Friday, August 1, 2014

Instructor, George Brogan, Republican, running for Congress on the fringe

"The first new Republican"
     As many of you are aware, Mr. George Brogan, a close associate of IVC President Glenn Roquemore (see "contact information"), has taught Geology at Irvine Valley College for about eighteen years. Before that, he seems to have worked for private firms as a geologist.
     He is a Republican.*
     Brogan is running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, 47th District. Check out his election website here: Brogan’s election website

     I want to provide readers with a sense of what they’ll find there. Here are some excerpts:

My Political Positions

[Mr. Brogan lists about 30 position statements, including these:]

• FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICAN; THE FIRST NEW REPUBLICAN

 BRING THE NATION TOGETHER, HEAL THE CURRENT POLITICAL RIFT IN THE U.S.A.
 REDUCE LARGE GOVERNMENT, MAKE IT RESPONSIVE
. . .
 STRONG ON STATES RIGHTS, STRONG ON INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS
 EXTENSIVE FOREIGN EXPERIENCE, I HOLD STRONG FOREIGN POLICY POSITIONS
 STRENGTHEN OUR MILITARY, EXAMINE MILITARY BUDGETS, BE READY IF WAR COMES TO US
 SUPPORT ISRAEL FULLY AND COMPLETELY; STRIVE FOR PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST
. . .
 USE PRIVATE FUNDS, NOT TAXES, TO TRAIN THE UNEMPLOYED FOR JOBS
. . .
 OPEN FEDERAL LANDS FOR OIL, GAS EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION
 OPEN OFFSHORE LANDS FOR OIL, GAS EXPLORATION & PRODUCTION
 EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ABOUT 'GLOBAL WARMING' ISSUES….

[P.S.: it occurred to me, belatedly, that it is at least odd—and likely worse—that Mr. Brogan does not believe in using taxes to train the unemployed (see above) even though he is employed at a community college, a chief mission of which is retraining the unemployed for new jobs.]

[Re “Global warming”:]

...This might be the most divisive of issues splitting the nation today. It shouldn’t be.
. . .
Let's assume global warming/climate change is a problem. … My suggestions follow:

1. Let's first cure world starvation, which kills millions of people every year, mostly children….
2. Let's first cure access to clean drinking water…. [I think he means: cure "inaccessibility" to clean drinking water.]
3. Let's first cure HIV/AIDS worldwide….
4. Let's first cure malaria worldwide, now and forever….

Now, let's assume global warming/climate change is not a problem. Go back to number 1 above, and start all over…. 

     [I.e., Mr. Brogan seems to be suggesting that we do nothing about global warming/climate change, that we address other problems (i.e., current humanitarian crises) instead. I don't know how else to interpret his list of "suggestions." I can only assume that he is inclined to deny the reality of the humanitarian (and other) crises projected by those who assert the (likely) reality of anthropogenic climate change. I.e., he's a skeptic or denier. He is unmoved by the scientific consensus that the phenomenon is very likely real.]


ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP
. . .
   (1) The Trans-Alaska Pipeline. GEORGE BROGAN participated for about 10 years on the design team of this project….
   (2) If a nuclear power plant is to be done, it must be done safely….

Middle Eastern Nations

   • ISRAEL: …POSITION. Renew full military and economic support to Israel.
   • SAUDI ARABIA. We appreciate a good relationship with the Saudis, even though many of their citizens are violently anti-American. 
• POSITION. Continue with our present good relationship with their government;
• Continue our military presence there….
   • SYRIA. Secretly work to oust President Assad; set up a friendly government. Since democratic governments fail to be friendly to the USA in Middle Eastern nations, go to the next-best model of having an appointed head of state who sets up a democratic parliament that the head of state controls….
   
• AFGHANISTAN. We need to work the present leader, President Karzai, out of his job and replace him with someone who is honest and strongly pro-American…. [My emphases.]

Kids Overwhelm the Border
. . .
The 47th Congressional District
     How to fix this problem? Several solutions are possible. If I were President, I would do the following: 

 (1) Declare martial law along the U.S. southern border, from the Pacific coast north of Tijuana to the Gulf of Mexico coast near Brownsville, Texas; 
 (2) activate the National Guard in sufficient numbers to back up the Border Patrol to control the entire southern Border; 
 (3) order the border fence to be designed and constructed. The border fence would extend the full length of the border, and would be the multiple-fence design that is so successful east of the border crossings at San Diego; 
 (4) deport all of the children to their countries of origin, with payment for all administrative costs and deportation taken from the U.S. funds that now go as foreign aid to each country where the children originate; 
 (5) re-evaluate the relationships between the U.S. and all of the affected Latin American countries, to stop permanently the flow of all people into the USA illegally, and improve life in each country. Effective trade agreements would be beneficial to improve their economies, although more effective control of the drug cartels is necessary; 
 (6) cancel the Executive Order issued by President Obama, and replace it with an effective law to prohibit illegal entry from each of the Latin American countries and punish the country of origin, possibly through economic means.

"Vote for Hillary" has begun ["issues" update]

Bumper sticker on a car with Kentucky plates:
"Vote for Monica Lewinski's Former Boyfriend's Wife" [END]

     Just in case you haven't noticed, Mr. Brogan is an eccentric fellow. No doubt some of this eccentricity derives from his peculiar sense of humor.
     For instance, under the heading Issues, he offers the following encomium:

Thomas Crapper
. . .
     Thomas Crapper saved the world from plagues. Pure and simple. This essay gives credit to him for the millions of lives he has saved. Reading this essay represents a long and winding road, so hold on to your belt loops. 

Before reading this document you must first take and pass a quiz….
. . .
9. What does vulgar mean? Is unvulgar a word? Give an example of each. As an analogy sing a medley of Don Ho’s greatest hit and name that tune. Be certain to work in the concept of Milorganite.
. . .
11. What is trickle-down economics? Which part of Reaganomics relies on it? What is an economist? Why are all economists vulgar? Same question about cartographers, Sanitary Engineers, etc.
. . .
13. Who is Sheryl Crow and why is she famous? Why is it she and Lance are no longer a thing together?
. . .
Brogan in Alaska
     Introducing this tome is pretty difficult. You see, it has not only different settings to figure out, it also has a lot of places where it seems someone is commenting on a sentence just ended. Who be that? Makes the whole thing hard to follow. It is as if there were a voice in the distance coming over your shoulder, but nobody is there. Maybe the small voice is coming from the back or your mind. Better yet, maybe it’s coming from the back of my mind. Maybe it’s even coming from someone else, or involves two persons apparently talking about something. Oh little Timmy. I’m so confused! In those cases just realize this: no non-sequiturs are in this document. Anywhere. Everything relates to something else. In fact, the flow is remarkably smooth. At least to me. Now fasten your seatbelt. [Italics in original.]
. . .
Poop. Scat. S___. There. I’ve said it. None of these really do the job. Poop is a term invented so mommies can communicate with their babies; it is generally accepted and so was elevated to the five-letter word Poopy. Acceptable to society, but not to construction workers. Scat. Technical term used by biologists, zoologists, and geographers. People in urban centers don’t know the word because they don’t have coyotes leaving it on their doorsteps. Proficient scientists may declare, as their experiments blow up, “Scat happens.” Good use, bad word. Not the proper ring. Doesn’t communicate with the masses. Can’t be used. That leaves S___, hits spelled differently, completely vulgar and worthy of removal from a serious scientific analysis such as this.

     —Perhaps Brogan's point about "vulgarity" concerns the origin of the word, which is the notion of commonness. (We in the Humanities tend to teach about word meanings and histories, although we are usually careful not to equate the two.)
     In truth, Mr. Brogan isn't very clear about his intent re his ample verbiage about "vulgarity" and "poop" and the celebrated Mr. Crapper. Not to me. He seems to want to say more than that Crapper is underappreciated. But what?
     Mr. Brogan is religious, a Presbyterian Christian.
     He also seems to be a frustrated artist, yearning to get his thoughts "out there." He offers lots of curiously indirect verbiage on his website—to be admired and to inspire, no doubt. (His declaration that there are no non sequiturs in his essay seems perverse.)
     I think he should start his own blog, fill it with his humor and musings, and then see what happens. Get it out there, dude! Let the vulgar decide!


* Brogan is not the Republican candidate for this office. In the primary, Andy Whallon won the right to represent the GOP. Brogan seems to be running as a write-in candidate. His chances of victory are therefore close to nil.

Smartvoter results of June 2014 election. Evidently, Brogan, a write-in, got no percentage of votes.

Roy's obituary in LA Times and Register: "we were lucky to have you while we did"

  This ran in the Sunday December 24, 2023 edition of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register : July 14, 1955 - November 20, 2...