On January 1st, 1863, when
President Abraham Lincoln issued the historic Emancipation Proclamation, it
declared "that all persons held as slaves" within ten rebellious states "are,
and henceforward shall be free." Thus, President Lincoln's signature gave
freedom from slavery to most Americans with black skin color.
Emancipation to Negroes who
lived in other areas of the country would come later after separate state
actions or by the December 1865 ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment. That
Amendment made slavery illegal everywhere that was subject to United States
jurisdiction. However, after both these laws were enacted,
it was still unimaginable
that a man of the Negro race would ever be elected to the highest office in the
land.
One-hundred years after
President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. -
on August 28th, 1963 - gave his memorable and captivating "I Have A Dream"
speech at the Lincoln
Memorial in Washington, DC. With bigotry and racism running rampant…and civil
rights for all people...terribly undesirable by a great many Americans...it was
still thought to be impossible that a man – who in those days were horribly
referred to as “colored” – would ever be given the opportunity to run for
President of the United States…let alone to be someone who could ever occupy The
Oval Office of The White House. 
If you’re a regular reader of The
Controversy, you are well aware that I fully support Hillary Clinton in her bid
for President. And although I am completely confident that the former Secretary of State is going to be successful, I recognize that with politics - as is with everything in life - anything can happen. As such, I acknowledge and understand that - since I do not have a crystal ball - I, therefore, cannot foresee the future...nor can anybody else. But should Hillary Clinton become the 45th President of the United States, she will be - as everybody knows - our first female President and Commander-In-Chief...something that years ago, not only wasn't possible, but wasn't allowed, as women didn't even have the right to vote until the Nineteenth Amendment became part of the U.S. Constitution on August 26th, 1920.
But let’s say Secretary Clinton doesn’t
win the Democratic nomination – which I believe is highly unlikely – and that
Senator Bernie Sanders defeats her and he is then elected President on November 8th, 2016. America would have its first Jewish President. And with anti-Semitism still a problem in the
U.S.A, the vision…or even the concept… of a Jew as President...has always been a near impossibility. A bit of a fact, however… Senator Sanders has
already made history as the first Jew to ever win delegates towards the
nomination for President. 
Much
more implausible this year is for another African-American to gain the nomination
of his political party – this time by the Republicans. But, Dr. Ben Carson is also competing for that position.A black President elected in 2008 and 2012 is a fact. But now, in 2016, will Americans cast their ballots and vote in the first woman for President? Or, will we have our first Jewish President? And, if nominated, will the first Hispanic be moving in to the Washington mansion? Or, will Americans elect another African-American to lead our nation?
Republican Donald Trump proclaims he is
running for President because he wants to “make America great again.” The fact that we have a woman who could be
elected President this year…or that there’s the possibility that a Jew could
become President….or a Hispanic…or another African-American…well, sorry Donald… but
for those reasons alone – not to mention numerous other reasons – I think America IS great!And that’s The Controversy for today.
I'm Gary B. Duglin.
"We'll talk again."
The Controversy is a publication of GBD Productions. Founder and Editor-In-Chief of The Controversy is Gary B. Duglin.
One of the chief goals of a blog...one of the major reasons to publish a blog...is to entice others to express their opinions about the subject for which the author is writing. The Controversy is being read by a tremendous amount of people throughout the United States of America and all around the world. If you agree or disagree with my commentary...your views are welcomed. Tell me that you love what I write...or that you hate it. Give your name...make up one...or remain anonymous if you prefer. The Controversy is your outlet to speak your mind and to say what you want about the topics discussed. Please share The Controversy with others by posting it on Facebook, Twitter and on other social media forums. Please also pass a link to everyone in your e-mail directories. The Controversy wants to know your thoughts on the column above or on any other editorial or essay written on this blog.
Now, please express your opinions. Just click on the word "Comments" below and write your remarks in the box that appears. Make sure please that when you finish your statement that you click on the word "Publish." Thank you for your thoughts and thank you for reading The Controversy.
Photo credits: character-training.com (President Abraham Lincoln), samhorn.com (The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.), whitehouse.gov (President Barack Obama), zap2it.com and getty.com (former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton), ellentv.com (Senator Bernie Sanders), theamericanconservative.com (Senator Ted Cruz), govmatt.com (Senator Marco Rubio), christianpost.com (Dr. Ben Carson) and abc7ny.com (Mr. Donald Trump)
Copyright 2016 Gary B. Duglin and TheControversy.net. All Rights Reserved.
You really don’t get it. Yes, everything you said is really good some even great but that is not what he is talking about? To start let me say I am a conservative American who is not a big fan of Trump, I will vote for him if my only choices are him or Hillary or Sanders. What he is talking about is we are $19,000,000,000,000in debt and climbing; we make deals with Iran that will almost guarantee more terrorism in the world and do very little in stopping them from getting a nuclear bomb. We have 12-20 million illegal aliens in our country and more getting here every day, our military is being reduced to the smallest in decades. Our tax systems are totally unfair, the top 10% pay 70+% of federal income tax the bottom 40% of working people pay 0% and we have some billionaires and big corporations paying nothing. Small business, sub-s’s, the middle and upper middle class are getting killed by our tax system, nobody should be paying 40-50-60 percent or more in taxes (Local, State, Federal, payroll, etc) and nobody who works should pay zero in income tax, I pay what is called an AMT (alternative minimum tax), if I have to pay that, shouldn’t everyone and every corporation have to pay an AMT? As Trump has said we aren’t winning anymore, our friends don’t respect us, our enemies don’t fear us, our economy is the toilet, we make deals with countries that hurt us, we have an administration that doesn’t honor our Constitution. We have a terrorist group ISIS that our President called a JV team and is doing very little to stop, he won’t even call them what they are “radical Islamic terrorist”. Obama care, Social Security and Medicare are all headed for bankruptcy and we are doing nothing about it. Our boarders are a joke. We have an administration that has set race relations back decades and a Justice Department that doesn’t give a damn about justice. Those are just some of the reasons Trump feels we are not great anymore and I agree!
ReplyDeleteI'll start by using the same words you did. You really don't get it. You really didn't get the reason for my commentary. It has nothing to do with all the blather that you spilled out. The reason was to show that America is great because after more than 200 years as a nation, Americans have opened their minds - and their hearts - so that a woman could run for President and that she may win...that a Jew could run for President and that although I don't think he will get the Democratic nomination, he could, and he could win the Presidency...and that two Hispanics could vie for the top spot and that one of them could get their party's nomination and although I don't think one will become President - as I said - anything can happen in politics. And that the United States elected not just once, but twice, an African-American and given that fact, another African-American is seeking the nomination of his party this election cycle. I think for those reasons alone, America IS great! Now, I will touch on a few of your remarks. The 19-trillion dollars in debt is the fault of President George W. Bush. Facts are facts. President Bill Clinton left The White House with a surplus. The deal with Iran was to stop them from building nuclear weapons and to reduce the chances of terrorism. It will do that. Yes we have about 11-million illegal immigrants, but we can't send back people who are actually helping our economy by working for wages that most Americans won't accept and many of those immigrants have children who were born in the United States, which by law makes those kids American citizens. As for the tax structure, the United States was built on a system where the rich pay more in taxes and the middle class and poor pay less. When the top 1/10 of one-percent earns more income than the bottom 90 percent, those super wealthy people need to pay more in taxes. As for your numbers, most of them are not altogether accurate. And for you to say that the Obama Administration has "set race relations back decades" is so laughable that it's not worth even commenting. Have you not noticed the skin color of our President? GBD
DeleteI said that much of what you said was good or even great, but having an African- American president and a woman, a Jew and a couple of Hispanics running for president doesn’t make the country great. Once again you make up what you call facts, when George W Bush left office our national debt was just over $10,000,000,000,000 Barrack Obama has added almost $9,000,000,000,000 in his 7 years those are the facts. Stop blaming George W for everything. Obama sits at the big desk time for him to take responsibility for his failures. If you believe that giving Iran up to a $150,000,000,000 won’t cause more terrorism you live in a dream world and this deal does nothing to stop them over time from getting the bomb. As for your statement that the US was built on the system of the rich paying more, first there was no income tax until 1913, second nobody has said the rich shouldn’t pay more. The average upper middle class or wealthier person pays close to or over 50% between state, federal and payroll taxes. A flat tax would be fair and the rich would pay more than everyone else. 15% flat after the first $15,000 if you make $50,000 you pay $5250 if you make $250,000 you pay $35,250 if you make $1,000,000,000 you pay $147,750 that would be fair. Yes, I have notice the color of our Presidents skin and don’t care what color he is. He has regularly caused race problems by sticking his nose into things without the facts. His administration seems to claim everything wrong is caused by white bigots or George W Bush.
ReplyDeleteThe crux of my column was to show how America has changed in 240 years; that not too long ago it would have been impossible for an African-American to be elected President or for a woman, a Jew, 2 Hispanics and another African-American to even run for President. That was my point and that America is great because we are a country with such freedoms and such opportunities for every American no matter what their skin color is, who they pray to or what their ethnic heritage stems from...and that was my commentary. I never brought up politics or political issues. You have done that. I really didn't expect anyone to reply with such issues. Instead, I had thought readers would see how positive my editorial is and THAT is why Donald Trump should feel America is great. Now, since you have continued with your political remarks, I will respond. The reason that the national debt grew was because of problems that did begin with President George W. Bush. If Mr. Bush had followed the practices of President Bill Clinton - who when he left The White House he did so by giving our country a surplus - we would not have been devastated by the greatest economic problems since the Great Depression. That is because of George W. Bush's blunders. I believe in President Obama and do not live in a "dream world." I support his decision with the Iran deal and believe it will stop them from developing a nuclear bomb and terrorism will not increase because of that deal. As for your tax plan, I can't even comment because I don't agree with your mathematical thoughts. Finally, I am amazed that you feel that President Obama has "regularly caused race problems by sticking his nose into things without the facts." If you are referring to certain issues where a black human being was shot by a white person, Mr. Obama has been a thoughtful and caring President who was right in his actions and by his tears. GBD
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