Month: January 2019

Christopher Wray, Gina Haspel, Michael Rogers And Dan Coats, Heads Of Intelligence Agencies, Strongly Disagree With Donald Trump On Major National Security Threats

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The heads of the national intelligence agencies testified in open session before Congressional committees on Tuesday, and warned of the dangers to national security that exist in an unsafe world.

Christopher Wray, head of the FBI; Gina Haspel, head of the CIA; Michael Rogers, head of the NSA; and Dan Coats, the Director of National Intelligence, warned that America faced great threats from Russia, China, North Korea, ISIS, and Iran, making clear that they did not agree with President Donald Trump, who has undermined all intelligence, and says none of these nations and forces, except for Iran, are a threat.

Ironically, the three Intelligence heads said Iran is actually keeping the nuclear agreement that Donald Trump has given up, despite the support of the Western democratic nations–Great Britain, France, and Germany–for continuation of that agreement.

The “love affair” of Trump for Kim Jong Un; the trust and secret meetings that Trump has had with Vladimir Putin; the rocky relationship between the US and China; and the attitude that ISIS is no longer a threat in the Middle East, are alarming, and yet all Trump says in response to the intelligence conclusions is to say that these people need to go back to school.

It is Trump who is truly dangerous and too trusting of authoritarian nations, when he has no experience, no background, no knowledge on international relations, and is causing undue threats to the future of American foreign policy as a result.

Instead, Trump sees the Border Wall issue with Mexico as more of a national security threat, when none of the intelligence agencies see any threat on the Southern border, and dismiss the whole issue of the Border Wall as unnecessary.

We have a President who is truly warped in his views, dangerous to the nation, and could be leading us down a road toward true disaster, which could be far worse than September 11.

And we have to wonder why he engages in secret diplomacy without translators or note takers in meetings, many unreported, with Putin, and it all makes one think of the film from 1962, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE.

We cannot afford to have such an uneducated and morally and ethically challenged President as Donald Trump in authority much longer, without a disastrous effect on America and its future.

Even Mike Pence, with all of his horrible social views on many issues, cannot be imagined to be likely to follow the same foreign policy as Trump, were he to succeed to the Presidency. We are at a point where he may be the only likely alternative, but better for American national security and safety than Donald Trump.

Billionaires Howard Schultz And Michael Bloomberg Are NOT The Way To Go, Following Donald Trump

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The campaign for the Presidency has begun with strong attacks by Billionaires Howard Schultz and Michael Bloomberg against the Democratic Party going too far to the Left, such as Medicare For All and Free Public College and University Tuition, for the first two years of higher education.

Schultz is the bigger threat, as he plans to run as an Independent, and by so doing, could help Donald Trump/Mike Pence to win another term in the White House.

But Bloomberg is also attacking progressive ideas as unworkable, without any concept of how to make health care and higher education, as well as environmental advancement, and even other issues, to advance to a more fair and just future.

After the disaster of Donald Trump, will the nation go for two billionaires who, while certainly not as conservative as Trump, and having a nicer facade, really do not understand the plight of the struggling middle class and the poor in this country?

And, while no one wishes to discuss this issue, the fact that both Schultz and Bloomberg are Jewish, in a nation where antisemitism still is prevalent in the South and Midwest, encourages more danger against Jews, by two men who have no clue as to what it is to live from paycheck to paycheck.

Their running for the Presidency, as they are making clear, only encourages more conspiracy theories on the Right, and also more left wing anger, and undermined the possibility of either, realistically, being able to promote political unity in the 2020s.

Hillary Clinton Running Again For President Is A Terrible Idea

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Rumors are spreading that Hillary Clinton is considering the idea of announcing again for President in 2020.

That would be a terrible idea, and would divide the Democratic Party, when it needs to move on from the disappointments of 2016.

Hillary Clinton is very talented, smart, and knowledgeable, and it is true that she won the national popular vote by 2.85 million votes in 2016, more than many Presidents, including John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Jimmy Carter.

But she was unable to win over the white working class vote of the Midwest, and nothing we know of her would indicate that she can magically win over that voting bloc in 2020.

It is tragic that she lost the Electoral College, but just as with Al Gore after 2000, it is time to move on, as there are so many other talented, smart, capable potential nominees in the Democratic Party, who could carry the mantle of the party into November 2020.

So, please, Hillary Clinton, campaign for others for 2020, make speeches, write books, and enjoy Chelsea’s children, now soon to have a third child. Even Chelsea has said a blessing of the loss was that her mom had a chance to spent more time with her grandchildren.

Enough is enough, and it is time to move on from the Age of the Clintons.

Donald Trump’s Collapsing Polls, And The Indictment Of Roger Stone, Make It More Likely That He Will Be Challenged For The GOP Presidential Nomination In 2020

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Donald Trump now has collapsing polls that mark him as having the worst ratings since public opinion polls began in 1945.

Trump is as low as 34 percent in some polls, and 57 percent are unhappy with his performance.

So rumors are starting that Trump will have a challenger for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2020, with former Ohio Governor John Kasich, former Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, and sitting Maryland Governor Larry Hogan seen as the most likely challengers.

Hogan is a new name, a moderate centrist Republican who has been able to win the Governorship of a strongly “Blue” state twice, and his father, Lawrence Hogan Sr. was a Congressman on the House Judiciary Committee in 1974, like his son a moderate Republican, who was the first Republican on that committee to call for the impeachment of Richard Nixon.

The Roger Stone indictment, of a person who has been close to Donald Trump for 40 years, makes it more likely that Trump will face likely attempts to remove him or have him resign, and also makes it more likely that one of these three mentioned above, might make the challenge.

Terrible Idea To Have Notable Third Party Or Independent Presidential Candidate In 2020 Presidential Election

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The thought that a notable third party or independent Presidential candidate might participate in the 2020 Presidential election is a terrible idea.

It would cause a potential Electoral College disaster, allowing a major party nominee to win with low 40s or high 30s percentage of the popular vote.

So when we hear that former Ohio Governor John Kasich or former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is thinking of just that, it is clearly a danger sign that might help Donald Trump or Mike Pence win the next term in the Presidency.

That would be total disaster for the nation, and would take the already downward moral and ethical trend in America to continue, and insure an extremist right wing agenda into the mid 2020s, including a totally extreme right wing Supreme Court and lower federal courts to go on for 30 or more years into the future.

It would also likely make it impossible for the Senate to go Democratic, and for the House of Representatives to remain Democratic, once we had the confusion of a well known third party or independent Presidential candidate siphoning votes, more likely from the Democratic nominee.

While there is no way legally to prevent this, we have to hope that sanity will rule, and we will get a two way race, with all of its attendant shortcomings, rather than the mess that a third serious candidate could bring to the American political system.

Essential That Congress Pass Law Banning Government Shutdowns Now!

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The Republican Party is guilty of provoking government shutdowns as a regular tactic in the past 25 years, since the time when Newt Gingrich and the Republican Revolution came to power in the 1994 Midterm Elections under Bill Clinton.

It has undermined respect in our government, and hurt many people in the process, and it should never happen again.

Any attempt of any President to force a government shutdown should be opposed by both parties, ready to override a Presidential veto by a two thirds vote.

Since Federal Government workers are not permitted to strike, therefore the Congress has a responsibility to make it illegal to ever disrupt the nation as it has, due to Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, and the Republican Party unwilling to keep their oath of office.

Effectively, they have been committing lawlessness, and hopefully, many will be wiped out of Congress in 2020.

Nancy Pelosi, The Most Powerful Woman In American History; And Ann Coulter, A Domestic Terrorist Who Should Face Charges Of Promoting Insurrection Against The Welfare Of The American People

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Two women stood out this week, one displaying her true greatness, and the other demonstrating that she is a disgrace who wishes ill for the American people.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi stood up to President Donald Trump, and refused to bend on the Border Wall, and Trump has now caved in totally, not only on the criminal shutdown of the federal government, but also on delaying the State of the Union address.

She has proved to be, easily, the most powerful woman in American history by far, and the best Speaker since Thomas “Tip” O’Neill (1977-1987), and makes former Republican Speaker Paul Ryan look pitiful by comparison, having no guts or courage to stand up to Donald Trump.

When one thinks of other women who have played a major public role in American history, we can think of Hillary Clinton, who would have been the most powerful and influential woman in American history, had she not been robbed by Russian collusion of winning the Electoral College.

We can refer to several woman US Senators with longevity—such as Margaret Chase Smith, Barbara Mikulski, Diane Feinstein–and several Congresswomen, including Jeannette Rankin, Marcy Kaptur, Patricia Schroeder, and Nita Lowey—and Supreme Court Justices such as Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

But none have had the impact and significance that Nancy Pelosi has had in 33 years of service, and with a successful four year term as Speaker from 2007-2011.

At the same time, Ann Coulter has proved once again that she is a dangerous radical, out to undermine American government, through sowing hate and division, and proving she has no empathy for anyone except the extremely wealthy and powerful right wing forces in America.

She should have a complete collapse in her book sales, and should be ignored by the news media and cable tv shows, as she is effectively a domestic terrorist sowing insurrection, and she should be facing charges and spending years in prison for her anti American actions that are equivalent of treason.

For sure, when the history of recent times is written, Nancy Pelosi will stand out in a positive fashion, while Ann Coulter will be condemned to the dust heap of history, of traitors to America and its advancement.

Donald Trump’s Government Shutdown Creating Psychological Torture On Millions Of Americans, And Endangering Public Health And National Security: A Criminal Act Which Should Lead To Immediate Removal From Office

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Donald Trump’s Government Shutdown. now in its 34th day, is creating psychological torture on millions of Americans, and endangering public health and national security.

It is a criminal act, unsurpassed by any President in American history, a grab for absolute power by a tyrant who wishes to destroy our Constitution and system of checks and balances.

It should lead to immediate removal from office, not even wait until an impeachment trial, as it is endangering

a great economic depression;

a danger of nuclear war;

a public health and safety crisis regarding our food and drug supply;

the likelihood of a massive terrorist incident as horrible as September 11;

the danger of a disaster in air traffic;

the eviction from homes and apartments of millions of Americans, making them homeless; causing massive hunger and starvation;

the undermining of the health of the elderly, the disabled, the poor, and those with serious diseases;

the worsening of morale of such crucial government agencies as the Secret Service, Immigration and Custom Enforcement, Transportation Security Administration, the Coast Guard, and innumerable other agencies;

the likelihood that many dedicated federal government agencies will see many of their work force permanently leave government service, creating a massive shortage of qualified people to take care of government services for 325 million Americans;

and causing America to become the laughing stock of the world, as the nation goes from one crisis to another every day, and every area of government policy getting worse by the days and weeks and months.

We have had two years now of crisis and anarchy, and it is just fortunate that there has been no major foreign policy crisis, but one can sense it is coming, and we have an incompetent, demented, unstable, ill tempered collaborator with the major enemy of the United States, Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation, who wishes our nation ill!

Urgency To Raise Marginal Tax Rate On Wealthiest To 70 Percent, As Existed In Years 1936-1951, And 1963-1980, With 90 Percent Between 1951-1963, All Of Which Created The Middle Class

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With the middle class rapidly diminishing, and poverty spreading to more and more of Americans, a trend since 1980, it is urgent that America go back to the tax policy that prevailed from 1936-1980.

From the time of the New Deal at its peak in the mid 1930s through the year of the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980, the US government, by its tax policy, created a growing and prosperous middle class, and while the wealthy complained about the tax rates, it did not harm them, but made a vast difference to the nation.

The marginal tax rate, meaning the tax rate above a fixed income, reached 70 percent from 1936 to 1951, and was raised further to 90 percent from 1951-1963, followed by a return to 70 percent from 1963-1980. It allowed a growing middle class to improve their life style and buy goods and services that could not have occurred without this small sacrifice by the wealthy.

Now, it has been proposed that the marginal tax rate go back up to 70 percent on incomes over $10 million, so notice this is not raising taxes on the first $10 million of income, and is not going to strip the top one percent of their wealth by any means.

The middle class dwindled once the tax rate was allowed to plummet under Ronald Reagan onward, and has led to an economy where former middle class people, who still think they are middle class, have to work second and third jobs, and both wife and husband must work full time, in order to struggle to remain in the lower middle class at best.

This is not good for the struggling middle class, and in the long run, is a detriment to the wealthy. The anger and bitterness over the unfairness of our tax policy endangers everyone.

Instead of keeping the tax rate at what it was, the wealthy have had three massive periods of tax cuts, under Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and now Donald Trump. It is time for that horrible tax policy to come to an end, as the wealthy do not need any more exploitation of the middle class and the poor to be on their necks.

January 22-23, 1973, An Historic 48 Hours: The Death Of Lyndon B. Johnson, End Of US Involvement In Vietnam War, Abortion Rights Approved By Supreme Court

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Rarely in American history has there been a period of 24-48 hours with events occurring that have had such a massive impact on the nation, as January 22-23, 1973.

We saw the death of President Lyndon B. Johnson on January 22, 1973, at the age of 64, two days after he chose not to show up at the second inauguration of Richard Nixon, leaving no former President at those festivities. He died, depressed that the Vietnam War had not been ended, but 24 hours later, the Paris Accords were announced, ending US involvement in Vietnam, leading to withdrawal of all US military forces within two months, although later those Accords were violated by North Vietnam in April 1975, leading to the unification of North and South Vietnam.

Also, on the day that LBJ died, the Supreme Court came up with a decision that has more divided America to this moment, in a social sense, than any other, and that was Roe V Wade, allowing abortion rights to women in the first two trimesters, spurring a right wing “Pro Life” movement, and the promotion of Christian extremist movements in American politics, which helped to bring about the victory of Donald Trump and Mike Pence in 2016.

The Great Society programs of LBJ have been under attack since 1973, particularly under Ronald Reagan, and now Donald Trump, and the effects of the Vietnam War still permeate American society.

And if the right wing has its way, we will eventually see the reversal of the Roe V Wade decision, although the vast majority of Americans support abortion rights.