Immigration

Joe Biden Starts Off Aggressively, With 30 Executive Orders In Three Days

Ronald 3 Comments

President Biden is starting off his administration with a series of quick actions through 30 executive orders in three days in office, and more to come!

These include:

14 on the Corona Virus

4 on the Economy

2 on the Environment

5 on Immigration

2 on Equity

1 on Ethics

1 on Regulation

1 on the Census Bureau

These include in detail:

Reinstating ties with the World Health Organization; Enforcing a mask mandate on federal properties and public transportation; Coordinating the national response to the COVID 19 Pandemic.

Halting construction of the Mexico Border Wall; Ending the Muslim Ban; Including non citizens in the Census Count; Protecting DACA immigrants from deportation; Stopping aggressive actions to find and deport undocumented immigrants.

Re-entering the Paris Climate Accords; Revoking the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline; Revoking rollbacks to Vehicle Emission Standards; Undoing decisions to slash the size of several National Monuments; Enforcing a moratorium on oil and natural gas leases in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; Reestablishing a working group on the social costs of greenhouse gases.

Ending the 1776 Commission which distorted the role of slavery in American history; Rooting out systematic racism, and working to prevent discrimination based upon gender, sexual orientation or gender identity and promote equity and diversity in all government programs and agencies.

Extend a federal moratorium on evictions, and foreclosures on mortgages; A pause on federal student loan interest and principal payments.

America Is Returning To Its Values: Open To Immigrants; Believing In Science; Pursuing Allied Diplomacy

Ronald 2 Comments

As President Elect Joe Biden introduced his first Cabinet advisors in a press conference yesterday, it was clear that America is returning to its long held values that made it great, and a model for the world.

This is a nation of immigrants, and not just for the most successful and accomplished, but a place for people to escape to from oppression and denial of rights, and then to be successful and to accomplish, totally opposite the nativism pursued by Donald Trump and his corrupt administration!

This is a nation that believes in science, not in fake or out of date science, and is out to promote health and safety of all of its population. Donald Trump and his corrupt administration ignored and rejected science, and promoted a death cult that believes in herd immunity in the midst of a pandemic, a crime that should be pursued against those quack scientists and doctors who preach it!

This is a nation that has a role of world leadership, and cannot reject that role, and is returning to pursuit of allied diplomacy with peace loving and freedom loving nations against authoritarian governments of the Left and the Right around the world. Joe Biden will deal with authoritarians in a proper fashion, not embrace their pursuit of denial of civil liberties and human rights, as Donald Trump and his corrupt administration has done, to the disgrace of the American image in the past four years!

Joe Biden is a refreshing reminder of what made America great, and we must all wish him success in his mission of wiping out the cancer of Donald Trump, which must also include total pursuit of criminal charges against him, his family, his Cabinet members and other advisors, who committed horrible sins and actions against vulnerable people in the name of profit, greed, selfishness, egotism, narcissism, and total lack of concern for those less fortunate among us!

Alternate Reality, Improper Use Of Government Sites, And Violation Of Hatch Act: Highlights Of Second Night Of Republican National Convention

Ronald 7 Comments

The second night of the Republican National Convention was a time of alternate reality;

acting as if the CoronaVirus Pandemic is over when it is not (as expressed by Larry Kudlow);

having First Lady Melania Trump condemn hate and division on social media, while her husband has done so non stop on Twitter for his entire Presidency;

having Pam Bondi, former Florida Attorney General, use the Ukraine scandal that led to the impeachment of Donald Trump as a gimmick to attack Joe Biden and his family with conspiracy theories about Hunter Biden, when the Trump children have been involved in corrupt activities all along;

and libertarian Rand Paul forgetting his condemnation of Donald Trump in 2016, and suddenly seeing Trump as someone to admire in 2020.

We also saw Donald Trump holding a citizenship ceremony for five immigrants at the White House, an improper use of a government building to try to convince Americans that he is open minded on immigration, while his record is the most horrific in American history, bar none!

He is trying to make the nation forget his separation of children from their parents at the border, and putting them in cages, which will harm them psychologically for the rest of their lives, and with some never reunited with their parents!

We also saw Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Jerusalem giving a speech to attract evangelical Christians and Jews, violating the Hatch Act, which bans government officials from making political speeches in foreign nations for purposes of political manipulation.

There is no such thing as a utterance or action of Donald Trump and his minions that will not lower the standard of decency, that will not undermine respect for the Constitution and the rule of law!

It is all designed just to win enough support to have a second term, where the President will be unleashed to wreak yet further havoc on America. The thought that it might occur is enough to cause one to wonder how the nation will ever revive from the establishment of a Fascist authoritarian government!

Donald Trump is a threat to American values and history, and we have to hope that the American people will repudiate this threat, as otherwise, the destruction of the America that has survived 231 years under the Constitution, and 244 years since the Declaration of Independence, is in dire peril!

Republican National Convention Speakers List Pitiful When Compared To Democratic National Convention List

Ronald 24 Comments

The Democratic National Convention had an amazing list of speakers, besides Joe Biden and his wife The list includes Kamala Harris, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Barack and Michelle Obama, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, many of Biden’s Democratic rivals for the nomination, several Republicans (John Kasich, Colin Powell, Christie Todd Whitman among others), and a number of public figures from the world of sports and entertainment.

The best that Donald Trump can do is have his four older children, his wife, those connected to his children (son in law Jared Kushner and wife and girlfriend of sons), and Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump has to be in the center of each night’s presentation, which insures he will say stupid comments will hurt him.

And who outside of family connections will speak for Donald Trump? Iowa Senator Joni Ernst, former UN Ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

This is not exactly an inspiring list, and means such individuals as the following are not speaking or participating in the Republican National Convention:

George W. Bush, Laura Bush, Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, John Boehner, Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney, Cindy McCain, Jeff Flake, Bob Corker, and apparently most Republicans in the House and Senate presently, although a few might make an appearance.

One can assume most members of the present Trump Cabinet might appear, but they have already lost all credibility as the most corrupt group of cabinet officers in American history.

And one can probably expect the criminal Stephen Miller, responsible for the despicable separation of children, including babies and toddlers, from their parents at the Mexico border, for the simple act of applying for asylum, which is perfectly legal.

This is a human rights crime, and should lead to Miller and the Trump cabinet which voted for it in 2018, facing indictment and prison for this violation of human rights of innocent victims!

It will be an infuriating four days of lies upon lies upon lies, and hard to focus on, as the sight of Trump and his despicable followers in government are enough to make one ill!

Republican Party And Its Convention Will Reflect Truth: Republicans Are Totally Lacking In Diversity

Ronald 1 Comment

The Republican National Convention this coming week will glorify the horrific record of Donald Trump and Mike Pence, and imagine how many lies they will utter!

They will display the most obnoxious and disgusting examples of horrible human behavior, and will tout their mistreatment of immigrants and their children at the Mexico Border.

They will overlook or deny the reality of Russian influence on Donald Trump, including assistance to make him President by corruption.

It will be one glorious glamorizing of a President who is a nativist, racist, misogynist, and is supported by antisemites and Islamophobes, although he has cordial relations with Israel and many Arab nations.

And what will stick out glaringly is that the party and its “front faces” will have very little diversity, as there are a very small number of women in Congress (9 in the Senate and 13 in the House of Representatives) who are Republicans.

There are only two Jews in the House of Representatives (Lee Zeldin of New York and David Kustoff of Tennessee) and none in the US Senate who are Republicans. And those two Jews are the only non Christian members in the GOP, with no representation by other religions or ethnicities, other than Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, who is African American.

So a white Christian party in a nation in which that group is in rapid decline is a party failing in so many ways, and if it does not diversify soon, it will be a party that is irrelevant in the future!

Donald Trump Has Finally Gone Too Far: A Sense That Trump Has Endangered Public Health And His Own Presidency’s Ability To Survive

Ronald 55 Comments

Through all of the outrages and obscene words and actions of Donald Trump, even through his impeachment trial, the sense is there that Donald Trump has now endangered public health and his own disgraceful Presidency’s ability to survive.

His acting like a Medical Doctor, and giving his stupid, cult like followers advice on medications and now on ingesting or injecting disinfectant into their bodies has led to some hospitalizations and likely deaths. Others are not understanding that the President is totally unhinged and dangerous, and that they should ignore his ranting and raving in his daily, disgraceful displays of insanity!

Trump is now being given advice to stop participating in the daily updates, and on Friday, he took no questions and ended the press conference within a few minutes.

If he has not lost all credibility now, and if he continues to have a “Jim Jones” type effect on his lunatic followers, then those morons will deserve to die, and at least clean our nation of people who support his racism, nativism, and misogyny. The danger he presents to our domestic progress represented by the New Deal of FDR and the Great Society of LBJ, and to a stable foreign policy in support of our allies in NATO and in East Asia is massive.

And now, he threatens to destroy the Postal Service; stop all immigration when it is an essential part of the American success story and necessary for economic growth; eliminate all environmental laws on the books; and to bomb Iran. The latter is a ploy to gain an image as a wartime President, making it possible for him to be reelected, but he must be prevented from any such action.

The pressure to resign, and let Vice President Mike Pence finish the term, will start to grow to prevent a total destruction of the Republican Party, and the sense that he might finally have reached the point, where the nation’s safety and security is at stake.

Clearly, anyone who still will take the view that Trump should be reelected, as Joe Biden and his potential female running mate have this or that fault or shortcoming, is a sign that such person has severe mental illness, and cannot see what is essential for the nation!

That is the resignation of Donald Trump, far more dangerous now, than Richard Nixon was, when he resigned on August 9, 1974!

The Republican Party Has Disgraced Itself, And Has Undermined The Rule Of Law And The Constitution

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The Republican Party–the party historically of Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush–has disgraced itself, and has undermined the rule of law and the Constitution.

The party, founded on principles of anti slavery and promotion of human rights in 1854, is now a party that endorses lawlessness, nativism, racism, misogyny, worship of money as all that matters in life, and no compassion for those less fortunate.

It is a party that represents a dying America, one of white Christians who want to bring back the America of the 1950s, and prevent the reality of a multi racial, diverse population that is on the horizon in a generation from now, when they will be the majority of the population, a trend that cannot be changed.

The Republican Party has sold its souls to an evil, corrupt leader, and have doomed their reputations in history.

They have destroyed the American experiment in a democratic republic, and the future looks gloomy.

If there was ever a need for a commitment to “throwing out the rascals”, it is in this upcoming Presidential election. This may be the last chance to save the America from a cancer that will totally destroy the nation, making it a country that will no longer be the shining star for refugees who want a new life, the dream fulfilled of generations of immigrants.

So all Democrats and those who have left the Republican Party mantle must work night and day for the next nine months to expunge Donald Trump and his ilk, including members of the party in both houses of Congress, from their power centers!

America Needs A “Mr. Rogers” Type Personality As President Of The United States

Ronald 2 Comments

Having just on Saturday night seen the Mr. Rogers film, “A Beautiful Day In the Neighborhood”, with Fred Rogers brilliantly portrayed by actor Tom Hanks, this author and blogger came away from this wonderful tribute with the thought that this is the precisely kind of person we need to be our future President.

Mr. Rogers was a wonderful, compassionate, caring, empathetic, decent human being, promoting good will and concern and genuineness about the present and future condition of children and, really, of all mankind.

We have been through the most monstrous evil imaginable, in a President who has absolutely none of the attributes of Mr. Rogers.

We have a nation where children are mistreated by their own government for the sin of being the children of undocumented immigrants, or because they are poor, or of minority status.

We have a political party that exhibits the same ugly, disgraceful, sinful behavior of their President, and have no conscience or morality about what they have been doing to divide America, and promote white supremacy.

The sins that America has witnessed must be overcome, and a new beginning in the direction of what Mr. Rogers lived his life to do, must be the successor, or the American dream of openness and opportunity will be irreparably lost.

Thirty Years Since The Berlin Wall Fell, And The Mexico Border Wall Has Already Been Breached, And Represents Authoritarian Dictatorship Attempt Of Donald Trump

Ronald 41 Comments

On this day, November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall, built in 1961 by the Soviet Union as a sign of its total authoritarian control over East Germany and East Berlin, was breached, a great day for freedom and democracy.

Today, the Mexico Border Wall that Donald Trump claims is being built, has already been breached by drills that have put holes and openings in the wall in the small amount of newly constructed or reconstructed areas, done by drug gangs and hoodlums, who have demonstrated that no such wall project will succeed, and in fact, will never be completed.

The whole idea of a wall is an authoritarian dictatorship attempt by the most corrupt, and lawless President in American history, and it undermines the whole concept that America is a nation of all nations, welcoming to refugees who are escaping crime, persecution, bloodshed, and hatred, and see the image of the Statue of Liberty as what makes America unique and great.

It is immigrants, and not all of them legal when they came in, who have made America a great nation. If someone commits criminal acts, such person should be prosecuted, but denying admission to victims is unAmerican, and denies the story of American history.

So on this anniversary of the Berlin Wall falling, and also the third anniversary of the Donald Trump victory assisted by Russian collusion and corruption, America must resolve that the Mexico Border Wall will never be accomplished, and that freedom and democracy will triumph over this illegal, unconstitutional attempt to destroy the Constitution and the Bill of Rights!

The Right Wing Supreme Court Seems Ready To Declare War On Abortion, Gay Rights, Gun Rights, Immigration, Separation Of Church And State, And Presidential Power

Ronald 1 Comment

The new session of the Supreme Court has begun, and the full effect of Donald Trump appointees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh will now, likely, be felt.

While it is true that Gorsuch and Kavanaugh are not “twins”, to expect any major surprises in constitutional law in this 2019-2020 term are highly unlikely, as right wing law looks in the ascendancy.

What the Court decides ends up as the law of the land, and for progressives, it does not bode well on the issues of abortion, gay rights, gun rights, immigration, separation of church and state, and the growth of Presidential power.

The fulcrum of the Court, Anthony Kennedy, is now retired for a year, and the only hope to avoid extreme right wing judgments is if Chief Justice John Roberts, who has been a surprise a few times in his views on the Court in recent years, becomes the new “swing” vote on the Court this term.

Roberts might also preside over an impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, who he, clearly, has been critical of in a number of ways, and the Court could limit Trump’s Abuse of Power, beyond Roberts presiding over an impeachment prosecution.

Since Roberts is worried about the image of “his” Court, some surprises may be in the offing, and of course, progressives will be watching the health and stability of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, now 86, having survived a third and fourth cancer, and wondering if she will be able to continue on the Court into the next Presidential term in 2021.