Hurricane Harvey

Five Presidents Of Both Parties, 40 Years, And Unity, As Compared To Donald Trump’s Divisiveness

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That was quite a scene on Saturday night in College Station, Texas, at the George H W Bush Presidential Library on the campus of Texas A & M University.

Five former Presidents–two Republicans (Bush and his son George H W Bush) and three Democrats (Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama)—representing all of the Presidents since 1977 except for Ronald Reagan, were together raising relief funds for the victims of Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, and Hurricane Maria.

All five had been rivals–Carter vs the senior Bush’s boss, Reagan–Bush Sr vs Clinton—Bush Jr critical of Clinton when he ran against his Vice President, Al Gore in 2000—Obama critical of Bush Jr when he ran in 2008 to succeed him—Carter and Clinton both critics of Obama during his Presidential run and years in office—but they all came together and unified in a manner that Donald Trump is incapable of accomplishing.

All five former Presidents were far from perfect in office, but they all had high levels of popularity at some point, unlike Donald Trump.

Carter and the Senior Bush lost reelection, while the other three won and completed second terms, the first time we had three Presidents in a row finish eight years in office since Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe from 1801-1825.

We have had five former Presidents alive now for the fourth time in American history—1861-1862 for ten and a half months under Abraham Lincoln, until John Tyler died in January 1862, with one of the five former Presidents, Martin Van Buren, living to see eight future Presidents take the oath office—1993-1994 under Bill Clinton for 15 months until Richard Nixon died in April 1994—2001-2004 under George W. Bush for three years and four and a half months until June 2004 when Ronald Reagan died in June 2004.

With the miraculous accomplishment that George H W Bush has passed Ronald Reagan’s age, and will pass Gerald Ford’s age on November, and that Jimmy Carter, three and a half months younger than Bush, has also reached 93, and seems in better health than Bush, although has cancer in remissions, one wonders if it is possible that both Bush and Carter might last longer than June 2020, which would make the longest period of five living former Presidents, with Bush and Carter both being 96 in the year 2020.

That would be an amazing situation, and of course, were Donald Trump to leave office by impeachment, the 25th Amendment Section 4 utilization, or resignation, then we would have for the first time ever a total of SIX former Presidents of the United States alive and well at the same time frame!

3 Moderate Republicans To Retire (Ileana Ros Lethinen Of Florida, Dave Reichart Of Washington, Charlie Dent Of Pennsylvania), Opening Up Seats To Democratic Gains

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Three members of the House of Representatives who are moderates, and who have had strong doubts about Donald Trump all along, have decided to “jump ship”. and not run for reelection in 2018.

In so doing, they, and others who might do the same, are demonstrating the problem of the future of the Republican Party, that it is in danger of becoming an extremist right wing party, which is anti government and the traditions of the Republican Party.

Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros Lehtinen, Washington Congressman Dave Reichart, and Pennsylvania Congressman Charlie Dent have all decided not to run for reelection, and their loss is not good for the GOP future.

All three are seen as likely to back an impeachment move against Donald Trump, so they have an opportunity to become historic figures in the process of bringing Trump down over the next months.

With Trump repudiating Establishment Republican leadership (Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell), and making a deal with Democrats and moderate Republicans on aid for Hurricane Harvey and a three month extension of the debt limit, avoiding a crisis at the end of September, it is clear that civil war is developing in the Republican Party.

This includes the right wing extremists of the House Freedom Caucus working to form a third party movement, splintering the party into factions that bode ill for the party future in 2018 and beyond.

America In Crisis: Danger Of Massive War In Asia; Immigration Conflict; One Historic Destructive Hurricane After Another!

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America has gone through many crises and troubles in its history, but right now, in the eighth month of the Donald Trump Presidency, we are faced with a multitude of crises that challenges us in a massive way.

We have the danger of imminent and disastruus war in Asia with the rogue regime of North Korea, which could include nuclear war, and even with a conventional war, the potential to lose more of the population of South Korea and Japan, as well as American soldiers and expatriates, than at any time since 1945 and the end of World War II.

We have the conflict over immigration, which is tearing this nation apart, as Donald Trump appeals to white supremacists who want deportation of millions of people, which would undermine the American economy and society in so many ways many Americans do not realize.

And we have had the most destructive hurricane in American history in Hurricane Harvey, which has devastated the fourth largest city and metropolitan area in America in Houston, Texas, followed by the threat of an even more destructive storm in Hurricane Irma, now barreling toward South Florida and the entire Florida peninsula, at a record 185 miles per hour, and wind gusts as high as 225 miles per hour, enough to cause a catastrophe possibly even greater than Houston and Southeast Texas.

In the midst of these crises, we have a totally incompetent, inexperienced, and mentally unhinged President of the United States, who is a danger to the nation he leads. He has no clue in how to deal with any of these crises, and others.

2017 seems very likely to go down as one of the worst years in American history, along with the Great Depression and World War II years, and the Civil War years, and the stupidity of one third of our population endorsing and supporting Donald Trump in all of his maniacal behavior, is a major reason why this year is such a tragic year, with almost four months to go. The Trump loyalists will never admit they were wrong, and that their vote has undermined America long term.

Time For Direct And Massive Federal Action After Hurricane Harvey

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The horrible disaster of Hurricane Harvey demands direct and massive federal action, including tens of billions of dollars to rebuild ravaged Houston, the fourth largest city in America, as well as nearby areas that have been devastated.

The idea that charity and local efforts will be enough is preposterous, and Congress must do whatever needs to be done.

It is time for wealthier Americans to do their part, after having gained massive tax cuts under Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

Instead of tax cuts once again, which Donald Trump wants for the wealthy, they must have their taxes increased dramatically, as they were in World War II, and also the higher rates under Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s and Richard Nixon in the 1970s, both Republican Presidents.

They can complain all they wish, as that is the American tradition, but they have been very fortunate, and already own the vast majority of the nation’s assets, and it is now their responsibility to do their part, and to thank the nation for their good fortune, also accentuated by the tax cuts in the 1980s and 2000s that greatly distorted the class system in America, and made this nation more stratified than Great Britain.

And corporations must pay the taxes they are responsible for, instead of lobbying constantly for special treatment.

Unfortunately, with a GOP Congress, they may not come through for Houston and Southeast Texas, and if they do not, that is the campaign issue for the Democrats in the midterm Congressional elections of 2018 and the Presidential and Congressional elections of 2020, including on the state level.

Donald Trump Has Serious Mental Illness: No Compassion, Empathy, Sympathy, Sincerity, Decency, Only Self Serving Glorification!

Ronald 22 Comments

Donald Trump is a horrible human being, and the crisis of Hurricane Harvey proves that he has no ability to demonstrate compassion, empathy, sympathy, sincerity, or decency, but rather only self serving glorification.

He visited Corpus Christi and raves about the size of the crowd, not seemingly realizing they are not there to see him, but are simply victims of a horrible natural disaster which has torn from them all their earthly belongings, and in some cases, the lives of their loved ones.

He does not talk about the victims, including the police officer who was swept away, and the family of six with a similar fate.

He does not embrace anyone and spend time commiserating with them, something Barack Obama did after Superstorm Sandy in 2012, the Charleston Church Massacre in 2015, the Sandy Hook Massacre in 2012, and so many other tragedies.

He does not put his arms around people and give a passionate speech as Bill Clinton did after the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995.

He does not unite us as Ronald Reagan did after the Challenger Astronaut disaster in 1986.

The man is seriously mentally ill, and his inability to be the Uniter In Chief after a great tragedy disqualifies him to be President of “all of the people”.

Trump may be the President of the “deplorables” who only care about themselves, about money, and about hating everyone not like them.

But this man is a disgrace to the human race, and his wife wearing inappropriate footwear to a flood zone and the best clothing possible so she would look good for her husband, is a reminder of the King of France, Louis XVI, before the French Revolution, and the reported utterance about the masses: “Let them eat cake!”

There are no redeeming qualities about Donald Trump, and he will go down for sure as the most despicable and disgraceful President ever, a national nightmare foisted on us by the outdated Electoral College, and the selfishness and narrow mindedness of 78,000 people in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

Sadly, it will take a long time to undo the damage Donald Trump has wrought in just over seven months, but the push to remove Trump by impeachment, or use of the 25th Amendment, Section 4, or resignation must move forward full scale, as every day he is in the Oval Office, he undermines the nation and the international community!