Sandy Hook Massacre

Seditionist Republicans Are A Threat To Civil Order, And Kevin McCarthy Is A Disaster As Leader In House Of Representatives!

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Seditionist Republicans in the House of Representatives are a threat to civil order, and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy of California is a disaster as their leader!

And yet, McCarthy could end up as House Speaker in 2023, if the Republicans were to win control the House of Representatives in the midterm elections of 2022.

McCarthy voted against acceptance of the Electoral College vote on January 6, and has now visited Donald Trump in Mar A Lago; appointed Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia to the House Education Committee, despite her ridicule of disabled people and denial that the Parkland Florida Massacre of 2018 and the Sandy Hook Massacre of 2012 occurred, and also threatened the lives of Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton, and so many more outrageous utterances; and is working behind the scenes to force third ranking House Republican leader Liz Cheney out of leadership!

Those who work for the Congress of the United States are living in fear of bloodshed and violence occurring again, and are terrified at some of the crazy, loony House members, who insist on carrying guns into the Capitol complex, and refuse to go through metal detectors.

The Empathy Of Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama, And Also Lincoln, TR, LBJ, And Carter, As Compared To Trump

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One of the most important traits that any President should have, but not all do, is to have empathy, an understanding of the struggles and difficulties of people’s lives, and the ability to relate to the tragedies of others.

Donald Trump has not an ounce of empathy for anyone, as he is a total narcissist, and clearly does not care about others, only his own advancement financially, and to control others to his own benefit.

Trump does not lose sleep over the devastation wrought by the CoronaVirus Pandemic that could have been dealt with two months earlier, and made the tragedy far less deadly.

The three Presidents before him had empathy as, for example:

Bill Clinton at the time of the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995.

George W. Bush after the attack on New York City on September 11, 2001.

Barack Obama and the Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre in 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut.

Many other earlier Presidents also displayed empathy, with a few examples being

Abraham Lincoln mourning the loss of life at the time of the Battle of Gettysburg and the later Gettysburg Address in 1863.

Theodore Roosevelt demanding action on protection for workers and consumers with the protection of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906, after Publication of Upton Sinclair’s realistic novel, “The Jungle”, that same year.

Lyndon B. Johnson making a commitment to civil rights legislation and the War On Poverty despite his Southern heritage.

Jimmy Carter’s entire life of empathy, including his post Presidential activities even now at age 95.

America A Land Of Pro Life For Fetuses, But Not For Born Human Beings

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The hypocrisy of the Pro Life movement is that they are obsessive about every fetus that is conceived being born, but once born, no concern about the quality of the length of life of human beings.

We have 13 million people now cut off from health care under Obama Care by the action of the Republican Congress in their just enacted tax cut which benefits the wealthy and corporations.

We have 8.9 million children cut off from the CHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program) by lack of funding by the Congress. The program was created and promoted by First Lady Hillary Clinton 20 years ago.

These two actions mentioned above are a repudiation by Donald Trump and the Republican Party of programs on health care enacted into law under Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, respectively.

Additionally, we have a Congress and President who ignored the anniversary of the Sandy Hook Massacre of 2012, where 20 children and six teachers were murdered, and on that day last week, Donald Trump had Wayne La Pierre, the head of the National Rifle Association, at the White House, an obscene action. Meanwhile, there were 33,000 gun deaths in 2016, sure to rise in 2017, and more massacres by people with firearms, so much so that it has made many such events basically ignored, unless there are a very high number of deaths, as at Las Vegas, but still no action to deal with the largest number of firearm deaths in any nation in the world.

US drug overdoses in 2016 hit an all time high as well, 63,600, and likely much higher in 2017, and nothing is being done about the opioid crisis. Opioids now kill more people annually than breast cancer, and also more than motor vehicle accidents, the peak of HIV?AIDS deaths, and total deaths in the Vietnam War.

We are a nation that has no regard for quality of life or longevity of life, only forcing women to avoid abortions whenever possible, and preventing people who are dying to have a death with dignity through assisted suicide to cut suffering.

In all cases, profits and government intrusion in our private lives are the emphasis, not protecting and promoting health of those born, who are not wealthy or privileged.

Donald Trump Has Serious Mental Illness: No Compassion, Empathy, Sympathy, Sincerity, Decency, Only Self Serving Glorification!

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Donald Trump is a horrible human being, and the crisis of Hurricane Harvey proves that he has no ability to demonstrate compassion, empathy, sympathy, sincerity, or decency, but rather only self serving glorification.

He visited Corpus Christi and raves about the size of the crowd, not seemingly realizing they are not there to see him, but are simply victims of a horrible natural disaster which has torn from them all their earthly belongings, and in some cases, the lives of their loved ones.

He does not talk about the victims, including the police officer who was swept away, and the family of six with a similar fate.

He does not embrace anyone and spend time commiserating with them, something Barack Obama did after Superstorm Sandy in 2012, the Charleston Church Massacre in 2015, the Sandy Hook Massacre in 2012, and so many other tragedies.

He does not put his arms around people and give a passionate speech as Bill Clinton did after the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995.

He does not unite us as Ronald Reagan did after the Challenger Astronaut disaster in 1986.

The man is seriously mentally ill, and his inability to be the Uniter In Chief after a great tragedy disqualifies him to be President of “all of the people”.

Trump may be the President of the “deplorables” who only care about themselves, about money, and about hating everyone not like them.

But this man is a disgrace to the human race, and his wife wearing inappropriate footwear to a flood zone and the best clothing possible so she would look good for her husband, is a reminder of the King of France, Louis XVI, before the French Revolution, and the reported utterance about the masses: “Let them eat cake!”

There are no redeeming qualities about Donald Trump, and he will go down for sure as the most despicable and disgraceful President ever, a national nightmare foisted on us by the outdated Electoral College, and the selfishness and narrow mindedness of 78,000 people in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

Sadly, it will take a long time to undo the damage Donald Trump has wrought in just over seven months, but the push to remove Trump by impeachment, or use of the 25th Amendment, Section 4, or resignation must move forward full scale, as every day he is in the Oval Office, he undermines the nation and the international community!

More Gun Deaths Since 1968 Than War Deaths In All Of American History!

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The crazy lack of gun control, in the midst of the growing level of violence in America in the past half century is a sign of a massive crisis that Congress, under Republican leadership, refuses to deal with, due to the dominating influence of the National Rifle Association and its public spokesman, Wayne La Pierre, who has blood on his hands, as the NRA even opposed basic background checks, or denying people on the Transportation Security Administration Watch List for airline passengers the right to purchase firearms!

This is total insanity, particularly after the Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre in 2012; all of the mass shootings since then; and the newly fresh San Bernadino, California Massacre two days ago!

A particular statistic that is a sign of the reality of this crisis is what Hillary Clinton said yesterday, that we are losing 90 people every day to gun violence!

But also, the statistic that since 1968, nearly 1.5 million Americans have died from gun violence, while ALL war deaths in all of American history total, by comparison, only close to 1.2 million people!

So in the past 47 years, 300,000 more Americans have died than all war deaths in the American Revolution; the War of 1812; the Mexican War; the Civil War; the Spanish American War; World War I; World War II; the Korean War;  the Vietnam War; the Persian Gulf War; the Afghanistan War; and the Iraq War!

How much longer can this nation suffer under refusal to do anything to deal with this disaster, which if a health crisis due to disease, would have led to rapid federal action to resolve the issue?

What will convince Congress, and particularly the Republican Party, to react?  Will the tragedy of harm to the President, Vice President, or Presidential candidates, or any other public figures, due to lack of action and concern, even lead to changes, as we had the Brady Bill, a decade after the assassination attempt against President Ronald Reagan, which was allowed to expire in 2004 by lack of action by President George W. Bush?

Will ANY tragedy lead to action?  Right now, it seems unlikely, crazy as that concept is!

29 Americans Killed In Afghanistan This Year, And 30 Killed In America By Firearms Every Day!

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It is depressing to know that 29 Americans have died in Afghanistan this year, as our troop involvement winds down, and with a total of over 2,300 killed over the 13 years of the Afghanistan War.

But 29 Americans killed in a war zone over six months, while disturbing, is nothing when compared to the reality that on the average day in America, 30 people of all ages, many of them children and teenagers, are murdered by firearms.

This means about 900 victims per month, or 11,000 per year, and that is only the deaths, not the injuries suffered by other victims.

We are the most violent society in the civilized world of Western Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and it could be said the true war is here at home, not in Afghanistan!

74 school shootings have occurred since the Sandy Hook Massacre in December 2012, and yet no action of any kind, totally unconscionable!

We are witnessing mass murder before our eyes, and we are desensitized totally, a disgraceful situation!

The Republican Party: The Party Against Life! Pro-Gun, Anti Medicaid, Pro Death Penalty!

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The Republican Party and conservatives love to say they are the Pro Life Party, as they oppose abortion rights for any reason, including rape, incest, and life of the mother (for the most so called “religious”).

But at the same time, they are against any gun regulations to prevent future Sandy Hook Massacres or the reality that 12,000 people a year are killed by lack of regulation of firearms. So many cases of children killing siblings because of reckless parents who leave loaded firearms around, or killing of partners by wives, husbands, girlfriends, boyfriends, abound.

Also, about half of the states have refused to expand Medicaid, and are therefore responsible for the death of people within their states who cannot gain health care.

And for those states which have the death penalty, and allow the idea that a mix of drugs used to execute prisoners, without awareness of what they are, and their effect on the victim, can lead to the botched execution in Oklahoma last night, is an atrocity only fit for the Middle East or Russia or China, not the United States.

These Republican and conservative and “religious” promoters of death should be condemned, and it is clear that the states have run amuck in regards to basic human rights, including the right to live, free from gun violence, with access to health care, and the abolition of the death penalty, as it has not led to lower crime rates, but simply as a method to kill more people of minority status. The vast number who face execution in states that have a record of racial discrimination over the long period of years is testimony enough to this truth!

CPAC Convention: The Lunatic Right Displays Itself!

Ronald 39 Comments

Watching, listening, and reading about the Conservative Political Action Conference makes anyone with a stable mind roll his eyes in wonderment at what conservatism has become!

All the losers of the past were there and ranting and raving their insanity, including Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, Paul Ryan, and Mike Huckabee. The “newcomers”,” people not yet defeated but soon to be, including Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal and Chris Christie, also appeared, and made fools of themselves. Of course, the ultimate lunatic and embarrassment, Donald Trump, also spewed his sick mind and constant need for attention. And to top it off, Sarah Palin is making an appearance, as if any sane, intelligent person cares! And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, desperately trying to keep his seat, showed up brandishing a rifle, a horrible image for a Senate leader to display just a year after the Sandy Hook Massacre!

Jeb Bush and Scott Walker stayed away, for both a smart move, and Jon Huntsman was also not there, and at least for Bush and Huntsman, who are the most mainstream of this group of characters, it made sense NOT to be there!

Speaker of the House John Boehner was not invited, which should really be seen as a blessing, as he has upset right wingers by being exasperated with the Tea Party Movement, for making his job absolutely impossible in the lower chamber.

It is still reality that ONLY Jeb Bush and Jon Huntsman would have ANY chance to be elected over Hillary Clinton in the Presidential Election of 2016, but not very good odds for either of them. And again, let this author repeat, that the Electoral College strongly favors ANY Democrat to win the White House, and as long as the GOP alienates African Americans, Latinos, women, and many young voters, it will not win the White House. And as long as it fights the idea of national health care coverage for all; acceptance of gay rights and same sex marriage; opposition to immigration reforms; favors the energy industry over the environment; and continues to fight against a living wage for the poor and middle class, it will lose for the long term future! And if it continues to promote religion and theocracy, it will NEVER win the White House ever again, in a nation that believes in separation of church and state!

So those of us who care about our fellow Americans can sit and observe the CPAC Conference, and feel good that the potential candidates and the Republican party are sealing their doom for 2016 and beyond!

Threatened Filibuster On Vote On Gun Regulation Should Lead To Filibuster Reform In Response

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The threatened filibuster of having a vote on gun regulations, in the wake of the Sandy Hook Massacre, should be enough to lead to filibuster reform in response!

Five Tea Party affiliated Senators should be ashamed of themselves for not allowing a vote at the least, since the likelihood of major reform is highly unlikely. But in honor of the 20 dead children and six educators at Sandy Hook, plus the victims in the Aurora, Colorado movie theater and other tragedies, why not let a vote take place? How obscene and heartless can these five Senators be?

The five Senators who should be roundly vilified and condemned are :

James Inhofe of Oklahoma
Mike Lee of Utah
Rand Paul of Kentucky
Ted Cruz of Texas
Marco Rubio of Florida.

The latter three have Presidential ambitions, but if the GOP were to nominate Paul, Cruz, or Rubio after not allowing a vote by a threatened filibuster on the gun issue, then they are most certainly dooming themselves for the long term future, as a party being led by heartless lunatics of the far right!

Majority Leader Harry Reid is threatening filibuster reform, which is a simple majority of the Senate, if the extreme right wing stands in the way of a vote on background checks for gun purchases, supported by 90 percent of the nation and 80 percent of Republicans in recent polls. And John McCain has protested the idea of a filibuster, and even Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania seems ready to promote some kind of gun regulation reform.

The GOP cannot allow its fringe members to destroy the party’s future, which is what the threatened filibuster would do!

Public Opinion Supports Gay Marriage, Path To Citizenship, And Responsible Gun Measures, But Right Wing Does Not Care!

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It is clear that public opinion polls, along with the results of the Presidential and Congressional Elections of 2012, indicate a desire to move ahead on many issues, but the Republican Party, which only won the majority of the House of Representatives by gerrymandering (losing the popular vote nationally for Congressional seats), refuses to budge!

The majority of Americans support:

Gay Marriage Rights

A path to citizenship for illegal immigrants over time and with penalties

Responsible Gun Measures, including universal background checks, and restrictions on some kind of weapons and size of magazines–particularly after realization that at Sandy Hook Elementary School, over 140 bullets were fired in just five minutes, killing 20 children and six teachers and administrators.

The Republican Party in Congress and nationally has less than 30 percent public opinion support, the lowest in modern times, but it has no effect on party leaders or members, and there are still examples of gay bashing and immigrant bashing, only worsening the image of a party out of tune with the American people!