Month: March 2018

Early Speculation On Democratic Presidential Ticket For 2020

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Here we are in mid March 2018, and already, speculation is beginning as to who might be on the Democratic Presidential ticket for 2020.

This is a fun game, with no likelihood that it is truly a forecast of the future.

However, right now, those on the left of the Democratic Party dream of a ticket of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, both who face reelection in November, but seem unlikely to have a serious challenge for their Senate seats.

But to believe that two far left Democrats can together be elected seems to this observer to be a pipe dream, not to be taken seriously.

And putting a 79 and 71 year old in 2020 on the ticket is a bit much, as even having one candidate in his or her 70s is seen by many observers as a problem.

Consider that Sanders would be 83 after one term in office, and Warren would be 75, and it just does not add up as likely to have both of them, or even maybe one of them on the ticket.

A second scenario has former Vice President Joe Biden running with Massachusetts Congressman Joe Kennedy III or Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, a more centrist ticket.

But Biden will be 78 two weeks after the 2020 election, so would be 82 at the end of a first term. There are rumors that he might declare he would only serve one term, and let Joe Kennedy or Amy Klobuchar be next in line ready to succeed, as after one term as Vice President, Kennedy would be 44 in 2024, and Klobuchar would be 64. The appeal particularly of a Joe-Joe ticket is very high right now.

A third scenario would be Joe Kennedy III, at age 40, and only having served in the House of Representatives, running for President, with the famous Kennedy name behind him, and Senator Kamala Harris of California or New jersey Senator Cory Booker or former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro of Texas or his twin brother Joaquin Castro, Texas Congressman, as Vice Presidential running mate for the young Kennedy, with Harris being 57, Booker being 51, and the two Castro brothers being 46 in 2020.

This third potential combination would bring youth and diversity to the ticket in a rapidly changing America.

This is only the beginning of the speculation for 2020.

Karma Is Coming to Donald Trump And His Family, And Their Greed And Selfishness And Massive Corruption Will Lead To Criminal Penalties

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Karma is coming, and soon, to Donald Trump and his family, as their greed, selfishness and massive corruption will lead to criminal penalties, with the strong likelihood of prison time for himself, his daughter, his sons, and son in law down the road.

This is not just from what Special Counsel Robert Mueller is engaged in investigating, but also New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, as financial crimes done in New York State cannot be willed to disappear, even for the President of the United States and his family members.

The evidence is rapidly building up against Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump, Jr, and even Eric Trump.

And the crimes against them and/or the President include:

Russian Collusion
Treason
Money Laundering and Other Financial Crimes
Obstruction of Justice
Perjury
Abuse of Power
Violation of the Emoluments Clause
Nepotism Charges
Undermining of Intelligence Agencies, Justice Department, State Department And Defense Department (National Security And Law Enforcement Functions)
Sexual Harassment and Abuse

More people who have worked for Donald Trump will be indicted, convicted, and sentenced to prison than under any President, easily surpassing the over 40 number who faced charges under Richard Nixon’s Presidency.

More people will have massive legal bills caused by participation in evil with Donald Trump, and their reputations, as well as their wallets, will be destroyed by having chosen to work with the most corrupt, evil, and dangerous President in American history.

The day of reckoning is coming, and soon!

A Trump-Kim Jong Un Summit Has Massive Capacity For Disaster!

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The sudden news that Donald Trump has accepted an offer from North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un to meet at a summit is startling, and such a summit has a massive capacity for disaster.

A summit is never arranged quickly, as this proposed one is, just two months from now.

It requires months of planning, and meetings and understandings arranged by ambassadors, cabinet offices, and leading people in intelligence agencies.

It also requires the President to be versed in all of the details, including the history of that nation and its leader that he is about to engage with.

After a year of saber rattling by both Trump and Kim, the sudden change in attitude is disarming, as both Trump and Kim are totally mercurial and unpredictable.

It could be a ploy by Kim to take advantage of the ignorant, poorly educated Trump, and make our President look like a fool.

And to believe that Kim will give up his nuclear program is a pipe dream, which most assuredly, is not going to happen.

Trump is no diplomat, but he has the crazy belief in “The Art of The Deal”, but this is not real estate, and this is not “The Apprentice”.

Our whole national security and respectability in world affairs is at stake.

If any blunder is made, potentially millions of South Koreans and Japanese, as well as North Koreans, and American soldiers and other Americans living in South Korea and Japan, are endangered by a President who is totally unhinged and dangerous.

This is not Richard Nixon meeting Chou En Lai and Mao Tse Tung.

This is not Richard Nixon meeting Leonid Brezhnev.

This is not Dwight D. Eisenhower meeting Nikita Khrushchev.

This is not Ronald Reagan meeting Mikhail Gorbachev.

This is serious business, with two dangerous men and clashing egos meeting, with potential dire results for mankind!

17 Democratic Senators Have Learned Nothing From Great Recession, And Are To Be Condemned For Joining Republicans To Cut Back Banking Reforms

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In 2008-2009, we saw the collapse of the American economy, with the biggest banks and Wall Street firms guilty of causing it.

None of those banks or Wall Street firms paid a price for their illegal, unethical activities, which destroyed the economy in a manner unseen since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Under Barack Obama, the Dodd-Frank Law was passed to insure accountability of banks and Wall Street, so that what happened a decade ago would never happen again.

But now, under a Republican Congress, the action to destroy the Dodd_Frank Law is occurring, and has been assisted by 17 Democratic Senators, and only with at least 10 of them, could such action to eliminate Dodd-Frank have moved forward.

It is shocking to see 17 of the 49 Democrats and Independents in the Senate become turncoats who effectively joined in this evil act, and all 17 need to be called out and denounced.

The problem is too many politicians gain campaign contributions from the big banks and Wall Street, so it compromises their ability to represent their states in a proper manner.

The problem is that if these Democrats are repudiated, it would only aid Republicans in possibly gaining their seats, so the issue is that it is preferable to have Democrats who will support the party on many issues, even if not on this issue.

Liberals and progressives will argue that they should be “primaried”, but the reality is that would only help promote more Republican senators, so we are in an area that could be described as “between the devil and the deep blue sea”!

But we must at least list these 17 Senators, so we are all aware of their “treason”:

Michael Bennet of Colorado
Tom Carper of Delaware
Chris Coons of Delaware
Joe Donnelly of Indiana
Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire
Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota
Doug Jones of Alabama
Tim Kaine of Virginia
Angus King of Maine (Independent)
Joe Manchin of West Virginia
Claire McCaskill of Missouri
Bill Nelson of Florida
Gary Peters of Michigan
Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire
Debbie Stabenow of Michigan
Jon Tester of Montana
Mark Warner of Virginia

Ten of these 17 Senators face an election in 2018—Carper, Donnelly, Heitkamp, Kaine, King, Manchin, McCaskill, Nelson, Stabenow, and Tester.

Of these 10, only Carper, Kaine and King are in states that went to the Democrats. The other seven were Republican states, and makes the task of keeping their seats ever more difficult.

Of the 17 Senators, only 8 of them, those from Colorado, Delaware (2), New Hampshire (2), Virginia (2), and Maine came from states carried by Hillary Clinton in 2016.

So, sadly, we do not have the privilege and ability to call for the defeat of the ten who are running this year, but even true of the seven who are not running, as they are still better than Republicans to hold the seats.

Otherwise, the Democrats will lose all chance of ever gaining a majority, if they stick to an extreme progressive view of who is acceptable as a Democratic member of the US Senate.

However, one point should be made clear, that none of this list above should ever be considered seriously for President, with the reality that only the two Virginia Senators, Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, are even talked about at all as potential nominees.

Tim Kaine may have run for Vice President with Hillary Clinton in 2016, but his support of repeal of the Dodd Frank Law should disqualify him and Warner for future Presidential consideration.

Donald Trump Loves Chaos And Anarchy: A Guarantee Of His Failure And Downfall

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Donald Trump loves chaos and anarchy, which is a guarantee of his failure and ultimate downfall.

In just 13 and a half months, he has had more staff resign or be fired than any other President, now nearly doubling the turnover of any of the last four Presidents.

At the same time, many positions have not been filled that are crucial for the smooth operating of the American government.

And clearly, Donald Trump is more mercurial and temperamental a Chief Executive than any President, clearly even more than Andrew Johnson and Richard Nixon, both known for their mental instability, but neither on the level of Trump.

The Andrew Johnson and Richard Nixon Presidencies were centers of constant stress and turmoil, but not on the level we are now experiencing.

The one lucky thing about these 13 and a half months is that there has, thankfully, been no major crisis to test the ability of Donald Trump to do his job, no turning point that every President eventually faces.

When that time and situation arises, we will not be ready as a nation to deal with it, and we only have to hope and pray that we will be able to deal with it in a manner that will not cause long term damage, but honestly, pessimism is the more realistic view to have, rather than optimism.

Donald Trump’s Treasonous War On Nature And The Environment

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Donald Trump is guilty of so many crimes, but his war on nature and the environment is a true act of treason!

The Trump Administration has decided to allow trophy hunting of elephants in Africa, and has no concern about the rapidly dwindling wild animals in Africa, including rhinos, lions, tigers, and many other species.

The Trump Administration has declared war against clean air and clean water, and promotes drilling. mining, and also cutting down of forests.

The Trump Administration has declared war against our national parks and monuments.

Every aspect of nature is under attack, and the effect of undermining the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior is to destroy all of the wonderful laws and actions of Presidents of both parties for more than a century.

Lawsuits have begun by many conservation and environmental organizations in courts, slowing up the damage, but right now, it seems like a losing battle.

Warring on nature and the environment is an act of treason which should, on its own, be enough to remove Donald Trump from the Presidency rapidly!

The Outrageous Statement Of Donald Trump On Wanting To Be President For Life, As The President Of China: NO WAY EVER!

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Over this past weekend, Donald Trump went one step further, a big step further, in his destruction of the traditions and accomplishments of America’s previous 43 Presidents.

Trump stated how much he admires the President Of China for becoming a person who did not have to gain approval anymore, and had declared himself President for life, effectively a totalitarian dictator, in the vein of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Tse Tung. Trump has already praised the leaders of the Philippines, Turkey, Egypt, and China earlier, and has not a word of criticism against Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, who has clearly undermined our election system, a declaration of war by means of technology.

Trump envisions himself in this manner, and yet the Republican leadership in Congress, which should have reacted in denunciation immediately, has remained silent, making them guilty of collusion with a person who clearly has Fascist tendencies, and is a danger to all civilized nations, as well as the American people.

This is a man who, by starting a trade war with tariffs against the European Union, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and South Korea, is likely to lead us to another Great Depression, vastly increasing consumer prices, and destroying the ability of our nation to export goods overseas.

At the same time, he is clearly on the way to war with North Korea, including the possibility of nuclear war, which would kill millions, not only in North Korea, but in our allies, South Korea and Japan. And his goal to go to war against iran was emphasized today by visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Natanyahu, who like Trump, is power hungry and corrupt to the extreme, and in danger of being removed, as much as Trump is.

So we could have two wars at the same time, against North Korea and Iran, and Trump’s Russian collusion is getting clearer, and means our national security is threatened.

Trump is a man that is unhinged and unstable to the extreme, and is capable of declaring martial law, and suspending the Constitution.

Trump has already violated human rights of immigrants, racial minorities, women, and gays and lesbians, and has destroyed consumer and worker rights, and done great damage to the environment, and he has no limits in his attack on the entire American tradition and accomplishments of presidents of both parties from Theodore Roosevelt to Barack Obama.

Trump is a clear and present danger to all of us, including his irrational, clueless followers, and he MUST be removed from office rapidly, as the American people and nation are under direct threat from his maniacal behavior and actions.

Mass demonstrations and marches are now required, or else the history of this nation will be permanently damaged, and we have not survived the Civil War, Great Depression, Cold War, and some failed Presidents, and some dangerous Presidents such as Richard Nixon, to sit back and accept the dissolution of the American nation, the best hope of freedom loving people everywhere!

Nepotism Gone Mad, And Undermining The Trump Presidency

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Donald Trump will be brought down by nepotism, something not realized a year ago, when he agreed to allow his daughter Ivanka Trump, and his son in law, Jared Kushner, to work at the White House, although receiving no paycheck.

But neither Ivanka nor Jared ever gained completely clear access to secret information, total security clearance, but no matter, as both have engaged in diplomatic activity that may have compromised American foreign policy and national security.

Jared Kushner seems on the way to indictment by Robert Mueller, and Ivanka may not be far behind.

Kushner and his wife have been too interested in gaining profits and economic advantages in many different nations around the globe, particularly in the Middle East and Asia, as their acquisition of obscene wealth has become an obsession beyond all norms.

But the same with Donald Trump, who never is happy about his level of wealth, and has illegally been involved in violating the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which is likely to be one of the charges against him in any impeachment, or indictment by a federal grand jury.

Son Donald Trump, Jr, allowing himself to engage in Russian collusion, is also likely to face indictment, because he has been taught by a lifetime of Donald Trump being his father, that arrogance and cockiness is perfectly acceptable behavior.

For the first time in American history, we are likely to see the Presidential family wearing prison garb, and it will add to the total disgrace of the Trump Presidency, out to enrich further the wealthy, at the expense of the American people at large.

So Trump’s basement ranking among Presidents will set a new low for the occupant of the White House!

March 4 In Presidential History

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March 4 is part of Presidential history from 1789 through 1933, as the 20th Amendment, ratified later that year, changed Inauguration Day to January 20, starting in 1937.

March 4, 1789 was the day that the newly ratified Constitution went into effect, but George Washington was not in New York City on that day to be inaugurated the first President, only arriving 57 days late and being inaugurated at Federal Hall in lower Manhattan on April 30, 1789, so therefore did not serve a full eight years, as his second term ended on March 4, 1797.

March 4, 1801 saw the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson, and the world witnessed the first peaceful transition of power from one political party to another, and the losing party and candidate gracefully exiting.

March 4, 1829 saw the inauguration of Andrew Jackson, “the people’s President”, first born as NOT part of the aristocracy, and seen as representing the “common man”.

March 4, 1841, saw the inauguration of the first Whig President, William Henry Harrison, who gave the longest inauguration speech without a topcoat in cold, rainy conditions in Washington, DC, and proceeded to fall into illness, believed to be pneumonia, confined to bed and at times in a coma, until he died exactly one month later, April 4, 1841.

March 4, 1857, President James Buchanan was so sick that he considered bypassing a public ceremony of inauguration, but went through the motions, and then was in bed recovering for two weeks, before being able to lead the nation.

March 4, 1861, after a dangerous trek from Springfield, Illinois to Washington, DC, and surviving a potential plot on his life (Baltimore Plot), Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as the first Republican President, in the midst of seven states having declared their secession from the Union, and only six weeks to the outbreak of the Civil War.

March 4, 1865, the second inauguration of Abraham Lincoln, and the giving of the most famous Inaugural Address, “With Malice toward none, with Charity for all”, Lincoln did not know that his future assassin, John Wilkes Booth, was in the inauguration crowd, and was moving toward the Inauguration stand as Lincoln spoke.

March 4, 1885, Grover Cleveland was sworn in as the first Democratic President since before the Civil War.

March 4, 1913, Woodrow Wilson was sworn in as the first Democratic President in a generation, and only the second since the Civil War.

March 4, 1933, the last such inauguration date, Franklin D. Roosevelt was sworn in as the nation was in the worst moments of the Great Depression, and he gave the second most remembered Inauguration speech, “Let me assert my firm belief, that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”, and rallied the nation around what came to be known as the New Deal.

Theodore Roosevelt To Barack Obama, And The Antiquities Act Of 1906, Now Under Threat From Donald Trump

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Theodore Roosevelt, the greatest environmental and conservation President, promoted the passage of the Antiquities Act of 1906, and since then, 16 Presidents have designated a grand total of 157 National Monuments and National Parks.

Four Republican Presidents added no national monuments or national parks—Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush, although Nixon is seen as a great environmental President with his Secretary of the Interior Walter Hickel, and the signing into law of the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, and the first declared Earth Day on April 22, 1970.

Under Theodore Roosevelt, a total of 18 monuments or parks were added, including Devils Tower National Monument, Petrified Forest National Park, Muir Woods National Monument, Grand Canyon National Park, and Olympic National Park.

William Howard Taft added 10 national monuments and national parks, including Navajo National Monument and Zion National Park.

Woodrow Wilson added 13 national monuments and national parks, including Dinosaur National Monument, Acadia National Park, and Casa Grande Ruins National Monument.

Warren G. Harding added 8 national monuments and national parks, including Great Basin National Park, Aztec Ruins National Monument, and Bryce Canyon National Park.

Calvin Coolidge added 13 national monuments and national parks, including Carlsbad Caverns National Park, Statue Of Liberty National Monument, Fort Pulaski National Monument, Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail, and Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve.

Herbert Hoover added 9 national monuments and national parks, including Arches National Park, Portion Of White River National Forest, Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve, Grand Canyon National Park (extension), White Sands National Monument, and Death Valley National Park.

Franklin D. Roosevelt added 13 national monuments and national parks, including Dry Tortugas National Park, Joshua Tree National Park, Zion National Park (extension), and Grant Teton National Park.

Harry Truman added just 1 national monument and national park, Effigy Mounds National Monument.

Dwight D. Eisenhower added just 2 national monuments and national parks, Thomas Edison National Historical Park, and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park.

John F. Kennedy added just 2 national monuments and national parks, including Russell Cave National Monument, and Buck Island Reef National Monument.

Lyndon B. Johnson added just 2 national monuments and national parks, an extension again of Grand Canyon National Park, and Portion of Tongrass National Forest.

Jimmy Carter added 15 national monuments and national parks in just one term as President, a reason why Carter is seen as one of the top three conservation oriented Presidents, alongside TR and Nixon. Among those monuments and forests Carter added were Denali National Park in Alaska, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, and Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge.

Bill Clinton added the grant total of 19 national monuments and national parks, including Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, California Coastal National Monument, Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, Portion of Sequoia National Forest, President Lincoln and Soldier’s Home National Monument, Sonoran Desert National Monument, Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument, and Governors Island National Monument.

George W. Bush added 6 national monuments and national parks, including African Burial Ground National Monument, World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, and Pacific Remote Islands National Monument.

Finally, Barack Obama added the grand total of 29 national monuments and national parks, far more than runners up Bill Clinton, Theodore Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. These included Fort Monroe National Monument, Cesar E. Chavez National Monument, San Juan Islands National Monument, Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park, San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, Stonewall National Monument, Bears Ears National Monument, Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, Freedom Riders National Monument, and Reconstruction Era National Monument.