History News Network

California Open Senate Seat Requires Having A Senator Who Will Have Longevity!

Ronald 3 Comments

Now that it is official that Dianne Feinstein is retiring from the Senate at the end of 2024 at the age of 91, it is urgent that the open Senate seat have a Senator who will have the opportunity to build seniority over time for the Golden State.

So Congresswoman Katie Porter (49), seen as a junior Elizabeth Warren in the sense of copying her strategy and tactics toward corporate monopolies; and Congressman Adam Schiff (62) who has compiled a wonderful record in more than twenty years in the House and was on the committee for the first Donald Trump impeachment trial, should be seen as sensible alternatives.

What is not sensible is that long term Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who has been in the House of Representatives since 1998, and has the distinction of being the only member of either house of Congress to vote against the authorization for use of military force against terrorists resolution (AUMF) after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, be elected to the Senate seat.

The question is why this author feels this way, and the answer is Lee will be past 77 if she took over the seat in January 2025, making her the oldest first Senator in history to have a full term. She has said she would only serve one term, but the concept of electing Lee is just one of ego, as this author sees it.

If however, Feinstein was to retire sooner, it would be perfectly fine for California Governor Gavin Newsom to appoint Barbara Lee to fill the seat, but with the understanding that she would not seek a full term in office.

Lee is a wonderful legislator, but what is needed is the potential of a new US Senator who could gain seniority if reeelected in the future. But my admiration for her as stated in an earlier article on History News Network on March 4, 2022 still stands! And if Lee chose to remain in the House of Representatives, and facing easy reelection every two years, that is perfectly fine!

The Presidency And Native Americans

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A recent article on History News Network has rated Presidents on “Integrity and Humanity in Dealing with Native American Nations”, a significant analysis of how the “original” Americans have been treated by American government.

It is not a positive picture overall, and we have had Presidents who were particularly horrid in their treatment of native Americans, and others who had a more open minded and considerate reaction to the plight of native Americans.

The list of Presidents who are seen as villains includes:

Thomas Jefferson
Andrew Jackson
Martin Van Buren
Andrew Johnson
James Garfield
Theodore Roosevelt
Donald Trump

The list of Presidents who are seen as reformers includes:

John Quincy Adams
Calvin Coolidge
Herbert Hoover
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Harry Truman
Lyndon B. Johnson
Richard Nixon
Gerald Ford
Bill Clinton
Barack Obama

Overall, sadly, native Americans were treated with violence, disrespect and paternalism, with their lands stolen, and forced out of their ancestral lands!

13 Years Of “The Progressive Professor”, And 7,165 Entries!

Ronald 4 Comments

Thirteen years ago on August 11, 2008, this author and scholar began “The Progressive Professor”, at the suggestion of his son David.

I have posted 7,165 entries to this date, an average of 550 per year, or 1.5 entries daily, although there have been rare dates when I have not posted, and those dates, more years ago than recently, when I posted multiple entries.

Still, to have persisted at this commitment from the time of Barack Obama being nominated for President in 2008 to the insanity of Republican governors acting like Fascist dictators in the summer of 2021 regarding the COVID 19 Pandemic, is an amazing series of events!

I hope to continue this blog for many more years, and I want to make clear I also post articles on History News Network since January 2016, and have close to 180 articles of longer length there for readers to peruse.

All of those articles, besides being under the blog name “Ronald L. Feinman”, are also listed on the right side of my blog.

I wish to thank my readers and the comments that have been made over the years–a total of 22,088 at this writing! I encourage continued commentary on all issues!

Let all of us remain healthy, and use the brains given to us to make wise decisions that protect ourselves, but also display our compassion and empathy for others, and employ common sense in our thinking!

Hooray! 12 Year Anniversary, And 6,800 Articles On “The Progressive Professor”!

Ronald 5 Comments

Today, August 11, is the 12th Anniversary of “The Progressive Professor”, and with this posting, exactly 6,800 articles have been published!

Along with the articles, there have been exactly 21,000 comments by readers and myself as I post this, and I wish to thank all those who have contributed to this blog with their insights!

This author and blogger has been passionate about this blog, and hopes to continue for the long haul, shooting first for 15 years, then 20, and hopefully, 25 years!

I want to thank my son, David Feinman, for inspiring me to begin this blog back in 2008. It keeps me intellectually engaged, along with my writings on my additional blog on History News Network, and my radio engagements, along with my lectures to various groups, and my continued teaching on the American Presidency at Florida Atlantic University.

Hopefully, the progressive cause will be advanced in the upcoming years, after setbacks on a regular basis in the past 40 years, from the election of Ronald Reagan to the disaster of the Presidency of Donald Trump.

It is hoped that Joe Biden will restore and improve upon the Barack Obama legacy, and that whoever his running mate is, may eventually become the 47th President to follow Joe Biden!

Donald Trump Botched His Last Attempt To Show Concern For The American People, In His Atrocious Reaction To Covid-19 Pandemic!

Ronald 28 Comments

Donald Trump, the extreme narcissist, and mentally very unstable, and more dangerous every day for the nation, botched his last attempt to show concern and empathy for the American people, by his atrocious reaction to the CoronaVirus Pandemic!

Any chance he had to redeem himself to the American people and his historic reputation is lost, as he has refused to promote contact tracing or testing, and is very willing to accept mass loss of life without any guilt or conscience!

All that matters to Donald Trump is to be reelected, with the thought that if somehow, through foreign collusion, voter suppression, or gerrymandering combination, he is reelected, the nightmare we are living through will become much worse!

This is not just about massive loss of life, but also the abuse of power by a reenergized President who will go further in destroying the Constitution and Bill of Rights, setting up a Fascist dictatorship that his Republican Party will abide by. This will be instead of promoting the principles enunciated by Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and other historic Republicans of principle and common decency over the 166 years of the party’s history!

Once we lose our basic civil liberties and civil rights, how can we ever regain them? How can we protect the vulnerable among us, including the disabled, the elderly, the young, and racial and ethnic minorities, which will suffer more than the general population?

That is why, as stated in my History News Network article of April 29, the Election of 2020 is the most significant one since 1940, in that our whole way of life is in danger, as it was in the four previous elections discussed in the article—1860, 1864, 1932, and 1940!

Six Months To The Presidential Election Of 2020: A First Assessment

Ronald 33 Comments

With six months and three days until the Presidential Election of 2020, it is time to make a first assessment of the upcoming election.

This author has just published an article on History News Network under my blog “Ronald L Feinman” stating that this upcoming election is the most important since 1940, and one of the five most significant elections in American history, along with 1860, 1864, 1932, and 1940.

Donald Trump is reported going totally off the rails on this, the 75th anniversary of the suicide of Adolf Hitler, and it gets one to think about what may yet happen, as Trump is falling behind Joe Biden in every imaginable poll nationally, and in the “swing” states, including the crucial state of Florida with its 29 electoral votes.

If Trump loses Florida, where many senior citizens retire and are dying in the midst of this CoronaVirus Pandemic, there is no practical way for him to win reelection.

With the pandemic which he is refusing to deal with rationally, only thinking about his election, and willing to endanger any crowd that might gather in Arizona or Ohio in coming weeks, and also wanting children back in school even if it undermines and threatens the lives of their parents and grandparents, Trump is clearly on the road to a massive defeat in November!

So, subject to change, here is my assessment of the upcoming election:

Joe Biden will win the 20 states that Hillary Clinton won:

All 6 New England states and add the second district of Maine, which went to Trump in 2016–33 electoral votes

Middle Atlantic States of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia, plus Virginia–72 electoral votes

Midwest States of Illinois and Minnesota–30 electoral votes

Mountain States of New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada–20 electoral votes

Pacific Coast States of California, Oregon, Washington State, and Hawaii–78 electoral votes

So the “base”, adding the second district of Maine to the total, is 233 electoral votes of 270 needed.

Adding to that are the crucial states that Hillary Clinton lost in the Midwest—Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania (really considered more Northeast but also considered in western section as Midwest)—46

That brings the electoral vote total to 279, enough to win the Presidency for Joe Biden.

However, the trend is strongly in favor of other states turning “Blue”, with the Second Great Depression upon us, along with the CoronaVirus Pandemic, and the reality that Trump policies have alienated many groups:

Senior Citizens

Suburban Women

College Educated

Lower and Middle Income Voters

Racial Minorities (African Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans)

Jews, Social Justice Catholics, Mainline Protestants

Young People Under 35

Independents

Moderate Republicans

Conservative Intellectuals

Of course, one is not saying that all of these groups will vote “Blue”, but it seems highly likely enough will vote that way and cause a smashing defeat for Donald Trump!

So what other states seem likely to go Democratic, in some cases, by small margins?

In order as follows:

Arizona–11 electoral votes

North Carolina–15 electoral votes

Florida–29 electoral votes

Nebraska–2nd Congressional District–1 electoral vote

Ohio–18 electoral votes

Georgia–16 electoral votes

Iowa–6 electoral votes

Montana–3 electoral votes

Kansas–6 electoral votes

Texas–38 electoral votes

So my estimate at this time, six months before the election, is a maximum of 32 states and DC for Biden and 18 for Trump, and 422 electoral votes to 116 for Trump.

The 116 electoral votes for Trump in 18 states would be:

West Virginia 5

Kentucky 8

South Carolina 9

Alabama 9

Mississippi 6

Louisiana 8

Arkansas 6

Tennessee 11

Missouri 10

Indiana 11

North Dakota 3

South Dakota 3

Nebraska 4 (not including 2nd District)

Oklahoma 7

Utah 6

Wyoming 3

Idaho 4

Alaska 3

But actually, Missouri (10) and Indiana (11) could, by earlier history, surprise, and also vote against Trump and support Biden by small margins, meaning there could be 34 states and a grand total of 443 to 95 in the Electoral College for the Democrats!

Remember that Indiana voted for Barack Obama in 2008, and Missouri was always with the winner since 1900, except in 1956, 2008 (both by small margins of about 4,000 votes) and 2012 when the margin was larger for the defeated candidate, Mitt Romney!

So the exact parameters of the Donald Trump defeat are not final, but this would seem to be the maximum, as another nearly 4 million Americans today filed for unemployment, a total of about 30 million, one out of five workers in the nation, approximately, which would mean a 20 percent unemployment rate, and growing.

If it goes over 25 percent in coming weeks, it will be worse than even the Great Depression of the 1930s, and the American people soundly defeated Herbert Hoover in 1932, and elected Franklin D. Roosevelt!

And realize that the average family size can be considered probably a family of four although there are many households of fewer than four, but if one considers that as a statistic, that means one out of three people directly are affected by unemployment, an astounding 33-35 percent rate, unimaginable and horrific!

The next President will have a challenge on the level of FDR and Abraham Lincoln!


Hallelujah! Jimmy Carter Reaches His 95th Birthday, A True Gentleman And Statesman!

Ronald 3 Comments

Hooray! Hallelujah! Former President Jimmy Carter has reached the age of 95 today, and this is a moment of great celebration!

The longest lived President, now almost 39 years out of office, and his wife and Carter about to set a record of longevity of their marriage on October 17, as longer than George H. W. and Barbara Bush, and with former Vice President Walter Mondale nearing 92 in January—these events are worthy of national celebration!

Carter had a rough time in office from 1977-1981, but much of it was not his fault, but circumstance, and his longevity has added to his stature, and his historical stock is rising, although certainly not top third of Presidents by any measurement. But as a human being, almost no President surpasses Jimmy Carter!

But Jimmy Carter, whether one agrees with him on policy or utterances in his long lifetime, is such a contrast to the present incumbent of the White House.

Carter is compassionate; has empathy; truly cares about people; and has done so much good in his life. His post Presidency is a time of great achievement in promoting human rights, encouraging democracy, fighting diseases, building housing personally even at his advanced age with Habitat For Humanity, and demonstrating what true religiosity is all about.

Anyone who could be overly critical of Carter because of some failed policies is a person who would not be worth one’s time, as most likely, he or she would be a supporter of Donald Trump, a complete and total opposite.

The fact that Carter is diametrically different from Trump will be explored by this author and blogger in an History News Network article scheduled to be published around October 20, to celebrate the two achievements of the Carters in this month of October. This article will coincide with the 1,000th day of the Trump Presidency, as he moves ever more so toward danger for the nation with his insane utterances and mental instability.

It cannot be soon enough for Donald Trump to be removed from the Presidency in order to save the nation and democracy!

Announcing My New Blog At History News Network

Ronald 2 Comments

I am proud to announce to all of my readers of this blog, that I have been honored with the establishment of a new blog, under my name, Ronald L. Feinman, at HistoryNewsNetwork.org, established on August 27, 2019.

I started to write articles for HNN at the beginning of January 2016, and so far, there have been 122 articles, all listed on this new blog in alphabetical order.

All future articles of mine on HNN will be added to that page, as well as listed, when they are published, on the Home Page.

I am very appreciative of HNN and its editor, Kyla Sommers, for setting up this blog, and hope to contribute to it further for the long term.

Tenth Anniversary Of “The Progressive Professor”: 6,066 Entries And Counting!

Ronald 4 Comments

Today, August 11, 2018, is the TENTH anniversary of “The Progressive Progressive” blog!

In these ten years, I have published, including this entry, 6,066 contributions to political and historical discussion of public issues.

It has been a thorough delight sharing my thoughts and perceptions with many others, and I applaud all those readers who have contributed to this blog with their comments and thoughts.

This blog not only has these entries with major topics easily found, but also has my History News Network columns, my radio appearances, my cable and lecture videos, my two published books, and a wide variety of relevant websites on history and politics.

I plan to continue this blog for many more years, and to see America overcome the crisis and threat represented by Donald Trump, and I hope my audience will keep their loyalty, and that new participants will join those who have added so much to this website.

So cheers and good health and fortune to all who see this!

Celebration, As This “Progressive Professor” Blog Reaches Its 6,000th Posting, After Nearly Ten Years!

Ronald 6 Comments

Today, June 8, 2018 is a day to celebrate, as this posting you are now reading is the 6,000th posting since the author began this expression of his beliefs and of important historical and political events nearly ten years ago.

In two months and three days (August 11), it will be exactly ten years since my son, David Feinman, knowing my strong knowledge of history, and passion for politics, suggested that I start a blog.

Now, nearly ten years later, my blog not only includes the 6,000 postings, but also many intelligent and contributory comments by my readers and supporters.

It also includes a wide variety of web sites on the right side, as well as all of my History News Network articles, and those reproduced on Time and Newsweek, as well as articles on The Hill website.

Additionally, my C Span events on my Assassinations book, and a wide multitude of radio appearances are included, especially those on WWGH 107.1 FM, Marion, Ohio, over the past year, as well as others on Blog Talk Radio and other sites, and also relevant newspaper articles, and several videos of lectures on Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson at Florida Atlantic University Lifelong Learning in Jupiter, Florida.

This has been a fascinating and enriching nearly ten years, and I hope to continue to do this blog for many more years.

And I invite all of my readers to continue to contribute their comments and ideas, as they add a lot to this blog!