Kens Burns has produced another film of historical significance; The epic story of the Vietnam War as it has never-before been told on film.
During his speech at the United Nations,Trump vowed to "totally destroy" North Korea if the US or its allies were threatened. Aren't we already threatened?
His words are dangerous, calling Kim Jong Un "Rocket man" and his threats are ill informed. Both China and Russia are allies of North Korea and would very likely defend North Korea if any military action was begun by Trump.
Trump is a self described non-reader so one might conclude he is unaware that China fought against the US in both the wars in Korea and in Viet Nam. Only clear heads avoided a nuclear escalation in those two wars
So how did we get once again to this point of an another immanent threat of global nuclear war? One opinion expressed by two 9/11 Commissioners conclude that it goes beyond the danger of having an unread president in office.
They write about the impact of corruption & dysfunction in government:
“Clearly, national security threats continue to challenge us.
Yet these outside threats are not the only dangers facing the United States. One of the greatest threats to our experiment in self-government is the growing division within our own country and the dysfunctional Congress. The so-called “enemy” in this scenario is the opposing party, and there are billions of dollars supporting this domestic arms race in our elections.
Cronyism and the influence of special interests in both our politics and policy-making contaminates our government. A majority of members of Congress spend too much time fundraising and not enough on their legislative responsibilities. Leadership roles on the most powerful congressional committees, which oversee critical areas of our economy like health care, energy and the financial sector, are awarded too often simply based on ideology and fundraising ability, not merit or expertise.
Access to the legislative process has a price tag that makes it accessible mostly to the richest citizens in our country. Every election cycle, special interests use legal loopholes to hide their political spending. The result, as Sen. Angus King, an Independent from Maine, said is that, “Campaigns are no longer fought out between the candidates, they are battles between outside money groups on both sides.” He added, “The candidates are almost a second thought.”
Polls show that Americans feel left out of the legislative process and say that their views are ignored. They believe lobbyists and special interests dominate our democracy and they are right. Too many elected leaders are putting fundraising, partisanship and re-election ahead of their country. Countless citizens and voters want more transparency, accountability, and reform in our government, not less. Perhaps no one has put this better than U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis during a hearing on Capitol Hill, when he said, “Congress as a whole has met the present challenge with lassitude, not leadership.”
The damage is real: The United States is ceding power and influence abroad to other countries due to political gridlock at home. In the budget and procurement process, this translates into the Pentagon being unable to buy the most advanced technology to combat our enemies abroad because the House and Senate cannot agree on a budget or long-term appropriations bills, for example.”
By Thomas Kean and Timothy Roemer, opinion contributors — 09/17/17 09:00 AM EDT 105
The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill