Hurricane Irma

The Miracle Of Andrew Gillum, The Democratic Nominee For Governor In Florida

Ronald 7 Comments

Today has been a glorious day, one of the best this author has experienced in a long time.

What seemed impossible happened, as Andrew Gillum, the African American Mayor of Tallahassee, Florida (the state capitol), overcame the disadvantages of no money, no winning of any polls, no advertising to speak of. He triumphed over four other candidates, all with tons of money, and polls and advertising on a large scale.

So now we have three African American candidates for Governor, with Stacey Abrams in Georgia, and Ben Jealous in Maryland, along with Andrew Gillum.

Gillum was an unknown, and this author did not vote for him, assuming he had no chance to win, but now that he has won, this author is thrilled beyond belief, and ready to help Andrew Gillum win and bring a Democratic government on the executive level to the Sunshine State, the third largest behind California and Texas.

Andrew Gillum is educated, intelligent, a great orator, with great charisma and presence, a sense of humor, exudes confidence and has had executive experience, and displays a humility that is very appealing.

Gillum is someone to take seriously, as since independents could not vote in Florida for either party’s nomination, the potential for a “blue wave” is there, with not only independents, but also moderates in the Republican Party who are unhappy with the Donald Trump led Republican Party and its candidate, a nasty, mean spirited, arrogant three term Congressman, Ron DeSantis, who already the day after the primary, is using the word “monkey”, appealing to white supremacy and white racists.

Additionally, the fact that Gillum is only 39 will appeal to African Americans, young people, educated suburbanites, and the growing Puerto Rican population after Hurricane Irma, and with them being citizens of the US, and able to vote against Trump, who was shameful in his treatment of the hurricane disaster on that island. Now we are learning that 2,975 died in Puerto Rico, 60 percent higher than died in Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in 2005.

To make the situation even more impressive, the Attorney General nominee for the Democrats is also an African American, Sean Shaw, and the candidate for State Agricultural Commissioner is Nikki Fried, who is Jewish. So we have a truly diverse ticket, and all this should help Senator Bill Nelson hold off Governor Rick Scott, who is spending three times what Nelson is able to raise, for his campaign.

But the belief is that Gillum, Shaw, and Fried could carry Nelson on their backs, and lead to an all Democratic victory in Florida in November.

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

Ronald 13 Comments

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!

The Urgent, Required Need To Rebuild Puerto Rico And The US Virgin Islands As A “Marshall Plan”

Ronald 2 Comments

America has a major challenge that it has no choice but to meet in a committed and responsible manner.

That is, we MUST spend whatever it takes in public funds to rebuild two of our territories–the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands– both decimated by Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria within the last two weeks.

The population of these two island nation territories are US citizens, nearly 3.7 million and a bit over 100,000 respectively.

There has been total destruction, and what is now needed is a “Marshall Plan”, similar to what the Unites States invested in the rebuilding of Western Europe after World War II.

There is no way to evade this responsibility, but we also must realize that the likelihood of a mass migration to the US mainland is likely, as it will take years to rebuild.

And many who migrate will decide to remain permanently in North America, and that is their right as US Citizens, as they are NOT immigrants.

Expect Florida in particular to be dramatically affected by growth in Puerto Rican migration, which has been rapidly increasing in recent years, particularly in the Orlando area of Central Florida.

We must greet and welcome these citizens as they come to the mainland, and do whatever we can, as individuals, to smooth the transition of people, who in many cases, are shell shocked by the horrible experiences they have had in these past two weeks.

We cannot allow the Republican Congress to ignore this plight, and for Donald Trump to bully these newcomers as a group of mostly Hispanic immigrants, and more important than tax cuts for the wealthy, is to impose tax increases on those best able to afford it, and who have had such massive tax breaks by legislation passed under Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

Three Days Away, Hurricane Irma Overcome, So Return To Political Reality

Ronald 12 Comments

Three days away due to Hurricane Irma, with no problems, just inconvenience of loss of electricity, phones, internet, and very little damage, considering the intensity of the storm.

So now we are back to political reality, and this blogger will resume his coverage and interpretation of political and historical events which affect our present and our future.

Most important today is the 16th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and proper commemoration is in order.

But tomorrow, the future of this nation remains one of uncertainty with the erratic and weird leadership of Donald Trump, who now seems to be setting out to declare war on the Republican Party, which was taken hostage by him in 2016, and his sudden, momentary “affair” with the Democrats, who have not one ounce of trust in him, but will work with him if there is any temporary benefit to them.

This issue of Trump and the Republicans, and Trump and the Democrats, will be discussed further in future days.

Suspension Of New Entries On Blog, Until After Hurricane Irma Passes, And Able to Post Again

Ronald 3 Comments

This blogger has, in his nine years on this blog, rarely missed days of entries, particularly in the last few years.

But now, everyone in Florida is threatened by the worst hurricane in American history, Hurricane Irma, with winds of 185 miles per hour, Category 5 churning out in the Atlantic Ocean, and I am doing what I can to protect my home, family, and possessions.

It has been busy getting prepared, and I am no longer able to focus on the constant flow of events.

So I am signing off now until at some point in the future, when electric has been restored, with some predictions that it will take weeks to restore the situation, and hopefully, without harm to property and life.

I wish everyone in the hurricane path, not only in Florida, but elsewhere up the Atlantic Coast, the best of fortune and safety.

This is a very emotional time, and I hope and expect I will be back on this website soon.

In any case, the fight for the American future must go on, to insure the basic principles of the American experience–liberty, equality, and justice!

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

Ronald Leave a comment

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.