Human Rights – Jerry Sturgill

Truth Will Prevail

In this tumultuous time, and on this Martin Luther King Day, I pray for truth, as would Dr. King, if he were here.

“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

For decades, this country has allowed political leaders to mislead and misrepresent. The last four years have witnessed a stunning acceleration of untruth.

Foreign hackers, extremist groups, cable news and even elected officials, are complicit in the assault on truth.

The consequences include last week’s tragic loss of life and damage to democracy. Our hearts ache, as would Dr. King’s, if he were here.

We can only hope that we are at a turning point. That our better natures will emerge, and that minds and hearts will open.

I plead with those who are convinced (or could be convinced) of the alternative realities that have brought us here. I plead for recognition and rejection of dangerous lies and conspiracy theories.

I pray for my own patience and humility to engage in respectful conversation, to find goodness and truth in those who see the world differently from me. I pray for the ability to love unconditionally.

I agree with these words of Dr. King:

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Truth will prevail—and may it be sooner than later!

Let’s Practice Abundance

We are living in a time dominated by selfish pursuit of the “zero sum game.” Instead we should practice “abundance.”

The legendary San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Steve Young, was in Boise last week and spoke at this year’s Idaho Innovation Awards banquet. About a thousand Idaho business leaders leaned forward to capture every word.

Young described certain “truths” he learned on the football field, including this one: a team wins when its members admire each other, cooperate and share (in successes and failures).

By contrast, teams more likely to lose are those divided by pursuers of self-interest, who grab success to themselves, deflect personal responsibility and blame others for failure.

Steve called the first approach one of “abundance” and the second, the “zero-sum game.”

Sharing of abundance brings people together. The zero-sum game pits them against each other in self-centered and self-defeating competitions for fame and fortune.

Great leaders — like Steve Young, his longtime coach, Bill Walsh, and successful CEOs everywhere — advocate for abundance and deploy strategies to fight the tendencies to the zero-sum game. They promote measures that foster acceptance, interaction, mutual affection, respect, collaboration and cooperation.

This analysis resonates with truth and applies in every setting that involves groups of human beings.

Families and children do better in caring, supportive environments, where love, respect and compassion prevail. Neighborhoods that share these values are more supportive and resilient.

Businesses and employees do better when managers and employees admire, support and encourage each other in accomplishing a shared vision.

Cities, states and countries flourish if their constituents share common purpose, accept and value diversity and seek the best for the greatest number. The adage that “everybody does better when everybody does better” is true.

By contrast, in the zero-sum game, only one side or party can win. But the winning is selective and short-lived. It may only last for the few who selfishly push others down to capture all benefit and recognition to themselves.

The zero-sum game results in factions and tribes and promotes distrust and fear. These ends are accomplished through bullying techniques that include finger pointing, name calling, misrepresentation, exaggeration and rumor of conspiracy.

This approach leads to broken families, dysfunctional neighborhoods, failed businesses, and divided cities, states and countries — riven with anger, fear, belligerence and violence.

Surely, we can agree on this: the zero-sum game approach is destructive of individual and group potential and tears at the fabric of our social and political institutions.

In today’s zero sum game environment, we must strive for a mentality of abundance — to find common good and common ground; to accept and respect one another; to listen carefully and respond thoughtfully; and, to lift each other up rather than pushing each other down.

With this, we, individually and as a people, will be happier and stronger.

Without it, we won’t.

Celebrating MLK Day

In this seemingly regressive period in our history, we still have a dream.

Some say the outcome of the last election has an optimistic “silver lining”: our values have been challenged and, in response, we have risen to their defense. I know I feel this effect.

The other night we watched the first episode of David Letterman’s new Netflix show. It reminded me of an experience last year, when I was on a business trip to Washington, D.C.

My last meeting was on a Friday and I decided to stay through Saturday to visit the newest Smithsonian Museum–the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC).

It was powerful. I was deeply moved by my visit. What followed, though, was unexpected and raw.

So much so, I recorded it with a poem, which I would like to share today, in honor of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and all who have been inspired and motivated by his words and example.

Friday at the New Museum

Closing time at the newest of the Smithsonian’s–
The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC)–
On a warm Friday evening in Washington, D.C.,
I must have been the last, most reluctant visitor to be urged out the door.

I wandered across to the Mall,
Up to the Washington Monument
To look down to the Lincoln Memorial below, and the other way
To the Capitol Building hovering in the distance.

As I walked, I contemplated my visit
To this most important new museum,
With its auburn lattice work reaching upward,
Like lifted hands, toward the sky.

It had stirred me to my core,
As much–or more—
Than nearly anything
Before.

From my visit, I felt sadness for its record of abuse and holding back;
Anger for national plagues of “white” superiority and willingness to exploit;
Awareness of the effects of my own privileged “identity”;
Shame for my race, and a more certain desire to be cleansed.

Near the top of the hill, along the path,
Below the towering white obelisk of the Washington Monument:
I saw a mobile Jumbotron, and wandered in its direction.
It was looping the infamous “Access Hollywood” video of the last election.

There was the face and voice of the now President–
And his sad example of this other form of
Domination and abuse.
Boasting. Blathering.

Behind the Jumbotron, in the distance,
Shrinking behind the trees,
As if with shame,
The White House.

I glanced back, to my right, at the new NMAAHC,
Where I had just witnessed its counterpoint.
A celebration of progress,
Against hateful mythologies and persistent abuse–

Concluding with an epiphany
For the grace, goodness and precedent of
Our last First Family.
Moved by an overwhelming contrast–

I began to weep.

: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail

Tax Reform: Rage Against the Machine

The current tax legislation before the Senate, and the bill passed by the House, are evidence capitalism is being allowed to gut our democracy.

In the United States, democracy and capitalism are bad bed fellows.

Democracy aspires to give equal voice to everyone. Capitalism does the opposite with its appeal to economic greed and its transactional, competitive division of the world between “winners” and “losers.”

Democracy aspires to inclusion and compromise. Capitalism promotes self interest and conflict.

Understanding the conflict between democracy and capitalism should make us feel rage about the tax reform legislation passed by the House and now before the Senate.

With the tax legislation before Congress, capitalism is being allowed to overtake and overwhelm our democracy.

While the legislation is promoted as benefitting the middle-class, it mainly benefits the rich and the companies they own. The working middle-class and poor come last, if at all, in the list of beneficiaries.

In violation of democratic institutions and principles, the legislation is being rushed through Congress, without hearings and with purposeful avoidance of bi-partisan support or input.

How can we trust our best interests to the advocates of this legislation–to the super rich Republicans and Wall Street capitalists who control the Executive Branch and their puppets in Congress?

Senator Crapo campaigned on a platform of reducing deficits and the crushing national debt. Yet, post-election, he said this to Bloomberg:

“Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho, a member of the tax-writing Finance Committee, said Monday he wants a tax cut that’s ‘as big as we can get’ within the budget window, though he declined to put a number on it.'”

The tax cut he now supports is around $1.5 trillion and over the next 10 years, the national debt is expected to increase by at least this amount.

He is also supports the elimination of the Affordable Care Act mandate and subsidies, which will have the effect of putting affordable health insurance beyond the reach of many Idahoans. From the Washington Post:

“‘Did we take away their money? No,’ says Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho). ‘There’s not $1 taken away from them if they make that choice’ not to buy insurance.”

That is like telling homeless people, “You should be happy with all the money you’re saving because you can’t afford a home.”

Senator Risch expressed mealy-mouthed support from the Senate Floor:

“Tax reform will bring relief to American families and under the plan released by the Senate Finance Committee, middle-class Americans will see a benefit in the form of a lower tax bill, which means more money for households to bring home.”

OK? But Senator Risch is one of the wealthiest members of Congress. How will this legislation benefit his family? And what about the offsetting negative impact on poor working Idahoans of the repeal of the Affordable Care Act individual mandate?

We could only know the extent of his self-dealing and conflict of interest if he discloses the impact of the tax legislation on his and his family’s tax bill.

In summary, until the moment of the vote, we should scream at both Senators to oppose a tax bill that will add to the deficit and national debt and which contains provisions that will hurt Idahoans.

The rushed process by which this tax bill is being hurried through Congress is outrageous.

Equally outrageous: the unnecessary, long-term negative economic impact the legislation will have on our country and state. We will all end up worse off in the end.

As Corva Korax recently commented on my “Campaign for Idaho” Facebook page:

“Every tax cut for the rich is a new tax on the poor and middle class whether higher health care premiums or loss of access altogether, higher tuition, higher education costs and fewer opportunities, worse civic services.”

Amen.

Things Not Learned from Vietnam

In this particularly strange and dangerous time, we should revisit the history of the Vietnam War. It is surprising how much we have not yet learned.

I finished watching all 18 hours of Ken Burn’s and Lynn Novick’s film on the Vietnam War. If you have not seen it, you can still stream it from or buy it at the PBS website. http://www.pbs.org/show/vietnam-war/

It is truly impressive, informative and alarming.

Born on the heels of the Korean conflict, I was too young to have been exposed to the full horror of that war.

The Cold War, however, was in full chill, and U.S. engagement to combat the threat of Communism in Vietnam was escalating.

As a young child, before JFK waded into Vietnam, I remember wondering at people digging bomb shelters in their backyards. By age six, I knew about nuclear annihilation.

When Kennedy was assassinated, our kickball game against the wall of Harrison Elementary halted and we stood in stunned silence, trembling and weeping for fear of unknown threats happening beyond the boundaries of our playground.

As Vietnam unfolded under LBJ and then Nixon, the black and white basement TV screen nightly carried grainy images and horrifying reports of escalating violence, showing dead bodies, body counts, constant bombing.

One seventh grade football practice, a teammate, Charlie, was summoned away by news of his older brother, who, while serving in Vietnam, had been maimed and blinded by a land mine.

After high school, as anti-war sentiment raged, we registered for the draft and submitted to the last lottery before American withdrawal.

These memories have been resurrected and now placed in the historical narrative of the Burns/Novick documentary. Certain lessons are now clear.

Arrogance. American leadership at the time arrogantly believed the war in Vietnam could be won with overwhelming air power and young men and women with superior weaponry. This hubris led to a horrific waste of lives and materiel.

Ignorance. Blinded by this arrogance, U.S. leadership (and voters) failed to understand Vietnamese history and culture; supported authoritarian and unpopular South Vietnamese regimes; and, chronically underestimated North Vietnamese motivation and capability.

The late Sam Wilson–a former Army counter-intelligence expert and President Emeritus of Hampden-Sydney College–one of the many veteran voices included in the documentary, summarized this fateful intersection of arrogance and ignorance:

“It is very, very difficult to dispel ignorance if you retain arrogance.”

Making Enemies. Because of arrogance and ignorance, the Vietnam strategy had the effect to firming the North’s anti-American resolve, losing support in the rural areas of the South and enabling Viet Cong recruitment. America thus strengthened its enemies and alienated its allies.

Divisiveness. At the same time, Vietnam drove deepening division in our own country, giving rise to consequent hatred and extremism. The country was so divided and angry Americans even shot fellow-Americans (as at, for example, at Kent State).

Corrupt Leadership. Add to all the above stunning examples of corruption, especially of Richard Nixon, who lied about the contraction and expansion of the war and propagandized a “silent majority” (his “base”) who blindly accepted his lip service to freedom, American exceptionalism and Communist threat.

Illegal Campaign Activity; Illegitimate Presidency. Before Nixon’s first election, and to improve his prospects of winning, he made illegal contact with North Vietnamese peace negotiators and told them to back away from the peace table — this, to advantage his presidential campaign and secure his election victory. In sum, the U.S. elected a President based on misinformation and illegal political activity, someone willing to perpetuate war and sacrifice American lives for his own political gain.

I wish we could say such arrogance, ignorance, falsehood, propagandizing, hate-mongering and division could never happen again in America. That we have learned the lessons of history. Sadly, we cannot.

Our current and ongoing dysfunction arises from a noisome combination of historical ignorance, national wounds still unhealed, politicians willing to exploit division and fear, failure of educational processes and the rising gullibility of a fearsome conservative “base” unwilling to accept factual evidence or engage in critical thinking.

We can and must resist this downward national spiral, by educating ourselves and others, speaking up, getting involved, maintaining resistance and voting for change.

For historical learning, the Burns and Novick documentary is a must watch. Reading of books also helps. Would someone please tell the President?

Another Zombie Health Care Bill

We hoped it was dead! But it still isn’t. Repeal and replace has risen again. A Senate vote is expected next week.

Senators Graham (R-SC) and Cassidy (R-LA) have proposed a last ditch budget amendment. Apparently, they think the news cycle is so saturated with natural disasters we will not be paying attention to a man-made one.

cemetery hand

However, we MUST pay attention, especially here in Idaho. We should pummel our Idaho U.S. Senators with demands to vote against this terrible, zombie bill, before next week’s vote.

There is so much wrong with this process, even before you get to the relative badness of the bill. Like prior attempts at repeal and replace, Senators Graham and Cassidy, with alarming Senate and White House support, are trying to avoid the deliberative process of the Senate (remember, that failure of “regular order,” about which Senator McCain so passionately spoke in the last round).

The political subterfuge of this “rush job” is obvious and represents hyper-partisanship at its absolute worst.

The proposed process for Graham-Cassidy is even more compressed than before, and is intended to avoid exposure to political and public scrutiny.

It will squash the budding potential for bipartisan collaboration and cooperation and is a violation of democratic process. As a result, we will careen from one half-supported half-baked result to another.

Because of the short deadline, no scoring will be done by the Congressional Budget Office before a vote. Even so, the Republicans appear ready to hurry ahead, no doubt because the CBO fueled criticism of their last repeal and replace efforts.

This is like prescribing medicine before the test results are back and a proper diagnosis can be made.

As for the badness of the bill, the Graham-Cassidy amendment is clearly worse than previous repeal and replace efforts. Suffice it to say that, if passed, it would have a massive negative impact on Idaho and the rest of the country.

The insurance markets, now relatively stable, would be turned upside down. Even more people (32 million) would lose health insurance. Federal protection for people with pre-existing conditions would disappear. Planned Parenthood would be defunded. Medicaid would be crippled and ultimately disappear.

The whole idea is to kick-the-can-down-the-road to the states with block grants, shifting the burden of fixing health care to disparate state legislative and executive bodies.

The result will be an uneven system of health care “haves” and “have-nots,” with hugely damaging economic and social consequences, especially for thinly-populated, heavily-rural states like ours.

Given the poor performance of the Idaho state legislature on health care generally, Idahoans especially should be screaming “foul.”

Call our Senators, today, and every day, until next week’s vote. Senator Crapo’s number in D.C. is (202) 224-6142, and Senator Risch’s is (202) 224-2752. Call Senators McCain (202) 224-2235, Murkowski (202) 224-6665 and Collins (202) 224-2523) too, if you have time.

“And Here We Have Idaho, Winning Her Way to Fame . . .”

Idaho is a wonderful state, with many good people working together to overcome the anger and division of our time and to promote love, respect and compassion for others.

When I decided to run for the U.S. Senate in 2016, I met with friends in New York City.

“What are you going to do about those Idaho Neo-Nazis?” my friend Jon asked.

He was thinking of the Aryan Nation that once held a hateful compound near Coeur d’Alene.

“They were driven from Idaho long ago,” I stammered, surprised by the stain on our state that lingers after almost two decades.

Unfortunately, deserved or not, Idaho’s reputation for hate was reinforced on Tuesday last week with news of a 24/7 Wall Street report ranking Idaho second in the country, after Montana, for hate.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/state/idaho/article167378712.html

The Idaho “Hate Index” is based on our low population (1.7 million), the number of “hate groups” active here (12), and the percentage of the Idaho population that self-identifies as “white” (91.7%).

Based on these statistics, there are 7.1 hate groups per million people in Idaho. Number one, Montana, has 9.6 hate groups per million. Just behind (or ahead?) at number 3, Mississippi has 6.0 per million. Virginia is on the list at number 8 with 4.6.

This is damnable and damning calculus. Damnable because, whether or not accurate, it has been advertised to the nation (and world) that Idaho is a frightening, hateful state. This unjustified ranking has ramifications: among other things, it brings more haters and hate groups to Idaho and turns companies, investors and tourists away.

Want jobs? Stop hate.

Damning because even one hate group is too many and 7.1 per million suggests by comparison to Virginia that a Charlottesville is more likely to happen here.

The horrifying Charlottesville weekend should be a reminder of the urgency of constant and on-going vigilance. We must stave off hate learning, communication, empathy and increased advocacy for human rights.

Happily, among the many individuals and organizations engaged in such efforts in Idaho, two were especially active last week in the aftermath of Charlottesville.

On Tuesday last, as images of Charlottesville and stumbling political leaders filled the news, Idahoans gathered at the Anne Frank Memorial to celebrate its fifteenth anniversary and to break ground for the Marilyn Shuler Classroom for Human Rights to continue Marilyn’s inspiring legacy of teaching respect for others.

The Anne Frank Memorial is a peaceful and profound human-rights teaching park maintained by the Wassmuth Center for Human Rights, appropriately named after Bill Wassmuth who, even after his home was bombed, did not shrink from the effort to peacefully drive the Aryans from our state.

“Idaho is too great for hate!” Dan Prinzing, the Executive Director of the Wassmuth Center, declared from the podium during the ceremony at the Memorial.

On Thursday, the Black History Museum, led by its director Phillip Thompson, hosted a cathartic post-Charlottesville community forum to discuss issues of race and strategies to overcome prejudice and bias.

The museum hall was packed, with a standing room only crowd. The image of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. hung prominently over our heads. The crowded room warmed quickly and the air was heavy with post-Charlottesville anguish. The discussion was highly-inclusive and animated. When it was over and as we filed out of the building into the cool of the night, we felt comforted and inspired.

Organizations and events like these speak well of Idaho and the vast majority of Idahoans who love and respect others, regardless of color, race, gender, sexual orientation or economic status. The majority who are willing to focus what makes us the same—our shared humanity, values and purpose–rather than on what makes us different.

Sadly, since November 2016 election, both the Black History Museum and the Anne Frank Memorial have been targets of racist and anti-Semitic vandalism. Closer to home evidence of the need for vigilance.

We will fight these forces of darkness and exercise the muscles of our better nature by participating with and supporting the Wassmuth Center, the Black History Museum and the many other organizations and groups in Idaho, sectarian and non-sectarian, promoting love, respect and compassion for others.

Thank you, Dan. Thank you, Phil. With your help, for human rights, Idaho will win her way to fame.

Alt-transcript of Yesterday’s Alt-reality Press Conference at the Alt-White House, Trump Tower

President Trump has an uncanny ability to spot moral equivalence, as demonstrated in this alternative transcript of yesterday’s press conference.

. . . .

Reporter: Senator McCain said that the alt-right is behind these attacks, and he linked that same group to those who perpetrated the attack in Charlottesville.

Trump: Well, I don’t know. I can’t tell you. I’m sure Senator McCain must know what he’s talking about. But when you say the alt-right…uh, define alt-right to me. You define it. Go ahead.

[Cross talk. Reporters shout questions.]

Trump: No, define it for me. Come on, let’s go.

Reporter: Senator McCain defined them as the same groups.

Trump: OK. What about the alt-left that came charging at-

[Indistinct.]

Trump: You know what? Listen. Last night I decided to do my own historical research. So, I watched the History Channel. You may not know about this, fake news, but there was a war. Not so very long ago. The alt-right was occupying France. There they were, the alt-right, minding their own business and you what? You know what? The alt-left came charging at them across the English Channel and attacked them. Surprise attack. Very violent. Very violent.

[Cross talk. Reporters shout questions.]

Trump: Excuse me, what about the alt-left that came charging at the, as you say, the alt-right. Do they have any semblance of guilt?

[Cross talk. Reporters shout questions.]

Trump: Wait a minute. I’m not finished. I’m not finished, fake news. That was a horrible day.

Reporter: Is it the same level as the Nazis?

Trump: I will tell you something. I watch TV very closely, much more closely than you people watch it, and you have- You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that, but I’ll say it right now. You had a group, you had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit, or visas, and they were very, very violent.

[Cross talk. Reporters shout questions.]

Reporter: Mr. President, are you putting what you’re calling the alt-left and alt-right on the same moral plane?

Trump: I’m not putting anybody on a moral plane.

[Stunned silence.]

. . . .

People of Good Will Unite!

We must overwhelm the attitudes of white supremacy, nationalism and insularity that take us backward and harm us all.

David Duke, KKK Imperial Wizard was correct in his weekend Tweet to @realDonald Trump: White Americans put Donald Trump in office.

By “White Americans,” though, he surely refers to members of a distinct minority for whom whiteness and white privilege is essential to identity. They cling to it desperately as they watch their whiteness diluted and dismissed as cultural and historic artifact.

Charlottesville is evidence of this virulent white minority and the sad fact that the fight for civil rights in America is not over. As hard as it is to imagine in this modern era, there are young, khaki-clad white Americans, wearing MAGA hats, who cling to a past of confederate white supremacy, anti-Semitism, slavery and segregation.

Don’t they see their mindset holds them and the rest of our society back? Overcoming such attitudes and practices has been essential to cultural and economic progress. Watch the movie Hidden Figures and wonder if we could have been first in space and sooner to the moon if American society had not committed the crimes of slavery and post-slavery segregation.

Even the Neanderthals intermingled with Homo sapiens and gave up their “big brow” identities.

Charlottesville was an odious clash between progress and those willing to do violence for their identities of color, race, religion and nationality. For what purpose?

Return to slavery? Segregation? Closed borders? Travel bans? Trade wars? All these hobble progress and diminish economic activity. The only modern hypothetical I can think of is a Walmart closing its doors to customers and allowing only its employees to do business within its walls. Its “economy” would shrink and failure would loom quickly.

Historic examples include the many failed “utopian” experiments where groups of people walled themselves away from the of rest society, “drank the Kool-Aid” and otherwise spiraled into dysfunction and self-destruction.

Diversity, acceptance, inclusiveness, respect, open doors: These are not just long-accepted American values, they are essential to American economic progress and prosperity.

Add smart investments in education, job growth and upward mobility, and the economy can soar—for the benefit of everyone.

Coming Soon: Dragging the Anchors of Economic Inequality

Charlottesville: Shadows of Darkness

The eclipse came early. The insanity abroad has been eclipsed by insanity at home. White nationalists invaded Charlottesville this weekend and the country is bathed in darkness.

When the president attributed blame for Charlottesville to “many sides,” he demonstrated an alarming moral emptiness and intellectual vacuity.

We need presidential resolve and encouragement at such a moment of national crisis.

Much has been said about this overnight, including a retributory Tweet from the “Grand Wizard” himself, David Duke. Among all the critiques, this one is perhaps the most gut wrenching.

Duke attacks the President for his ambiguity, for being an ingrate to the White Nationalists “taking back America” in Charlottesville, for his failure to take their side and for failing to condemn instead the counter-demonstrators who opposed their efforts to “preserve” White History, White Culture and White Identity.

And it was not just about color, these white boys flew and wore both Confederate and Nazi symbols, spewed anti-Semitism, pulled down rainbow flags and rejected every individual and collective quality of a diverse, pluralistic society.

This is White Darkness indeed. It expects to be unleashed from “political correctness” and “in control” with the license and leadership of a bouffant-blond, Aryan-looking White President.

These defenders of White History are the “spiritual” and intellectual descendants of the white American immigrants who, among other things, robbed the indigenous peoples of their land, killed them off with guns and disease, stole Africans from their homes, pressed them into the holds of ships to be transported like animals from Africa, and precipitated the death of millions in a civil war fought over the abominable practice of slavery. They evoke the Nazi crimes of World War II, defend the Holocaust and justify other nationalist horrors of the modern era.

Yes, Mr. President, please do look in your mirror. These people voted for you, echoed your words this weekend and proudly wore your absurd MAGA hats while they hissed their hate and wreaked their havoc. You have enabled them and by your example and, by your silence, you have left them unshackled.

I hope these White Americans represent just a small number of the white Americans who voted for you. But every white American who did, should also look in the mirror, especially the mirror of history.