Presidential Election Of 2020

Supreme Court Corruption Is Massive: Time For Reform!

The latest revelation about Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch selling property to a law firm that has argued before the Court adds to the similar actions of Clarence Thomas selling property to a right wing billionaire, and makes clear the reality of ethical violations by members of the Court, who seem to think they are beyond reproach!

Add the nasty, arrogant manner of Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas; the ethical issues around Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh that have never been truly addressed; and the abuse promoted by Kentucky Senator and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in promoting a quick replacement for Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Amy Coney Barrett just weeks before the Presidential Election of 2020, while blocking the appointment of Merrick Garland to replace Antonin Scalia nine months before the Presidential Election of 2016.

One could argue that except for Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts, that all of the other Republican appointments to the Court are, at the least, ethically challenged, and screams for Supreme Court reform.

The Court is more extreme right wing than it has been since the 1920s, so there is now a strong argument to add members to the Court to right the balance, and to set term limits for future Court Justices.

Justices are on the Court for too long, with Thomas now at almost 32 years, and the all time record being 36, and with Alito at 17 years and Roberts at 18 years, which sounds like what the proper term in the future should be 18 years, with the idea that every President in the future, would have two appointments in a four year term, and there would be constant turnover over four plus Presidential terms.

Tucker Carlson Gone From Fox News Channel: Good Riddance!

A literal nightmare has come to an end, with the decision of Fox News Channel to part ways with the most watched cable show host, Tucker Carlson.

Carlson should be held legally responsible and prosecuted for his lies about the January 6, 2021 US Capitol Insurrection, and his own promotion over the years of racism, nativism, misogyny, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, homophobia, and support of Fascism authoritarianism and autocratic dictators around the world, including Vladimir Putin. He has also promoted conspiracy theories about the COVID 19 Pandemic.

Carlson lied incessantly, and it was revealed that he despised Donald Trump, and yet continued to embrace the “Big Lie” about the election of Joe Biden in 2020, that the election was stolen.

Carlson is a very evil, vain excuse for a human being, and it could be argued since he was on Cable that he was even more dangerous and divisive than the leading radio talk show host, the late and despicable Rush Limbaugh!

If there is justice, he should be sued for his wealth, and incarcerated for a prison term for the rest of his life, as he provoked violence, bloodshed, and hatred at an obscene level!

If there was justice, he would never have his voice heard again on radio or cable, but sadly, he is likely to find a new home at another right wing cable channel, or will set up a podcast.

Or he might seek public office, spreading his venomous poison, but all efforts to prevent him gaining a new power position must be pursued!

There are no virtues to Tucker Carlson, and anyone who would defend his disgusting behavior should be vilified and be spurned in society!

And this event should start the process of ridding the nation of hateful political leaders who have no conscience and only wish to divide the nation!

And Fox News Channel has other hateful cable talk show hosts, and faces further legal challenges regarding its promotion of lies about the Presidential Election Of 2020, leading to the January 6, 2021 Insurrection.

Abe Fortas Resigned In 1969 From Supreme Court, And Clarence Thomas Needs To Do Same In 2023!

In 1969, Associate Justice Abe Fortas, appointed to the Supreme Court in 1965 by his “good friend”, President Lyndon B. Johnson, resigned, due to an ethics scandal, and accusations that he was too partisan and close to his long time friend.

Fortas had been nominated to replace Chief Justice Earl Warren, but members of his own Democratic Party, as well as opposition Republicans, negated that, and under fire, Fortas retired from the Court after less than four years of service.

Now, 54 years later, we have Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, appointed by President George H. W. Bush in 1991 to replace retiring Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall, under fire for much greater ethics violations, with calls for his resignation or impeachment after 32 years on the Supreme Court.

Thomas’s wife, Ginni Thomas, was involved in the promotion of opposition to the counting of the Electoral College votes in the Presidential Election of 2020, and Thomas himself was willing to work to prevent the confirmation of Joe Biden as the winner of the Presidency.

Additionally, Thomas has not reported income and real estate dealings with powerful and wealthy right wing promoters, including Harlan Crow, and clearly, Thomas is the most right wing extremist member of the Court, more so in many respects than former Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.

Thomas has a “chip on his shoulder”, since the investigation of sexual harrassment against Anita Hill complicated his nomination to the Court in 1991, with the vote for his confirmation being the closest in the 20th century by the US Senate.

He made the statement that he would stay on the Court to double his age at the time, 43, to “confound the damn liberals”, so he was already in 1991 ill qualified to sit on the Court with such a biased view of his role!

It is time after nearly 32 years, and 12th longest service on the Court, for Thomas to leave the Court, which he has stained with his corruption from his nomination until today’s controversies!

Donald Trump First Indicted President, And More Is To Come!

Former President Donald Trump has been indicted in the “Stormy Daniels” case in New York City.

He is the first President to face indictment, and there will be more indictments, including likely in Georgia over interference with the vote count in the Presidential Election of 2020; in the case of the government documents at his home in Mar A Lago in Florida; and the US Capitol Insurrection of January 6, 2021.

Trump was twice impeached, and had a bipartisan vote in the US Senate on that, the first time that has ever occurred.

Trump can still be prevented from running for the Presidency, if only the 14th Amendment, Section 3, is invoked, as it was for Confederate traitors in the Reconstruction Era!

It is time for Republicans to save whatever limited dignity they have, and stop backing this criminal former President!

Sadly, it is now clear that the Republicans are willing to go down with Trump!

Republicans, Guns, And The Culture Wars

After the latest of tragedy after tragedy involving gun massacres in schools, shopping malls, churches, synagogues, supermarkets, movie theaters, holiday parades, and innumerable other locations, causing a mounting death toll and scarring the lives of survivors, including children who cannot feel safe, what do Republicans say?

They claim there is nothing that they can do, while accepting massive donations from the gun industry and the evil National Rifle Association!

Repbulicans are more concerned about:

limiting school curriculums and libraries;

on barring drag shows and drag queens;

on use of “proper” pronouns being used for those who are transgender individuals;

censoring art, such as the Statue of David by Michelangelo;

encouraging antisemitism;

promoting racism;

taking away rights of women over their own bodies;

and claiming to promote “freedom” while endorsing the violence of January 6 Insurrectionists who are in Washington DC Jails!

Individuals in Congress, such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, James Comer, Jim Jordan, and a multitude of others who refused to support the results of the Presidential Election of 2020, and continue to support Donald Trump and his hateful promotion of continued bloodshed and violence, now, will not support any action against the scourge of gun violence.

Law enforcement supports such legislation, as it affects their daily safety!

Such members of Congress should be prosecuted and expelled as seditionists and traitors!

A Generation Since The Iraq War, Which Was Another “Big Lie”, As The Presidential Election Of 2020!

The Iraq War, which led to the downfall and death of Saddam Hussein, and the rise of Iranian influence over Iraq, was another “Big Lie”, based on false intelligence, and causing the death of an estimated 270,000 Iraqi civilians, and 4,600 US military personnel.

Just as Iraq was a “Big Lie”, so is the continued contention that the Presidential Election of 2020 was “stolen” by Joe Biden, and denied to Donald Trump!

The cost in the national debt due to the Iraq War was at least $2 trillion, and no WMD’s (Weapons of Mass Destruction) were found.

It is a permanent stain on President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and all of the leading figures around the Bush Presidency, with the indication that there was no concerted plan for an extended civil war that dragged on for eight long years, and undermined US policy in the Middle East.

This author and blogger recalls participating in a symposium early in 2003, and believing that such an intervention was based on false pretenses and a mistake, so what followed is seen as a major human tragedy of massive proportions.

Fox News And All Of Its Premier Commentators Caught In Open Lying And Manipulation Regarding The “Big Lie”!

Fox News Channel has been sued for its lies and deceit about Donald Trump and the 2020 election results, with evidence that its premier commentators–Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham—and others KNEW that Trump had lost the election, but continued to spread lies and mistruths. And the “Big Lie” still is believed by millions of Americans, who were and remain duped!

Dominion Voting Systems has sued Fox News for $1.6 billion, and now Fox faces this massive lawsuit, and Rupert Murdoch has been forced to testify, and the commentators have been shown to be totally repudiated.

But will it change the tenor of Fox News Channel, which has had no concern about reality, and makes money off gullible people who believe what they see and hear on the channel?

It is clear that you can “take a horse to water, but cannot make it drink”, a very sad set of circumstances, but if Fox loses the case, it will have a serious financial effect on the organization!

Mike Pence’s Decision To Fight The Subpoena For Testimony On January 6 Insurrection Is A Sign Of Weakness,NOT Principle!

Former Vice President Mike Pence has decided to fight the subpoena for testimony on the January 6, 2021 Insurrection at the US Capitol, pursued by Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith.

This is stunning, for Pence to believe that in his role as President of the Senate (as Vice President) that he is fighting this subpoena on constitutional grounds.

Pence was threatened with death by the mob on January 6, and Trump had no concern about his life or welfare, so for Pence to be unwilling to testify is mind boggling!

Pence’s ambition to run for President is, seemingly, more important than the fact that his life and that of his wife, other family members, and Secret Service agents, were in great danger.

Pence has to be delusional to believe that the “Trumpsters” who hate him for refusing to allow an alternative counting of the electoral vote, would somehow, magically, decide that they are willing to support his Presidential candidacy over Trump!

Pence has zero chance to be the nominee, and he is degrading himself meanwhile, and destroying the one moment of courage and commitment that he displayed on January 6.

This is a truly pitiful display of misjudgement that will undermine his historical legacy as a man who was a toady daily to Donald Trump, except for one fateful moment that saved American democracy!

At the end, Pence will be forced to testify, after causing unnecessary delays, and he will NOT be President of the United States!

Donald Trump Likely Soon To Be Indicted In Three Jurisdictions!

It now seems clear that former President Donald Trump will soon be indicted in Georgia for interfering in the vote count in that state in the Presidential Election of 2020.

It also seems clear that in New York, the case against Trump on the payments to “Stormy Daniels” to cover up the affair Trump had with her, but which he wished to hide due to his Presidential campaign, is also coming to a head very soon.

And the federal case against Trump for the January 6 Insurrection and the hiding of government documents at Mar A Lago also is on its way to another indictment.

These indictments will come in the midst of the Presidential campaign of 2024, and should derail Trump from being able to run.

If only the 14th Amendment, Section 3, designed originally to deal with the rebellion of the Confederate States of America, were to be utilized, Donald Trump would be unable to run for President, even without any indictments or trials.

But sadly, the likelihood of such action by a divided Congress, with so many Republicans kowtowing to Donald Trump, prevents such action, so the threat of Donald Trump is very real and dangerous to national security, as he is the leader of domestic terrorist forces!

Two Year Anniversary Of Joe Biden Presidency: Should He Run For Second Term?

Today at 12 Noon marks the two year anniversary of the Joe Biden Presidency!

Considering the difficult political circumstances, of an evenly divided Senate for only the fourth time in American history, and a five seat margin in the House of Representatives, Joe Biden accomplished a great deal in his first two years in office.

From a progressive view, he was the most successful in his first two years domestically than any President since Lyndon B. Johnson in the 1960s with his “Great Society” legislation, which was far greater, but with a massive margin of his party in control of both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Biden accomplished more than Democrats in the Presidency after Johnson, including Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and even Barack Obama, after their first two years in the Oval Office!

Foreign policy has been difficult, as it always is, but Biden’s strong support of Ukraine in its war with Russia, and backed by NATO, has been a very strong example of his promotion of democracy against totalitarianism, reminiscent of Franklin D. Roosevelt coming to the aid of Great Britain in 1940-1941, before America’s entrance into World War II.

Having said all the above, the question now is should Joe Biden, having reached the age of 80 precisely two months ago, run for a second term, and would he win a second term?

This author and blogger has always had great and warm feelings toward Joe Biden, going back to when he gravitated toward Biden as, in my mind, the replacement in commitment and personality traits of Hubert Humphrey, who was this author’s original political “hero”!

I wish that Biden had been able to run for President in 2016, but his son Beau’s death prevented that, as I believe he would have won the nomination, and would have defeated Donald Trump, and saved America from the nightmare four years of horrendous policies and criminal actions.

Hillary Clinton had too many barriers, including controversies surrounding her and her husband, along with simply being the first woman nominee for President. Of course, Hillary Clinton still won the national popular vote by 2.85 million, and only lost because of Russian collusion with Trump that threw the Electoral College vote to him in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Even a Republican controlled Senate committee came to that conclusion, despite the continued lying and deception that continues unabated to the present.

But the present is the issue, and this author and blogger sincerely believes that while Joe Biden would win a second term, against Donald Trump or anyone else on the horizon, that for the future of the Presidency and of Joe Biden’s own lifespan, that he should announce that he will retire.

It would make him a “lameduck President”, but freed from politics of his own ego, he could be seen as a statesman, helping to bring the future of the nation toward a Democratic Party successor, who would pursue his principles, goals, and common decency and compassion!

We need a future President who has the character traits of Joe Biden, as we do not want to promote selfishness, greed, nastiness, and lack of compassion and common decency, which too many Republicans who plan to run for President, possess as their basic character traits!

This way, Joe Biden can leave office at age 82, with head held high, having accomplished a decent record under difficult circumstances, having assisted for his own succession. And he can have peace of mind, planning his own Presidential Library and Museum, writing his own memoirs, and enjoying his wife, Dr Jill Biden, and his family in a relaxed, well deserved retirement, which is likely to lead to a longer life, than having the stress of another four years in office!

He should not join the list of Presidents who either died in office or had very short retirements, such individuals as Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, and Lyndon B. Johnson!

So, President Biden, do what is best for you and for the nation you have served so well, and announce your decision to leave office two years from today, having insured the succession of a Democratic President who will carry on with your commitment to decency, fairness, and compassion!