Paul Luvera Journal

Like someone who drank more than they should have and paid the price the next day, I watched too much of the confirmation hearing involving judge Kavanaugh yesterday. It was disturbing enough that it kept me awake that night. Aside from the controversy over whether Brett Kavanaugh did sexually assault Dr. Ford or not, he clearly and undisputedly demonstrated by his conduct that he is not qualified to be on the United States Supreme Court. He is thoroughly lacking the…

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In 1980 the late Roger Dangerfield starred in a movie Caddyshack as the character Al Czervik. Dangerfield portrays everyone's worst nightmare for his lack of social skills, total insensitivity and bad manners. In the movie he is a wealthy person who has "crashed" an exclusive golf country club where he goes about insulting everyone around him. Here are some examples from the movie: Al Czervik:  Hey Doll, can  you scare up another round for our table over here? And tell the cook…

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In February of this year I lamented the apparent demise of honesty in American government, with particular focus on our president. https://paulluverajournalonline.com/weblog/2018/02/public-service-involves-an-obligation-of-honesty-integrity-and-character-whats-happened-to-american-.html Michiko Kakutani has written a book The Death of Truth. It was reviewed by Chris Hayes in the Sunday, July 29 New York Times. Hayes, who is a host of "All In" on capital MSNBC, begins his review: "The president is a liar. He lies about matters of the utmost consequence (nuclear diplomacy) and about the most trivial (his golf…

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 For the uninformed, a demolition derby typically consists of five or more cars that compete to win by the drivers deliberately ramming their vehicles into one another until there is only one left that is capable of being driven which becomes the "winner." Popular at county fairs and festivals, the mechanical mayhem is very loud, dramatic and chaotic to watch, as cars repeatedly crash into each other until there is only one left that is capable of driving. Soon, the…

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I was amazed to read that a conservative political analyst and commentator, Mona Charen, was loudly booed at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in March of this year. This is the largest annual gathering of conservatives. She surprised those in attendance when she criticized President Trump for his sexual misconduct and for the hypocrisy of the the GOP as well as evangelicals in failing to condemn his conduct even though they were quick to condemn others for the same…

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Between 1776 and 1788 Edward Gibbon, an English historian, published six volumes The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. He discussed the reasons for the collapse of the Roman Empire and some bear a clear resemblance to the United States today. These include Gibbon's pointing to Rome's  (1) over economic spending and debt (2) over-expansion and military overspending (3) government corruption, political instability and political incompetence (4) economic disparity resulting in a divide between the rich…

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Warning: If you are a Donald Trump supporter you won't like this blog posting.  My friend Mark D. Swendsen, Sr. and I have shared ideas including those dealing with politics. Mark has been a California attorney for four decades and a former hostage negotiator. He has published books and lectured. He has monitored the presidential campaign and Donald Trump. I asked him to comment on the Trump election and here are his views which I share: THE SECOND COMING Donald…

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When Captain Kirk wanted to be transported back to the Starship Enterprise he would command chief engineer Scotty to "Beam me up." The politics in Washington make me feel as if I am on the wrong planet. The political lunacy is like being in an alien world run by beings whose chief goal appears to be to eliminate all government involvement in society. They act like the anarchists of the 1920's whose objective was to eliminate government and create a society…

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I'm continually amazed by the American voter's seemingly lack of concern about truth and honesty. Their willingness to ignore facts in order to maintain existing beliefs or support of political leaders has been demonstrated repeatedly during the presidential campaign and up to the present time. Even when the evidence is clear that they have been lied to they nevertheless too often brush it off as unimportant. One clear example is the Trump accusation about wire tapping during the campaign. Look at…

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The morning after the presidential vote was counted, I was walking in downtown Seattle, hurrying to get back to our hotel when I tripped and fell landing on the sidewalk splitting my lip and breaking a tooth. I had planned to blame it on Donald trump's election because I was upset but, the truth is I was not being careful. A very kind young man, Albert, helped me  up and then walked me the remaining several blocks back to the hotel and made sure I was all right. I was upset enough…

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