Remembering Irene Sendler

In 2007 Irena Sendler was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.  She was 97.  The award was given to former Vice President Al Gore for his slide show on Global Warming.  The effect of Sendler’s nomination was to alert the world of her presence and impact, some 65 years after she demonstrated unparalleled compassion and courage. 

During WWII she smuggled 2500 Jewish kids/infants out of the Warsaw ghetto in Poland.

She devised a very creative and elaborate plan using a typhoid scare and the sewer system as a means to secure their freedom and survival.

She was caught by the Nazis.  She was tortured and severely beaten.  The beatings broke her arms and legs and left her crippled for life.  She never revealed even one, minuet piece of information to her vicious captors.  She was sentenced to death but escaped when a guard was bribed.  She spent the remaining years of the war in hiding as the Gestapo relentlessly hunted for her.

Irena kept the names of all the kids she guided to safety hidden in a glass jar.  After the war, she tried to reunite the families even though most of the parents had been systematically slaughtered.

Irena Sendler died on May 12, 2008 at the age of 98.

Forgiveness on this front remains, in all likelihood, the sole province of the Almighty.   While we may not possess the divine nature necessary to forgive these monsters we nevertheless have the responsibility to never forget.  We must never forget the six million Jews, 20 million Russians, 10 million Christians and 1,900 Catholic priests who were murdered, massacred, raped, burned, starved and humiliated or the atrocities of Pol Pot, Chairman Mao Tse-tung and the other butchers that followed Hitler - And it is high time we start remembering and memorializing Irena Sendler as those in the Middle East make plans for exacting their own perverted brand of genocide.

Genora (Johnson) Dollinger

During the 1936-37 United Auto Workers (UAW) sit down strike in Flint, Michigan, Genora (Johnson) Dollinger battled policemen and company thugs as the head of the UAW’S Women’s Emergency Brigade.  

Workers overturned police cars to make barricades. They ran to pick up the fire bombs thrown at them and hurl them back at the police. These brave men insisted Genora get out of the line of violence.  She refused.  Instead she grabbed a loud speaker device.  She called the company goons and police cowards.  She made it clear that their violence was being directed not only at unarmed men but also at both the women and children.  These women and children were members of the “Women’s Emergency Brigade” who had taken to the streets in support of their husbands, fathers, brothers and uncles.  

As the violence was subsiding Genora made a second impassioned and brilliant plea: “I thought, the women can break this up. So I appealed to the women in the crowd, to break through the police lines and come down and stand beside their husbands, their brothers, their uncles and their sweethearts. I could barely see one woman struggling to come forward. A cop had grabbed her by the back of her coat. She just pulled out of that coat and she started walking down to the battle zone. As soon as that happened there were other women and men who followed. That was the end of the battle. When those spectators came into the center of the battle the police retreated.  There was a big roar of victory.”  

Genora (Johnson) Dollinger’s extraordinary courage revealed an Achilles heel in the brutal violence believed to be the solution to ending the strike in favor of the auto companies.  She paved the way for a union victory and in doing so saved the lives of those who fought so valiantly for a better way of life for all of us. 

Phillies “Phold” Possible

Authors Note/Update:  Donald Trump won the presidential election in 2016.  He did it without winning the popular vote.    He did it on the strength of a very low voter turnout – 97 million of the eligible 241 million voters sat at home. He did it by securing only 26% of the voting electorate. Seventy-three percent (73%) of Americans refused to support him.  Trump is the first president to NEVER achieve a 50% approval or favorable rating or higher in any polls conducted.  He once again lost the popular vote as well as the presidential election in 2020 by a large margin.  In addition; there have been eight presidential elections held since 1992.  The Republicans have won the popular vote in only one of those elections.  Facts indicate that Trump and the GOP are NOT popular with the American people. 

The Philadelphia Phillies “Phold of ‘64” may have a rival in the annals of monumental upset surprises. In 1964 the Philadelphia Phillies surrendered a 6 ½ game lead with 12 games to play.  To this day that collapse is still considered the worst in sports history. 

A review of current polling shows that in the states where Hillary Clinton is up by 10 points or more – just those states – provide her with 273 electoral votes.  Two hundred seventy (270) are needed to win the election.  Is it feasible that such a deficit could be overcome in the mere 2 ½ months before election day?  If the margin were overcome, in even one of those states, it would be- like the Phillies “Phold of ‘64” - unprecedented. 

Additionally, GOP campaign issues are also aiding Hillary Clinton. 

George F. Will once said that if the Republican Party was serious about gaining populous support, they would break up the Wall Street banks.  This wisdom along with other key concerns have been ignored.  

For example; the party has refused to diminish their support for tax cuts for the rich or to provide greater market access for the middle class and poor.  They say they support government programs to rebuild our infrastructure.  This could provide thousands of new jobs yet we have no information as to how this would be funded while they are cutting taxes. 

Nor is the GOP talking about rational plans for repealing impediments that hamper small and medium size business startups and growth. There is no discussion of repealing excessive licensing requirements nor suggesting it is time to end government programs that promote financial engineering and stock buybacks.  Also absent is any talk of implementing new programs that would encourage our richest corporate concerns to hire new workers or encourage them to make more investments. 

When Republicans talk about health care and repealing the woefully ineffective Affordable Care Act (ACA), they fail to mention any specifics as to what will replace it – what ACA measures they would retain and what stronger market measures they support in correcting the problems.  They continue to imply support for a market-based system and programs refusing to acknowledge that those programs are directly responsible for our dreadfully inadequate system.  There are no proposals for greater regulations to curb costs or making the system far more transparent or responsive to health care needs.  Just opposing a single payer universal health care system isn’t enough.  The GOP must provide a viable alternative. 

They continue to emphasize cutting the size of government and taxes.  Yet, once again, do not state exactly what they would trim. Nor do they tell us how they will pay for the programs they support and endorse after reducing taxes.  They refuse to advocate closing corporate loopholes, deductions and credits – ending corporate welfare – as a method of shrinking the size of government or as a means of providing additional sources of revenue. 

Finally, voters would enthusiastically support these measures and messages but only if proposed by a respectable, credible messenger.  While Donald Trump has correctly identified some key issues such as; immigration and securing our borders, income inequality and economic patriotism, opposition to trade deals, and the ending of and staying out of war - all the issues that Washington has refused to address - Donald Trump has been Hillary Clinton’s best friend.  His outrageous statements and behavior have thoroughly distracted voters from her nagging controversies. All the signs point to Mr. Trump as being the wrong messenger. 

So, it’s a “NO BRAINER” - like the Phillies – how can Hillary lose?? 

For openers, Americans do not typically elect the same party to hold the presidency for more than two terms.  Two terms for Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama.  Up next – A Republican. 

Next, starting in 2008, the Clintons began in earnest to secure Hillary’s nomination in 2016.  The political maneuvering was so effective it discouraged any opposition within the party from challenging her coronation.  Not only was this unhealthy for the Democrats and the country but she was the wrong choice for the party.  Repeated polling has demonstrated Americans do not find her trustworthy or likable indicating they would have preferred another candidate.  The only viable hope for the Republicans, at this point, is a very low voter turnout.  Those claiming to support a candidate they may not like, must show up at the polls and vote.  If those polled are disenchanted enough to stay away, then polling information becomes skewed and thus a moot point. 

While it may seem unlikely, the DFL may be on the road to matching The Phillies “Phold of ‘64” in 2016.