We Must be Talking

Sovereignty and the Brexit Negotiations                   Gerry O'Shea Sovereignty was at the heart of the Anglo-Irish Treaty negotiations that took place in London in the fall of 1921. Who would exercise political power in the proposed new state? The Irish delegates, led by Arthur Griffith and Michael Collins, wanted complete freedom from Great Britain, but Lloyd George and his colleagues demanded limitations on the power of the emerging new government in Dublin. In particular, they insisted that members of the new parliament would take an oath of allegiance to the English monarch. This limitation on Irish sovereignty whereby Irish revolutionaries who had sworn allegiance to an Irish republic would have to sign a document stating their subservience to the Crown was the main cause of the disastrous civil war in Ireland in 1922 and 1923. The issue of Irish sovereignty is still at the heart o...

The Plight of the Poor in America              Gerry O'Shea George W. Bush, a Republican, ran successfully for the presidency of the United States   as a compassionate conservative in 2000 and 2004. The leadership he provided in Washington for disbursing more than 40 billion dollars to sub-Saharan African countries to help them deal with the scourge of AIDS shows that his electoral rhetoric was sincere. The present Republican leadership has moved much further Right, making no claim to compassion in dealing with the poor at home or abroad. It is ironic that such hard-heartedness dominates an administration led by Donald Trump, who, before he ran for the presidency, expressed moderate views on many issues, including the need for a healthcare program that covers all citizens. Hard-line conservatives dominate the policy discussions in all areas of the Trump administration, from treatment of the children of immigra...

Majority Rules - Really!       Gerry O'Shea In the presidential election in 2000 Al Gore won the popular vote but he lost the election. We had a similar story in 2016 when Hillary Clinton polled close to three million more votes than Donald Trump and again came in second. The Gore and Clinton defeats had enormous consequences for the country. Think the disastrous invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the current daily chaos in the White House. Why not simply have a majority rule system, the candidate who gets the highest number of votes wins, which is what most people understand by democracy? In the late 18th century as America was asserting its freedom from Great Britain, the Declaration of Independence stated that "all men are created equal," but   the revolutionary leaders didn't really mean these words in their clear meaning because, to begin with, non-whites and women were not included. In addition, the American revolutionaries also gave conside...

The limits of Militarism              Gerry O'Shea After the German defeat in the First World War a hundred years ago, the terms of the surrender were worked out in Versailles. President Wilson, representing America, proposed a 14-point plan that was broadly   generous to the defeated Germans, but he was overruled by the British and, especially, the French who insisted on   punitive terms, including hefty annual reparation payments by Germany to the victorious countries. Only about 16% of these payments were ever made, but the Treaty of Versailles was viewed as a national humiliation by the German people. After the agreement was signed many commentators predicted that the harsh terms made another European war inevitable. And so it was. Twenty years later Hitler led the German forces to another military catastrophe with America providing much of the war equipment and leadership responsible for defeating th...

The Catholic Church suffered a double whammy during the summer with the resignation of 88-year old Cardinal Theodore McCarrick   because of credible accusations of sexual abuse with an altar boy in the 1970's and later with numerous seminarians. This was followed by a voluminous grand jury report in Pennsylvania detailing many lurid stories describing the abuse of more than a thousand children by three hundred priests over seventy years - with more to follow. These shocking events must be viewed as part of the shameful revelations of sexual abuse by priests and brothers, monks, friars, bishops and nuns in dioceses all over the world. No wonder that the Catholic Church is in crisis. The sexual abuse of children involves such awful and reprehensible acts of terror by   trusted adults against innocent children that trying to come to terms with this widespread abominable behavior has sapped the spirit of Catholics everywhere. Instead of pride in their church community, m...

Progress for Trade Unions in America     Gerry O'Shea President Trump was elated by the recent monthly report on the economy. He pointed out that he is presiding over the longest period of job growth ever - 94 months of unbroken success, not mentioning, of course, that 76 of those months happened under President Obama's leadership. He boasted that the unemployment rate of 3.9% reveals a buoyant economy, a tribute, he claims to his tax-cutting budget. That budget gave big financial breaks to corporations and   top earners. The promised dribble-down increase in revenue for the national exchequer has not materialized; in fact, the deficit is projected to grow by close to a massive trillion dollars this fiscal year - debt that will have to be repaid by our children and grandchildren. Still we are living in booming times - low unemployment and inflation, strong stock market   and reduced company taxation rates add up to a positive business environment. ...

Divisions in the Democratic Party        Gerry O'Shea Some commentators assert that the Democratic Party is seriously divided   ideologically, with strong left and right wing factions   clashing over important policy issues as the November congressional elections approach. The victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over the incumbent, Congressman Joe Crowley, in the recent Democratic primary in Queens, New York, is   viewed as a prime example of this division.   Joe, age 56, was part of the Democratic leadership team in Washington   and was often mentioned as a possible successor for Nancy Pelosi. He was a highly-respected product of traditional machine politics in Queens. Alexandria, just half his age, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), presented herself as part of new age politics to the left of Crowley and the Democratic Establishment. Cynthia Nixon, the famous actress and political activist, ...