Iraq War

A Moment To Celebrate The 167th Anniversary Of The New York Times, America’s Leading Media Source, Helping To Keep Us Free And Informed!

Ronald 2 Comments

In the midst of the sustained attack on freedom of the press going on in 2018, today is the 167th anniversary of America’s leading newspaper, the “newspaper of record”, the NEW YORK TIMES.

Since 1851, the New York Times has published and challenged the American government, foreign governments, and powerful economic forces, who have tried to limit the ability of that paper to report the truth of the news, and the paper has won 125 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper. Its motto is “All the News That’s Fit to Print”. It has the notable New York Times Book Review, the New York Times Magazine, and the Sunday Review, all part of its Sunday edition.

The New York Times has not been perfect, anymore than any institution, as it failed to report accurately the Holocaust going on in Europe in World War II; the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East over the past number of decades; and has been accused of distortion about the Iraq War, and the US-Iran relationship. The newspaper also has been accused of engagement in plagiarism by certain journalists, and accusations of bias, and public perceptions of lack of credibility and accuracy, including attacks by Right Wing propaganda groups, and President Donald Trump, who talks about the “Failing” New York Times, which actually is in very good financial shape.

Any researcher in just about any field of knowledge uses the former NY Times Index, as this author has done, and now available in the TimesMachine, the Online Archive of every issue of the paper since 1851.

The New York Times was extremely significant in promotion of the truth, when it won the right to publish the Pentagon Papers in 1971, in the Supreme Court case of New York Times Company V. United States, winning over the attempt of President Richard Nixon to prevent publication of the documents that traced the US involvement in Vietnam after 1945 through the late 1960s.

So let us all applaud the courage and determination of the brilliant journalists of the New York Times, who are now, in 2018, doing their job exposing the corruption and illegal activities of Donald Trump and his Presidency, alongside the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Wall Street Journal, along with other media sources, including cable news channels CNN and MSNBC, along with ABC, NBC, and CBS.

The truth shall set us free and protect American democracy and the Constitution!

Looking Back 17 Years To September 11, 2001, And This Day A Tuesday, Not To Happen Again Until 2029

Ronald 4 Comments

It is hard to believe, but it has been 17 years since the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Today is a Tuesday, the actual day of the week of the attack, not to be repeated again until 2029.

America lost whatever innocence it had on that day, when we lost 3,000 innocent human beings, and then lost 4.500 in the unnecessary Iraq War, that was planned as an excuse to go after Saddam Hussein, as well as the endless war in Afghanistan, where we have lost 2,400.

Additionally, about 2,000 firefighters, police, and rescue workers involved in the recovery have died from inhaling dust at the World Trade Center site, and many more are dying of cancer, so soon, we will have more victims in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks domestically, than actually died on that day.

Sadly, Osama Bin Laden, although later tracked down and killed in 2011, has triumphed in dividing the nation into a polarized state, and taken away our freedom and sense of security, under attack not only from terrorists, but also from right wingers who want to destroy our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Their willing ally is President Donald Trump, who wishes to be President for life, and is systematically destroying our rule of law and constitutional order, without any intervention or opposition from the Republican party that nominated him. Now, he is being further assisted by the contested nomination of a Supreme Court Justice, Brett Kavanaugh, who seems ready to back Trump in any legal action, and prevent prosecution of a President who has committed Treason, and engaged in collaboration with Vladimir Putin of Russia, to fix his election, despite losing the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes.

America is in a constitutional crisis far greater than Watergate and Richard Nixon, with only the Civil War a greater event in its significance, and the crisis must be overcome by patriotic Americans who realize how dangerous Trump is, and MUST elect a Democratic Congress, and start the resistance to what Trump has been doing, in order to save everything decent that America represents.

It Is Time For Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, And Red State Democrats To Put Nation Ahead Of Their Own Senate Seats

Ronald Leave a comment

It is perfectly understood that all people who work like to keep their jobs and earn their income.

But there is no member of the US Senate that is “desperate” and “needy” to keep their jobs.

What is needed now is, as John F. Kennedy wrote, “Profiles in Courage”.

Republican Senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, so called “moderate” Republicans, need to stand up and say, “NO WAY”, would they support Brett Kavanaugh to fill the available seat on the Supreme Court, since he clearly has a record of being anti abortion, and both women Senators claim they are pro choice, so they must refuse to support him.

It is clear that Brett Kavanaugh has committed perjury a number of times in earlier hearings before the Senate while under oath, and he should not be promoted to the Supreme Court, with his record of pursuing Bill Clinton with Ken Starr 20 years ago; his advocacy of torture in the Iraq War; his promotion of an anti gay marriage amendment under George W. Bush; and his unwillingness to say he would recuse himself from any case involving Trump and the scandals that have erupted in the past two years.

But even if Collins and Murkowksi were to back off on Kavanaugh, the requirement also is for Red State Democrats, who are running for reelection, to vote against Kavanaugh in unison, even if it leads to their defeat, which seems unlikely in the present political climate.

So that means West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp, Indiana Senator Joe Donnelly, Montana Senator Jon Tester, and Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill MUST save the nation from a Right Wing extremist Supreme Court, even if they lose their seats, putting the nation ahead of their own ambitions.

Two Republican Presidents’ Last Speeches: Eisenhower On Military Industrial Complex; Reagan On Welcoming Immigrants From All Nations

Ronald 2 Comments

In 1961 and 1989, two Republican Presidents, acknowledged as the greatest Presidents of their party after Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, gave their last speeches as President.

Dwight D. Eisenhower, in his Farewell Address on January 17, 1961, warned of the dangers of the “Military Industrial Complex” having too much power, and endangering American democracy by taking America into “adventurism” in foreign policy.

We did not listen to that warning, as we engaged in war in Vietnam and later in Iraq, both failed wars, causing mass loss of life in those nations, as well as among American military personnel, and with no long range benefit to the United States or the world.

in 1989, on January 19, 1989, his last full day as President, Ronald Reagan spoke at a ceremony awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Secretary of State George P. Shultz and to former Montana Democratic Senator Mike Mansfield, who had served as Reagan’s Ambassador to Japan.

Reagan spoke of “Lady Liberty”, the Statue of Liberty, and the fact that one can go to any other nation, and is still seen as a foreigner, but anyone who comes to America from any nation of the world can be greeted and accepted as an American, who can contribute to America’s advancement. He also spoke of the undocumented immigrants who walk long distances just to have a chance, an opportunity, to earn a living and support their families, and how they contribute their labors at great sacrifice, to the betterment of America.

Reagan said that America draws its “strength from every nation of the world and every corner of the world”, and “if we ever closed the door to new Americans, our leadership in the world would soon be lost.” Reagan also said: “It is bold men and women, yearning for freedom and opportunity, who leave their homelands and come to a new country to start their lives over”.

These two Republican Presidents set a higher standard for America internally and in the world, and instead, now we have a President who wants to start a “Space Force”, which is designed to create an American military dominance and monopoly in space, insuring a future world war by crazy militarists who want to force America on the world, rather than welcome people from foreign shores to America to enrich and strengthen American democracy.

We are at a crossroads, and it is time for mass marches and storming of the White House to demand the resignation of Donald Trump, and if Mike Pence wishes to pursue crazy ideas as Trump does, and right now is mouthing such sick ideas in his own public utterances, then Pence needs to resign in disgrace as well!

Impeachment Investigations Of Government Officials In American History Mostly Without Basis, More For Political Purposes

Ronald Leave a comment

The impeachment of Donald Trump seems possible in 2019 IF the Democrats gain control of the House of Representatives, which seems highly likely, based upon polls 100 days out, and with the reminder that the party out of the White House always gains seats in the midterm elections, with the exceptions of 1934 under Franklin D. Roosevelt and 2002 under George W. Bush.

Having said that, it is reality that impeachment does not lead to convictions and removals from office, with the exception of seven federal district court judges over the long span of American history.

Richard Nixon would have been an exception if he had not resigned, but Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton both were found not guilty in their impeachment trials.

Other Presidents have been threatened with impeachment, but it was more just a threat or simply could not gain enough support in the House of Representatives to lead to impeachment.

That list of threatened impeachments include: John Tyler in 1842 and 1843; James Buchanan in 1860; Ulysses S. Grant in 1876; Herbert Hoover in 1933; Harry Truman in 1951; Ronald Reagan in 1987; George H. W. Bush in 1991; George W. Bush in 2008; Barack Obama in 2013: and Donald Trump in 2017 and 2018. Notice most of these were not serious, and in many cases occurred in the last year of the President’s term or near the end of his last term in office.

Vice Presidents who have faced impeachment threats are: Schuyler Colfax in 1873, as he was leaving the Grant Administration; Spiro Agnew in 1973 as he neared resignation due to scandal under the Nixon Administration; George H. W. Bush in 1987 as the Iran Contra scandal emerged; and Dick Cheney in 2007 as the second Bush Administration dealt with the Iraq War continuation. None of them gained any traction.

Impeachment motions against Cabinet officers and other federal officials have been mostly just a gesture, a threat, as with, for example, Attorney General Eric Holder in 2013; Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez in 2007; and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in 2004. Most recently threatened with impeachment is Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein in the past few days, but unlikely to gain any traction, more used as a political ploy.

The Growing Danger To Ukraine (After Loss Of Crimea), Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, And Poland Of Invasion By Russia, With No Donald Trump Response

Ronald 8 Comments

It is now clear that Donald Trump’s “Bromance” with Vladimir Putin, only increased by his decision to invite Putin to the White House this fall, is putting NATO and Eastern Europe under great strain and stress.

Trump’s constant attacks on NATO are a sign that he may refuse to come to the aid of Eastern European nations which are part of NATO, along with Ukraine (not a part of NATO), which already has lost its Crimean area to Russia in 2014.

Greatly endangered are Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, all part of the old Soviet Union, and Poland, which has always been unfortunate, as they were victims of Nazi Germany, and then the Soviet Union, until the Cold War ended, and they were liberated in the early 1990s.

Even Montenegro, a small area of the old Yugoslavia, has come under verbal attack from Donald Trump, and could face a threat.

Meanwhile, all of these nations have contributed to and fought in Afghanistan and Iraq, but now Trump seems unwilling to insure their safety, and that the US would come to their defense in case of a Russian attempt to seize control.

It is clear that Vladimir Putin is manipulating Donald Trump, and that he has something secret, either financial or sexual, on Trump, which would explain the President’s weird behavior, and his moves to undermine NATO and the European Union, as well as our relationships with our neighbors, Canada and Mexico, as well as Japan and South Korea in Asia.

Donald Trump: The Most Massive Liar In All Of American Presidential History, A Study In Psychology!

Ronald 14 Comments

All human beings lie.

All politicians lie.

All Presidents lie.

This is reality!

At times, when Presidents lie, it can affect us in a deleterious manner, as with Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon in Vietnam, and George W. Bush in Iraq.

Presidents can be seen as manipulating public opinion when they lie, as with Dwight D. Eisenhower and the U-2 Spy Plane Incident in 1960, or Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Lend Lease Act in 1941.

Also, Presidents lose credibility when they lie about sex scandals, as for instance, with Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky.

Presidents lie to promote their own image and cause.

But we have NEVER had a President like Donald Trump.

He lies about his financial status.

He lies about his extramarital affairs with women.

He lies about his medical history and condition.

He lies about historical facts.

He lies about his religious beliefs, which are nonexistent.

He lies to everyone he works with, and deceives all of his staff about their status, uses them and disposes of them.

He lies to foreign leaders and governments, and is totally inconsistent on every foreign policy issue imaginable.

He lies to Congressional leaders and members of both political parties, and his word is not be relied upon, as he can change his mind from one day to another.

He is loyal to no one but himself, and has disposed of two wives, and mistreats his present wife, and sees his children as an absentee father all of his life, too busy to be engaged in their upbringing, including his youngest son, Barron, but also his four adult children in the past.

Donald Trump is a horrible role model as a man, a husband, a father, and as a President who only cares about hunself.

His narcissistic personality makes him unable to care about anyone else.

He has stepped over people of all backgrounds in his constant quest to satisfy his insatiable ego, but at heart, he is a man of great insecurity and unhappiness, as he worships money in a way that indicates serious mental illness.

The sooner Donald Trump is removed from office, the better for America!

Republican Presidential Administrations From Richard Nixon To Donald Trump: Indictments, Convictions, Prison Time, Plus Warren G. Harding And Ulysses S. Grant

Ronald Leave a comment

We are in the midst of the most corrupt series of Presidential scandals in American history in the 15 months of the Trump Administration.

An investigation of Presidential scandals since Richard Nixon left office demonstrates the following:

Under Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, there were no serious, protracted scandals of note.

Under Ronald Reagan, there were serious scandals that led to 26 indictments, 16 convictions, and 8 sent to prison–most outstanding being the Iran Contra Affair, which led to indictments of the Secretary of Defense, the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, two National Security Advisers, Deputy Chief of Staff, as well as criminal prosecution or resignation of the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Under George H. W. Bush, he gave pardons to a number of people convicted under Reagan, and some wondered if the President was covering his own rear end, and potential involvement in the Iran Contra Scandal in particular.

Under Bill Clinton, while there were a lot of investigations under Republican Congresses after 1995, and the President was impeached in regards to the sex scandals with Paula Jones and Monica Lewinsky, there were no serious scandals that led to any indictments or convictions.

Under George W. Bush, there were a lot of scandals, leading to 16 indictments, 16 convictions and 9 sent to prison, and many people working for Bush resigned rather than testify in many investigations. There were many abuses centered around the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in the promotion of national security, and led to resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, Lewis “Scooter” Libby who was the aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, and White House Adviser Karl Rove among others.

Under Barack Obama, there were no serious violations of the law or scandals, despite many investigations by Republican Congressional committees, including Hillary Clinton after the Benghazi Libya attack on the US Embassy by Muslim extremists.

When one adds the massive scandals under Richard Nixon, and now Donald Trump, it is clear that under Republican administrations, corruption and abuses have been widespread, although not under Gerald Ford, and that the three Democratic Presidents, despite much criticism, had no serious scandals on the level of Nixon, Reagan, Bush 2 and now Trump!

And when one goes back to earlier scandals under Warren G. Harding in the 1920s and Ulysses S. Grant in the 1870s, both Republican Presidents, it only adds to the image and reality of Republicans presiding over scandalous times, as well as nine of the last ten economic downturns since 1953, along with the Great Depression under Herbert Hoover after 1929!

America In World Affairs Since First World War Entrance 101 Years Ago!

Ronald 10 Comments

America has been actively engaged in world affairs now for a century, finally abandoning isolationism in the first week of April 1917, when President Woodrow Wilson delivered a war message to Congress on April 2, followed by four days of heated debate, and then a declaration of war on April 6.

While America reverted to isolationism in the 1920s and 1930s, it failed, and once we entered World War II, the die was cast that we would always play a major role in world affairs, but not without controversy.

Since World War II, America has engaged in five wars–Korea, Vietnam, Persian Gulf against Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iraq, with none of those wars leading to victory, although at least, the boundary line in the Korean War was restored by 1953.

But we lost in Vietnam, and have not accomplished our goals in Afghanistan and Iraq, although the brief Persian Gulf War was won in six weeks, but the problem of Saddam Hussein reared its ugly head a decade later.

We have also been involved in many invasions, unofficial interventions, and many cases where we had troops without the knowledge of the American people, and often even leaders of Congress.

Secret wars have gone on and are going on right now, and under Donald Trump, we might very well end up sending troops to North Asia to fight North Korea and to the Middle East to fight Iran.

We now have the most militaristic government without any controls under Donald Trump, with his top aides now being extremely militaristic and warlike.

And war will likely reinforce the Trump supporters, and could, conceivably, cause public opinion gains that could help the Republicans keep control of Congress, and keep the White House in Republican hands in 2020!

We are at a very delicate time, with instability of our nation’s relationship with our allies around the world, and his “bromance” with Russia and Vladimir Putin, along with Trump’s “tariff wars” likely to provoke one crisis after another.

This is our situation as the 101st anniversary of our engagement in World War I is upon us three days from now!

Trump’s “Congratulations” To Putin A Danger Sign To National Security Long Term, And Demonstrates How Unhinged And Dangerous He Is!

Ronald Leave a comment

Donald Trump was told by his National Security Adviser, H. R. Mc Master, and his Chief of Staff, John Kelly, NOT to ‘congratulate” Vladimir Putin for his phony election victory in Russia.

He ignored both of them, a clear danger to national security of the nation, and now Mc Master is out, and crazy lunatic war hawk, John Bolton, who still believes the Iraq War was justified; who was unable to become UN Ambassador under President George W. Bush, and was only a recess appointment for less than a year; and who has advocated openly on Fox News Channel the idea of “regime change” in both Iran and North Korea, has replaced him.

This is an alarming development, and it is believed Kelly is on his way out, and might not be replaced as Donald Trump may believe he does not need a Chief of Staff, that he can handle everything on his own, with the help of Bolton, who will have greater access as National Security Adviser daily than anyone else.

It is now clear that Donald Trump is more unhinged and dangerous than we ever imagined, and if the military leaders John Kelly, and maybe even Secretary of Defense James Mattis leave, there will be no control on Donald Trump’s military actions.

So war may be in the offing soon!