Franklin D. Roosevelt

Civil Liberties Under Attack With Arrest Of Palestinian, Mahmoud Khalil, Activist From Columbia University!

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Civil liberties are under attack in the Trump Presidency, and the recent arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student of Palestinian descent, is an alarm bell, as there is no justification for his arrest by ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), and his detention in secret in a prison in Louisiana.

Khalil may have political viewpoints about the Israel-Gaza War that are unpopular and opposed by many American Jews and other supporters of Israel, but that is not justification for the move to deport, when he is here legally on a green card, a permanent resident card with the permission to work,and has not committed any felonies.

Khalil led student demonstrations last spring, but when did we declare there is no freedom of assembly, and freedom of speech, just because some of us may not agree with one’s viewpoints?

This was not the way that demonstrations at the University of Virginia in 2017 by white supremacists and Nazi sympathizers were treated, by Donald Trump!

Trump is acting like a dictator threatening all Americans’ rights to the First Amendment, and this case must be fought to restore the basic principles of the Bill of Rights.

This was abrogated by President John Adams in the 1790s, Woodrow Wilson during and after World War I, and Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II, most infamously among our Presidents, and it is not a political or partisan view to oppose violations of the rights under the First Amendment to the Constitution!

Trump State Of The Union Address: Highly Divisive And Lies, Lies, Lies! :(

Ronald 14 Comments

Donald Trump gave the longest State of the Union speech ever delivered last evening, about 9,900 words lasting about 100 minutes, surpassing Bill Clinton’s State of the Union speech in 2000.

The speech was highly, extremely divisive, unusual as Presidents usually try to promote a sense of unity when giving the State of the Union address, even with the opposition party, but instead Trump was gloating about his victory, which he exaggerated regarding its magnitude.

Trump, as usual, lied, lied, and lied some more, distorting and exaggerating reality, facts, and truth.

Trump lied about Joe Biden’s record, calling him the worst President in US History (which was an example of projection about himself).

Trump also took a dig against Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, the primary promoter of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, that became law under Barack Obama, but now is on the chopping block.

Trump also claimed that there are people over 100 years of age, up to 300 years old, who are collecting Social Security, a clearcut attack on that program that has existed for 90 years since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt. There is fear that Social Security may not be paid in future months, due to the claims of waste, fraud, and abuse that are totally preposterous, and with layoffs of civil service employees in that agency.

Trump also promoted the idea of seizing the Panama Canal and taking over Greenland from Denmark, which will antagonize Latin America and NATO respectively, as Trump promotes “imperialism”.

Watching the smirks of Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and Vice President JD Vance was infuriating, as the nation clearly is evenly divided, but there was no interest in crossing the aisle and promoting cooperation, with the Congress more divisive and the majority unconcerned about compromise and negotiation.

Trump’s promotion of tariffs with Canada, Mexico, and China will raise the cost of living dramatically, and soon, and goes against the record of history, that tariffs are counterproductive.

Plaudits to newly elected Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin, who gave the Democratic response to the State of the Union, and introduced herself to the nation as a legislator who should be respected and paid attention to in the future of the Democratic Party.

The battle ahead for the average American taxpayer and families will be a long, bitter struggle, but the Democrats must not sit on the sidelines, but instead march, demonstrate, organize, and vigorously fight with every bone in their bodies against the extreme right wing tilt of the Republican Party, which has repudiated so much of their heritage over 170 years of their history from Abraham Lincoln to Theodore Roosevelt to Dwight D. Eisenhower to Ronald Reagan!

Donald Trump Creating International Crises And Disruption Of American Diplomacy!

Ronald 13 Comments

Donald Trump is creating an image that “Might Makes Right” in international affairs, and that presents a disaster for the world!

Trump has said the Russia-Ukraine War must end, and is taking the side of Vladimir Putin, that territory gained from Ukraine since 2014 should be conceded by Ukraine, and that Ukraine cannot be allowed to join NATO in the future.

Trump says Russian troops have been “sacrificed”, and that, therefore, that nation must be able to have its advancements on the battlefield legalized under international law!

Trump is setting up the situation for his own plans to be aggressive in foreign affairs, and claim that American “sacrifices” must be rewarded with the gaining of teritory he has an eye on, including the Panama Canal, Greenland (Denmark), Canada, and the Gaza Strip (Middle East).

We are about to see America become aggressive and imperialistic as it was in the 1840s under President James K. Polk and the 1890s under President William McKinley!

Trump wants to act like the governments of Russia and China, and divide the world into areas of dominance controlled by those two nations and America.

It is a repudation of our alliances, including European nations in NATO, and Pacific alliances with Asian nations and Australia and New Zealand.

This is a radical, revolutionary transformation of American foreign policy, diametrically opposite to that pursued by Presidents from Franklin D. Rooevelt through Joe Biden, minus the first four years of Donald Trump!

Trump And Musk Out To Destroy Federal Government!

Ronald 58 Comments

Donald Trump and Elon Musk have declared war on the federal government and its multitude of agencies, a totally destructive and dangerous move that will undermine economic, social, and political stability, and threaten American national security.

Among the government agencies being attacked and damaged are, in no special order:

Federal Bureau of Investigation
Central Intelligence Agency
US Agency For International Development
Department of Justice
Department of Defense
Department of the Treasury
Department of Labor
Department of Veterans Affairs
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Centers for Disease Control And Prevention
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Food and Drug Administration
Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Office of Management and Budget
Office of Personnel Management
General Services Administration
Social Security Administration
The Department of Education
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Environmental Protection Agency
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Consumer Product Safety Commission
National Labor Relations Board
Public Broadcasting Service
National Public Radio

These agencies were created under many Presidential administrations, both Democratic and Republican, since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt more than nine decades ago!

Talk Of A Trump Third Term And Putting Trump On Mount Rushmore Pure Lunacy!

Ronald 13 Comments

The lunacy and craziness around Donald Trump continues, with talk of a Trump third term, which will never happen, as it would require a new constitutional amendment and a repeal of the 22nd Amendment!

Both would need a two thirds vote in the House of Representatives and in the US Senate, followed by three fourths of the states (38) ratifying by a majority in both houses of the state legislatures in 49 states plus the one house legislature in Nebraska.

Additionally, Florida Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna has, crazily, proposed that Donald Trump be put on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt!

First of all, putting anyone else on Mount Rushmore is a massive job, and highly unlikely ever to occur!

But if such a suggestion was to be followed through on over time, it should be Franklin D. Roosevelt, not Donald Trump!

And if one was to propose a Republican President, it would be more reasonable to put Dwight D. Eisenhower or even, although not something this author and blogger would promote, Ronald Reagan!

As it is, Mount Rushmore has a Federalist (Washington); a Democratic-Republican (Jefferson); and two Republicans (Lincoln and TR), so the argument for an additional President should be for a Democratic President, with FDR clearly the major example, or possibly Harry Truman!

All this is silliness, as there will never be additions to Mount Rushmore!

And with Trump rated either number 45 or at best number 43 tied with Franklin Pierce and above James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson, in surveys of historians and political scientists, it is truly delusional to consider him worthy of being on Mount Rushmore!

The way Trump is beginning his second Presidency will only insure that he will be number 45 in all rankings of intelligent, educated scholars, and with any American who has a brain, and ethics and morals!

Joe Biden, Despite Low Public Opinion Ratings At End Of Presidency, Will Rise In History!

Ronald 3 Comments

President Joe Biden leaves office in three days, with low public opinion ratings, despite his multitude of accomplishments in his one term of office.

This is a sad state of affairs, but clearly, the American people at large are not very knowledgeable or good at making judgments about Presidents as they leave office.

History records that Harry Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Jimmy Carter left office under the cloud of negativism.

But now, Truman is generally rated 5th or 6th among all Presidents in ratings of Presidential scholars and experts.

Eisenhower is generally rated 5th or 6th among all Presidents, either ahead or behind Truman.

Lyndon B. Johnson, despite Vietnam, is rated in the bottom of the top ten, and in one survey, ahead of John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.

Jimmy Carter is rated in the mid 20s, but it is clear his stature will rise, possibly to the bottom of the first third, or 15 Presidents.

Joe Biden has already been rated number 14 in one scholarly survey, and despite low public opinion ratings now, it seems assured he will remain in the top third or fifteen of the Presidents.

Sadly, American public opinion is ill informed and ignorant in many respects, and when it comes to being asked who are the greatest Presidents, invariably, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan are rated at the top, not Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Many experts would say that while Kennedy and Reagan consistently are in the lower part of the top ten Presidents, that both are somewhat overrated.

So it will probably, sadly, take until Joe Biden’s life has ended, before he will be completely appreciated for all the good he did!

Jimmy Carter, The Best One Term Environmentalist President

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Jimmy Carter may have only had one term in the Presidency, but regarding environmental issues, Presidential scholars and Environmental experts agree he had the most productive one term we have seen, although it may be that Joe Biden’s one term might be seen in evaluation in the future as having surpassed Carter.

Carter put solar panels on the White House, which his successor, Ronald Reagan, had removed.

Carter put tens of millions of acres in Alaska off limits to developers, specifically 56 million acres under the 1906 Antiquities Act passed under Theodore Roosevelt.

Before he left office, he added another 100 million acres in Alaska of Wildlife Refuge under protection, an amazing accomplishment.

Carter had a great Interior Secretary, Cecil Andrus, former Governor of Idaho, who worked against the domination of mining, oil, timber, and grazing interests, and limited control of dams that could harm the health of rivers.

Also, Carter presided over the creation of the Department of Energy as a Cabinet post.

One can only imagine how much more Carter might have done had he won reelection in 1980 over Ronald Reagan.

As it is, Carter is rated as one of the top eight environmental Presidents, alongside Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden.

Murder Of United Health Care Insurance Executive Screams For Total National Health Care By Government!

Ronald 11 Comments

The sad, tragic murder of a United Health Care executive by a disgruntled young man is a cry in the night for massive reform of health care insurance.

Unfortunately, the health care industry, being so profit driven, does not do well by millions upon millions of consumers.

The Republican Party and Donald Trump are so oriented toward “unbridled capitalism” that they will not take action.

The Democrats, who were the party that promoted Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and similar legislation, are instead, constantly attacked, as Republicans and conservatives continue to wish to destroy the great accomplishments of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Barack Obama.

The argument that the United States is “better” than most European countries and Japan on health care is a massive lie, but all that needs to be said is that the nation does not want “socialism”, even though it works, and there is a more humane system in many industrial nations around the world.

The profit motive should not be the dominant factor it is in deciding who gets health care, and how they receive it!

Musk, Ramaswamy Want To Destroy Federal Programs, Must Be Prevented

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The unofficial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), formed by Donald Trump, and headed by billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy has no government authority, but is insanely proposing cutting the federal budget by up to $2 trillion, or one third of the total government spending, purely insane in nature!

Rather than raise taxes on billionaires and millionaires, including Musk and Ramaswamy, as well as other less wealthy, but prosperous Americans, so that they pay their “fair share”, Donald Trump wants another massive trillions of dollars tax cut for the elite wealthy, similar to his massive tax cuts in 2017, and earlier ones under George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan.

About one fourth of all of the national debt of America occurred under Donald Trump in his first term, and he is ready to add trillions to the national debt while cutting important programs.

Among those being targeted are:

Veterans Health Care
Drug Development and Opioid Addiction Treatment
State Department Funding
Housing Assistance
Justice Department Funding
Education Spending
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Health Care (Affordable Care Act, also known as Obama Care)
Federal Student Loan Program
International Security Programs
Head Start Program

Additionally, the goal is to cut the federal work force, get rid of talented and competent and experienced public servants, and hire lackeys who would do Donald Trump’s bidding, and in the process, promoting total chaos and anarchy in the federal government.

Also, some Republican members of Congress would love to get rid of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, programs adopted under Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson, and constantly the subject of attacks by right wing forces!

Democrats, while not the majority, must do whatever they can to prevent such outrageous actions, finding those Republicans in both houses who have principles and ethics, too few, but they are there!

This is a true existential crisis of massive proportions, and every effort imaginable must be waged to prevent such a disastrous set of circumstances that would destroy the federal government!

Our government cannot go back to “states rights”, which supposedly was resolved by the Civil War!

The Gilded Age was the late 19th century, and we cannot go back 150 years under any circumstances!

Danger Of American Fascism Greater Now Than Ever Before!

admin 7 Comments

America has had the danger of Fascism before in its history, but never as great as in the present with Donald Trump!

In the past, we had Huey Long in the 1930s before 1936, with him being assassinated in September 1935.

We also had Strom Thurmond in 1948.

We also had George Wallace in 1968.

We also had Patrick Buchanan in 1992 and 2000.

The closest threat before now was Wallace in 1968, who ran as the American Independent Party nominee, and won 5 Southern states and 46 electoral votes. I cover the story of Wallace in my Presidential Assassinations book.

Strom Thurmond won 4 Southern states and 39 electoral votes in 1948 as the candidate of the Dixiecrats.

Long was a great potential threat to Franklin D. Roosevelt for 1936, but was assassinated in 1935, as I cover in my Presidential Assassinations book.

Patrick Buchanan weakened George H. W. Bush in 1992 primaries, and his name on the ballot in Florida in 2000 led to confusion, gaining votes that were meant to go to Democratic nominee Al Gore, affecting the election of George W. Bush.

But now, Donald Trump is a real threat, not only to immigrants, but also to critics, whether in the news media or opposition politicians, and calling for a dictatorship on Day One, leading General Mark Milley to declare Trump a Fascist, and the most dangerous threat to American democracy, the Constitution, and rule of law in all of American history!