News and Politics

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Liz Cheney, Kamala Harris At Ripon, Wisconsin: Birthplace Of Republican Party 170 Years Ago, And Now In Crisis!

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Today is a very momentous day, as former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, is campaigning for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in Ripon, Wisconsin, the birthplace of the Republican Party in 1854!

Cheney and Harris do not agree much on policy, but Cheney and many other conservatives and Republicans are supporting her election because of the threat posed by Donald Trump’s attempt to return to the White House in the elections next month.

Trump is an existential threat to American democracy, the Constitution, and the rule of law, and Cheney has sacrificed her political career in opposing Trump after the US Capitol Insurrection of January 6, 2021, which caused five deaths of law enforcement officers and injuries to more than 140 other law enforcement personnel.

This is true patriotism in the best sense, and Cheney and many other conservatives and Republicans who are showing principle will be remembered in a positive way in American history for the long run!

Vice Presidential Debate Indecisive, But Tim Walz Continues To Have Higher Public Opinion Rating!

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Last night’s CBS Tim Walz-JD Vance Vice Presidential Debate was indecisive, as Tim Walz did not go for the “jugular vein” of JD Vance, giving him a pass on his “cat ladies” comment and his promotion of the Springfield Haitian immigrants controversy, which Walz brought up, but did not go far enough. Overall, the tone of the debate was more civil than one might have expected.

Early indications are that Vance was seen as having performed somewhat better, although it was very troubling that he was unwilling to say Donald Trump lost the Presidential Election of 2020, amid indications he would be willing to contest the results in a similar situation after this year’s election.

Walz seemed a bit tentative in his debate style, so in that sense, he was disappointing, but still the public perception of Walz is much higher than that of Vance.

Stylistically, Vance can be perceived overall as a better debater, but he engaged in lying in many of his statements, with Walz giving him a pass.

History tells us that Vice Presidential debates do not determine election results, so in that sense, Walz did not have a specific blunder that would undermine the Democratic Party Presidential campaign.

The Tim Walz-JD Vance Vice Presidential Debate

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Tonight, CBS will sponsor the one Vice Presidential debate, between Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Ohio Senator JD Vance.

Walz has years of experience in government, as a House member for 12 years and as Minnesota Governor for six years, while Vance has less than two years in the US Senate as his total government experience.

Sadly, the fact that one candidate has much more experience does not mean that such candidate has an edge over his opponent, because experience is often not a factor in who will triumph in a debate or in an election at any level.

However, the fact that Donald Trump is 78 years old and in cognitive decline makes the reality of 40 year old JD Vance much more terrifying, as clearly, if Trump is elected, it is likely that Vance might succeed him during the term, and if not, would be the frontrunner for his party in 2028.

There is a general feeling that Tim Walz would be far less a problem to worry about, were he, somehow, to succeed to the Presidency.

JD Vance clearly is a liar and a chameleon, and should not be a heartbeat away from the Oval Office.

Tonight’s debate will showcase the differences between the two candidates.

God Bless Jimmy Carter, As He Reaches Age 100 On Tuesday!

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It is hard to believe, but former President Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, reaches age 100 on Tuesday October 1.

There have been many occasions where Carter had health crises and also lost his wife Rosalynn, and one would think his life was nearing its end.

But here he is, still mentally alert, although physically unable to take care of himself, and reaching the centenarian accomplishment.

Carter has been much underrated for a long time, and his accomplishments have not been adequately acknowledged, and instead, his failures and shortcomings, particularly with the Iran Hostage Seizure, have caused the general public and many scholars to rate him only in the mid 20s at best in Presidential rankings.

His record and accomplishments are often overlooked or ignored, including:

The Egyptian Israeli Camp David Accords

the Panama Canal Treaty

best environmental record of any one term President

his promotion of human rights

his diplomatic recognition of mainland China

three Cabinet agencies (Education, Energy, Health and Human Services)

his ethical and moral standards, and lack of corruption

his tremendous intellect and high IQ

his common decency, empathy and compassion

his genuine religiosity, being a “true” Christian, not a phony

and his post Presidency activities through the Carter Center

and Habitat For Humanity activities, including personal building of housing for the poor

Nobel Peace Prize in 2002

All these are to be applauded, and one would wish for public recognition of his greatness on Tuesday, and beyond!

NYC Mayor Eric Adams Need To Resign Now!

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New York City, with its 8 million plus population, is larger than all but 12 states in population.

For the first time ever, a sitting Mayor, Eric Adams, has been indicted, and the charges are serious.

The idea that a Mayor of NYC would take campaign funds from a foreign government, Turkey, and a dictatorship as well, is shocking and reprehensible!

The idea that a building was allowed to be open and occupied that was unsafe, to please the Turkish government President Recep Erdogan on his visit to the United States, is beyond the pale.

With Mayoral elections due in 13 months, there is no way that Adams can possibly govern the largest city in America, and one of the largest in the world, while dealing with legal matters.

And to think that he might run for reelection is preposterous, and he needs to resign, or be forced out by Governor Kathy Hochul summarily!

This will cause an interim election by early next year, but New York City needs to move on from Eric Adams!

Justice Department Under Merrick Garland NonPartisan In Prosecutions!

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The Justice Department under Attorney General Merrick Garland has been aggressively involved in prosecutions of law breakers, but has been accused by Donald Trump and Republicans of being partisan, due to their prosecution of Trump and people around him.

But reality is that Garland and the Justice Department have been nonpartisan in their prosecutions, as witness, the prosecutions of

NYC Mayor Eric Adams
Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden
New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez
Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar
Former California Congressman T J Cox

So Garland and his department have accomplished what is expected–pursuit of wrongdoers and corruption, and without partisan basis!

Abortion Crucial Issue In Determining Future Of American Politics

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Ever since Roe V Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court in the Dobbs V Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision in June 2022, it has become the crucial issue to millions of American women and the men who support their right to reproductive freedom.

So far, since then, seven states have protected Abortion Rights, including Kansas, Kentucky, Montana, Michigan, California and Vermont in 2022, and Ohio in 2023.

Ten states have abortion ballot measures that will be facing voters in November 2024–including Arizona, Maryland, Missouri, Montana (expansion beyond 2022 vote), Nebraska, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota, all of whom have a 50 percent threshold; and Colorado with a 55 percent threshold, and Florida with a 60 percent threshold.

The Florida ballot question will be the most difficult to accomplish, but both that state and Arizona, along with Maryland and Nevada, will be tied to Senate races that will be crucial for Democrats, who, hopefully, will keep control of the US Senate.

Kamala Harris MSNBC Interview With Stephanie Ruhle A Homerun On Substance!

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It has been two months since Kamala Harris began her Presidential race, having a late start, and many critics saying she was not being specific on policy, and not agreeing to interviews.

The idea that a new campaign could please all critics overnight was preposterous, and meanwhile, Kamala Harris’s public opinion rating has improved by 16 points in two months, the most since George W. Bush after September 11, 2001!

Harris has been very busy and committed, and has come across as a charming, knowledgeable, intelligent, and very likeable woman, who is surging ahead in polls against Republican nominee Donald Trump, after being ridiculed and underrated by those who thought she should not be the Democratic nominee.

The fact that Harris stayed in the background as Vice President was misunderstood, as no Vice President would be so bold as to try to draw attention away from the President who they serve.

Harris was involved in all policy making and shares the successes of President Joe Biden, and now she has been interviewed on MSNBC by Stephanie Ruhle, a very impressive performance with precise details on her economic plans, and making clear how she is a great alternative to the flailing and incoherent Donald Trump.

Harris has hit a homerun, and anyone who avoids being prejudiced against her because she is a woman and of mixed race Black and Asian Indian ancestry, would have to accept that Harris has proved her mettle, and that she is well qualified for the Oval Office, and will save the nation from the Fascist demagoguery of Donald Trump!

Sad Attack On Immigration, When Immigrants Have Always Been The Lifeblood Of American Progress!

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Donald Trump and JD Vance have waged war on immigration, demonizing immigrants from Haiti and Venezuela specifically, but really promoting the concept of nativism–that America should not welcome “foreigners”, despite the reality that it is immigrants who have been the lifeblood of America since its founding.

First, it was French immigrants in the 1790s who were victimized by the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798.

Then it was Irish and German Catholic immigrants who were victims of hate and prejudice in the 1840s and 1850s, including the creation of a nativist party, the American or “Know Nothing” party.

Then, it was Italian and Polish Catholic and Eastern European Jewish immigrants in the fifty years from the 1870s to the 1920s who were subjected to discrimination, leading to restrictive immigration laws passed under President Calvin Coolidge in the 1920s.

Asian immigration–from first China until banned in 1882—and then Japan, banned in 1924— suffered from terrible mistreatment and hatred.

Latin American immigration, particularly from Mexico, but from all of the nations of the hemisphere, was subjected to constant discrimination, and still are, with the one exception of Cuban immigration due to the perceived threat of Fidel Castro after 1959.

And as people migrate to escape bloodshed, violence, and poverty from nations around the globe, they face new demagoguery now being promoted by the Republican Party under Trump and Vance, and this despite the fact that Trump’s third wife is an immigrant, and Vance’s wife is from an immigrant family.

Donald Trump’s Insane Tariff Policy: An Economic Disaster If Ever Enacted!

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Donald Trump is proposing massive tariffs on foreign nations and their goods, particularly China, without realizing such a policy is a true economic disaster!

History tells us high protective tariffs, as for instance under President Herbert Hoover nearly a century ago, with the Smoot Hawley Tariff of 1930, helped make an economic downturn escalate into a full scale Great Depression!

Back then, hundreds of economists took out an ad in the NY TIMES, pleading with Hoover to veto such action, but he paid no attention, and it caused his demise to Franklin D. Roosevelt in the Presidential Election Of 1932.

What Trump clearly does not understand is that it is middle class and working class Americans who will suffer the most, as prices of all kinds of imported goods will rise 20 percent or more, adding massively to the cost of living.

Trump is ignorant on economics, along with many other areas of knowledge and policy, and were he elected and able to accomplish his crazy economic ideas, it could lead to another Great Depression!

So the Presidential Election of 2024 is crucial on economic policy, as it is on so many other issues!