Month: November 2019

Public Impeachment Hearings Begin Wednesday

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The Donald Trump impeachment hearings begin on Wednesday of this week, and they will be covered fully by the cable networks, the three major networks (which will cancel regular programming), and even the BBC.

Whether it will change any Republican elected official’s mind about the lawlessness of Donald Trump is highly doubtful, and whether it will undermine Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign is also very speculative.

Truth will come out, but American democracy is in crisis, as we have a President who has colluded with Russia, is still colluding with Russia, and now even plans to visit Russia in May of next year, the celebration of Russian communism and nationalism, standing alongside Vladimir Putin to celebrate the end of World War II, and the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.

Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon are turning over in their graves at the sequence of events! And the fact that Mike Pompeo and William Barr are deeply involved in covering up for Donald Trump, and yet remain members of his cabinet, the most corrupt in American history, is stunning. And yet, all of the Republican leaders who pushed the impeachment of Bill Clinton remain unwilling to accept the damage Donald Trump has done, and are condemning their historical reputation to be in tatters, only concerned about their own financial welfare and out to protect their power in Congress!

Thirty Years Since The Berlin Wall Fell, And The Mexico Border Wall Has Already Been Breached, And Represents Authoritarian Dictatorship Attempt Of Donald Trump

Ronald 41 Comments

On this day, November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall, built in 1961 by the Soviet Union as a sign of its total authoritarian control over East Germany and East Berlin, was breached, a great day for freedom and democracy.

Today, the Mexico Border Wall that Donald Trump claims is being built, has already been breached by drills that have put holes and openings in the wall in the small amount of newly constructed or reconstructed areas, done by drug gangs and hoodlums, who have demonstrated that no such wall project will succeed, and in fact, will never be completed.

The whole idea of a wall is an authoritarian dictatorship attempt by the most corrupt, and lawless President in American history, and it undermines the whole concept that America is a nation of all nations, welcoming to refugees who are escaping crime, persecution, bloodshed, and hatred, and see the image of the Statue of Liberty as what makes America unique and great.

It is immigrants, and not all of them legal when they came in, who have made America a great nation. If someone commits criminal acts, such person should be prosecuted, but denying admission to victims is unAmerican, and denies the story of American history.

So on this anniversary of the Berlin Wall falling, and also the third anniversary of the Donald Trump victory assisted by Russian collusion and corruption, America must resolve that the Mexico Border Wall will never be accomplished, and that freedom and democracy will triumph over this illegal, unconstitutional attempt to destroy the Constitution and the Bill of Rights!

Republican Party Totally Unprincipled On Trump Impeachment, While Going After Bill Clinton On Flimsier Grounds Twenty Years Ago

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The Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush has gone totally bonkers, as the 2019 Republican party has demonstrated it is totally unprincipled on the growing evidence of the clear cut obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and other crimes that call for President Donald Trump to be impeached.

By comparison, Bill Clinton was a choir boy, with the worst action he took being engaging in sex in the Oval Office, and lying about it, for which the late 1990s Republican Party impeached him on far flimsier grounds.

Now, we see those engaged in going after Bill Clinton, including Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Newt Gingrich, and a multitude of other hypocrites, willing to overlook every misdeed by Donald Trump, and sacrifice their reputations to defend a President who deserves no defense.

It is as if a religious cult has emerged, and as if Donald Trump is a God like figure. Republicans are willing to sacrifice their reputation in history, as they will not stand up well in the future for their willingness to bow down to Trump, when he is always willing to throw them under the bus, having no loyalties to anyone, and only concerned about his own selfish, greedy desires to grab more power and destroy the US Constitution.

Will the Republican Party ever come out of its fog and unreal state of consciousness?

No Thanks, Michael Bloomberg! We Do Not Need Another Aging Billionaire Muddying Up The Democratic Presidential Competition!

Ronald 12 Comments

The rumors have been around for months, but no thanks, Michael Bloomberg!

We do not need another aging billionaire muddying up the Democratic Presidential competition.

Bloomberg would have great trouble winning the White House, with his controversial record as New York City Mayor, and antisemitism would rear its ugly head, and the nation is not about to elect a New York City former Mayor, as most of the nation hates New York City, for no good reasons, but reality that hatred does exist.

The possibility of a brokered and divided Democratic National Convention is alarming, and would only help Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

It is time for narrowing of candidates, not broadening of the candidate pool.

If a moderate in place of Joe Biden is desired, it should not be Bloomberg, but more likely Mayor Pete Buttigieg, or Senator Amy Klobuchar.

Right now, a moderate ticket of Pete and Amy seems more likely, with their Midwest background, to have the opportunity to win the White House, certainly better than aging candidates reaching their 80s in a first term.

There will be plenty of time to evaluate Bloomberg over time, but first thoughts are, as stated above, no thanks!

A Sense Of What Might Happen In The Presidential Election Of 2020

Ronald 16 Comments

This blogger and author has been away for a few days, and has decided to wait until we know the results of the few elections taking place in 2019, before making an educated guess on the Presidential Election Of 2020. With the upset victory of Andy Beshear over Matt Bevin for the Kentucky Governorship, and the gaining of the majority in both houses of the Virginia legislature for the first time in a quarter century, the situation for Democrats looks very promising for 2020.

Understand, without a clear answer as to who the Democratic Presidential nominee will be, it is far from easy to judge how the nation will go a year from now.

But with signs that college educated people, inner suburbs, women, African Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, and young people are alienated from Donald Trump and the Republican Party, here is my estimate of what might happen, subject to change, and a final judgment in late October of 2020.

Let us begin with what states are assured to be in the Democratic camp next year:

New England states—Maine (including the 2nd Congressional district which went to Donald Trump in 2016), Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island–a total of 33 electoral votes

Middle Atlantic states–New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, District of Columbia—a total of 59 electoral votes

Southern states—Virginia—13 electoral votes

Midwest states—Illinois, Minnesota—30 electoral votes

Mountain West states—New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado—20 electoral votes

Pacific Coast states—California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii—78 electoral votes

This group of guaranteed states for the Democrats number 20 plus DC, and a total of 233 electoral votes, 37 short of the number needed to win the Presidency.

Now, states likely to go to the Democrats in order of odds—Arizona (11) and Florida (29)–a total of 40 electoral votes, giving the Democrats 273 electoral votes, 3 more than needed to win the Presidency.

Other states that might go to the Democrats—in order of odds—Pennsylvania (20), Michigan (16), Wisconsin (10), North Carolina (15), Georgia (16)—a total of 77 additional electoral votes.

This would make for a total of 27 states plus DC, and a grand total of 350 electoral votes.

But also, one more electoral vote is possible, the 2nd Congressional district of Nebraska (Omaha metropolitan area), which voted for Barack Obama in 2008, so a final total of 351 electoral votes, leaving 187 electoral votes for Donald Trump or Mike Pence, or whoever the Republican Presidential nominee might be.

So the Republicans would win 23 states—West Virginia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas (all in the South)–Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska except for the 2nd Congressional District, Kansas, Oklahoma in the Midwest and Great Plains—and Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Alaska in the Mountain West—a total of 187 electoral votes!

I welcome commentary on my estimate, and it will be an exciting year to November 3, 2020!

One Year To The Presidential Election Of 2020: My Past Record On The Last Three Presidential Elections

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Here we are one year before the Presidential Election of 2020, and one of my contributors-commentators on this blog, D, asked awhile back that I come up with an estimate of what might happen in the upcoming Presidential contest.

I wish to point out that in 2008, I predicted the results of the Electoral College within one electoral vote, as I thought the Electoral College would be 364-174, and it ended up as 365-173.

I had not thought that one district in Nebraska, in the Omaha metropolitan area, would give an electoral vote to Barack Obama over John McCain, with Nebraska and Maine being the two states that have permitted split electoral votes, and with Nebraska only doing this in 2008. My article on this election was on November 2, 2008.

On November 4, 2012, my article predicted that Barack Obama would defeat Mitt Romney by an electoral vote of 332-206, and celebrated the precise electoral vote victory in an entry on November 9, 2012.

In 2016, I predicted on November 5, 2016, that Hillary Clinton would win over Donald Trump by a margin of 352-186, and was, like everyone else, totally off base, and still recovering from the shock in 2019.

So I have been accurate twice, and totally wrong the most recent time, and now it is time for projecting what might happen in the year 2020, although the estimate and judgment could be changed dramatically by events not possible to predict.

And since we do not know who the nominees of the major parties will be, it is much harder to project the ultimate result.

However, I will post my prediction, after being away for a few days, in midweek, and I welcome commentary by anyone reading this blog.

The Democratic Presidential Race Thins As Tim Ryan And Beto O’Rourke Withdraw From Race

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The Democratic Presidential race is thinning as Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan and former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke have withdrawn from the competition in the past week.

Both were considered moderates, and some thought O’Rourke had a real chance to move ahead, but both candidacies floundered without much public support in polls and in fund raising.

Both Ryan and O’Rourke were the rare white men running for the nomination, with the only serious such candidates left being Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Pete Buttigieg.

There is also Michael Bennet, Steve Bullock, and Tom Steyer, but the most competitive white men are Biden, Sanders, and Buttigieg.

The odds of a woman or a minority person being the nominee seems more possible, which is fine, but if that happens, it will mean the Democratic Party has not nominated a white man for President since 2004.