Abraham Lincoln

Joe Biden And The True Meaning Of Patriotism: Get Vaccinated!

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President Joe Biden gave a memorable Independence Day speech from the White House last evening.

It was truly inspiring, and showed that Joe Biden knows how to deliver a message of unity and patriotism in a manner which he will be remembered in the long run of history.

Joe Biden is a man of great compassion, empathy, decency, sincerity, and dignity, and exudes optimism about the American future, that democracy will survive, and that the threat of white supremacy and hatred will be overcome.

One gets the feeling that Joe Biden will go down history in the same way of uniting the nation at a difficult time that George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt at other times of threat to the American nation.

And Joe Biden gave us a closing message:

If one is truly patriotic, one would get the COVID 19 vaccinations to protect themselves, their family members, their friends, their neighbors, and even strangers, as vaccination is the way to preserve, protect and defend America and the world!

There is no justification, none, for being selfish, self centered, egotistical, and uncaring about others, and all such people need to be ostracized as disgraces to the human race!

The “Ups And Downs” Of Ranking Presidents Over Time

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Historically, many Presidents have gone through periods of low esteem, and then, suddenly, high esteem in the minds of public opinion and also, Presidential scholars.

Abraham Lincoln had a very divided nation in response after his assassination, and only in the early 20th century, did the nation decide to honor Lincoln with the construction of the Lincoln Memorial, dedicated in 1922. He has been rated Number One by just about every Presidential scholar and poll, except those right wing Confederate sympathizers and white supremacists

Harry Truman left office in 1953 with a very low public opinion rating, and was regarded poorly in assessments of Presidents, until after he passed away in 1972. In the next five years, as TIME Magazine termed it in the late 1970s, we had “Truman Mania”, as massive research and writing on Truman caused his rise in stature to as high as Number 5 in scholarly polls on Presidents.

Dwight D. Eisenhower left office with an image of a passive, lazy President, and the vitality and youth of his successor, John F. Kennedy, did not improve his image, and he was seen as not an outstanding President. But his historical reputation has risen dramatically to the point that in many scholarly assessments, he is now seen as number 5 or 6 among all Presidents.

Lyndon B. Johnson suffered mightily in assessments due to the Vietnam War, despite his amazing domestic accomplishments of the “Great Society”, and was poorly rated for 20 years. But now, he is somewhere between number 9 and 11 in rankings of Presidents.

Jimmy Carter has never risen from the mid to low 20s in rankings and popularity, but it seems possible to imagine that when the longest lived President eventually passes away, that his rating may go up much more than many might now imagine.

Republicans Are A Dinosaur, Only Representing White Rural Areas, Wealthy, Bigots, In Nation Rapidly Changing

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The Republican Party has become a shell of its old self, and is no longer truly representative of conservative ideology.

It no longer is concerned about deficits and increase in the national debt, except when the Democratic opposition is in power.

It no longer concerned about national defense, as many of its present officeholders have attacked the military leadership for standing up to insurrectionists who attacked the US Capitol on January 6, including General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff being criticized by the likes of Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida, and Fox News Channel talk show hosts.

It is no longer concerned about truth and facts, as it attacks science knowledge and historical knowledge, and is unconcerned about global warming and climate change.

It is no longer concerned about racial equality and fairness, part of its founding principles under Abraham Lincoln.

It no longer appeals to millions of African Americans, Hispanic-Latino Americans, college educated suburbanites, urban areas, the middle class, women voters, and the younger generation.

They are more concerned about rural areas, where most people are whites, but can wield power due to gerrymandering, and the ability to control the Electoral College and the US Senate, where democracy has been under attack, and favors fewer voters nationally.

They are more concerned about representing those who hate immigrants, and people of color, and want to control women’s reproductive choices.

They are appealing to the extremely wealthy and powerful corporations, while working to undermine workers’ rights and labor unions.

They want to promote mind control and dictate to educators how science and history are taught.

They represent a dwindling white population stirred to fear by bigots in the Republican Party, who wish to resist the rapidly changing population which in 2045, will be a majority minority, with people of color together being the majority, and particularly so with people with Hispanic-Latino heritage.

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani Suspended From Practicing Law In New York

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Former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani was suspended from practicing law in New York, due to his lying about the Presidential Election of 2020, undermining American democracy, and supporting the Fascist authoritarian Donald Trump in his quest to destroy America in every way possible. His misconduct and corruption is massive!

Giuliani could have retired from public life after September 11, and gone down as a hero, but his greed, selfishness, and growing dementia (which is clear to anyone who pays attention), has now doomed him to being a villain in American history long term!

Giuliani helped to incite the January 6th US Capitol Insurrection, and needs to be indicted, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison as a traitor and seditionist!

To think that in 2007, Giuliani led polls for the Republican Presidential nomination, and seemed a “reasonable” potential candidate at the time, makes one shocked at his fall and degradation!

Evil and the devil took over Giuliani’s personality, and he and another potential Presidential contender in 2007, former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, will go down as mentally disturbed, corrupt individuals who deserve the total rebuke of historians who look back on the recant degradation of the Republican Party, which will never recover from what Donald Trump has done to the party of Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Dwight D. Eisenhower!

On Memorial Day Weekend, Republicans Show Contempt For Preservation Of Democracy!

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Memorial Day weekend is a time for remembrance of the contributions of generations of Americans who sacrificed their lives to protect and preserve American democracy.

It is a time to give thanks to those who gave their lives for their country in the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and other lesser conflicts in American history.

But now, the Republican Party, the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Ronald Reagan, has shown contempt for the concept of preservation of democracy, by refusing to back a bipartisan January 6 Commission to fully investigate the US Capitol Insurrection, which caused the death and injuries of scores of US Capitol Police.

The Republican Party has allowed itself to become part of the cancer of Donald Trump, which is destroying the party’s history and reputation.

No matter what, however, there will be full investigation and accountability for the horrid events of that day, including the threatened hanging of Vice President Mike Pence, and the murder of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and the dire threats to other Senators and Congressmen, who if not for the Capitol Police commitment, might have become victims as well!

Saviors Of The Republican Party Past And Future: “A Call For American Renewal”

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There are a substantial number of “name” Republicans who opposed Donald Trump from the beginning, or over time, and are now allied together to be the saviors of the Republican Party past and future, and have now issued “A Call For American Renewal”.

These are not people this blogger and author would support to be elected, as they are overwhelmingly conservatives, but they are people who believe in American democracy, the Constitution, and the rule of law, and want to insure that Trump and his minions do not control the future of the party, as that is the death knell of our system of government!

The purpose is to stop the continuing “Big Lie”, about the Presidential Election of 2020, and about the Capitol Insurrection of January 6, 2021, as that is the cancer in the Republican Party right now, and there cannot be any possibility of avoiding the truth being exposed, and people needing to be prosecuted for treason and sedition.

Donald Trump is a menace, a Fascist authoritarian, who needs to be in prison, and be unable to control the future of the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush!

Mitt Romney Being Booed At Utah Republican Event Demonstrates How Loony The GOP Has Become!

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This author, blogger and scholar was not thrilled by Mitt Romney during and after his 2012 Presidential campaign, but there has always been respect for his dignity, principles, and basic virtues.

Romney, like John McCain before him, were Republicans this author would not support, but always felt that they presented basic Republican principles in a respectable manner.

Such is not the case with Donald Trump, but it is now clear that the Republican party of history is dying rapidly.

The bitter attacks on John McCain in his last years in the Senate, and the nasty attacks on Mitt Romney for repudiating Trump and voting to convict him on impeachment charges demonstrated that the Republican Party is much like a Fascist Party, controlled and dominated by a lunatic and maniac who has no regard for American democracy.

For Mitt Romney to be booed at a Utah Republican state party event demonstrates how loony the GOP has become!

By all rights, Donald Trump should be in prison for inciting the January 6, 2021 Capital Insurrection, and yet we have crazy Trump followers in the Congress and the state legislatures who bow to him as if he was Benito Mussolini or Adolf Hitler.

One does not have to agree with Mitt Romney on issues to feel sad that he is being mistreated for having basic decency and admirable principles, so we are witnessing the destruction of the party of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush, as well as John McCain and Mitt Romney!

Presidents Day: A Day To Celebrate And A Day To Mourn, At The Same Time!

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Today is Presidents Day, a holiday to celebrate and commemorate America’s Presidents.

With 45 men having served as President, about one third stand out as accomplished and heroic in many ways.

Another third are clearly less outstanding but yet have virtues and accomplishments.

And the other third have some Presidents who are seen as mediocre, but others who are truly failures and disasters.

And then, there is Donald Trump, who besmirched the office of the Presidency, and for anyone to think that he will rise from the basement, absolute bottom of the list, requires a delusional mind and lack of ethics, morals, and decency!

Even James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson, the usual two Presidents who inhabit the basement of the Presidency, by comparison to Donald Trump, they look like wrong headed and weak leaders, but cannot be put in the same category as the 45th President,

who was impeached twice;

failed to win the popular vote in either election he participated in;

failed ever to have a 50 percent public opinion rating at any time in his Presidency;

presided over the greatest loss of life in one year of any President with the COVID-19 Pandemic;

had the most corrupt cabinet and other officials around him;

purposely declared war on democracy, humanity, decency, compassion, and empathy;

promoted racism, nativism, misogyny as a national policy;

stirred up right wing forces that are still a domestic terrorism threat into the long term future;

Stirred a mob to attack the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, threatening his own Vice President Mike Pence, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, all members of Congress, and harmed Capitol Hill Police, with a few deaths and over 100 severely injured in the Insurrection;

and has destroyed the party of such luminaries as Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and many others who were governors or senators of a reputable party in past history!

The Most BiPartisan Impeachment Trial In American History

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Donald Trump may have been able to avoid conviction in his second Impeachment Trial yesterday, but it was the most bipartisan impeachment trial in American history, nevertheless.

11 Republican House members moved to impeach Trump for his inciting of the January 6, 2021 Capitol Insurrection, including Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger as the most prominent, and 7 Senate Republicans (Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, Pat Toomey, Bill Cassidy, Richard Burr) vote to convict Trump.

The vote of 57-43 to convict was ten votes short of the two thirds required, but if this was a piece of legislation, or an election, a percentage of 57-43 would be seen as a landslide!

Donald Trump has poisoned the Republican Party, and sadly, the state committees in the states where Republicans showed principle, have gone ahead and censured those courageous House and Senate members.

But in the long run of history those 11 House members and 7 Senators will stand tall, and the Republican Party is doomed for its allowing itself to become the party of Trump, and the effort to preserve democracy and the future, if any, of the party of Lincoln, TR, Ike and Reagan, must be waged for the security and safety of the nation in the future!

Donald Trump will go down in the long run as the worst President in American history, lower than James Buchanan and Andrew Johnson, because he will be seen as a Fascist authoritarian who endangered the nation, and he will face prosecution as an ordinary citizens for many crimes, including the events of January 6, 2021!

The Battle For The Soul Of The Republican Party Is In Full Swing As Trump Impeachment Trial Begins

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The Republican Party is in its death spiral as the Donald Trump Second Impeachment Trial begins on Tuesday.

With only 5 Republican Senators supporting the move toward an impeachment trial; with only 10 Republican House members voting for the impeachment trial; with only 11 Republican House members supporting the action to take away the committee memberships of QAnon Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, it is clear that the battle for the soul of the party of Lincoln, TR, Ike, and Reagan is in full swing.

Will the Republican Party allow Donald Trump to remain their “God”, their “Savior”, and continue to promote conspiracy theories, hate, nativism, racism, anti semitism, Islamophobia, and misogyny?

Will they follow the lead of Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, Liz Cheney, Larry Hogan, Adam Kinzinger and other mainstream conservatives?

Or will they follow the lead of Donald Trump, Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley and others who promoted insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021?

We saw the disintegration of the Whig Party in 1854, with its replacement being the Republican Party, and we may be seeing the same situation as we had then in the 2020s, as the “Trump” wing of the party is a disaster that never ends!