Finneran: Decisions, Decisions
Tom Finneran, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™
Finneran: Decisions, Decisions
It’s a lousy job.
You already know that campaigning can be fun. You had some raucous rallies. You laughed a lot on the campaign trail and you won the job fair and square. Lots of Democrats might gnash their teeth over that fact. They might be better off reflecting on the multitude of mistakes made by Hillary Clinton and her team of advisors, mistakes which opened the door for you to cruise right past her and into the White House.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTPresident Obama had an identical experience---enjoying his campaigns and then getting hit on the head by cold, hard, brutal reality. Ever glib, he clearly struggled.........not with his many speeches as he was quite disciplined with the teleprompter. Rather, he struggled with the realities of the White House and the limitations of the office he had earned.
He learned the hard way that Congress does not always genuflect when a President has an idea. He learned the hard way that the world was not in awe of his life story and racial identity. He learned the hard way that the American people were open to his elections but closed to his too frequent lectures. He imprisoned himself with ridiculously overblown promises.
Mr. President you should, therefore, be careful about believing your own rhetoric. The world is not an easy place. American Presidents do not get to coast along, simply cutting ribbons, kissing babies, and “winning”.
For example, North Korea. It’s a big problem Mr. President and it becomes bigger every day.
Now what Mr. President? Several of your predecessors in office chose to punt, often cloaking their decision to look the other way in political rhetoric. The regime there brutalizes a horridly poor and starving population. It is led by the lunatic son of lunatic parents. And he likes to play with nuclear weapons just like little kids like to play with Legos. Pity South Korea. Pity Japan. Pity Australia. At least we have the immense Pacific as a helpful shield although it’s hardly a guarantee.
And Mr. President, should you act militarily, what about China? That regime would be appalled by a flood of desperate refugees fleeing whatever destructive forces you unleash. As a putative ally of North Korea, would they simply stand by while you rain ruin upon their neighbor?
History can provide lessons Mr. President. However, those lessons can often be contradictory.
Consider World War I, often called The Great War. Of course the only thing that was great about it was that it eventually came to an end, after the totally unnecessary deaths of millions of men. That war was entered rashly, with impetuous decisions being made by impatient and paranoid men. Territorial and political guarantees were offered as if by fish mongers driven by a sell-by date. The stupendous stupidity actually exceeded the stupendous slaughter. Such are the wages of wagging fingers and uttering boastful threats. Mr. President, wars are always easier to start than to end..............
World War II of course offers an opposing lesson. Call it waffling or kicking the can down the road, but the Allies, particularly Great Britain and France, dithered away immense advantages over Hitler and his thugs, allowing him to violate multiple provisions of peace treaties as he built up enormous armaments and cowed his smaller neighbors. The delusional embrace of “peace” and appeasement of the monster drove Churchill bananas. Talk about wishful thinking................
When asked by President Roosevelt what the war should be called, Churchill replied instantly, saying that it should be called “The Unnecessary War”.
Of course by the time the Allies roused themselves to action, Hitler was prepared to unleash staggering blitzes of bombardment, invasion, enslavement, and slaughter. Long gone were the easy years of 1934, 1935, 1936, and 1937 when something only slightly more than a firm glance from France or England would have toppled Hitler from his pedestal.
Regarding North Korea Mr. President, I wish that I knew what to tell you. I don’t. But you have my prayers as you ponder the globe.
Decisions, decisions.......................
RI Democrats React to Trump Withdrawing from Paris Climate Agreement
Gina Raimondo
RI Governor
I am deeply disappointed that the President has decided to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement. Republicans and Democrats alike recognize that the Paris Agreement is about so much more than climate change. It’s about opportunity, stewardship and America’s standing as a global leader.
President Trump’s action will not deter Rhode Island from taking necessary steps to address climate change. Our action at the state level will create new jobs and attract new investment in the green economy.
We’ve set a goal to secure 1,000 MW of clean energy resources and double the number of clean energy jobs by 2020. Ocean State families and businesses are on the front lines fighting climate change. I will continue toward with the General Assembly and partners in other states to protect our environment and advance clean energy alternatives, while creating new opportunities for our workforce in the process.
Jim Langevin
U.S. Congressman
President Trump’s ill-considered decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement puts the future of our entire planet at risk. The withdrawal represents an abandonment of pledges to protect our environment and risks undermining the entire accord, which includes nearly every country on earth. In addition, the President’s action cedes Unites States leadership and means losing a seat at the table to negotiate global agreements in our country's best interest.
The Obama Administration made significant progress toward slowing the rapidly warming climate by negotiating the Paris Climate Agreement to reduce greenhouse emissions on a global scale. Unwinding these commitments represents another assault by President Trump on the health of the public and the planet. His Administration continues to deny climate change despite the overwhelming scientific evidence that shows this is an ongoing human-caused crisis.
Rhode Island is on the front lines of sea level rise, and our citizens will ultimately pay the price for inaction today. Communities like my hometown of Warwick are particularly vulnerable to the storms and floods that come with climate change. Warming seas have chased our traditional catch out of our fisheries and threaten to decimate our beloved Ocean State coastline. Abandoning the Paris deal, the culmination of a multi-year effort by world leaders, is an abdication of our responsibility to leave the world a better place for our children.”
Sheldon Whitehouse
U.S. Senator
“Donald Trump and his children said just a few years ago that climate change was ‘irrefutable’ and its consequences ‘catastrophic and irreversible.’ They were right. There is no denying the growing threat of rising seas, warming global temperatures, and melting glaciers and ice sheets.
But we can still avoid the worst if we quickly reduce carbon emissions. That is why ignoring reality and leaving the Paris Agreement could do down as one of the worst foreign policy blunders in our nation’s history, isolating the U.S. further after Trump’s shockingly bad European trip.
Trump is betraying the country, in the service of Breitbart fake news, the shameless fossil fuel industry, and the Koch brothers’ climate denial operation. It’s Sad.
America’s biggest corporations and investors urged the President to stick with international efforts to address the climate threat. They and all of us will now have to proceed with a seriousness of purpose commensurate with the threat, knowing of this President’s grave defects.
If you haven’t joined an environmental group, join one. If your voice needs to be heard, get active. If you are a big corporation with good climate policies that has shied away from engaging politically, it’s time to engage. And if you’re a university that teaches climate science, it’s time to stand up for your scientists. Whoever you are, help end climate denial and take action.”
Jack Reed
U.S. Senator
“President Trump’s decision to abandon the Paris climate agreement is a blow to the environment that makes us a less secure nation. Our military, which spends every hour of every day thinking about how to protect Americans says climate change is a problem and a real threat multiplier. Indeed, climate change is an established part of the military’s threat and risk assessments.
The United States should continue to be a leader when it comes to protecting the planet; instead, the President is abdicating this responsibility. President Trump is unwisely putting the United States alongside Syria and Nicaragua in declining to be part of the Paris agreement.
The American people deserve better.”
David Cicilline
U.S. Congressman
The President’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement is a terrible mistake. It will diminish American leadership in the world, undermine our ability to create good-paying jobs, and contribute to the further degradation of our environment.
It is very disappointing that we now know, without question, that the President of the United Sates is a climate change denier. His decision today ignores the overwhelming scientific consensus regarding the serious consequences failing to address climate change.
The only thing President Trump will accomplish by this decision is to set the United States and world back decades in this fight. I have no doubt that future generations are going to wonder what the hell we were thinking today”
