World War II

Barack Obama Reaches 57 Years Of Age: His Legacy, Despite Donald Trump’s Temporary Destruction, Is Insured, And Will Be Restored Over Time

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Barack Obama reached the age of 57 two days ago, and many would think that his legacy is destroyed, by the words and actions of Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

Temporarily, yes, much harm and damage has been done, but the long term legacy of Barack Obama will survive the temporary setbacks, and his accomplishments will be restored over time.

The same desire to destroy the legacy of a successful Presidency was attempted by the Republican Party and the conservative movement after Franklin D. Roosevelt’s death in 1945.

The same motivation, to destroy both the New Deal of FDR and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson was attempted in the 1980s under President Ronald Reagan.

Both times, the Republican Party was unable to destroy the good programs that had been accomplished, although funding was often cut.

Now, under Donald Trump and the worst group of Republicans, far more disgraceful and despicable than after World War II or in the 1980s, the desire is not just to destroy everything Barack Obama did, but also to strike at the heart of progressive and liberal America, which brought about Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Civil Rights, and environmental and consumer reforms.

But the American people, or at least the majority of them, have seen the virtues of what FDR, LBJ and Barack Obama have done for the nation, as they are the three Presidents who accomplished the most of any Presidents in the past 85 years, although Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, and Bill Clinton made smaller contributions, and even Republican Richard Nixon, despite all of the reprehensible policies he pursued, actually did improve on the New Deal and Great Society.

The hate and viciousness of Donald Trump will never erase the decency, dignity, warmth, sincerity, empathy, compassion, ethics, morality, and accomplishments of the 44th President of the United States.

The record of the 45th President will be marked as the absolute bottom of the Presidency, while Barack Obama, already rated number 12 by the C Span 2017 Presidential Historians Survey, and number 8 by the 2018 American Political Science Association Executive Leadership Survey Presidential poll, will soar higher as time passes, and further reflection makes Americans realize just how great a President he was. Of course, he had his faults as all Presidents and human beings have, but he will rank in the top tier throughout the long run of American history.

Bob Dole And John McCain: True War Heroes; Donald Trump: True Coward, Draft Dodger, And Traitor To America!

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Today is former Senator, Vice Presidential nominee, and Presidential nominee Bob Dole’s 95th Birthday.

Next month, on August 29, God willing, will be the 82nd Birthday of Senator and Presidential nominee John McCain.

Both Dole and McCain certainly were partisans in the political battles over the last few decades, but both were also war heroes, who suffered and continue to suffer great pain, from their participation in World War II and the Vietnam War.

In many ways, it is a miracle that both have survived so long, and that McCain, fighting cancer, continues to battle with great courage.

Both served their nation in different wars, and did not try to evade a military commitment.

Both are great men, whether one agrees with their political careers and their rhetoric and votes on a myriad of issues.

Then, tragically, we now have a President who has proved to be a true coward, a draft dodger with five deferments (using bone spurs in his foot as an excuse to avoid service, and having the financial connections to evade service while others went to war), and to top it off, a proved traitor to America.

Donald Trump has refused to acknowledge clearly and openly that the Russian government under Vladimir Putin engaged in and continues to engage in collusion to help Trump win the White House over an avowed Putin critic, Hillary Clinton. He has disgraced America while undermining our allies in NATO, and endangered our national security.

And Trump still is an open critic of John McCain as he fights cancer, a true measure of how disgusting and despicable the 45th President is.

So today is a day to applaud Bob Dole, and to pray for John McCain to reach his 82nd birthday on August 29, and to work to force Donald Trump from the Presidency, as a man who has undermined the reputation and image of the office held by others who were great men, and even those not great, at least having dignity and honor despite their faults.

18 Months Of Donald Trump Presidency, And Crisis Atmosphere Grows

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Today marks 18 months of the Donald Trump Presidency.

It has been 18 months of horrors, nightmares, disgrace to the office of the Presidency.

It has seen more corruption and abuse of power than any President in the past, including Richard Nixon.

It has put America into a massive foreign policy crisis, now marked by Trump’s invitation to Vladimir Putin of Russia to come to the White House this fall.

It has put America into a massive domestic policy crisis, as the the New Deal, Great Society, and everything good that Barack Obama did in eight years in office, is being systematically destroyed.

It has created the conditions for a potential Great Depression, with the imposition of tariffs about to explode into inflation of prices, loss of jobs and income, and alienation of all of our major trade partners with his crazy economic policies.

It has created the end of the post World War II alliance system of NATO that won the Cold War, but now the Russian government has declared a cyber World War on America, with a President whose loyalty is clearly with our rivals and enemies.

It has caused disarray among the two major political parties that have been our system since 1854, and now are in danger of total destruction, at least with the Republican Party.

It has demonstrated that the people who are elected and those who are appointed put their own jobs and wealth ahead of the interests of the vast majority of the American people.

It has shown us that our system of government, which allows a Supreme Court for life. It is guaranteed to create social and economic turmoil that will insure the danger of civil war, as the younger generation rebels against the future right wing extremist judicial system, packed with justices and judges who want to take us back to the Gilded Age of the late 19th century, and wipe out the 20th century social safety network that has made us great.

It has divided Americans, with many, including this author and blogger no longer communicating with former associates and friends, when we have discovered how disgraceful these people are. This also includes family members, relatives, who make one realize the old saying, that you can pick your friends, but not your relatives.

Donald Trump is clearly out to destroy the United States as we know it, determined to keep his ethical and moral issues, and his violations of the law a secret that only Vladimir Putin knows, and holds over the head of the 45th President.

The danger of a violent civil war, as we had in the 1860s, is becoming more a reality unless somehow we can turn the tide and excise the cancer of Donald Trump. But sadly, Mike Pence is, in many ways, even worse, with his right wing religious crusade in a nation that was based on separation of church and state, precisely because of the religious extremism of Puritanism in our colonial history. The threat of racial and ethnic and even gender conflict is real, and the power of the National Rifle Association, now shown to be allied with the forces of Vladimir Putin, can bring about violence in the name of profits.

It is hard NOT to have despair as to how this nation survives long term, without major damage to the republic!

12 New Indictments Indication Of Russian Interference In 2016 Presidential Election, But Donald Trump Still Plans To Meet Vladimir Putin On July 16

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Donald Trump is due to meet Vladimir Putin tomorrow in Helsinki, Finland.

No one will be in the room with him, other than a translator.

Twelve new indictments of Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election have been issued by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, but Trump dismisses them as part of a “witch hunt”, and is not listening to his national security and intelligence advisers who tell him NOT to meet Putin.

Putin is a skilled, intelligent charmer, who will flatter Trump, and the issue of Russian indictments, even if mentioned, which is unlikely, will be brushed aside.

We are in the most dangerous summitry ever since World War II, even more than with Kim Jong Un of North Korea, as Putin is out to destroy NATO and become the “friend” of Trump, who has such a need to make a friend of a person who is a KGB agent, and Putin is likely to gain acceptance of his invasion of Crimea in 2014.

This is a warning to the Eastern European nations of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, and also to Ukraine, that they are likely to become victims of Russian aggression, with Trump excusing it, and refusing to back NATO.

We will never know until actions are taken by Putin what secret deals will be made in private by Trump, with his advisers in the dark about it as much as everyone else.

The damage Trump has done continues to escalate, and international affairs is in disastrous disarray.

The Destruction Of The “Special” Friendship, Relationship, And Alliance Between The US And Great Britain For A Century

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Ever since the beginning of the 20th century, the United States and Great Britain have had a “special” relationship and friendship, and became allies in 1917 when the US went into World War I.

Theodore Roosevelt was very close to Great Britain in the first decade of the 20th century, and Woodrow Wilson was a known “Anglophile” in his writings and scholarship during his years as a professor and university president before he ran for public office.

While the alliance during World War I did not survive in the 1920s and 1930s isolationist period, we were still friendly toward our former mother country.

Then in World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill became great allies and friends, as both nations fought against Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and Imperial Japan.

After World War II, the United States became the leader of the free world democracies, and allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the British fought in the Korean War, the Gulf War, and in the War on Terror after September 11 in Iraq and Afghanistan.

While the British did not send troops into the Vietnam War, they have always been perceived as our closest friends in the world, alongside Canada.

But now, Donald Trump has openly criticized the British government and its leader Theresa May, and Trump is the most unpopular American President ever in modern times by every measure.

This is a very sad situation, and it is clear that we have just witnessed the destruction of this special friendship, relationship, and alliance between the US and Great Britain.

Age Differences Between Presidents and Vice Presidents, And Differences In Performance And Quality Of Democratic And Republican Vice Presidents

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Starting after World War II and to the present, we have often had Presidents and Vice Presidents of widely varying age differences, both with the President much older and those times with the Vice President much older.

Witness the following:

Harry Truman 1884, Alben Barkley 1877–7 years

Dwight D. Eisenhower 1890, Richard Nixon 1913—23 years

John F. Kennedy 1917, Lyndon B. Johnson 1908–9 years

Lyndon B. Johnson 1908, Hubert Humphrey 1911–3 years

Richard Nixon 1913, Spiro Agnew 1918–five years

Richard Nixon 1913, Gerald Ford 1913–same year

Gerald Ford 1913, Nelson Rockefeller 1908–five years

Jimmy Carter 1924, Walter Mondale 1928–four years

Ronald Reagan 1911, George H. W. Bush 1924–13 years

George H. W. Bush 1924, Dan Quayle 1947–23 years

Bill Clinton 1946, Al Gore 1948–two years

George W. Bush 1946, Dick Cheney 1941–five years

Barack Obama 1961, Joe Biden 1942–19 years

Donald Trump 1946, Mike Pence 1959–13 years

Five Vice Presidents were older—Barkley, Johnson, Rockefeller, Cheney, and Biden, with Biden a lot older.

Eight Presidents were older—Eisenhower, Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Trump–with Eisenhower, Reagan, Bush, and Trump a lot older.

Nixon and Ford were born the same year, with Nixon six months older.

For the five cases where the age difference was dramatic, one could argue that Obama benefited from the wisdom and calm of Joe Biden.

It also could be said that Reagan benefited from Bush’s foreign policy experience, and that Eisenhower set a good standard for Nixon, who took on great responsibilities, making him totally prepared to be President, in regards to experience and knowledge.

In the case of Bush and Quayle, it was a total disaster as far as Quayle was concerned, and it seems to many, without being certain, that the same applies to Trump and Pence, with the difference that Bush was totally competent and stable, while Trump is most certainly not that way, and Pence is too weak kneed to assert himself, undermining our government and its policies.

Looking at the Presidential-Vice Presidential teams, it is clear that the combinations of Democrats worked out far better, particularly with Carter-Mondale, Clinton-Gore until the last years marred by the impeachment crisis caused by Bill Clinton’s irresponsible behavior, and Obama-Biden.

Even the Truman-Barkley, Kennedy-Johnson, Johnson-Humphrey combinations, while not treating the Vice Presidents as well as later teams, were better due to the fact that the Vice Presidents in all these cases were exceptional Senators in their service in that body.

The Republican combinations were nowhere near as good, as:

Eisenhower took on a Vice President he did not really like very much, and was much younger than him;

Nixon took on Agnew who was a horrible choice making us worry about Nixon’s health;

Ford was alright as a temporary and necessary replacement under Nixon, far better than Agnew, and saving us from him due to the 25th Amendment;

Ford smart in choosing Rockefeller but then forced by the right wing of his party to drop him in 1976;

Reagan and Bush, not liking each other in particular, but working well to Reagan’s benefit;

Quayle a total disaster under Bush, making us worry about Bush’s health, similar to the Agnew case in many ways;

Cheney perfectly competent but an evil force under the second Bush;

and Pence making a very poor impression, as one unwilling to stand up to the unstable Trump, and therefore undermining our stability and national security.

The Republican Vice Presidents were in order—

a freshman Senator (Nixon);

a short term Governor (Agnew);

a long term House member and Minority Leader (Ford);

a long term Governor and multiple times Presidential contender (Rockefeller);

a short term House member but in a number of foreign policy related jobs (Bush I);

a mediocre Senator (Quayle);

a House leader and cabinet officer (Cheney);

and House leader and state governor (Pence).

Independence Day 2018: The Greatest Crisis In American History, With Evidence Of Russian Collusion In Our Government

Ronald 7 Comments

Today is Independence Day, the 242nd anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

America has gone through many crises and challenges over those 242 years.

But now we face the reality of what is the greatest crisis in our years of independence, with evidence of Russian collusion in our government, and likely continuing into the future.

This is not a conspiracy theory, but reality, as even the Republican controlled Senate Intelligence Committee, under the leadership of North Carolina Republican Senator Richard Burr, asserts, with the entire committee unanimous in its conclusion that the intelligence agencies and national security apparatus has been accurate in its assessment.

Donald Trump is clearly a traitor, undermining our democracy and our history of proud independence, and ready to sell America down the river.

And yet his party, with a few exceptions, remains unwilling to face the challenge presented by Donald Trump, and the damage he is doing to our national security, foreign policy, and alliance system with the nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which has promoted a stable world since the end of World War II.

There are widespread feelings of despair and hopelessness being expressed, including when this blogger gives lectures on public affairs and history to groups all over South Florida.

Many feel the country is being destroyed by a vehement base of ignorant, prejudiced, and clueless people who fail to see the damage that has been done by Donald Trump in the three years since he announced his candidacy.

But the nation and its good majority cannot give up, must resist in every way possible, and restore our democracy and heritage, so that our children and grandchildren can live in a land still affected by the vision of the Founding Fathers in the 18th century!

The Muslim Ban Decision Of The Supreme Court (Trump V Hawaii) Will Go Down As One Of Worst Decisions In 229 Years Of Our National History!

Ronald 2 Comments

The Supreme Court has just made one of the worst decisions in its 229 year history, and has besmirched its own reputation in the process.

It will match such decisions as the Dred Scott Case of 1857; Plessy V Ferguson 1896; and Korematsu V US 1944—all racist decisions justifying slavery, racial segregation, and the internment of Japanese Americans in internment camps during World War II.

All have been roundly condemned, as violations of basic human rights and civil liberties, and now, once again, the Supreme Court has proved how it has allowed itself to promote discrimination and racial prejudice, all in the name of “national security”.

Instead of labeling African Americans or Japanese Americans, now the whole Islamic religion has been judged as a threat to national security, based on the hysteria and racism of Donald Trump.

We have, therefore, allowed an authoritarian who threatens our whole system of government to win a case based purely on bias and religious hatred.

This is a slippery slope that can lead to victimization in the future of people from other nations and other religions.

Jews who were refused entrance in the late 1930s, and now people from Central America who want to escape similar violence and bloodshed and are being held in detention away from their children, are just further examples of how religious prejudice and racism are winning out.

The John Roberts Court has undermined its own reputation in the process, and will be condemned in history.

And the fact that Merrick Garland, appointed by President Obama, was denied a hearing for the Supreme Court vacancy in 2016, led to Neil Gorsuch, who predictably now and in the future will advocate an extreme right wing agenda, harming our constitutional liberties for the next thirty years.

The fact that three members of the Court would not be there if the popular vote had won out in 2000 and 2016 just adds to the tragedy, as George W. Bush would not have been able to appoint John Roberts and Samuel Alito, and Donald Trump would not have been able to appoint Neil Gorsuch.

Sonia Sotomayor registered her vehement dissent, along with Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the opposition of Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan. But it was all for naught!

America’s reputation has been permanently damaged, and we are no safer against those Muslims who are extremists, who are now emboldened to do harm more than ever, and at the same time, those Muslims in America who have served in our armed forces honorably, and those who have done good work in other fields, have been slapped in the face.

Our most ugly side as a nation has been displayed for all to see, and anyone who believes in justice and fair play is weeping today, and will for the long term of our history as a nation, as tolerance and open mindedness have been denied!

Donald Trump’s Destruction Of American Alliances With Our Long Term Allies, And His Total Lack Of Knowledge Of History

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Donald Trump is totally ignorant of American and World History, and could not pass an exam for a high school diploma, let alone a college degree.

Trump yesterday brought up to the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, in a phone call, the so called “fact” that Canada burned the White House in the War of 1812, a total fabrication, as it was Great Britain, which controlled Canada as a colony, that did so in August 1814.

What is the point of bringing this up, even if it were true?

In wartime, harm is done by both sides, and we have plenty to be accountable for as a nation in our many wars we have waged and continue to wage.

Even to bring up the British is unseemly, as this is is history, but we and they have moved beyond this, and to have grudges over actions taken long ago, is a waste of time.

Both Canada and Great Britain, along with other nations Trump has insulted (Australia, France) have been great friends for a long time, and our closest allies in the world.

Also, add Germany, Japan, and South Korea to the list, with them being more recent allies since World War II and the Korean War, but reliable allies.

Donald Trump has destroyed any camaraderie with our long term allies, including the other nations in NATO, and is undermining any cooperation with the European Union, Canada, Mexico, and our Asian allies by his “Trade Wars”, that will only lead to greater tensions and suspicions, and likely worldwide economic depression as in the 1930s.

It only helps our rivals, our competitors including Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran.

The insanity of Donald Trump,and his total ignorance and stupidity on history, are harming long term interests of America, and must be combated in every way conceivable!

This situation even includes Trump’s condemnation of Football players taking a knee for the National Anthem, and Trump rescinding an invitation for the Philadelphia Eagles to come to the White House over it, even though no Eagles player actually took a knee, but at the same time not knowing the words of the National Anthem that he insists everyone stand for!

Mixed Messages: Scuttling The Iran Deal, But Cozying Up To North Korea, Meanwhile Alienating Our Traditional Allies In Foreign Policy

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Donald Trump is schizophrenic in so many ways.

And in foreign policy, that is particularly dangerous.

Trump has scuttled the Iran deal, and made eventual war against that nation more likely.

At the same time, despite his cancellation of the summit with North Korea, already Donald Trump is changing his mind, and it now seems that the summit with Kim Jong Un might take place, but with unreasonable, irrational expectations.

To believe that North Korea will give up its nuclear program entirely is to believe in fantasy, as Kim Jong Un has now seen how unstable Donald Trump is. If Trump is ready to scuttle the nuclear deal with Iran and threaten them, what would make North Korea comfortable and confident enough that their regime would be left alone if they gave up their nuclear weapons?

Instead of saying can North Korea be trusted, how about whether the United States government under Donald Trump can be trusted to keep any agreement?

And in the meantime, Donald Trump has alienated our traditional allies in foreign policy, the NATO nations (and particularly Great Britain, France and Germany), and also South Korea and Japan, along with Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Why should South Korea feel safe with an unstable, mercurial American leader who is fighting with their government over trade policy at a time when that nation could be decimated by a nuclear or conventional war with its neighbor?

One could say that American foreign policy in 2018 is the most unstable, unpredictable policy ever seen in American history since the end of World War II, and no sign of the return of any stability anytime in the near or long term future, as long as Donald Trump is President.