Month: January 2020

Only 3 Presidents Did Not Seek Reelection, And Only 5 Failed To Gain A Nomination To Run For Reelection

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A historical investigation of Presidential reelection efforts shows only three Presidents, who survived to the end of their term, chose not to attempt to run for reelection:

James K. Polk in 1848

James Buchanan in 1860

Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876.

Five Presidents who did not survive to run were:

William Henry Harrison, elected in 1840, dying in 1841.

Zachary Taylor, elected in 1848, dying in 1850.

James A. Garfield, elected in 1880, dying in 1881.

Warren G. Harding, elected in 1920, dying 1923.

John F. Kennedy, elected in 1960, dying in 1963.

Five Presidents wished to run for reelection, but failed to gain a nomination on any party line:

John Tyler in 1844

Millard Fillmore in 1852

Franklin Pierce in 1856

Andrew Johnson in 1868

Chester Alan Arthur in 1884

Two Presidents chose not to run after succeeding a President due to death, only having one full term:

Calvin Coolidge in 1928

Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968

A Day Of Presidential Statistics: Four Times With Six Living Presidents, and Six Times With No Living Predecessor President

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Some interesting Presidential Statistics on Presidents:

Specifically, the four times we have had six Presidents alive at the same time and also six times with no President alive other than that one serving? So here goes:

Six Presidents alive:

March 1861 to January 1862—Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln —320 days until death of Tyler.

January 1993 to April 1994—Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton—1 year 92 days until death of Nixon.

January 2001 to June 2004—Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush—3 years 137 days until death of Reagan.

January 2017 to November 2018—Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump—1 year 314 days until death of H. W. Bush.

Six living Presidents, no living predecessors:

April 1789 to March 1797—George Washington, no earlier President

December 1799 to March 1801—John Adams after death of Washington

July 1875 to March 1877—Ulysses S. Grant after death of Andrew Johnson

June 1908 to March 1909—Theodore Roosevelt after death of Grover Cleveland

January 1933 to March 1933—Herbert Hoover after death of Calvin Coolidge

January 1973 to August 1974—Richard Nixon after death of Lyndon B. Johnson

Ruth Bader Ginsburg And Jimmy Carter: Inspirations For All Decent People Who Care About What Is Best For America And The World!

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The news that Associate Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has fully recovered from her fourth bout with cancer over 21 years–pancreas in 1999, colon in 2009, lung in 2018, and pancreas in 2020—is a moment to celebrate.

Ginsburg will be 87 on March 15, and Donald Trump would love to replace her on the Supreme Court with an extremist right wing choice, but Ginsburg is clearly not going anywhere, and will continue to be an inspiration for all decent people who care about what is best for America and the world!

Also, former President Jimmy Carter, now more than three months after his 95th birthday, an all time record for any President in longevity, has had many bouts with illness and injury, and is now more than four and a half years beyond diagnosis of brain and liver cancer, but in remission for four years. He also broke his hip and pelvis in 2019, but has recovered, and continues his good deeds that make his post Presidency the most creative and substantive we have ever seen.

America is blessed by the longevity of both Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Jimmy Carter, and we can hope for both to be with us for many more years!

A Delicate Time, As Reaction Of Donald Trump To Attack On Two Military Bases In Iraq By Iran, Could Lead To Total War In Middle East

Ronald 20 Comments

Five days after the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani by orders of Donald Trump, Iran has reacted by attacking two US bases in Iraq.

This could lead to total war in the Middle East, including Israel and Saudi Arabia leagued against Iran, but with Trump not getting unified support from usual allies, such as in NATO.

Trump could be responsible for World War 3, as likely, China and Russia and Turkey would be leagued against us and with Iran.

This evil man is disrupting the entire world, as he has in the United States, and he cannot leave office soon enough, but already, the damage he has done will reverberate for many years, likely for decades!

Iowa A “Free For All” One Month Out From Democratic Presidential Caucuses

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One month out from the Iowa Democratic Presidential Caucuses, and it is clear that a “Free For All” is developing, with any of five candidates seen as the potential first place finisher.

One poll shows a tie among Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Pete Buttigieg, but to think that next door Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar should be ignored is an unwise assumption, as she has just completed visiting all 99 counties in the Hawkeye State, and that could lead to a surprise as her stock seems to be rising.

Also, Elizabeth Warren cannot be dismissed, as she is a fighter, and really, anything could happen in Iowa.

At the same time, there is a growing feeling that Bernie Sanders could, in theory, win Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, all in February, and with his large financial base from ordinary citizens, he could be the Democratic Presidential nominee, if he does indeed sweep the first three states, as that could create momentum for Super Tuesday on March 3.

The Evangelical Michael Richards (Pence, Pompeo) Take Over American Foreign Policy

Ronald 19 Comments

It is now clear that Donald Trump’s Presidency has been hijacked by the two Michael Richards (Vice President Pence and Secretary of State and former CIA Head Pompeo).

It has been learned that they worked on Trump, convincing him to arrange for the assassination of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, and endangering the US position in the Middle East.

With the growing likelihood of war with Iran, the whole domestic and international scene is in disarray, because of the clear cut religious fanaticism of Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo, both dedicated evangelical Christians.

It shows the danger of evangelical influence on American politics has reached its peak, ironically under a President who had no real religious beliefs, except his belief in his own superiority.

And add Orthodox Jews and Israeli right wingers, led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the mix, and we have the setting up of a “holy war” incited by religious fanatics in both Christianity and Judaism, against Muslim fanatics of the Shia minority, which wars against Sunni Muslims led by Saudi Arabia, which controls the holy sites of Mecca and Medina.

Fanatical religion has caused so many wars in human history, and is about to do so again, with two fanatical right wing religious freaks, both also part of the Republican TEA Party Movement a decade ago in Congress, in charge under non believer Donald Trump, who believes it will insure his reelection this November for a second term!

Trump’s Threat Against Iran’s Cultural, Historical, And Religious Sites Makes Him A War Criminal Under International Law!

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Donald Trump’s Twitter threat to bomb and destroy Iran’s Cultural, Historical, and Religious Sites if Iran responds to the assassination of Qasem Soleibani with military force, not only threatens the outbreak of general war in the Middle East, leading to a potential World War 3, but also makes him a war criminal under international law.

Such threats and potential attacks demonstrate how Trump has gone off the rails totally, and is a National Security threat, who needs to be removed immediately.

Sadly, though, we are seeing Republicans rush to defend him and his actions and utterances, including those one might think would hold back support, including Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse.

Clearly, the Republican Party officeholders have gone totally insane, and we now have a rogue government in international affairs, and the danger that we will have this insane leader move ever further to threaten war on many fronts.

This maniac is capable of declaring martial law and suspending the Constitution, and he must be stopped as a threat to American democracy and world peace and order!

Is World War 3 On The Horizon, After Assassination Of Iranian Government Leader By Donald Trump’s Orders?

Ronald 5 Comments

As the new year 2020 begins, the world is faced by the possibility of World War 3 on the horizon, after the assassination of Iran’s number two government figure, Qasem Soleimani, by order of President Donald Trump.

Not since World War II has there been an assassination of a top government leader by plan of the United States, with that event being the murder of Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto in April 1943.

This presents the potential for any US government leader, such as Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, or a whole slew of other government figures, including the President himself, becoming a target.

And the potential for World War 3, with the close and growing association of Russia and China with Iran, is certainly present.

The President has opened up a can of worms, and has defied the War Powers Act of 1973 to inform Congressional leaders of his plans and actions.

And this comes at a time when Trump has been impeached, and before his trial.

It seems overly political that Trump is trying to divert attention from his impeachment, and meanwhile, endangers US National Security, and the lives of Americans overseas, whether military. diplomats, or just ordinary tourists and travelers.

US Attack On Second Most Prominent Iranian Government Leader, The Revolutionary Guard Commander, Makes War Likely, And Not A Brief Or Easily Won War

Ronald 6 Comments

Once again, a President has taken a war type move without any consultation with Congressional leaders, as President Donald Trump ordered the assassination of the second most prominent Iranian Government leader, the Revolutionary Guard Commander, Qasem Soleimani, at the Baghdad, Iraq Airport by use of a drone strike.

It seems certain that America will have to send massive forces to the Middle East, at the same time that Iraq will probably demand removal of all US forces. There are bound to be reverberations throughout the Middle East, and it will endanger Americans and other foreigners in the Middle East, and specifically, will likely target Israel for engagement in war.

The thought that Iran might have the capability to strike the United States on the mainland, another September 11 type operation, has to be on the minds of many Americans this morning. It will certainly, at the least, cause heightened alert at airports and other sites in America, and dramatically cut tourism to Europe and the Middle East, and cause massive increases in oil prices that will harm the world economy.

Donald Trump has taken a rash action, and many will think it is to shore up his support for reelection, even as he faces an impeachment trial in the near term.

One must realize that no President has ever lost reelection when America is in the middle of a war, and that fact should sober all Americans.

The effort to remove Donald Trump from the Presidency will continue in earnest, but with growing fear that it will not succeed in the short term or long term.

Having said all of the above, it must also be said that the death of this evil Iranian military and intelligence leader, who committed terrorism on a wide scale by his direct orders, was based on the reality that he had caused the deaths, directly or indirectly, of hundreds of Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last generation.

But to have a President authorize the assassination of a foreign leader in another foreign nation is unprecedented, and the full ramifications of this act are far from certain or understandable at this point so soon after the traumatic event, starting off the 2020s!

The likelihood of war, and not a short or easily won war, seems sadly certain, and will further add to the national debt and to the death count of Americans fighting overseas in wars that were avoidable in the past 75 years, including Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan!

Major Changes In Electoral College Coming After Census Figures In 2020, And Reapportionment Of Seats In House Of Representatives In 2022 And After

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The Electoral College and Congressional Representation in the House of Representatives will change dramatically, after the Census of 2020 leads to seven states gaining electoral votes and Congressional seats, while ten states will lose electoral votes and Congressional seats starting in 2022 for the lower house of Congress, and for the Electoral College in 2024 and 2028.

The big winners will be Texas and Florida, gaining 3 and 2 seats and 3 and 2 electoral votes. Also gaining one seat and one electoral vote will be Arizona, Colorado, Oregon, Montana, and North Carolina.

The ten states that will lose one seat each and one electoral vote are:

California (first time ever)

New York

Pennsylvania

Illinois

Ohio

Michigan

Minnesota

Rhode Island

West Virginia

Alabama

Rhode Island will now only have a Representative at Large, and Montana, which had gone in recent decades from one to two to one member of the House will again have 2 seats in the lower chamber of Congress.

The “Rust Belt” continues to lose in the Northeast and Midwest, while the South and the West, generally called the “Sun Belt”, continues to gain seats and power, although California losing is a surprise. They will still have 52 (instead of 53) House seats and 54 (instead of 55) electoral votes in the 2020s.

New York has lost for seven decades in House seats and electoral votes, from a high of 45 and 47 in the 1930s and 1940s to 26 and 28 in the 2020s. while Florida in the same period has grown from 8 and 10 in the 1950s to 29 and 31 in the 2020s!