Civil War

Republican Party Destroying Itself From Within

Ronald 6 Comments

The Republican Party, born in 1854, is very likely to die in 2024, and be replaced by a different political entity.

Their decision to support a criminal President, Donald Trump, and start impeachment action against a decent, compassionate, accomplished President, Joe Biden, will put the final nails in the coffin of the party of Lincoln, TR, Ike, Reagan, and Bush.

When Marjorie Taylor Greene calls for secession of states and a new Civil War, and when Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy allows an attack on a man, Joe Biden, he knows has done nothing wrong or illegal, it is clear that the party is in its death spiral.

There is a dire need for a solid conservative party based on principle and on support of the American democratic republic, and the GOP is in its death throes!

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 South Of Slavery And Racial Segregation Now The South Of Denial Of Health Care And War On Women’s Rights!

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The American South, the area of slavery and racial segregation in its past, is once again demonstrating that it is the area of denial of civil and human rights.

In the past, it was the Democratic Party that worked to deny human rights and dignity.

Now it is the Republican Party, the party that had fought for civil and human rights in the mid 19th century.

A total switch which remains startling, but now the emphasis is on denying health care to millions of poor whites and minorities, and taking away the right of women to control their own bodies and reproductive life.

The Medicaid Program enacted into law by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966 now is being denied to help the health and safety of poor Americans, most particularly in Texas and Florida, but throughout the American South, as well as other Republican controlled states.

The section of the nation that demands that all fetuses be born, no matter what condition they are in, or how the woman became pregnant, is only too willing to deny health care, which undermines and shortens the lives of their less fortunate constituents.

This is so mind boggling, and it is as if the American South is still fighting the Civil War a century and a half later, continuing to be lacking in humanity and common decency.

The Most Historic Turning Point Trial For American Democracy’s Survival!

Ronald 2 Comments

American democracy’s survival is the crucial point for all Americans to understand, as Donald Trump, now indicted for the third time, in the most crucial of all cases, will face justice sometime in 2024.

If he fails to be convicted, it will mean that the concept of the rule of law has been destroyed, and it will cause the death of the American experiment two years short of its 250th anniversary in 2026!

If Donald Trump gets away with the abuse of power, what can stop either him or a future authoritarian tyrant from doing it again, and leading to violence, bloodshed, and potential civil war?

America’s place in the world will be compromised if Donald Trump is not convicted, and it will embolden Russia, China, North Korea and Iran to exploit the result, and destroy NATO and our other alliances around the world!

This upcoming trial is one of the crucial moments in American history, alongside the Civil War; the Great Depression; entrance into World War II; the Cuban Missile Crisis; and the September 11 attacks!

Those who continue to defend Donald Trump will go down as villains in American history, their reputations besmirched for a man who has no concerns except for himself!

Away For Two Weeks, And The World Changes, Not For The Better! :(

Ronald 6 Comments

Having just returned from my vacation with my older son after watching nine baseball games at eight baseball stadiums from Washington DC to Chicago, it is clear while I have been away that the nation and the world have changed, and not for the better.

Russia under Vladimir Putin is in turmoil after a challenge to the government by a militia group, creating more international instability. And demonstrations in France have gone large after the killing of an Algerian Arab French citizen by police, making clear that racism is alive and well in not just the United States but world wide!

And then, domestically, the Supreme Court has shown once again just how extreme they are, and presenting a constitutional crisis, as the Bush I and II appointees, along with the Trump appointees, have declared war on precedent and progress, trying to bring America back to the 18th century “originalism”, which many scholars make clear is totally preposterous!

The majority Court Justices have been shown to have massive financial and ideological conflicts of interest with no means for accountability, and with Chief Justice John Roberts losing all of whatever reasonable reputation he has had over the years, with his refusal to testify on ethics violations by himself and the other Republican Justices, particularly, but not only, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

Between the attack on abortion rights a year ago, and now the end of affirmative action; the denial of student college debt relief; and allowing religion to interfere with the basic human rights of gays and transgenders, and arguably, other groups that any person in any business or industry could decide to refuse to interact with in daily life, is clearly the most dangerous time in constitutional history since the Civil War!

The South Dominates In Potential Republican Presidential Contenders!

Ronald 2 Comments

The American South was the area that revolted against the federal government, and seceded from the Union in 1860-1861, culminating in the American Civil War (1861-1865), with the Republican Party representing the Union cause, and the Democratic Party being dominant in the South.

The South remained strongly Democratic until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed under Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson.

Since then, most of the South has become strongly Republican, and promoters of white supremacy and Christian Nationalism, to the point that most of the potential Republican Presidential contenders in 2024 derive from the South!

These include the following:

Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Marco Rubio, and Rick Scott of Florida
Ted Cruz and Greg Abbott of Texas
Asa Hutchinson and Tom Cotton of Arkansas
Nikki Haley and Tim Scott of South Carolina
Glenn Youngkin of Virginia

These eleven Republicans are not all sure bets to run, but all have been rumored, although some seem to be backing away from doing so.

Other potential contenders come from the Northeast area of the US, including

Chris Sununu of New Hampshire
Chris Christie of New Jersey
Larry Hogan of Maryland

And finally, from the Midwest area of the US, we have such potential contenders as

Mike Pence of Indiana
Mike Pompeo of Kansas
Josh Hawley of Missouri
Kristi Noem of South Dakota
Adam Kinzinger of Illinois

And finally, we have Liz Cheney of Wyoming

Donald Trump Likely Soon To Be Indicted In Three Jurisdictions!

Ronald 3 Comments

It now seems clear that former President Donald Trump will soon be indicted in Georgia for interfering in the vote count in that state in the Presidential Election of 2020.

It also seems clear that in New York, the case against Trump on the payments to “Stormy Daniels” to cover up the affair Trump had with her, but which he wished to hide due to his Presidential campaign, is also coming to a head very soon.

And the federal case against Trump for the January 6 Insurrection and the hiding of government documents at Mar A Lago also is on its way to another indictment.

These indictments will come in the midst of the Presidential campaign of 2024, and should derail Trump from being able to run.

If only the 14th Amendment, Section 3, designed originally to deal with the rebellion of the Confederate States of America, were to be utilized, Donald Trump would be unable to run for President, even without any indictments or trials.

But sadly, the likelihood of such action by a divided Congress, with so many Republicans kowtowing to Donald Trump, prevents such action, so the threat of Donald Trump is very real and dangerous to national security, as he is the leader of domestic terrorist forces!

Happy 80th Birthday, President Biden, A True Treasure To American Democracy!

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Happy 80th Birthday to President Biden, who has been a true treasure to American democracy!

When history is written of these times, the years after Fascist authoritarian Donald Trump attempted to destroy American democracy, the Constitution, and the rule of law, it will be recorded that Joe Biden came along as the savior of our heritage of freedom, joining with Abraham Lincoln in the Civil War in the early 1860s, and Franklin D. Roosevelt in the World War II era in the early 1940s!

Now, another 80 years after 1860 and 1940, Joe Biden committed himself to defy the dictatorial nature of Donald Trump, and restore faith in America and its heritage of freedom and democracy!

Like Lincoln and FDR, Biden has been subjected to relentless character assassination and ridicule, but like Lincoln and FDR, he has stood tall and proud and brave, and has committed his later years to his country!

Do not forget that Biden is finishing 50 years of public service, since he was elected to the US Senate a few weeks short of the minimum age of 30 in 1972!

And he has been a public servant in office for all of that half century, except for the four years after leaving the Vice Presidency, having chosen not to try to run for the Presidency in 2016, due to his deep mourning for his son Beau, who died in 2015!

Just as Biden suffered through the loss of his first wife and young daughter in a traffic accident weeks after his Senate election and before he took the oath, so he suffered again in 2015 with the loss of his older son!

But he rose from a low moment to serve his nation and the world, and save it from not just foreign terrorism, but the ever greater threat of domestic terrorism!

His record in office has been superb for his first two years, and was good enough to promote the least loss of power and influence in the past 90 years in a first term midterm election!

His decision whether to run or retire should be respected, and while reaching the age of 80 is a daunting number to have so much responsibility for the nation and the world, Joe Biden, despite some shortcomings at times, runs rings around Donald Trump in knowledge, ability, intelligence, and most importantly, compassion, empathy, and common decency!

May God bless him to a long life, and commitment to his nation and the world, as history records the greatness of this man!

Anniversary Of Benedict Arnold’s Treason Brings Up Donald Trump’s Treason!

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In late September 1780, General Benedict Arnold committed treason, plotting with the British enemy to hand over West Point, New York, the future Military Academy, and about 10,000 American soldiers to the British.

If the treason had succeeded, it would have ended the American Revolution, and the fight for American Independence.

Since the time of Benedict Arnold, there have been others who have been considered traitors to America.

This would include the leaders of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War, including, most notably, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens, along with leading Confederate Generals such as Robert E. Lee and others.

There have been others who conspired against American interests, including former Vice President Aaron Burr, after leaving the Vice Presidency in 1805, and those who consorted with Nazi Germany, including Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh; and those who consorted with the Soviet Union over the 75 years of that nation’s existence.

But now, we have a much more serious threat, in a former President, Donald Trump, who has consorted with dictators, including most notably Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation, and who inspired the January 6, 2021 Insurrection at the US Capitol. And Trump illegally took national security documents to his Mar A Lago estate, and there are still questions as to whether other documents might be found at his other estates in New Jersey, Trump Tower in New York City, and elsewhere and whether he may have shared and sold national security details to Putin and others.

So many have stated that Benedict Arnold has been succeeded by “Benedict Donald”, who is seen as a “clear and present danger” to American national security and American democracy!

Constitution Day: 235 Years And Counting, But Question About Its Survival In Future!

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Today is Constitution Day, the day in 1787 when the Founding Fathers signed the Constitution.

No one in their right mind would think that those who signed the Constitution believed there should be no changes ever made, or that what was in the Constitution was cement that could not be altered.

And yet, today, we have a majority Supreme Court which thinks we should go back to 1787, what is called “Originalism”.

This is pure insanity, and undermines the ability of government to adapt to changing times.

Most of what is considered “normal” today in constitutional terms is far from just the original document, and reflects the changing times.

And we are faced with a threat, greater than the Civil War or the Great Depression and World War II, to our ability to maintain a constitutional government based on the rule of law, as Donald Trump and his minions are a dire threat to America’s democratic future!