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A Multitude Of Qualified Democrats For 2028, As Party Assesses The Future!

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A week after the disturbing defeat of Kamala Harris, causing great distress and dismay among Democrats, including this author and blogger, it is important to learn from the disappointment and plan for the future.

The Democratic Party cannot move toward the center Right, if it means ever to offer a reasonable alternative.

However, that does not mean that it should adopt Bernie Sanders Left Wing type progressivism, which, despite what some say, would never be accepted by voters at large as an alternative in the future.

The party needs to continue to promote mainstream progressivism and liberalism, including labor rights, protection of the environment, and enforcement of basic civil rights for the growing Latino minority, African Americans, Asian Americans, gays and lesbians, and women, along with promotion of more voter education as to the details and effects of government policies.

The idea that Latino males, young people, and white women would think of Donald Trump as the better alternative is shocking, so therefore the need for greater voter education is essential.

And as the Democrats ponder their future, it is blessed with a multitude of qualified Presidential contenders!

This includes the following Governors:

Gavin Newsom, California
Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania
Wes Moore, Maryland
Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan
Andy Beshear, Kentucky
J D Pritzker, Illinois
Jared Polis, Colorado
Tim Walz, Minnesota
Josh Stein, North Carolina

Additionally, there are US Senators in the mix, including

Christoper Murphy, Connecticut
Jon Ossoff, Georgia
Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota
Cory Booker, New Jersey

Also, present Transportation Secretary and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who is rumored to be planning to run for Michigan Governor, to succeed Gretchen Whitmer, who is term limited from running for reelection in 2026.

To assume that Donald Trump and his party will be able to keep public opinion on his side over the next four years is failing to realize that it is certain there will be a major negative reaction to the agenda that is now being imposed on America by aggressive and extreme Right wing forces!

Democrats must be optimistic and willing to work hard for the future of common decency and empathy as part of American principles!

A Most Despicable Governor: Sarah Huckabee Sanders Of Arkansas! :(

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Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the former Press Secretary to President Donald Trump, became well known for incessant lying and nastiness in that role.

But she managed to promote her profile to the point of believing that she was qualified to run for Arkansas Governor, a position her father, Mike Huckabee, held from 1996-2007.

Her father, once seen as moderate, has become a right wing religious extremist since leaving office in 2007, and his daughter now is surpassing earlier Arkansas governors in moving the state further to the bottom.

Hard to believe that the state once had Winthrop Rockefeller as a Republican governor, and Dale Bumpers, David Pryor, and Bill Clinton as Democratic governors.

And the most recent Republican governor, Asa Hutchinson, while conservative, came across as “reasonable”, and is now challenging Donald Trump for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2024, and is showing guts and courage as a critic of Trump, a rarity in the present.

But Huckabee Sanders is copying Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in his meanness and nastiness, on such issues as race, gender, sexuality, health care, and child labor.

She is promoting discrimination against gays and lesbians; waging war against abortion rights; refusing to allow an African American Advanced Placement history course in high school curriculums; taking poor Arkansans off Medicaid; allowing child labor to return to her state; and threatening librarians with prison terms if they do not remove materials and promote “Book Banning”!

The state is in the bottom five nationally in so many statistics, but Huckabee Sanders is following DeSantis’s playbook, and has national Presidential ambitions, which is stunning, since she has zero qualifications for the Presidency, and is not very smart intellectually!

Ron DeSantis’s War Against Truth, Facts, And Vulnerable Victims!

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, judged by many as a so called “Frontrunner” for the Presidency in 2024, is seen by decent people as a real threat to basic truth and facts, and as a person who promotes right wing groups and ideology to undermine the freedoms and rights of endangered Americans!

When one looks back to past demagogues, DeSantis comes closest to the late Alabama Governor George Wallace, who gained the backing of one seventh of the American people in his third party Presidential campaign of 1968, railing against African Americans and basic civil rights. But the danger is that DeSantis actually could end up the nominee of the Republican Party in 2024!

DeSantis has shown his demagogic tendencies by promoting censorship of educational curriculums in public schools, as well as at Florida public universities and colleges. DeSantis wants to prevent the teaching of the truth and facts about white supremacy, the reality of slavery and Jim Crow segregation, because of his assertion that it might upset some young white children!

He also wants to suppress the reality of sexuality, including the facts and truth about students, who are gay, lesbian, or transgender, endangering their emotional stability, as he demands teachers and counselors refuse to consult regarding the turmoil many young people are going through daily!

DeSantis has also made undocumented immigrants another target, sending some from Texas borders to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts without notice, a clear political stunt that promotes fear and hatred of those escaping persecution and crime in the nations of Central America!

Ironically, today is the 100th anniversary of the Rosewood Massacre in Northern Florida, where a massacre of horrendous proportions occurred, destroying an African American town, and little was done to compensate victims, and a decision to cover up the reality of what had happened, until 1993.

Thirty years ago, Democratic Governor Lawton Chiles arranged for some reparations for the few surviving elderly people who were still alive 70 years later, and for descendants of those who were victims, to be given financial support for a college education.

But will Ron DeSantis acknowledge it in 2023, when he seems so concerned that young white children might feel guilt, a totally preposterous assertion? It is the reason for his desire to suppress the history of racial discrimination, not only in Florida, but elsewhere, as part of his push to ignore the crimes against Native Americans and other people of color as well!

DeSantis is also emboldening ignorant and biased parents, to suppress through control of school boards and library boards, the enlightenment of children to confront the issues of racial discrimination and sexuality, and tolerance of immigration.

For public libraries to censor any literature or other material focusing on these matters is reprehensible, and does not allow for a true understanding of reality. Instead, DeSantis’s goal and that of the Right Wing Extremists that he supports, is to promote narrow minded bigotry and ignorance in a nation that needs to confront reality, not be taught propaganda that covers up truth and facts!

The Donald Trump Nightmare Began Seven Years Ago Today!

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On June 16, 2015, two days after Donald Trump’s 69th Birthday, the New York Real Estate Mogul announced his candidacy for the Republican Presidential nomination for 2016.

The seven years since that day have been a literal nightmare, with Trump declaring war on all of his Republican primary opponents and promoting racism, nativism, misogyny, and supporting domestic terrorism in the pursuit of his goal of destroying American democracy and promoting authoritarian Fascism.

His four year term was easily the most corrupt and divisive Presidency in American history, and he was determined to force his will on the nation, as the first losing candidate to refuse to accept defeat, and encourage his supporters to attack the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

A cult has built up around Donald Trump which threatens stability and order, and Trump and his ilk remain dire threats to the future of American government and the world community at large, as he embraces authoritarian dictators and has undermined America’s allies around the world.

The future is tense and unpredictable, and the Republican Party has become a party of white supremacy, male dominance, and extremist right wing, working against the rights of racial and ethnic minorities, women, gays and lesbians, academic freedom in colleges and universities, and even public schools and libraries.

America is in the greatest crisis since the Civil War 160 years ago, and the future is not guaranteed to be one of democracy surviving.

“Great Replacement Theory” A Ticking Time Bomb Promoted By Republicans

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The Republican Party, Fox News Channel and other extremist right wing media, and specificially Tucker Carlson, have been promoting a hateful, conspiracy laden theory, the “Great Replacement Theory”, warning of the future America where the white population, by demographic change, will become a minority by 2040.

That should not be an issue to all stable, decent people, who know one does not judge anyone by race, religion or skin color.

But sadly, it is being utiized to alarm and terrify and propagandize unstable people to think it is acceptable to strike out and promote mass murder, as happened in Buffalo this past weekend, but has occurred many other times over recent years with lack of any gun regulations.

It is not just African Americans who are becoming victims of crazed mostly young white men, but also Jewish Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, and Muslim Americans, with Jews and African Americans most often threatened. And also, hate has spread to gays, lesbians, and transgender Americans!

It is also an attack on immigration, when America has always been a nation of immigrants, and with the aging of the population, there is a dire need for more immigrants for the labor force and economic growth!

It portends high levels of violence and bloodshed, and even the danger of open civil war!

It is domestic terrorism at its worse, much more prevalent and dangerous than even foreign terrorism!

Foreign terrorists are applauding how Americans are undermining themselves from within!

As Trump Asks For Help From Putin To Slander Biden, Republicans Remain Silent!

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The Republican Party has become a true party of treason and sedition, and not only because of their lack of concern about the January 6 Insurrection.

Donald Trump has appealed to Vladimir Putin to help him slander Joe Biden through unwarranted attacks on Hunter Biden, and Republicans enmasse, with a very few exceptions, remain silent.

And there are Republicans who support Putin, rather than Ukraine, and this includes Fox News Channel and other right wing channels, a true example of treason and sedition.

The Republican Party, the party of anti Soviet views throughout the years of the Cold War, has become complicit in support of the Russian Federation and its autocratic leader.

The Republican Party is backing autocracy against democracy, and denying basic human rights to people of color; women: gays, lesbians and transgenders; labor; immigrants; and the poor.

They have become a party of obscene, hateful, despicable behavior with no shame!

The Senate Filibuster Designed For Obstruction, And Historic Denial Of Basic Civil Rights

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The US Senate is the greatest deliberative legislative body in the world, but also condemned in history for promoting denial of civil rights for people of color, particularly, but not only for African Americans.

The filibuster was used to prevent federal anti lynching laws in the years after Reconstruction and through to the 1950s by Southern Democrats, and then it was used to prevent basic civil rights laws, until Lyndon B. Johnson showed great courage, and used various tactics to overcome the denial of civil rights, and accomplish the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Now, the Republicans have used it in the past decade to stop progress under President Barack Obama, and now are threatening the same under Joe Biden, and specifically in areas including voting rights, and inhumane treatment of various minorities, including people of color, women, gays and lesbians, disabled people, and immigrants from Latin America, Asia and Africa.

They claim the mantle of “minority rights”, but only for their narrowminded effort to promote white supremacy, and refuse to accept the reality of a multi ethnic and multi racial and diverse future America in the next 25 years.

The Senate has been an obstructionist legislative body, where Senators who represent far less than a majority of the population are able to prevent what a clear majority of the population wishes to see in the promotion of human rights and work against racism, nativism, misogyny, homophobia, antisemitism, and Islamophobia!

So a change, requiring a “spoken” filibuster, which used to be the norm, needs to be revived, and that will bring about the ability to overcome the filibuster in a short period, and allow for progress on so many important issues the Senate needs to address to advance American democracy!

One Month Anniversary Of The Biden Presidency: Tremendous Initiatives And Goals And Early Success!

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It is today one month since Joe Biden became the 46th President of the United States, and there is a sense of great optimism.

The basic decency, compassion, empathy of Joe Biden is very evident, and he has staked out goals in foreign policy and domestic policy, canceling out most of the damage done by Donald Trump in his horrendous four years in office.

Biden has embraced NATO and our democratic allies in Asia;

has made clear that America will hold authoritarian governments around the world accountable for their outrageous violations of basic freedoms;

has selected an exceptional group of Cabinet and other advisors to deal with the myriad of issues he faces, greater than anyone since Franklin D. Roosevelt nine decades ago;

has committed himself to the fight against climate change;

has dedicated himself to the need for immigration reform, and to protect DACA recipients who have been living in uncertainty for the past five years;

has worked to promote the environment and conservation after the worst environmental record of any American President;

has been moving forward on a major economic relief bill;

has surpassed his goal of daily vaccinations against COVID 19 and made it a national commitment, not just left up to states alone;

has made the fight for civil liberties, civil rights, and the struggle against racism, nativism, misogyny a major commitment;

has endorsed full protection for the gay and lesbian community;

and above all, has restored the dignity and prestige of the American Presidency which was in rapid decline.

Joe Biden may not be able to accomplish everything he wishes, due to political realities, but his heart is in the right place, and he clearly is out to promote progressive goals and work against domestic terrorist groups which endanger American democracy.

Joe Biden Becomes Third President (After Ulysses S. Grant And Lyndon B. Johnson) To Emphasize Racial Equity In First Months Of His Presidency

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President Joe Biden has made racial equity a landmark moment of his Presidency from the beginning, and already is perceived as being the third President to make civil rights a major goal immediately upon taking the oath.

The first President to do this was Ulysses S. Grant in 1869, promoting the concept of the 15th Amendment, granting the right to vote to African American men, and being added to the Constitution in 1870.

Also, Grant promoted better treatment of Native Americans in his Inaugural week, and is seen as the most tolerant and open minded on that issue of any President in the post Civil War years.

The second President to make civil rights a key issue immediately was Lyndon B. Johnson upon becoming President after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November 1963. Johnson made the push for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which had been floundering in Congress after it was introduced by Kennedy in the summer of 1963. And Johnson went on to promote also the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as the 15th Amendment had been denied for many decades in the Southern states, as Jim Crow segregation reigned.

And now, Joe Biden is pushing and promoting action, as a result of the well known discrimination in criminal justice; and in dealing with the endemic poverty in minority communities; the lack of adequate health care including in the COVID 19 Pandemic; problems of education and work opportunities and housing that persist; the need to clean the environment where often there is massive pollution in areas ignored before now; and also the difficulties faced by women, transgender citizens, the gay community, and the disabled. The purpose is to get rid of systemic discrimination against all the above groups.

One can hope that major progress on these areas of policy can be accomplished!

The Heroes Of 2020: Bright Lights In A Year The Worst In Most People’s Lifetimes

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The year 2020 has been the worst year in most people’s lifetimes, but there have been heroes who deserve attention and appreciation from all decent Americans.

The ultimate hero is Dr. Anthony Fauci, who reached the age of 80 yesterday, and has been an inspiration to anyone who believes in science, and respects expertise over “junk science”, or science that is generations out of date.

Some of our greatest heroes of the year, sadly, have departed, including Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who left a legacy of promotion of equal rights for all groups in America, including women, people of color, the disabled, and equal justice for all.

Also departing this world was Congressman John Lewis of Georgia, who promoted the concept of “good trouble” to advance human rights in a world and nation that too often is not engaged in such efforts.

Another hero is former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who advanced equality of gays and lesbians, just by becoming the first known gay Presidential contender, and now will be the first openly gay Cabinet officer as Secretary of Transportation.

Another hero is Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, who has done an amazing job pursuing justice, equality, and the interests of the American people, in a time of the massive threat presented by Donald Trump, and has not blinked at his threats, misogyny, and crazed insanity. She has had to deal with the unrelenting misogyny of many in the Republican Party opposition, and Trump supporters who show a total lack of respect for her that they would never utter against a man!

Another hero is California Congressman Adam Schiff, who was a key player in the impeachment investigation of Donald Trump, and is Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He has suffered from threats and vicious attacks by Donald Trump and his minions, but has demonstrated courage and conviction in an admirable manner.

Another hero is South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn, the highest ranked African American in Congress as House Majority Whip, third ranking leadership role. If it were not for Clyburn, Joe Biden would not have been able to become the Democratic Presidential nominee this year, as Clyburn’s endorsement was a major factor in Biden winning the South Carolina Primary and moving forward to the top of the Democratic Presidential ticket.

Another such hero is the future First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden, who, with her elegance and intelligence, will raise the level of that position from the disgraceful low level it reached in the past four years.

California Senator Kamala Harris, soon to be Vice President of the United States, is another hero, who will be the first woman, and first woman of color with her Jamaican and Asian Indian heritage, to be a heartbeat away from the Presidency. She is a role model for women and racial minorities, and will be a very influential Vice President, more in the direction of Joe Biden, Al Gore, and Walter Mondale, than Mike Pence!

And last but not least, Joe Biden, who is a man of decency, compassion, ethics, and empathy, will be our 46th President on January 20, 2021. He will face the most daunting set of issues of any President since Abraham Lincoln in 1861, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, and Barack Obama in 2009. His long career in Congress, and his outstanding Vice Presidency give America hope, that in a time of a “dark winter”, as Joe Biden calls the COVID 19 Pandemic and the Second Great Depression, that Biden will take leadership on the level of FDR’s New Deal to take us to brighter days and a recovery in 2021 and beyond!

Everyone needs to pray for his success, but all know that he will not waste a minute or a day in promoting himself on Twitter or playing golf, as our despicable 45th President, Donald Trump, has done more of in the past four years, than doing his job!