made possible a wide range of crafts in the town. On a large farm or in a workshop there was real benefit in a reliable source of cheap labor, costing no more than the minimum of food and lodging. These are the conditions for slavery.

Man’s inhumanity in the form of slavery has been one of the great travesties in the history of mankind.

Slavery has existed in almost every civilization, dating back as far as 3500 BC.
Although slavery is no longer legal anywhere in the world, human trafficking remains an international problem and an estimated 25-40 million people are enslaved today, the majority in Asia.

The slavery issue led us to the Civil War, 1861-1865. Author Ron Chernow’s book, Grant is arguably the best history ever written about America during the 30-year period from 1845-1875. It deals with the run-up to the Civil War, the war itself and the post-war period. General, and later President, Ulysses S. Grant is the central figure.

Grant believed in abolishing slavery; he was a champion of African Americans and throughout the Civil War he used his influence and leadership to assist slaves escaping from the Confederate states. President Lincoln, a Republican, agreed with General Grant and advocated for abolition of slavery and signed the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1st, 1863.

During the siege of Richmond Virginia, the final months of the Civil War, General Grant and President Lincoln met frequently to discuss and plan for what freedom and equality should mean for the freed slaves. Their plan included the right to own property, to vote and hold office. The freed slaves would have access to all educational opportunities, public transportation and commercial activities; everything white citizens had.

The Civil War ended when General Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House on April the 9th, 1865. Five days later President Lincoln was assassinated. The vision President Lincoln and General Grant had for the freed slaves died with the President.

Lincoln’s Vice President, Andrew Johnson, a Republican, was sworn in as President. Johnson was a weak, indecisive President and sided with the powerful Democrat leaders in the Confederate states to restrict the freedoms for the freed slaves. The grand Lincoln/Grant plan for post-war reconstruction never came to fruition.

Not only were African Americans denied equal rights, they were, for the most part, economic and social captives in the southern states and subjected to one of the darkest periods in American history. The rise of the Ku Klux Klan was dramatic and literally threatened the lives and livelihood of all freed slaves without fear of retribution or law enforcement. It is estimated that there was a KKK organization in nearly every county in the former Confederate states. President Johnson turned a blind eye to the KKK devastation.

For 100 years following the end of the Civil War, the centerpiece of the Democratic party was segregation and all that it entailed. From 1865 to 1965 the Democrats were the party of the south. They demanded, got and enforced segregation of African Americans for 100 years.

As a young adult, I recall TV coverage of the Democratic Party’s pledge to continue segregation and keep African Americans riding in the back of the bus, drinking from “blacks only” fountains, from ordering a cup of coffee in a restaurant or attending a white school. Two examples:

Orval Faubus, Governor of Arkansas from 1955 to 1967; a Democrat, is notorious for his 1957 stand against desegregation of the Little Rock School District. By ordering the Arkansas National Guard to prevent black students from attending Little Rock Central High School, he refused to comply with a unanimous decision of the U.S. Supreme Court made in the 1954 case, Brown v. Board of Education.

George Wallace, Governor of Alabama, sought the United States presidency as a Democrat three times, and once as an Independent party candidate. He is best remembered for his staunch opposition to desegregation and declaring in his 1963 Governor’s inaugural address that he stood for “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever”.

I care about African Americans. I know African Americans. While serving 32 years in the US Army I stood shoulder to shoulder with them every day. I served under and was mentored by outstanding Black leaders. I led them, trained with them, fought beside them. I respect their courage, capabilities and commitment. Here is what I know to be true; the only difference between white Americans and African Americans is the color of our skin. Period.

Some will counter this conclusion by saying, “yes, but if you go into a predominantly African American community you will experience a different culture.” Certainly, you will, just as if you entered a predominantly Italian, or Polish, or Jewish community. Differences in culture does not translate to inferiority.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended the 100-year Democratic Party hold on segregation; sort of. The “colored only” signs are gone and Democrats can no longer embrace segregation as their party platform. But even in the passage of the Civil Rights Act 100 years after the close of the Civil War, only 7% of the Democrats in Congress from the former Confederate states voted in favor of the Act compared with 90% from the Union states. Overall, 64% of Democrats in the Congress voted yes while 80% of the Republicans did.

So, how are the African American communities, as a whole, doing over the past 50 years since the Civil Rights Act? I would conclude, not so good. Are African Americans still struggling to achieve equality? I believe so.

Look at the state of African American communities in Detroit, Baltimore, Washington DC, East St Louis, Chicago, it’s a long list, and they all have one thing in common; decades of continuous Democratic Party control. It is called “identity politics.” That is, the politicians identify a segment of the population, Black communities for example, provide government programs that create a dependency on the government for life’s essentials, (housing, heat, food, child care, etc.). They then convince the African American voters that the Republicans want to take away their benefits.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The United States, is the most benevolent country in the world. For those who are incapable of providing for themselves, there will always be a government helping hand. The difference between the two parties is that the Republicans want to create a business-based economy in the Black communities. The Republicans do not want any “identity group” in a state of dependency but rather in an environment where they can be self-sufficient, live their lives believing in self-worth, higher esteem and more properly providing for their families.

Yes, the Republicans want to do away with some government handouts but ONLY, only, when they are no longer needed.

The community of East Lake is about 5 miles east of downtown Atlanta, Georgia. In the mid-1990s, only 13% of the residents of the East Lake Meadows housing projects had a job; 87% UNEMPLOYMENT. The high school graduation rate was about 30%. The crime rate was 18 times the national average.

Through an array of community efforts working together the nightmare for East Lake is history. Of the first graduating class from Charles R. Drew Charter School (pre-K through grade 12) 100% were accepted into college in 2017. The streets are safe, the gangs are gone, the government housing project has been removed. East Lake is a model community studied by groups from across the country who want to move away from government-controlled poverty and do not want to be beholden to a Democratic Party “identity group.”

During Donald Trump’s campaign in 2016, he addressed the African American community and summed up their potential future with a single phrase, “What the hell do you have to lose?” In eight words he made the case I have been trying to explain in the above paragraphs. As President, he has done more for the African American communities in 18 months that any other President. Black American unemployment is at an all-time low. Americans on SNAP (food stamps) has decreased by about 2 million with the rise in employment, better pay, less taxes and full-time jobs. This is an example of taking away a government handout when, and only when, it is no longer needed. Self-sufficiency, self-esteem in the Black communities is on the rise.

Accountability is a powerful concept and automatically leads to a better life, a better family, a better standard of living. I believe the African American communities have to come to grips with TWO ESSENTIAL ISSUES.

First, EMBRACE EDUCATION. Education is THE key to moving up and moving forward. Remember East Lake, study East Lake and copy East Lake. Take the long view, talk about education, meet and discuss how to do things differently and better. Make education a daily priority.

Secondly, FIX THE FAMILY STRUCTURE. In 1965 out-of-wedlock babies born to African American mothers was 25%. By 1991 the rate had risen to 68% and is currently above 70%. The out-of-wedlock births for white women is less than 20%. Too many young African American mothers are stuck with no way to move up and move forward. Parents, school administrators, preachers, community leaders have to attack this head on. Again, it is an accountability issue.

In the 1970’s the US Army was not in good shape; racial tension, drug abuse and lack of accountability were among the problems. A group of young general officers accepted the challenge to fix it. Part of the solution was to recruit America’s best and brightest to fill the ranks. Part of that process was a recruiting jingle, “Be……all that you can be…. in the Army.” It was extraordinarily effective and by changing the culture of the Army to one of accountability, trust and respect we rapidly moved the organization forward. The African American community can take this page from history, a pledge in your communities to, “be all you can be.”

This blog began with a question, WHAT IS THE ATTRACTION FOR AFRICAN AMERICANS TO THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY? I do not know the answer. What I have tried to point out is that there is reason for African Americans to be skeptical. Just consider the FACTS; historically, the Democratic Party was the party of slavery, the party of the Ku Klux Klan, the party that held up post-Civil War freedom and equality for 100 years, the party of segregation and the party that did not wholly embrace The Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Now, 50-plus years since the Civil Rights Act, the Democratic Party has successfully locked African Americans into an “identity group” that has become dependent on government assistance; programs that keep too many African Americans in poverty.

New economic initiatives over the past two years have created momentum that can carry African Americans to new social and economic heights. African Americans can realize the freedom and equality that President Lincoln and General Grant planned to implement in 1865. “What the hell do you have to lose?”

Lieutenant General, US Army retired, Marvin L. Covault is the author of Vision to Execution, a book for leaders and a columnist for The Pilot, a national award-winning Southern Pines, NC local newspaper.

In case you missed it, Homeland Security just released the Southwest Border illegal immigration statistics for fiscal year 2018 which ended 30 September, 2018.

This is not a pretty picture:
– Total Southwest Border Patrol Apprehensions……396,579. That’s 1,086 a day.
-Of the 396,579, family units accounted for 107,212. A family unit is a child under the age of 18 apprehended along with a parent or legal guardian.
– Of the 396,579, 50,036 were unaccompanied children; 137 per day.

The FY 2018 total (396,579) is an increase of 93,563 over the FY 2017 total of 303,016.

My assumption is that the majority of these people were intent on looking for work in the US.

There is a simple solution to this problem that goes on unabated year after year.

If you have not yet read it, go back to this blog home page and read A NEW WAY TO LOOK AT IMMIGRATION REFORM.

This program will work. It should be a nonpartisan issue. The illegal immigrants pay for it. It is a one-time program and thereafter no one can cross the border illegally and have any hope of securing a job in the US.

Most of the individuals in the 7000-person caravan currently headed for the US, who have been interviewed, indicate they are coming to find a job.

If the immigration reform program in this blog would have been implemented, the current caravan would not exist. Nor would there be a follow-on caravan that is reportedly being formed in Honduras.

Under my proposed Immigration reform, there are four reasons why all the current illegals working in the US will register for the program. 1) They live in fear every day of being caught and deported; that goes away. 2) They currently have no path to US citizenship; citizenship becomes a potential reality. 3) Currently they have no way to legally go home to visit family and then return to their job in the US; they will be able to do so legally. 4) If they do not register, they will not be able to continue working in the US.

This program should stop the flow of people coming for jobs and allow the border patrol to concentrate on stopping criminals, terrorists, drug dealers and the sex slave trade. It may even negate, or at lease reduce, the need for a border wall.

I have spent the past three years trying to get someone in Washington to read the IMMIGRATION REFORM PLAN. Copies have gone to the White House, my Representative and Senators with not even the courtesy of a response.

My request is that if you have not read the immigration reform plan in my blog, please do so. If you agree it is a viable way forward, please make an attempt to contact someone in Washington who can get the ball rolling. I am available to go anywhere, meet with anyone who can shine some light on this program.

By the way, recently a couple professors released their findings concerning how many illegals there are currently in the US. After an exhaustive study, they came to three conclusions. 1) The current estimate of 10-12 million is certainly low. 2) It is possible the number may be as high as 22 million. 3) There are valid reasons to believe the number is at least 16 million.

50,000 unaccompanied children were sent across the border and apprehended last fiscal year. That statistic alone makes doing something positive about immigration policy a moral imperative.

Marv Covault

Yesterday, 22 October 2018, President Obama was campaigning for the Democrats in Nevada. The highlight of his speech was widely broadcast on the evening news. The subject was economics.

Obama’s statement began with that smile (maybe a smirk) and a little hesitation that silently broadcast to the audience……..what I am about to say is so obvious that it goes without saying, but I will tell you anyway…..then he continued in that condescending tone, ” ……when you hear all of his (President Trump’s) talk about economic miracles right now, remember who started it.” Obama has made this same point several times over the past six months.

To put Obama’s statement in perspective, maybe a little stroll down memory lane is in order. Some of us remember the 1960 presidential campaign, Kennedy vs Nixon. Three major issues in the campaign: 1) for the past eight years Eisenhower had been a very popular republican president. 2) Across all the parties people were asking, what will happen to the country if we elect a president who is catholic (yes, for you youngsters, that was a major issue). 3) The economy.

Since the 1958 recession, the economy had been very sluggish and unemployment remained perilously high, 6.8%. JFK’s Council of Economic Advisers urged him to attack unemployment with a tax-and-spend strategy (sound familiar?). In 1963, declaring that the absence of recession is not tantamount to economic growth, President Kennedy proposed to cut income taxes. JFK’s message to the American people was that lowering taxes was the surest path to full employment and economic growth.

President Kennedy was correct and from 1961 until his death in 1963, he led a democratic party dramatically different from today’s version.

Now, let’s fast forward to the 1980 presidential election, Carter vs Reagan. President Carter had made a mess of the economy and people were suffering with 12.5% inflation and a prime interest rate of about 20%. Candidate Reagan ran on a pledge to cut taxes and fix the economy. He did cut taxes and it was the beginning of a significant economic upturn.

Apparently, that short history lesson on the impact tax cutting can have on a recession recovery was lost on President Obama. Another thing lost on him was the fact that in modern economics no country has worked its way out of a recession with a tax-and-spend economic strategy.

Now back to President Obama and his claim that today’s booming economy is because he got it all started. Perhaps he has had a lapse of memory because of what he said just a couple years ago while nearing the end of his presidency.

May, 2016, Carrier Company announced they were moving manufacturing to Mexico and Indianapolis was going to lose 1000 jobs.

During a June 1st PBS town hall event, Obama responded to a Carrier employee who complained about the fact that jobs were leaving Indianapolis. Obama: “When somebody says, like the person you just mentioned (Trump) who I’m not going to advertise for, that he’s going to bring all these jobs back, well how exactly are you going to do that? What are you going to do?” said Obama. “There’s — there’s no answer to it. He just says, “Well, I’m going to negotiate a better deal.” Well, how — what — how exactly are you going to negotiate that? What magic wand do you have? And usually, the answer is he doesn’t have an answer.”

That statement was a clear attempt by Obama to argue that Trump’s vow to keep jobs in the United States was an empty campaign promise and impossible to achieve.
As the New York Times later reported, “….before Trump even takes office, he has already convinced Carrier to stop 1,000 jobs being moved out of Indiana to Mexico after a deal was struck with the company.”

It has become clear that President Obama did not have the skills to conduct that kind of negotiation and to do the things that needed to be done to kick-start the economy, a tax cut for example.

Just to put a final point on how ludicrous Obama’s statement in Nevada yesterday was, consider the following:

– Obama is the only president in history to never have a year of 3% GDP growth.

-Obama and his economic advisers were working hard to convince the American people that 2% GDP growth and 5.5% unemployment are the “new normal”; days of 3 or 4% growth are gone forever. This is the same time that China’s GDP was chugging along at about 8% annual growth.

Robert Krugman, Nobel prize for economics and adviser to President Obama on economic matters said, as a result of the Trump victory, “We are very probably looking at a global recession, with no end in sight.”

Yep, Obama really had our economy set up nicely for incoming President Trump.

One final noteworthy Obama quote from the fall of 2016, “Trump will not be President.”

Marv Covault

The month of May is strawberry season in North Carolina. Lots of them and they are delicious.

This morning, 22 October, when I went to the barn to do chores, I noticed we had our first frost of the season. As I was opening a gate to go out into the horse pasture, I noticed in our little strawberry patch, one, lone, small, red strawberry. I picked it and before eating it, a thought occurred to me. That little berry was tough enough to bloom and mature in spite of the season and the cold.

That is sort of a metaphor for life. If you are tough enough you can bloom and mature in spite of abnormal, adverse conditions.

Tens of millions of Americans are currently disadvantaged and I’m sure many of them feel desperate to improve their lives. Well, maybe this is the time to do just that, for a couple reasons:

One, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced this week that there are now 6.7 million job openings, the highest ever recorded, and far exceeding the number of unemployed Americans.

Secondly, a disproportionate number of the disadvantaged are African Americans. Currently, African American unemployment is the lowest since records have been kept.

The upcoming election may actually be a national referendum on the two political partys’ philosophies; big government vs less government intrusion, stifling regulations vs private sector innovation, government HAND-OUTS vs a HELPING-HAND.

Don’t under-estimate American grit. Given a chance there are a lot of out-of-season “strawberries” out there that are just tough enough to bloom in spite of the odds and be all they can be/should be.

Go vote.

Marv Covault

On Tuesday, November 6th, tens of millions of Americans will get up, hurry around, get the kids off to school, fight the traffic getting to work and work a long day. And many will conclude they cannot find the time to vote.

Given the importance of a federal election, one would think we, collectively, should do everything possible to get every eligible voter excited about going to the poles. But, we don’t.

Two years ago, during the 2016 presidential election, there were about 240 million US citizens eligible to vote. About 58% of them did vote. About 100 million did not; pathetic, disgusting, incredible or all of the above.

That voting record speaks volumes about how much we take for granted. A democracy needs maintenance, some TLC and attention if it is to thrive and survive. Voting is a civic duty. Voting is the act of reaffirming that we care about our democracy.

Our Constitution (article 1, section 4) specifically gives congress the power to regulate the, “Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections.”

In 1845 congress passed a federal law designating, “the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November” as the time for Federal elections. In 1845 most of the US population was agrarian and it was not uncommon for farmers to have an all-day round trip by horse and wagon to reach a polling place.

Why November? Why not April or July or January. In most of the country the weather can be bad in the winter. Spring planting as well as summer and early fall harvesting were very busy times. By November, the crops were in and the majority of agrarian voters had time on there hands; hence November elections.

Today, most folks are a little busier on a Tuesday in November than they were in 1845. So busy that 42% find a reason not to vote; too busy, polls closed too early, traffic was bad, lines were too long.

Common sense says we need to take away those excuses. All it will take to fix it is a new one-paragraph law passed by congress.

One approach is to simply change election day to the first or second Sunday in November. Open the poles for 12 hours and there is still plenty of time to attend church.

But, just specifying “Sunday” is still not perfect. The Bureau of Labor statistics, says about 34% of Americans work on the weekends. To overcome weekend work, the new law could make Federal Election Day an official national holiday and specify that everything except “essential services” be closed.

There will be those who will say that voting interferes with church services. If that is a valid objection, make the Federal Election Day fall on the first or second Monday in November. Keep it simple but take away the excuses from the 100 million who are currently not making the effort to vote.

While we are re-doing the election-day law, there is another issue that needs to be fixed and it can be done with a simple sentence.

Currently, as the hours pass during election day, media sources go to elaborate ends to be the first to “declare” a certain candidate the winner. This begins early and goes on endlessly until all the contests are resolved.

So, what is wrong with that? What is wrong is that as the polls close on the east coast and winners of a national contest are projected, this is a potential disincentive for those on the west coast to vote. “Why should I vote, the decision has already been made,” they will say.

To fix this, simply add a sentence to the new law stating that, “no data or election information of any kind from any election or official source will be released until the polls are closed in Hawaii” (or perhaps Guam). If the polls close in Hawaii at 7 pm, that would be 1 am on the east coast.

True, we all WANT to know the projected winners as soon as possible. Also true, we do not NEED to know before all the polls have closed.

Voting is a RIGHT; hundreds of thousands of Americans died during the Civil War fighting for everyone’s’ right to vote. Voting is a PRIVILEGE not afforded to most people in the world; we should feel obliged to act out that privilege. Voting is a RESPONSIBILITY; freedom isn’t free and voting is a small price to pay.

 

 

January 20, 2017 while the nation watched the inauguration of President Trump, I recall one of the talking heads, filling up some air time during the parade, launching into a diatribe about what President Trump needed to do to keep from losing the House and/or Senate majorities during the 2018 midterms. The prognostications have been going on, non-stop, since that day.

So what? The so what of it all is that every day we see national issues, security issues, economic issues, crisis issues that are all tainted, delayed and debated in light of what it will “mean for the midterms”. The debate is too often not about what is best, or in some cases, what is absolutely necessary for the nation, but rather how it will impact the November, 2018 election results. Sad but true.

The unfortunate nature of politicians is that the next election is their top priority and everything else, no matter how important to the nation, is a distant second. US Representatives and Senators are arguably the most self-serving group of people in this nation and they are unlikely to change of their own accord.  To protect the nation from our politicians we need to change the environment and hopefully it might change their behavior.

Electing 435 US Representatives to the House every two years is outdated and unnecessary. Their collective campaigns cost hundreds of millions of dollars. It is an unfortunate fact of life that a huge amount of the Representatives’ term in office is spent raising money and campaigning for reelection. Raising money has its own huge drawback in that politicians become beholden to the big donors and lobbyists, perhaps at the peril of the nation.

The advantages of a four-year term for Representatives are so obvious and make so much sense, that it should become a priority to get it changed. One would think the Representatives themselves would be wholeheartedly in favor of a four-year term.

And while that amendment to the Constitution is working, why not take on the issue of term limits. There is something about the Potomac water; the more of it a politician drinks the more incoherent and power-hungry they become. Four terms, 16 years, for Representatives and three terms, 18 years, for Senators seems about right. There is an old saying that applies to organizations, “change or die”.  Change and new blood for Congress can only be a positive thing because the current system, and the politicians running it. are not serving the nation well.

And while we are at it, the Supreme Court could do with a little update. It seems so untoward that millions of Americans and half the politicians sit around hoping some eighty-year old Justice of the Supreme Court will become too infirmed to continue serving or even die in order for a sitting President to “stack the court.”

Because the Supreme Court has become so politicized, there is extreme pressure for some justices to remain on the bench no matter their age, health, personal desire or capacity to do the job required of them. “Appointed for life” is just not the best answer.

The average age of the three oldest justices, Thomas, Ginsburg and Breyer. is 78 years and they have served on the Supreme Court an average of over 25 years. Are they absolutely in their prime? One could argue not. We can do better than that? One would think so.

The Supreme Court is too important to become a political football. It is not difficult to fix this and thereby turn the court over periodically by limiting the term of office to twenty years.  Given that the average age of the current 8-judge court, at the time they were appointed, was about 52 years, retirement at about age 72 seems very reasonable.

Here is a simple solution.  Change the Constitution and set in motion a system wherein the longest serving Justices (Thomas 27 years, Ginsburg 25 and Breyer 24) will mandatorily be retired in 2019, 2021 and 2023 respectively. It follows then that Chief Justice Roberts would reach the 20-year retirement mark in 2025, Alito in 2027, Sotomayor 2029, Kagan 2030 and Gorsuch 2037.

With Presidential elections in 2020, 2024 etc., Presidents will routinely get a shot at picking new Justices.

Why do this? The founding fathers were perhaps the greatest gathering of minds at any time in world history. But they did not have a crystal ball and could not get it all right. That is why there are 27 amendments to the Constitution. It is not difficult to build a case for a couple more.  It all comes down to value added to the organization.

Lieutenant General, US Army retired, Marvin L. Covault is the author of Vision to Execution, a book for leaders.

 

 

 

 

The most heard answer to the question, “why is the nation so divided” is, “it’s President Trump’s fault, he is dividing us.” The mainstream media has picked up on this answer and it gets repeated over and over, day after day.  If President Trump is to blame, then by extension, those who support him are also partly to blame. The “divide” is real.  The “divide” is potentially very dangerous.  Is the simple answer, “it’s all Trump’s fault” good enough?  I don’t believe so. Let’s take another shot a defining why the “divide” exists  before we jump on that bandwagon.

“Trump is a racist.”  We hear it every day.  Being called a racist is a very ugly thing. Members of the KKK are racist; people who proclaim to be White Supremacists are racist. Now we are led to believe President Trump is a racist because Maxine Waters says so, therefore it must be true and all the mass media have picked up on it?  But, what do Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have to say about Trump and his association with African Americans? Google up, Trump receives honor from Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and you will find headlines like this;  “Jesse Jackson praises and thanks Donald Trump for a lifetime of service to African Americans.”  Hmmm, interesting.

“Trump is Islamophobic.”  He must be because he is defeating ISIS.  He must be because he does not want to allow immigrants from nations who are state sponsors of terrorism; from states that openly seek the destruction of America; from nations where those wanting to immigrate cannot be vetted because there is insufficient data to check their backgrounds.  Hmmm, also interesting.

“Trump hates women.”  His qualification for that statement seems to be that he  had an alleged extramarital affair 15 years ago..  Hmmm, no one in his huge business has said that?

“Trump hates Latinos.”  That must be true because he wants to seal the border to keep out illegal immigrants who are terrorists, criminals, drug traffickers, sex slave traders, and others who just want to disappear from view and live off US government assistance.  Or possibly it is because he is opposed to cities and states that willfully defy federal law and openly give sanctuary to Latin criminals.  OK, so that all makes good sense?

By engaging multiple media sources and in private conversations, it is difficult to get through a day without hearing a comment about how divided the nation has become. Maybe, just maybe, the issue deserves a more thorough look from what I pointed out in the opening paragraphs.  .

Begin by thinking about two parallel lines drawn about one-half inch apart.  The top line we will call the Republican line and the bottom one the Democrat line. While recognizing there are Independents and unaffiliates, the majority of Americans feel attached to the two major parties. So, I will use just the two to explain the divide.

There has always been a divide between what the Republicans and Democrats stand for; their platforms, vision of the future, etc.

Let’s say that in the fall of 2016, the divide between the two parallel lines was one half inch. The Republicans were asking for a stronger military, a fully engaged foreign policy (North Korea, China, Russia, Iran, the Middle East, the European Union, NATO),  trade deals that are more advantageous to the US and will reduce $500 + billion annual trade  deficits, defeat ISIS, cut taxes, reduce regulations, reduce the size of the federal government, immigration reform and border security to include building a wall and finally, do away with Obamacare.

The democrats were less specific about their vision for America, but their rhetoric led us to believe they advocated for open borders, military readiness status quo, maintain current trade deals plus a new one in Asia, maintain the level of military action against ISIS, essentially no change in foreign policy, raise taxes on the rich, increased government regulations, advocate against big business, and retain the tax-and-spend programs to stimulate the economy.

Now fast forward 24 months to the fall of 2018.  What we see on the Republican parallel line is a nearly identical list from 2016.  However, instead of being 2016 campaign promises, they are now completed or being worked as major policy initiatives.  With the exception of eliminating Obamacare, promises made, promises kept.

While the Democrats have been unable to move forward with their proposed campaign agenda, they have moved their vision further to the left. Many mid-term Democratic candidates, are actively advocating for the US to become a socialist state in spite of the fact that socialism has never been successful anywhere in the world.  And those who are not openly using the “socialism” tag, are advocating to nationalize big corporations, provide free college tuition, single-payer government-run health care, and the elimination of ICE, a major US law enforcement element charged with security for the nation’s citizens.

Based on the comparison of what the two political parties stood for in 2016 and where they are today, I have concluded that the divide should be widened from ½ inch to ¾ inch apart. But, while party comparisons are highlighted in the news every day, they still do not get at the crux of the “nation divided” issue.

Go back and look at the two parallel lines. For all practical purposes, the Republicans on the top line are happy. Yes, there are those who wish President Trump would stop tweeting and wish he was a little more articulate, but from a policy standpoint they are ecstatic. He made campaign promises and, for the most part he is working all of them; most, successfully. President Trump is not a politician in the truest sense of the word, he is a pragmatist who sees a problem and says, “this needs to be fixed, here is what we are going to do.” The tens of millions of Americans on the top line are happy.  The Republican line remains stationary, it has not moved upward to increase the divide.

A large percentage of Democrats literally HATE President Trump. They are very vocal and openly demonstrative about it. This hate talk is not just taking place around the family dinner table, it is daily headline news by the majority of mainstream media.

“Hate” is an ugly word and an ugly concept.  Widespread hatred is becoming a culture.  Culture is a powerful and pervasive force that, if negative, can paralyze an organization (the US) causing it to be unable to move forward.  For more on “hate”, see my blog; A LOOMING CRISIS IN AMERICA.

Bottom line, the United States is under the grip of a culture of hate.  It has spread rapidly and is growing. The normal separation between the two party’s’ ideologies is not what is “dividing the nation.” The “divide” is, in fact, the additional separation caused by the culture of hate.  The culture of hate has moved the Democrats’ parallel line down at least another ½ inch. The divide is getting so wide, it has negated civil discourse across the nation.

The irony is that in the media and personal conversations about the divide, the blame is placed on President Trump for “dividing this nation.”  Quite the opposite.

I’m not asking Democrats to support the Republicans; I am asking that Democrats support America. Democrats have a powerful and pervasive force on their side; the culture of hate.  If not abated, it can destroy this great country.

Lieutenant General, US Army retired, Marvin L. Covault is the author of, VISION TO EXECUTION, a book for leaders.

 

 

 

 

 

 MEDIA FRENZY OR MEDIA MENACE

 

Question, should we be worried about the national mainstream media; the TV networks, major newspapers and news magazines? I believe so. I have been a news junky for decades. Back in the day a “story” consisted of persons, places or things, facts, good, bad, and left us with enough information to draw our own conclusions.

Bernstein and Woodward, of Watergate days, began a journalistic shift with their “investigative reporting”. We began raising a generation of reporters who, rather than write the story, wanted to become the story and famous.

If I was to chart journalism since Watergate, I would have the line trending generally up in favor of more editorializing and politicizing. But, in just the past 2 years, that line on the chart has gone almost vertical with daily doses of hysteria and hate.

Mainstream media reporting has moved dramatically left on the political spectrum. Millions of Americans are subjected to opinionated, far left or even incorrect reporting, day after day, month after month, until they are inclined to think, “since that’s all I hear or read maybe it is the truth”.  But, is it?

I do not want to paint all journalists with this same brush. We know there are tens of thousands of radio, newspaper and TV journalists in small towns and cities who are absolutely true to their profession.  But the local journalists are not reaching the tens of millions every day like mainstream media does.

Is there a double standard today in media reporting? Take a look at just a few of the nation’s biggest issues over the past few years.

Some of President Obama’s notables: He criticized NATO for not paying their fair share but did nothing about it. He made no effort to work unfair and uneven trade. Sold 20% of US uranium stocks to Russia. ISIS evolved from nothing into a califate and was growing in 40 countries. Millions of illegal migrant gang members, felons, drug dealers and terrorist entered the US. When he left office, only one of three combat brigades in the US Army was fully combat ready; only 50% of the Air Force planes could fly.  The middle class, size and income, declined. Americans on food stamps reached the highest level ever in raw numbers and as a percentage of US population. Manufacturing continued to move overseas. North Korea nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs went into final stages, unabated. Obama could not get proper stairs to deplane in China. He bowed to the Saudi king and got nothing in return. In 32 quarters, never moved the GDP to 3% growth. Smothered America in new regulations. Tried for 8 years to work out of a recession with “tax and spend” economics; impossible to do. Yes, all of these made the news but for the most part the mainstream media gave Obama a pass.

Trump notables in 18 months: He looked NATO leaders in the eye and demanded they pay their fair share; they are responding. First-ever meeting with a North Korea leader and has a signed commitment to “completely denuclearize”. He deleted massive regulation, cut taxes and jump-started the economy. He is working all the big issues with China. Renegotiating all the bad trade deals and tariffs. Met with the Saudi King and got them involved in Middle East security. Got out of an Iran deal that was leading directly to nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles.  ISIS is nearly defeated. He has reduced illegal border crossings by over 70%.  Minority unemployment is the lowest in history.  We have more people working today than ever before. Sanctions are back on Iran and Tehran protesters are calling for a new Iranian government. The mainstream media gives Trump little or no credit for these positive initiatives and for the most part has played them for days with intense negative emotionalism.

The evidence points toward an undeniable mainstream media double standard.  The questions are, can it get better, and if so should it get better?  Yes, it should; the mainstream media professional journalists should stand above the vitriolic banter that is too often on display today.

Can this media bias be fixed? I don’t know if it will be, but I do know where to start.  There are probably about a hundred senior leaders of the nation’s largest mainstream media corporations. With a simple decision memo, those leaders have the power to dictate that, one, reporting in their organization will be from a centrist political position and, two, re-introduce their reporters and broadcasters to the world of proper journalism.

An observation; without credibility, the fourth estate is powerless. A question; is the mainstream media self-destructing in its daily attempt to slay a perceived dragon?  We may be there now.

Lieutenant General, US Army retired, Marvin L. Covault is the author of Vision to Execution, a book for leaders.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMMIGRATION

Immigration in the United States is a colossal, embarrassing mess.  There are two parts to the mess.  One, the current immigration law using a lottery system and the provisions that allow a legal immigrant to bring along a large number of extended family members.  We simply need a new law that bases edibility on merit.

Secondly, there is the problem of what to do with the estimated 10-12 million illegal immigrants currently inside the U.S. borders.  Mass amnesty is not a viable solution because it is just plain stupid. Amnesty for 10 million illegals would set a precedent and open the flood gates along every U.S. border to millions more who want to come to America. In a few years’ time we would be faced with another 10 million illegals to deal with.

The purpose of what follows is to deal with the second problem.  THIS PLAN WILL W0RK

 

IMMIGRATION REFORM PLAN

1. All persons residing in the U.S. are supposed to fall into one of three categories; that is, a U.S. citizen or those with a Green Card permanent resident status or temporary inhabitants with Visitor or Student Visas. However, an estimated eleven million inhabitants exist outside those categories; WE DO NOT KNOW WHO THEY ARE OR WHERE THEY RESIDE. They are undocumented and therefore illegal inhabitants.

2. Administrations have, for decades, been dealing with the illegal migration problem to not avail.This proposed Immigration Reform Plan is simple yet comprehensive, self-policing and it will work.

3. The objective of this Immigration Reform Plan is to document every U.S. inhabitant. Everyone undocumented is subject to deportation.  Currently legal inhabitants have a Social Security number or a Green Card or a Visa.  The “document” for the undocumented inhabitants will be an Illegal Alien Card (for simplicity, hereafter referred to as the IACard). The cards will have the high technology of a drivers’ license to inhibit counterfeiting; will be changed and reissued annually; and each card will contain a picture, fingerprint and an IACard number assigned from a U.S. central registry.  This is a multi-phased operation but the Immigration Reform Plan can be fully operational within a few months after being signed into law.

4. This plan is simple, self-regulating, and does not require supplemental regulations or a federal bureaucracy to execute.

5. Phase One, July, Aug, Sep 2018: The President prepares a 10-page law based on the procedures explained herein followed by Congressional passage of the Immigration Reform Plan.  The language in the law must be very specific and not subject to interpretation or change by States or local authorities.  The reason for specificity in the law is to preclude the requirement for federal bureaucrats to interpret the law and re-write it into policy with unintended consequences.

6. Phase Two, Oct, Nov, Dec 2018: Each State will set up IACard registration sites.  A logical solution is to add one or two positions to every DMV office.  Additionally, in Phase Two, every law enforcement agency in the United States will forward information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation on every felony committed by an undocumented inhabitant (who, what, when and where).  The FBI will establish and maintain a national database of these cases which allows for an immediate check against an application for an IACard.

7. Phase Three, Jan -Jun 2019: Every undocumented inhabitant in the U.S. will report to an IAC registration site in the state where they reside in accordance with a published alphabetical schedule (last name beginning in A, B, C, or D report during January, 2019, etc.).  If the applicant has a felony conviction, that person will be taken into custody, deported and will NEVER be eligible for an IACard.  This is an example of the specificity of the language that must be in the Immigration Reform Law; one strike and out.  Prior to appearing at the IACard registration site, each applicant must download a Federal Form, Employer’s Statement of Employment, fill it out and have it signed by their employer. No employer signature, no IACard.  The form must contain a statement of strong penalties for any employer signing a false statement.  Registration fee for the IACard is $50 per year.

(As time passes and this plan has not yet been executed, simply slide the dates in above paragraphs 5, 6 and 7 forward.)

WHEN PHASE 3 ENDS IT WILL NEVER BE REPEATED.  EVERY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT IN THE UNITED STATES ON THIS DATE IS EITHER A LEGAL HOLDER of an IACard or THEY ARE DEPORTABLE.  That is, by 1 July, 2019 we will know (probably about 10 million) who is employed, where they live, where they work, what they do and how many direct family (spouse and children) members they have.  The remaining 1 million non-IACard holders need to be located and deported.

8. Phase Four, July 2019: This is the phase that begins to change behavior and thereby solve the dual problems of undocumented inhabitants and unsecured borders.

On 1 July, 2019, the day following the initial 6-month registration period any employer who employs an undocumented worker (no IACard) will be subject to a fine of $25,000 for each worker, first offense; $50,000 each worker, second offense. No exceptions, no excuses. No employer is going to risk his livelihood over the employment of an illegal alien. Laws change behavior and add accountability of employers into the immigration solution.

This simple act of requiring illegal aliens to carry an IACard will have four positive and immediate results:

• First, employers will protect themselves from potentially heavy fines by only hiring inhabitants who have a valid IACard.

• Second, undocumented inhabitants who choose not to apply for an IACard or were denied an IACard will not be able to find an employer who will take them on. They will therefore be unemployable, will be constantly liable for deportation if detained for any reason and will likely return to their country of citizenship.

• Third, foreigners contemplating illegal entry into the United States in order to work will soon learn that no employer is going to hire them and illegal entry will be futile. This inevitable behavior change will, by default, reduce illegal immigration to a trickle.

• This will provide Border Patrol officers the opportunity to concentrate their efforts on the illegal entry of drugs, terrorists, gang members and those operating in the slave/sex trade.

9. Phase Five, 1 July 2020: This phase begins the twelve-month reissue of IACards; $50 fee.  The card color will change each calendar year.  ONLY (again, specificity in the law) those inhabitants holding an IACard can receive a renewal card.  Additionally, they will be denied renewal if they have been unemployed and made less than $5000 or if they have been convicted of a felony.  Once denied, they will be detained, deported and NEVER receive another card. Any IACard that is not renewed by the annual renewal date will automatically be moved to the government’s deportation list.

10. In order to fund the Immigration Reform Law, a provision in the law will require IACard holders to pay 10% Federal income taxes on earned income. Employers must issue a 1099 using the individual’s IACard number to identify them to the IRS.  The IRS will establish a National Registry of Card numbers and the data base will list earned income and taxes paid for the previous year.  During the IACard renewal process, the registration center will immediately access the IRS data base to determine if the applicant has in fact been employed, made at least $5000 and paid taxes.  No tax records, no renewal and the applicant will be detained and deported.  The Federal Government will retain 2% of the tax revenue to fund three national data bases for The Immigration Reform Plan. The remaining 8% will be returned to the States in proportion to the number of IACard holders.

11. Any IACard holder convicted of a felony will have his card pulled, be detained and deported. That person’s file and IACard number will be annotated at the national registry to ensure that any future attempts to reapply will be denied.

12. An IACard holder who loses his or her job may immediately place an employment application to a National IACard holder registry website maintained by the Department of Labor. This database will describe the IACard holder’s skills and be broken down by zip code.  An employer seeking to hire, for example, a carpenter has two options. One is to make direct contact with an IACard holder; second is to review the Department of Labor national data base of unemployed IACard holders.

13. There will be four related national data bases associated with this plan. First is the basic national data base with the personal data and card number of each IACard holder.  Second is the data base of active IACard holders maintained by the IRS.  Third, is the data base of undocumented known felons in the US; maintained by the FBI.  Finally, there is the jobs-available register at the Dept of Labor.

14. An IACard holder will have the following four privileges:

• One, they may apply for a State vehicle operator’s license and will be tested in English. A provision of the law will be that every State must prominently display the individual’s IACard number on the State Driver’s License. Additionally, every applicant must show proof of auto insurance.

• Two, a current IACard will authorize the holder to legally cross US borders.

• Three, legal holders may apply for an IACard Dependent Card (using the sponsor’s IACard number with a suffix) for their spouse and children (no extended family members). If granted, the sponsor will be authorized to escort the dependents across the U.S. border.

• Four, after legally holding an IACard for five consecutive years, that person is eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship for themselves and their immediate family (spouse and children).

15. Remember, these people are here illegally. Therefore, they will NOT be eligible for social security, welfare payments of any kind, food assistance programs, Medicaid, or social services.  This will save hundreds of billions of dollars per year in federal and state assistance payments.

16. Children born to IACard holders in the U.S. will NOT automatically be granted U.S. citizenship. If, however, the parents eventually gain citizenship, dependent children under the age of 18 will also be granted citizenship.  This law will undoubtedly be challenged in the courts. The current law is based on post-Civil War intent to protect children born to freed slaves who had no documentation to substantiate their citizenship.  That law should be updated as part of the Immigration Reform Plan

17. Conclusions:

• Is this plan doable? Yes. Is it 100% full proof? No, but no system can be.

• This plan is an efficient, simple, inexpensive way to document nearly every US inhabitant.

• This plan will readily identify illegal inhabitants who are currently a drain on Federal and State support systems and provide for their deportation.

• If employers want foreign workers, they must become involved and accountable. Their only requirements are to hire IACard holders and to report employee earnings on a 1099.

• This program will drastically reduce the practice of unscrupulous and frequently deadly human trafficking.

• Enforcement: Let’s say a person is stopped for a traffic violation.  If the driver’s license contains an IA Card number the law enforcement officer can immediately access the FBI data base to determine if the person has a felony conviction, if the card is overdue for annual renewal or if the person is on the FBI’s deportation list.  If any violations are found, the alien will be arrested, detained and deported.

• For this to work two things have to happen. First, the Congress has to pass a pure, non-watered down, straight-talk law with specificity that is not subject to interpretation by bureaucrats at the Federal, State or Local levels.  Secondly, the FBI, IRS and Department of Labor, will need to develop high-speed, simple, secure, data bases that are immediately accessible by State and Local officials.  We cannot afford to create a bungling bureaucratic morass like the current Immigration and Naturalization Service.

• Immigration reform is not about amnesty or open borders; it is about accountability and changing behavior.

Lt Gen Marvin L. Covault, US Army retired, is the author of Vision to Execution, a book for leaders.

 

 

 

 

Culture is a powerful and pervasive force in any organization. An “organization” could be a small team of two or three individuals or it could be the whole country.

We know that every individual has a definable personality; bubbly, solemn, introverted, optimistic, the list is long.  Culture is like the personality of an organization; caring, harsh, entrepreneurial, bureaucratic; again, a long list.

In the 1990s a new culture began to emerge.  It started with a new meaning for the word “spin”. When a potentially negative issue emerged, the Clinton White House would “spin” the issue to make it look as though someone else was to blame. The blame game took root, grew and migrated to the US Congress and transformed it into today’s blame-everything, dysfunctional, grid locked organization.  And then it spread across the country. Today we have an engrained culture of blame.

Now the country is trending towards a culture of hate and it is moving like a wild fire.

Hate: “to dislike intensely or passionately; feel extreme aversion for or extreme hostility toward; detest.”

A few days ago, President Trump was on Capitol Hill to meet with Congressional leaders. While walking down a hallway, a US Senate intern, Caitlin Marriott, yelled out, “Mr. President, f_ _ _ you.”

Homeland Security Secretary Nielsen was recently driven out by protesters while having dinner in a restaurant. So-called celebrates are routinely applauded during televised programs when they use the most vile and disrespectful language to degrade someone while millions watch on TV. The list is long.

And somehow, we are led to believe by much of the media that this type of behavior is acceptable. This kind of behavior is not about freedom of speech, it is about where that “speech” is taking the country.

And here is the worst part. Babies are not born with hatred in their little hearts. They know nothing of the concept of disrespect and bigotry. But they will learn hatred, bullying, the use of vindictive language, disregard for civil discourse at home, in school and from the media. A culture of hate is already on track to become a generational problem, just like a culture of segregation was for 100 years.

Hatemonger: “one who incites others to hatred or prejudice”.

If Maxine Waters would contemplate where this culture of hate might be leading the country, perhaps she would not be using her position to insight people to seek out multiple senior administration officials and attempt to drive them from their service to the nation.

Wake up America or you will someday wake up to an America you don’t know. An America that has lost its goodness. An America that has completely lost its way.

Watching the culture of hate grow and doing nothing is not an option. Get on social media and sound off with a logical counter argument.  Write to companies and boycott their products if they advertise with media which is supportive of hatemongering. Get together and send a barrage of emails to politicians like Maxine Waters who encourage hatemongering.

There must be consequences for vile public behavior. Caitlin Marriott, (who shouted “F_ _ _ you Mr. President”) is an intern for US Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH). The Senator’s punishment was to send Marriott home for a week of forced vacation. An alternative for the Senator would have been to call Ms. Marriott into her office, give the young lady a tongue-lashing she may never forget about proper decorum, pull her badge and have the Capital Police escort her out of the building. There would certainly have been a media backlash about that “severe” punishment. But the Senator would be siting securely on the moral high ground.

Civil discourse, agreeing to disagree and the golden rule are in danger of becoming a thing of the past.

Sometimes I find it instructive to look at issues by putting them on a spectrum of behavior; that is, look at the polar opposites.  Good/evil. Selfless/self-serving. Accountability/blame. Then there is today’s issue with hate on one end of the spectrum and on the other end is trust, respect and love. We have to get on the correct side of the hate spectrum

The most important thing we can do to keep the kids from learning to hate is to teach them something different. The kids need a daily dose of character training; every K-12 student in the United States; all 60 million of them. Every day for 20 minutes. It can be done. It is a proven concept. It is within the art of the possible. I just happen to have a completed concept paper for a national campaign to make it happen.

Lieutenant General, US Army retired, Marvin L. Covault is the author of Vision to Execution, a book for leaders.