Page 20 - Jack Bernard News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

The Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building and U.S. Congress by mobs of Donald Trump supporters has inspired a flood of condemnation, and rightly so. Five people are dead in its wake, including a Capitol Police officer; more than 70 people have been arrested; and the FBI has indicated hundreds of additional arrests could happen. Trump’s critical role in stirring up the violence led to his unprecedented second impeachment on Wednesday. The attack is indefensible.  But I have seen entirely too many people, especially on social media, compare the Jan. 6 attacks to the Black Lives Matter ...

Capitol mob: How unfair voting districts fractured American politics Peter C. Murray The sight of a mob overrunning the U.S. Capitol raises fundamental but worrisome questions of how and why have American politics fractured so badly. An essential, yet often overlooked, part of the puzzle is the role of gerrymandering. The creation of uncompetitive seats in state legislatures and the U.S. House of Representatives strengthens both parties’ extreme views. Political leaders pursue the interests of their base rather than the broader public. Gerrymandering subverts the democratic process for the...

a. an elitist, out-of-date and overly difficult to change US Constitution; b. voter suppression; and c. gerrymandering. Due to length and the complexity of the subject matter, this column will only deal with our Constitution and why it favors conservatives far beyond their numbers.  As of June, 27% of Americans identified themselves as conservative, whereas liberals were 26%. The remainder were moderates, the largest grouping.  Let’s examine the conservative demographic more closely. As would be expected, only 25% of those 18-34 are conservative, but the number rises to 41% for those over...

The vaccines are here, but we can’t let our guard down The article “Pandemic backlash jeopardizes public health powers, leaders” hit close to home. I’m vice chairman of an Atlanta-area board of health, but I feel powerless.  Dave, a close friend, died of COVID-19 in November. We met in 2011. He was a SCORE Association volunteer, doing free mentoring for small businesses. He was sharp, a retired banker. I was also retired, a former healthcare executive. I began mentoring businesses with him. Dave eventually stopped volunteering, but we remained close.  When Dave came down with COVID...

Likewise: Why don’t we have a national strategic plan to fight the pandemic while we await vaccinations, which could take until mid-2021 before most Americans are vaccinated? It boils down to personality and politics.    Trump has ignored the pandemic, stating repeatedly that it will simply vanish. Democrats have done better on the state level where they control the legislative and executive branches but have only emphasized economic relief on the national level. Meanwhile, the pandemic has gotten much worse.   Both parties must bury their differences and have a consensus long-range vi...