Month: September 2023

Foreign Policy Of America In Danger From Donald Trump!

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American foreign policy is in great danger from the threat of Donald Trump possibly being reelected to the Presidency in 2024.

His well known admiration for authoritarians in Russia, North Korea, and China; and his hostility toward the North Atlantic Treaty Organization are alarm bells in the night!

His willingness to abandon Ukraine, and allow Vladimir Putin to seize more of that nation, is an encouragement that will trigger World War III, as what would stop Putin from trying to restore the old Soviet Union, by attacking Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and more territory?

America’s relationship with Asian nations, which now are 60 percent of the world’s population are also in danger!

And our relationship with Canada and Latin America would be in disarray as well!

To imagine that Trump would be President again is like imagining that Charles Lindbergh or Henry Ford had been President in the 1930s and 1940s, cozying up to Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy during World War II!

President Joe Biden, meanwhile, has worked very hard to promote and strengthen our alliances with nations around the world, and one must remember his vast experience in foreign policy, as a US Senator, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and eight years as Vice President under Barack Obama!

Horrendous Alternative Vice Presidential Candidates For Donald Trump!

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As Donald Trump seems near to becoming the Republican Presidential nominee in 2024, despite 4 indictments and 2 impeachments, the horrendous thought of who could be, in theory, his Vice Presidential runningmate comes into focus.

Republicans have been infamous for selecting terrible Vice Presidential choices, going back a half century.

Think of Spiro Agnew under Richard Nixon; Dan Quayle under George H. W. Bush; Dick Cheney under George W. Bush; and Mike Pence under Donald Trump!

Also, think of Sarah Palin under John McCain; and Paul Ryan under Mitt Romney.

Compare them to Walter Mondale under Jimmy Carter; Al Gore under Bill Clinton; Joe Biden under Barack Obama; and Kamala Harris under Joe Biden.

Now, the so called “short list” includes South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem; Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene; Arizona gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake; Ohio biotech executive Presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy; New York House Chair of Republican Conference Elise Stefanik; and Florida Congressman Byron Donalds!

None of this list of six would be a safe choice to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency!

Presidential Libraries And Museums Issue Defense Of American Democracy!

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The state of American Democracy is in great peril, and has led to all Presidential Libraries and Museums to issue a joint message expressing their alarm at the growing crisis presented by Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans, but without specifically naming individuals or anti democratic movements.

From Herbert Hoover through to Barack Obama, the joint statement of all the libraries and museums is like an alarm bell in the night, calling for compassion, tolerance, and pluralism.

The fact that these Presidential libraries and museums of both political parties felt a need to issue such a statement is recognition of the crisis democracy faces in 2024 and beyond!

Amazing Statistic On Job Growth: 96 Percent Since 1989 Under Democratic Presidents!

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As Labor Day was celebrated, an amazing statistic on job growth under Presidents since 1989 is revealed!

Under Democratic Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden, a massive total of 96 percent of all jobs were created (47.3 million)!

Under Republican Presidents George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump, only 4 percent of all job growth occurred (1.9 million)!

This statistic needs to be hammered home every day between now and 14 months from now, Election Day (November 5, 2024)!

The Ku Klux Klan Act Of 1871 Could Disqualify Donald Trump, Besides The 14th Amendment Section 3!

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The Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871, the third of a series of Enforcement Acts (1870-1871), enacted to deal with the terrorism and violence of the Ku Klux Klan in the South in the Reconstruction years after the Civil War, was promoted by President Ulysses S. Grant.

Now, more than 150 years later, it is being utilized as a factor in working to deny former President Donald Trump from being able to be on the ballot in multiple states for the Presidential Election of 2024, due to his incitement of the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection!

Many legal scholars contend that this legislation, designed to enforce the 14th Amendment, Section 3, dealing with rebellion and insurrection, is legitimate in the quest to prevent Trump from being able to run for President a third time.

Ultimately, however, the Supreme Court will get this case, and decide, and it is hoped that Chief Justice John Roberts and at least one other Republican appointment on the Court, and posibly more, will do the right thing, as it will affect their historical legacy if they do not take action!

The Sick, Insane, Warped Republican Voters And Donald Trump!

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The latest Wall Street Journal poll on the upcoming Presidential Election Of 2024 shows Donald Trump ahead of all his Republican opponents for the nomination, winning 59 percent of the vote, 46 points ahead of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and further ahead against the rest of the field!

And 78 percent of the Republican party members in the poll believe Donald Trump did nothing wrong, despite having four indictments and 91 counts levied on Trump, and with trials coming up, where he is likely to have at least some counts leading to convictions.

With this information, one must conclude that a vast majority of Republican supporters and voters are sick, insane, warped individuals, who do not care for the Constitution, rule of law,and common decency and compassion for fellow Americans!

The Republican Party base has become a Fascist group, supporting authoritarianism, and clearly racist, misogynist, nativist, homophobic, and antisemitic, and also willing to consort with foreign totalitarian dictators in Russia, North Korea, and China!

And yet, there are also people who are of minority background, who are only too supportive of a very dangerous man, who has lied his whole life, and is a disgrace of an excuse for a human being!

The nation is in great danger, therefore, as we move toward the 250th anniversary of nationhood in July 2026, less than three years from now!

A Proposal To Increase Membership In House Of Representatives After 2030!

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A movement is growing to promote a proposal to increase membership in the US House of Representatives after the next census in 2030, going into effect in 2032.

The House of Representatives has been set at 435 members since 1913, and capped officially at that number since 1929, with the exception, temporarily, of additional seats in 1959 with the admission of Alaska and Hawaii as the 49th and 50th states.

From the original 65 members in 1790, with each seat representing roughly 35,000 constituents, presently the 435 members represent roughly 770,000 constituents as of the 2020 census figures.

By 2040, if no additional seats are created, each district will represent approximately 875,000 constituents.

The ratio of population from largest states to smallest states was 12-1 in 1790; 70-1 in 2020; and would be 77-1 in 2040 (between California and Vermont).

The number of seats recommended to be added would be 150, which means almost all states that have lost seats to other states by reapportionment since 1931 would no longer be losing seats.

The average House district would decline to about 565,000, but one problems is how the chamber would seat another 150 members, plus the issue of office space and office buildings.

Some have said that the House of Representatives is “chaotic” as it is with 435 members, let alone 585.

And the Electoral College would change from 538 (including Washington DC and the 24th Amendment) to 688, requiring 345 electoral votes, rather than 270 electoral votes, to win the Presidency!

We shall see if any action on this proposal will move forward!

The Longevity Of Presidents Analyzed

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There is a lot of debate and discussion about Joe Biden’s age.

One needs to examine the history of Presidents and longevity.

In the 20th and 21st centuries, the time of modern America, 40 percent of Presidents (8) have had a short life span, as witness:

Theodore Roosevelt 60
William Howard Taft 72
Woodrow Wilson 67
Warren G. Harding 57
Calvin Coolidge 60
Franklin D. Roosevelt 63
John F. Kennedy 46
Lyndon B. Johnson 64

Other Presidents, 60 percent, (12), have had very long life spans, including

Herbert Hoover 90
Harry Truman 88
Dwight D. Eisenhower 78
Richard Nixon 81
Gerald Ford 93
Jimmy Carter 99 on the coming October 1
Ronald Reagan 93
George H W Bush 94
Bill Clinton 77 and counting
George W. Bush 77 and counting
Donald Trump 77 and counting
Joe Biden 81 on the coming November 20

Then, in a classification by himself, is Barack Obama (62), and seemingly in great health and physical shape!

My conclusion: Presidents and people in general are living longer and healthier, and one cannot deduce from the problems of Senator Diane Feinstein and Senator Mitch McConnell that President Joe Biden will be unable to finish his time in office.

But if, sadly, that becomes an issue, there is absolutly nothing wrong, and a lot very positive, about the ability of Vice President Kamala Harris to take over the Presidency.

When one considers Vice Presidents who succeeded their Presidents during a term, three of them—-Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Lyndon B. Johnson excelled—-while the other six who succeeded were far from outstanding.

But we managed to survive all of the time, and Kamala Harris is 59 years old, the general age of most Presidents upon taking office, and perfectly capable of being Chief Executive if an emergency arises!

Should There Be A Second Mount Rushmore, And Which Presidents?

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Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, constructed between 1927 and 1941, is world famous with 60 foot head sculptures of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt.

Millions have visited Mount Rushmore, and there has been discussion at times about the concept of a second Mount Rushmore, although not clear where it would be, but likely location might be in Colorado in the Rocky Mountains, a massive undertaking if ever agreed upon to do!

The question beyond whether there should be a second such monument to four more Presidents is what Presidents should grace such a monument.

In this author’s and blogger’s view, the likely choices should be the following:

Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945)

Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969)

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)

Barack Obama (1961- )

FDR, Ike, and JFK have been seen as highly deserving, and Obama was a turning point, for sure, in Presidential history.

Not everyone would be contented with these choices, but it would seem that these four Presidents would make the best combination.

84th Anniversary Of World War II Beginning A Reminder Of Need To Support Ukraine Against Russia!

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September 1, 1939 was the beginning of World War II, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland.

The threat of totalitarianism that Nazi Germany represented created a crisis in American foreign policy for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as isolationists strived to keep America out of World War II as not our war, since we had two great oceans that separated us from war elsewhere in the world.

Many of the isolationists were Republicans, but included naive people from all political persuasions and walks of life.

Americans did not want to get involved in the war, but eventually, it was forced upon us by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

If that had not happened, America might have faced a likely threat from European Fascism without allies.

This is important to keep in mind as the Russia-Ukraine war has ended 18 months and counting, and there is growing demand by isolationists and the right wing of the Republican Party in Congress to stop funding for Ukraine in its defense.

These critics include apologists for Vladimir Putin and the Russian Federation, and they seem unperturbed at the reality that Russia, if successful in Ukraine, will put its sights next on NATO nations, including particularly, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, but with grand designs to recreate the old Soviet Union before 1989!