Evil Lives Here

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL JUSTICE

 

Evil Lives Here

 

I sanction modern day slavery

I am the last bastion of aristocracy

I subject women to servitude

I exploit stars of the western world

With the treasure of black blood

I nip democracy in the bud

I am the Emirates

Evil lives here

 

I kill journalists for fun

I execute people on religious grounds

I suppress civil liberties

I suppress women’s rights

I think nothing of committing

Genocide on Yemeni soil

I hold the west hostage for oil

I am Saudi Arabia

Evil lives here

 

I steal western technology

I subject a religious minority to retraining

I have outlawed a free press

I have severed ties to the outside world

I think nothing of crimes against humanity

I am the champion of cheap labor

I play the west for fools

While exploiting western tools

I am China

Beast of the east

Evil lives here

 

I kill more dissidents than you can count

I invade neighbors to feed my ego

I hold Europe hostage for energy

I interfere in foreign elections

I made a fool into a king

I give pretense to democratic rule

I am Mother Russia

Evil lives here

 

Putin's Mistress

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: GLOBAL JUSTICE (UKRAINE)

 

Putin’s Mistress

 

Alina is young and beautiful

She is literally half his age

Taking away her money

Would trigger Putin’s rage

But consider the alternative

He hides his wealth with her

We sanction all the oligarchs

With the hope it will deter

Yet we fear to punish Alina

For the trouble it would stir

 

To hell with Putin’s mistress

To hell with consequence

Take a look at those in Mariupol

Your patience will be spent

Let her swear to cut all ties

With the madman of the North

What was his becomes hers

As she sets a fresh new course

 

He will not see his children

He’ll never see his love

It’s the price that he must pay

For spilling innocent blood

 

Wheel of Time

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: LIFE SONGS/HISTORY

Wheel of Time

 

Ancient stars collide in space

Spin the wheel of time

The birthing of the human race

Out of the muck we climb

We stand and walk upright

Discover tools and weapons

Battles we will fight

Close your eyes and spin

We build towers to the stars

Make deities of common men

Devise machinery and cars

Spin the wheel again

We irrigate the barren land

Invent alphabets and words

Write testaments by hand

Create systems and societies

Monuments so grand

Pills to ease anxieties

Take a break and spin

The wheel of time turns

Relentless and indifferent

To all we want and yearn

Our prayers and lamentations

Our worries and our greed

Advance the rule of nations

The patriotic seed

The wheel of time moves on

The force of all combined

A constant pulsing thrust

Beyond knowing and design

We look because we must

Spin the wheel and wait

A power most divine

Creations of the mind

The wheel of time turns

The movement of the tides

As we can only learn

To enjoy the ride

 

Withdrawal

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Withdrawal

The great cultural experiment begins

Can we survive without sporting events

Without plays and movies

Without concerts and rallies

Without lectures and poetry readings

Without schools and universities

Without gatherings of any kind

We are social creatures

We exult in vicarious victories

We mourn vicarious defeat

We exist by watching others watching ourselves

We affirm our humanity by observing others

reflecting our place in the world

Who are we without circles of society?

Can we satisfy our needs through

social media and virtual reality?

We have begun our lives as experimental

subjects crash test dummies laboratory rats

like Pavlov’s dogs

We have become raw data to be

processed dissected and analyzed

We are withdrawing cold turkey

from our addictions and some of us

will not get out alive

Corona

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS SERIES

Corona

I respect words

I resent having a word burned into my

consciousness without my consent

I resent words being redefined with a

mark of death to the end of time

Corona

A crown

The blazing crown of the sun

The king of beers

Cerveza mas fina

What was once innocent and refreshing

is now and forever stained with

Deadly sickness hospitals and quarantine

Never again can we say corona

without conjuring an image of

destitution and plague

The Plague

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: CORONAVIRUS

The Plague 

A deep dark deadly shadow fell upon the earth

Spreading like wildfire crossing borders

Walls and oceans with little hesitation

No one listened when the ghosts of

Nostradamus warned the end is nigh

No one listened when the poets cried

The reckoning is at hand

No one listened when the bible thumping

Soothsayers brought down the hammer

Of the lord’s vengeance

We’re listening now

We’re making amends

We’re praying now

Praying it’s not the plague

Praying it’s not Armageddon

Praying it’s not too late

THE MARKET HAS SPOKEN

RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR:  THE CORONAVIRUS

The Market Has Spoken

In the midst of pandemic the president

Declares:  Enough is enough!

We have to stop this market slide

So what if people die?

Take your sniveling driveling empathy

And toss it out the door

The flu takes thirty thousand lives

What’s thirty thousand more?

And the market sings hallelujah boys

The party’s on again

The working stiffs will always lose

And we will always win

So the Dow becomes a morbid measure

Of how many lives we lost

But the people will remember always

That it came at such a cost

[Note:  As I post this the Dow has risen over 3,000 points since the president declared he will not allow the virus to impede the nation's economy for much longer.]

LAKOTA MEMORIAL DAY: Remember Wounded Knee!

RANDOM JACK: WOUNDED KNEE MEMORIAL

LAKOTA MEMORIAL DAY

The 129^th Anniversary of Wounded Knee

December 29, 1890

One hundred and twenty nine years ago today, the Seventh Calvary of the United States Army opened fire on an encampment of disarmed Lakota men, women and children.  Employing the infamous Hotchkiss guns – guns that fire many bullets – they killed over 250 Lakota.  Their crime was daring to dance the forbidden Ghost Dance. 

For a hundred years the massacre was christened by the American government:  The Battle of Wounded Knee. 

Twenty-five soldiers died in the massacre and twenty were awarded the Medal of Honor.  No man and no woman of honor should ever again accept that medal until those awarded to the Wounded Knee soldiers are rescinded.  Further, the government should declare December 29^th Wounded Knee Memorial Day. 

In honor of the Ghost Dancers buried at Wounded Knee: 

NOT AT WOUNDED KNEE

In the land of the Lakota long ago

Deep in the winter of the frozen earth

The people gathered in circles

Hand in hand line after line

To dance the dance of the ancestors

I was not in the lines of dancers

I did not sing the sacred words

My spirit did not rise above the land

To look down upon this scene

I did not see the soldiers circle the camp

I did not hear the order to disarm

I did not see them mount their guns

That shower bullets

I did not hear the cry of mothers

I did not hear the thunder

I did not smell the cloud of smoke

I did not see them fall

I was not there to give my blood

My heart did not explode

My body was not pounded by bullets

Nor pierced by bayonets

I did not die at Wounded Knee

I was not buried in a common grave

But I have walked those hallowed grounds

I have mourned and shed my tears

And I have said my prayer aloud

And I have heard the buried dead

And I am sworn to heed their plea

Remember Wounded Knee

From Wasichu: The Killing Spirit: 

Wo Lakota!

How can I explain the sorrow of Wounded Knee? 

My heart has been pierced by a thousand arrows

My spirit is broken and my soul is in flames

The sorrow runs through me like a mother’s pain

And my tears flow like rivers

But it is not for the right reason

Here lies Big Foot in his dance of death

Here lie the Ghost Dancers

The followers of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull

The keepers of the faith

Here on this sacred hill

I should have no thoughts but this:

The Ghost Dance survives!

Instead the thought that will not leave me

Is this:  It should not be this way

Here on Memorial Hill at the head of the table

Where the father should be

There is a place of worship bearing the sign: 

Sacred Heart Church

So the church of the Black Robes

Lays claim to this most sacred ground

Wo Lakota!  It should not be this way!

[Sacred Lands to Native Peoples!  Free Leonard Peltier!]

Jazz.

HOMELESS IN A LAND OF PLENTY: PART 4.

 

Chain of Misfortune

HOMELESS IN A LAND OF PLENTY

PART 4:  BILLY

By Jack Random

[According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the leading causes of homelessness are:  a lack of affordable housing, job loss, pervasive poverty, mental illness, substance abuse and inadequate services.  This is the fourth and final part of Homeless in a Land of Plenty.] 

BILLY

He wasn’t born an ass.  He had to work on it.  No, it was a family affair.  It takes a village.  He came from a long line of bullies, jerks and fuck-ups.  No one in the Barr family could hold a job for more than six months.  They had construction skills, fix-it and automotive skills but they were asses.  No one could stand to be around them for long and they couldn’t stand to take orders from anyone.  

Billy was working on a personal record at just over three months as a mechanic at the local cannery.  He made a couple of friends he drank a beer or two with after his shift.  He got along with his boss reasonably well.  The guy left him pretty much alone as long as he did his job and he did.  His drinking was under control.  He had a shot of whiskey with his coffee in the morning and that was it until after work.  For once in his sorry life things were looking up. 

His problem was he needed a woman.  There just weren’t many in his circle.  The women who came around the bars he went to weren’t the kind you developed a relationship with.  They were one-night only adventures.  Billy didn’t mind that but he really wanted something more. 

When he met Alice he thought she was special.  He liked her.  He wanted to spend time with her, talk with her, get to know her and go out like normal people.  She had a way about her.  She looked into his eyes like she knew who he was, like she was willing to know, like she was willing to try.  But before he left the bar one of his buddies pulled him aside.

“I know that skank,” he said. 

“Fuck you,” replied Billy.  He was in no mood for this shit.  His mind was set.  He was taking her home. 

“No, man, I know her.  I used to hang out at this place on the west side.  She was a regular.  She’s a skank, man.  She’s a fucking addict.” 

Billy stood there with his mouth open.  He could tell his buddy was as serious as a three-car pile-up.  This was no bullshit. 

“Okay, man.  Thanks for that.” 

Everything changed at that point.  He was surprised Alice even got in the car with him.  He felt like breaking her in two.  He was madder at himself than he was at her though.  How stupid could he be?  If he stopped to think, he could be pretty fucking stupid.  He knew that.  The problem was he allowed himself to get his hopes up.  He allowed himself to believe that a good woman could fall for him. 

“Stupid is as stupid walks,” his father used to say.  Billy had a hard time with that saying.  To him it was just stupid.  His father treated his mother like shit.  Why she stayed around he could never figure out.  Now he figured he was a lot like his father.  After years of working to prove he was somebody else, he saw himself walking in his father’s shoes.  He hated his father.  So now he hated himself. 

He didn’t mean for Alice to tumble over in the street.  It was the rage.  The same rage for which the males of his family were infamous.  It built up and exploded like a whistling teapot.  When it boiled over there was nothing anyone could do.  He stepped on the gas and watched her tumble and lose consciousness as she lay quivering in the street.  It felt like it was happening to someone else.  He felt bad but not bad enough to take responsibility and not bad enough to do anything.  He didn’t call 911.  He didn’t do a goddamned thing. 

The next day he skipped work and started drinking early.  He was pretty drunk when two cops came to his door in the early afternoon.  He hesitated to answer the door but his car was out front and he couldn’t think straight. 

“Are you William Barr?” 

“Yes, sir.”

His speech was slurred and his eyes bounced from side to side like a man with something to hide.  The cop speaking to him was a woman.  That surprised him.  The male cop stood behind her and tried to get a glimpse of the room. 

“Can we come in?” 

Again he hesitated.  If he had any options they didn’t come to him.  Did they know what he’d done?  Had someone seen what happened?  No way.  The cops didn’t care about some skank whore with a story. 

“Sure, officers.” 

When he turned around he realized the mess he’d created in the course of twenty-four hours.  There were pizza boxes and cookie packages and assorted trash everywhere you looked.  If they could arrest him for being a pig he laid the groundwork. 

“I’m sorry it’s such a mess.” 

“No problem,” said the woman.  “Sometimes we get distracted.  We forget to clean the house up.  It happens.” 

“Yeah.” 

He sat on the couch while the cops remained standing. 

“What’s up?” he asked them. 

“Where were you Wednesday evening between six and seven?” 

“Six and seven?” he repeated.  He hadn’t figured out a story.  It didn’t occur to him that he would have to account for his time. 

“That’s right, sir.” 

“Uhm, yeah, I was at O’Brien’s down on Seventh Street.” 

“Is that your story?” the woman cop asked. 

He didn’t know what to say.  He felt his face go flush.  He could never play poker.  People could read him like a cereal box. 

“What’s this about?” he finally sputtered. 

The male cop finally weighed in.  “It’s about a woman who ended up in the hospital because some jerk decided to floor it when she stepped out of the vehicle.  You like hurting women, Billy?  Is that what gets you off?” 

Cameras, Billy thought.  There must have been a camera.  How else would they know?  Still, he decided to play dumb.  “Admit nothing,” his father always said. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“We have it on video,” the woman cop said.  “That motel has a problem with drug dealers so they set up cameras.  They caught the whole thing.” 

He could feel the sweat emerging from his pores, welling on his forehead, revealing the truth of his guilt and shame. 

“It was an accident,” he said. 

“Sure it was, Billy.  Sure it was.  Look, we don’t want to drag your ass down to the station.  We don’t want to book you and throw you in jail.  It’s your lucky day.  We just want you to take responsibility.  We have an agreement drawn up.  You admit no wrong but you agree to pay the woman’s medical bills.  How does that sound?” 

So he was right.  The cops didn’t care.  But the hospital wanted someone to pay.  They had their insurance guy check it out.  Billy shook his head and signed the papers.  In the end he really had no choice.  He could hire a lawyer and go to trial and he’d probably end up doing the same damn thing. 

He skipped another day of work and another day after that.  When he finally showed up they told him he was fired.  They didn’t want his kind around.  Sure.  Who did?  He was pretending to be someone he wasn’t.  When the mask came off he was gone. 

Then the hospital bill came in.  Two thousand for the ambulance alone.  The total came to over five grand.  He was already in debt and behind on the rent.  He maxed his credit cards and destroyed his credit.  No one would give him the time no less a loan.  He was down and out.  He decided his best course of action was to sell everything he could for cash and take off.  He sold his appliances, his TV, his sound system and everything else dime to a dollar. 

Before he could get away clean the repo man got his car and the utility company turned off his power.  He spent what little cash he raised for three days at a cheap motel, a lot of booze and some drugs to ease his pain.  He was done.  They kicked him out.  He was out on the street without a pot to piss in.  He was homeless. 

A homeless brother took pity on him and told him to go down to the bridge.  At least he’d have a place to lay his weary head. 

The bridge people didn’t care who he was or what he’d done to get there.  Most if not all of them had their own ghosts.  After a few days he knew everyone at the camp.  He apologized to Alice, who shook her head and told him she had her own apologies to give.  She told him about Gary who told about Louise.  Louise apologized to everyone.  That’s the way she was.  They were all equal under the bridge and their lives turned over.  The past was buried and the future was a blur.  All that remained was the moment.  Survival was a full time gig.  

Copyright 2019 Ray Miller

CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY: LOCK HIM UP!

 JAZZMAN CHRONICLES:  RADICAL SOLUTIONS FOR RADICAL TIMES.

CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY:  LOCK HIM UP!

By Jack Random

It is not enough that President Donald J. Trump eviscerated the Environmental Protection Agency and all safeguards against the effects of global climate change at the most critical time in human history; it is not enough that he appointed a bible thumping white supremacist attorney general to carry out the demolition of voting rights, civil rights and protections against police bias and abuse of power; it is not enough that he has tipped the balance on the Supreme Court to guarantee systemic injustice for generations to come, he must also upend the most basic sense of being human by separating children from their mothers and fathers and incarcerating them for the crime of holding to their parents’ side as they set foot on the land of the free and the just. 

The president has crossed the line that separates ignorance, intolerance, discrimination, brutality and indifference from crimes against humanity.  How can this man look at those kids in cages and live with himself?  How can his wife and family continue to pretend that it’s only politics as usual?  How can members of congress stand in line for their daily pat on the head from the White House?  There comes a time when your mere presence is collusion. 

There are many presidents who have done horrible things in our tortured history.  Our founders were of course Indian killers before they turned their attention to the creation of a new nation conceived in liberty, justice and guided by the principles of democracy.  We methodically stole a continent and for a time attempted to enact a policy of genocide. 

As a nation we allowed the scourge of slavery to persist so long that its effects are still palpable in every facet of our daily lives today.  As a nation we have gone to war under false pretenses so many times – Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq included – that we can only defend our policy as the prerogative of the powerful. 

A president has ordered the incarceration of American citizens for their racial and cultural heritage.  A president has sanctioned the torture and indefinite detention of our enemies without due process of law.  A president has approved the segregation of schools and communities while allowing systemic discrimination to persist.  A president has ordered the carpet-bombing of a civilian population in a faraway land. 

Presidents have done these things and more but always they have been in response to some perceived threat or historical mandate.  Always there has been some rationalization.  The nation has suffered under some collective delusion or irrational fear.  Early Americans believed and invested in Manifest Destiny – a notion that God intended Caucasian Europeans to claim the continent.  Franklin Roosevelt’s demented detention of Japanese Americans was born of a commonly held fear that Japanese Americans would rise up in defense of their emperor.  Andrew Jackson defied the Supreme Court and evacuated the Cherokee from their homeland on the Trail of Tears because his people – the white people – needed more and more land. 

On and on, if not the moral high ground, presidents have held to some practical or moral justification for their actions.  What is Trump’s justification for this action?  Was there really a massive wave of migration to the southern border?  Was the nation in crisis?  Were our institutions incapable of responding to the situation without breaking down?  Was this the only action Trump could have taken? 

No.  I submit that a policy of zero tolerance and the separation of children from their parents was something this president simply wanted to do.  There was and is a crisis but it is not at the border; it is a thousand miles to the south where the governments, the armed forces and the police are corrupt and incapable of confronting the criminal gangs that are ripping their countries apart.  The crisis is in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras where thugs take what they want, demand whatever pleases them and kill whoever stands in their way.  The migrants are refugees from unimaginable violence and they’ll keep coming because what they’re fleeing is infinitely more horrible than anything Donald Trump can devise.  They seek asylum not only in the United States of America but also in the United States of Mexico and Mexico has shown a great deal more compassion than we have. 

The problems of Central America and indeed Mexico are as complex as they are severe.  Whenever criminal elements become more powerful than the government democracy cannot survive.  Solutions are equally difficult especially considering the role our government has historically played in Latin American politics.  We have supported dictators, taken the wrong side in civil wars, upheld despots and overthrown lawfully elected governments.  We have empowered corporations to invade their territories and steal their resources.  The CIA has a particularly horrific record of human and civil rights abuse below the Mexican border. 

Our record is so deplorable that no honest and democratic government would trust us to intervene in their affairs.  And yet, absent a regional power led by our government, there is little we can do to stem the tide of violence.  What we can do, however, is help those who are fleeing. 

Let’s be honest about what’s happening in the region.  It would hardly be impossible to determine who among them are honest refugees and who is something else.  In terms of our nation, there are not that many Central American refugees.  We can take them in.  We can assimilate them into our population.  We can help them to become functional and contributing citizens.  In the best of our culture and traditions, we have always done so. 

Trump doesn’t care about these people.  He doesn’t care about what they are fleeing or what they will bring to our nation.  He doesn’t care that they are the victims of gang violence and brutality.  He cares about the conflict.  He needs an enemy – especially one than cannot fight back.  He desperately needs to be the man, the heartless brute, the biggest and the baddest bully on the block.  He wants to make his own laws.  He wants to hold these children up to the cameras and demand that his adversaries build him a wall.  Trump is like the muscle man that says to his victim:  “This is your fault!  You did this!” 

He does it because he wants to do it.  It is who he is.  This is a man who has no regrets because he never engages in self-reflection.  He has never been wrong and never will be – not even when he rips a child from her mother’s arms. 

There are very few crimes that a president cannot get away with and this is not one of them but there are judgments greater than the rule of law.  For crimes against humanity, there was a time that Richard Nixon’s Secretary of State Henry Kissinger could not travel abroad without fear of being detained and tried before an international tribunal.  How sweet and poetic that deliverance would be. 

Jazz. 

“There Is No Way We Can Turn Back.”  Why Central American Refugees will Keep Coming to America Despite Trump’s Crackdown.  By Ioan Grillo/Tenosique.  Time Magazine, June 21, 2018. 

“Criminalizing Victims: The Fate of Honduran Refugees” by Michael Slager.  Counterpunch, May 18, 2018. 

“Family Separations:  Trump’s Executive Order Does Not Hide This Historical Pattern of Cruelty” by Jimmy Centeno, Don T. Deere and Frederick B. Mills.  Counterpunch, June 27, 2018. 

JACK RANDOM IS THE AUTHOR OF THE JAZZMAN CHRONICLES AND THE CHESS SERIES:  PAWNS TO PLAYERS – THE STAIRWAY SCANDAL, A MATCH FOR THE WHITE HOUSE AND THE PUTIN GAMBIT (CROW DOG PRESS).

THE RANDOM GUIDE TO THE CALIFORNIA PRIMARY

RANDOM JACK

THE RANDOM GUIDE TO THE CALIFORNIA PRIMARY

The Great Pretender

By Jack Random

As a voter compelled to register as a Democrat for fear that my vote for Bernie Sanders in the presidential primary, you can be sure that I fall far to the left of the Democratic Party.  In fact, I have only a little more faith in the Democrats than I do in the Republicans despite their official policies.  Both parties are corporate and ultimately serve corporate interests.  I hold on to the hope that someday, despite all the barriers, an independent or third party movement will break the stranglehold of the major parties on our electoral process.  Meantime, a combination of pragmatism (least harm) and idealism (independent) will guide my vote.  What follows are my recommendations in the 2018 California primary. 

GOVERNOR:  JOHN CHIANG, DEMOCRAT, STATE TREASURER. 

I have never perceived the presumptive favorite Gavin Newsom as anything but what he is:  an opportunist who plays the cards he’s dealt with a deft hand.  He is the Great Pretender, a definitive Democrat in the Clintonian mode.  Contrary to his television ads it requires no courage to come out in favor of gay rights when you’re mayor of San Francisco.  It takes no courage to stand for universal healthcare when you’re seeking higher office in California.  Where was Newsom’s courage when it came to supporting Sanders over Clinton? 

Newsom was the first to attack a fellow Democrat:  John Chiang.  It was puzzling but the polls must have said Chiang was taking votes from him.  Chiang did not respond in kind initially but former mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa did, asserting quite justly that Newsom was taking credit for accomplishments that did not belong to him.  In California the Lieutenant Governor is pretty much a symbolic office that politicians use to gain name recognition and test the waters for a statewide run. 

Villaraigosa’s ad campaign is sponsored by California Charter Schools Association Advocates to the tune of $17.3 million dollars.  If you love charter schools – taking money from public schools and channeling it to profit motivated private charters – then Villaraigosa is your candidate.  Otherwise palatable – he’s pro union – he lost my vote when he took that money. 

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR:  TIM FERREIRA, LIBERTARIAN. 

I won’t pretend to know much about this candidate except that he carries the Libertarian banner.  As noted above, the Lieutenant Governor doesn’t have really have any authority.  Presumably, he or she gets free office space, benefits and a nice salary.  Democratic Senator and superstar Kamala Harris gives her blessing to Eleni Kounalakis and that will probably be sufficient to win the election but she will not protect our coastline or anything else.  She’s a figurehead.  I say:  Use this office to vote independent.  There are no Greens, no Peace & Freedom and no other official third party candidates.  There are a few Decline-to-States.  Vote independent. 

SECRETARY OF STATE:  MICHAEL FEINSTEIN, GREEN, ELECTORAL CONSULTANT. 

The Secretary of State runs our elections.  That is important.  In other states it can be argued persuasively that Secretaries of State decided presidential elections but not here.  Fundamentally, California doesn’t count in presidential elections.  Still, it is important – important enough that two Greens, a Libertarian and a Peace & Freedom candidate secured their place on the ballot. 

I can go two ways here:  Support a Democrat to ensure that a Republican does not secure the office or go independent.  I don’t believe a Republican has a chance in a California statewide election so I’ll go Green:  Michael Feinstein appears to be the more serious candidate.  He supports multi-party democracy, ranked choice voting, proportional representation, limiting money in politics, transparency and voter integrity.  He has my vote. 

CONTROLLER:  BETTY YEE, DEMOCRATIC INCUMBENT. 

The controller is the state’s bookkeeper.  It requires competence and integrity.  I see no reason to change horses so I’ll vote for the incumbent even if she is a Democrat. 

TREASURER:  FIONA MA, DEMOCRATIC INCUMBENT. 

The treasurer is the state’s banker with authority to manage investments and assets.  Once again, competence and integrity are required.  The Peace and Freedom candidate Kevin Akin has some interesting ideas, including a publicly owned bank.  Democrat and CPA Fiona Ma is certainly qualified, competent and supported by California Nurses, Teachers and the Council of Laborers.  She also has the coolest name on the ballot. 

ATTORNEY GENERAL:  XAVIER BECERRA, DEMOCRATIC INCUMBENT.

The office that launched the formidable career of Senator and future presidential candidate Kamala Harris, this year’s contest features two Republicans and two Democrats.  That narrows the field.  Dave Jones is the current Insurance Commissioner and seems to be supported by a variety of employee associations.  Xavier Becerra was appointed to the position when it was vacated by Harris.  Becerra has the money and his contributions include California Nurses. 

Becerra has shown a willingness to stand up against the presidency of Donald Trump on issues ranging from immigration policy to the legalization of marijuana.  He’s also a Clintonian with high stake political ambitions. 

Jones brings the reputation of fighting for consumers against predatory insurance companies.  In its endorsement of Jones, the San Jose Mercury News qualified that reputation with “while being fair to the industry.”  That sends up a warning signal.  His credits include working as a special assistant to former Attorney General Janet Reno who oversaw the Elian Gonzalez fiasco, Ruby Ridge and the Branch-Davidian tragedy in Waco, Texas.  That’s not much of an endorsement. 

As sometimes happens, the Mercury-News endorsement brought me to the opposite conclusion.  Stick with Becerra and hope for the best. 

INSURANCE COMMISSIONER:  NATHALIE HRIZI, PEACE & FREEDOM. 

The commissioner is in charge of enforcing insurance laws – a critical function in today’s society.  The candidates include Democrats Ricardo Lara and Asif Mahmood, former Republican Steve Poizner and Peace & Freedom’s Nathalie Hrizi, a public school teacher. 

The fact that Poizner was once appointed to this position by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger eliminates him. Mahmood is a medical doctor who supports universal healthcare.  Lara is a state senator who also supports medical care for all, including the undocumented.  He sponsored a bill to that effect.  It seems there is little to distinguish between Mahmood and Lara and that begs the question:  Why are they both running? 

That leaves the Feminist Socialist Peace & Freedom candidate Nathalie Hrizi.  She stands for three principles:  1.  Healthcare is a universal right.  2.  Private health insurance companies should be abolished.  3.  California should create its own single-payer, non-profit system. 

I’ll vote enthusiastically for Hrizi. 

BOARD OF EQUALIZATION:  TOM HALLINAN, DEMOCRAT. 

This one is too easy:  Three Republicans and one Democrat. 

UNITED STATES SENATOR:  PAT HARRIS, DEMOCRAT. 

Never have so many considered his or her self qualified to become United States Senator from the great state of California.  I count eleven Republicans, ten Democrats, eight decline-to-states, one Libertarian and one Peace & Freedom.  Sadly, the only political organization left out of the party is Green. 

We all know Dianne Feinstein.  The new model is the progressive model.  Suddenly she believes in Medicare for all.  Suddenly she believes in the rights of undocumented immigrants.  Suddenly she believes in limiting the power of the president to wage war.  I like the new model but like an old car I don’t trust it.  Feinstein has let the progressive community down far too many times. 

If we eliminate the Republicans – and we do – we can move on to the progressive challengers.  On the Democratic side there is Pat Harris, a civil rights attorney who believes in legalization of marijuana/cannabis nationwide, universal healthcare and getting corporate money out of politics.  I like this guy.  Then there’s state senator Kevin De Leon who is committed to immigration reform, Medicare for All and a national clean energy plan.  What’s not to like?  Democrat David Hildebrand wants to end Citizens United and favors a minimum wage of $15 per hour.  Democrat Alison Hartson, a national political director, adds the right to a college education to the progressive agenda. 

Jason Hanania is a “technodemocrat” who believes in voting with the majority of Californians using an Evoting system.  Interesting.  I’ve proposed a similar a system myself.  Peace & Freedom’s John Thompson Parker wants to declare a state of emergency to address police misconduct in minority neighborhoods.  Libertarian Derrick Michael Reed wants to address the incarceration crisis. 

It goes on and on without end.  My only conclusion is that it is time for Feinstein to go.  We need new blood in Washington and any US Senator who has waffled over the justification for the Iraq War needs to write her memoirs.  I might even buy the book.  Meantime, I’ll vote for the civil rights attorney in the primary and hold my nose if I have to vote for Feinstein in the general election. 

US REPRESENTATIVE, DISTRICT 10:  MIKE BARKLEY, DEMOCRAT.  

Folks around here know the incumbent congressman from the 10^th district in the great central valley likes to play both sides of the coin.  Lately he’s charading as the congressman who’s trying to save the dreamers and the children being separated from their parents.  That is not the congressman we know and despise.  It’s one thing to be conservative and another to play like a progressive whenever your electability depends on it.  Denham has always pretended to be a family farmer but the way I hear it he’s a corporate farmer and a very wealthy man. 

Let’s be frank:  It doesn’t really matter which Democrat runs against him.  Denham is the enemy.  Every Republican member of the House of Representatives is the enemy.  If we want to put the check on Trump we have to take congress away from the president’s party.  We need to take both houses of congress.  The Democratic money is going to Josh Harder but all the Democrats – Sue Zwahlen, Michael Eggman, Mike Barkley and Virginia Madueno – support progressive policies on healthcare and immigration.  All are running against the man in the White House. 

I’m put off by the big money going to Harder so I’ll vote for Mike Barkley for his pro-union, anti Free Trade stand, his opposition to the Trump tax cut and his concern for California’s water problems.  Those who are rightly concerned that two Republicans (Denham and Howze) might meet in the finals should probably vote for Harder. 

STATE SENATOR, DISTRICT 8:  TOM PRATT, DEMOCRAT. 

I’m sorry.  Spelling errors in a candidate statement (Voter’s Edge) put me off – especially one as egregious as this:  “Education is a basic tool for any human been.”  That propels businessman Tom Pratt to the top of the ticket despite a bizarre first priority:  Restore funding to all county fairs.  Really?  Oh well, he favors universal healthcare and wants to expand broadband coverage.  He’s supported by Progressive Democrats of America. 

STATE ASSEMBLY, DISTRICT 12:  ROBERT CHASE, DEMOCRAT.

The worst-case scenario:  One Democrat against one Republican. 

SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE:  CRYSTAL SWANSON, TRIAL ATTORNEY. 

This contest is between a trial attorney in Crystal Swanson and a military judge in Carrie Stephens.  In a nation that incarcerates more people proportionately than any nation on earth – thanks to prison for profit – we elect our judges with precious little information.  From what I could gather from her Facebook page, Swanson is qualified and competent.  Carrie Stephens also seems qualified and competent but she leans too much on her military experience for my taste.  I’ll vote for Swanson. 

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION:  TONY THURMOND. 

Kamala Harris and the Democratic heavyweights have thrown their support to Tony Thurmond, an African American educator and state legislator.  Thurmond promises to stand up to Betsy DeVos’ anti public schools agenda.  He’ll fight vouchers and profit motivated charter schools.  He believes in teacher flexibility, teaching creativity and critical thinking.  He believes in the arts and music education.  He had me at standing up to DeVos. 

Lily Ploski, Marshall Tuck and Steve Ireland all sound like good candidates with excellent ideas but this time I’ll go with the favorite. 

STANISLAUS COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS:  SHANNON SANFORD. 

Shannon Sanford is proud of her test scores and wants to eliminate administrative red tape.  Don Davis has the endorsement of the Modesto Bee with his 36 years of experience.  Scott Kuykendall values hard work, honesty and responsibility.  I find none of their arguments compelling but I’ll vote for Sanford on the grounds that she has relatively specific ideas. 

STANISLAUS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY:  STEVEN O’CONNOR. 

If you’ve followed the trial of attorney Frank Carson, you have probably come to the same conclusion I have:  Birgit Fladager should not have the power of her office.  She is being challenged by her employee and fellow prosecutor John Mayne and defense attorneys Steven O’Connor and Patrick Kolasinski. 

O’Connor forcefully attacks the incumbents excesses and misconduct.  He stands for fair trials and wants to protect attorneys under the DA from Fladager’s revenge.  Kolasinski reportedly runs the largest law firm in the county.  Other than that I’m not sure why he’s running.  Mayne has experience in the DA’s office.  He laments the high turnover rate in the office. 

For me it comes down to John Mayne and Steven O’Connor.  I like O’Connor’s style and passion. 

STANISLAUS COUNTY SHERIFF:  JUAN ALANIS. 

This contest is between the Sheriff’s Lieutenant Jeff Dirkse and Sergeant Juan Alanis.  After finding trusted friends and family members endorsing Alanis, I was stunned to learn that he is a fierce gun rights supporter.  I cannot in good conscience support him.  Dirkse has the endorsement of former sheriff Adam Christianson.  Not impressed.  He opposes citizen review boards and marijuana legalization.  He will cooperate with ICE.  That’s enough.  I don’t like either of these candidates but I will vote for Alanis as the least bad candidate. 

PROPOSITION 68:  BOND FOR PARKS, WATER QUALITY & FLOOD PROTECTION. 

We need to support this.  Too much of our infrastructure has been allowed to crumble and has not been repaired.  This will help in bringing us back to the modern age and the standards California deserves.  YES. 

PROPOSITION 69:  TRANSPORTATION FUNDS. 

Requires money raised from a 2017 law for transportation be used only for transportation.  Our roads are in terrible shape.  YES. 

PROPOSITION 70:  SUPERMAJORITY FOR CAP & TRADE FUNDS. 

I don’t like Supermajority laws.  The infamous Prop 13 that crippled California for years was a Supermajority law.  It’s undemocratic.  NO. 

PROPOSITION 71:  EFFECTIVE DATE FOR BALLOT MEASURES.

Requires that propositions passed by the voters go into effect within five days.  YES. 

PROPOSITION 72:  ALLOWS EXEMPTION OF RAIN CAPTURE SYSTEMS FROM PROPERTY TAX REASSESSMENT. 

Water is the new gold.  YES. 

SOURCES:  Voter’s Edge California, San Jose Mercury News, Fresno Bee, Modesto Bee Editorial Board and the San Francisco Chronicle.