Posted inDonald Trump National politics

The world condemns Putin for invading Ukraine. Trump praises Putin.

The depths of depravity to which Donald Trump will sink appear to be bottomless. As Putin was invading Ukraine, Trump was calling the ex-KGB authoritarian ruler of Russia a smart guy for sending his military into a sovereign nation without any good reason. Donald Trump on Wednesday called Russian President Vladimir Putin "very smart" for launching a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, suggesting that he supports a military conflict that will lead to untold civilian death.  "I mean, he's taken over a country for $2 worth of sanctions. I'd say that's pretty smart," Trump said during a Mar-a-Lago fundraiser. "He's taking…
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Posted inCity of Salem Police reform

Here’s how Salem police killed a man for lousy reasons

A few days ago I wrote a blog post about how angry I was that Salem police killed a mentally ill homeless man after he failed to comply with a traffic stop when he failed to come to a complete stop upon exiting a parking lot. A moving violation shouldn't be a death sentence. But as I said in "Killing of mentally ill man shows Salem police are incompetent," the officers involved in killing Richard Meyers did a lot wrong in the early morning of February 7. In this post I want to use excerpts from a February 17 press…
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Posted inCity of Salem Police reform

Killing of mentally ill man shows Salem police are incompetent

Angry. Pissed-off. Furious. That's how I feel after reading stories about how a grand jury found Salem Police were justified in shooting and killing Richard Meyers, a mentally ill homeless man whose "crime" was failing to pull out of a parking lot without stopping. In Salem, as elsewhere in the country, that will be a death sentence if you have the bad luck of encountering incompetent police officers who are clueless or uncaring about deescalating a situation, choosing instead to shoot first and think afterward. Maybe you think "incompetent" is too strong a word. Actually, it isn't. If a grandmother…
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Posted inChuck Bennett

Wife of Salem’s Mayor makes anti-Muslim remarks

Chuck Bennett is the Mayor of Salem, Oregon. Cherie is his wife. Below is a You Tube video of a portion of a video someone sent me of a slide presentation by the Bennetts about their trip to London. One of the slides  In this part of the video Cherie Bennett speaks disparagingly of Muslims after noting the location of London terrorist attacks. I made a transcript of what she said. Given the nature of the terror attacks, it was truly shocking to see huge ads on buses promoting Muslim organizations and issues, calling for support of Muslim charities. "For…
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Posted inCity of Salem Police reform

Shameful secrecy surrounds killing of man by Salem police

The more I learn about last Monday's killing of a man by three Salem police officers who fired their weapons after the man drove into Northgate Park following an attempted traffic stop, the angrier I get. I'm angry that a homeless man with mental health problems is dead. I'm angry that the Salem Police Department won't say why the officers shot Richard Meyers or if he was armed. I'm angry that the Oregon State Police, which is investigating the killing, are using the grand jury system as an excuse to not provide any information about how and why Meyers died.…
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Posted inCity of Salem Police reform

Salem police not being transparent about recent killing by officers

Early Monday morning, officers with the Salem Police Department shot and killed a man who drove into Northgate Park after police attempted a traffic stop.  I'm bothered that the Salem Police Department isn't saying what led to the shooting, or if the man was armed. An OPB story describes what happened. It's unclear what caused the death of the man's dog. Salem police officers fatally shot a man Monday during what officers called a “confrontation.” The shooting happened at Northgate Park, and began as a traffic stop. A dog that was with the man was injured in the shooting, and…
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Posted inSalem-Keizer school district

Salem Keizer We Stand Together is a wacko school group

Today the Statesman Journal ran a lengthy subscriber-only story by Natalie Pate, "School boards in the Mid-Valley and beyond have become political battlegrounds."  It's well worth reading. In looking the story over again before writing this blog post, my attention was hijacked by a mention early on about Salem Keizer We Stand Together, a group dedicated to the false conspiracy theory that our local schools are hotbeds of leftist teachers and administrators pushing students to embrace critical race theory, premarital sex, Marxism, and a LGBTQ sexual orientation. But the story almost makes Salem Keizer We Stand Together sound reasonable.  What curriculum…
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Posted inDonald Trump National politics

Read how the Republican Party views the insurrection as normal

The Republican Party now officially supports the violent insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021 that sought to overturn Biden's free and fair election and make Trump the presidential victor. Today the Republican National Committee approved the resolution below. I'll also share it as a PDF file.Download RNC Resolution It states in the last "WHEREAS" that those who stormed the Capitol, injuring hundreds of police officers and leading to several deaths, were "ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse."  Shameful. Unpatriotic. Disgusting. Keep this in mind next time you see a ballot with an R after someone's name. Don't…
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Posted inJoe Biden National politics

Why I’m worried about Putin invading Ukraine

Most Americans don't seem to be very worried about the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, invading Ukraine, even though Putin has massed over a hundred thousand troops on the Ukraine border, along with everything needed to invade the country that used to be part of the Soviet Union. But I'm deeply concerned. Here's some reasons. First, being 73, I grew up during the height of the Cold War. Above-ground nuclear tests were being conducted in Nevada on the other side of the Sierra Nevada mountains where I lived in California. People were building bomb shelters and stockpiling supplies in case…
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Posted inChuck Bennett City Council City of Salem

Mayor Bennett accused of Climate Action Plan shenanigans

It's rare that I get to use "shenanigans," since that's an old-fashioned word. But it came to mind when I read what Salem Mayor Chuck Bennett is being accused of by our local 350.org affiliate, 350 Salem OR. As you can read below, it does seem like Mayor Bennett is engaged in a devious, underhanded trick -- trying to undermine the Salem Climate Action Plan so NW Natural can continue polluting the atmosphere with dangerous greenhouse gases. I've got more to say after the 350 Salem OR news release. -------------------------------------------------- January 26, 2022FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   Contact: Phil Carver, Co-Coordinator (503) 562-9878…
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Posted inCoronavirus

“I’m done with Covid” is a selfish ignorant attitude

Last Friday, Bill Maher had Bari Weiss, a writer and podcaster, on his HBO Real Time show. Weiss said that she was "done with Covid," which led to she and Maher engaging in an irritating diatribe against Covid restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. If you have a high tolerance for largely fact-free ranting, here's a You Tube video of that part of the show. The Democratic congressman from New York is a breath of fresh air, but he wasn't able to correct all of the misstatements made by Weiss and Maher. Joe Berkowitz provides a counterpoint…
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Posted in2022 election Joe Biden National politics

Here’s my plan about how Biden can bounce back

Ten days ago I wrote about how bothered I am by how poorly Biden has been performing as president. Today I watched Meet the Press and saw that I'm not alone in being disappointed by Biden. But after sharing some of the bad news on Meet the Press, I'm gong to light a Biden candle instead of cursing the darkness of his dismal poll results at this point in his presidency. So scroll past the depressing (unless you're a Republican) photos I took of some survey results, and you'll find my prescription for how Biden can restore the mojo that…
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Posted inCity of Salem Police reform

Salem Police Department involved with controversial PowerPoint slide

Recently a highly controversial slide was found at the end of a PowerPoint presentation used to train police officers in crowd control methods. A January 14 Willamette Week story, "Portland Police Included 'Prayer of the Alt Knight' Meme in Protest Training Presentation," contains an image of the slide, along with what it said, since the image is kind of hard to read. “And the Lord said...Woe be unto you, dirty hippy;For thou stinketh of patchouli and BO;For thou talk of Marx, yet know him not;For thous hast bills, yet have not paid;For thou hast dreadlocks and white skin.And so I…
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Posted inJoe Biden National politics

I’m a loyal Democrat who’s already tired of Joe Biden

Joe Biden was really appealing when the alternative was Donald Trump. But after a year of Biden's presidency, my attitude toward him ranges from grudging acceptance to outright irritation. Today I'm at the bottom of my personal Joe Biden approval rating. And there's a good chance my mood is going to darken further. I've got this theory -- not exactly original to me -- that a person's good qualities also are their bad qualities. It just depends on how those qualities are expressed, and their context. Along with lots of other people, I relished having a calm, competent, low-key president…
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Posted inCity Council Police reform

Councilor Nordyke makes progress on mobile crisis unit

Thanks to Councilor Vanessa Nordyke, last night the Salem City Council approved a motion to have city staff prepare a report about a mobile crisis unit pilot project. She was happy in a Facebook post. And humble, because the staff report that was approved was written by her. Here's Nordyke's approved proposal. The pilot project would be a civilian-led mobile crisis unit similar to CAHOOTS in Eugene to respond to calls for service involving persons experiencing homelessness or behavioral health crisis and would likely be for one year. Staff is directed to consult with CAHOOTS of Eugene regarding what this…
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Posted in2022 election Jackie Leung Oregon politics

Brad Witt jumps into Salem’s HD 19 race, all the way from Clatskanie

Currently Brad Witt is a member of the Oregon House, representing HD 31 -- which consists of most of Columbia County and parts of Washington and Multnomah counties. But recently Witt formed a campaign committee to be elected in HD 19 -- which is in Salem. Here's a map of HD 19, which definitely doesn't include Clatskanie, where Witt says he lives. So how is it that Witt appears ready to challenge two Salem city councilors, Tom Andersen and Jackie Leung, in the May HD 19 Democratic primary? Currently he isn't shown as having filed for this race, but as…
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Posted in2022 election Oregon politics

Nicholas Kristof’s Governor run stumbles before it starts

When I heard that Nicholas Kristof, a former columnist for the New York Times, was running to be Oregon's Governor, I was enthused.  Wow, a non-politician who, unlike Trump, was intelligent, knowledgeable about the world, and obviously a sophisticated communicator. I started following Kristof on Twitter. I enjoyed his cogent well-written tweets, along with appealing photos of his family at their Yamhill County farm. But now I've soured on Kristof. Yesterday the Oregon Secretary of State, Shemia Fagan, ruled that Kristof didn't meet the residency requirement to run for Governor. The Oregon Capital Chronicle, a great news source, said in…
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Posted inCity Council Police reform

Councilor Nordyke pushing hard for mobile crisis unit

I'm tempted to call this a cage fight between Vanessa Nordyke, Salem City Councilor, and Trevor Womack, Salem Police Chief, over the establishment of a civilian-run mobile crisis unit. Oops. Looks like I gave in to that temptation. Nordyke looks sweet and gentle. But my advice to Womack is to throw in the towel now before you get thrashed by her. A few days ago Nordyke announced in a Facebook post that she wants City of Salem staff to prepare a report on the feasibility of a mobile crisis unit. Note the language: "civilian-led mobile crisis unit." Those are fighting…
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Posted in2022 election Donald Trump National politics

Every Republican candidate should answer four questions

Our democracy is in grave danger. Not from an outside enemy. From within -- the Republican Party. This is a tweet shared on MSNBC today. MAGA, of course, is Trump's slogan: Make America Great Again. If only Republican leaders were behind the party's anti-democracy movement, there wouldn't be as much reason for concern. Or, panic. But two-thirds of Republicans wrongly believe Biden wasn't elected legitimately. Trump's Big Lie that the election was stolen from him has infected the minds of a clear majority of Republicans. This has made agreeing with the Big Lie a prerequisite for Republican candidates who want…
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Posted inLand use

Take a few minutes to help save 30 beautiful acres in Salem

If you love trees and open space -- who doesn't? -- please consider taking a couple of minutes to help save the 30-acre Meyer Farm property near Trader Joe's in south Salem from being turned into a subdivision. Back in October 2021 I wrote a blog post about this, "Thirty-acre Meyer Farm property in south Salem may be developed." If you drive past Trader Joe's on Hilfiker Lane SE, on your left you'll see a surprising urban sight: thirty acres of beautiful undeveloped land.  Unfortunately, there's a decent chance that before too long this property will become thirty acres of…
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