Third Saturday Seminar 2004-2005 – We Dig Deeper Yet – The Challenges of Being Human” – First Meeting
Curt Gibby – “Hiring the Next President”
The Program (the seminar will be in two sessions, as usual, with a break in between)
Called: a Meeting of the TSS Human Resources Committee:
Subject: Reviewing the qualifications of candidates for chief executive of the most powerful nation on earth
9:30 am – 12:00 noon, Room B-102, Montgomery College, 3200 College Park Drive Conroe, TX 77384 See links to maps at bottom of this email.
It’s September and here we go again – and we have“interesting times”on steroids. If you are new, you may not know that I always sent out “assignments” in the form of commentary and Internet links — so, in case anybody wants to read ahead, you have the resources – by the way what I put here is what immediately comes to mind. There are lots more for the true seeker to find. The more prepared you are, the more we all benefit.
And on November 2nd we elect the electors who will elect the next president.
To do that you must be registered by 4 October 04.
You can call the county to mail you an application, but you can generally find blank registration cards in any public library and some post offices.
You can also request a postage paid applicationhere
You can get the phone numbers of all Texas Registrarshere
Think your vote won’t count? Remember, that if you don’t vote, you will be letting down all the other people who believe the same way you do.
(P.S. they don’t use voter lists for jury selection anymore – they use lists of licensed drivers.)
Now lets pretend,that it’s another statistical dead heat and the electors can’t make up their minds, and they have come to the Third Saturday Seminar for our “advice and consent”.
How would we go about that? What are the really important issues? And, how does it appear the candidates will deal with them? What is in the best interests of you, your community, and the country. What are the characteristics that you would look for if you were hiring a chief executive for a company in which you were a major stockholder? In essence you would be putting a major part of your and your family’s future in the hands of this chief executive.
What if it turns out that not one of the candidates is perfect? In fact, not only not perfect, but really has a “checkered” history. Has the incumbent accomplished anything he has set out to do? Has what he has accomplished made your world better? What about the challengers? Anybody with enough stroke to run for president, will have got there with help from a lot of friends. What kind of friends? What are the work histories of the candidates? What if one is a liar? What if they are both liars?
It just goes on and on, doesn’t it? But on November 2nd the country will make a decision, and even though the job description is limited: the office of President of the USA is the most powerful in the world, both as a matter of prestige and the willingness of the legislative branch to abdicate the authority they hold in trust for the people to the executive who willingly accepts it and puts it right to work.
Here is the official job description of the President of the USA ( From the Constitution)
Article. II.
Section. 1.
Clause 1: The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, ….
Clause 8: Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:–“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”
Section. 2.
Clause 1: The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
Clause 2: He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
Clause 3: The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
Section. 3.
He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.
Section. 4.
The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
To help you out, theLeague of Women Votershave kindly assembled the most usable collection of information about who the candidates are, and what they have to say on issues.
Check the presidentialcandidates on the issues(Nader has no comments, I’m not even sure he is on all the ballots in TX)
But if you like to dig deeper, getting ready for the class, or leading up to the election, or afterwards, try:
More good useful stuff – Work histories of candidates
Project Vote Smart
Follow the money in national politics
Opensecrets.org (formerly the Committee for Responsive Politics, CRP)
Follow the Money– the most complete resource for information of money in state politics
All candidates and their surrogates twist the truth till it’s a lie; but you havefactcheck.orgto help you separate the wheat from the chaff.
The Center for Public Integrity: Investigative Journalism in the Public Interest
DemocracyNow.org Amy Goodman. A national asset. I may not always agree with her, but I have tremendous respect for her as a persistent seeker of the truth and a tremendously able, courageous and energetic journalist. Listen to her daily at 9:00 on KPFT FM 90.1 and catch streaming video and listen to archives or read transcripts on the site.
For some of the best, timely, pertinent information for today’s world, watchBill Moyer’s NOWon PBS at 8:00 pm on Fridays and if you miss check the site for discussion topics, transcripts, enrichment materials. Bill Moyers will leave the show after the election.
I will lead off with a short discussion of current events – then will give a 20-30 minute opening presentation regarding “Hiring and Firing Presidents”. After that, I expect that the group will, as usual, provide the the impetus.
Some things to keep in mind:
1. As tempting as it is, this is not a political rally for one side or another. It is a discussion of some very important real issues and questions which many, if not most of us share. Voting is your duty as a citizen. How you vote will be strictly up to you. But, don’t let political differences if you know about them, affect your friendships. History will tell who was right (maybe). In the meantime we need good friends, especially those who can be candid and friends at the same time.
2. By participating, we will help ourselves as well as the the other seminarians deal with these important issues as we approach the election. Nobody has the “right answer” except for themselves. We all owe it to each other to respect and support each other. We are all Americans or guests. We will all benefit or have to live with the outcome.
3. Please keep your remarks brief and to the point.
4. Have faith — in each other and yourselves. Our republic has lasted over 200 years. We are the oldest living Constitutional democracy. Our Constitution limits the power of the leaders and guarantees the rights of its citizens. That 200 years has not all been smooth sailing. From time to time, generally in “times of war”, leaders have usurped the authority of the Congress, violated the Constitution and the rights of the people who rightly or wrongly have acquiesced, being promised security. Something has always brought us back from the brink, but I don’t think we ever make a full recovery. Best we keep our rights and respect for each other intact in the first place. Let’s not let anything we say or do be harmful to each other.
5. Have fun – We always do.
Current Events:
No shortage of mega events – Chaos in the Middle East and Mother Nature. A disturbing Milestone is passed.
What do you get in return for the lives of over 1000 of your sons and daughters and 200 billion dollars on your credit card? Not to mention the lives of 4,000 – 5,000 wounded some of which been permanently altered. Or the lives of 15,000 (my guess, numbers vary) civilians that we came to liberate. And of course many others have been maimed. What do we get in return for this “investment?” What satisfaction is to be gained?
Be sure to bring a current event or two that you’d like to share.
If you have a good cartoon sent it to me on email and I’ll project it on the screen.
About The Third Saturday Seminar
The Third Saturday Seminar is sponsored by the Academy of Lifelong Learning (ALL) Program at Montgomery College. More on the ALL program at:http://www.montgomery-college.com/all/
For information about Montgomery College:http://wwwmc.nhmccd.edu
Parking: May I suggest that you park in the “West Parking Area” , as that parking area is closer to Building B. Ignore the “Instructors Only” signs on the parking, That only applies on week days.
Maps of MC Campus and directions http://wwwmc.nhmccd.edu/students/campus/maps.html
Looking forward to seeing you there. (And please let me know if anything in this announcement doesn’t make sense.)
Best regards,
Curt Gibby
Spring, TX
http://www.northstarinst.org/TSS
here’s a bonus site for those who have read this far.
The Whos in Whoville (or how Dr Seuss might have observed today’s human condition) Enjoy.