Thomas Coburn, In Memoriam

           Former Republican United States Senator from Oklahoma Thomas Coburn, known for his opposition to wasteful spending, has died in Tulsa at the age of 72.

            Born in Casper, Wyoming in 1948 Coburn earned a degree from Oklahoma State University and became a manager of an optical company.  After a bout of cancer, he graduated from his alma mater’s medical school and became a doctor, practicing family and maternal medicine.

            Coburn was elected to the U.S. House in 1994, serving three terms and keeping his pledge of a three-term limit.  He was then elected to the Senate in 2004, serving only a promised two terms. 

            The conservative Coburn drew attention to pork, other wasteful spending and especially to earmarks, including corporate subsidies, whether proposed by Democrats or Republicans by publicizing such excessive spending and opposing them in the Senate.  His efforts earned him the nickname of “Dr. No.”  Despite Coburn’s objections to their overspending, his evenhanded fiscal conservatism was respected by all.  The practice of earmarking funds was later prohibited.  The obstetrician also authored several health-related bills and was firmly pro-life.

            After his congressional service, Coburn served on President George W. Bush’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS and as a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute on efforts to reform the Food and Drug Administration, among other activities.         

            Coburn agreed to stand as a potential consensus nominee if the 2016 Republican National Convention Delegates had been freed to vote their consciences, as they usually were, instead of nominating Donald Trump.  He later considered running as an independent in the General Election, but declined because of cancer.

           May Tom Coburn’s legacy of opposing wasteful spending serve as an example to other legislators.  

Foreign Digest: North Macedonia and Venezuela

North Macedonia

            North Macedonia, has been admitted to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, becoming the defense pact’s 30th member.  The admission of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia had been blocked by N.A.T.O. member Greece, which had objected to its name that was homologous with that of the Hellenic Republic’s northernmost province, which caused the Greeks to fear separatism there.  A plebiscite last year approved the name change, despite interference by the Russian Federation, led by tyrant Vladimir Putin, which opposes the Western Alliance.  North Macedonia was also able to join the European Union after many years of being blocked.

Venezuela

            The United States announced federal charges late last week against Venezuelan Socialist dictator Nicholas Maduro for drug trafficking.  The charges are not surprising as the Socialist regime had previously aided the Colombian narco-terrorist Marxist rebels and is an ally of Cuba, which also engages in drug trafficking.  The United States, like many Latin American and Western governments, does not recognize him as the legitimate president, recognizing instead the democratic opposition leader in the national assembly, Juan Guaido, who had invoked a constitutional provision to declare himself president because Maduro had supplanted the assembly with another body.  Guaido today called for the establishment of a national emergency government backed by international loans to fight the coronavirus 2019.  Meanwhile, a Venezuelan general is in American custody after surrendering in Colombia on charges of being a co-conspirator to Maduro.

          The de facto president of Venezuela is the first head of state or government to be charged by the U.S. since Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega.  After Noriega overturned democratic elections to remain in power and killed an American Marine, the U.S. invoked its treaty to protect the Panama Canal and liberated Panama in 1989, which has enjoyed representative government and liberty ever since.  

Freedom House Reports 14th Year of Decline of Liberty Globally

           Freedom has declined in the world for the 14^th consecutive year in 2019, according to the latest annual report by Freedom House: https://freedomhouse.org/, as declines outpaced gains globally. 

There was less freedom even in mature representative republics like the United States and the largest, India, where populist leaders and movements threaten liberty, the independence of the judiciary, the rule of law, and pluralism, with equal rights for minorities especially under threat, the report found.  There has been a notable decline in freedom in Eastern European States like Hungary and even Poland.  Dictators in Russia, Venezuela and Turkey have used elections to gain power and turn their states into authoritarian regimes, using rigged elections as a democratic façade.

The report notes the decline is magnified by the withdrawal of American leadership under Donald Trump for human rights, with aspiring authoritarian and autocratic leaders instead copying his models to clamp down on freedom of the press and dissent.  A trend continues of unfree States like tyrant Vladimir Putin’s Russia attempting to persecute even critics living abroad in exile, as does the practice by Communist China of restrictions on Internet freedom that it compels private suppliers to consent to, which can become a model for other despots, Freedom House reports.  Election security has become an increasing concern in free States, as Russia and other authoritarian regimes use a wider array of tools than previously available to undermine representative government in free States.

It is ever more critical to defend liberty, free and fair elections, representative government, and democratic norms, such as the independence of the judiciary, the rule of law and the truth.  

Foreign Digest: Ireland, Russia and Syria

Ireland

            The two leading center to center-right Irish parties, which have dominated politics in the Republic of Ireland since independence from the United Kingdom a century ago, will form a coalition government to keep a far-left party out of government after its best-ever election showing earlier this month.

Russia

            The Netherlands is holding a trial over the shoot-down of a Malaysian Air civilian liner over Ukraine in 2014 by separatists aided by the Russian Federation, killing nearly 300, including many Dutch.  The airliner had departed from the Netherlands.  The regime led by tyrant Vladimir Putin is not cooperating with the probe.

           

            Meanwhile last week, there was more harassment of Alexei Navalny, the Russian democratic opposition leader and more arrests after a peaceful protest against Putin. 

            Constitutional changes were made by the end of the week to allow Putin to remain in power for many more years.  The ex-Soviet intelligence officer has held power, either as President or Prime Minister, for the last 20 years.  After being elected, Putin has become authoritarian by limiting freedom of the press, speech and assembly, for example, while eliminating the independence of the judiciary and while not allowing free and fair elections in order to stay in power.

Syria

           Nine years of civil war in Syria have now killed nearly 400,000 people and displaced millions, leading at one point to the largest refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War.  Since 2011, Syrians, including non-Islamists, Kurds and Islamist terrorists have rebelled against the tyrannical regime of Bashar Assad, who is backed by Iran, Hezbollah (the Iranian-sponsored Lebanese Shi’ite terrorist organization) and Russia.  The United States and its allies have backed non-Islamist and Kurdish rebels while focusing primarily on fighting the Islamists, like al-Qaeda and its offshoot, the “Islamic State,” which had declared a caliphate in Iraq and Syria, while Turkey is backing its own faction.  As Russia has increased its intervention and the Americans have abandoned their Kurdish allies and largely withdrawn, the Syrian regime has been winning back most of the territory lost to the rebels, except the areas with the highest Kurdish population.  Assad’s forces have used chemical weapons against civilians and Russia has targeted hospitals among other atrocities committed by the Syrians and Russians.

Influenza Season and Other Epidemics Are More Reasons to Abolish Daylight Saving Time

Every year, I post reasons to abolish Daylight Saving Time, the twice-annual obligation to change the clocks forward or back.  In addition to financial cost, I have cited health concerns because of increased risks of accidents and physical health problems because of the disruption of sleep and schedule, as well as mental health problems.  There is no benefit to the change.

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus 2019 reminds that the hour of sleep is lost during the influenza season, an inopportune time to cause a loss of sleep an alteration to the circadian rhythm, as it can weaken immune systems.  But during this additional epidemic that has already spread to most American States and the District of Columbia, it is especially irresponsible.

More and more States in the Union are considering legislation to abolish DST or at least to eliminate the twice-a-year obligation to move the clocks by switching permanently to DST as the new Standard Time or their jurisdiction.  The federal government should coordinate with States on abolishing this costly and unhealthy disruption.

Foreign Digest: Syria, Russia and Afghanistan

Syria

            There were more clashes between late last week between Turkey and the forces of Syrian tyrant Bashar Assad as Turkey has been supporting a group of rebels in the Syrian Civil War, as well as Turkish strikes on military targets of their Russian allies.  Assaults by Syrian forces and their Russian allies have created another wave of refugees. 

The nearly-nine-year-long war, which has killed several hundred thousand, has displaced millions, creating at one point the largest refugee crisis for Europe since the Second World War.  Non-Islamist and Islamists are battling the Syrian regime.  In addition to Russia, Iran and the Iranian-sponsored Lebanese Shi’ite terrorist organization Hezbollah are on Assad’s side.  The United States and an international coalition has been fighting Islamists while the U.S. had supported some non-Islamist and Kurdish allies.

Russia

            There was a protest march yesterday in Russia on the fifth anniversary of the assassination of the main democratic opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, near the Kremlin.  Over ten thousand protestors demonstrated against proposed constitutional reforms by tyrant Vladimir Putin that could allow him to remain in power.  They also called for the release of political prisoners.  Earlier protests have led to arrests of opposition leaders like Alexei Navalny and even to mass arrests of peaceful protesters, as no criticism of the regime is tolerated.

Afghanistan

           A deal between the Trump Administration of the United States and the Taliban was reached late last week for a withdrawal of American troops by mid-2021, in exchange for a power-sharing agreement between the Taliban and the Afghan government.  But the deal has already hit a snag on the release of prisoners by the Afghan government, which was recently re-elected in a close, disputed election, as there are concerns that the deal would be a dangerous surrender.  The Taliban had harbored al-Qaeda, the Islamist organization responsible for the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks on the United States, as well as many other acts of terrorism before or since, until it was overthrown by the U.S. in the War on Terrorism by early 2002.  A return to power of the Taliban could lead to Afghanistan becoming a safe harbor again for terrorists.  The U.S. maintains a relatively small level of troops in the Afghan theater of the War on Terrorism and is usually engaged in only sporadic and small-scale combat.  The small price of American presence in Afghanistan has safeguarded the world from another September 11-scale attack.