Month: April 2021

Victory In George Floyd Case, But The Basic Problem Remains: Police Violence Against People Of Color!

Minnesota had a triumph today in the George Floyd Case, with the conviction of Derek Chauvin.

But the basic problem remains, that there is too much police violence against people of color all over America.

If it was not for the body cameras and witnesses and their cell phone videos, Derek Chauvin would not have even been facing prosecution, let alone conviction.

So while this victory is sweet, there must be criminal justice and police reform, so that persons of color need not be concerned that he or she will be treated differently than white citizens.

No one should have to worry, in particular, about their sons being endangered and murdered by police who do not value their lives, as much as white lives.

Former Vice President Walter Mondale, A Pathbreaker, Dies At Age 93!

Former Vice President Walter Mondale, a pathbreaker who is considered the best Vice President in American history, died this evening at age 93.

Mondale was the most active and engaged Vice President, and became a model for future Vice Presidents.

Mondale also was the first Presidential nominee to select a woman running mate, Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro, when he was the Democratic Presidential nominee in 1984,

Mondale was such a decent, authentic political leader, who did not display an ego talking about himself all of the time, as many political leaders do incessantly.

Mondale will be long remembered in the annals of history for his gracious nature, and as the loyal partner of former President Jimmy Carter, who has survived just about every political leader he worked with in the White House!

Urgent Action On Gun Violence Needed, As America Has Become A Slaughter Grounds Unlike Any Advanced Nation!

America has become a daily slaughter grounds unlike any other advanced nation in the world in 2021.

When other nations had a few massive losses of life due to gun violence, they took action, but America, despite the multitude of horrific events, we only have “thoughts and prayers”, which is simply not enough!

There is no need for civilians to have weapons of war, such as AK 47s and AR 15s.

So called “Pro Life” advocates only concern themselves with fetuses, but not the lives of human beings who have been born.

At the least, a “Brady Bill”, which was law from 1994-2004, needs to be revived, as the lack of concern for the loss of life, due to mentally ill people, and domestic terrorism, is destroying the lives of millions of Americans!

200 Million Doses Of COVID 19 Vaccinations Administered In 86 Days, Double The Goal Of Joe Biden!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Friday that 200 million doses of the COVID 10 Vaccinations have been administered after 86 days of the Joe Biden Presidency.

This is double the total pledged by Biden, who made it his commitment to have 100 million doses in the first Hundred Days of his Presidency.

No wonder that Biden has high public opinion ratings, with the high 50s to low 60s, as Biden took the COVID 19 Pandemic seriously, unlike Donald Trump, who made the crisis worse by his antics.

The nation should be close to 250 million doses by the end of April, when assessments of the First Hundred Days of the Biden Presidency will be made by all news media.

The 12 Most Outrageous Republican House Members In The 117th Congress: All Extremists And Insurrectionists!

The Republican Party in the House of Representatives has become a party of lunatics and extremists, promoting the Big Lie about January 6.

Fully two thirds of House Republicans opposed the Electoral College vote count for Joe Biden.

They are insurrectionists who do not care about the loss of life and limb for Capitol Police Officers on that horrible day, now 100 days ago, and are unwilling to support a full investigation and accountability for the violence and desecration of that day.

Among the worst of these Republicans are the following:

Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia
Lauren Boebert of Colorado
Jim Jordan of Ohio
Paul Gosar of Arizona
Mo Brooks of Alabama
Andy Biggs of Arizona
Matt Gaetz of Florida
Andy Harris of Maryland
Madison Cawthorne of North Carolina
Louie Gohmert of Texas
Chip Roy of Texas
Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin

Mike Pence A Sycophant With No Presidential Future

Former Vice President Mike Pence is a sycophant, unwilling to challenge Donald Trump in his four years in the Oval Office, and unwilling to condemn Donald Trump for failure to protect him at the time of the Capitol Insurrection on January 6, 2021.

Trump did not give a damn about Pence, who could have been killed by the Insurrectionists that stormed the US Capitol, and did not contact him for five days after the horrid events of January 6.

Trump has continued to criticize Pence for refusal to stop the Electoral College vote that showed Joe Biden having won the Presidential Election of 2020.

Pence was doing his constitutional duty, and for that, he should be commended, but beyond that, there is no way that Mike Pence has a Presidential future.

Knowing that his wife was disgusted by the behavior of Trump during the Presidential Election campaign of 2016, and was unhappy that her husband was going to be his Vice President, one wonders how Pence has not openly criticized and condemned the treason and sedition encouraged by Trump.

The man has no ethics, morals, scruples, or common decency, not only regarding the situation that he faced working under Trump, but also willing to sell his soul to try to become President in 2024.

But with his hypocritical views regarding his “good Christian” image, where he promotes hate and division, Pence has zero chance of becoming the Republican Presidential nominee in 2024 and beyond.

Pence will go down as one of the worst Vice Presidents in modern history, with narrow minded and bigoted views on so many issues, and could never unite the nation.

So Mike Pence will not stand out in American history as other recent Vice Presidents have, and will be a footnote in American history!

Mid April: The Loss Of America’s Two Greatest Presidents

Mid April is every year a reminder of the loss of America’s two greatest Presidents, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt.

It has been 156 years since Lincoln was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC, shot on the evening of April 14, 1865, and dying the next morning, April 15, 1865. No assassination in American history was more profound in its effect on the nation then and all of the years since. It affected the Reconstruction of the Southern States, and race relations for the long haul.

And then, 80 years later, Franklin D. Roosevelt died of natural causes on April 12, 1945, 76 years ago, with World War II nearing its end in Europe, but the danger of extended war in Asia, but prevented by Harry Truman’s decision to utilize the Atomic Bomb on Japan four months after FDR’s death.

The effects of FDR, his New Deal programs, and his foreign policy still affect all Americans today in 2021.

This is a time annually to commemorate the leadership and deeds of Lincoln and FDR in American history, and their impact on the present!

Florida An Outlier, Likely To Continue To Defy Common Decency By Government Leaders

This author and blogger lives in the “Sunshine” State, Florida, and has lived in South Florida since the summer of 1989.

Sadly, Florida has some of the most horrendous political leaders imaginable, with the state legislature heavily Republican, and promoting right wing extremism in every way they can.

The Governor, Ron DeSantis, has no concern about public health in the midst of the COVID 19 Pandemic.

The former Governor, now a US Senator, Rick Scott, has a record of Medicare fraud, but was allowed to run for public office after paying a fine, rather than serve time in prison, and he has a steel heart.

The other Senator, Marco Rubio, is a mediocre Senator and not very bright, although less harmful than DeSantis and Scott.

Only in South Florida do Democrats have much impact, other than in selected Congressional districts in the central part of the state.

And Florida is the home of the disgraced former President, Donald Trump, who continues to divide the nation, and perpetrate a big lie that he won the Presidential Election Of 2020, and he has blood on his hands by having incited the US Capitol Insurrection on January 6, 2021.

Florida desperately needs a renaissance in state government and in national representation, as it is an outlier defying common decency, and is likely to see all three statewide officials competing for President in 2024, unless Trump is somehow able to poison the nation again.

In any case, right now, all three Florida leaders are competing with many others for Trump’s endorsement and support, so common decency is not present in Florida Government in 2021.

76th Anniversary Of FDR Death, And His Impact On The Nation Continues!

Franklin D. Roosevelt passed away on this date in 1945, being the last President to die of natural causes in office.

The debate about many actions and policies of FDR continue 76 years later, but there is no doubt that his impact on the nation was the greatest of any President other than Abraham Lincoln.

Right wing critics still condemn FDR in so many ways on domestic and foreign policy, even in 2021, but can one imagine what the nation and the world would have been like if FDR had never been President?

So much of America today is based on FDR and the New Deal, and even those elderly citizens who are right wing conservatives, are not about to repudiate Social Security, and they all benefited in so many ways from FDR policies in other ways that many may not be even aware of.

There are certainly plenty of issues and policies that even an FDR scholar, such as this author, can find fault with, particularly the Japanese American internment, and the issue of the Holocaust, but in FDR’s defense, he was faced with a myriad of issues and also health problems that it is hard to imagine any future President handling the circumstances at the time any differently.

Donald Trump’s Continuing War On Truth, And Continued Mission To Divide America!

Three months since the January Capitol Insurrection, and former President Donald Trump is still continuing the war on truth, and continues his mission to divide America.

Trump still contends he won the Presidential Election of 2020, despite all of the 61 lawsuits that were dismissed, and he still condemns Mike Pence for doing his constitutional duty, and has lashed out at many Republican officeholders, including Mitch McConnell.

Trump has expressed no sorrow over the loss of life and injuries caused by his minions attacking the US Capitol, and is showing total lack of morality, ethics, compassion, and empathy, all attributes he has NEVER had.

Trump is a nightmare for the Republican Party and the nation, and yet he still gets a majority of Republicans in public opinion polls to swear loyalty to him, as he continues to promote the BIG LIE technique used in the 20th century by Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany!

The threat to the US Capitol remains, but the prosecution and imprisonment of all of the Capitol rioters must move forward, and Donald Trump and those who aided him in his criminal actions surrounding the events of January 6, must be held responsible, and Donald Trump must serve prison time as a disgraced President, before the nation can move on from the nightmare four years of this despicable excuse for a human being!