Month: June 2022

Liz Cheney And Adam Kinzinger Are Heroes For Upholding The Constitution And Rule Of Law!

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As the January 6 House Committee has opened its public hearings, one thing is very clear!

Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois are heroes for upholding the Constitution and rule of law!

Sadly, there are only a handful of other Republicans who are upholding the Constitution and rule of law in the 2022 Republican party.

Cheney is in a battle for her House seat, after having been stripped of her third ranking position, as House Republican Conference Chair. Despite her father, Dick Cheney, having been earlier a Congressman for ten years, the Wyoming Republican Party has repudiated her, and she faces a hotly contested primary with a Donald Trump endorsed opponent.

Adam Kinzinger is not running for reelection, since his seat has been eliminated by the loss of an Illinois Congressional seat in the 2020 Census, but he has also been repudiated by the Republican Party in his state, and even by family members.

History will record them in a positive fashion, while the historical image of their opponents, including Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan, and innumerable others, will be condemned for sure!

First Session Of January 6 House Committee Hearings Makes Clear Donald Trump Guilt In Insurrection!

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The January 6 House Committee, investigating the January 6, 2021 Insurrection at the US Capitol, had its first public session last night.

It was gripping, detailed, and compelling, and anyone who cares about American democracy would clearly see that there is no doubt of the guilt of Donald Trump in the worst crime ever perpetrated by any President of the United States!

The Republican Party has become a cult around a very sick, demented, dangerous man, with only a small percentage of those in Congress and in state government positions putting the Constitution and rule of law ahead of their own personal ambitions!

Action needs to be taken as the nation is in a constitutional crisis that may be worse than the Civil War, if nothing is done to stop the extreme Fascism that Trump and most Republicans in Congress represent!

The January 6 House Committee Hearings On The Insurrection Begin Tonight

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After nearly a year, and herculean efforts, the January 6 House Committee is beginning public hearings this evening.

They should provide gripping testimony to the realities of the attack on the US Capitol, and all networks, except Fox News Channel, are covering them live for the nation.

These hearings are similar to the Watergate hearings under Richard Nixon 50 years ago, and the Iran-Contra hearings under Ronald Reagan 35 years ago.

Hopefully, they will lead to action and prosecution, including of Donald Trump and his minions, who engaged clearly in sedition and treason!

The Problem Of Saudi Arabia: Oil And Human Rights

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When President Joe Biden ran for President in 2020, he was sharply critical of Saudi Arabia’s record on human rights, particularly the horrific murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi ordered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in 2018.

Mohammed bin Salman is the heir to the throne in Saudi Arabia, and is a danger, but due to the impact of the oil problem, somehow, Joe Biden has seen it necessary to visit the kingdom sometime in July, but the question is how does he balance the energy issue and yet not bow to the Saudi Crown Prince in an obsequious manner?

This is the real test of Joe Biden, one of innumerable others, and makes one wonder why he, or really anyone, wants to end up in the pressure cooker of the White House!

America must stand for human rights in a world where it is in danger, but practicality makes that extremely difficult!

Donald Trump Had No Concern About The Threats To The Life Of Mike Pence!

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It is stunning and hard to fathom that a President would have no concern about the threats to the life of his Vice President.

Yes, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr did not get along.

Neither did John Quincy Adams and John C. Calhoun get along.

And also, Andrew Jackson and Calhoun were at odds.

But never has a President welcomed harm on his Vice President, as Donald Trump did toward Mike Pence on January 6, 2021!

He showed support for the lynching, the hanging, of Mike Pence!

This is incomprehensible, that any political leader would not be concerned, and loyal to those who work around him!

How could any decent human being, no matter what his political and ideological loyalties, support and continue to excuse Donald Trump for his lack of empathy, decency, compassion, toward even his own Vice President?

But Donald Trump has no regard for human life, and this will be exposed by the January 6 US House Committee, as it starts holding public hearings on this Thursday evening, June 9!

Donald Trump needs to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, as a seditionist, a traitor, a criminal, whose lust for power encouraged massive lawlessness and destruction at the US Capitol!

78th Anniversary Of D Day Normandy Invasion In World War II!

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Today is the 78th Anniversary of the D Day Normandy Invasion of France in World War II, a turning point in the struggle against Nazi Germany!

The number of veterans who live on after this momentous event is very small, as one would have to be in the mid 90s or higher to have been part of that battle and still survive today!

We must never forget the sacrifices of the veterans who survived, but even more of those who gave their last effort for the American nation and the civilized world!

The striving for democracy, which was fought in 1944, continues today as we face the threat of Fascism and Donald Trump, and the future of American politics in the Midterm Elections of 2022 and the Presidential Election of 2024!

The Assassination Of Robert F. Kennedy 54 Years Ago Transformed The Future Negatively

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On this day, June 5, 54 years ago, in the Presidential Election year of 1968, the nation and the world were transformed in a way that still reverberates.

New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy, the brother of the slain President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated in Los Angeles at the Ambassador Hotel shortly after winning the California Democratic Presidential primary.

RFK was at a point where it seemed likely, although not definitively, that he might win the Democratic Presidential nomination to run against Richard Nixon.

The events of the past half century, from Richard Nixon to Ronald Reagan to George H. W. Bush to Donald Trump, have been very divisive and degrading in so many ways, but they might have turned out differently if RFK had lived.

One realizes that no one can be certain about the effects of a potential RFK Presidency, but for millions of Americans then and since, the shocking events of 1968 leave a sense of lost opportunity that has affected the past half century in a negative fashion!

My book, “Assassinations, Threats, and the American Presidency: From Andrew Jackson to Barack Obama”, Rowman Littlefield Publishers, 2015, Paperback Edition 2017, covers the tragedy of the RFK Assassination in Chapter 10!

The Ohio, Pennsylvania, And Georgia Senate Races Will Test Trump Influence

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With the conclusion of the Republican Senate nomination battle in Pennsylvania, the next five months will determine what influence Donald Trump has on the makeup of the US Senate in the 118th Congress (2023-2024), and whether the Democrats can retain the Senate and gain more seats.

In Ohio, J D Vance, who used to be a moderate, is contesting for the open Senate seat of Rob Portman, retiring, against Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan.

In Pennsylvania, Dr. Mehmet Oz, who used to be a moderate, is contesting for the open Senate set of Patrick Toomey, retiring, against Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman.

In Georgia, former Football player Herschel Walker, who has no real signs of intellectual ability, is contesting for the Senate seat of Democratic Senator Reverend Raphael Warnock, an all African American race, but one with a pastor in the tradition of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther, King, Jr, and like King, formerly pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

The three Republican nominees, were they elected, would join with the most horrendous Republican Senators already in the chamber, including Ted Cruz of Texas; Rand Paul of Kentucky (if he wins reelection); Ron Johnson of Wisconsin (if he wins reelection); Tom Cotton of Arkansas; Josh Hawley of Missouri; Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee; and Mike Lee of Utah (if he wins reelection). Of this group, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul have already run for President in 2016, and Tom Cotton and Josh Hawley are also potential Presidential candidates in 2024.

First Lady Dr. Jill Biden A Major Asset To Her Husband And The Nation

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First Lady Dr. Jill Biden is the oldest First Lady to enter the White House, with Barbara Bush at age 63 the oldest First Lady until 2021. And today, June 3, is her 71st Birthday!

Dr. Jill Biden adds dignity, intelligence, compassion, and empathy to the First Ladyship, just as her husband, President Joe Biden, does to the Presidency.

She is the first First Lady to continue to work while First Lady, as she is a professor of English at Northern Virginia Community College since 2009, after having been an English and writing instructor at Delaware Technical and Community College for fifteen years, and before that, an English and reading instructor at the high school level for thirteen years. So she has taught for more than 40 years, an amazing record of accomplishment.

She has a bachelors degree, two masters degrees, and a doctorate in education, with the bachelors and doctorate from the University of Delaware.

She has had more years of experience high in government, with only Barbara Bush and Pat Nixon having been both Second Lady and First Lady before her in modern times for an extended period of years.

Joe Biden Arguably Has Faced The Worst Set Of Crises Other Than Lincoln And FDR!

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Abraham Lincoln faced the breakup of the Union and the Civil War in his Presidency from 1861-1865.

Franklin D. Roosevelt faced the Great Depression, the growing threat of Fascism and Nazism, and World War II, from 1933-1945.

Other than Lincoln and FDR, the question arises which other Presidents faced crises on a level as dangerous and challenging as those two Presidents.

One could say George Washington facing the challenge of making the Constitution work, and the nation able to survive as a republic from 1789-1797.

One could say Harry Truman, facing the challenge of sudden elevation to the Presidency in a time when World War II was not yet resolved, and having to deal with the threat of the Soviet Union during the Cold War years from 1945-1953.

One could say John F. Kennedy, facing the threat of the Soviet Union, including the Berlin Crisis and the Cuban Missile Crisis, which dominated his time in the Presidency, from 1961-1963.

One could say George W. Bush, facing the challenge of the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, and the dual wars fought during his Presidency in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Great Recession which developed in his last year in office, from 2001-2009.

One could also say Barack Obama, facing the challenge of the Great Recession, the worst economic downturn since the 1930s, and the constant domestic resistance from the right wing Tea Party Movement, and the growing extremism of the Republican Party, from 2009-2017.

But one could also argue that Joe Biden, facing the COVID 19 Pandemic; the growing epidemic of mass murders by firearms by domestic terrorists and mentally disturbed people; and the threat of nuclear war in the midst of the greatest foreign policy crisis (The Russia-Ukraine War) since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, is the greatest challenge and crisis other than Lincoln and FDR!