National Security

Key Issues For Kamala Harris To Emphasize In Last Week Of Campaign!

Kamala Harris gave a great speech last night at the Ellipse near the White House, the site of the incitement of the January 6, 2021 Insurrection at the US Capitol by Donald Trump, with an estimated crowd of 60,000 people cheering on the Vice President.

It was a well tailored speech, calling for promoting unity and finding common ground, rather than the division and chaos of Donald Trump.

It offered bipartisanship with Republicans, and the promotion of working to overcome the divide that has been promoted by Trump since 2015.

Now, with six days to go until the election, but with many (more than 40 million people) already having voted, the emphasis by Kamala Harris and Tim Walz should be:

Emphasizing a positive view of America and its future, rather than the negativism and division promoted by Donald Trump.

Promotion of women’s right to control their own bodies, and to restore abortion rights.

Promotion of the reality that economic growth has occurred, and that Harris offers improved economic futures for the younger generation through expansion of social programs, including housing, health care, and education advancements.

Reviving the efforts for a bipartisan immigration reform proposal that was negated by Donald Trump, although sponsored by and supported by conservative Republican Senators, along with Democrats.

Importance of retaining our alliances with other nations as essential for the long term defense and political stability of America, as well as the world at large.

The push is on to promote massive increase in voting, particularly by the younger generation Z which has an opportunity to participate in American democracy for the first time for many.

Senator Dianne Feinstein: A Massively Significant Figure For Three Decades!

California and the nation have lost a massively significant figure in US Senate History, in the three decades contribution of Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, who passed away yesterday at the age of 90.

One of only three Jewish women to have served in the US Senate, and the longest serving woman Senator in American history, Feinstein was a very significant force on many issues, including gun control, national security, civil liberties, the environment, and many other issues, and knew how to work across the aisle with Republicans.

She was also the longest serving California Senator, sadly going into rapid decline in the past year, which made many observers think she should resign, but she refused to do so.

She became only the fifth Senator to reach the age of 90 in office, joining Strom Thurmond (100), Theodore Green (93), Robert Byrd (92) and Carl Hayden (91), and Chuck Grassley has just reached the age of 90 this month, as the sixth Senator to reach 90 in office.

She was Chair of the Senate Rules Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee at different times, and had been Mayor of San Francisco after the assassination of Mayor George Moscone in 1978, making gun regulation her most lasting commitment, and promoting the Assault Weapons Ban passed in 1994, but allowed to expire in 2004!

When the history of the Senate in the late 20th century and early 21st century is written, she will shine as a major star for her impact on American history!

22nd Anniversary Of September 11, But Republicans Undermine National Defense!

It has been 22 years since the shocking Al Qaeda attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the nation is still reeling from divisions on national defense and national security.

We have many Republicans who work against assistance to Ukraine in its war provoked by the Russian Federation and Vladimir Putin.

We also have Alabama Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville still blocking confirmation of military promotions in the armed services, now for seven months, over the military’s decision to allow women in the military to gain reproductive services, including abortion.

With so many Republicans supporting Russia, a mind boggling development, that party is undermining national security in a massive way, and that needs to be emphasized by Democrats as we look ahead to the Congressional and Presidential Elections of 2024, just 14 months away!

Joe Biden And Camp David Summit With South Korea And Japan Important Step For National Security And World Stability!

In a world in the 2020s, in many respects just as dangerous as a hundred years ago, the need for America to build up and strengthen foreign alliances to promote democracy and security is urgent!

We are fortunate that we have a President, Joe Biden, wise enough to recognize, just as Harry Truman did three quarters of a century ago, the need to build strong international alliances to protect the US and promote democracy against totalitarian governments.

In the last century, we had Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan as the threats in World War II, and then in the Cold War years, we had the Soviet Union to combat.

More recently, we have the Russian Federation, the People’s Republic of China, North Korea, and Iran as the leading rivals and threats to American national security and world stability.

So Joe Biden has wisely built up and expanded the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) begun under President Harry Truman, and with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, making a strong commitment to the preservation of that nation’s independence from Russian dominance!

If Donald Trump or many Republican isolationists, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, were to win the White House in 2024, the security umbrella of NATO, with its 31 nations allied with the US, would be in danger of being destroyed, and would only encourage Vladimir Putin ever more in his aggressions, just like Adolf Hitler a century ago.

The news of the meeting of South Korea’s President and Japan’s Premier with President Biden at Camp David, Maryland, yesterday, is an indication of the desire to have closer relations with two key Asian allies, as a bulwark against China and North Korea, and is all to the good for the future of democracy preservation!

Camp David has been the location of historic summits, and adds stature to the commitment of the US to the support of two key Asian allies!

Majority Of Republican Loyalists Are A Cult, Out Of Touch With Reality!

It is now clear that the majority of Republican Party loyalists are a cult, out of touch with reality!

They are willing, even at this point, to continue to support Donald Trump, despite two impeachments, two indictments, and more indictments and law suits to come!

They are willing to abandon traditional conservatism, and instead promote authoritarian Fascism.

Those among them who profess to be “religious” are willing to back a man who is totally against everything Jesus Christ preached!

They are willing to continue to back a person who promoted a violent Insurrection on the US Capitol!

They are willing to back a person who embraces Communist and Fascist Governments, and particularly Vladimir Putin and Russia, which used to be regarded as the “enemy” by Republicans of past times!

They are willing to undermine our national security, our intelligence agencies, and our law enforcement agencies which are designed to keep America safe!

They have no reverence for democracy or the rule of law, and have abandoned what the party was originally founded for, to oppose expansion of slavery and slavery itself, and promote human rights for all who lived in America!

Earlier generations with principled leaders, including Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush have now been pushed aside, for a corrupt, immoral man, who has no ethics or scruples!

Donald Trump Raves About Putin, Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, And Republicans Stay Silent!

Former President Donald Trump is demonstrating yet again how dangerous and crazy he is, and yet the Republican Party acts prostrate toward him!

Trump went on Fox News Channel and was interviewed by Tucker Carlson, who we know has said he hates him, but still has him on his show, as the goal is, ever after, to make money for Carlson and Fox News Channel by allowing Trump to spew forth his authoritarian impulses!

Trump praised Communist dictators Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation, Xi Jinping of China, and Kim Jong Un of North Korea, lavishing them with glowing statements about how smart they are, and how brilliant they are, despite their well known record of human rights violations against their own populations, and threats to their neighbors.

And although one might say Putin is NOT a Communist, since the Russian Federation supposedly replaced the Soviet Union in December 1991, reality is that Putin WAS a Communist functionary in the Soviet KGB in the 1980s.

Imagine this, Communism was the enemy to decades of Republicans from the time of the Russian Revolution to the downfall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

It made the careers of innumerable Republicans, including the infamous Senator Joseph McCarthy, President Richard Nixon, and a massive number of others.

But along comes Trump, glorifying and praising these dangerous and unstable authoritarians, who could also be termed “Fascists” in their tactics, such as past horrors as Adolf Hitler of Germany, Benito Mussolini of Italy, Juan Peron of Argentina, and Francisco Franco of Spain in the 20th century.

The differences between “old line” Communists and modern Fascists are miniscule, and to have an American President praise such tyrants, and his party stays silent, is truly proof that the Republican Party and Fox News Channel are a danger to American freedom, security, and democracy!

How is it that Republicans have completely changed their perception of foreign enemies, and are engaged in similar tactics to undermine the civil rights and civil liberties of millions of Americans, who do not fit the image of white supremacy Christianity?

What has happened that the party of Lincoln, TR, Ike, and Reagan has reached this point?

Donald Trump Threatens Death And Destruction: Time For Arrest As “Clear And Present Danger” To America!

Donald Trump has caused mayhem and havoc since his announcement for President in June 2015.

He believes he is above the law, and will stop at nothing to undermine American democracy and the rule of law.

He is under investigation on multiple matters, and has threatened retribution against all prosecutors and investigations.

But now, he has gone ever further, threatening “death and destruction” against all those who pursue the rule of law.

It is time to say, “Enough is enough”, as he is inciting, by his rhetoric, bloodshed and violence, as he did on January 6, 2021, with the attack on the US Capitol.

Trump needs to be arrested and incarcerated as a “Clear and Present Danger”, as his so called “freedom of speech” is undermining American stability and national security!

Donald Trump is the ultimate “domestic terrorist”!

No one else could escape accountability for such incendiary rhetoric, so time for action, not words!

Ron DeSantis Comes Out As Neville Chamberlain, Divides Republicans On Foreign Policy Toward Vladimir Putin

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who clearly will be announcing for President in the near future, has come out clearly against aid to Ukraine, seeing the Russia-Ukraine War as not an issue of national security for the United States.

In that regard, he is acting like Donald Trump!

In so doing, DeSantis and Trump are coming out as Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister who made a deal with Adolf Hitler to give up half of Czechoslovakia in 1938 (the Munich Conference), thinking it would satisfy Hitler’s territorial demands, which was instead appeasement of a dictator.

The issue of Ukraine has divided the Republican members of the US Senate, including:

Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
Mitt Romney of Utah
Lindsey Graham of South Carolina
John Cornyn of Texas
John Thune of South Dakota
Marco Rubio of Florida
Mike Rounds of South Dakota
Kevin Cramer of North Dakota
Roger Wicker of Mississippi
John Kennedy of Louisiana

And there are others in the Senate who have not spoken publicly who would take the same stand, being critical of both DeSantis and Trump on Ukraine.

There are also a few House Republicans, the so called “moderates”, who would join the Senate Republicans who are in opposition.

So a major battle for the soul of the party is in process!

The “Gang Of Eight” And The Chinese Balloon Incident

The Chinese Balloon incident this past week, with President Biden ordering it be shot down over the Atlantic Ocean off South Carolina after being mapped over Montana, Missouri, and the Carolinas during the week, is an example of proper reaction in a way that does not threaten the safety of people or locations over land.

It brings to attention the so called “Gang Of Eight”, which are given special access to intelligence information regarding any danger to national security.

They include:

Congressman Mike Turner of Ohio (R), Chair of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence

Congressman Jim Himes of Connecticut (D), Ranking Member

Senator Mark Warner (D) of Virginia, Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

Senator Marco Rubio (R) of Florida, Vice Chair

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R) of California

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D) of New York

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D) of New York

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) of Kentucky

Hopefully, the members of this group will avoid politics on this issue, but already there has been strong criticism of the tactics used by Joe Biden by Turner and Rubio, a regrettable situation.

Fascinating Senate Race In Utah: Evan McMullin Running As Independent Against Mike Lee, And Mitt Romney Remaining Neutral!

One of the most interesting and fascinating Senate races in 2022 is in heavily Mormon Utah, where Republican Senator Mike Lee, who has emerged as a MAGA Republican, despite being very critical of Donald Trump six years ago, faces a challenge NOT from a Democrat, but from an Independent Republican who ran for President in 2016 in protest against Donald Trump’s candidacy.

McMullin won 21.5 percent of the vote in 2016 in Utah, and half of one percent of the total national vote, close to 750,000 votes. And in 2020, he endorsed Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden. McMullin had been a CIA agent, and believed Trump was a danger to national security.

When McMullin decided to run against Mike Lee, the Democratic Party in Utah agreed to stay out of the race, and right now, the polls indicate a very close race, with Lee only ahead by 4 percent, and more than ten percent of the voters still undecided.

McMullin, a strong conservative with principle, and never a Trump loyalist, has pledged he will not join the caucus of either the Republicans or Democrats if he wins the seat.

And the controversy over this race is magnified by Utah Senator Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican Presidential nominee, refusing to take a stand and endorse his Senate colleague, Mike Lee. This is causing an uproar, but remember Romney voted to convict Trump in both impeachment trials, and has been condemned by Donald Trump.

This race of Lee vs McMullin will certainly be one of the most intriguing Senate races in November!