Labor Rights

A Multitude Of Qualified Democrats For 2028, As Party Assesses The Future!

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A week after the disturbing defeat of Kamala Harris, causing great distress and dismay among Democrats, including this author and blogger, it is important to learn from the disappointment and plan for the future.

The Democratic Party cannot move toward the center Right, if it means ever to offer a reasonable alternative.

However, that does not mean that it should adopt Bernie Sanders Left Wing type progressivism, which, despite what some say, would never be accepted by voters at large as an alternative in the future.

The party needs to continue to promote mainstream progressivism and liberalism, including labor rights, protection of the environment, and enforcement of basic civil rights for the growing Latino minority, African Americans, Asian Americans, gays and lesbians, and women, along with promotion of more voter education as to the details and effects of government policies.

The idea that Latino males, young people, and white women would think of Donald Trump as the better alternative is shocking, so therefore the need for greater voter education is essential.

And as the Democrats ponder their future, it is blessed with a multitude of qualified Presidential contenders!

This includes the following Governors:

Gavin Newsom, California
Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania
Wes Moore, Maryland
Gretchen Whitmer, Michigan
Andy Beshear, Kentucky
J D Pritzker, Illinois
Jared Polis, Colorado
Tim Walz, Minnesota
Josh Stein, North Carolina

Additionally, there are US Senators in the mix, including

Christoper Murphy, Connecticut
Jon Ossoff, Georgia
Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota
Cory Booker, New Jersey

Also, present Transportation Secretary and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who is rumored to be planning to run for Michigan Governor, to succeed Gretchen Whitmer, who is term limited from running for reelection in 2026.

To assume that Donald Trump and his party will be able to keep public opinion on his side over the next four years is failing to realize that it is certain there will be a major negative reaction to the agenda that is now being imposed on America by aggressive and extreme Right wing forces!

Democrats must be optimistic and willing to work hard for the future of common decency and empathy as part of American principles!

June 27 Presidential Debate Most Important Ever Held!

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We are six days away from the most important Presidential debate in American history.

Presidential debates took place in 1960, and then every four years since 1976.

But none have mattered as much as the upcoming debate between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

This is the first time two Presidents, with one being a former President trying to return to office, have competed for the Oval Office since 1892, when President Benjamin Harrison was challenged by former President Grover Cleveland, who went on to defeat him decisively, but with no debates in that era.

Why is this the most important Presidential debate ever in our history?

Because Donald Trump represents a dire threat to the American Constitution, the rule of law, American Democracy, and to world peace and stability.

Donald Trump is a threat to women, African Americans, all immigrant groups, Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, Health care, gun regulations, the environment, labor rights, federal government agencies, the federal judiciary, military stability, Intelligence Agencies, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, all other international organizations, the potential of nuclear war, and every other imaginable group or issue.

Trump had the most corrupt Presidency by far in American history, and the danger is that the people he brings in would wield tremendous power, and have evil intentions, much of which could occur even without his personal knowledge and support, even more so as his mind deteriorates, and he is manipulated by them.

Ohio Train Derailment And Nebraska Child Labor Scandal Signs Of Corporate Abuse!

Ronald 2 Comments

Sadly, in 2023, we have examples of corporate abuse as seen with the recent East Palestine, Ohio derailment of dangerous chemicals, on a train two miles long, with only two workers operating the train.

Also, in Nebraska, we have early teens doing dirty and dangerous work as cleaning workers in a slaughter house, breaking the child labor laws, and exploiting immigrant children.

How this is possible is due to continued big business and conservative and Republican attempts to weaken federal regulation, as occurred under Donald Trump and earlier Republican Presidents, despite the work of Barack Obama to strengthen such regulation.

The issues of government regulation of business and labor rights were dealt with in the Progressive Era of Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson; again in the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt; and again in the 1960s under John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. It emerged again in the Obama Presidency, but then was backtracked on under Donald Trump, as with earlier Republican Presidents, particularly Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

It is essential to have actions to prevent the kinds of tragedies that have occurred recently. The answer is not to attack Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and President Biden. And the Republican attack on the Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and other federal regulatory agencies must stop!

Right Wing And Republicans Gone Mad: The Threat To Destroy Modern Times!

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It is becoming very clear that right wing conservatism and Republicans have gone mad, as they wish to destroy modern times, and the advancements of the New Deal, Great Society, Warren Supreme Court, and promotion of change under Barack Obama and Joe Biden!

If they had their way, and it is becoming more likely, we would see women’s rights, civil rights of racial minorities, gay and lesbian rights, and privacy rights of the past generations being erased!

And corporate domination over workers’ rights would be worse, and agencies designed to make America a better place, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, would be denied the ability to do their work, or even maybe be eradicated!

And the role of evangelical religion would grow ever more rapidly, despite the fact that the majority of the nation is far less religious over time than it has been in the past!

It is difficult to be optimistic about the future in a nation which has gone into reverse on so many issues, both within Congress and in the federal judiciary, due to appointments by former Republican Presidents, including George W. Bush and Donald Trump!

Theodore Roosevelt 163rd Anniversary Of His Birth At Time Of Destruction Of His Reform Efforts

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Theodore Roosevelt, the second greatest Republican President (after Abraham Lincoln), born on this day in 1858, represented progressive reform, the use of the federal government to promote and monitor political and economic reform.

He saw the danger of unbridled capitalism, and the need to recognize labor rights.

He saw the need for political reforms, bringing government closer to its citizens, through the utilization of direct primaries, initiatives, referendums, the recall method, women’s suffrage, and proposals to modify the powers of the Supreme Court and the life term of its membership.

He wanted limits on outside groups spending on political campaigns, which he saw as undermining American democracy.

He was the heroic promoter of the environment, regarded as the greatest President on conservation of natural resources, and the promotion of the expansion of national parks and monuments.

He was the first President to suggest the need for a national health care program, and so much of his agenda on social and economic reform came about with the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, and now, Joe Biden wishes to extend what TR first promoted more than a century ago!

His 1912 Progressive (Bull Moose) Party had a platform that makes it seem more like 2012, and he still represents the Republican Party at its best since the time of Abraham Lincoln, and particularly as compared to now. The Republicans have become a Fascist authoritarian party that is undermining American democracy, and working to limit the right to vote despite the various constitutional amendments (15, 19, 23, 24, 26) to insure that right, along with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

TR was certainly imperfect, as he promoted white supremacy typical of his time, and was imperialistic in his treatment of Latin America, as well as his promotion of an expansion of the military, but it is clear he would repudiate the Republican Party of the 2020s.

And notice how the Republican Party glorifies Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, NOT Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt!

The Republican Party Has Become A Full Blown Fascist Party, Warring On Women, Minorities, Immigrants, Labor, The Environment, And More!

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Sad to say, but it is now clear that the Republican Party in Congress and in many states has become a full blown Fascist Party, warring on women, minorities, immigrants, labor, the environment, and all decent, humane tendencies. They appeal to mob rule and violence!

Of course, there are exceptions, so those Republicans could best be defined as RINOs (Republicans In Name Only), the name given to them by the Fascist oriented Republican office holders.

The Republican Party broadly has refused to recognize and respect women’s rights, which includes the right to control their own bodies and reproduction choices. They claim they are Pro Life when they are unconcerned about the quality of life of anyone other than the elite wealthy upper class! And once a fetus is born, these Fascist Republicans have no concern about their quality of life, including their health care, education, and housing!

The Republicans appeal to struggling whites by promoting the Christian religion, when they totally distort the whole meaning of the teachings of Jesus!

They appeal to the racist beliefs of whites who want to blame African Americans, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and also Jewish Americans for the lack of progress of so many. Particularly, rural whites are manipulated by Republicans so they can keep their power by gerrymandering and distorting the Electoral College, even when they cannot win national popular elections!

The idea that America is an immigrant nation has been destroyed by Republicans who are too willing to blame new immigrant groups, as earlier groups were blamed for the shortcomings in society. These were caused by greedy capitalists and corrupt politicians, who want power, and will do anything venal to gain it and keep it, while ignoring the many issues of degradation and struggle for survival and advancement in American society.

And in the name of greedy American capitalism, Republicans refuse to deal with climate change and global warming, and have no concern about the effect on the environment, as along as they can enrich themselves, and ignore the future, and reject science and facts!

So many of the Republican officeholders are wretched excuses for human beings, and have not a bit of empathy, compassion, decency, or humanity, and promote hate, division, and hide the crimes that have occurred under Donald Trump, and on January 6, 2021!

They will do anything to cover their sins and crimes, and they must be defeated in 2022 and 2024 to preserve the American republic and the concept of democracy, not only for Americans, but as a model for the world in the future!

The Supreme Court Is Undermining American Democracy And Basic Human Rights!

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America is in a tragic situation, of a nation clearly more progressive than the Supreme Court, which has now been stacked with 6 solid conservatives out to take away voting rights, abortion rights, and protect corporations at the expense of workers.

At times, some of the 6 Republican appointees surprise, but clearly, the rights of people of color, women, labor, environmental causes, and basic civil liberties are under constant threat.

And the thought that five of the 6 Republican appointments to the Supreme Court were made by Presidents (George W. Bush, Donald Trump) who did NOT win the popular vote, but rather in contested elections, were awarded the Electoral College majority in 2000 and 2016!

We are in a crisis situation, where the Court is undermining American democracy and basic human rights!

Donald Trump And The Republican Party Are “A Clear And Present Danger” To America’s Future!

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The worship and allegiance of most Republican Party officeholders to Donald Trump and the “Big Lie”, that Trump won the Presidential Election Of 2020, makes it clear that Trump and the party are “a clear and present danger” to America’s future.

As the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC makes clear, Trump and the Republican Party have become a Fascist party, with so many similarities to Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, Fascist Spain, Fascist Argentina, and a multitude of other Fascist dictatorships over the past century and still so now in Brazil, Hungary, Poland, the Philippines, and other dictatorships around the world!

The following characteristics make it clear that Trump and his party represent Fascism!

Powerful and continuing Nationalism
Disdain for Human Rights
Identification of Enemies as a Unifying Cause
Supremacy of the Military
Rampant Sexism
Controlled Mass Media
Obsession with National Security
Religion and Government Intertwined
Corporate Power Protected
Labor Power Suppressed
Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fraudulent Elections

Laurence W, Britt came up with this listing at Free Inquiry website on SecularHumanism.0rg in 2003!

Republicans Are Outrageous In What They Do NOT Care About!

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The Republican Party of 2021 is not offended by the destruction of the environment that has been going on in the past four years under Donald Trump.

They are not offended by the growth of childhood poverty due to the COVID 19 Pandemic and the economic collapse of the past year.

They are not offended by white supremacists carrying the Confederate flag into the US Capitol on the day of the Insurrection, January 6, 2021.

They are not offended by the loss of life to gun violence.

They are not offended by the reality of African Americans being killed by the police so often, and without consequences.

They are not offended by the dangers that members of Congress faced, along with the sitting Vice President Mike Pence, as a result of the traitors and seditionists who saw to bring harm to the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.

They are not offended by the racism, nativism, misogyny, and homophobia of so many Republican members of Congress, as well as former President Donald Trump.

They are not offended by the inability of tens of millions of Americans to have a living wage, an increase in the minimum wage, while the top few percent of the nation keeps on gaining obscene levels of wealth.

These Republicans, who dominate the party, have no ethics, morals, scruples, conscience, common decency, compassion, empathy, or a sense of justice!

The American Character And Reputation Is At Stake On Tuesday: Can We Come Out Of The Darkness?

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With 48 hours to the election, the American character and reputation is at stake on Tuesday, Election Day.

Can America come out of the darkness of the last four years, and restore respect for the Constitution and rule of law, and gain the respect again of the international community?

Will morality and ethics and common decency return, or will America go into the darkness of Fascism, as occurred in Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany?

Will civil rights, civil liberties, women’s rights, gay rights, immigrant rights, labor rights, consumer rights, environmental protections, and restoration of international respect for America be resumed?

Or will we go further into the darkness where Donald Trump will be uncontrollable, and the possibility of mass murder of opponents occur, with the backing of the extreme right wing groups, including the evangelicals and various militia groups, who will want war on open mindedness and tolerance and common decency?

As stated at earlier times, this is the most important election in our lifetimes, or at least since 1940, and could be as significant as 1860 and the Civil War!