Tag Archives: Donald Trump

Something To Think About …

Posted on by under Election 2024, History, Political commentary, Social commentary

I came across a story by David Pepper – a lawyer, political activist, author – yesterday that I think is important, so I’m sharing it with you this morning.  Veterans … people who risked their very lives to protect this nation and its people, certainly deserve our respect, but there is one person running for president of the country who doesn’t see it that way.

A Veteran’s Story…

…And Donald Trump’s Appalling Comments

By David Pepper

17 August 2024

As we watch Donald Trump once again insult injured veterans, and those who sacrificed everything, I want to share a story that shakes me to my core every time I think of it.

It’s about a family friend.

At 19 or so, he went to Vietnam.

Army.

He never talks about it. But it’s clear he saw and experienced traumatizing things while there.

He came home, worked hard, and raised a family.

He’s now retired.

He never sought help from the VA because he felt that that was for veterans who’d endured injuries and challenges he hadn’t. Not someone like him.

But recently, his family convinced him to access the VA, so he finally did.

During a health screening, they found that a skin growth was cancerous, and scheduled surgery to remove it.

After the procedure, a nurse came to the waiting room, told family members that the surgery went well, and then asked if he had served in Vietnam.

“Yes. Why?”

The nurse explained that when he awoke, he was alarmed to be in the hospital.

He wanted to know what had happened to put him there, if his tankmates were ok, and he wanted to leave the hospital right away so he could get back out there to be with them.

“This happens a lot with Vietnam vets,” the nurse explained. “They wake up and still think they’re there.”

When the veteran’s relatives entered the room, he still was talking as if he was in a hospital in Vietnam. Still asking about his tankmates.

* * *

Think about that:

He went to Vietnam at 19. One tour.

He never talks about it.

Ever.

It’s more than 50 years later. He’s lived a whole life since returning. So many life events intervening along the way.

But when he comes to after anesthesia in his 70s, that tour and whatever hell he went through are still so close to the surface, he thinks he’s still there. He’s reliving it. And his first concern is to get out of the hospital and go help those he served with.

It makes me tear up whenever I think about his story. I teared up writing this.

What we ask of young people who put on the uniform.

How much they give. In the years they serve. And every year after they return.

How even those who return without physical injuries still live with their wartime experience (and trauma) the rest of their lives, just under the surface, but often don’t share it with even friends or loved ones.

As in this case, they may not even think to access the VA because they weren’t injured like others they knew.

But it’s all still there for them too. Right under the surface.

* * *

Of course, I think of this veteran as we hear another round of appalling comments about veterans from Donald Trump.

The comments Trump made the other day, and has made before, show that just under HIS surface is a shocking disrespect for those who serve our country. While our friend can’t help but relive his service as he recovers in a hospital bed, Trump’s lack of appreciation and respect runs so deep, he can’t help but having it constantly spill out. Privately. Publicly. Directly, to people who’ve served. And in ways that are both unbelievably crass but for Trump, absolutely comfortable.

Specifically, what he said the other day about winners of the Congressional Medal of Honor—national heroes who were injured or killed serving this nation—is beyond the pale. But the way he said it made it clear to me—in his sick and twisted mind, he’d thought the entire logic through well before last week. The comparison to the Presidential Medal of Freedom rolled off his tongue so easily, I have no doubt he’s said those words before in other company. And just like that audience applauded, Trump probably thought it was a good line.

If I had to guess, just like he called those who died in World War II “suckers” and “losers” when he was in France in 2018 (remember, he cancelled due to rain), my guess is that the sick thought about Medal of Honor recipients likely occurred to him while or after he bestowed such honors to veterans as president. Amid one of the most hallowed acts a president undertakes, that was the warped conclusion he drew.

Bottom line: Trump is unworthy of the veteran I’ve described above, let alone all the veterans who have served our nation, been wounded in that service, or paid the ultimate sacrifice.

He would be unworthy of representing and serving them at any level of office. And he is certainly unworthy of leading this country as its Commander in Chief, commanding the very forces he so disrespects.

Every Republican supporter of his should be asked their views of his comments.

And if they do anything but reject them unconditionally, they too are unworthy of public service.

JD Vance already walked that plank, by the way. He was asked about Trump’s comments yesterday. He called them “totally reasonable.” Which of course tells us that JD Vance is equally unworthy of office. Any office.

Veterans like our friend deserve so much more.

So does the nation.

Just Some Little Snippets Of Snark

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, education, Election 2024, History, Political commentary, Social commentary

Okay, so I’m feeling just a little bit snarky today and you know what that means, right?  Yep, nothing too serious but just a bit of sting.

On the upside … you guys remember who Jesse Ventura is, right?  A retired professional wrestler, he became governor of Minnesota in 1999, serving one four-year term.  You’ve just got to love what he said about his vote this year:

“I’m going to be selfish. A few years ago I got the opportunity to see the United States elect its first Black president. I didn’t think that could ever happen, and they even reelected him. Well, now I’m going to be selfish again. I’ve only got a few elections to go. I’m 73 years old now, so the window is closing. I want to be alive to see the first woman president of the United States of America. It’s time for a woman president. We men have have screwed it up enough.” [Emphasis added]

I LOVE it!!!

Yet one more reason to make sure Donald Trump does NOT get back into the White House:  Betsy DeVos.  You’ll remember she was Secretary of Education during Donald Trump’s regime, even though she had plainly stated that she did not believe in public education and did everything in her power to erode the system.  Well, she’s got her little dark heart set on slithering back into her former position.  She told her local newspaper that she would be open to serving as Secretary of Education again, but only if, “only if it was with the goal of phasing out the Department of Education as we tried to do through budgetary process in the first administration.”

Right, Betsy … give me the job so I can burn down the building … makes perfect sense … NOT!

It’s long been reported that Donald Trump doesn’t pay his bills.  He doesn’t pay his lawyers and more than a few times he has failed to pay his debt owed to cities where he has held rallies.  Newsweek reports that he still owes some $850,000 to various cities for his 2020 campaign in addition to more than $500,000 he owes to the city of El Paso, Texas.  So, it’s only reasonable that the city of Asheville, North Carolina, demanded payment in advance of more than $82,000 for the rally he is holding there today.  Sorry, Felon Donald, but that’s what happens when you don’t pay your bills!

Why Do Fear And Hate Sell???

Posted on by under Election 2024, History, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

If I were running for a public office, I think I would concentrate my efforts on highlighting the positive, the things I plan to accomplish that would make the nation better for everyone.  Some, however, most notably one Donald Trump, seem to prefer to base their campaign on selling fear, vitriol, and hatred.  It is a sad statement of our society that the fear-mongering actually works.  A quote from Robert Hubbell’s newsletter earlier today:

“Over the last eight years, Trump rode a wave of reactionary anger and resentment that emerged in response to the election of our first Black president. Trump employed the politics of fear and grievance to propel his personal pursuit of power and money.”

I’ll never understand why some people gravitate toward the candidate who spews the most hateful rhetoric, peddles fear, and has literally no policies.  Former Representative Adam Kinzinger, a man for whom I have a great deal of respect, offers his thoughts on the topic …

Beware Trump’s Fear and Hatred

It can work, so expect more of it

By Adam Kinzinger

12 August 2024

It began when Donald Trump questioned Kamala Harris’s racial identity, falsely claiming she only identified as a black woman when it became politically expedient. Then came his decision to mangle her name. Indeed, as far as I can tell, Donald Trump has never said Kamala correctly.  Most recently he’s using “Kam-a-bla.”

The mainstream press has offered a mixed reaction to Trump’s most recent mockery. I’m leaning toward an analysis offered by the comic news program The Daily Show where commentator Josh Johnson said the obvious:  “It feels racist.”

Given his record, Trump doesn’t qualify for the benefit of the doubt. After all, this is the man who challenged Barack Obama’s status as a native-born American and called Mexican immigrants “rapists.”  He said Nigerian immigrants should “go back to their huts” and called the coronavirus “kung flu.”  This year, after his mug shot made when he was briefly in custody in Georgia, he said black Americans were “walking around” with it because, you know, they relate to criminals.  

In his bigotry, Trump has obviously tried to turn individuals and groups into enemies of white Americans and, more importantly, stir fear and hatred among the people in his base.  Why does he do this?  Unfortunately, it’s because fear and hate often work when it comes to politics.

In 2019, University of California Davis professor Alison Ledgerwood, who studies “framing” in political messages explained that negative campaign messages are “stickier”  than positive ones. This is because, as Ledgerwood put it, our brains are wired for negative emotions and thoughts.  Thus, as 2016 Trump labeled Hillary Clinton ”crooked Hillary” he struck a motivating nerve. Indeed, the nickname even stuck in the minds of Clinton supporters.   (Clinton didn’t help herself, by the way, when she got into the gutter and called Trump’s followers “deplorables.” This only stoked their animosity)

Let’s be clear. Fear and hatred have long been a factor in campaigns. However, there’s something different about the quality and frequency of Trump’s spurious attacks. I believe they explain why the level of partisan hatred has reached such a fever pitch.  Want to be shocked? Consider the findings of a study done five years ago. Its results included the finding that nearly one in five Americans believed members of the opposite party “lack the traits to be considered fully human — they behave like animals.”

I experienced an extremely negative attack during my first campaign for Congress, in 2010, when someone turned up at a rally with a sign likening me to a Nazi. (To call someone a Nazi is a particularly extreme slur.) I responded by calling out the attack and demanding to know who was behind it. It turned out that the man was an official in my opponent’s campaign. He was fired. I went on to use a “high road,”  relentlessly positive message and won a narrow victory. I then won every election until I retired.

Unlike Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris has resisted descending to Trump’s level. (No “deplorables” comments from her.  In fact, at a recent rally, she asked her supporters to stop chanting “Lock him up!” in reference to Trump’s legal problems.)

So far Harris is trying to counter Trump’s hate with a message of unity and right now she’s got the momentum. But this doesn’t mean Trump will abandon this tactic. He used it to great effect to win his party’s nomination in 2016, defeat Clinton in the general election and, since then, consolidate his control over the Republican Party. As an old dog who can’t learn new tricks (no offense old dogs) he will try to find something that works. So, watch out. It’s going to get nastier. 

To Meme Or Not To Meme … That Is The Question

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, Election 2024, Humour, Political commentary, Social commentary

Okay, it’s been over a week since I shared some memes, and my stash is overflowing, so what better time than a nice peaceful  Saturday afternoon?  As per my usual, some are funny, others are more thought-provoking.  Enjoy!!!

For our non-U.S. readers, Milwaukee is NOT in Minnesota, it is in the state of Wisconsin! Laura Ingraham is even dumber than we thought!

How Do Our Allies View Us?

Posted on by under Election 2024, Environmental Issues, Global Issues, History, Political commentary

I came across an editorial in a German publication I follow, Der Spiegel, and I found it interesting to see how at least some of our allies across the pond view what is happening today in the U.S.  Now, some will say they don’t care what other nations think, but that’s just wrong.  Our allies, especially, are important to us just as your neighbors down the street are important to you.  We are all living on the same planet and what one country does will affect others, especially as it relates to the environment, global conflicts, etc.  In times of trouble, we have their back, and they have ours, so it matters what they think.  Do they trust us right now?  How would they feel about Kamala Harris as the next president, or heaven forbid, Donald Trump?  I was surprised that the piece I read was as positive as it was, and I’ll be on the lookout for other views from our allies around the globe.  Meanwhile, take a look … what do you think?

Don’t Write Off America!

A DER SPIEGEL Editorial by Mathieu von Rohr1

A second Trump administration presents real dangers to democracy in the United States. But there is still reason for optimism when looking at the future of the country.

29.07.2024, 19.22 Uhr

The political situation in the U.S. is looking increasingly like one of those fictional series the country regularly churns out. One incredible twist is followed by another: Just over 100 days before the election, the elderly U.S. president, who can barely articulate himself properly, decided to make way for his vice president. Now only she can block the path to power of a man with authoritarian tendencies who has just been shot by a mysterious would-be assassin.

These are anxiety-filled days for America’s allies. The center of the Western world is exhibiting dangerous internal instability. And the country has long been an unreliable trans-Atlantic partner, a fact that the presidency of Joe Biden merely covered up for a time.

Nothing can be said to sugarcoat the profound political crisis in the United States as the institutions of this more than 200-year-old democracy are showing significant signs of weakness. Nevertheless, now is a good time to remember one salient fact: This country has repeatedly demonstrated an admirable ability to reinvent itself in the greatest of crises. America is far from lost.

Is the euphoria that Kamala Harris has sparked in the liberal camp justified? It’s not clear. Harris doesn’t have much time to campaign, and there are doubts about her ability to defeat Donald Trump in November. If she succeeds, she will make history by becoming the country’s first female president. The hype surrounding Harris may not last, but it is a reminder that there is another America besides Trump’s America that is at least as big, and it is creative and vibrant.

After the failed assassination attempt, Trump has achieved the status of a saint in his own camp, but he remains unpopular with the majority of Americans. The rather lackluster speech he delivered at his own party’s convention demonstrated once again that there is no new Trump who can unite the country, but only the same old Trump – the angry, implacable, divisive one.

The result of the election, in other words, is open. Regardless of the outcome, we can allow ourselves a little American optimism for America. But this explicitly does not mean naively discounting the genuine dangers facing the country and its democracy.

Sometimes it helps to take a look back in time. The United States survived the Great Depression of the 1930s and emerged with a stronger economy. It emerged from the McCarthy era, when the government hunted down suspected communists, with a stronger democracy. Despite violent resistance from racists, the civil rights movement of the 1960s succeeded in securing equal rights before the law for Black Americans. After September 11, 2001, George W. Bush authorized torture and turned Guantanamo into a prison camp – but he was followed by Barack Obama, the first Black president. The Trump administration squeezed America’s institutions, but they withstood the pressure; and the country’s citizens eventually replaced him with Joe Biden, who has been the opposite of Trump.

Even if Trump were to win a second term in November, even if he were to realize his plan to subjugate the state apparatus and crack down on his political opponents, his efforts would be met by considerable resistance. Most Americans do not want an authoritarian regime.

Reactionary and liberal forces have always wrestled for the soul of America. And as justified as the concern is that political violence – or even civil war – could erupt in this country awash with weapons, extremely fierce battles have already been fought over its destiny without the country breaking apart.

Despite all its problems –polarization, inequality, the crisis of its political system – the United States is a uniquely innovative society. It continues to be highly attractive to immigrants from around the world. This may strengthen right-wing forces, but it also fuels the economy at the same time. With its tech companies, America is in a much stronger position than crisis-ridden Europe, where reactionary forces are also on the rise.

1 Born in Lausanne (Switzerland) in 1978, he began his journalistic career at the “Oltner Tagblatt”. Studied history and German in Basel. Since 2000 it has been in the features section of the “Basler Zeitung”. From 2004 trained at the Henri Nannen Journalism School in Hamburg with stations at SPIEGEL, “ZEIT” and “Tages-Anzeiger-Magazin” (Zurich). Since 2006 he has been working in the foreign department of SPIEGEL, for which he has worked as a reporter around the world – in the 2006 Lebanon War, the drug war in Mexico, and the Arab Spring. At the end of 2011 he took over management of the Paris office. In 2014 he moved to Hamburg as deputy head of the international department. He has been head of the SPIEGEL foreign department since 2019.

Saturday Afternoon ‘Toons!

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, cartoons, Election 2024, Law and justice, Political commentary, Social commentary

Due to a lack of time, energy, and motivation … not to mention an overflowing cartoon folder … I’m sharing the latest batch of the best cartoons from the past few days for your Saturday afternoon viewing pleasure.  One of the big topics from this week, aside from the November election of course, is the Supreme Court.

One Small Rant …

Posted on by under Election 2024, Environmental Issues, Free Press Issues, Global Issues, History, Political commentary, Rants, Social commentary, voting rights

Just one little rant this morning …

“Get out and vote. Just this time. You won’t have to do it anymore. Four more years, you know what: it’ll be fixed, it’ll be fine. You won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians…. Get out, you’ve got to get out and vote. In four years, you don’t have to vote again, we’ll have it fixed so good you’re not going to have to vote.”

That, my friends, was presidential candidate Donald Trump speaking to a group of Christians at a summit in West Palm Beach, Florida.  C’mon, Republicans!  How much more hardcore evidence do you need to see that your preferred candidate has no intention of being president in a democratic process, but has every intention of being a dictator, of turning the United States as it has been for nearly 250 years into a fascist dictatorship?  Most of us have seen it for years now, understand what it would mean if he were to ever set foot in the Oval Office again, but for those whose heads were still somewhere in the clouds, this latest should be a harsh wake-up call!

Those words … “you don’t have to vote again” … chill me to the bone, and they should anybody who cares about the future of the world.  YES, I said “the world” … not just the nation.

Europeans are still licking their wounds from Trump’s first term: they have not forgotten the former president’s tariffs, his deep antagonism towards the European Union and Germany, or the US withdrawal from the Paris climate accords and the Iran nuclear deal. Nor have they recovered from Trump’s general boorishness at international summits, not to mention his regular threats to withdraw from NATO.

Trump’s ties to dictators Putin and Orbán are far stronger than his appreciation or respect for our allies.  Is it any wonder the world will be watching with bated breath on November 5th?  Meanwhile, those Republicans who still have their heads buried in the sand, continue to applaud and cheer, even wearing “sympathy bandages” on their ears to show their ‘solidarity’ for the madman.  C’mon, folks, take your heads out of the sand, or whatever dark place you have stuck them, and WAKE UP AND SMELL THE DAMN COFFEE!!!

Voter Apathy — Part III (A Reprisal From 2018)

Posted on by under Election 2018, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary, voting rights

This was the third and final post in my series on voter apathy back in 2018.  If you missed Parts I or II, I’ve included links at the bottom of this post.  I cannot stress enough just how crucial this coming election will be for the continuation of the United States of America into the future, and for our future in the global world.  Obviously, some things have changed and are different between the 2018 mid-term elections when I first published this piece and today’s presidential election, but remember that old saying that “the more things change, the more they stay the same”?  Seems true at the moment.  For this post, I shared the words of another, Roxane Gay, in an OpEd piece she wrote for the New York Times.  The piece speaks for itself …

You’re Disillusioned. That’s Fine. Vote Anyway.

Very pragmatic advice for anyone thinking about not casting a ballot.

Roxane GayA young woman in Milwaukee recently asked me if I had any advice for disillusioned young voters. She said that in a representative democracy it was hard to want to vote for, in her words, “yet another 40,000-year-old white man” who didn’t look like her or have familiarity with her experiences.

Her question was genuine, and even though more women are running for Congress than in previous years and Stacey Abrams of Georgia has a chance to be the first African-American woman elected governor, I understood her overall frustration. For every beacon of progress there is a stark reminder that the status quo all too often prevails.

Young people are facing a lot of problems they had no hand in creating. Far too many of them are saddled with incredible amounts of student loan debt, working in a gig economy where little job security is scarce. If they have health insurance, it is likely inadequate. Homeownership can seem out of reach. Black voters are being disenfranchised at alarming rates. Reproductive freedom is precarious. Citizenship is precarious. Climate change threatens our planet on an alarming timeline. Things are grim and politicians of all persuasions are doing very little to assuage or address the very real concerns people have about this country and their place in it.

I could have offered a warm, gentle answer but these are not warm, gentle times. Given everything that has transpired since President Trump took office, I have no patience for disillusionment. I have no patience for the audacious luxury of choosing not to vote because of that disillusionment, as if not voting is the best choice a person could make. Not voting is, in fact, the worst choice a person could make.

In 2016, nearly 40 percent of eligible voters chose not to vote. Many who showed up to vote for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 were apparently so underwhelmed by Hillary Clinton that they simply stayed home. And, of course, there were the voters who chose third-party candidates who had no chance of winning the presidential election but were still able to affect the outcome in key states. If and how one votes is a personal choice, but that choice has consequences.

We are reaping what has been sown from voter disillusionment and we will continue doing so until enough people recognize what is truly at stake when they don’t vote. A representative democracy is flawed but it is the political system we must work within, at least for the time being. We have a responsibility to participate in this democracy, even when the politicians we vote for aren’t ideal or a perfect match. Voting isn’t dating. We are not promised perfect candidates. Voting requires pragmatism and critical thinking and empathy and now, more than ever, intelligent compromise.

Only 40 percent of Americans choose to vote during midterm elections, generally speaking. There has been a lot of talk about the importance of voting next Tuesday because we are desperate to change the political climate and the first step in doing that is shifting the balance of power in Congress. Politicians, their volunteers and progressive publications have been vigorously trying to get out the vote in a range of ways.

Many of these efforts have been well intended but poorly executed. One tactic has been the use of bait-and-switch on social media — sharing something innocuous like celebrity gossip or a recipe, only to direct people to a webpage about voting and voter registration. These efforts imply that one cannot care about both trivial things and the state of our democracy. This bait-and-switch approach may not be anyone’s primary voter outreach strategy, but it is happening often enough to grate on my nerves. These efforts are predicated upon the belief that condescension and manipulation are the only way to reach apathetic or disillusioned voters when what we need is brutal honesty.

We deserve a better class of politicians who recognize the greater good and act in service of that greater good rather than in service of amassing more power. We deserve politicians who are held accountable for their decisions. We deserve politicians from all walks of life, not just the same old wealthy white heterosexual people who are overly represented in all branches of the government.

We also deserve to be disillusioned and disappointed with what our politicians, thus far, have offered. For the most part they have failed us spectacularly because they understand that radicalism doesn’t play well even though radicalism is what we need now, more than ever. And it is certainly a travesty that universal health care and a livable minimum wage and civil rights and higher taxes on the wealthy are considered radical, but here we are.

I am going to vote on next Tuesday but I can’t say I am particularly optimistic about the impact my vote will have. Between the corrupt stranglehold the Republican Party has on political power and the incompetence and cowardice of the Democrats, voting feels futile. The politicians I will vote for don’t represent me and what I believe in as much as I would like them to.

Voter disillusionment makes perfect sense but it is also incredibly selfish and shortsighted. In the past week, a biracial man was charged with sending pipe bombs to prominent Democrats; reports said he drove a van covered in hateful propaganda. A white man tried to enter a black church in Louisville, Ky., and when he couldn’t, he went to a nearby Kroger grocery store and killed two black people. On a Saturday morning in Pittsburgh, a white man entered a synagogue, shouting anti-Semitic epithets. He killed 11 Jews and injured six others. This took place in the same week in which it was reported that the Trump administration thinks it might be able to define the transgender community out of existence, and in which the president continues to use the caravan of migrants heading to the United States to stoke the xenophobic hysteria of his base.

Every single day there is a new, terrifying, preventable tragedy fomented by a president and an administration that uses hate and entitlement as political expedience. If you remain disillusioned or apathetic in this climate, you are complicit. You think your disillusionment is more important than the very real dangers marginalized people in this country live with.

Don’t delude yourself about this. Don’t shroud your political stance in disaffected righteousness. Open your eyes and see the direct line from the people in power to their emboldened acolytes. It is cynical to believe that when we vote we are making a choice between the lesser of two evils. We are dealing with a presidency fueled by hate, greed and indifference. We are dealing with a press corps that can sometimes make it seem as though there are two sides to bigotry. Republican politicians share racist memes that spread false propaganda and crow “fake news” when reality interferes with their ambitions. Progressive candidates are not the lesser of two evils here; they are not anywhere on the spectrum of evil we are currently witnessing.

If you are feeling disillusioned, get over it, at least enough to vote and vote pragmatically. Tell your friends to vote. Drive people to the polls. Support candidates you believe in with your time or, if you can afford it, money. Volunteer for community organizations that address to the issues you most care about. Attend town halls held by your elected officials. Hold them accountable for the decisions they make with the power you give them. Run for local office. Do something. Do anything.

Nothing will change by sitting at home for the midterms or any other election. We cannot afford disillusionment. We cannot afford to do nothing. Lives are at stake and if you don’t recognize that, you are no better than those with whom you are disillusioned.

Roxane Gay, an associate professor at Purdue University, is the author of “Hunger,” and a contributing opinion writer.

Links to Part I & Part II:

Voter Apathy — Part I (A Reprisal From 2018)

Voter Apathy — Part II (A Reprisal from 2018)

vote-animated

One Thing Will Make Or Break The Election …

Posted on by under Election 2024, History, Political commentary, Racism & Bigotry, Social commentary

In all the chaos of the moment since around 2:00 p.m. on Sunday when President Biden announced he is no longer a candidate for a second term in the upcoming November election, and then endorsed his Vice President, Kamala Harris, one theme has emerged:  Unity.  The Democratic Party must be unified behind their candidate, who will almost certainly be Kamala Harris, if they are to stand a chance at winning the election and preserving the United States of America as we have known it.  I think Robert Reich said it better than I could, so I will turn the stage over to him …

What we must do now

By Robert Reich

22 July 2024

Trump swiftly reacted to President Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the 2024 election, with typically nasty vitriol. Biden was “not fit to run,” “he wasn’t capable of being President,” “the Worst President, by far, in the History of our Nation,” who “just quit the race in COMPLETE DISGRACE!”

We all know that Trump projects himself onto his opponents. It is Trump who is not fit to run, isn’t capable of being president, is the worst president in the history of our nation, and is a complete disgrace.

No presidential candidate in American history has ever before rejected the outcome of an election on the basis of no evidence, or sought to strong-arm state officials to change voting counts, or orchestrated a violent attack on the U.S. capitol to overturn an election, or charged prosecutors, judges, and juries seeking to hold him accountable with acting at the behest of the president who replaced him.

No goal is more important than making sure Donald Trump never again comes close to the Oval Office.

Now that Biden has endorsed Kamala Harris as the party’s nominee, we must all unite behind her. She is the logical choice, given that she is Biden’s vice president. If he were to become incapacitated between now and January 20, she would automatically become president.

Trump and his Republicans already are claiming that Biden’s endorsement of Harris violates democratic norms because voters in the primaries chose Biden. Nonsense. For all practical purposes, voters chose the Biden-Harris ticket.

Nor is Biden dictating to his delegates that they support Harris. By endorsing her, he is showing his support for her. They may support someone else, although I do not believe they should.

Besides, if any party has violated democratic norms it’s the Trump Republican party, most of whose members of Congress continue to support Trump’s big lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him, and who voted against certifying the results of the 2020 election.

Trump and Republicans can be expected to mount or encourage legal challenges to Harris’s access to funds donated to the Biden campaign, or independent expenditures made on behalf of Harris that had been earmarked for Biden.

Democrats should not be sucked into this distraction. Nor should the media. The litigation has no merit. Again, Harris was already on the ticket.

Meanwhile, it’s vitally important that Democrats remain united.

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin is reportedly talking with Democratic donors and officials about re-registering as a Democrat and running against Harris for the Democratic nomination.

Manchin is a man of no principles. He left the Democratic Party in May to register as an independent. He refused to support several of Biden’s key initiatives, especially on the climate. He announced in the fall that he would not seek reelection to his Senate seat at the end of his term, hobbling Democratic hopes of holding on to their Senate majority in 2024. Manchin would be a disaster for the Democrats and the nation.

More to the point, this is no time for internecine battles among Democrats. Precious little time remains between now and the Democratic National Convention and between the convention and the 2024 election.

We must unite behind Harris so she has time to introduce herself to the nation as the Democratic candidate for president, organize her presidential campaign, and select a vice-president* — all the while mounting a sharp and sustained attack on Trump.

This means that:

Democratic donors who withheld donations while Biden remained the candidate must now turn on the spigots for Harris.

Chattering-class opinion writers whose columns and punditry drummed Biden out of the presidency must now do what they can to support Harris.

Activists who have devoted long hours to abortion rights, voting rights, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, labor rights, fighting climate change, fighting poverty, and seeking a more just and equitable society must now unite behind Harris.

Others who have only occasionally and haphazardly been involved in politics must now become activists — talking with neighbors and friends, knocking on doors, putting up signs, passing out literature — on behalf of Harris.

Now is the time for everyone who cares about the future of American democracy to do whatever we can to elect the one person with the best chance of keeping Donald Trump out of the White House. That person is Kamala Harris.

* My recommendation for Harris’s Vice President is Mark Kelly. Kelly is the perfect response to JD Vance. Kelly has served America as a U.S. Navy combat pilot, a NASA astronaut, and now as a U.S. Senator for Arizona. He is the son of two police officers. He attended public schools from elementary school all the way through graduate school. His wife, Gabrielle Giffords, was a rising member of congress when shot and almost killed by someone who should not have possessed a gun, and she is now one of the nation’s leading advocates for responsible gun regulation. Arizona is an important battleground.

Two Peas In A Pod … or … Another Clown Joins The Circus

Posted on by under Election 2024, History, Political commentary, Social commentary

Well, yesterday Trump announced his running mate … one of the most despicable creatures within today’s Republican Party and unfortunately a senator from the state I currently live in, Mr. James David Vance, aka J.D. Vance.  Though not surprised, I am disgusted and sickened by his choice.  All the more reason we must make absolutely certain that Donald Trump and J.D. Vance do not ever set foot in the Oval Office again!

J.D. Vance is the very definition of the word ‘hypocrite’.  Let’s look at just a few of the things he’s said about Donald Trump in the past …

  • “I’m a ‘Never Trump’ guy.  I never liked him.”
  • “My God, what an idiot.”
  • “Mr. Trump is unfit for our nation’s highest office.”
  • “I think there’s a chance, if I feel like Trump has a really good chance of winning, that I might have to hold my nose and vote for Hillary Clinton.”
  • “I go back and forth between thinking Trump is a cynical asshole like Nixon who wouldn’t be that bad (and might even prove useful) or that he’s America’s Hitler. How’s that for discouraging?”
  • “But I think that I’m going to vote third party because I can’t stomach Trump. I think that he’s noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place.”
  • “Trump makes people I care about afraid. Immigrants, Muslims, etc. Because of this I find him reprehensible. God wants better of us.”
  • “Fellow Christians, everyone is watching us when we apologize for this man. Lord help us.”

Some pretty harsh criticisms there, eh?  But Vance turned a corner suddenly when Trump decided to run for the highest office in the land this year, and has been singing Trump’s praises by day and licking his boots by night.  So, why did Donald Trump, whose fragile ego never lets him forget an insult, promises ‘retribution’ to those who are not considered sufficiently loyal to him, choose J.D. Vance over all the other possibilities?  One thing, and likely one thing only:  J.D. Vance promised to do what Trump’s last Vice President, Mike Pence, refused to do:  break the law by overturning the votes of We the People.

A famous quote by Maya Angelou goes, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”  J.D. Vance has shown us who he is … a dishonest, two-faced hypocrite that can switch sides in the blink of an eye if he senses that there is personal gain in doing so.  He has shown us that he is a ‘man’ without values, without morals, without integrity.  He and Donald Trump are two identical peas in the same mouldy pod.

Here’s Robert Reich’s short video about J.D. Vance  …

Let’s do everything in our power to send Donald Trump and his boot-licking running mate, James David Vance, into the annals of history once and for all.  Let us ensure that neither of them ever sees the inside of the Oval Office again.  They are both ‘men’ who lack any semblance of values, integrity, or honesty.  They could not care any less about you or me or anybody else who is not a billionaire … they lust for only two things:  power and money.