President Obama and Family at Robben Island, South Africa, 2013

This past June, the Obama Family visited the prison that housed former South African President Nelson Mandela as apartheid reigned in South Africa.  The 1986 Apartheid Act was opposed by President Ronald Reagan, Dick Cheney,  Strom Thurmond,  Jesse Helms and others.  President Reagan went so far as to veto the bill.  Guess many of us should not be shocked today at what we are seeing out of the Republican Party when you realize that in 1986,  Reagan opposed the end of Apartheid.
President Obama's Remarks on Death of Nelson Mandela, 5 December 2013 Background on the Reagan and Republican Opposition to the Apartheid Act:

1985:  Democrats in the Senate initially tried to pass the Anti-Apartheid Act in September 1985 -- could not overcome a Republican filibuster. Reagan viewed the act as an intrusion on his authority to conduct foreign policy and issued his own set of sanctions. 

1986:  Bill was re-introduced in 1986 and brought up for a vote despite Republican efforts to block it in order to give President Reagan's sanctions time to work. Passed unexpectedly in the House in June 1986 after Republicans agreed to a voice vote in the hopes that the bill would die later on in the process.  President Reagan publicly opposed the bill.  Viewed too extreme to pass in the Republican-controlled Senate.  In August 1986, Senate passed a version of the Anti-Apartheid Act with weaker sanctions by a margin of 84- 14.  

Democratic leaders in the House agreed to accept the weaker Senate version of the bill in order for it to have sufficient bipartisan support to avert a possible veto which didn't work.
Reagan vetoed the compromised bill on September 26, calling it "economic warfare" and alleging that it would mostly hurt the impoverished black majority and lead to more civil strife.  He again offered to impose sanctions via executive order, while also working with Senate Republicans on concessions to avoid them overriding his veto. Reagan's veto was attacked harshly by anti-Apartheid leaders like Desmond Tutu who said Reagan would be "judged harshly by history".  In the week leading up to the subsequent vote, President Reagan enlisted South African foreign minister Pik Botha to call Republicans on the fence, though this was seen to backfire.

Reagan's veto was overridden by Congress (by the Senate 78 to 21, the House by 313 to 83) on October 2. This override marked the first time in the twentieth century that a president had a foreign policy veto overridden. Apartheid opponents in America and South Africa applauded the vote, while critics argued that it would be either ineffectual or lead to more violence. 

President Reagan made the following statement after the override:

"Today's Senate vote should not be viewed as the final chapter in America's efforts, along with our allies, to address the plight of the people of South Africa. Instead, it underscores that America—and that means all of us—opposes apartheid, a malevolent and archaic system totally alien to our ideals. The debate, which culminated in today's vote, was not whether or not to oppose apartheid but, instead, how best to oppose it and how best to bring freedom to that troubled country. 

I deeply regret that Congress has seen fit to override my veto of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986. Punitive sanctions, I believe, are not the best course of action; they hurt the very people they are intended to help. My hope is that these punitive sanctions do not lead to more violence and more repression. Our administration will, nevertheless, implement the law. It must be recognized, however, that this will not solve the serious problems that plague that country. The United States must also move forward with positive measures to encourage peaceful change and advance the cause of democracy in South Africa. 

Now is the time for South Africa's Government to act with courage and good sense to avert a crisis. Moderate black leaders who are committed to democracy and oppose revolutionary violence are ready to work for peaceful change. They should not be kept waiting. It would be tragic to lose this opportunity to create a truly free society which respects the rights of the majority, the minority, and the individual. There is still time for orderly change and peaceful reform. South Africans of good will, black and white, should seize the moment."

The override was seen as a major defeat for Reagan, coming at the hands of his fellow Republicans in Congress. It was subsequently revealed that there was significant debate within the White House between Reagan's political advisors advocating more compromise and those like Pat Buchanan and Donald Regan who supported Reagan's hard line against sanctions.

After 2 years of sanctions under President Reagan, the sanctions were seen as having little effect in hurting South Africa or moving them away from apartheid. In 1989, the General Accounting Office said in a report that the sanctions against South Africa had been only partially enforced by the Reagan administration.  In 1989, the newly elected President George H.W. Bush committed to "full enforcement" of the Anti-Apartheid Act, a departure from the Reagan administration`s policy.

When I was reading this from Wikipedia and following the sources, it was like I was reading it for the first time and then I remembered during this time our family made two moves in less than 10 months with two young children being in three different schools and a toddler at home.  Moving from the west coast to New England and nine months later to Ohio didn't leave a lot of time to know what was  going on in the world especially since we lived in Groton, MA, after moving from NH with NO cable and poor reception.  We could get the news out of NH where one guy reported everything or out of CT. We had one Boston station we could get a night yet we kept hearing how progressive Massachusetts was -- not where we lived.

Tomorrow President and Mrs. Obama accompanied by former President and Mrs. Bush will be attending the funeral of a man who never gave up and who will be remembered for the ages -- Nelson Mandela who with others ended apartheid in South Africa and started a movement heard round the world.

God speed President Mandela and thank you for opening the eyes of the world.  

Roger Hedgecock: Donald Trump: The new Perot?

Some friends from San Diego first told me I would really enjoy listening to Roger Hedgecock's program and they were correct. Many times I have turned into his program on the net and never am disappointed.  This latest article from Hedgecock says what a lot of us have been thinking and what is driving the elitist, establishment Republicans up a wall.  Former President George HW Bush and his cronies who support Romney most likely are behind the pit bull, Rove who has gone way over the top with his attacks on Trump.  Unlike some others Rove has taken out, The Donald is fighting back!

For any one who doesn't know, Karl Rove got his start thanks to George HW Bush while he was the head of the RNC during the Nixon years and is still loyal. Bush 41 pushed Mitt Romney in 2008 and is once again pushing him for President. Why? Makes no sense unless it is the connection to his Dad. Romney does not go over well with a lot of the activists and grassroots. Most of us went to McCain instead of Romney which speaks volumes.

Donald Trump has tapped into the Republican grassroots community because unlike what so many of the GOP candidates are doing by being differential to Obama and his Administration, Trump is taking them on with their failed policies and Obama's secret records.

If I see one more political official say they know that Obama was born in Hawaii and let's move on, I am going to scream. First of all, how do they know where he was born as the Certificate of Live Birth is useless. At that time any Tom, Dick, or Harry could walk up to their local issuing place and give the details of when a child was born with zero proof and then fill out the birth announcement for the paper to go along so the birth would be announced. Hawaii was looking for citizens which is even more reason for Obama to provide the long form. 

Only the certified copy of the long form can be used to get a passport. Are these politicians afraid to admit that if Barack Obama the elder was the father that Obama doesn't meet the qualifications to be President from the rules in effect at that time he was born since his mother was 17?  Is there something on it Obama doesn't want people to see?  If that is the case, then have the Speaker of the House and his leadership team along with Pelosi (who has never seen it) and her leadership view the document and certify that Obama is qualified to have run for President.  Speaking of passports, did Obama have an American passport before he became a Senator?  Thanks to Bush 41 who sealed passport records, we cannot find that out either.

Can guarantee you that if any Republican wouldn't release their records, the Obama media would never stop demanding access to the records.  Look what happened to Pres GW Bush on his grades which he finally released. They never quit on his guard records actually reporting on phony records that were proved false but it didn't stop Dan Rather from continuing to say the documents were not correct but it didn't make them not true. HUH?

Donald Trump being willing to get out front of all of this has made a lot of us take notice as he is saying what we have been saying. He has a backbone and will say what needs to be said and has tapped into support of the grassroots who are tired of the elites deciding who to run as being witnessed right now as Rove and others try to take out Trump and it is not working.

Trump is as appalled at the waste and corruption riddling the Obama government as more and more Americans are. Trump has put his reputation on the line, betting that his saying what everyday Americans are thinking will help shape the 2012 debate, force politicians to address the fiscal emergency and maybe even propel him into the White House.

I don't know about the latter, but if Trump succeeds in speaking for an increasingly gloomy America and makes the 2012 election a real debate about solutions, he will have performed a patriot's duty and, like Perot, be honored by his countrymen for his sacrifice.

If Trump makes it to the White House, I'm sure critics will have plenty of fodder for columns like this one, but who else would you rather have as president negotiating for America? I'll take the author of "The Art of the Deal."

Roger Hedgecock is correct who he would rather have negotiating for America -- we agree with him the author, Donald Trump, who wrote "The Art of the Deal" because Trump will be a tough negotiator.

Donald Trump: The new Perot?
Roger Hedgecock
Posted: April 25, 2011
1:00 am Eastern

Donald Trump, like Ross Perot 20 years ago, is a rich, successful, supremely confident salesman and patriot intensely dissatisfied with the competence of the present ruling political elite of both parties.

Trump is speaking out and speaking truth to Obama power like no one else. Like Perot before him, he's used to speaking his mind in blunt terms. He's not beholden to anyone. He scares the ruling elite. To the establishment, Trump has gone rogue.

I've seen this movie before.

In 1992, rich outsider Ross Perot loudly voices dissatisfaction that mirrors widespread public concerns not addressed by existing politicians. Insiders panic, fearing the power of a rogue voice unbeholden to the usual agendas and rich enough to be heard.

Critics tear at "gaffes" ("Larry, they doctored the photo"), paranoia ("they tried to kill me"), past business practices (Didn't his business make millions computerizing Medicare?), charge "racism" ("you people") – anything to stop the public from believing and following the outsider.

But Perot seemed right about a lot of things in 1992 and seems more right today than ever.

His prediction about the ultimate insolvency of Medicare was spot on. His opposition to wars not declared by Congress found support then and certainly rings true four ruinous wars and 20 years later. His criticism of NAFTA and "free trade" sounded like evil protectionism in 1992, but sounds like prophesy to many American ears today. Perot's 1992 advocacy of a balanced federal budget brings moans of "if only we had followed that advice" today.

Blocked from the presidential nomination by either party in 1992, Perot sought third-party recognition as the Reform Party in all 50 states, got it, dropped out of the race at the peak of his popularity, dropped back in right before the election and still got nearly 20 percent of the vote – enough to defeat the incumbent and elect Clinton.

Remembering the Perot experience, I doubt the closed-shop mentality of the political class will allow Trump a fair fight for the Republican presidential nomination.

The insider's character assassination of Donald Trump is intensifying.

Can The Donald starring as The Donald in "The Donald" be serious? Isn't this just another stunt to flatter his considerable ego? Critics flacking for the insiders call Trump a "clown," a "birther," "ignorant," "crazy" in print and worse in private.

But the rising hysteria of the insiders is in direct proportion to Trump's exploding out of political nowhere to capture a significant following and the pole position in early presidential opinion surveys.

In 2011, a significant majority of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track, that a government-directed economic recovery funded with borrowed trillions is not working, that the Libya war-that-is-not-a-war is wrong on every level.

With persistent high unemployment, jobs fleeing overseas, constant war, government regulation, taxation and nanny state intrusions turning Americans off, Trump is the loudest voice telling us the Emperor has no clothes, no matter what the New York Times says.

When Trump points out that every country in the world except Obama's America is drilling for oil, gas, coal, gold, copper, etc, etc., to make money, create jobs and improve their citizens' standard of living, Americans are listening. Maybe to the Sierra Club it makes sense that we should not use the riches literally bubbling up under our feet, but to Trump and a majority of Americans, this is just plain nuts.

The Chinese are hacking our computers, threatening our aircraft carriers and undermining our economy. Not one American politician wants to talk about this.

Excerpt: Read more: Donald Trump: The new Perot?

For too long our elected officials at times have been very weak and deferential when talking to foreign leaders especially Obama. We loved it when George Bush stood on the ruins of the World Trade Center and told the terrorists:

“I can hear you! I hear you, the rest of the world hears you, and the people who knocked down these buildings will hear all of us soon!” George Bush at WTC site on September 14, 2001

Then he named the Axis of Evil in his speech following 9/11. What happened to that President who wasn't afraid to take on the world?

We need a President who is as tough as nails and stands up for America from day one to the last day of his term. We want a President who the rest of the world respects but fears. We are seeing daily what it is like to have a wimp for a President who only stands up to our allies like Great Britain and bends over for people who harbor our enemies along with our enemies. Obama has tried his best to get Chavez to really like him but Chavez does not respect a weak President and takes full advantage. Some negotiating team we have -- Obama and Hillary Clinton -- horrible combination.

Right now of all the people who have said they are considering running, only Donald Trump has the proven business and negotiating experience, with a backbone. The chattering class are being driven up a wall as they once again figured they could choose the next Republican nominee -- not going to happen this time. No more Bob Dole's or John McCain's period -- men who were rewarded by the establishment clearing the way for them to run for President.

This time the establishment is not going to move Donald Trump out of the way no matter what. Americans want a real leader who believes we are an Exceptional Country and no one is going to take advantage of us -- Donald Trump is the ONLY person we see that meets that criteria.